Adolescent ; Heart Valve Diseases ; etiology ; Heart Valves ; pathology ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; complications ; pathology ; Male

Air Pollutants, Occupational ; analysis ; Benzenesulfonates ; analysis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Workplace

Coronary Restenosis ; pathology ; Fibroblasts ; metabolism ; pathology ; Fibrosis

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cross Infection ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Length of Stay ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND:Taurine is an important non-enzymatic system antioxidant in the lens.The mechanism of its anti-oxidative effect is mainly to protect lens from oxidative injury by anti-lipid peroxidation.OBJECTIVE:This study was to observe the effect of exogenous taurine on lens epithefial cell apoptosis-induced by H2O2 in vitro.DESIGN:A randomized controlled animal experiment.SETTING:Department of Ophthalmology,Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University Medical College.MATERIALS:Seventy-five adult New Zealand standard tabbits,of either gender,weighing 1.5-2.5 kg,were provided by Qingdao Laboratory Animal Center.Reagent kit for in situ detecting cell apoptosis(Sigma Company,USA),taurine and H2O2(Shanghai Guangda Chemical Reagent Factory,China)were included in this study.METHODS:This study was performed in the Department of Ophthalmology and Central Laboratory.Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University Medical College from Mav 2005 to June 2007.Rabbit lenses were harvested and randomly divided into 3 groups:control group,in which,clear lenses were incubated in non-serum and non-phenolsulfonphthalein MEM medium which was renewed every 24 hours,H2O2 group,in which,clear lenses were incubated in non-serum and non-phenolsulfonphthalein MEM medium containing 1 mmol/L H2O2 with addition of 62 μL H202(30 g/L)every 6 hours,and H2O2+taurine group,in which,clear lenses were incubated in non-serum and non-phenolsulfonphthalein MEM medium containing 1 mmol/L H2O2 and 10 g/L taurine.which was renewed every 6 hours.The protocol was conducted in accordance with ethical guidelines for the use and care of animals.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Observation of lens opacity 6.12,24.48 and 72 hours after culture;Lens epithelial cell apoptosis determined by DNA in situ end labeling and DNA fragment analysis.RESULTS:Lens opacity:The lens opacity in the H2O2 group was aggregrated gradually along with the time of oxidative injury.The lens opacity in the H2O2 group was severer than that in the H2O2+taurine group.Lens epithelial cell apoptosis:There were no apoptotic cells in the control group within 72 hours.The number of apoptotic cells in the H2O2 group was increased gradually with the prolonged time of oxidative injury.Till the 72nd hour,the cells were all tamed into apoptotic cells.A few aopototic celIs were found in the H2O2+taurine group since hour 24,and then were more and more,and the number of apoptotic cells accounted for about 30%at hour 72.The apoptotic rate in the H202+taurine group was significantly lower than that in the H2O group at each time point(q=8.6845,P＜0.01).There was no significant difference in apoptotic rate between the H202+taurine group and the control group (P＞0.05). Findings of DNA fragmentation assay:The DNA"ladder"was found in the H2O2 group at hours 24,36,48 and 72,while no DNA"ladder"but only normal electrophoresis straps were present in the other two groups 24 hours after culture.CONCLUSION:Taurine can inhibit the oxidative injury-induced apoptosis of rabbit lens epithelial cells,and alleviate lens opacity.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and predictive value of high-resolution manometry(HRM) for POEM in treating achalasia. Methods A total of 84 achalasia patients categorized into subtypes by HRM, who also underwent POEM, were enrolled in our study. Eckardt score, Barium esophagogram and HRM were performed before, 6 months and 1 year after POEM. Results POEM was successfully performed in all 84 patients. No perforation occurred in any patient. The Eckardt scores and esophageal diameter after POEM significantly reduced compared with those before(P<0. 05). The 4s-IRP decreased from 33. 4±9. 0 mmHg (1 mmHg =0. 133 kPa) to 14. 6±3. 8 mmHg six months after POEM (P<0. 05) and to 16. 4±3. 9 mmHg one year after POEM (VS preoperate, P<0. 05). The LESP before treatment was 41. 8±15. 4 mmHg, decreasing to 18. 4±7. 1 mmHg six months after POEM (P<0. 05) and 20. 7±7. 6 mmHg one year after POEM (VS preoperate, P <0. 05) . When categorizing patients into 3 subtypes by HRM, 4s-IRP of type II showed the most dramatic decrease six months after POEM(62. 8%), followed by typeⅠ(53. 5%), while type III had the least decrease(41. 8%). The mean decreasing rate of LESP in type III was 42. 3% six months after POEM, followed by typeⅠ(55. 3%) , while type II showed the highest rate(57. 8%). Conclusion POEM is a safe treatment for achalasia and has significant short-term efficacy with Type II responding best to POEM. HRM plays a vital role in typing AC and predicting the effectiveness of POEM and can be useful in selecting an appropriate treatment.

