The value of ultrasensitive C-reactive protein and homocysteine levels in predicting the diagnosis and functional prognostic assessment of cerebral infarction in the elderly.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic value of ultrasensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and homocysteine (Hcy) for cerebral infarction. METHODS: 260 elderly patients with cerebral infarction were recruited and assigned to the stroke group, and 60 healthy elderly were identified as controls and included in the normal group. Serum samples of all subjects were collected at the time of admission for the determination of hs-CRP and Hcy levels. RESULTS: Patients with cerebral infarction exhibited significantly higher hs-CRP and Hcy levels than healthy controls. the patients were then categorized into mild-moderate and moderate-severe groups according to the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score. No significant association was identified between Hcy levels and infarction severity, while more severe infarction was potentially related to higher hs-CRP levels, as evidenced by the higher hs-CRP levels observed in patients with moderate-severe infarction versus a milder severity. Patients with disease recurrence within 2 years were also included in a recurrence group, while those without recurrence were in a non-recurrence group. Results showed that patients with or without disease recurrence had similar hs-CRP and Hcy levels. CONCLUSION: In elderly patients with cerebral infarction, serum hs-CRP, and Hcy levels are potentially promising markers for the diagnosis of stroke, assessment of stroke severity, and prediction of functional recovery. hs-CRP provides more benefits in diagnosing cerebral infarction, and Hcy is more conducive to the assessment of stroke severity and prediction of functional recovery. Combined detection of the two indices did not offer additional benefits in diagnostic and predictive efficacy.

Effect of Polishing on Lead and Cadmium Bioavailability in Rice and Its Health Implications.

Rice polishing is an important approach to reducing the concentrations of heavy metals in rice, but knowledge of its effect on the Pb and Cd bioavailability in produced rice and the related health risk remains limited. In this study, the effects of rice polishing on the bioaccessibility (BAC) and bioavailability (RBA) of Pb and Cd in rice are assessed using an in vitro method and an in vivo mouse bioassay. The Pb removal rate in brown rice (40%), lightly processed brown rice (62%), germinated rice (74%), and polished rice (79%) gradually enhanced with an increase in the polishing degree, while Cd was difficult to remove by polishing. The Pb and Cd BAC in germinated rice was the highest, while that in brown rice was the lowest. The polished rice Pb and Cd RBA in the liver and kidneys were significantly higher than those in the brown rice group. The Pb RBA in the livers and kidneys in the polished rice group was 26.6% ± 1.68% and 65.3% ± 0.83%, respectively, which was 1.6- and 2.6-times higher than that in the brown rice group, respectively. The Cd RBA values in both the livers and kidneys of the polished rice group were 1.3-times higher than those in the brown rice group. Although polishing reduced the total Pb in the polished rice, it was not enough to offset the increase in bioavailability, and its consumption risk was not weakened. This study highlighted the value of the oral-bioavailability-corrected health risk assessment for assessing the influence of rice polishing on Pb and Cd exposure via rice consumption.

LncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 is downregulated in diabetic retinopathy and promotes cell apoptosis by regulating miR-211/SIRT1.

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the role of lncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 in diabetic retinopathy (DR). METHODS: Plasma MCM3AP-AS1 levels in DR patients (n = 80), T2DM patients (n = 80), and Controls (n = 80) were measured by qPCR and compared using ANOVA (one-way) and Tukey test. The expressions of lncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 and miR-211 in Human retinal pigment epithelial cells (hRPE) line ARPE-19 were detected by RT-qPCR. Western blot and annexin V-FITC staining were performed to investigate the role of MCM3AP-AS1/SIRT1 in ARPE-19 cell proliferation and apoptosis in vitro. RESULTS: We observed that MCM3AP-AS1 was downregulated in DR patients 25 comparing to T2D patients without significantly complications. Bioinformatics analysis showed that MCM3AP-AS1 might bind miR-211. However, no significant correlation between these two factors was observed in DR patients. Consistently, overexpression of MCM3AP-AS1 and miR-211 failed to affect the expression of each other in hRPE. Interestingly, MCM3AP-AS1 overexpression upregulated SIRT1, a target of miR-211. Moreover, MCM3AP-AS1 was downregulated in DR patients compared to type 2 diabetic mellitus patients without significant complications. In RPEs, high glucose treatment downregulated MCM3AP-AS1. Cell apoptosis analysis showed that MCM3AP-AS1 and SIRT1 overexpression decreased the apoptotic rate of RPEs, and miR-211 overexpression reduced the effect of MCM3AP-AS1 and SIRT1 overexpression. CONCLUSION: MCM3AP-AS1 is downregulated in DR and promotes cell apoptosis by regulating miR-211/SIRT1.

