objective To compare the clinical characteristics of early-onset and late-onset myasthenia gravis(MG).Methods A total of 819 MG patients admitted in our department during the sanle period were reviewed retrospectively.The patients with MG were divided into two groups by the age of onset, which were the early-onset MG(＜49 years)and late-onset MG(≥50 years).Several clinical features were compared in the two groups including the percentage, initial symptoms, MG types,the positive rates of neostigmine test and repetitive nerve stimulation, thyroid function and thymie abnormalities. Results The more common onset age of MG was 0-49 years(early-onset).In both groups the male and female ratio was presented as the most common type in both groups(41.51%and 51.37% respectively in early-onset and late-onset groups).Type Ⅰ was more common in early-onset group while typeⅡB Was more common in lateonset group(P＜0.05).There Was no significant difference in the positive rates of neostigmine test and repetitive nerve stimulation between the two groups.The thyroid function alnormality ratio was higher in early-onset group. Hyperplastic thymus was common in early-onset group(67.57%)while both hyperplastic thymus and thymoma were common in late-onset group(48.68% and 47.37%).Conclusions The clinical characteristics of early-onset and late-onset myasthenia gravis(MG)Was different in MG type, the positive rate of thyroid function abnormalities and thymic pathologic type.

Objective To observe the neuroprotective effect of arcaine,an antagonist of receptor of N-methyl-D-aspartate(NMDA) and(or) channel complex polyamines site,on cerebral ischemia.Methods Forty-five Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: control group,ischemia model group,24h preoperative group,1h preoperative group and 1h postoperative group.Acute cerebral infarction model was reproduced in rats of the latter four groups with middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO) using ligature method.Once the ischemia model was successfully established,rats in the latter three ischemia model groups were given arcaine(3mg/kg) at 24h and 1h before operation and 1h after operation,respectively,while normal saline(0.4ml/kg) was injected to the rats in the control group.Neurological function behavior and cerebral infarct volume were assessed,and pathological features of brain tissue were observed under light-and electron microscope.Results Neural function scores of the rats in 24h preoperative group,1h preoperative group and 1h postoperative group were 1.25?0.46,1.33?0.50 and 1.40?0.58,respectively,which were significantly different from that in ischemia model group(2.63?0.52,P

Objective To investigation the clinical characteristics in myasthenia gravis (MG)patients with thymomas.Methods A total of 856 MG patients admitted to the department during 2008.7-2010.12 were reviewed retrospectively.The patients with MG were divided into two groups based on thymic pathology,which were 162 cases with thymoma and 694 cases without thymoma.We compared the different clinical features including the gender,age of onset,MG symptoms and the incidence rate of myasthenia crisis.And the relationship between the WHO types,Maosaoka stages of thymoma and the severe of MG was also studied.Results The percentage of thymoma-associated MG patients was 18.9 percent of hospitalized MG patients at the same period.Of the 162 thymoma-associated patients,94 were male and 68 were female,with a ratio of 1.38∶1 and a mean age of (42.9 ± 12.4)years old.Thymoma was more frequent in middle-old aged patients than in children.Compared with non-thymoma MG,more thymomatous patients showed generalised MG,but not only ocular muscles weakness (90.1％ vs 62.4％,P ＜ 0.001 ).There were significant differences of the incidence rate of myasthenic crisis in the two groups ( 14.8％ vs 2.3％ ).(2)WHO type B2 and Maosaoka Ⅰ,Ⅱ thymoma were the commonest types among all potentially MG-associated thymoma.No differences of Osserman MG classification was found in thymomatous patients with different pathologic changes.Conclusions The thymomatous MG patients had its distinctive clinical features:thymomas occured in about 19.7％ of MG patients with more men than women,more common in generalized,higher incidence of myasthenia crisis,with B2 type thymic pathology and Maosaoka Ⅰ,Ⅱstages.No correlation was found between pathologic and clinical stagcs.

