[Role of oxidative stress in tissue remodeling of chronic rhinosinusitis]

Summary Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS),one of the common diseases in otolaryngology,has become one of the major diseases affecting human health and the patients' quality of life in a severe degree.Many chronic airway inflammatory diseases are characterized by tissue remodeling,which has also been found playing an important role in the pathogenesis of CRS,and been affected by many factors.In this article,the role of oxidative stress and the interaction among TGF-β1 in tissue remodeling were summarized and analyzed,aming to provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and research of CRS.

[Rapamycin in the treatment of cardiac rhabdomyoma associated with tuberous sclerosis complex]

OBJECTIVE

To assess the efficacy and safety of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor rapamycin in treatment of children with cardiac rhabdomyoma, associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC).

METHOD

The clinical data of children with cardiac rhabdomyomas, who had received a diagnosis of TSC previously, were collected between September 2011 and November 2015 from Pediatric Department of the People's Liberation Army General Hospital.Patients in line with the inclusion criteria received long-term treatment with sirolimus.The starting doses of sirolimus was 1 mg/ (m(2)·d), and the plasma concentration was maintained at 5-10 μg/L.The size and number of cardiac rhabdomyomas were analyzed after treatment with rapamycin, and the efficacy and safety were assessed. The Wilcoxon test was used to analyze data.

RESULT

All the 51 children met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, including 30 males and 21 females.The median age for rapamycin treatment was 15.0 months (7.0-35.0 months). Tumors disappeared in 26 (51%) children, decreased by more than 50%(including 50%) in 15 (29%) children, decreased by less than 50% in 5 (12%) children, and had no change or progressed in 4 (8%) children.The number of tumors decreased by 77(72%). The median maximum diameter of tumor was 8.7 (5.9-11.3) mm before treatment, 0.0 (0.0-4.0) mm after treatment, and the median decrease of tumor size were 6.7 (3.9-10.0) mm (Z=-8.817, P<0.01). The median disappearance time was 3.26 (2.92-5.37) months.Among different age groups, after treatment by rapamycin, the rate of tumor's disappearance was 50% (12/24) in 0-1 years group.Tumors disappeared in 10 of 16 patients in >1-3 years group and in 4 of 11 patients in >3 years group.The rate of tumor's disappearance was the highest after 3 months of treatment as compared with 6 and 12 months of treatment.Ten children had adverse event that was related to rapamycin.Canker sore was reported in one child and dyslipidemia was reported in 9 children.

CONCLUSION

Rapamycin is efficacious and well tolerate in treatment of cardiac rhabdomyomas associate with TSC, and lead to a reduction in tumor size and number, in addition, significantly shorten the duration of cardiac rhabdomyoma.

[Study on incidence and risk factors of fall in the elderly in a rural community in Beijing]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the incidence of fall in the old farmers of Miyun county in Beijing.

METHODS

The old farmers who lived in Jugezhuang and Fengjiayu townships of Miyun county were selected for a questionnaire survey to collect the information about the incidence of fall and their health status.

RESULTS

A total of 2 397 old farmers, including 967 males and 1 430 females, were surveyed. Fall occurred in 347 old farmers(14.5%). The difference in the incidence of fall was significant between males(9.6%)and females(17.8%). A total of 282 falls occurred in courtyards, 45 falls occurred in field/hilly areas. Among the falls occurred, 216(27.2%)led to injuries. The most common site of injuries was hip(45 falls). Logistic regression analysis showed that physical exercise and high income were protective factors, but difficult standing up and walking, visual problem and stroke were the risk factors. In the males, the special risk factor was mid cognitive impairment, and in the females, the special risk factor was urinary incontinence, but afternoon nap was a protective factor.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of fall in the rural community was relatively high with distinct area distribution, which has caused serious influence on the mental and physical health of the elderly.

[Application of PASS in sample size estimation of non-inferiority, equivalence and superiority design in clinical trials]

The sample size of non-inferiority, equivalence and superiority design in clinical trial was estimated by using PASS 11 software. The result was compared with that by using SAS to evaluate the practicability and accuracy of PASS 11 software for the purpose of providing reference for sample size estimation in clinical trial design.

[Field investigation of occupational disease diagnosis in Guangdong Provincial Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment from 2009 to 2014: an analysis of 136 cases]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the characteristics of 136 patients with occupational diseases, to summarize key techniques used in field investigation, and to provide a scientific basis for the development of standard operating procedures for field investigation of occupational disease diagnosis.

METHODS

Field investigation and routine data analysis were performed to analyze the cases diagnosed by Guangdong Provincial Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment from January 2009 to December 2014.

RESULTS

A total of 136 cases of occupational diseases were diagnosed by Guangdong Provincial Hospital for Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment from 2009 to 2014, and there were 66 cases of leukemia, 18 cases of suspected occupational benzene poisoning, 12 cases of suspected occupational handarm vibration disease, and 11 cases of suspected pneumoconiosis. Of all these patients, 41.91% were engaged in at least three types of work, 70.59% were exposed to at least three types of chemicals, 25.74% experienced changes in technical processes and chemicals, and 47.06% had disputes on the chemicals they were exposed to during verification by both parties. Occupational hazard factors were detected. Most samples (358)were used to measure benzene concentration in workplace air, among which 11.7% had a benzene concentration of >6.00 mg/m(3)(exceeding standard), 13.41% had a benzene concentration of 3.26~6.00 mg/m(3), 75.42% had a benzene concentration of<0.03 to <3.25 mg/m(3). The samples of suspected occupational hand-arm vibration disease, suspected pneumoconiosis, and suspected occupational noiseinduced hearing loss had high overstandard rates (100%, 93.8%, and 83.3%, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Field investigation of occupational disease diagnosis reveals large numbers of cases of leukemia, suspected occupational benzene poisoning, suspected occupational hand-arm vibration disease, and suspected pneumoconiosis. The key aspects of field investigation include confirmation of the history of occupational exposure, identification of occupational hazard factors, confirmation of the changes in technical processes and chemicals, detection of occupational hazard factors, sampling and analysis of raw materials, and epidemiological investigation of workers with the same type of work.

A recombinant plasmid of composite cysteine proteinase inhibitor/glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene of periodic Brugia malayi functions on DNA immunity in the host

OBJECTIVES

Both cysteine proteinase inhibitors (CPIs) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) play important roles in the pathogenesis of parasites and their relationship with the hosts. We constructed a new eukaryotic recombinant expression plasmid pcDNA3.1(+)-BmCPI/BmGAPDH of periodic Brugia malayi for investigation of the DNA vaccine-elicited immune responses.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We cloned a gene encoding the CPIs and GAPDH from periodic B. malayi into vector pcDNA3.1. The composited plasmid or the control was injected into the tibialis anterior muscle of the hind leg in BALB/c mice, respectively. The target genes were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in muscle tissues. The stimulation index (SI) of T-lymphocyte proliferation and the levels of interferon-gamma (INF-g) and interleukin-4 ( IL-4) in serum were detected by thiazolyl blue tetrazolium blue and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

RESULTS

The pcDNA3.1(+)-BmCPI/BmGAPDH was amplified from muscle tissues of the mice after immunisation. The SI of the immunised group was significantly higher than that of the two control groups (P < 0.05). The levels of INF-g and IL-4 of pcDNA3.1(+)-BmCPI/BmGAPDH group were both higher than those of the two control groups (P < 0.05). The level of INF-g of pcDNA3.1(+)-BmCPI/BmGAPDH group was significantly higher than that of pcDNA3.1(+)-BmCPI/CpG group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that the recombinant plasmid pcDNA3.1(+)-BmCPI/BmGAPDH could elicit specific humoural and cellular immune responses in mice.

