BackgroundGenetic polymorphism is suggested to be associated with human physical performance. The angiotensin I-converting enzyme insertion/deletion (ACE I/D) polymorphism and the α-actinin-3 gene (ACTN3) R577X polymorphism have been most widely studied for such association analysis. However, the findings are frequently heterogeneous. We aim to summarize the associations of ACE I/D and ACTN3 R577X with sport performance by means of meta-analysis.MethodsWe systematically reviewed and quantitatively summarized published studies, until October 31, 2012, on relationship between ACE/ACTN3 genetic polymorphisms and sports performance, respectively.ResultsA total of 366 articles on ACE and 88 articles on ACTN3 were achieved by literature search. A significant association was found for ACE II genotype compared to D allele carriage (DD+ID) with increased possibility of physical performance (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.05–1.45). With respect to sport discipline, the II genotype was found to be associated with performance in endurance athletes (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.17–1.55). On the other hand, no significant association was observed for ACTN3 RR genotype as compared to X allele carriage (XX+RX) (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.92–1.15). However, when restricted the analyses to power events, a significant association was observed (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.03–1.42).ConclusionOur results provide more solid evidence for the associations between ACE II genotype and endurance events and between ACTN3 R allele and power events. The findings suggest that the genetic profiles might influence human physical performance.

The present patients with positive GFAP-immunoglobulin G are highly similar to autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy, described in a recent report. The features of the neuropathology and immunopathology of GFAP astrocytopathies were perivascular inflammation and loss of astrocytes and neurons.

HPV infection, especially infection due to the high-risk type HPV-16, was found to be significantly associated with the risk of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Inflammatory diseases are caused by abnormal immune responses and are characterized by an imbalance of inflammatory mediators and cells. In recent years, the antiinflammatory activity of natural products has attracted wide attention. Rosmarinic acid (RosA) is a water-soluble phenolic compound that is an ester of caffeic acid and 3, 4dihydroxyphenyl lactic acid. It is discovered in many plants, like those of the Boraginaceae and Lamiaceae families. RosA has a wide range of pharmacological effects, including antioxidative, anti-apoptotic, anti-tumorigenic, and anti-inflammatory effects. The antiinflammatory effects of RosA have been revealed through in vitro and in vivo studies of various inflammatory diseases like arthritis, colitis, and atopic dermatitis. This article mainly describes the preclinical research of RosA on inflammatory diseases and depicts a small amount of clinical research data. The purpose of this review is to discuss the antiinflammatory effects of RosA in inflammatory diseases and its underlying mechanism.

These two authors contributed to this work equally. SUMMARY BackgroundHuman papillomavirus (HPV) infection might be one of the potential risk factors for oesophageal cancer. However, the previous epidemiological findings were heterogeneous.

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In this study, we examined injury progression after intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) induced by collagenase in mice using a preclinical 11.7 Tesla MRI system. On T2-weighted MRI, lesion and striatal volumes were increased on day 3 and then decreased from days 7 to 28. On day 3, with an increase in striatal water content, vasogenic oedema in the perihaematomal region presented as increased T2 and increased apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) signal. With a synchronous change in T2 and ADC signals, microglial activation peaked on day 3 in the same region and decreased over time. Iron deposition appeared on day 3 around the haematoma border but did not change synchronously with ADC signals. Vascular permeability measured by Evans blue extravasation on days 1, 3, and 7 correlated with the T1-gadolinium results, both of which peaked on day 3. On diffusion tensor imaging, white matter injury was prominent in the corpus callosum and internal capsule on day 3 and then partially recovered over time. Our results indicate that the evolution of grey/white matter injury and blood-brain barrier disruption after ICH can be assessed with multimodal MRI, and that perihaematomal vasogenic oedema might be attributable to microglial activation, iron deposition, and blood-brain barrier breakdown.

Reference values for peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets of healthy children in China To the Editor: Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets can provide important information for the diagnosis and treatment of immunological and hematological disorders. Lymphocyte compartments undergo dramatic changes during childhood; age-matched reference values derived from healthy individuals are crucial and have been evaluated in various ethnic populations. 1-5 However, extensively detailed immunophenotyping reference values of peripheral blood lymphocytes in whole spectrum of childhood are rare. Our aim was to determine the relative and absolute numbers of lymphocyte subpopulations in healthy Chinese children from birth to age 18 years. We recruited 1075 Chinese children (604 males and 471 females) who were grouped into 7 categories according to age: group 1, 0 to 28 days; group 2, 1 to 6 months; group 3, 6 to 12 months; group 4, 1 to 4 years; group 5, 4 to 8 years; group 6, 8 to 12 years; and group 7, 12 to 18 years. Whole blood was used and staining for lymphocyte surface markers was performed after red cell lysis, according to a standard flow cytometric multicolor protocol. A total of 20 subpopulations were examined: T cells (CD45 1 SSC low CD3 1), CD4 T cells (CD45 1 SSC low CD3 1 CD4 1), CD8 T cells (CD45 1 SSC low CD3 1 CD8 1), B cells (CD45 1 SSC low CD19 1), natural killer cells (CD45 1 SSC low CD3 2 CD56 1 /CD16 1), TCRab 1 double-negative T (DNT) cells TABLE I. Distribution of the percentage of total T and B cells and their subsets by age and sex in the peripheral blood of 1075 healthy children (%) Subset Sex Group 1 0-28 d (n 5 21) Group 2 1-6 mo (n 5 104) Group 3 6-12 mo (n 5 97) Group 4 1-4 y (n 5 289) Group 5 4-8 y (n 5 271) Group 6 8-12 y (n 5 158) Group 7 12-18 y (n 5 135)