In vivo structure and dynamics of the RNA genome of SARS-Cov-2

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 pandemic, is one of the largest positive strand RNA viruses. Here we developed a simplified SPLASH assay and comprehensively mapped the in vivo RNA-RNA interactome of SARS-CoV-2 RNA during the viral life cycle. We observed canonical and alternative structures including 3-UTR and 5-UTR, frameshifting element (FSE) pseudoknot and genome cyclization in cells and in virions. We provide direct evidence of interactions between Transcription Regulating Sequences (TRS-L and TRS-Bs), which facilitate discontinuous transcription. In addition, we reveal alternative short and long distance arches around FSE, forming a "high-order pseudoknot" embedding FSE, which might help ribosome stalling at frameshift sites. More importantly, we found that within virions, while SARS-CoV-2 genome RNA undergoes intensive compaction, genome cyclization is weakened and genome domains remain stable. Our data provides a structural basis for the regulation of replication, discontinuous transcription and translational frameshifting, describes dynamics of RNA structures during life cycle of SARS-CoV-2, and will help to develop antiviral strategies.

Synthesis, Crystal Structures, and Antimicrobial and Antitumor Studies of Two Zinc(II) Complexes with Pyridine Thiazole Derivatives.

Two pyridine thiazole derivatives, namely, 4-(pyridin-2-yl)-2-(2-(pyridin-2-ylmethylene)hydrazinyl)thiazole (L1) and 4-(pyridin-3-yl)-2-(2-(pyridin-4-ylmethylene)hydrazinyl)thiazole (L2), were afforded by a cyclization reaction between α-haloketone and thioamide, and their Zn(II) complexes were prepared by the reaction of ligands and corresponding metal salts, respectively, and characterized by X-ray diffraction and elemental analysis. Both crystals were obtained by ether diffusion and crystallized in a monoclinic system. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the Zn(II) complexes and ligands was screened using the microplate reader method, and in vitro antitumor activities of the complexes were evaluated by MTT, with a view to developing new improved bioactive materials with novel properties. The biological activity studies of the compounds showed that the metal complexes were more active than the free ligands, and some compounds had absolute specificity for certain bacteria or cancer cell lines.

Metabonomic analysis of Hugan Tablets on CCl4-induced acute hepatic injury in rats based on 1 H-NMR / 中国药理学通报

Aim To identify the potential biomarkers associated with carbon tetrachloride(CCl 4 )-induced a-cute hepatic injury in rats and explore the therapeutic effect of Hugan Tablets(HGT). Methods The model was established by intraperitoneal injection of CCl4 in oil(1 : 1,V/ V)with a dosage of 1 mL·kg - 1 body weight to rats once. The levels of aspartate aminotrans-ferase(AST),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),alka-line phosphatase (ALP ) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)in serum of rats were determined. Moreover,a proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1 H-NMR)based metabonomic approach in combination with multivariate data analysis was applied to demonstrate CCl4-induced acute hepatic injury metabolic perturbations in rat urine and feces and identify the corresponding metabolic bio-markers. The intervention effect of HGT was evaluated based on the changes of metabolic phenotype and po-tential biomarkers related to acute hepatic injury. Re-sults The levels of AST,ALT,ALP and LDH in ser-um of rats with acute hepatic injury were significantly reduced by administration of HGT,respectively. The disturbed metabolic state associated with CCl4-induced acute hepatic injury in rat urine and feces could be re-stored by HGT. Meanwhile,five potential biomarkers (2-oxoglutarate,citrate,creatinine,trimethylamine N-oxide,hippurate)in rat urine and three potential bio-markers(butyrate,glucose,uracil)in rat feces related to acute hepatic injury were reversed by administration of HGT,respectively. Conclusion HGT exerts pro-tective effects against CCl4-induced acute hepatic inju-ry in rats,which is probably mediated by regulation of tricarboxylic acid cycle and gut microbiota metabolism.

