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Summary Introduction Investigate the expressions of WNTs in granulosa cells of PCOS in North China, and explore the possible mechanism. Material and methods Patients with PCOS ( n = 40) and controls without PCOS ( n = 20) were enrolled into the study. The levels of serum sex hormone were detected by chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay. RT-qPCR was used to measure mRNA levels of WNT family members (WNT1, WNT3, WNT4, WNT5, sFRP4 and sFRP5). The levels of Bax and Bcl-2 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results The levels of PROG, TES and LH/FSH had difference ( p 2 and PROG had significant difference ( p p p p p

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is one of the frequently reported malignancies of childhood age. Earlier it was thought to be a fatal pathological state with no cure, but with advancements in medicine and science, new therapeutic approaches have resulted in better management and cure. However, one of the major hurdles in achieving a complete cure is the relapse of ALL at extra-medullary sites like the central nervous system (CNS). The present review article is focused on recent diagnostic avenues available for the detection of CNS disease during acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in young patients.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory idiopathic autoimmune disease causing demyelination of central nervous system (CNS). The incidence of pediatric MS is relatively rare, affecting 0.2 to 0.64/100,000 subjects; cases with MS onset before age 10-12 years, account for less than 1% of all MS cases, while 2.7 to 10.5% of all MS cases worldwide are seen in children18 years of age, with a strong female preponderance. The disease course of MS varies from a benign type with relatively low level of disability after a long duration (15 years) of the disease, to a malignant type of MS with severe disability or even death within few months following onset. Diagnostic criteria for pediatric MS include ≥ 2 clinical events involving more areas of CNS inflammation in the absence of encephalopathy, separated by30 days, along with the involvement of brainstem. Pediatric MS generally presents relapsing-remittent form of MS, with majority of the patients recovering from the first attack. Major histocompatibility complex, more specifically, mutations in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DRB1*15 allele, are considered most important genetic factors that are contributory to the disease. Treatment choices for pediatric MS include many disease-modifying therapies (DMT) that are currently being used for adult MS and these are interferon-β 1a/1b (IFN-β1a/1b), glatiramer acetate, teriflunomide, dimethyl fumarate, alemtuzumab, etc. However, most of these have not gone through complete testing in randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials for pediatric MS and are being prescribed off-label by clinicians. As these studies are progressing, it is important to address if these approaches of treating pediatric MS patients have any long-term impact on patients, in particular, physical, cognitive, developmental and social outcomes of the children.

To study the peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in children with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in acute period as well as remission period, and compare them with healthy children to investigate the significance of lymphocyte subsets in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis in children with HLH.From January 2009 to March 2014, 30 HLH patients were enrolled in this study. Among them, 20 were placed in the remission group, while 10 cases were placed in the death group. 6 cases died within 8 weeks due to the illness, and 4 cases died within 9 to 34 weeks. 30 children who were confirmed healthy after physical check-ups in the same period were enrolled in the control group. Peripheral blood was collected from both groups and lymphocyte subsets were studied using flow cytometry.The ratios of CD3+ T and CD8+ T cells increased in the HLH remission group and the death group, while CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ and CD3-CD16+CD56+NK ratios decreased. Difference detected in the proportion of CD19+ B cells was not statistically significant. By comparing lymphocyte subsets in the HLH acute period and the remission period in HLH patients we discovered that the differences in CD3+, CD8+, CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+, CD19+ B cells ratios were not statistically significant (p0.05). CD3-CD16+CD56+NK cells ratios in the remission period increased significantly.The lymphocyte subsets in children with HLH underwent obvious changes and there was an imbalance in cellular immunity. We believe that dynamic detection of changes may help us to evaluate the prognosis and the effect of the treatment.

Calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporine is widely used as an immunosuppressant in clinic. However, mounting evidence has shown that cyclosporine hinders tolerance induction by dampening Tregs. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to overcome this pitfall. Kaempferol was reported to inhibit DC function. Here, we found that kaempferol delayed islet allograft rejection. Combination of kaempferol and low-dose, but not high-dose, of cyclosporine induced allograft tolerance in majority of recipient mice. Although kaempferol plus either dose of cyclosporine largely abrogated proliferation of graft-infiltrating T cells and their CTL activity, both proliferation and CTL activity in mice treated with kaempferol plus low-dose, but not high-dose, cyclosporine reemerged rapidly upon treatment withdrawal. Kaempferol increased CD4+FoxP3+ Tregs both in transplanted mice and in vitro, likely by suppressing DC maturation and their IL-6 expression. Reduction in Tregs by low dose of cyclosporine was reversed by kaempferol. Kaempferol-induced Tregs exhibited both allospecific and non-allospecific suppression. Administering IL-6 abrogated allograft tolerance induced by kaempferol and cyclosporine via diminishing CD4+FoxP3+ Tregs. Thus, for the first time, we demonstrated that kaempferol promotes transplant tolerance in the presence of low dose of cyclosporine, which allows for sufficient Treg generation while minimizing side effects, resulting in much-needed synergy between kaempferol and cyclosporine.

The spray characteristics of diesohol fuel have a direct effect on the thermal efficiency and combustion emissions performance of diesel engines. In this research, we investigated the spray characteristics of diesohol fuel under different fuel injection pressures (Pinj) in a high-pressure common-rail injection system and at various spray ambient pressures (Pamb) in a constant-volume pressure vessel by using high-speed photography technology. The research results support the concept of adding a certain percentage of ethanol to diesel, creating diesohol fuel, which can reduce the environmental impacts of vehicle emissions. Experiments on the spray characteristics were performed and the results suggested that the addition of ethanol has no significant effect on the spray tip penetration, spray cone angle, and spray tip speed. However, atomization conditions such as injection pressure and ambient pressure have a significant impact on the spray characteristics of the blended fuel.

Advancements in pediatric cancers diagnostics clarity and treatments have greatly increased survival rates in the pediatric oncology population. Increased survival rates have turned new attention to studying psychosocial stressors and improvisation of the quality of life of the suffering cancer patients. The cancer treatment experience could be divided into three phases: diagnosis, treatment, and post-treatment/survivorship. The present review article would focus specifically on the three most common pediatric cancer diagnostic categories viz. acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), central nervous system (CNS) tumors, and neuroblastoma.

Leukemia is defined as an aberrant hyper-proliferation of immature blood cells that do not form solid tumor masses (i.e., liquid cancer). Usually, leukemia could be either of the myeloid or lymphoid lineages, and is classified as acute or chronic in nature. Chronic leukemias tend to have more mature cells and are rare in pediatric patients. Acute leukemias, on the other hand, are typically less mature and commonly occur in patients of all ages and are potentially rapidly fatal if not readily treated. The acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood malignancy. Similar to AML, and in some cases, on the same disease spectrum, are the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The present review is focused on the recent perspectives of pediatric leukemia.

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), also known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is a rare autoimmune joint disorder of children. The concrete causes for the prevalence of the above pathological state are still unknown. In other words, it is an arthritis affecting mainly children and adolescents. Clinically, it has 3 different clinical subtypes. JRA patients are often noticed with some confirmed symptoms including coagulopathy, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) with hepatosplenomegaly, fall in erythrocyte sedimentation rate and higher levels of liver enzymes leading to a life-threatening outcome. The above complications of JRA are recognized as a macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), which is similar to hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). Pathogenesis of JRA manly involves deregulation of immunological processes with excessive and persistent activation of antigen presenting cells and T-lymphocytes. Further, abnormalities in the functioning of NK cells are often observed in JIA cases. Also, 40% of patients with these abnormalities are habitually associated with perforin gene mutations. Today, MAS remains a clinical and diagnostic challenge.The diagnosis of MAS is mainly based on clinical grounds. However, laboratory evidence of macrophages in the bone marrow performing phagocytosis of variable hematopoietic cells also help in diagnosis. For confirmation of MAS, there must be present either of two clinical or laboratory criteria. Further, laboratory criteria often appear late and are unable to diagnose the complication right at the beginning stage. Important laboratory findings in macrophage activation syndrome associated with JIA include hypertriglyceridemia, anemia, low erythrocyte sedimentation rate, elevated alanine aminotransferase level, higher than normal bilirubin levels, presence of fibrin degradation products, high lactate dehydrogenase level, low sodium, low albumin, and hyperferritinemia.MAS is a confirmed life threatening complication of patients with JIA. Further, an early diagnosis and treatment of MAS could be a life-saving mode for this syndrome.

