0.05).The sera levels of sCD40L in CHD were significantly and positively correlated with Jenkins score(r=0.524,P

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for simultaneous determination of residual methylparaben,ethylparaben,nipa-sol and benzalkonium chloride in marketed eye drops. METHODS:HPLC method was adopted. The determination was performed on Hypersil GOLD C18 column with mobile phase consisted of 0.005 mol/L ammonium acetate(10 mL triehtylamine in 1 L solu-tion,pH adjusted to 5.0±0.5 with glacial acetic acid)-acetonitrile(45:55,V/V)at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wave-length was 262 nm(methylparaben,ethylparaben,nipasol)and 214 nm(benzalkonium chloride),respectively. The column tem-perature was 30 ℃ and sample size was 20 μL. RESULTS:The linear range were 1.2350-15.4380 μg/mL for methylparaben(r=0.9999),1.3170-16.3836 μ g/mL for ethylparaben (r=0.9997),1.2072-15.0894 μ g/mL for nipasol (r=0.9996) and 17.776-222.0 μg/mL for benzalkonium chloride(r=0.9999),respectively. Limits of quantitation were 2.0,2.0,2.0,1.11 μg,re-spectively;limits of determination were 0.375,0.375,0.375,0.333 μg,respectively. RSDs of precision,stability and reproducibili-ty tests were all lower than 2.0%. The average recoveries were 98.14%-102.48%(RSD=1.6%,n=9),98.79%-102.42%(RSD=1.3%,n=9),98.19%-102.49%(RSD=1.5%,n=9)and 98.76%-100.53%(RSD=0.6%,n=9),respectively. CONCLUSIONS:The method is accurate,reproducible,simple and suitable for the determination of residual methylparaben,ethylparaben,nipasol and benzalkonium chloride in marketed eye drops.

Objective To study the influence of walking exercise training on heart function, left heart ventricle structure and plasma brain natriuretie peptide (BNP) concentration in patients with chronic heart failure ( CHF), to explore the sense of exercise training.Methods A total of 223 CHF patients were randomly assigned to a guided rehabilitation group, a non-guided rehabilitation group and a control group.All patients were given basic medicine treatment, and the guided rehabilitation group was administered guided walking exercise training program, while the non-guided rehabilitation group was encouraged to do exercise freely but with no guidance.Blood pressure, 6 min walking distance test, plasma concentration of BNP and echocardiography were measured in all patients before and after exercise training.Results At entry to the study, there was no significant difference among the 3 groups with regard to blood pressure, 6 rain walking distance and BNP level as well as echocardiographic parameters including left ventrieular ejection fraction (LVEF) and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDd).A follow-up at the 6th month after intervention, the amount of readmission patients in guided rehabilitation group were significantly less than those in non-guided rehabilitation and control groups ( P < 0.05 ).It was also revealed that the plasma concentration of BNP decreased significantly ( P < 0.01 ) ; LVEF and 6 min walking distance improved significantly ( P < 0.01 ) in the guided rehabilitation group when compared with baseline and 6-month follow-up of the non-guided rehabilitation and control groups.However, there observed no significant change with regard to LVEDd.Conclusion Walking exercise training can improve exercise endurance in CHF patients and is safety; but has no influence on left heart ventricular structure in short time.

OBJECTIVE To explore downstream regulatory pathway of microRNA-21 (miR-21) in colon cancer cells (RKO) through detecting miR-21 and its target PDCD4, and the influence of miR-21 regulation on the sensitivity of RKO cells to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). METHODS 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to determine the effect of 5-FU on the viability of RKO cells with knockout of miR-21 or high expression of PDCD4. Real-time was used to determine the expression of PDCD4, ABCC5 and CD44 in RKO cell after knockout of miR-21. RESULTS MTT assay reveals that the IC50 of 5-FU in RKO-WT cells (52.82 ± 0.06 umol/L) was about 67% higher than in miR-21 knockout cells (32.23 ± 0.05 umol/L) (P < 0.05), and the apoptosis ratio elevated after knockout of miR-21. High expression of PDCD4, a target gene of miR-21, can negatively regulate the expression of ABC transporter ABCC5 and the stem cell marker CD44. CONCLUSION MiR-21 can mediate the drug resistance to 5-FU by inhibiting its target PDCD4, which can regulate the expression of ABCC5 and CD44 genes.
ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Sub-Family G, Member 5 ; ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters ; genetics ; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; physiology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Colonic Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Fluorouracil ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Hyaluronan Receptors ; genetics ; Lipoproteins ; genetics ; MicroRNAs ; physiology ; RNA-Binding Proteins ; physiology

Bio-heat transfer in the tongue body is studied combining the mechanism of tongue inspection in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Parameters such as the temperature of lingual surface, the blood perfusion of the dog's tongue and so on are measured and the influences of the blood perfusion, the arterial blood temperature, the arterial cross-sectional areas and positions on the temperature distribution in the cross-sections are studied. Then the two-dimensional temperature fields in different cross-sections are numerically solved by the finite element method (FEM). The results show that the vascular cross-sectional areas vary with the elasticity change of the vessel walls resulting from the variation of the blood perfusion. And the temperature distribution in the cross-section mainly depends on the arterial cross-sectional areas and positions. The results can help to analyze the bio-heat transfer characteristic of the tongue. According to this method, the sectional temperature fields in whatever place of the tongue can be calculated under different blood perfusion and on the condition that the influence of the venous blood temperature on the temperature field of the tongue is considered. We can further probe into the relationship between the temperature fields of the lingual surface and that of cross-sections. This can provide the foundation for further investigation into the bio-heat transfer mechanism and the calculation on three-dimensional temperature fields of the tongue.
Animals ; Body Temperature ; physiology ; Dogs ; Finite Element Analysis ; In Vitro Techniques ; Models, Biological ; Regional Blood Flow ; Thermal Conductivity ; Tongue ; blood supply ; physiology

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with nocardiosis, so as to improve the diagnosis and treatment of nocardia infection in the future.Methods:From May 2016 to October 2020, 24 patients with nocardiosis in Xiangya Hospital, Central South University were enrolled, and their clinical data including clinical features, laboratory examinations, imaging findings, diagnosis and treatment process, and outcome were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Among the 24 patients with nocardiosis, 18 cases (75.0%) were males, and the median age was 54.5 years.Twenty-three patients had underlying diseases, of which the most common disease was antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-related vasculitis (16.7%(4/24)). Of nine species of Nocardia identified from the 24 patients, Nocardia farcinica was the most common species (seven cases). The lesion sites were mainly lungs (70.8%(17/24)), skin and soft tissues (42.0%(10/24)), brain (25.0%(6/24)) and blood system (17.0%(4/24)). There were 12 cases (50.0%) of patients with more than two lesion sites. The clinical manifestations, imaging examinations and laboratory tests of the 24 patients were not specific. The diagnosis depended on the etiology. Nineteen patients received trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-based combination therapy, and two were discontinued due to adverse reactions of sulfa drugs. After treatment, 19 cases (79.2%) were improved and five cases (20.8%) died. Conclusions:Patients with nocardiosis often have atypical clinical manifestations, and multiple organs are easily affected.Early and accurate identification and rapid and effective anti-biotic therapy are the keys to improve the overall prognosis of these patients.

Objective: To evaluate the significance of bacteria detection with filter paper method on diagnosis of diabetic foot wound infection. Methods: Eighteen patients with diabetic foot ulcer conforming to the study criteria were hospitalized in Liyuan Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology from July 2014 to July 2015. Diabetic foot ulcer wounds were classified according to the University of Texas diabetic foot classification (hereinafter referred to as Texas grade) system, and general condition of patients with wounds in different Texas grade was compared. Exudate and tissue of wounds were obtained, and filter paper method and biopsy method were adopted to detect the bacteria of wounds of patients respectively. Filter paper method was regarded as the evaluation method, and biopsy method was regarded as the control method. The relevance, difference, and consistency of the detection results of two methods were tested. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of filter paper method in bacteria detection were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn based on the specificity and sensitivity of filter paper method in bacteria detection of 18 patients to predict the detection effect of the method. Data were processed with one-way analysis of variance and Fisher's exact test. In patients tested positive for bacteria by biopsy method, the correlation between bacteria number detected by biopsy method and that by filter paper method was analyzed with Pearson correlation analysis. Results: (1) There were no statistically significant differences among patients with wounds in Texas grade 1, 2, and 3 in age, duration of diabetes, duration of wound, wound area, ankle brachial index, glycosylated hemoglobin, fasting blood sugar, blood platelet count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, aspartate aminotransferase, serum creatinine, and urea nitrogen (with F values from 0.029 to 2.916, P values above 0.05), while there were statistically significant differences among patients with wounds in Texas grade 1, 2, and 3 in white blood cell count and alanine aminotransferase (with F values 4.688 and 6.833 respectively, P<0.05 or P<0.01). (2) According to the results of biopsy method, 6 patients were tested negative for bacteria, and 12 patients were tested positive for bacteria, among which 10 patients were with bacterial number above 1×10⁵/g, and 2 patients with bacterial number below 1×10⁵/g. According to the results of filter paper method, 8 patients were tested negative for bacteria, and 10 patients were tested positive for bacteria, among which 7 patients were with bacterial number above 1×10⁵/g, and 3 patients with bacterial number below 1×10⁵/g. There were 7 patients tested positive for bacteria both by biopsy method and filter paper method, 8 patients tested negative for bacteria both by biopsy method and filter paper method, and 3 patients tested positive for bacteria by biopsy method but negative by filter paper method. Patients tested negative for bacteria by biopsy method did not tested positive for bacteria by filter paper method. There was directional association between the detection results of two methods (P=0.004), i. e. if result of biopsy method was positive, result of filter paper method could also be positive. There was no obvious difference in the detection results of two methods (P=0.250). The consistency between the detection results of two methods was ordinary (Kappa=0.68, P=0.002). (3) The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of filter paper method in bacteria detection were 70%, 100%, 1.00, 0.73, and 83.3%, respectively. Total area under ROC curve of bacteria detection by filter paper method in 18 patients was 0.919 (with 95% confidence interval 0-1.000, P=0.030). (4) There were 13 strains of bacteria detected by biopsy method, with 5 strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, 5 strains of Staphylococcus aureus, 1 strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 1 strain of Streptococcus bovis, and 1 strain of bird Enterococcus. There were 11 strains of bacteria detected by filter paper method, with 5 strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, 3 strains of Staphylococcus aureus, 1 strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 1 strain of Streptococcus bovis, and 1 strain of bird Enterococcus. Except for Staphylococcus aureus, the sensitivity and specificity of filter paper method in the detection of the other 4 bacteria were all 100%. The consistency between filter paper method and biopsy method in detecting Acinetobacter baumannii was good (Kappa=1.00, P<0.01), while that in detecting Staphylococcus aureus was ordinary (Kappa=0.68, P<0.05). (5) There was no obvious correlation between the bacteria number of wounds detected by filter paper method and that by biopsy method (r=0.257, P=0.419). There was obvious correlation between the bacteria numbers detected by two methods in wounds with Texas grade 1 and 2 (with r values as 0.999, P values as 0.001). There was no obvious correlation between the bacteria numbers detected by two methods in wounds with Texas grade 3 (r=-0.053, P=0.947). Conclusions The detection result of filter paper method is in accordance with that of biopsy method in the determination of bacterial infection, and it is of great importance in the diagnosis of local infection of diabetic foot wound.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of hysteroscopy in helping identify the etiology of intrauterine fluid collection in postmenopausal women.Methods One hundred and thirtyfour postmenopausal women with intrauterine fluid collection,detected via transvaginal sonography,were admitted in the department of gynecology and obstetrics at Beijing ChaoYang Hospital from May 2014 to October 2016.All clinical data were retrospectively analyzed.All patients underwent hysteroscopy and biopsy of the endometrium.The results of hysteroscopy were analyzed against biopsy results.Results Hysteroscopy revealed that 116 of the 134 cases had uterine fluid(86.6％).Based on hysteroscopy results,44 (37.9 ％) had endometritis,10 (8.6 ％) had atrophic endometritis,5 (4.3 ％) had endometrial carcinoma,and 7(6.0 ％)had endometrial polyps,but the case numbers and rates for these conditions from microscopic examination were39 (33.6％),15 (12.9％),6 (5.2％),and 7 (6.0 ％),respectively.When microscopic examination was used as the gold standard,the sensitivities and specificities of hysteroscopy in the diagnosis of endometritis,atrophic endometritis,endometrial cancer and endometrial polyps were 82.0 ％ and 85.7 ％,66.7 ％ and 97.1％,80.0 ％ and 98.2 ％,and 100.0％ and 97.3％,respectively.The diagnostic coincidence rates were 84.6％,93.2％,94.4％ and 97.4％,respectively.Conclusions Postmenopausal women with intrauterine fluid collection shown on transvaginal sonography should receive hysteroscopy for early detection of endometrial lesions.

Human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) are a promising cell type for bone tissue regeneration. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been shown to play a critical role in regulating various cell differentiation and involve in mesenchymal stem cell osteogenesis. However, how circRNAs regulate hASCs in osteogenesis is still unclear. Herein, we found circ_0003204 was significantly downregulated during osteogenic differentiation of hASCs. Knockdown of circ_0003204 by siRNA or overexpression by lentivirus confirmed circ_0003204 could negatively regulate the osteogenic differentiation of hASCs. We performed dual-luciferase reporting assay and rescue experiments to verify circ_0003204 regulated osteogenic differentiation via sponging miR-370-3p. We predicted and confirmed that miR-370-3p had targets in the 3'-UTR of HDAC4 mRNA. The following rescue experiments indicated that circ_0003204 regulated the osteogenic differentiation of hASCs via miR-370-3p/HDAC4 axis. Subsequent in vivo experiments showed the silencing of circ_0003204 increased the bone formation and promoted the expression of osteogenic-related proteins in a mouse bone defect model, while overexpression of circ_0003204 inhibited bone defect repair. Our findings indicated that circ_0003204 might be a promising target to promote the efficacy of hASCs in repairing bone defects.
Adipose Tissue/metabolism* ; Animals ; Cell Differentiation/genetics* ; Cells, Cultured ; Histone Deacetylases/metabolism* ; Humans ; Mice ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Osteogenesis/genetics* ; RNA, Circular/metabolism* ; Repressor Proteins/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction ; Stem Cells/metabolism*