Objective To study the mental health conditions of students majored in stomatology and dental technology in internships,and to provide evidences and guidelines for education before and during exercitation.Methods Totally 90 students majored in stomatology and 60 students majored in dental technology in internships were surveyed by the questionnaires of symptom checklist (SCL90)and perceived social support scale (PSSS).Results were analyzed by SPSS 14.0.Measurement data was analyzed using t test comparison between groups,showed as mean ± standard deviation ((x) ± s).Positive screening rate and rate between male and female were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U inspection.The inspection level is α =0.05.Results Scores of somatization,paranoia and anxiety factors among students majored in stomatology were (1.49 ± 0.56),(1.52 ± 0.43),(1.73 ± 0.58),all significantly higher than those of the national norm of youth.Positive rate of mental diseases among students majored in dental technology was 77.59％ and their scores of somatization,constraint,anxiety,psychotic factors were (1.69 ±0.55),(2.07 ±0.5),(1.68 ±0.51) and (1.54 ±0.39),all significantly higher than those of students majored in stomatology.There was no difference in the scores of rest factors between the two groups.Scores of PSSS among students majored in dental technology were significantly lower than those of students majored stomatology.Conclusions Students of different majors all suffer from psychological problems with different degrees.Therefore,education,management and social support before and during exercitation should be emphasized in the prevention of psychological diseases.

Objective To investigate the immunoregulatory role of Th17 cell and the related cytokines in myasthenia gravis.Methods Totally 51 myasthenia gravis (MG) patients were divided into MG with thymomas ( TM group) and the MG with normal thymus ( NT group),as well as 22 healthy subjects as controls.Th17 cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells were measured by flow cytometry.Th17 related cytokines were detected by ELISA and real-time quantitative-PCR.Results The quantity of Th17 cells in MG patients with thymomas (1.53 ± 0.59 )％ were significantly increased compared with that of healthy control (0.94％±0.32％,P ＜ 0.05 ).There was no significant difference in the number of Th17 cells between healthy controls and NT group.The expression levels of IL-17 mRNA ( 23.7 ± 4.5 ) were upregulated significantly versus those in healthy controls (13.4 ± 3.2,P ＜0.01 ).The levels of mRNA expression of IL-1 β,IL-6 and IL-23 were up-regulated significantly in TM group.The mean concentration of IL-17 was up-regulated significantly in TM group (30.4 ±7.3) ng/L versus healthy controls [ ( 19.2 ±4.9)ng/L,P ＜ 0.05].Serum levels of IL-23 and IL-1β were always increased in TM group versus healthy controls.Conclusion The elevated levels of IL-17 and other Th17 related cytokines in thymomas may aggravate the autoimmunity disorder.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (MG).Methods A total of 69 cases admitted to our hospital were given 2-6 mg/day tacrolimus (FK506) for 12 months.The MG absolute and relative clinical scores were used to monitor the efficacy of tacrolimus.Clinical evaluation was conducted at month 1,3,6,and 12,while the serum concentration of FK506 was measured at one month after administration of tacromus for one month.Results The therapeutic response presenting as improved muscular strength showed within one month after administration of tacrolimus.The overall response rates (MG relative clinical score≥25％) at month 1,3,6 were 81.2％,87.6％,92.2％ respectively.It reached 93.8％ by the final visit at month 12.MG score to evaluate disease severity decreased significantly as the subjects continued to take tacrolimus.Statistic analysis suggested that the serum concentration of FK506 was correlated with its therapeutic effect.Serum trough levels in remission and response groups [(7.1 ± 3.9) μg/L and (6.3 ± 3.8) pg/L,respectively] were significantly higher than that of no response group [(3.4 ± 1.3) μg/L].The most common adverse effects included hyperglycemia (5 cases),myelosuppression (3 cases),and dizziness tinnitus (3 cases),majority of which were temporary and manageable.Conclusions Our study has shown that tacrolimus significantly improved muscular strength of generalized MG patients.The treatment is well tolerated.The therapeutic effect of tacrolimus is observed within 1 month after initial use.Adverse events were manageable and not common.

Objective To study the effect of scan position consistency on computer tomography-magnetic resonance (CT-MR) images automatic registration in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods Fifteen patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were enrolled in this study and scanned with the same position to acquire CT images and MR-1 images. Then they were reacanned with different position for MR-2 images. Image registration of CT-MR-1 and CT-MR-2 was finished using mutual information method.The registration errors were evaluated by measuring the distances between marks. Results The error of au-tomatic CT-MR registration with consistent scan position was 1.32 nun, comparing with the minimum of 2.00 ram and the maximum of 3.83 mm with different positions. Conclusion Keeping consistent scan position can improve the accuracy of image registration.

