Detection and significance of 16S rDNA in the prostatic secretions of patients with chronic prostatitis / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the expression and significance of 16S rDNA in prostatic secretions (EPS) of chronic prostatitis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>16S rDNA was detected in EPS of 116 patients with chronic prostatitis by PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>16S rDNA were positively expressed in all 29 cases of II type chronic bacterial prostatitis and 71 out of 87 cases of III type chronic prostatitis (82%). The positive rates were 94% (45/48) and 67% (26/39) in lIIA and IIIB chronic prostatitis respectively. There was a statistical difference in 16S rDNA positive rate between IIIA and IlB chronic prostatitis (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Detection of 16s rDNA may be a useful index for the diagnosis and classification of chronic prostatitis.</p>

Treatment of hyperhomocysteinemia and endothelial dysfunction in renal-transplant recipients with vitamin B / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of vitamin B on treatment of hyperhomocysteinemia and endothelial dysfunction in renal-transplant recipients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-six stable hyperhomocysteinemic renal-transplant recipients were randomly assigned to vitamin treatment (group A, n = 18, folic acid 5 mg/d, vitamin B(6) 50 mg/d, B(12) 1000 microg/d) or controlled group (group B, n = 18) for 6 months. All subjects underwent assessment of levels for creatinine, creatinine clearance, average pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride and fasting homocysteine. Endothelial function was evaluated using high-resolution vascular ultrasound.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The levels of homocysteine markedly decreased in group A [(13 +/- 4) micromol/L vs (20 +/- 5) micromol/L, t = 5.3, P < 0.01] after treatment, whereas no significant changes were observed in group B. In group A, endothelium dependent [(12 +/- 5)% vs (9 +/- 5)%, t = 2.9, P < 0.01] and independent [(18 +/- 4)% vs (12 +/- 5)%, t = 3.4, P < 0.01] vasodilatation responses significantly increased after treatment, no significant changes were observed in group B. Endothelium dependent [(9 +/- 6)%, t = 2.8, P < 0.01] and independent [(12 +/- 5)%, t = 3.5, P < 0.01] vasodilatation responses of group A were significantly lower than that of group B after treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Vitamin B supplementation can reduce the levels of homocysteine and improve the endothelial function in hyperhomocysteinemic renal-transplant recipients.</p>

Analysis of eleven cases of severe pneumonia in kidney transplant recipients / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyse retrospectively the diagnosis and treatment of severe pneumonia in kidney transplantation recipients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between January 1999 and December 2003, 172 adult patients underwent kidney transplantation at our department. In all severe pneumonia cases, empirical therapy was initiated with aztreonam, erythromycin and ganciclovir. And the therapy was switched to proper antibiotics according to the results of sensitivity testing. Responsible pathogen was detected by study of BAL (bronco-alveolar-lavage), sputum and blood specimen. Analyses included cell differential count, cytopathologic examination and cultures for bacteria, fungi and viruses. The immunosuppressive therapy was drastically reduced. Hypoxia was relieved by BiPAP (Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure) or mechanical ventilation if necessary.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Seventeen cases (9.9%) of pneumonia were observed in the 172 recipients, only 11 (65%) patients experienced severe pneumonia, 1 (9%) of them died. Fever was the most common symptom on presentation (82%). On presentation 46% of the patients presented with classical clinical syndrome of fever accompanied by cough and dyspnea. Positive rate of BAL and blood culture were 100% and 46% respectively. BiPAP and mechanical ventilation were required in 6 and 2 cases respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>BAL is preferred for early detection of responsible pathogen. A combination of drastic reduction of the immunosuppressive regimen, implementation of appropriate empirical antibiotics, proper BiPAP or mechanical ventilation are important.</p>

Enhanced sensitivity to mitomycin C by abating heat shock protein 70 expression in human bladder cancer cell line of BIU-87 / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Bladder cancer is a relatively common tumor in the urinary system, in which mitomycin C (MMC)-based chemotherapy or combination chemotherapy has been mainly used to treat patients with advanced bladder cancer. The prognosis of patients with advanced bladder cancer is still extremely poor in spite of recent therapeutic advances. To improve the prognosis, the sensitivity of tumor cells to mitomycin C by the induction of apoptosis with the abating heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) expression in human bladder cancer cell lines of BIU-87 was investigated.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>HSP70 expression was abated in BIU-87 cells by HSP mRNA antisense oligomers. MTT assay and the clone-forming test were used for evaluating the sensitivity of cells to MMC. Apoptosis was assessed using both fluorescent microscopy after staining the cells with Hoechst 33258 and DNA fragment ladder agarose electrophoresis. Thirty-two male six-week-old BALB/c nude mice, at the beginning of the experiment, were used to evaluate the effect of antisense oligomers (ASO) on the tumor formation in vivo.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>HSP70 expression in BIU-87 was effectively abated by HSP70 mRNA antisense oligomers. The percentage of apoptotic cells in ASO group was greater than in sense oligomers (SO) [P < 0.05, (18.31 +/- 2.89)% vs (1.89 +/- 0.74)%], nonsense oligomers (NO) [P < 0.05, (18.31 +/- 2.89)% vs (1.78 +/- 0.92)%] and blank groups [P < 0.05, (18.31 +/- 2.89)% vs (1.87 +/- 0.84)%], while the sensitivity of tumor cells to mitomycin C was enhanced. The in vivo tumor inhibition rate of ASO plus MMC (> 50%) was more than that of ASO or MMC group alone (all P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The abating level of HSP70 expression can strengthen the sensitivity of BIU-87 to MMC. One of this effect might be related to the induction of apoptosis by abating HSP70 expression.</p>

