Objective To evaluate the midterm efficacy of prosthetic disc nucleus ( PDN) replacement for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. Methods Twenty cases of lumbar disc herniation( including one case of recurrent lumbar disc herniation) were treated with PDN. The twenty cases were followed-up 5.4 ～6.2 years( mean 5.7 years). Functional,and radiographic follow-up examinations,MRI and follow-up records of all patients were reviewed carefully. Results Clinical evaluation at the end of follow-up,there were 10 cases in excellent,6 cases in good,2 cases in fair and 2 cases in poor,and good rate was 80%. One patient accepted the revision operation to remove the PDN because of device migration. One patient accepted the fusion because of adjacent segment disease. The others experienced pain relief, and resumed their normal life and work. The average Oswestry score and VAS get better significantly. Conclusion The PDN was effective in treating patients with lumbar disc herniation. However, the medium term complications of device subsidence should be taken seriously.

Objective To study the influence of UPPP on resonance characteristics of four resonance cavity in patients with OSAHS .Methods Using multi-channel voice analysis system to test the cavity resonance character-istics and energy distribution of 36 OSAHS patients (including pre - and post -operative) and 36 normal males when they speak /a:/.The frequency spectrum was 4 000Hz(FR1 ,FR2 ,FR3 ,FR4 ) .Results FR2 energy values of the head cavity and mouth cavity of OSAHS patients heighten significantly after UPPP (P<0 .05);FR1 energy val-ues of head ,mouth and thoracic cavity were higher than that of in normal males'after UPPP(P<0 .05) .FR2 ,FR3 , FR4 energy values of head cavity ,FR2 ,FR3 energy values of mouth cavity ,FR2 energy values of thoracic cavity were lower than those of in normal males'after UPPP(P<0 .05) .Conclusion UPPP surgery removes the obstruction of the upper airway of OSAHS patients and changes the morphology of the pharynx ,thas changes the resonance charac-teristics of the head cavity and oral .

Objective To evaluate the effects of phonosurgery combined with voice therapy in patients with vocal polyps accompanied with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) .Methods The study retrospectively enrolled 117 patients with a diagnosis of vocal polyps accompanied with MTD .All the patients were divided into two groups ac‐cording to the different remedies:the surgery group (n=57) ,and the combination group (n=60) .The Xion acous‐tic analysis was carried out on the two groups before and after therapy .We compared the results in each group ,the results of post-therapy between two groups ,and that of post-therapy with the control group(n=50) .The acous‐tic parameters were jitter percent (jitter) ,shimmer percent (shimmer) ,dysphonia severity index (DSI) .Results The results obtained in the study showed that all the voice analysis parameters were significantly improved after therapy in both the surgery group and combination group(P<0 .05) .Jitter and shimmer in post -therapeutic out‐come of the combination group were lower than those of in surgery group ,and DSI was even higher(P<0 .05) .Jit‐ter and shimmer in post-therapeutic outcome of surgery group were higher than those of in normal group ,and DSI was lower than those of in normal group(P<0 .05) .But there were no clinically significant differences in post -therapeutic outcomes of combination group compared with control group(P>0 .05) .Conclusion As for vocal polyps accompanied with M TD ,successful phonosurgical treatment and voice therapy can improve patients’ voice quality .

Objective:To investigate the thyroid volume of adults in Lanzhou City, and analyze its influencing factors.Methods:In June 2016, according to the principle of multi-stage stratified cluster sampling, Han residents aged 18 and above in Chengguan, Xigu and Qilihe districts of Lanzhou City who had lived there for more than 5 years were selected as research subjects, and a portable B-ultrasound machine was used for thyroid examination. Morning urine samples of the subjects were collected to test urinary iodine; fasting venous blood samples of the subjects were collected to test serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb), anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb), blood lipids [triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL)] and blood uric acid (Ua) levels. At the same time, body indexes systolic blood pressure (SP), diastolic blood pressure (DP), waist circumference, height and weight were measured, and the body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of thyroid volume.Results:A total of 1 009 subjects were included, aged (43.50 ± 15.16) years, and the thyroid volume was (8.74 ± 3.39) ml. Among them, 534 males had a thyroid volume of (9.46 ± 3.43) ml; 475 females had a thyroid volume of (7.93 ± 3.15) ml, the thyroid volume of males was larger than that of females ( t = 7.36, P < 0.01). Thyroid volume was positively correlated with age, height, weight, BMI, SP, waist circumference, LDL, Ua and TgAb ( r = 0.07, 0.23, 0.33, 0.27, 0.10, 0.27, 0.10, 0.08, 0.07, P < 0.05), and it was negatively correlated with thyroid nodules, TPOAb, TSH and urinary iodine ( r = - 0.16, - 0.07, - 0.10, - 0.08, P < 0.05). After multiple linear regression analysis, TSH, TPOAb, TgAb and thyroid nodules were included in the regression equation, and the standardized B values were - 0.135, - 0.065, 0.123 and - 0.197, respectively. Conclusions:The thyroid volume of males is larger than that of females in Lanzhou City. TSH, TPOAb, TgAb and thyroid nodules are influencing factors of thyroid volume.

Objective: To study the roles of miR-497 and PlexinA4 in the progression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: The expressions of miR-497 and PlexinA4 in fresh tumor specimens and adjacent normal mucosa tissues as well as in cell lines of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) were detected with qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. The association of miR-497 and PlexinA4 expressions with clinicopathologic factors and their prognostic values in LSCC were evaluated PlexinA4 siRNA and pcDNA3.1 (+ )/PlexinA4 plasmid were transfected into the LSCC and measured by Transwell to evaluate their effect on the invasion of LSCC. Results: miR-497 was low expression in LSCC, which related to pathological differentiation, while PlexinA4 mRNA was high expression in LSCC. Kaplan-Meier method showed that the prognosis of patients with high miR-497 expression was better than that of patients with low miR-497 expression (χ²=10.342, P=0.001); . Cox regression analysis showed that miR-497 was an independent prognostic factor for LSCC. The double luciferase reporter gene showed that the variation of the fluorescence activity of wild type PlexinA4 was significantly different from that of the control group (P<0.01). In Hep-2 and TU212 cell line, the number of cells with PlexinA4 siRNA passing through the compartments was 70.00±10.85 and 85.00±6.45, significantly higher than control (F values were 30.251 and 23.936, both P<0.05), the number of cells with pcDNA3.1 (+ ) /PlexinA4 was 170.56±11.95 and 142.00±10.43, also significantly less than control (F values were 35.104 and 29.643, both P<0.05). Conclusion The expression of miR-497 in LSCC is decreased, indicating poor prognosis, which is as an independent risk factor for prognosis of LSCC. miR-497 may modulate LSCC invasion through PlexinA4.

Objective: To study the effects of miR-497 and CDK6 on the growth of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Methods: The expressions of CDK6 mRNA in fresh LSCC specimens, the adjacent normal mucosa of LSCC, and cell lines of LSCC were detected with quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction, pcDNA3.1(+) CDK6 plasmids were respectively transfected into the LSCC cells, and MTT assay and clone formation assay were performed to evaluate the growth of LSCC cells. Flow cytometry was employed for cell cycle analysis. SPSS17.0 software was used to analyze the data. Results: CDK6 was highly expressed in LSCC(t=14.01, P=0.009) and the overall survival rate of the patients with high CDK6 expression was less than that with low CDK6 expression, with a significant difference (HR=3.236, P<0.001). Double luciferase reporter gene analysis showed that fluorescence activity in wild type CDK6 group was significantly different from that in control group (P<0.01), while there was no significant difference in the fluorescence activity between mutant CDK6 group and control group (P>0.05). A₄₉₀ values were respectively 0.42±0.14 (Mean±SD) in siRNA Hep-2 group, 0.51±0.13 in siRNA TU-212 group; 0.98±0.16 in control Hep-2 group and 1.17±0.20 in control TU-212 group. Colonies were 55±4 in siRNA Hep-2 group, 51±3 in siRNA TU-212 group, 108±6 in control Hep-2 group and 105±7 in control TU-212 group, namely, cell growth and clone formation ability in CDK6 siRNA group were significantly lower than those in the control group. Cells cycle was blocked in G0/G1 phase (G0/G1: 65.20%±10.12% in siRNA Hep-2 group; 63.42%±8.97% in siRNA TU-212 group; 45.31%±7.55% in control Hep-2 group; and 42.37%±7.28% in control TU-212 group), and cells decreased obviously in S phase (S: 25.39%±5.51% in siRNA Hep-2 group; 27.21%±5.43% in siRNA TU-212 group; 42.87%±6.85% in control Hep-2 group; and 44.76%±7.02% in control TU-212 group). Compared with miR-497 group, cell growth and clone formation ability in miR-497/CDK6 group were partly restored (all P<0.05). Conclusions CDK6 expression in LSCC is upregulated, functioning as an oncogene. High expression of CDK6 is a predictor for poor prognosis. miR-497, functioning as a tumor suppressor gene, inhibits the growth of LSCC by targeting CDK6.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanisms for an increase in susceptibility of asthma induced by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), to observe the expression of interleukin-8 (IL-8) in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) after RSV infection and to invesigate the regulatory effect of IL-8 on Th17/Treg differentiation.
 METHODS: HBECs were divided into a control group and a RSV infected group. The RSVE-infected model of HBECs was established and examined. The expression of IL-8 mRNA was detected by real-time PCR, and the levels of IL-8 were measured by ELISA. Peripheral blood lymphocytes in healthy people were extracted and divided into a control group and an IL-8 treatment group. Based on concentration of IL-8 in RSV-infected HBECs, lymphocytes were treated by a matched concentration of human recombinant IL-8 for 24 h. The distribution of Th17 and Treg subsets in lymphocytes were examined by flow cytometry.
 RESULTS: The RSV-infected HBECs model was successfully established. The infected HBECs were still able to split and passage. The RSV could be detected in every passage in the infected cells. Virus particles indicated by bright yellow green fluorescence were seen under fluorescence microscope. Edema of mitochondrias, expansion of endoplasmic reticulum, fissure around nucleus and intracellular virus particles were all observed under electron microscope. The expression IL-8 mRNA were significantly enhanced in the RSV-infected group, and the level of IL-8 in the RSV-infected group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). After IL-8 treatment for 24 h, the ratio of Th17 subsets in lymphocytes were dramatically increased compared to the control group (P<0.05), but there was no difference in the ratio of Treg subsets between the 2 groups (P>0.05).
 CONCLUSION Over-secretion of IL-8 by the RSV-infected HBECs may promote the differentiation of Th17 subsets and maintain the Th17/Tred imbalance.
Cell Differentiation ; Cells, Cultured ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; virology ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Interleukin-8 ; immunology ; pharmacology ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Recombinant Proteins ; pharmacology ; Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections ; immunology ; Respiratory Syncytial Viruses ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; cytology ; Th17 Cells ; cytology