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Objective: To investigate the preventive effects of thymosin-alpha1 against early ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in the patients with mechanical ventilation., Methods: Fifty two patients with expectancy of mechanical ventilation over 48 h were divided into routine therapy group (n=26) and thymosin therapy group (n= 26) in random. The patients in routine therapy group were given intensive care unit (ICU) conventional treatment, and the patients in thymosin therapy group were given thymosin treatment additionally (1.6 mg subcutaneous injection, qd X 7 d). The incidence and occurrence time of VAP were observed, and the time of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay were recorded. The levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD4+ /CD8+ T lymphocyte, CD14+ mononuclear cell human leukocyte antigens-DR (CD14+ HLA-DR) and procalcitonin (PCT) were detected before mechanical ventilation and at the 3d and 7th d after mechanical ventilation., Results: The base line including the level of immunologic function had no difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The incidence of VAP in thymosin therapy group was lower than that in routine therapy group, but it was not significant difference (P>0.05). The durations of machine ventilation and ICU stay in thymosin therapy group were shorter than those in routine therapy group (P<0.05). The occurrence time of VAP in thymosin therapy group was significantly later than that in routine therapy group (P<0.05). At the 3rd and 7th d after mechanical ventilation, thymosin therapy group achived higher levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD4+ /CD8+ T lymphocyte and CD14+ HLA-DR than routine therapy group did (P<0.05)., Conclusion: Thymosinal may be able to improve immunologic function and prevent the incidence of early VAP in the patients with mechanical ventilation.

Objective: To study the effect of 1,25-(OH)2D3 supplementation during gestation and lactation on TGF-β1 and Smad3 expression in lungs of rat offspring with asthma., Methods: Thirty-two female Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: low-, medium- and high-dose 1,25-(OH)2D3 supplementation and control groups (n=8 each). From the 7th day of gestation, the three 1,25-(OH)2D3 supplementation groups were administered with 2,10 and 20 μg/mL of 1,25-(OH)2D3 respectively every other day until weaning (rat offspring: 21 days old). The control group received normal saline instead. Then, bronchial asthma was induced in rat offspring from the 4 groups. The protein and mRNA expression of TGF-β1 and Smad3 in the lung tissue was measured by immunochemistry and RT-PCR., Results: Eosinophil cell infiltration and airway inflammation decreased in rat offspring from the low- and medium-dose 1,25-(OH)2D3 groups, but increased in rat offspring of the high-dose 1,25-(OH)2D3 group compared with the control group. Immunohistochemistry of lung tissues showed that the expression of TGF-β1 protein and pSmad3 decreased in rat offspring from the low- and medium-dose 1,25-(OH)2D3 groups (P<0.05), but increased significantly in rat offspring from the high-dose 1,25-(OH)2D3 group compared with the control group (P<0.05). PCR showed that the expression of TGF-β1 and Smad3 mRNA in the lung tissue decreased in rat offspring from the low- and medium-dose 1,25-(OH)2D3 groups (P<0.05), but increased significantly in rat offspring from the high-dose 1,25-(OH)2D3 group compared with the control group (P<0.05)., Conclusions: 1,25-(OH)2D3 supplementation plays a role in regulating the immune system in asthmatic rats. Its mechanism may be associated with regulation of the expression of TGF-β/Smad signal pathway-related proteins through the vitamin D receptor signal pathway.

Aim: To synthesize the 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3); artificial complete antigen and to prepare the specific antibody against 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3);., Methods: The active group carboxyl was introduced into 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3); and formed 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3);-hemisuccinate which possessed the structure of the hapten by chemical modification. The EDC method was applied to conjugate 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3);-hemisuccinate to bovine serum albumin as an artificial immunogen. The coating antigen 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3);-hemisuccinate-OVA was obtained in the same way. Ultraviolet, SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF were used to identify 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3);-hemisuccinate-BSA., Results: BALB/c mice were immunized with 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3);-hemisuccinate-BSA to generate the polyclonal antibody of the 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3); worth high titer and the immunogen, 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3);-hemisuccinate-BSA, was successfully prepared with coupling ratio (12±0.16):1(N=3) coupling., Conclusion: The high titer and good sensitivity of anti-25-hydroxyvitamin D(3); antibody are produced in sera immunized BALB/c mice, which made it possible to develop a clinical diagnostics for illness.

Objective: To investigate the effects of Chinese kidney-tonifying drugs on bone mineral density, biomechanics, 25-hydroxy Vitamin D3 and 1,25-dihydroxy Vitamin D3 of ovariectomized osteoporosis rats, and explore the mechanism of treating osteoporosis with the drugs., Methods: Thirty-six female SD rats (four months) were randomly divided into model group, sham group and treatment group. All the rats had been ovariectomied except those in sham group. Selecting 4, 8, 12 weeks in the experiment, the value of bone mineral density (BMD) was measure by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) of femoral head, while the biomechanics machine was applied to analysis femoral head biomechanics index and ELISA method was used to detect the content of 25-hydroxy Vitamin D3 and 1,25-dihydroxy Vitamin D3 discern in blood-serum, liver and kidney., Results: Treatment group rats' BMD of femoral head was enhance compared with model group, significant differences were absent (P<0.05), and the maximal load and maximal stress measurement were improved, significant differences were absent (P<0.05). As the content of 25-hydroxy Vitamin D3 and 1,25-dihydroxy Vitamin D3 discern in blood-serum, liver and kidney were elevate, furthmore there were significant differences in group comparison, all significant differences were absent (P<0.05). But those compared with sham group, there was no significant difference (P>0.05)., Conclusion: In the early period in absence of estrogenic hormone, the Chinese kidney-tonifying drugs could activate bone metabolism to raise BMD and reinforce quality of bone through up-regulating expression of 25-hydroxy Vitamin D3 and 1,25-dihydroxy Vitamin D3 at protein level.