Objective To investigate the correlation between urinary 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) level and carotid atherosclerotic plaque stability in patients with acute ischemic stroke.Methods The patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled consecutively.According to the findings of carotid artery ultrasound,they were divided into either a non-plaque group or a plaque group,and then the plaque group was redivided into a stable plaque subgroup and an unstable plaque subgroup.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the levels of urinary 8-iso-PGF2α.Multivariate logistic regression analysis and Spearman correlation analysis were used to investigate the relationship between 8-iso-PGF2α and carotid artery plaques.Results A total of 150 patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled,including 104 had carotid artery plaque (30 were stable plaques and 74 were unstable plaques) and 46 had no carotid artery plaque.The urinary 8-iso-PGF2α level (86.45 ± 6.20 ng/mmol creatinine vs.45.70 ±6.19 ng/mmol creatinine; t =37.136,P=0.001) and intima-media thickness (IMT) (2.89 ± 1.03 mm vs.0.86 ±0.53 mm; t =3.518,P =0.002) in the plaque group were significantly higher than those in the nonplaque group.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that urinary 8-iso-PGF2α level (odds ratio [OR] 1.183,95％ confidence interval [CI] 1.087-1.276; P=0.001) and IMT (OR 28.642,95％ CI 8.276-137.231; P =0.001) were the independent risk factors for carotid artery plaque.Pearson correlation analysis showed that there was no significant correlation between urinary 8-iso-PGF2α level and carotid artery IMT (r =0.075,P =0.264).The urinary 8-iso-PGF2α level of the unstable plaque subgroup was significantly higher than that of the stable plaque subgroup (97.30 ± 7.20 ng/mmol creatinine vs.69.17 ±9.25 ng/mmol creatinine; t =16.506,P =0.001).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that urinary 8-iso-PGF2α level (OR 4.652,95％ CI 1.732-12.643; P =0.001) was an independent risk factor for unstable plaque.Conelusions The urinary 8-iso-PGF2α level is associated with the existence of carotid atherosclerotie plaque and instability,its increased level is an independent risk factor for carotid plaque instability in patients with ischemic stroke.

The objective of this study is to compare the normalized prediction distribution errors (NPDE) and the visual predictive check (VPC) on model evaluation under different study designs. In this study, simulation method was utilized to investigate the capability of NPDE and VPC to evaluate the models. Data from the false models were generated by biased parameter typical value or inaccurate parameter inter-individual variability after single or multiple doses with the same sampling time or multiple doses with varied sampling time, respectively. The results showed that there was no clear statistic test for VPC and it was difficult to make sense of VPC under the multiple doses with varied sampling time. However, there were corresponding statistic tests for NPDE and the factor of study design did not affect NPDE significantly. It suggested that the clinical data and model which VPC was not fit for could be evaluated by NPDE.

This study is to develop a therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) network server of tacrolimus for Chinese renal transplant patients, which can facilitate doctor to manage patients' information and provide three levels of predictions. Database management system MySQL was employed to build and manage the database of patients and doctors' information, and hypertext mark-up language (HTML) and Java server pages (JSP) technology were employed to construct network server for database management. Based on the population pharmacokinetic model of tacrolimus for Chinese renal transplant patients, above program languages were used to construct the population prediction and subpopulation prediction modules. Based on Bayesian principle and maximization of the posterior probability function, an objective function was established, and minimized by an optimization algorithm to estimate patient's individual pharmacokinetic parameters. It is proved that the network server has the basic functions for database management and three levels of prediction to aid doctor to optimize the regimen of tacrolimus for Chinese renal transplant patients.

Objective To discuss interventional treatment technique for benign ureteral strictures. Methods A total of 19 cases with 20 benign ureteral strictures were treated with balloon dilatation and double-pigtail ureteral stent placement. Results Among 19 caces,16 were succeeded in a rate of 84.2%.The three failure cases included one of compression by aberrant vessels,one by compression of fibrous-strings and the last one due to tortuosity of the ureter.Re-examinations,by intravenous urography and B ultrasound were carried out in 16 successors,showed gradually release of hydro-nephrosis and renal function improvement.Iatrogenic foreign body ocurred in 2 cases,caused by the protruding tail of stent which had been taken out under ureteroscopy. Conclusions Interventional technique for benign ureteral strictures possesses adventages with mild injury,simple operation,and a new effective method.

Objective To investigate the evolution of pancreaticoduodenectomy and its significance in different time periods. Methods The clinical data of 165 patients from 1988 to 2008 in the department of general surgery, Zhangzhou Municipal Hospital with pancreaticoduodenectomy were retrospectively analyzed.Among 165 cases, simple pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) were performed in 138 cases, pylorus preserving pancreatoduodenectomy (PPPD) were performed in 14 cases, and extended pancreaticoduodenectomy were performed in 13 cases. The methods of pancreato-enteric reconstruction in pancreaticoduodenectomy included 68 cases with binding pancreaticojejunostomy (Peng's type Ⅰ ); 61 cases with pancreaticogastrostomy; 30 cases with traditional pancreaticojejunostomy; and 6 cases with duct-to-mucous pancreaticojejunostomy.Results From 1988 to 1998 (the first 10 years), 50 patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy, including 42 cases of PD and 8 cases of PPPD, and no case of extended pancreaticoduodenectomy. The mean amount of blood loss was (620 ± 180)ml, mean amount of blood transfusion was (530 ± 120)ml, the mean operation time was (6.5 ±3.5)h. Anastomotic fistula occurred in 7 cases, the incidence of anastomotic fistula was 14.0%(7/50); and 2 cases died during perioperative period with a mortality rate of 4.0% (2/50). From 1999 to 2008 (the latter 10 years), 115 patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy, including 96 cases of PD, 6 cases of PPPD, and 13 cases of extended PD. The mean amount of blood loss was (360 ± 110)ml, mean amount of blood transfusion was (400 ± 6 ) ml, the mean operation time was ( 3.0 ± 2.5 ) h, Anastomotic fistula occurred in 4 cases with an incidence of 3.5% ( 4/115 ); and one case during perioperative period with a mortality rate of 0.61%. The postoperative follow up time was ranging from 6 months to 5 years in 109 patients, the 1, 3,5 year survival rate was 87.2%, 54.1% and 39.5%. Conclusions In the latter 10 years, the amount of blood loss, the operation time, the mortality, and the incidence of pancreatic fistula have decreased significantly compared to the first 10 years.

