[Associations between 4 lipid biomarkers and cardiometabolic multimorbidity development in middle aged and old adults in China].

Objective: To estimate the longitudinal association between serum lipid biomarkers and the development of cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) in middle-aged and old adults (≥45) in China, while examining effect differences among degree of dyslipidemia aggregation and various dyslipidemia combination patterns. Methods: Based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2018), logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the associations of TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, TG (4 forms of dyslipidemias), degree and pattern of dyslipidemia combination with CMM. We also used restricted cubic splines to show the dose-response associations between 4 lipid biomarkers and CMM development. Results: Of the 6 522 participants included, 590 (9.05%) developed CMM. After adjusting for covariates, all 4 forms of dyslipidemias were positively associated with CMM development (high TC: OR=1.33, 95%CI: 1.03-1.71; high LDL-C: OR=1.35, 95%CI: 1.05-1.75; low HDL-C: OR=1.45, 95%CI: 1.19-1.77; high TG: OR=1.50, 95%CI: 1.20-1.88). The U-shaped dose-response relationship between LDL-C and CMM development was observed (P for non-linear =0.022). The odds of CMM increased with the increase of dyslipidemias forms, which was highest in those with ≥3 forms of dyslipidemias (OR=2.02, 95%CI: 1.33-3.06). In various dyslipidemia form combinations, the possibility of CMM development was highest in those with high TC, high LDL-C and low HDL-C (OR=3.54, 95%CI: 1.40-8.67). High TC and high LDL-C were significantly associated with CMM development in people without cardiometabolic diseases. Low HDL-C was positively associated with diabetes and CMM development in participants without cardiometabolic diseases, cardiovascular disease (CVD) followed by diabetes, and diabetes followed by CVD. High TG was positively associated with diabetes and CMM in participants without cardiometabolic diseases, and diabetes followed by CVD. Conclusions: A total of 4 forms of dyslipidemia were all independently associated with CMM development in middle-aged and old adults in China. The dose-response relationship between LDL-C level and CMM development was U-shaped. The aggregation of 4 forms of dyslipidemia were associated with the development of CMM. Low HDL-C and high TG were significantly associated with multiple patterns of cardiometabolic diseases development.

[Survival analysis since diagnosis of HIV-positive injecting drug users aged 15 years and above in China].

Objective: To understand death's mortality and risk factors among HIV-positive injecting drug users (IDU) aged 15 or above in China and provide further reference to future prevention and treatment policies. Method: Retrospective cohort study was conducted to calculate the mortality rate of HIV-positive IDU based on HIV/AIDS Comprehensive Response Information Management System. Cox proportion hazards regression model was performed to assess the risk factors for deaths. The Excel 2019 and SPSS 22.0 software was used for data cleaning and statistical analysis. Results: Between 2001 and 2020, 119 209 HIV-positive IDU were reported with 59 094 deaths. The all-cause mortality rate was 6.96 per 100 person-years (py), and the AIDS-related mortality rate was 1.91 per 100 py, with a decreasing trend over the years. Multivariate Cox regression indicated for all-cause death risks of HIV-positive IDU, compared with those baseline T+ lymphocyte cells (CD4) counts above 500 cells/µl, the HR (95%CI) of those CD4 counts untested, between 0-199, 200-349, 350-500 cells/µl was 2.85 (2.78-2.93), 2.47 (2.40-2.54), 1.58 (1.53-1.62) and 1.24 (1.21-1.28) respectively. The HR (95%CI) of antiretroviral treatment (ART) naïve was 7.13 (6.99-7.27) compared with those under ART. The HR (95%CI) of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) naïve was 1.07 (1.04-1.10) compared to those receiving MMT. As for AIDS-related death risks, compared with baseline T+ lymphocyte cell CD4 counts >500 cells/µl, the HR (95%CI) of those CD4 counts untested, between 0-199, 200-349, 350-500 cells/µl was 3.26 (3.08-3.46), 5.54 (5.24-5.85), 2.35 (2.21-2.50) and 1.41 (1.32-1.50). HR (95%CI) of ART naïve was 5.96(5.74-6.18) compared to those under ART. Conclusions: Further efforts should be made timely on diagnosis, treatment, and harm reduction programs such as MMT for improvement compliance to reduce mortality risks of HIV-positive IDU.

