Lymphatic plastic bronchitis and primary chylothorax: A study based on computed tomography lymphangiography

BACKGROUND This study presents an evaluation of the computed tomography lymphangio-graphy(CTL)features of lymphatic plastic bronchitis(PB)and primary chylotho-rax to improve the diagnostic accuracy for these two diseases.AIM To improve the diagnosis of lymphatic PB or primary chylothorax,a retrospective analysis of the clinical features and CTL characteristics of 71 patients diagnosed with lymphatic PB or primary chylothorax was performed.METHODS The clinical and CTL data of 71 patients(20 with lymphatic PB,41 with primary chylothorax,and 10 with lymphatic PB with primary chylothorax)were collected retrospectively.CTL was performed in all patients.The clinical manifestations,CTL findings,and conventional chest CT findings of the three groups of patients were compared.The chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used to compare the differences among the three groups.A difference was considered to be statistically significant when P<0.05.RESULTS(1)The percentages of abnormal contrast medium deposits on CTL in the three groups were as follows:Thoracic duct outlet in 14(70.0%),33(80.5%)and 8(80.0%)patients;peritracheal region in 18(90.0%),15(36.6%)and 8(80.0%)patients;pleura in 6(30.0%),33(80.5%)and 9(90.0%)patients;pericardium in 6(30.0%),6(14.6%)and 4(40.0%)patients;and hilum in 16(80.0%),11(26.8%)and 7(70.0%)patients;and(2)the abnormalities on conven-tional chest CT in the three groups were as follows:Ground-glass opacity in 19(95.0%),18(43.9%)and 8(80.0%)patients;atelectasis in 4(20.0%),26(63.4%)and 7(70.0%)patients;interlobular septal thickening in 12(60.0%),11(26.8%)and 3(30.0%)patients;bronchovascular bundle thickening in 14(70.0%),6(14.6%)and 4(40.0%)patients;localized mediastinal changes in 14(70.0%),14(34.1%),and 7(70.0%)patients;diffuse mediastinal changes in 6(30.0%),5(12.2%),and 3(30.0%)patients;cystic lesions in the axilla in 2(10.0%),6(14.6%),and 2(20.0%)patients;and cystic lesions in the chest wall in 0(0%),2(4.9%),and 2(4.9%)patients.CONCLUSION CTL is well suited to clarify the characteristics of lymphatic PB and primary chylothorax.This method is an excellent tool for diagnosing these two diseases.

Genetic and pathogenic characterization of new infectious bronchitis virus strains in the GVI-1 and GI-19 lineages isolated in central China

Avian infectious bronchitis(IB)is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by infectious bronchitis virus(IBV),which is prevalent in many countries worldwide and causes serious harm to the poultry industry.At present,many commercial IBV vaccines have been used for the prevention and control of IB;however,IB outbreaks occur frequently.In this study,two new strains of IBV,SX/2106 and SX/2204,were isolated from two flocks which were immunized with IBV H120 vaccine in central China.Phylogenetic and recombination analysis indicated that SX/2106,which was clustered into the GI-19 lineage,may be derived from recombination events of the GI-19 and GI-7 strains and the LDT3-A vaccine.Genetic analysis showed that SX/2204 belongs to the GVI-1 lineage,which may have originated from the recombination of the GI-13 and GVI-1 strains and the H120 vaccine.The virus cross-neutralization test showed that the antigenicity of SX/2106 and SX/2204 was different from H120.Animal experiments found that both SX/2106 and SX/2204 could replicate effectively in the lungs and kidneys of chickens and cause disease and death,and H120 immunization could not provide effective protection against the two IBV isolates.It is noteworthy that the pathogenicity of SX/2204 has significantly increased compared to the GVI-1 strains isolated previously,with a mortality rate up to 60%.Considering the continuous mutation and recombination of the IBV genome to produce new variant strains,it is important to continuously monitor epidemic strains and develop new vaccines for the prevention and control of IBV epidemics.

