Objective To explore the value of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography(RT-3DE)in patients with aortic valve plasty.Methods Eleven patients[6 male,5 female,mean age(26.27±8.19)years]with severe aortic regurgitation underwent echocardiographic examination using Philips Sonos 7500 and IE33 with a X4 probe.Results The diameters of aortic valvular annulus,aortic root,sinotubular j unction and ascending aortic were measured by RT-3DE and compared with those measured directly in operation,their correlation was r= 0.99,P＜0.05;r=0.98,P＜0.05;r=0.97,P＜0.05 and r=0.98,P＜0.05.RT-3DE and color RT-3DE could display aortic leaflet motion and the severity of aortic regurgitation clearly.They were also effective in analyse of the position,size and shape of a ventricular septal defect(VSD).Conclusions RT-3DE and color RT-3DE provides good insight into aortic valvular motion and the severity of aortic regurgitation,and allows to measure the diameter of aortic valvular annulus,aortic root,sinotubular junction and ascending aortic rapidly and accurately.

Objective To evaluate cardiac function after transplanting autologus monouclear bone marrow cells(MBMCs) in patients with myocardial infarction by echocardiography and Doppler tissue imaging. Methods Six male patients with myocardial infarction who need coronary artery bypass procedure were prospectively studied. Before cell transplantation and in the follow-up, echocardiography and Doppler tissue imaging was performed to observe the regional and global cardiac function of the patients, including infarction wall thickness(IWT), infarction wall movement velocity(IWMV),left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVDd), left ventricular end-systolic diameter(LVDs),left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), left ventricular shorting fraction(LVFS), ischemic mitral regurgitation. ~ 99m Tc-MIBI SPECT examination included immediate and prolonged image scors. Results After transplanting autologus MBMCs,IWT was increased compared with that before cell transplantation(P

Bone Diseases, Developmental ; surgery ; Female ; Femur ; pathology ; surgery ; Fibrosis ; surgery ; Humans ; Middle Aged

Objective To investigate the impact of fatty liver and its related factors on the effi- cacy of antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C.Methods ninety-eight patients with chronic hepatitis C were treated with 180?g peginterferon?-2a plus ribavirin.Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and fatty liver were detected by ultra sonography.The body mass index (BMI),waist to hip ratio (WHR) and ho- meostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were calculated.The serum HCV RNA level was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and serum insulin level was detected by chemiluminescence analysis.The impact of fatty liver and its related factors on the efficacy of antiviral therapy were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression analysis.Results Of 98 patients with chro- nic hepatitis C,35 (35.7%) were genotype 1,41 (41.8%) were genotype 2,13 (13.3%) were gen- otype 3,9 (9.1%) were undetermined genotype.The incidence of fatty liver in HCV infection of genotype 1,2,3 and undetermined genotype was 11.4%,9.8%,38.5% and 11.1%,respectively (X~2=7.83,P

Objective To evaluate the application valve of intraoperative device closure secundum atrial sepetal defect (ASD) associated with deficient rims inducted by transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Methods Twenty-three patients with ASD were diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) ,and underwent an attempted intraoperative device closure through a right antierior minithoraetomy. The positon, type and size and rim of ASD were defined by TEE in preoperation, the placement of the device inducted and evaluated by TEE intraoperation,and followed by TTE after one week. Results Twenty-three patients with ASD were closed excellently. There were not shunt of atrial level in 20 patients, trivial shunt in 3 patients. However,follow-up after one week TTE indicated that all patients had no shunt,and the diameter of right atrium and right ventricle was decrease significantly (P <0.05), and pulmonary artery pressure was less than before (P <0.05). Conclusions It is very important that TEE induct the closure of ASD associated with deficient rims in micro-operative room.

Objective To investigate the iodine nutrition level of the vulnerable population in the high risk region of iodine deficiency disorders for providing a scientific basis for the development of effective preventive measures in Qinghai province. Methods The non-iodized salt coverage rate ＞ 5％ of Delingha city, the coverage rate of iodized salt and the rate of qualified iodized salt ≤80％ of Jiuzhi, Wulan, Nangqian, Zaduo, Geermu,Yushu, Gande, Chengduo, and Dulan counties(cities), the median of urinary iodine ＜ 100 μg/L of Huangyuan county of 11 areas were chosen as monitoring area in 2009. Five townships(towns) were selected by their location of east, west, south, north and center in each county (city), and one school was selected in each township (town),and 60 household salt samples were collected in each school, and quantitatively determined by direct titration of iodine(GB/T 13025.7-1999). Three townships(towns) were selected in each county(city), and two schools were selected in each township(town). The content of urinary iodine of 40 children aged 8 - 10 and 20 women of childbearing age aged 18 - 40 was analyzed by As3+-Ce4+ catalytic spectrophotometry (WS/T 107-2006). ResultsThree thousand two hundred and sixty-one edible salt samples were tested. The coverage rate of iodized salt was 79.88％.The iodized salt qualification rate was 95.16％. The qualified iodized salt consumption rate was 76.02％. The noniodized salt coverage rate was 20.12％. In Nangqian, Zaduo, Yushu and Geermu counties(cities), the non-iodized salt coverage rate was 88.89％, 45.05％, 43.00％ and 12.67％, respectively. The median of urine iodine of 2536 children aged 8 - 10 was 155.8 μg/L, with ≤50 μg/L about 13.6％ (346/2536), ＞ 100 μg/L about 67.5％(1711/2536), and it was 75.1, 94.6 μg/L in Nangqian and Zaduo counties, respectively. The median of urine iodine of 665 women of childbearing age was 129.7 μg/L, with ≤50 μg/L about 22.7％(151/665), ＞ 100 μg/L about 59.2％(394/665), and it was 21.0, 54.7, 72.7 μg/L in Zaduo, Nangqian and Chengduo counties, respectively.Conclusions Insufficient intake of iodine exits in children and women of childbearing age in high risk region of iodine deficiency disorders in Qinghai province, which should be corrected as soon as possible.

