Chinese PLA General Hospital

About: Chinese PLA General Hospital is a healthcare organization based out in Beijing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Medicine & Population. The organization has 18037 authors who have published 12349 publications receiving 184803 citations. The organization is also known as: 301 Military Hospital.

Clinical Significance of Soluble Hemoglobin Scavenger Receptor CD163 (sCD163) in Sepsis, a Prospective Study

Abstract: Objective We investigated serum soluble CD163 (sCD163) levels for use in the diagnosis, severity assessment, and prognosis of sepsis in the critical ill patients and compared sCD163 with other infection-related variables.

Ginsenoside Rd Is Efficacious Against Acute Ischemic Stroke by Suppressing Microglial Proteasome-Mediated Inflammation

Abstract: A great deal of attention has been paid to neuroprotective therapies for cerebral ischemic stroke. Our two recent clinical trials showed that ginsenoside Rd (Rd), a kind of monomeric compound extracted from Chinese herbs, Panax ginseng and Panax notoginseng, was safe and efficacious for the treatment of ischemic stroke. In this study, we conducted a pooled analysis of the data from 199 patients with acute ischemic stroke in the first trial and 390 in the second to reanalyze the efficacy and safety of Rd. Moreover, animal stroke models were carried out to explore the possible molecular mechanisms underlying Rd neuroprotection. The pooled analysis showed that compared with placebo group, Rd could improve patients’ disability as assessed by modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score on day 90 post-stroke and reduce neurologic deficits on day 15 or day 90 post-stroke as assessed by NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and Barthel Index (BI) scores. For neuroprotective mechanisms, administration of Rd 4 h after stroke could inhibit ischemia-induced microglial activation, decrease the expression levels of various proinflammatory cytokines, and suppress nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells inhibitor, alpha (IκBα) phosphorylation and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) nuclear translocation. An in vitro proteasome activity assay revealed a significant inhibitory effect of Rd on proteasome activity in microglia. Interestingly, Rd was showed to have less side effects than glucocorticoid. Therefore, our study demonstrated that Rd could safely improve the outcome of patients with ischemic stroke, and this therapeutic effect may result from its capability of suppressing microglial proteasome activity and sequential inflammation.

Astragalus Polysaccharides Attenuate Postburn Sepsis via Inhibiting Negative Immunoregulation of CD4+CD25high T Cells

Abstract: A grant was assigned incorrectly to the third author. The grant was issued to the second author, Yong-ming Yao. The correct funding statement is: "This study was supported, in part, by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/Portal0/default124.htm)(grant no. 81000847 to Q-yL; 81071545 to Yong Ming Yao), and the National Basic Research Program of China (http://www.973.gov.cn/)(grant no. 2005CB522602 to Yong Ming Yao). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript."

Reliability, Validity, and Factor Structure of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in Community-Based Centenarians.

Abstract: Background: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a widely used self-report questionnaire that measures general sleep quality in the elderly. However, its psychometric properties have yet to be thoroughly examined in longveous persons. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the reliability, validity and factor structure of the Chinese-language version of the PSQI in community-dwelling centenarians. Methods: A total of 958 centenarians (mean age = 102.8 years; 81.8% females) recruited from 18 regions in Hainan, China, completed the PSQI scale. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to measure the internal consistency. Correlations between the global PSQI score and physical function, depression symptoms, self-reported health status and subjective well-being were used to assess divergent validity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed to explore the validity and factor structure of the PSQI in this sample. Results: The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the PSQI was 0.68, and it increased to 0.78 after two components (medication use and daytime dysfunction) were removed. The Spearman correlation coefficients of the PSQI score with each component were statistically significant (P<0.01). EFA yielded a two-factor structure model of the original PSQI-7 and a one-factor structure model of the simplified PSQI-5. The one-factor model with 5 components (2/df =1.59, CFI=0.99, RMSEA=0.03) fit the data well and had good invariance across demographic characteristics in this sample. Conclusions: The original PSQI showed acceptable applicability in Chinese community-dwelling centenarians, and its psychometric characteristics moderately improved after sleeping medication and daytime dysfunction were removed. Further validation studies on PSQI are needed among centenarians from varied backgrounds.

Human Umbilical Cord Blood–Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Producing IL15 Eradicate Established Pancreatic Tumor in Syngeneic Mice

Abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) represent a new tool for delivery of therapeutic agents to cancer sites because of their strong tropism toward tumors. IL15 has demonstrated a potent antitumor activity in various animal models as well as clinical trials. However, because of its short half-life, effective therapeutic effects usually require a high dose, which often results in undesired side effects; thus, new strategies for overcoming this disadvantage are needed. In this study, human MSCs were isolated from umbilical cord blood as delivery vehicles and transduced with lentivirus vector expressing murine IL15 (MSC-IL15). In vitro assays of lymphocyte activation and proliferation demonstrated that IL15 produced by MSCs was biofunctional. In syngeneic mice bearing Pan02 pancreatic tumors, systemic administration of MSC-IL15 significantly inhibited tumor growth and prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice, which were associated with tumor cell apoptosis, and natural killer (NK)– and T-cell accumulation. Furthermore, we confirmed that MSC-IL15 could migrate toward tumor and secreted IL15 in tumor-specific sites. Depletion of NK and CD8+ T cells abolished the antitumor activity of MSC-IL15, suggesting that NK and CD8+ T cells play a key role for MSC-IL15–mediated effect. Interestingly, cured mice after MSC-IL15 treatment were resistant to Pan02 pancreatic tumor rechallenge, and adoptive transfer of lymphocytes from cured mice also could cause rejection of Pan02 tumor inoculation in naive mice, indicating that MSC-IL15 induced tumor-specific T-cell immune memory response. Overall, these data support that MSCs producing IL15 might represent an innovative strategy for therapy of pancreatic tumor. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(8); 2127–37. ©2014 AACR .