Measurement of Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a noninvasive,simple,and reproducible procedure to assist in assessment of disease severity and evaluation of response to treatment in asthma children.This review discusses the value of FeNO in children with asthma,and the association between FeNO and other noninvasive methods.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of UV-B radiat io n exclusively on a variety type of leukoderma .Methods In open trail, 45 cases of a variety of leukoderma were randomly selected including preg nant striates (20 cases), stretch marks (1 case), postoperative petechia (4 case s), traumatic petechia (10 cases), radiation petechia (2 cases), generalized vit iligo (6 cases) and leukoderma with unknown cause (2 cases) were treated with Re lume UV-B re-pigmentation generator (photo range 290-320 mm), once per week with an adjusting dose for 3-20 treatments. Results 42 cases c ompleted with followed-up after 14 months of UV-B radiation microphototherapy. 64.3% (27 cases) achieved excellent results, including 10 cases of pregnant str iates, 8 cases of traumatic petechia, 4 cases of postoperative petechia and 5 c ases of peneralized vitiligo. 28.6% patients were satisfied with results (12 ca ses), including 7 cases of pregnant striates, 1 case of traumatic petechia, 1 c ase of generalized vitiligo, 1 case of stretch mark and 2 cases of leukoderma wi th unknown causes. 7.1% (3 cases) had no effect. 33.3% (14 cases) required suppl emental treatment after 2-5 months of the initial therapy. Conclusion The UV-B radiation microphototherapy is effective in restoring pigmenta tion in those affected by a variety of leukoderma except radiation petechia. The result of repigmentation is related to the type of leukoderma.

Aim To investigate the effect and mechanism of action of chronic morphine treatment on the neurosteroidogensis of primary cultured rat cerebral cortical neurons(CCNs).Methods The effect of morphine on the production of pregnenolone(PREG),dehydroepiandrosterone(DHEA),allopregnanolone(AP),pregnenlolone sulfate(PS)and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate(DS)in cell culture media was measured by solid-phase extraction and LC-MS,with methyltestosterone(MT)or estrogen sulfate(ES)as internal standards.The dependence-like changes of CCNs were determined by testing the p-CREB level in the nuclear lysates using western blot.Results Compared with the control group,morphine treatment significantly reduced levels of PREG and DS respectively;opioid agonist DAMGO significantly reduced levels of PREG,DS and PS respectively,and increased the level of AP significantly.Compared with the morphine group,?-opioid-antagonist CTAP concomitant with morphine increased the level of PREG significantly.Compared with the control group,chronic morphine treatment or DAMGO treatment significantly increased the level of p-CREB in the CCNs.Compared with the morphine treatment group,?-antagonsit CTAP significantly reduced the level of p-CREB.Conclusion ?-opioid receptor mediated the inhibitory effect of morphine on levels of neurosteroids,and changes of neurosteroid levels might be related to morphine dependence.

BACKGROUND:In recent years, the use of chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells (CAR-T cells) has achieved good results in the treatment of hematological malignancies. OBJECTIVE:To summarize the CAR-T technology, and its anti-tumor mechamism, progress in the treatment of hematological malignancies as well as its safety and coping strategies. METHODS:A search of PubMed, CNKI, Wanfang by computer was performed for articles related to CAR-T published from January 2010 to January 2016, using the keywords of CAR-T in English and Chinese, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The main principles that CAR-T cells fight against tumors are as follows: (1) resistance to immune escape through down-regulation of MHC; (2) production of interleukin-6, -10 indirectly influences the growth of tumor cells; and (3) tumor microenvironment changes inhibit tumor growth. The use of CAR-T in the treatment of hematological malignancies has been developed by leaps and bounds in recent years. Current studies concerning B cell lymphoma mainly focus on anti-CD19 CAR-T cells that have certain therapeutic effects on acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. However, its safety and effectiveness have yet to be studied.

Cardiac enlargement is an important symptom of vascular and heart disease. The cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) is an important index used to measure the size of heart. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between aging and cardiothoracic ratio. This paper also presents an improved C-V level set method to segment lung tissue based on X-ray image, which used to automatically compute CTR. In the investigation carried out in our school, we got more than 3 120 chest radiographs from medical examination of the working population in Beijing, and we systematically studied the effects of age and gender on the CTR to obtain reference values for each group. The reference values established in this study can be useful for recording and quantifying the cardiac enlargement, so that it may be useful for calling attention to the cardiovascular diseases and the heart diseases.
Aging ; Algorithms ; Cardiomegaly ; pathology ; Heart ; diagnostic imaging ; Heart Diseases ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; Myocardium ; pathology ; Radiography, Thoracic ; methods ; Reference Values

AIM:Surfactants and their blend play important roles in the preparation of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs).In this study,four types of surfactant were employed to investigate the influence of the surfactants on properties of SLNs in the absence of model drugs thereby avoiding the interaction between the surfactant and the drug.METHODS:The physicochemical properties of the colloidal systems,such as mean particle size,distribution range and Zeta potential,were investigated by laser diffractometry and the DSC analysis was performed as well.RESULTS:It was found that ionic surfactants,such as sodium deoxycholate, increased the Zeta potential of nanoparticles leading to improve the physical stability of the system.But it showed obviously relative low emulsification efficiency in the preparation.Non-ionic emulsifier,especially Pluronic F-68, offered additional steric stabilization effect avoiding aggregation of the fine particles in the colloidal system.CONCLUSION:The formulation in the study for the first time combined four types of additives including ionic surfactant (sodium deoxycholate),non-ionic emulsifier (Pluronic F-68 and Tween-80),and lecithin to obtain favorably stable nanosuspension,which could stabilize for more than six months without creaming.

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of leflunomide in active ankylosing spondylitis.Methods Totally 62 cases of active ankylosing spondylitis were included,and divided randomly into leflunomide group(n=26)and methotrexate group(n=36).The patients in leflunomide group received an oral leflunomide loading dose of 50 mg or 40 mg once daily for the first 3 days followed by a maintenance dose of 50 mg or 40 mg once weekly,according to whether the bodyweight was more than 50 kg or less than 50 kg,respectively.The patients in methotrexate group were prescribed oral methotrexate 5 mg once in the first week,10 mg once in the second week,15 mg once in the third week and thereafter weekly.Sulfasalazine was prescribed 0.75 three times daily in both groups.The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index(BASDAI)and The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index(BASIM)scoring instruments were used to assess the responsiveness to leflunomide and methotrexate at entry,three months,six months,twelve months and eighteen months after treatment,respectively.Laboratory data including peripheral blood counts(WBC,HGB,RBC),erythrocyte sedimentation rates(ESR),liver enzymes,serum creatinine,urinary sediments were detected at the same time.Sacroiliac joints CT scan and other involved joints x-ray radiograph examinations were taken at entry,six months,twelve months and eighteen months after treatment,respectively.Results Twenty-two cases in leflunomide group and 29 cases in methotrexate group were followed up to eighteen months.BASDAI in leflunomide group was significantly lower(P

Objective To study the immunological changes and clinical features of pachydermodactyly.Methods Thirteen cases of pachydermodactyly were studied and the literature about this disease was reviewed.Results The mean disease onset age was (16?3)years,11 of whom were male,2 were female;clinical feature was chronic non-inflammatory bulbous swelling of proximal interphalangeal joints,most of which distributed symmetrically;there were no abnormal results in immunological examination;X-ray showed only soft tissue swelling with no articular or bone damage.Conclusion Pachydermodactyly belongs to rheumatological diseases,and should be differentiated from other arthritis involving PIP joints.

Objective To study the effects of sodium arsenite on the mRNA expression of GTP cyclohydrolase (GTPCH) and 6-pyruvoyl-tetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS) in Chang liver cells. Methods Human Chang liver cells were cultured with sodium arsenite at doses of 0, 50, 200 and 400 ?mol/L for 12 hours. Cell viability was tested by MTT assay, and the expression of mRNA of GTPCH and PTPS was detected by RT-PCR. Results Cell viability in 50 ?mol/L group was almost the same as that in control, while the viability in the other two groups were significantly lower than that in control. All of the mRNA expression levels in the three groups were significantly lower than that in control with dose-dependent manner. Conclusion The down-regulated expression of GTPCH and PTPS, the main enzymes of the synthesis of BH4, induced by sodium arsenite exposure may be related with arsenic related skin depigmentation.

Objective To study on the establishment of human ovarian cancer models with nude mice which can be investigated efficiently.MethodsHuman epithelial ovarian cancer 3AO cells cultured in vitro was injected by S.C.and I.P.in nude mice,so as to establish and observe human epithelial ovarian carcinoma models in nude mice.When the transplanted tumor grew big enough,the speciments of transplanted tumors were identified by histological and electron microscope observation and DNA content was analysed by flow cytometry.ResultsThe human ovarian cancer models with nude mice have been established successfully.There were many differences between the two kinds of models.The success rate of transplantation subcutaneously was 93.3%(14/15),whereas a little shorter rate was 86.7%(12/15) in transplantation peritoneally.ConclusionHuman ovarian cancer models with nude mice are easy to establish.They could display the invasive growth behavior and metastasis as same as human ovarian carcinoma.They are good models for experimental research of ovarian carcinoma.