Effect of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Inducing Weight Loss in Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia: A Randomized, Double-Blind Controlled 4-Week Study.

OBJECTIVES: There is emerging evidence that high-frequency (HF) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may promote weight loss in individuals with obesity in the general population. However, no study has been conducted on patients with schizophrenia (SZ). This study evaluated the efficacy of 10Hz rTMS in reducing body weight in patients with chronic SZ. METHODS: Forty-seven SZ patients were randomly assigned to two groups: 10Hz rTMS or sham stimulation over DLPFC (applied once daily) for 20 consecutive treatments. Body weight was assessed at baseline, at the end of week 1, week 2, week 3 and week 4. Clinical symptoms were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) at baseline and at the end of week 4. RESULTS: We found that compared with patients in the sham group, 10Hz rTMS treatment significantly reduced body weight in patients with chronic SZ after a period of 4 weeks of stimulation. Interestingly, further analysis found that from the first week (5 sessions) of treatment, there was a significant difference in body weight between active and sham groups after controlling for baseline weight. However, active rTMS treatment did not improve the psychotic symptoms compared to sham stimulation. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that add-on HF rTMS could be an effective therapeutic strategy for body weight control in patients with chronic SZ.

The Influence of Posture on Attention.

Smith et al. (2019) found standing resulted in better performance than sitting in three different cognitive control paradigms: a Stroop task, a task-switching, and a visual search paradigm. Here, we conducted close replications of the authors' three experiments using larger sample sizes than the original work. Our sample sizes had essentially perfect power to detect the key postural effects reported by Smith et al. The results from our experiments revealed that, in contrast to Smith et al., the postural interactions were quite limited in magnitude in addition to being only a fraction of the size of the original effects. Moreover, our results from Experiment 1 are consistent with two recent replications (Caron et al., 2020; Straub et al., 2022), which reported no meaningful influences of posture on the Stroop effect. In all, the current research provides further converging evidence that postural influences on cognition do not appear to be as robust, as was initially reported in prior work.

A pre-registered, multi-lab non-replication of the action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE).

The Action-sentence Compatibility Effect (ACE) is a well-known demonstration of the role of motor activity in the comprehension of language. Participants are asked to make sensibility judgments on sentences by producing movements toward the body or away from the body. The ACE is the finding that movements are faster when the direction of the movement (e.g., toward) matches the direction of the action in the to-be-judged sentence (e.g., Art gave you the pen describes action toward you). We report on a pre-registered, multi-lab replication of one version of the ACE. The results show that none of the 18 labs involved in the study observed a reliable ACE, and that the meta-analytic estimate of the size of the ACE was essentially zero.

Identifying clinical risk factors correlate with suicide attempts in patients with first episode major depressive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common mental disorder associated with suicide attempts. When a patient first visits the clinic, clinicians are often expected to make concrete diagnose about acute suicidal risk. However, the timeliness of suicide attempts correlates with patients with MDD has not been tested. METHODS: We divided 1718 first-episode and untreated MDD outpatients into those who did not have suicide attempts (non-attempts), recent suicide attempters (≤14 days before assessment) and long - dated suicide attempters (> 30 days before assessment). Positive Symptom Scale of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the 17-item Hamilton Depression Scale, 14 - item Hamilton Anxiety Scale, and clinical global impression of severity scale (CGI-S) was assessed. Body mass index, some glycolipid metabolism and thyroid hormone parameters were measured. A gradient-boosted decision trees statistical model was used to generate equally weighted classification for distinguishing recent and long - dated suicide attempters from non-attempts. RESULTS: The classifier identified higher excitement, hostility, anxiety, depression symptoms and higher free thyroxine (FT4) as risk factors for recent suicide attempters with an estimated accuracy of 87% (sensitivity, 59.1%; specificity, 61.2 %). For long - dated suicide attempters' risk factors, single status, higher anxiety and hostility symptoms, higher LDLC and lower BMI, the estimated accuracy was 88% (sensitivity, 52.8%; specificity, 49.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Risk factors for suicide attempt among patients with MDD can be identified by integrating demographic, clinical, and biological variables as early as possible during the first time see a doctor.

Effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor on oocyte maturation and embryonic development in a rat model of polycystic ovary syndrome.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is expressed extensively in the mammalian female reproductive system and has been implicated in the development of follicles and oocytes. However, BDNF expression patterns in the ovary and its effects on oocyte maturation and embryonic development in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have not been established. In the present study, we established a PCOS model by treating the rats with insulin and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Rats treated with insulin + hCG had heavier bodyweight and ovarian weight, higher circulating concentrations of luteinising hormone (LH) and testosterone (T), and greater homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) values compared with control rats (P<0.05). BDNF and its receptor tyrosine kinase type B (TrkB) were located in cyst walls, granulosa and theca cells, and BDNF protein levels were lower in ovaries of insulin + hCG-treated rats (P<0.05). The rate of oocyte maturation and formation of blastocysts and morulae was greatest in rats treated with 5ngmL-1 BDNF (P<0.05) compared to other BDNF groups (1 and 10ngmL-1) and the control. The control rats were also PCOS rats and were treated without BDNF. There were no significant differences in the rate of germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and fertilisation among the various treatment groups (1, 5 and 10ngmL-1) and the control group (P>0.05). The results indicate that in vitro treatment with an appropriate concentration of BDNF not only promotes oocyte maturation, but also rescues embryonic development in rats treated with insulin + hCG as a model of PCOS.

Prevalence and predictors of metabolic abnormalities in Chinese women with PCOS: a cross- sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common condition estimated to affect 5.61% of Chinese women of reproductive age, but little is known about the prevalence and predictors in Chinese PCOS patients. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of the metabolic abnormalities in Chinese women with and without PCOS. METHODS: A large-scale national epidemiological investigation was conducted in reproductive age women (19 to 45 years) across China. 833 reproductive aged PCOS women, who participated in the healthcare screening, were recruited from ten provinces in China. Clinical history, ultrasonographic exam (ovarian follicle), hormonal and metabolic parameters were the main outcome measures. RESULTS: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) as compared in PCOS and non-PCOS women from community were 18.2% vs 14.7%, and IR (insulin resistance) were 14.2% vs 9.3% (p < 0.001) respectively. After adjusting for age, the indicators (central obesity, hypertension, fasting insulin, SHBG, dyslipinaemia) for metabolic disturbances were significantly higher in PCOS than in non-PCOS groups. Using multivariate logistic regression, central obesity and FAI were risk factors, while SHBG was a protective factor on the occurrence of Mets and IR in PCOS women (OR: 1.132, 1.105 and 0.995). CONCLUSIONS: The risk factors of the metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance were BMI and FAI for PCOS women, respectively. The decrease of SHBG level was also a risk factor for insulin resistance in both PCOS and metabolic disturbance.

Prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome in women in China: a large community-based study.

STUDY QUESTION: What is the prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in Han Chinese women from different communities? SUMMARY ANSWER: The prevalence of PCOS in Chinese women aged 19-45 years is 5.6%. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: The prevalence of PCOS is reported to range from 5 to 10% but to the best of our knowledge the Han Chinese population has not been studied. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: A large-scale epidemiological study was carried out between October 2007 and September 2011 in 15 924 Han Chinese women of reproductive age (19-45 years) from the 10 provinces and municipalities in China. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: A total of 16 886 women from 152 cities and 112 villages were involved in the study. All study participants received a questionnaire and underwent a physical and transvaginal ultrasound examination. Blood samples were collected from a subsample of women (n = 3565) for analysis of metabolic markers and hormones. Based on the Rotterdam PCOS criteria, we assessed hyperandrogenism (H), chronic anovulation (O) and polycystic ovaries (P). Following diagnosis, women with PCOS were assigned to one of four different phenotypes. Finally, the prevalence and related risks of PCOS among Chinese women were estimated based on all the data sources. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: A total of 16 886 women were initially involved in the study and 15 924 eligible participants then completed the study; the overall response rate was 94.3% (15 924/16 886). The prevalence of PCOS in the Chinese community population was 5.6% (894/15 924). Blood samples were analyzed from 833 of these women who were assigned to the four PCOS phenotypes as follows: 19% H + O, 37% H + P, 15% O + P and 29% H + O + P. Comparing the 833 women with PCOS to 2732 women without PCOS indicated that PCOS occurs in younger women (P < 0.05) and these women were prone not only to menstrual problems, hyperandrogenism, PCO and infertility but also metabolic syndrome (MS) and insulin resistance (IR). However, there was no significant difference in the rate of hypertension or hyperlipemia between the two groups. Obese patients with PCOS had a higher rate of MS (16 versus 48%), IR (7 versus 28%), hypertension (8 versus 30%) and hyperlipemia (48 versus 73%) compared with non-obese patients (all P < 0.05), respectively. The rates of metabolic complications in patients with PCOS increased with age. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Age and ethnic origin contribute to the differing manifestations of PCOS; therefore, sampling is one of the most important issues in epidemiological research into PCOS. Owing to the mobility of the Chinese population, the survey among resident populations caused a certain deviation in the age distribution. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: The prevention and treatment of PCOS, particularly in those who are obese, are essential in Chinese women of reproductive age.

