Comparison of a rapid diagnostic test and microimmunofluorescence assay for detecting antibody to Orientia tsutsugamushi in scrub typhus patients in China.

Objective: To evaluate the detection of IgM and IgG antibodies to Orientia tsutsugamushi (O. tsutsugamushi) by rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and microimmunofluorescence assay (mIFA).

Methods: RDT using a mixture of recombinant 56-kDa proteins of O.

Investigation of anaplasmosis in Yiyuan County, Shandong Province, China.

Objective: To investigate the situation of anaplasmosis in Yiyuan county, Shandong Province.

Methods: A total of 26 blood samples from febrile patients suspected of anaplasmosis, 48 blood samples from healthy farmers, 8 from dogs, and 10 from goats and 170 ticks were collected in the same area during 2005-2007, and detected by serological and molecular methods.

Results: Eight confirmed cases and 6 probable cases were determined using serologic and molecular methods.

[Fifteen-year evolving trends of etiology and prognosis in hospitalized patients with heart failure].

Objective: To investigate the etiological and prognostic changes of hospitalized patients with chronic heart failure.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 7319 hospitalized patients (male 62.07%) with validated primary discharge diagnosis of chronic heart failure in Chinese PLA General Hospital in Beijing from January 1, 1993 to December 31, 2007.

Acetylation regulates gluconeogenesis by promoting PEPCK1 degradation via recruiting the UBR5 ubiquitin ligase.

Protein acetylation has emerged as a major mechanism in regulating cellular metabolism. Whereas most glycolytic steps are reversible, the reaction catalyzed by pyruvate kinase is irreversible, and the reverse reaction requires phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK1) to commit for gluconeogenesis. Here, we show that acetylation regulates the stability of the gluconeogenic rate-limiting enzyme PEPCK1, thereby modulating cellular response to glucose.

[Mitochondrial tRNAMet mutation in Chinese Han essential hypertensive individuals].

The objective of the present study was to explore the relationship between mitochondrial tRNAMet mutation and development of essential hypertension in Chinese Han individuals. A total of 990 patients with essential hypertension were involved. The general data (sex, age, body mass index, onset age, and family history) and information on routine blood test, blood biochemical examination, and color Doppler echocardiography of these patients were collected.

The coexistence of multiple cardiovascular diseases is an independent predictor of the 30-day mortality of hospitalized patients with congestive heart failure: a study in Beijing.

Background: Congestive heart failure (CHF) has become a major clinical and public health challenge with the aging of the population in China. However, the effect of the coexistence of multiple cardiovascular diseases on the prognosis of hospitalized patients with CHF remains unclear. A comparative analysis was performed to explore the etiology and comorbidities of CHF and in-hospital mortality in patients with CHF.

The seroprevalence of pandemic influenza H1N1 (2009) virus in China.

Background: Mainland China experienced pandemic influenza H1N1 (2009) virus (pH1N1) with peak activity during November-December 2009. To understand the geographic extent, risk factors, and attack rate of pH1N1 infection in China we conducted a nationwide serological survey to determine the prevalence of antibodies to pH1N1.

Methodology/principal Findings: Stored serum samples (n = 2,379) collected during 2006-2008 were used to estimate baseline serum reactogenicity to pH1N1.

[Sero-epidemiological investigation on Rickettsia typhi, Bartonella henselae and Orientia tsutsugamushi in farmers from rural areas of Tianjin, 2007 - 2009].

Objective: To study the sero-epidemiological status regarding Rickettsia (R.) typhi, Bartonella (B.) henselae and Orientia (O.

Maternally inherited essential hypertension is associated with the novel 4263A>G mutation in the mitochondrial tRNAIle gene in a large Han Chinese family.

Rationale: Despite maternal transmission of hypertension in some pedigrees, pathophysiology of maternally inherited hypertension remains poorly understood.

Objective: To establish a causative link between mitochondrial dysfunction and essential hypertension.

Method And Results: A total of 106 subjects from a large Chinese family underwent clinical, genetic, molecular, and biochemical evaluations.

Fever with thrombocytopenia associated with a novel bunyavirus in China.

Background: Heightened surveillance of acute febrile illness in China since 2009 has led to the identification of a severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) with an unknown cause. Infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum has been suggested as a cause, but the pathogen has not been detected in most patients on laboratory testing.

Methods: We obtained blood samples from patients with the case definition of SFTS in six provinces in China.

The protective roles of mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium channels during hypoxia-ischemia-reperfusion in brain.

The role of ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion has been well documented. K(ATP) channel openers protect neuron by mimicking ischemic preconditioning. However, the different protection between the mitochondrial and sarcolemma K(ATP) openers has been seldom studied.

[Epidemiology and surveillance programs on hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Mainland China, 2005 - 2008].

Objective: To analyze the epidemiologic and surveillance data of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in China, from 2005 to 2008, to describe the epidemiology and trend of HFRS.

Methods: Descriptive epidemiology were studied to analyze the surveillance data from 2005 to 2008, collected from both the internet-based national notifiable disease reporting system and 40 HFRS sentinel sites developed since 2005 in 40 counties around China.

Results: A total of 56 077 HFRS cases and 692 deaths reported in China with case fatality rate as 1.

Voltage-dependent anion channel involved in the mitochondrial calcium cycle of cell lines carrying the mitochondrial DNA A4263G mutation.

