[Neurobehavioral development of 25 254 children with different gestational ages at birth in three cities of China].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of gestational age at birth on the neurobehavioral development of preschool children. METHODS: A total of 25 254 preschool children from Ma'anshan of Anhui Province, Taizhou of Zhejiang Province, and Yangzhou of Jiangsu Province were enrolled. The preschool children were divided into three groups based on their gestational ages at birth: preterm group (2 760 cases; 28-36+6 weeks), early term group (6 005 cases; 37-38+6 weeks), and full term group (16 489 cases; ≥39 weeks). The Ages and Stages Questionnaires-Third Edition (ASQ-3) was employed to evaluate the children's neurobehavioral development. RESULTS: The preterm group had significantly lower scores of the five domains of ASQ-3, communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving, and personal-social, than the full term group (P<0.05), and significantly lower scores of communication, gross motor, fine motor, and problem solving than the early term group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the scores of the five domains of ASQ-3 between the early term and full term groups (P>0.05). The multiple linear regression analysis indicated a significant positive correlation between gestational age and the five domains of ASQ-3 after adjustment for confounding factors including sex, age, body mass index, and parental education level (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Children born preterm have poorer neurobehavioral development than those born full term and early term, whereas children born full term and early term have similar neurobehavioral development. Gestational age at birth is an independent influencing factor for neurobehavioral development in preschool children.

Urine cell-free DNA as a promising biomarker for early detection of non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: While blood-derived cell-free DNA has been shown to be a candidate biomarker able to provide diagnostic and prognostic insight in cancer patients, little is known regarding the potential application of urine cell-free DNA (ucfDNA) in diagnosis of cancer. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate ucfDNA concentration and integrity index as potential biomarkers for early detection of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Urine samples were collected from 35 healthy controls and 55 NSCLC patients at various tumor node metastasis (TNM) stages. Two long interspersed nuclear element 1 (LINE1) fragments (LINE1-97 and 266 bp) were quantified via quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). DNA integrity index was calculated as the ratio of LINE1-266/LINE-97. RESULTS: LINE1 fragments concentrations of ucfDNA (LINE1-97, 266 bp) were significantly higher in NSCLC patients with stage III/IV than in stage I/II and in healthy controls. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for discriminating patients with stage III/IV from healthy controls had areas under the curves (AUC) of 0.84 and 0.886, respectively. Moreover, ucfDNA integrity LINE1-266/97 was significantly higher in patients with stage III/IV than in stage I/II and in healthy controls. The AUC of ROC curve for discriminating patients with stage III/IV from healthy controls was 0.800. Furthermore, LINE1-266 fragment concentration was significantly higher in lymph node metastasis (LNM)-positive patients relative to LNM-negative patients. The ROC curve for discriminating LNM-positive from LNM-negative patients had an AUC of 0.822. CONCLUSION: UcfDNA could serve as a promising biomarker for early detection of NSCLC.

Sensitive detection of low-abundance in-frame deletions in EGFR exon 19 using novel wild-type blockers in real-time PCR.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are associated with response of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the existing methods for detection of samples having rare mutations(i.e. ~0.01%) have limits in terms of specificity, time consumption or cost. In the current study, novel wild-type blocking (WTB) oligonucleotides modified with phosphorothioate or inverted dT at the 5'-termini were designed to precisely detect 11 common deletion mutations in exon 19 of EGFR gene (E19del) using a WTB-PCR assay. And internal competitive leptin amplifications were further applied to enhance the specificity of the WTB-PCR system. Our results showed that WTB-PCR could completely block amplification of wild-type EGFR when 200 ng of DNA was used as template. Furthermore, the current WTB-PCR assay facilitated the detection of E19del mutations with a selectivity of 0.01% and sensitivity as low as a single copy. And, the results showed that the current WTB-PCR system exceeded detection limits afforded by the ARMS-PCR assay. In conclusion, the current WTB-PCR strategy represents a simple and cost-effective method to precisely detect various low-abundance deletion mutations.

Bisdemethoxycurcumin sensitizes cisplatin-resistant lung cancer cells to chemotherapy by inhibition of CA916798 and PI3K/AKT signaling.

Curcumin, a dietary supplement or herbal medicine from Curcuma longa, has shown antitumor activity in different cancer cell lines and clinical trials. CA916798, a novel protein, is overexpressed in multidrug-resistant tumor cells. This study aimed to assess the effects of curcumin on regulating chemosensitivity in cisplatin-resistant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells in vitro and to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms. Human cisplatin-sensitive A549 and cisplatin-resistant A549/CDDP lung adenocarcinoma cells were treated with curcumin to assess cell viability and gene modulations using quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting. CA916798 shRNA and point mutations were used to assess the CA916798 functions and phosphorylation sites. Bisdemethoxycurcumin sensitized cisplatin-resistant lung cancer cells to various chemotherapeutic agents, including cisplatin. Bisdemethoxycurcumin reduced the levels of CA916798 mRNA and protein in A549 and A549/CDDP cells, while it also suppressed phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT signaling. CA916798, as a downstream gene, interacted with AKT after bisdemethoxycurcumin treatment in A549 and A549/CDDP cells. Moreover, A549/CDDP cells expressing the point-mutated CA916798-S20D protein were more resistant to cisplatin and bisdemethoxycurcumin, whereas tumor cells expressing CA916798-S20A, CA916798-S31A, CA916798-S60A, CA916798-S93A, or CA916798-T97A (different sites of amino acid phosphorylation) showed similar sensitivity or resistance to cisplatin and bisdemethoxycurcumin, compared with the control cells. Bisdemethoxycurcumin is able to sensitize cisplatin-resistant NSCLC cells to chemotherapeutic agents by inhibition of CA916798 and PI3K/AKT activities. Moreover, phosphorylation of CA916798 at the S20 residue plays a critical role in mediating bisdemethoxycurcumin antitumor activity.

The epidemiology and resistance mechanisms of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from the respiratory department ICU of a hospital in China.

Acinetobacter baumannii is an important nosocomial pathogen able to cause severe infections in an intensive care unit (ICU). However, there is a lack of analysis regarding the epidemiology and resistance of A. baumannii in respiratory department ICUs. In this study, clinical isolates were collected from the respiratory department ICU of Southwest Hospital from January 2009 to December 2010, and the social and demographic information of the patients from whom the isolates were taken was obtained from the Southwest Hospital information system. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the isolates was determined by the agar dilution method. The carbapenemase-encoding resistance genes of these isolates were amplified using PCR. The clonal relationship of isolates was analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Forty-six isolates were collected from the respiratory department ICU, and the antibiotics minocycline and quinolone had higher drug sensitivity against these isolates. The OXA-51, OXA-23, and IMP-4 genes were present at rates of 100% (46/46), 67.4% (31/46), and 41.3% (19/46), respectively. Forty-six isolates had 12 different PFGE genotypes. The results above suggested that the hospital environment and patients contributed to nosocomial infections, and the spread of resistance genes in the hospital was common.

CA916798 regulates multidrug resistance of lung cancer cells.

OBJECTIVES: Multidrug resistance (MDR) significantly reduces the efficacy of chemotherapy for lung cancer. In this study, we characterized the significance of CA916798, a gene up-regulated in cis-dichlorodiamine platinum (CDDP)-resistant lung adenocarcinoma cells, in mediating MDR in lung cancer cells. METHODS: CA916798 was stably transfected into H446 cells with low endogenous expression of CA916798, and knocked down in A549/CDDP cells with high endogenous level of CA916798. Expression was confirmed by real-time PCR, Western immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry. Subsequent effects were examined on cellular growth, apoptosis and cell cycle progression. RESULTS: Ectopic expression of CA916798 in H446 cells confered enhanced resistance to multiple chemotherapeutic agents, while its reduction rendered A549/CDDP cells less resistant to chemotherapeutic agents tested. Further analysis revealed that CA916798 regulates CDDP-induced cell growth, apoptosis and cell cycle progression. CONCLUSION: CA916798 may be a novel MDR-related target for lung cancer therapy.

[Study on quantificational analysis method for the non-crystalline content in blast furnace slag].

Quantificational analysis method for the non-crystalline and crystalline contents in blast furnace slag was studied by means of X-ray diffraction. The process of quantificational analysis method includes standard samples preparation, samples preparation, X-ray diffraction measurement and data treatment. The data treatment includes integration areas of non-crystalline curve and crystalline peaks in certain diffraction angle range, linear fitting and quantificational coefficient determination. The preparation methods of standard samples for X-ray diffraction of blast furnace slag were proposed, including 100% crystalline sample and 100% non-crystalline sample. The 100% crystalline sample can be obtained by heating blast furnace slag for 12 h at 1 000-1 200 degrees C, and the 100% non-crystalline sample can be obtained by quenching the molten slag with enough water. The X-ray diffraction method of quantificational analysis of non-crystalline content in blast furnace slag was proposed with the 100% non-crystalline and 100% crystalline standard samples, and the quantificational coefficient can be obtained by linear regression on the integration areas of non-crystalline curve and crystalline peaks of X-ray diffraction in the 2-theta range 20 degrees-40 degrees. This method is suitable for the blast furnace slag with the non-crystalline content over 80%. The non-crystalline and crystalline contents of original blast furnace slag are obtained by combining the X-ray diffraction results and mathematical treatment, and this method is suitable for the blast furnace slag with the non-crystalline content over 90%, whose process includes preparing the 100% crystalline standard sample by heating blast furnace slag for 12 h at 1000-1200 degrees C, samples preparation with the 0.02 interval in the 0-0.1 mass ratio range of 100% crystalline to original slag, X-ray diffraction measurement of the samples prepared and data treatment using iterative linear regression. The quantificational analysis method for blast furnace slag can be applied to various kinds of blast furnace slag from different steel plants.

[Expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha and relationship thereof to apoptosis related protein in non-small cell lung cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and relationship thereof to survivin and Bax, apoptosis related proteins, in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used in 52 specimens of NSCLC to detect the expression of HIF-1alpha, survivin and Bax. RESULTS: The positive rates of HIF-1alpha, survivin and Bax were 38.5% (20/52), 48.1% (25/52), and 42.3% (22/52) respectively. The higher the pathological stage of tumor, the higher expression rate of HIF-1alpha (chi2=8.271, P<0.05). The positive rate of HIF-1alpha expression of the patients with lymph node metastasis was higher than that of the patients without lymph node metastasis (chi2=6.370, P<0.05). However, HIF-1alpha expression had no relationship to the pathological type (chi2=0.561, P>0.05) and differentiation degree (chi2=0.326, P>0.05). Correlation analysis showed that the expression of HIF-1alpha was positively correlated with the surviving expression (gamma=0.496, P<0.05) and Bax expression (gamma=0.681, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of HIF-1alpha is related to the infiltration, metastasis, and apoptosis of NSCLC.