Polymorphisms of uric transporter proteins in the pathogenesis of gout in a Chinese Han population.

In this study, we analyzed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in urate transporter genes to examine the pathogenesis of gout. We conducted a 1:1-matched case-control study that included 110 patients with acute gout attacks as the patient group and 110 healthy age- and gender-matched subjects as the control group. Clinical parameters were recorded and blood biochemistry tests were conducted for both groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Hyperuricemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia were found to be the main risk factors for the onset of gout, with relative risks of 29.2 (P < 0.001), 25.5 (P = 0.003), and 11.2 (P < 0.001). For all detected SNP, rs2231142, located in ABCG2, showed the largest frequency differences for the G/G, G/T, and T/T genotypes between groups: the distribution of these genotypes in the case group was 22, 49, and 26 individuals, respectively, and was 54, 38, and 9 individuals, respectively, in the control group. There was a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (P < 0.001) and the odds ratio was 7.091 (95% confidence interval = 2.867-17.541). Other SNPs (rs1165196, rs1165205, rs1183201, rs17300741, rs2078267, rs2242206, rs3733591, and rs9358856) showed no significant difference between the groups (P > 0.05). The risk factors of gout were hyperuricemia, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and the T/T genotype of the rs2231142 locus in the ABCG2 gene; expression of the G/G genotype may be a protective factor against gout development.

[Quantitative analysis of pathological voice and identification with artificial neural network].

Objective:To discuss the characteristic of the clinical pathological voice and the feasibility of computer automatic identification of pathological voice.Method:A total of 129 clinical patients with polyp of vocal cord were selected as the pathological voice group, while a total of 125 people with normal voice were selected from the community as the control group. Praat software was used to collect and analyze the related acoustic parameter values of two groups of cases, including Jitter, Shimmer, harmonic to noise ratio (HNR), signal to noise ratio (SNR), and normalized noise energy (NNE). Pathological voice group and control group were used as training set and testing set for neural network testing, and another 140 cases of pathological voice and normal voice data were selected as a validation set. SPSS Modeler was used for artificial neural network reconstruction to calculate the identification rate of pathological voice. Result:This study found according to the calculation of groups with different genders that Jitter, Shimmer and NNE were increased in pathological voice group compared with the normal group (P< 0.05), while HNR and SNR were decreased compared with the normal group (P< 0.05). Recognition rate of artificial neural network model on pathological voice is 75.7%.Conclusion:Objective voice analysis is helpful in the identification of pathological voice. Artificial neural network has higher accuracy in recognition of pathological voice, with good clinical application value.

Studies on application of a lead acetate solution as filter to the photochemical reaction of ergosterol to improve the yield of vitamin D.

Since a lead acetate solution can remove most of the ultraviolet (UV) light in the range below 275 nm which usually gives undesirable by-products in the photochemical conversion of ergosterol to vitamin D, it is useful as a filter solution for the reaction to obtain higher yield of vitamin D. When a 5% lead acetate solution was used as the filter, the yield of vitamin D was 20-25% higher than that without using filter solution.

[The effect of an organic gold compound on porphyrin metabolism, with reference to interaction with lead].

Inhibition of the activity of delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase by heavy metals such as Cu, Cd and Au has been thought to be related to the inhibition of heme bio-synthesis in the bone marrow. This study investigates the interaction between lead and gold on porphyrin metabolism. Gold thiomalate (Au-T) was injected subcutaneously 10 times into the backs of rabbits in doses of 1, 10 and 100 mg per capita for 30 days. The latter two groups of animals showed mild anemia, but they showed neither reticulocytosis nor increase of free erythrocyte protoporphyrin (FEP). In rabbits administered lead only or lead plus gold thiomalate, however, reticulocytosis and an increase in FEP levels were observed. Therefore, the etiology of anemia may be different between rabbits administered gold thiomalate and rabbits administered lead. Rabbits injected with Au-T showed an increase in urinary coproporphyrin (CP-U) excretion. The maximum concentration of CP-U in the gold groups was about 3 times as high as that in the control group, but the increment was lower than that in the lead group. Rabbits injected with Au-T showed a higher concentration of gold in the kidneys than in other tissues. In those injected lead and Au-T together, concentration of gold in all tissues was higher than in those administered Au-T only. Proteinuria was observed in the rabbits injected Au-T. The increase in CP-U in the gold-injected rabbits was assumed to be related to the increase in gold concentration in the kidneys.