Search

Lan Gao,1,&ast; Rui Yang,2,&ast; Hong-Zhen Fan,1 Lei-Lei Wang,1 Yan-Li Zhao,1 Shu-Ping Tan,1 Chun-Ling Xiao,1 Shuang-Jiang Zhou1 1Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University HuiLongGuan Clinical Medical School, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Chun-Ling Xiao; Shuang-Jiang Zhou, Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University HuiLongGuan Clinical Medical School, Beijing, 10096, People’s Republic of China, Email xiaocl2002@163.com; zhoushuangjiang@126.comPurpose: To explore the correlation between aggressive behavior and impulsive and aggressive personality traits in inpatients with schizophrenia.Methods: In total, 367 inpatients with schizophrenia were divided into two groups: the aggressive group and the non-aggressive group. We assessed inpatients’ psychotic symptoms as well as their aggressive and impulsive personality traits using the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire.Results: Compared with the scores of inpatients in the non-aggressive group, the total Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, subscale, and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale behavioral factor scores in those in the aggressive group were higher (p < 0.05). The results of logistic regression analysis suggested that a high Positive and Negative Symptom Scale positive factor score (odds ratio = 1.07) and a high Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire physical aggression score (odds ratio = 1.02) were risk factors for aggressive behavior.Conclusion: Hospitalized patients with schizophrenia with more severe positive symptoms and aggressive traits may be more prone to aggressive behavior.Keywords: schizophrenia, aggressive behavior, impulsivity trait, aggressive trait, stable patients

Guan-Sheng Zeng,* Li-Chang Chen,* Hui-Zhen Fan, Ling-Ling Wu, Xi-Ping Wu, Ze-Kui Fang, Xi He, Hua-Peng Yu Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background and objective: The distance of 6-minute walk test (D6MWT) has been widely used in the assessment of functional status in patients with COPD, while very little attention has been paid to the role of steps of 6-minute walk test (S6MWT). The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between S6MWT and other physiologic parameters of COPD. Patients and methods: Seventy patients with stable COPD were enrolled consecutively in this cross-sectional study. Pulmonary function tests, including spirometry, impulse oscillometry (IOS) and the single-breath diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO), were carried out at rest. Quality of life was assessed by health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires, including modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale (mMRC), St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test (CAT) and Clinical Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Questionnaire. Both steps and distance were measured in the following 6-minute walk test (6MWT). Results: Both S6MWT and D6MWT showed significant correlation with spirometry, IOS, DLCO parameters and HRQoL questionnaires score. Both pre- and post-6MWT inspiratory capacity showed significant correlation with S6MWT (ρ=0.338, P=0.004; ρ=0.359, P=0.002, respectively), whereas did not correlate with D6MWT (ρ=0.145, P=0.230; ρ=0.160, P=0.189, respectively). In stepwise multiple regression analysis, mMRC grade, age and CAT score remained as significant predictors in the final model for D6MWT (adjusted R2=0.445, P

Intestinal tuberculosis commonly affects the ileocecal area and the terminal ileum, and is extremely rare in the rectum, with isolated rectal involvement being even rarer. This paper described a case of an isolated rectal tuberculoma in a female patient of 44 years old, Yi ethnicity, who was admitted to the hospital with abdominal distension and constipation. She had a history of hepatitis B virus infection. A colonoscopy revealed a rectal mass, and an endoscopic resection was performed. Post-operative pathological examination confirmed rectal tuberculosis, with no evidence of extra-rectal tuberculosis infection found. The final diagnosis was an isolated rectal tuberculoma. In cases where endoscopic examination suggests a rectal tumor, especially in patients with immunosuppressive conditions such as HIV or diabetes, the possibility of tuberculoma should be considered.

Renal transplantation is the preferred treatment option for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in a clinical setting. Antibody mediated rejection (AMR) is one of the leading causes of graft dysfunction. To address the current shortcomings in the early diagnosis and treatment of AMR in clinical practice, this article analyzes the distribution of different circulating T follicular helper (cTfh) cell subtypes and B cell subpopulations in peripheral blood and detects the cytokine levels of chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13), interleukin-21 (IL-21), and interleukin-4 (IL-4) related to cTfh cells in peripheral blood of kidney transplant recipients. Moreover, we also explore the correlation between cTfh cells, peripheral blood memory B cells, and AMR, their value as early predictive indicators of AMR, and explore potential therapeutic targets for AMR patients. Our results indicate that the proportion of cTfh cells increased at the onset of AMR, which plays an important role in antigen-specific B-cell immune regulation. Activation of cTfh cells in AMR patients correlates with phenotypes of memory B cells and plasma blasts. cTfh cells and memory B cells have promising diagnostic efficacies and predictive values for AMR. The proportion of cTfh cells to CD4 + T cells and the proportion of memory B cells to CD19 + B cells are correlated with serum creatinine levels, indicating that cTfh cells and memory B cells may be involved in the progression of AMR. In addition, the CXCL13, IL-21, and IL-4, which were associated with cTfh cells, may be involved in the onset of AMR., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Ginger, a well-known spice plant, has been used widely in medicinal preparations for pain relief. However, little is known about its analgesic components and the underlying mechanism. Here, we ascertained, the efficacy of ginger ingredient 8-Shogaol (8S), on inflammatory pain and tolerance induced by morphine, and probed the role of TRPV1 in its analgesic action using genetic and electrophysiology approaches. Results showed that 8S effectively reduced nociceptive behaviors of mice elicited by chemical stimuli, noxious heat as well as inflammation, and antagonized morphine analgesic tolerance independent on opioid receptor function. Genetic deletion of TRPV1 significantly abolished 8S' analgesia action. Further calcium imaging and patch-clamp recording showed that 8S could specifically activate TRPV1 in TRPV1-expressing HEK293T cells and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. The increase of [Ca 2+ ] i in DRG was primarily mediated through TRPV1. Mutational and computation studies revealed the key binding sites for the interactions between 8S and TRPV1 included Leu515, Leu670, Ile573, Phe587, Tyr511, and Phe591. Further studies showed that TRPV1 activation evoked by 8S resulted in channel desensitization both in vitro and in vivo, as may be attributed to TRPV1 degradation or TRPV1 withdrawal from the cell surface. Collectively, this work provides the first evidence for the attractive analgesia of 8S in inflammatory pain and morphine analgesic tolerance mediated by targeting pain-sensing TRPV1 channel. 8S from dietary ginger has potential as a candidate drug for the treatment of inflammatory pain., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no conflicts to declare., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

