Intestinal microbiome and its relationship with necrotizing enterocolitis in very low birth weight preterm infants / 中华儿科杂志

Objective: To explore the composition of intestinal microflora prior to onset of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in very low birth weight preterm infants. Methods: This was a multicenter prospective nested case-control study. A total of 46 very low birth weight preterm infants (birth weight <1 500 g and gestional age <35 weeks) within 24 h of life admitted into Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Children's Hospital of Soochow University and Suzhou Municipal Hospital from April 20 to November 20, 2018 were enrolled. Baseline clinical data and fecal samples of these infants were collected. The subsequent sampling time points were 1st, 4th and 7th day in the first week of life then once per week consecutively. The endpoint of sampling was NEC occurrence, patient discharge or the 8th week post-discharge, whichever came first. Fecal samples were analyzed by 16 S rDNA high-throughput nucleotide sequencing. The control cases were infants without NEC who were matched to the NEC cases with a ratio of 1∶1. The operational taxonomic units (OTU), sequence number and shannon diversity index of the fecal samples were analyzed. Continuous variables were compared with t-test or non-parametric test, and χ2 test or Fisher's exact test was used for categorical variables. Results: There were 23 patients in each group. The gestational age was (29.4±1.8) weeks in NEC group and (29.9±1.6) weeks in control group, including 13 males (57%) and 11 males (48%) in each group, respectively. Species abundance showed that the Firmicutes in both groups decreased temporarily at 7 days of age and then increased with age in control group, but not in NEC group, the Proteobacteria in both groups increased at 7 days of age and then decreased in control group, but kept increasing in NEC group. Regarding the other levels of taxonomy, compared with that of the control group, the NEC group had lower abundance of Proteobacteria, γ-proteobacteria and Enterobacteriaceae at 7 days of age, while higer abundance of Faecalibacterium at 14 days of age, meanwhile, lower Clostridium and Streptococcus at 21 days of age, lower Firmicutes, Clostridia and Clostridium perfringens and higher Proteobacteria and γ-proteobacteria at 28 days of age, these differences were all statistically significant (U=43.00, 43.00, 45.00, 80.00, 74.00, 76.00, 19.00, 8.00, 36.00, 25.00, 25.00,all P<0.05). The shannon index of NEC group was both lower than that of the controls at 21 days of age (2.4 (1.4, 3.0) vs. 3.1 (2.6, 4.0), U=67.00, P=0.027) and 28 days of age (2.4 (1.4, 2.8) vs. 3.9 (3.3, 4.2), U=12.00, P=0.001). Conclusions: The intestinal microflora profile of very low birth weight preterm infants has already changed prior to NEC development. The emergence of differential flora and the reduction of microflora diversity may facilitate early identification and prevention of NEC.

A neonate with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome caused by DHCR7 gene compound heterozygous variations / 中华围产医学杂志

This article reported a male neonate with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) caused by DHCR7 gene compound heterozygous variations. The patient presented with multiple malformations and feeding difficulties after birth and was transferred to the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University (Hunan Provincial People's Hospital) from a local hospital eight days later. Physical examination found general scleredema, scalp defects, short penis, urinary tract malformation, bilateral syndactyly of the second and third toes, and low serum cholesterol. Whole-exome and Sanger sequencing indicated a compound heterozygous mutation in the DHCR7 gene, c.852C>A(p.F284L), and a de novo mutation of c.820_825del(p.N274_V275del). SLOS is rare in the Asian populations and prone to missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis with difficulty in clinical management. The possibility of SLOS should be considered for newborns with multiple malformations and low serum cholesterol.

Research progress of ankle arthritis in adult Kashin-Beck disease / 中华地方病学杂志

Kashin-Beck disease is an endemic, chronic and multiple osteoarthropathy, which can involve multiple joints of the whole body, and the disability rate is very high. At present, there are few relevant studies on ankle lesions of adult Kashin-Beck disease, and there are few systematic reports. This paper reviews the clinical manifestations, imaging research, biochemical research and treatment of Kashin-Beck disease ankle arthritis, so as to provide a more systematic basis for the study of Kashin-Beck disease ankle arthritis.