Circ_0009910 sponges miR-491-5p to promote acute myeloid leukemia progression through modulating B4GALT5 expression and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous group of leukemias with an overall poor prognosis. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been verified to play important regulatory roles in AML progression. However, the role and molecular mechanism of circ_0009910 in AML development have not be completely clarified. METHODS: The expression levels of circ_0009910, microRNA-491-5p (miR-491-5p), and ß-1, 4-galactosyltransferase 5 (B4GALT5) were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) or Western blot. Cell proliferation and self-renewal ability were assessed via Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and sphere formation assay. Cell cycle distribution and cell apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry. Caspase-3 activity was tested by Caspase-3 Activity Assay Kit. Western blot was used to examine the protein levels of autophagy-related markers and PI3K/AKT pathway-related markers. The interaction between miR-491-5p and circ_0009910 or B4GALT5 was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay, or RNA pull-down assay. RESULTS: Circ_0009910 was highly expressed in AML tissues and cells. Silenced circ_0009910 could significantly inhibit the proliferation, sphere formation, and autophagy and promoted the apoptosis of AML cells. Circ_0009910 bound to miR-491-5p in AML cells, and circ_0009910 promoted AML progression partly through sponging miR-491-5p in vitro. B4GALT5 was a target of miR-491-5p, and miR-491-5p overexpression-mediated influences in AML cells were effectually overturned by the addition of B4GALT5 overexpression plasmid. Furthermore, circ_0009910 could regulate the expression of B4GALT5 by downregulating miR-491-5p in AML cells. Additionally, circ_0009910 could activate the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway by sponging miR-491-5p. CONCLUSION: Circ_0009910 could suppress the proliferation, sphere formation, and autophagy and accelerated apoptosis by modulating B4GALT5 expression and activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway via sponging miR-491-5p in AML cells, suggesting that circ_0009910 might be a potential biomarker for the treatment of AML.

Neutrophil extracellular trap from Kawasaki disease alter the biologic responses of PBMC.

Kawasaki disease (KD), also known as mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome, is an acute systemic vasculitis syndrome that mainly occurs in infants under 5 years of age. In the current manuscript, we were aiming to analyze the role of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in the pathogenesis of KD, especially their interplay with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Neutrophils were exposed to 20 nM phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), we found that neutrophils of KD patients were more likely to form NETs compared with healthy controls (HCs). Furthermore, PBMCs were cultured with NETs for 24 h, and we observed that NETs significantly increased the cell viability, suppressed cell apoptosis, and enhanced the pro-inflammatory cytokines production and NF-κB activation in PBMCs from KD patients. In addition, with the stimulation of NETs, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) were increased, which were related with the pathological mechanism of KD. At last, we examined the activation of phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling, and we found NETs treatment obviously enhanced the activation of PI3K and Akt. In conclusion, these findings suggested that the formation of NETs may alter the biologic responses of PBMC and affect the vascular injury in KD.

Efficiency and scale effect of county public hospitals in Shandong Province, China: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficiency of county public hospitals in Shandong Province following China's new medical reform and compare the efficiency of hospitals with different bed sizes for improving efficiency. DESIGN AND SETTING: This was a cross-sectional study on the efficiency and size of 68 county public hospitals in China in 2017. OUTCOME MEASURES: Data envelopment analysis was used to calculate the efficiency scores of hospitals and to analyse the slack values of inefficient hospitals. The actual number of open beds, doctors, nurses and total expenditure were selected as inputs, and the total number of annual visits, discharges and total income were selected as outputs. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was employed to compare the efficiency of hospitals with different bed sizes. The χ2 test was used to compare the returns to scale (RTS) of hospitals with different bed sizes. RESULTS: Twenty (29.41%) hospitals were efficient. There were 27 hospitals with increasing returns to scale, 23 hospitals with constant returns to scale and 18 hospitals with decreasing returns to scale (DRS). The differences in technical efficiency (p=0.248, p>0.05) and pure technical efficiency (p=0.073, p>0.05) were not statistically significant. However, the differences in scale efficiency (p=0.047, p<0.05) and RTS (p<0.001) were statistically significant. Hospitals with DRS began to appear at 885 beds. All sample hospitals with more than 1100 beds were already saturated and some hospitals even had a negative scale effect. CONCLUSIONS: The government and hospital managers should strictly control the bed size in hospitals and make hospitals resume operating in the interests of public welfare. Interventions that rationally allocate health resources and improve the efficiency of medical workers are conducive to solving redundant inputs and insufficient outputs.

