Objective To investigate the technical feasibility and clinical significance of non-vascular contrast-enhanced ultrasound(NVCEUS) in screening pyelogenie cyst out of simple renal cysts so as to avoid damage to the urinary tract from absolute ethanol while undergoing percutaneous aspiration and ethanol sclerotherapy(PAEST). Methods Following an inclusion criteria 23 patients with renal cysts were selected to receive NVCEUS scanning by means of administrating SonoVue contrast agents through puncture needle into their renal cyst lumen prior to the injection of absolute ethanol for sclerosing treatment. By the demonstration of hyperechoic contrast agents leaving from intra cyst into renal collecting system,a pyelogenic cyst was defined. The patients with this kind of cyst was not allowed for further ethanol sclerotherapy. Results NVCEUS made 3 patients with pyelogenic cyst resembling simple ones free from ethanol selerotherapy,and 4 patients suspicious of pyelogenic cyst due to weird cyst configuration remain in the list of simple cyst for further selerotherapy. Conclusions NVCEUS of renal cyst is highly capable of differentiating pyelogenie cyst from simple cyst and highly valuable in increasing the safety for the procedure of PAEST.

Objective To prospectively investigate the value of urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in the diagnosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) following adult cardiac surgery. Methods Twenty-nine hospitalization patients undergone cardiac surgery were enrolled in the study. Serial blood and urinary samples were collected immediately before incision and at various time intervals after surgery. The primary outcome measure was acute kidney injury, defined as a 50% increase in the level of serum creatinine (Scr) from baseline. Results Fourteen of 29 developed acute kidney injury. The diagnosis time point with Ser was at 24 (10, 48) h after cardiac surgery. By contrast, the concentration of urinary NGAL rose from a median of 3.42(1.60, 9.92) μg/L at baseline to 20.51(13.42, 50.02) μg/L at admission to ICU (P=0.006),and the median concentration of urinary NGAL in patients who developed AKI was significantly higher at admission to ICU compared with patients who did not develop AKI [20.51 (13.42, 50.02) μg/L vs 2.91 (0.72,8.61) μg/L, P=0.002]. As to urinary NGAL at admission to ICU, the area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.824, the sensitivity was 85.7% and the specificity was 80.0% with a cutoff value of 10.95 μg/L. Significant correlation was found between urinary NGAL at admission and the levd of Scr at 24 h in ICU (r=0.545, P=0.002), as well as estimated GFR (r=-0.546,P=0.002). Conclusion Urinary NGAL concentration is significantly higher in patients developing postoperative AKI at the early time of admission to ICU, which may be a useful early biomarker of AKI after adult cardiac surgery.

Objective To compare the RIFLE and AKIN diagnosis criteria for acute kidney injury ( AKI) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Methods Patients undergoing cardiac surgery from January 2004 to June 2007 were retrospectively evaluated. RIFLE and AKIN criteria were employed for the diagnosis and staging of AKI which occurred 7 d after cardiac surgery. The diagnosis sensitivity and precision for prediction of hospital mortality were compared between these two criteria. Results One thousand and fifty-six patients were included in this study. There was no significant difference between the prevalence of AKI after cardiac surgery diagnosed by RIFLE criteria and that diagnosed by AKIN criteria (29.55% vs 31.06%, P>0.05). There was no significant difference between the total hospital mortality and the hospital mortality of each stage of AKI diagnosed by RIFLE criteria and those diagnosed by AKIN criteria ( P > 0. 05). Logistic regression analysis suggested that the relative risk of hospital mortality for AKI was similar between patients diagnosed by AKIN criteria and those diagnosed by RIFLE criteria. The area under the ROC curve for hospital mortality was 0. 856 for RIFLE and 0.865 for AKIN in all patients (P<0.001). Conclusion Compared to RIFLE criteria, AKIN criteria do not improve the sensitivity of diagnosis and predictive ability of hospital mortality of AKI after cardiac surgery.