[Epidemiological characteristics of newly reported HIV-infected adolescents aged 15-17 years outside school in China, 2011-2019].

Objective: To understand the epidemiological characteristics of HIV-infected adolescents outside school in China and provide reference to targeted prevention and control of HIV infection in this population. Methods: All the HIV-infected adolescents aged 15-17 years outside school reported during 2011-2019 were included this study. The information about their demographics, transmission routes and migration were collected from HIV/AIDS Comprehensive Response Information Management System. The χ2 test was done for comparison among groups. The Joinpoint 4.9.0 software was applied to the annual percent change (APC) for time trends analysis using the Joinpoint regression model. The Excel 2019 and SPSS 22.0 software were used for data cleaning and statistical analysis. Results: A total of 4 919 HIV-infected adolescents aged 15-17 years outside school were reported accumulatively in China between 2011 and 2019, accounting for 63.4% (4 919/7 757) of total reported HIV-infected cases in this age group. Analysis on trend revealed that the new HIV infection diagnosis rate has become stable since 2016 (APC=2.5%, P=0.173) after the increase between 2011 and 2015 (APC=36.4%, P<0.001). The migration across provinces was discovered in 13.9% (684/4 919) of the HIV-infected adolescents outside school. Males, workers, and those diagnosed in detention centers or transmitted by injecting drugs or homosexual contacts accounted for a larger proportion in migrated cases compared with non-migrated cases. The adolescents outside school mainly got HIV infected by sexual contacts route, in which 66.5% (280/421) of the males were infected by homosexual contacts, while 97.8% (182/186) of the females were infected by heterosexual contacts in 2019. Conclusions: HIV-infected adolescents aged 15-17 years outside school were mainly infected by sexual contacts. However, adolescents outside school have low awareness of sexual health and high mobility, to whom close attention should be paid to improve their awareness of sexual health and to provide them with appropriate HIV infection prevention and treatment service.

Iron based nanotherapeutics for ferroptosis-induced cancer therapy.

Traditional anti-cancer treatments are far from satisfactory. There is an urgent to combine new therapeutics with traditional treatments to improve anti-cancer effectiveness. Ferroptosis is a new type of iron dependent non-apoptotic cell death could still offer benefits to patients who failed in apoptosis and necroptosis induction treatment. Iron plays a vital role during ferroptosis induction. While iron is a double-edged sword in cancer treatment, tumor specific distribution of iron is especially important. Nanotechnology is an efficient way to help drugs targeting distribution. We intended to review the latest progress in ferroptosis and iron based nanotherapeutics. First, the relationship between ferroptosis and iron metabolism was reviewed briefly to demonstrate the central role of iron in ferroptosis induction. Second, the latest progress of iron-based nanotechnology was presented and discussed according to the different designs. Finally, the future expectations of iron based nanotherapeutics for ferroptosis were spotlighted.

Genetic variation in three mitochondrial genes among cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus originating from four provinces of China.

The cattle tick, Rhipicephalus microplus (formerly Boophilus microplus), is the most important blood-feeding ectoparasite of cattle in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. In this study, we examined sequence variability in three mitochondrial (mt) DNA (cox1, nad1, nad4) among cattle tick R. microplus originating from four provinces of China. A portion of cox1 (pcox1), nad1 (pnad1) and nad4 (pnad4) genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) separately from adult R. microplus individuals and the amplicons were subjected to sequence from both directions. The sequence of mt cox1, nad1, nad4 genes was 817 bp, 350 bp, and 794 bp in size, respectively. The intraspecific sequence variations within R. microplus were 0-8.6% for cox1, 0-4.9% for nad1 and 0-10.3% for nad4. However, the interspecific sequence differences among the members of the Rhipicephalus [R. sanguineus (JX416325) and R. turanicus (NC035946)] were significantly higher, being 16.9-20.5%, 18- 22.8%, 22.8-25.3% for pcox1, pnad1 and pnad4, respectively. In addition, genetic differences were 7.9-8.6% for cox1, 4.3-4.9% for nad1 and 10-10.3% for nad4 between the two detected lineages (R. microplus clade A and clade B). Phylogenetic analyses indicated that all the Rhipicephalus isolates from the present study represents R. microplus, supporting that R. microplus represents species complex. Our result provided an additional genetic evidence for the existence of species complex within R. microplus in China.

[Retrospective analysis of diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in pregnancy].

