Short communication: genetic evaluation of stillbirth in US Brown Swiss and Jersey cattle

Stillbirth (SB) often results in reduced milk yield, compromised reproductive performance, and decreased dam longevity. Corrective mating can be used as a short-term solution to the problem, but long-term improvement of the population requires the routine calculation of genetic evaluations. Breeding values for SB have been available for Holstein (HO) bulls since 2006, but not for Brown Swiss (BS) or Jersey (JE) bulls. In this study, a multi-breed sire-maternal grandsire threshold model was used to perform genetic evaluations for SB of BS, JE, and HO bulls using more than 14 million purebred and crossbred calving records. Phenotypically, the percentage of SB (%SB) across all lactations were 3.7% in JE, 5.1% in BS, and 6.3% in HO. Direct heritabilities for BS, JE, and HO were 0.008, 0.007, and 0.008, and maternal heritabilities were 0.002, 0.016, and 0.021, respectively. Compared with HO, crossbred calvings from BS and JE bulls bred to HO cows lowered %SB by 1.5 and 1.2%, respectively. In general, %SB increased considerably as calving difficulty increased in all 3 breeds; however, in JE, %SB was constant for dystocia scores of 3 (needed assistance), 4 (considerable force), and 5 (extreme difficulty). Compared with purebred HO calvings, purebred BS and JE calvings had lower phenotypic %SB by up to 5.5 and 7.8%, respectively, and BS × HO and JE × HO crossbred calvings decreased %SB by up to 3.8 and 4.1%, respectively. As expected, SB rates in primiparous cows were higher than those in multiparous cows. Female calves had greater %SB than male calves in all parities for JE and in second-and-later parities for BS. Favorable (decreasing) phenotypic and genetic trends from 1999 to 2009 were observed in all 3 breeds. Heterosis of SB for BS and JE was -0.026 and -0.149, respectively, on the underlying scale, which corresponds to effects on service-sire SB (SSB) and daughter SB (DSB) predicted transmitting ability (PTA) of -0.3 and -0.5% in BS, and -1.5 and -2.7% in JE. Overall, in the current population, BS bulls had the most desirable average SSB PTA of 4.8%, compared with 5.6% for JE and 5.5% for HO. Brown Swiss and JE bulls both had average DSB PTA of 6.5%, lower than that of 7.7% in HO. Average reliabilities of SSB and DSB in 3 breeds ranged from 45 to 50%. The use of a BS-JE-HO multibreed genetic evaluation for SB in the United States is feasible, and the addition of SSB and DSB to the lifetime net merit selection index will help improve the profitability of BS and JE cattle in the United States.

1,1-Difluoroethyl-substituted triazolothienopyrimidines as inhibitors of a human urea transport protein (UT-B): new analogs and binding model

The kidney urea transport protein UT-B is an attractive target for the development of small-molecule inhibitors with a novel diuretic ('urearetic') action. Previously, two compounds in the triazolothienopyrimidine scaffold (1a and 1c) were reported as UT-B inhibitors. Compound 1c incorporates a 1,1-difluoroethyl group, which affords improved microsomal stability when compared to the corresponding ethyl-substituted compound 1a. Here, a small focused library (4a-4f) was developed around lead inhibitor 1c to investigate the requirement of an amidine-linked thiophene in the inhibitor scaffold. Two compounds (4a and 4b) with nanomolar inhibitory potency (IC50≈40 nM) were synthesized. Computational docking of lead structure 1c and 4a-4f into a homology model of the UT-B cytoplasmic surface suggested binding with the core heterocycle buried deep into the hydrophobic pore region of the protein.

Primary immunodeficiency in south China: clinical features and a genetic subanalysis of 138 children

OBJECTIVES

We analyzed the clinical features of 138 patients with primary immunodeficiency (PID) and performed genetic testing on a subset of patients in order to complete gaps in research on PID in South China and thus improve pediatricians' ability to recognize and diagnose PID.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective analysis based on the medical records of PID patients hospitalized in our institution between May 1999 and June 2012. Gene sequencing was performed in 59 cases.

RESULTS

Children with PID usually present with fever and repeated infections that generally affect the respiratory and digestive tracts. Growth retardation is observed in some cases. Of the 138 patients, 113 were boys, median age at onset was 5 months (range, 0-119 months), and age at diagnosis was 10 months (2-159 months). A family history of repeated infection or death of family members in infancy because of recurrent infections was recorded in 20 cases (14.49%). Antibody defects were detected in 48 cases (34.78%), combined immunodeficiency disease in 45 cases (32.61%), and other well-defined immunodeficiency syndromes in 45 cases (32.61%). Of the 59 patients from the genetic subanalysis, 24 (15.94%) had a genetic mutation (x-linked agammaglobulinemia, 8 cases; severe combined immunodeficiency, 8 cases; hyperimmunoglobulin M syndrome, 3 cases; hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome, 3 cases; chronic granulomatous disease, 2 cases). We detected 4 novel mutations. No relevant mutations were found in the remaining 35 cases.After treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin and anti-infectious agents, 16 patients died in hospital, and 5 cases died after discontinuing treatment (mortality, 15.22%).