Objective:To study the anti-inflammatory effect of the ethanol extract of Coptis chinensis Franch.in vitro.Methods: An inflammatory cell model was established by stimulating the mouse peritoneal macrophages in vitro with lipopolysaccharide(LPS).LPS stimulated of RAW264.7 cells for a long time after administration of intervention.Effect of ethanol extract of Coptis chinensis Franch.on RAW264.7 cell growth activity was analyzed by MTT assay.The production of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),IL-1β,IL-6,NO,prostaglandin E2(PGE2) was determined by ELISA.The expression of mRNA of TNF-α,induced nitric oxide synthase(iNos) and HO-1 was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR(RT-PCR).Results: The ethanol extract of Coptis chinensis had no inhibition effect on the scope of RAW 264.7 cells the scope of 5-80 mg/L.Each treatment group concentration of interleukin-6 (IL-6),interleukin-1β (IL-1β),TNF-α,NO,prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) content of LPS stimulation model group were significantly (P<0.01),and content was not related to concentration.Real-time quantitative (RT-PCR) showed,the concentration of each treatment group were significantly lower iNos,HO-1 and TNF-α mRNA expression (P<0.05,P<0.05,P<0.01),and content was not related to concentration.Conclusion: Coptis chinensis Franch.ethanol extract has anti-inflammatory effects in vitro,the mechanism may be related to inhibition of TNF-α,NO and other inflammatory factors and the impact of the activation of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism.

Lysophosphatidylcholines belong to a group of lipid components which have a variety of physiological functions. LPCs are known to be linked to metabolic disorders and cardio-vascular diseases,including diabetes,atherosclerosis and dyslip-idemia.LPCs are actively metabolized in liver,which is closely related with liver diseases and hepatotoxicity.The role of LPCs in liver diseases and hepatotoxicities has been extensively investi-gated recently.This review focuses on lysophosphatidylcholines as a biomarker for liver diseases,such as hepatic carcinoma, cholestasis,cirrhosis,hepatitis,and chemical hepatotoxicities, trying to lay a basis for investigation and therapeutics of liver dis-eases.

BACKGROUND: Facial nerve injury causes facial nerve paralysis (or facial palsy) and even results in psychosocial disturbances of the patients. Repair the injured facial nerve and reconstruction of the nerve function as early as possible have been the primary concern in clinical studies.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the timing and surgical approaches for repairing facial paralysis in order to provides evidences for its therapeutic and prognostic evaluation.DESIGN: Case analysis based on patients.SETTING: Hospital of Plastic Surgery of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.PARTICIPANTS: Nine patients with traumatic facial paralysis hospitalized in the Hospital of Plastic Surgery of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from December 1993 to November 2001.METHODS: Facial nerve anastomosis was performed microsurgically along with the implantation of the sural nerve graft into orbicular muscle of the eye 3 or 4 months after nerve injury in the 9 patients. The clinical data of the patients were retrospectively reviewed.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The facial nerve function was evaluated with House-Brackmann scale and photographs of the patients' faces before and after surgical treatment were taken.RESULTS: In the follow-up of these patients lasting 6 months to 2 years,all the patients attained satisfactory outcome.CONCLUSION: Early operation is crucial for the treatment of traumatic facial paralysis,with facial nerve anastomosis as the primary choice. The implantation of the nerve graft into muscle is also indicated for repairing traumatic facial paralysis in some cases. The importance of individualized treatment choice is reiterated on the basis of cicatrectomy and the extent and specific features of the injury.

Objective To investigate the markers in early diagnosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing heart surgery.Methods Markers included serum cystatin C (CyC),and urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin(NGAL),interleukin 18(IL-18),retinol binding protein(RBP)and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase(NAG).Twenty-nine cardiac surgical patients hospitalized were enrolled in the study.Serial blood and urine samples were collected immediately before incision and at various time intervals after surgery.The primary outcome measure was AKI.defined as a 50%increase in Scr from baseline. Results The cohort consisted of 29 patients aged(62.9±13.7)years,and baseline Scr was(73.2±11.9)μmol/L.There were no significant differences in demographics between cases and controls,while the aortic clamp time was predictably longer in AKI cases as compared to controls[(60.63±13.92)vs(43.00±9.20)rain,P<0.05].Each biomarker difiered significantly between cases and controls at least one timepoint.Optimal AUCs were for CyC at 10 houm with sensitivity (ST)0.71,specificity(SP)0.92,AUC=0.83(0.67-1.00),cut-off(CO)1.31 mg/L;NGAL at 0 hour with ST 0.84,SP 0.80,Auc=0.85(0.70-1.00),CO 49.15 μg/g Ucr;IL-18 at 2 hours with ST 0.85,SP 0.73,AUC=0.81(0.64-0.97),CO 285.65 ng/g Ucr;RBP at 0 hour with ST 0.75,SP 0.67,AUC=0.77(0.60-0.95),CO 2934.65μg/g Ucr and NAG at 4 hours with ST 0.86,SP 0.67,AUC=0.72(0.53-O.92),CO 37.05 U/mg Ucr.Using a combination of all the 5 biomarkers analyzed at the optimal time-point as above,an AUC of 0.98(0.93-1.02)(P<0.01)in this limited sample was able to obtain. Conclusions Application of serum and urinary biomarkers for the prediction of AKI in patients undergoing cardiac surgery is highly dependent on the sampling time.Of the evaluated markers,uNGAL has the best predictive profile.uRBP also shows similar predictive power.Combining all the five above biomarkers is able to predict significantly more cases,suggesting that the use of more than one marker may be beneficial clinically.

Objective To investigate the long-term prognosis and possible risk factors of acute kidney injury(AKI)following cardiac surgeries. Methods Clinical data of 941 patients undergoing open heart surgery from January 2004 to June 2007 were retrospectively analyzed.Survival and renal function of above patients were informed through telephone or clinic follow-up till February 2010.Long-term survival was analyzed using risk-adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results Of the 941 patients after cardiac surgery,275(29.2%)developed AKI and 666(70.8%)did not.Survival was worse in patients with AKI(67.8%vs 85.6%,P<0.01)and was proportional to its severity (AKIN 1,2 and 3 stages:70.7%,62.3%and 58.6%,P<0.01).Although 90.5% of patients had complete renal recovery after AKI at discharge of hospital,they still had an increased risk for death during follow-up compared with patients without AKI (69.6% vs 85.6%,P<0.01).In the Cox proportional hazards regression model,age(HR=2.238),anemia (HR=1.625),prolonged operation time (HR=1.153),AKI severity (HR=1.473)were independent risk factors for long-term prognosis after cardiac surgery.At the end of the follow-up,patients with AKI had statistically higher Scr than non-AKI patients(107.6 μmol/L vs 83.0 μmol/L,P=0.014),and among those AKI patients,34.0%progressed into CKD 3-5 stages,34.8%developed double serum creatinine. Conclusions AKI is a risk factor for the long-term prognosis of cardiac surgery.Patients with complete renal recovery after AKI still has an increased risk for death and poor renal function compared with patients without AKI.

This study was aimed to observe the influence of water-solubility nipponica saponin on activation of TNF-α+IL-17-induced rat fibroblast-like synovial cell line RSC-364 cellular model nuclear transcription factor NF-κB pathway as well as TNF-α, IL-1, ICAM-1, MMP-2, MMP-3 secretion. IL-17+ TNF-α were used for stimulating RSC-364 to establish rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cellular model. Water-solubility nipponica saponin in different con-centrations was used for intervention. The influence of water-solubility nipponica saponin in different concentrations on cell viability was detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR method. Changes in the level of TNF-α, IL-1, ICAM-1, MMP-2, and MMP-3 of culture supernatant were detected by ELISA. The results showed that the activation of NF-κB p65 in RSC-364 stimulated by TNF-α+ IL-17 can be inhibited by water-solubility nipponica saponin ac-cording to its concentration. It improved IκB-α expression, and inhibited TNF-α, IL-1, ICAM-1, MMP-2 and MMP-3 secretion. It was concluded that water-solubility nipponica saponin can inhibit the activation of NF-κB pathway, hinder the secretion and activation of multiple downstream genes, which may be its effect in inhibiting syn-ovial inflammation in RA.

[Objective]To explore the orgin,development and academic characteristics of the Zhejiang school of Chinese materia medica.[Method]To research literature and inquire historic human heritages of the Zhejiang school of Chinese materia medica,analyze historical figures,sum up the academic ideology. [Result]The history of the Zhejiang school of Chinese materia medica can be up to 8,000 years ago.According to preliminary statistics,the Zhejiang School of Chinese materia medica works are about more than 170.The representatives are Tong Jun,FAN Li,WEI Boyang,CHEN Cangqi,CHEN Shiwen,LU Fu,ZHANG Zhicong,WU Yiluo,ZHAC Xueming,and so on.The academic characteristics of the Zhejiang school are focused on innovation,pragmatism,respect for classics, using fresh and cool medicine.[Conclusion] Zhejiang area is rich in medicinal resources,and Zhejiang has a large numble of talents.Since ancient times, intellectuals of Zhejiang believe that"either to be a good prime minister or to be an excellent doctor".So it has made a great quantity of persons with ability in the Zhejiang school,and an immense number of books,and formed with its own distinctive academic characteristics of Ethnopharmacology which is focused on innovation,pragmatism,respected for classics,using fresh and cool medicine.The Zhejiang school of Chinese materia medica has made an outstanding contribution to the cause of Chinese medicine,and occupied an important position.