Advances in new antivirals for chronic hepatitis B / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a global health burden. Timely and effective antiviral therapy is beneficial for patients with HBV infection. With existing antiviral drugs, including nucleos(t)ide analogs and interferon-alfa, patients can achieve viral suppression with improved prognosis. However, the rate of hepatitis B surface antigen loss is low. To achieve a functional cure and even complete cure in chronic hepatitis B patients, new antivirals need to be developed. In this review, we summarized the advantages and disadvantages of existing antiviral drugs and focused on new antivirals including direct-acting antiviral drugs and immunotherapeutic approaches.

Research progress in effects of amino acids on endoplasmic reticulum stress / 国际检验医学杂志

The occurrence of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is involved in the development of various diseases in human body.Accurate and effective intervention and regulation of ERS has become a hot spot in recent years.Amino acids are the nutrients that make up the proteins that people need, and they are also important signal transduction molecules in the human body.Intervention and regulation of ERS stress by amino acids is likely to be an important and unexplored area, and it is expected to become a potential target for new prevention strategies such as malignant tumors and cardiovascular diseases.Therefore, in this article, we will briefly review the research progress of the effects of amino acids on cellular ERS stress in recent years.

Research progress of delayed treatment time process for acute ischemic stroke patients / 中国脑血管病杂志

The treatment of stroke relies on early, rapid and effective reperfusion after cerebral ischemia to rescue the ischemic penumbra through cerebral blood flow restoration. However,the thrombolytic rate of stroke patients in China is only 2%. The time delay of treatment is the bottleneck, with pre-hospital delay an important reason and in-hospital delay not optimistic either. The article reviewed the current status and influencing factors of the treatment delay in patients with acute ischemic stroke,aiming to provide a basis for the establishment of an organized and integrated stroke emergency model in the future.

Second trimester prenatal screening for Down's syndrome in Mainland Chinese subjects using double-marker analysis of α-fetoprotein and β-human chorionic gonadotropin combined with measurement of nuchal fold thickness

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>This study examines the effectiveness of double-marker analysis for α-fetoprotein (AFP) and β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) combined with measurement of nuchal fold thickness (NT) in the detection of Down's syndrome (DS) in Mainland Chinese subjects during second trimester prenatal screening.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>We examined pregnant women with a singleton pregnancy between 15 and 21 weeks of gestation who underwent second trimester screening for DS using double-marker analysis for AFP and β-hCG combined with ultrasound measurement of NT. The combined risk of DS was calculated. A cut-off of 1/270 was used to define a pregnancy at high-risk of DS. Amniocentesis was offered to all patients with high-risk pregnancies.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Using double-marker analysis for AFP and β-hCG in combination with measurement of NT, the detection rate of DS increased from 66.7% to 77.8% when compared with double-marker analysis alone with similar false-positive rates (4.35%, 4.83% respectively). Using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, we determined that the double-marker analysis combined with measurement of NT exhibited an increased area under the curve (AUC) of 0.835 (95% CI: 0.743 to 0.927) when compared to double-marker analysis alone, which had an AUC of 0.748 (95% CI: 0.635 to 0.860). In addition, both methods were more effective than any other single test such as AFP, free β-hCG or NT measurement.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Second trimester prenatal screening using double-marker analysis for AFP and β-hCG combined with measurement of NT is effective for the detection of DS in Mainland Chinese pregnancies.</p>

Transplantation of atrial natriuretic peptide-expressing fibroblasts reduces blood pressure and increases urine volume in spontaneously hypertensive rats / 生物工程学报

To investigate the potential of gene therapy for the treatment of chronic diseases such as hypertension, chronic heart failure, and chronic renal failure, we established the neonatal rat fibroblast line engineered to secrete the mutant human atrial natriuretic peptide (mhANP), and then transplanted the cell line into young spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) subcutaneously. We found that a single transplantation of the cell line caused an obvious rise in the concentration of mhANP in serum 7 d after transplantation ((135 +/- 8) vs (106 +/- 7) pg/mL, P < 0.01). The animals' blood pressure in test group was always remarkably lower than that of empty vector group within 42 d after transplantation, even though the blood pressure in all groups was constantly increasing in the process of ontogeny ((175 +/- 10) mm Hg vs (189 +/- 12) mm Hg, P < 0.05). A maximal blood pressure reduction of 33 mm Hg ((157 +/- 9) mm Hg vs (124 +/- 112) mm Hg, P < 0.01) was observed 14 d post cell transplantation. There was a marked increase in urine volume in test group from second week after treatment beginning ((5.9 +/- 0.7) mL/6 h vs (4.3 +/- 0.8) mL/6 h, P < 0.01) and the effect lasted 14 d ((6.1 +/- 1.1) mL/6 h vs (4.0 +/- 0.8) mL/6 h, P < 0.01), however the statistical difference in concentration of K+ and Na+ in serum and urine was not observed. The results suggested that subcutaneous implantation of fibroblasts-expressing mhANP significantly reduced blood pressure in young SHR during the period of ontogeny and efficiently improved their renal function and the somatic gene transfer of mhANP may have potential value in the treatment of human chronic diseases such as hypertension, chronic heart failure, and chronic renal failure.

Capillary electrophoresis and laser-induced fluorescence (CE-LIF) for screening of wild type genes based on molecular beacons hybridization / 中华检验医学杂志

Objectives A new method for the detection of PCR ampli fied DNA in capillary electrophoresis and laser induced fluorescence (CE LIF) system based on molecular beacons hybridization is described.Methods The method is based on the hybridization of molecular beacons into the amplification product, then separating the hybridized product with CE LIF system. This method was applied to the detection of p73exon3, p53exon5 and p16exon2 for gastric carcinoma. Results Detected with CE LIF molecular beacons method, the wild type percent of p73exon3 is 100%, same as SSCP; p53exon5 is 60 0%, while SSCP is 63 3%, P=0 99; p16exon2 is 20 0%, same as SSCP(20 0%).Conclusion The results demonstrate that the specific peaks appeared in wild type samples while no peaks or unspecific peaks in mutation ones. The results showed correlation with the results of PCR SSCP. The method is able to develope as a clinical screening method for tumor suppressor genes to diagnose carcinoma.

The study progress of signal transduction be induced by prostaglandin D_2 in patient with asthma / 中华检验医学杂志

PGD_2 and its signal transduction way play a critical role in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma, such as immune and allergic inflammatory responses.So more and more investigators pay attention to it.This paper reviews that PGD_2 and its recepors effect on the pathologic changes in asthma.

Ethical Education about Laboratory Medicine / 中国医学伦理学

The ethical education of laboratory medicine,as the indispensable part of modern medicine practice,hasn't been adequately emphasized,so that non-ethical things often ouur.This artide discusses the importance of ethical education on the field of laboratry medicine.

Discussion on the Educaion of Medical ethics on Medical Laboratory Technicians / 中国医学伦理学

This article discusses the ethical problems which appear when medical laboratory technicians deal with all kinds of interpersonal relations in the field of medicine from the point of present medical service.It advocates that medical staff should possess professional morality and the sense of duty and calls for humane spirits to set up a brand-new mode of medical ethics.