Expression of CLAUDIN-11 in the testicular tissue of the patient with non-obstructive azoospermia and its clinical significance / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>Objective</b>To study the expression of CLAUDIN-11 in the testis tissue of non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) patients with different severities and investigate its clinical significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty-two NOA patients were divided into a hypospermatogenesis (HS) group (n = 30) and a Sertoli cell only syndrome (SCO) group (n =32). The expression of CLAUDIN-11 in the testicular tissue of the patients was detected by immunohistochemistry, that of CLAUDIN-11 mRNA determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and the levels of serum reproductive hormones measured by chemiluminescent immunoassay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immunohistochemistry showed that the expression of CLAUDIN-11 was mainly in the cytoplasm of the Sertoli cells around the seminiferous tubule wall in the HS group, but diffusely distributed in the membrane of the Sertoli cells in the SCO group. RT-qPCR revealed a significantly lower expression of CLAUDIN-11 mRNA in the HS than in the SCO group (0.008 ± 0.001 vs 0.013 ± 0.002, t = 10.616, P<0.01). The level of serum luteotropic hormone (LH) was also markedly lower in the HS than in the SCO group (［3.62 ± 1.34］ vs ［4.96 ± 3.10］ IU/L, P<0.05) and so was that of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) (［5.36 ± 2.80］ vs ［10.65 ± 9.18］ IU/L, P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The up-regulated expression of CLAUDIN-11 in Sertoli cells may play an important role in the development and progression of spermatogenic dysfunction in NOA patients.</p>

Tick-Borne Pathogens in Ixodid Ticks from Poyang Lake Region, Southeastern China

Ticks are the vectors of various pathogens, threatening human health and animal production across the globe. Here, for the first time we detected Ricketssia spp., Borrelia spp. and protozoan in ticks from Poyang Lake region in Jiangxi Province of eastern China. In 3 habitat categories and on 12 host species, 311 ticks from 11 species were collected. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species, accounting for 55.63%, followed by Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis flava and Ixodes granulatus. Of the collected ticks, 7.07% were positive for tick-borne pathogens, and H. longicornis and H. flava were found to be co-infected with Ricketssia spp. and protozoan. H. flava was the most detected positive for tick-borne pathogens, whereas H. longicornis had the lowest infection rate, and the difference in infection rates between tick species was significant (χ²=61.24, P < 0.001). Furthermore, adult ticks demonstrated remarkably greater infection rate than immature ticks (χ²=10.12, P=0.018), meanwhile ticks on Erinaceidae showed significantly higher positivity than ticks collected on other host species (χ²=108.44, P < 0.001). Genetic fragment sequencing and analyses showed at least 4 pathogen species presence in ticks, namely Borrelia yangtzensis, Rickettsia slovaca or Rickettsia raoultii related genospecies, Babesia vogeli and Hepatozoon canis or Hepatozoon felis related genospecies. The finding indicates that the abundant ticks can carry diverse pathogens in Poyang Lake region, and pathogen infection is highly related to species, vertebrate hosts and life stages of ticks.

The prognosis study of 108 idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension patients / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the characteristics of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and predict the prognosis of IPAH by Echocardiogram and Right Heart Catheterization.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>108 IPAH patients who was diagnosed as IPAH in Fuwai hospital from Jan 2003 to Jun 2007 were retrospectively analyzed and followed up to June 2008, the statistical analysis software was SPSS 13.0.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The mean age of the 108 IPAH patients was (32.5 +/- 12.6) years, the ratio of female and male was 2.86:1, the average time from appearing symptom to diagnosis was (34.9 +/- 36.3) months, the incidence of syncope, hepatomegaly, hemoptysis and Edema of lower extremity was 32.4%, 27.8%, 15.7% and 14.8% respectively. A total of 94 patients (87.0%) were followed up for (27.6 +/- 14.7) months, forty-two patients (38.9%) died of right heart failure, the mean death time was (11.6 +/- 9.4) months after diagnosis, the survival rate of 1, 2 and 3 years was 74%, 58% and 44% respectively. These following variables could predict survival in univariate analysis: Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) (P < 0.01, RR = 0.937), pulse Pressure (PP) (P < 0.01, RR = 0.930), left ventricular End-Diastolic Dimension (LVEDD) (P = 0.004, RR = 0.924), right ventricular End-Diastolic Dimension (RVEDD) (P = 0.029, RR = 1.045), RVEDD/LVEDD (P = 0.003, RR = 3.222), Pulmonary Arterial Systolic Pressure (PASP) measured by echocardiogram (P = 0.002, RR = 1.022), PASP (P = 0.030, RR = 1.026), mean Pulmonary Arterial Pressure (mPAP) (P = 0.031, RR = 1.037) and Pulmonary Vascular Resistance (PVR) measured by right heart catheter (P = 0.019, RR = 1.001). in multivariate analysis, PP (P < 0.01, RR = 0.923), RVEDD/LVEDD (P = 0.006, RR = 3.126) and PASP measured by Echocardiogram (P = 0.002, RR = 1.022), PASP, mPAP, PVR measured by right heart catheter (P = 0.017, RR = 1.001) were predictive.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>IPAH was prone to attack young women with a poor prognosis, the diagnosis of IPAH at an early stage was difficult because of nonspecific symptom, syncope, hepatomegaly and Edema of lower extremity can predict the severity of IPAH, PVR measured by right heart catheterization, PP and PASP were independently predictive factors for IPAH.</p>