We investigated the mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium channel [mito-K (ATP)] in exercise preconditioning of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. Eighty SD rats were randomly divided into high-, moderate-, low-intensity, and control groups. The exercise groups were divided into control and inhibited groups. The control group was divided into model and sham groups. Eight rats were randomly selected from each group for analysis. At 40 and 50 min after ischemia-reperfusion, respectively, J point and T-wave values and QT intervals were significantly higher in the control model group than in the control sham group; ECG parameters were significantly lower in the exercise group than in the control group; ECG parameters were lower in the 5-HD-inhibited group than in the corresponding exercise model group. The trends of serum enzymes (serum muscle kinase isoenzyme, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate transaminase) were consistent with ECG parameter changes at 40 and 50 min after ischemia and reperfusion, respectively. Compared with the sham group, the control model group showed significantly decreased left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP) and maximum rate of left ventricular pressure development (dP/dtmax) and significantly increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP). LVSP and dP/dtmax were significantly higher and LVEDP was significantly lower in the control group than in the exercise model group. LVSP and dP/dtmax were significantly lower and LVEDP was significantly higher in the inhibited group than in the corresponding exercise group. Long-term exercise can produce a preconditioning effect that exerts an ischemia-reperfusion cardioprotective effect. Mito-K (ATP) mediates the cardioprotective effects of exercise preconditioning.

Leukemia is the most common cancer of childhood, with AML, CML, ALL and CLL being the most common. Environmental and genetic factors have been studied extensively in children with childhood leukemia. Other factors, such as the prenatal parental use of controlled substances, have not been investigated to the same degree. We review what is currently known about environmental and parental factors and the occurrence of leukemia in children.Electronic databases were searched for studies correlated pediatric leukemia with (1) ionizing radiation; (2) benzene; (3) parental drug use (4) parental alcohol use; (5) genetic factors.The two known significant environment risk factors for the occurrence leukemia are ionizing radiation and benzene. However, at least 4 studies have been published over the last century have looked at other environmental factors such as pesticides and drug and alcohol use as well as genetic factors such as gene fusions and translocations.We determined the risk of environmental and genetic factors that could be the cause of childhood leukemia in an effort to reduce the incidence of this disease.

Male infertility is a complex multifactorial and polygenic disease, and genetic factors play an important role in its formation and development. Recently, the association between follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) gene polymorphisms and male infertility risk has attracted widespread attention due to the unique biological functions of FSH. The aim of this study was to further explore the associations between the Thr307Ala and Asn680Ser polymorphisms of the FSHR gene and male infertility. A case-control study of 212 infertile and 164 fertile men from North China was performed. FSHR polymorphism genotypes were obtained through direct DNA sequencing. A meta-analysis was also performed. In the single-site association analysis, no significant associations were identified between FSHR Thr307Ala and Asn680Ser polymorphisms and male infertility (P > 0.05). However, we found that the combined genotypic frequency of Thr/Ala + Asn/Asn was higher in infertile patients than in controls (6.6 vs 1.8%; odds ratio (OR) = 3.795; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.072-13.434, P = 0.027). In the meta-analysis, there was also no evidence of FSHR polymorphism (rs 6165 and rs 6168) association with male infertility (P > 0.05). However, we found that the combined genotypes Thr/Thr + Asn/Asn had an increased risk of male infertility (OR = 1.238; 95%CI: 1.001-1.537, P = 0.049). Our studies further confirmed reports that there were no significant associations between the FSHR Thr307Ala and Asn680Ser polymorphisms and male infertility risk. However, a combined FSHR genotype showed significant association with male infertility.