Epidemiology of hirsutism among women of reproductive age in the community: a simplified scoring system.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our research was to generate large sample evidence for the clinical diagnostic criteria of hirsutism and to simplify the modified Ferriman-Galwey (mF-G) scoring system for Asian women. STUDY DESIGN: This study was a large-scale, cross-sectional epidemiologic investigation conducted in 10 provinces of China. A total of 10,120 reproductive-age women in the community were involved in using the mF-G scoring system to evaluate hirsutism. RESULTS: Of the participants, 95.5% had an mF-G score <5. The strongest contributors to the nine mF-G positions were upper lip, thighs, and lower abdomen. If the cut-off value was set at 2 for these 3 areas, the area under the ROC curve was 0.987 (95% CI 0.983-0.992), which had a sensitivity of 98.7% and a specificity 91.0%. The percentage of hirsutism (mF-G score >4) and the average mF-G score decreased with advancing age. CONCLUSIONS: An mF-G scoring >4 can be used to diagnose hirsutism in this population. The results also suggest that hair growth involving the upper lip, thighs, and lower abdomen with scores >2 can be used to diagnose hirsutism in women in the community.

Nested real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay for detection of hepatitis B virus covalently closed circular DNA.

BACKGROUND: Successful treatment of hepatitis B can be achieved only if the template for hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA replication, the covalently closed circular HBV DNA (cccDNA) can be completely cleared. To date, detecting cccDNA remains clinically challenging. The purpose of this study was to develop a nested real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for detecting HBV cccDNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and bone marrow mononuclear cells (MMNCs). METHODS: Based on the structural differences between HBV cccDNA and HBV relaxed circular DNA (rcDNA), two pairs of primers were synthesized as well as a downstream TaqMan probe. Blood and bone marrow samples were collected from hepatitis B patients and healthy controls. To remove rcDNA, samples were incubated with mung bean nuclease and the resultant purified HBV cccDNA was then amplified by nested real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. The cccDNA levels were calculated using a positive standard. RESULTS: The nested real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR method for HBV cccDNA was successful, with a linear range of 3.0 × 10(2) copies/ml to 3.9 × 10(8) copies/ml. Of the 25 PBMC samples and 7 MMNC samples obtained from chronic hepatitis B or liver cirrhosis patients, 3 MMNC samples and 9 PBMC samples were positive for HBV cccDNA, while all of the 21 PBMC samples from healthy controls were negative. CONCLUSION: The nested real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR may be used as an important tool for detecting cccDNA in hepatitis B patients.

miR-122 affects the viability and apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

