[Short-term efficacy and safety of cardiac contractility modulation in patients with heart failure].

Objective: To investigate the short-term efficacy and safety of cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) in patients with heart failure. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of patients with heart failure who underwent CCM placement at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from February to June 2022. With a follow-up of 3 months, CCM sensation, impedance, percent output, and work time were monitored, and patients were compared with pre-and 3-month postoperative left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) values, and 6-minute walk test distance and New York Heart Association (NYHA) cardiac function classification, and the occurrence of complications was recorded. Results: CCM was successfully implanted in all 9 patients. Seven(7/9) of them were male, aged (56±14) years, 3 patients had ischaemic cardiomyopathy and 6 patients had dilated cardiomyopathy. At 3-month postoperative follow-up, threshold was stable, sense was significantly lower at follow-up than before (right ventricle: (16.3±7.0) mV vs. (8.2±1.1) mV, P<0.05; local sense: (15.7±4.9) mV vs. (6.7±2.5) mV, P<0.05), and impedance was significantly lower at follow-up than before (right ventricle (846±179) Ω vs. (470±65) Ω, P<0.05, local sense: (832±246) Ω vs. (464±63) Ω, P<0.05). The CCM output percentage was (86.9±10.7) %, the output amplitude was (6.7±0.4) V, and the daily operating time was (8.6±1.0) h. LVEF was elevated compared to preoperative ((29.4±5.2) % vs. (38.3±4.3) %, P<0.05), the 6-minute walk test was significantly longer than before ((96.8±66.7)m vs. (289.3±121.7)m, P<0.05). No significant increase in the number of NYHA Class Ⅲ-Ⅳ patients was seen (7/9 vs. 2/9, P>0.05). The patient was not re-hospitalised for worsening heart failure symptoms, had no malignant arrhythmic events and experienced significant relief of symptoms such as chest tightness and shortness of breath. No postoperative complications related to pocket hematoma, pocket infection and rupture, electrode detachment, valve function impairment, pericardial effusion, or cardiac perforation were found. Conclusions: CCM has better short-term safety and efficacy in patients with heart failure.

[Research status and reflection on animal models of sepsis].

Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death in children. Sepsis is a critical infectious disease that causes death in children globally, with a high morbidity and mortality rate. It poses a serious threat to children's health. Early diagnosis has become the key to treating severe sepsis. The establishment of animal models of sepsis can help people better diagnose sepsis and take interventions to improve the prognosis of sepsis patients. This study reviews the types, advantages and disadvantages of existing animal models of sepsis and proposes the optimization of these models to provide a reference basis for the selection and optimization of experimental models and the promotion of the "reverse transformation" of sepsis into clinical practice.

Molecular cloning, expression analysis and functional characterization of chicken cytochrome P450 27A1: A novel mitochondrial vitamin D3 25-hydroxylase.

Vitamin D3 is hydroxylated by cytochrome P450 (CYP) before exerting biological effects. The chicken CYP involved in vitamin D3 25-hydroxylation has yet to be cloned, and little is known about its functional characteristics, tissue distribution, and cellular expression. We identified a novel, full-length CYP27A1 gene cloned from chicken hepatocyte cDNA that encodes a putative protein of 518 amino acids. Swiss modeling revealed that chicken CYP27A1 has a classic open-fold form. Multisequence homology alignment determined that CYP27A1 contains conserved motifs for substrate recognition and binding. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis in 2-mo-old Partridge Shank broilers demonstrated that CYP27A1 mRNA levels were highest in the liver, followed by the thigh muscles, the breast muscles, and kidneys. The transcripts of CYP27A1 in breast muscles were significantly higher in males than in females. A subcellular localization analysis demonstrated that CYP27A1 was mainly expressed in the mitochondria. In vitro enzyme assays suggested that recombinant CYP27A1 hydroxylates vitamin D3 at the C-25 position to form 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3). The Km and Vmax values for CYP27A1-dependent vitamin D3 25-hydroxylation were estimated to be 4.929 µM and 0.389 mol min-1 mg-1 protein, respectively. In summary, these results suggest that CYP27A1 encodes a mitochondrial CYP that plays an important physiologic role in the 25-hydroxylation of vitamin D3 in chickens, providing novel insights into vitamin D3 metabolism in this species.