Metabolomic changes of neonatal sepsis: an exploratory clinical study / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To study the metabolic mechanism of neonatal sepsis at different stages by analyzing the metabolic pathways involving the serum metabolites with significant differences in neonates with sepsis at different time points after admission.@*METHODS@#A total of 20 neonates with sepsis who were hospitalized in the Department of Neonatology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2020 were enrolled as the sepsis group. Venous blood samples were collected on days 1, 4, and 7 after admission. Ten healthy neonates who underwent physical examination during the same period were enrolled as the control group. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used for the metabonomic analysis of serum samples to investigate the change in metabolomics in neonates with sepsis at different time points.@*RESULTS@#On day 1 after admission, the differentially expressed serum metabolites between the sepsis and control groups were mainly involved in the biosynthesis of terpenoid skeleton. For the sepsis group, the differentially expressed serum metabolites between days 1 and 4 after admission were mainly involved in pyruvate metabolism, and those between days 4 and 7 after admission were mainly involved in the metabolism of cysteine and methionine. The differentially expressed serum metabolites between days 1 and 7 after admission were mainly involved in ascorbic acid metabolism.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The metabolic mechanism of serum metabolites varies at different stages in neonates with sepsis and is mainly associated with terpenoid skeleton biosynthesis, pyruvate metabolism, cysteine/methionine metabolism, and ascorbic acid metabolism.

Recent progress on anti-Candida natural products / 中国天然药物

Candida is an intractable life-threatening pathogen. Candida infection is extremely difficult to eradicate, and thus is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals. Morevover, the rapid spread of drug-resistant fungi has led to significant decreases in the therapeutic effects of clinical drugs. New anti-Candida agents are urgently needed to solve the complicated medical problem. Natural products with intricate structures have attracted great attention of researchers who make every endeavor to discover leading compounds for antifungal agents. Their novel mechanisms and diverse modes of action expand the variety of fungistatic agents and reduce the emergence of drug resistance. In recent decades, considerable effort has been devoted to finding unique antifungal agents from nature and revealing their unusual mechanisms, which results in important progress on the development of new antifungals, such as the novel cell wall inhibitors YW3548 and SCY-078 which are being tested in clinical trials. This review will present a brief summary on the landscape of anti-Candida natural products within the last decade. We will also discuss in-depth the research progress on diverse natural fungistatic agents along with their novel mechanisms.

The relationship between sarcopenia and hip fracture in the elderly: Progress research and mechanism exploration / 中华老年医学杂志

Sarcopenia and hip fractures are musculoskeletal system diseases, which cause great harm to the health of geriatric population.As sarcopenia is receiving more and more attention in recent years, its relationship with hip fractures has been increasingly noted.The paper summarized the epidemiological evidences on the relationship between sarcopenia and hip fracture and investigated the possible etiologic mechanism by which sarcopenia triggers hip fractures.

Characteristics and significance of IGF-1 and IGFBP2 gene expressions in ankle cartilage of patients with Kashin-Beck disease / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective:To investigate the characteristics and significance of insulin-like growth factor 1(IGF- 1) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) expressions in ankle cartilage of patients with Kashin-Beck disease (KBD).Methods:In this case-control study, 10 KBD patients who were hospitalized in the Department of Orthopedics of Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital from January 2010 to December 2016 were selected as KBD group, and 10 patients with ankle fracture caused by trauma but without talus injury during the same period were selected as control group, the cartilage tissues of the two groups were collected. IGF-1, IGFBP2 positive cells, the mRNA and protein expressions of IGF-1, IGFBP2 in the cartilage tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry, real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR and Western blotting, respectively. According to the expressions of IGF-1 and IGFBP2 in ankle cartilage of KBD patients, a patient with amputation caused by trauma was selected in Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, and ankle joint cartilage was taken to prepare chondrocytes for in vitro cell verification experiments. The chondrocyte were divided into control group (0 ng/ml T-2 toxin), T-2 treatment group (20 ng/ml T-2 toxin) and T-2+ IGFBP2 silenced group (20 ng/ml T-2 toxin+ 50 nmol/L IGFBP2 siRNA), the MTT method and dimethyl methylene blue staining were used to detect the activity of chondrocyte and the secretion of sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG). Results:In the control group and the KBD group, the number of IGF-1[(47.26 ± 8.97), (68.15 ± 7.42) cells] and IGFBP2 positive cells [(27.56 ± 5.40), (71.85 ± 7.62) cells] in the cartilage tissues were significantly different ( t = 4.487, 9.402, P < 0.01). Compared with the control group, the IGF-1, IGFBP2 mRNA and protein expression levels in KBD group were significantly higher, the differences were significantly different ( t = 3.340, 20.700, 4.684, 8.699, P < 0.05 or < 0.01). In cell experiment, the chondrocyte activitives and sGAG contents of the control group, T-2 treatment group, and T-2+ IGFBP2 silenced group were significantly different ( F = 226.70, 80.66, P < 0.01); among them, the cell activitives and sGAG contents of the T-2 treatment group and T-2+ IGFBP2 silenced group were lower than those of control group ( P < 0.05), and the T-2+ IGFBP2 silenced group were higher than those of the T-2 treatment group ( P < 0.05). Conclusions:The expressions of IGF-1 and IGFBP2 in the ankle cartilage of KBD patients are significantly higher. Silencing IGFBP2 gene can reduce the inhibitory effect of T-2 toxin on chondrocyte activity and the secretion of sGAG.