OBJECTIVE. miR-122 is highly abundant in liver and a hepato-specific microRNA. There is evidence to show that miR-122 expression is down-regulated in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is not known whether miR-122 affects the cellular behavior of hepatoma cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of miR-122 on the viability and apoptosis of hepatoma cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS. The viability and apoptosis of Huh-7 and HepG2 cells treated with miR-122 or miR-122 antisense RNA (anti-miR-122) were analyzed by adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-based luminescent assay, annexin V-based flow cytometry, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) detection. The miR-122 coding genes in both cell lines were sequenced. RESULTS. Although two putative promoter sequences for the miR-122 gene at 18q21.31 were detected, the miR-122 coding sequence was missing in HepG2 cells, which might be the reason for the absence of miR-122 expression. There was no significant difference between the viabilities of HepG2 cells transfected with miR-122 and mock HepG2 cells (p >0.05). However, the viability of Huh-7 transfected with anti-miR-122 was significantly elevated at 24, 36, and 48 h posttransfection compared with that of mock cells (p <0.01). Both the flow cytometry and TUNEL assay showed that the apoptotic level of Huh-7 transfected with anti-miR-122 was significantly decreased at 48 h posttransfection (p <0.01). CONCLUSIONS. miR-122 down-regulated the viability but up-regulated the apoptosis of hepatoma cell Huh-7. The absence of miR-122 expression in HepG2 cells was due to the loss of the miR-122 coding sequence in chromosome 18. These results imply that aberrant expression of miR-122 may contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis.

An empirical and computational investigation of perceiving and remembering event temporal relations.

Events have beginnings, ends, and often overlap in time. A major question is how perceivers come to parse a stream of multimodal information into meaningful units and how different event boundaries may vary event processing. This work investigates the roles of these three types of event boundaries in constructing event temporal relations. Predictions were made based on how people would err according to the beginning state, end state, and overlap heuristic hypotheses. Participants viewed animated events that include all the logical possibilities of event temporal relations, and then made temporal relation judgments. The results showed that people make use of the overlap between events and take into account the ends and beginnings, but they weight ends more than beginnings. Neural network simulations showed a self-organized distinction when learning temporal relations between events with overlap versus those without.

[A multicenter prospective randomized open comparative study on the treatment of ovulatory menorrhagia with tranexamic acid and norethisterone in China].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of tranexamic acid (TA) and norethisterone (NET) for the treatment of patients with ovulatory menorrhagia in China. METHODS: One hundred and thirty one patients with proven ovulatory menorrhagia from gynecologic clinics of 5 teaching hospitals located in 4 different cities in China were enrolled during Jul 2004 to Dec 2006. Among them 128 completed the study. Patients were randomly divided into two therapeutic regimen groups: TA 1 g thrice daily during menstrual cycle days (D) 1-5, 69 cases; or NET 5 mg twice daily on D19-26, 59 cases. The drugs were administered for 2 consecutive cycles, then withdrawn and patients were followed-up for 1 more cycle. Data on menstrual blood loss [estimated by pictorial blood assessment chart (PBAC)], length of menstrual periods, quality of life (QOL) evaluated by a 6 item health-related questionnaire were collected before, during each cycle and were compared. RESULTS: Both treatments led to significant decreases of mean PBAC scores and shorter duration of menstrual periods, and improved the QOL ranking during the two treatment cycles. The mean percentages of PBAC decrements in the TA first and second cycles were significantly greater than those in the NET corresponding cycles(35% vs 17% , P = 0.004; 44% vs 34%, P = 0.04 respectively). The success rate of TA second cycle was higher than that of the NET second cycle (41% vs 24%, P = 0.04). Improvement of QOL ranking in the TA first cycle was also significantly better than those in the NET first cycle (P = 0.03). The percentage of patients with at least 1 adverse event in TA group (19%) was significantly lower than that in NET group (35%, P = 0.04). Patients' willingness to continue the treatment in the TA second and follow-up cycles (94%, 79% respectively) were significantly higher than those in the corresponding cycles of NET groups (79%, 59% respectively; P = 0.01, P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The regimen of TA 3 g daily during menstrual days 1-5 is a more effective and tolerable treatment than luteal phase norethisterone for patients with ovulatory menorrhagia.

