Objective: Iron deficiency is a common complication in patients with polycythemia vera (PV). Hepcidin is a principal regulator of iron homeostasis. The aim of our study was to assess prohepcidin, a hepcidin precursor, and other iron status parameters in the serum of PV patients. Methods: The study was performed in 60 patients (F/M 26/34) aged 38~84 (66±10) years. The control group consisted of 20 healthy volunteers, age and sex matched. The following parameters were determined in blood serum samples: prohepcidin concentration, iron content, unsaturated iron binding capacity (UIBC), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), transferrin saturation (TfS), and concentrations of ferritin and soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR). Results: All PV patients showed significantly lower levels of prohepcidin, higher levels of sTfR and TIBC compared to the control group. 40% of the patients from the study group showed concentrations of ferritin below the normal range and significantly lower levels of serum iron and TfS, and significantly higher levels of sTfR, UIBC and TIBC in comparison with the rest of the study group. In this group of patients, prohepcidin concentrations were significantly lower than those in other patients. Conclusion: The results indicate that PV patients suffer from iron metabolism disorders. The decreased serum level of prohepcidin in PV patients may be a result of iron deficiency.

To explore the role of a novel Obg-like ATPase 1 (OLA1) in cancer metastasis, small interference RNA (siRNA) was used to knockdown the protein, and the cells were subjected to in vitro cell migration and invasion assays. Knockdown of OLA1 significantly inhibited cell migration and invasion in breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The knockdown caused no changes in cell growth but affected ROS production. In wound-healing assays, decreased ROS in OLA1-knockdown cells were in situ associated with the cells’ decreased motile morphology. Further, treatment of N-acetylcysteine, a general ROS scavenger, blunted the motility and invasiveness of MDA-MB-231 cells, similar to the effect of OLA1-knockdown. These results suggest that knockdown of OLA1 inhibits breast cancer cell migration and invasion through a mechanism that involves the modulation of intracellular ROS levels.

Objectives: The use of gasless laparoscopy with an abdominal wall-lifting device for benign gynecological diseases was compared to conventional laparoscopy with CO₂ pneumoperitoneum. Methods: From February 2007 to July 2007, 76 women with uterine and/or adnexal benign diseases and candidates for laparoscopic surgery were recruited in this study. Thirty-two women underwent gasless laparoscopic surgery and 44 women underwent pneumoperitoneum laparoscopic surgery. Results: Diverse pathologies, including adnexal cyst, uterine myoma and ectopic pregnancy, were treated successfully with gasless laparoscopic surgery. Compared with the patients in the pneumoperitoneum group, the similar hospital stay (P=0.353) and intraoperative blood loss (P=0.157) were observed. However, the mean operative time in the gasless group was significantly longer than that in the pneumoperitoneum group (P=0.003). No severe intraoperative or postoperative complications were found in either group, except for one case of laparotomic conversion in the pneumoperitoneum group due to dense pelvic adhesions. The total hospital charges were significantly less in the gasless group than in the pneumoperitoneum group (P=0.001). In 38 cases of ovarian cyst resection, the mean operative time in the gasless group remained longer than that in the pneumoperitoneum group (P=0.017). The total hospital charges were also significantly less in the gasless group than in the pneumoperitoneum group (P<0.001). Conclusion: Our preliminary results demonstrated that the laparoscopic procedure using the gasless technique was a safe, effective method to treat benign gynecological diseases. Moreover, it was easy to master. As a minimally invasive treatment, gasless laparoscopic surgery provides a good choice to patients in the undeveloped regions in China without increasing the patients’ and the government’s burden significantly.

Litsea elliptica Blume leaves have been traditionally used as medicinal herbs because of its antimutagenicity, chemopreventative and insecticidal properties. In this study, the toxic effects of L. elliptica essential oil against Sprague-Dawley rat’s red blood cells (RBCs) were evaluated. L. elliptica essential oil was given by oral gavage 5 times per week for 3 treated groups in the doses of 125, 250, and 500 mg/(kg body weight), respectively, and the control group received distilled water. Full blood count, RBC osmotic fragility, RBC morphological changes, and RBC membrane lipid were analyzed 28 d after the treatment. Although L. elliptica essential oil administration had significantly different effects on hemoglobin (Hb), mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean cell volume (MCV), and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) in the experimental groups as compared to the control group (P<0.05), the values were still within the normal range. L. elliptica induced morphological changes of RBC into the form of echinocyte. The percentage of echinocyte increased significantly among the treated groups in a dose-response manner (P<0.001). The concentrations of RBC membrane phospholipids and cholesterol of all treated groups were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.001). However, the RBC membrane osmotic fragility and total proteins of RBC membrane findings did not differ significantly between control and treated groups (P>0.05). It is concluded that structural changes in the RBC membrane due to L. elliptica essential oil administration did not cause severe membrane damage.

Objective: To explore the effects of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection on rejection-related gene expression in the endothelial cells of renal transplantation recipients. Methods: Endothelial cells (ECs) were cultured and stimulated by a variety of factors: A, normal control group; B, inactivated human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection group; C, HCMV infection group; D, HCMV supernatant infection group; and E, ganciclovir HCMV group. Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and major histocompability complex (MHC) class I and class II antigens was detected by flow cytometry (FCM) and immunohistochemistry. Results: We found characteristic CMV-infected ECs in this study. There were no significant differences among groups A, B and D (P>0.05). Although the expression levels of ICAM-1 were not significantly different between groups C and E (P>0.05), the ICAM-1 expression in these two groups was significantly higher than that in group A (P<0.05). ICAM-1 expression was detected in groups C and E, while there was no expression in groups A, B and D. Furthermore, there was no significant difference of ICAM-1 mRNA expression between groups C and E (P>0.05). Human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-ABC expression was detected in all the groups, while HLA-DR expression was only detected in groups C and E. There were no significant differences of HLA-ABC and HLA-DR expression among groups A, B and D (P>0.05). However, the HLA-ABC and HLA-DR expression levels in groups C and D were higher than those of the remaining groups previously reported (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the HLA-ABC and HLA-DR expression levels in group E were lower than those of group C (P<0.05). Conclusion: CMV could up-regulate the expression levels of ICAM-1 and MHC antigens, which was closely related to allograft rejection.