Relationship between serum IL-1β, IGF-1 levels and VAS in patients with Kaschin-Beck disease and osteoarthritis / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective:To detect the expression levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, insulin-like growth factors (IGF)-1 in serum and synovial fluid of patients with Kaschin-Beck disease (KBD) and osteoarthritis (OA) and analyze the relationship between IL-1β, IGF-1 levels and visual analogue scale (VAS) score.Methods:From January 2010 to December 2016, 60 patients visited the department of orthopedics of Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital were selected, included 20 patients with KBD (arthroscopic debridement of ankle), 20 patients with OA (arthroscopic debridement of ankle), and 20 patients with ankle fracture (no talus injury) as control group. The peripheral blood and synovial fluid samples from the patients were collected. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the expression levels of IL-1β, IGF-1 in serum and synovial fluid. In each group, VAS score was calculated pre-operative and post-operative at 3, 7, 14 and 28 d. The relationship between IL-1β, IGF-1 levels and VAS score was evaluated by correlation analysis.Results:Synovial fluid IL-1β and IGF-1 levels in the KBD and OA groups were (67.32 ± 6.22), (56.46 ± 5.43) and (24.36 ± 6.22), (21.45 ± 4.35) pg/ml, respectively, which were higher than those in the control group [(27.01 ± 3.15), (10.21 ± 2.50) pg/ml, P < 0.05]. Meanwhile, serum IL-1β and IGF-1 levels in the KBD and OA groups were higher than those in the control group ( P < 0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the expression levels of IL-1β and IGF-1 in serum pre-operative and post-operative at 3, 7, 14 and 28 d were positively correlated with VAS score in KBD and OA groups, respectively ( r = 0.427, 0.502, 0.562, 0.628, P < 0.05). Conclusion:The levels of IL-1β and IGF-1 in synovial fluid from ankle joints and serum are significantly increased in KBD group and OA group, and the levels of IL-1β and IGF-1 in serum are positively correlated with VAS score, respectively.

Cupping therapy for patients with chronic urticaria: A systematic review and meta-analysis / 中西医结合学报

BACKGROUND@#Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common skin disease, which has a negative effect on quality of life. Current treatments do not fully control the symptoms of urticaria for many CU patients, thus effective and safe treatments for CU are still needed.@*OBJECTIVE@#This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of cupping therapy in patients with CU.@*SEARCH STRATEGY@#The search strategy looked for the presence of related keywords, such as "chronic urticaria" and "cupping therapy," in the title and abstract of research articles indexed in major databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected after querying nine electronic databases from their inception to May 2019 with the above search terms.@*INCLUSION CRITERIA@#RCTs were included if they recruited patients with CU who were intervened with dry or wet cupping. Publications could be written in Chinese or English.@*DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS@#Data were extracted, and the studies were assessed for the quality of their methodological design and risk of bias. Meta-analyses of the RCT data were conducted to assess the total effective rate of the treatment as the primary outcome. Skin disease quality of life index score, recurrence rate, and adverse events were assessed as secondary outcomes. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on different interventions.@*RESULTS@#Thirteen comparisons from 12 RCTs involving 842 participants were included. There were no significant differences between wet cupping and medications in total effective rate (n = 372; risk ratio [RR] = 1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97 to 1.25; P = 0.14) or recurrence rate (n = 240; RR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.36; P = 0.20). Cupping therapy, in combination with antihistamine treatment was more efficacious than antihistamines alone, with a greater total effective rate (n = 342; RR = 1.18, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.39; P = 0.03) and lower recurrence rate (n = 342; RR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.84; P = 0.007). Cupping therapy combined with acupuncture was more effective than acupuncture alone (n = 156; RR = 1.25, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.46; P = 0.006). No serious adverse events were reported.@*CONCLUSION@#Wet cupping may be as effective as treatment with antihistamines. When cupping therapy is used as an adjuvant therapy to antihistamines or acupuncture, it may enhance the efficacy. Results drawn from these studies should be interpreted with caution and applied with care to clinical practice, because of the poor quality among the studies that were reviewed.@*SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION@#PROSPERO, CRD42019137451.

