Medical tourism has grown into a booming market worldwide,which however remains at a startup stage in China given its fast development in recent years.This paper probed into the present status of medical tourism at home and abroad,discussed key roadblocks to tackle for medical tourism,including government regulations,medical resources,international certification,promotions and marketing,language barriers,and visa.On such basis,the authors come up with the following recommendations:enhance policy support and complete the governance of medical tourism; tap resources of public hospitals and encourage private involvement; encourage international certification of medical institutions to explore overseas medical tourism; encourage tourist firms to develop medical tourim products and promoting medical tourism; build brands and complete product lines.

The change of plasma TXB_2 and 6-Keto-PGF_1? which were stable metabolites of TXA_2 and PGI_2 respectively were observed in arterial blood of SHR and WKY and in different ages of SHR. The 6-Keto/TXB_2 ratios were computed. The results showed that TXB2 concentration of arterial blood were significantly higher in SHR than in WKY(1217.9?298.5Pg/ml vs 207.1?59.8Pg/ml, P

OBJECTIVE:To optimize the technics for the extraction of Qiangliyanhou mixture.METHODS:The physico-chemical properties of the compositions in the formula medicinal substances were analyzed,the obtained quantity of aqua aromatica was used as an investigation index of distillation technics;The preparation technics was optimized by orthogonal experiment in which the extraction ratio of the water extractives and the content of chlorogenic acid were used as the indexes to investigate the influence of the amount of water added,the soaking time before decoction,decoction time and times of decoc?tion on the extraction result.RESULTS:The optimized amount of aqua aromatica in the distillation procedures was collecting distillate that is3times the amount of the medicinal substances;The optimum water extraction condition was:the medicinal substances was soaked for2hours by adding15times amount of water before decocting for total3hours(3times?1hour/time).CONCLUSION:The preparation procedure is reasonable and reliable.

Objective To study the effects of small dosage insulin on intestinal inflammatory responses to endotoxin rats. Method Thirty two male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups (n = 8): control group, endotoxin (LPS,6 mg/kg i.p.)group, regular insulin(RI,0.5 IU/kg hypodermic) group and LPS(6 mg/kg i.p) + RI (0.5 IU/kg hypodermic)group. Six hours after LPS or saline injection,all rats were laparotomized to observe the congestion in intestinal mucosa with naked-eyes and photography.Then a segment of intestine was stained with HE to observe the pathological changes. The expressions of IL-6 and TNF-α were detected by RT-PCR.The systemic inflammatory response,blood sugar and food taken in rats were observed simultaneously. Software SPSS 13.0 was used to perform ANOVA and Chi-square test for statistical analysis. Results Compared with LPS group, the differences in hyperemia and inflammatory cell infiltration in intestinal tissue were not noticeable in LPS + RI group. The expression of IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly attenuated in RI + LPS group (P < 0.01). All rats in LPS group manifested systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) four or five hours after LPS treatment, while there was none in LPS + RI group. Rats in LPS group took less food than rats of other groups while the blood sugar had litter difference in all groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions Small dosage of insulin could reduce intestinal inflammation caused by endotoxemia. Early administration of insulin ould prevent the presence of SIRS while it has no obvious influence on blood sugar.

Collagen (Coll), as the basic material of matrix scaffolds for cell growth, has been widely used in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In this study, collagen protein was modified by L-lysine (Lys), and cross-linked by genipin (GN) to prepare the L-lysine-modified collagen (Lys-Coll-GN) scaffolds. Microstructure, pore size, porosity, stability and biocompatibility of Lys-Coll-GN scaffolds were observed. The results showed that the bond between L-lysine and collagen protein molecule was formed by generating amide linkage, and mouse embryo fibroblasts proliferation was not inhibited in the Lys-Coll-GN scaffolds. In the multiple comparisons of Coll-scaf- folds, Coll-GN scaffolds and Lys-Coll-GN scaffolds, Coll-scaffolds was the worst in mechanical characteristics while the highest in biodegradation rate. Compared to Coll-GN scaffolds, Lys-Coll-GN scaffolds had more fiber structure, higher interval porosity (P<0. 01). Although the tensile stress of Lys-Coll-GN scaffolds reduced significantly, its e- longation length extended when the scaffolds was fractured (P<0. 01). The percentage of Lys-Coll-GN scaffolds residual weight was lower than that of Coll-GN scaffolds after all the scaffolds were treated by collagenase for 5 days (P<0. 01). This study suggested that Lys-Coll-GN scaffold had good biocompatibility, and it improved the mechanical property and degradation velocity for collagen-based scaffold. This study gave a new predominant type of tissue engineering scaffold for the regenerative medicine.
Animals ; Biocompatible Materials ; chemistry ; Cell Proliferation ; Collagen ; chemistry ; Cross-Linking Reagents ; Fibroblasts ; cytology ; Iridoids ; chemistry ; Lysine ; chemistry ; Mice ; Porosity ; Tissue Engineering ; Tissue Scaffolds

