Objective To evaluate arterial stiffness in middle-age and elderly patients on the treatment of hemodialysis and to investigate the risk factors of arterial stiffness. Method A total of 87 in middle-age and elderly patients on the treatment of hemodialysis were enrolled. The distensibility coefficient (DC) of the common carotid artery was evaluated by an ultrasonic phase-locked echo-tracking system. Serum albumin, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), triglyceride (TG), glucose, creatinine,calcium, phosphorus, and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) were determined with well established methods. Results The ages of 87 patients ranged from 45 to 81 years, and the duration of treatment with hemodialysis was varied from 3 to 204 months . The carotid DC was ( 13.39 ± 5.32 ) × 10-3/kPa in middle-age and elderly patients on hemodialysis. In stepwise multiple regression analysis, systolic blood pressure (β = -0.349, P ＜ 0.001), age (β=-0.323, P ＜ 0.001), diabetes (β =-0.195,P = 0.027), and serum calcium (β =-0.276,P =0.002) were independently correlated with carotid DC. Conclusions Systolic blood pressure, age, diabetic,serum calcium were independent determinants for arterial stiffness of carotid artery in middle-age and elderly patients on hemodialysis.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of MR angiogrphy(MRA) for detecting cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrage(SAH) and compare it with spiral CT angiography(CTA).Methods Ten patients with SAH under MRA and CTA studies were performed within 24 hours after MRA,which was performed 5 to 10 days after SAH.Maximum intensity projection(MIP) images were produced for MRA and CTA studies.Five arterial locations were examined for spasm:the suprasellar internal carotid artery(ICA),the M1 and M2 segments of the middle cerebral artery(MCA),the A1 and A2 segments of the anterior cerebral artery(ACA).Vasospasm was cate- gorized as none,mild(50 % reduction).Results The overall correlation between MRA and CTA was 82 %(r=0.76),but it was better for proximal than distal lo- cations vessels.Agreement between MRA and CTA was greater for no spasm(89%) and severe spasm(100%)(r= 0.85～0.91)than for mild(56%)or moderate(67%)spasm(r=0.21～0.51).Conclusion MRA is highly accu- rate in the detecting no spasm or severe cerebral vasospasm in proximal arterial locations vessels;it is less accurate in detecting mild and moderate spasm in distal locations vessels.

OBJECTIVETo learn about the pathogen spectrum and genetic characterization of HFMD with encephalitis in Yantai city.

METHODSStool samples and cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) collected from HFMD with encephalitis cases in Yantai. Virus were isolated from stool samples and identified by fluorescence reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The VPl region was amplified and sequenced from positive specimens. Genetic characterization was identified by sequence analysis.

RESULTSGetting 3 virus strains from 10 stool specimens and all of them belong to EV71. The nucleotide and amino acid homogeneity with the representative isolates of C4a were 98%-99% and 98.90%-99.45% respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe pathogen of HFMD with encephalitis in Yantai city were mainly EV71 wich belong to subgenogroup C4 cluster C4a.

Capsid Proteins ; genetics ; Encephalitis, Viral ; virology ; Enterovirus A, Human ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease ; complications ; virology ; Humans ; Phylogeny

OBJECTIVETo prepare baicalin nanocrystal (BC-NC) and evaluate its pharmacokinetics in rats.

METHODBaicalin nanosuspensions (BC-NS) were prepared by the high pressure homogenization technology combined with ultrasonic, and then BC-NS were solidificated into BC-NC pellets by removing the water through fluid-bed drying. Its morphology, mean diameter and Zeta-potential were determined. An HPLC method was employed to determine the concentration of baicalin in plasma, and the bioavailability of the nanocrystal was compared with the reference group by oral administration in Wistar rats.

RESULTThe nanocrystals observed by scanning electron microscopy were irregular granulated, and the mean particle sizes of BC-NC were (248 +/- 6) nm. Its polydispersity index (PI) and zeta-potential were (0.181 +/- 0.065), (-32.3 +/- 1.8) mV, respectively. The pharmacokinetic parameters showed that the C(max) was (16.54 +/- 1.73) mg x L(-1) and the AUC(0-24 h) was (206.96 +/- 21.23) mg x L(-1) x h, which were significantly enhanced compared with the baicalin bulk and baicalin physical mixture (BC-PM) formulation, respectively (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONBaicalin nanocrystal can significantly improve the bioavailability of baicalin.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Biological Availability ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Flavonoids ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Nanoparticles ; chemistry ; ultrastructure ; Particle Size ; Rats

