AIM: To examine the relationship between corneal lymphangiogenesis and hemangiogenesis after keratoplasty.METHODS: Nineteen human corneas were obtained from 19 patients undergoing a second corneal transplantation in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center in 2005. Blood and lymphatic vessels in human transplanted corneas were identified by lymphatic vessel endothelial receptor(LYVE-1) and platelet endothelial cell adhesion modecule-1(PECAM-1) immunohistochemistry, and double enzyme-histochemistry; then the association of corneal blood vessel counting (BVC) with lymphatic vessel counting (LVC) was examined.RESULTS: Corneal hemangiogenesis was present in 12 cases (63%), and lymphangiogenesis occurred in 5 cases (26%) of human transplanted corneas. In addition, corneal lymphangiogenesis was only present in vascularized corneas. LVC was strongly and positively correlated with BVC(r=0.725;P<0.01).CONCLUSION: Corneal lymphangiogenesis develops after keratoplasty, and strongly associates with hemangiogenesis.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical outcome of 21 cases of total pancreatectomy.

METHODSThe clinical data of 21 cases of total pancreatectomy performed from April 2003 to June 2006 was retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTSAmong the 21 patients, 1 case combined with transverse colon resection, 1 case with total gastrectomy, 9 cases with portal-superior mesentery vein resection with end-to-end anastomosis, 9 cases with portal-superior mesentery vein resection and grafts implantation, 8 cases with concomitant celiac axis resection, 4 cases with concomitant celiac axis and common hepatic artery resection, 1 case with concomitant celiac axis, portal vein and superior mesentery artery resection and reconstruction. Complications occurred in 12 cases (57.1%) post the operation and 5 cases (23.8%) died in 30 days after the operation. Insulin was given at the dose of 18 - 28 U daily post operation and blood glucose was maintained normal effectively. Sixteen cases were followed-up and median survival was 9.2 months (1.2 - 13.0 months). The median survival of tubular adenocarcinoma and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas (IPMNs) were 7 months (1.2 - 9.0 months) and 11.3 months (10.0 - 13.0 months), respectively.

CONCLUSIONSTotal pancreatectomy could not improve survival and it increases the complications and death, but it could improve the quality of life. It's an operation of choice for IPMNs, but with pancreatic carcinoma, the warranty of operation should be considered. The blood glucose level could be maintained normal effectively after the operation.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatectomy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy of penyan pill (PP) in treating ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) infection patients of qi deficiency blood stasis syndrome (QDBSS).

METHODSTotally 188 UU infection patients of QDBSS were randomly assigned to two groups, the treatment group and the control group. Patients in the treatment group were treated with PP (10 g each time, thrice daily, 14 consecutive days as one therapeutic course), while those in the control group took azithromycin (10 g each day, 7 consecutive days as one therapeutic course). They were continually treated for 3 therapeutic courses. The clinical symptom integrals were observed in the two groups before and after treatment. The short-term efficacy was judged. Their recurrence rates were followed-up to assess their long-term efficacies.

RESULTSThe total effective rate of the comprehensive efficacy in the treatment group was 91.4%, while it was 79. 3%in the control group, showing no statistical difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). Better effects were obtained in improving Chinese medical clinical symptoms in the treatment group (P <0.01). There was no statistical difference in the negative conversion rate between the two groups after treatment (P >0. 05). There was statistical difference in the recurrence rate between the two groups (12. 82% vs 54.76%,P <0. 05).

CONCLUSIONSPP showed equivalent effects in treating UU infection patients of QDBSS to those of azithromycin. But PP showed obvious advantages over azithromycin in improving Chinese medical syndromes.

Adult ; Azithromycin ; therapeutic use ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Ureaplasma Infections ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Ureaplasma urealyticum

OBJECTIVEWe aim to describe the environment iodine concentration in salt, water and soil along Zhejiang Province coast in the China foreland. It will be helpful for us to judge whether this area is insufficient in iodine and universal iodized salt is necessary or not.

METHODSWe collected iodized salt samples, drinking water samples (tap water in the towns, and well water or spring water in the villages), water samples from different sources (ditches, lakes, rivers) and soil samples through random sampling in June, 2005. Salt, water and soil iodine was detected by arsenic-cerium redox method. Statistical analysis was expressed as mean+/-SEM by Windows SPSS 13.0.

