ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate me clinical-epidemiologic characteristics of patients with hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection by post blood transfusion.Methods Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)and enzynle linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)were used to detect HCV RNA and anti.HCV,respectively.Analysis was performed on patients'age distribution,cause of primary diseases,years ofexposure,ingredient and amount of transfusion,incubation period,disorder on liver function and changes on abdominal ultrasound image,etc.Results HCV RNA levels were higher than 3.0log10 copy/ml in 90.8%infected patients、with a median as 6.10 log10 copy/ml.19.2%of the patients showed viral load 3.0 to 4.0 iog10 copy/ml,and 66.1%of them showed 5.0 to 6.0 log10 copy/ml.Only 14.7%of the infected persons had HCV RNA levels higher than 7.0 log10 copy/ml.Eighty-one point five percent(44/54)of the infected persons were confirmed as HCV RNA positive by HCV RNA qualitative analysis with HCV genotype as primarily type 1.99.8%(636/637)of the pmients were detected as anti-HCV positive by serological test.The sensitivity of serological test was higher than both quantitative and qualitative HCV RNA assays(P=0.000,P=0.000,respectively).HCV infection post blood transfusion was more seen in common people at 40 to 60 years old Most cases(85.7%)had their first exposure during 1990 to 1994.More than 10% of the cases had primary diseases aS obstetrics,orthopedics or gastrointestinal tract hemorrhage.79.9%of the patients received whole blood product transfusion.The mean interval between transfusion and clinical diagnosis was 8.5±5.5 years.90.1%of the infected patients had liver function damage,while most of them showed elevated alanine aminotransferase(ALT)no more than 5 upper limits of normal(ULN).wheteas Serum total bilirubin(TBIL).ALT and aspartate aminotransferase(AST)≥5×ULN level were showing more clinicaI manifestations(P=0.000.P=0.001,P=0.009,respectively).Abdominal ultrasound among 8.9%of the infected persons showed changes in cirrhosis,and most of them werc older than 50years of age.Conclusion Most of the post transfusion HCV infected cases happened in adulthood,and were mainly exposed during 1990 to 1994.Infected pmients usually had their liver function damaged with elevated ALT no more than 5×ULN and with medium HCV RNA levels.HCV genotype was mainly for type 1.Patients who weTe ofolder age showed higher incidence ofcirrhosis.If a patients'infection period Was longer than 5 years,he/she would show higher incidence of cirrhosis.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of gemcitabine(GEM) on apoptosis and c-myc gene expression of HL-60 cells, and feasibility of using GEM in therapy of leukemia. The HL-60 cells were cultured in vitro. The expressions of the c-myc mRNA and C-MYC protein were detected by RT-PCR and Western-blot respectively. The cell apoptosis was analyzed by TUNEL staining. The results showed that after the HL-60 cells were treated with 1.0 microg/ml GEM for 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours, the expression of c-myc mRNA was inhibited to various degree. This inhibitory effect displayed time-dependent manner and the most optimal effective time was 24 hours. Compared GEM group with Ara-C group and blank control group, there were statistical differences (p<0.05). After the HL-60 cells were treated with 1.0 microg/ml GEM for 24, 48, 72 hours, C-MYC protein significantly decreased, and the expression of C-MYC protein reached to lowest level at 48 hours after treating with GEM, and with inhibition rate of 94.16%. Compared GEM group with Ara-C group and blank control group, the differences were significant (p<0.01). There was significant difference between cells treated with GEM for 24, 48 and 72 hours (p<0.01). After the HL-60 cells were treated with 1.0 microg/ml GEM for 24 hours, the apoptotic cells increased obviously. The positive rate was 83.67% in GEM-treated group. Compared GEM group with Ara-C group (positive rate 10.67%) and untreated group (positive rate 3.00%), the differences had statistical significance (p<0.01). It is concluded that GEM can induce the apoptosis and down-regulate c-myc gene expression significantly in HL-60 cells and it may be used as a new therapeutic drug for leukemia.