Purpose:To study the malignant probability of a solitary thyroid nodule,probable risk factor,the status of B-mode ultrasonography,computed tomography,fine needle aspiration and frozen section in the operation and other adjuvant examination in the diagnosis.Methods:In the retrospective analysis of 902 cases of solitary thyroid nodule treated by surger- y and diagnosed by pathology in the Cancer Hospital of Fudan University from March 1998 to May 2001,we analyzed the value of B-mode ultrasonography,computed tomography,fine needle aspiration and frozen section in the operation and com- pared them with the final pathological conclusion.Results:This disease occurred mostly in 20～50 years old women,while the malignant nodules occurred more frequently in men(P50 years) (P50 years) is a risk factor.B-mode ultrasonography can be used as routine preoperative examination.CT is valuable in the cases with metastasis to neck lymph nodules.With FNA the pathological diagnosis of the nodule suspected to be malignant can be made preoperatively.

Humans ; Neck Dissection ; methods

OBJECTIVETo establish discriminant functions of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) by studying it from quantitative diagnosis angle, hoping to reduce interference of subjective factors in diagnosing and differentially diagnosing Chinese medical syndromes of IBS-D.

METHODSA Chinese medical clinical epidemiological survey was carried out in 439 IBS-D patients using Clinical Information Collection Table of IBS. Initial syndromes were obtained by cluster analysis. They were analyzed using step-by-step discrimination by taking information of four Chinese medical diagnostic methods and serum brain-gut peptides (BGP) as variables.

RESULTSClustering results were Gan stagnation Pi deficiency syndrome (GSPDS), Pi-Wei weakness syndrome (PWWS), Gan stagnation qi stasis syndrome (GSQSS), Pi-Shen yang deficiency syndrome (PSYDS), Pi-Wei damp-heat syndrome (PWDHS), cold-damp disturbing Pi syndrome (CDDPS). Of them, GSPDS was mostly often seen with effective percentage of 34. 2%, while CDDPS was the least often seen with effective percentage of 5.5%. A total of 5 discriminant functions for GSPDS, PWWS, GSQSS, PSYDS, and PWDHS were obtained by step-by-step dis- crimination method. The retrospective misjudgment rate was 4.1% (16/390), while the cross-validation misjudgment rate was 15.4% (60/390).

CONCLUSIONThe establishment of discriminant functions is of value in objectively diagnosing and differentially diagnosing Chinese medical syndromes of IBS-D.

Alarmins ; Brain ; Cluster Analysis ; Diarrhea ; classification ; diagnosis ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; classification ; diagnosis ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Qi ; Retrospective Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Yang Deficiency

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Shumai Capsule (SMC) on angiogenesis and expression of relevant growth factor in rats with myocardial ischemia (MI).

METHODSModel rats of MI were duplicated and treated with SMC (SMC group), bFGF + calparine (positive control group) and normal saline (model group) respectively. Besides, a sham-operative group was set up and treated with normal saline. The rats were sacrificed in batches at the time after being medicated for 1, 2 and 4 weeks, for determining von Willebrand factor (vWF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein expression in ischemic myocardium by immuno-histochemical staining, myocardial micro-vessel density (MVD) using digital analysis system, and the gene expression of VEGF by quantitative real-time PCR.

RESULTSCompared with the sham-operative group and the model group, levels of MVD, protein and gene expression of VEGF in the SMC group were higher respectively at three time segments (all P <0.01), but showed insignificant difference to those in the positive control group.

CONCLUSIONSMC could promote angiogenesis in ischemic myocardium of rats, the up-regulation on VEGF mRNA and protein expression might be one of the potential mechanisms of SMC in promoting angiogenesis.

Animals ; Capsules ; Coronary Vessels ; drug effects ; physiology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; physiopathology ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; drug effects ; Phytotherapy ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; biosynthesis ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo explore the protective effect of baicalin against rotenone-induced injury on PC12 cells, and the po-tential mechanism of action action was also explored.

METHODPC12 cells were injured by rotenone and were treated with different concentrations (0.1, 1, 10 μmol x L(-1)) of baicalin at the same time. Cell viability was analyzed by MTT, and morphology was observed by phase-contrast microscopy. The cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. The intracellular ROS level was determined by fluorescence microscope with DCF-DA staining. The expression of Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3 was analyzed by Western blot.

RESULTThe viability of PC12 cells exposure to rotenone for 24 hour was gradually decreased with dose escalating and 1.5 μmol x L was adopted to do the following experiment. Baicalin increased cell viability, improved cell morphology and decreased intracellular ROS level. Moreover, FACS indicated baicalin attenuated the apoptosis induced by rotenone significantly. Western blot showed that Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3 expression in rotenone-induced PC12 cells was reversed by baicalin.

CONCLUSIONThis study has demonstrated that baicalin protects PC12 cells against rotenone-induced apoptosis, at least in part, by scavenging excessive ROS and inhibiting the mitochondrion-dependent apoptotic pathway.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Cytoprotection ; drug effects ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Intracellular Space ; drug effects ; metabolism ; PC12 Cells ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Rats ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Rotenone ; pharmacology ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical effect of Agkistrodon antithrombogenase (AAT) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its possible mechanism.

METHODSBesides the conventional non-steroid anti-inflammatory agents and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug, patients were treated supplementally with intravenous injection of AAT. The intracutaneous test showed allergic to AAT patients were treated with Salvia injection and taken as control group. Changes of related clinical indexes in the two groups were observed.

RESULTSAfter 3 weeks treatment, condition of patients in both groups were improved clinically in joint swollen index, joint tenderness index, morning stiffness time, pain assessment (VAS) and health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) on daily life activity as well as ESR level (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), with the VAS, HAQ and fibrinogen levels more significantly improved than those of control (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and the total effective rate higher in the AAT treated group than those in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAAT has good effect on easing clinical symptoms of RA possibly through anti-inflammation and improving the microcirculation with less toxic and adverse reaction, so is worthy of recommendation.

Adult ; Ancrod ; therapeutic use ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; Crotalid Venoms ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

In the present study, the correlated activities of adjacent ganglion cells of transient subtype in response to full-field white light stimulation were investigated in the chicken retina. Pharmacological studies and cross-correlation analysis demonstrated that application of the GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline (BIC) significantly down-regulated the correlation strength while increasing the firing activities. Meanwhile, application of the GABA(A) receptor agonist muscimol (MUS) potentiated the correlated activities while decreasing the firing rates. However, application of the GABA(C) receptor antagonist (1,2,5,6-Tetrahydropyridin-4-yl)methylphosphinic acid (TPMPA) did not have a consistent influence on either the firing rates or the correlation strength. These results suggest that in the chicken retina, correlated activities among neighborhood transient ganglion cells can be increased while firing activities are reduced with the activation of GABA(A) receptors. The GABA(A)-receptor-mediated inhibitory pathway may be critical for improving the efficiency of visual information transmission.
Action Potentials ; Animals ; Bicuculline ; pharmacology ; GABA-A Receptor Antagonists ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Muscimol ; pharmacology ; Phosphinic Acids ; pharmacology ; Pyridines ; pharmacology ; Receptors, GABA-A ; metabolism ; Retina ; physiology ; Retinal Ganglion Cells ; physiology ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid

Red in vivo recombination is a new kind of genetic engineering technique based on homologous recombination. In this work, plasmid pKD46 which expresses Red recombination proteins is transferred into Escherichia coli strain DH5?.The kanamycine resistant gene is generated by PCR by using primers with homology to hisDCB gene of E.coli chromosome. Thus, the hisDCB gene was replaced with kanamycine resistant gene by the plasmid recombination system, then the resistant gene was eliminated by a helper plasmid encoding the FLP recombinase. At last, a E.coli histidine auxotroph which is sensitive to kanamycine was got. The results indicate that Red in vivo recombination is a convenient method to construct auxotrophs.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance in MRP1/CD_9 expression in cervical squamous cancer tissues and normal cervical tissues.Methods The expression of MRP1/CD_9 were assayed by SABC immunohistochemical methods in 53 cases of cervical cancer tissues and 13 cases of normal cervical tissues.Results Positive expression of MRP1/CD_9 was detected in 13 normal cervical tissue.MRP1/D_9 ex- pression is down-regulated in cervical carcinoma(P

Background and purpose:It was reported that chemokine receptor CXCR4 and its ligand stromal cell-derived factor 1(SDF-1)were involved in the proliferation,differentiation,and metastasis of tumor.This study was designed to observe the expression of chemokine receptor CXCR4 in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissue and study the relationship between the expression of chemokine receptor CXCR4 and different clinicopathlogical characteristics,and further to explore the clinical significance.Methods:For the detection of the expression of chemokine receptor CXCR4,43 primary hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissues,27 normal hypopharyngeal tissues,34 lymph node metastastatic lesions and 9 normal lymph node lesions were detected by immunohistochemical method using rabbit anti-human CXCR4 polyclonal antibody.Results:The positive expression rates of CXCR4 in 43 hypopharyngeal carcinoma tissues and normal tissues were 95.3% and 22.2%,respectively(P