Study on intestinal absorption of aqueous extract from Chaihu Shugan San / 药物评价研究

Objective To evaluate the intestinal absorption of main components (paeoniflorin,ferulic acid,narirutin,naringin,neohesperidin,and glycyrrhizic acid) in aqueous extract of Chaihu Shugan San (CSS).Methods UPLC method was established to simultaneously determine the concentrations of the six components in the test samples of everted gut sacs and in situ single pass intestinal perfusion (SPIP) models.Absorption kinetics parameters were calculated for describing their absorption characteristics.Results In SPIP model,the results indicated that ferulic acid was the well-absorbed ingredient in whole small intestine,while other ingredients presented moderate or poor absorption.In everted gut sacs model,paeoniflorin in jejunum,ferulic acid,naringin,and neohesperidin in duodenum,narirutin in duodenum and jejunum,had the best absorption,while there was no significant difference in absorption of glycyrrhizic acid in the intestine.Condusion In vivo model indicated that the main constituents in CSS could be absorbed in intestinal wall of rat,ferulic acid could be much more easily penetrated intestinal wall into the blood circulation than the other five components.Ex vivo model could further articulate that six index components could be absorbed selectively in different intestinal segments.

Study on intestinal absorption of aqueous extract from Chaihu Shugan San / 药物评价研究

Objective To evaluate the intestinal absorption of main components (paeoniflorin,ferulic acid,narirutin,naringin,neohesperidin,and glycyrrhizic acid) in aqueous extract of Chaihu Shugan San (CSS).Methods UPLC method was established to simultaneously determine the concentrations of the six components in the test samples of everted gut sacs and in situ single pass intestinal perfusion (SPIP) models.Absorption kinetics parameters were calculated for describing their absorption characteristics.Results In SPIP model,the results indicated that ferulic acid was the well-absorbed ingredient in whole small intestine,while other ingredients presented moderate or poor absorption.In everted gut sacs model,paeoniflorin in jejunum,ferulic acid,naringin,and neohesperidin in duodenum,narirutin in duodenum and jejunum,had the best absorption,while there was no significant difference in absorption of glycyrrhizic acid in the intestine.Condusion In vivo model indicated that the main constituents in CSS could be absorbed in intestinal wall of rat,ferulic acid could be much more easily penetrated intestinal wall into the blood circulation than the other five components.Ex vivo model could further articulate that six index components could be absorbed selectively in different intestinal segments.

Effect of low-dose focused ultrasound pre-irradiation versus microbubbles for enhancing high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation of VXhepatic tumor in rabbits / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the effect of low-dose focused ultrasound pre-irradiation and microbubbles for enhancing the ablation effect of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) on VXhepatic tumor in rabbits.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty-five rabbits bearing VXhepatic tumor were randomly divided into low-dose pre-irradiation + HIFU ablation group, microbubbles+HIFU ablation group, and HIFU ablation group for corresponding treatments. The pathological changes in the tumors after low-dose irradiation, time for HIFU ablation, tumor volume with coagulative necrosis, energy efficiency factor (EEF), pathological changes in the ablated tumor, and sound channel of HIFU ablation were observed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Tumor cell edema, vacuolar changes in the cytoplasm and tumor interstitial vascular congestion were observed 24 h after low-dose pre-irradiation. The ablation time were significantly shorter, coagulative necrosis volume was larger, and EEF was lower in low-dose irradiation + HIFU ablation group and microbubbles+HIFU ablation group than in simple HIFU ablation group (P<0.05), but the differences between the former two groups were not significant. The effectiveness and stability of the synergistic effect of low-dose pre-irradiation were inferior to microbubbles, but the former ensured a better safety of the sound channel.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Low-dose irradiation has comparable synergistic effect in HIFU with microbubbles with such advantages as non-invasiveness, high concentration and good safety, and can be a potentially new method to enhance the efficiency of HIFU.</p>

Comparison of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced MRI for the assessment of vascularization of hydroxyapatite orbital implants.

OBJECTIVE: To compare contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for the assessment of vascularization of hydroxyapatite orbital implants. METHODS: Ten patients who underwent monthly contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging following implantation were analyzed. The two modalities were compared according to their ability to visualize the progress of vascularization at monthly intervals. RESULTS: There were no differences in the findings shown by these two methods. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound provided better visualization of the dynamic process of vascularization than contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. There were no significant differences in the areas and the time to completion of fibrovascular ingrowth observed by contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, indicating that the findings of these two examinations were consistently similar. CONCLUSIONS: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound is useful for the assessment of vascularization of hydroxyapatite orbital implants and provides better visualization of the dynamic process than contrast-enhanced MRI.

Research and application of incorporating innovative research into undergraduate training / 中华医学教育探索杂志

To introduce scientific research innovation into undergraduate education, cultivating innovative talents has been an urgent mission of current higher education. This article reviewed our experience, with the introduction of producing-studying-researching platform built on original innovative achievements of Chongqing medical university,of training physical medicine physician to be practical talents of large-scale diagnostic and therapeutic medical equipments, and was aimed to explore introducing producing-studying-researching platform into undergraduate education as well as improve personnel training quality of undergraduates.

Cellular components of crescents in four common types of crescentic glomerulonephritis / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To examine the cellular components at different stages of the crescent formation in four most common types of human crescentic glomerulonephritis (CGN), including anti-GBM disease (GBM-CGN), crescentic IgA nephropathy (IgA-CGN), ANCA associated pauci-immune CGN (ANCA-CGN) and crescentic lupus glomerulonephritis (LN-CGN).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Renal biopsy specimens of patients with GBM-CGN (n = 10), IgA-CGN (n = 12), ANCA-CGN (n = 12), and LN-CGN (n = 11) were selected. Immunohistochemistry was adopted to identify the cellular components using different cell markers including cytokeratin (PEC), CD68 (macrophage), nestin (podocyte), podocalyxin (podocyte), CD3 (lymphocyte), CD15 (neutrophil) and PCNA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were different subtypes of cell components identified during the formation of a cellular crescent in 4 different types of human CGN. Mainly of PEC 11.4 (0.0, 95.0)%, macrophage 8.0 (0.0, 35.0)% and podocyte 5.5 (0.0, 22.0)% and their constitutive percentages were different among various CGNs (P < 0.01). In all the CGNs studied, there were 50% of cells were negative to all the cell markers adopted for this expeiment. Podocalyxin positive cells 0.5 (0.0, 9.6)% were significantly less than nestin positive cells 5.5 (0.0, 22.0)% in all CGNs. PCNA positive cells were 44.7 (16.7, 83.3)% in the cellular crescent of all CGNs and co-localized with nestin (38/45 cases), CK (42/45 cases) or CD68 (24/45 cases).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>PEC, macrophage and podocyte might play important roles in the formation of crescents. The staining disparity of nestin and podocalyxin indicates that podocyte dedifferentiation may occur during the crescent formation. PEC, podocytes and macrophages may participate in the formation of crescent in common CGNs through active cellular proliferation.</p>

Endothelial cell chimerism by fluorescence in situ hybridization in gender mismatched renal allograft biopsies / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The blood vessels of a transplanted organ are the interface between donor and recipient. The endothelium in the blood vessels is thought to be the major target for graft rejection. Endothelial cells of a transplanted organ can be of recipient origin after transplantation. In this study, we tested whether endothelial chimerism correlated with the graft rejection and cold ischemia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We studied the biopsy samples from 34 renal transplants of female recipients who received the kidney from a male donor for the presence of endothelial cells of recipient origin. We examined the tissue sections of renal biopsy samples by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for the presence of endothelial cells containing two X chromosomes using a biotinylated Y chromosome probe and digoxigenin labelled X chromosome probe, and then analyzed the relationship between the endothelial cell chimerism and the rejection and cold ischemia.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Endothelial chimerism was common and irrespective of rejections (P > 0.05). The cold ischemic time of chimerism group was longer than no chimerism group ((14.83 +/- 4.03) hours vs (11.27 +/- 3.87) hours, P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>There is no correlation between the percentage of recipient endothelial cells in vascular endothelial cells and the type of graft rejection. The endothelium damaged by ischemic injury might be repaired by the endothelial cells from the recipient.</p>

Clinicopathologic study of different variants of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the clinicopathologic features of different variants of primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and two cases of FSGS were retrieved from the archival files of Peking University First Hospital during the past 6-year period. The pathologic findings were reviewed and the degrees of active and chronic changes were assessed by morphometric analysis. The histopathologic patterns were then correlated with clinical manifestations.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Amongst the 102 cases of primary FSGS studied, 55.9% belonged to the NOS (not other specified) variant, while the perihilar, cellular, tip and collapsing variants accounted for 6.9%, 25.5%, 4.8% and 6.9% respectively. The level of proteinuria in the cellular and tip variants were much higher than that in the NOS variant; and the incidence of nephrotic syndrome in the tip and collapsing variants was higher than that in the other three variants (chi(2) = 12.23, P < 0.05). The activity score of the cellular and collapsing variants was also higher than that of the other three variants (P < 0.05). The interval between disease onset and renal biopsy diagnosis in the perihilar variant was longer than that in the other variants. The chronicity score of this variant was higher than that of the tip and NOS variants (P < 0.05). On the other hand, the total scores of active and chronic changes of the tip variant was lower than that of the cellular and collapsing variants (P < 0.05); and its chronic score was lower than that of the NOS and perihilar variants (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The NOS variant is the commonest morphologic pattern seen in primary FSGS. The cellular and collapsing variants are the patterns associated with active lesions, while perihilar variant is the pattern associated with chronic lesions. The tip variant shows mild pathological changes compared with the other patterns.</p>