Demineralized cancellous bone seeded with allogeneic chondrocytes for repairing articular osteochondral defects in rabbits / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of demineralized cancellous bone (DCB) seeded with allogeneic chondrocytes for repairing articular osteochondral defects in rabbits.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Articular chondrocytes were isolated from a 1-month-old male New Zealand rabbit for primary culture. The passage 1 chondrocytes were seeded onto prepared rabbit DCB scaffold to construct tissue-engineered cartilage and cultured for 2 weeks. Full-thickness articular osteochondral defects (3 mm both in diameter and depth) were created on both sides of the femoral medial condyles in 30 New Zealand white rabbits (age 4- 5 months). In 20 of the rabbits, the defects were filled with the tissue-engineered cartilage on the right side (group A) and with DCB only on the left side (group B); the remaining 10 rabbits did not receive any implantation in the defects to serve as the control (group C). At 1, 3, and 6 months after the implantation, tissue samples were collected from the defects for macroscopic observation and histological examination with Toluidine blue (TB) and collagen type Ⅱ staining. The effect of defect repair using the tissue-engineered cartilage was assessed at 6 months based on the histological scores.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The prepared DCB had a spongy 3D structure with open and interconnected micropores of various sizes and showed good plasticity and mechanical strength. DCB began to degrade within 1 month after implantation and was totally absorbed at 3 months. At 6 months after implantation, the defects filled with the chondrocyte-seeded DCB were repaired mainly by hyaline-like cartilage tissues, which were well integrated to the adjacent cartilage without clear boundaries and difficult to recognize. The chondrocytes were located in the lacunate and arranged in vertical columns in the deep repaired tissue, where matrix proteoglycans and collagen type Ⅱ were distributed homogeneously close to the normal cartilage. The subchondral bone plate was reconstructed completely. The defects implanted with DCB only were filled with fibrocartilage tissue, as compared with fibrous tissue in the control defects. The histological scores in group A were significantly superior to those in group B and C ( < 0.05), but the scores for subchondral bone plate reconstruction were comparable between groups A and B at 6 months.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>DCB is a good scaffold material for preparing tissue-engineered cartilage, and chondrocyte- seeded DCB can repair articular osteochondral defects by inducing the generation of hayline-like cartilage.</p>

Effects of ZNF331 overexpression on human colon cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis / 军事医学

Objective To investigate the effects of ZNF331 overexpression on proliferation and apoptosis of human colon cancer cell HCT116, and the relevant apoptotic mechanism.Methods The lentivirus vector of overexpressed ZNF331,Flag-pLV-Neo-ZNF331,was constructed and packaged.HCT116/p53 +/+(wild type p53)and HCT116/p53 -/-(deficient p53)cells were infected.Clones with ZNF331 overexpression were identified by Western blotting.Cell proliferation assay,colony formation assay and flow cytometry analysis were used to examine the effects of ZNF 331 on cell proliferation and apoptosis.Immunoprecipitation,luciferase reporter gene assay and real-time PCR were performed to detect interactions between ZNF331 and p53, p53 transcriptional activity and the expression of p 53 apoptotic target genes, respectively.Results The lentivirus vector of overexpressed ZNF 331 was successfully generated.Stable clones of ZNF331 overexpression were established.ZNF331 showed no significant effect on cell proliferation of HCT 116/p53 +/+, but inhibited cell proliferation of HCT116/p53 -/-(P<0.01).ZNF331 could interact with p53,dose-dependently inhibit the transcriptional activity of p53 and downregulate the mRNA levels of pro-apoptotic p53 target genes, Puma and p53AIP1 (P<0.05).ZNF331 could suppress p53-induced apoptosis(P <0.01).Conclusion The influence of ZNF331 overexpression on colon cancer cell proliferation is dependent on p 53 status.ZNF331 overexpression can suppress colon cancer cell apoptosis by interacting with p 53 and inhibiting the transcriptional activity of p 53.

Therapeutic effects of arthroscopic debridement combined with sodium hyaluronate injection in treatment of Kashin-Beck disease with ankle arthritis / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective To study the therapeutic effects of arthroscopic debridement combined with sodium hyaluronate injection in treatment of Kashin-Beck disease with ankle arthritis.Methods Using prospective study,Kashin-Beck disease patients with ankle arthritis,who had underwent arthroscopic debridement combined with sodium hyaluronate injection,were selected as study subjects.X-ray stratification was performed based on Kellgren-Lawrence grading method,grade 1,2,3 were studied,if there were fewer patients at grade 1,then merge with grade 2.Visual analogue scale (VAS),anterior and posterior ankle activity and ankle hindfoot score were used to evaluate the effects before and 3,6,12 months after the treatment.Results Totally 33 patients were collected,VAS scores (6.9 ± 0.2,2.9 ± 0.2,2.1 ± 0.1,1.9 ± 0.1),anterior and posterior ankle activities (20.9 ± 0.6,31.5 ± 0.6,32.1 ± 0.6,34.1 ± 0.4),and ankle hindfoot scores (51.3 ± 0.5,70.8 ± 1.1,76.0 ± 0.9,77.0 ± 0.9) before and 3,6,12 months after the treatment,were compared,and the differences were statistically significant (F =267.47,703.09,756.49,P ＜ 0.01).VAS scores (7.0 ± 0.2,2.8 ± 0.2,1.7 ± 0.1,1.7 ± 0.1;7.0 ± 0.3,3.2 ± 0.3,2.8 ± 0.2,2.2 ± 0.2),anterior and posterior ankle activities (22.4 ± 0.7,32.5 ± 0.6,33.1 ± 0.6,51.3 ± 0.5;18.1 ± 0.9,29.6 ± 1.0,30.2 ± 1.0,31.4 ± 0.9),and ankle hindfoot scores (51.6 ± 0.9,70.9 ± 0.5,77.7 ± 0.9,79.1 ± 1.0;50.6 ± 0.5,65.5 ± 1.8,72.8 ± 1.4,72.9 ± 1.4) in grade 1 + grade 2,and grade 3 patients before and 3,6,12 months after the treatment,were compared,and the differences were statistically significant (F =244.80,64.04;379.94,498.83;1 393.07,159.70,P ＜ 0.01).Compared with those before the treatment,VAS scores of all,grade 1 + grade 2,and grade 3 patients in 3,6,12 months after the treatment significantly decreased,anterior and posterior ankle activities and ankle hindfoot scores significantly increased (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Arthroscopic debridement combined with sodium hyaluronate injection is effective in the treatment of Kashin-Beck with disease ankle arthritis.

Development of new radial artery puncture and fixation device / 医疗卫生装备

Objective To develop a new radial artery puncture fixing device to conquer the deficiencies of traditional method. Methods The device was composed of an arm support,a hand support,a wrist part,an arm fixing belt,a palm fixing belt and a tourniquet.The arm support was concave-shaped,and was connected with the hand support with the wrist part.The wrist part had a raised block which was gifted with an inflatable bag.The balloon linked with an inflation balloon with an inflation tube.There was a valve between the inflation tube and balloon.The fixing belt had one end directly connected with the arm support, hand support and wrist part, and the other end linked with the other ends of the above components with Velcro. There was a compression hemostatic balloon at the internal surface of the tourniquet. Results The device behaved well in puncture time and success rate,and decreased the incidence rates of errhysis and hematoma after withdrawing the puncture needle while increased the satisfaction of medical staffs and patients. Conclusion The device gains advantages in simple structure,convenience,practicability and safety,and meets the desired requirements.[Chinese Medical Equipment Jour-nal,2018,39(5):44-46]

Development of disposable anticoagulant negative pressure syringe / 医疗卫生装备

Objective To develop a disposable negative pressure syringe to solve the problems in bone marrow aspiration. Methods The syringe was composed of an injector and a self-contained puncture needle.The injector consisted of a barrel,a plunger and a tip.The plunger had its front end placed in the barrel and connected with the tip.The tip clung to the inner wall and could slide along it,and the upper end of the cylinder was connected closely with a negative-pressure sealing cap.A negative-pressure cavity was formed between the sealing cap and the tip,and an anticoagulation layer existed at the cylinder inner wall in the cavity.The blood taking needle was made up of a bone puncture needle and a hub.Results The developed syringe gained stable negative pressure,low time and workload consumption during bone marrow aspiration when compared with the conventional tools. Conclusion The syringe increases the quality of bone marrow aspiration while decreases the workload of medical staffs,and thus is worthy promoting practically.

