Objective To investigate the preventive effect of treating cardiotoxicity induced by adriamycin (ADM) with the method of nourishing yin. Methods 90 cancer patients underwent adriamycin therapy were randomly recruited intoa treatment group (45 cases) and a control group (45 cases). The treatment group was treated with Wushen decoction, while the control group was treated with antioxidant drugs. The changes of ECG, blood SOD, GSH-Px, MDA content etc were observed after one course of four weeks' treatment. Results The incidence of cardiactoxicity was 15.56% in the treatment group and 40.00% in the control group, showing significant difference ( U=2.02, P<0.05 ) ; the incidence of ECG abnormalities was 13.33% in the treatment group and 37.78%, in the control group, showing significant difference (U= 2.18, P< 0.05 ) : the effective rate was 82.22% in the treatment group and 62.22% in the control group, showing significant difference ( U=2.18, P <0.05) ; and SOD, GSH-Px, MDA content at the 1, 7, 14, and 28days between the two groups also demonstrated significant differences (P<0.05) . Conclusion The method of nourishing yin has excellent attenuation to adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity, besides it enhances therapeutic effects of chemotherapy.

AIM: To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) injection into the optic nerve as a treatment for retinal vein occlusion in rabbits. METHODS: Rose Bengal-mediated laser-induced retinal vein occlusions were produced in rabbit eyes. Fluorescein angiography (FA) was performed on each eye 3 days before laser irradiation and 30 minutes after laser irradiation.The treatment group (n=20 veins) received intra-optic nerve injection of tPA (12.5μg in 0.05mL BSS) and the controls (n=24 veins) received 0.05mL BSS. FA was repeated to determine the recanalization of the vessel at 3 and 7 days after treatment, followed by histological examination.RESULTS: Rose Bengal-mediated laser-induced retinal vein occlusions were successfully developed and confirmed by FA. The incidence of the recanalization of the vessels in treatment animals was 70.0%, while 16.7% in the control animals (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: Intra-optic nerve tPA injection increased the incidence of recanalization of the occluded vessels. Although further studies are needed, our data suggested that injection of tPA into the optic nerve may have a potential benefit in the treatment of central retinal vein occlusion.

AIM: To investigate the safety of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) intra optic nerve injection in rabbits. METHODS: Group 1 and 2 (6 eyes in each group) received injection of tPA 25μg and 12.5μg in 0.1mL balanced saline solution (BSS). Group 3 (6 eyes) received injection of 0 1mL BSS. Six eyes in group four as a normal control received no injection. The eyes were examined with slit lamp biomicroscope, indirect ophthalmoscope, visual evoked potentials (VEP) and electroretinography (ERG) at 1, 3, 7, 14 and 28 days after injection. RESULTS: No evidence of optic nerve or retinal toxicity or physical damage were revealed by ophthalmoscopy, VEP, and ERGs after the injection of tPA into the optic nerve. The means of the latency of the first peak of the VEP were 24.6±1.5, 24.1±1.9, 24.0±2.0 and 24.6±1.3mS respectively for the above specified groups (P=0.4112). The means of the amplitude of the first peak of the VEPs were 124±42, 145±41, 132±48 and 117±29μV respectively (P=0.0649). The means of the latency of a-waves were 6.0±0.4, 5.9±0.4, 5.9±0.5 and 5.8±0.3 mS respectively (P=0.6279). The means of the amplitude of a-waves were 110±14, 112±15, 110±16 and 108±11μV respectively (P=0.7248). The means of the amplitude of b-waves were 151±12, 148±14, 144±16 and 141±20μV respectively (P =0.0957).CONCLUSION: Injection of tPA upto 25μg in 0.1mL into optic nerve is well tolerated.

Objective To evaluate arterial reconstruction of traumatic iliac-femoral artery pseudoaneurysm in parenteral drug abusers.Methods Data of 21 consecutive patients who presented with iliac-femoral artery pseudoaneurysm with the diameter ranging from 3.0 cm～7.5 cm secondary to parenteral drug abuse from 2004 to 2007 were analyzed.Fifteen patients were male and the median age was 3 1.3 years.the aneurysm involved the common femoral artery and distal external iliac artery.Autologous greater saphenous vein was used as a graft for arterial reconstruction after iliac-femoral artery pseudoaneurysm excision through a single curved inguinal incision.Results The surgical procedure was successful in all 21 eases without intraoperative mortality and severe complications.All the 21 patients were free of postoperative claudication symptoms except 1 case with preoperative popliteal artery stenosis.Wound infection and tissue fistula developed in one ease.Ingunal incisional hematoma and cutaneous abnormal sensation developed in one each eases.Conclusions The use of autologous greater saphenous venous grafts for aaefial reconstruction after false aneurysm excision in drug abusers is safe and effective.The harvest of the greater saphenous vein is precondition of this precedure.These preliminary results indicate that the implementation of this technique offers advantages compared with the artery ligation alone without revascularization,that is frequently associated with later intermittent claudication.

Objective Repair of aortic arch aneurysm is technically demanding and usually requiring complex circulatory management. Operative morbidity and mortality may be prohibitive with traditional surgical intervention. We described our experience with 5 hybrid endovascular procedure for aorta repair with different kinds of bypass followed by concomitant placement of stent graft in the aorta. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of 5 consecutive patients presenting with aortic aneurysm or dissection from 2007 to 2008 treated by the hybrid aorta repair. Complete surgical rerouting of the supra-aortic vessels was followed by endovascular repair of aortic arch aneurysm with a Zenith TX2 stent graft. Hybrid left carotid-subclavian bypass with Zenith stent graft deployment covering the ostium of the LSA was performed in a Debakey type Ⅲ aortic dissection case. Procedures were successfully completed with exclusion of the aortic aneurysm. All stent grafts were deployed retrograde from the femoral artery in these patients. Results Technical success with complete aneurysmal exclusion was achieved in all patients (100%). At a follow-up period of 2-10 months, there was no incidence of endoleak. Documented perioperative neurelogic events did not occurred in all patients. Postoperatively one patient suffered from ARDS and cardiac failure and recovered. One patient died of myocardial infarction. Conclusions Hybrid arch repair provides an alternative to patients otherwise considered prohibitively high risk for traditional open arch and thoracoabdominal aorta repair.

Objective: To explore the optimal primer ratio and concentration of asymmetric polymerase chain reaction (A-PCR) in producing hepatitis B virus (HBV) single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) for pyrosequencing. Methods: A-PCR was carried out to generate HBV ssDNA with forward to reverse primers of different ratios (50:1, 100:1) and concentrations (13.0 pmol/25μL and 0.14 pmol/25μL, 19.5 pmol/25μL and 0.21 pmol/25μL), and the product yield and quality were compared respectively. Results: The forward to reverse primer ratio of 50:1 provided better yield and concentration of 19.5 pmol/25μL and 0.21 pmol//25μL generated a clearer band. Conclusion: A simple and feasible method to produce HBV ssDNA for pyrosequencing in batch is established.

Objective: To explore the optimal primer ratio and concentration of asymmetric polymerase chain reaction (A-PCR) in producing hepatitis B virus (HBV) single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) for pyrosequencing. Methods: A-PCR was carried out to generate HBV ssDNA with forward to reverse primers of different ratios (50:1, 100:1) and concentrations (13.0 pmol/25μL and 0.14 pmol/25μL, 19.5 pmol/25μL and 0.21 pmol/25μL), and the product yield and quality were compared respectively. Results: The forward to reverse primer ratio of 50:1 provided better yield and concentration of 19.5 pmol/25μL and 0.21 pmol//25μL generated a clearer band. Conclusion: A simple and feasible method to produce HBV ssDNA for pyrosequencing in batch is established.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the outcome and analyze the methods of surgical treatment of traumatic endophthalmitis following penetrating eye injuries with retained eye foreign bodies.

METHODSA total of 62 consecutive cases (58 men, 4 women) from January 1999 to December 2001 with IOFBs following penetrating eye injuries were retrospectively studied. The ages ranged from 8 to 46 years (mean 23 years). Sixty patients (63 eyes) underwent pars plana vitreotomy and 1 patient underwent external magnet extraction. The follow-up ranged from 3 to 36 months (mean 12.5 months).

RESULTSTen eyes developed endophthalmitis, among which 7 (10.94%) were diagnosed preoperatively. The most frequently cultured organism was Staphylococcus epidermis (44.44%, 4/9). Postoperatively, retinal detachment due to vitreoretinal proliferation occurred in 5 patients with endophthalmitis and in 9 patients without endophthalmitis. All the retinal detachments were reattached with additional vitreoretinal surgery. Two eyes with endophthalmitis and two without endophthalmitis were eviscerated.

CONCLUSIONSPost-traumatic endophthalmitis with intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs) deserves great attention because of its high incidence and poor prognosis. Vitrectomy is suggested for the treatment of IOFBs and its complications, and it should be performed as soon as possible. Routine intravenous administration of antibiotics combined with periocular injection and topical antibiotics postoperatively are recommended.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Endophthalmitis ; etiology ; Eye Foreign Bodies ; complications ; therapy ; Eye Infections, Bacterial ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Eye Injuries, Penetrating ; complications ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Injections ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Vitrectomy

Aortic valve calcification (AVC) is a pathological process correlated with multiple disease causes and actively regulated by cardiac valve cells. In this study, porcine aortic valve myofibroblasts cultured in vitro were treated with 50 μg z L(-1) of pathological factor tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). Tanshinone II A (TSN) with the concentration of 50 mg x L(-1) and TNF-α were combined in incubating cells for 72 h (3 d) and 120 h (5 d). The Western blotting and Real-time PCR were adopted to detect the changes in smooth muscle α actin (α-SMA), bone morphogenetic protein 2 ( BMP2), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in cells, and expressions of key effect proteins GSK-3β and β-catenin on Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway. According to the findings, TNF-α can significantly increase the expression of myofibroblasts α-SMA and add the transformation activity to them, with nearly no expression of BMP2, ALP and mRNA in the control group and the TSN group but significant increase in their expressions in the TNF-α group (P < 0.01), which showed osteoblast-like phenotype. Moreover, TNF-α down-regulated the expression of up-streaming regulator GSK-3β and mRNA expression (P < 0. 01) , notably increased the expression of key effect protein β-catenin, but with no significant difference in mRNA with the control group and the TSN group. The result demonstrated that TSN showed a certain inhibitory effect on TNF-α's pathological impact (P < 0.05) in a time-dependent manner. Inflammatory factor TNF-α may promote the transformation of aortic valvular myofibroblasts to osteoblast-like phenotype by activating Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway in aortic valvular myofibroblasts, so as to cause AVC. Tanshinone II A can have a preventive effect in AVC by activating GSK-3β proteins and regulating signal transduction of Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway.
Animals ; Aortic Valve ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Diterpenes, Abietane ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta ; Myofibroblasts ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Osteoblasts ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Swine ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; beta Catenin ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective To transplant the umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells(UCMSCs) derived from human umbilical cord into cisterna magna of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy(HIE) rat model,and to observe their survival,proliferation and differentiation in the rat brain.Methods UCMSCs were isolated from human umbilical cord of babies delivered after full-term normal cesarean section,and labeled by bromodeoxyuridine(BrdU).Pregnant rats were randomly divided into experimental group(n=6) and control group(n=1).HIE models were built by ligating both sides of the uterine arteries of full-pregnant rats(21 days) in experimental group rats for 15 minutes.The neonatal rats in experimental group were divided into stem cells group(n=24) and PBS group(n=19) at random.The labeled UCMSCs were injected into cisterna magna of the rats in stem cells group,while PBS was injected into the rats of PBS group.In 1,2,3 and 4 weeks after transplantation,the brain tissue section slides were immunohistochemically stained with antibodies against BrdU,Nestin,neuron specific enolase(NSE) and glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP),and thionin.Control group with normal delivery was tested as concurrent control.Results At 1 week after transplantation,BrdU,Nestin,NSE and GFAP positive cells were found in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of the rats in stem cells group rats.The number of BrdU-positive and Nestin-positive cells increased(Pa0.05).The NSE-positive and GFAP-positive cells gradually increased from 1-4 weeks post transplantation and comparisons between groups had statistical significance(Pa