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Objective Carotid atherosclerotic plaque is regarded as an important risk factor for ischemic cerebrovascular disease.This study analyzed the factors influencing the number of carotid atherosclerotic plaques in patients with ischemic stroke.Methods We selected 194 patients with crerbral infarction admitted to the Department of Neurology of Second Hospital Affiliated to Lanzhou University from December 2015 to December 2016.Neck vascular color Doppler ultrasound test was performed,and the number of carotid atherosclerotic plaques in each patient was counted.According to the number,we divided them into three groups:single,double and multiple.The patients'sex,age,hypertension,hyperlipemia,diabetes and history of ischemic stroke were recorded. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors influencing plaques.Results Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that gender,hypertension,hyperlipidemia,and history of cerebral infarction were risk factors for single carotid artery plaque;hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus were risk factors for double carotid artery plaque;and gender,diabetes,and history of cerebral infarction were risk factors for multiple carotid artery plaque.Conclusion Different numbers of plaques may have common risk factors but different numbers of plaque morphology have their own risk factors.
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A systematic review was undertaken, including studies that evaluated the incidence of the blood system adverse events of Tripterygium wilfordii (TWP). Medline, Embase and the Cochrane library were searched for relevant studies, including RCT, cohort studies and case series, of patients treated with TWP published in English and Chinese from inception up until May 25th, 2013 with the keywords including "Tripterygium wilfordii", "toxicity", "reproductive", "side effect", "adverse", "safety" and "tolerability". Relevant information was extracted and the incidence of the blood system adverse events was pooled with MetaAnalyst software. Besides, subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed based on age, mode of medicine, observation time and disease system. According to inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 49 articles were included in the meta-analysis, they were split into 54 researches incorporated in the analysis. There is a large degree of heterogeneity among the studies, so data was analyzed using random-effects model and the summary estimates of incidence of the blood system adverse events was 6.1%. The weighted combined incidence of three major blood system adverse events were white-blood cells decreasing 5.6% (95% CI, 4.3% - 7.3%), hemoglobin decreasing 1.7% (95% CI, 0.5% - 5.0%) and platelet decreasing 1.8% (95% CI, 1.0% - 3.1%), respectively . Sensitivity analyses based on 45 studies with high quality showed the combined value was close to the summary estimate of total 54 studies. The current evidence indicates that the incidence of the blood system adverse events induced by TWP was high; attentions should be paid on to the prevention and treatment of the blood system adverse events.
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Humans , Blood Cells , Hemoglobins , TripterygiumABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the association between C2549A polymorphism of leptin gene and the Trp64Arg polymorphism of the β3-adrenergic receptor gene(β3-AR gene) and obesity in Kazak school-age children.Methods Totally 92 obese children and 71 healthy controls were selected from 6 to 12 years old in Kazak school-age children from the area around Urumqi.Genotype of the C2549A polymorphism of leptin gene and the Trp64Arg polymor phism of β3-AR gene were determined by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism methods.Results 1.The difference in distribution of the β3-AR gene Trp64Arg genotype of obesity and healthy controls of Kazak children was statistically significant (x2 =10.472,P ＜ 0.05),but the difference in distribution of the alleles was not statistically significant (x2 =3.541,P ＞ 0.05).2.The differences in distribution of the leptin C2549A genotype and alleles of the 2 groups were all statistically significant,and the odds ratio of the alleles(0.608) and 95％ CI 0.380-0.972 suggested that the mutation occurrence of obesity might have certain protective effect.3.The difference in distribution of the genotype of β3-AR gene Trp64Arg polymorphism and leptin gene promoter area C2549A polymorphism in the same individual joint action of 2 groups was statistically significant (x2 =15.978,P ＜ 0.05),but the difference in distribution of the alleles in the same individual joint action of 2 groups was not statistically significant (x2 =6.362,P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions 1.There were distributions of the Trp64Arg polymorphism of β3-AR gene and the C2549A polymorphism of leptin gene in Kazak school-aged children in Xinjiang.2.These results suggested that C2549A mutation of leptin gene might have certain protective effect in Kazak children obesity,and the Trp64Arg polymorphism of β3-AR gene might be associated with Kazak children obesity.3.These results suggested that the Trp64Arg polymorphism of β3-AR gene and the C2549A polymorphism of leptin gene in the same individual joint action might be associated with Kazak children obesity in Xinjiang.
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Objective To assess the clinical value of the measurement of cysteine leukotriene (CysLTs) concentration in serum as a diagnostic predictor to screen the obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) in children.Methods Serum CysLTs concentration was measured with ELISA kit in 75 patients with snoring before per.forming polysomnography (PSG).Subsequently,all the subjects underwent PSG test.Forty-one subjects were diagnosed as OSAHS,and 34 subjects didn't have OSAHS.These 34 non-OSAHS subjects were served as control group.Among the OSAHS group,25 subjects were the Han nationality and 12 subjects were the Uyghur nationality.According to apnea hyponea index(AHI),the OSAHS group was divided into 3 groups,which were light,moderate and severe groups.And the serum CysLTs level of the OSAHS group was taken for correlation analysis with the sleep respiratory parameters.Compared with the PSG results,the clinical value of the measurement of CysLTs concentration in serum was taken as a diagnostic predictor to screen patients with OSAHS in children.Results 1.The serum CysLTs level of OSAHS group [(683.102 ±89.825) ng/L] was significantly higher than that in the control group [(461.985 ± 84.951) ng/L] (P ＜ 0.05).And it was correlated positively with AHI,longest apnea time,sleep apnea low aeration time (r =0.417,0.422,0.208,all P ＜ 0.05),but correlated negatively with the lowest oxygen saturation and the mean oxygen saturation (r =-0.192,-0.255,all P ＜ 0.05).2.The serum CysLTs level [(773.118 ± 92.015) ng/L] in severe OSAHS group was significantly higher than that in the moderate OSAHS group [(712.144 ± 41.331) ng/L] (P ＜ 0.05),and much more significantly higher than that in the light OSAHS group [(642.206 ± 77.250) ng/L] (P ＜ 0.05).3.When the serum CysLTs level was 560.872 ng/L,there was the best critical point with the highest sensitivity rate (92.7％)and specificity rate (94.1％),and the lowest misdiagnosis rate and the false dismissal rate,as diagnose accordance rate was 93.3％.4.The serum CysLTs level of Han [(704.417 ± 77.149) ng/L] was higher than that of Uygur [(628.053 ± 105.443) ng/L],and there was significant difference between the 2 groups (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Serum CysLTs level is closely related with the severity of OSAHS.There is difference in serum CysLTs level between different nationalities.The serum CysLTs level of the Han nationality is higher than the Uygnr nationality.The serum level of CysLTs may be used as a predictor in screening 0SAHS children and a biological marker of the severity of OSAHS children.
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<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Invasive aspergillosis (IA), which is mainly caused by Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus), is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Despite considerable progress in currently available antifungals the mortality still remains high in critically ill patients. U0126 which is a highly selective inhibitor of MEK1 and MEK2 in the RAF/MEK/ERK pathway in mammalian cells has been demonstrated to have an anti-proliferative role in cancer cells. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of U0126 on growth inhibition and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in A. fumigatus.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Germination percentage and hyphae growth in A. fumigatus treated with U0126 were observed and compared with untreated controls. Western blotting analysis was used to detect changes in activation of SakA, MpkA and MpkB.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>U0126 inhibited germination and hyphae growth in A. fumigatus and enhanced the phosphorylation of SakA and MpkA under oxidative stress. U0126 at 10 µmol/L did not block the activation of MpkB during nitrogen starvation stress.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>U0126 shows promise as an antifungal candidate and the MAPK pathway may be a possible antifungal drug target for A. fumigatus.</p>
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Aspergillus fumigatus , Butadienes , Pharmacology , Enzyme Activation , Enzyme Inhibitors , Pharmacology , MAP Kinase Signaling System , Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases , Metabolism , Nitriles , PharmacologyABSTRACT
Objective To explore the correlation between the change of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and brain tissue injury from interictal epileptic activity in patients with epilepsy. Methods Fortyeight patients with epilepsy and 30 healthy persons were included in the styudy from which the serum S100β protein levels were determined by double antibody sandwich ELISA method. SPECT rCBF imaging was performed in all patients. The visal and semi-quantitative analyses were used to analyze the epileptic foci.SPSS 11.0 was applied for variance and linear correlation analyses. Results Serum S-100β in patients with interictal epileptic activity was significantly higher than that in control group ((0.572 ± 0. 163) μg/Lvs (0.218 ±0. 134) μg/L, t =9.96, P <0.01). According to epilepsy control criteria, 20 cases achieved complete control (CC), 18 cases acheived partial control (PR). However, 10 cases got no improvement,whose serum S-100β protein ((0. 809 ±0. 056) μg/L) and the percentage change of rCBF ((0. 337 ±0. 060) %) were significantly higher than those of CC ((0.443 ± 0. 083) μg/L, (0.035 ± 0.038) %) and those of PC ((0.585 ±0. 108) μg/L, (0. 187 ±0.075)%), F=56. 740, 92. 316, P <0.01. There were high correlation between serum S-100β and the percentage change of rCBF in epilepsy patients (r =0. 887,P<0.01). Conclusion Serum S-100β protein assay combined with rCBF on SPECT imaging can make semi-quantitative diagnosis of epilepsy and help evaluate the brain damage from interictal epileptic activity.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To describe the feature of different age patients with A-H1N1.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Cross-sectional study was performed in 95 patients who were confirmed to be infected with A-H1N1 from May, 2009 to July, 2009, in according to their age.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The average age of patients with A-H1N1 infection was 23.44 +/- 14.73. Accumulative prevalence in children and young adult reached 74.7% of total patients. There was a trend that the subclinical infection rate raised gradually from 0-15 years group to over 45 years group. The percent of lymphocyte in 0-15 years group was significantly higher than other age groups, P = 0.039. The average time of virus shedding were 6.5 +/- 2.10 days (from 2 days to 12 days) , and there were no significant difference in diverse age groups, P = 0.272. 13 out of 95 (13.7%) patients presented complications related with A-H1N1 infection, and 4 of 6 patients complicated with pneumonia were in the 0-15 years group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The distribution of age in A-H1N1 infection is markedly different from seasonal influenza, with more cases in school children and young adults and fewer cases in older adults. Flu-like symptoms in children were apparent and pneumonia was the major complication in children.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Child , Humans , Age Factors , Asymptomatic Infections , Epidemiology , Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype , Virulence , Influenza A virus , Allergy and Immunology , Influenza Vaccines , Allergy and Immunology , Influenza, Human , Classification , Pathology , PrevalenceABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the etiology and clinical manifestations of 70 patients with hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The viral RNA from the pharynx swab samples were extracted and collected from 70 HFMD patients (of which, 60 cases were under 5 years old) to detect the 5'-UTR gene of EV, the Vp3-Vp1 genes of EV71 and Cox-A16 by utilizing the technique of RT-PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of 70 HFMD patients, 30 cases (42.8%, 30/70) were positive in enterovirus nucleic acid, including EV71 and Cox-A16, pharynx swab sample testing. While, of the enteroviral pathogen RNA-positive 30 cases, EV71 accounted for 66.7% (20/30). The proportion of etiological positive of 39 samples collected within 4 days after onset was 66.7% (26/39), but the probability of 31 samples collected after more than 5 days after onset was 12.9% (4/31), the difference was significantly (chi(2) = 20.4, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>HFMD patients were mainly infants and young children between 0-5 years old, but adults could also be attacked. The enterovirus detected was mainly EV71, and the pharynx swab samples should be collected within 4 days after onset to increase the related viral nucleic acid positive detection probability.</p>
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Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Young Adult , Enterovirus , Genetics , Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease , Virology , RNA, Viral , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , SerotypingABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the clinical effects and explore the mechanism of the integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in treating atopic dermatitis (AD).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty-seven patients with AD were randomly assigned to two groups, the control group and the treated group, they were treated with conventional Western medicine (10 mg Loratadine tablet, once daily) and with integrated medicine additionally given modified Jiawei Danggui Decection besides Western medicine respectively for 4 weeks. Double-sandwich ELISA was used to detect the levels of interleukin- 4, -10 and -12 (IL-4, IL-10 and IL-12) before and after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total effective rate in the treated group was 56% (14/25 cases), better than that in the control group (22.7%, 5/22 cases), showing significant difference between the two groups (X2 = 5.38, P < 0.05). Before treatment the serum levels of IL-4, IL-10 were significantly higher and level of IL-12 was lower in AD patients as compared with those in healthy persons (P < 0.01); they all restored to normal in the treated group after treatment but unchanged in the control group, showing significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The clinical effect of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine is ascertainable, its mechanism might be associated with the regulation on related cytokines.</p>
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Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Young Adult , Cytokines , Blood , Dermatitis, Atopic , Blood , Drug Therapy , Drug Therapy, Combination , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Therapeutic Uses , Integrative Medicine , Loratadine , Therapeutic UsesABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the significance of anti-soluble liver antigen/liver-pancreas (anti-SLA/LP) in diagnosing and typing autoimmune hepatitis (AIH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Six thousand patients with abnormal liver functions, who had their autoantibodies checked by immunofluorescent assay (IFA) and immune blotting assay, were reviewed retrospectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of these 6000 patients with liver diseases, 84 were diagnosed AIH. Eighteen patients, 0.3% of the 6000, patients with abnormal liver functions, were SLA/LP antibody positive, of which 17 were with AIH-III [2/17 with AIH /primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) overlap syndrome], and 1 with chronic hepatitis B. Sensitivity and specificity of SLA/LP antibody in diagnosing AIH were 20.2% and 99.7% respectively, and the positive prediction value was 94.44%. The antinuclear antibody (ANA) titer in the AIH-III group was significantly lower than that of the AIH-I group (P < 0.05). The age of patients with anti-SLA/LP was higher (58.8% were over 50 years old) than those without this antibody (52.2% were 30 to 50 years old). There were no significant differences between the type III and type I AIH regarding gender, age, abnormal degree of liver function, PTA, IgG, liver cirrhosis rates and response to immunosuppressive therapy.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Anti-SLA/LP is highly specific for diagnosing AIH. Comparing the clinical data of type III and type I AIH, we did not find significant differences between the two groups.</p>
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Autoantibodies , Allergy and Immunology , Autoantigens , Allergy and Immunology , Hepatitis, Autoimmune , Diagnosis , Allergy and Immunology , Immunoglobulin G , Allergy and Immunology , Immunophenotyping , Predictive Value of Tests , Retrospective Studies , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the heterogeneity of human breast cancer cells, their influence on biological behavior of tumor cells and clinical implications.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The subpopulations of MCF-7 breast cancer cells were isolated by Percoll gradient centrifugation. DNA content and cell cycle distribution were detected with flow cytometry. Tumor chemosensitivity analysis was performed with MTT assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Heterogeneity was observed in DNA content and cell cycle distribution among four subpopulations of breast cancer cells, which were related to their proliferation ability and chemosensitivity results.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Hereditary instability and intrinsic characteristics of most tumor cells, not only lead to tumor progression and heterogeneity but also cause the loss of monoclonality and the generation of subclones. Further study on some profiles of tumor heterogeneity such as DNA content, cell cycle distribution and their influence on tumor proliferation and chemosensitivity may very well improve the clinical treatment.</p>
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Breast Neoplasms , Drug Therapy , Pathology , Cell Cycle , Cell Division , Cell Line, Tumor , Centrifugation, Density Gradient , DNA, NeoplasmABSTRACT
Cystatin, which widely distributed in both tissues and body fluids of animal and plant, was a superfamily of cysteine proteinase inhibitors. It could form activity-inhibitor complexes with cysteine proteinases to inhibit the hydrolytic activity of proteinases. Cystatin played important roles not only in the inhibition of the proteolytic degradation of fish muscle, but also in biological defense systems against invaders. To explore the functions of fish cystatin and the potential values in fish disease prevention and cure, as well as seafood processing, the recombinant yeast strains which could express Chinese sturgeon cystatin were constructed. First, the cystatin cDNA of Chinese sturgeon, which had been PCR modified, was subcloned into yeast integrated vector pPICZaA. After extracted and purified, the recombinant plasmids were linearized by Sac I. The yeast Pichia pastoris GS115 strain was transformed by use of the Lithium Chloride transformation method, and the recombinant cystatin yeast strains got. After 0.5% methanol induction, SDS-PAGE analysis of the culture supernatant indicated that the yield of recombinant cystatin was about 215mg x L(-1) with the percentage about 73.6%. The recombinant cystatin was purified through Q-Sepharose anion-exchange chromatography, and the purity reached about 94.2%. The inhibitory activity of recombinant cystatin was measured by inhibiting the proteinase activity of papain. The results showed that about 1 microg recombinant cystatin could inhibit the activity of 15 microg papain. Heat stability assay results showed that there was a decrease in inhibitory activity of cystatin with the increasing of temperature. When solution of recombinant cystatin was kept at 70 degrees C for 5min, the inhibitory activity reduced fast. While the recombinant cystatin was heated to 90 degrees C for 5min, the inhibitory activity of recombinant cystatin was undetected. The inhibitory activity for recombinant Chinese sturgeon cystatin was higher than that of CPI (cysteine proteinase inhibitor) from seeds of corn, that about 1 microg purified CIP could inhibited the activity of 0.278 microg papain. But the heat stability of recombinant cystatin is lower than that of the corn CPI. The expression level and the activity of recombinant cystatin from yeast Pichia pastoris were higher than those from E. coli. Moreover, recombinant cystatin from Pichia pastoris was easier to separate and purify. This paper reported that recombinant fish cystatin was produced in a highly efficient expression system based on the methylotrophic yeast, further work will focus on the function of recombinant Chinese sturgeon cystatin to resist fish disease and explore the value of cystatin as a food additive to inhibit cysteine proteinases during surimi processing.