Grain-orientation-engineered multilayer ceramic capacitors for energy storage applications.

Dielectric ceramics are highly desired for electronic systems owing to their fast discharge speed and excellent fatigue resistance. However, the low energy density resulting from the low breakdown electric field leads to inferior volumetric efficiency, which is the main challenge for practical applications of dielectric ceramics. Here, we propose a strategy to increase the breakdown electric field and thus enhance the energy storage density of polycrystalline ceramics by controlling grain orientation. We fabricated high-quality <111>-textured Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-Sr0.7Bi0.2TiO3 (NBT-SBT) ceramics, in which the strain induced by the electric field is substantially lowered, leading to a reduced failure probability and improved Weibull breakdown strength, on the order of 103 MV m-1, an ~65% enhancement compared to their randomly oriented counterparts. The recoverable energy density of <111>-textured NBT-SBT multilayer ceramics is up to 21.5 J cm-3, outperforming state-of-the-art dielectric ceramics. The present research offers a route for designing dielectric ceramics with enhanced breakdown strength, which is expected to benefit a wide range of applications of dielectric ceramics for which high breakdown strength is required, such as high-voltage capacitors and electrocaloric solid-state cooling devices.

miR-652 Promotes Proliferation and Migration of Uveal Melanoma Cells by Targeting HOXA9.

BACKGROUND Dysregulation of the microRNA (miRNA) network is a typical feature of many cancers. However, the key specific miRNAs involved in uveal melanoma carcinogenesis are largely unknown. MATERIAL AND METHODS RT-qPCR was used to detected miR-652 expression in uveal melanoma tissues and cell lines. miR-652 inhibitor was transfected into uveal melanoma cells to decrease miR-652 expression and determine the biological role of miR-652 by CCK-8 and wound healing assays. Bioinformatic analysis and dual luciferase reporter assay were used to predict and validate the target gene of miR-652. HOXA9 siRNA was transfected into cells to confirm that miR-652 relies on regulation of HOXA9 to regulate cell proliferation and migration. RESULTS RT-qPCR showed that miR-652 was overexpressed in uveal melanoma cell lines (MUM-2B, MEL270) compared with melanocyte cells (ARPE-19). Overexpression of miR-652 was also observed in uveal melanoma compared to paired non-tumor tissues. Downregulation of miR-652 inhibited the cell proliferation ability and migration ability of uveal melanoma cells. Using bioinformatic analysis, HOXA9 was found to be a potential target gene of miR-652. The direct regulation of HOXA9 by miR-652 was experimentally validated in uveal melanoma cells by dual luciferase assay and Western blotting. We also observed that miR-652 promoted HIF-1alpha signaling via repression of HOXA9 in uveal melanoma cells. Silencing of HOXA9 attenuated the miR-652 inhibitor decreased cell growth rate and decreased migration ability in uveal melanoma cells. CONCLUSIONS Our data demonstrate an oncogenic role of miR-652 in uveal melanoma, showing that miR-652 may be a useful biomarker for prediction of prognosis for patients with uveal melanoma.

LncRNA TP73-AS1 down-regulates miR-139-3p to promote retinoblastoma cell proliferation.

Our study aimed to investigate the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) TP73-AS1 in retinoblastoma (Rb). In the present study, we found that TP73-AS1 was up-regulated, while miR-139-3p was down-regulated in Rb. TP73-AS1 and miR-139-3p were inversely correlated in Rb tissues. In cells of Rb cell lines, overexpression of miR-139-3p failed to affect TP73-AS1, while TP73-AS1 overexpression caused the down-regulated miR-139-3p TP73-AS1 overexpression caused promoted proliferation of Rb cells but showed no significant effects on cell migration and invasion. miR-139-3p overexpression played an opposite role and attenuated the effects of TP73-AS1 overexpression. Therefore, lncRNA TP73-AS1 may down-regulate miR-139-3p to promote Rb cell proliferation.

Purification and biochemical characterization of a thermostable and acid-stable alpha-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis B4-423.

