MicroRNAs(miRNAs) are a newly discovered class of small noncoding RNAs that rcgulate gene expression by translational repression or mRNA degradation.It has become evident that miRNAs are involved in many important biological processes,including tissue differentiation and development,showing a tissue specificity and development-stage specificity.In the other hand,miRNAs play critical roles in neovascularization and a variety of pathophysiological processes,such as pathological angiogenesis,oxidative stress response,immune response and inflammation.Currently,miRNAs of the retina,lens and cornea have been established,and they would be potential therapeutic targets in the eye diseases.Here,the distribution of miRNAs in the eye and their role in ocular diseases were summarized.

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of Chinese herbal and western medicines(CHM & WM)combined with acupoint pulse-laser stimulation(APLS)for calculus of upper urinary tract.Methods Sixty cases of calculus of upper urinary tract were allocated to the treatment group(Group A,n=36)and the control group (Group B,n=24).Group A was treated with CHM & WM combined with APLS and Group B with CHM alone.Results The therapeutic effect rate was 94.4% and 75.0% in Group A and Group B respectively (P

Rectal cancer is one of the common malignant tumors in China,and the incidence rate is rising year by year.Comprehensive treatment based on surgical operation is the major treatment of low rectal cancer.The treatment concept requires not only radical resection of tumor,but also preservation of the anal and urogenital function,to improve the quality of patients' life.By improving the accuracy of preoperative staging of rectal cancer,neoadjuvant therapy,and following the principle of total mesorectal excision,patients can benefit in terms of increased resection rate,decreased operation complication incidence,increased sphincter preservation,decreased local recurrence and increased overall survival rate.With the development of medical technology,minimally invasive surgery of low rectal cancer has been developed rapidly.In this paper,new progress in the surgical treatment of low rectal cancer will be reviewed.

Alzheimer's disease(AD) is one of the most common causes of mental deterioration in elderly individuals, accounting for around 45~60% of the overall cases of dementia over 65 years of age. Although there is presently no "cure" for AD, a large number of potential therapeutic interventions have emerged to correct cholinergic dysfunctions. Currently, cholinergic therapy, particularly cholinesterase inhibition, represents the most realistic approach to the symptomatic treatment of AD. Modest efficacy for mild to moderate AD has been shown in well-designed clinical trials for tacrine, donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantimine. Among other treatment options, estrogen replacement therapy in postmenopausal women is under active investigation, but recent studies showed somewhat disappointing results. Epidemiological and clinical data suggest that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are beneficial in the treatment and prevention of AD. But prednisone and COX-2 inhibitor, celecoxib showed no clinical benefit in recent studies. Alpha-tocopherol and gingko biloba showed some beneficial effect in delaying the progression of AD and enhancing cognitive functions. Immunization with beta amyloid peptide was considered to be the only method to prevent and halt disease progression in patients with AD. Recently, phase II clinical trial using synthetic beta amyloid peptide (AN-1792) was discontinued because some patients showed neuro-inflammation which may be caused by autoimmune responses.
Aged ; alpha-Tocopherol ; Alzheimer Disease* ; Amyloid ; Autoimmunity ; Celecoxib ; Cholinesterases ; Cognition ; Dementia ; Disease Progression ; Estrogen Replacement Therapy ; Female ; Ginkgo biloba ; Humans ; Immunization ; Methods ; Prednisone ; Rivastigmine ; Tacrine

BACKGROUND: International research discovers that the risk factors of stroke have certain correlation with microalbuminuria(MAU) but the results are inconsistent.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the incidence of MAU in patients with acute cerebral infarction and the risk factor of stroke and the recurrence of cerebral infarction.DESIGN: A case-control study based on patients with acute cerebral infarction and individuals with risk factors of cerebral infarction, and the healthy elderly as controls.SETTING: Inpatient department of neurology in a university hospital.PARTICIPANTS: Totally 214 cases with cerebral infarction or risk factors of cerebral infarction aged between 50 and 80 years old were selected from the Department of Neurology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between January 2000 and December 2001. Acute cerebral infarction group (infarction group, attack within one week, n =78), cerebral infarction risk factor group(risk group, n = 56), such as, hypertension, diabetes,coronary heart disease (CHD), transient ischemic attack(TIA) or stroke history(more than 6 months), and healthy elderly(control group, n=28) .Thereinto, combined group( n = 109) included 78 cases of acute cerebral infarction and 31 cases with TIA or stroke history of risk factors.METHODS: Seralbumin, serum creatine(SCr), blood sugar, total cholesterol, total triacylglycerol(TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) were detected after more than 12 hours of fasting. The albumin in the first urine in the morning was detected by radio-immunity analysis.the incidence of neo-vascular affair in 2 years of follow-up including recurtute indicator: incidence of MAU in each group.RESULTS: Patients with MAU accounted for 35% of acute cerebral infarction, which were significantly higher than that of risk group(15% ) and control group(3.5%, P ＜ 0.01). Six independent risk factors predicting MAU existed in infarction group and combined group, which were diabetes, seralbumin level, age, CHD, hypertension, and HDL-C( P ＜ 0. 05, or P ＜ 0.01).After(1.5 ±0. 9) years of follow-up, 23% of patients of infarction group suffered from recurrent vascular accident, which was significantly higher than that of risk group(12% ) and control group(0%, P ＜ 0.01 ). 36% of MAU patients in infarction group suffered from recurrent vascular accident, which was significantly different from that of patients with a great deal of albuminuria(41% ) and normal albuminuria(10%, P ＜ 0. 05). MAU is the independent predicting indicator for the recurrence of stroke after the control of diabetes and hypertension in patients of infarction group and risk group with the risk rate of 3.8 (95% CI, 1.2-13.5; P ＜0.05) or 4. 7(95%CI,1.4-16.7, P ＜ 0.01).CONCLUSION: MAU is quite common in acute cerebral infarction patients. After the adjustment of basic risk factors, MAU is the independent risk factor of the recurrence of cerebral infarction.

