Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a multifunctional growth factor,which is widely expressed in most ocular tissues including cornea,retina and sclera.It may regulate the growth and proliferation of various ocular cells with the interaction of epidermal growth factor receptor in vitro or in vivo.This article reviews the role of EGF in pathological and physiological processes of ocular diseases,including corneal injury,retinal proliferative diseases,myopia,pterygium,glaucoma,cataract,and eye tumors.

Changes of syndromes and therapeutic feature of the patients with steroid-dependent asthma(SDA)during steroid withdrawal were investigated.It was held that the patient presented pathological changes from deficiency of Yin and hyperactivity of evil fire before steroid withdrawal to deficiency of Yin and Yang during steroid withdrawal to deficiency of kidney-Yang after steroid withdrawal,with the syndrome of stasis of phlegm and blood throughout the whole process.Therefore,a new scheme for weaning the steroid with the TCM three-step sequential therapy was established according to the changes of syndromes,i,e., nourishing Yin and blood,clearing away excessive heat and eliminating stasis of phlegm and blood before steroid withdrawal; nourishing Yin and blood,inhibiting pathogenic wind,replenishing Qi and Yang,activating blood circulation,resolving phlegm and lowering the adverse rise of Qi to relieve asthma during steroid withdrawal;warming kidney-Yang and adjusting Qi and blood,and regulating functional activity of Qi after steroid withdrawal.Because the three-steep sequential therapy was designed based on the dynamic change of SDA during steroid withdrawal,it conformed with the whole clinical process of the occurrence,development and changes of SDA than any other single way,and reflected the essential characteristics of the pathological changes.

Objective To improve the establishment of severe acute pancreatitis model in rat. Methods 36 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into experiment or shame operation group(n=18,each). Severe acute pancreatitis was induced by injection of 4% sodium taurocholate through puncturing common bile duct with a fine needle, puncture hole was closed by medical sealant glue. Ascites volume and blood amylase were measured at 3, 6 and 12 hours after injection. Gross and histological changes of pancreas were evaluated by a scoring system. Results Pancreatic changes in the experiment group was hemorrhagic and necrosis.The ascites volume(8.52±1.05)ml,serum amylase activity(5247.17±547.07)u/L, gross and histological scores(13.6±3.92) in experiment group was significantly higher than ascites volume(1.21±0.32)ml,serum amylase activity(1289.5±176.67)u/L, gross and histological scores((0.83±0.58) in shame operation group at every time point(P<0.05). Conclusions Combined injection through common bile duct and medical sealant glue in the experiment can minimize the trauma and simplize the procedure. This method produces a reliable model with high success rate and it is an ideal severe acute pancreatitis animal model.

Objective To explore the effects of glutamine (Gln) on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6),and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).Methods 54 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups ( n =18 for each group):Gln treatment group ( Gln),SAP model group (SAP),and negative control group (NC).SAP was induced by injection of 4％ sodium taurocholate through common bile duct with a fine needle and the puncture hole in the bile duct was closed by medical sealant glue.Sham operation was performed in the rats of NC group.Rats in Gln group received Gln injection and rats in SAP group and NC group received normal saline instead of Gln.Ascites volume and blood amylase were measured at 3,6 and 12 hours after injection and plasma cytokines were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Gross and histological changes of pancreas were evaluated by a scoring system.Results The ascites volume,serum amylase level,gross and histological scores,TNF-α level,and IL-6 level were significantly higher in SAP group than in NC group at each time point(P＜0.05).IL-10 level was significantly higher in SAP group than in NC group at 3 hour point(P＜0.05).The ascites volume,serum amylase level,and gross and histological scores were significantly lower in Gln group than in SAP group at the time point of 3 hour and 6 hour after injection( P ＜ 0.05 ).Level of TNF-α and IL-6 was significantly lower in Gln group than in SAP group at each time point( P ＜0.05 ).IL-10 level was lower in Gln group than in SAP group at 3 hour point( P ＜0.05 ).Conclusion Gln is effective in SAP treatment by decreasing the serum level of proinflammatory cytokine and ameliorating the pathological damage of pancreatic tissues in rats.

