Objective To investigate the value of imaging in the diagnosis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy(RSD).Methods The clinical manifestations and imaging findings of RSD in five patients were analyzed.Results The onset of clinical symptoms of patients was followed by an injury in all cases.Severe pain,swelling,limited range of motion and vasomotor instability were main complaints.Patchy bone demineralization could be found both on plain radiographs and CT.CT scan was superior to plain radiographs in detecting bone demineralization.Increased scintigraphic uptake in the involved extremities were demonstrated in all four patients who examined by bone scintigraphy.Bony erosions which were not easily visible on plain radiographs could be clearly seen on MRI in one patient at early stage.Conclusion Patchy bone demineralization on plain radiographs and CT is the most outstanding imaging finding in RSD.Bone scintigraphy and MRI can help early in diagnosis of the disease.

Objective To enhance the understanding of the clinical features,diagnosis,treatment and prognosis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD).Method Three patients with RSD in PLA General Hospital were analyzed.Results In the three patients the symptoms appeared following an injury,they had severe pain,swelling,limited range of motion,vasomotor instability,skin changes,patchy bone demineralization,and increased scintigraphic uptake in the peripheral joints of involved extremities.Two of them had shouder hand syndrome and one had obvious skin thickening.The patients showed better responses after the treatrment of physiotherapy,nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs,corticosteroids and tricyclic antidepressants.Conclusion Early diagnosis is very important and appropriate treatment must be initiated as early as possible for RSD patients.

Objective To enhance the understanding of relapsing polychondritis (RPC).Method Clinical features,laboratory studies and prognosis of RPC in 20 patients were analyzed.Results The average age at the beginning of disease was 53 4 years (range from 35 to 86).The average course from initiation of clinical symptoms to diagnosis was 1 1 years.Of patients,90% had auricular chondritis,80% had respiratory system involvement,75% had nasal chondritis and 4 patients had severe tracheobronchial chondritis.Involvement in joints,skin,cardiovascular and neurotic system also existed in various frequencies,and 20% of the patients were associated with other rheumatic or autoimmune diseases.Conclusion Extensive laryngo tracheobronchial disease is a vital signal in RPC.Early diagnosis and treatment with corticosteroid and immunosuppressant can improve the prognosis.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Shenqi Recipe on the proliferation of glomerular mesangial cells (MC) and interstitial fibroblasts (FC) in rats. METHODS: The effect of serum containing prepared drugs from normal and chronic renal failure rats treated by Shenqi Recipe on glomerular mesangial cells and intersititial fibroblasts in vitro was observed by MTT colorimetric assay and serophrmacology. RESULTS: Compared with the blank sample normal rats, serum containing Shenqi Recipe inhibited the proliferation of MC and FC (P<0.001), and the serum containing Shenqi Recipe of CRF rats had significantly inhibited the proliferation of MC and FC compared with the model group(P<0.001). Conclusion Shenqi Recipe can postpone CRF progress by this mechanism.

Objective To investigate the expression of NF-κBp65 in hippocampus after the XST intervention therapy in the SD rats with global cerebral I/R injury and testify the protective effect of XST after global cerebral I/R injury.Methods 72 healthy SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups,sham operation(SO) group ( n =24),I/R group( n =24) and XST group( n =24).The model of acute global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (including:I/R and XST group) injury was produced by means of simple Pulsinelli- brierley's four arteries occlusion method.H.E.staining was performed to detect the number of surviving neurons and TUNEL was used to detect the rate of neurons apoptosis.The expression activation of NF-κB p65 in hippocampus comu-ammonis ( CA1 ) region were examined by immunohistochemical method (SABC).Results The survival pyramidal neurons in the XST group continued to increase,and it was significantly more than the I/R group at each time-point after reperfusion[ (99.23 ±4.22)/mm vs (75.83 ±7.17 )/mm,(80.93 ± 5.36)/mm vs (51.50 ± 8.26 )/mm,(103.24 ± 5.48 )/mm vs (35.67 ± 13.17 )/mm,( 126.22 ± 7.54 )/mm vs (9.83 ± 4.71 )/mm ],the differences were statistically significant ( P ＜0.01 ).The apoptosis rate of pyramidal cell in the XST group at each time-point were more significantly reduced than the I/R group [ ( 8.82 ± 2.71 ) ％ vs ( 22.58 ± 4.68 ) ％.( 19.15 ± 6.23 ) ％ vs (42.68 ± 3.04 ) ％,( 11.82 ± 2.87 ) ％ vs ( 55.51 ± 6.81 ) ％,( 8.44 ± 3.23 ) ％ vs ( 71.69 ± 7.71 ) ％ ],the differences were statistically significant ( P ＜0.01 ).The positive neurons of NF-κBp65 expression in the XST group at different time-points were significantly less than the L/R group[ ( 13.20 ±2.50) vs ( 18.00 ± 1.87),(8.20 ±5.31) vs (41.60±3.65),(6.70±3.36) vs (55.30±5.10),(7.10±3.57) vs (72.80 ±4.71)],the differences were statistically significant ( P ＜ 0.05,P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusions After global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion,XST could protect the brain from global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury by holding up the expression of NF- kappaB p65,and inhibiting neuronal apoptosis,and increasing the number of surviving neurons.Thus,the results of this experiment could provide a powerful and weighty objective indication for XST being used during cerebral resuscitation.