Objective To cultivate and identify the transgenic affalfa containing Echinococcus granulosus Eg95 gene. Methods The alfalfa plants were transformed by co-cultivating alfalfa cotyledons via recombinant Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 harboring pBI-Eg95. The transgenic alfalfa explants were selected by kanamyein after calli formation, shoots and roots regeneration in the selective medium, the seedlings of transgenic plants were obtained which were finally transplanted into pots containing nutrient soil. After 2-3 months growth, the complete transgenic alfalfa plants containing Echinococcus granulosus Eg95 gene were obtained. To identify the transgenic alfalfa plants, the total DNA, RNA and leaf protein were extracted from fresh leaf tissue of the transgenic alfalfa plants and confirmed by PCR, RT-PCR, SDS-PAGE and Western blot assay. Results A specific band around 471 bp was amplified by PCR with total DNA, and the same band was obtained by RT-PCR with total RNA, which confirmed that the Eg95 gene was stably integrated into the transformed alfalfa genome. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the relative molecular mass(Mr) of the expressed protein was about 16.5×103, consistent with the Eg95 protein, and the level of Eg95 expression was up to 0.06% of total soluble leaf protein by Bio-Rad Quantity one assay. Western blot verified the expressed protein was reactive with the sera of mice infected with Echinococcus granulosus. Conclusion The transgenic alfalfa plants containing Echinococcus granulosus Eg95 gene are successfully cultivated.

Objective To explore the rate of incidence of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis(CVST)in patients with idiopathic in- tracranial hypertension(IIH).Design Restrospective case series.Participants 92 cases with idiopathic intracranial hypertension.Meth- otis All patients diagnosed with papilledema from January 1,2000 through May 1,2007 at our ophthalmology center.Consecutive pa- tients with a diagnosis of papilledema were identified.Patients with space-occupying lesions,hydrocepbalus,or meningitis were excluded. The remaining patients were evaluated with lumbar puncture,magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)and magnetic resonance venography (MRV).Main Outcome Measures The rate of incidence of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis(CVST)in patients with idiopathic in- tracranial hypertension(IIH).Results Excluding patients with mass lesions,meningitis,or hydrocephalus,the occurrence of CVST was 7 (7.6%)of 92 patients with presumed IIH.One additional patients had a diagnosis of suspected CVST.Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis was diagnosed in 1 of the 7 patients with MRI alone,whereas it was evident in all 7 patients with MRV.Conclusions Cerebral venous si- nus thrombosis accounts for 7.6% of patients with presumed IIH in our ophthalmology services.Magnetic resonance venography in com- bination with MRI is recommended to identify this subgroup of patients.(Ophthalmol CHN,2007,16:410-413)

Objective To investigate the role of p38 MAPK pathway in the expression of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) in lung tissue in a rat model of ventilator-induced lung injury. Method Twenty-fonr healthy Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 8 each) : group A, spontaneous breathing; group B, small tidal volume ventilation (Vt = 8 mL/kg) and group C, high tidal volume ventilation (Vt = 40 mL/kg). 1he animals in group B and C were mechanically ventilated for 4 hours and all animals were sacri-riced. The lungs were removed for: (1) lung lavage and determination of total protein contnt and WBC and neu-trophil counts in broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) ; (2) determination of W/D lung weight ratio and myelop-erexidnse (MPO) activity; (3) detennination of HMGB1 protein and mRNA expression and p38 MAPK activity in lung tissue. Differences within the groups were analyzed using One way ANOVA. Results The inflammatory re-sponse as evidenced by total protein (1.77 ± 0.68) g/L and WBC (106.55 ± 28.17) × 10~7/L in BALF, W/D lung weight ratio (7.16±1.02) and MPO activity (3.94±1.21) U/g were significantly higher in group C com-pared with group A (P <0.05); HMGB1 protein (0.64±0.17) and mRNA (1.17±0.45) expression and p38 activity (0.51±0.12) also significantly increased in group C (P <0.05). Of the above indexes, there were no statistical differences between group B and group A (P > 0.05). Conclusions High tidal volume ventilation in-daces acute lung injury, which may be related with upregulation of HMGB1 expression through p38 MAPK signal pathway.

Objective To determine whether pyloric measurements with ultrasound, that muscle thickness and channel of pyloric, correlated with weight and age in patients with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS). Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 111 cases diagnosed with HPS by operation from 2008 to 2012. Pearson correlation and linear regression analyses were used to determine if there were sta?tistically signiifcant associations between these combinations of factors:age and pyloric muscle thickness, weight and pyloric muscle thickness, age and pyloric length, and weight and pyloric length. Results Patients’mean age was 39.1 d (8-92 days). Their mean weight was 4.3 kg (2.2-7.9 kg). Mean pyloric muscle thickness was 4.8 mm (2-4.6 mm), and mean pyloric length was 17.5 mm (12-23.5 mm). Pearson correlation coefifcient analysis showed a signiifcant correlation between age and muscle thickness (r=0.6, P<0.001) as well as weight and muscle thickness (r=0.486, P<0.001). No signiifcant correlation was found be?tween pyloric length and age or weight. Linear regression analysis demonstrated similar results. Conclusions In patients with HPS, pyloric muscle thickness was directly related to age and weight. Smaller and younger infants with suspected diagnosis of HPS should be followed up even though the minimum diagnostic criterion for muscle thickness or length was not found on ultrasound.