Twenty-six eyes which appeared rejection after allograft penetrating keratoplasty between April 2003 and April 2004 in Shandong Shi'erming Eye Hospital were collected, including 16 males and 10 females, 9 cases were repeated relapsing viral keratitis, 8 cases were traumatic posterior corneal leucoma, 5 cases were corneal decompensation caused by various intraocular surgery, 2 cases were congenital leucoma, and 2 cases had other symptom. The rejection occurred at 2 month to 2.5 years after operation. Among them 19 cases were transferred to our hospital and asked adding traditional Chinese therapy because western medicine was ineffective in other hospital. All cases were received local treatment with hormone and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory eyedrop, some cases applied systemic administration with glucocorticoid, mainly based on eye black immunosuppression decoction, potion daily, twice per day, the average time of medication was 11-42 days. Clinical symptoms were served as observation indexes, results showed that the total effective rate of the 26 cases were 100%. The bulbar conjunctiva hyperemia and edema was reduced, corneal opacity became light, and rejection was complete response in 9 cases, 5 of 19 cases which were transferred to our hospital were exempted from operation, and the average vision was improved three lines. It was found that purging liver and eliminating dampness compound Chinese medicine can rapidly reduce anterior chamber's inflammatory response and backoff corneal neovascularization in clinical practice.

Objective To study the effect of whole-process nursing intervention on comfort of patients undergoing radial artery puncture. Methods 100 patients with radial artery puncture from July, 2007 to June, 2008 were divided into the control group and the experimental group with 50 cases in each group accord-ing to time sequence. Routine whole nursing mode was used in the control group, the whole-process nursing intervention mode based upon routine nursing mode under the instruction of evidence-based method was used in the experimental group. Pain, psychological tensity, body numbness, success rate of radial artery puncture, patients' satisfaction degree were compared between the two groups. Results Every indexes of the experi-mental group were better than those of the control group. Conclusions The whole-process nursing interven-tion mode can promote the comfort degree of patients undergoing radial artery puncture.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of dual phase 18F-FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis of recurrent and metastatic bladder cancer after surgery. Methods The imaging data from 84 patients underwent the dual phase 18F-FDG PET/CT after surgery with known histories of bladder cancer were analyzed. Among the 84 patients, 16 had symptoms of recurrence, 24 had symptoms of metastasis and 44 didn′t have any symptom. The median interval time between the primary tumor resection and the PET/CT scan was 11.5 months (0.5 ~ 240 months). According to the PET/CT imaging procedures, all patients underwent whole body PET/CT scan at 60 minutes after IV injection of 18F-FDG. Additional delayed pelvic PET/CT images were acquired after forced diuresis by using oral 40 mg furosemide. The 18F-FDG PET/CT findings were compared with histopathologic examination results and (or) the clinical follow-up. All patients were followed up for more than six months. Results Results of detecting recurrence and metastasis of bladder cancer showed that the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the dual phase FDG PET/CT imaging protocol were 91.7%(22/24), 95.0%(57/60), 94.0%(79/84), 88.0%(22/25), 96.6%(57/59) and 90.0%(27/30), 96.3%(52/54), 94.0%(79/84), 93.1%(27/29), 94.5%(52/55), respectively. Conclusion Dual phase FDG PET/CT can be used to detect the recurrence and metastasis with high accuracy, contributing to the restaging and follow-up in bladder cancer after surgery.