[The Physician of the Shao Xing School in the Late Qing Dynasty -- Zhao Qingchu].

Zhao Qingchu, a Confucian physician from the Kuaiji area at the end of the Qing Dynasty, learned from famous physicians of the Shao Xing School on exogenous febirle disease (Shang Han) and the You's of the Shi Cai School, drawing from the knowledge of the both medical schools. He quickly became popular for being a physician after giving up his research of Confucianism. He had a wide physician-patient network because of his art of healing as many politicians and celebrities such like Shao Youlian, Zeng Guoquan, Ren Daorong, Xu Yingkui and Ren Fuchang,were his patients. He was taken as a typical example of being good at the medical communication among doctors and doctors-patients in the Yangtze River area in the late Qing Dynasty. For instance, he once had a variety of medical communication with famous physicians, such as Wang Yuezhen, Ma Peizhi, He Lianchen, Zhang Wanxiang, Ling Jialiu and Zhou Bodu. He investigated medical theories in terms of exogenous febirle disease (Shang Han) and integrated his thinking with various medical schools, even attempting to involving western medicine. He was also skilled in teaching his medical thinking to his disciples, such as Zhao Shuan, Yang Zhian, Lu Dongchuan and He Jiren. Zhao Qingchu compiled his medical understanding based on his practice and experiences throughout his life and published this knowledge in Cun Cun Zhai Yi Hua Gao. He had it published many times, leading to a profound influence in Shaoxing and the Jiangnan area at that time.

[Clinical application and reflection of molecular biology technology in the tertiary prevention of birth defects].

Genetic factors are the main causes in occurrence of birth defects. With deep research in the field of genomics and application of molecular biology technology, the carrier status, fetal genetic variation and postpartum screening are respectively detected from pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and post-natal screening (before onset of disease) under perfect three-level prevention and control system for birth defects. Prospective detection, early diagnosis and intervention can prevent the occurrence of birth defects related to genetic diseases at multiple levels. This article describes and analyzes current clinical application and existing challenge of molecular biology techniques in prevention of birth defects related to genetic diseases.

Development of a 19-plex short tandem repeat typing system for individual identification and parentage testing of horses (Equus caballus).

Individual identification of horses for pedigree verification and registration is important for the sustainable development of the horse industry. Horse individual identification and parentage tests commonly use the 17 short tandem repeats (STRs) recommended by the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) and the locus LEX33. While many multiplex STR typing systems have been established for the horse, a sex determining marker is usually absent, and none of them can simultaneously detect all 17 ISAG recommended loci and the locus LEX33. Here, we present a 19-plex STR typing system that contains the 17 ISAG recommend loci, the locus LEX33 and amelogenin as sex determining loci. The results of our sensitivity, species specificity, stutter analysis and population data analysis, indicate that this system is a specific, sensitive, and robust tool for the identification of individuals, parentage testing and genetic research in the horse.

[Roles of nurses in sleep medicine].

Sleep health becomes an important component of global public health. The incidence of sleep disorders is increasing rapidly worldwide, which seriously affects people's quality of life. In China, the lack of professional sleep physicians and technicians, the distribution of sleep centers and the unbalanced development of medical resources have seriously restricted the development of sleep medicine and the improvement of sleep health guarantee level. In Europe and America and other developed countries, sleep medicine has become a new interdisciplinary discipline. The development of nurses as sleep coordinator has become an irresistible trend. Nurses have been trained to become the main force of sleep technicians. These successful attempts in the field of sleep medicine provide reference for promoting the development of nursing care in China from the aspects of medical care, teaching and research.

[The association between the frequency of prenatal care in childbearing aged women and risk of small for gestational age among neonatal twins in Shaanxi Province].

