AIM: To study the antitumor e ff ects of losartan in EAC mice. METHODS: The inhibitory rates of t umor growth and the ratio of extending viability were observed in EAC mice in th ree groups given losartan, 5-FU and NS, respectively. RESULTS: Comparing with the control groups, the inhibition to tumor growth was 46.3 % in losartan ( 12.5 mg?kg -1 ) group. But losartan did not lengthen life time in EAC mice. The inhibition to tumor growth was was 31.5 % in 5-F U (5 mg?kg -1 ) group. CONCLUSION: Losartan can inhibit the tumor growth of EAC, but not lengthen life time of the animals.

Background Anterior uveitis is a common complication following the combination procedure of cataract extraction and anti-glaucoma surgery.More and more researches demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effectiveness of intraocular injection of triamcinolone acetonide (TA).Objective This study aims to observe the anti-inflammatory effectiveness of anterior chamber injection of TA for anterior uveitis following cataract extraction combined with anti-glaucoma surgery.Methods This is a case-control study.The clinical data from 42 eyes of 42 cases underwent the combination surgery of catarat extraction and anti-glaucoma was retrospectively reviewed and analyzed.The operation was performed by the same ophthalmologist on all patients.Twenty-one eyes (21 case) receiving conjunctiva injection of dexamethasone (Dex) in intraoperation served as the control group and the matched cases who received anterior chamber injections of TA in intraoperation were regarded as the TA group.The anterior uveitis was graded according to the Standard of Yang~([3]),and the intraocular pressure(IOP) was measured 1,3,and 7 days after surgery.Written informed consent was obtained from each patient before the initiation of any study protocol.Results The numbers of eyes with severe anterior uvetitis were significantly decreased 1,3,7 days after operation in the TA group in comparison with the Dex group (χ~2=10.857,P=0.028;χ~2=8.467,P=0.037;χ~2=11.286,P=0.004 ).No significant differences were found in IOP values between the TA group and the Dex group 1,3,7 days after operation (19.12±3.27 versus 19.49±3.23mmHg,t=0.469,P=0.644;17.91±1.95 versus 17.06±2.90mmHg,t=1.257,P=0.223;13.67±1.68 versus 13.05±1.66mmHg,t=1.201,P=0.237,respectively).Mild edema of corneal endothelium was seen in the early stage after operation and dissipated 4 days later in both groups,no significant differences were found between the TA group and the Dex group (P＞0.05).Conclusion TA can effectively inhibit the inflammatory reaction of anterior uvea after cataract combination with anti-glaucoma surgery.No severe adverse effect is found after anterior chamber injection of TA.

Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of Qingyi Decoction (a preparation of Chinese herbal medicine) between two different routes of the administration by using nasogastric tube or nasojejunal tube for treatmnent of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).Methods A total of 79 SAP patients enrolled were randomly divided into nasogastric tube group (n =41) and nasojejunal tube group (n =38) according to the random number table method.In addition to the conventional therapy,they were treated with Qingyi Decoction administered by using nasogastric tube or nasojejunal tube.Results After treatment for 14 days,the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP),procalcitonin (PCT) and white blood cell count (WBC),urinary bladder pressure,and APACHE Ⅱ score in nasojejunal tube group were significantly lower than those in nasogastric tube group (P ＜ 0.05).The time required for the recovery of bowel sounds,length of abnormal serum amylase persistence,the duration of abdominal pain,the time necessary for mechanical respiratory support in nasojejunal tube group was significantly shorter than those in nasogastric tube group.The blood fungus infection rate and pulmonary fungus infection rate in nasojejunal tube group were significantly lower than those in nasogastric tube group,and 28-day survival rate in nasojejunal tube group was significantly higher than that in nasogastric tube group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The nasojejunal tube route for the administration of Qingyi Decoction for the treatment of SAP can effectively alleviate the severity of patient's condition,shorten the time required for improving clinical symptoms,reduce the incidence of morbidity and mortality,and it is worthy of further popularization in clinical practice.