Prevalence of human papillomavirus genotypes among women with cervical lesions in the Shaanxi Province of China

This study aimed to investigate human papilloma virus (HPV) genotypes among women with cervical lesions in Shaanxi Province, China, to obtain information regarding cervical lesion prevention and treatment. The study included 4508 HPV-positive subjects; cervical swab specimens were collected and tested for HPV infection status and HPV genotypes using polymerase chain reaction and reverse dot-blot hybridization. Women positive for HPV with cervical lesions, including chronic cervicitis, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, and cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), were examined; HPV-positive women with no cervical lesions were controls. Data were pooled and weighted estimates have been presented. For women with no cervical lesions and positive for one HPV genotype, HPV 52, 16, 58, 81, 33, and 56 were the most common; for multiple-HPV genotype infection, HPV 16, 52, 6, 18, 58, and 66 were the most common. Collectively, HPV 16, 58, 52, 18, 33, and 81 were the most common in women with cervical lesions. HPV 16 comprised 26.71% of single-genotype and 15.64% of multiple-genotype infections. The proportion of HPV-16-positive cases was 29.15%, which was the highest among all HPV genotypes (P < 0.01). Single-HPV genotype infection was the most common in cervical HPV infection (77.48%); infection with two HPV genotypes comprised 72.22% of multiple-genotype infections. The proportion of single-low-risk HPV genotype infections decreased with increase in cervical lesion severity; there were no single- or multiple-low-risk genotype HPV infections in cervical SCC patients. The proportion of multiple-genotype HPV infections with at least one high-risk genotype increased with cervical lesion severity.

[Screening of sleep apnea syndrome-a review of current situation]

Obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a chronic disorder characterized by repetitive apneas, oxygen desaturation and disruption during sleep. The main clinical manifestations of OSAHS are snores, intermittent hypoxia, morning headache, excessive daytime sleepiness, tired and memory descent. OSAHS affects 3%-20% of the general population. Although commonly accepted as the gold standard for diagnosis of OSAHS, PSG is thought to be time-consuming, labor-intensive, costly and uncomfortable. Evidence from epidemiology indicated that 93% of women and 82% of men with moderate to severe OSAHS have not been clinically diagnosed. An epidemiological survey in Shanghai, China, showed that more than 85% of OSAHS was undiagnosed. Studies showed that undiagnosed OSAHS is independently associated with the increased likelihood of hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, daytime sleepiness, motor vehicle accidents, and diminished quality of life. Thus, researchers have attempted to develop a simple and effective tool to screen patients with OSAHS, which has been reviewed and summarized in our article.

All-trans retinoic acid prevents the development of type 1 diabetes by affecting the levels of interferon gamma and interleukin 4 in streptozotocin-induced murine diabetes model

The aim of this study was to explore the molecular mechanism by which all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) prevents type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Fifty ICR mice were randomly assigned to three groups: prevention group [N = 20; mice received 10 mg/kg ATRA daily for 5 days and then 60 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) for 5 days]; diabetic group (N = 20, mice received 95% sterile peanut oil and 5% dimethyl sulfoxide for 5 days and then 60 mg/kg STZ for 5 days); and control group (N = 10, mice received 95% sterile peanut oil and 5% dimethyl sulfoxide for 5 days and then citrate buffer for 5 days). Blood glucose was measured using blood glucose test strips and serum insulin was measured by radioimmunoassay. Islets cell morphology was assessed by microscopy and ELISA was used to measure the serum levels of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin 4 (IL- 4). In the prevention group, blood sugar levels were found to be reduced and serum insulin levels increased compared with the levels in the diabetic group (P < 0.05), indicating that ATRA prevented the STZ-induced damage to islet cells. Meanwhile, ATRA was shown to decrease the levels of IFN-γ and increase the levels of IL-4 as well as the IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio in STZ-treated animals (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that ATRA prevents the recurrence of autoimmune insulitis. This study demonstrated that ATRA effectively prevents the progression of T1DM in a murine model of the disease by reducing IFN-γ levels and increasing IL-4 levels.