Clinicopathologic features of membranous nephropathy coexisting with IgA nephropathy / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the clinicopathologic features of membranous nephropathy coexisting with IgA nephropathy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The renal biopsies performed in Peking University First Hospital during the period from January, 1998 to April, 2006 were retrospectively reviewed. The clinicopathologic features of 11 cases of membranous nephropathy coexisting with IgA nephropathy were studied. Electron microscopy with immunogold labeling for IgG and IgA were also performed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean age of patients was 39.9 years. The male-to-female ratio was 1:2.9. The patients mainly presented with proteinuria. Proteinuria of nephrotic level was seen in 7 cases (63.6%). Seven cases also had associated microscopic hematuria. None of them showed evidence of renal insufficiency. Cases with secondary diseases, such as hepatitis virus infection and systemic lupus erythematosus, were excluded from the study. Histologically, vacuolation and thickening of glomerular basement membrane was seen. There was also mild mesangial hypercellularity and increase in mesangial matrix. Occasional glomeruli with crescent formation were identified in 2 cases. Immunofluorescence study showed granular staining for IgG and C3 along glomerular capillary walls, in addition to clumps of IgA deposits in mesangium. Electron microscopy revealed subepithelial and mesangial electron-dense deposits. Immunogold labeling showed IgG and IgA localized in the subepithelial and mesangial deposits respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Membranous nephropathy coexisting with IgA nephropathy possesses the clinicopathologic features of both components. It might be caused by independent occurrence of the two entities.</p>

Study on the dynamic prevalence of serum antibody against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus in employees from wild animal market in Guangzhou / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the dynamic trend of specific antibody against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV in serum collected at various periods among employees in Guangzhou Xinyuan animal market.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Volunteers from employees of the animal market were recruited and their serum specific antibody against SARS-CoV were determined by enzyme linked immunesorbent assay (ELISA) method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Positive SARS-CoV specific IgG antibody was found 25.61% (n = 328), 13.03% (n = 238), 12.59% (n = 135), 5.04% (n = 139) and 9.43% (n = 53) among volunteers, which were sampled in May 2003, Dec. 2003, Jan. 2004, July 2004 and June 2005 respectively. No specific IgM antibody was found in all of those samples. Among 129 samples which were tested twice or more, 97 were all negative, 18 all positive, 13 changed from positive to negative but only one sample from negative to positive. When the volunteers were divided by the duration of their working experiences as short-term or long-term, those who had worked at animal market for less than or more then 6 months when being tested, the positive rate for long-term employees were relatively constant, however, all of the persons employed after January 2004, when the palm civets and raccoon dogs were culled from the market, were tested negative.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The prevalence of specific antibody against SARS-CoV in employees of the animal market were somehow related with the presence or absence of palm civet. No serum was tested positive for persons who were employed after palm civets and raccoon dogs were culled from market. This data indicated that the SARS-CoV might have been from the palm civets and raccoon dog, and the animal market seemed to serve as one of the sources of infection.</p>