Correlation Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Types and Influencing Factors of Asthmatic Bronchitis in Children

Objective:To explore the correlation between traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome types and the influencing factors of asthmatic bronchitis in children,as well as to provide clinical syndrome differentiation basis and reference for the treatment of children with asthmatic bronchitis.Methods:The clinical data of 197 inpatients with asthmatic bronchitis in our hospital from March 2021 to March 2022 were collected,referring to“Zhu Futang Practical Pediatrics”(7th Edition,2002)and“Chinese Medicine Industry Standards-Standards for Diagnosis and Efficacy of Pediatric Diseases and Syndromes of Traditional Chinese Medicine”(1994,State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine)for diagnosis,classification,and analysis of TCM syndrome types and the influencing factors of asthmatic bronchitis in children.Results:(i)cold asthma syndrome contributed to the majority of TCM syndrome types of pediatric asthmatic bronchitis;(ii)gender had a great influence on TCM syndromes types in children with asthmatic bronchitis,and the differences among the TCM syndrome types were statistically significant(P<0.05);(iii)there was no significant difference in the distribution of TCM syndrome types of pediatric asthmatic bronchitis among different age groups(P>0.05);(iv)birth status had no effect on the distribution of TCM syndrome types of pediatric asthmatic bronchitis(P>0.05);(v)no significant correlation was observed between the mode of delivery and the distribution of TCM syndrome types in children with asthmatic bronchitis(P>0.05);(vi)children with cold asthma syndrome,heat asthma syndrome,and mixed cold and heat syndrome were not breastfed,and there was no significant difference in the feeding methods of children with mixed deficiency and excess syndrome(P>0.05);(vii)no significant correlation was observed between the TCM syndrome types of pediatric asthmatic bronchitis and family history of asthma/allergy(P>0.05);(viii)a significant correlation was observed between different TCM syndrome types and history of drug and food allergy(P<0.05);(ix)normal or high eosinophil percentage was commonly observed in children with asthmatic bronchitis,and there was no significant difference among the different TCM syndrome types(P>0.05).Conclusion:The TCM syndrome types of pediatric asthmatic bronchitis are related to gender,feeding history,allergy history,and other factors,which may be influencing factors of the TCM syndrome types of pediatric asthmatic bronchitis.

Ambient Temperature and Outpatient Visits for Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Bronchitis in Shanghai: A Time Series Analysis

The association between ambient temperature and acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis （AECB） was still unknown. Therefore, we performed an epidemiological study in a large hospital of Shanghai to explore the relationship about temperature and outpatient visit for AECB. We adopted a quasi-Poisson generalized additive models and distributed lag nonlinear models to estimate the accumulative effects of temperature on AECB across multiple days. We found significant non-linear effects of cold temperature on hospital visits for AECB, and the potential effect of cold temperature might last more than 2 weeks. The relative risks of extreme cold （first percentiles of temperature throughout the study period） and cold （10th percentile of temperature） temperature over lags 0-14 d were 2.98 [95% confidence intervals （CI）： 1.77, 5.04] and 1.63 （95% Ch 1.21, 2.19）, compared with the 25th percentile of temperature. However, we found no positive association between hospital visits and hot weather. This study showed that exposure to both extreme cold and cold temperatures were associated with increased outpatient visits for AECB in a large hospital of Shanghai.

The susceptibility of T5-TG12 of theCFTR gene in chronic bronchitis occurrence in a Chinese population in Jiangsu province,China

Mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator （CFTR） gene have been implicated in the onset of cystic fibrosis and other clinical respiratory disorders. In the present study, we investigated the role of CFTR variations, poly-T, TG-repeats, and M470V in susceptibility to bronchial asthma and chronic bronchitis in a Chinese population in Jiangsu province, China. A total of 72 bronchial asthma patients, 68 chronic bronchitis pa- tients, and 117 healthy subjects were included in this study. The Tn-TGm haplotype was sequenced and the CFTR variant M470V was detected using restriction fragment length polymorphism （RFLP）. We found that the fre- quency of TS-TG12-V470 in chronic bronchitis patients was 0.07%, which was notably higher than that in healthy subjects （0.01%） and bronchial asthma patients （0.04%）. Thus, the presence of the TS-TG12 haplotype of the CFTR gene is likely to play a role in the development and progression of respiratory conditions, such as chronic bronchitis.

