Comparison of postoperative changes in inflammatory marker levels between transthoracic and transcatheter device closures of atrial septal defects in children

Abstract Objective: To explore the postoperative changes in inflammatory markers in children who underwent device closure of an atrial septal defect (ASD) via a transthoracic or transcatheter approach. Methods: The experimental and clinical data were retrospectively collected and analyzed for a total of 53 pediatric patients between September 2018 and December 2018. According to the different treatments, 19 patients who underwent transthoracic device closure were assigned to group A, and the remaining 34 patients who underwent a transcatheter approach were assigned to group B. Results: All patients were successfully occluded without any device-related severe complication. Compared with the preoperative levels, the postoperative levels of most inflammatory cytokines in both groups were significantly increased and reached a peak on the first day after the procedure. The level of postoperative inflammatory cytokines was significantly lower in group B than in group A. In addition, there was no significant difference in procalcitonin before and after the transcatheter approach. Conclusion: Systemic inflammatory reactions occurred after transthoracic or transcatheter device closure of ASDs in pediatric patients. However, these inflammatory reactions were more significant in patients who underwent a transthoracic approach than in patients who underwent a transcatheter approach.

Association of JMJD3, MMP-2 and VEGF expressions with clinicopathological features of invasive ductal breast carcinoma / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To examine the expressions of JMJD3, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in invasive ductal breast carcinoma, their association with the clinicopathological features of the patients and the effect of JMJD3 overexpression on proliferation and MMP-2 and VEGF expressions in breast cancer cells.@*METHODS@#The protein and mRNA expressions of JMJD3, MMP-2, and VEGF in invasive ductal breast carcinoma and paired adjacent tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR, respectively, and their correlation with the clinicopathological characteristics of the patients was analyzed. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to evaluate the correlation of JMJD3, MMP-2 and VEGF expression levels with the survival of the patients. In breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells transfected with a JMJD3-expression plasmid, the expression of Ki67 was examined immunohistochemically, the cell proliferation was assessed with CCK8 assay, and the mRNA expressions of MMP-2 and VEGF were detected with RT-PCR.@*RESULTS@#Breast cancer tissues had significantly lower JMJD3 expression and higher MMP-2 and VEGF expressions at both the mRNA and protein levels than the adjacent tissue (@*CONCLUSIONS@#The expressions of JMJD3, MMP-2 and VEGF in invasive ductal breast carcinoma are closely correlated to tumor proliferation, invasion, metastasis and prognosis and can be used for prognostic evaluation of breast cancer.

Sensitive and Rapid Detection of Traditional Chinese Herbs by Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method and Real-Time Fluorescence Quantitative PCR

ABSTRACT Adulterant herbal materials are threats to import and export trade and consumer safety. In this study, we established a simple and rapid examination system for the detection of Phellodendron chinense Schneid. Two detection methods, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (real-time PCR) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), were developed for traditional Chinese medicine detection, and their specificity and sensitivity were compared. The DNA of P. chinense was extracted and its special periods amplified with designed primers. Real-time PCR and LAMP experiments were conducted to test the specificity of primers in contrast to other similar species. The template concentration was diluted from 101 ng/µL to 10-5 ng/µL in order to contrast sensitivity between real-time PCR and LAMP. Real-time PCR and Lamp method has shown specificity because P. chinense was positive as opposed to other negative similar species. The Lamp method could detect a limited DNA concentration of 10-4ng/µL in 60 minutes with same sensitivity to real-time PCR. The results indicate that real-time PCR and LAMP are sensitive, accurate and specific in detection of P. chinense. However, LAMP is more convenient and cast less time. What's more, expensive equipments are not necessary for LAMP detector. For a better detection, we suggest an establishment of a real-time PCR and LAMP method for TCM market supervision which depends on DNA barcode sequences and LAMP.

Combined detection of thyroid transcription factor 1 and napsin A in pleural fluid cell blocks facilitates cytopathologic diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the value of detecting thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) and Noval aspartic proteinase of pepsin family A (napsin A) in pleural fluid cell blocks in cytopathologic diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Conventional cell smears of pleural effusions were obtained from 48 patients with a history of lung adenocarcinoma for cytological analysis. The cell blocks were prepared using the cytological specimens and examined with immunohistochemistry for TTF-1 and napsin A. The rates of a positive diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma were compared between the two methods, and the diagnositic value of TTF-1 and napsin A in pleural fluid cell blocks was evaluated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immuno- histochemistry of the cell block sections yielded a significantly higher positive rate of diagnosis than cytological analysis of conventional cell smear (84.44% vs 55.56%, P<0.05). Most of the pleural fluid cell blocks showed positive expressions of TTF-1 (36/38, 94.74%) and napsin A (30/38, 78.95%), and none of samples showed TTF-1 or napsin A expression in the mesothelial cells (P<0.05). The combination detection of TTF-1 and napsin A in pleural fluid cell blocks had a high diagnosis value with a diagnostic sensitivity of 97.37% and a specificity of 100% for pulmonary adenocarcinoma.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The combined detection of TTF-1 and napsin A in pleural fluid cell blocks facilitates cytopathologic diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma.</p>

Prokaryotic expression of glutathione transferase gene from Taenia solium and its immunological investigations / 中国人兽共患病学报

In the present study, the prokaryotic expression of glutathione transferase (GST) gene from Taenia solium and its immunological properties were investigated by means of biological informatics methods. The GST gene from T.solium was screened from the cDNA plasmid library of the adult worms. This gene was cloned into prokaryotic expression plasmid pET28a(+) and then expressed in E.coli BL21(DE3) after double enzyme digestion, PCR identification and IPTG induction. The expressed product was identified by SDS-PAGE and the recombinant protein was purified through purification column of His-Ni~(2+) protein. Meanwhile, the immunoreactivity of the purified protein was analyzed by Western blot assay. In these ways, the recombinants were successfully constructed and the highly purified proteins were obtained. It was demonstrated that these proteins could be recognized by sera of patients infected with T.asitica and T.rhynchus saginatus. From these observations, it is evident that highly efficient expression of GST of Taenia solium with definite immunoreactivity can be demonstrated in the prokaryotic expression system.

Two-dimensional electrophoresis analysis of proteins from the colleterial gland of silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) / 生物工程学报

In silkworm moth the colleterial gland markedly enlarged due to the secretion and accumulation of glue like substances before adult emergence. However, the Ng mutant female moth only secreted little glue-like substance and laid loose eggs naturally. In the present experiment, it was extracted the proteins of secretory part of the variety E981 and its Ng mutant line and analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis. More than 700 protein spots were resolved both in two samples and most of the proteins were distributed in the area from 30 kD to 70 kD and pH 4 - 8. Through the comparison and analysis, it was found that 4 proteins were only expressed in E981 and 2 proteins were only expressed in Ng mutant. Furthermore, there are about 29 proteins were expressed higher in 981 and about 15 proteins expressed volume were higher in Ng mutant. These differential proteins may be have some relations with the Ng mutant form and directly lead to the Ng mutant can't secret the glue-like substance.