Objective: To explore the association between the frequency of prenatal care in childbearing aged women and risk of small for gestational age (SGA) among neonatal twins in Shaanxi Province. Methods: From July to December 2013, a total of 30 027 childbearing aged women, who were pregnant from January 2010 to November 2013 and had definite outcomes, were selected from 30 districts (counties) of Shaanxi Province by using the multi-stage random sampling method. The questionnaires with a face-to-face survey method were used to retrospectively collect demographic information, pregnancy history, lifestyle during pregnancy, disease history, nutritional supplements, and health care during pregnancy. Information on the gestational age and birth weight of the newborn were obtained by consulting the medical certificate of birth and were registered as twin A and twin B by birth order. Finally, 356 childbearing aged women and their twin babies with complete data were included in the analysis. A generalized estimation equation model was used to analyze the association between the frequency of prenatal care and the risk of SGA among neonatal twins. Results: The age of childbearing aged women was (27.44±4.68) years old, of which 79.49% (283 women) were rural residents and 44.38% (158 women) had seven or more times prenatal care. The gestational age and birth weight were (37.64±2.51) weeks and (2 510±497) g, respectively. The prevalence of SGA was 51.40% (183/356) for twin A and 53.37% (190/356) for twin B, respectively. The prevalence of SGA was 44.30% (70/158) for twin A with seven or more times prenatal care and 42.41% (67/158) for twin B with seven or more times prenatal care, which was lower than that for twins with less than seven times prenatal care, respectively [57.07% (113/198) and 62.12% (123/198)] (P values were 0.017 and <0.001). The results of generalized estimation equation model suggested that compared to those with less than seven times prenatal care, after adjusting for parity, birth order, place of residence, maternal age, occupation, education, family wealth index, passive smoking, pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome, folic acid, and iron supplement during perinatal period, and gender of the newborn, the OR (95%CI) of risk of SGA among childbearing aged women with seven or more times prenatal care was 0.60 (0.40-0.91). Conclusion: Seven or more times prenatal care could reduce the risk of SGA among neonatal twins in Shanxi Province.

A novel 13-plex STR typing system for individual identification and parentage testing of donkeys (Equus asinus).

BACKGROUND: Previous studies investigating donkey parentage and genetic diversity used horse-specific multiplex systems. However, several mis-allele and null-allele issues were found with some of the horse primers when used in donkeys. In 2017, the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) recommended 13 dinucleotide short tandem repeats (STRs) (AHT4, ASB23, HMS2, HMS3, HMS6, HMS7, HMS18, HTG7, HTG10, TKY297, TKY312, TKY337 and TKY343) as a core panel that should be used to identify individuals and to test for parentage in donkeys. To date, no single multiplex STR typing system containing all 13 donkey STRs recommended by the ISAG has been reported. OBJECTIVES: To establish a novel and donkey-specific multiplex STR typing system containing all 13 recommended STRs. STUDY DESIGN: Assay development and validation in field population. METHODS: Primers for seven of the STRs were redesigned and conditions for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were optimised. We analysed the allele sequences, sensitivity, species-specificity and stutter ratios of this new system. RESULTS: A 13-plex STR typing system for donkey was established. A full profile could be generated from a single PCR reaction using as little as 5 ng of DNA template with the 13 pairs of primers labelled with fluorescent dyes. An allele ladder, containing 101 alleles from the 13 STRs, was generated. No full genotype profile was generated with these primers if DNA from humans, or 11 other commonly encountered animals, was used. Genotypes could be generated for the horse and horse-donkey hybrids (mule and hinny). Stutter ratios and population genetic parameters were calculated based on samples from 150 donkeys. The combined probabilities of paternity exclusion for this system were 0.988907326 (CPEduo) and 0.999665018 (CPEtrio). MAIN LIMITATIONS: This system cannot detect sex. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that our donkey-specific 13-plex STR typing system is sensitive, species-specific and robust for individual identification, paternity testing and population genetic analysis in donkeys, and has potential forensic applications.

[The plasma level of amyloid-ß is associated with cognitive decline: a two years follow-up study in Xi'an rural areas].