This study examined the role of PI3K/Akt pathway in radiosensitization of DNA damage of cervical carcinoma cells. The 50% inhibition concentration (IC(50)) of cisplatin and docetaxel in HeLa cells was detected by Mono-nuclear cell direct cytotoxicity assay (MTT) in vitro. HeLa cells were treated by cisplatin/docetaxel of 10 percent of IC(20) alone or combined with LY294002 for 24 h, and then radiated by different doses of X-ray. The cell survival ratio was obtained by means of clone formation. One-hit multi-target model was fitted to the cell survival curve to calculate dose quasithreshold (Dq), mean lethal dose (D(0)), 2Gy survival fraction (SF(2)) and sensitization enhancement ratio (SER). The pAkt and total Akt expression was detected by Western blotting and DNA damage by neutro-comet electrophoresis. The HeLa cells were randomly divided into 7 groups in terms of different treatments: Control; radiation treatment (RT) group; LY294002+RT group; cisplatin+RT group; docetaxel+RT group; LY294002+cisplatin+RT group; LY294002+docetaxel+RT group. The apoptosis ratio of each group was measured by flow cytometry. The results showed that docetaxel and cisplatin significantly enhanced the phosphorylation of Akt in radiation-treated HeLa cells. The Dq, D(0) and SF2 in LY294002-contained groups were lower than those in docetaxel or cisplatin+RT group. The SER in the LY294002+docetaxel+RT group was 1.35 times that of the docetaxel+RT group, and that in the LY294002+cisplatin+RT group 1.26 times that of the cisplatin+RT group. The Comet electrophoresis showed that tail distance in the LY294002+cisplatin+RT group or LY294002+docetaxel+ RT group was longer than in the cisplatin+RT group or docetaxel+RT group. The apoptosis ratio in the LY294002+cisplatin+RT group or LY294002+docetaxel +RT group was higher than in the cisplatin+RT group or docetaxel+RT group. It was concluded that inhibiting PI3K/Akt pathway can increase the effect of docetaxel and cisplatin on the radiosensitivity of HeLa cells and DNA damage resulted from radiation.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of arsenic pentaoxide (As2O5) on the proliferation and apoptosis of endothelial cells and compare the effect of As2O5 and arsenic trioxide (As2O3) in vitro.

METHODSHuman umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were incubated with or without As2O5 or As2O3 for a certain period. The proliferation profile of HUVEC was determined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) method. The apoptosis of HUVEC was detected by microscopy and flow cytometry (FCM).

RESULTSAs shown by MTT assay, the viabilities of HUVEC were (72.5 +/- 13.8)%, (52.9 +/- 6.2)%, (15.0 +/- 12.8)%, and (13.8 +/- 13.2)%, respectively, in 0.5, 1.0, 5.0, and 10.0 mg/L As2O5 groups, of which the viabilities of HUVEC at 1.0, 5.0, and 10.0 mg/L of As2O5 were significantly lower than controls (P = 0.006, 0.007, and 0.008); however, the viability was not significantly different between 5.0 and 10.0 mg/L As2O5 groups (P = 0.119). In 1.0 mg/L As2O5 group, the cell viabilities were (88.4 +/- 6.3)%, (53.1 +/- 8.8)%, (30.7 +/- 7.9)%, and (16.3 +/- 4.6)%, respectively, at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h, of which the cell viabilities at 48, 72, and 96 h were significantly lower than controls (P = 0.042, 0.025, and 0.012). As2O5-induced apoptosis of HUVEC was observed by phase contrast microscope and flow cytometry with Annexin V/PI staining. After 48 hours of incubation, the IC50s of As2O5 and As2O3 were 1.1 and 0.3 mg/L, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSAs2O5 can inhibit the proliferation of HUVEC and the minimum effective concentration is 1 mg/L. Apoptosis is the main way that As2O5 induces the death of HUVEC. The inhibitory effect of As2O5 on HUVEC is weaker than that of As2O3.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Arsenicals ; pharmacology ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; Humans ; Oxides ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo explore the protective effect of recombinant beta-defensin-2 (BD2) on acute lung injury induced by sepsis in rats.

METHODSRecombinant adenovirus carrying an expression cassette of rat BD2 (rBD2) or control adenovirus carrying empty vector was administered intratracheally to Sprague-Dawley rats 48 h before acute lung injury, which was induced by cecal ligation and double puncture (CLP). Histological changes of the lungs and 7-day survival rate were determined.

RESULTThe alveolar damage, interstitial edema, and infiltration of neutrophils were reduced and the survival rate was increased significantly in BD2 group than those in control group (P < 0.05). The CFU of abdominal bacteria was comparable to that in the control rats (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe administration of recombinant BD2 protects lung injury and improves the survival of rats with induced sepsis.

Acute Disease ; Adenoviridae ; genetics ; Animals ; Genetic Therapy ; methods ; Genetic Vectors ; Lung Diseases ; etiology ; therapy ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; genetics ; physiology ; Sepsis ; complications ; Survival Analysis ; beta-Defensins ; genetics ; physiology