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Biomedical subjects

Q M Zhao

Publications and source records attributed to Q M Zhao.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Sequence variations in the MBL gene and their relationship to pulmonary tuberculosis in the Chinese Han population.

SETTING: The mannan binding lectin (MBL) gene is thought to play a role in human innate immune response to tuberculosis (TB) infection. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possible association between MBL sequence variants and TB infection in the Chinese Han population. DESIGN: A total of 152 male pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients and 293 healthy male subjects were recruited. Six MBL single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (A/B, A/C, A/D, H/L, Y/X and P/Q) were genotyped and haplotyped using the combined analysis of polymerase chain reaction using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) and the PCR-sequence specific oligonucleotide probe (PCR-SSOP) assay. The genotype and haplotype frequencies were compared between TB cases and controls using an unconditional logistic regression model. RESULTS: Neither the genotypes nor the haplotypes of the five loci were significantly associated with the disease when considered individually. After the haplotypes were regrouped, however, the XB haplotype group coding for diminished MBL levels was present at a significantly higher frequency in the patients compared with the YA group (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.02-2.41, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: No convincing evidence of association between MBL sequence variants and PTB was observed individually, although the low-producing XB haplotype group may serve as a minor risk factor for PTB infection in the male Chinese Han population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

VDR and NRAMP1 gene polymorphisms in susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis among the Chinese Han population: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the potential role of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene and natural-resistance-associated macrophage protein 1 (NRAMP1) gene polymorphisms in susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in the Chinese Han population. DESIGN: In an unmatched case-control study, 120 well defined PTB patients and 240 unrelated normal controls were enrolled. Information on potential risk factors of PTB was collected using a standard questionnaire. Genetic polymorphisms of VDR gene (TaqI and FokI) and NRAMP1 gene (INT4, D543N and 3'UTR) were analysed using PCR and RFLP. Unconditional logistic regression was performed, and odds ratios (ORs), their 95% confidence intervals (CI) and P values were estimated using maximum likelihood methods. RESULTS: Univariate analysis demonstrated that FokI-ff homozygotes, D543N G/A and 3'UTR TGTG+/del heterozygotes occurred more frequently in patients than in controls. The crude ORs were 2.345 (95%CI 1.222-4.499), 2.590 (95%CI 1.043-6.434) and 1.890 (95%CI 1.171-3.051), respectively, compared with their corresponding common genotypes. The P values were 0.033, 0.041 and 0.030, respectively. After adjusting for exposure history and BCG immunisation in the multivariate analysis, the adjusted ORs were 4.625 (95%CI 1.737-12.312), 2.415 (95%CI 1.079-8.759) and 2.187 (95%CI 1.146-4.175), with P values of 0.002, 0.036 and 0.018, respectively. Neither univariate nor multivariate analysis disclosed any significant association between the disease and TaqI or INT4. CONCLUSIONS: Polymorphisms in the VDR and NRAMP1 gene are statistically associated with susceptibility to PTB in the Chinese Han population.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Exercise training with a heart device: a hemodynamic, metabolic, and hormonal study.

PURPOSE: The mechanisms of the training-induced improvements in left ventricular assist (LVAD) patients are unknown. METHODS: We measured the hemodynamic, gas exchange, and metabolic and hormonal effects of 6-wk exercise training in a cardiogenic shock patient who was assisted by an LVAD. RESULTS: After training, the peak power and VO2 increased by 166% and 56%, respectively (80 W and 16.1 mL x min(-1) x kg(-1)), whereas the ventilatory drive decreased. Although the LVAD output increased little with exercise, the systemic cardiac output rose (adequately for the VO2) from 5.91 and 4.90 L x min(-1) at rest to 9.75 and 9.47 L x min(-1) at peak work rate, before and after training, respectively. Thus, the left ventricle ejected again through the aortic valve. Unloading and/or retraining resulted in a left ventricular filling pressure decrease. Although the right ventricular ejection fraction increased with exercise, it decreased again at the maximal load after training. For a given work rate the arterial lactate, the norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E) concentrations fell after training, but the enhanced maximal work rate elicited higher NE and E concentrations (4396 and 1848 pg x mL(-1), respectively). The lack of right ventricular unloading might have kept the atrial natriuretic peptide higher after training, but the blood cyclic GMP and endothelin were lower after training. CONCLUSION: In an LVAD patient, retraining returns the exercise capacity to the class III level by peripheral and left ventricular hemodynamic improvements, but the safety of maximal exercise remains to be proven in terms of right ventricular function and orthosympathetic drive.

Cardiomyopathies↗
PubMed2000

Granulocytic Ehrlichiae in Ixodes persulcatus ticks from an area in China where Lyme disease is endemic.

