DNA degradation of porcine retinal cells for estimation of postmortem interval / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate DNA degradation of porcine retinal cells by single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) for estimation of postmortem interval (PMI).@*METHODS@#Degradation of retinal cells was observed by SCGE at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24h after death respectively, under the environmental conditions of being kept in dark place as well as a controlled temperature of (15 +/- 2) degrees C and humidity of (50 +/- 5)%. The comet pictures were captured by fluorescence microscope and analyzed by single cell gel electrophoresis (IMI 1.0).@*RESULTS@#From 2h to 24h postmortem, the degree of degradation of retinal DNA increased with the prolongation of PMI. The postmortem regression functions of head DNA%, L(T)/L(H), I(T)/I(H) were y = 92.227-5.188 x + 0.019 x2 + 0.001 x3 (R2 = 0.971), y = 0.035e(0.191x) (R2 = 0.947), y = 0.099e(0.264x) (R2 = 0.955), respectively.@*CONCLUSION@#The examination of retinal cell DNA degradation by SCGE is useful for estimating PMI.

Significance of serum carnitine in patients with liver diseases / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine serum carnitine levels in patients with liver diseases and to investigate their significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>25 patients with acute viral hepatitis, 34 with chronic viral hepatitis, 22 with post hepatitis cirrhosis with normal renal function, 9 with post hepatitis cirrhosis but with renal disfunction, and 40 healthy subjects (serving as controls) were enrolled in this study. An enzymatic cycling method was used to determine the serum free carnitine levels.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The serum free carnitine level was (48.3+/-10.2)micromol/L in the healthy control group. It was (35.2+/-13.2)micromol/L in the acute viral hepatitis group, (36.5+/-9.9)micromol/L in the chronic viral hepatitis group, (45.0+/-11.0)micromol/L in the post hepatitis cirrhosis with normal renal function group, and (83.6+/-50.4)micromol/L in the post hepatitis cirrhosis with renal dysfunction group. Serum free carnitine levels in the acute viral hepatitis and chronic viral hepatitis groups were significantly lower than those in the healthy controls. There were no significant differences in serum free carnitine levels of the post hepatitis cirrhosis group and the normal control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Patients with liver diseases can have carnitine metabolism errors. One of the secondary carnitine lack causes is liver disease.</p>

A clinical study of adefovir dipivoxil, made in China, for treatment of hepatitis B e antigen-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a China made adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) treatment for hepatitis B e antigen-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Two hundred and thirty patients with chronic hepatitis B who were positive for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) were randomly put into groups A or B, and 58 patients with lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B were randomly put into groups C or D. During the first 12 weeks of the trial, 112 patients in group A and 115 patients in group B received 10 mg of ADV and a placebo once a day; 28 patients in group C received 100 mg of lamivudine (LMV) and 10 mg of ADV; 29 patients in group D received 100 mg of LMV and a placebo once a day. In the second trial period, all patients received ADV for 36 weeks. The primary checking criterion was the serum HBV DNA change during the treatment. The secondary ones were alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization, HBeAg loss, and HBeAg seroconversion.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At week 12, the median serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA level of group A (ADV-ADV) was reduced 2.8 log10 copies/ml, significantly greater than that of group B (placebo-ADV) of 0.3 log10 copies/ml reduction (P = 0.000). At week 48, the median serum HBV DNA level of group A and group B were reduced 3.6 and 3.4 log10 copies/ml respectively. At week 12, the median serum HBV DNA level of group C (LMV+ADV) was reduced 3.0 log10 copies/ml, significantly greater than that of the group D (LMV+placebo) of 0.16 log10 copies/ml reduction (P = 0.000). At week 48, the median serum HBV DNA level of group C and group D were reduced 3.6 and 3.8 log10 copies/ml respectively. Only 5.56% (16/288) patients had adverse events that were mild to moderate. There was no significant difference in the change of serum creatinine compared with their baseline levels.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In our HBeAg positive lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B patients, 48 weeks of ADV treatment was safe and resulted in significant virological and biochemical improvements.</p>