Screening of Genes Co-Associated with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Infectious Sudden Death in Infancy and Bioinformatics Analysis of Their Regulatory Networks / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVES@#The common differentially expressed mRNAs in brain, heart and liver tissues of deceased sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and infectious sudden death in infancy (ISDI) confirmed by autopsy was screened by bioinformatics to explore the common molecular markers and pathogenesis of SIDS and ISDI.@*METHODS@#The datasets of GSE70422 and GSE136992 were downloaded, the limma of R software was used to screen differentially expressed mRNA in different tissue samples of SIDS and ISDI decedents for overlapping analysis. The clusterProfiler of R software was used to conduct gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by STRING database, while the hub gene was screened by cytoHubba plug-in.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the control group, there were 19 significant differentially expressed genes in the tissue samples of SIDS and ISDI decedents, among which 16 in the heart tissue and 3 in the liver tissue, and the astrotactin 1 (ASTN1) gene expression difference in the heart tissue was most significant. The PPI network identified Ras homolog family member A (RHOA), integrin subunit alpha 1 (ITGA1), and H2B clustered histone 5 (H2BC5) were hub genes. The analysis of GO and KEGG showed that differentially expressed genes were enriched in the molecular pathways of actin cytoskeleton regulation, focal adhesion and response to mycophenolic acid.@*CONCLUSIONS@#ASTN1, RHOA and ITGA1 may participate in the development of SIDS and ISDI. The enrichment of differentially expressed genes in immune and inflammatory pathways suggests a common molecular regulatory mechanism between SIDS and ISDI. These findings are expected to provide new biomarkers for molecular anatomy and forensic identification of SIDS and ISDI.

Clinical Application of Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification in Detection of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae / 中国医学科学院学报

Objective To explore the clinical value of one-step visualization loop-mediated isothermal amplification(LAMP)in the detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae(Mp). Methods One-step visualized LAMP,polymerase chain reaction(PCR),and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)were used to simultaneously detect 108 clinical Mp specimens in children,which included 73 cases of Mp infection diagnosed by PCR and 35 cases of other chronic/acute respiratory tract infections.On the first day of admission,one-step visualization LAMP,PCR(fluorimetric method),and ELISA were used to test the throat swab and serum sample obtained from the same patient,and the Kappa value was calculated.The consistence between LAMP and PCR and that between LAMP and ELISA were compared.On the fifth day of admission,40 patients were resampled and the findings of these three tests on the first day and on the fifth day were compared. Results One-step visualization LAMP had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 94.3%,whereas ELISA had a sensitivity of 65.8% and a specificity of 82.9%.The ratio of Kappa camparing one-step visualization LAMP and PCR was 0.956 and the ratio of Kappa camparing one-step visualization LAMP and ELISA was 0.38.The number of positive specimens detected by LAMP was higher than that by ELISA on the first day. Conclusions One-step visualization LAMP has excellent sensitivity and specificity in detecting early acute Mp infection.It has high consistency with PCR and can be applied to detect Mp.

Research Progress of Age Estimation Based on Age-related Changes of Dentin-pulp Complex / 法医学杂志

Age estimation is a hot and difficult issue in forensic practice. Teeth are the most solid organs in human body and can be kept in vitro for a long time. With age, the secondary dentin gradually generates and the volume of pulp cavity constantly decreases. Therefore, forensic dentists proposed that age-related changes of dentin-pulp complex could be used to estimate age, which has been widely applied in forensic practice over the years. Due to the development of imaging technology, a variety of methods have been advocated by forensic dentists to detect the age-related changes of dentin-pulp complex for age estimation. However, different methods have their own advantages and limitations, forensic scientists should combine the use of different methods for improving the accuracy of age estimation according to the actual situation. This paper reviews current research of age estimation based on dentin-pulp complex, so as to provide reference for related research.

Development of CBCT technique and its application on dental age assessment / 法医学杂志

Teeth are the hardest organs in the human body. They are not easily affected by external physical and chemical factors to degrade or deform. Dental age assessment has been widely used in forensic practice. Dental image is one of the most common methods in the age estimation. The emergence of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) technology provides a new way to obtain three-dimensional image of teeth. It has many advantages such as low-dose radiation, short-time scanning, high-precision image, and finical convenience. Recent development of CBCT technology and its application on age estimation are reviewed in this paper.

Sequence polymorphism of mtDNA control region in Chinese Qinghai Tibetan ethnic group and Han population / 法医学杂志

OBJECT@#To study sequence polymorphism of mtDNA control region in Chinese Qinghai Tibetan group and Han population.@*METHODS@#Venous blood samples from 69 unrelated Qinghai Tibetans and Han individuals were collected and their mtDNA control region sequences were analyzed. Polymorphism indicators were calculated. The genetic distances based on Fst and Rst among eleven groups from different districts include the Qinghai Tibetan and Han population were elucidated using Nei's method. Phylogenetic tree was constructed.@*RESULTS@#There were 56 polymorphic loci and 59 loci found in the mtDNA control region of Tibetan group and Han population, respectively. It was indicated by the Rst distance that there was a far distance between Qinghai Tibetan and the other populations (P<0.05), and the distance was much closer between Qinghai Han and Xi'an Han, Mongolian, Changsha Han populations (P>0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#There is unique genetic polymorphism of mtDNA control region both in Qinghai Tibetan and Han population. These findings may be useful in forensic identification, population genetic and migration studies.

Clinicopathological significance of homeobox BP1 mRNA expression in lung cancer tissue / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of beta-protein 1 (BP(1)) gene, a novel member of DLX homeobox gene family, in lung cancer tissue and its relationship with clinical features of lung cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RT-PCR was employed for detecting BP(1) gene expression in the lung cancer tissues, adjacent tissues, non-cancer lung tissues of 46 lung cancer patients.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Thirty-six lung cancer tissues and 6 adjacent tissues but none of the normal tissues were found to have BP(1) gene overexpression, showing significant difference in BP(1) expression between the tissues (P<0.01). Significant difference in BP1 gene overexpression was noted between well differentiated cancers (13 of out 21) and poorly differentiated cancers (22 of the 25), but not between cancers of different stages or between squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>BP(1) gene expression is up-regulated in human lung cancer in related to the differentiation level of lung cancer but not to the clinical stage.</p>

Frequencies distribution of human leukocyte antigen-B27 subtypes in healthy Chinese / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the frequencies distribution of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 subtypes in unrelated healthy Chinese.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Polymerase chain reaction sequence-based typing (PCRSBT) was used to determine HLA high-resolution genotypes of 825 unrelated healthy Chinese.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 25 HLA-B27-positive individuals and 8 HLA-B27 subtypes were detected. These subtypes and their corresponding frequencies were B * 2704 (30.77%) , B * 2705 (23.08%), B * 2707 (19.23%), B * 2711 (7.69%), B * 2712 (7.69%), B * 2701 (3.85%), B * 2713 (3.85%) and B * 2721 (3.85%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The data obtained through PCR-SBT method may serve as important reference for the research of relationship between HLA-B27 subtypes and some diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis.</p>