The development of new chemically recyclable polymers via monomer design would provide a transformative strategy to address the energy crisis and plastic pollution problem. Biaryl-fused cyclic esters were targeted to generate axially chiral polymers, which would impart new material performance. To overcome the non-polymerizability of the biaryl-fused monomer DBO, a cyclic ester Me-DBO installed with dimethyl substitution was prepared to enable its polymerizability via enhancing torsional strain. Impressively, Me-DBO readily went through well-controlled ring-opening polymerization, producing polymer P(Me-DBO) with high glass transition temperature (T g >100 °C). Intriguingly, mixing these complementary enantiopure polymers containing axial chirality promoted a transformation from amorphous to crystalline material, affording a semicrystalline stereocomplex with a melting transition temperature more than 300 °C. P(Me-DBO) were capable of depolymerizing back to Me-DBO in high efficiency, highlighting an excellent recyclability., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: There are currently no objective biomarkers that allow the quantification of negative symptoms of schizophrenia. This study therefore explored the use of acoustic features in identifying the severity of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia., Methods: We recruited 79 inpatients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (the schizophrenia group) at the Huilongguan Hospital in Beijing, China, and 79 healthy controls from the surrounding community (the control group). We assessed the clinical symptoms of the patients with schizophrenia using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) and recorded the voice of each participant as they read emotionally positive, neutral, and negative texts. The Praat software was used to analyse and extract acoustic characteristics from the recordings, such as jitter, shimmer, and pitch. The acoustic differences between the two groups of participants and the relationship between acoustic characteristics and clinical symptoms in the patient group were analysed., Results: There were significant differences between the schizophrenia and control groups in pitch, voice breaks, jitter, shimmer, and the mean harmonics-to-noise ratio (p < 0.05). Jitter was negatively correlated with the blunted affect and alogia subscale scores of the BNSS, both in the positive and neutral emotion conditions, but the correlation disappeared in the negative emotion condition. However, shimmer exhibited a stable negative correlation with the blunted affect and alogia subscale scores of the BNSS in all three emotion conditions. A linear regression analysis showed that pitch, jitter, shimmer, and age were statistically significant predictors of BNSS subscale scores., Conclusions: Acoustic emotional expression differs between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Some acoustic characteristics are related to the severity of negative symptoms, regardless of semantic emotions, and may therefore be objective biomarkers of negative symptoms. A systematic method for assessing vocal acoustic characteristics could provide an accurate and feasible means of assessing negative symptoms in schizophrenia., Tweet: Acoustic emotional expression differs between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. A systematic method for assessing vocal acoustics could provide an accurate and feasible means of assessing negative symptoms in schizophrenia., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: At present, there is no established biomarker for the diagnosis of depression. Meanwhile, studies show that acoustic features convey emotional information. Therefore, this study explored differences in acoustic characteristics between depressed patients and healthy individuals to investigate whether these characteristics can identify depression., Methods: Participants included 71 patients diagnosed with depression from a regional hospital in Beijing, China, and 62 normal controls from within the greater community. We assessed the clinical symptoms of depression of all participants using the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and recorded the voice of each participant as they read positive, neutral, and negative texts. OpenSMILE was used to analyze their voice acoustics and extract acoustic characteristics from the recordings., Results: There were significant differences between the depression and control groups in all acoustic characteristics ( p < 0.05). Several mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs), including MFCC2, MFCC3, MFCC8, and MFCC9, differed significantly between different emotion tasks; MFCC4 and MFCC7 correlated positively with PHQ-9 scores, and correlations were stable in all emotion tasks. The zero-crossing rate in positive emotion correlated positively with HAMA total score and HAMA somatic anxiety score ( r = 0.31, r = 0.34, respectively), and MFCC9 of neutral emotion correlated negatively with HAMD anxiety/somatization scores ( r = -0.34). Linear regression showed that the MFCC7-negative was predictive on the PHQ-9 score (β = 0.90, p = 0.01) and MFCC9-neutral was predictive on HAMD anxiety/somatization score (β = -0.45, p = 0.049). Logistic regression showed a superior discriminant effect, with a discrimination accuracy of 89.66%., Conclusion: The acoustic expression of emotion among patients with depression differs from that of normal controls. Some acoustic characteristics are related to the severity of depressive symptoms and may be objective biomarkers of depression. A systematic method of assessing vocal acoustic characteristics could provide an accurate and discreet means of screening for depression; this method may be used instead of-or in conjunction with-traditional screening methods, as it is not subject to the limitations associated with self-reported assessments wherein subjects may be inclined to provide socially acceptable responses rather than being truthful., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhao, Fan, Li, Liu, Wu, Zhao, Tian, Wang, Tan and Tan.)

The development of innovative synthetic polymer systems to overcome the trade-offs between the polymer's depolymerizability and performance properties is in high demand for advanced material applications and sustainable development. In this contribution, we prepared a class of aromatic cyclic esters (M1-M5) from thiosalicylic acid and epoxides by facile one-pot synthesis. Ring-opening polymerization of Ms afforded aromatic polyesters P(M)s with high molecular weights and narrow dispersities. The physical and mechanical properties of P(M)s can be modulated by stereocomplexation and regulation of the side-chain flexibility of the polymers, ultimately achieving high-performance properties such as high thermal stability and crystallinity (T m up to 209 °C), as well as polyolefin-like high mechanical strength, ductility, and toughness. Furthermore, the functionalizable moieties of P(M)s have driven a wide array of post-polymerization modifications toward access to value-added materials. More importantly, the P(M)s were able to selectively depolymerize into monomers in excellent yields, thus establishing its circular life cycle., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Based on air samples within 24 h after snowfall, gaseous and particulate concentrations of 16 priority PAHs were obtained, which provided a good opportunity to study the temporal trend of atmospheric PAHs. An obvious temporal trend with atmospheric concentration was observed, which was mainly influenced by emission sources. It was found that the maximum concentration (Σ 16 PAHs) was 272.8 ng/m 3 , appeared in the rush hour of traffic. To the contrary, the minimum concentration was 82.39 ng/m 3 at the period with the least anthropogenic activities. The values of particle-phase fraction[Formula: see text]) and G/P partitioning quotient (log K P ) were increased along with molecular weight of PAHs. However, for individual PAHs, the differences with [Formula: see text] and log K P were not obvious within 24 h. Furthermore, similar statistically significant positive correlations were found between log K P and log K OA among different periods. According to the short sampling program, chemical properties should be the major influencing factor for the temporal trend of G/P partitioning. The results of the case study provided new insights into the research field of G/P partitioning of PAHs., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that in addition to having impairments in facial emotion recognition, patients with schizophrenia also show a lack of facial expression. Although negative symptoms such as decreased facial activity are common symptoms of schizophrenia, the related factors remain inconclusive. Therefore, this study compared healthy controls to explore the characteristics of facial muscle activity intensity in patients with schizophrenia and its relationship with negative symptoms., Methods: This observational and cross-sectional study conducted in a psychiatric hospital in China included a total of 135 patients with schizophrenia and 134 healthy controls. The negative symptoms of schizophrenia were evaluated using the Brief Negative Symptom Scale. The intensity of facial muscle activity under positive, neutral, and negative emotional stimuli conditions was automatically collected by a computer, including 17 values (F01-F17) that represent different facial muscle activities. Statistical tests were performed to analyze facial muscle activity indexes, to explore an objective and quantitative method to evaluate the negative symptoms of schizophrenia., Results: The facial muscle activity intensity of the schizophrenia group at F02 (outer eyebrow), F04 (upper eyelid), F07 (nose), F10 (dimple), F12 (lower jaw 1), F14 (lip 2), and F17 (blink) was lower than that of the healthy controls ( p < 0.05). Under positive, neutral, and negative emotional stimuli conditions, the facial muscle activity intensity of F16 (lower jaw 2) was positively correlated with negative symptoms ( p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Our study indicated that patients with schizophrenia show defects in facial muscle activity and that is associated with negative symptoms., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Du, Fan, Wang, Zhang, Zhu, Zhao and Tan.)

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) is characterized by persistent or intermittent alcohol cravings and compulsive drinking. The functional changes in the central nervous system (CNS) after alcohol consumption are alcohol-associated cognitive impairment and mood disorders, which are major health issues reported in AUDs. Studies have shown that transferring the intestinal microbiota from AUDs patients to germ-free animals causes learning and memory dysfunction, depression and anxiety-like behavior, indicating the vital role of intestinal microbiota in development of neuropsychiatric disorders in AUD. Intestinal flora composition of AUD patients are significantly different from normal people, suggesting that intestinal flora imbalance orchestrate the development of neuropsychiatric disorders in AUD. Studies suggests that gut microbiome links bidirectional signaling network of the enteric nervous system (ENS) to central nervous system (CNS), forming gut-microbe-brain axis (brain-gut axis). In this review, we discussed pathogenesis and possible treatment of AUD-induced cognitive deficits, anxiety, and depression disorders. Further, we described the mechanism of intestinal flora imbalance and dysfunction of hippocampus-amygdala-frontal cortex (gut-limbic circuit system dysfunction). Therefore, we postulate therapeutic interventions of gut-brain axis as novel strategies for treatment of AUD-induced neuropsychiatric disorders., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Li, Chen, Kumar, Zhang, Zhong, Zhang, Gui, Wu, Fan and Sheng.)