Lung pathology and pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome: a report of six full autopsies / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an emerging infectious disease that first manifested in humans in November 2002. The SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) has been identified as the causal agent, but the pathology and pathogenesis are still not quite clear.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Post-mortem lung samples from six patients who died from SARS from April to July 2003 were studied by light and electron microscopy, Masson trichromal staining and immunohistochemistry. Evidence of infection with the SARS-CoV was determined by reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) , serological examination and electron microscopy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Four of six patients had serological and RT-PCR evidence of recent infection of SARS-CoV. Morphologic changes are summarized as follows: (1) Diffuse and bilateral lung consolidation was seen in all patients (6/6) with increasing lung weight. (2) Diffuse alveolar damage was universal (6/6) with hyaline membrane formation (6/6), intra-alveolar edema/hemorrhage (6/6), fibrin deposition (6/6), pneumocyte desquamation (6/6). A marked disruption in the integrity of the alveolar epithelium was confirmed by immunostaining for the epithelial marker AE1/AE3 (6/6). (3) Type II pneumocytes, with mild hyperplasia, atypia, cytomegaly with granular amphophilic cytoplasm and intracytoplasmic lipid accumulation (5/6). (4) Giant cells in the alveoli were seen in five of 6 patients (5/6) , most of which were positive for the epithelial marker AE1/AE3 (5/6), but some cells were positive for the macrophage marker CD68(2/6). (5) A pronounced increase of macrophages were seen in the alveoli and the interstitium of the lung (6/6), which was confirmed by histological study and immunohistochemistry. (6) Haemophagocytosis was present in five of the 6 patients(5/6). (7) Lung fibrosis was seen in five patients(5/6), with alveolar septa and interstitium thickening(5/6), intraalveolar organizing exudates (6/6) and pleura thickening (4/6). Proliferation of collagen was confirmed by Masson trichromal staining, most of which was type III collagen by immunostaining. The formation of distinctive fibroblast/myofibroblast foci was seen in five patients (5/6) by light microscopy and immunochemistry. (8) Squamous metaplasia of bronchial mucosa was seen in five patients(5/6). (9) Thrombi was seen in all patients(6/6). (10) Accompanying infection was present in two patients, one was bacteria, the other was fungus. In addition, electron microscopy revealed viral particles in the cytoplasm of alveolar epithelial cells and endothelial cells corresponding to coronavirus.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Direct injury of SARS-CoV on alveolar epithelium, prominent macrophage infiltration and distinctive fibroblast/myofibroblast proliferation may play major roles in the pathogenesis of SARS.</p>

Collagen type III glomerulopathy: a morphologic study / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the morphologic changes of collagen type III glomerulopathy and to investigate the possible cellular origin for collagen III production.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Light microscopy, immunofluorescent staining, immunohistochemistry (for collagen I, III and IV and alpha-SMA) and electron microscopy studies on 3 renal biopsy cases of collagen type III glomerulopathy were performed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Two cases presented with nephrotic syndrome, one of which was associated with systemic hypertension. The third case showed renal impairment and renal hypertension. None had any known family history of renal diseases. Light microscopy showed diffuse thickened glomerular basement membrane and expanded mesangium with deposition of weakly PAS-positive homogeneous material not associated with mesangial cell proliferation. Electron microscopy revealed massive collagen fiber deposits in the subendothelial spaces and mesangium. The mesangial cells also contained bundles of microfilaments in the subplasmalemmal regions. Immunohistochemically, the diffuse positivity for type III collagen corresponded to the homogeneous material seen under light microscopy. The staining for type I and IV collagens was negative. Alpha-SMA was expressed in many mesangial cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The diagnosis of collagen type III glomerulopathy can be made on the basis of detailed morphologic examination and ancillary investigations. It is possible that activated mesangial cells may be the cellular origin of collagen III.</p>

In vitro binding of p53 and telomeric repeat factor 2 / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To clarify the regulation of p53 through telomere pathway by investigating the molecular interaction between p53 and the main telomere-associated protein Telomeric Repeat Factor 2 (TRF2) in vitro.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Four different p53-GST (glutathione S-transferase) fusion proteins and GST were expressed in E. coli and purified through glutathione sepharose 4B beads. The human recombinant p53s included wild type p53 (1-393), N terminus-truncated form p53 2C (95-393), C terminus-truncated form p53 N5 (2-293) and single amino acid mutant p53 R175H (175 arginine to histidine). Purified p53-GST fusion proteins and GST were mixed with cellular protein extracts of human breast cancer cells MCF-7 in vitro by pull down. The molecular interaction between p53 and TRF2 were detected by Western blot.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>SDS-PAGE and Coomassie brilliant blue staining showed that the molecular weights of all purified proteins were as expected, with purities over 90%. Western blot of TRF2 indicated that both wild type p53 and p53 R175H could bind with TRF2 of MCF-7 cells in similar capacity, while GST alone failed to do so. The molecular interaction between p53 2C and TRF2 was enhanced. In contrast, the interaction between p53 N5 and TRF2 was significantly reduced.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>p53 can interact with TRF2 directly and specifically in vitro, with C terminus of p53 (293-393) being the binding region for their interaction. This C terminus-dependent interaction between p53 and TRF2 may be related to the cellular activities induced by telomere alterations.</p>

Expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase and c-myc transcripts in endometrial carcinoma and its precursors / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the possible role of hTERT and c-myc in endometrial carcinogenesis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of hTERT and c-myc mRNA was examined by in situ hybridization of endometrial samples from 14 cases with simple hyperplasia, 10 with complex hyperplasia, 8 with atypical hyperplasia and 42 with endometrioid carcinoma.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Expression of hTERT was demonstrated in samples with simple hyperplasia, complex hyperplasia, atypical hyperplasia and carcinoma at frequencies of 2/14, 4/8, 8/10 and 39/42 (92.9%), respectively. The prevalence and intensity of the hTERT signal was greater in the carcinomas and lesions with atypical hyperplasia than those with simple or complex hyperplasia (P < 0.05). The expression of c-myc was demonstrated in samples with simple hyperplasia, complex hyperplasia, atypical hyperplasia and carcinoma at frequencies of 3/14, 1/8, 5/10 and 23/42 (54.8%), respectively. The frequency of c-myc expression was higher in carcinomas and hyperplastic lesions with atypia than those in lesions with simple or complex hyperplasia without atypia (P < 0.05). The expression of hTERT was shown to be correlated with the level of differentiation (P < 0.05), while the c-myc expression appeared to be associated with the depth of myometrial invasion (P < 0.05). The expression levels of hTERT and c-myc were not found to be correlated with each other in the tissues examined (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The expression of hTERT and c-myc may be involved in the progression from the endometrial aypical hyperplasia to invasive carcinoma. The correlation between hTERT and c-myc in endometrial hyperplasia and carcinoma are not found.</p>

Histologic features and pathologic diagnosis in usual interstitial pneumonia / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the pathologic features, differential diagnosis and role of open lung biopsies (OLB) in usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP).</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The authors reviewed the pathologic, clinical and radiologic features of five cases of UIP (one autopsy case and four OLB cases), with follow-up information.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The typical histologic features were a non-uniform distribution of alveolar inflammation, fibroblastic foci, interstitial fibrosis and honeycomb change. There also was associated metaplasia of bronchiolar epithelium, type II pneumocyte hyperplasia and accumulation of alveolar macrophages.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Characteristically, UIP exhibits temporal heterogeneity under low-power light microscopy, which includes changes in both the early and end stages. Open lung biopsy is an important diagnostic adjunct for suitable patients with atypical radiologic features on computerized tomography. Correlation between clinical, radiologic and pathologic findings is also essential for a correct diagnosis.</p>

An epidemiologic investigation on infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus in wild animals traders in Guangzhou / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate status of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronovirus (SARS-CoV) in traders of wild animals wholesale markets in Guangzhou.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Serum antibody against SARS-CoV IgG was determined cross-sectionally and symptoms of respiratory infection were investigated retrospectively for part of traders of three wholesale markets for wild animals in Guangzhou.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Overall rate of infection with SARS-CoV in 635 traders was 16.69%, varying in three different markets. Infection rate in market A mainly engaging in wild animals ranked the highest of 25.61%, significantly higher than that in markets B and C engaging in domestic fowls and snakes. Infection rate in traders only engaging in civet cats was 58.54%, significantly higher than that in traders engaging in snakes only (9.46%). In market A, infection rate varied in different persons, 59.34%, 20.59%, 16.00%, 15.22%, 10.40% and 9.68% in traders engaging in wild animals, managers, children of the traders, traders engaging in domestic fowls, traders engaging in snakes, and traders engaging in frozen food, respectively, in a decreasing pattern as their contact opportunities. During the period of SARS epidemic, detection rate of SARS-CoV antibody in people with symptoms of acute respiratory infection was higher (30.70%) than that in those without such symptoms (20.08%). Prevalence of symptoms of acute upper respiratory infection in people with positive antibody against SARS-CoV was higher (49.28%) than that in those with negative antibody (30.35%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Infection with SARS-CoV in traders of animal markets possibly related to their direct exposure to wild animals, particularly to civet cats. During the period of SARS epidemic, some of the traders did infect with SARS-CoV, but they were neglected due to clinically inapparent manifestations.</p>

Analysis on the risk factors of severe acute respiratory syndromes coronavirus infection in workers from animal markets / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the possible risk factors of severe acute respiratory syndromes coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection in workers from animal markets.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Self-designed questionnaires were used and serum samples were tested. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the data.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Results from simple factor logistic regression analysis showed that jobs which dealing with domestic livestock, wild livestock, wild animals, aquatics were related to risk factors of SARS-CoV infection. Results from multifactor logistic regression analysis showed that jobs that dealing with wild livestock and poultry were important risk factors with OR 12.28 and 0.41.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Job that dealing with palm civets was the main risk factor of SARS-CoV infection in animal market workers.</p>