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of co-observation of the expression of MAGE-A3 gene and MDR1 gene on esti-mating the curative effect in non M3-subtype acute leukemia. Methods Expressions of MAGE-A3 and MDRI were measured in 77 patients with non M3-subtype acute leukemia by RT-PCR method. Clinical observation was done to estimate the relationship between the genes with curative effect in non M3-subtype acute leukemia. Results Expression of MAGE-A3 and MDRI gene were 50. 6% and 23. 3% in non M3-subtype acute leukemia patients. Positive expression of MDRI in MAGE-A3-positive and negative patients were 46. 2% and 13. 2% (P < 0.01). The complete remission rate in MAGE-A3 negative and positive patients were 86. 8% and 64. I% (P <0. 05). Complete remission (CR) rate in MDR1 negative and positive patients was 83.3% and 56. 5% (P <0. 05). Complete remission rate were 87.9% and 55.6% in beth negative and both positive expression of MAGE-A3 and MDR1 (P < 0. 05). Conclusion The patients of positive expression of MAGE-A3 in non M3-subtype AL had higher expression of MDR1. The patients with negative expression of beth MAGE-A3 and MDR1 had higher CR rate than that in both positive patients. These researches indicated that eo-observatian of the expression of MAGE-A3 and MDR1 can predict the curative effect in non M3-subtype AL.

Objective To study to the effect of 1064-nm Q-switched Nd:YAG laser irradiation on the melanogenesis in a human epidermal melanocyte line PIG. Methods Cultured PIG cells were irradiated with 1064-nm Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (Medlite C6) at different energy densities for 10 times. After additional culture for various durations, cell viability was detected by MT assay, tyrosinase activity by dopa oxidation assay, mRNA and protein expressions of tyrosinase, tyrosinase related protein (TRP)-1 and TRP-2 by real-time quantitative fluorescent RT-PCR and Westen blotting respectively, Results The irradiation with Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at energy densities from 1 to 3 J/cm2 had no obvious effect on the viability of PIG cells. After irradiation with Nd:YAG laser at 1 J/cm2, PIG cells showed a significant increase in the tyrosinase activity,mRNA expressions of tyrosinase and TRP-1 compared with unirradiated cells (0.563 ± 0.014 vs 0.501 ±0.019, 1.40±0.11 vs 1.0, 1.28 ± 0.03 vs 1.0, all P＜ 0.05), but both the mRNA (0.91 ± 0.17 vs 1.0, P＞0.05) and protein expressions of TRP-2 experienced no significant changes before and after the irradiation.However, a significant decrease was noted in PIG cells irradiated with Nd:YAG laser at 3 J/cm2 in tyrosinase activity, mRNA and protein expressions of tyrosinase (0.70 ± 0.02 vs 1.0, 0.64 ± 0.05 vs 1.0, both P ＜ 0.05),TRP-1 (0.73±0.04 vs l.0, 0.86±0.17 vs l.0, both P＜0.05) andTRP-2 (0.68±0.04 vs l.0,0.69±0.11vs 1.0, both P ＜0.05) in comparison with unirradiated PIG cells. Conclusions The 1064-nm Q-switched Nd:YAG laser irradiation may affect the melanogenesis in PIG cells. With no influence on cell viability, the 1064-nm Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1 J/cm2 could enhance melanogenesis, while that at 3 J/cm2 could suppress melanogenesis, in PIG cells.

This article aimed at exploring the effects and protective mechanism of β-CM7 on renin angiotensin system (RAS) in diabetic rats myocardial tissue. We divided 32 male SD rats into 4 groups: control group, diabetic model control group, insulin (3.7x10(-8) mol/d) treatment group and β-CM7 (7.5x10(-8) mol/d) treatment group. After 30 days, all rats were decapitated and myocardical tissues were collected immediately. After injection, β-CM7 could decrease the content of Ang II, increase the content of Angl-7. And β-CM7 could improve the mRNA of AT1 receptor and Mas receptor. β-CM7 also could improve the mRNA of ACE and ACE2, enhance the activity of ACE and ACE2. These data confirmed tli β-CM7 could activate ACE2-Angl-7-Mas axis, negative passage in RAS, to inhibit the expression ACE mnRiJA and protein in rat myocardium, alleviate the myocardial tissue damage induced by Ang II. The effect of β-CM7 on inhibiting myocardium damage might be related to ACE/ACE2 passageway.
Angiotensin II ; metabolism ; Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Diabetic Cardiomyopathies ; drug therapy ; Endorphins ; pharmacology ; Male ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; pathology ; Peptide Fragments ; pharmacology ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 1 ; metabolism ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ; metabolism ; Renin-Angiotensin System