The development of high-performance recyclable polymers represents a circular plastics economy to address the urgent issues of plastic sustainability. Herein, we design a series of biobased seven-membered-ring esters containing aromatic and aliphatic moieties. Ring-opening polymerization studies showed that they readily polymerize with excellent activity (TOF up to 2.1 × 10 5 h -1 ) at room temperature and produce polymers with high molecular weight ( M n up to 438 kg/mol). The variety of functionalities allows us to investigate the substitution effect on polymerizability/recyclability of monomers and properties of polymers (such as T g s from -1 to 79 °C). Remarkably, a stereocomplexed P( M2 ) exhibited significantly increased T m and crystallization rate. More importantly, product P( M )s were capable of depolymerizing into their monomers in solution or bulk with high efficiency, thus establishing their circular life cycle.

The atmosphere is a significant medium for the transportation and diffusion of volatile and semi-volatile pollutants. Furthermore, the atmosphere is the primary exposure route for pollutants to enter the human body. Therefore, the study of the environmental fate of pollutants in the atmosphere is essential. In this study, 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed in snow samples and air samples within 24 hours after a snowfall, and the temporal trend of PAHs in the atmosphere was comprehensively studied. The results indicated that the detection rate of the 16 PAHs in snow was 100%, and the concentration of phenanthrene (538.3 ng·L -1 ) was the highest, followed by naphthalene (509.1 ng·L -1 ) and fluoranthene (429.9 ng·L -1 ), indicating that snowfall can remove PAHs from the atmosphere. After the snowfall, a falling-rising-falling temporal trend of the concentrations of PAHs in the atmosphere was observed. Higher concentrations appeared during rush hour, with the largest automobile exhaust emissions, while lower concentrations appeared during periods with the lowest human activity. The results indicated that the atmospheric concentrations of PAHs were predominantly influenced by human activities. Within 24 hours after snowfall, the ratio of PAHs between the gas phase and particle phase, which depends primarily on the physical and chemical properties of PAHs, had not changed substantially. The diagnostic ratios indicated that within 24 hours after snowfall, the PAHs in the atmosphere originated mostly from the emissions of solid fuel and liquid fuel combustion.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic value of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMEF) for differentiating cough variant asthma (CVA) from chronic cough in patients with or without allergic rhinitis., Methods: In total, 328 patients with chronic cough who underwent spirometry and FeNO testing were consecutively included in the retrospective analysis. Patients were divided into the CVA ( n  = 125) or NCVA ( n  = 203) groups according to the diagnostic criteria of CVA. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were established to assess the diagnostic efficiency and optimal cutoff points of FeNO and MMEF for the prediction of CVA., Results: The optimal cutoff values of FeNO and MMEF to discriminate CVA from chronic cough were 24.5 ppb (AUC, 0.765; sensitivity, 69.60%; specificity 72.91%; PPV, 61.27%; NPV, 79.57%) and 66.2% (AUC, 0.771; sensitivity, 67.20%; specificity 78.33%; PPV, 65.63%; NPV, 79.50%). The optimal cutoff values of combining FeNO with MMEF to discriminate CVA from chronic cough were >22 ppb for FeNO and <62.6% for MMEF (AUC, 0.877). In patients with and without allergic rhinitis, the optimal cutoff point of FeNO to discriminate CVA from chronic cough was 24.5 ppb (AUC, 0.820) and 33.5 ppb (AUC, 0.707), respectively., Conclusions: FeNO and MMEF might have greater value as negative parameters for differentiating CVA from chronic cough. Combining FeNO and MMEF provided a significantly better prediction than either alone. The diagnostic accuracy of FeNO for predicting CVA in chronic cough patients with allergic rhinitis was higher than in chronic cough patients without allergic rhinitis.

Background: Scarce literature has yet to characterize the tactile discrimination capability as well as the underlying mechanism of tactile deficits in psychotic disorder. In particular, very little is known regarding the tactile perception acuity in schizophrenia. Methods: A total of 131 clinically stable patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) and 79 healthy control (HC) volunteers were enrolled in the study. All the participants were tested on a tactile stimulus device which could quantify the tactile discrimination capability with right index finger scanned over the angles via the passive finger-movement apparatus. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was adapted to assess the neurocognition of the participants. Correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression analysis were performed to investigate the relationship between tactile perception performance and neurocognitive function. Results: It was discovered that there existed a significant deficits in the tactile passive perception acuity (i.e., tactile angle discrimination threshold) in patients with schizophrenia compared with their healthy controls (F (3, 206) = 11.458, P = 0.001,partial η 2 = 0.053). The MCCB total score and its six domains were significantly lower in SCZ patients than those in HCs (all p < 0.001). In the SCZ group, the composite score of the MCCB ( r = -0.312, P < 0.001) and domains of neurocognition including speed of processing ( r = -0.191, P = 0.031), attention/vigilance ( r = -0.177, P = 0.047), working memory ( r = -0.316, P < 0.001), verbal learning ( r = - 0.332, P < 0.001), visual learning ( r = -0.260, P = 0.004), and reasoning and problem solving ( r = -0.209, P = 0.018) showed significant negative correlations with the tactile angle discrimination threshold. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that neurocognition impairment, especially the decline of working memory (B = -0.312, P < 0.001),underpin the tactile perception discrimination deficits in patients with SCZ. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to unravel the deficits of tactile passive perception acuity and its underlying neurocognition basis in patients with SCZ. This finding adds novel evidence to the subtle variation in haptic discrimination skills in schizophrenia which contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the sensory profiles of this disorder., (Copyright © 2020 Liu, Fan, Zhao, Wang, Li, Wu, Yan and Tan.)

Although schizophrenia is a brain disorder, increasing evidence suggests that there may be body-wide involvement in this illness. However, direct evidence of brain structures involved in the presumed peripheral-central interaction in schizophrenia is still unclear. Seventy-nine previously treatment-naïve first-episode schizophrenia patients who were within 2-week antipsychotics initial stabilization, and 41 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Group differences in subcortical brain regional structures measured by MRI and the subclinical cardiovascular, metabolic, immune, and neuroendocrine biomarkers as indexed by allostatic load, and their associations were explored. Compared with controls, patients with schizophrenia had significantly higher allostatic load (P = .001). Lateral ventricle (P < .001), choroid plexus (P < .001), and thalamus volumes (P < .001) were significantly larger, whereas amygdala volume (P = .001) was significantly smaller in patients. The choroid plexus alone was significantly correlated with higher allostatic load after age, sex, education level, and the total intracranial volume were taken into account (t = 3.60, P < .001). Allostatic load was also significantly correlated with PANSS positive (r = 0.28, P = .016) and negative (r = -0.31, P = .008) symptoms, but in opposite directions. The peripheral multisystemic and central nervous system abnormalities in schizophrenia may interact through the choroid plexus during the early stage of the illness. The choroid plexus might provide a sensitive structural biomarker to study the treatment and prevention of brain-periphery interaction abnormalities in schizophrenia., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

CYP27A1, CYP2R1 and CYP27B1 hydroxylases are involved in the synthesis of 1, 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 , which plays a role in the immune regulation and pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships between polymorphisms in vitamin D pathway genes and HCV infection outcomes in a Chinese population. Nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CYP27A1, CYP2R1 and CYP27B1 were genotyped in a high-risk Chinese population. The distributions of these SNPs were compared among groups with different outcomes of HCV infection, including 863 cases of persistent HCV infection, 524 cases of spontaneous clearance, and 1079 uninfected controls. The results showed that the CYP2R1 rs12794714-G, rs10741657-A, rs1562902-C, and rs10766197-G alleles were significantly associated with increased susceptibility to HCV infection (all P FDR  < 0.05, in additive/dominant models), and the combined effect of the four unfavorable alleles was related to an elevated risk of HCV infection in a locus-dosage manner (P trend  = 0.008). Moreover, haplotype analysis suggested that, compared with the most frequent haplotype (A rs12794714 G rs10741657 T rs1562902 A rs10766197) , the haplotype containing four unfavorable alleles, GACG, was associated with a higher risk of HCV infection. The results of our study suggest that genetic variants in CYP2R1 may be biomarkers for predicting the susceptibility to HCV infection in the Chinese population.