Objective: To investigate the principles of diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer during pregnancy. Methods: Clinical data of patients with breast cancer during pregnancy admitted to Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University between January 2012 to July 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. A total of 17 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer in pregnancy, the median age was 32 years (range from 25 to 45 years old), pathological staging revealed 2 patient with stage 0, 1 with stage Ⅱa, 7 with stage Ⅱb, 1 with stage Ⅲa, 2 with stage Ⅲc, 4 with stage Ⅳ. Results: Thirteen patients received surgical treatment in pregnancy, the gestational age at surgery was (27.7±4.6) weeks; 2 patients with ductal carcinoma in situ received mastectomy, 11 patients with breast cancer underwent modified radical mastectomy. In patients undergoing surgery during pregnancy, no prophylactic contractions were used in 4 patients who had been treated earlier, there were 2 patients with frequent contractions within 24 hours after operation in these patients. Follow-up 9 patients were given oral nifedipine to prevent contractions, no obvious contractions occurred after the operation. Seven patients received chemotherapy during pregnancy; the chemotherapy of 4 cases of triple negative breast cancer was weekly paclitaxel sequential epirubicin and cyclophosphamide, the chemotherapy of the other three patients was docetaxel sequential epirubicin and cyclophosphamide. Fifteen patients underwent cesarean section to terminate pregnancy, 2 patients underwent spontaneous labor. The gestational age of birth was (36.9 ±1.3) weeks. Less than 35 weeks of termination of pregnancy occurred in one patient, the fetus was delivered to the neonatal intensive care unit due to neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, and suffered from congenital dysaudia. The prognosis of the other 16 survived infants was good. The median follow-up time was 10 months (range from 4 to 27) months, in 13 patients of stage 0 to Ⅲc, one patient were diagnosed with bone metastasis at 12 months after surgery, the remaining 12 patients had no disease progression, the progression free survival rate was 12/13, the overall survival rate was 13/13. Among the 4 patients with stage Ⅳ, one died in 7 months after delivery, one had new liver metastasis in 8 months after delivery. The remaining 2 patients were in stable condition. Conclusions: Breast cancer in pregnancy can be treated effectively, multidisciplinary cooperation and detailed assessment of maternal-fetal risks and benefits are necessary. Chemotherapy during pregnancy is safe for maternal-fetal, but it needed a large sample of clinical studies and long-term follow-up. The neonatal outcome was associated with gestational age, and therefore premature delivery was avoided as much as possible during treatment.

[Prevalence and influencing factors on psychological violence from parents to child].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of psychological violence against children by parents and to explore possible influencing factors. METHODS: In two primary schools from a city, located in the northeast part of China, 1 164 parents of the pupils from grade 1 to 6, were anonymously surveyed by a self-administered questionnaire, to analyze the situation of psychological violence and influencing factors. RESULTS: Of the 1 164 parents, 78.1% reported that they practised psychological violence towards their children. Compared with girls, boys were more psychologically maltreated by their parents (81.3% vs. 74.7%,P<0.01). Data from the multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that following factors increased the risk of psychological violence against children: child being male (OR=1.684); initiated by the mother (OR=1.640), parents experiences of psychologically violent victimization (OR=2.064) during their childhood, supportive or tolerant attitudes towards corporal punishment (OR=2.618) from the parents, low awareness of the harmfulness of psychological violence against children (OR=1.666) of the parents, and lower social economic status (OR=1.745) of the family, etc. CONCLUSION: Psychological violence experienced by the parents appeared very common. Prevention programs on psychological violence should be strengthened to increase the awareness of parents on this serious problem.

Effects of Supplementing Brown Seaweed By-products in the Diet of Holstein Cows during Transition on Ruminal Fermentation, Growth Performance and Endocrine Responses.

