Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of Bushen Tongluo Pill (Pills for reinforcing kidney and removing obstruction of meridians) on rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods Totally 100 RA patients were randomized into treatment group and control group with 50 cases in each group.The treatment group (50 cases) was administered Bushen Tongluo Pill and the control group (50 cases) was prescribed Celecoxib capsules and Methotrexate tablets for 3 months.The changes after treatment in the clinical symptoms including joint pain,swelling,joint functions,hand grip strength,and in the laboratory indices including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),rheumatoid factors (RF),and C-reactive protein (CRP),and the untoward effect as well were observed.Results The total effective rate of the treatment group was higher than that of the control (P0.05).Conclusion Bushen Tongluo Pill is effective for RA,the effect was superior to that of Celecoxib capsules and Methotrexate tablets.

Objective To observe the changes and significance of blood fat and myocardial enzymes in patients with hypothyroid myopathy before and after substitutional treatment.Methods The levels of TC, TG, LDL-C,AST, LDH, HBDH and CKMB were detected in 72 cases with hypothyroid myopathy patients before and after substitutional treatment and 60 healthy controls. Results The levels of TC,TG and LDL-C in hypothyroid myopathy patients before substitutional treatment were significantly higher than those in control group ( all P ＜ 0. 05 ), and then significantly low after treatment,which had no significant difference with control group( all P ＞0. 05). The levels of AST,LDH,HBDH and CKMB in hypothyroid myopathy patients before substitutional treatment were significantly higher than those in control group( all P ＜ 0. 05 ) ,and then significantly low after treatment,which had no significant difference with control group( all P ＞0. 05). Conclusion The levels of blood fat and myocardial enzymes were significantly increased in hypothyroid myopathy patients, and recovery to normal after substitutional treatment.

Objective To study the association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B (PTP-1B) gene with type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity in Chinese. Methods SNPs in the PTP-1B gene were detected by direct sequencing to PCR products, and the detected SNPs were genotyped in case-spouse samples with the technique of fluorescence real-time PCR. Results Totally 6 SNPs were found in PTP-1B gene. Three SNPs (I5/37 C→A,I6/82 A→G, I7/301 C→T) were in the intron regions and the other 3 (E8/45 C→T, E9/35 G→A, E10/372 G→A)in the exon regions. Among them, E9/35 G→A was a newly found mutation site. The A allele frequency of I5/37 C→A, T allele frequency of I7/301 C→T and G allele frequency of I6/82 A→G in type 2 diabetes were significantly higher than those in the normal spouse group (P

Objective: To analyze the differentially expressed genes related to the chemosensitivity with the TPF regimen for hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and to measure potential functional targeting genes expressions. Methods: Twenty-nine patients with primary hypopharyngeal cancer who underwent induction chemotherapy with TPF from January 2013 to December 2017 in Beijing Tongren Hospital were enrolled for microarray analysis, including 28 males and 1 female, aged from 43 to 73 years old. Among them, 16 patients were sensitive to chemotherapy while 13 patients were non-sensitive. Illumina Human HT-12 Bead Chip was applied to analyze the gene expressions and online bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze the differentially expressed genes. Reverse transcription and quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to measure the mRNA expression of potential functional genes of TPF induction chemotherapy in 43 samples, 29 from original patients and 14 from additional patients. Graphpad prism 7.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 1 381 significantly differentially expressed genes were screened out. By GO analysis, up-regulated genes included sequestering in extracellular matrix, chemokine receptor binding and potassium channel regulator activity; down-regulated genes included regulation of angiogenesis, calcium ion binding and natural killer cell activation involved in immune response. With KEGG database analysis, down-regulated pathways included ECM-receptor interaction and peroxisome and up-regulated pathways included Glutathione metabolism and PPAR signaling pathway. The expressions of CD44 and IL-6R were significantly different and appeared biologically significant. CD44 was significantly upregulated in insensitive tissues (0.54±0.06) compared with sensitive tissues (0.33±0.04)(P<0.01). IL-6R was significantly downregulated in insensitive tissues (0.44±0.03) compared with sensitive tissues. (0.68±0.03) (P<0.01). Conclusion CD44 and IL-6R may be potentially functional genes of TPF induction chemotherapy in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the survival and functional outcomes of advanced laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma after modified supracricoid partial laryngectomy(SCPL).METHODS We selected 65 laryngeal cancer patients treated with modified supracricoid partial laryngectomy from 2002 to 2015 in our hospital.Among them,62 cases were males,3 cases were females with an age ranged from 35 to 80 years(median age 58 years)There were 26 cases with T2 stage,32 cases with T3 stage and 7 cases with T4 stage.We selected 120 laryngeal cancer patients treated with vertical partial laryngectomy at the same period as control.Then we evaluated the functional outcomes of modified supracricoid partial laryngectomy group compared with vertical partial hemilaryngectomy group.RESULTS The 5-year cumulative survival rate and decannulation rate were 82.3％ and 98.3％ for supracricoid laryngectomy group respectively.Decannulation ratewas 86.1％ for vertical partial hemilaryngectomy group(P＜0.05).However,there was no significant difference between supracricoid partial laryngectomy group and vertical partial laryngectomy group in pronunciation evaluation and abnormal deglutition.CONCLUSION Modified supracricoid partial laryngectomy is a good choice for local advanced laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective:To study the significance of induction chemotherapy and subsequent comprehensive therapy for overall survival rate (OS) and larynx dysfunction-free survival rate (LDFS) in patients with advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods:Patients who met the inclusion criteria with the diagnoses of advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma between 2011 and 2017 received 2 or 3 cycles of TPF regimen induction chemotherapy. Patients who attained complete response (CR) received radical chemotherapy. Patients who attained partial response (PR) and the reduction of tumor volume was more than 70% were defined as large PR and received concurrent chemoradiotherapy. When the tumor volume reduction of PR patients was less than 70%, they were defined as small PR. (CR+large PR) group was defined as effective group. Patients who did not reach CR and large PR were defined as uneffective group and underwent radical surgery and received adjuvant radiotherapy as appropriate after the surgery. The end points of the study were OS, progression-free survival (PFS) and LDFS. Chi-square (χ 2) test was used for correlation analysis. Survival analysis was performed by the Kaplan-Meier method with a Log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards model was used for univariate and multivariate survival analysis. Results:A total of 260 patients were enrolled in the study. The follow-up period ranged from 5 to 83 months, with an average of 24.7 months. The 3-year and 5-year OS rate was 46.0% and 32.6%, respectively. The 3-year and 5-year PFS rate was 41.0% and 26.6%, respectively. The 3-year and 5-year LDFS rate was 37.9% and 24.8%, respectively. Poor outcome of induction chemotherapy, advanced N stage, strong positive Ki-67 immunohistochemistry (all P<0.001) were negative prognostic factors. The advanced clinical stage was positively related to the poor outcome of induction chemotherapy ( P=0.015). There was no significant difference in OS and PFS between the large PR group and the small PR group (all P>0.005). Conclusion:TPF regimen induction chemotherapy and subsequent comprehensive therapy for patients with advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma may improve the quality of life of patients, with high OS rate and LDFS rate.

Introduction: Derangement in calcium homeostasis is common in nephrotic syndrome (NS). It is postulated that low serum total calcium and vitamin D levels are due to loss of protein-bound calcium and vitamin D. It is unclear if free calcium and free vitamin D levels are truly low. The guideline is lacking with regards to calcium and vitamin D supplementation in NS. This study aims to examine calcium and vitamin D homeostasis and bone turnover in NS to guide practice in calcium and vitamin D levels supplementation. Methodology: This is a prospective pilot study of ten patients diagnosed with NS, and eight healthy controls. Calcium, vitamin D, and bone turnover-related analytes were assessed at baseline, partial and complete remission in NS patients and in healthy controls. Results: NS patients had low free and total serum calcium, low total 25(OH)D, normal total 1,25(OH)D levels and lack of parathyroid hormone response. With remission of disease, serum calcium and vitamin D metabolites improved. However, nephrotic patients who do not attain complete disease remission continue to have low 25(OH)D level. Conclusion In this study, the vitamin D and calcium derangement observed at nephrotic syndrome presentation trended towards normalisation in remission. This suggested calcium and vitamin D replacement may not be indicated in early-phase nephrotic syndrome but may be considered in prolonged nephrotic syndrome.
Vitamin D Deficiency

Although widely applied in treating hematopoietic malignancies, transplantation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) is impeded by HSPC shortage. Whether circulating HSPCs (cHSPCs) in steady-state blood could be used as an alternative source remains largely elusive. Here we develop a three-dimensional culture system (3DCS) including arginine, glycine, aspartate, and a series of factors. Fourteen-day culture of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) in 3DCS led to 125- and 70-fold increase of the frequency and number of CD34⁺ cells. Further, 3DCS-expanded cHSPCs exhibited the similar reconstitution rate compared to CD34⁺ HSPCs in bone marrow. Mechanistically, 3DCS fabricated an immunomodulatory niche, secreting cytokines as TNF to support cHSPC survival and proliferation. Finally, 3DCS could also promote the expansion of cHSPCs in patients who failed in HSPC mobilization. Our 3DCS successfully expands rare cHSPCs, providing an alternative source for the HSPC therapy, particularly for the patients/donors who have failed in HSPC mobilization.
Antigens, CD34/metabolism* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear/metabolism* ; Peptides/metabolism*