One hundred cases with pneumatized sphenoid sinus were studied, based on the cranial X-ray film, sagittal tomograms and coronal CT scan as well as the observation during the course of operation. A new bilateral combination classification scheme was suggested and used in this study. It was shown that the identical type was 58% and non-identical, 42% and the former could be further divided into 5 subtypes and the latter, 10 subtypes. The incidence of supra-sphenoid-ethmoidal cell (SSEC) was 22%. Some of SSEC may be mistaken for sphenoid sinus, if the surgeons are not familiar with its anatomy. We emphasize that the bilateral combination classification is very important for selecting a suitable method from among different trans-naso-sphenoid approaches.

Fifty-nine patients (62 cases ) with chronic antritis were operated by Caldwell-Luc's operation with middle meatal antrostomy and followed up for 0.5 ~5 years. It was found that curative effect of the oper ation was quite well. Eghty patients treated with Caldwell-Lucs operation were followed up as control at the same time. Caldwell-Luc's operation with middle meatal antrostomy was found safe, easy to operate and not injurious to agger nasi, as well as partially recoverable to sinus function.

In order to study the effect of chronic noise exposure on auditory center, seven guinea pigs were .exposured to 105 dB A noise 8h daily for 45 d. Then the animals were killed by decapitation. The superior olive and inferior colliculus were taken immediately to make the samples of electron microscope. The mitochondria swelling, membrane rupture, cristae breaking, ballooning degeneration were found. The rough surfaced endoplasmic reticulum was swollen and expanded. The lysosome and secondary lysosome were increased. The cell interstitial edema and synaptic besicle decrease were observed. The nuclear chromatid was decreased and nucleolus was kept to the side. The laminae of neurilemma of nerve fibers were dissociated, swollen and broken. The results indicate that the ultrastructure, neural cells and fibers in the auditory center are damaged by chronic noise exposure and most of these damages are irreversible.

The changes of hair cells after acute radiation injury to cochlea were studied with scanning electron microscope in guinea pigs. Outer hair cell cilia were disordered, fused, and lost in the early stage after 40Gy ?-ray irradiation of the bullae of guinea pigs. From 15 to 30d after radiation, reconstruction of cilia besides early changes, and ball shape materials on the side of inner hair cells were found. The possible mechanism of these changes is also discussed

Male guinea pigs were exposed to 750ppm or l000ppm or 1 500ppm toluene (8h/d, for 14d), and their hearing thresholds were tested by means of Madsen ERA 2250 system 3d and 14d after exposure. Hearing impairment was observed in all groups. The degree of impairment was related to the exposure concentration and had a tendency to further damage in two weeks. The results indicate that toluene can cause acute hearing impairment even if its concentration is as low as 750ppm and the impairment develops from bad to worse at least in two weeks.

The effects of different doses of r-ray on cochlea are reported in this paper. Significant hearing loss and severe cochlea hair cells injury were found while radiation dose was more than 80 Gy. With 40 Gy to 60 Gy, slight hearing loss, but cochlea hair cells and support cells impairment were observed. With 20 Gy, no hearing loss and no hair cell damage were found. The results indicated that the damage increases with a dose of radiation and there is a delay effect of radiation on cochles.

