Multinodule abnormalities of the tracheobronchus: bronchoscopy findings and clinical diagnosis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Bronchoscopy is an important method for diagnosing respiratory disease. Multiple tracheobronchial nodules are rarely reported and their causes remain unclear. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of multiple nodule tracheobronchial abnormalities found under bronchoscopy caused by different diseases. METHODS: Eighty-seven patients with multiple tracheobronchial nodules were enrolled in this study. The characteristics of the multinodule lesions and the patient were diagnosed based on the pathology findings in our hospital. Chest computed tomography images were retrospectively reviewed by pulmonologists and radiologist. RESULTS: In 55 patients with definite pathological diagnosis, 16 (29%) patients were diagnosed as tuberculosis (TB) granuloma; 23 (41.8%) cases were diagnosed as malignant disease; 12 (21.8%) cases were diagnosed as tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica; 2 (3.6%) cases were diagnosed as sarcoidosis; and one case (1.8%) was diagnosed as lymphoma and one case (1.8%) as fungal infection. There were 32 cases of chronic inflammation. There was no relationship between nodule distribution and the pathological diagnosis. Malignant nodules usually smaller with a pale outlook, while nodules with larger size and smooth and intact mucosa usually turn out to be granuloma of unknown reason. CONCLUSION: The major causes of mutinodule lesions observed using bronchoscopy are tumor and TB. The presence of multiple endotracheobronchial nodules suggest that pulmonary lesion is present, and biopsy should be performed. Malignant nodules can be diagnosed by appearance and biopsy. Pathology results of TB, sarcoidosis and fungal infection can turn out to be granuloma of unknown reason. Further diagnosis needs other clinical materials.

[Change in serum levels of soluble Fas and soluble FasL in patients with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the significance of changes in the serum levels of soluble Fas (sFas) and soluble Fas ligand (sFasL) in patients with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) regarding its diagnosis and judgement of severity and outcome, and to investigate the correlations between the levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), sFas and sFasL. METHODS: Enzyme linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA) was used in the determination of serum sFas, sFasL and TNF-alpha in 36 patients with MODS. Thirty-two non SIRS patients and 20 healthy individuals comprised the control groups. The acute physiology and chronic health evaluation III (APACHE III) scoring system and modified MODS scoring system were used to assess patients' clinical severity. The differences of sFas and sFasL levels between MODS group and control groups and between survival and dead patients were observed. The correlations between sFas, sFasL and TNF-alpha levels and severity of MODS and the correlations between the TNF-alpha levels and the levels of sFas and sFasL were also observed. RESULTS: The serum levels of sFas, sFasL and TNF-alpha in patients with MODS were significantly higher than those in controls (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and were associated with severity of the disease (all P<0.01) . The sFas and sFasL levels were found to be significantly higher in the patients who eventually died as compared to those in the patients who survived (both P<0.05). Positive correlations were noted between the TNF-alpha levels and the levels of sFas and sFasL(both P<0.01). The serum levels of sFas and sFasL were elevated with the increase of the number of failure organs in MODS patients. CONCLUSION: The serum levels of sFas and sFasL may serve as diagnostic and prognostic indicators for MODS. TNF-alpha may help enhance the expression of Fas/FasL system.

[The community and structure of nitrogen-fixing microorganism in Sanjiangyuan natural reserve].

Research on the diversity of microorganism community in natural environment has been concerned hot spot using the newly molecular biotechnology in the world now. To understand the composition and structure of nitrogen-fixing bacteria communities in the Qingzang plateau, the molecular diversity and phylogenetic of nifH genes of Sangjiangyuan natural reserve were examined by using the PCR-RFLP based cloning approach. The 3 samples were come from different sites and different plant types, and their biogeochemical parameters were diverse. DNA was directly extracted from the soil microorganism and amplified the nifH gene fragment using PCR by the primers of nifH-34F 5'-AAAGG(C/T)GG(A/T) ATCGG(C/T)AA(A/G) TCCACCAC-3' and nifH-491R 5'-TFGTT(G/C)GC(G/C)GC(A/G)TACAT(G/C)GCCATCAT-3'. For the nifH gene segment, diverse PCR products were characterized by cloning, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and sequencing. A total of 233 clones and 99 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) which were digested the clones by the restriction enzymes MspI and RsaI were obtained from all samples. YS-1 had 63 clones and 24 OTUs, ZD-1 had 75 clones and 28 OTUs, and NQ-1 had 95 clones and 47 OTUs, respectively. They were found 1-2 significant domain groups of clones and shared 4 OTUs in all samples. A wide range of sequence divergence was observed in the 26 nifH clones that were sequenced from all samples. Sequence comparison showed that the nifH clones were 66% to 98% similar. The phylogenetic tree was constructed by the Clustal W and Mega software. 26 sequences could be subdivided into 4 clusters in the phylogenetic tree, and some of them had the closely similar to Proteobacteria, but The majority of the clones were not closely related to any known cultivated nitrogen-fixing bacteria, Therefore, most of them are unique and may represent novel sequences of nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

[Molecular diversity and phylogenetic analysis of nitrogen-fixing (nifH) genes in alp prairie soil of Sanjiangyuan natural reserve].