The function of the transplanted heart will be affected by acute allograft rejection, chronic rejection, high blood pressure and so on, which may induce the reconstruction of the left ventricle and the increase of left ventricular mass (LVM), and eventually lead to left ventricular hypertrophy that will significantly affect the prognosis of heart transplantation (HT). The purpose of this study was to dynamically monitor the changes of left ventricular geometric patterns after HT using two-dimensional echocardiography and to understand the remodeling process and its possible influencing factors. The left ventricular internal diameter, interventricular septal wall thickness, posterior wall thickness at end diastole were measured and the relative wall thickness (RWT), left ventricular mass, left ventricular mass index were calculated respectively in 34 HT patients and 34 healthy volunteers by two-dimensional echocardiography. The type of left ventricular geometry was identified based on the echocardiographic determination of LVM index (LVMI) and RWT. The HT patients were divided into three groups according to the time length after surgery: A (3 months postoperatively), B (6 months postoperatively) and C (12 months postoperatively). We compared the parameters of left ventricle between HT group and normal control group, and explored the risk factors causing the increase of LVM. The results showed that 4 patients (16%) in group A had concentric remodeling. Nine patients (34.62%) in group B had reconstruction, including 5 cases of concentric remodeling, 2 cases of concentric hypertrophy and 2 cases of eccentric hypertrophy. The hypertrophy incidence rate was 15.4% in group B. 15 patients (62.5%) had reconstruction in group C, including 9 cases of concentric remodeling, 5 cases of concentric hypertrophy, and 1 case of eccentric hypertrophy. The prevalence of hypertrophy was 25%. Multivariate analysis showed that hypertension and acute rejection history were the risk factors that resulted in left ventricular hypertrophy. It is concluded that the left ventricular remodeling occurs following cardiac transplantation at an early stage and the incidence of left ventricular hypertrophy increases with survival time. In this study, the one-year prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy was 25% after surgery. Hypertension and acute rejection history are risk factors that can predict the left ventricular hypertrophy.
Adult ; Cardiomegaly ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; Case-Control Studies ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Heart Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Heart Ventricles ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Period ; Ventricular Remodeling

OBJECTIVETo explore the role of laparoscopic sentinel lymph node(SLN) detection with carbon nanoparticles tracer in cervical carcinoma.

METHODSTotally 21 patients with confirmed early cervical cancer were enrolled in this study.Before laparoscopic extended hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenoetomy(and para-aortic lymphadenoectomy) , they were injected with carbon nanoparticles suspension injection tracer from cervical neck before surgery. The black-staining lymph nodes were cut as SLN under the laparoscope for routine pathological examination.

RESULTSOf these 21 patients, at least one SLN was successfully detected in 20 patients(95.24%) , and a total of 158 SLNs were detected.The conventional pathology results suggested that 5 patients(23.81%) had positive lymph nodes(n=16, including 14 in 4 patients) . The new approach showed a sensitivity of 80.0%(4/5) , accuracy of 100.0%(20/20) , and negative predictive value of 100.0%(16/16) for SLN detection.

CONCLUSIONLaparoscopic SLN detection with carbon nanoparticles tracer is a relative safe and sensitive method for in cervical carcinoma.

Female ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; pathology ; Nanoparticles ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy ; methods ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; pathology

BACKGROUND: It is of vital importance to fabricate an interface on the titanium implant surface which can promote early cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation, and exert better antibacterial effects with no cytotoxicity. OBJECTIVE: To prepare a TiN/Ag composite coating on the surface of pure titanium implant, and to explore its antibacterial properties and effects on MC3T3-E1 biobehaviors. METHODS: Acid etching blasting and multi-arc ion plating were adopted to prepare TiN/Ag composite coating on the smooth surface of pure titanium. Then, MC3T3-E1 cells that grew well were inoculated onto pure titanium plate, sandblasted and acid-etched titanium plate, and TiN/Ag-coated titanium plate. Twenty-four hours later, cell adhesion and viability were observed under confocal laser scanning microscope, and cell morphology was observed under scanning electron microscope. Cell counting kit-8 was used to detect cell proliferation and cytotoxicity at 24,48,72 hours after inoculation.In addition,Staphylococus aureus solution was dropped onto the smooth titanium plated, acid-etched and sandblasted titanium and TiN/Ag-coated titanium plate, and the growth of bacteria was observed by the laser confocal scanning microscope at 16 hours. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Under the confocal laser scanning microscope, spindle cells with bipolar or three poles were observed on the smooth titanium surface, and there was less F-actin and filopodia expression; cells on the TiN/Ag-coated titanium surface and sandblasted and acid-etched titanium surface were scattered with a large amount of interconnected filopodia that were fully stretched and adhered to the titanium surface, highly expressed F-actin was detected, and actin fibers were thickened. Under the scanning electron microscope, the cells on the smooth titanium surface were not fully adhered and stretched, and those on the TiN/Ag-coated titanium surface or the sandblasted and acid-etched titanium surface exhibited better adhesion and extension. Findings from the cell counting kit-8 showed that after 72 hours of inoculation,the cells on the smooth titanium surface grew well,with cytotoxicity level 1.In addition,Staphylococus aureus grew well on the smooth titanium surface under the confocal laser scanning microscope,while a large amount of Staphylococus aureus died on the TiN/Ag-coated titanium surface or on the sandblasted and acid-etched titanium surface. These findings indicated that TiN/Ag coating has good biocompatibility and antibacterial properties.

