Qualitative Study on the Cognition Status of Organ Donors’ Family Members to Advance Care Planning / 中国医学伦理学

Discussing the cognition, attitude and influencing factors of the family members of organ donors towards advance care planning (ACP) to provide a basis for the further promotion of ACP in the field of organ donation. Using qualitative research methods, 8 family members of organ donors were selected purposefully for semi-structured interviews, and the 7-step of Colaizzi was used to analyze and summarize the themes of the interview data. The results showed that the cognition status of the family members of organ donors of ACP could be summarized into 3 themes: problems faced by ACP implementation, positive recognition of the implementation of ACP, factors affecting the promotion of ACP. Organ donors’ family members are unfamiliar with the concept of ACP and have unclear cognition, but think that the implementation of ACP is of positive significance. It is suggested to further strengthen the publicity of ACP, medical autonomy, death education, so as to promote the development of ACP and improve the willing to donate organ.

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Cyclosporin A Combined with Recombined Human Erythropoietin in the Treatment of Patients with Chronic Aplastic Anemia / 中国医学科学院学报

Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of cyclosporin A(CsA)and CsA combined with recombined human erythropoietin(rhEPO)in the treatment of patients with chronic aplastic anemia(CAA).Methods Data of 79 patients with CAA treated at Department of Hematology,PUMC Hospital between January 2016 and June 2018 were collected for retrospective analysis.Forty-five patients were treated with CsA+rhEPO,and the other 34 patients with CsA alone.All the enrolled patients were treated for at least 1.5-2.0 years and followed for at least 1.0 year.The efficacy,side effects,long-term outcomes were compared between the two groups,and factors that may influence the efficacy were analyzed.Results The patients treated with CsA+rhEPO included 14 males and 31 females,with a median age of 43(19,73)years old.The median treatment duration of CsA and rhEPO was 26(12,38)and 4(3,6)months,respectively,and the median followed-up time was 24(12,42)months.The patients treated with CsA alone included 16 males and 18 females,with a median age of 36(16,85)years old.The median CsA treatment duration was 24(12,40)months and the median follow-up time was 25(12,40)months.There was no statistical difference in baseline characteristics between the two groups(all

Cloning and analysis of a NBS-LRR disease resistance gene candidate PnAG1 from peanut (Arachis hypogaea L. )

Background: Based on the conserved sequences of a known NBS resistance gene, a pair of degenerate primers was designed to amplify the NBS-LRR resistance gene from peanut using PCR and RACE methods. Results: Analyzing the amino acid sequence by BLAST on NCBI, which was deduced from the 1088bp-long gene named PnAG1-2, showed that it had a certain homology with some resistance proteins, among which Arachis cardenasii resistance protein gene had the highest homology (66 percent). Relative quantification PCR analysis indicated that PnAG1-2 gene expresses more in J11 (an A. flavus-resistant variety) than in JH1012 (an A. flavus-susceptible variety) when the harvest time was coming. Conclusions: In this study, the NBS-LRR resistance sequence was successfully cloned from peanut and prokaryotic expression was done on the gene, which provided a foundation for cultivating anti-A. flavus peanut varieties.

Giant malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors of the occipital scalp.

Background: Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) are rare neoplasms, usually arising from peripheral nerves or showing a nerve sheath differentiation. Primary MPNSTs of the scalp is exceptionally rare, and only sporadic cases have been reported recently. Objectives: Report a rare case of giant malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) beneath occipital scalp, and discuss how to treat with this kind of tumor. Methods: Descriptive study of a rare case of giant peripheral nerve sheath tumors of occipital scalp without adjuvant treatment with nine months follow up. Results: In a 52-year-old man with MPNSTs beneath occipital scalp, the tumor was treated with complete surgical resection. Histological examination proved that the lesion was a scalp MPNST. The patient was followed up asymptomatic for the following nine months after surgical resection without adjuvant radiotherapy. Conclusion: MPNSTs beneath the occipital scalp should be treated individually, for those well-circumscribed MPNSTs without bone destruction or brain invasion (low-grade tumors), complete surgical resection with clear margins (if possible) is recommended. Otherwise, adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy is necessary.

Isolation and expression analysis of LEA genes in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.).

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) protein family is a large protein family that includes proteins accumulated at late stages of seed development or in vegetative tissues in response to drought, salinity, cold stress and exogenous application of abscisic acid. In order to isolate peanut genes, an expressed sequence tag (EST) sequencing project was carried out using a peanut seed cDNA library. From 6258 ESTs, 19 LEA-encoding genes were identified and could be classified into eight distinct groups. Expression of these genes in seeds at different developmental stages and in various peanut tissues was analysed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The results showed that expression levels of LEA genes were generally high in seeds. Some LEA protein genes were expressed at a high level in non-seed tissues such as root, stem, leaf, flower and gynophore. These results provided valuable information for the functional and regulatory studies on peanut LEA genes.

Clinical study on hybrid bioartificial liver supporting system for acute on chronic liver failure patients / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To construct an hybrid bioartificial liver supporting system, and observe its effectiveness and safety on patients with acute on chronic liver failure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Hybrid bioartificial liver supporting system (HBALSS) was constructed using bioreactor with HepG2 cells transfected with human augmenter of liver regeneration (hALR) gene. 12 acute on chronic liver failure patients were divided into 2 groups randomly. The treatment group was treated with the hybrid bioartificial liver support system. The group underwent plasma exchange was used as control.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the treatment group, four patients recovered, one patient died of hepatic encephalopathy, one patient died of hepatorenal syndrome, one patient recovered, but died of gastrointestnal bleeding after 1 year. In control group, two patients recovered, one patient underwent orthotropic liver transplantation, and three patients died of liver failure.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The hybrid bioartificial liver supporting system with HepG2 cell line was established successfully and have certain safety and effectiveness on acute on chronic liver failure patients.</p>

Toxicokinetics of paraquat in rabbits / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>to develop a high performance liquid chromatography method (HPLC) for the determination of paraquat in rabbit plasma and study its toxicokinetics in rabbits.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>twelve rabbits were randomly divided into 2 groups with giving oral and intravenous administration of paraquat at a single dose of 60 mg/kg and 6 mg/kg respectively. The plasma paraquat concentrations were determined by HPLC and calculated by DAS pharmacokinetics program.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>the linear range of paraquat in plasma was 0.05 ∼ 50.00 mg/L (r = 0.9998). The relative recoveries of the assay were 99.41% ∼ 102.32%. The absolute recoveries of the assay were 83.72% ∼ 90.48%. Both the intra-day and inter-day validations were less than 10%. For oral administration, the toxicokinetics parameters of paraquat were as follows: Cmax (14.46 ± 2.35) mg/L, Tmax (1.63 ± 0.31) h, AUC(0-t) (177.61 ± 14.62) mg × h/L, AUC(0-∞) (182.24 ± 14.54) mg × h/L, While for intravenous administration, the toxicokinetics parameters of paraquat: Cmax (35.13 ± 5.53) mg/L, Tmax 0.05 h, AUC(0-t) (121.74 ± 12.30) mg × h/L, AUC(0-∞) (125.12 ± 12.17) mg × h/L, The difference of these parameters between the two groups had statistical significance (P < 0.05). The oral bioavailability was (14.66 ± 1.55)%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>the oral bioavailability of paraquat is relatively low. The biological half life of paraquat is relatively long and there is no significant difference between oral administration and intravenous on biological half life. This method is simple, sensitive and accurate. It can be used for the investigation of paraquat in rabbits.</p>

Construction and experimental study on off-line hybrid bioartificial liver supporting system with human liver cell line / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To construct an off-line hybrid bioartificial liver supporting system with human liver cell line, and study it's effect on the plasma from patients with liver failure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We established the bioreactor using Psu-2s (Fresenius) cultured with Hep G2 cell transfected with human augmenter of liver regeneration (hALR) gene, then constructed a hybrid bioartificial liver supporting system, at last using the bioartificial liver support system to purify the plasma treated 2 hours with serum bilirubin absorbent, separated from acute on chronic liver failure patients infected by hepatitis B virus.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Bioreactor was successful constructed. The cell viability in perigastrum of bioreactor is 85.2% and cell propagated rapidly. Before and after treating with bilirubin absorbent, serum total bilirubin was (176.19 +/- 54.14) micromol/L and (50.1 +/- 16.85) micromol/L respectively (P = 0.0002). While there were no significance difference in the level of albumin, urea and glucose. At the begin and end of treatment with bioartificial liver, serum total bilirubin was (50.10 +/- 16.85) micromol/L and (30.27 +/- 15.02) micromol/L respectively (P = 0.000), the urea and albumin increased, urea has significantly difference, but the change of albumin hasn't.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The off-line hybrid bioartificial liver supporting system with human liver cell line were builded successfully and have synthesis and metabolism functions for acute on chronic liver failure patients.</p>

Cloning and sequence analysis of putative type II fatty acid synthase genes from Arachis hypogaea L.

The cultivated peanut is a valuable source of dietary oil and ranks fi fth among the world oil crops. Plant fatty acid biosynthesis is catalysed by type II fatty acid synthase (FAS) in plastids and mitochondria. By constructing a full-length cDNA library derived from immature peanut seeds and homology-based cloning, candidate genes of acyl carrier protein (ACP), malonyl-CoA:ACP transacylase, β-ketoacyl-ACP synthase (I, II, III), β-ketoacyl-ACP reductase, β-hydroxyacyl-ACP dehydrase and enoyl-ACP reductase were isolated. Sequence alignments revealed that primary structures of type II FAS enzymes were highly conserved in higher plants and the catalytic residues were strictly conserved in Escherichia coli and higher plants. Homologue numbers of each type II FAS gene expressing in developing peanut seeds varied from 1 in KASII, KASIII and HD to 5 in ENR. The number of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was quite different in each gene. Peanut type II FAS genes were predicted to target plastids except ACP2 and ACP3. The results suggested that peanut may contain two type II FAS systems in plastids and mitochondria. The type II FAS enzymes in higher plants may have similar functions as those in E. coli.