PHACTR1 gene polymorphism with the risk of coronary artery disease in Chinese Han population.

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most frequent multifactorial disease worldwide and is characterised by endothelial injury, lipid deposition and coronary artery calcification. The purpose of this study was to determine the allelic and genotypic frequencies of two loci (rs2026458 and rs9349379) of phosphatase and actin regulator 1 (PHACTR1) to the risk of developing CAD in the Chinese Han population.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted including 332 patients with CAD and 119 controls.

Red cell distribution width in coronary heart disease: prediction of restenosis and its relationship with inflammatory markers and lipids.

Background: Red cell distribution width (RDW) is associated with a poor prognosis and adverse events in cardiovascular diseases. The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between serum RDW levels and outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention and to identify potential novel laboratory markers for evaluating the risk of in-stent restenosis (ISR) with stable angina pectoris.

Methods: A total of 261 patients with coronary heart disease from Dongfeng General Hospital implanted with a coronary drug-eluting stent (DES) were enrolled in the study.

The relationship between disease activity measured by the BASDAI and psychological status, stressful life events, and sleep quality in ankylosing spondylitis.

Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) is a standard instrument regularly used to assess disease activity of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). However, the well-being of a patient is also affected by impairment of function as well as psychological status and other factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate if psychological status, stressful life events, and sleep quality contribute significantly to BASDAI.

A genome-wide association study in Han Chinese identifies new susceptibility loci for ankylosing spondylitis.

To identify susceptibility loci for ankylosing spondylitis, we performed a two-stage genome-wide association study in Han Chinese. In the discovery stage, we analyzed 1,356,350 autosomal SNPs in 1,837 individuals with ankylosing spondylitis and 4,231 controls; in the validation stage, we analyzed 30 suggestive SNPs in an additional 2,100 affected individuals and 3,496 controls. We identified two new susceptibility loci between EDIL3 and HAPLN1 at 5q14.

Geranylgeranylacetone protects against myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury by inhibiting high-mobility group box 1 protein in rats.

The high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein plays an important role in myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury. Geranylgeranylacetone (GGA), a heat shock protein 72 inducer, has been reported to reduce myocardial I/R injury. The aim of this study was to investigate the cardioprotective mechanism of GGA during myocardial I/R injury in rats.

Multicenter validation of the value of BASFI and BASDAI in Chinese ankylosing spondylitis and undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy patients.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the reliability of Bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index (BASFI) and Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI) in Chinese ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy (USpA) patients. 664 AS patients by the revised New York criteria for AS and 252 USpA patients by the European Spondyloarthropathy Study Group criteria were enrolled. BASDAI and BASFI questionnaires were translated into Chinese.

Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis with T-614 compared with methotrexate.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of T-614 versus methotrexate (MTX) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: In this multicenter, double-blind trial, 489 patients randomly received either T-614 25 mg/day for the first 4 weeks and 50 mg/day for the subsequent 20 weeks (group 1, n = 163), T-614 50 mg/day for 24 weeks (group 2, n = 163), or MTX 10 mg/week for the first 4 weeks and 15 mg/week for the subsequent 20 weeks (n = 163). Clinical and laboratory parameters were analyzed at baseline and at 4, 10, 17, and 24 weeks.

Establishment of stable high expression cell line with green fluorescent protein and resistance genes.

In order to establish stable high expression cell lines, the eukaryotic expression vector pIRES2EGFP and recombinant plasmid pIRES2EGFP-TIM-3 were transfected into mammalian cells CHO by Lipofectamine. The transfected cells were cultivated under selective growth medium including G418 and green fluorescent protein (GFP) positive cells were sorted by FACS. Simultaneously, growing transfectants were selected only by G418 in the medium.

[Expression of human T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 3(TIM-3) on eukaryotic cells and establishment of stable transfectant cell line].

Aim: To construct eukaryotic expression vector of human T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 3(TIM-3) and transfect mammalian cells to establish stable cell line.

Methods: The whole coding region of TIM-3 was amplified by PCR and inserted into eukaryotic expression vector pIRES2EGFP. The recombinant plasmid was transfected into mammalian cells by Lipofectamine.

Expression of costimulatory molecules B7/CD28 in systemic lupus erythematosus.

The expression of the costimulatory molecules B7/CD28 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and its relation to the pathogenesis of SLE were studied. The expression of the costimulatory molecules in PBMC in 30 patients with active SLE and 20 cases of healthy controls was detected by using the techniques of immunofluorescence and flow cytometer. The result showed that the expression percentage of CD28+, CD4+ CD28+ in T cells of PBMC from the patients with SLE decreased significantly as compared with that in healthy control group, while the expression percentage of CD80+, CD19+ CD80+ in B cells was significantly increased than that in healthy control group (P<0.

Leflunomide, a new disease-modifying drug for treating active rheumatoid arthritis in methotrexate-controlled phase II clinical trial.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of leflunomide in comparison with methotrexate (MTX) on patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in China.

Methods: Five hundred and sixty-six patients with active rheumatoid arthritis were randomly assigned to receive leflunomide at 20 mg once daily or MTX at 15 mg once weekly in a controlled trial. Five hundred and four patients completed the 12-week treatment and some patients continued the treatment for 24 weeks.