Chinese Pediatric Reference Intervals for Serum Cortisol on IMMULITE 2000

Clinical interpretation of the test results for cortisol based on continuous reference intervals with appropriate partitions improves pediatric diagnosis; however, these values are available only for Caucasians. To develop the pediatric reference intervals for Chinese population, we examined the serum cortisol levels in 1,143 healthy Chinese children aged 4–18 years (566 boys and 577 girls), using an IMMULITE 2000 Immunoassay System (Siemens Healthcare GmbH). Phlebotomy was performed at 7–9 a.m. for 284 boys and 287 girls and at 1–3 p.m. for the others. They were divided into four age groups according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guideline EP28-A3c, with the last group further stratified according to sampling time. Separate reference intervals of 49.6–323.7, 70.9–395.3, and 90.1–448.7 nmol/L were established for children aged 4–8, 9–12, and 13–15 years, respectively. Further, reference intervals of 118.2–464.7 and 71.4–446.7 nmol/L were established for morning and afternoon cortisol levels, respectively, in children aged 16–18 years. Further studies are necessary to transfer and validate these reference intervals in other analytical systems and pediatric populations, and to allow for broader applications.

Comparative proteomic analysis of proteins expression changes in the mammary tissue of cows infected with Escherichia coli mastitis

Cows infected with Escherichia (E.) coli usually experience severe clinical symptoms, including damage to mammary tissues, reduced milk yield, and altered milk composition. In order to investigate the host response to E. coli infection and discover novel markers for mastitis treatment, mammary tissue samples were collected from healthy cows and bovines with naturally occurring severe E. coli mastitis. Changes of mammary tissue proteins were examined using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and label-free proteomic approaches. A total of 95 differentially expressed proteins were identified. Of these, 56 proteins were categorized according to molecular function, cellular component, and biological processes. The most frequent biological processes influenced by the proteins were response to stress, transport, and establishment of localization. Furthermore, a network analysis of the proteins with altered expression in mammary tissues demonstrated that these factors are predominantly involved with binding and structural molecule activities. Vimentin and alpha-enolase were central "functional hubs" in the network. Based on results from the present study, disease-induced alterations of protein expression in mammary glands and potential markers for the effective treatment of E. coli mastitis were identified. These data have also helped elucidate defense mechanisms that protect the mammary glands and promote the pathogenesis of E. coli mastitis.

Effects of puerarin on proliferation, apoptosis and Kv1.5 gene expression of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells induced by hypoxia / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effects of puerarin on proliferation, apoptosis and Kv1.5 gene expression of rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) induced by hypoxia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The rat PASMCs were divided into 5 groups: control group, hypoxia group, hypoxia plus puerarin (1 × 10(-5) mol/L) group, hypoxia plus puerarin (1 × 10(-4) mol/L) group and hypoxia plus puerarin (1 × 10(-3) mol/L) group, and cultured at 37°C for 24 h. The proliferation of rat PASMCs was detected by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry, the activity of caspase-3 was measured with spectrophotometric method, Kv1.5 protein was detected by western blot, Kv1.5 mRNA was detected by real-time PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The cell viability and proportion of synthesis phase in control group were 0.940 ± 0.045 and 9.67% ± 1.28%, which were significantly lower than those (1.296 ± 0.034 and 18.19% ± 1.19%) in hypoxia group (P < 0.05). The Caspase-3 activity, Kv 1.5 protein and Kv 1.5 mRNA in control group were 0.1073 ± 0.0113, 0.886 ± 0.038 and 0.0377 ± 0.0031, which were significantly higher than those (0.0664 ± 0.0049, 0.602 ± 0.064 and 0.0108 ± 0.0014) in hypoxia group (P < 0.05). As compared with hypoxia group, the cell viability and proportion of synthesis phase in 3 hypoxia plus puerarin groups significantly decreased, and the Caspase-3 activity, Kv 1.5 protein and Kv 1.5 mRNA in 3 hypoxia plus puerarin groups significantly enhanced (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Puerarin could decrease the proliferation and increase the apoptosis induced by hypoxia in rat PASMCs, and the up-regulated expression of Kv1.5 gene may be the mechanism of puerarin effects.</p>

Effects of phosphocreatine on plasma brain natriuretic peptide level in elderly patients with chronic congestive heart failure / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the therapeutic effects of phosphocreatine in elderly patients with chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) and its effects on plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty elderly patients with chronic CHF were randomly divided into two groups to receive basic treatment (control group) and additional phosphocreatine treatment (treatment group) with a treatment course of 8 weeks. The patients were evaluated for improvement in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, symptoms, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and the levels of BNP before and after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After 8 weeks of treatment, the overall efficacy rate was significantly higher in treatment group than in the control group, and LVESD, LVEDD, LVEF and BNP level of the treatment group were significantly lowered in comparison with those of the control group (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Phosphocreatine in addition to the basic treatment can reduce the BNP level and improve the cardiac systolic and diastolic function in elderly patients with chronic CHF.</p>

Separation and Identification of Schizochytrium sp / 微生物学通报

A strain was separeted from the Yueqing bay using pine pollen baiting.The vegetative thallus of the separated strain is oval and unincleate.It possesses a cell wall composed of many compact layers of closely pressed scales, which can be resolved where the cell wall is disrupted.The radiating branched extensions of the thallus, the ectoplasmic net, emerges from the sagenogenetosome.Asexual reproduction is by conversion of the vegetative thallus to many biflagellate zoospores, during which tetrads of cells are formed.It was identified with Schizochytrium sp.based on the features mentioned above.