西安地区人群肺功能问卷调查

目的探讨西安地区部分人群肺功能的特点,生活习惯和环境等因素与肺功能的关系。方法2012年7—8月对西安地区东郊和北郊共405人进行问卷调查和肺功能检测,并用多元逐步回归分析不同因素对肺功能指标的影响。结果西安地区东郊和北郊人群FVC,PEF和FEF25—75均低于正常预计值,东郊和北郊人群之间肺功能主要指标差异有统计学意义（P〈0．001）;肺功能主要指标与年龄增长、性别和肺部疾病呈负相关（P〈0．05）。结论西安地区部分人群肺功能主要指标偏低,为今后该地区呼吸系统疾病防治提供依据。     

Pathogenic role of mast cells in the development of diabetic nephropathy: a study of patients at different stages of the disease

Aims/hypothesis  

Increased renal mast cells have been detected in diabetic nephropathy. However, only a few patients have been examined. Evidence of the involvement of mast cells in diabetic nephropathy is still scarce, and no observation of mast cells during the development of diabetic nephropathy has yet been reported in humans. Here, we examined changes in renal mast cells in patients at different stages of diabetic nephropathy and related these to the development of the disease.     

Usefulness of magnifying narrow-band imaging endoscopy for the diagnosis of gastric and colorectal lesions

A series of studies about the potential usefulness of magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (NBI) for the diagnosis of gastric and colonic lesion is reviewed. Concerning the magnifying NBI appearances of gastric lesions, a light blue crest is a highly accurate sign of the presence of histological intestinal metaplasia. Also, the degree of irregularity of the mucosal and vascular pattern is correlated with the histological severity of Helicobacter pylori-associated chronic gastritis. According to the 'VS classification', an irregular microvascular pattern and/or an irregular microsurface pattern together with a clear demarcation line are characteristic for early gastric carcinoma, and a multicenter prospective randomized controlled trial demonstrated that magnifying endoscopy with NBI is superior to ordinary white light endoscopy for making a differential diagnosis of a small depressed lesion between carcinoma and non-carcinoma. Concerning the magnifying NBI appearances of colonic tumor, the vague or invisible microvascular pattern is mostly observed in hyperplastic polyp. The regular meshed microvascular pattern is mostly observed in adenoma. The irregular meshed microvascular pattern is mostly observed in intramucosal or shallow submucosal-invasive carcinoma. The decreased or loose microvasucular pattern is mostly observed in deep submucosal-invasive carcinoma. Thus, magnifying NBI endoscopy is useful for the differentiation of colorectal non-adenomatous lesions from adenoma, the differentiation of adenoma from carcinoma, and the assessment of invasion depth of early colorectal carcinoma. At present, several magnifying NBI classifications for the diagnosis of early colorectal neoplasia have been proposed in Japan. Recently, the NICE classification based on NBI findings with/without magnification for colorectal tumor was established by an international group.     

TRAV gene expression in PBMCs and TILs in patients with breast cancer analyzed by a DNA melting curve (FQ-PCR) technique for TCR alpha chain CDR3 spectratyping

Purpose. To explore the expression of the TRAV gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in the patients with breast cancer using a?DNA melting curve (FQ-PCR) technique for T?cell receptor (TCR) alpha chain CDR3 spectratyping. Peripheral blood samples and tissue samples were obtained from thirty breast cancer patients. Total RNA was extracted from PBMCs and tumor tissues and then reverse transcribed into cDNA. FQ-PCR was used to amplify the human TCR alpha chain CDR3 region with the primers to the TRAV and TRAC genes. TCR alpha chain CDR3 spectratyping and partial CDR3 sequencing were used to determine use of TRAV gene product in T?cell responses. TCR alpha CDR3 spectratyping showed preferential usage of certain TRAV genes in the PBMCs and TILs of all patients with breast cancer. The frequencies of TRAV1.1, TRAV9, and TRAV29 exceeded 30% in PBMCs and the frequencies of TRAV1.1 and TRAV22 exceeded 30% in TILs. More than three quarters of the patients (23/30) overexpressed the same gene in both PBMCs and TILs; for example, patient-1 highly expressed TRAV9 in the PBMCs and TILs. Patients with positive or negative tumor markers of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), pS2, C-erbB-2, nm23, P53, and Ki-67 showed no significant common TRAV gene expression, but some TRAV gene preferential usage frequencies exceeded 20%. For example, five of seven patients positive for ER had high levels of expression of TRAV1.1 and TRAV3. Finally, the amino acid sequence of TCR CDR3 region showed some common motifs in some of the patients. Conclusions. TRAV gene expression was complex and diverse in the patients with breast cancer. The TRAV gene usage may be closely related to the diversity of breast tumor antigens and the differential immune responses observed in individual patients. Research into the immunological mechanism of T?cells may provide guidance for individual T?cell-directed therapy for breast cancer. Keywords: breast cancer, TRAV gene, TCR CDR3 spectratyping, FQ-PCR, DNA melting curve.     

First-time donors responding to a national disaster may be an untapped resource for the blood centre

Background On 12 May 2008, a severe earthquake struck Sichuan in China. Many people donated blood for the first time, leading us to question whether these donors might become repeat donors in the future. The return pattern of post‐earthquake first‐time donors (PEFTD) was compared with that of first‐time donors (FTD) in a comparable period. Methods Demographic characteristics, transfusion‐transmissible infection rates and 1‐year return rates were compared between 5147 PEFTD (5/13‐5/19, 2008) and 3176 FTD (5/13‐5/19, 2009) from five Chinese blood centres using chi‐squared tests. Adjusted logistic regression was used to detect earthquake effect on donor return. Results Post‐earthquake first‐time donors were more frequently between 26 and 45 years, men, and better educated compared with the control group. Slightly higher but not statistically significant increased rates of hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) (0·87% vs. 0·50%, P = 0·054), hepatitis C virus (HCV) (0·70% vs. 0·63%, P = 0·414), syphilis (0·9% vs. 0·7%, P = 0·489) and lower rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (0·31% vs. 0·60%, P = 0·078) reactivity were detected for PEFTD. The 1‐year return rate for PEFTD was significantly lower than that of the controls (8·0% vs. 13·0%, P < 0·001). After adjusting for demographic factors, donation volume and sites, the PEFTD were less likely to return in 1 year than the controls (OR: 0·520; 95% CI: 0·442, 0·611). Conclusion Post‐earthquake first‐time donors may be less likely to donate again without continuing motivation strategies. Further studies on PEFTD’s lack of motivation to return for donation are needed to design recruitment strategies to convert PEFTD to become repeat donors to continuously replenish the blood supply.