This study was conducted to examine the effects of supplementing brown seaweed by-products (BSB) in the diet of ruminants on ruminal fermentation characteristics, growth performance, endocrine response, and milk production in Holstein cows. In Experiment 1, the effects of different levels (0%, 2%, and 4% of basal diet as Control, 2% BSB, 4% BSB, respectively) of BSB were evaluated at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 h in vitro batch culture rumen fermentation. The pH tended to be higher for the higher level of BSB supplementation, with the pH at 12 h being significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of the control. The concentration of ammonia nitrogen was lower at 3, 9, 12, and 24 h incubation (p<0.05) compared with the control, and tended to be low at other incubation times. Volatile fatty acid concentration appeared to be minimally changed while lower values were observed with 4% BSB treatment at 24 h (p<0.05). In Experiment 2, effects of levels (0%, 2%, and 4%) of BSB on growth performance, endocrine responses and milk production were studied with Holstein dairy cows during transition. Dry matter intake, daily gain and feed efficiency were not affected by BSB supplementation. The concentration of plasma estrogen for the control, 2% BSB and 4% BSB after three months of pregnancy were 55.7, 94.1, and 72.3 pg/mL, respectively (p = 0.08). Although the differences of progesterone levels between BSB treatments and the control were minimal, the concentration in 4% BSB treatment increased to 157.7% compared with the initial level of the study. Triiodothyronine and thyroxine levels were also higher after both three months and eight months of pregnancy than the initial level at the beginning of the study. In addition, BSB treatments during one month after delivery did not affect daily milk yield and composition. In conclusion, the present results indicate that supplementation of BSB did not compromise ruminal fermentation, and animal performance at lower levels and hence may have potential to be used as a safe feed ingredient in dairy cows.

The relationship between the alternative exon 7 splice variant of the BF gene and MHC-related Marek's disease resistance in chickens.

The study was to analyse the relationship between the alternative exon 7 splice variant of the BF gene and MHC-related Marek's disease (MD) resistance in chickens. The experiment first determined whether or not the cocks of Xiayan chickens have alternative splicing-out of the exon 7 of the BF gene from peripheral blood leucocytes (PBLs). Then, selected two groups: Group K included the offspring of the selected cocks which have no alternative splicing-out of the exon 7 of the BF gene; Group Y included the offspring of the selected cocks which have alternative splicing-out of the exon 7 of the BF gene. All hens used in the cross-breeding were non-selected. The experimental chickens were challenged with a very virulent strain of Marek's disease virus (MDV) at 4 days old and were raised for 12 weeks. At this time, all the surviving chickens were killed and necropsy was also performed during the experiment whenever chickens died from the infection. Tumour incidence and mortality were calculated using SPSS, and the tissues were collected to detect MDV by PCR. The results showed that the mortalities of Group K and Y were 52.75% and 70.65%, respectively; and that the tumour incidences of non-alternative splicing-out of the exon 7 of the BF for Groups K and Y were 15.38% and 38.89%, respectively; the tumour incidences for the alternative splicing-out of the exon 7 were 46.15% and 56.76%, respectively. The results demonstrated the tumour incidence was highly related with the alternative exon 7 splice variant of the BF gene (P < 0.05).

Effect of Oral Administration of Intact Casein on Gastrointestinal Hormone Secretion and Pancreatic α-Amylase Activity in Korean Native Steer.

Three Korean native steers (779±24 kg) fitted with duodenal cannulas were used in a 3×3 Latin square design to investigate the influence of oral administration of soluble proteins, intact casein (IC) and acid hydrolyzed casein (AHC), on gastrointestinal hormone (GIH) secretion in the blood and pancreatic α-amylase activity in the duodenum. Oral treatment consisted of a basic diet (control), IC (C+100% protein), or AHC (C+80% amino acid, 20% peptide) for 21 d. Blood and duodenum samples were collected for measurement of serum GI hormones, and pancreatic α-amylase activity was determined at 900, 1030, 1330, 1630, and 1930 h after feeding on d 21 of treatment. The levels of serum cholecystokinin (CCK) and secretin in the IC treatment group were higher compared to the other treatment groups (p<0.05). In addition to the changes in CCK and secretin levels upon IC treatment, the pancreatic α-amylase activity in the duodenum was higher in the IC group compared to the control diet group (p<0.05). The response of serum ghrelin to IC and AHC treatment was in accordance with the response of serum secretin. The level of peptide fragments flowing in the duodenum was higher in the IC treatment group than the other treatment groups (p<0.05). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that an increase in duodenal CCK and secretin upon IC oral administration increased pancreatic α-amylase secretion. In addition, ghrelin may be associated with GI hormone secretion in Korean native steers.

Conjugated linoleic acid synthesis-related protein proteasome subunit α 5 (PSMA5) is increased by vaccenic acid treatment in goat mammary tissue.