Objective: To explore the relationship between plasma amyloid-ß (Aß) and cognitive decline during 2 year follow-up in a population-based cohort in Xi'an rural areas. Methods: The study was conducted in Qubao village in Xi'an suburbs cognitively normal residents over 40 years old were recruited from October 2014 to March 2015 and given a face-to-face standardized interview. Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) was employed to evaluate the global cognitive function, and quantification of plasma Aß was measured by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at baseline. Two years later, MMSE was tested at the end of study. Then logistic regression was performed to analyze the relationship between baseline Aß and cognitive change during 2 year follow-up. Results: A total of 1 020 participants completed the study, among whom 223 subjects (21.9%) presented MMSE scores decline (defined as MMSE scores decreased ≥2 points). Compared with those without decline, participants in the MMSE decline group were older (P<0.001) and had lower education level (P<0.001), while gender, hypertension, hyperlipemia, diabetes mellitus and APOE genotype were not significantly different between two groups. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the MMSE score decline was slighter in the lower tertile of baseline Aß(1)-40 compared with middle tertile (P=0.012), while MMSE decline were similar between different Aß(1)-42 level groups and Aß(1-42)/Aß(1-40) ratio groups (P=0.758, P=0.671, respectively). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that MMSE scores in the lower baseline plasma Aß(1-40) level declined more slowly (OR=0.565, 95%CI 0.379-0.845, P=0.005). However, the MMSE decline were also similar among different baseline plasma Aß(1-42) levels groups and Aß(1-42)/Aß(1-40) ratio groups. Conclusion: Population with lower level of baseline plasma Aß(1-40) manifests lower cognitive decline during 2 years, however further investigation on dynamics of plasma Aß and long term follow up are needed.

Validation of Zero TE-MRA in the Characterization of Cerebrovascular Diseases: A Feasibility Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Zero TE-MRA is less sensitive to field heterogeneity, complex flow, and acquisition noise. This study aimed to prospectively validate the feasibility of zero TE-MRA for cerebrovascular diseases assessment, compared with TOF-MRA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy patients suspected of having cerebrovascular disorders were recruited. Sound levels were estimated for each MRA subjectively and objectively in different modes. MRA image quality was estimated by 2 neuroradiologists. The degree of stenosis (grades 0-4) and the z-diameter of aneurysms (tiny group ≤3 mm and large group >3 mm) were measured for further quantitative analysis. CTA was used as the criterion standard. RESULTS: Zero TE-MRA achieved significantly lower subjective perception and objective noise reduction (37.53%). Zero TE-MRA images showed higher signal homogeneity (3.29 ± 0.59 versus 3.04 ± 0.43) and quality of venous signal suppression (3.67 ± 0.47 versus 2.75 ± 0.46). The intermodality agreement was higher for zero TE-MRA than for TOF-MRA (zero TE, 0.90; TOF, 0.81) in the grading of stenosis. Zero TE-MRA had a higher correlation than TOF-MRA (zero TE, 0.84; TOF, 0.74) in the tiny group and a higher consistency with CTA (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.83; intercept, -0.5084-1.1794; slope -0.4952 to -0.2093) than TOF-MRA (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.64; intercept, 0.7000-2.6133; slope -1.0344 to -0.1923). Zero TE-MRA and TOF-MRA were comparable in the large group. Zero TE-MRA had more accurate details than TOF-MRA of AVM and Moyamoya lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with TOF-MRA, zero TE-MRA achieved more robust performance in depicting cerebrovascular diseases. Therefore, zero TE-MRA was shown to be a promising MRA technique for further routine application in the clinic in patients with cerebrovascular diseases.

[Relationship between gH genotyping and clinical characteristics of children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection].