Association between Ambient Air Pollution and Outpatient Visits for Acute Bronchitis in a Chinese City

Objective To investigate the short-term association between outdoor air pollution and outpatient visits for acute bronchitis,which is a rare subject of research in the mainland of China.Methods A time-series analysis was conducted to examine the association of outdoor air pollutants with hospital outpatient visits in Shanghai by using two-year daily data（2010-2011）.Results Outdoor air pollution was found to be associated with an increased risk of outpatient visits for acute bronchitis in Shanghai.The effect estimates of air pollutants varied with the lag structures of the concentrations of the pollutants.For lag06,a 10 μg/m3 increase in the concentrations of PM10,SO2,and NO2 corresponded to 0.94%（95% CI：0.83%,1.05%）,11.12%（95% CI：10.76%,11.48%）,and 4.84%（95% CI：4.49%,5.18%） increases in hospital visits for acute bronchitis,respectively.These associations appeared to be stronger in females（P〈0.05）.Between-age differences were significant for SO2（P〈0.05）,and between-season differences were also significant for SO2（P〈0.05）.Conclusion Our analyses have provided the first evidence that the current air pollution level in China has an effect on acute bronchitis and that the rationale for further limiting air pollution levels in Shanghai should be strengthened.

Evolutionary implications of Avian Infectious Bronchitis Virus(AIBV)analysis

For developing efficient vaccines, it is essential to identify which amino acid changes are most important to the survival of the virus. We investigate the amino acid substitution features in the Avian Infectious Bronchitis Virus （AIBV） antigenic domain of a vaccine serotype （DE072） and a virulent viral strain （GA98） to better understand adaptive evolution of AIBV. In addition, the SARS Coronavirus （SARS-CoV） was also analyzed in the same way. It is interesting to find that extreme comparability exists between AIBV and SARS in amino acid substitution pattern. It suggests that amino acid changes that result in overall shift of residue charge and polarity should be paid special attention to during the development of vaccines.

Genotyping and pathotyping of diversified strains of infectious bronchitis viruses circulating in Egypt

AIM: To characterize the circulating infectious bronchitis virus(IBV) strains in Egypt depending on the sequence of the spike-1(S1) gene [hypervariable region-3(HVR-3)] and to study the pathotypic features of these strains.METHODS: In this work, twenty flocks were sampled for IBV detection using RRT-PCR and isolation of IBV in specific pathogen free(SPF) chicks during the period from 2010 to 2015. Partial sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of 400 bp representing the HVR-3 of the S1 gene was conducted. Pathotypic characterization of one selected virus from each group(Egy/Var-Ⅰ, Egy/Var-Ⅱ and classic) was evaluated in one day old SPF chicks. The chicks were divided into 4 groups 10 birds each including the negative control group. Birds were inoculated at one day by intranasal instillation of 105EID50/100 μL of IBV viruses [IBV-EG/1212B-2012(Egy/Var-Ⅱ), IBV/EG/IBV1-2011(Egy/Var-Ⅰ) and IBV-EG/11539F-2011(classic)], while the remaining negative control group was kept uninfected. The birds were observed for clinical signs, gross lesions and virus pathogenicity. The real-time rR TPCR test was performed for virus detection in the tissues. Histopathological examinations were evaluated in both trachea and kidneys.RESULTS: The results revealed that these viruses were separated into two distinct groups; variant(GI-23) and classic(GI-1), where 16 viruses belonged to a variant group, including 2 subdivisions [Egy/Var-Ⅰ(6 isolates) and Egy/Var-Ⅱ(10 isolates)] and 4 viruses clustered to the classic group(Mass-like). IBV isolates in the variant group were grouped with other IBV strains from the Middle East. The variant subgroup(Egy/Var-Ⅰ) was likely resembling the original Egyptian variant strain(Egypt/Beni-Suif/01) and the Israeli strain(IS/1494/2006). The second subgroup(Egy/Var-Ⅱ) included the viruses circulating in the Middle East(Ck/EG/BSU-2 and Ck/EG/BSU-3/2011) and the Israeli strain(IS/885/00). The two variant subgroups(Egy/Var-Ⅰ and Egy/Var-Ⅱ) found to be highly pathogenic to SPF chicks with mortalities up to 50% than those of the classic group which was of low virulence(10% mortality). Pathogenicity indices were 25(Egy/Var-Ⅱ), 24(Egy/Var-Ⅰ) and 8(classic); with clinical scores 3, 2 and 1 respectively.CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that the recent circulating Egyptian IBVs have multiple heterogeneous origins in marked diversifying nature of their spread, with high pathotype in specific pathogen free chicks.

