Haplotype analysis of ApoAI gene and sepsis-associated acute lung injury

BACKGROUND: Apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) is the major apoprotein constituent of high density lipoprotein (HDL) which exerts innate protective effects in systemic inflammation. However, its role in the acute lung injury (ALI) has not been well studied. In the present study we investigated the association between polymorphisms of ApoA1 gene and ALI in a Chinese population. METHODS: Three polymorphisms of the ApoA1 gene (rs11216153, rs2070665, and rs632153) were genotyped by TaqMan method in 290 patients with sepsis-associated ALI, 285 patients sepsis alone and 330 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. RESULTS: We found rs11216153 polymorphism of ApoA1 was associated with ALI, the GG genotype and G allele was common in the ALI patients (76.9%, 88.1%, respectively) than both in the control subjects (55.8%, 75.8%, respectively) and in the sepsis alone patients (58.2%, 78.4%, respectively). Haplotype consisting of these three SNPs strengthened the association with ALI susceptibility. The frequency of haplotype GTG in the ALI samples was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group (OR = 2.261, 95% CI: 1.735 ~ 2.946, P <0.001) and the sepsis alone group (OR = 1.789, 95% CI: 1.373 ~ 2.331.P < 0.001). Carriers of the haplotype TTG had a lower risk for ALI compared with healthy control group (OR = 0.422, 95% CI: 0.310 ~ 0.574, P < 0.001) and sepsis alone group (OR = 0.491, 95% CI: 0.356 ~ 0.676, P <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that genetic variants in the ApoA1 gene might be associated with susceptibility to sepsis-associated ALI in Han Chinese population

New insights into the oscillation of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors

The electromagnetic form factors of the proton and the neutron in the timelike region are investigated. The electron-positron annihilation into antinucleon-nucleon ($\bar NN$) pairs is treated in distorted wave Born approximation, including the final-state interaction in the $\bar NN$ system. The latter is obtained by a Lippmann-Schwinger equation for $\bar{N}N$ potentials derived within SU(3) chiral effective field theory. By fitting to the phase shifts and (differential) cross section data, a high quality description is achieved. With these amplitudes, the oscillations of the electromagnetic form factors of the proton and the neutron are studied. It is found that each of them can be described by two fractional oscillators. One is characterized as \lq overdamped' and dominates near the threshold, while the other is \lq underdamped' and plays an important role in the high-energy region. These two oscillators are essential to understand the distributions of polarized electric charges induced by hard photons for the nucleons.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, add some discussion

Evaluation of human enterovirus 71 and coxsackievirus A16 specific immunoglobulin M antibodies for diagnosis of hand-foot-and-mouth disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) is caused mainly by the human enterovirus type 71 (HEV71) and the Coxsackievirus A group type 16 (CVA16). Large outbreaks of disease have occurred frequently in the Asia-Pacific region. Reliable methods are needed for diagnosis of HFMD in childen. IgM-capture ELISA, with its notable advantages of convenience and low cost, provides a potentially frontline assay. We aimed to evaluate the newly developed IgM-capture ELISAs for HEV71 and CVA16 in the diagnosis of HFMD, and to measure the kinetics of IgM over the course of HEV71 or CVA16 infections.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We mapped, for the first time, the kinetics of IgM in HEV71 and CVA16 infection. HEV71- and CVA16-IgM were both detectable in some patients on day 1 of illness, and in 100% of patients by day 5 (HEV71) and day 8 (CVA16) respectively; both IgMs persisted for several weeks. The IgM detection rates were 90.2% (138 of 153 sera) and 68.0% (66 of 97 sera) for HEV71 and CVA16 infections, respectively, during the first 7 days of diseases. During the first 90 days after onset these values were 93.6% (233 of 249 sera) and 72.8% (91 of 125 sera) for HEV71 and CVA16 infections, respectively. Some cross-reactivity was observed between HEV71- and CVA16-IgM ELISAs. HEV71-IgM was positive in 38 of 122 (31.1%) CVA16 infections, 14 of 49 (28.6%) other enteroviral infections and 2 of 105 (1.9%) for other respiratory virus infected sera. Similarly, CVA16-IgM was apparently positive in 58 of 211 (27.5%) HEV71 infections, 16 of 48 (33.3%) other enterovirus infections and 3 of 105 (2.9%) other respiratory virus infected sera. Nevertheless, the ELISA yielded the higher OD₄₅₀value of main antibody than that of cross-reaction antibody, successfully identifying the enteroviral infection in 96.6% (HEV71) and 91.7% (CVA16) cases. When blood and rectal swabs were collected on the same day, the data showed that the agreement between IgM-capture ELISA and real-time RT-PCR in HEV71 was high (Kappa value = 0.729) while CVA16 somewhat lower (Kappa value = 0.300).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HEV71- and CVA16-IgM ELISAs can be deployed successfully as a convenient and cost-effective diagnostic tool for HFMD in clinical laboratories.</p