Objective To investigate the distribution of syndromes in hospitalized hypertensive patients with maintenance hemodialysis. Methods A investigation-table of Chinese medicine was established and used in 105 eases for survey in clinic to discover the regularity. Results The occurrence rate from high to low of asthenia syndrome symptoms was: deficiency syndrome of both yin and yang, yin asthenia, deficiency of both vital energy and yin, yang asthenia, and the deficiency of qi. The occurrence rate from high to low of evil domination was: turbid damp, stagnation of qi, blood stasis, and fluid stagnation. Conclusions The clinical feature of hypertensive patients with maintenance hemodialysis was mainly asthenia of healthy energy combining with sthenia evil.

Objective To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of hospitalized hypertension patients with different metabolic abnormalities associated with cardiovascular disease.Methods 1 843 patients with diagnosis of hypertension were selected,including 327 patients with metabolic syndrome as the research object.Metabolic syndrome of different age,gender,abnormal components epidemic status were analyzed.Results Positive rates of overweight,dyslipidemia,hyperglycemia,cardiovascular disease in 327 patients were 42.20％,37.92％,35.17％,71.25％,the highest positive rate for cardiovascular disease was significantly higher than the other three indexs(x2 =56.22,73.28,85.51,all P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant differences in the rates of overweight between men and women (x2 =0.42,P ＞ 0.05).Dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia incidence of women were significantly more than those of men,there was statistically significant difference (x2 =5.73,6.47,all P ＜ 0.05).The incidence of cardiovascular disease in males was high than that in females (x2 =24.66,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Preventive different metabolic abnormalities need to take different measures according to age and gender.Weight control,blood lipids and blood sugar are the key to the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

ABSTRACT: "Association of the kidney with the ears" is central to the traditional Chinese medical (TCM) theory of the viscera and their manifestations. Previous studies have shown that thyroxin, aldosterone, calcium and iron might be the material basis of the correlation between the kidney and the ears. Due to restriction in research techniques and methods, there has been no further progress in this research field, whose modern biological mechanisms and scientific connotations have not been explained clearly. In recent years, the progress of biological techniques and research on kidney essence provided promising opportunities for research of the association between the kidney and the ears. This article summarized the study progress of "association of the kidney with the ears" theory and posed some meaningful study thoughts. Presbycusis is a kind of degenerative disease caused by aging, which is one aspect of aging of the human body. Because aging is considered as physiological "kidney deficiency", presbycusis can be regarded as a model of "kidney deficiency" deafness. In conclusion, investigating the correlation between "kidney deficiency" and presbycusis using biotechnology systems combined with "essence of kidney", should provide a sound basis for study of the theory of the relationship between the kidney and the ears. This will provide new and valuable information for the modern biological research about the theory of visceral associations in TCM.

The pathological changes of hallux valgus are diversity, including adduct of metatarsus primus, increasing of the intermetatarsal angle between the first and second metatarsal bones, increasing of hallux valgus angle, dislocation of sesamoides, lost of soft tissue balancing. X-ray is the most important method to measure the pathological changes of hallux valgus. The multiformity of hallus valgus pathological changes makes manner of repairing variety. The main methods include operation on soft tissue, osseous surgery, fusion of joint and figuration of joints. The selection of the surgical methods should be individualization according to the idiographic pathological changes of hallux valgus patients.

Animals ; Hepacivirus ; genetics ; Hepatitis C ; immunology ; prevention & control ; therapy ; virology ; Humans ; Mutation ; Viral Hepatitis Vaccines ; immunology