Protection against Infectious Bronchitis Virus, a Corona Virus Infection, Using Ostrich Antibodies

In chickens, infectious bronchitis (IB) is a major respiratory disease. The respiratory system is the primary multiplication site of IB virus (IBV), a coronavirus, after which the virus is distributed to other organs. Poultry farms sustain considerable economic damage due to IB outbreaks in flocks, since IB causes a severe reduction in weight gain in chicks. In the present study, we produced the ostrich IgY against IBV by immunizing female ostriches with the IB viral antigens. The resultant purified IgY showed a strong neutralizing activity against IBV infection of cultured primary chick kidney cells. The infectivity of IBV was markedly inhibited in the trachea of chicks when ostrich IgY was injected intra-muscularly into newly hatched chicks prior to viral inhalation challenge at two weeks of age. Furthermore, the infection was strongly blocked in the tracheae when IgY was injected into chicks at one day and one week of age, with viral inhalation performed at three weeks of age. These findings suggest that the injection of ostrich IgY can help protect young chicks from IBV infections. In south Asian and African countries, broiler chicks are sent to poultry market around 30 days of age, so it is important to prevent IB outbreaks in very young flocks. We strongly believe that ostrich IgY will be a powerful weapon against IB infection in poultry farms on a wide scale and also hope that these findings will aid in the development of antibody vaccines for new type corona viruses, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV.

Nonasthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis in an ulcerative colitis patient-a putative adverse reaction to mesalazine:A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND Lung and airway involvement in inflammatory bowel disease are increasingly frequently reported either as an extraintestinal manifestation or as an adverse effect of therapy.CASE SUMMARY We report a case of a patient with ulcerative colitis controlled under mesalazine treatment who presented with chronic cough and hemoptysis.Chest computed tomography and bronchoscopy findings supported tracheal involvement in ulcerative colitis;pathology examination demonstrated an unusual eosinophilrich inflammatory pattern,and together with clinical data,a nonasthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis diagnosis was formulated.Full recovery was observed within days of mesalazine discontinuation.CONCLUSION Mesalazine-induced eosinophilic respiratory disorders have been previously reported,generally involving the lung parenchyma.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first report of mesalamine-induced eosinophilic involvement in the upper airway.