Novel thermostable amylase need to be continuously explored with the improvement of industrial requirements. A new acidophilic and thermostable amylase producing bacterium isolated from spring was identified as Bacillus strain on the basis of 16S rDNA. The amylase was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, gel chromatography and anion exchange chromatography. SDS-PAGE revealed that the enzyme was monomeric with a molecular weight of 58 kDa. The amylase exhibited optimal activity at pH 5.0 and temperature 100 °C. Then the enzyme showed high stability in pH ranges 4.0-10.0 and more than 90% of maximal activity was found from 20 °C to 80 °C. Apart from good stability toward SDS and non-ionic detergent, the purified enzyme exhibited high compatibility with some inhibitors such as urea and EDTA. The results demonstrated the stability of the enzyme in different organic solvents. Moreover, we determined the amylase gene, compared the structure with α-amylase BAA and BLA and found some thermostability determinants in our enzyme. Overall, presenting various properties were including high thermostability, Ca2+-independency, broad temperature and pH profiles, organic-solvent tolerance as well as excellent stability with detergents. Such characteristics have not been reported for this type of enzyme, and the α-amylase will be a suitable candidate in industrial fields.

[Effects of Moxibustion at "Feishu"(BL 13) and "Shenshu"(BL 23) on Peripheral Blood T Cells and Serum Interleukin in Asthmatic Rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of moxibustion at "Feishu" (BL 13) and "Shenshu"(BL 23) on peripheral blood T cells and serum interleukin in rats with asthma, so as to explore its immunological mechanisms in relieving asthma. METHODS: Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into normal, model and moxibustion groups(10 rats/group). Asthma model was established by intraperitoneal injection of ovalbumin and aluminum hydroxide, and ovalbumin inhalation. Moxibustion was applied to bilateral "Feishu" (BL 13) and "Shenshu"(BL 23) for 30 min, once daily for 14 d. The pathologic changes of the lung tissue were detected by H.E. staining. The levels of CD 3+, CD 4+, CD 8+ T cells in whole blood were detected by flow cytometry. Serum IgE, IL-1 ß, IL-1 Ra contents were assayed by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). RESULTS: The thickened muscle of bronchial wall, mucosal edema, infiltration of inflammatory cells and partial destruction of the alveolar structure were found in the model group. While in the moxibustion group, the structure of the alveolar wall was complete, the morphology of the bronchioles was regular, and there were no mucus plug formation and epithelial cell shedding in the lumen. The contents of blood CD 8+ and CD 3+ T cells, and serum IgE and IL-1 ß in the model group were obviously higher than those in the normal group (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the levels of blood CD 8+ T cell, serum IgE and IL-1 ß in the moxibustion group were all decreased (P<0.05,P<0.01), meanwhile the levels of blood CD 4+ T cell and serum IL-1 Ra were increased (P<0.01,P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Moxibustion can reduce the levels of serum IgE and IL-1 ß, and increase the level of serum IL-1 Ra, which may play an important role in the treatment of asthma.

Cloning, enhanced expression and characterization of an α-amylase gene from a wild strain in B. subtilis WB800.

A Bacillus strain with high productivity of α-amylase isolated from a starch farm was identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. The α-amylase encoding gene amy1 was cloned into pMD18-T vector and amplified in E. coli DH5α. Shuttle vector pP43MNX was reconstructed to obtain vector pP43X for heterologous expression of the α-amylase in B. subtilis WB800. Recombinant enzyme was sufficiently purified by precipitation, gel filtration and anion exchange with a specific activity of 5566 U/mg. The α-amylase sequence contains an open reading frame of 1545 bp, which encodes a protein of 514 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 58.4 kDa. The enzyme exhibited maximal activity at pH 6.0 and 60 °C. Catalytic efficiency of the recombinant α-amylase was inhibited by Hg(2+), Pb(2+) and Cu(2+), but stimulated by Li(+), Mn(2+) and Ca(2+). The purified enzyme showed decreased activity toward detergents (SDS, Tween 20 and Triton X-100). Compared with production by the wild strain, there was a 1.48-fold increase in the productivity of α-amylase in recombinant B. subtilis WB800.

GSTM3 reverses the resistance of hepatoma cells to radiation by regulating the expression of cell cycle/apoptosis-related molecules.

Radiotherapy (RT) is a major modality of hepatoma treatment. However, liver tumors often acquire radioresistance, which contributes to RT failure. The exact mechanisms of the radioresistance in hepatoma cells are largely unknown. Glutathione S-transferase M3 (GSTM3) is a phase II transferase, however, recent studies have suggested that GSTM3 is a potential tumor suppressor. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of GSTM3 in reversing radioresistance, and to explore the molecular mechanism of this in the human radiation-resistant PRF/PLC/5R hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line. The radioresistant PLC/PRF/5R cells were used as cell model, and were derived from PLC/PRF/5 parental cells using fractionated irradiation. The radiosensitivity of the cells was tested by clonogenic assay and flow cytometry analyses. The expression of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bax, p21, p27 and p53 was analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunoblotting with or without radiation. The results showed that the expression levels of GSTM3 were significantly lower in the PLC/PRF/5R cells than in the PLC/PRF/5 parental cells. GSTM3 overexpression sensitized the PLC/PRF/5R cells to radiation mainly though induction of apoptosis. According to the evidence from Annexin-V/PI staining, it markedly increased the percentage of apoptotic PRF/PLC/5R cells. The clonogenic assay indicated that GSTM3 significantly decreased the RT survival fraction in PRF/PLC/5R cells. Furthermore, GSTM3 increased the expression of cell cycle- and apoptosis-related genes (Bcl-2, Bax, p21, p27 and p53) in PRF/PLC/5R cells with irradiation. These findings suggest that GSTM3 plays an pivotal role in reversing the radioresistance of HCC and may be a potential target for sensitizing HCC cells to RT. The underlying mechanisms may be linked to the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis facilitation.

A survey of congenital heart disease and other organic malformations associated with different types of orofacial clefts in Eastern China.

BACKGROUND: A high incidence of orofacial clefts is reported in China, but no data has shown the relation between cleft types and the incidence of other defects so far. The aim of this study is to assess the incidence of congenital heart diseases and other organic defects associated with different types of orofacial clefts. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: All children with orofacial clefts, which were sought out from the Health Information System of Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital between 1(st) Jan 2009 and 30(th) Dec 2011, were enrolled in this study. All subjects underwent a thorough examination and grouped by the cleft phenotype. The numbers and types of other organic defects were recorded and analyzed statistically using SPSS 17.0. Of 2180 cases reported as having orofacial clefts, 657 (30.1%) had other congenital abnormalities, which were significantly more common in cleft palate (47.9% (329/687)) than that in cleft lip (10.6% (80/755)) or cleft lip and palate (33.6% (248/738)) (P<0.01). In subgroups, unilateral cleft lip and palate had a statistically higher incidence of associated abnormalities than bilateral cleft lip and palate (P<0.01). The most common malformation was congenital heart disease, which counted 45.1% (296/657) of all malformations. Disorders of the central nervous system (14.3%(94/657)) and Skeletal anomalies (13.1%(86/657)) were also frequently associated. Additionally, the most common defect in heart was atrial septal defect, which was 39.7% (118/296) of all congenital heart diseases. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: As the high incidence of heart defects and other organic abnormalities in the children with cleft palate in Eastern China, special attention should be paid to them and echocardiography should be a proposed examination in the evaluation of children with cleft palate before any surgical correction being executed.

Radiosynthesis of 1-[18F]fluoroethyl-L-tryptophan as a novel potential amino acid PET tracer.

(18)F labeled natural amino acids have been introduced as promising tumor imaging agents. A novel [(18)F]fluoro amino acid analog 1-[(18)F]fluoroethyl-L-tryptophan (1-[(18)F]FETrp) was designed and synthesized by a two-pot three-step procedure, including the synthesis of 1-[(18)F]fluoro-2- (tosyloxy)ethane, the [(18)F]fluoroethylation of the precursor N-Boc-L-tryptophan ethyl ester and following the deprotection of the tert-butoxycarbonyl and ethyl ester protecting groups. 1-[(18)F]FETrp was resulted in 0.9 ± 0.2% (n=5) radiochemical yields (no decay corrected) by HPLC purification, within a total synthesis time of 65 min. The radiochemical purity of 1-[(18)F]FETrp was 95-97%. The radiosynthetic method needs to be further optimized to get a satisfying radiochemical yield.