Objective To observe the protective effects of nuclear factor (NF) κB inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) on chronic mixed reflux esophagitis in rats and its influence on NF-κB/interleukin (IL)-6 signaling pathway.Method A total of 40 healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into healthy control group,sham operation group,model control group,omeprazole group and PDTC group with eight rats in each group.Except rats in healthy control group and sham operation group,mixed reflux esophagitis model were established in all the other groups.The rats of healthy control group,sham operation group and model control group were all intraperitoneally injected with 2 mL 0.9％ NaCl,rats of omeprazole group were intraperitoneally injected with omeprazole 20 mg/kg,and rats of PDTC group were intraperitoneally injected with PDTC 100 mg/kg every day.After six weeks,the rats were sacrificed,the morphological changes of esophageal tissues were observed and scored by visual inspection and under light microscope.The serum levels of NF-κB p65 and IL-6 in rats of each group were assessed by enzyme linked immunoassay (ELISA).t test was performed for mean comparison among groups.Results The scores of esophageal mucosa judged by visual inspection of healthy control group,sham operation group,model control group,omeprazole group and PDTC group were 0.000 20.000,0.000±0.000,2.250± 0.707,1.125 ± 0.835 and 1.429± 0.535,respectively.The pathological scores were 0.00020.000,0.000±0.000,2.625±0.518,1.500±0.535,1.429±0.535,respectively.Compared with those of model control group,the scores judged by visual inspection and the pathological scores of healthy control group,sham operation group,omeprazole group and PDTC group were lower,and the differences were statistically significant (t=7.603,7.603,2.909,2.506; t=9.674,9.674,4.277,4.399,all P＜0.05).The serum levels of NF-κB p65 protein of healthy control group,sham operation group,omeprazole group and PDTC group were (68.618±18.450) pg/mL,(77.824±22.228) pg/mL,(106.693±45.312) pg/mL and (103.781± 42.502)pg/mL,respectively; compared with that of model group ((184.882±49.165) pg/mL),which were significantly lower and the differences were statistically significant (t=6.262,5.612,3.308 and 3.427,all P＜0.05).The serum levels of IL-6 protein were (24.826±4.008) pg/mL,(23.599±4.351) pg/mL,(32.370± 11.657) pg/mL and (33.694±10.394) pg/mL,respectively,which significantly decreased when compared with that of model group ((51.378±9.697) pg/mL,t=7.157,7.393,3.546 and 3.392,all P＜0.05).There was no significant difference between PDTC group and omeprazole group in the score judged by visual inspection,pathological scores,the serum levels of NF-κB p65 and IL-6 protein (all P＞0.05).Conclusion NF-κB inhibitor PDTC could reduce the injury severity of esophageal mucosal in reflux esophagitis rat,which mechanism might be related with the down-regulation of NF-κB/1L-6 signaling pathway.

Objective To observe the protective effects of quercetin on esophageal mucosa in chronic mixed reflux esophagitis (RE) rats and the effect of quercetin on nuclear factor (NF)-κB/interleukin (IL)-6 signaling pathway.Methods Mixed RE model was successfully induced by cardia ligation and esophagoduodenostomy.48 healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were equally divided into the following 6 groups using random number table method:normal control group,sham-operation group,model control group,omeprazole group,low-dose quercetin group,and high-dose quercetin group.The 6 groups were treated with peritoneal injection of 2 ml normal saline (normal control,sham-operation,model control groups),20 mg/kg omeprazole,100 mg/kg quercetin (low-dose) and 200 mg/kg quercetin (high-dose) once daily,respectively.The rats were sacrificed after 6 weeks of intervention.The microscopic pathological changes of esophageal mucosa were scored.NF-κB p65 and IL-6 protein levels in esophageal mucosa and serum were assessed using immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,respectively.Results In normal control group,shamoperation group,model control group,omeprazole group,low-dose quercetin group and high-dose quercetin group,the pathological scores of esophageal mucosa were 0.250 ± 0.463,0.250 ± 0.463,2.625 ± 0.518,1.500 ±0.535,1.250 ±0.463,and 1.375 ±0.518; the NF-κB p65 protein scores in esophageal mucosa were 0.500±0.535,0.625 ±0.518,3.500 ±0.535,1.875 ±0.649,1.750 ±0.707,and 2.000 ±0.535; the IL-6 protein scores in esophageal mucosa were 1.125 ± 0.641,1.125 ± 0.835,5.375 ± 0.518,2.375 ± 0.518,2.000 ±0.535,and 2.250 ±0.463; the serum NF-κB p65 protein levels were (68.618 ± 18.500),(77.824 ± 22.228),(184.882 ± 49.165),(106.693 ± 45.312),(76.215 ± 16.588),and (108.207 ± 42.107) pg/ml; the serum IL-6 protein levels were (24.826 ±4.008),(23.599 ±4.351),(51.378 ± 9.697),(32.370 ± 11.657),(23.085 ± 4.660),and (26.243 ± 4.955) pg/ml.In terms of the 5 indicators,there were no statistically significant differences between the normal control group and the sham-operation group (P =1.000,P =0.642,P =1.000,P =0.518,P =0.673) ; the results in the normal control,shamoperation,omeprazole,low-dose quercetin,and high-dose quercetin groups were significantly different from those in the model control group (P < 0.001,P < 0.001,P < 0.001,P =0.002,P =0.001 ; P < 0.001,P < 0.001,P<0.001,P=0.004,P=0.002; P=0.001,P<0.001,P<0.001,P=0.025,P=0.023; all P <0.001 ; P <0.001,P <0.001,P <0.001,P =0.023,P <0.001) ; there were no statistically significant differences between low-dose quercetin group and omeprazole group,nor between high-dose quercetin group and omeprazole group (P=0.334,P=0.717,P=0.176,P=0.121,P =0.074; P =0.642,P=0.678,P=0.619,P =0.949,P =0.225); there were no statistically significant differences between low-dose quercetin group and high-dose quercetin group (P =0.619,P =0.438,P =0.334,P =0.086,P =0.243).The microscopic pathological score of esophageal mucosa was positively correlated with NF-κB p65 and IL-6 protein scores in esophageal mucosa (r =0.803,P < 0.001 ; r =0.758,P < 0.001),also positively correlated with serum NF-κB p65 and IL-6 protein levels (r=0.486,P=0.004; r=0.544,P=0.001).Conclusions The expression levels of NF-κB p65 and IL-6 protein in esophageal mucosa and serum increase with the severity of esophageal mucosal injury.Quercetin can reduce the severity of esophageal mucosal injury in RE,possibly through down-regulating NF-κB and IL-6 expression and mitigatng esophageal inflammatory status.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Early adverse life events (EALs) are relevant to irritable bowel syndrome in adulthood. Maternal separation (MS), as one of the EALs, has proved to induce visceral hypersensitivity in adult rats. However, the effect of MS on visceral hypersensitvity from the post-weaning period to adulthood remains unknown. METHODS: One hundred and ten neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: rats in the MS group were exposed to 3 hours daily MS on postnatal day (PND) 2–14; the normal control (NC) group remained undisturbed. Visceral sensitivity was determined by measuring the visceromotor response to colorectal distention on PND21, 35, and 56. Anxiety-like behaviors were measured by the open field test. RESULTS: Compared with NC rats, MS rats showed significant visceral hypersensitivity from the post-weaning period to adult. The proportion of visceral hypersensitive rats decreased with age from 87.5% to 70.0% in the female MS group and from 90.0% to 66.7% in the male MS group. The relative VMR ratio of MS and NC on PND21 was higher than PND35 and PND56. MS rats showed decreased ability of movement and exploration to the novel environment in the post-weaning period, obesity in the prepubertal period, and more anxiety-like behaviors in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: MS can significantly affect visceral sensitivity and behaviors of rats in different age stages, especially in the post-weaning period. Visceral hypersensitivity of MS rats is more pronounced in the post-weaning period and slightly restored in adults. Thus, visceral hypersensitivity in the post-weaning period might play a more meaningful pathophysiologic role in the formation of adult irritable bowel syndrome.
Adult ; Animals ; Female ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity* ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Male ; Maternal Deprivation ; Obesity ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective:To evaluate the optimization efficacy of ropivacaine mixed with nalbuphine for epidural labor analgesia through comparison with ropivacaine mixed with sufentanil in primiparas.Methods:Four hundred and forty primiparas with a singleton fetus in vertex presentation without abnormal fetus, aged 19-36 yr, at 37-42 weeks of gestation, who were suitable and volunteered to receive epidural labor analgesia, were selected and randomly divided into observation group (NR group, n=220) and conventional group (C group, n=220).Epidural labor analgesia solution contained nalbuphine 40 mg and ropivacaine 120 mg in 150 ml of normal saline in group NR.Epidural labor analgesia solution contained sufentanil 50 μg and ropivacaine 120 mg in 150 ml of normal saline in group C. The analgesia pump was set up to deliver a 5 ml bolus dose with a 20-min lockout interval, programmed intermittent bolus 10-15 ml/h and background infusion at 2 ml/h after an initial dose of 15 ml to maintain VAS score <3.The length of labor, adverse reactions during labor analgesia, neonatal Apgar score, parameters of umbilical artery blood gas analysis and neonatal behavioral neurological assessment score were recorded. Results:Compared with group C, the incidence of urinary retention, pruritus, nausea and vomiting and fever at birth was significantly decreased in group NR ( P<0.05).The duration of the first and second stages of labor, neonatal Apgar score, pH value of umbilical artery blood, lactate concentrations, and neonatal behavioral neurological assessment score were within the normal range in both groups, and there was no significant difference between the two groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Compared with conventional medication, nalbuphine mixed with ropivacaine has the same efficacy when used for epidural labor analgesia in primiparas, but it has a certain optimization efficacy in terms of safety.