ObjectiveTo explore the diagnostic and differential diagnostic points in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) complicated with fever and pulmonary diseases. MethodsFull clinical analysis was performed for a 55-year old patient with arthritis, fever, and wheeze. ResultsThe clinical pictures of the patient were consistent with those of RA. Computed tomography(CT) revealed interstitial lung diseases and intrapulmonary cavities. Antifungal agents were given experimentally, and the intrapulmonary cavities disappeared finally, thus the patient was diagnosed as RA, concurrently complicated with interstitial lung disease and pulmonary fungal infection. ConclusionThe possibility of pulmonary fungal infection should be considered in RA patients who presented with fever and intrapulmonary cavities.

Objective To study anaphylactoid reactions induced by traditional Chinese medicine injections (TCMI) of Qingkailing (QKL) and Xuesaitong (XST) with RBL-2H3 cells;To provide some reference for improving the screening system of TCMI induced anaphylactoid reactions.Methods The IC50 induced by QKL and XST injections was determined by MTT assay. RBL-2H3 cells were stimulated with TCMI at different concentrations or with C48/80 or culture medium. Thirty minutes later, the supernatant was collected to determine the release of histamine andβ-hexosaminidase. The cell degranulation rate and the ultrastructure changes were observed. The ICR mice were given single injection of TCMI containing Evans Blue through tail vein. The number of the animal with blue ear, the total number of blue ears and the quantity of Evans Blue of extravasation were determined 30 minutes later.Results The IC50 of both QKL injection and XST injection was 12.5μL/mL. These two injections promoted RBL-2H3 cells to release histamine andβ-hexosaminidase at higher concentrations (P<0.05,P<0.01) in a dose dependent manner. Cell morphology showed a decrease of villous on the cell surface and an increase of the internal vacuolated structure. Both injections caused the blue ears of all animal with a rate of 100%. The quantity of Evans Blue of the extravasation was significantly increased (P<0.01). The results in vitro study were in close agreement with that in vivo.Conclusion Both QKL injection and XST injection may potentially cause anaphylactoid reactions. The RBL-2H3 cell model may be valuable to evaluate the anaphylactoid reactions induced by TCMI.

AIM: To investigate the effect of Gengnianle Granule on hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian(HPO) axis in climacteric rats.METHODS: 12-15 months SD female rats were randomized into climacteric group and young control group was selected additionally.After being administrated for thirty days,the level of E_2、P、Te、FSH、LH in serum were examined by the radio-immunity method,the expression of GnRH in hypothalame,the expression of ER in hypothalame and pituitary appendage were examined by the immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: Compared with climacteric group,Gengnianle Granule could increase the level of E_2、P in serum(P

Objective To study the clinical characteristics of the onset of systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) in postmenopausal patients. Methods The clinical features and prognosis of 20 SLE patients whose onset was at least one year after menopause,and 70 patients with the onset during normal menstruation and 43 male patients between 1992 and 2003 were comparatively analyzed. Results The onset of SLE was seen after menopause in 20 out of 699 (2.9%) female patients. The average age at the onset of the disease was 55 years with a peak from 50 to 59. The common clinical manifestations were arthritis,lassitude,fever,alopecia,malar rash,cardiac impairment and weight loss,while laboratory abnormalities were high ESR,decreased C3,ANA≥1∶80,hypergammaglobulinemia and positive anti-RNP antibody. As compared with normal menstruation onset group,the postmenopausal onset group was more likely to have weight loss( P

Objective To investigate the relationship between abnormal metabolism of aggrecan and joint destruction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods 140 RA patients with duration less than 24 months were enrolled into this study.The study also included 100 normal controls and 95 patients with other rheumatic diseases.Three monoclonal antibodies (5D4,7D4 and BC-3) of aggrecan were used to detected aggrecan catabolic fragments in serum of RA patients and the other two groups of controls by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA),and the correlation of aggrecan catabolic fragments with joint damage were analyzed.Sharp evaluation of hand joints in RA patients were performed at baseline and after one year follow-up.Calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of aggrecan catabolic fragments detected in serum of RA patients.Results Both levels of 5D4 fragment and BC-3 fragment of RA group were higher than those of normal control [5D4 of RA:(5.8±2.1) ng/μl,normal control:(2.2±1.3) ng/μl;BC-3 of RA:(11.1±3.4) ng/μl,normal control:(5.0±2.1) ng/μl,F=38.65,24.07,P＜0.001).There was no difference in 7D4 fragment among three groups (F=0.589,P=0.478).Both two fragment levels of RA patients with anti-CCP positive were greater than those patients with anti-CCP negative [5D4:(5.6±1.3) ng/μl vs (4.4±1.1) ng/μl,F=21.23,P＜0.01;BC-3:(12.2±3.9) ng/μl vs (9.3±2.8) ng/μ1,F=27.14,P＜0.01].Linear Regression showed that serum fragments detected by 5D4 and BC-3,and anti-CCP positive were risk factors for Sharp deterioration after one year follow-up.The sensitivity and specificity of combined detection of two aggrecan fragments in serum of RA patients for the prediction of joint Sharp were 56.5％ and 84.2％ respectively.Positive predictive value and negative predictive value are 74.3％ and 70.6％.respectively.Application of areas of ROC to identify the best evaluation of Sharp was 0.798.Conclusion There is positive correlation between aggrecan catabolic fragments in serum and joint Sharp evaluation of RA patients.Detection of aggrecan catabolic fragments in RA patients may predict early joint destruction.