Objective: To study the relationship between human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) envelope glycoprotein gene H and clinical features of children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection. Methods: A cohort study was conducted. Newborns diagnosed with congenital cytomegalovirus infection, hospitalized in the Department of Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, were included from July 2013 to December 2015.HCMV-DNA gH typing in urine, sputum or blood was conducted. Patients then were divided into gH1 group and gH2 group according to gH genotypes. Patients' data during hospitalization in newborn and 3-5 years of follow-up were collected.The relationships between gH genotype and clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, hearing loss and neurological prognosis were analyzed by chi-square test, t test and non-parametric test. Results: A total of 21 cases were enrolled as congenital HCMV infection and followed-up for 3-5 years. Among them, 14 (67%) were gH1 type and 7 (33%) were gH2 type. No mixed infection was found. In the two groups, there were no significant differences in the ratio of males (9/14 vs. 3/7,P=0.397), or birth weight ((2 609±686) vs. (3 021±451) g, t=-1.436, P=0.167). Gestational age of gH1 group was younger than that of gH2 group (38 (29-40) vs. 39(38-40) weeks, Z=-2.18, P=0.029). Moderate to severe hearing loss detected by neonatal auditory brainstem response were found in 40 ears (20 cases). It was higher in gH1 group than that in gH2 group (4/22 vs.0/18, χ(2)=5.145, P=0.023). In the imaging examination of the nervous system, the Alarcon score of gH1 group was lower than that of gH2 group (0.4±0.3 vs. 1.3±1.1, t=-2.459,P=0.024).No significant statistical difference was found in the probability of motor or language development lag in gH2 group and gH1 group (4/7 vs.4/14, P=0.346). Conclusions: Compared with gH2 infection, gH1 infection in children has a younger gestational age. The major type of hearing loss in neonatal period is gH1 infection. Children with gH2 congenital infections are more likely to suffer from nervous systems damage.

[Interaction between pregnancy-induced hypertension and history of preterm birth on the risk of small for gestational age].

Objective: To investigate the interaction of pregnancy-induced hypertension and history of preterm birth on the risk of small for gestational age. Methods: Stratified multistage random sampling method was used to choose samples from 30 districts and counties of Shaanxi province. Information on childbearing-age women with their children between January 2010 and November 2013 was retrospectively collected through face-to-face questionnaire survey. The childbearing-aged women were in pregnancy or having had definite outcomes of pregnancy. Enumeration data were described by percentage, and measurement data were described by Mean±SD, and χ(2) test was used to compare the rates. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the interaction between pregnancy-induced hypertension and history of preterm birth on the risk of small for gestational age, and by using small for gestational age as dependent variables, pregnancy-induced hypertension and history of preterm birth as independent variables. Confounding factors were under control. Firstly, the association between pregnancy-induced hypertension and small for gestational age has been analyzed in primiparas, secondly, interaction of pregnancy-induced hypertension and history of preterm birth on the risk of small for gestational age has been analyzed in multiparas. Results: A total of 25 751 women of childbearing age and their children were recruited. 60.55% (15 592/25 751) were primiparas, 39.45% (10 159/25 751) were multiparas, the rate of history of preterm birth was 1.89% (192/10 159) for multiparas. The incidence rates of pregnancy-induced hypertension and small for gestational age were 1.55% and 15.49% in pregnant woman (400/25 751) and their newborns (3 990/25 751). Unconditioned logistic regression analysis showed that compared with woman without pregnancy-induced hypertension, primiparas with pregnancy-induced hypertension had increased risk of small for gestational age (OR=1.43, 95%CI: 1.02-2.00, P=0.041). Regarding multiparas, the main effect of pregnancy-induced hypertension had a positive correlation with small for gestational age (OR=1.34, 95%CI: 0.91-1.96), but there was no statistical significance (P=0.138). The main effect of history of preterm birth was positively correlated with small for gestational age (OR=1.61, 95%CI: 1.13-2.31, P=0.009). The interaction term "pregnancy-induced hypertension×history of preterm birth" was positively associated with risk of small for gestational age (OR=5.93, 95%CI: 1.19-29.61, P=0.030). Conclusions: Pregnancy-induced hypertension was associated with increased risk for small for gestational age in both primiparas and multiparas, and history of preterm birth further increased risk for small for gestational age in pregnant women with pregnancy-induced hypertension, indicating that there was multiplication interaction between pregnancy-induced hypertension and history of preterm birth.

Short communication: Genotyping and single nucleotide polymorphism analysis of bovine leukemia virus in Chinese dairy cattle.

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) causes enzootic leucosis in cattle and is classified into 10 genotypes with a worldwide distribution, except for several European countries, Australia, and New Zealand. Although BLV is widespread in Chinese cows with the positive rate of 49.1% at the individual level, very little is known about the BLV genotype in dairy cattle in China. To determine BLV genetic variability in cows in China, 112 BLV-positive samples from 5 cities in China were used for BLV molecular characterization in this study. Phylogenetic analysis using the neighbor-joining method on partial env sequence encoding gp51 obtained from 5 Chinese cities and those available in GenBank (n = 53, representing BLV genotype 1-10) revealed the Chinese strains belonged to genotype 6. Seven unique SNP were identified among Yancheng, Shanghai, and Bengbu strains out of the total 12 SNP identified in Chinese strains. The genotyping coupled with SNP analysis of BLV can serve as a useful molecular epidemiological tool for tracing the source of pathogens. This study highlights the importance of genetic analysis of geographically diverse BLV strains to understand BLV global genetic diversity.

[Clinical significance of exosomal miR-1231 in pancreatic cancer].

Objective: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of exosomal miR-1231 in plasma of pancreatic cancer (PC) patients and pancreatic cancer cells. Methods: A total of 16 patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Hunan Cancer Hospital were collected from April 2016 to August 2017. Meanwhile, 16 healthy volunteers were recruited as the healthy control group at the same period. The plasma exosomes were extracted, and the levels of miR-1231 were detected by qRT-PCR in PC and healthy control groups. Moreover, the clinicopathological significance of exosomal miR-1231 expression was analyzed. Furthermore, the expression of exosomal miR-1231 was detected in several pancreatic cancer cells (MIA PaCa-2, PANC-1, SW1990, AsPC-1 and BxPc-3) and two normal pancreatic epithelial cells (HPDE and human primary pancreatic epithelial cell). Results: qRT-PCR results showed that the expression level of miR-1231 in plasma exosomes of pancreatic cancer patients (1.06±0.46) was significantly lower than that in healthy controls (2.30±0.99; P<0.05). The levels of exosomal miR-1231 in patients with stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ (1.515±0.531), no distant metastasis (1.236±0.461) and no lymph node metastasis (1.337±0.522) were significantly higher than those with stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ (0.848±0.224), distant metastasis (0.757±0.278) and lymph node metastasis (0.838±0.261), respectively (P<0.05 for all). In addition, there were no correlation between exosomal miR-1231 expression and age, sex, smoking history, CA19-9 levels and tumor sites (P>0.05). Furthermore, the expression level of exosomal miR-1231 in pancreatic cancer cell lines (0.142±0.135) was significantly lower than that in normal epithelial cells (1.127±0.179; P<0.05). Conclusions: The downregulation of exosomal miR-1231 in plasma of pancreatic cancer patients and pancreatic cancer cells suggests that it is related to the initiation and development of PC. It may be a new diagnostic and prognostic marker for PC.

Development and validation of a novel 13-plex PCR system for commonly used short tandem repeats in horses (Equus caballus).

BACKGROUND: Due to the thriving development of the modern horse industry and the occurrence of horse related crimes, the demand for methods of individual horse identification, parentage tests and other genetic analyses is increasing. Previous methods had disadvantages that decreased the accuracy of the results, lacked the inclusion of all commonly used short tandem repeats (STR) or increased the experimental cost and time. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to develop a novel 13-plex STR typing system to resolve the above issues. STUDY DESIGN: Experimental study. METHODS: Twelve autosomal and most commonly used di-nucleotide STRs (AHT4, AHT5, ASB2, ASB17, ASB23, HMS2, HMS3, HMS6, HMS7, HTG4, HTG10 and VHL20), and a Y-chromosomal STR (YJ10) were included. We redesigned the primers of eight STRs to establish a novel multiplex PCR system and tested this system for species specificity, sensitivity and repeatability. RESULTS: Full profiles were easily generated in one fast PCR reaction using a low-cost polymerase, as little as 1 ng of horse DNA template and 13 pairs of primers labelled with fluorescent dyes. No full profile was generated from DNA templates of humans or other commonly encountered animals. We also established an allelic ladder that contained 110 alleles based on 200 horses from 12 breeds and calculated standard population genetic parameters based on 150 Thoroughbreds. Stutter analysis showed that the averages of the stutter ratios were distinctly lower than those of lower allele ratios and the combined probability of paternity exclusion for this system were 0.994659935 (CPEduo ) and 0.999854032 (CPEtrio ). MAIN LIMITATIONS: A nonspecific and relatively low peak at 316 bp was frequently observed in locus HMS2, which is a nonexistent allele in all horses and should be ignored. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that this 13-plex STR genotyping system is sensitive, species-specific, cost-effective and robust for applications in the horse industry and forensic investigation.

