Effective combined therapy for pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (P-EHE) is a rare disease. Thus far, consensus on a standard treatment for P-EHE has not been established given its low incidence worldwide. Apatinib combined with chemotherapy with doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide has been used as an effective combination treatment for human malignancies. However, the efficacy of this combination has not been reported in P-EHE cases. CASE SUMMARY: We present the case of a 64-year-old woman with chest tightness, cough, and chest pain. Computed tomography showed multiple unresectable pulmonary nodules. She had been misdiagnosed with lung carcinoma and underwent gefitinib treatment at a hospital. Subsequently, the patient underwent a cardiothoracic surgery for further disease investigation. CD31, CD34, and Vimentin expression were detected in the resected nodule specimens by immunohistochemical analyses, and pathological analyses confirmed the diagnosis of P-EHE. Following this, four cycles of apatinib combined with chemotherapy with doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide were initiated. The patient demonstrated stabilization of multiple bilateral nodules and showed a dramatic improvement in the clinical presentation after combination treatment. The patient could not tolerate the side effects of chemotherapy. Therefore, she then continued apatinib monotherapy, which is ongoing to date. The patient was stable at the last follow-up after 24 mo. CONCLUSION: Apatinib combined with chemotherapy with doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide may be an effective therapeutic option for P-EHE treatment.

Phloem transport capacity of transgenic rice T1c-19 (Cry1C*) under several potassium fertilizer levels.

Genetic modification of Cry-proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a common practice in economically important crops to improve insecticide resistance and reduce the use of pesticides. However, introduction of these genes can have unintended side effects, which should be closely monitored for effective breeding and crop management. To determine the potential cause of these negative effects, we explored assimilate partitioning in the transgenic Bt rice line T1c-19 (Cry1C*), which was compared with that of its wild-type counterpart Minghui 63 (MH63) under different potassium fertilization application treatment conditions. In a pot experiment, 0, 0.4, and 0.6 g K2O was applied per kg of dry soil to determine the phloem transport characteristics of the two rice lines. We used a variety of assessment indicators ranging from morphological to physiological aspects, including the number of large and small vascular bundles in the neck internode at the heading stage, the diameter and bleeding intensity of the neck internode at the filling stage, and the content and apparent ratio of transferred non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in the culm and sheath from the heading to maturing stages. The K utilization and grain yield at the maturing stage were also concerned. Results presented that the mean setting rate and grain yield of T1c-19 (Cry1C*) decreased by 22.3% and 26.2% compared to those in MH63, respectively. Compared to MH63, the K concentration and accumulation were significantly higher in the culms and leaves, but significantly lower in grain of T1c-19 (Cry1C*). T1c-19 (Cry1C*) had less apparent NSC efflux in the culm and sheath, fewer small vascular bundles, and a smaller diameter and bleeding intensity of the neck internode than MH63. In addition, linear correlation analysis indicated that there were positive correlations among grain yield, setting rate, the apparent NSC efflux in the culm and sheath, number of small vascular bundles, and the neck internode diameter and bleeding intensity. These unintended effects may directly or indirectly be caused by insertion of exogenous Bt (Cry1C*) gene, which should be further considered in the future breeding of transgenic crops.

Global analysis of an epidemic model with vaccination.

In this paper, an epidemic dynamical model with vaccination is proposed. Vaccination of both newborn and susceptible is included in the present model. The impact of the vaccination strategy with the vaccine efficacy is explored. In particular, the model exhibits backward bifurcations under the vaccination level, and bistability occurrence can be observed. Mathematically, a bifurcation analysis is performed, and the conditions ensuring that the system exhibits backward bifurcation are provided. The global dynamics of the equilibrium in the model are also investigated. Numerical simulations are also conducted to confirm and extend the analytic results.

Global properties of vector-host disease models with time delays.

Since there exist extrinsic and intrinsic incubation periods of pathogens in the feedback interactions between the vectors and hosts, it is necessary to consider the incubation delays in vector-host disease transmission dynamics. In this paper, we propose vector-host disease models with two time delays, one describing the incubation period in the vector population and another representing the incubation period in the host population. Both distributed and discrete delays are used. By constructing suitable Liapunov functions, we obtain sufficient conditions for the global stability of the endemic equilibria of these models. The analytic results reveal that the global dynamics of such vector-host disease models with time delays are completely determined by the basic reproduction number. Some specific cases with discrete delay are studied and the corresponding results are improved.

Competitive exclusion in a vector-host epidemic model with distributed delay(†).

A multi-strain model of a vector-borne disease with distributed delay in the vector and the host is investigated. It is shown that if the reproduction number of the model R0 < 1, the unique disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable.Without loss of generality, strain one is assumed to have the largest reproduction number. In this case, the dominance equilibrium of strain one is shown to be locally stable. The basic reproduction number for a strain i (R(i)(0) is written as a product of the reproduction number of the vector (R(i)(v)) and the reproduction number of the host (R(i)(h)), i.e. R(i)(0) = R(i)(h)R(i)(v). The competitive exclusion principle is derived under the somewhat stronger condition that if strain one maximizes both the reproduction number of the host R(i)(h) < R(1)(h), i ≠ 1 and the reproduction number of the vector R(i)(v) < R(1)(v ), i ≠ 1,strain one dominance equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable.

[The relationship of virus load, receptor expression and tumor spectrum in layer chickens infected by ALV-J].

Abstract:Subgroup J avian leukosis virus (ALV-J) infect cells by binding to the chNHE1 receptor protein of the host and causes tumors. The tumor incidence of the ALV-J-infected chickens was observed by histo pathology, and virus was isolated on DF-1 cell line. The ALV-J load and mRNA of chNHElreceptor protein were detected by real time PCR. The relationship between ALV-J load, chNHE1 receptor expression levels and tumor spectrum was analyzed. The results showed that the tumors induced by ALV-J in laying hens and local lines of chicken were different. No significant relationship was observed between ALV-J load and tumor spectrum. ALV-J load was positively correlated with mRNA expression of chNHE1. The mRNA expression of chNHE1 increased when the tumors occurred. Our results suggest the chNHE1 protein is not only the receptor of ALV-J infected host but also play an important role in the process of tumor development. This study provides a scientific basis for further studying of oncogenic mechanism of ALV-J.

[Cloning and expression of gp37 gene of avian leukosis virus subgroup J].

The transmembrane protein (TM) encoded by gp37 gene plays a critical role when virus fusion with cell membrane occurs. Several highly conserved regions in TM are important targets for antivirus studies. Studies on structure and function of TM will provide basic information for anti-retrovirus, especially for avian leukosis virus. In the study, gp37 gene was amplified by PCR from the Chinese strain ALV-J-WS0701. The gp37 gene was cloned into pMD18-T vector, and was sequenced. Then, pFast-BacHTb-gp37 vector was constructed and expressed by baculovirus expression vector system. The expression product of gp37 gene was analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence assay and Western blot. The results showed that positive green fluorescence was present in sf9 cells infected with recombinant virus and a protein band with a molecular weight of 21kD was present in Western blot. It is concluded that gp37 gene was expressed in sf9 cells infected with recombinant virus successfully.

A note for the global stability of a delay differential equation of hepatitis B virus infection.

The global stability for a delayed HIV-1 infection model is investigated. It is shown that the global dynamics of the system can be completely determined by the reproduction number, and the chronic infected equilibrium of the system is globally asymptotically stable whenever it exists. This improves the related results presented in [S. A. Gourley,Y. Kuang and J.D.Nagy, Dynamics of a delay differential equation model of hepatitis B virus infection, Journal of Biological Dynamics, 2(2008), 140-153].