Cloning and Sequencing of S Gene of Novel Variant of Infectious Bronchitis Virus ZJ971 Isolates in China

A novel proventriculopathogic variant (isolate ZJ971) of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) was identified from enlarged proeventriculus of the sick chickens in the study. The S gene cDNA segment with 3.6 kb in length was amplified by RT-PCR with special primers from the ZJ971 viral isolate of (IBV) and cloned into plasmid pBluescript SK( + ). The recombinants containing S gene of IBV-ZJ971 isolate were identified by digestion of restriction enzyme EcoRI, BamHI and PCR amplification. The cloned S gene from isolate IBV-7J971 was composed of 3492 bp in length encoding for a polypeptide of 1080 amino acids. Comparing the nucleotide of S gene of IBV isolate ZJ971 with that of reported IBV strains Beaudette, M41, Ark99 and CuT2, the homology was 97.3%, 97.5%, 88.6% and 85.6%, respectively; and the homology of the deduced amino acids of S protein of IBV isolate ZJ971 was 96%, 96.3%, 86.1% and 83.1% respectively; especially, the mutation of 3241st nucleotide of S gene of IBV isolate ZJ971 from G to T resulted in the translating termination of S protein at 3240th nucleotide site.

A duplex RT-PCR assay for detection of H9 subtype avian influenza viruses and infectious bronchitis viruses

H9 s ubtype avian influenza virus（AIV） and infectious bronchitis virus（IBV） are major pathogens circulating in poultry and have resulted in great economic losses due to respiratory disease and reduced egg production. As similar symptoms are elicited by the two pathogens, it is difficult for their differential diagnosis. So far, no reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction（RT-PCR） assay has been found to differentiate between H9 AIV and IBV in one reaction. Therefore, developing a sensitive and specific method is of importance to simultaneously detect and differentiate H9 AIV and IBV. In this study, a duplex RT-PCR（d RT-PCR） was established. Two primer sets target the hemagglutinin（HA） gene of H9 AIV and the nucleocapsid（N） gene of IBV, respectively. Spec ific PCR products were obtained from all tested H9 AIVs and IBVs belonging to the major clades circulating in China, but not from AIVs of other subtypes or other infectious avian viruses. The sensitivity of the d RT-PCR assay corresponding to H9 AIV, IBV and mixture of H9 AIV and IBV were at a concentration of 1×10^1, 1.5×10^1 and 1.5×10^1 50% egg infective doses（EID_（50）） m L^–1, respectively. The concordance rates between the d RT-PCR and virus isolation were 99.1 and 98.2%, respectively, for detection of samples from H9N2 AIV or IBV infected chickens, while the concordance rate was 99.1% for detection of samples from H9N2 AIV and IBV co-infected chickens. Thus, the d RT-PCR assay reported herein is specific and sensitive, and suitable for the differential diagnosis of clinical infections and survei llance of H9 AIVs and IBVs.

Study on the underlying mechanism of almond and platycodon in treating acute bronchitis based on network pharmacology

Objective:Network pharmacology method was adopted in this study to screen the target of almond and platycodon of the treatment to Acute Bronchitis and exploring its mechanism of treatment.Methods:Chemical components and selected targets related to almond and platycodon were searched through the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP).Through GeneCards database,OMIM database,disease targets of Acute Bronchitis were searched.Venn diagram analysis was used to screen the common targets between drugs and disease,and then the interaction network diagram of the targets was constructed by String.Cytoscape3.7.0 was applied to construct the drugcomposition-target-disease interacted network.GO Enrichment and KEGG Enrichment Analysis of Targets were based on DAVID.Results:There are 25 active components such as luteolin,acacetin and Glabridin in the almond and platycodon,corresponding to 127 targets.81 targets are obtained by mapping with 1593 targets of acute bronchitis,including PTGS2,PTGS1,AKT1,TP53,etc.KEGG enrichment analysis mainly involves Apoptosis,PI3K-Akt signaling pathway,TNF signaling pathway,T cell receptor signaling pathway,etc.Conclusion:Based on the network pharmacology,the potential mechanism of almond and platycodon in the treatment of acute bronchitis was discussed,which provides ideas and directions for further experimental research.