In this study, we investigated the effects of the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) on the mitochondrial calcium cycle in cell lines carrying the mitochondrial DNA A4263G mutation. We established lymphoblastoid cell lines from three symptomatic individuals and one asymptomatic individual from the large Chinese Han family carrying the A4263G mutation; these were compared with three control cell lines. The mitochondrial Ca(2+) concentration and membrane potential were detected by loading cells with Rhod-2 and JC-1, respectively.

[Construction of pSG5/TRIF and its expression in Huh7 cells].

Objective: To construct the plasmid pSG5/TRIF and investigate its expression in Huh7 cells.

Methods: The plasmid pCX4pur/Myc-TRIF was digested with Not I and the digestion product was blunted followed by further digestion with EcoR I to obtain the insert Myc-TRIF. pSG5 was digested sequentially with Sma I and EcoR I.

[Effect of phosphatase PHLPP1 gene transfer on the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells].

Objective: To investigate the constituent expression of PH domain leucine-rich repeat protein phosphatase 1 (PHLPP1) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the effect of PHLPP1 gene transfer on the proliferation of the cells in vitro.

Methods: Cultured HUVECs were transfected with pcDNA3-GFP or pcDNA3HA-PHLPP1 via lipofectamine 2000. The cell proliferation ability was determined by cell counting and MTT colorimetric assay, and Western blotting was used to detect the protein expression of PHLPP1 in the cells.

An emerging recombinant human enterovirus 71 responsible for the 2008 outbreak of hand foot and mouth disease in Fuyang city of China.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), a common contagious disease that usually affects children, is normally mild but can have life-threatening manifestations. It can be caused by enteroviruses, particularly Coxsackieviruses and human enterovirus 71 (HEV71) with highly variable clinical manifestations. In the spring of 2008, a large, unprecedented HFMD outbreak in Fuyang city of Anhui province in the central part of southeastern China resulted in a high aggregation of fatal cases.

The involvement of lipid peroxide-derived aldehydes in aluminum toxicity of tobacco roots.

Oxidative injury of the root elongation zone is a primary event in aluminum (Al) toxicity in plants, but the injuring species remain unidentified. We verified the hypothesis that lipid peroxide-derived aldehydes, especially highly electrophilic alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes (2-alkenals), participate in Al toxicity. Transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) overexpressing Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) 2-alkenal reductase (AER-OE plants), wild-type SR1, and an empty vector-transformed control line (SR-Vec) were exposed to AlCl(3) on their roots.

Overexpression of dehydroascorbate reductase, but not monodehydroascorbate reductase, confers tolerance to aluminum stress in transgenic tobacco.

Aluminum (Al) inhibits plant growth partly by causing oxidative damage that is promoted by reactive oxygen species and can be prevented by improving antioxidant capacity. Ascorbic acid (AsA), the most abundant antioxidant in plants, is regenerated by the action of monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDAR) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR). We investigated the role of MDAR and DHAR in AsA regeneration during Al stress using transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants overexpressing Arabidopsis cytosolic MDAR (MDAR-OX) or DHAR (DHAR-OX).

Increased UV-B radiation affects the viability, reactive oxygen species accumulation and antioxidant enzyme activities in maize (Zea mays L.) pollen.

The increase in UV-B radiation reaching the earth's surface has prompted extensive studies on the effects of UV-B on plants. However, most of these studies have not addressed the close characteristics related to future survival of plant populations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of UV-B radiation on reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and antioxidant defense system in relation to germination, tube length and viability of maize pollen.

Voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) is involved in apoptosis of cell lines carrying the mitochondrial DNA mutation.

Background: The mitochondrial voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) is increasingly implicated in the control of apoptosis. We have studied the effects the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) tRNAIle mutation on VDAC expression, localization, and apoptosis.

Methods: Lymphoblastoid cell lines were derived from 3 symptomatic and 1 asymptomatic members of a family with hypertension associated with the A4263G tRNAIle mutation as well as from control subjects.

Genetic variants in mitochondrial tRNA genes are associated with essential hypertension in a Chinese Han population.

Background: Of multiple factors contributing to essential hypertension, mitochondrial variants exhibited the trends for serving as molecular and genetic markers for the disease in last five years. However, previous studies focused on African-American or Caucasian pedigrees, knowledge of mitochondrial tRNA genes and population-based Chinese hypertensives were limited.

Methods: We performed sequence analysis in tRNA genes, hot spots for cardiovascular diseases, in 270 Chinese Han essential hypertensives and 270 controls.

Failures in mitochondrial tRNAMet and tRNAGln metabolism caused by the novel 4401A>G mutation are involved in essential hypertension in a Han Chinese Family.

We report here on the clinical, genetic, and molecular characterization of 1 Han Chinese family with maternally transmitted hypertension. Three of 7 matrilineal relatives in this 4-generation family exhibited the variable degree of essential hypertension at the age at onset, ranging from 35 to 60 years old. Sequence analysis of the complete mitochondrial DNA in this pedigree identified the novel homoplasmic 4401A>G mutation localizing at the spacer immediately to the 5' end of tRNA(Met) and tRNA(Gln) genes and 39 other variants belonging to the Asian haplogroup C.

Risk factors for human illness with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection in China.

Background: In China, 30 human cases of avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection were identified through July 2008. We conducted a retrospective case-control study to identify risk factors for influenza H5N1 disease in China.

Methods: A questionnaire about potential influenza H5N1 exposures was administered to 28 patients with influenza H5N1 and to 134 randomly selected control subjects matched by age, sex, and location or to proxies.