Assessment of information security literacy and its risk factors of disease control and prevention information system in Jinshan District / 上海预防医学

Objective:To assess the current situation of information security literacy， and determine its factors. Methods:Literature review and Delphi method were used to design a questionnaire on information security literacy. All users of disease control information system in Jinshan District，Shanghai were investigated. The questionnaire included information security related knowledge， awareness， role cognition， and behavior. Results:The overall proportion of information security literacy was determined to be 7.98%. Information security knowledge， awareness， role cognition， and behavior was identified in 17.18%， 37.42%， 62.58%， and 38.04% of the users， respectively. Sex， age and type of information system account were associated with the information security literacy. Conclusion:Information security literacy remains low in Jinshan District， which may not meet the current requirement in work. Particularly， information security behavior is at risk， which warrants further improvement in the information security management.

Efficacy and safety of Shenyankangfu Tablet, a Chinese patent medicine, for primary glomerulonephritis: A multicenter randomized controlled trial / 中西医结合学报

BACKGROUND@#Shenyankangfu Tablet (SYKFT) is a Chinese patent medicine that has been used widely to decrease proteinuria and the progression of chronic kidney disease.@*OBJECTIVE@#This trial compared the efficacy and safety of SYKFT, for the control of proteinuria in primary glomerulonephritis patients, against the standard drug, losartan potassium.@*DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION@#This was a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Primary glomerulonephritis patients, aged 18-70 years, with blood pressure ≤ 140/90 mmHg, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 45 mL/min per 1.73 m@*MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES@#The primary outcome was change in the 24-hour proteinuria level, after 48 weeks of treatment.@*RESULTS@#A total of 735 participants were enrolled. The percent decline of urine protein quantification in the SYKFT group after 48 weeks was 8.78% ± 2.56% (P = 0.006) more than that in the losartan 50 mg group, which was 0.51% ± 2.54% (P = 1.000) less than that in the losartan 100 mg group. Compared with the losartan potassium 50 mg group, the SYKFT plus losartan potassium 50 mg group had a 13.39% ± 2.49% (P < 0.001) greater reduction in urine protein level. Compared with the losartan potassium 100 mg group, the SYKFT plus losartan potassium 100 mg group had a 9.77% ± 2.52% (P = 0.001) greater reduction in urine protein. With a superiority threshold of 15%, neither was statistically significant. eGFR, serum creatinine and serum albumin from the baseline did not change statistically significant. The average change in TCM syndrome score between the patients who took SYKFT (-3.00 [-6.00, -2.00]) and who did not take SYKFT (-2.00 [-5.00, 0]) was statistically significant (P = 0.003). No obvious adverse reactions were observed in any group.@*CONCLUSION@#SYKFT decreased the proteinuria and improved the TCM syndrome scores of primary glomerulonephritis patients, with no change in the rate of decrease in the eGFR. SYKFT plus losartan potassium therapy decreased proteinuria more than losartan potassium therapy alone.@*TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER@#NCT02063100 on ClinicalTrials.gov.

Immunomodulatory effects of flazin from Crassostrea sikamea on splenic lymphocytes of Sprague-Dawley rats / 中国天然药物

Crassostrea sikamea (C.sikamea) is an important edible and medicinal seafood in China. In the present study, a compound named flazin was separated and identified from the ethyl acetate extract of C.sikamea (EAECs) for the first time. In addition, the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetra zolium (MTS) assay revealed that EAECs and flazin inhibited the transformation of splenic lymphocytes in vitro. Moreover, flazin (20 μg·mL

Serum Metabolomic Indicates Potential Biomarkers and Metabolic Pathways of Pediatric Kashin-Beck Disease / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

Objective@#To explore potential serum biomarkers of children with Kashin-Beck Disease (KBD) and the metabolic pathways to which the biomarkers belong.@*Methods@#A two-stage metabolomic study was employed. The discovery cohort included 56 patients, 51 internal controls, and 50 external controls. The metabolites were determined by HPLC-(Q-TOF)-MS and confirmed by Human Metabolome Databases (HMDB) and Metlin databases. MetaboAnalyst 3.0 and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database were used to analyze the metabolic pathways of the candidate metabolites. The use of HPLC-(Q-TRAP)-MS enabled quantitative detection of the target metabolites which were chosen using the discovery study and verified in another independent verification cohort of 31 patients, 41 internal controls, and 50 external controls.@*Results@#Eight candidate metabolites were identified out in the discovery study, namely kynurenic acid, N-α-acetylarginine, 6-hydroxymelatonin, sphinganine, ceramide, sphingosine-1P, spermidine, and glycine. These metabolites exist in sphingolipid, glutathione, and tryptophan metabolic pathways. In the second-stage study, five candidate metabolites were validated, including kynurenic acid, N-α-acetylarginine, sphinganine, spermidine, and sphingosine-1P. Except for spermidine, all substances exhibited low expression in the case group compared with the external control group, and the difference in levels of sphinganine, spermidine, and sphingosine-1P was statistically significant.@*Conclusion@#The direction of change of levels of sphinganine, spermidine, and sphingosine-1P in the two-stage study cohorts was completely consistent, and the differences were statistically significant. Therefore, these substances can be used as potential biomarkers of KBD. Furthermore, these results raise the possibility that sphingolipid metabolic pathways may be closely related to KBD.

Effect of parental factors on junior high students′ physical activity in their leisure time outside school / 上海预防医学

Objective To investigate the effects of parental support for the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) of their children and to promote physical activity for children and adolescents. Methods A total of 622 students were selected by stratified clustering sampling methods.Physical activity and parental support factors were assessed by self-report questionnaire survey.Logistic regression was used to analyze determinants of physical inactivity. Results Nearly 58.7% of the parents purchased sports equipment for their children and 57.6% of the parents accompanied their children to do exercise.The rate of parental explicit modeling was 22.8%.The students who received parental logistic support and explicit modeling did longer MVPA on weekends.The students with parental logistic support were prone to be in activity (OR=1.51, 95%CI:1.01-2.27). Conclusion Family-based interventions from parental logistic support and explicit modeling could promote middle-to-high-intensity activities for junior high school students.

Analysis of Clinical Features and Prognosis of Patients with Chronic Neutrophil Leukemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To provide clinical basis for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL) and to provide possible molecular targets for the treatment.@*METHODS@#By summarizing the clinical data of 14 patients with CNL, the clinical characteristics, gene mutation types and possible prognostic factors were analyzed.@*RESULTS@#Among the 14 patients with CNL, males (9 cases) were more than females (5 cases), with a median age of 57 years old. The detection rate of CSF3R mutation was 92.86% (13/14), including 12 cases (85.71%) with T318I mutation and 1 case of Y799X mutation, and only 1 case was not detected for mutation of CSF3R. The ASXL1 mutation was detected in 42.86% (6/14) of the patients, all of which were nonsense mutations, including 4 cases with R693X and 2 cases with E705X, and 14.29% (2/14) of the patients was detected for SETBP1 mutation, all of which were with D868N mutation. No patients with simultaneous ASXL1 and SETBP1 mutations were found, and JAK2 and CALR mutations were not detected. All of the patients had normal karyotypes. These patients' median survival time was 30 months (95%CI 13.19-46.80), and the influence of age over 60 years old was statistically significant (21.83 months vs 35.35 months) (P＜0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#It is difficult to diagnose CNL. CSF3R T618I mutation is its specific mutation, and ASXL1 mutation and SETBP1 mutation have auxiliary diagnostic significance for CNL. The age＞60 years old at diagnosis is a factor of unfavourable prognosis.

The effect of ambient temperature on the activity influenza like illness andlaboratory-confirmed influenza in Wuxi City / 中华疾病控制杂志

Objective To evaluate the effect of ambient temperature on the activity influenza like illness (ILI) and laboratory-confirmed influenza (LAB) in Wuxi City. Methods Daily data of meteorological, ILI and detected influenza virus from 31 December 2012 to 31 December 2017 were collected. Distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was used to evaluate the exposure-lag-response of ILI and LAB activity to daily ambient temperature.Results During the period, the overall ILI% was 4.96% and influenza detection positive rate was 12.28% in Wuxi city. The overall cumulative association analysis suggested non-linear relationship between ambient temperature and influenza: U-shaped for ILI, while L-shaped relationship for LAB. Low temperature (＜10℃ ) had strong and longer delay effect than hightemperature (＞20℃ ) for ILI. The cold effect for LAB was stronger and longer delay，and the low temperature (＜10℃ ) was risk factor for LAB. Conclusions The ambient temperature significant correlates with ILI and LAB, and low temperature might be risk factor with lag effect.

Effects of Niaoduqing Particles () on Delaying Progression of Renal Dysfunction: A Post-trial, Open-Label, Follow-up Study / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To follow up the participants of the randomized clinical trial "Efficacy and Safety of Niaoduqing Particles () for Delaying Moderate-to-Severe Renal Dysfunction", and assess the long-term effects of Niaoduqing Particles on delaying the progression of renal dysfunction.@*METHODS@#Participants, who had previously been randomly assigned to receive Niaoduqing Particles or placebo for 24 weeks (146 cases in each group), were invited to follow-up and all were administered Niaoduqing Particles 5 g thrice daily and 10 g before bedtime for 24 weeks. The primary endpoints were changes in baseline serum creatinine (Scr) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) after completion of the open-label treatment period.@*RESULTS@#After the double-blind period, the median (interquartile range) changes in Scr were 1.1 (-13.0-24.1) and 11.7 (-2.6-42.9) μmol/L for the Niaoduqing Particle and placebo groups, respectively (P=0.008), and the median changes in eGFRs were-0.2 (-4.3-2.7) and-2.21 (-5.7-0.8) mL•min•1.73 m, respectively (P=0.016). There were significant differences in the double-blind period changes in renal function between groups. After the open-label period, the median changes in Scr were 9.0 (-10.0-41.9) and 17.5 (-6.0-50.0) μmol/L for the Niaoduqing Particle and placebo groups according to baseline grouping, respectively (P=0.214), and the median changes in eGFRs were-2.3 (-6.4-1.9) and-3.7 (-7.5-1.1) mL•min•1.73 m, respectively (P=0.134). There were no statistical differences in the open-label period changes in renal function between groups. The eGFR reduction of participants who accepted Niaoduqing Particle treatment for 48 weeks was projected to 2.5 mL•min•1.73 m per year.@*CONCLUSION@#Niaoduqing Particles appear to have long-term efficacy for patients with moderate-to-severe renal dysfunction. Although there was no statistical difference, the early use of Niaoduqing Paticles seems to ameliorate the worsening of renal function. (Trial registration No. ChiCTR-TRC-12002448).

Predictive value of brachial －ankle pulse wave velocity for early prognosis in patients with acute ische‐mic stroke／ / 心血管康复医学杂志

A lot of researches suggest that brachial －ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV ) is closely associated with large artery stiffness , which has been widely used to assess atherosclerotic severity .Some evidence indicates that baPWV is an independent predictor for occurrence and mortality of cardiovascular events .However , there are few domestic and foreign studies about correlation between baPWV and acute ischemic stroke currently .The present ar‐ticle aimed at expounding predictive value of baPWV for early prognosis in patients with acute ischemic stroke .

Research progress of protective mechanism of ischemic preconditioning on brain tissue ／ / 心血管康复医学杂志

It was found that several effective therapeutic methods for ischemic stroke include thrombolysis , intravas‐cular intervention etc ., but reperfusion injury following them cannot be ignored .It has been found that ischemic conditioning possessed definite protection on heart and brain tissue etc ., including humoral , neurological pathways , immune response .Research have found that related genes and growth factors also play a role in it .The present arti‐cle made a systematic review on above content .

Doxorubicin induces stemness of mouse TNBC 4T1 cells through Stat3-Oct-4/CD44 signaling pathway / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM:To investigate the stemness of mouse triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) 4T1 cells induced by doxorubicin (DOX) and the underlying mechanism.METHODS:The 4T1 cells and MDA-MB-468 cells were treated with DOX at different concentrations (0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.5μmol/L) for 24 h, and the shape and viability of the cells were observed.The concentration of DOX at 0.1μmol/L was chosen as the optimal concentration for the following experiments.The 4T1 cells and MDA-MB-468 cells resistant to DOX were established by continuous stimulation with DOX for 4 weeks, and named as 4T1-DOX and MDA-MB-468-DOX.Sphere formation assay was used to detect the stemness of 4T1cells and MDA-MB-468 cells.The expression of CD133 was observed by immunofluorescence staining.The expression of CD44 was analyzed by flow cytometry.The protein levels of Stat3, phosphorylated Stat3 (p-Stat3) and Oct-4 were determined by Western blot.RESULTS:The sphere formation ability of the 4T1-DOX cells was stronger than that of the 4T1control cells.The 4T1-DOX cells expressed high levels of the stemness markers CD133 and CD44 as compared with the 4 T1 cells (P<0.05).Furthermore, the 4T1-DOX cells exhibited enhanced activation of Stat3 (p-Stat3) and increased expression of Oct-4 (P<0.05) , while the expression of total Stat3 had no obvious variation.In addition, when activation of Stat3 was inhibited by WP1066, the protein levels of p-Stat3, Oct-4 and CD44 were down-regulated (P<0.05).Furthermore, inhibition of Stat3 phosphorylation reduced the sphere formation ability of the 4T1-DOX cells (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:DOX induces the stemness of mouse TNBC 4T1 cells through Stat3-Oct-4 signaling pathway.

Analysis on SSR information in transcriptome of Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus and its polymorphism / 中国中药杂志

In order to enrich the library of SSR and provide more powerful tools for molecular marker-assisted breeding in Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus, simple sequence repeats (SSR) loci in its transcriptome were searched in 18 040 unigenes (>=1 kb) by using MISA. SSR loci information was analyzed and SSR primers were designed by Primer 3. Furthermore, 110 pairs of primers were randomly selected for the polymorphic analysis on 20 plants collected from different habitats. A total of 5 640 SSRs were found in the transcriptome of A. membranaceus var. mongholicus, distributed in 4 462 unigenes with the distribution frequency of 31.26%. SSR loci occurred every 6 514 bp. Mono-nucleotide repeat was the main type, accounted for as much as 36.72% of all SSRs, followed by tri-nucleotide(32.57%) and di-nucleotide(27.73%) repeat motif. Among all 75 repeat types, A/T(2 026) was the predominant one followed by AG/CT(1 179), AAG/CTT(477). For validating the availability of the SSR primers designed using Primer 3, 110 pairs of primers were randomly selected for PCR amplification. Among them, 97 pairs of primers (88.18%) produced clear and reproductive bands. Using 19 pairs of primers showed polymorphism, 20 plants were divded into two groups by UPGMA. There are numerous SSRs in A. membranaceus var. mongholicus transcriptome with high frequency and various types, this will provide the abundant candidate molecular markers for genetic diversity, molecular identification, and marker-assisted breeding study for this plant.

A comparative clinical study of postoperative intensity-modulated radiotherapy combined with concurrent and sequential chemotherapy for high-risk early-stage cervical cancer / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and acute toxieities of postoperative intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) combined with concurrent (C-IMRCT) or sequential chemotherapy (S-IMRCT) in the treatment of high-risk early-stage cervical cancer.Methods A retrospective study was performed on the clinical data of 105 patients with high-risk early-stage (Ⅰ B1-Ⅱ A2) cervical cancer from 2009 to 2017.Those patients were divided into C-IMRCT group (n=73) and S-IMRCT group (n=32).The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates,recurrence rate,metastasis rate,and acute toxicities were compared between the two groups.The survival rates were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed by the log-rank test.Univariate prognostic analysis was performed by the log-rank test.Recurrence,metastasis,and adverse reactions were compared using continuous correction chi-square test.Results The median follow-up time was 20 and 23 months in the C-IMRCT group and the S-IMRCT group,respectively (P=0.813).There were no significant differences in the 5-year DFS and OS rates between the two groups (72.6％ vs.72.5％,P=0.918;82.8％ vs.78.5％,P=0.504).There were no significant differences in the recurrence and metastasis rates between the two groups (P=0.598;P=1.000).The univariate prognostic analysis showed that no pathological factor affected prognosis.There were no significant differences in the incidence rates of grade 1-2 hematological toxicity,diarrhea,and urinary tract infection between the two groups (46.6％ vs.41.9％,P=0.884;P=0.854;P=0.271).Conclusions Further clinical studies are needed in terms of the survival rate in patients with high-risk early-stage cervical cancer receiving C-IMRCT.

Efficacy of unilateral medial rectus resection in children with residual and recurrent exotropia / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM:To investigate the efficacy of unilateral medial rectus resection in children with residual and recurrent exotropia and analyze the influence of difference types of strabismus and methods of primary surgery on the surgical outcome.METHODS:This investigation was a retrospective case series study that examined data from 48 pediatric patients (48 eyes) who underwent unilateral medial rectus resection between January 2009 and February 2013 for residual and recurrent exotropia.We surveyed the outcome of eye alignment,lateral incomitance,fusion function,stereoacuity in children at 1d,6wk and at last follow-up of 6-32 (mean 11.99± 7.06) mo after the surgery.RESULTS:At 1d after the surgery,the rate of surgical success was 83％ (40/48),and the rate of undercorrection and overcorrection was 4％ (2/48) and 13％(6/48),respectively.At 6wk after the surgery,the rate of surgical success was 81％ (39/48),and the rate of undercorrection and overcorrection was 13％ (6/48) and 6％ (3/48),respectively.At the final follow-up of 6-32 (mean 11.99±7.06) mo,the surgical success rate was 75％ (36/48),and the rate of undercorrection was 25％ (12/48).No patient exhibited overcorrection.There were no significant differences in the surgical success rate either among pediatric patients who had previously undergone different types of surgery or among patients who had been diagnosed with different types of exotropia (P=0.168 and P=0.50,respectively).No patients presented with lateral incomitance or limited ocular motility.CONCLUSION:Unilateral medial rectus resection is a safe and effective surgical approach for treating in children with residual and recurrent exotropia.In addition,it may achieve the same surgical effectiveness regardless of the patients' previous surgical procedures or types of exotropia.

Clinicopathological analysis of aggressive angiomyxoma of soft tissue in abdomino-pelvic cavity / 北京大学学报(医学版)

Aggressive angiomyxoma is a rare mesenchymal tumor. To discuss the clinicopathological characteristics, treatment and prognosis of aggressive angiomyxoma, four cases of aggressive angiomyxoma of soft tissue in abdominopelvic cavity were collected from January 2015 to August 2017 in Peking University International Hospital. The clinical data, imaging examination, histopathological features, immunophenotype, therapy and prognosis were analysed. The related literatures were reviewed. All of the patients were adult females, age range from 27 to 49 years and mean 33 years. The clinical complaint was abdominal distention with no definite predisposing factor, or occasional physical-exam finding with no obvious discomfort. Three cases were primary and one case was recurrent. Typical layered or swirled structural sign was presented by CT and MRI scanning of three cases. All tumors located in the pelvic cavity, and attached to the uterus, vagina, rectum, bladder or ureter. One case was involved in the abdominal cavity simultaneously,adhesive to the spine, inferior vena cava and spleen. The gross appearance of tumors was from 5 to 22 cm in maximum diameter. The sectioned surfaces were soft, solid, white or yellow-gray, focally accompanied by edema, mucoid degeneration or cystic change. Microscopic observation showed that tumor cells were short spindle shaped and little atypical, the stroma was loose like edematous mucus or collagen, and the vessels were rich in thin and thick-wall. Partially the vessel wall expressed hyaline degeneration. Also tumors might infiltrate surrounding tissue, such as fat or nerve. The immunohistochemistry results of all cases were estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor diffusely moderate positive, Desmin and smooth muscle actin mostly positive, whereas CD34 expressed only in vessel and S-100 protein, CD117 and Dog1 all negative. All the tumors were complete surgical excision. During follow-up, one case recurred the second time. Our conclusions are the diagnosis of aggressive angiomyxoma is based on pathological morphology supplemented by immunohistochemistry, and the tumor may relapse after surgical resection.

Serum Metabonomics of Articular Cartilage Destruction Induced by T-2 Toxin in Wistar Rats / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

The molecular pathogenesis of T-2 toxin-induced cartilage destruction has not been fully unraveled yet. The aim of this study was to detect changes in serum metabolites in a rat anomaly model with articular cartilage destruction. Thirty healthy male Wistar rats were fed a diet containing T-2 toxin (300 ng/kg chow) for 3 months. Histopathological changes in femorotibial cartilage were characterized in terms of chondrocyte degeneration/necrosis and superficial cartilage defect, and the endogenous metabolite profile of serum was determined by UPLC/Q-TOF MS. Treated rats showed extensive areas of chondrocyte necrosis and superficial cartilage defect in the articular cartilage. In addition, 8 metabolites were found to change significantly in these rats compared to the control group, including lysoPE (18:0/0:0), lysoPC(14:0), lysoPC[18:4 (6Z,9Z,12Z,15Z)], lysoPC[(16:1(9Z)], lysoPC(16:0), L-valine, hippuric acid, and asparaginyl-glycine. These 8 metabolites associated with cartilage injury are mainly involved in phospholipid and amino acid metabolic pathways.

Electroacupuncture Relieves Obesity by Up-regulating PGC-1 α/UCP-1 Signaling in White Adipose Tissue in Diet-induced Obesity Rats / 针刺研究

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the activities of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 alpha/uncoupling protein-1 (PGC-1 α/UCP-1) signaling pathway in white adipose tissue(WAT)of diet-induced obesity (DIO) rats, so as to reveal its underlying mechanism in body weight loss. METHODS: Thirty-four male Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal diet (control, n＝10), high fat diet (model), sham EA-acupoint and EA groups (n＝8 in each of the latter 3 groups). The obesity model was established by feeding the rats with high fat diet containing lard oil, sugar, albumen powder, cholesterol, salt and sodium cholate for 12 weeks. EA (2 Hz/15 Hz, 1 mA) was applied to bilateral "Zusanli" (ST 36) and "Tianshu" (ST 25) or sham acupoints (about 5 mm beside ST 36 and ST 25) for 30 min, once daily, 5 times per week for a total of 8 weeks. During the treatment, all rats were fed with normal diet, and their body weight and length were measured once a week for calculating the Lee's index. The contents of serum total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) were measured by using biochemical methods. The immunoactivity of PGC-1 α and UCP-1 in the abdominal WAT was detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: After modeling, the Lee's index, serum TC and TG contents were significantly increased, and the levels of serum HDL-C, and PGC-1 α and UCP-1 immunoactivity in WAT considerably decreased in the model group relevant to the control group (P<0.05). Following the treatment, the Lee's index, TC and TG contents were significantly down-regulated while HDL-C and PGC-1 α and UCP-1 immunoactivity were obviously up-regulated in the EA-acupoint group relevant to the model group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: EA can effectively reduce the body weight and adipose content in obesity rats, which may be closely related to its effect in up-regulating PGC-1 α/UCP-1 signaling in WAT, suggesting an efficacy of EA in promoting the browning of WAT.

Electroacupuncture Reduces Body Fat by Down-regulating IL-6 and Vimentin in Abdominal White Adipose Tissue of Diet-induced Obesity Rats / 针刺研究

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on IL-6 and vimentin protein expression in white adipose tissue (WAT) of diet-induced obesity (DIO) rats, so as to reveal its mechanism underlying losing weight. METHODS: Thirty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal (control, n＝10), model, sham-EA and EA groups (n＝8 in each of the latter 3 groups). The obesity model was established by feeding the rats with high fat diet. EA (2 Hz/15 Hz, 1 mA) was applied to bilate-ral "Zusanli "(ST 36) and "Tianshu "(ST 25) for 30 min, 5 times per week for a total of 8 weeks. For sham-EA group, two sham points (about 5 mm lateral to ST 36 and to ST 25) were only punctured with filiform needles but without electrical stimulation. Du-ring EA treatment, all rats were fed with normal fodder, and their body weight were measured once a week. Histopathologic changes (diameters of adipose cells) of abdominal WAT were observed under microscope after sectioning and H．E. staining, and the expression levels of IL-6 and vimentin in the WAT were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the body weight, diameter of fat cells and the expression levels of IL-6 and vimentin in the WAT were significantly increased in the model group (P0.05)．. CONCLUSION: EA intervention can effectively down-regulate the expression of IL-6 and vimentin in WAT of DIO rats, which may contribute to its action in reducing body fat by relieving chronic inflammation.

Th1/Th2 and Treg/Th17 cell balance in peripheral blood of patients with ovarian cancer / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the changes in the percentages and balance of CD4T cell subsets including T helper cells (Thl, Th2, and Thl7) and T regulatory cells (Treg) in patients with ovarian cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Peripheral blood samples were collected from 30 patients with ovarian cancer and 20 healthy subjects for analysis of the percentages of Thl, Th2, Thl7 and Treg using flow cytometry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the control subjects, the patients with ovarian cancer showed significantly increased percentages of Th2, Thl7 and Treg (P<0.05) but significantly decreased percentage of Th1 in the peripheral blood of patients with ovarian cancer (P<0.05). The changes in CD4T cell subsets were significantly correlated with the clinical stage of the tumor (P<0.05) but not with the histological type or cell differentiation (P>0.05). The Th1/Th2 ratio was significantly decreased in ovarian cancer patients (P<0.05) with obvious Th2 polarization compared with control group. The Treg/Th17 ratio was significantly increased in ovarian cancer patients (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Patients with in ovarian cancer have abnormal expressions of CD4T cell subsets in the peripheral blood with Th1/Th2 and Treg/Th17 imbalance, and these findings provide evidence for clinical immunotherapy of ovarian cancer.</p>

Detection of the Urinary Biomarkers PYD, CTX-II, and DPD in Patients with Kashin-Beck Disease in the Qinghai Province of China / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) is an endemic degenerative osteoarthropathy of uncertain etiology. The aim of our study was to identify changes in C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II), pyridinoline (PYD), and deoxypyridinoline (DPD) among KBD patients. 54 KBD patients and 78 healthy controls were included this study. Urinary samples were collected and measured by ELISA. The median quantities of PYD, CTX-II, and DPD of KBD patients were 1107.73 ng/μmol.cre, 695.11 ng/μmol.cre, and 1342.34 pml/μmol.cre, while the median quantities of healthy controls were 805.59 ng/μmol.cre, 546.47 ng/μmol.cre, and 718.15 pml/μmol.cre, respectively. The differences between KBD patients and healthy controls were statistically significant (Z = 4.405, 3.653, and 3.724; P < 0.001). The higher levels of PYD, CTX-II, and DPD detected in KBD patients indicate that they could be used as biomarkers of KBD.