Effects of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine on Immune Organ Indexes and Macrophages Phagocytic Indexes in Chickens Infected by Infectious Bronchitis Virus

[ Objective] To study the therapeutic effects of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions on infectious bronchitis （IB） and find a novel avenue for prevention and treatment of viral diseases in poultry. [Method] A total of 160 cockerels at the age of 15 d were divided into four groups randomly, including traditional Chinese medicine group, moroxydine control group, challenge control group and healthy control group. Except the healthy control group, other groups were challenged with infectious bronchitis virus （IBV） on Day 15. After 48 h post challenge, the traditional Chinese medicine groupand moroxydine control group were respectively administrated with Chinese herbal medicine prescription and moroxydine, continuously for 5 d. The immune organ indexes and macrephage phagocytic indexes were detected on Day 18, 24 and 30, respectively. [ Result] The immune organ indexes and macrophage phagocytic indexes were not significantly different between traditional Chinese medicine group and moroxydine control group on Day 18. But all the indexes of the traditional Chinese medicine groups were increased significantly （ P 〈 0.05） on Day 24 and 30, and showed extremely significant difference （ P 〈 0.01 ） with those of challenge control group on Day 30. [ Conclusion] The traditional Chinese herbal medicine can enhance macrophage phagocytic indexes and immune organs indexes of chickens infected by IBV.

TREATMENT OF CHRONIC BRONCHITIS AND BRONCHIAL ASTHMA WITH MOXIBUSTION IN DOG DAYS

Moxibustion in dog days" is a unique therapy for chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma by means of drug-seperated moxibustion. In the present paper, therapeutic methods, and clinical short-and long-term therapeutic effects of "moxibustion in dog days" are introduced and it is indicated that "moxibustion in dog days" has very good the short-and long-term therapeutic effects, with the long-term therapeutic effect better than the short-term one, for chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma. Also, the concrete methods for increase of the short-term therapeutic effect are put forward.

Treatment of Cough and Dyspnea due to Acute Bronchitis by Plaster for Cough and Dyspnea——A Report of 735 Cases

In the light of the theory of treating the internal disease externally, an externally used plaster for treating cough and dyspnea due to acute bronchitis (Ke Chuan Yi Tie Kang [symbol: see text]-[symbol: see text]) was successfully applied to 735 cases of acute bronchitis (the treatment group), with the other 423 cases treated with routine western drugs as controls. The results showed that the cure rate in the treatment group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P

ANALYSIS OF CURATIVE EFFECTS OF BRONCHITIS AND ASTHMA TREATED BY CATGUT IMPLANTATION AT ACUPOINT

Catgut implantation at acupoint, catgut implantation at acupoint plus medicine and simple medicine were respectively used for treatment of 100 cases with bronchitis and asthma.The results showed that the effective rates of catgut implantation at acupoint, catgut implantation atacupoint plus medicine and simple medicine were 87%, 99% and 85% respectively. Statistical analy-sis indicated that the curative effect of catgut implantation plus medicine was the best as comparedwith other two groups with significant difference (P【0.01 ).

Whether chronic bronchitis is an independent risk factor for cerebral infarction in the elderly 1:1 case paired study