Objective: To understand the serum levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), triiodothyronine (T3), and thyroxine (T4) and identify the related influencing factors of thyroid dysfunction in drug users. Methods: From June to August 2018, a face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted in 788 male drug users in a drug rehabilitation center in Jiangsu province to collect their socio-demographic information. Then, venous blood sample was collected from each participant for the detection of various hematological indicators, such as thyroid hormones. Results: The abnormal rates of T3, T4, FT3, FT4 and TSH were 4.57 % , 1.27 % , 0.51 % , 0.38 % and 0.89 % , respectively, in the male drug users. HCV infection was an influencing factor for abnormal T3 level in the male drug users ( OR =8.52, 95 %CI : 2.36-30.74, P =0.001). And serum T3 ( P <0.001) and T4 ( P =0.048) levels increased with increasing HCV viral load. Conclusions: HCV infection was an influencing factor for the abnormality of serum T3 level in drug users. Therefore, thyroid-related knowledge should be added in the health education for drug users, and the monitoring of thyroid function should be strengthened for drug users infected with HCV.

Background and Aims: It has been demonstrated that 1,25-hydroxyvitamin-D3-24-hydroxylase, encoded by CYP24A1 gene, is a key enzyme that neutralizes the active vitamin D3 metabolite 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH) 2 D 3 ] in response to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. This study aimed to investigate whether CYP24A1 genetic variation is associated with HCV infection outcomes., Methods: 848 HCV chronically infected subjects, 507 natural clearance subjects, and 1017 uninfected controls were enrolled. Nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in theCYP24A1 gene were genotyped using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform., Results: After adjusting for age, gender, and routes of infection, logistic regression analyses showed that rs6013897-A was associated with an elevated risk of HCV infection (P<0.05). In addition, this study has also demonstrated that rs6068816-T significantly reduced the risk of chronic HCV infection, while rs3787557-C, rs6022999-G, and rs2248359-T significantly increased the risk of chronic HCV infection (all P<0.05). Haplotype analysis suggested that, compared to the most frequent T rs6068816 T rs3787557 A rs6022999 C rs2248359 haplotype, the CTGT haplotype (adjusted OR=1.376, 95% CI=1.092-1.735, P=0.007) and CCAC haplotype (adjusted OR=1.483, 95% CI=1.139-1.929, P=0.003) were associated with an increased risk of chronic HCV infection., Conclusion: These findings indicate that SNPs in CYP24A1 gene may contribute to the risk of HCV infection and chronic HCV infection among a high-risk Chinese population., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Aims: To investigate the association between two RIG-I-like receptor gene polymorphisms and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Chinese Han population., Methods: The current study genotyped two selected SNPs (IFIH1 rs3747517 and DDX58 rs9695310) using TaqMan allelic discrimination assay to assess their association with the susceptibility and clinical outcome of HCV infection among 3065 participants (1545 non-HCV infection individuals, 568 spontaneous HCV clearance cases, and 952 persistent infection patients)., Results: IFIH1 rs3747517 (dominant model: Adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07-1.68; P = 0.009) and DDX58 rs9695310 (dominant model: Adjusted OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.15-1.78; P = 0.001) were associated with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). And the risk of CHC increased when people were carrying more unfavorable rs3747517-GA/AA and rs9695310-GC/CC genotypes from zero to two with the chronic rates of 56.72%, 59.38%, and 69.01%, respectively (P trend  < 0.001)., Conclusion: Genetic variations at IFIH1 rs3747517 and DDX58 rs9695310 were independent predictors of chronic hepatitis C in Chinese Han population., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Short form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale is often needed to quickly estimate intelligence for time-saving or screening in clinical practice. The present study aims to examine the psychometric properties of Chinese version of the four-subtest index-based short form (SF4) of WAIS-IV (FS) and to confirm its clinical application. 1,757 adults from the WAIS-IV Chinese version standardization sample and 239 mixed clinical samples including patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (SCH), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and mild or moderate intellectual disability (ID) were used. Demographic data were collected and intelligence was assessed with WAIS-IV. The SF4 split-half reliability, test-retest stability coefficients and corrected SF4-FS correlations were good to excellent. The result of the Bland-Altman plot showed that the difference fell within 2SD was 95% and indicated a random error. The sensitivity, specificity positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of the stepwise screening were good. There was an interaction (p < .001) between the IQ level (≥111) and gender on the accuracy of SF4, SF4 might get underestimated on females with the IQ level (≥111) than on males. In conclusion, SF4 is a valid and reliable instrument for use in the clinic, and its clinical application, stepwise screening and influencing factors in clinical use are discussed herein.

Vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) plays an important role in the immune modulation and pathogenesis of hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection by influencing serum vitamin D levels. The present study aims to evaluate the association of VDBP genetic polymorphisms with susceptibility to and chronicity of HCV infection in a high-risk Chinese population. Seven genetic variants in the VDBP gene were genotyped in a case-control study of 886 patients with HCV persistent infection, 539 subjects with spontaneous clearance, and 1081 uninfected controls. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the effects of these variants on HCV infection outcomes. The results showed that two variants rs7041-G and rs3733359-T alleles were significantly associated with increased susceptibility of HCV infection, and the combined effect of the two unfavorable alleles was related to an elevated risk of HCV infection in a locus-dosage manner (P trend  = 8.16 × 10 -4 ). Interaction analysis manifested that rs7041-GT/GG and rs3733359-CT/TT jointly increased risk of HCV infection. Moreover, haplotype analysis suggested that compared with the most frequent TC haplotype, the haplotype carrying GT indicated a risk effect of HCV infection [odds ratio (OR) = 1.464]. However, no significant associations were observed for the other five variants. These findings implied that VDBP rs7041-G and rs3733359-T variants may contribute to increased susceptibility to HCV infection in a high-risk Chinese population., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To investigate whether nuclear factor-kappa B1 (NFKB1) gene polymorphisms are associated with the outcomes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in a Chinese high-risk population., Methods: In this case-control study, 984 HCV-uninfected controls, 221 infected individuals with spontaneous HCV clearance, and 456 with persistent HCV infection were enrolled. Rs28362491 and rs72696119 were genotyped using the ABI TaqMan allelic discrimination assay. The functional annotation of the identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were further evaluated by bioinformatics analysis., Results: Significant differences were observed among the three groups (P < 0.001) in terms of the frequency of rs28362491 SNP. In logistic regression analysis, rs28362491-ATTG deleted (D) was associated with a significantly increased risk of HCV infection compared to the major-type rs28362491-ATTG inserted (I) (dominant model: adjusted OR = 1.332, 95% CI = 1.059-1.674, P = 0.014; additive model: adjusted OR = 1.181, 95% CI = 1.021-1.367, P = 0.025), after adjusting for age, gender, and route of infection. Based on the in silico prediction, the RegulomeDB score for SNP rs28362491 was 3a, indicating that it can potentially regulate the transcription and expression of NFKB1 gene., Conclusion: NFKB1 rs28362491-D allele was functionally associated with the increased risk of susceptibility to HCV infection in the Chinese Han population., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Prior studies show promising results of the gastric peroral endoscopic pyloromyotomy (G-POEM) procedure for treatment of refractory gastroparesis. One major technical challenge involved in this procedure is identifying the pyloric muscular ring (PMR). The aim of this study is to establish a reliable method for identification of the PMR during G-POEM., Methods: Fluoroscopy-guided G-POEM was performed by placing an endoclip at the 9 to 11'o clock position at the pylorus for identification of PMR. Conventional G-POEM was performed by observation of blue colored mucosa at the pylorus area as an indirect marker for PMR. The degree of the PMR identification was graded into well identified, identified, and not identified based on the appearance of the PMR. Procedure times were accurately documented. Gastroparesis cardinal symptoms index and gastric emptying scintigraphy were evaluated before and after the procedure., Results: Fourteen patients were studied, seven underwent fluoroscopy-guided G-POEM, and seven patients underwent conventional G-POEM. All procedures achieved technical success and no adverse events occurred. In the seven patients who underwent fluoroscopy-guided G-POEM, the PMR was well identified in four patients and identified in three patients. In the seven patients who underwent conventional G-POEM, the PMR was identified in four patients and not identified in three patients. The average time to complete the fluoroscopy-guided G-POEM was significantly shorter than that of the conventional G-POEM., Conclusions: Fluoroscopy-guided G-POEM by placement of an endoclip at the pylorus was a reliable and safe method to direct the orientation of the submucosal tunnel, to facilitate the location of the PMR, and to shorten the procedure time.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and impulse oscillometry (IOS) in screening out cough variant asthma (CVA) from patients with subacute cough. Methods: Patients with subacute cough were included from the outpatient department of Respiratory Medicine of Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University from May to October in 2016. Based on "the guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of cough (2015 edition)" , patients were classified into CVA group, and non CVP group with other causes of subacute cough. Lung function, bronchial provocation test, FeNO and IOS were measured. The diagnostic efficiency and optimal cut-off points of FeNO and IOS indicators to diagnose CVA from subacute cough were respectively assessed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: A total of 85 patients with subacute cough were included. Among them, 35 patients were diagnosed with CVA (CVA group), the others are classified as non CVP group ( n =50). In CVA group, the levels of FeNO and total respiratory impedance (Zrs) were significantly higher, while maximal mid expiratory flow (MMEF)%pred, and mid expiratory flow (MEF)75/50/25%pred, reactance at 5 Hz (X5) levels were significantly lower than those in non CVP group (all P <0.05). Furthermore, the FeNO had a positive correlation with Zrs and Fres (ρ=0.312, P =0.003 and ρ=0.318, P =0.003, respectively), had a negative correlation with X5 (ρ=-0.288, P =0.007). A ROC analysis indicated that the area under ROC curve (AUC) of FeNO in diagnosis of CVA was 0.786 (95% CI: 0.684-0.889), the best cut-off point of FeNO volume ratio was 24.5×10(-9). When FeNO volume ratio=24.5×10(-9,) the sensitivity of in diagnosing CVA was 77.8%, specificity was 70.0%. The AUC for Zrs and X5 were 0.679 and 0.687, respectively. The combination of FeNO and X5 had a greater AUC than other indicators (AUC: 0.817, 95% CI : 0.726-0.908), the sensitivity and specificity were 80.6% and 66.0%, respectively. Conclusion: Both FeNO level and IOS index can be used to screen CVA in patients with subacute cough, and the combination of both have better value in diagnosing CVA.

Objective: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) have recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of asthma through inhibiting T cell response. However, the issue of whether Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-derived MDSCs regulate the immune response in an asthma environment is currently unclear. We sought to characterize the pathogenic function of various subtypes of MDSCs in asthma mediated by ovalbumin in mice model, in order to show that LPS-induced MDSCs can shift the balance back to normal in a Th2-dominant asthmatic environment., Materials and Methods: Subgroups of MDSCs with Ly6C+Ly6G+, Ly6C-Ly6G+, Ly6C+Ly6G- or Ly6C-Ly6G- expression were isolated by flow cytometry and were co-cultured with spleen lymphocytes. The proportion of Th1, Th2, or Treg cells in the treated spleen lymphocytes were analyzed by flow cytometry. In an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced mouse asthma model, mice were intravenously injected (tail vein) by MDSCs with specific marker, then the lung function and tissue pathology, IL-4 content in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and peripheral blood, and proportion of Th1, Th2, or Treg cells in peripheral blood were analyzed., Results: Ly6C+Ly6G+ MDSCs transferred into asthmatic mice via intravenous injection suppressed the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the lung and Th2 cytokine in BALF and blood. We observed a significant increase of Treg cells in the spleen lymphocytes co-cultured with Ly6C+Ly6G+, Ly6C-Ly6G+, Ly6C+Ly6G-, Ly6C-Ly6G- or CD11b+ MDSCs. The adoptive transfer of Ly6C+Ly6G+, Ly6C-Ly6G+, CD11b+ MDSCs resulted in decrease of Penh, total cell number, eosinophil and neutrophil percentage in BALF, and concentration of IL-4 in BALF and serum, thus improving the inflammatory injury, histopathology and lung function in the mice with asthma. The up-regulation of the Th1/Th2 ratio and Treg frequency were observed after adoptive transfer of Ly6C+Ly6G+, Ly6C-Ly6G+, Ly6C+Ly6G-, Ly6C-Ly6G- and CD11b+ MDSCs., Conclusions: The LPS-derived MDSCs with specific markers were able to suppress natural inflammatory response and improve inflammatory injury through reversing Th1/Th2 ratio, increasing Treg proportion and decreasing IL-4 concentration. These findings imply that LPS-derived MDSCs inhibit Th2 cell-medicated response against allergen. We propose that asthma may be effectively targeted using a novel MDSC-based cell therapy approach.

As the central protein of the double strand breaks (DSB)-induced DNA repair pathway, NBS1 participates in detecting the DSBs and plays an essential role in maintaining genomic stability. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in NBS1 gene were commonly tested that associated with the susceptibility to multiple cancers, but the results remained controversial. Thus, we conducted two independent hospital-based case-control studies comprising 1,072 colorectal cancer patients and 1,263 controls to evaluate the association between four NBS1 SNPs and colorectal cancer risk. The result showed that rs2735383C/G polymorphism in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of NBS1 was significantly associated with risk of colorectal cancer using logistic regression (P<10(-4)). Furthermore, we observed that rs2735383CC genotype was associated with substantially increased risk of colorectal cancer (odds ratio=1.55, 95% confidence interval=1.27-1.94), compared with the rs2735383GC+GG genotypes. Further functional experiments demonstrated that the rs2735383C allele in the NBS1 disrupted the binding affinity of has-miR-509-5p to the NBS1 3'-UTR in colorectal cancer cells, affecting the NBS1 transcriptional activity and expression level. In conclusion, current evidence suggests that the rs2735383C/G polymorphism might contribute to the risk for colorectal cancer.

The effective determination of heavy metals from environmental media is among the most important issues for many industrialized countries. The interaction between RS-N, as novel heavy metal probe, and metal ions was studied. RS-N shows selective color change from colorless to pink in the presence of Hg(2+) in methanol/water solvent and the UV-Vis study shows peak at 560 nm. Fluorescence data revealed that the fluorescence enhance of RS-N by Hg(2+) dramatically was the result of the formation of [Hg(2+)]RS-N complex. The effective association constants (K a ) were 3.97 × 10(5) and 0.204 × 10(5) M(-1) for Hg(2+) and Cu(2+) to RS-N, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters, enthalpy change (ΔH (0)) and entropy change (ΔS (0)), were calculated to be -6.431 ± 0.226 kJ/mol and -0.129 ± 0.008 J/K/mol, respectively, according to van't Hoff equation on the basis of Gibbs free energy (ΔG (0)) ranged from -33.8326 to -28.5389 kJ/mol.