We presented a case of anomalous single-coronary artery detected incidentally during routine coronary angiography. A 32-year-old male Chinese patient presented with recurrent pre-syncope and six episodes of syncope. Coronary angiography and coronary-computed tomography (CT)-angiography performed by a dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) revealed that the patient had a single large right coronary artery. A moderately large branch originated from the proximal part of the single right coronary artery and extended to the left, passing the anterior to the pulmonary artery, and divided into the anterior descending artery branch and circumflex branch at the base of the left auricular appendage. The episodes of the syncope were suspected to be caused by coronary arterial spasm, so this patient was on a regimen of 30 mg of diltiazem every 6 h and had no recurrence of syncope during follow-up.

We report that a 63-year-old Chinese female had acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) in which trisomy 21 (+21) was found as the sole acquired karyotypic abnormality. The blasts were positive for myeloperoxidase, and the immunophenotype was positive for cluster of differentiation 19 (CD19), CD33, CD34, and human leukocyte antigens (HLA)-DR. The chromosomal analysis of bone marrow showed 47,XX,+21[2]/46,XX[18]. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) showed that three copies of AML1 were situated in separate chromosomes, and that t(8;21) was negative. The patient did not have any features of Down syndrome. A diagnosis of CD19-positive AML-M5 was established with trisomy 21 as a sole acquired karyotypic abnormality. The patient did not respond well to chemotherapy and died three months after the diagnosis. This is the first reported case of CD19-positive AML with trisomy 21 as the sole cytogenetic abnormality. The possible prognostic significance of the finding in AML with +21 as the sole acquired karyotypic abnormality was discussed.

High malting quality of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) relies on many traits, such as β-amylase and limit dextrinase activities and β-glucan and protein fraction contents. In this study, interval mapping was utilized to detect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting these malting quality parameters using a doubled haploid (DH) population from a cross of CM72 (six-rowed) by Gairdner (two-rowed) barley cultivars. A total of nine QTLs for eight traits were mapped to chromosomes 3H, 4H, 5H, and 7H. Five of the nine QTLs mapped to chromosome 3H, indicating a possible role of loci on chromosome 3H on malting quality. The phenotypic variation accounted by individual QTL ranged from 8.08% to 30.25%. The loci of QTLs for β-glucan and limit dextrinase were identified on chromosomes 4H and 5H, respectively. QTL for hordeins was coincident with the region of silica eluate (SE) protein on 3HS, while QTLs for albumins, globulins, and total protein exhibited overlapping. One locus on chromosome 3H was found to be related to β-amylase, and two loci on chromosomes 5H and 7H were found to be associated with glutelins. The identification of these novel QTLs controlling malting quality may be useful for marker-assisted selection in improving barley malting quality.

We examined salt tolerance responsive genes in Pak-choi under salt stress and analyze their potential function. The mRNA differential display was used to screen the transcript derived fragments (TDFs) related to salinity tolerance in tolerant and moderately tolerant Pak-choi germplasm. Seventy-eight primer combinations generated 101 differential cDNA fragments, which were divided into 10 expression types. Seven cDNA sequences (GenBank accession Nos. DQ006915~DQ006921) obtained and sequenced were highly homologous to some known expression genes or the genes related to the signaling pathways in plants under different abiotic stress.

Oily wastewater generated by various industries creates a major ecological problem throughout the world. The traditional methods for the oily wastewater treatment are inefficient and costly. Surfactants can promote the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by dispersing oil into aqueous environment. In the present study, we applied rhamnolipid-containing cell-free culture broth to enhance the biodegradation of crude oil and lubricating oil in a conventional aerobically-activated sludge system. At 20 °C, rhamnolipids (11.2 mg/L) increased the removal efficiency of crude oil from 17.7% (in the absence of rhamnolipids) to 63%. At 25 °C, the removal efficiency of crude oil was over 80% with the presence of rhamnolipids compared with 22.3% in the absence of rhamnolipids. Similarly, rhamnolipid treatment (22.5 mg/L) for 24 h at 20 °C significantly increased the removal rate of lubricating oil to 92% compared with 24% in the absence of rhamnolipids. The enhanced removal of hydrocarbons was mainly attributed to the improved solubility and the reduced interfacial tension by rhamnolipids. We conclude that a direct application of the crude rhamnolipid solution from cell culture is effective and economic in removing oily contaminants from wastewater.

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) thin film was deposited on the surface of the light addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) to modify the sensor surface for the non-labeled detection of DNA molecules. To evaluate the effect of ultraviolet (UV) treatment on the silanization level of TiO₂ thin film by 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS), fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was used to label the amine group on the end of APTS immobilized onto the TiO₂ thin film. We found that, with UV irradiation, the silanization level of the irradiated area of the TiO₂ film was improved compared with the non-irradiated area under well-controlled conditions. This result indicates that TiO₂ can act as a coating material on the biosensor surface to improve the effect and efficiency of the covalent immobilization of biomolecules on the sensor surface. The artificially synthesized probe DNA molecules were covalently linked onto the surface of TiO₂ film. The hybridization of probe DNA and target DNA was monitored by the recording of I-V curves that shift along the voltage axis during the process of reaction. A significant LAPS signal can be detected at 10 μmol/L of target DNA sample.