Objective lo evaluate the effects ot different types oi nitric oxide synthase inhibitors on cerebral mitochondrial structure and function in fetal rats with intrauterine distress. Methods Rats were divided into control group, acute ischemia group, treatment group 1 injection of [ N omega-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA) 4 mg/kg into pregnant rats' abdomen before ischemia], reperfusion group, treatment group 2 [injection of L-NNA 4 mg/kg into pregnant rats' abdomen before ischemia followed by injection of aminoguanidine (AG) 500 mg/kg before operation]. Changes of mitochondrial structure were observed by transmission electron microscopy and expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) mRNA (A) through RT-PCR. Inducible nitric oxide synthase ( iNOS) activity and mitochondrial Na+ K + -ATPase and cytochrome oxidase activity were measured. Results (1) The A of NOS(5 min,15 min) in acute ischemia group was higher than that of treatment group 1 ( P 0. 05). But the A of nNOS in two groups was higher than that in control group ( P 0. 05 ). Mitochondrial Rsv in reperfusion group was all smaller than those in treatment group 2. And mitochondrial Rsv in all the groups was smaller than that in control group( P

AIM To study the effects of Lotusine(Lot), a pure alkaloid extracted from the green seed embryo of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn, on the action potentials(APs) in myocardium and slow inward current(Isi) in cardiac Purkinje fibers(PF). METHODS standard microelectrode and two microelectrodes voltage clamp techniques were used. RESULTS Lot 1～100 ?mol?L -1 could concentration dependently prolonged APD 20 and APD 90 of fast AP and increase the contractile force(Fc) in guinea pig papillary muscles. In papillary muscles pretreated with reserpine, similar results were also observed but the effect of Lot was weaker than those pretreated without reserpine. In guinea pig left atria, Lot 30 ?mol?L -1 could partly antigoniste the shortening APD effect of acetylcholine. Lot 3～100 ?mol?L -1 could enhance the action potential amplitude(APA)and maximal velocity of phase 0 depolarization ( V max ) of slow AP of papillary muscles induced by high K + (24 mmol?L -1 )and isolated sinoatral node(SAN) pacemaker cells of rabbits with dose dependent manner,But not obvousely short the sinus cycle length of SAN. Moreover, Lot increased the Isi of in canin cardiac PF with with time dependent and dose dependent manner. CONCLUSION The results suggest that Lot has effect of prolongation of APD and increase of Ca 2+ influx and these are very important in contribution to its positive inotropic effect, which may be related to inhibition of phosphodiesterase Ⅲ.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the diagnosis of T staging for rectal cancer.

METHODSClinicopathologic data and MR images of 46 patients with rectal cancer in our hospital from July 2013 to September 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of T2WI were compared with those of T2WI plus DWI in T staging for rectal cancer. The relationship of mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value with different T stages of rectal cancer was analyzed.

RESULTSThere were no significant differences in the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy between T2WI and T2WI plus DWI (all P>0.05). The mean ADC value of DWI performed in pathologic T2, T3a, T3b, T3c and T4 stage was (1.110 ± 0.117) × 10⁻³ mm²/s, (1.035 ± 0.121) × 10⁻³ mm²/s, (0.948 ± 0.109) × 10⁻³ mm²/s, (0.932 ± 0.122) × 10⁻³ mm²/s and (0.843 ± 0.050) × 10⁻³ mm²/s, respectively (F=6.972, P=0.000).

CONCLUSIONDWI can serve as a complement for T2WI in the diagnosis of T stage patients with rectal cancer, and its ADC value presents a downward trend with the advance of T stage.

Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Humans ; Neoplasm Staging ; Rectal Neoplasms ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo investigate retrospectively the efficacy of cyclosporine A (CsA) in the treatment of membranous lupus nephropathy (MLN).

METHODSTwenty-four patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and biopsy-proven MLN were treated with CsA in combination with prednisone. CsA was given at a starting dosage of 5 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) for 3 months, with a 1 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) reduction every month and then maintained at a dosage of 2 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1). The dosage of oral prednisone differed from person to person according to levels of extra-renal activity. Clinical efficacy and adverse reactions were retrospectively analyzed. Complete remission was defined as having a urinary proteinuria level (Upr) of < 0.4 g/d, and normal serum albumin and serum creatinine (SCr) levels, without SLE activity. Partial remission was defined as having a UPr decrement > 50% of baseline value and a serum albumin value of 30 - 35 g/L, without SLE activity. No response was defined as having a Upr decrement < 50% of baseline value and > 2.0 g/d, or as a deterioration of renal function, or as having active SLE.

RESULTSOne patient could no longer undergo follow-up, and the other 23 patients were treated with CsA and followed up for 6 - 36 months (mean 16.8 +/- 8.4 months). The mean starting dosage of CsA was 4.7 +/- 0.5) mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) and the trough level of the whole blood CsA was 248 +/- 110) micro g/L. Twelve patients (52.2%) achieved complete remission, 10 patients (43.3%) achieved partial remission after CsA treatment, and one patient showed no response. At different CsA treatment timepoint, the complete remission rates were 17.4% (3rd month), 21.7% (6th month), 40% (12th month), 88.9% (18th month) and 100% (24th month) respectively. SCr elevation, when within a normal limit was not observed in most patients during early CsA administration, and at the end of the follow-up all the patients had a normal SCr. Relapse occurred in 33.3% of the patients after withdrawing CsA for 4 - 24 months. No chronic CsA renal toxicity was observed in 4 patients who had a repeat renal biopsy after CsA treatment for 6 - 24 months.

CONCLUSIONSCsA could be regarded as an effective therapy for patients with membranous lupus nephropathy, but its adverse effects, especially its nephrotoxicity, should be carefully monitored during CsA treatment.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Cyclosporine ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Lupus Nephritis ; drug therapy ; Male ; Prednisone ; administration & dosage ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

UNLABELLEDTo investigate the relationship between imbalance of cardiac autonomic nervous system and sudden death in fetuses of rats with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), the animal model of ICP was induced by hypodermic injection of 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol and progesterone. The electrocardiograms and frequency domain analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) including low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) and the ratio between low and high frequencies (LF/HF) of fetal rats by the 21st day of gestation were evaluated with Chart 5 software of Powerlab biologic signal extracting and analyzing system.

RESULTS(1) The serum total bile acids (TBA) levels of pregnant rats were (78.5 +/- 4.5) micromol/L in Group ICP and (24.6 +/- 3.6) micromol/L in Group control; significant difference was noted between the two groups (P < 0.01). (2) In Group ICP, fetal rats arrhythmias appeared after (29.3 +/- 6.4) minutes' observation, and fetal rats died suddenly after (23.5 +/- 4.6) minutes' arrhythmias; However, the fetal rats in Group control all showed normal electrocardiograms over 90 minutes' continuous observation. (3) The values of LF and LF/HF of fetal rats in Group ICP within 20 minutes before fetal rats arrhythmias were significantly higher than those in Group control (LF 48.45 +/- 4.11 nu vs. 33.87 +/- 4.31 nu, and LF/HF 0.99 +/- 0.14 vs. 0.61 +/- 0.10, respectively, P < 0.01). (4) Dynamic power spectral analysis of HRV indicated that the values of LF and LF/HF of fetal rats in Group ICP increased progressively within 15 minutes before the sudden death of fetal rats. These demonstrated that autonomic imbalance in association with increased sympathetic activity has been strongly implicated in the pathophysiology of fetal arrhythmogenesis and sudden death in ICP. HRV analysis could be a useful tool for fetal surveillance, especially for ICP.

Animals ; Cholestasis, Intrahepatic ; physiopathology ; Death, Sudden ; etiology ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Fetal Death ; etiology ; Heart Rate, Fetal ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

UNLABELLEDThis investigation was made to explore the chaotic characteristics of cardiac system and differences of autonomic nervous system development of normal pregnant rats and fetuses. The electrocardiograms, chaotic graphics and digital characteristics of heart period signal (HPS) of normal pregnant rats and fetuses by day 21st were evaluated with a computerized HPS extracting and analyzing system.

RESULTS(1) The mean values of frequency and voltage of fetal rats electrocardiograms were lower than those of pregnant rats significantly (P < 0.01). (2) Being similar to those in human, the chaotic graphics showed three-amplitudes spectral features in both normal pregnant rats and fetuses. However, the second amplitude and third amplitude were lower in fetal rats than in pregnant rats. (3) The Heart Relative Dispersion, Lyapunov Exponent and Fractional Dimension were significantly lower in fetal rats than in pregnant rats (P < 0.01). These findings demonstrated that the autonomic nervous system development of fetal rat was still immature and it exhibited lower complexity of HPS and chaotic degree than that of pregnant rat did.

Animals ; Autonomic Nervous System ; embryology ; physiology ; Electrocardiography ; methods ; Female ; Fetal Heart ; physiology ; Heart ; physiology ; Pregnancy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted

OBJECTIVETo investigate retrospectively the incidence, distribution of primary disease and clinicopathologic characteristics of diffuse crescentic glomerulonephritis (DCGN) in Chinese patients.

METHODSOne hundred and seventy-two consecutive patients diagnosed as having DCGN out of 9828 cases of non-transplanting renal biopsies over sixteen years, were studied. DCGN is categorized into three types according to immunopathologic characteristics. The incidence of this disease, its primary diseases, clinical characteristics and serum antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs) were analyzed.

RESULTSThe distribution of patients among the three classifications was 8.7% type I, 68.6% type II and 22.7% type III. Clinically, the majority of patients (69.8%) presented rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN), but 30.2% manifested a chronic nephritic syndrome or chronic renal failure. In terms of related conditions, 93% were anemic, 61.6% had hypertension, 50.6% oliguria, 45.3% nephrotic syndrome, 43% uremic syndrome and 39.5% displayed gross hematuria. Those patients who were positive in serum for ANCAs had predominantly type III DCGN. Two cases with anti-GBM-antibody crescentic glomerulonephritis and three with lupus nephritis were also positive for ANCAs in serum.

CONCLUSIONDCGN is not rare in Chinese patients. A majority of patients in our study presented with RPGN, but 30.2% manifested a chronic renal failure. Lupus patients with DCGN that were positive for ANCAs had more severe vasculitic lesions.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Glomerulonephritis ; classification ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo analysis the pathological demography in Chinese patients undergoing renal biopsy from our nephrology center.

METHODSBetween January 1979 and October 2000 in Jinling Hospital, Nanjing, China, 10,002 attempts of percutaneous renal were performed in patients with renal disease from 33 provinces of China. The pathological classifications were made according to the WHO criteria of 1982 for renal pathology or the modified WHO criteria of 1995 by a panel of pathologists and nephrologists during routine clinical-pathological rounds. The pathological demography between those specimens collected from 1979 - 1989 and those from 1990 - 1999 was compared.

RESULTSThe mean age of the 10,002 subjects undergoing renal biopsy was 31.4 +/- 13.0 years (ranging from 1 to 78 years), with a male to female ratio of 1.3:1; for the 592 renal transplant recipients, the mean age was 37.5 +/- 9.1 years (ranging from 16 to 66 years), with a male to female ratio of 2.36:1. Primary glomerular diseases (PGD) accounted for 71% of the total patients undergoing renal biopsies, secondary glomerular nephritis (SGN) 23%, tubular-interstitial diseases 3.2%, unclassified renal diseases 1.3%, hereditary and congenital renal diseases 1.0%, end stage renal diseases 0.96%, and recently realized or rare renal diseases 0.15%. IgA nephropathy (IgAN) was the most frequent pathological pattern (40%) of PGD, followed by mesangial proliferative lesion (MsPL) (30%), membranous nephropathy (MN) (10%), and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) (6%). Lupus nephritis (LN) was the most pathology common seen (74%) in SGN. During the 22 years of the study period, there was a steady increase in patients with SGN discovered during pathological evaluation of renal disorders. A rise in prevalence was found in IgA nephropathy, MN (both P < 0.001), crescentic glomerulonephritis (P < 0.0001), anti-GBM disease, and hemolytic-uremic syndrome/thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura related renal damages (both P < 0.001). There was a decrease in endocapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis (P < 0.001) and IgM nephropathy (IgMN) (P < 0.01) from 1990 - 1999 as compared to 1979 - 1989. Infrequent renal pathological entities were also diagnosed in this group, including Niemann Pick disease, Fabry's disease, POEMS syndrome, and lipoprotein glomerulonephropathy.

CONCLUSIONSThis is the largest series of renal biopsy data in China, and therefore may reflect the demographic picture of renal diseases in this country. Changes in prevalence of renal pathological entities were reflected in this group of patients over the last 22 years. In primary glomerular diseases, IgA nephropathy is still the most frequently observed pathological pattern. In SGN, LN appeared the most often. Increased prevalence was found in anti-GBM nephritis and HUS/TTP.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Japan ; epidemiology ; Kidney Diseases ; epidemiology ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence

Objective: To investigate the current situation and influence factors of perceived professional benefits among nurses working in day-care unit. Methods: Convenience sampling method was adopted, totally 245 nurses working in day-care unit were investigated by nurses' perceived professional benefit questionnaire, psychological capital questionnaire, psychological sub-health questionnaire and a self-designed demographic questionnaire. The data were collected and analyzed statistically. Results: The scores of perceived professional benefit among nurses working in day-care unit were 117.96±14.06. Multiple regression analysis shows that working years, scores of psychological capital questionnaire and psychological sub-health questionnaire were positive factors to perceived professional benefit; while the education level was negative predictors to perceived professional benefit. The regression equation was: the scores of perceived professional benefit among nurses = 70.582-4.882 x the education level + 2.520 x working years+ 0.329 x scores of psychological capital questionnaire + 0.250 x psychological sub-health questionnaire. Conclusions It showed higher level of perceived professional benefit as tested in previous study. Managers can pay more attention to nurses with less working years and higher degree of education, and improve the level of psychological capital and mental health, so as to improve the level of perceived professional benefit.