Objective To evaluate the complementary value of 11C-choline (CHO) PET/CT to 18F-FDG PET/CT in the staging of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and diagnosis of HCC.Methods From December 2007 to January 2010,15 patients with locally advanced NPC and 76 patients with HCC were prospectively enrolled into this study.The research was approved by the ethics committee,and all patients signed informed consents.Whole body 18 F-FDG PET/CT scans were performed on all patients and regional 11C-CHO PET/CT was conducted in 43 patients (15 with NPC,28 with HCC).A lesion with increased uptake of either 11 C-CHO or 18F-FDG was considered positive.SUVmax,tumor/brain (T/B) ratio and tumor/liver (T/L) ratio were calculated for semi-quantitative analysis.Two-sample t test,x2 test,Fisher exact test and linear correlation analysis were used for statistical analysis.Results (1) The lesion SUVmax of 18 F-FDG was higher compared to 11C-CHO (12.81 ± 5.00 vs 6.84 ± 2.76 ; t =6.416,P ＜0.01) in NPC patients.However,11C-CHO PET/CT had a much higher T/B ratio than 18F-FDG (18.62 ±7.95 vs 1.38 ±0.59 ; t =8.801,P ＜ 0.01).Significant correlation was found between the 2 tracers with regard to NPC lesion uptake (r =0.712,P ＜0.01).Compared with 18F-FDG PET/CT,11C-CHO PET/CT had better delineation of intracranial invasion in 50.0％ of patients (12/12 vs 6/12; x2 =8.000,P ＜0.05),skull base invasion in 4/14 patients and orbital invasion in 3/3 patients.(2) 18F-FDG PET/CT showed positive findings in 63.1％ (48/76) of HCC patients.In 28 HCC patients with negative findings on 18F-FDG PET/CT,11 C-CHO PET/CT was positive in 71.4％ (20/28) of patients.The dual-tracer PET/CT improved the diagnostic sensitivity (89.5％,68/76) of HCC compared with 18F-FDG PET/CT (63.1％,48/76) alone (x2 =14.559,P ＜0.01).11C-CHO PET/CT was more sensitive than 18F-FDG PET/CT for the detection of well differentiated HCC (6/9 vs 35.7％ (5/14) ; P =0.214).For the detection of moderately differentiated HCC,the sensitivity of 11C-CHO and 18F-FDG PET/CT was similar to each other (6/7vs 72.0％ (18/25),P =0.648).11C-CHO PET/CT was more sensitive than 18F-FDG for the detection of HCC lesions ＜5.0 cm (72.7％ (16/22) vs 42.1％ (16/38) ; x2 =5.249,P ＜0.05),especially for lesions ＜ 2.0 cm (5/7 vs 0/7; P =0.021).Conclusions 11 C-CHO PET/CT could improve the accuracy in T staging of NPC.It might also play a complementary role for 18 F-FDG PET/CT in the detection of HCC.

Objective To develop a rapid method with high sensitivity and specificity to detect 4 mycobacterial species(M. tuberculosis, M. avium, M. intracellulare and M. kansasii) which are the most common opportunistic Mycobacteria in AIDS patients. Methods The sensitivities and specificities of PCR were determined with different primer pairs targeting various mycobacterial genes. Multiplex PCR with combination of 4 primer pairs was used to detect the template mixtures of either 1, 2 or 3 mycobacterial DNA. Sensitivities of multiplex PCR were measured. Results Specific DNA fragments of 4 mycobacterial species mentioned above could be detected by PCR and sensitivities ranged from 1 ? 101 ~ 1 ? 102 cells/mL, while the other 17 mycobacterial strains were all PCR-negative. Multiplex PCR could amplify the corresponding 1, 2 or 3 DNA fragments, depending on the number of template DNA added, and sensitivities of multiplex PCR ranged from 1 ? 102 ~ 1 ? 103 cells/mL. Conclusions Multiplex PCR is a rapid, sensitive and specific method for differentiation and detection of Mycobacteria.

Objective To develop a PCR-RFLP method for the identification of eight mycobacterial species. Methods PCR was performed targeting the gene encoding 65-kDa heat shock protein which was common to all mycobacteria. Two restriction enzymes, BstE Ⅱ and Hae Ⅲ, were used to digest the PCR products, and specific restriction patterns of different mycobacteria were obtained. Results The specific restriction patterns of different mycobacteria were identical to the data previously reported. Conclusion We could differentiate M. avium, M. intracellulare, M. kansasii, M. tuberculosis, M. scrofulaceum, M. marinum, M. fortuitum and M. chelonae in one experiment by PCR-RFLP.