Electron paramagnetic resonance in monitoring of nitric oxide production after kidney transplantation in rats / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Much research has been focused on ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) to the transplanted organs. As a free radical, nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in IRI. In this study, the production of NO and its functions during IRI were monitored in rat models after allotransplantation of kidney grafts.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Of 75 male LEW rats, 30 served as donors, and the remaining 45 rats were divided into three groups (15 rats in each group): controls (group 1), kidney allotransplantation followed by bilateral nephrectomy during reperfusion (group 2), 2 hours before operation, donors and recipients were treated with N(G)-nitro L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a NO synthase inhibitor, at a dose of 30 mg/kg (group 3). Bilateral nephrectomies were performed while kidney grafts were reperfused. The kidney grafts were hypothemically stored for 24 hours. The production of NO before and after reperfusion was measured by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The creatinine level, the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and the protein carbonyl content in tissue samples were recorded on the first and the fifth day after operation. The data were evaluated by one-way analysis of variance. Differences were considered to be statistically significant when a P value was less than 0.05.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After reperfusion for 15 minutes, the production of NO increased remarkably and kept increasing till 120 minutes, after which the level returned to normal. In group 3, which was pretreated with L-NAME, creatinine levels were higher than those in group 2 at the 24th hour (4.10 +/- 0.50 mg/dl vs. 3.77 +/- 0.42 mg/dl, P < 0.05) and the 120th hour (3.19 +/- 0.79 mg/dl vs. 2.22 +/- 0.53 mg/dl, P < 0.05). GFR levels in group 3 were lower than those in group 2 at the 24th hour (0.50 +/- 0.12 ml/min vs. 0.71 +/- 0.19 ml/min, P < 0.05) and the 120th hour (0.59 +/- 0.38 ml/min vs. 1.27 +/- 0.23 ml/min, P < 0.01). The content of protein carbonyl in tissue samples of group 3 was lower than that in group 2 at the 24th hour (29.01 +/- 7.02 nmol/mg protein vs. 49.39 +/- 13.13 nmol/mg protein, P < 0.05), but was higher than that at the 120th hour (75.71 +/- 16.74 nmol/mg protein vs. 57.93 +/- 15.32 nmol/mg protein, P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>After transplantation of hypothemically stored kidney grafts, the increased NO production in the early stage has protective effects on the transplanted kidney. Application of L-NAME to inhibit NO production is harmful to the recovery of the renal functions of kidney grafts.</p>

The significance of the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in bladder transitional cell carcinoma tissues / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in bladder transitional cell carcinoma tissues, and understand its clinical significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Reversal transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to assess the expression of COX-2 mRNA in 52 cases of bladder transitional cell carcinoma tissues and 17 cases of normal bladder tissues far from neoplasm; Western blot was used to assess the expression of COX-2 protein in 49 cases of bladder cancerous tissues and 17 cases of normal tissues.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Positive expression of COX-2 mRNA was detected in 83% (43/52) of bladder cancer tissues and in 29% (5/17) of normal tissues by RT-PCR and there was significant difference in expression of COX-2 mRNA between cancer tissues and normal tissues. Western blot analysis showed that expression of COX-2 protein was correlation with the stage and grade of cancer.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>COX-2 is overexpressed in bladder transitional cell carcinoma. COX-2 maybe play a certain role in carcinogenesis and progression of bladder cancer and turn into a useful target of chemoprevention of bladder cancer.</p>

Detection of serum levels of MMP-9 and VEGF in patients with bladder cancer / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect serum levels of MMP-9 and VEGF in patients with bladder cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Serum levels of MMP-9 and VEGF in 58 patients with bladder cancer and 45 healthy controls were measured by sandwich-ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum levels of MMP-9 and VEGF (737.12 micro g/L and 1148.88 ng/L) were significantly higher in the cancer patients than those of controls (423.51 micro g/L and 846.96 ng/L, P < 0.01). The serum levels were associated with tumor stage and grade. In patients with invasive cancer, the levels were significantly higher than those of superficial cancer (P < 0.01). Patients with distant metastasis had significantly higher levels of MMP-9 and VEGF than those with localized invasion (P < 0.01). But there was no significant difference between patients with superficial cancer and controls. Patients with G(3) tumors had significantly higher levels of MMP-9 and VEGF than those of patients with G(1) and G(2) tumors (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Elevated MMP-9 and VEGF levels are associated with a high stage and grade of bladder cancer and they may serve as markers of tumor progression in the future.</p>