Study on the molecular epidemiological characteristics of norovirus in acute gastroenteritis of Beijing / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the prevalence, genotypes and molecular characteristics of norovirus (NoV) in acute gastroenteritis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RT-PCR was used to determine the molecular epidemiology of NoV.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Out of 685 samples, 66 positive specimens were identified and the prevalence was 9.6% (66/685), 9.9% in males and 9.4% in females, respectively, with no significant difference. The prevalence rates showed no differences between age groups or between inpatients and outpatients. NoV gastroenteritis did not present any seasonal distribution. 43 out of the 66 specimens were classified, with 10 (22.7%) belonged to GI including 2 GI.3, 1 GI.4, 4 GI.5 and 3 GI.7. Other 33 (77.3%) belonged to GII genogroup, including GII.4 accounted for 60.6% (20/33) and followed by 7 GII.12, 2 GII.6, 1 GII.2, 1 GII.3, 1 GII.5. Six specimens mixed with GI and GII and 3 specimens were classified as GI.3/GII.7, GI.5/GII.5 and GI.4/GII.4.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The main symptoms of acute gastroenteritis were abdominal pain, nausea, vomit and fever. There were many genotypes identified in our study and the main genotypes were GII.4/2006a and 2006b. GI and GII could be coinfected with each other.</p>

Effect of L-arginine on pulmonary surfactant and alveolar macrophages in rats with pulmonary injury induced by lipopolysaccharide / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of L-Arginine (L-Arg) on pulmonary surfactant (PS) expression and alveolar macrophage (AM) in rats with pulmonary injury induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Model of acute lung injury (ALI) was made by injection (iv) with LPS 5 mg/kg in rats. Fourty-eight male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups(n = 16): control, model (LPS) and L-Arg groups. L-Arg (500 mg/kg ip ,L-Arg group) or saline (control and LPS group) was administrated at 3 h or 6 h after LPS injection respectively for 3 h. The expression of surfactant protein A (SP-A) mRNA in the lung tissue was detected by ISH. The total protein (TP) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was detected. Rat AM were isolated from the bronchial alveolar lavage fluid of SD rats and harvested by selective plating technique. LPS and L-Arg were added to the culture medium. The concentration of nitric oxide (NO),the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), the contents of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin- 6 (IL-6) in the culture supernatants were respectively measured.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the control group, the expression of SP-A mRNA was significantly decreased, the TP concentration was significantly increased in LPS group. Compared with LPS group at the same time points, treatment with L-Arg at 3 h after LPS, the expression of SP-A mRNA in lung tissue was increased markedly, whereas TP concentration was decreased significantly. In cultured rat AM, LDH activity, NO, TNF-alpha and IL-6 contents in culture medium were significantly increased in LPS group to compared with those of control group. LDH activity, TNF-alpha and IL-6 contents were decreased in L-Arg group compared with those of LPS group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>L-Arg can protect the lung against LPS-induced pulmonary injury by up-regulating the expression of PS and inhibiting inflammatory transmitters from AM.</p>

Impact of unilateral acute testicular ischemia on the contralateral testis of rabbits in anesthetic and conscious states / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the impact of unilateral acute testicular ischemia on the hemodynamics and histology of the contralateral testis of the rabbits under consistent anesthesia with that of the rabbits in the conscious state.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty-two healthy male white rabbits were randomly divided into an anesthetic group (Group A) to receive injection of sodium pentobarbital (PS) and a non-anesthetic group (Group B), each including a control group of 5 animals (A0 and B0), an incomplete testicular ischemia group of 8 (A1 and B1), and a complete testicular ischemia group of 8 (A2 and B2). Testicular ischemia models were constructed by color Doppler ultrasonography. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) was used to observe the perfusion of the contralateral testes before and after ligating and loosening the unilateral spermatic cord in each experimental group. The control animals also underwent CEUS and measurement of the heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) at the corresponding time. Histological structure changes in the contralateral testes of the rabbits were observed in both anesthetic and conscious states.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>PS anesthesia markedly suppressed the HR and BP of the rabbits. The parameters in Groups of A0, A1 and A2 showed no statistically significant changes after unilateral ligation of the spermatic cord, while Groups B1 and B2 displayed significantly decreased peak-base difference (PBD) and prolonged arrival time (AT) and half time of descending peak intensity (HT). Groups A1, B1 and B2 showed significantly increased PBD and prolonged HT shortly after loosening the spermatic cord. Focal pathological and ultrastructural changes were observed in the contralateral testes of the ischemic rabbits, but no significant difference was found in Johnson's score in comparison with the controls. The apoptotic cells were remarkably increased in Groups A1, B1 and B2.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Acute testicular ischemia may induce injury to the contralateral testis to some degree, and a reflexive sympathetic response may cause hemodynamic changes in the non-anesthetic state. And the neural and vascular inhibitory effects of anesthesia could make insignificant changes of blood perfusion in the contralateral testis.</p>

Viral shedding in Chinese young adults with mild 2009 H1N1 influenza / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The duration of viral shedding and the transmission of 2009 H1N1 influenza among individuals, especially among the younger population with mild illness, are not well understood now. The aim of this study was to determine the viral shedding of the young adult patients with mild 2009 H1N1 influenza in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From September 2009 to January 2010, the clinical data and serial nasopharyngeal swabs of 67 patients with 2009 H1N1 influenza and 37 patients with seasonal influenza aged from 18 years to 35 years were collected. The nasopharyngeal swab samples were detected by real time RT-PCR to determine the viral shedding. All the patients did not receive the antiviral therapy but Chinese medicine for detoxicating.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the patients with H1N1 virus infection, 82.1% (55/67) patients presented with fever symptom, while more patients with high fever (≥ 39°C) were found in seasonal influenza patients (P < 0.05). For the H1N1 patients, the median interval between the symptom onset and the undetectable RNA was six days (4 - 10 days). But viral shedding was still found in 31.3% patients after 7 days following illness onset. The median interval between disappearance of fever and an undetectable viral RNA level was three days (2 - 8 days), and 17.9% patients were found to be viral shedding 6 days later after normalization of body temperature. For the seasonal influenza patients, 94.6% patients were detected out viral RNA within 7 days. The median interval of seasonal influenza between the symptom onset and the undetectable RNA was four days (3 - 8 days). The median interval between disappearance of fever and an undetectable viral RNA level was three days (2 - 6 days).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>It suggests that 7 days isolation period from the illness onset or 24 hours after the resolution of fever and respiratory symptoms are not long enough to cut off the transmission among Chinese young adults with mild illness.</p>

Ischemic postconditioning reduces testis ischemia-reperfusion injury in rabbits / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the protective effect of ischemic postconditioning (IP) against different degrees of testicular ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in rabbits.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty-two white male rabbits were equally randomized into 7 groups: a control, 3 IR (R1, R2 and R3), and 3 IP (P1, P2 and P3) groups. Testicular models of different degrees of ischemia were established in the IR and IP groups. Before reperfusion, ultrasonography showed homogeneous echoes with slightly decreased blood flow in R1 and P1, heterogeneous echoes with obviously decreased blood flow in R2 and P2, lamellar or fragmental low echo areas absent of blood flow signals in R3 and P3. Then the IR groups were directly subjected to perfusion, and the IP groups to 3 episodes of 30-second reperfusion followed by 30-second ischemia. All the groups underwent contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) before reperfusion and, after 3 days, examined for the contents of malonaldehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and histology, and observed for the pathological changes of the testicular tissue.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Before reperfusion, no significant differences were found in the CEUS parameters beta, time-to- peak (TTP), peak-base intensity (PBD) and half of declining time (DT/2) between R1 and P1, R2 and P2, and R3 and P3 (P>0.05). There were remarkable differences in MDA and SOD between R1 and P1, and R2 and P2 (P<0.05), but not between R3 and P3 (P >0.05). Johnson's score, apoptosis index and ultrastructure showed marked differences between R1 and P1 (P<0.05) but not between R2 and P2, and R3 and P3 (P >0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>IP can attenuate IR-induced testis injury, but the effect varies with the degree of ischemia, and its pathological manifestation differs from the biochemical one.</p>

Effects of propofol on the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB and cardiomyocytes apoptosis during myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the molecular mechanisms of propofol in myocardial protection, the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes were examined.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rat myocardium I/R injury was induced by occluding the left main coronary artery for 30 min and reperfusion for 2 h. Propofol was intravenously given 15 min before ischemia. The pathological changes of myocardium were examined by light and electron microscopy. The translocation of NF-kappaB in the cardiomyocytes was detected by immunohistochemistry. The expressions of NF-kappaB and caspase-3 were determined by Western blot. The incidence of cardiomyocyte apoptosis was detected by the TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The pathological changes of myocardium induced by I/R injury, such as cardiomyocyte swelling, myofibrillar lysis, disorganized, mitochondrial membrane swelling, and the cristae disruption were significantly alleviated by 6, 12 mg/(kg x h) propofol. Compared with the sham control group, NF-kappaB significantly translocated from the cytoplasm into the nucleus in the I/R group. And the expression of NF-kappaB in the nuclei markedly increased (P < 0.05). In addition, the expression of caspase-3 and the apoptosis index were significantly increased in the I/R group (P < 0.05). Compared with those of I/R group, administration of propofol at 6, 12 mg/(kg x h) significantly inhibited the NF-kappaB translocation into nucleus and attenuated the expression of NF-kappaB in the nuclei (P < 0.05), decreased the expression of caspase-3 in myocardium (P < 0.05) and inhibited the occurrence of cardiomyocytes apoptosis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Propofol could inhibit NF-kappaB activation and down-regulate the expression of caspase-3 and as a result suppress cardiomyocytes apoptotic initiation during the myocardium I/R injury, which may be one of the molecular mechanisms of its cardioprotection.</p>

Control of iodine deficiency disorders following 10-year universal salt iodization in Hebei Province of China / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effectiveness of universal salt iodization (USI) for the control of IDD in Hebei province since it was implemented in 1995, identify the problems currently encountered in the implementation of USI and provide practical proposals for addressing these problems.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Probability proportionate to size sampling (PPS) was employed in the surveillance of IDD, for which a total of 1200 school children aged 8-10 years were randomly selected from 30 counties around the whole province during each IDD survey. The iodine content of salt was determined quantitatively with the titration method. The iodine content of urinary samples was measured by the method of ammonium persulfate oxidation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The coverage of iodized salt increased from 65.0% in 1995 to 98.0% in 1999, then decreased to 88.1% in 2005 which was below the national standard of 90%. The median urinary iodine of children aged 8-10 years varied between 160.1 microg/L and 307.4 microg/L, which was above the national standard. The proportion of urinary samples with iodine content above 300 microg/L was over 30% in 2005, implying exorbitant iodine nutrition among the children. The goiter rate (TGR) among children aged 8-10 years dropped from 11.8% in 1995 to 2.7% in 2005, indicating that the spread of endemic goiter was under control.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Preliminary elimination of IDD was achieved by USI in Hebei province. Nevertheless, some problems still existed in USI such as non-iodized salt competition, over iodization and un-standardized iodization. In order to address these problems, the management and supervision of salt market needs to be strengthened to prevent non-iodized salt from reaching households; updating equipment and modifying techniques are also necessary to ensure the quality of iodized salt; to clarify the causes of excessive urinary iodine content, the various sources of iodine from the diet need to be investigated in the future.</p>

Effects of propofol on cardiomyocytes apoptosis and its mechanism after ischemia/reperfusion injury in isolated rat hearts / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the protective effect of propofol on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in isolated rat hearts and clarify the possible molecular mechanism from oxidative stress and the apoptosis initiated by mitochondria pathway.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The Langendorff model of ischemia/reperfusion was used. Forty isolated perfused rat hearts were randomly divided into control, I/R, propofol 15, 30, 60 micromol x L(-1) groups. Hearts were suffered globally ischemia for 25 min and 30 min with reperfusion. The cardiac function indexes such as the left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP), the left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVDEP), heart rate (HR), coronary arterial flow (CF) were recorded at the time of equilibration, before ischemia, the end of reperfusion respectively. The lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) activities in the flow were measured. The swelling and activity of mitochondria, the activity of manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) and content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in myocardium mitochondria were also determined. The incidence of cardiomyocyte of apoptosis and the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax were evaluated by Flow Cytometry (FCM). The expression of caspase-3, 8, 9 was detected by immunohistochemistry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with I/R group, administration of propofol at the concentration of 30 and 60 micromol x L(-1) markedly ameliorated the cardiac function in CF, LVDP and LVDEP (P < 0.05), distinctly reduced the activities of the LDH and CK in the flow (P < 0.05) and the mitochondrial swelling, the content of MDA in myocardium mitochondria (P < 0.05), and significantly enhanced the activity of Mn-SOD in myocardium mitochondria (P < 0.05). The apoptotic index in propofol 30, 60 micromol x L(-1) group was markedly lower than that of I/R group. The expression of Bcl-2 protein in 30, 60 micromol x L(-1) propofol was higher than that of I/R group (P < 0.05). The expressions of Bax, caspase-9, 3 protein in 30, 60 micromol x L(-1) propofol were obviously lower than those of I/R group( P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in expression of caspase-8 between propofol administrated groups and I/R group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>It could be concluded that propofol administrated before ischemia and during reperfusion has cardioprotective effects on ischemia/reperfusion injury in the isolated rat heart. The effect is associated with diminishing oxidative stress, protecting mitochondria from peroxidative injury, thus interfering with the mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathway might be one of the major mechanisms of its cardioprotection.</p>

Effects of Fufang Xiaojingtong capsules on uterine activity of animals / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe effects of Fufang Xiaojingtong capsules (FXJTC) on activities of the uterine smooth muscle of the rat in vitro and the uterus of the rabbit in vivo.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The isolated rat uterine smooth muscle strips were mounted in a Magnus bath containing Locke's solution with a final content of 12.48, 6.24 or 3.12 mg x mL(-1) of FXJTC at 37 degrees C; and 2.0, 1.0 and 0.5 g x kg(-1) of FXJTC and 2.0 g x kg(-1) of Tianqi Tongjing capsules were respectively given to the rabbits through the duodenum, respectively. Their effects on frequency, amplitude and activity of contraction of the rat uterus in vitro and the rabbit uterus in vivo were investigated.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>FXJTC could significantly inhibit the frequency, amplitude and activity of contraction of the normal rat uterus in vitro and decrease the oxytocin-induced increase of contraction of the rabbit uterus in vitro; lowered the frequency, amplitude and activity of contraction of the rabbit uterus in vivo and inhibit the oxytocin-induced the strengthening of contraction of the rabbit uterus in vivo.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Fufang Xiaojingtong capsules maybe used for treatment of dysmenorrhea induced by spasm of uterine smooth muscle.</p>

Effects of L-arginine and aminoguanidine on the endotoxin induced lung injury in rats / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the effects of L-arginine and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor Aminoguanidine (AG) on endotoxin induced lung injury in rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty eight healthy male SD rats weighing (300 +/- 20) g were used. The animals were anesthetized with 20% urethane 1 g x kg(-1). Common carotid artery (CAA) and common carotid vein (CAV) were exposed through a median incision in the neck. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was measured through a pressure transducer connected with intubation of CAA. The animals were randomly divided into six groups: group 1: control: group 2: LPS (5 mg x kg(-1) intravenous injection, i.v.); group 3: AG (50 mg x kg(-1) intraperitoneal injection, IP); group 4: high dose L-arginine (500 mg x kg(-1), IP); group 5: low dose L-arginine (250 mg x kg(-1) IP). Group 6: L-arginine + AG (250 mg x kg(-1), 50 mg x kg(-1), IP). Group 1: The animals were killed 6 h after 0.9% saline solution was given. Group 2: 0.9% saline solution was given 3 h after LPS i.v. and the animals were killed 3 h after medication. Group 3, 4, 5 and 6: AG, L-arginine and L-arginine+ AG were given 3 h after LPS i.v. respectively and the animals were killed 3 h after medication respectively. The pulmonary was removed immediately. The pulmonary coefficient and water content in pulmonary tissue were calculated (%). The NO content in plasma, MDA content and NOS, SOD activity in the pulmonary tissue were measured.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>L-arginine, AG and L-arginine + AG significantly decreased pulmonary coefficient and water content in pulmonary tissue and ameliorated endotoxin induced lung injury. AG and L-arginine + AG significantly decreased NO content in plasma, decreased MDA content and inhibited NOS activity and enhanced SOD activity in the pulmonary tissue.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>It may be concluded that L-arginine, AG and L-arginine + AG have beneficial effects on lung injury induced by LPS.</p>