Objective The biological half-life in vivo of local anesthesia is short, high concentration in local tissue is in-clined to cause central nerve and cardiovascular toxicity due to the drug absorption into blood by blood vessels.The research was to pre-pare the poly ( lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticle loaded with ropivacaine ( RVC-PLGA-NPS) , optimize its process, and determine its characteristics in vitro. Methods An oil-in-water emulsion solvent evaporation technique was adopted to prepare the RVC-PLGA-NPS.The formulation was optimized by central composite design/response surface method(CCD-RSM), with the encapsulation effi-ciency( EE) , drug loading( DL) and particle size as the indexes.Research was also made on itsin vitro release by fitting different model equations. Results The acquired nanoparticals were smooth, with the mean particle size (331.21±2.11) nm, DL (13.81±1.35)%and EE (74.82±2.53)%.The accumulative release rate of the nanoparticals was about 73%in 96 h, which showed that Higuchi func-tion fitted the release curve. Conclusion The RVC-PLGA-NPS made by emulsion solvent evaporation technique have obvious drug-release behaviour in vitro.

Objective To investigate the relationship betweenthe stability of carotid artery plaque and cystatin C,homocysteine. Methods A total of 1 50 cerebral infarction patients with carotid artery plaque treated in Hospital of the First Electricity Authority in Guangdong were selected as the research subjects.According to Color Doppler ultrasound scanning,the patients were divided into the observation group (86 unstable plaque patients)and control group(64 stable plaque patients).Peripheral venous blood from the patients of both groups were collected for the detection of cystatin C,homocysteine,serum total cholesterol and fibrinogen levels and the results of detection were compared between the two groups.Results The levels of cystatin C,homocysteine,serum total choles-terol and fibrinogen in the observation group were significant higher than those of the control group(t =48.760,20.530,29.860, 33.720,P <0.05).The level of cystatin C was weak positive correlated with homocysteine(r =0.21,P <0.003).Multivariate lo-gistic regression analysis showed cystatin C,homocysteine,serum total cholesterol and fibrinogen were independent risk factors for carotid artery plaque instability in patients with cerebral infarction.Conclusion Cystatin C,homocysteine,serum total cholesterol and fibrinogen are important risk factors for carotid plaque instability,the cerebral infarction is closely related to the carotid artery plaque stability,so controlling the risk factors is the focus of prevention and treatment of cerebral infarction.

Objective: The compare the safety and efficacy between cryoablation (CRYO) and radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) for treating the patients with atrio-ventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) by meta-analysis.
Methods: We systemically searched the Medline, Cochrane library and Embase database to fulifll our pre-deifned criteria until the publication of May 2014.
Results: There were 5 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 14 retrospective trials enrolled in our study with 2900 patients. The patients were allocated into 2 groups:CRYO group, n=1384 and RFCA group, n=1516. The overall pool-analysis demonstrated that compared with RFCA group, CRYO group had the lower risk of permanent atrio-ventricular nodal block (OR:0.27, 95%CI 0.11 to 0.62, P<0.01) and shorter X-ray exposure time (WMD:-3.36, 95%CI-5.58 to-1.15, P<0.01);while CRYO group had the lower immediate procedural success rate (OR:0.63, 95%CI 0.42 to 0.96, P<0.05), longer procedural time (WMD:10.97, 95%CI 3.35 to 18.58, P<0.01), and higher long-term arrhythmia recurrence rate (OR:2.89, 95%CI 2.05 to 4.06, P<0.01).
Conclusion: Although CRYO could decrease the risk of permanent atrio-ventricular nodal block, while its effectiveness was lower than RFCA for AVNRT treatment in relevant patients.

Through the analysis of the current status and problems of innovative medical devices evaluation, tnis paper discussed the strategies of evaluation, and ultimately raises the frame of evaluation, so as to provide reference for scientific evaluation of medical devices in China.
China ; Equipment and Supplies ; standards ; Evaluation Studies as Topic

AIM: To study the role of TGF-?/Smad pathway in the development of renal fibrosis in diabetic nephropathy.METHODS: Rats were induced to diabetic nephropathy by using tail intravenous injection of STZ.The expression of TGF-?_1,Smad2/3 protein and mRNA in kidney were examined at 2,4,8 and 16 weeks after STZ induction.CTGF,collagen-Ⅲ,PAI-1 mRNA expression in kidney at 16 weeks of STZ-induced diabetic nephropathy and normal rats were studied by RT-PCR.RESULTS: Weak TGF-?_1,Smad2/3 protein were detected in normal renal tissues while strong TGF-?_1,Smad2/3 staining were observed in renal tissues of diabetic nephropathy(0.057?0.030/0.223?0.040;0.017?0.010/0.153?0.010,respectively,P