[Experimental study on the potential role of BME-10X collagen/hydroxyapatite bone graft in periodontal tissue regeneration of beagle].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the potential role of BME-10X collagen/hydroxyapatite (HA) bone graft in periodontal tissue regeneration. METHODS: Four 18 months old male beagles in the experiment were treated with non-surgical periodontal therapy. At the sites of mandibular 3rd and 4th premolars at the time of dogs were treated with non-surgical periodontal therapy one week later, the teeth with the same name in the same jaw were selected to the experimental group (T group) or the control group (C group) at random. The defects in T group were filled with BME-10X collagen/HA bone graft while the defects in C group were filled with nothing. The dogs were sacrificed in twelve weeks and analyzed by histopathology. RESULTS: The defects in T group got more tissue regeneration compared with the defects in C group. The height of new bone (NB) was (3.01 +/- 0.14) mm in T group versus (1.32 +/- 0.11) mm in C group (P < 0.05). The height of new periodontal ligament (NP) was (3.12 +/- 0.19) mm in T group versus (1.35 +/- 0.12) mm in C group (P < 0.05). The height of new cementum (NC) was (3.30 +/- 0.15) mm in T group versus (2.70 +/- 0.12) mm in C group (P > 0.05). The new tissue guided by the bone graft was the same as the normal tissue in histopathology analysis. CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggest that BME-10X collagen/HA bone graft is a good bone graft for periodontal tissue regeneration.

[The relationship between cleft severity and incidence of associated heart defect in children with isolated cleft palate].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between cleft severity and incidence of associated heart defect in children with isolated cleft palate (CP), as well as the characteristics of the heart defect. METHODS: From Aug 2008 and Dec 2009, a total 416 children with CP underwent echocardiogram, and were divided into complete and incomplete CP groups. Then each group was further classified as unilateral or bilateral groups. Incomplete CP was subdivided into submucous cleft palate, soft palate cleft, hard and soft palate cleft. The associated heart defects were recorded and analyzed in each group. The data were analyzed statistically using SPSS 13.0. Chi-square test was used to compare the incidence between groups. RESULTS: In the series of 416 patients, 46 (11.1%) children were found to have an associated congenital heart disease. The incidence of heart defect was 9.9% (38/384) in the incomplete cleft group, and 25% (8/32) in the complete cleft group, showing a significant difference between the two groups ( F = 6.852, P < 0.05). Atrial septal defect was the most common heart defect, which accounted for 52.2% (24/46) of all associated heart malformations. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to incomplete cleft palate, complete cleft palate has a higher risk of heart defect. Cleft severity may be a predictor for congenital heart diseases in cleft palate. Routine echocardiogram should be considered in CP patients.

Novel 1-alkyl-tryptophan derivatives downregulate IDO1 and IDO2 mRNA expression induced by interferon-gamma in dendritic cells.

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is an enzyme that suppresses adaptive T-cell immunity by catabolizing tryptophan from the cellular microenvironment. Inhibition of IDO pathway might enhance the efficacy of immunotherapeutic strategies for cancer. We synthesized 1-alkyl-tryptophan targeted IDO inhibitors and compared their effects on IDO expression and activity in dendritic cells (DCs) with the common IDO inhibitor 1-methyl-DL-tryptophan (1-MT). The IDO gene expression was examined by RT-PCR and realtime PCR. The toxicity of these analogs on the proliferation of DCs was detected by MTT assay. All of these analogs inhibited IDO expression and activity induced by IFN-gamma and showed no cytotoxicity to DCs at 100 microM. 1-MT intensively suppressed IDO1 expression and activity in DCs, and 1-propyl-tryptophan (1-PT) and 1-isopropyl-tryptophan (1-isoPT) moderately inhibited them. 1-Butyl-tryptophan (1-BT) and 1-ethyl-tryptophan (1-ET) mainly inhibited IDO2 expression. Our results suggest that those analogs differed in their inhibitory activity on IDO expression may give us a clue for developing active IDO inhibitors.

[Analysis and study on modern pharmacy and pharmacology of moxibustion].

This present paper introduces the advancement in the researches on modern pharmacy and pharmacology of moxibustion and proposes a new idea of comparative studies on pharmacologic action of different moxibustion materials, systematically analyzes the chemical compositions and the heat value of combustion of the argyi leaf of different strains, places of produce, cultivation ways or gathering times by the modern pharmaceutical research methods, and sums up that moxibustion has the functions of antisepticise, antivirus and regulating immune function by the modern pharmacological research methods. The authors think that the aforesaid comparative studies will establish the scientific foundation for determination of the best strain and primal chemical compositions of the argyi leaf for clinical efficacy, improvement of the moxibustion mode and enhancement of the therapeutic effect.