Glaucoma is a group of diseases which can threaten and damage the optic nerve and its visual pathway, leading to visual impairment as a result. Glaucomatous optic neuropathy is a chronic disease accompanied by apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells ( RGCs ) , visual field defect and cupping of optic nerve head. The gold standard in functional glaucoma evaluation is standard automated perimetry ( SAP) , but it is often limited to the subjective feelings of the patients. Still, visual electrophysiological techniques cannot replace the conventional inspection, but with its rapid development, it has provided a new strategy for the early diagnosis of glaucoma as a supplement because it can show changes in amplitude and latency before visual field defect. Here we review three special electroretinograms and multifocal focal visually evoked potentials in the early diagnosis of glaucoma.

Eleven compounds were isolated from the culture of Streptomyces sp. CPCC 202950 by a combination of various chromatographic techniques including column chromatography over macroporous resin HP-20, MCI, and reversed-phase HPLC. Their structures were identified as 1H-pyrrole-2-carboxamide(1),5'-deoxy-5'-methylthioinosine(2), vanillamide(3), trans-3-methylthioacrylamide(4), 1,2,3,4-Tetraydro-1H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole-3-carboxylic acid(5), cyclo(L-pro-L-tyr) (6), N-[2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)]ethylacetamide(7), benzamide (8), cyclo ('L-leucyl-trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline)(9), cyclo-(Phe-Gly) (10), and tryptophan (11). Among them, compounds 1 and 2 were new natural products. In the preliminary assays, none of the compounds exhibited obvious inhibition of HIV-1 protease activity (IC50 > 10 micromol x L(-1)).
Culture Media ; chemistry ; metabolism ; HIV Protease ; analysis ; HIV Protease Inhibitors ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Structure ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Streptomyces ; chemistry ; metabolism

Objective To explore the positive effect of nephrotic syndrome in patients with recurrent after carrying out health education intervention.Methods 60 cases were divided into the experimental group and control group (30 cases in each group).In the control group,general health education mode was used; and the experimental group patients according to the reason of relapsing again,were implemented the targeted health education; compare two sets of patients' serum albumin (ALB),24 h urine protein quantitative level and satisfaction,and six months after discharge from the hospital again.Results Before education the ALB and 24 h urine protein quantitative level of the two sets of patients was statistically insignificant ( P ＞ 0.05 ).After the experimental education for patients with ALB ( 30.57 ± 4.01 ) higher than those in the control group (25.23 ±4.71 ) ; The 24 h urine protein for quantitative (4.04 ± 0.94 ) was significantly lower than the control group (5.42 ±1.41 ),two groups of comparisons difference were statistically significant (t=4.73-4.47,respectively ;P ＜ 0.01 ).The satisfaction of patients was 100.0％ in experiment group and 90.0％ in the control group,and the difference was significant ( x2=7.29,P ＜ 0.05 ) ; six months after discharge of experimental group' s hospital admission rates significantly lower than those of the control group again ( 13.3％ vs 30.0％ ;x 2=5.46,P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions Implementation of health education to the nephrotic syndrome in patients with recurrent is beneficial to access relevant health knowledge,but also reduce the external factors leading to disease recurrence and increase the care satisfaction of hospitalized patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Hepatic Encephalopathy ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Psychometrics ; methods ; Young Adult

Action Potentials ; Animals ; Electromyography ; Environmental Exposure ; Hypothermia ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Seawater ; Thigh ; physiology ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo study methylation of Id4 gene and demethylation effect of arsenic trioxide (ATO) in Raji cells.

METHODSHuman Burkitt's Raji lymphoma cells were cultared and treated with ATO at different concentrations and different time points. Methylated degree of Id4 gene was detected by methylation specificity polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR), Id4 mRNA expression in Raji cell by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), the growth of cell by MTT assay, and cell apoptosis and cycle distribution by Flow Cytometry (FCM).

RESULTS(1) The Id4 gene exhaustive methylation in control group, and hypermethylation in experimental group were reversed by ATO in a dose-dependent manner. (2) Id4 mRNA expression in Raji cells treated with ATO for 48 h increased gradually with ATO concentration increasing in experimental group. (3) Raji cell growth inhibited rates after different concentrations of ATO treatment for 24, 48, 72 h were 12.15% ∼ 92.17% in the experimental group (P < 0.05). (4) Apoptosis peak emerged after ATO treatment for 48 hours in experimental group, while a much lower apoptosis in control group. (5) After ATO treatment for 48 h in experiment group, the cells were arrested at G(0)/G(1) phase in a dose-dependent manner.

CONCLUSIONId4 gene presents exhaustive methylation in Raji cells. ATO can reverse the hypermethylation of Id4 gene and recover the expression of Id4 mRNA. Hypermethylation of Id4 gene is one of the reasons of Raji cells malignant proliferations.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Burkitt Lymphoma ; genetics ; Cell Line, Tumor ; DNA Methylation ; Humans ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics

BACKGROUNDThioredoxin is one of the most important redox regulating proteins. Although thioredoxin has been shown to protect cells against different kinds of oxidative stress, the role of thioredoxin in myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury has not been fully understood. This study was conducted to explore the protective role of human thioredoxin on myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury and its potential mechanisms.

