Objective: The present study is to observe and compare the different effects of electroacupuncture(EA) at acupoint Neiguan (PC 6), intravenous administration of L-arginine(L-Arg, a precursor of nitric oxide), and the drug administration combined with the EA on acute myocardial ischemia(AMI) in rats. Methods: The rat model of AMI was established by occlusion of the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery, then the animals were divided randomly into 5 groups,i.e. control group, AMI group, L-Arg treatment group, EA treatment group and L-Arg plus EA treatment group, the mean arterial pressure(MAP), heart rate(HR) and the cardiac functions were observed and recorded. Results: The data showed that MAP, HR and all the indices of cardiac functions in the AMI group were significantly lower than those in control group, and the indices in each treatment group were all improved to different extents, especially in L-Arg plus EA treatment group. Conclusion: The combined use of L-Arg and EA had the better therapeutic effect on the AMI.

Objective:To investigate the mechanism of the reversal effect of acupuncture on the fall of blood pressure induced by angiotensin-(1-7)[Ang-(1-7)] in the caudal ventrolateral medulla(CVLM) of rats. Methods: Ang-(1-7) and its selective receptor antagonist (D-Ala7), Ang-(1-7) and Ang-(779) were microinjected into the CVLM respectively to induce the change of blood pressure, during which, the concentrations of amino acid neurotransmitters were detected by means of microdialysis and high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)combined with fluorescent detector, on the other hand, the effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) on the level of blood pressure and the concentrations of amino acid neurotransmitters were also observed. Results:Unilateral microinjection of Ang-(1-7) into the CVLM could decrease the blood pressure (BP), which was accompanied by an increase in the release of Glu and a decrease in the release of Tau in the same site; Whereas microinjection of Ang-779 into the CVLM could elevate BP, which was accompanied by a decrease in the release of Glu and an increase in the release of Tau; EA at acupoint Zusanli (ST 36) for 20 min could inhibit the fall of blood pressure induced by microinjection of Ang-(1-7) into the CVLM and the elevation of blood pressure induced by microinjection of Ang-779 into the CVLM, and in the meantime, it could inhibit the changes of the release of Glu and Tau induced by microinjection of Ang-(1-7) and Ang-779 into the CVLM. Conclusion: The reversal effect of EA on the fall or elevation of blood pressure induced by microinjection of Ang-(1-7) or Ang-779 into the CVLM might be related to the changes of Glu and Tau release.

ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of nutritional risk and malnutrition,and nutritional support in elderly hospitalized patients.Methods2386 elderly hospitalized patents (aged ≥65 years) in Beijing Hospital from April 2007 to June 2009 were consecutively enrolled.Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002) was performed on the next morning after admission.Body mass index (BMI)lower than 18.5 kg/m2 or serum albumin lower than 35 g/L was diagnosed as malnutrition.Results Among 2517 enrolled patients,NRS 2002 was completed by 94.8％,including 466 cases in Department of Respiratory,580 cases in Department of General surgery,549 cases in Department of Neurology,180 cases in Department of Nephrology,301 cases in Department of Gastroenterology and 310 cases in Department of Thoracic Surgery in Beijing Hospital.The prevalence of nutrition risk was 28.2％ (673/2 386),and the ratioes of nutrition risk in Department of Respiratory,General Surgery,Neurology,Nephrology,Gastroenterology and Thoracic Surgery were 27.5％,30.3％,28.5％,29.4％,25.9％ and 25.4％,respectively.The prevalence of malnutrition was 26.4％,and the ratios of malnutrition in Department of Respiratory,General surgery,Neurology,Nephrology,Gastroenterology and Thoracic Surgery were 26.2％,29.8％,26.9 ％,28.3％,22.3％ and 22.9％,respectively.Among 48.1％ of patients with nutrition risk who received nutritional support,the proportions of nutritional support in Department of Respiratory,General Surgery,Neurology,Nephrology,Gastroenterology and Thoracic Surgery were 30.1％,85.2％,26.1％,18.2％ 73.8％ and 64.9％,respectively.Among 15.1％ of patients without nutrition risk (NRS＜3) who received nutritional support,the proportions of nutritional support in Department of Respiratory,General Surgery,Neurology,Nephrology,Gastroenterology and Thoracic Surgery were 10.6％,25.2％,6.3％,3.8 ％,34.2％ and 17.4 ％,respectively.The ratio of parenteral nutrition (PN) over enteral nutrition(EN) was more than 4:1.ConclusionsA large proportion of elderly hospitalized patients are at nutrition risk and malnutrition.And nutritional support is somehow inappropriately applied.Evidence-based guideline of PN or EN is needed to improve this situation.

