ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study whether the presence of gastric pepsin in the sputum might be used as a reliable criteria of laryngopharyngeal reflux.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty-six patients with the symptoms of laryngopharyngitis and fifteen healthy people were recruited. Fifty-six patients were divided into laryngopharyngeal reflux group and chronic laryngitis group by the reflux symptom index (RSI), by the reflux finding score (RFS) and by their treating experiment taking omeprazole 20 mg bid for 2 weeks. Sputum in all three groups was obtained in the morning. Pepsin in the sputum was measured by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rate of pepsin in sputum among LPR group, chronic laryngopharyngitis group and normal group were 93.8% (30/32), 75.0% (18/24), 20.0% (3/15) respectively, and the median concentration of pepsin were 5.3 [1.3; 53.4] ng/ml, 0.8 [0.1; 17.2] ng/ml, 0.0[0.0;0.0] ng/ml (H = 23.29, P = 0.000). Compared with co-diagnosis as gold standard, the sensitivity of RSI, RFS treating experiment and the pepsin immunoassay was 59.4%, 84.4%, 81.3% and 93.8%, and the specificity of those was 87.2%, 61.5%, 95.8% and 46.2% respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Detection of pepsin in sputum by immunoassay might provide a high sensitive, noninvasive method for laryngopharyngeal reflux.</p>
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Case-Control Studies , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Methods , Laryngopharyngeal Reflux , Diagnosis , Pepsin A , Sensitivity and Specificity , Sputum , ChemistryABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To construct a miR-155-based lentivirus vector to induce cyclooxygenase-2 gene silencing in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells by expressing anti-COX-2 shRNAmir.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>miR-155-based anti-COX-2 shRNAmir template was synthesized and inserted into pLVTHM plasmid. The recombinant pLVTHM/shRNAmir was transfected into 293FT cells for packaging the lentivirus vector. After infection with the lentivirus vector, the GFP-positive cells were screened by flow cytometry, and COX-2 mRNA level was detected by RT-PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Restriction digestion and DNA sequencing confirmed successful construction of the anti-COX-2 vector pLVTHM/shRNAmir. A subline of C666-1 cells was established after infection with the lentivirus vector, and the COX-2 expression in the cells was stably silenced.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The shRNAmir lentivirus vector constructed may serve as an effective COX-2 inhibitor, which may facilitate future studies of gene therapy of NPC.</p>
Subject(s)
Humans , Cell Line, Tumor , Cyclooxygenase 2 , Genetics , Genetic Vectors , Genetics , Lentivirus , Genetics , Metabolism , MicroRNAs , Genetics , Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms , Genetics , Metabolism , Pathology , RNA Interference , RNA, Small Interfering , Genetics , TransfectionABSTRACT
Alveolar soft part sarcoma is a rare, aggressive malignancy of uncertain histological origin with a propensity for vascular invasion and distant metastasis. The case presented involves a 31-year-old woman with alveolar soft part sarcoma in the tongue root. The clinical features, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment were discussed.