A total of 372 adult Ixodes persulcatus ticks were collected from vegetation in a forest area of Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China, where Lyme disease is known to be endemic. The ticks were examined for the presence of granulocytic ehrlichiae by heminested PCR with primers derived from the 16S rRNA gene. Of 310 ticks obtained from the Dahe forestry farm, two pools (each containing 5 ticks) were found positive, with a minimum infection rate of 0.6%. Ehrlichial DNA was also detected in one female (1.6%) of 62 ticks collected from the Yulin forestry farm. The overall minimum infection rate of the 372 I. persulcatus adults was 0.8%. The nucleotide sequences of 919-bp PCR products from the three positive tick specimens were identical to each other and very closely related to the members of the Ehrlichia phagocytophila genogroup. This is the first identification of granulocytic ehrlichiae in ticks in Asia and the first report of infection in I. persulcatus anywhere.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

VO(2) kinetics reveal a central limitation at the onset of subthreshold exercise in heart transplant recipients.

Because the cardiocirculatory response of heart transplant recipients (HTR) to exercise is delayed, we hypothesized that their O(2) uptake (VO(2)) kinetics at the onset of subthreshold exercise are slowed because of an impaired early "cardiodynamic" phase 1, rather than an abnormal subsequent "metabolic" phase 2. Thus we compared the VO(2) kinetics in 10 HTR submitted to six identical 10-min square-wave exercises set at 75% (36 +/- 5 W) of the load at their ventilatory threshold (VT) to those of 10 controls (C) similarly exercising at the same absolute (40 W; C40W group) and relative load (67 +/- 14 W; C67W group). Time-averaged heart rate, breath-by-breath VO(2), and O(2) pulse (O(2)p) data yielded monoexponential time constants of the VO(2) (s) and O(2)p increase. Separating phase 1 and 2 data permitted assessment of the phase 1 duration and phase 2 VO(2) time constant (). The VO(2) time constant was higher in HTR (38.4 +/- 7.5) than in C40W (22.9 +/- 9.6; P < or = 0. 002) or C67W (30.8 +/- 8.2; P < or = 0.05), as was the O(2)p time constant, resulting from a lower phase 1 VO(2) increase (287 +/- 59 vs. 349 +/- 66 ml/min; P < or = 0.05), O(2)p increase (2.8 +/- 0.6 vs. 3.6 +/- 1.0 ml/beat; P < or = 0.0001), and a longer phase 1 duration (36.7 +/- 12.3 vs. 26.8 +/- 6.0 s; P < or = 0.05), whereas the was similar in HTR and C (31.4 +/- 9.6 vs. 29.9 +/- 5.6 s; P = 0.85). Thus the HTR have slower subthreshold VO(2) kinetics due to an abnormal phase 1, suggesting that the heart is unable to increase its output abruptly when exercise begins. We expected a faster in HTR because of their prolonged phase 1 duration. Because this was not the case, their muscular metabolism may also be impaired at the onset of subthreshold exercise.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Lung membrane diffusing capacity, heart failure, and heart transplantation.

The pulmonary diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) is reduced in chronic heart failure and remains decreased after heart transplantation. This decrease in DLCO may depend on a permanent alteration after transplantation of one or the other of its components: diffusion of the alveolar capillary membrane or the pulmonary capillary blood volume (Vc). Therefore, we measured DLCO, the membrane conductance, and Vc before and after heart transplantation. At the time of hemodynamic measurements, the Roughton and Forster method of measuring DLCO at varying alveolar oxygen concentrations was used to determine the membrane conductance, Vc, DLCO/alveolar volume (VA), the membrane conductance/VA and thetaVc/VA (theta = carbon monoxide conductance of blood, VA = alveolar volume) in 21 patients with class III to IV heart failure before and after transplantation, and in 21 healthy controls. Transplantation normalized pulmonary capillary pressure and increased cardiac index. DLCO was decreased before transplantation (7.11 vs 10.0 mmol/min/kPa in controls), but DLCO/VA was normal (1.67+/-0.44 vs 1.71+/-0.26 mmol/min/kPa/L in controls). DLCO/VA remained unchanged after transplantation, because the decrease in Vc (82+/-30 vs 65+/-18 ml before and after transplantation) and thetaVc/VA was not compensated by the changes in membrane conductance (11+/-4 vs 12+/-5 mmol/min/kPa before and after transplantation, respectively) and membrane conductance/VA. We conclude that the decrease in DLCO in patients with chronic heart failure is due to a restrictive ventilatory pattern because their DLCO/VA remains normal; the decrease in the membrane conductance is compensated by the increase in Vc. After transplantation, the decrease in Vc due to normalization of pulmonary hemodynamics is not completely compensated for by an increase in membrane conductance. Because the membrane conductances, measured before and after transplantation, are negatively correlated with duration of heart failure, its abnormal pulmonary hemodynamics may have irreversibly altered the alveolar capillary membrane.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Clinical observation of face peeling treatment for ephelides and phenol excretion in urine].

Since 1986, 710 patients with freckles were hospitalized, and the effects of face peeling were studied. Before treatment, blood and urine routines and hepatic and renal function tests were performed in every patient. Comparisons have been made between the hepatic and renal functions before and after treatment in 100 patients. ECG was performed in all the patients before treatment, and 20 of them have been monitored continuously with ECG after treatment. Comparison of 24h urinary phenol excretion before and after treatment were made in 27 patients. In 5 patients it was showed that the amount of urine phenol declined rapidly with the time. The treatment was effective in 100% of the patients. The cure rate was 84.2%. We concluded that the treatment is an effective and safe method for ephelides in healthy persons.

Adolescent↗