[The pathogenetic role of peripheral T-lymphocytes activation-induced cell death in hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To study the activation-induced cell death (AICD) in peripheral blood T-lymphocytes (PBL-T) from patients of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and the effect of AICD on the pathogenesis of HFRS. METHODS: The PBL-T of patients with HFRS were isolated by negative selection with magnetic beads and cultured with or without phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and ionomycin. The apoptotic ratio of PBL-T was detected with TUNEL staining and assessed with flow cytometry. The level of caspase-3 of PBL-T in patients with HFRS was detected with Western blot. Characteristic gene fragment of Hantaan virus and Seoul virus was detected with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: In HFRS patients, the apoptotic ratio (27.79 +/- 0.99)% of PBL-T activated with PHA and ionomycin was significantly higher than that without activation (17.16 +/- 1.14)%, (P < 0.01). The apoptotic ratio of PBL-T in HFRS patients was higher than that of healthy control (P < 0.01), no matter with or without activation. The expression level of caspase-3 increased in the induced group of patients with HFRS and the expression level of 17 000 (the active component of caspase-3) increased significantly. The results of sequencing showed that amplification production from the serum are positive in 19 cases, seven being Hantaan virus and twelve Seoul virus. CONCLUSIONS: AICD in PBL-T was found in patients of with HFRS. The high expression rate of caspase-3 in the PBL-T of patients with HFRS was related with AICD in the patients with HFRS. In the HFRS patients with specific IgM antibody positive, characteristic fragments can be obtained with RT-PCR from 79.2% patients. AICD of T lymphocytes may play an important role in the pathogenesis of HFRS.

Question asking and eye tracking during cognitive disequilibrium: comprehending illustrated texts on devices when the devices break down.

The PREG model of question asking assumes that questions emerge when there is cognitive disequilibrium, as in the case of contradictions, obstacles, and anomalies. Participants read illustrated texts about everyday devices (e.g., a cylinder lock) and then were placed in cognitive disequilibrium through a breakdown scenario (e.g., the key turns but the bolt does not move). The participants asked questions when given the breakdown scenario, and an eyetracker recorded their fixations. As was predicted, deep comprehenders asked better questions and fixated on device components that explained the malfunction. The eye fixations were examined before, during, and after the participants' questions in order to trace the occurrence and timing of convergence on faults, causal reasoning, and other cognitive processes.

AutoTutor: a tutor with dialogue in natural language.

AutoTutor is a learning environment that tutors students by holding a conversation in natural language. AutoTutor has been developed for Newtonian qualitative physics and computer literacy. Its design was inspired by explanation-based constructivist theories of learning, intelligent tutoring systems that adaptively respond to student knowledge, and empirical research on dialogue patterns in tutorial discourse. AutoTutor presents challenging problems (formulated as questions) from a curriculum script and then engages in mixed initiative dialogue that guides the student in building an answer. It provides the student with positive, neutral, or negative feedback on the student's typed responses, pumps the student for more information, prompts the student to fill in missing words, gives hints, fills in missing information with assertions, identifies and corrects erroneous ideas, answers the student's questions, and summarizes answers. AutoTutor has produced learning gains of approximately .70 sigma for deep levels of comprehension.

Role of activation-induced cell death in pathogenesis of patients with chronic hepatitis B.

AIM: To study and compare the difference of activation-induced cell death (AICD) in peripheral blood T-lymphocytes(PBL-Ts) from patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and the normal people in vitro, and to explore the role of AICD in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the pathogenesis of CHB. METHODS: Twenty-five patients and fourteen healthy people were selected for isolation of PBL-Ts. During cultivation, anti-CD3 mAb, PMA and ionomycin were used for AICD of PBL-Ts. AICD ratio of PBL-Ts was detected with TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling and assessed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: When induced with anti-CD3, PMA and ionomycin in vitro, AICD ratio of PBL-Ts from CHB patients was significantly higher than that from healthy control (17.24+/-1.21 vs. 6.63+/-1.00, P<0.01) and that from CHB patients without induction (17.24+/-1.21 vs. 9.88+/-1.36, P<0.01). There was a similar AICD ratio of PBL-Ts between induction group and without induction group, but no difference was found before and after induction in healthy control. The density of INF-gamma in culture media of induction groups of CHB was lower than that of other groups (P<0.01). There was no difference between these groups in density of IL-10 (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: When induced during cultivation in vitro, PBL-Ts from CHB have AICD very commonly. This phenomenon has a potentially important relation with pathogenesis of CHB and chronicity of HBV infection.

[Hepatitis C virus nonstructural 5A protein inhibits tumor necrosis factor alpha mediated apoptosis of HepG2 cells].