The turmeric derivative curcumin protects against cerebral ischemic injury. We previously demonstrated that curcumin activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), a ligand-activated transcription factor involved in both neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory signaling pathways. This study tested whether the neuroprotective effects of curcumin against oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R)-induced injury of rat cortical neurons are mediated (at least in part) by PPARγ. Curcumin (10 μM) potently enhanced PPARγ expression and transcriptional activity following OGD/R. In addition, curcumin markedly increased neuronal viability, as evidenced by decreased lactate dehydrogenase release and reduced nitric oxide production, caspase-3 activity, and apoptosis. These protective effects were suppressed by coadministration of the PPARγ antagonist 2-chloro-5-nitrobenzanilide (GW9662) and by prior transfection of a small-interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting PPARγ, treatments that had no toxic effects on healthy neurons. Curcumin reduced OGD/R-induced accumulation of reactive oxygen species and inhibited the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway, as indicated by reduced release of cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factor and maintenance of both the mitochondrial membrane potential and the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Again, GW9662 or PPARγ siRNA transfection mitigated the protective effects of curcumin on mitochondrial function. Curcumin suppressed IκB kinase phosphorylation and IκB degradation, thereby inhibiting nuclear factor-κ B (NF-κB) nuclear translocation, effects also blocked by GW9662 or PPARγ siRNA. Immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that PPARγ interacted with NF-κB p65 and inhibited NF-κB activation. The present study provides strong evidence that at least some of the neuroprotective effects of curcumin against OGD/R are mediated by PPARγ activation., (Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: The effects of smoking on cognitive performance have long been studied, with mixed results. P50 sensory gating has been used as endophenotype for studying nicotinic systems genetics, and P50 gating deficits have been reported to be a sensitive biomarker for cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. This study examined the inter-relationship between P50 suppression, cognitive function, and smoking in a healthy Han Chinese population, which has not been reported before., Methods: We recruited 82 healthy male subjects, including 48 smokers and 34 non-smokers who were matched for age and education. The authors measured P50 sensory gating and administered the Chinese-language version of the MATRICS consensus cognitive battery (MCCB) and Stroop tests., Results: The results showed that the smokers scored lower than nonsmokers on the MCCB brief visuospatial memory test (BVMT) index and the STROOP test. Furthermore, the MCCB total score was negatively associated with number of cigarettes smoked per day in the smoker group. However, P50 sensory gating was not associated with either smoking status or any cognitive performance., Conclusions: Our results show that smoking is associated with cognitive impairment, but not with P50 sensory gating., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of furazolidone-based triple and quadruple therapy in eradicating Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in a multi-center randomized controlled trial., Methods: A total of 720 H. pylori positive patients with duodenal ulcer disease were enrolled at 10 different hospitals in Jiangxi province in China. The patients were randomly assigned to four treatment groups as follows: patients in Groups 1 and 3 received rabeprazole (10 mg), amoxicillin (1000 mg) and furazolidone (100 mg) twice daily for 7 and 10 d, respectively; patients in Groups 2 and 4 received rabeprazole (10 mg), bismuth (220 mg), amoxicillin (1000 mg) and furazolidone (100 mg) twice daily for 7 and 10 d, respectively. The primary outcome measure was H. pylori eradication rate 4 wk after treatment by intention-to-treat and per protocol analysis, while the secondary outcome measures were symptom and sign changes at the end of treatment and 4 wk after the end of treatment, as well as the proportion of patients who developed adverse events., Results: The demographic data of the four groups were not significantly different. Overall, 666 patients completed the scheme and were re-assessed with the (13)C-urea breath test. The intention-to-treat analysis of the H. pylori eradication rates in Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 74.44%, 82.78%, 78.89% and 86.11%, respectively. The H. pylori eradication rate in Group 4 was significantly higher than that in Group 1. According to the per protocol analysis, the H. pylori eradication rates in Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 81.21%, 89.22%, 85.54% and 92.26%, respectively. The H. pylori eradication rate in Group 4 was significantly higher than that in Group 1. The number of adverse events was 15 (8.3%), 16 (8.9%), 15 (8.3%) and 17 (9.4%) in Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively, including dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, skin rash, itchy skin, and malaise. The symptoms were relieved without special treatment in all of the patients., Conclusion: Both 7- and 10-d quadruple furazolidone-based therapies achieve satisfactory H. pylori eradication rates.

The chromatin remodeling gene AT-rich interactive domain-containing protein 1A (ARID1A) encodes the protein BAF250a, a subunit of human SWI/SNF-related complexes. Recent studies have identified ARID1A as a tumor suppressor. Here, we show that ARID1A expression is reduced in gastric cancer (GC) tissues, which are significantly associated with local lymph node metastasis, tumor infiltration and poor patient prognosis. ARID1A silencing enforces the migration and invasion of GC cells, whereas ectopic expression of ARID1A inhibits migration. The adhesive protein E-cadherin is remarkably downregulated in response to ARID1A silencing, but it is upregulated by ARID1A overexpression. E-cadherin overexpression significantly inhibits GC cell migration and invasion, whereas CDH1 (coded E-cadherin) silencing promotes migration. Restored expression of CDH1 in ARID1A-silenced cell lines restores the inhibition of cell migration. Luciferase reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation indicate that the ARID1A-associated SWI/SNF complex binds to the CDH1 promoter and modulates CDH1 transcription. ARID1A knockdown induces evident morphological changes of GC cells with increased expression of mesenchymal markers, indicating an epithelial-mesenchymal transition. ARID1A silencing does not alter the level of β-catenin but induces a subcellular redistribution of β-catenin from the plasma membrane to the cytoplasm and nucleus. Immunohistochemical studies demonstrate that reduced expression of E-cadherin is associated with local lymph node metastasis, tumor infiltration and poor clinical prognosis. ARID1A and E-cadherin expression show a strong correlation in 75.4% of the analyzed GC tissues. They are synergistically downregulated in 23.5% of analyzed GC tissues. In conclusion, ARID1A targets E-cadherin during the modulation of GC cell migration and invasion.

Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) has been proven to be a key biomarker for diabetes screening, and glutathiolation of HbA1c (viz., GSS-HbA1c) has been identified. However, the impact of GSS-HbA1c on the measurement of HbA1c for diabetes screening has not been quantitatively assessed yet. To address the issue, the micropreparative capillary isoelectric focusing (cIEF) developed in our previous work was used for the high resolution separation and purification of hemoglobin (Hb) species. The main fractions of HbA0, HbA3 and HbA1c extracted from the developed cIEF were identified by validated Mono S method. The proposed GSS-HbA1c fractions in the cIEF were pooled and identified by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The HbA1c enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit was employed for further quantitative analysis of GSS-HbA1c. A total of 34 blood samples with HbA1c levels from 4.2% to 13.4% were assessed via the above comprehensive strategy of IEF-HPLC-MS-ELISA. It was demonstrated that the HbA1c levels detected by cation exchange LC were considerably influenced by the glutathiolation of Hb and the range of detected GSS-HbA1c values was between 0.23% and 0.74%. The results and developed cIEF methods have considerable significances for investigation of diabetes and clinical diagnosis., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We developed a novel polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) method to stack and separate human hemoglobins (Hbs) based on the concept of moving reaction boundary (MRB). This differs from the classic isotachophoresis (ITP)-based stacking PAGE in the aspect of buffer composition, including the electrode buffer (pH 8.62 Tris-Gly), sample buffer (pH 6.78 Tris-Gly), and separation buffer (pH 8.52 Tris-Gly). In the MRB-PAGE system, a transient MRB was formed between alkaline electrode buffer and acidic sample buffer, being designed to move toward the anode. Hbs carried partial positive charges in the sample buffer due to its pH below pI values of Hbs, resulting in electromigrating to the cathode. Hbs would carry negative charges quickly when migrated into the alkaline electrode buffer and be transported to the anode until meeting the sample buffer again. Thus, Hbs were stacked within a MRB until the transient MRB reached the separation buffer and then separated by zone electrophoresis with molecular sieve effect of the gel. The experimental results demonstrated that there were three clear and sharp protein zones of Hbs (HbA1c, HbA0, and HbA2) in MRB-PAGE, in contrast to only one protein zone (HbA0) in ITP-PAGE for large-volume loading (≥15 μl), indicating high stacking efficiency, separation resolution, and good sensitivity of MRB-PAGE. In addition, MRB-PAGE was performed in a conventional slab PAGE device, requiring no special device. Thus, it could be widely used in separation and analysis of diluted protein in a standard laboratory.

Objective: To explore the relationship of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) expression with the carcinogenesis and prognosis of rectal cancer., Methods: Cancer tissue samples from 120 rectal cancer patients confirmed by pathology in the People's Hospital of Yichun City from September 2005 to September 2010 were included in the study. Expressions of CTHRC1 and VEGF-C were examined by immunohistochemistry and their correlations with clinicopathological features and prognosis were analyzed., Results: The expression of VEGF-C was positively correlated with tumor size (r=0.943), TNM stages (r=0.784) and tumor differentiation (r=0.773) (all P<0.05). Similarly, the expression of CTRHC1 was also positively correlated with tumor size (r=0.829), TNM stages (r=0.632) and tumor differentiation (r=0.532) (all P<0.05). Rectal cancer patients with low expression of VEGF-C and CTHRC1 had significantly longer survival than those with high expression of VEGF-C and CTHRC1 [(40.0±1.3) vs. (35.4±0.5) months, P<0.01, (39.0±0.5) vs. (35.0±0.5) months, P=0.014]., Conclusion: VEGF-C and CTHRC1 may synergistically promote the invasion and metastasis of human rectal cancer, and provide evidence in predicting the prognosis of patients.

Objective: To explore the effect and mechanism of lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced CD11b⁺Gr-1⁺ myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) on airway inflammation in asthmatic mice., Methods: A total of 34 female BALB/c mice were selected. Among them, 4 mice received an intraperitoneal injection of LPS for inducing the accumulation of MDSCs. And the MDSCs were separated with CD11b immunomagnetic beads from spleen extract. Another 30 mice were randomly divided into normal control, asthmatic and cell treatment groups. The mice in the asthmatic and cell treatment groups were sensitized with ovalbumin by a combination of intraperitoneal injection and challenges to establish the murine asthmatic model. At Days 14 and 21 post-sensitization, the mice in cell treatment group received an intravenous injection of LPS-induced MDSCs. At 24 hours after the last allergen challenge, the number of inflammatory cells were counted and morphological identification of leucocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was performed to analyze the degree of airway inflammation in conjunctions with pathological sections. The BALF and serum levels of interleukin-13 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The number of CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood was measured by flow cytometry., Results: The total number of cells, the percentage of neutrophils and eosinophils of BALF in the cell treatment group [(17.0 ± 8.3)×10⁴/ml, 11.1% ± 2.0%, 9.8% ± 2.9%] were significantly lower than those in the asthmatic group [(36.0 ± 15.9)×10⁴/ml, 20.8% ± 4.0%, 14.1% ± 4.2%] (P = 0.000, 0.000, 0.011). Compared to the asthmatic group, the BALF and serum levels of IL-13 were significantly lower [(34.7 ± 7.1) vs (105.0 ± 9.0) ng/L, (34.0 ± 4.7) vs (48.1 ± 6.1) ng/L] (both P = 0.000) and the number of CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells increased in peripheral blood (8.0% ± 1.3% vs 5.1% ± 2.1%, P = 0.002) and airway inflammation was significantly relieved in the cell treatment group., Conclusion: LPS-induced MDSCs may improve airway inflammation through up-regulating Tregs in peripheral blood and suppressing Th2 effector function in asthmatic mice.

With the implementation of genetic improvement in recent years, artificial selection has greatly improved beef cattle production performance and its genetic basis has been dramatically changed. In this study, based on the Illumina BovineSNP50 (54K) and BovineHD (770K) BeadChip and the FST value, we analyzed the genetic differentiation of cattle and screened the imprints of selection in bovine genome. Finally, we found 47104 OUTLIER SNP loci and 3064 candidate genes, for example, CLIC5, TG, CACNA2D1, and FSHR etc. The biological processes and molecular functions of genes were analyzed through gene annotation.The results of this study established a genome-wide map of selection footprints in beef cattle genome and a clue for in-depth study of artificial selection and understanding of biological evolution.Our results indicate that artificial selection has played an important role in cattle breed genetic improvement.

Objective: To explore the effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) on the proliferation of spleen T lymphocytes., Methods: BALB/c mice were randomly divided into two groups: LPS group and normal control group. They were injected intraperitoneally with LPS and normal saline solution respectively. MDSCs were separated with CD11b immunomagnetic beads from the spleen extract of mice. The morphological characteristics of MDCSs were observed by Wright-Giemsa staining and the characteristic molecules on cell surface identified by flow cytometry. And the effects of MDSCs on the in vitro proliferation of T cells were determined by methyl-thiazolyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT)., Results: The proportion of MDSCs in the spleen of the LPS group was much more than that of the normal control group (27.4% ± 6.6% vs 5.1% ± 3.8%; t = 5.06, P = 0.007). CD11b(+)Gr-1(+)MDSCs could be separated by CD11b immunomagnetic beads from the spleen of mice injected with LPS at a high purity of 84.0% ± 4.2%. MTT method showed that the proliferation of T cells decreased significantly after a co-cultivation with CD11b(+)MDSCs versus the control group. And it was positively correlated with the number of MDSCs (F = 46.26, P = 0.000)., Conclusions: A high purity of LPS-induced myeloid-derived suppressor cells may be separated with CD11b immunomagnetic beads. And it has dose-dependent inhibitory effects on the proliferation of the spleen T lymphocytes.

Objective: To explore whether or not CD8(+)CD28(-)T cell play a pathogenic role in asthma and detect the effects of dexamethasone (DXM)., Methods: A total of 30 mice were randomly divided into 3 groups: asthmatic group, DXM group and control group (n = 10 each). The asthmatic and DXM groups were sensitized twice and inhaled ovalbumin. The DXM Group received an intraperitoneal injection of DXM 1mg/kg before inhaling ovalbumin. After successful modeling, 3 mice were selected randomly from each group to measure the airway responsiveness. Also a bronchoalveolar lavage cytological study was performed and lung tissue sections were prepared for histopathologic examination to evaluate the airway inflammation. The content of IgE in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was detected with a murine IgE ELISA kit. And the fractions of CD8(+)CD28(-)T cell of peripheral blood and BALF were tested by flow cytometry to analyze the correlation between IgE, eosinophils (EOS) of BALF and CD8(+)CD28(-)T cell of blood., Results: The airway hyperresponsiveness in asthmatic and DXM groups were significantly higher than that in the control group. The number of total cells and EOS of BALF in the asthmatic group [(5.56 ± 4.06) × 10(2)/L; (3.29 ± 2.23) × 10(2)/L] were significantly higher than that in control group [(0.91 ± 0.65) × 10(2)/L, P = 0.003; (0.43 ± 0.37) × 10(2)/L, P = 0.001] and DXM group [(2.59 ± 1.69) × 10(2)/L, P = 0.044; (1.11 ± 0.73) × 10(2)/L, P = 0.008]; while the DXM group was insignificantly higher than the control group (P = 0.234, P = 0.363). There were significant differences in the contents of IgE of BALF for the asthmatic, DXM and control groups [(23.85 ± 5.97) g/L, (13.15 ± 2.22) g/L, (6.54 ± 1.03) g/L, F = 38.558, P = 0.000]. The percentages of CD8(+)CD28(-)T cell in peripheral blood in asthmatic and DXM groups [(18.68 ± 4.12)% and (13.43 ± 2.91)%] were significantly higher than those in control mice [(8.43 ± 4.60)%, both P < 0.05]. The percentages of CD8(+)CD28(-)T cell of BALF in asthmatic group and DXM group [(1.25 ± 0.40)% and (0.66 ± 0.49)%] were also significantly higher than those in control mice [(0.21 ± 0.19)%, both P < 0.05]. The percentages of CD8(+)CD28(-)T cell of blood and BALF in the DXM mice were significantly lower than those in asthmatic group. The correlations between IgE (r = 0.864, P = 0.012), EOS (r = 0.804, P = 0.029) and CD8(+)CD28(-)T cell were significant., Conclusion: The fraction of CD8(+)CD28(-)T cell is closely correlated with the inflammation of asthmatic airway. The airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation in asthmatic mice may be relieved by DXM through its effect of inhibiting the expression of CD8(+)CD28(-) T cell.

Objectives: Elemene is a chemical extracted from plants. It has demonstrated anti-tumour capability. Although widely studied, there has been little reported regarding its tissue distribution. Our aim was to rectify this., Methods: The tissue distribution of elemene was studied after intragastric or intravenous administration in rats. The effectiveness of elemene in treating brain tumours was studied using the G-422 tumour cell model in mice., Key Findings: Elemene had a higher concentration in the lungs, spleen and livers than other tissues of normal rats after intragastric and intravenous administration, while the concentration in the gastrointestinal tract was greater after intragastric administration. Elemene molecules were also detected in the rats' brain tissue. Elemene had a therapeutic effect on mice inoculated with G-422 cells both intracranially and subcutaneously. The best life-extending rate and the best tumour-inhibiting rate of elemene were 64.43% and 34.46%, respectively, when 80 mg/kg elemene was used for treatment., Conclusions: The results from the tissue distribution study showed that elemene can pass through the blood-brain barrier. The therapeutic experiments showed that elemene is effective in treating cerebral malignancy.

Purpose: To investigate the differential proteins and related molecular mechanism of CDA-II (cell differentiation agent-II) induced therapy on a human hepatocellular carcinoma model in nude mice with high metastatic potential (LCI-D20)., Methods: After tumors were transplanted 11 days, mice were intraperitoneally injected with CDA-II (1,800 mg/kg) for 20 days continuously. The tumor growth-inhibitory efficiency in CDA-II treated groups was calculated. Proteins extracted from tumor tissue were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) and the differential proteins were identified by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Western blotting (WB) was performed to verify the expression of certain candidate proteins. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was engaged to study the molecular mechanism of the therapy., Results: CDA-II suppressed the growth and metastasis of tumor. The tumor growth-inhibitory efficiency was 41.8%. In total, 27 differentially expressed proteins were identified, including HSP27, UGDH, CK8, Hsp60, ENOA and AnxA5, with functions involved in oncogene expression and/or cell differentiation. In addition, apparent alternations of HSP60 and beta-actin expression levels and their different posttranslational modifications (PTMs) were investigated. RT-PCR analysis confirmed that the cancer related genes c-myc, N-ras and MMP-9 were significantly down-regulated., Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that CDA-II presence can change the proteome profiling and favors of the tumor suppression in LCI-D20 cell differentiation. Our results also suggest that the dynamic PTM of HSP60 expression levels could be used to predict HCC and might be a promising and useful biomarker to prognosticate CDA-II therapeutic efficacy.

Objective: To survey psychiatrists' opinions about psychiatric classification in China, and provide information and suggestions for developing a new version of classificatory system., Method: The questionnaire about psychiatry classification written by Professor Graham Mellsop, New Zealand, was translated and modified into Chinese. An anonymous field survey of 380 psychiatry professionals was undertaken in Beijing., Results: A total of 181 questionnaires were eligible for analysis. The Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders version 3 (CCMD-III) is the most commonly used in China (63.8%), then ICD-10 (28.5%) and DSM-IV (7.7%). Half of the respondents (53.0%) agreed that the most important diagnostic classification is for communication among physicians, and then for communication between physician and patient (21.0%). Most professionals (90.0%) agree that classification should include less than 100 diagnostic options. Disagreement presents on cross-culture application of the ICD-10 and DSM-III: 75.1% professionals agreed that they are "useful and reliable regardless of patient ethnicity and culture", while 46.8% found "sometimes difficult to apply across cultures", and 35.8% thought classification is "over-embedded in European cultural concepts and values"., Conclusion: There is a strong trend of convergence and unification of China's diagnostic standards with international standards inevitable. A classification that is less complicated and confused, easy-to-communicate and understand and cross-cultural/nation applicable is expected by most Chinese psychiatrists. Such classification should also be reflective of the advances in understanding of aetiology of disorders and helpful in clinical management., (Copyright © 2008. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Human plasma phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) contains six potential N-glycosylation sites (Asn-X-Ser). To study the role of these sites on PLTP structure and function, seven variants in which asparagine (N) residues were converted to glycine (G) were prepared by site-directed mutagenesis. These were N(47)G, N(77)G, N(100)G, N(126)G, N(228)G, N(381)G and N(47, 77, 100, 126, 228, 381)G (N(null)G). These variants and wild-type (WT) PLTP were expressed in COS-7 cells. Intracellular and secreted PLTP mass was analyzed by Western blots and quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; PLTP activities in cellular lysates and media were based on the transfer of [(3)H]dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine from phospholipid single bilayer vesicles to HDL. N(null)G was not detected intracellularly. N(381)G was similar to WT PLTP with respect to specific activity and secretion efficiency. The specific activities of N(47)G, N(77)G, N(100)G, N(126)G, N(228)G and N(381)G were similar in cell lysate (range = 67-90% WT) and medium (range = 65-77% WT). Intracellular masses of these PLTP variants were similar to that of WT (Mean = 103% WT); mean secreted mass was 88% WT. These results suggest that secretion-competent PLTP requires glycosylation but that no single glycosylation site is required.

Objective: To establish a method for rapid molecular detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae in the early stage of infection., Methods: Specific DNA probes for Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae and 16 S rRNA universal probe of bacteria were synthesized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and labeled with biotin. The DNA of the bacteria, virus and fungi were hybridized with these probes respectively prior to application for examination of the clinical samples., Results: The DNA probes of 263, 351, and 370 bp were amplified by PCR. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae reacted only with their corresponding probes, and no cross reaction of the bacterial universal probe with virus and fungi was noted. The method could detect bacterial DNA in as small amount as 1 ng. Of the 100 sputum specimens, 11 were found to be positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae and 8 for Haemophilus influenzae, with a positivity rate greater than that by sputum culture., Conclusion: DNA probe detection is simple, rapid, and specific for clinical examination of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae.

Objective: To establish a rapid method for detecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa at the early stage of infection., Methods: Specific primers were designed according to oprI gene sequence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the specific probe was synthesized by PCR. After photosensitive biotin labeling of the bacterial DNA, reverse dot-blot hybridization was used to detect Pseudomonas aeruginosa., Results: The probe synthesized was highly specific to Pseudomonas aeruginosa without cross reaction with other bacteria, viruses or fungi. The method was capable of detecting 100 ng bacteria DNA., Conclusion: Reverse dot-blot hybridization possesses the merits of speediness and specificity in the detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the early stage of infection.