Objective To explore the effect of gender on the concentration of D-dimer between the healthy and the patients with aortic dissection.Methods From January 2015 to January 2016,53 patients with aortic dissection were treated in a hospital and 50 patients of health control group were matched by age,Sysmex CS5100 was used to detect the concentration of D-dimer in the selected population,and the results were analyzed statistically.Results In the same age group,the concentration of D-dimer in healthy control group female was higher than that in male,difference was statistically significant (t=5.357,P<0.05);The concentration of D-dimer in male patients with aortic dissection group was higher than that of female patients,difference was statistically significant(t=-2.041,P<0.05).The concentration of D-dimer in patients with aortic dissection group was higher than that of the healthy control group,difference was statistically significant(t=5.757,P<0.05).Conclusion The concentration of D-dimer between healthy adults and patients with aortic dissection exist gender differences,and it has a certain correlation.

Objective To observe the effect of Sini decoction on inflammatory response and immune function in septic rats and to discuss its possible mechanism.Methods 66 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into normal control group (n=6),model group (n=30),and Sini decoction group (n=30).Septic model was reproduced by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS,5 mg/kg).After the reproduction of sepsis,rats in Sini decoction group received Sini decoction (5 g/kg) by gavage,while those in model group were given equal dose of normal saline in the same way.Rats in normal control group did not receive any treatment.Blood was collected via eye sockets at 2,12,24,48,72 hours after LPS administration,then the rats were sacrificed.The concentrations of inflammatory mediators,such as interleukin (IL-1,IL-6,IL-10),tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α),and the expression level of monocyte human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR) were determined with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA),and the pathological changes in intestinal mucosa were observed under electron microscope.Results The concentration of IL-1 (ng/L) at 2 hours in model group was gradually increased and peaked at 48 hours (4.07 ± 0.10),and then gradually decreased,while the IL-1 level in Sini decoction group peaked at 12 hours (2.98 ± 0.12) followed by a gradual decrease.IL-6 (ng/L) in model and Sini decoction groups peaked twice at 12 hours (91.39 ± 1.55,73.00 ± 2.38) and 48 hours (82.51 ± 1.49,64.68 ± 1.68) respectively.IL-10 (ng/L) in model group gradually decreased after peaking at 2 hours (86.66 ± 6.12),and that in Sini decoction decreased at 12 hours (71.61 ± 2.35) followed by an increasing tendency,and approached normal level at 48 hours (109.09 ±4.77 vs.124.01 ± 7.89,P＞0.05).TNF-α (ng/L) in model group was gradually increased and peaked at 48 hours (83.37 ±3.79),and that in Sini decoction peaked at 12 hours (48.52 ± 1.21),and decreased to normal level at 72 hours (18.59 ± 1.97 vs.15.50 ± 2.68,P＞0.05).During the course of the experiment,as compared with those of the model group,level of IL-1,IL-6,and TNF-α were significantly lower at all time points in Sini decoction group,and IL-10was significantly higher.The expression level of HLA-DR (μg/L) in model and Sini decoction groups peaked at 2 hours (4.86 ± 0.15,4.85 ± 0.17),and then gradually lowered.HLA-DR expression μg/L) at 48 hours and 72 hours in Sini decoction group was significantly lower than that in model group (48 hours:4.21 ± 0.12 vs.2.74 ± 0.16,72 hours:3.80 ± 0.09 vs.2.27 ± 0.12,both P＜0.01).Pathological study of intestinal mucosa showed that the intestinal mucosa were infiltrated significandy by inflammatory cells,and villi were damaged severely in both model group and Sini decoction group at 2 hours after LPS challenge.Infiltration of inflammatory cells in Sini decoction group was less intense after 12 hours,and the intestine villi repair was more obvious compared with model group.Conclusion Sini decoction could regulate systemic inflammatory response,and promote the repair of intestinal mucosa,the intestinal function and the immune status of septic rats.

AIM: To investigate the feasibility and clinical effect of punctoplasty by using trabeculectomy punch combined with a novel RS tube for the treatment of punctal stenosis.METHODS: Totally 39 patients (39 eyes) with punctual stenosis were selected from October 2013 to October 2015 in the Second People`s Hospital of Foshan.All patients underwent punctoplasty by using trabeculectomy punch combined with a novel RS tube.These tubes were removed at 3mo after operation.A follow-up of 6mo was taken for final analysis.The fluorescein dye disappearance test score was recorded before the operation and at 1,3 and 6mo after the extubation.The curative effect of the operation at 6mo after the extubation was assess.RESULTS: Fluorescein dye disappearance test: the scores at 1,3 and 6mo after the extubation all decreased compared with the preoperative ones.The difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).At the last following up, 35 eyes (90%) were cured completely, 4 eyes (10%) were improved significantly, no patients recurred.Effective rate was 100%.No serious intraoperative and postoperative complications happened.CONCLUSION: Punctoplasty by using trabeculectomy punch combined with novel RS tubes is a safe and effective method for the punctul stenosis, which is easy to perform, with high success rate.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the protective effect of Xuebijing injection against renal injury in patients with sepsis, and to explore its possible mechanism.Methods A prospective randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in which 62 severe patients with sepsis and septic shock admitted in Department of Critical Care Medicine of Jiangsu Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from June 2013 to December 2013 were randomly divided into control group and Xuebijing group, with 31 patients in each group. The patients in both groups received basic treatment for sepsis, and the patients in Xuebijing group were additionally given intravenous injection of Xuebijing 100 mL once a day for 7 days. In both groups, the changes in acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ (APACHEⅡ) score were observed before treatment and 1, 3, 7 days after treatment, and the changes in the levels of interleukins (IL-6, IL-10), prothrombin time (PT), fibrinogen (Fib), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), serum creatinine (SCr), and Cystain C (Cys C) were determined before treatment and 1 day and 3 days after treatment.Results There was no statistically significant difference in APACHEⅡ score before treatment between two groups, however, the APACHEⅡ scores were significantly decreased in both groups 3 days and 7 days after treatment compared with those before treatment, and the degree of decrease in Xuebijing group was more obvious 7 days after treatment (13.61±7.62 vs. 16.34±8.70,P< 0.05). Serum concentrations of Cys C, SCr, IL-6, IL-10, PT, APTT, and Fib showed no difference between two groups before treatment (allP> 0.05), while after treatment the degrees of improvement of above indexes in Xuebijing group were obviously superior to those in control group, especially 3 days after treatment[Cys C (mg/L):1.12±0.11 vs. 1.35±0.14, SCr (μmol/L): 115.0±31.0 vs. 135.0±24.0, IL-6 (ng/L): 54.27±28.79 vs. 73.35±31.01,PT (s): 13.50±0.11 vs. 15.71±0.11, APTT (s): 43.66±0.31 vs. 48.03±0.55, Fib (g/L): 1.91±0.51 vs. 1.51±0.52, P< 0.05 orP< 0.01].ConclusionXuebijing injection has certain renal protective effect in patients with sepsis, and its mechanism is possibly related to the regulation and improvement of uncontrolled inflammatory response and coagulation function in sepsis.

Background The occurrence and development of aortic aneurysm (AA) are associated with infection.Some researchers have detected the DNA of periodontal pathogens in AA samples in certain populations.However,it has not been done in Chinese population.The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of periodontal pathogens in oral tissue samples and aneurysm samples of AA patients.Methods Eighty-nine subjects with AA and 59 subjects without AA were examined.Periodontal clinical parameters were evaluated.Unstimulated saliva and subgingival plaque somples were collected from all subjects.Twenty-six dissected AA samples were obtained.Evidence of eight periodontal pathogens including Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg),Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (Aa),Prevotella intermedia (Pi),Tannerella forsythensis (Tf),Treponema denticola (Td),Campylobacter rectus (Cr),Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn),and Prevotella nigrescens (Pn) was ascertained in all samples by 16S rRNA-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay.Results The periodontal indexes including plaque index (PLI),probing depth (PD),bleeding index (BI),and clinical attachment loss (CAL),of the six Ramfjord index teeth were significantly higher in the AA group than those in the control group (P ＜0.01).Eight periodontal pathogens in subgingival plaque samples were more frequently detected in the AA group than in control group.The difference in prevalence between the groups was significant for six (out of eight) periodontal pathogens assayed (Pg,Pi,Fn,Pn,Tf,and Td,P ＜0.01).Additionally,all eight periodontal pathogens were more frequently detected in saliva samples of the AA group than in those of the control group,again with six (out of eight) (Pg,Pi,Fn,Cr,Tf,and Td) displaying significant differences in prevalence between the two groups (P ＜0.01).Out of 26 aneurysm samples examined,Pg,Pi,Fn,Crand Tfwere detected in 6 (23.1％),2 (7.7％),3 (11.5％),1 (3.8％),2 (7.7％),respectively,and Aa,Pn,and Td were not detected in dissected aneurysm samples.Conclusion Results of this study suggested that periodontal infection is associated with the occurrence of AA.