OBJECTIVE: To study the suppressive effect of HCV nonstructural 5A (NS5A) protein on tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) mediated apoptosis of HepG2 cells. METHODS: NS5A gene fragment was amplified by reverse transcription and nested polymerase chain reaction from serum samples positive for anti-HCV. The PCR product was directly cloned using TA cloning kit, and 2 independent clones were isolated, digested and sequenced. Then we constructed HCV NS5A expression plasmid (pcDNA3.1-NS5A), stably transfected into HepG2 cells with lipofectamine. Successful transfection of NS5A gene and expression of NS5A protein were confirmed by Western blot. Transfected cells were incubated with TNFalpha for 48 h, then labeled with Annexin V and visualized by fluorescence microscopy. To examine the effects of NS5A protein on the apoptotic signaling pathway, caspase-3 cleavages and release of cytochrome C were investigated in the transfectant treated with TNF alpha for 48 h and the cell cytosol was subjected to SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: The stable transfectant of HepG2 cells lines for HCV NS5A protein expression was achieved. The NS5A protein blocked the activation of caspase-3 and the release of cytochrome C in the TNF alpha treated cells. CONCLUSION: HCV NS5A protein inhibits TNF alpha mediated apoptosis of HepG2 cells in vitro.

Perceiving and describing motion events.

According to Hurford, PREDICATE (x) is correlated with deictic object variables during event perception. This claim is inconsistent with some core literature on the perception of motion events. We point out that the perception of events involves the activation of the modal properties and amodal properties of underlying event structure, for which Hurford's target article fails to account.

[Function of dendritic cell in chronic hepatitis C patients].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relation between dendritic cell (DC) and the persistence of HCV in chronic hepatitis C. METHODS: The mononuclear cells were separated from the peripheral blood and cultured with the AIM-V serum-free culture to induce DC. The shape and the ultrastructure of DC, the phenotype of DC, the capacity of DC to induce allogeneicly naive T cell proliferation and the level of cytokines in supernant were investigated. RESULTS: The expression rate of CD(86) in HCV-DC was (52.4 +/- 13.3)%, which was obviously lower than that of normal-DC [(83.7 +/- 15.8)%, P < 0.01]; The capacity of proliferation of HCV-DC to induce allogeneic T cell (cpm: 19 245 +/- 2 788) was obviously lower than that of the normal-DC (cpm: 26 529 +/- 3 218) (P < 0.01); In mixed lymphocyte reaction, the average of IL-12 p(40) and interferon (IFN)gamma in HCV-DC was (404 +/- 103) ng/L and (7 891 +/- 821) ng/L, which was obviously lower than (802 +/- 205) ng/L and (13 490 +/- 1 554) ng/L of the normal-DC (P < 0.005). CONCLUSION: The function of DC in patients with chronic hepatitis C is decreased, suggesting that it is related to the persistent infection of HCV.

Serum and ascites levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor, TNF-alpha and IL-6 in patients with chronic virus hepatitis B and hepatitis cirrhosis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the potential role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the development of chronic virus hepatitis B (CH) and hepatitis cirrhosis (HC). METHODS: The serum concentrations of MIF, TNF-alpha and IL-6 in 18 patients with chronic virus hepatitis B and in 14 patients with hepatitis cirrhosis without ascitic fluid, and the serum and ascites cytokine concentrations in 22 HC patients with ascitic fluid were detected by enzyme linked immunity sorbed assay. RESULTS: The cytokine concentrations of the patients were significantly higher than those of the controls. The serum levels of MIF, TNF-alpha and IL-6 of the 22 patients with ascitic fluid were higher than those of 14 HC patients without ascites. In the 18 patients with CH, the serum cytokine concentrations were the lowest. The serum cytokine concentrations of the 22 HC patients with ascites were significantly higher than those of the 14 HC patients without ascites (P<0.01). Their serum cytokine concentrations were significantly higher than those in the 18 patients with CH (P<0.01). The concentration of IL-6 in ascites was the highest among all the groups. The serum levels of MIF, TNF-alpha and IL-6 are correlated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in the patients with CH, but not in those with HC with or without ascites. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that MIF, TNF-alpha and IL-6 may participate in the pathological process of CH and cirrhosis, that IL-6 seems to play an important role in ascites formation, and that se-rum levels of MIF, TNF-alpha and IL-6 appear to reflect the severity of tissue injury in HBV disease.