High precision relative attitude measurement for inner payload of new photoelectric platform

A new method for measuring the relative attitude of a load on an airborne photoelectric platform supported by three-axis universal joint structure is proposed. The mathematical model for angle measurement is established, based on which the linear relation between the angle and distance is derived by using the eccentric method. Furthermore, the relative attitude measurement method for a load rotating along the yaw and pitch directions is also proposed based on a unique eccentric structure. Finally, to validate the proposed new method, a comprehensive experiment for measurement angle from -5° to +5° in increments of 0.5° was performed by using the angular capacitive sensor. The experimental results show that the precision of the angular measurement is better than 15″ with maximum 1.24 kHz bandwidth, which meets the relative attitude measurement requirements of the internal load on the airborne photoelectric platform.

Cloning and prokaryotic expression of the porcine lipasin gene

Lipasin has recently been demonstrated to be involved in lipid metabolism. In this study, two specific primers were used to amplify the lipasin open reading frame from porcine liver tissue. The polymerase chain reaction product was cloned to a pGEM®-T Easy Vector, digested by SalI and NotI, and sequenced. The lipasin fragment was then cloned to a pET21(b) vector and digested by the same restriction enzyme. The recombinant plasmid was transferred to Escherichia coli (BL21), and the lipasin protein was induced with isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside. The protein obtained was identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and western blotting. A pET-lipasin prokaryotic recombinant expression vector was successfully constructed, and a 25.2-kDa protein was obtained. This study provides a basis for further research on the biological function of porcine lipasin.

Radiologic Features and Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Stratify Survival Outcomes in Patients with Glioblastoma

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Vascular endothelial growth factor is a well-known tumor-specific biomarker that mediates angiogenesis in glioblastoma via hypoxia-dependent mechanisms. Our aim was to investigate the correlation of clinical characteristics, radiologic features, and vascular endothelial growth factor expression with survival outcomes in patients with glioblastoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Clinical and radiologic data of 185 patients with glioblastoma were retrospectively reviewed. Vascular endothelial growth factor expression was examined in all cases via immunohistochemical analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the prognostic factors of progression-free survival and overall survival.

RESULTS

Vascular endothelial growth factor expression levels were associated with the presence of ringlike tumor contrast enhancement. Age, preoperative Karnofsky Performance Scale score, gross total resection, and adjuvant therapy were identified as prognostic factors. Among patients undergoing gross total resection, high vascular endothelial growth factor expression was associated with longer progression-free survival (P = .011) and overall survival (P = .039). For tumors with high vascular endothelial growth factor expression, both the non-contrast-enhancing tumor component and peritumoral edema could stratify overall survival (P = .039 and .018, respectively), while only the presence of the non-contrast-enhancing tumor component predicted a longer progression-free survival (P = .024).

CONCLUSIONS

Vascular endothelial growth factor expression level was not an independent prognostic factor in glioblastoma. However, high vascular endothelial growth factor expression might predict longer survival in patients in whom gross total resection was achieved. Furthermore, peritumoral edema and the non-contrast-enhancing tumor component could stratify survival outcomes in patients with high vascular endothelial growth factor tumors.

Tilt engineering of exchange coupling at G-type SrMnO3/(La,Sr)MnO3 interfaces

With the recent realization of hybrid improper ferroelectricity and room-temperature multiferroic by tilt engineering, "functional" octahedral tilting has become a novel concept in multifunctional perovskite oxides, showing great potential for property manipulation and device design. However, the control of magnetism by octahedral tilting has remained a challenging issue. Here a qualitative and quantitative tilt engineering of exchange coupling, one of the magnetic properties, is demonstrated at compensated G-type antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic (SrMnO3/La2/3Sr1/3MnO3) interfaces. According to interfacial Hamiltonian, exchange bias (EB) in this system originates from an in-plane antiphase rotation (a(-)) in G-type antiferromagnetic layer. Based on first-principles calculation, tilt patterns in SrMnO3 are artificially designed in experiment with different epitaxial strain and a much stronger EB is attained in the tensile heterostructure than the compressive counterpart. By controlling the magnitude of octahedral tilting, the manipulation of exchange coupling is even performed in a quantitative manner, as expected in the theoretical estimation. This work realized the combination of tilt engineering and exchange coupling, which might be significant for the development of multifunctional materials and antiferromagnetic spintronics.