This study was conducted to identify proteins associated with the endogenous synthesis of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) from trans-vaccenic acid (TVA; trans-11 C18:1, a precursor for CLA endogenous synthesis) in mammary tissues. Six lactating goats were divided into 2 groups. One group was given an intravenous bolus injection of TVA (150mg) twice daily over 4 d; the other group received saline injections. Treatment with TVA increased the concentration of cis-9,trans-11 CLA and TVA in goat milk. Additionally, TVA treatment increased the expression of stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) in mammary tissue. Using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, 3 proteins affected by infusions of TVA were identified. Proteasome (prosome, macropain) subunit α type 5 (PSMA5) was upregulated, whereas peroxiredoxin-1 and translationally controlled tumor protein 1 were downregulated in TVA-treated animals compared with the vehicle-injected controls. Only the effect of TVA on PSMA5 could be confirmed by Western blot analysis. To further explore the regulation of PSMA5 in mammary epithelial cells when TVA is converted into CLA, we used a differentiated bovine mammary epithelial cell line treated with TVA for 6h. Changes in cis-9,trans-11 CLA concentrations and mRNA expression patterns of both SCD and PSMA5 were monitored. The concentration of cis-9,trans-11 CLA increased after TVA treatment. The mRNA expression level of PSMA5 was significantly elevated to 6h, but SCD mRNA expression only increased in 2h after TVA treatment. These results indicate that PSMA5 is highly expressed in goat mammary tissue and bovine mammary epithelial cells when TVA is converted into CLA. Our data suggest that PSMA5 protein is associated with CLA biosynthesis in mammary tissue.

Marek's disease resistant/susceptible MHC haplotypes in Xiayan chickens identified on the basis of BLB2 PCR-RFLP and BLB2/BF2 sequence analyses.

1. The aim was to analyse the variability of the BLB2/BF2 genes of Xiayan chickens to identify homozygous birds with resistance or susceptibility to Marek's disease (MD). 2. The experiment used two lines: birds from a common line were divided into Group A (unvaccinated) and Group B (vaccinated with herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT)); and birds from an MD-resistant line were divided into Group C (unvaccinated) and Group D (vaccinated with HVT). They were challenged intra-abdominally with Marek's disease virus (MDV) and genomic DNA extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes so that polymorphism of the BLB2/BF2 genes could be analysed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and nucleotide sequence analysis. 3. A 374-bp fragment of the BLB2 gene was amplified from the samples and, after digesting with restriction enzymes Alu I, Cai I, Cfr I, Hin1 I, Hinf I and Rsa I for RFLP analysis, the 6 electrophoretic patterns were analysed. Seven homozygous genotypes were found and used tentatively to identify alleles of the BLB2 gene. 4. A 765-bp fragment of the BF2 gene was amplified from the 7 samples for cloning and sequencing. 5. Six homozygous birds were confirmed from the sequenced BLB2/BF2 gene. Four birds were resistant to MD. Three birds had identical nucleotide sequences and were highly homologous with MHC haplotype B6, which is MD resistant. One bird had high homology with the highly MD-resistant B²¹ haplotype, and two birds were susceptible and highly homologous to the B¹9 haplotype, which is highly MD susceptible.

Rapid detection of BF haplotypes by a semi-nested polymerase chain reaction, which causes resistance/susceptibility to Marek's disease in chicken.

A semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (snPCR) assay was developed for the rapid detection of resistant/susceptible BF haplotypes to Marek's disease (MD) using the cDNA samples from peripheral blood leucocytes, liver, spleen and heart from Xiayan homozygous chickens: A(11), C(23), D(8) and D(12) (resistant to MD), A(5) and B(21) (susceptible to MD). The snPCR was utilized to span alternative splicing-out of the sequence encoding the second segment of the cytoplasmic part of the mature BF molecules (exon 7). This alternative exon 7 splice variant was detected in BF*A(5) and BF*B(21) (susceptible to MD), but not in the MD-resistant BF*A(11), BF*C(23), BF*D(8) and BF*D(12) haplotypes, suggesting a potential role of exon 7 for the detection of resistant/susceptible BF haplotypes to MD.

Effect of feeding high-temperature, microtime-treated diets with different lipid sources on conjugated linoleic acid formation in finishing Hanwoo steers.