Interaction between the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway and the EMMPRIN/MMP-2, 9 route in periodontitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In periodontitis, the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway is related to the metabolism of the alveolar bone; further, extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN) expression is correlated with matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) expression and inflammation severity. The aim of this study was to perform a preliminary investigation of the interaction between the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway and the EMMPRIN/MMPs route in periodontitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Chronic periodontitis and healthy gingival tissues were obtained to detect the expression of Wnt3a, ß-catenin, EMMPRIN and MMP-2, 9 by using immunohistochemical analysis. The human immortalized oral epithelial cell/human gingival fibroblast direct co-culture model was treated with 10 µg/mL Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (Pg. LPS). Anti-EMMPRIN antibody was used to block the effect of EMMPRIN. Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) and Wnt3a were used as the inhibitor and activator of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway, respectively. Immunofluorescence was performed to visualize the localization of ß-catenin and EMMPRIN. Expression of the EMMPRIN, MMP-2, 9 and Wnt pathway's components was confirmed by western blotting and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Higher levels of Wnt3a, ß-catenin, EMMPRIN and MMP-2, 9 were observed in chronic periodontitis gingival tissues compared with controls. Pg. LPS significantly enhanced ß-catenin, p-GSK-3ß, EMMPRIN and MMP-2, 9 inductions in the human immortalized oral epithelial cell/human gingival fibroblast co-culture model. Anti-EMMPRIN antibody markedly reduced the expression of MMP-2, 9 only in the presence of Pg. LPS. Co-expression of ß-catenin and EMMPRIN was detected in the co-culture model. DKK-1 inhibited Wnt pathway, but upregulated the EMMPRIN/MMP-2, 9 routes. In contrast, activating Wnt pathway by Wnt3a repressed the EMMPRIN/MMP-2, 9 routes. The promotion effect of DKK-1 on MMP-2, 9 expressions was partially inhibited by the anti-EMMPRIN antibody. In addition, anti-EMMPRIN antibody led to a drastic decrease in ß-catenin and p-GSK-3ß. CONCLUSION: In periodontitis, EMMPRIN regulates MMP-2, 9 expressions, the activation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway downregulates the EMMPRIN/MMP-2, 9 routes and the blockade of EMMPRIN attenuates Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

Expressions and clinical significance of factors related to acute coronary syndrome.

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the acute stage of coronary artery disease, which remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity. It is essential to explore the role of matrix metalloproteinase -2 (MMP-2) and interleukin (IL)-18 and their association with disease in patients with severe ACS. Circulating MMP-2 and IL-18 levels were measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 94 subjects with acute coronary syndrome (ACS, n=38), stable angina pectoris (SAP, n=27) and healthy individuals (control group, n=29). We examined the correlations between the levels of MMP-2 and IL-18 and cardiac risk factors in ACS. Logistic regression analysis was performed to screen for factors that predict ACS. Both MMP-2 and IL-18 concentrations were increased in the ACS group compared to the SAP group or control group (P less than 0.01). Especially, MMP-2 and IL-18 were highly expressed in the patients with ST elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI). Both serum levels of MMP-2 and IL-18 in the single-, double- and triple-vessel lesion group were higher compared to the control group (P less than 0.01). MMP-2 levels were positively correlated with IL-18 (r=0.639, P less than 0.01), CK-MB (r=0.47, P=0.003) and hs-CRP levels (r=0.583, P less than 0.01). The logistic regression analysis showed that increases in MMP-2 levels may be a powerful predictor of ACS. Thus, the changes in levels of serum MMP-2 and IL-18 may be useful in the diagnosis of ACS and prediction of its prognosis.