Comparative analysis of phylogenetic relationships, morphologies, and pathogenicities among Curvularia lunata isolates from maize in China

To understand the effects of disease-resistant maize varieties and new cropping systems on the population of Curvularia lunata, 52 isolates of C. lunata were collected in China from 2011 to 2013. The isolates were analyzed in terms of phylogenetic relationships, morphology, and pathogenicity. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the 52 isolates clustered into 2 distinct clusters with further subdivisions, suggesting the emergence of new genetic divergence within C. lunata. Results of morphology and pathogenicity analyses demonstrated that there were significant differences among these isolates: 27 isolates were classified as fast growing, 5 as slow growing, and 20 as moderate growing. Three isolates had white-colored colonies, 13 had yellowish green-colored colonies, and the remaining isolates had dark green-colored colonies. Furthermore, conidiation rates were assessed: 30 isolates were characterized as having low conidiation rates, 15 as having medium conidiation rates, and the remaining 7 isolates as having high conidiation rates. Eleven of the isolates appeared to be strongly pathogenic against maize, 15 isolates proved to be weakly pathogenic against maize, and the remaining isolates were regarded to be moderately pathogenic. Interestingly, correlation analysis demonstrated a negative correlation between the growth rate and the pathogenicity of the isolates, while a positive correlation was observed between the conidiation rate and the pathogenicity. No correlation was observed between the colony color and the pathogenicity of the isolates.

Patterns of Tumor Contrast Enhancement Predict the Prognosis of Anaplastic Gliomas with IDH1 Mutation

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It is proposed that isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutation predicts the outcome in patients with high-grade glioma. In addition, contrast enhancement on preoperative MR imaging reflects tumor biologic features. Patients with anaplastic glioma with the IDH1 mutation were evaluated by using MR imaging to determine whether tumor enhancement is a prognostic factor and can be used to predict survival.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cohort of 216 patients with histologically confirmed anaplastic glioma was reviewed retrospectively. Tumor contrast-enhancement patterns were classified on the basis of preoperative T1 contrast MR images. Tumor IDH1 status was examined by using RNA sequencing. We used univariate analysis and the multivariate Cox model to evaluate the prognostic value of the IDH1 mutation and tumor contrast-enhancement pattern for progression-free survival and overall survival.

RESULTS

In all 216 patients, IDH1 mutation was associated with longer progression-free survival (P = .004, hazard ratio = 0.439) and overall survival (P = .002, hazard ratio = 0.406). For patients with IDH1 mutant anaplastic glioma, the absence of contrast enhancement was associated with longer progression-free survival (P = .038, hazard ratio = 0.473) and overall survival (P = .043, hazard ratio = 0.436). Furthermore, we were able to stratify the progression-free survival and overall survival of patients with IDH1 mutation by using the tumor contrast-enhancement patterns (P = .022 and 0.029, respectively; log-rank).

CONCLUSIONS

Tumor enhancement on postcontrast MR imaging is a valuable prognostic factor for patients with anaplastic glioma and IDH1 mutation. Furthermore, the contrast-enhancement patterns could potentially be used to stratify the survival outcome of such patients.

Molecular cloning, characterization, and expression of vacuolar-type-H⁺-ATPase B1 (VHAB1) gene in the gill of Anguilla marmorata

We explored the molecular mechanism of the regulation of vacuolar-type-H+-ATPase B1 (VHAB1) in elvers in the response to salinity. The full-length cDNA of VHAB1 in Anguilla marmorata (designated as AmVHAB1), which was 1741 base pairs (bp) in length, was found to encompass a 1512-bp open reading frame encoding a polypeptide with 503 amino acids (55.9 kDa), an 83-bp 5'-untranslated region, and a 146-bp 3'-untranslated region. The mRNA and protein expression levels of AmVHAB1 in the gill were evaluated at different time points (0, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h, and 15 days) during the exposure to various salinity levels (0, 10, and 25‰). The results indicated that the expression levels of AmVHAB1 mRNA in the gill significantly increased and reached the highest level at 1 h exposure in the brackish water (BW, 10‰) group and at 6 h exposure in the seawater (SW, 25‰) group. The salinity level affected the relative expression level of AmVHAB1 mRNA in the gill, which was increased by approximately 44-fold in the SW group when compared with that in fresh water. Immunoblotting analysis showed that VHA expression was significantly higher in the BW and SW groups, with the highest expression level was detected at 96 h exposure. We found that the AmVHAB1 gene in elvers from A. marmorata plays an important role in the adaptation to seawater.

Spontaneous infarction within a meningioma with negative DWI: an imaging pattern in patients with acute neurological deterioration

Despite being slow growing and presenting with insidious symptoms, patients with a meningioma can have rapid neurological deterioration as a result of increased intracranial pressure (ICP). The cause of raised ICP is often the development of peritumoral oedema, although the mechanism remains poorly understood. Infarction of meningiomas has been reported. The authors report a series of two cases in which spontaneous meningioma infarction and the development of peritumoral oedema resulted in increased ICP, neurological deterioration and presentation.

Financial burden on the families of patients with hepatitis B virus-related liver diseases and the role of public health insurance in Yunnan province of China

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the financial burden of patients who had various stages of hepatitis B virus-related diseases and the level of alleviation from financial burden by health insurance schemes in Yunnan province of China.

STUDY DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey.

METHODS

Patients' information was consecutively recorded at the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, from December 2012 to June 2013. Consecutive cases of hepatitis B virus (HBV) (520), compensated cirrhosis (91), decompensated cirrhosis (198) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (131) were recruited from the outpatient and inpatient departments. The total direct costs, hospital charge, outpatient costs, hospitalization fees being reimbursed and household catastrophic health expenditure were estimated for each disease group.

RESULTS

The average annual direct costs for each disease group were 19,496 RMB for HBV, 28,466 RMB in compensated cirrhosis, 46,061 RMB for decompensated cirrhosis, and 33,044 RMB for HCC patients. Catastrophic health expenditure occurred in all four groups. Health insurance reimbursement released the financial burden incurred by medical expenses of patients under a high level of household economic status. Public health insurance schemes helped the patients to various extents.

CONCLUSIONS

Among these patient groups, direct costs represent a significant economic burden. Health expenditure and financing systems must be considered to prevent the increase of household catastrophe, particularly among the poor.

Highly efficient one-step PCR-based mutagenesis technique for large plasmids using high-fidelity DNA polymerase

Gene mutation plays an important role in molecular biological studies. A highly efficient one-step polymerase chain reaction-based mutagenesis technique for site-directed mutagenesis was developed in this study. One complementary pair of primers was designed that contained the desired mutations in the middle of the primers. The amplification products of mutation were amplified using a high-fidelity DNA polymerase and the original plasmid templates were digested by DpnI. This method was successfully used to introduce mutations in two different-sized plasmids (12 and 6 kb) with high efficiency. The results indicate that this technique can be widely used to introduce any plasmid mutations quickly and efficiently.

Molecular cloning and tissue distribution profiles of the chicken R-spondin1 gene

Rspo1 belongs to the Rspo family, which is composed of 4 members (Rspo1-4) that share 40 to 60% sequence homology and similar domain organizations, and regulate the WNT signaling pathway via a common mechanism. Rspo1 plays a key role in vertebrate development and is an effective mitogenic factor of gastrointestinal epithelial cells. We report the cloning of chicken Rspo1 and its gene expression distribution among tissues. It contained an open reading frame of 783 bp encoding a protein of 260 amino acids, and its molecular weight was predicted to be 28.80 kDa. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-based gene expression analysis indicated that chicken Rspo1 was highly expressed in the stomach muscle tissue, but was expressed at low levels in the lung, brain, jejunum, cecum, ileum, spleen, pancreas, kidney, and glandular stomach. These results suggest that Rspo1 plays a major role in muscular immune protection.

Development and validation of single nucleotide polymorphism markers in Odontobutis potamophila from transcriptomic sequencing

Transcriptome sequencing technology has been applied in the development and discovery of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in fish. In this study, a panel of 120 expressed sequence tag (EST)-derived SNPs was selected by several selection filters from the resultant EST library of Odontobutis potamophila using Illumina Sequencing. In total, 37 SNPs from 120 putative SNPs were considered as the true SNPs using Sanger sequencing. For each SNP locus of 30 individuals of one wild population of O. potamophila that was successfully calculated, the number of alleles per locus was 2 with an observed heterozygosity of 0.0000-0.9000 and an expected heterozygosity of 0.1000-0.5263. A total of 33 loci conformed to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), and 4 loci deviated from HWE after Bonferroni correction. These 33 SNP markers will benefit the studies of population genetic structure, population evolution analysis, and construction of a high-density linkage map of O. potamophila.

Natural variation of rice blast resistance gene Pi-d2

Studying natural variation in rice resistance genes of cultivated and wild rice relatives can predict resistance stability to rice blast fungus. In the present study, the protein coding regions of the rice R gene Pi-d2 in 35 rice accessions, including Oryza sativa L. subsp. indica Kato (Aus), indica (IND), temperate japonica (TEJ), tropical japonica (TRJ), aromatic (ARO); subgroups of Oryza sativa; 6 accessions of wild rice varieties; O. nivara; and O. rufipogon were analyzed. A total of 13 nucleotide differences were found in the open reading frames (ORFs) of Pi-d2. Translation of these ORFs revealed 9 variants; 3 were novel Pi-d2 variants. Variants H2 and H5 were identified in accessions of cultivated rice and O. nivara, H1, H3, H4, H6, and H8 were only identified in cultivated rice. H2 and H5 were the common types of IND and O. nivara, H8 was the common type of TRJ and AUS, H6 was the specific type of AUS, and H3 was the specific type of ARO. H7 and H9 were specific haplotypes of O. nivara and O. rufipogon, respectively. These findings demonstrate that Pi-d2 variants are useful indicators for each subgroup, and Pi-d2 is an ancient gene that predates speciation of rice subgroups.

Gefitinib maintenance therapy in Chinese advanced-stage lung adenocarcinoma patients with EGFR mutations treated with prior chemotherapy

The aim of this study was to determine the response of advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with or without EGFR mutations to platinum-based chemotherapy with or without gefitinib maintenance. Patients were treated with four cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with wild-type EGFR were observed (group 1; n=15). EGFR mutation-positive patients were randomly assigned to observation (group 2; n=7) or gefitinib maintenance (group 3; n=7). The median patient age was 59 years. The 1-year progression-free survival rates in groups 1, 2, and 3 were 6.7%, 28.6%, and 57.1%, respectively (p = 0.049); the 1-year overall survival rates were 53.3%, 57.1 %, and 100%, respectively (p = 0.111). The results indicate that patients with advanced-stage NSCLC with EGFR mutations have a better response to chemotherapy followed by gefitinib than chemotherapy alone and a better response to chemotherapy than wild-type patients.

KEYWORDS

chemotherapy, gefitinib, NSCLC, tyrosine kinase inhibitors.