CONCLUSIONS

In recent years, the number of patients with PID has risen gradually in South China. Genetic testing can confirm diagnosis. Since PID seriously affects children's quality of life, it is important to diagnose, treat, and intervene early.We hope our clinical and genetic analyses of children with PID can provide diagnostic guidance for clinicians.

Alveolar macrophage-derived vascular endothelial growth factor contributes to allergic airway inflammation in a mouse asthma model

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent proangiogenic factor that correlates with vascular permeability and remodelling in asthma. Recently, alveolar macrophages (AM) were shown to be an important source of VEGF during lung injury. Our previous studies demonstrated that AM are an important subset of macrophages in the initiation of asthmatic symptoms. Here, we further investigated whether AM-derived VEGF was required for allergic airway inflammation in asthma. In this study, we reported that the expression of VEGF in AM was significantly increased after allergen challenge. Depleting AM or neutralizing VEGF in alveolus prevented ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma-related inflammation by inhibiting the infiltration of inflammatory cells in the lung, reduced the level of the cytokines, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13, in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and decreased airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). Moreover, the inhibition of miR-20b increased the protein level of VEGF in normal AM; conversely, increasing miR-20b in asthmatic AM resulted in decreased VEGF protein levels. These findings suggest that AM-derived VEGF is necessary for allergic airway inflammation in asthmatic mice and miR-20b negatively regulates this expression.

Potential treatment of hypoparathyroidism with recombinant plasmids encoding preproparathyroid hormone

Hypoparathyroidism cannot be cured by oral or intravenous calcium supplements. Using molecular biology techniques to induce the production of PTH is an ideal option to treat hypoparathyroidism. In this study, we established a recombinant plasmid encoding a mutant preproPTH with a skeletal muscle creatine kinase promoter (pCKM-mPTH). The sequence of the chimeric pCKM-mPTH gene was fully consistent with the DNA sequence reported previously and the site-directed mutagenesis was completed. Overlapping and nested PCR showed that PTH was highly expressed in and secreted from skeletal muscle cells transfected with the pCKM-mPTH plasmid: the PTH concentration in the culture medium 24 h after transfection was 26.37 pg/l. In the rat hypoparathyroidism model, serum PTH level significantly increased after injection with the pCKM-mPTH plasmid, compared with control groups (p<0.01). The effect lasted for about 30 days. Our results indicated that the recombinant mutant pCKM-mPTH plasmid was successfully constructed and was highly expressed in skeletal muscle cells. In vivo, the plasmid was introduced successfully into rat muscles and could express PTH for a decent period of time.

Procoagulant activity of erythrocytes and platelets through phosphatidylserine exposure and microparticles release in patients with nephrotic syndrome

Recent studies showed that an imbalance of prothrombotic and antithrombotic factors and impaired thrombolytic activity contribute to the thrombophilia of the nephrotic syndrome (NS). However, it is not clear whether blood cell injury and/or activation is involved in hypercoagulability in NS patients. Our objectives were to study the increase in microparticle (MP) release and phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure on the outer membrane of MP-origin cells in NS patients, and to evaluate their procoagulant activity (PCA). The subjects were patients with membranous nephropathy (MN), minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) and healthy controls. Analyses of MPs and PS exposure were performed using a flow cytometer. PCA was determined by clotting time and purified coagulation complex assays. We found that lactadherin+ MPs, which derived from red blood cells (RBC), platelet and endothelial cell, increased in NS patients. Moreover, PS exposure on RBCs and platelets in each NS group, especially in MN, are higher than that in controls. MP shedding and PS exposure of RBCs/platelets were highly procoagulant in NS patients. However, blockade of PS with lactadherin inhibited over 90% of PCA while an anti-tissue factor antibody had no significant inhibition effect. Our results demonstrate that the thrombophilic susceptibility of NS may be partly ascribed to MP release and PS exposure of RBCs, platelets and endothelial cells. Lactadherin is a sensitive probe for PS that has high anticoagulant activity.

Endovascular stent-graft treatment for Stanford type A aortic dissection

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study is to summarise our experience of endovascular stent grafting for Stanford type A aortic dissection.

DESIGN

Retrospective analysis at single centre.

METHODS

From January 2001 to January 2009, we treated 45 cases of Stanford type A aortic dissection with endovascular stent grafting. The entry tear was located at the ascending aorta in 10 cases (DeBakey type I), the aortic arch in 14 cases and the distal aortic arch or proximal descending aorta in 21 cases in which the ascending aorta was also involved by the dissection.

RESULTS

The surgical success rate was 97.8% (44/45) and 30-day mortality rate was 6.7% (3/45). Type I endoleaks occurred in 10 cases: one patient died intra-operatively, four were successfully treated with ballooning, four were sealed with aortic cuffs and one case caused by left subclavian artery (LSA) reflux was sealed with an occluder. Average follow-up time was 35.5 ± 5.4 months. Up to the most recent review or death, 32 patients had complete thrombosis and 10 had partial thrombosis inside the false lumen. Two deaths occurred after 30-days postoperatively.

CONCLUSION

Endovascular stent-graft treatment is a minimally invasive and effective method to treat Stanford type A aortic dissection.

