OBJECTIVE:To study the protective effect of sivelestat sodium on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model rats. METHODS:60 Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control group (normal saline),model group (normal saline),positive drug group [prednisone acetate tablets 5 mg/(kg·d)] and sivelestat sodium low-dose,middle-dose and high-dose groups [5,8,10 mg/(kg·d)] with 10 rats in each group. Except for normal control group,other groups were given guin-ea pig spinal cord homogenate as antigen to produce EAE model,and then given relevant medicine ip since the same day of model-ing,for consecutive 16 d. The neurologic function of mice was scored,and pathological changes of brain and spinal cord were ob-served;the content of IFN-γ,IL-4,CCL3,chemotactic factor CCL5 regulating and activating normal T cell expression and secre-tion were determined. RESULTS:Compared with normal control group,neurological function score and the content of IFN-γ, CCL5 and CCL3 increased,while IL-4 content decreased (P<0.01);myelinoclasis and inflammatory cell infiltration occurred. Compared with model group,neurological function score and the content of CCL3 and CCL5 decreased in positive drug group and sivelestat sodium low-concentration,medium-concentration and high-concentration groups (P<0.01);both myelinoclasis and in-flammatory cell infiltration relieved;the content of IFN-γdecreased,while IL-4 content increased in positive drug group and sivele-stat sodium high-concentration group;IL-4 content increased in sivelestat sodium medium-concentration group (P<0.01);there was no statistical significance in other groups(P>0.05). Above effect depended on drug dose. CONCLUSIONS:Sivelestat sodium can relieve myelinoclasis and inflammatory cell infiltration,and the mechanism may be related to the decrease of IFN-γ content, the increase of IL-4 content,and inhibition of CCL3 and CCL5 expression in peripheral blood.

Objective To explore the characteristics of sleep disturbance and its related factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods A total of 71 patients with RA in Department of Rheumatology Huaxi Hospital have completed the following questionnaires, including Pittsburgh sleeping quality index (PSQI), visual analogue scale (VAS), disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28), health assessment questionnaire (HAQ), hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), fatigue severity scale (FSS) and a self-designed general status questionnaire.Results The prevalence of sleep disturbance was 42.3％ (30/71) in rheumatoid arthritis patients (68.4％).The scores of DAS28, VAS, PSQI, HAQ, FSS and HADS in patients with sleep disturbance were significantly higher than those in patients with good sleep, which were respectively 3.90 ± 1.12 vs 2.92 ± 1.92, (5.03 ± 2.63) scores vs (2.41 ± 1.84) scores, (10.87 ± 2.42) scores vs (4.29 ± 1.85) scores, 3.0 (0.0, 7.0) scores vs 2.0 (0.5,4.0) scores, (39.17 ±14.02) scores vs (29.63 ± 16.12) scores, (14.50 ±7.77) scores vs (9.49 ±6.57) scores (P ＜ 0.05 in all scales).According to the results of Pearson correlation analysis, PSQI had significantly positive correlation with DAS28 (r =0.462, P ＜ 0.01), VAS (r =0.556, P ＜ 0.01), HAQ (r =0.360, P ＜ 0.01), FSS(r =0.420, P ＜ 0.01) and HADS (r =0.447, P ＜ 0.01) respectively.The logistic regression analysis indicated that VAS was a predictor for poor sleep quality (P ＜ 0.01).The patients receiving biological agents had significantly (P ＜ 0.05) lower scores of DAS28 (2.86±1.39 vs 3.52 ± 1.1 0), PSQI [(5.90 ± 4.24) scores vs (8.53 ± 3.78) scores], VAS(2.15 ± 2.30 vs 4.05 ± 2.46), HAQ [0.0 (0.0, 2.0) scores vs 3.0(0.0,6.0) scores] compared to those taking oral drugs.Conclusion High prevalence of sleep disturbance in patients with RA is noted, which indirectly influences the activity of disease, quality of life, depression, fatigue and other physical and mental health.Biological agents can partly improve the sleep disturbance and functional status.

In order to encourage the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the state has set up a spe-cial project and funds to construct the National TCM Clinical Research Base. The goal is to establish a regular line with the development of TCM clinical research and innovation platform gradually. Ensuring the project proceeds suc-cessfully, we have taken a series of initiatives that include the personnel training, the establishment of the network center, medical diagnostic centre, imaging centre, ethical platform and the laboratory. Also, we have explored the operation mode which matches the construction. During the process of construction, we have found that four elements are particularly important for the base development, which are top-level design, leadershipˊs attention, financial sup-port, solidarity and cooperation.

BACKGROUNDInsulin resistance (IR) plays an important pathophysiological role in the development of diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Moreover, IR can occur even in non-obese people without diabetes. However, direct detection of IR is complicated. In order to find a simple surrogate marker of IR early in non-obese people, we investigate the association of commonly-used biochemical markers (liver enzymes and lipid profiles) with IR in urban middle-aged and older non-obese Chinese without diabetes.

METHODSThis cross-sectional study included 1 987 subjects (1 473 women). Fasting blood samples were collected for measurement of glucose, insulin, liver enzymes, lipid profiles and creatinine. Subjects whose homeostasis model of assessment-IR (HOMA-IR) index values exceeded the 75th percentile (2.67 for women and 2.48 for men) of the population were considered to have IR. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to compare the power of potential markers in identifying IR.

RESULTSTriglycerides (TG) and ratio of TG to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) discriminated IR better than other indexes for both sexes; areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (AUC) values were 0.770 (95% confidence interval 0.733-0.807) and 0.772 (0.736-0.809), respectively, for women and 0.754 (0.664-0.844) and 0.756 (0.672-0.840), respectively, for men. To identify IR, the optimal cut-offs for TG and TG/HDL-C ratio were 1.315 mmol/L (sensitivity 74.3%, specificity 71.0%) and 0.873 (sensitivity 70.1%, specificity 73.4%), respectively, for women, and 1.275 mmol/L (sensitivity 66.7%, specificity 74.4%) and 0.812 (sensitivity 75.8%, specificity 69.2%), respectively, for men.

CONCLUSIONTG and TG/HDL-C ratio could be used to identify IR in urban middle-aged and older non-obese Chinese without diabetes.

Aged ; Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Cholesterol, HDL ; blood ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; physiology ; Liver ; enzymology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Triglycerides ; blood