[Occupational health investigate of 1-bromopropane used in a factory].

Objective: To investigate the occupational health survey of 1-brominepropane (1-BP) enterprises and understand the impact of 1-BP on the health of occupational exposure population. Methods: The occupational health data of 15 1-BP workers were collected from 3 time nodes in 0 months, June and December, and the effects of occupational exposure to 1-BP on health were analyzed. Results: In the workplace with pure 1-BP, the mean air concentration in the workplace was 26.8 mg/m(3), and the personal contact level was 29.7 to 63.4 mg/m(3). The occupational health monitoring data showed that white blood cell count (WBC) , red blood cell count (RBC) , aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were compared in 0 months, June, and 12 months, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) . Conclusion: During the 12 months observation period, the occupational exposure to 1-BP caused the number of peripheral blood erythrocyte and leukocyte count and the level of alanine transaminase in the workers, but it did not exceed the normal reference range.

Flagellin-PAc Fusion Protein Inhibits Progression of Established Caries.

Dental caries remains one of the most common infectious diseases of humankind, which develops slowly throughout life, affecting children, adolescents, and adults. A vaccine against caries is urgently needed. We previously developed recombinant flagellin as a mucosal adjuvant for anti-Streptococcus mutans vaccines by nasal immunization. Furthermore, we demonstrated a fusion protein strategy that combined flagellin and the target surface adhesion protein (PAc) in a single construct. This construct enhanced specific IgA responses in oral fluids and provided improved prophylactic protection against caries. In the present study, we observed prolonged progression of dental caries in rats after S. mutans Ingbritt challenge. In addition, we observed a therapeutic effect of the flagellin-PAc fusion protein (KF-rPAc) against dental caries as a mucosal vaccine with a new immunization protocol. The present study demonstrated that KF-rPAc by nasal immunization can promote PAc-specific systemic and mucosal antibody responses and inhibit dental caries progression efficiently after the implant of S. mutans into the oral cavity of the rats. The rats immunized with KF-rPAc exhibited 53.9% caries reduction compared with the sham-immunized rats. Our data support the concept of administration of KF-rPAc to humans after infection and even caries that has begun to alleviate caries progression. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that KF-rPAc could be used as an anticaries therapeutic mucosal vaccine.

Flagellin-PAc fusion protein is a high-efficacy anti-caries mucosal vaccine.

We previously demonstrated that an anti-caries DNA vaccine intranasally administered with recombinant flagellin protein as a mucosal adjuvant enhanced salivary IgA response and conferred better protection against caries. However, the relatively weak immunogenicity of DNA vaccines and the necessity for a large quantity of antigens remain significant challenges. Here, we fused the flagellin derived from E. coli (KF) and target antigen PAc containing the A-P fragment of PAc from S. mutans (rPAc) to produce a single recombinant protein (KF-rPAc). The abilities of KF-rPAc to induce rPAc-specific mucosal and systemic responses and protective efficiency against caries following intranasal immunization were compared with those of rPAc alone or a mixture of rPAc and KF (KF + rPAc) in rats. Results showed that KF-rPAc promoted significantly higher rPAc-specific antibodies in serum as well as in saliva than did an equivalent dose of rPAc alone or a mixture of KF + rPAc. Intranasal immunization of 8.5 µg KF-rPAc could achieve 64.2% reduction of dental caries in rats. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that flagellin and PAc fusion strategy is promising for anti-caries vaccine development, and KF-rPAc could be used as an anti-caries mucosal vaccine.

Lack of association between HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 alleles and the development of SARS: a cohort of 95 SARS-recovered individuals in a population of Guangdong, southern China.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), caused by infection with a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV), was the first major novel infectious disease at the beginning of the 21st century, with China especially affected. SARS was characterized by high infectivity, morbidity and mortality, and the confined pattern of the disease spreading among the countries of South-East and East Asia suggested the existence of susceptible factor(s) in these populations. Studies in the populations of Hong Kong and Taiwan showed an association of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) polymorphisms with the development and/or severity of SARS, respectively. The aim of the present study was to define the genotypic patterns of HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 loci in SARS patients and a co-resident population of Guangdong province, southern China, where the first SARS case was reported. The samples comprised 95 cases of recovered SARS patients and 403 unrelated healthy controls. HLA -A, -B and -DRB1 alleles were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers. The severity of the disease was assessed according to the history of lung infiltration, usage of assisted ventilation and occurrence of lymphocytopenia. Although the allelic frequencies of A23, A34, B60, DRB1*12 in the SARS group were slightly higher, and A33, -B58 and -B61 were lower than in the controls, no statistical significance was found when the Pc value was considered. Similarly, no association of HLA alleles with the severity of the disease was detected. Thus, variations in the major histocompatibility complex are unlikely to have contributed significantly to either the susceptibility or the severity of SARS in the population of Guangdong.

[Epidemiological analysis of 9695 cases of electric burns].

9695 cases of electric burn patients admitted to 84 hospitals in 26 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China were analyzed. Useful epidemiological data pertaining to sex and age distribution, profession, treatment, amputation rate, survival rate, and complications etc were obtained.