Objective To investigate whether physical training can activate the PI3K/Akt (phosphatidyli-nositol 3-kinase/Protein Kinase B) signal transduction pathway after focal brain isehemia, leading to the reduction ofendothelial cell apoptosis. Methods Twenty-four male adult Sprague-Dawley rats (2 ～ 3 month old, n = 24) weresubjected to 60-min right middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). All rats were randomly assigned to one of thethree groups: physical training group, control group and sham operation group. 24 hours after MCAO ,physical train-ing group underwent 30 min treadmill training per day for 2 weeks. Results After two weeks, the phosphorylationlevel of PI3K/Akt in the physical training group was significantly higher when compared with that in the control group(P <0.05), while the expression level of Bax in physical training group was lower when compared with that in thecontrol group( P < 0.05 ). Conclusion Physical training can activate PI3K/Akt signal transduction pathway,which may be associated with the neurological recovery.

Objective To investigate the nutritional risk,malnutrition rate,and nutritional support in elderly inpafients with hepatobiliary diseases.Methods Totally 156 eldedy inpatients(≥65 years)with hepatobiliary diseases were consecutively enrolled.Nutritional Risk Screening 2002(NRS 2002)was applied to screen nutritional risks on the next morning after admission and two weeks after admission or on the discharge day.Results Of 156 enrolled patients,151 patients(96.8%)completed the NRS 2002 screening.The nutrition risk and malnutrition rate were 36.9%(57/156)and 26.2%(41/156),respectively.The nutrition risk and malnutrition rate were significantly higher in patients with a hospital stay longer than 2 weeks than those with a hospital stay less than 2 weeks(49.6%and 36.7% vs.37.3%and 21.4%,respectively)(both P<0.05).In addition,100 patients(64.1%)with nutrition risk received nutrition support and 27 patients(17.3%)without nutrition risk received nutrition support.Among patients who had undergone major abdominal surgeries,137 patients(87.9%)with nutrition risk received nutrition support while 57 patients(36.8%)without nutrition risk received nutrition support.Conclusions NRS 2002 is a feasible nutritional risk screening tool for elderly inpatients with hepatobiliary diseases.A hospital stay more than 2 weeks the morbidity of the nutritional risk and malnutrition rate increased.Seems the value of nutritional support has not been well recognized in the department of hepatobiliary surgery,inappropriate application of nutritional support still exists.

Objective To evaluate the effects of carbohydrate-electrolyte solution(CES)on serum glucose,pancreas islet function,and safety in elderly patients after abdominal operation.Methods In this prospective,double-blinded,randomized,and controlled study,40 elderly patients who met the defined criteria were enrolled.Subjects in CES group were intravenously administered with 1 000 ml CES for consecutive three days beginning from the 1st and 2nd post-operative day,while subjects in the control group were administered with 10% glucose of the same volume under the same arrangement.The changes of serum glucose,insulin and insulin C-peptide,as well as lactic acid and uric acid and uric acid were determined before and after injection.Adverse events were recorded.Results All patients completed the study.The increase rate of serum glucose was significantly lower on the 2nd and 3rd day after injection in CES group than in control group(P=0.008,P:0.001).Blood insulin and insulin C-peptide levels showed increasing trends in both two groups,but were not significantly different between two groups(P=0.612,P=0.213).In the CES group,6 patients experienced systemic inflammatory response syndrome and 4 patients had infective complications after surgeries ;on the contrary,these two numerals were 8 and 6 in the control group(P=0.639,P=0.606).No increase in serum lactic acid or uric acid was detected.Conclusion Appropriate application of CES has minimal effect on the blood gluocse and pancreas islet function in elderly patients after abdominal surgery and may be helpful to improve clinical outcomes.

To investigate whether changes of amino acid neurotransmitter releases in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (rVLM) were related to acupuncture and to the antihypertensive effect of melatonin (Mel) microinjected into the anterior hypothalamic area (AHA) of rats with stress-induced hypertension (SIH), as well as to compare and analyze the relationship between the both antihypertensive mechanisms of acupuncture and of Mel in the AHA. Methods: Animal model of SIHR was made by electric foot shocks combined with noises. Electroacupuncture (EA) was used and Zusanli acupoint of both side was selected. The technique of drug microinjection into the brain was used to observe the change of blood pressure (BP), and synchronously, brain microdialysis was performed for collecting dialysate samples, and then the concentration of amino acid neurotransmitters in the dialysate samples was determined by high performance liquid chromatography combined with fluorescent detection (HPLC-FD). Results: After the animal received stress treatment, the BP elevated, synchronously, the release of glutamate (Glu) in the rVLM increased, and when EA was performed, the elevated BP of the rats with SIH decreased,simultaneously, the release of Glu in the rVLM decreased also. After Mel was microinjected of into the AHA of the SIHR, the elevated BP attenuated, meanwhile, the release of Glu decreased,and those of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and taurine (Tau) increased in the rVLM.Administration ofbicuculline, an antagonist of GABAA receptor, into the rVLM prior to microinjection of Mel into the AHA could partially block the depressor effect of Mel in the AHA. Conclusion: The decrease in the release of Glu in the rVLM contributes to the antihypertensive effect of both acupuncture and Mel in the AHA in the rats with SIH, and the increase in the release of GABA and Tau in the rVLM is also important to Mel in the AHA.