METHODSPurified human thioredoxin was injected into adult Wistar rats, which were subjected to 30 minutes of myocardial ischemia followed by 2 or 24 hours of reperfusion. We detected 1) the infarct size; 2) the level of malondisldehyde (MDA) in serum; 3) the expression of caspase-9, and cytochrome c in/out of mitochondria by Western blotting; 4) apoptosis by terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and caspase-3 and its protein by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting; 5) the expression of bcl-2 and bax in cardium by immunohistochemical (IHC) assay.

RESULTSHuman thioredoxin reduced myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury as evidenced by significant decrease of myocardial infarct size (P < 0.01), notable reduction of myocyte apoptosis (P < 0.01), lower systemic oxidative stress level (P < 0.01) after reperfusion for 2 hours, and few inflammatory cell infiltration after reperfusion for 24 hours in rats. Furthermore, treatment with human thioredoxin significantly reduced the release of mitochondrial cytochrome C (P < 0.05), and inhibited the activity of caspase-9 (P < 0.05) and caspase-3 (P < 0.01 in mRNA and P < 0.05 at protein level). Meanwhile, human thioredoxin markedly increased bcl-2 expression (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThese results strongly suggest that human thioredoxin has cardioprotective effects on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion and its anti-apoptotic role may be mediated by modulating bcl-2 and the mitochondria-dependent apoptotic signaling pathway.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; genetics ; Humans ; Mitochondria, Heart ; drug effects ; physiology ; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins ; drug effects ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Oxidative Stress ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Thioredoxins ; pharmacology

BACKGROUNDLaparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has been a standard operation and replaced the open cholecystectomy (OC) rapidly because the technique resulted in less pain, smaller incision, and faster recovery. This study was to evaluate the value of blunt dissection in preventing bile duct injury (BDI) in laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC).

METHODSFrom 2003 to 2015, LC was performed on 21,497 patients, 7470 males and 14,027 females, age 50.3 years (14-84 years). The Calot's triangle was bluntly dissected and each duct in Calot's triangle was identified before transecting the cystic duct.

RESULTSTwo hundred and thirty-nine patients (1.1%) were converted to open procedures. The postoperative hospital stay was 2.1 (0-158) days, and cases (46%) had hospitalization days of 1 day or less, and 92.8% had hospitalization days of 3 days or less; BDI was occurred in 20 cases (0.09%) including 6 cases of common BDI, 2 cases of common hepatic duct injury, 1 case of right hepatic duct injury, 1 case of accessory right hepatic duct, 1 case of aberrant BDI 1 case of biliary stricture, 1 case of biliary duct perforation, 3 cases of hemobilia, and 4 cases of bile leakage.

CONCLUSIONExposing Calot's triangle by blunt dissection in laparoscopic cholecystectomy could prevent intraoperative BDI.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Bile Duct Diseases ; prevention & control ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; methods ; Common Bile Duct ; injuries ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDTo reveal the characteristics of genotype and phenotype of HIV strains in blood and some tissues of AIDS patients.

METHODSThe virus was isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC),cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)and lymph nodes of 3 AIDS patients by coculture with PBMC stimulated by PHA for 72 hours from uninfected donor. The cytopathic effect of the HIV isolates was determined in cultured MT2 cell line. The env gene sequences form proviral DNA were analyzed by GCG software.

RESULTSIn one patient,there were differences between the strains from blood and different tissues both in genotype and phenotype. The biological phenotypes of two strains from CSF were non syncytium (NSI) type, their env sequences were similar to standard CNS tropic strain (SF162).

CONCLUSIONSThe viral heterogeneity exists in different body compartments within an infected individual. The neurotropic isolate which is similar to international standard strain exists in some AIDS patients in China.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; virology ; Adult ; Coculture Techniques ; Female ; Genetic Heterogeneity ; Genotype ; HIV ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; virology ; Lymph Nodes ; virology ; Male ; Phenotype

BACKGROUNDAn implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) has been suggested for heart failure patients for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death. However, few data have been reported on the application of ICD as primary prevention of sudden cardiac death in China. We evaluated the value of primary prevention ICD therapy in Chinese patients with heart failure.

METHODSThirty-four patients at an average age of (60.2 +/- 13.7) years seen in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were treated with ICD implantation for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death from November 2005 to July 2009. Single-chamber ICDs were implanted in 16 (47.0%) cases, and dual-chamber or cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators in 18 (53.0%) cases. The patients had an average left ventricular ejection fraction of (26.9 +/- 5.5)% (11% to 35%), of which 18 (53.0%) patients had ischemic cardiomyopathy and 16 (47.0%) patients had non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. All patients were followed up at three months after the implantation and every six months thereafter or when prompted by an ICD event.

RESULTSThere were five (14.7%) deaths, including two of heart failure and three with a non-cardiac course, during an average follow-up of (15.0 +/- 11.9) months. Forty-one ICD therapy events were recorded, including 19 (46.3%) appropriate ICD therapies in six patients and 22 (53.7%) inappropriate ICD therapies in four patients with single chamber leads. Inappropriate ICD therapies were mainly due to supraventricular tachyarrhythmias, especially atrial fibrillation. Patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy did not differ in the incidence of either appropriate or inappropriate therapy.

CONCLUSIONSICD for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death in China prevents patients from arrhythmia death. Relatively high incidence of inappropriate therapies highlights the importance of an atrial lead.

Aged ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; prevention & control ; Defibrillators, Implantable ; adverse effects ; Female ; Heart Failure ; mortality ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome