BACKGROUND: Propranolol is a nonselective competitive adrenergic β-receptor blocker capable of suppressing sympathetic nerve excitation. Postmenstrual osteoporosis may be associated with the changes of sympathetic nerve activity.OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of propranolol on tibial morphology in ovariectomized rats, and compare it with that of estrogen medication.DESIGN: Completely randomized design and controlled experiment.SETTING: End ocrinology Department, General Hospital of Beijing Military Area Command of Chinese PLA.MATERIALS: This experiment was conducted at the animal laboratory of the Institute of Basic Theory Research of Traditional Chinese Medicine between March 2002 and April 2003. Forty female unmated SD rats aged 6 months were included and randomized into 4 groups with 10 rats in each group: sham-operation group, estrogen medication group, propranolol treatment group, and placebo group.METHODS: ① Rats in estrogen group, propranolol treatment group and placebo group were anesthetized before the abdomen was opened and bilateral ovaries were excised. Rats in sham-operation group had their abdominal cavity opened and a piece of ovary surrounding fattytissue excised before closing the abdomen. ② Estrogen medication group: Rats were given hypodermic injection of grain oil dissolved 17 β-estradiol at a dose of 20 μg/(kg·d). Propranolol treatment group: Propranolol was used for gastric infusion at a dose of 18 mg/(kg·d). Placebo group and sham-op-eration group: The same volume of grain oil and/or distilled water was used instead of hypodermic injection or gastric infusion. Two treatment groups were given the same intervention as placebo group and sham-operation group during treatment; medication was carried out from postoperative week 1 for altogether 12 weeks. ③ Leica Qwin imaging analysis system was used for morphological measurement of bone tissues so as to calculate the volume percentage, active-surface formation percentage, mineralization rate, and formation rate of bone trabecula. ④ t-test was used for comparing the differences.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparison of rat tibial morphological parameters between groups.RESULTS: Forty rats were divided into four groups with 10 rats in each and all entered the result analysis. ① Left tibial active-surface formation percentage and mineralization rate of bone trabecula: They were obviously lower in sham-operation group and estrogen group than in placebo group (P ＜ 0.01), but obviously higher in propranolol treatment group than placebo group (P ＜ 0.05). ② Formation rate of left tibial trabecula: It was obviously higher in propranolol treatment group than in placebo group (P ＜ 0.05). ③ The volume percentage of left tibial bone trabecula: It was obviously higher in sham-operation group and propranolol treat ment group than in placebo group (P ＜ 0.01), but obviously lower in pro pranolol treatment group than in sham-operation group and estrogen group (P ＜ 0.01). CONCLUSION: Propranolol can increase bone mass, reduce bone loss, and promote bone formation in osteoporotic rats following ovariectomy, thus displaying obvious preventive and therapeutic effects on osteoperesis in rats.

Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; Philosophy, Medical

Objective To investigate the effect of local injection of Botulinum toxin type A(BTXA) on spasticity and function of the affected upper limb in stroke patients.Methods A total of 32 stroke patients were re- cruited and randomly divided into two groups:a BTXA group and a control group.All the patients had spasticity of upper limb muscles,which scored grade 2 to 3 with the Modified Ashworth Scale(MAS) ,and decreased elbow joint range of motion.The 16 patients in the BTXA group received BTXA injection in the biceps brachii muscles and flexor muscles of forearm on 10～15 points,while those in the control group did not.All the patients in both groups were treated with rehabilitation training techniques.The MAS,Fugl-Meyer upper limb function assessment and Barthel In- dex were employed to evaluate the changes of muscle tone,upper limb function and activity of living (ADL)perform- ance of the patients before injection and at 1st,2nd,6th 12th weeks after injection.Results The therapeutic effect between the BTXA group anti control group was significantly different in terms of biceps muscle tone,the scores of Fugl-Meyer upper limb function assessment and Barthel Index.Compared with preinjection,muscle tone was de- creased significantly and ADL performance was improved after injection in BTXA group.The effects of BTXA lasted more than 12 weeks.Conclusion Intramuscular muhipoint injection of BTXA was useful in reducing muscle spas- ticity,and was helpful for increasing motor ability of the affected upper limb and ADL performance of the stroke pa- tients.

Objective To study the effect of balloon dilatation therapy on dysphagia caused by cricopharyn- geal achalasia.Methods Ten cases of dysphagia were diagnosed as cricopharyngeal achalasia by videofluoroscopic swallowing study(VFSS).A 14~* urethral catheter was inserted into the esophagus and an amount of water was injec- ted into the balloon of the urethral catheter to make it turgid.Then the catheter was pulled upwards and passed through the stricture of esophagus to dilatate the cricopbarygeus muscle.Meanwhile,low frequency electrical stimula- tion was used and combined with functional training of the organs related to deglutition and ingestion.The results be- fore and after the treatment were evaluated.Results After 19.7 times of dilatation therapy,the content of water in- jected into the balloon was increased from 2.65?0.91 ml to 8.20?0.92 ml.Cricopharyngeal achalasia was alle- viated significantly(P

Objective To investigated the serum level of carcinoma antigen 125 (CA-125) and its clinical significance in patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome.Methods We reviewed medical records and laboratory tests of patients with BCS first diagnosed in our hospital between August 2011 and April 2013.235 patients were included as experiment group,while 120 healthy adult volunteers were randomly selected as control group.The serum level of CA-125 were detected by electrochemilumescence immunization assay in this single-center retrospective control study.Results The average serum level of CA-125 in experiment group is higher than that of control group [(147.9 ±246.6) kU/L vs (16.0 ±7.2) kU/L,P ＜0.001].In experiment group,the relative coefficient for serum CA-125 with ascites,alanine aminotransferase,aspartate aminotransferase,albumin and Rotterdam BCS scores was 0.79,0.45,0.29,-0.393 and 0.71,respec tively,P ＜0.001.As of October 2013,we found that the 68 BCS patients with serum CA-125 level 5-fold higher than the upper limit of normal (＞ 175 kU/L) presented much lower survival rates and asymptomatic survival rates than the rest 167 BCS patients after intervention therapy:(95.6％ and 79.8％) vs (98.8％ and 92.0％),P ＜ 0.05.Conclusions The serum level of CA-125 in BCS patients have positive correlation with ascites volume,liver injury degree and Rotterdam BCS scores.Serum CA-125 evaluation appears to be a valuable examination option in BCS as CA-125 levels negatively correlate with worse prognosis,thus could be applied as an efficient tool for prognostication.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM: To determine the aberrant methylation status in the gene promoter regions of CDH13, RASSF1A, DLEC1, SEPT9 and RUNX3 by detecting the plasma specimens and the value of their combined detection for di-agnosis of lung cancers.METHODS:Nest methylation specific PCR ( nMSP) was used to detect the promoter methylation status of the 5 genes in the plasma from 106 normal controls, lung cancer tissues, lung benign tissues and the plasma from 106 patients with lung cancers.Multiple displacement amplification ( MDA) was used to amplify modified genomic DNA to solve the problem of insufficient of plasma DNA template.RESULTS: The positive rates of promoter methylation of CDH13, RASSF1A, DLEC1, SEPT9 and RUNX3 in the lung cancer tissues were 51.9%, 44.3%, 54.7%, 36.8%, 24.5%, respectively, and those in the plasma were 46.2%, 41.5%, 50.9%, 31.1%, 19.8%, respectively.The re-sults of the Kappa consistency check showed that the lung cancer tissues and the plasma had obviously coherence in the methylation status of the 5 gene promoter regions.Combination of DLEC1, CDH13, RASSF1A, and SEPT9 had a higher di-agnostic efficiency than the others, as their ACC value was 0.8208 and youden index was 0.6415 ( with the sensitivity of 81.13% and the specificity of 83.02%) .CONCLUSION:Combination detection of promoter methylation of lung cancer-related genes in the plasma is expected to apply to the early diagnosis of lung cancer.

BACKGROUND:Buyanghuanwu decoction has excel ent neuroprotective effect and can efficiently suppress nerve cel apoptosis caused by cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.
OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect and mechanisms of Buyanghuanwu decoction on neuronal apoptosis around hematoma in cerebral hemorrhage rats.
METHODS:Seventy-two adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, Buyanghuanwu decoction group, and Ginkgo biloba group. Except the sham operation group, rat models of cerebral hemorrhage were established in other three groups. At 2 days after modeling, rats in the Buyanghuanwu group and Ginkgo biloba group were given Buyanghuanwu decoction 26 g/(kg?d)and Ginkgo biloba 3.5 mg/(kg?d) daily by gavage, for 14 consecutive days. Rats in the sham operation group and model group received an equal volume of saline for 14 consecutive days. After the last administration, brain tissue was obtained. TUNEL assay was utilized to detect neuronal apoptosis. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect PI3K, Akt, Bcl-2, and BAX protein expression. Wet and dry weight method was used to detect brain water content. Evans Blue assay was utilized to determine blood-brain barrier permeability.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) Compared with the sham operation group, the number of apoptotic neurons, brain water content, Evans blue content and PI3K, Akt, Bcl-2, BAX protein expression increased in the model group (P<0.05). (2) Compared with the model group, the number of apoptotic neurons, BAX protein expression, brain water content and Evans blue content were significantly reduced in the Buyanghuanwu group and Ginkgo biloba group (P<0.05), but PI3K, Akt and Bcl-2 protein expression was significantly increased (P<0.05). (3) Results suggested that Buyanghuanwu decoction inhibited neuronal apoptosis and protected brain tissue by reducing blood-brain barrier permeability, cerebral edema, and by activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, regulating Bcl-2 and BAX protein expression ratio.

BACKGROUND:Buyang HuanwuDecoction is commonly used in clinical medicine in treatment of intracerebral hemorrhage. Previous studies have been found that it has excelent neuroprotective effect, can efficiently inhibit the apoptosis of nervecels. Autophagic activity is closely related to apoptosis of nerve cels. CXCR4-PI3K autophagy signaling pathway has been verified in clinic. However, the effect of Buyang HuanwuDecoction is poorly understood. There is no study on Beclin-1 in the neuroprotective studies ofBuyang HuanwuDecoction.
OBJECTIVE:To explore the effects ofBuyang HuanwuDecoction on CXCR4-PI3K autophagy signaling pathway and Beclin-1 in rats with cerebral hemorrhage and related mechanisms.
METHODS:According to Rosenberg method, a rat model of cerebral hemorrhage was replicated and intragastricaly administeredBuyang HuanwuDecoction. Western blot assay was used to measure Beclin-1 protein. Immunohistochemical method was utilized to detect the expression of PI3K, AKT, stromal cel derived factor 1 and CXCR-4 protein. TUNEL assay was applied to identify apoptosis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) After administration,Buyang HuanwuDecoction could reduce the number of neuronal apoptosis in rats with intracerebral hemorrhage, up-regulate the expression of Beclin-1, PI3K, AKT, stromal cel derived factor 1, and CXCR-4 protein, and exert neuroprotective effect. (2)Buyang HuanwuDecoction could activate CXCR4-PI3K autophagy signal transduction pathway, both to stimulate autophagy and to regulate autophagy state, can inhibit apoptosis, and exert cerebral protective effect.

Two high protease producing strains, whic h are desi gnated Aspergillus oryzae AS100 and AS102, were screened and applied as main fermentation strains of swine blood meal. A Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y113 and a Bacillus Asp007 were also used as assistant fermentation strains. The enzyme production abilities we re studied,and a series of parameters of the fermentation technology were deter mined. Through swine blood meal fermentation, a high-protein fermented feed wa s produced, which is strong soy flavor and was rich in protein(69%), free amino acid, vitamin such as VitD 3 and niacin and organic elements such as Fe. It is a kind of high-protein feed for animals and it could be used as feedstuff addi tive.

Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) has effectively inhibited the prevalence of HIV-1 and reduced the death rate caused by AIDS. In recent years,the emergence of resistance-conferring RT gene mutations in HIV-1 strains has become the major reason for HAART failure. The detection of drug resistance is important for the HAART regimen choice and novel drug development. A novel assay for the detection of HIV-1 RT drug resistance mutations was developed. HIV-1 drug resistance and wild strains in B subtypes were investigated using Two-Step Mutagenically-Separated PCR (MS-PCR),and point mutations including M41L,K70R,K103N,Y181C,T215F were detected. A longer mutant type primer was designed,using microplates hybridization and ELISA technique to detect several point mutations within a mixed mutant-wild type population. The results indicate that the Two-Step MS-PCR is as sensitive and specific as that in the traditional MS-PCR and MS-PCR combined with ELISA can give a good P/N quotient with better sensitivity,low cost,relatively less time consumption and high-throughput screening. It will be used in clinic usage for the detection of HIV-1 drug resistance mutations as well as other point mutations.