Objective To assess the quality of life(QOL)in patients with stroke at the acute stage,and to determine whether all the dimensions of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey(SF-36)are applicable to the stroke patients.Methods Fifty stroke patients at the acute stage were studied.The SF-36 was employed to assess the quality of life of the patients,and a self-designed questionnaire was used to record the general information of them.The data obtained from the patients was compared with the Chinese norm reported in literature. We also calculated the percentage of subjects who achieved the lowest possible score(score of 0,floor effect)and the percentage of subjects who achieved the highest possible score(score of 100,ceiling effect).Results The QOL of the acute stroke patients,as reflected by scores with all the dimensions of the SF-36 scale,was significantly reduced when compared with the norm data(P

AIM To study the dose dependent effects on osteoporosis induced by retinoic acid(RA) and to analysis the metabolic characteristics of bone. METHODS Three dosages of retinoic acid were given to the mice for 2 weeks while the body weight(BW) were measured once a week. At the end, femoral dry weight, Bone hydroxyproline, calcium content, Phosphor, Magnesium, Zinc, Manganese and Sulphonium of femora were measured. RESULTS Compared with normal control mice, three dosages of retinoic acid can induce the decrease of femoral dry weight and the short transverse diameter of femoral, Bone hydroxyproline content decreased remarkably, and so did the bone mineral. The Bone HOP and Bone Ca content was coincident with the femoral dry weight, but the lessening of Bone P, Bone Mg, Bone Zn and Bone Mn became inverse ratio with the femoral dry weight, particularly that of the Bone Zn. CONCLUSION Three dosages of retinoic acid in mice can induce osteoporosis with the lessening of bone mass, which characteristics were the losing of Bone HOP and the Bone Ca content in geometric proportion. The levels of Bone P, Bone Mg, and Bone Zn had lost remarkably in the early time, the Bone Zn may play importance function in osteoporosis model induced by retinoic acid.

ve To establish a method of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for determi-nation of nitrite in water. Methods The trace content of nitrite in water sample was determined by indirect UV-HPLC. The mixture of methanol/o-phthalic acid (pH value was adjusted to 8.6 by 0.10 mol/L NaOH solution)5: 95 was defined as mobile phase. The water sample was directly filtered by chromatographic column pack with ODP. Results Under the conditions of wave length of 270 nm and flow rate of 0.9 ml/ min, the linear range of this assay was 0.0~20.0?g/ml nitrite, the relative standard deviation was 3.9%. The average recovery rate and detection limit were 99.9% and 0.001?g/ ml respectively. Conclusion This method could be applied to the determination of trace amount of nitrite in drinking water, purified water and mineral water.

BACKGROUND: Prevention of male osteoporosis is attracting more and more attention. OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of etidronate disodium on different skeletal sites by using bone histomorphometry through establishing a castrated rat model of osteoporosis. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: A completely randomized grouping controlled animal experiment was performed in the Animal Experimental Center and Department of Bone Biology Laboratory, Guangdong Medical College between October 2002 and September 2006. MATERIALS: Forty 3.5-month-old male Sprague Dawley rats, weighing (299+_22) g, were selected. Etidronate disodium was produced by Chengdu Chemical Pharmaceutical Factory with the batch number of 970101. Methyltestosterone was produced by Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Jacob with the batch number of 990701. METHODS: Rats were randomly divided into five groups: control group, sham operation group, castration group, castration with methyltestosterone group and castration with etidronate disodium group, eight rats in each group. Rats in the control group were sacrificed at the beginning of the study. Rats in the sham operation group underwent skin incision to expose the testis, but not removed. The remaining rats were treated to remove the testis by the method reported in the literature. Rats in the sham operation group and castration group were given normal saline, rats in the castration with methyltestosterone group were given methyltestosterone at 1.8mg/kg/d, rats in the castration with etidronate disodium group were given etidronate disodium at 36mg/kg/d. All of the rats were treated with intragastric administration at 5mL/kg for 90 days. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Bone histomorphometric analysis of the proximal tibial metaphysis (PTM), tibial shaft (Tx) and the fifth lumbar vertebral body (LVB) were performed in undecalcified sections. RESULTS: Compared with the sham operation group, trabecular area percentage (%Tb.Ar), trabecular number (Tb.N) or trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) of PTM and LVB in the castration group were decreased (P < 0.05 and 0.01 ), while trabecular separation (Tb.Sp), percent labeled perimeter (%L.Pm), bone formation rate (BFR/BV) and osteoclast number per mm (Oc.N) were increased (P < 0.05 and 0.01 ). Tb.Ar of PTM and LVB were increased both in the etidronate disodium group and in the methyltestosterone group compared to those of the castration group, while bone formation indices and bone resorption perimeter were decreased. There was no significant difference between the etidronate disodium and methyltestosterone groups, and no significant change was in Tx in all groups. CONCLUSION: Etidronate disodium can prevent the cancellous bone loss of PTM and LVB in castrated rats, but has no effects on the cortical bone of Tx.

Objective To investigate serum levels of sialic acids(SA)vs carcino-embryonic antigen(CEA)for the diagnosis of digestive tract cancer.Methods Sixty healthy adults,100 patients with malignant digestive tract tumor and those undergoing radical digestive tract tumor surgery were enrolled in this case-control study.Serum SA level was tested.Serum CEA level was measured by electrochemical luminescence.Sensitivity and specificity of SAvs CEA were calculated.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC)curve and area under the curve(ROC-AUC)were used to evaluate the diagnostic value of SA.Results Serum level of SA of patients with digestive malignant tumors was much higher than the normal controls(P ＜0.01),although serum SA of patients undergoing tumor resection showed no difference with the normal controls(P ＞ 0.05).There was significant difference in SA level between the patients who received surgical therapy or not.The sensitivity and specificity of SA in diagnosing digestive tract cancer was 55.00％ and 93.3％,respectively.The false positive rate was 6.7％ in normal subjects.Conclusion Serum SA or CEA testing may be equally useful in the screening,diagnosis,outcome assessment and followup study of digestive tract cancer.

BACKGROUND: The key factor for cartilage repair is an orient differentiation of seed cells in three-dimensional scaffold; however,clear cartilage is haply observed in the three-dimensional scaffold.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the chondrogenesis of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), chondrocytes (CCs) and adipose-derived adult stromal cells (ADAS) in three-dimensional scaffolds METHODS: BMSCs, CCs, and ADAS were primary-cultured from goat bone marrow following trypsin digestion and amplified in monolayer. P1 BMSCs, P3 CCs, and P3 ADAS were implanted into collagen/hyaluronic acid scaffold at different concentrations of 10%, 20%, 50%, 80%, and 100%, and the cells were then three-dimensionally cultured in serum-free culture media. Two weeks later, SO staining and immunohistochemical staining were employed to observe the synthesis between of chondroitin sulfate and type Ⅱ collagen.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The seeded cells had chondrogenesis in scaffolds under certain conditions. In details, BMSCs in 20% (W/W) hyaturonan/collagen Ⅰ scaffolds could perform a hyaline-cartilaginous phenotype when they were expanded with less than 3 passages and cultured in a chondrogenic medium, and CCs did better than BMSCs in chondrogenesis with high passage number; however, ADAS just showed a minor chondrogenesis even in a pellet culture. BMSCs and CCs were better than ADAS as seeded cells for cartilage tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of matrine on proliferation and apoptosis of human renal cell carcinoma cell line GRC-1 in vitro, and to explore its mechanism. METHODS: The human renal cell carcinoma cell line GRC-1 was treated with matrine of different concentrations for 24, 48, 72 and 96 h respectively. The MTT assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of matrine on GRC-1 cells. The transmission electron microscope and flow cytometry were utilized to observe and detect the apoptosis of GRC-1 cells induced by matrine. The expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins were evaluated by streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase method. RESULTS: The matrine of different concentrations all have cytotoxic effects on GRC-1 cells, with obvious dose- and time-dependent effects. The apoptosis induced by matrine was confirmed in GRC-1 cells. With intervention of matrine (1.5 g/L) for 12 h, the expression level of Bcl-2 in GRC-1 cells was decreased while the expression level of Bax was increased as compared with those in the untreated group. CONCLUSION: The proliferation-inhibiting effects of matrine on human renal cell carcinoma cell line GRC-1 may be related to down-regulating the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax protein expression and promoting the apoptosis.