Superconducting Fluctuations in Overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ

Fluctuating superconductivity—vestigial Cooper pairing in the resistive state of a material—is usually associated with low dimensionality, strong disorder, or low carrier density. Here, we report single-particle spectroscopic, thermodynamic and magnetic evidence for persistent superconducting fluctuations in the heavily hole-doped cuprate superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8þδ(Tc¼66 K) despite the high carrier density. With a sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo calculation, we show how a partially flat band at ðπ;0Þcan help enhance superconducting phase fluctuations. Finally, we discuss the implications of an anisotropic band structure on the phase-coherence-limited superconductivity in overdoped cuprates and other superconductors

Superconducting fluctuations in overdoped Bi2_2Sr2_2CaCu2_2O8+δ_{8+\delta}

Fluctuating superconductivity - vestigial Cooper pairing in the resistive state of a material - is usually associated with low dimensionality, strong disorder or low carrier density. Here, we report single particle spectroscopic, thermodynamic and magnetic evidence for persistent superconducting fluctuations in heavily hole-doped cuprate superconductor Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ ($T_c$ = 66~K) despite the high carrier density. With a sign-problem free quantum Monte Carlo calculation, we show how a partially flat band at ($\pi$,0) can help enhance superconducting phase fluctuations. Finally, we discuss the implications of an anisotropic band structure on the phase-coherence-limited superconductivity in overdoped cuprates and other superconductors.Comment: main: 8 pages, 6 figures + supplement: 10 pages, 15 figure

Xuebijing Protects Rats from Sepsis Challenged with Acinetobacter baumannii

Xuebijing (XBJ) injection is a herbal medicine that has been widely used in the treatment of sepsis in China; however, its role in the development and progression of Acinetobacter baumannii sepsis and the underlying mechanisms remain uninvestigated. In the present study, fifty-four male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to normal-control group, sepsis-control group, and sepsis + XBJ group, each containing three subgroups of different treatment time periods (6, 12, and 24 hrs following injection, resp.). The sepsis model was established by intraperitoneal injection of A. baumannii ATCC 19606. For XBJ treatment, 4 mL/kg XBJ was administrated simultaneously by intravenous injection through caudal vein every 12 hrs. All animals demonstrated ill state, obvious intestinal dysfunction, histopathological lung damages, and overactive inflammatory responses after A. baumannii infection, and these events could be partially reversed by XBJ treatment from the beginning of infection. XBJ induced an increase in the expression of anti-inflammatory mediator annexin A1; however, two proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), were decreased at the each monitored time point. These findings suggested that XBJ via its cytokine-mediated anti-inflammatory effects might have a potential role in preventing the progression of A. baumannii infection to sepsis by early administration

Renal venous sampling assisted the diagnosis of juxtaglomerular cell tumor: a case report and literature review

Juxtaglomerular cell tumor (JCT) is an endocrine tumor marked by elevated renin levels and high blood pressure. This case report presents the clinical findings of a 47-year-old woman with a history of recurrent hypokalemia, headaches, hypertension, and increased plasma renin activity (PRA). Dynamic enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a small nodule on the upper part of the right kidney. Selective renal venous sampling indicated a higher PRA only in the right upper pole renal vein. The patient underwent surgical removal of the right kidney mass, and the pathology results confirmed the diagnosis of JCT. This case underscores the importance of conducting selective renal venous sampling for accurate JCT diagnosis

Downregulation of Fat Mass and Obesity Associated (FTO) Promotes the Progression of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) ranks as the second most malignant type of primary liver cancer with a high degree of incidence and a very poor prognosis. Fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) functions as an eraser of the RNA m6A modification, but its roles in ICC tumorigenesis and development remain unknown. We showed here that the protein level of FTO was downregulated in clinical ICC samples and cell lines and that FTO expression was inversely correlated with the expression of CA19-9 and micro-vessel density (MVD). A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that a low expression of FTO predicted poor prognosis in ICC. in vitro, decreased endogenous expression of FTO obviously reduced apoptosis of ICC cells. Moreover, FTO suppressed the anchorage-independent growth and mobility of ICC cells. Through mining the database, FTO was found to regulate the integrin signaling pathway, inflammation signaling pathway, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway, angiogenesis, and the pyrimidine metabolism pathway. RNA decay assay showed that oncogene TEAD2 mRNA stability was impaired by FTO. In addition, the overexpression of FTO suppressed tumor growth in vivo. In conclusion, our study demonstrated the critical roles of FTO in ICC