Background: Nonlinguistic cognitive impairment has become an important issue for aphasic patients, but currently there are few neuropsychological cognitive assessment tests for it. To get more information on cognitive impairment of aphasic patients, this study aimed to develop a new cognitive assessment test battery for aphasic patients, the Non?language?based Cognitive Assessment (NLCA), and evaluate its utility in Chinese?speaking patients with aphasia. Methods: The NLCA consists of five nonverbal tests, which could assess five nonlinguistic cognitive domains such as visuospatial functions, attention test, memory, reasoning, and executive functions of aphasic patients. All tests are modified from the nonverbal items of the current existed tests with some changes to the characteristics of Chinese culture. The NLCA was tested in 157 participants (including 57 aphasic patients, 50 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients, and 50 normal controls), and was compared with other well?established relative neuropsychological tests on the reliability, validity, and utility. Results: The NLCA was fully applicable in the MCI patients and the normal controls, almost working in the aphasic patients (57/62 patients, 91.9%). The NLCA scores were 66.70 ± 6.30, 48.67 ± 15.04, and 77.58 ± 2.56 for the MCI group, the aphasic group, and the control group, respectively , and a significant difference was found among three groups (F = 118.446, P < 0.001). The Cronbach's alpha of the NLCA as an index of internal consistency was 0.805, and the test?retest and interrater reliability was adequate (r=0.977 and r= 0.970, respectively). The correlations of the cognitive subtests and their validation instruments were between 0.540 and 0.670 (all P < 0.05). Spearman's correlation analysis indicated that the coefficient of internal consistency of each subtest itself was higher than other subtests.When choosing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment score of <26 as the diagnostic criteria of cognitive impairment, the area under the curve for all participants in the control and MCI groups was 0.942 (95% confidence interval: 0.895–0.989), and an optimal cutoff point of 75.00 seemed to provide the best balance between sensitivity and specificity. Age (r = ?0.406, P < 0.001) was the main influence factor for the NLCA. Conclusions: The NLCA could efficiently differentiate the cognitive impairment patients from the normal controls and is a reliable and valid cognitive assessment test battery to specially find nonlinguistic cognitive function for aphasic patients.

The theory of medicinal properties of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the core theories of TCM, which is an important basis for guiding the clinical application of TCM and the key supporting point for the modernization of TCM. How to study the modernization of TCM under the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine theory has become a great challenge for modern researchers. Currently, the researches in TCM mainly focus on chemical studies such as on active ingredients and effective components, lacking the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine theory, and losing the inherent characteristics of TCM. Therefore, the combination of the theory of TCM and the modernization of TCM and the establishment of research mode that is in line with the characteristics of modernization of traditional Chinese medicine under guidance by the theory of medicinal properties of TCM shall be the top priority in modern Chinese medicine research. The property and flavor of TCM are closely related to its chemical compositions, and also have certain regularity. The researches on the chemical components of TCM, systematic design of property and flavor, as well as the separation and combination of TCM property and flavor are beneficial to the overall analysis of the characteristics of TCM, showing great significance to inherit and carry forward TCM. The pharmacological effects about separation and combination methods based on TCM property and flavor were reviewed in this study, providing theoretical reference for the development of new drugs and the application of TCM.