This paper deals with issues of Contactless power converter (CLPC) including converter constitution, circuit model, power transmission and power regulation. Based on a newly developed equivalent load circuit, the influences of contactless transformer (CLT) and its spacing on the energy transmission of the CLPC are investigated. It is found that the relationship between the power transmission and the spacing is not monotonic. Higher level of spacing may result in higher output power or lower output power under different conditions. Experimental results are presented to verify the theoretical analysis.

To investigate the effect of uncaria on evoked field potential of CA1 hippocampal slice in epileptogenic model.We made rats which were injected by pilocarpine as epileptic-models. The pathway of drug administration is titration adjacent to hippocampal slices. We recorded the evoked field potential of hippocampal slice by glass microelectrode extracellularly, and observed the effect of uncaria on the amplitude of population spike (PS) in CA1 pyramidal cells in hippocampal slices.The uncaria with concentration of 1 g/ml could reduce the amplitude of PS in CA1 of hippocampal slices. The average of fall was 27.64%, and restored in 8.71 minutes on average (n = 14, P0.01).Uncaria could reduce the amplitude of PS in CA1 of epileptic hippocampal slices remarkably. These results show that uncaria can inhabited the synaptic transfer activity of CNS remarkably, suggest that it has the distinct effect of anti-epilepsy.

In order to clarify the importance of nuclear IP(3)Rs in the development of myocardial hypertrophy, a hypertensive rat model was established by abdominal aortic constriction, and velocity and isopyknic gradient centrifugation was employed to fractionate the cardiac nuclei. The maximal number of binding sites (B(max)) and dissociation constant (Kd) of IP(3) to the nuclear envelopes were measured by [(3)H] IP(3) binding assay. The existence of IP(3)Rs on myocardial nuclear envelope was confirmed. [Ca(2+)] inhibited [(3)H] IP(3) binding to its receptors in cardiac nuclear envelopes in a concentration-dependent way. Phosphorylation by CaM and endogenous PKC decreased B(max) of nuclear IP(3) receptors. B(max) and Kd of nuclear IP(3)Rs were increased by 1.217 (P0.01) and by 2.149-fold (P0.01) respectively in hypertrophic myocardium as compared with those of the control. The above results suggest that IP(3)Rs exist in myocardial nuclei and are down regulated by CaM, PMA and free Ca(2+). The increase of the binding sites of IP(3)Rs in the nuclear envelopes and the decrease of their affinity might play importment roles in the development of overload induction of cardiac hypertrophy.

Alterations of autocrine function of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) might play an important role in development of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (HPH). To test this hypothesis, the effects of hypoxia on angiotensin II (AT II) secretion by cultured new born bovine PASMCs were investigated. AT II secretion decreased significantly when PASMCs were incubated under 2.5% O2 hypoxic condition for 3 to 48 h (P0.01 vs control), but decreased further under anoxic condition (P0.01 vs control and 2.5% O2 group). Nitric oxide (NO) donor SIN-1 inhibited AT II secretion significantly under normoxic condition, but NO synthase inhibitor L-nitro-arginine (LNA) eliminated the inhibitory effect of anoxia on AT II autocrine and promoted AT II release. It was also found that the concentration of cGMP in PASMCs increased significantly (P0.01) at 24 h incubation in 0% O2, an effect that can be attenuated by LNA. Hypoxia stimulated 3H-TdR incorporation of PASMCs significantly (P0.001), while captopril exerts an inhibition in normoxic condition (P0.001), but without effect under hypoxic condition. The above results suggest that hypoxia can inhibit AT II secretion by inducing endogenous NO production in PASMCs. AT II autocrine is not involved in hypoxic proliferation of PASMCs, but a decrease of AT II may contribute to prevention of the development of HPH.

Vascular endothelial cells (VECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are structurally and functionally closely connected. Their interactions may play important roles in the development of hypoxic pulmonary artery hypertension. In the present study, mitogenic regulations between cultured new bovine pulmonary arterial endothelial cells (PAECs) and pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions were investigated. Cell proliferation was assessed by 3H-thymidine incorporation and flow cytometry. Normoxic conditioned medium (CM) from cultured PASMCs inhibited 3H-thymidine incorporation of PAECs by 58% (P0.01), but normoxic or hypoxic CM from PAECs promoted or inhibited 3H-thymidine incorporation of PASM by 60% and 27% respectively (P0.01). When mixed PAECs and PASMCs were cultured for 24 h, relative 3H-thymidine incorporation of the mixed cells decreased by 22% (P0.01 vs monoculture) under normoxic condition, and increased by 75% or 44% under 0% O2 or 2.5% O2 (P0.01 vs normoxic mixculture). When PAECs and PASMCs were cocultured in either normoxic or hypoxic conditions, proliferation of PAECs was inhibited while that of PASMs was stimulated significantly (P0.01), as compared with that of homotypic cultured cells. These findings suggest that PAECs and PASMCs may mutually regulate their proliferation each other, and this mutual modulation may be changed under hypoxic condition.

We have disrupted the 5' locus of the duplicated adult alpha-globin genes by gene targeting in the mouse embryonic stem cells and created mice with alpha-thalassemia syndromes. The heterozygous knockout mice (.alpha/alpha alpha) are asymptomatic like the silent carriers in humans whereas the homozygous knockout mice (.alpha/.alpha) show hemolytic anemia. Mice with three dysfunctional alpha-globin genes generated by breeding the 5' alpha-globin knockouts (.alpha/alpha alpha) and the deletion type alpha-thalassemia mice (../alpha alpha) produce severe hemoglobin H disease and they die in utero. These results indicate that the 5' alpha-globin gene is the predominant locus in mice, and suggest that it is even more dominant than its human homologue.

This paper reports one case with glucagonoma syndrome that resection of the primary glucagonoma in the pancreas was done. There was metastasis one in liver and lymph node. The definitive diagnosis was established by immunohistochemical analysis. The patient by immunohistochemical analysis. The patient remained well for 27 months and gained 5 kg of weight. Another experiences of diagnosis and treatment of 8 cases of malignant glucagonoma collected in chinese literature were reviewed. The clinical specialty of glucagonoma syndrome. diagnosis and management were discussed suggesting two points: on diagnosis the clinical specialty is a important clues: palliative primary tumor resection may be significant clinical improvement and prolonged survival.

From 1977 to 1987, six cases of heterotopic pancreas at the ampulla of Vater and the papilla were encountered. All patients were suffering from obstructive jaundice and misdiagnosed as having periampullary cancer and pancreaticoduodenectomy was done. The entity was rare and extremely difficult to diagnose even during exploration. The pathology, diagnosis and surgical treatment of this disease were discussed.

This paper presents an analysis of 35 GI epithelioid leiomyomas (leiomyoblastoma) including the authors' own 6 cases from 1975 to the end of 1987. Tumors were found in the stomach in 21 cases (60%), in the duodenum in 4 (11.2%), in the jejunum in 7 (19.8%), and in the ileum in 3 (8.5%). The male to female ratio was 1:1.2 ranging in ages from 11 to 68 with an average of 42. Of these, 82.8% were benign and 17.2% were malignant. No case was correctly diagnosed before the operation. Tumors were resected in 97.2% of the patients. In the author's opinion there should be two basic types of the tumor: benign and malignant, though the identification is often quite difficult. The mitosis, the size of primary tumor, the metastasis and recurrence of the tumor should all come into the consideration. Surgical resection of the tumor is the only effective treatment and all tumors should be treated as malignant.