Allogeneic demineralized cancellous bone for cartilage tissue engineering / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

Objective Chondrocytes were seeded on allogeneic demineralized cancellous bone (DCB ) constructing tissue-engineered cartilage to evaluate the feasibility of DCB as scaffolds for tissue engineering cartilage.Methods Allogeneic DCB was prepared by successive defatting and decalcification and then observed under scanning electronic microscope.One-month old rabbit articular chondrocytes were isolated and proliferated by monolayer culture.Passage 1 chondrocytes were seeded on DCB to construct tissue-engineered cartilage in vitro for 6 weeks.Specimens were taken after 7,14,21,28,35 and 42 days'culture and evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin (HE),toluidine blue (TB),and immunohistochemistry for collagen type Ⅰ and Ⅱ.Results Prepared DCB showed three-dimensional porous structure of 100 - 500 μm with good plasticity and certain mechanical strength. Chondrocytes grew well on and inside the DCB,and were located in lacunae and expressed matrix proteoglycan and type collagen Ⅱ,which formed cartiageous tissues on DCB up to 42 days'culture.Conclusion DCB combined with allogeneic chondrocytes successfully constructed tissue-engineered cartilage in vitro ,which is an ideal scaffold for tissue engineering cartilage.

Rapid analysis on phenolic compounds in Rheum palmatum based on UPLC-Q-TOF/MSE combined with diagnostic ions filter / 中国中药杂志

Diagnostic ions filter method was used to rapidly detect and identify the phenolic compounds in Rheum palmatum based on ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MSE). The representative authentic standards of phenolic compounds, including gallic acid, (+)-catechin, (－)-epicatechin, (－)-epicatechin-3-O-gallate and procyanidin B2, were subjected to analysis by UPLC-Q-TOF/MSE system with negative ion mode. Fragmentation patterns of each standard were summarized based on assigned fragment ions. The prominent product ions were selected as diagnostic ions. Subsequently, diagnostic ions filter was employed to rapidly recognize analogous skeletons. Combined with retention time, accurate mass, characteristic fragments and previous literature data, the structures of the filtered compounds were identified or tentatively characterized. A total 63 phenolic compounds (36 phenolic acid derivatives, 8 flavonoid derivatives and 19 tennis derivatives) in R. palmatum were identified, including 6 potential new compounds. The method of diagnostic ions filter could rapidly detect and identify phenolic compounds in R. palmatum This study provides a method for rapid detection of phenolic compounds in R. palmatum and is expected to complete the material basis of rhubarb.

Do people from Taiwan have higher heavy metal levels than those from Western countries?

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>This study investigated whether heavy metal levels were higher in people from Taiwan as compared to those from Western countries.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We measured the level of heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium) in the blood of 40 apparently healthy adults. Since mercury does not respond to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) infusion, only urine lead, arsenic and cadmium levels were determined by applying the body burden concept after calcium disodium EDTA infusion. These three heavy metals were extracted from daily urine samples for three consecutive days.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean blood lead, mercury and cadmium levels of the Taiwanese individuals (24.46 ± 9.69 µg/L, 9.64 ± 6.98 µg/L and 0.73 ± 0.27 µg/L, respectively) were greater than those of the Americans. The Taiwanese also had greater blood mercury and cadmium levels than the Germans. The first-day urine lead, arsenic and cadmium levels were 77.9%, 33.1% and 62.4%, respectively, of the total lead, arsenic and cadmium excretion during the three days. This indicates that the first-day urine lead and cadmium excretion represented most (> 60%) of the lead and cadmium excretion in those three days.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This study demonstrated that the Taiwanese population has higher blood mercury and cadmium levels than Western populations. To study the urine lead and cadmium body burden of patients, detection of first-day, rather than three-day, urine lead and cadmium levels can be done, as the former yields results that are fairly representative, and is more time- and cost-effective.</p>

