[Traditional Chinese medicine syndrome factors of patients with HIV infection or AIDS in China].

OBJECTIVE: To study the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome factors of patients from different areas of China with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). METHODS: A cross-sectional investigation study was conducted in Henan, Guangdong and Yunnan Provinces and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China from October 2008 to August 2010. Based on literature review and expert opinion, a clinical questionnaire of TCM syndromes was drawn up. This survey was carried out after the investigators were professionally trained. Wenfeng III Auxiliary Diagnosis and Treat System of TCM was used to analyze the frequencies of AIDS patients' signs and symptoms with scores above 70 of syndrome factors respectively. Based on this work, syndrome factors of AIDS were analyzed in different areas. RESULTS: There were 608 HIV/AIDS cases investigated from October 2008 to August 2010 in total; among them, 276 cases were from Henan, 126 cases from Guangdong, 120 cases from Xinjiang and 86 cases from Yunnan. The results of syndrome factor analysis indicated that the syndromes of four provinces were similar. HIV/AIDS patients in the four areas exhibited qi deficiency, blood deficiency, yin deficiency, yang deficiency, dampness, phlegm, qi stagnation and essence deficiency syndromes. Patients in each area also had their own characteristics, such as that the scores of dampness of Guangdong and yin deficiency of Xinjiang were higher than the other syndromes, whereas the scores of Henan Province were higher than the other areas. AIDS patients had higher scores of syndromes than HIV-infected patients. CONCLUSION: HIV/AIDS patients from different areas had similar syndrome elements. The theory of "AIDS toxin injuring primordial qi" can sum up the TCM etiology and pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS.

Requirements of myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2A in zebrafish cardiac contractility.

Myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2A (MEF2A) regulates a broad range of fundamental cellular processes including cell division, differentiation and death. Here, we tested the hypothesis that MEF2A is required in cardiac contractility employing zebrafish as a model organism. MEF2A is highly expressed in heart as well as somites during zebrafish embryogenesis. Knock-down of MEF2A in zebrafish impaires the cardiac contractility and results in sarcomere assembly defects. Dysregulation of cardiac genes in MEF2A morphants suggests that sarcomere assembly disturbances account for the cardiac contractile deficiency. Our studies suggested that MEF2A is essential in cardiac contractility.

[Effect of external retinoic acid on Tbx1 gene during zebrafish embryogenesis].

OBJECTIVE: DiGeorge/del22q11 syndrome is one of the most common genetic causes of outflow tract and aortic arch defects in human. DiGeorge/del22q11 is thought to involve an embryonic defect restricted to the pharyngeal arches and the corresponding pharyngeal pouches. Previous studies have evidenced that retinoic acid (RA) signaling is definitely indispensable for the development of the pharyngeal arches. Tbx1, one of the T-box containing genes, is proved to be the most attractive candidate gene for DiGeorge/del22q11 syndrome. However, the interaction between RA and Tbx1 has not been fully investigated. Exploring the interaction will contribute to discover the molecular pathways disrupted in DiGeorge/del22q11 syndrome, and will also be essential for understanding genetic basis for congenital heart disease. It now seems possible that genes and molecular pathways disrupted in DiGeorge syndrome will also account for some isolated cases of congenital heart disease. Accordingly, the present study aimed to extensively study the effects of external RA on the cardiac development and Tbx1 expression during zebrafish embryogenesis. METHODS: The chemical genetics approach was applied by treating zebrafish embryos with 5 x 10(-8) mol/L RA and 10(-7) mol/L RA at 12.5 hour post fertilization (hpf). The expression patterns of Tbx1 were monitored by whole-mount in situ hybridization and quantitative real-time RT-PCR, respectively. RESULTS: The zebrafish embryos treated with 5 x 10(-8) mol/L RA and 10(-7) mol/L RA for 1.5 h at 12.5 hpf exhibited selective defects of abnormal heart tube. The results of whole-mount in situ hybridization with Tbx1 RNA probe showed that Tbx1 was expressed in cardiac region, pharyngeal arches and otic vesicle during zebrafish embryogenesis. RA treatment led to a distinct spatio-temporal expression pattern for Tbx1 from that in wild type embryo. The real-time PCR analysis showed that Tbx1 expression levels were markedly reduced by RA treatment. Tbx1 expression in the pharyngeal arches and heart were obviously down regulated compared to the wild type embryos. In contrast to 5 x 10(-8) mol/L RA-treated groups, 10(-7) mol/L RA caused a more severe effect on the Tbx1 expression level. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that there was a genetic link between RA and Tbx1 during development of zebrafish embryo. RA could produce an altered Tbx1 expression pattern in zebrafish. RA may regulate the Tbx1 expression in a dose-dependant manner. RA could represent a major epigenetic factor to cause abnormal expression of Tbx1, secondarily, disrupt the pharyngeal arch and heart development.