Relationship between handgrip strength and appendicular lean mass in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease / 医学研究生学报

Objective At present no deep investigation has been done on the relationship between handgrip strength and appendicular lean mass (ALM) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The study aimed to explore the present situation of handgrip strength in patients with stable COPD and relationship between handgrip strength and ALM.Methods A total of 93 patients with stable COPD who hospitalized in our department from August 2016 to July 2017 were selected for the study. All the patients underwent handgrip strength test, body composition analysis, as well as the analysis of the relationship between handgrip strength and ALM.Results Multivariate linear regression analysis showed age(X1), education(X2), smoking(X3), course of disease(X4) and lower limb lean mass(X5) could be taken as predictive factors for the variation degree of handgrip strength (R2=50.5%), and multiple linear regression equation was Y=9.959-4.315X1+1.397X2+2.679X3-1.526X4+1.538X5. The variation degree decreased to 48.1% when the course of disease was removed from the model, 28.3% when the limb lean mass was removed, 26.5% when two variables were removed. The correlation coefficients of ALM, upper limb, lower limb and torso lean mass (\[22.32±3.25\]kg, \[6.48±1.05\]kg, \[15.83±2.26\]kg, \[22.27±3.22\]kg) with handgrip strength (\[32.27±7.27\]kgf) were respectively 0.484, 0.436, 0.496 and 0.496 (P＜0.01).Conclusion The handgrip strength in patients with stable COPD is closely associated with ALM, and the course of disease and the lower limb lean mass greatly affect the handgrip strength. Clinical workers should pay extra attention to the relationship in order to give timely clinical intervention.

SOX40L: an important inflammatory mediator in adult bronchial asthma

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>The role of soluble OX40 ligand (sOX40L) in adult bronchial asthma is unclear. This study aims to determine the serum concentrations of sOX40L in adult patients with bronchial asthma, and discussed its relationship with pulmonary function.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>We measured the pulmonary function using the spirometer and detected the serum concentrations of sOX40L by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 19 healthy persons in the control group, 58 acute asthmatic adult patients who were grouped according to their disease severity: 18 mild grade, 24 moderate grade, 16 severe grade, and 24 persons in a stable asthmatic group.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The serum concentrations of sOX40L in asthmatic adult patients (6.80 ± 4.95 ng/L) were distinctly higher than those in the control group (3.98 ± 2.83 ng/L, P <0.05), and they were negatively correlated with pulmonary function indexes (FEV1%, FVC%, FEV1/FVC) (r = -0.754, P <0.01, r = -0.557, P <0.01, r = -0.457, P <0.01, respectively). Moreover, the serum concentrations of sOX40L showed obvious differences among control, mild, moderate, and severe groups (3.98 ± 2.83, 4.87 ± 1.89, 6.97 ± 5.91, 8.71 ± 5.18 ng/L, respectively; P <0.01). The concentrations of sOX40L decreased to the same extent as the control group after therapeutic treatments were provided to the asthmatic adult patients.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The concentrations of sOX40L were found to be high in adult asthmatic patients and were associated with the severity of the disease. Therefore, sOX40L could be a potential inflammatory mediator in the pathogenesis of asthma.</p>

Effects of 1-bromopropane exposure on cognitive function in rats / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effects of 1-bromopropane (1-BP) on the functions of learning-memory and the central cholinergic system in rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: low 1-BP group (200 mg/kg), middle 1-BP group (400 mg/kg), high 1-BP group (800 mg/kg) and control group, and the exposure time was 7 days. The Morris water maze (MWM) test was applied to evaluate the learning-memory function in rats. After the MWM test, the rats were sacrificed, the cerebral cortex and hippocampus were quickly dissected and homogenized in ice bath. The activity of acetylcholine esterase (AChE) and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) in supernatant of homogenate were detected.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The latency and swim path-length of rats in middle and high 1-BP groups prolonged significantly in place navigation test and the efficiency of searching strategy obviously decreased, as compared with control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). In spatial probe test, the number of crossing platform in three 1-BP groups decreased significantly, as compared with control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The cortical AChE activity of rats in middle and high 1-BP groups was significantly higher than that of control and low 1-BP group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The AChE activity in rat hippocampus of high 1-BP group obviously increased, as compared with control group as compared with control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference of cortical ChAT activity between three 1-BP groups and control group (P > 0.05). In the hippocampus, there was no difference of ChAT activity among the groups (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>1-BP exposure could significantly influence the learning-memory function in rats due to the increase of AChE activity.</p>

Mechanical periodontal treatment combined with tetracycline for aggressive periodontitis / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of mechanical periodontal treatment combined with tetracycline on periodontal attachment, distances of cementum-enamel junction (CEJ) to the bone defect bottom and to the alveolar crest, and avidity of serum IgG against Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in patients with aggressive periodontitis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-six patients with aggressive periodontitis were divided equally into two groups to receive mechanical periodontal treatment combined with tetracycline or exclusive mechanical periodontal treatment, with another 20 periodontally healthy subjects serving as the control group. In the two patient groups, routine clinical examination of the subjects was performed to record periodontal attachment level and distances of CEJ to the bottom of the bone defects and to the alveolar crest before and 3 and 6 months after the treatment. The avidity of serum IgG against Pg LPS was measured by ELISA with thiocyanate elution before and after periodontal treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with patients with exclusive mechanical periodontal treatment, patients with combined treatments showed significant improvement in periodontal attachment level and the distance of CEJ to the bone defect bottom after the treatment (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively) with also significantly reduced avidity of serum IgG against Pg LPS (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Mechanical periodontal treatment combined with tetracycline produces favorable effects in patients with aggressive periodontitis.</p>

Examination of anti-HBx in sera from patients of chronic hepatitis B,liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinical significance / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective To establish a method of detecting hepatitis B virus x antigen (HBxAg) and antibody to HBxAg (anti-HBx) and to demonstrate its clinical significance of HBxAg and anti-HBx in sera from patients of chronic hepatitis B (CHB),liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Full length HBx gene was cloned into pET30a(+),a prokaryotic expression vector,named pET30a-X.It was transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3),followed the fusion protein of HBx-His was induced by IPTG.The purified fusion protein was used to immunize rabbit as an antigen to generate polyclonal antibody to HBx protein.The method of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was established by using purified fusion protein and generated antibody,which was used to detect HBxAg and anti-HBx in sera from patients of CHB,LC,HCC and normal healthy people.Results The positive rates of HBxAg/anti-HBx were 8.7%/10.4% for CHB,17.9%/40.6% for LC,and 9.8%/34.4% for HCC, respectively.In statistics,the positive rates of anti-HBx in LC and HCC were higher than that in CHB (P