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<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Preterm premature rupture of membrane (PPROM) can lead to serious consequences such as intrauterine infection, prolapse of the umbilical cord, and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome. Genital infection is a very important risk which closely related with PPROM. The preliminary study only made qualitative research on genital infection, but there was no deep and clear judgment about the effects of pathogenic bacteria. This study was to analyze the association of infections with PPROM in pregnant women in Shaanxi, China, and to establish Bayesian stepwise discriminant analysis to predict the incidence of PPROM.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In training group, the 112 pregnant women with PPROM were enrolled in the case subgroup, and 108 normal pregnant women in the control subgroup using an unmatched case-control method. The sociodemographic characteristics of these participants were collected by face-to-face interviews. Vaginal excretions from each participant were sampled at 28-36+6 weeks of pregnancy using a sterile swab. DNA corresponding to Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), Candida albicans, group B streptococci (GBS), herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), and HSV-2 were detected in each participant by real-time polymerase chain reaction. A model of Bayesian discriminant analysis was established and then verified by a multicenter validation group that included 500 participants in the case subgroup and 500 participants in the control subgroup from five different hospitals in the Shaanxi province, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The sociological characteristics were not significantly different between the case and control subgroups in both training and validation groups (all P > 0.05). In training group, the infection rates of UU (11.6% vs. 3.7%), CT (17.0% vs. 5.6%), and GBS (22.3% vs. 6.5%) showed statistically different between the case and control subgroups (all P < 0.05), log-transformed quantification of UU, CT, GBS, and HSV-2 showed statistically different between the case and control subgroups (P < 0.05). All etiological agents were introduced into the Bayesian stepwise discriminant model showed that UU, CT, and GBS infections were the main contributors to PPROM, with coefficients of 0.441, 3.347, and 4.126, respectively. The accuracy rates of the Bayesian stepwise discriminant analysis between the case and control subgroup were 84.1% and 86.8% in the training and validation groups, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>This study established a Bayesian stepwise discriminant model to predict the incidence of PPROM. The UU, CT, and GBS infections were discriminant factors for PPROM according to a Bayesian stepwise discriminant analysis. This model could provide a new method for the early predicting of PPROM in pregnant women.</p>
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Objective: To examine and analyze the expression of two isoforms of livin (livin α/livin β), a novel inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family member, in tumor cell lines and malignant tumor tissues and analyze the relationship between livin expression and clinical pathological features of different tumors. Methods: Livin mBNA expression was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (BT-PCR) in 12 malignant tumor cell lines, 50 different malignant tumor tissues, and 20 cases of normal tissues. Results: Livin mBNA was highly expressed in seven cell lines (Hela, SPEA-1, SBE-2, PC14, MKN45, LOVO, and HHCC) and poor expressed in A549 cells, It had negative expression in other four kinds of cell lines ( HL-7702, Hep-2, 7721 and K562). Livin mRNA was positively expressed in 32 of 50 malignant tumor cases (64.0%). The expression of livin mRNA was at low level in paracancerous tumors tissues (2%). Livin expression had no significant association with differentiation degree, lymph node metastasis and TNM staging of tumor patients. Conclusion: Livin expression in tumor cell lines and malignant tumor tissues provides stronger evidence for further investigating the relationship between livin and tumor initiation and development. It may serve as a new target for malignant tumor diagnosis and therapy.
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OBJECTIVE@#To construct the recombined retroviral expression vector of BMP2/pLEGFP and investigate the bio-activity of the expressed chimeric protein.@*METHODS@#The recombinant vector constructed by gene recombinant technology was analyzed by restriction enzyme digestion and PCR. BMP2/pLEGFP was transfected into COS-7 cells with liposome transfection reagents for transient expression. The expression of chimeric protein BMP2/EGFP was identified by fluorescent microscope and Western blotting. The bio-activity was examined by the cellular activity and animal heterotopic osteogenesis experiment.@*RESULTS@#The recombinant plasmid proved successful by restriction enzyme digestion and PCR. The expression of the chimeric protein was shown by fluorescent microscope and Western blotting. The chimeric protein had the double bio-activities of BMP2 and EGFP identified by the cellular activity and animal heterotopic osteogenesis tests.@*CONCLUSION@#The recombinant vector of BMP2/pLEGFP is successfully constructed by the gene recombinant technology and its chimeric protein has double bioactivities of BMP2 and EGFP.