ObjectiveTo study the feasibility and technique in liver transplantation (LT) in an adult with situs inversus (SI) and reviewed the medical literature on this subject.MethodsA 45-year-old male with complete SI,suffered from progressive hepatic failure secondary to hepatolithiasis,obstructive jaundice,portal hypertension and liver cirrhosis.He underwent liver transplantation in July 2004.His anatomy was studied by preoperative CT scan and three-dimensional liver reconstruction imaging and angiography.LT was performed using the modified piggyback technique.The donor right liver was rotated 45 degree to the left,making the donor left liver pointing to the left paracolic sulcus and the donor right liver was in the recipient hepatic fossa.The donor suprahepatic vena cava was anastomosed end-to-side to the recipient vena cava,and the infrahepatic vena cava was closed by oversewing.ResultThe patient recovered uneventfully.His liver function was stable during a follow-up of 75 months.ConclusionLT in patients with SI is safe and feasible.Exact determination of the anatomy,comprehensive preoperative planning,and good technique in liver transplantation play important roles in LT for patients with SI.

ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of nutritional risk and malnutrition among hospitalized elderly abdominal surgical patients with malignant tumors.MethodsTotally 269 elderly patents ( ≥ 65 years) with malignant tumor who were hospitalized in our department of abdominal surgery from December 2009 to November 2010 were consecutively enrolled.Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 ( NRS 2002 ) was performed on the next morning after admission.Body mass index (BMI) lower than 18.5 kg/m2 was considered as malnutrition.Results The NRS 2002 was completed in all the 269 enrolled patients.The overall prevalence of malnutrition was 30.1％ (81/269) ; more specifically,37.5％ (21/56) among geriatric patients ( ≥80 years) and 17.6％ (43/245) among the other age groups (P =0.001 ).The overall rate of nutrition risk was 38.3％ (103/269) ; more specifically,57.1％ (32/56) among the geriatric patients and 29.3％ (72/245) among the other age groups (P ＜0.001 ).The rate of nutrition risk in patients with pancreas cancer was 58.3％,which was higher than other elderly patients; on the contrary,and the rate of nutrition risk in the patients with colorectal cancer was relatively lower.ConclusionThe rates of nutrition risk and malnutrition in hospitalized elderly abdominal surgical patients ( ≥ 65years) with malignant tumor are relatively higher than other age groups,especially among the geriatric patients.

ObjectiveTo explore the clinical outcome of the combined nutrition support for colorectal cancer patients.MethodsTwo research arms were obtained using a cohort sampling method.Ann A ( the study group): from 2009 to 2010,30 colorectal cancer patients were enrolled.They received nutritional risk screening (NRS) 2002 after admission.Nutritional risk was defined as NRS 2002 score ≥3 three days before operation.Patients with nutritional risk received enteral nutrition (EN) for bowel preparation without laxative drug and enema.After operation,they received EN combined with parenteral nutrition (PN) supports provided.Arm B (control group): 30 cases with historically confirmed colorectal cancer were enrolled from 2007 to 2008.They received routine bowel preparation (diet control,laxative drug,and enema) and PN supports after operation.Nutritional parameters,the rate of infectious complications,the rate of systemic inflammatory response syndrome,and the duration of hospital stay were analyzed.ResultsThere were no significant difference in body weight and plasma albumin between these two arms ( P ＞ 0.05 ). The incidence of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (13.3 ％ ),infectious complications (10.0％ ),and the duration of hospital stay [ (12.3 ± 6.5 ) d ] in arm A were significantly lowerthan those in arm B [33％,30％,and (15.0 ±7.2) d,respectively] (P =0.038,P =0.042,P =0.045).Conclusion For the colorectal cancer patients,nutritional risk screening on admission,bowel preparation with eneral nutrition before operation,and combined nutritional support after operation can improve the clinical outcome.