Pharmacometrics,developed from the conventional pharmacokinetics,is the science of applying mathe-matical and statistical methods to characterize,understand,and predict a drug's pharmacokinetic,phannacodyna-mic,and biomarker-outcome behaviors.Pharmacometrics has been widely valued for its utility of modeling and simulation in drug research and development,therapeutic drug monitoring and individualized therapy.This paper reviewed the advances of pharmacometrics employed in new drug research and development and therapeutic drug monitoring both at home and abroad.

BACKGROUND:Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and interleukin 1β (IL-1β) have been reported to play an important role in the occurrence and development of primary osteoarthritis. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the association between gene polymorphisms of TGF-β1 and IL-1β and primary knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: Han and Uyghur elderly populations in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China were surveyed on the prevalence of osteoarthritis, followed by allotted to osteoarthritis and health groups according the symptoms and radiography. Genotyping TGF-β1-509C/T and -1348C/T and IL-1β-511C/T was performed to analyze the relationship between the gene polymorphisms of TGF-β1 and IL-1β and osteoarthritis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Alleles T and C with genotypes CC, CT and TT were detected in both two groups. In the Uygur population, the genotype frequency of TGF-β1-509C/T and IL-1β-511C/T showed significant difference between osteoarthritis and health groups (P < 0.05). In the Han population, the genotype frequency of TGF-β1-1348C/T showed significant difference between two groups (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the Uygur individuals carrying TT genotype of TGF-β1-509C/T and IL-1β-511C/T, and Han people carrying the TT genotype of TGF-β -1348T are more susceptible to osteoarthritis.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy andtolerability of continuous low-dose cyclophosphamide and prednisone treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. Methods84 relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients were enrolled, including 46 males and 38 females, the assess patients of 81 cases with average age of 69.7 (45-91)years. They were treated continuous with oral cyclophosphamide (50 mg/d) and prednisone (15 mg/d) and monthly follow-up.ResultsAverage follow-up time were 23.5(1-71)months.The assessed patients were 81 cases,with 52 cases (64.2 ％) responded.There were 2 cases(2.5 ％)CR,21 cases(25.9 ％) of PR,29 cases(35.8 ％)MR,19 cases(23.5 ％)NC and 10 cases (12.3 ％)PD.The median time to response was 2 months.In the patients who responded to the treatment,the median progression-free survival(PFS)and overall survival (OS) were 18(95 ％CI 12.8-23.2),29(95 ％CI 24.1-33.9)months.In the non-responding patients,the PFS and OS were 4(95 ％ CI 2.2-5.8) and 6(95 ％ CI 4.9-7.1)months.Two groups were statistically significant(P＜0.05).The most common toxicities included fatigue,nausea, neutropenia, hyperglycemia and lung infection. No patient withdrew from the study because of toxicity. Conclusions Continuous low-dose cyclophosphamide combined prednisone is a treatment options for relapsed and refractory MM patients.

Objective To evaluate the health-related quality of life ( HRQL) of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis ( AIS) before treatment. Methods Sixty-two female patients with AIS were evaluated using the Chinese version of Scoliosis Research Society's outcomes instrument 22 ( SRS-22) HRQL questionnaire before treatment. The patients were categorized into thFee groups: a mild deformity group with a major curve Cobb angle less than 30° ( n =14),a moderate deformity group with Cobb angles of 30° to 50° ( n =42), and a severe deformity group with Cobb angles more than 50° ( n =6). Results The severe deformity group scored lowest in the self-image domain.There was,however,no significant difference in the functional activity,pain or mental health domain scores between the three groups. Conclusions The Chinese version of the SRS-22 HRQL questionnaire can be used to assess the HRQL of Chinese AIS patients.AIS patients with a major curve Cobb angle more than 50° have relatively low self-image scores.

OBJECTIVETo disclose the molecular genetic mechanism of type 2 diabetes mellitus and to determine chromosomal location of type 2 diabetes mellitus gene.

METHODSGenome-wide screening and genotyping were conducted in a family of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and linkage analysis by LINKAGE and GENEHUNTER package was used to determine the potential chromosomal location of the family of type 2 diabetes mellitus gene.

RESULTSEvidence of linkage was found at the long arm of chromosome 2. The maximum Lod score is 1.80 and non-parameter Lod score is 5.06.

CONCLUSIONThe type 2 diabetes mellitus gene of the family is located at 2q.

Adult ; Age of Onset ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Chromosome Mapping ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 2 ; genetics ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; genetics ; Family Health ; Female ; Genetic Linkage ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Genome, Human ; Humans ; Lod Score ; Male ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Middle Aged ; Pedigree