RESULTS(1) The iodine concentration in salt was 27.9+/-4.33 mg/kg (n=108). (2) Seventy-five water samples were collected. The water iodine value was 0.6-84.8 microg/L (mean of 11.66 mug/L). The watershed along the Qiantang River has significantly higher iodine content than the water in Lin'an in mountain area (P<0.01). The iodine content and mean iodine content of tap water, well or spring water and natural water sources were 4.30+/-2.43 microg/L (n=34), 23.59+/-27.74 microg/L (n=19) and 12.72+/-10.72 microg/L (n=22) respectively. This indicated that among environmental water sources, the ditch iodine content was the highest with river water iodine being the lowest (P<0.01). (3) Soil iodine value was 0.11-2.93 mg/kg (mean of 1.32 mg/kg). Though there was no statistical difference of soil iodine in different districts (P=0.131), soil iodine content correlated positively with water iodine content.

CONCLUSIONIodine concentration in salt accords with national policy of adding iodine in salt. Foreland has more iodine in water than mountain area. The data reflected that water and soil iodine in foreland area was not high, which suggests universal iodized salt should be necessary. Environment iodine has relatively close association with pollution.

China ; Iodine ; analysis ; Rivers ; chemistry ; Sodium Chloride ; analysis ; Sodium Chloride, Dietary ; analysis ; Soil ; analysis ; Water ; analysis ; Water Supply ; analysis

Objective To observe the effects of Gandouling on reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) mRNA and protein of neural stem cells of the mice cultured in high concentration copper. Methods The model of neural stem cells of the mice was cultured in vitro with high concentration copper. The experimental rats were randomly divided into blank control group, model group, and Gandouling low-, medium-, and high-dose groups. Each medication group was given relevant concentration of Gandouling serum for gavage. The MTT was adopted to test proliferation level on neural stem cells; flow cytometer was used to examine the change of ROS level in cells; qPCR was used to measure the expression of Nrf2 mRNA;Western blot was used to measure the change of the level of protein Nrf2 in cells. Results Compared with the blank control group, the proliferation rate of neural stem cells was significantly decreased, ROS levels were significantly increased, and Nrf2 gene and protein expression was significantly decreased (P＜0.01). Compared with the model group, neural stem cells proliferation rate was significantly increased, ROS levels were significantly reduced, and Nrf2 gene and protein expression was significantly increased (P＜0.05, P＜0.01). Conclusion Gandouling can promote the proliferation of neural stem cells in mice by reducing ROS content in high copper-loaded mice and up-regulating Nrf2 expression.

Inflammation alters the neural stem cell (NSC) lineage from neuronal to astrogliogenesis. However, the underlying mechanism is elusive. Autophagy contributes to the decline in adult hippocampal neurogenesis under E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. SRY-box transcription Factor 2 (SOX2) is critical for NSC self-renewal and proliferation. In this study, we investigated the role of SOX2 in induced autophagy and hippocampal adult neurogenesis under LPS stimulation. LPS (5 ng•100 g -1 •hour -1 for 7 days) was intraperitoneally infused into male Sprague–Dawley rats (8 weeks old) to induce mild systemic inflammation. Beclin 1 and autophagy protein 12 (Atg12) were significantly upregulated concurrent with decreased numbers of Ki67- and doublecortin (DCX)-positive cells in the dentate gyrus. Synchronically, the levels of phospho(p)-mTOR, the p-mTOR/mTOR ratio, p-P85s6k, and the p-P85s6k/P85s6k ratio were suppressed. In contrast, SOX2 expression was increased. The fluorescence micrographs indicated that the colocalization of Beclin 1 and SOX2 was increased in the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus. Moreover, increased S100β-positive astrocytes were colocalized with SOX2 in the SGZ. Intracerebroventricular infusion of 3-methyladenine (an autophagy inhibitor) effectively prevented the increases in Beclin 1, Atg12, and SOX2. The SOX2 + -Beclin 1 + and SOX2 + -S100β + cells were reduced. The levels of p-mTOR and p-P85s6k were enhanced. Most importantly, the number of DCX-positive cells was preserved. Altogether, these data suggest that LPS induced autophagy to inactivate the mTOR/P85s6k pathway, resulting in a decline in neural differentiation. SOX2 was upregulated to facilitate the NSC lineage, while the autophagy milieu could switch the SOX2-induced NSC lineage from neurogenesis to astrogliogenesis.