BACKGROUND： The inflammatory reaction already becomes an important risk factor of causing acute cerebral infarction; however, the correlation between chronic bronchitis and senile cerebral infarction is still unclear. OBJECTIVE： To study whether the chronic bronchitis is the risk factor for senile cerebral infarction. DESIGN： 1 ： 1 pair, case contrast, and risk factor study. SETTINGS： Department of Respiratory Medicine, Third Hospital of Tangshan; Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of North China Coal Medical College. PARTICIPANTS： A total of 147 patients with acute cerebral infarction who were regarded as case group were selected from Department of Neurology, the Third Hospital of Tangshan from January 2004 to December 2006. All patients met the diagnostic criteria of the Fourth National Cerebrovascular Diseases Meeting. There were 87 males and 60 females, and their ages ranged from 65 to 83 years. Based on 1 ： 1 pair study, another 147 subjects without cerebrovascular disease were regarded as control group. Except the diseases about infection, there were 73 males and 74 females, and their ages ranged from 62 to 81 years. All subjects provided the confirm consent and agreed with the coordinate experiment. METHODS： ①Questionnaire of risk factor of cerebral infarction was designed to measure the following items： chronic bronchitis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipemia, coronary heart disease, primary cerebral infarction/transient ischemic attack and history of smoking. ②Cerebral infarction was regarded as the dependent variance, while chronic bronchitis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypedipemia, primary cerebral infarction/transient ischemic attack, coronary heart disease and smoking were regarded as the independent variance for multiple regression analysis, MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Risk factors of senile cerebral infarction. RESULTS： All 147 patients with acute cerebral infarction and 147 subjects without cerebrovascular diseases were involved in the final analysis. ①Risk factor analysis of senile cerebral infarction： There were no significant differences in age, hyperlipemia and history of smoking between the two groups （P 〉 0.05）. But, chronic bronchitis, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cerebral infarction/transient ischemic attack and history of coronary heart disease were higher in the case group than those in the control group （33.6% vs. 19.0%, 38.8% vs. 23.3%, 54.3% vs. 36.2%, 29.3% vs. 17.2%, 44.0% vs. 29.3%, P 〈 0.05- 0.01）. ②Multiple Logistic regression analysis of risk factor of senile cerebral infarction Hyperlipemia, smoking and coronary heart disease were not correlated with cerebral infarction （P 〉0.05）, but chronic bronchitis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and cerebral infarction/transient ischemic attack were risk factors for senile cerebral infarction （OR =2.47, 2.28, 2.18, 2.01, P 〈 0.05 - 0.01）. CONCLUSION： The chronic bronchitis mac become an independent risk factor senile cerebral infarction.

Clinical Observation in 31 Cases of Chronic Bronchitis at Remission Stage Treated with Bufei Keli

To observe the therapeutic effects of a Chinese drug Bufei Keli (补肺颗粒 granules for invigorating the lung) in the treatment of chronic bronchitis at remission stage, 62 cases were randomly divided into a treatment group (treated with Bufei Keli) and a control group (treated with Yupingfeng Keli 玉屏风颗粒). The results turned out to be that the short-term clinically controlled and markedly effective rate was 77.42% and the long-term relapse-resisting markedly effective rate was 74.2% in the treatment group, which were obviously higher than 45.16% and 38.71% respectively in the control group (P<0.05). And the increase in contents of SOD and CD_3 and the decrease in LPO content in the treatment group were also bigger than that in the control group (P<0.01). It is therefore concluded that Bufei Keli can improve qi deficiency syndrome and raise the immunity of patients with chronic bronchitis, hence its effect of resisting relapse of chronic bronchitis.

Molecular Characteristics of S1 Gene of Infectious Bronchitis Virus Isolated from Chicken Proventriculus

Infectious bronchitis virus was isolated from swollen proventriculi of clinically ill chicken. The suspected virus samples (2/97, 3/97, 1/98) were adapted in SPF chicken embryos for virus isolation and identification. All the virus isolates were able to agglutinate chicken erythrocytes after treatment with trypsin, and interfer with the reproduction of Newcastle disease virus in chicken embryos, and have low antigenic relat-edness values with reference positive IBV. The isolates 2/97, 3/97, 1/98 RNAs extracted from the allantoic fluid of inoculated embryonated eggs were converted to cDNA by reverse transcription with 3'-primer of S1 gene of (IBV). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed with two primers which span the S1 gene. Amplified product of 1. 93 kb was subjected to EcoR I and BamH I digestion and the fragments obtained were the same as expected size. The PCR product was ligated to pBlueScript-SK ( + ) vector, and its nucleotide sequence was determined by the dideoxy-mediated chain termination method. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed 73. 6 - 99. 7% homology between the isolated IBV and the IBV strains in GenBank. The homology of amino acid was 71. 4 - 99.4%.