The anti-bacterial activities of three types of di-O-caffeoylquinic acids (diCQAs) in Lonicera japonica flowers, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), on Bacillus shigae growth were investigated and compared by microcalorimetry. The three types of diCQAs were 3, 4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (3, 4-diCQA), 3, 5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (3, 5-diCQA), and 4, 5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (4, 5-diCQA). Some qualitative and quantitative information of the effects of the three diCQAs on metabolic power-time curves, growth rate constant k, maximum heat-output power Pm, and the generation time tG, total heat output Qt, and growth inhibitory ratio I of B. shigae were calculated. In accordance with a thermo-kinetic model, the corresponding quantitative relationships of k, Pm, Qt, I and c were established. Also, the half-inhibitory concentrations of the drugs (IC50) were obtained by quantitative analysis. Based on the quantity-activity relationships and the IC50 values, the sequence of inhibitory activity was 3, 5-diCQA > 4, 5-diCQA > 3, 4-diCQA. The results illustrate the possibility that the caffeoyl ester group at C-5 is the principal group that has a higher affinity for the bacterial cell, and that the intramolecular distance of the two caffeoyl ester groups also has an important influence on the anti-bacterial activities of the diCQAs.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Bacillus ; drug effects ; growth & development ; Chlorogenic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Flowers ; chemistry ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Lonicera ; chemistry ; Monosaccharides ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Quinic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; pharmacology

Gabexate mesilate (GM) is a trypsin inhibitor, and mainly used for treatment of various acute pancreatitis, including traumatic pancreatitis (TP), edematous pancreatitis, and acute necrotizing pancreatitis. However, due to the characteristics of pharmacokinetics, the clinical application of GM still needs frequently intravenous administration to keep the blood drug concentration, which is difficult to manage. Specially, when the blood supply of pancreas is directly damaged, intravenous administration is difficult to exert the optimum therapy effect. To address it, a novel thermosensitive in-situ gel of gabexate mesilate (GMTI) was developed, and the optimum formulation of GMTI containing 20.6% (w/w) P-407 and 5.79% (w/w) P188 with different concentrations of GM was used as a gelling solvent. The effective drug concentration on trypsin inhibition was examined after treatment with different concentrations of GMTI in vitro, and GM served as a positive control. The security of GMTI was evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, and its curative effect on grade II pancreas injury was also evaluated by testing amylase (AMS), C-reactive protein (CRP) and trypsinogen activation peptide (TAP), and pathological analysis of the pancreas. The trypsin activity was slightly inhibited at 1.0 and 5.0 mg/mL in GM group and GMTI group, respectively (P<0.05 vs. P-407), and completely inhibited at 10.0 and 20.0 mg/mL (P<0.01 vs. P-407). After local injection of 10 mg/mL GMTI to rat leg muscular tissue, muscle fiber texture was normal, and there were no obvious red blood cells and infiltration of inflammatory cells. Furthermore, the expression of AMS, CRP and TAP was significantly increased in TP group as compared with control group (P<0.01), and significantly decreased in GM group as compared with TP group (P<0.01), and also slightly inhibited after 1.0 and 5.0 mg/mL GMTI treatment as compared with TP group (P<0.05), and significantly inhibited after 10.0 and 20.0 mg/mL GMTI treatment as compared with TP group (P<0.01). HE staining results demonstrated that pancreas cells were uniformly distributed in control group, and they were loosely arranged, partially dissolved, with deeply stained nuclei in TP group. Expectedly, after gradient GMTI treatment, pancreas cells were gradually restored to tight distribution, with slightly stained nuclei. This preliminary study indicated that GMTI could effectively inhibit pancreatic enzymes, and alleviate the severity of trauma-induced pancreatitis, and had a potential drug developing and clinic application value.
Amylases ; metabolism ; Animals ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacokinetics ; pharmacology ; Gabexate ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; pharmacology ; Gels ; Male ; Muscle, Skeletal ; drug effects ; enzymology ; Oligopeptides ; metabolism ; Pancreas ; drug effects ; enzymology ; pathology ; Pancreatitis ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; etiology ; pathology ; Poloxamer ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Serine Proteinase Inhibitors ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; pharmacology ; Temperature ; Wounds, Penetrating ; complications ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo analyze the correlation between pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS) and prokineticin receptor 2 (PROKR2) and prokineticin 2 (RROK2) mutations.

METHODSPROKR2 and RROK2 genotypes were identified by multiplex polymerase chain reaction analysis with exon-flanking primers and by automated sequencing techniques with peripheral blood DNA samples from 59 patients with PSIS.

RESULTSOf these 59 PSIS patients, 6 showed intragenic deletions at the PROKR2 locus. Of them, 5 patients exhibited intragenic subsititution of exon 2 (c.991G>A), and the remaining one patient exhibited intragenic subsititution of exon 2 (c.1057C>T). No PROK2 mutation was found in these PSIS patients.

CONCLUSIONPROKR2 may be the susceptibility gene of PSIS.

Exons ; Gastrointestinal Hormones ; Genotype ; Humans ; Mutation ; Neuropeptides ; Pituitary Diseases ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ; Receptors, Peptide