BACKGROUNDOff-label application of drug-eluting stents (DES) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was not uncommon in daily practice, however DES in treating Chinese patients with complex lesion subset was under-investigated. The primary objective of the FIREMAN registry was to evaluate the long term efficacy and safety of the Firebird sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) in treating patients with complex coronary lesions. Here we report the mid-term of one-year clinical outcomes and eight-month angiographic follow-up results of FIREMAN registry.

METHODSThe FIREMAN registry was a prospective multi-center registry, which included 1029 consecutive patients undergoing PCI with Firebird SES implantation between September 2006 and July 2007 in 45 centers in China. The clinical follow-up was designed to be performed at 1, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months post index procedure, and non-mandatory angiographic follow-up at 8 months was planned. One hundred percent site monitoring was conducted.

RESULTSLong lesions (59.2%), multi-vessel disease (50.4%), and small vessel disease (31.6%) were mostly found in angiography. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) occurred in 51 (5.1%) patients at 1 year clinical follow-up, including cardiac mortality in 6 (0.6%), non-fatal myocardial infarction in 11 (1.1%), and target lesion revascularization in 36 (3.5%) of the patients. Definite and probable stent thrombosis (ST) by Academic Research Consortium (ARC) definition occurred in 12 (1.36%) patients at one-year clinical follow-up. The 8-month binary restenosis rate was 5.7% in-segment and 4.3% in-stent, respectively. Late lumen loss was (0.21 ± 0.40) mm in-segment and (0.23 ± 0.36) mm in-stent, respectively. Furthermore, Cox regression analysis revealed that diabetes, small vessel diameter, and chronic total occlusion were independent predictors of ST.

CONCLUSIONSThe results showed that the Firebird SES was effective and safe in treating Chinese patients with complex coronary lesions and occurrence of ST rate at one-year clinical follow-up was acceptable, however further long-term follow-up was still necessary. (NCT00552656)

Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; adverse effects ; methods ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Disease ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; Drug-Eluting Stents ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Sirolimus ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo study the epidemiological characteristics of respiratory adenovirus (ADV) infections in children from the Suzhou area, China.

METHODSThe clinical data of ADV-positive children out of 35 529 children with respiratory tract infections who were hospitalized in the Children's Hospital of Soochow University between January 2006 and December 2015 were retrospectively studied.

RESULTSOf the 35 529 children with respiratory tract infections, 440 (1.24%) were ADV-positive. There was no significant difference in the rate of ADV infections between boys and girls (1.18% vs 1.34%). The ADV infection rates of children at the age of <1 year old, 1-3 years old, 3-7 years old and 7-14 years old were 0.39% (71/18 002), 1.12% (103/9 191), 3.14% (201/6 398), and 3.35%( 65/1 938) respectively and the rate increased with age (P<0.01). The ADV infection rates in spring [1.85%(60/8 658)] and summer [2.20%(189/8 606)] were significantly higher than in autumn [0.30%(27/8 952)] and winter [0.69%(64/9 313)] (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe ADV infection rate is increased with age in the children from the Suzhou area, but it is not associated with gender. ADV infections are more common in spring and summer.

Adenoviridae Infections ; epidemiology ; Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; epidemiology ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of the NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) C609T polymorphism with susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in a northern Chinese population.

METHODSThe NQO1 C609T genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) analysis in 193 patients with ESCC and 141 unrelated healthy controls.

RESULTSThe frequency of the T allele (null) among ESCC patients was significantly higher than that among healthy controls (Chi-square=4.86, P=0.028). The NQO1 C/C and C/T genotype distribution among ESCC patients was not significantly different from that among healthy controls (Chi-square= 2.27 and 0.127; P=0.132 and 0.721, respectively). However, the T/T genotype frequency among ESCC patients was significantly higher than that among healthy controls (Chi-square=4.39, P=0.036). The NQO1 T/T genotype significantly increased the risk for developing ESCC, compared to the combination of C/C and C/T genotypes, with the adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.81 (95%CI: 1.04-3.15). This increased susceptibility exhibited pronouncedly in patients with family history of upper gastrointestinal cancers (adjusted OR=2.22, 95%CI 1.18-4.17).

CONCLUSIONDetermination of the NQO1 C609T genotype may be used as a stratification marker to predicate high-risk individuals for ESCC.

Esophageal Neoplasms ; genetics ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone) ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic