Objective:To investigate the effects of sleep quality on cognitive function in elderly patients undergoing hemodialysis.Methods:In this cross-sectional study, the cognitive function in hemodialysis patients was evaluated by Montreal Cognitive Assessment(MoCA)and the sleep quality was accessed by Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI). The related indexes of cognitive function were compared and the relationship between cognitive function and sleep quality was analyzed by using multiple binary Logistic regression method.Results:A total of 121 elderly hemodialysis patients aged 67.4±7.2 years with cognitive impairment of 76 cases(62.8%)were included in the study.Numbers(%)of cases with very good, good, general and poor sleep quality were 33(27.3%), 39(32.2%), 14(11.6%)and 35(28.9%), respectively.The proportion of patients with pretty good sleep quality was lower in cognitive impairment group than in normal cognitive group(13/76 or 17.1% vs.20/45 or 44.4%, P<0.001). The proportion of patients with poor sleep quality was higher in cognitive impairment group than in normal cognitive group(29/76 or 38.2% vs.6/45 or 13.3%, P<0.05). Multiple binary Logistic regression analysis showed that age( OR: 1.128, 95% CI: 1.083-1.175, P<0.001), a education level( OR: 0.353, 95% CI: 0.151-0.556, P<0.05), hypertension( OR: 2.508, 95% CI: 1.189-5.291, P<0.05), diabetes( OR: 1.913, 95% CI: 1.045-3.502, P<0.05), stroke( OR: 4.044, 95% CI: 1.439-11.365, P<0.05), dialysis age( OR: 1.016, 95% CI: 1.010-1.023, P<0.001), KT/V( OR: 0.025, 95% CI: 0.005-0.122, P<0.001)and parathormon(iPTH)( OR: 1.002, 95% CI: 1.000-1.003, P<0.05)were associated with cognitive impairment.After adjusting for above factors, sleep quality was also correlated with cognitive impairment( OR: 1.180, 95% CI: 1.108-1.258, P<0.001), showing that the risk of cognitive impairment increased by 1.18 times with every one point increase in PSQI scores. Conclusions:Cognitive impairment is associated with age, education level, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, dialysis age, KT/V and iPTH in elderly hemodialysis patient, and sleep quality is also an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment.

Though parched Chinese herbal medicines contain less effective or index components, their pharmacological actions do not reduce or even become improved to some extent. However, the current studies related to material basis could not explain the changes in property, flavour and efficacy of parched Chinese herbal medicines. Meanwhile, due to the lack of objective and specific evaluation indexes, the quality evaluation could not reflect features of parched Chinese herbal pieces. Therefore, how to break the bottleneck for the studies on parched Chinese herbal pieces, make further innovation and conduct in-depth studies on the material basis of parched Chinese herbal medicines are common problems that medical scholars are facing. According to the findings in the previous studies, the author proposed to explain the material basis of parched Chinese herbal medicines by studying Maillard reaction and establish specific quality evaluation indexes according to the features of parched Chinese herbal pieces, and conducted relevant studies.
Drug Compounding ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Maillard Reaction ; Quality Control

Colonic Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Digestive System Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Humans ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; methods ; Rectal Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods

Trophozoites of Giardia lamblia were axenically cultivated with modified TYI-S-33 medium contained 500 ?g/ml metronidazole(12h LC50).The morphology of drug-treated trophozoites was observed with light and electron micro-scopes at 2,4,8,12 h respectively.The light microscopy revealed that the trophozoites treated with MTZ showed swollen,detached from the wall of the culture tube,and were with vacuoles in the cytoplasm.Movement of the flagella become slowly or stopped.Electronic microscopy showed that the trophozoites were swollen and deformed;lots of vacuoles were seen in the cytoplasm;the contents of cytoplasm were depleted and the nuclei deformed.This study indicated that MTZ has injured the morphology of G.lamblia.

Objective To investigate the effect of X-ray irradiation on neurites growth of primary hippocampal neurons in vitro.Methods Primary hippocampal neuron culture in vitro were irradiated with 0,2,4,8,10,12 Gy of X-rays.In the first day and the third day after irradiation,the cell death of primary hippocampal neurons was detected by MTT method,and the morphological changes of primary hippocampal neuronal neurites were detected with immunofluorescence staining method.Results In the first day and third day after irradiation,the cell death of hippocampal neurons increased significantly (F =123.068,43.370,P ＜0.05),but there were no significant difference among 4,8,10,and 12 Gy irradiation groups.Immunofluorescence staining showed that,in the first day after irradiation,the neurite length and total dendritic branch length (TDBL) were significantly changed (F =9.169,7.856,P ＜0.05),and in the third day after radiation,the neurite length,TDBL and total dendritic branch tip number (TDBTN) were also altered (F =23.797,6.565,6.021,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion X-ray irradiation can inhibit the growth of neurites in the primary hippocampal neurons in vitro.

AIM: To study the relationship between nitric oxide (NO) and gastric mucosal injury induced by reserpine in rats. METHODS: Sixteen healthy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group and experimental group (n=8). NO contents and malondialdehyde(MDA) contents in plasma, gastric mucosa of the rats were respectively determined with Cadmium-reduct plus Greiss and TBA; nitric oxide synthase in gastric walls of the rats were observed using NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry and quantitatively measured with image analyzer.RESULTS: The NO contents in both plasma and gastric mucosa of experimental group were significantly lower than that in control group (P

Adult ; Femur Head Necrosis ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Glucocorticoids ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Paraquat ; poisoning

Objective To investigate the effects of adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and phosphated AMPK (pAMPK) signals in ischemic preconditioning (IPC), and the effect of pharmacological intervention of AMPK on infarct size of the brain. Methods A brief (3min) middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was employed to induce IPC in male rat, and another 90-min MCAO was performed 4 or 72h later. The levels of AMPK and pAMPK were assessed after IPC. A pharmacological activator metformin, or inhibitor compound C of AMPK, was used to analyze the correlation of IPC to AMPK signaling in MCAO rats. Results The infarct size of total cerebral hemisphere and cortex was significantly decreased in MCAO animals by IPC for 72h (P<0.05, n=8), and the neurological deficit scores (NDS) of MCAO rats were also improved (P<0.05, n=8). There was a significant increase in pAMPK expression after a 90min MCAO (P<0.05, n=6), and a significant decrease in induced pAMPK expression (P<0.05, n=6) achieved only by a 72h IPC treatment. Intraperitoneal injection of an AMPK inhibitor, compound C, could decrease the infarct size in MCAO rats (P<0.05, n=6), but combined IPC (72h) and injection of compound C did not result in further decrease of the infarct size (P>0.05, n=6). The AMPK activator metformin can significantly reverse the protective effect of IPC (P<0.05, n=6). Conclusions The signals of AMPK and pAMPK play an important role in neuroprotective effect of IPC on cerebral ischemic injury. The neuroprotective effect of IPC may be associated with the down-regulation of pAMPK.

Objective To discuss the relationship of hypertension with ageing and comorbidities in 6426 inpatients. Methods The data of 6426 inpatients with hypertension from May 2005 to May 2009 were analyzed retrospectively. All inpatients were divided into four groups: the young-aged group from 18 to 44 yrs (n= 312, 4. 8%), the middle-aged group from 45 to 59 yrs (n= 1529,23.8%), the elderly group from 60 to 79 yrs (n=3847, 59.9%) and the old old group from 80 to 99 yrs (n=738, 11.5%). The percentages of hypertension patients in the same age group over the same period were calculated and the comorbidities were observed respectively. Results Of 6426 hypertensive cases, there were 3438 males (53.5%) and 2988 females (46.5%), ranging from 18 to 99 yrs with the average age of (66.3± 12. 1) yrs. There were 25 504 inpatients over 18 years old including 11 208 in the youth group, 5389 in the middle-aged group, 7596 in the elderly group and 1311 in the old old group. The proportions of hypertension inpatients to total in-patients in the four age groups were 2.8%, 28. 4%, 50.7% and 56.3% respectively. In the youth and middle-aged groups, numbers of males with hypertension were more than of females, however there was no significant difference in gender in the elderly and the old old groups. Within 6426 inpatients with hypertension, 2069 (32.2 %) had diabetes mellitus, 1508 (23.5%) had hyperlipidemia, 105 (1.6 % )had sleep apnea syndrome, 1061 (16.5%) had coronary artery disease, 904 (14.1%) had heart failure, 2353 (36.6%) had stroke and 678 (10. 6%) had kidney failure. Conclusions The prevalence of hypertension increases with ageing significantly. The correlated risk factors for hypertension include diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and sleep apnea syndrome, being a clustering phenomenon, especially for elder patients. These risk factors also deteriorate the damage on heart,brain, kidney and other target organs, which might ultimately result in serious cardio-cerebral vascular events. Therefore, besides control of blood pressure, we should strengthen the complex treatment on hypertension to prevent and delay the occur of complicating diseases.