Research on the diversity of microorganism community in natural environment has been concerned hot spot using the newly molecular biotechnology in the world now. This was the first description of the molecular diversity and phylogenetic analysis of nitrogen-fixing (nifH) genes in alp prairie soil of Sanjiangyuan natural reserve. DNA was directly extracted from the soil microorganism and amplified the nifH gene fragment using PCR by the primers of nifH-34F 5'-AAAGG(C/T)GG(A/T) ATCGG(C/T)AA(A/G) TCCACCAC-3' and nifH-491R 5'-TYGTT(G/C)GC(G/C)GC(A/G)TACAT(G/C)G CCATCAT-3'. For the gene fragment, diverse PCR products were characterized by cloning, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and sequencing. 143 clones and 35 different RFLP patterns were received in two samples by the restriction enzymes MspI and RsaI digested. ZD sample had 82 clones and 21 different RFLP patterns, and YS sample had 61 clones and 19 different RFLP patterns. There were shared 5 RFLP patterns in two samples. The analysis result found a significant dominant group of clones occurring in both samples which account for 29.3% and 32.8%, respectively, and several minor groups were also detected. 21 clones were sequenced, and their levels of nucleotide identity were from 71% to 98%. None of the sequenced nifH gene was completely identical to any deposited in the data banks, and therefore each of them belong to a noncharacterized bacterium. Finally, the phylogenetic tree was constructed by the Clustal W and Mega software. 21 sequences can be subdivided into 4 clusters in the phylogenetic tree, and most of them had the closely similar toalpha- , beta-, and gamma-Proteobacteria . The significant dominant group in YS sample and ZD sample had the closely related with Rhodobacter sphaeroides and Delftia tsuruhatensis, respectively. The YS-nifH-11 was the only sequence which had highly similar to Cyanobacteria .

[Genetic diversity of microsatellite loci in captive Amur tigers].

The tiger is one of the most threatened wildlife species since the abundance and distribution of tiger have decreased dramatically in the last century. The wild Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) only distributed in northeast China, the far east area of Russia and the north Korea and its size of wild population is about 450 in the world and 20 in China. Several hundred captive populations of Amur tigers are the main source to protect gene library of tiger and the source of recovering the wild populations. The Breeding Center for Felidae at Hengdaohezi and Haoerbin Tiger Park in Heilongjiang Province is the biggest captive breeding base in China. How to make clear the genetic pedigree and establish reasonable breeding system is the urgent issues. So we use the microsatellite DNA markers and non-invasive technology to research on the genetic diversity of captive Amur tiger in this study. Ten microsatellite loci (Fca005, Fca075, Fca094, Fca152, Fca161, Fca294, Pti002, Pti003, Pti007 and Pti010), highly variable nuclear markers, were studied their genetic diversity in 113 captive Amur tigers. The PCR amplified products of microsatellite loci were detected by non-denatured polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Allele numbers, allelic frequency, gene heterozygosity(H(e)), polymorphism information content(PIC) and effective number of allele(N(e)) were calculated. 41 alleles were found and their size were ranged from 110bp to 250bp in ten microsatellite loci, Fca152 had 6 alleles, Fca075, Fca094 and Fca294 had 5 alleles, Fca005 and Pti002 had 4 alleles and the others had 3 alleles in all tiger samples, respectively. The allelic frequencies were from 0.009 to 0.767; The He ranged from 0.385 to 0.707, and Fca294 and Pti010 locus had the highest and lowest value; the PIC were from 0.353 to 0.658, Fca294 and Pti010 locus had the highest and lowest value; and N(e) were from 1.626 to 3.409, Fca294 and Pti010 locus had the highest and lowest value, which showed the ten microsatellie loci had high or medium polymorphism in these Amur tigers and had high genetic diversity. At the same time, we only found even bases variability which showed the even bases repeat sequence (CA/GT) maybe the basic unit for length variability of microsatellite in all loci. In this study, the samples were made up of 75 hair specimens, 23 blood specimens and 15 tissue specimens, we obtained the genome DNA from hairs using the non-invasive DNA technology and demonstrated that DNA derived from hair samples is as good as that obtained from blood samples for the analysis of microsatellite polymorphism. These results imply that microsatellite DNA markers and non-invasive DNA technology can help study the genetic diversity of Amur tiger. This method could be used in the captive management of other endangered species.