Association of FasL-844T/C gene polymorphism with FasL expression in the nucleus pulposus of degenerative lumbar intervertebral discs / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association of FasL-844T/C gene polymorphism with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and FasL expression in the nucleus pulposus of degenerative lumbar intervertebral discs.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Lumbar MRI data, venous blood and nucleus pulposus were collected from 105 patients with lumbar disc herniation. The genotypes of FasL-844T/C gene of the patients were determined using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of FasL in the nucleus pulposus of the degenerative lumbar intervertebral discs.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with CC genotype, TT genotype of FasL-844T/C gene was associated with a significantly increased score of lumbar disc degeneration (P=0.003) as observed in MRI scan. FasL expression in the nucleus pulposus differed significantly between patients of FASL-844CC genotype and those of FASL-844TT genotype (P=0.048), but not between those of FASL-844CC and FASL-844CT genotypes (P=0.264). No significant association was found between MRI findings and FasL expression in the nucleus pulposus of the lumbar intervertebral discs.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>FasL-844T/C gene polymorphism is correlated with the expression of FasL in the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disc in patients with lumbar disc herniation. MRI findings of the lumbar intervertebral discs do not correlate with the expression of FasL in the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral discs.</p>

Correlation of circRNAs' differential expression to negative-positive symptoms of patients with schizophrenia / 解放军医学杂志

Objective To explore the correlation of circRNAs' expression level to the negative-and positive symptoms of patients with schizophrenia (SZ).Methods Gene chip screening was performed with the peripheral blood samples from each five of SZ patients and normal controls.Nine circRNAs showing differentiate expression were confirmed,and further verification was done by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR in 102 SZ patients and 103 normal controls.All the SZ patients were assessed with Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS).Results It was revealed that the expression levels of circRNA_102101,circRNA_102315,circRNA_104597,circRNA_101835 and circRNA_101836 were significantly down-regulated (P＜0.01 or P＜0.05),and circRNA_103102 and circRNA_103704 were up-regulated in SZ group (P＜0.01).The ACT value of circRNA_102101 and circRNA_103102 was positively correlated to the positive symptoms (P＜0.01 or P＜0.05),and the ACT value of circRNA_103704 also showed positive correlation with positive symptoms and general psychopathological symptoms (P＜0.01 or P＜0.05).The ACT values of circRNA_102101,circRNA_103102,circRNA_102315,circRNA_103704 and circRNA_102802 were correlated with thinking disorder (P＜0.01 or P＜0.05),and the ACT values of circRNA_102101,circRNA_103102,circRNA_104597,circRNA_103704 and circRNA_102802 were correlated with the activation (P＜0.01 or P＜0.05).The ACT values of circRNA_102101,circRNA_103102,circRNA_103704 and circRNA_102802 were positively correlated with paranoid (P＜0.01 or P＜0.05),and of circRNA_102101,circRNA_103102,circRNA_103704 and circRNA_102802 were markedly correlated with assault (P＜0.01 or P＜0.05).Therefore,circRNA_103704 was chosen into regressive equation of positive symptoms (P＜0.01),and circRNA_103704 and circRNA_102315 were chosen into regressive equation of general pathological findings (P＜0.01 or P＜0.05).Conclusion The expression levels of circRNA_103704 and circRNA_103102 are obviously up-regulated in SZ patients than in normal controls,and markedly correlated with the negative and positive SZ symptoms,so might be the dominant regulatory factors in the pathological process of schizophrenia.

Allogeneic demineralized cancellous bone for cartilage tissue engineering / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

Objective Chondrocytes were seeded on allogeneic demineralized cancellous bone (DCB ) constructing tissue-engineered cartilage to evaluate the feasibility of DCB as scaffolds for tissue engineering cartilage.Methods Allogeneic DCB was prepared by successive defatting and decalcification and then observed under scanning electronic microscope.One-month old rabbit articular chondrocytes were isolated and proliferated by monolayer culture.Passage 1 chondrocytes were seeded on DCB to construct tissue-engineered cartilage in vitro for 6 weeks.Specimens were taken after 7,14,21,28,35 and 42 days'culture and evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin (HE),toluidine blue (TB),and immunohistochemistry for collagen type Ⅰ and Ⅱ.Results Prepared DCB showed three-dimensional porous structure of 100 - 500 μm with good plasticity and certain mechanical strength. Chondrocytes grew well on and inside the DCB,and were located in lacunae and expressed matrix proteoglycan and type collagen Ⅱ,which formed cartiageous tissues on DCB up to 42 days'culture.Conclusion DCB combined with allogeneic chondrocytes successfully constructed tissue-engineered cartilage in vitro ,which is an ideal scaffold for tissue engineering cartilage.