BACKGROUNDPathophysiological processes, such as malignancy, can lead to the formation of stiffer tissue in lung cancers. Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) elastography is a novel technique for measuring tissue stiffness during EBUS-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). The current study was conducted to investigate the diagnostic value of EBUS elastography for mediastinal and hilar lymph node metastasis in lung cancers.

METHODSFrom January 2014 to January 2015, 40 patients suspected of lung cancer were enrolled, and a total of 68 lymph nodes were evaluated by EBUS-TBNA. EBUS-guided elastography of lymph nodes was performed prior to EBUS-TBNA. Standard EBUS characteristics were also described. Pathological determination of malignant or benign lymph nodes was used as the gold standard for this study. If EBUS-TBNA did not result in a formal pathological diagnosis of malignancy, patients were referred for a surgical procedure. Comparisons of elastography and standard EBUS characteristics were made between benign and malignant lymph nodes.

RESULTSElastography grading scores and strain ratios showed significant differences between benign and malignant lymph nodes (P = 0.000). The elastography strain ratio was more sensitive and specific for determining malignant lymph nodes than elastography grading score or standard EBUS criteria. The receiver operating characteristic curve for the elastography strain ratio showed an area under the curve of 0.933. The best cut-off point of the strain ratio for differentiating malignant from benign lymph nodes was 32.07. The elastography strain ratio had a sensitivity of 88.1%, the specificity of 80.8%, positive predictive value of 88.1%, and negative predictive value of 80.8% for distinguishing malignant from benign nodes. The overall accuracy of elastography strain ratio was 85.3%. The strain ratio of malignant and benign lymph nodes positively correlated with the elastography grading score (r = 0.561, P = 0.000).

CONCLUSIONSEBUS elastography can be effectively used to predict mediastinal and hilar lymph node metastases in lung cancer. This noninvasive technique may thus complement standard EBUS and help guide EBUS-TBNA procedures.

Aged ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; methods ; Endosonography ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Lymph Nodes ; pathology ; Male ; Mediastinum ; pathology ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of anti-osteoporosis drugs on the curative effect of femoral head replacement in the elderly patients with proximal humerus fracture. METHODS: From November 2012 to June 2016, 38 patients with proximal humeral fractures received humeral head replacement were divided into the treatment group and the control group according to whether the anti-osteoporosis drugs were used after the operation. The treatment group included 19 cases, of which 11 cases were three part fractures, 18 cases were four part fractures, and bone density was(0.58±0.14) g/cm²; the control group involved 19 cases, of which 10 cases were the three part fractures, 9 cases were four part fractures, and bone density was(0.58±0.11) g/cm². Periprosthetic bone mineral density(BMD) was measured at 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 weeks after operation, and visual analogue scale(VAS) was used to evaluate the pain and Neer score was used to evaluate the function of the shoulder joint. RESULTS: The incisions of all patients were healed with grade A and no complications occurred. Thirty-five patients were followed up for 1 year. The bone density around the prosthesis of treatment group was higher than that of control group, the difference was statistically significant(<0.05);VAS in two groups had no statistical significance(>0.05). The total score and functional score of Neer in the treatment group were better than those in the control group, the difference was statistically significant(<0.05), and there was no significant difference in pain and activity score between the two groups(>0.05). According to the Neer score, the results of treatment group was excellent in 10 cases, good in 5 cases, fair in 3 cases;in the control group, 3 cases were excellent, 9 cases were good, and 5 cases were fair;the difference between the two groups was statistically significant(<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Artificial humeral head replacement combined with anti-osteoporosis drugs in the treatment of proximal humeral fractures in elderly patients can effectively improve the bone density around the prosthesis and restore shoulder function. The early clinical effect is satisfactory.
Aged ; Calcitonin ; therapeutic use ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; Humans ; Humeral Head ; Postoperative Period ; Shoulder Fractures ; prevention & control ; Shoulder Joint ; Treatment Outcome

Animals ; Hepatic Stellate Cells ; Liver Cirrhosis/pathology* ; RNA, Long Noncoding/genetics* ; Rats