The present study was conducted to examine the effects of different plant oils or plant oil mixtures and high-temperature, microtime processing (HTMT) on the CLA content in Hanwoo steers. Experiment 1, consisting of 3 in vitro trials, was conducted to determine how the biohydrogenation of C18 fatty acids and CLA production were affected by fat sources (tallow, soybean oil, linseed oil, or mixtures of soybean oil and linseed oil) or HTMT treatment in the rumen fluid. The results showed that HTMT was capable of protecting unsaturated fatty acids from biohydrogenation by ruminal bacteria. The HTMT-treated diet containing 4% linseed oil (LU) and a supplement containing 2% linseed oil and 1% soybean oil treated with HTMT + 1% soybean oil (L(2)S(1)U+S(1)) produced an increased quantity of trans-11 C18:1 and cis-9, trans-11 CLA, and a reduced quantity of trans-10, cis-12 CLA. Based on these results, in vivo studies (Exp. 2) were conducted with LU and L(2)S(1)U+S(1). These 2 treatments increased the content of cis-9, trans-11 CLA in LM compared with the control diet. The content of trans-10, cis-12 CLA in subcutaneous fat was also increased in the L(2)S(1)U+S(1) treatment compared with other treatments. The subcutaneous fat thickness in the LU treatment was decreased compared with the L(2)S(1)U+S(1) treatment. The LU treatment significantly decreased fatty acid synthase expression but simultaneously increased leptin expression. In this report, we showed that diets containing LU and L(2)S(1)U+S(1) were capable of increasing CLA in the intramuscular fat of beef.

[Tube pregnancy treated with trichosanthin and followed up by hysterosalpingography].

Twenty cases of unruptured tube pregnancy were treated with Trichosanthin intramuscularly given. Only two cases were eventually operated, so the effective rate was 90%. The hysterosalpingography was taken in 14 of 18 cases who was willing to accept the procedure at 0.5-1.5 year after the conservative treatment. Both tubes were patent in 10 of 14 cases, the rate of patency was 71.4%.

[Histopathology appearance of intrauterine residue after medical abortion by mifepristone and prostaglandin analogue].

Four hundred and fifty pregnant women were recruited for termination of early gestation by mifepristone combined with dl-15-methyl PGF2 alpha or misoprostol. Eight-four out of 450 subjects received curettage because of heavy or prolonged vaginal bleeding and slow decline of urinary hCG levels. Histopathology examinations of specimens obtained during curettage revealed denatured, necrotic and obscure villi and trophoblasts in 77 specimens, which accounted for 91.7%. Among them, 68 samples were mingled with inflammatory cell infiltration, and 15 with decidual cells, only 3 were villi and trophoblasts alone. The remaining 7 specimens were decidua in 6 and inflammatory infiltration in 1, which accounted for 7.1% and 1.2% respectively. This study suggested that the major cause resulting in heavy or prolonged vaginal bleeding after medical abortion by mifepristone and prostaglandin analogue was residual villi and trophoblasts with inflammatory cell infiltration.

[Clinical study of termination of early pregnancy by combination of dl-15-methyl-prostaglandin F2 alpha and RU 486].

PIP: In order to study the appropriate dosage in using RU 486 for induced abortion, 80 women of or = 49 days of pregnancy were randomly assigned to 3 groups. 20 women in Group I took 175 mg of RU486 in 3 1/2 days and were given 1 mg injection of prostaglandin (PG) on the 4th day. 20 women in Group II took the same amount of RU486 as group I and were given 0.5 mg of PG injection on the 4th day. 40 women in Group III took 100 mg of RU486 in 2 days and were given 0.5 mg of PG on the 3rd day. The duration of induced abortion and bleeding and the side effects were observed. The outcome of induced abortion was classified as complete abortion, incomplete abortion, and failure. No failures occurred. About 95% of the women in each group had a complete abortion, and the differences among the 3 groups were not statistically significant. Those who had an incomplete abortion received a medical abortion. A small number of women experienced the side effects of dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Compared with studies with a similar proportion of complete abortion, the dosage of RU486 in this study is 2-4 times smaller, and the dosage of PG is also reduced by 5 to 14 times that used in earlier studies. Signs of incomplete abortion should be closely observed, and action should be taken to avoid excessive bleeding or infection. Drug-induced abortion is gradually gaining acceptance; nevertheless, appropriate medical attention is necessary to guard against complications.^ieng