Detection of rpoB, katG and inhA gene mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from Chongqing as determined by microarray

The emergence of multidrug-resistance Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an increasing threat to tuberculosis control programmes. Susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates by traditional methods requires a minimum of 14 days. This can be reduced significantly if molecular analysis is used. DNA sequencing is a good method for detecting mutation, but cannot be used routinely because of its relatively high cost. A sensitive and specific microarray has been designed to detect mutations in the rifampin resistance determining region of rpoB and loci in katG and inhA associated with isoniazid (INH) resistance. A panel of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates containing 13 different rpoB genotypes, two mutation genotypes within codon 315 of katG and one mutation genotypes at inhA was used to validate the microarray. The results obtained indicate that 100% of rifampicin-resistant M. tuberculosis strains isolated in Chongqing had rpoB mutations, with 531-Ser and 526-His being the most common positions substituted. Of the total 50 INH resistant isolates, 82% had a katG315 mutation and 18% had an inhA mutation. All the mutations detected by the microarray method were also confirmed by conventional DNA sequencing. It is demonstrated that the microarray is an efficient, specialized technique and can be used as a rapid method for detecting rifampin and isoniazid resistance.

Reverse LISS plating for intertrochanteric hip fractures in elderly patients

Background

Fractures of the intertrochanteric hip are common and the treatment of unstable fractures generally requires an operative approach. In elderly patients, osteoporosis makes internal fixation problematic and frequently contributes to failed fixation and poor clinical results. We have attempted to apply the Less Invasive Stabilization System (LISS) in reverse position for the repair of intertrochanteric hip fractures in elderly patients with osteoporotic bones. A retrospective review is presented of the cases of 28 elderly patients with stable and unstable fractures of the intertrochanteric hip treated using the reverse LISS.

Methods

We treated 28 elderly patients with a mean age of 82.3 years. According to the Evens classification, there were 2 Type I fractures, 2 Type II fractures, 3 Type III fractures, 13 Type IV fractures, 6 Type V fractures and 2 Type R fractures. All fractures were treated using the reverse LISS. Radiographic and clinical evidence of functional outcome and complications were evaluated.

Results

Mean perioperative blood loss was 92.4 milliliters (range 35 to 245 milliliters), and the mean postoperative hospital stay was 8.7 days (range 3 to 14 days).

Complications included one minor wound hematoma. Radiographically, no collapses, screw cutouts, or head penetrations were seen. All surviving patients (28 of 28; 100 percent) had uneventful fracture healing with union achieved by six months in all patients.

Conclusions

Use of the Reverse LISS plating for intertrochanteric hip fractures resulted in event-free fracture healing.

Annexin A1 expression and its prognostic significance in human breast cancer

Annexin A1 (ANXA1) is a calcium- and phospholipid-binding protein and is considered to play an important role in tumorigenesis. However, the correlation between ANXA1 expression and tumor clinicopathological features in patients with breast cancer remains unclear. This study investigated the prognostic value of ANXA1 protein as breast cancer marker. Tissue microarray blocks, containing 20 cases of non-tumor breast tissue, 20 cases of benign breast lesion and 135 cases of breast cancer (107 with lymph node metastasis), were constructed. Expression of ANXA1 in these specimens was analyzed using immunohistochemistry. In non-tumor tissue and benign breast lesions, myoepithelial cells showed strong expression of ANXA1. Negative ANXA1 expression was significantly associated with advanced disease stage (P<0.05), especially pathological-N stage (P<0.01). The patients with loss of ANXA1 expression in tumor tissues showed a significantly worse overall survival compared with positive ones (P<0.05). ANXA1 did not correlate well with estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2/neu status. Moreover, the level of ANXA1 expression in lymph node metastases was higher than corresponding primary breast cancer. These results suggest that ANXA1 may play a multifaceted role in breast cancer development, progression, and metastases.

Registering preprocedure volumetric images with intraprocedure 3-D ultrasound using an ultrasound imaging model

For many image-guided interventions there exists a need to compute the registration between preprocedure image(s) and the physical space of the intervention. Real-time intraprocedure imaging such as ultrasound (US) can be used to image the region of interest directly and provide valuable anatomical information for computing this registration. Unfortunately, real-time US images often have poor signal-to-noise ratio and suffer from imaging artefacts. Therefore, registration using US images can be challenging and significant preprocessing is often required to make the registrations robust. In this paper we present a novel technique for computing the image-to-physical registration for minimally invasive cardiac interventions using 3-D US. Our technique uses knowledge of the physics of the US imaging process to reduce the amount of preprocessing required on the 3-D US images. To account for the fact that clinical US images normally undergo significant image processing before being exported from the US machine our optimization scheme allows the parameters of the US imaging model to vary. We validated our technique by computing rigid registrations for 12 cardiac US/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) datasets acquired from six volunteers and two patients. The technique had mean registration errors of 2.1-4.4 mm, and 75% capture ranges of 5-30 mm. We also demonstrate how the same approach can be used for respiratory motion correction: on 15 datasets acquired from five volunteers the registration errors due to respiratory motion were reduced by 45%-92%.