OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical efficacy and the effect mechanism of hooking therapy and safflower injection in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH).

METHODSSixty patients of LDH were randomized into an observation group and a control group at ratio of 1 to 1, 30 cases in each one. In the control group, safflower injection was applied to three points of lumbar region, once a day. Seven treatments made one session, and totally 2 sessions were required. In the observation group, under local anesthesia, the big hook needle was used to stimulate the three points of lumbar region first, followed by the safflower injection, once every 6 to 7 days. If the efficacy was not satisfactory enough, the second treatment was given. The visual analogue scale (VAS) and the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (M-JOA) scores were observed before and after treatment in the patients of the two groups and the clinical efficacy was evaluated. The levels of peripheral interleukin-6 (IL-6) and nitric oxide (NO) were determined.

RESULTSVAS and M-JOA scores were all improved apparently after treatment as compared with those before treatment in the patients of the two groups (both P < 0.01). The improvements in the observation group were much more obvious than those in the control group (both P < 0.01). In the observation group, the curative and remarkably effective rate was 76.7% (23/30) and the total effective rate was 96.7% (29/ 30), better than 43.3% (13/30) and 70.0% (21/30) in the control group separately (both P < 0.05). After treatment, the levels of IL-6 and NO were all reduced as compared with those before treatment in the two groups; (both P < 0.01). The above indices were changed more obviously in the observation group as compared with those in the control group (both P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe combined therapy of hooking therapy and safflower injection apparently relieves pain and clinical symptoms of LDH. The effect mechanism is relevant with reducing the levels of IL-6 and NO in the peripheral blood.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Carthamus tinctorius ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nitric Oxide ; genetics ; metabolism ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Objective To study cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression levels in cervical, endometrial and ovarian cancers as well as their originated normal tissues. Methods Semiquantitative immunofluorescent assay (IFA) was used to detect COX-2 expression levels in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (n=12),endometrial adenocarcinoma (n=13),and ovarian serous adenocarcinoma (n=9). COX-2 expression levels in normal cervical (n=14),endometrial (n=15),and ovarian (n=13) tissues were simultaneously detected as control. Results Normal cervical tissues expressed COX-2 more frequently than cervical cancers (50% vs 23%), but the difference was not signicant (P=0.247). The positive rate of COX-2 expression was significantly higher in endometrial adenocarcinomas (69%) than that in normal endometrium (7%) (P

Objective To assess the role of matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) of amniotic fluid (AF) in predicting infection of amniotic cavity. Methods Eighty-four cases of sigle foetus women with premature delivery, premature rupture of foetal membranes,or suspicious infection of amnitotic cavity were enrolled in this study. AF was obtained by transabdominal amniocentesis before starting any treatment.Infection of amniotic cavity was defined when AF bacterial culture was positive. The contents of glucose, leukocytes, MMP-9,and IF-6 in AF were determined. Results The levels of MMP-9 and IL-6 in AF were significantly higher in women with infection of amniotic cavity than those in women without. In women with infection of amniotic cavity, MMP-9 level was significantly correlated with IL-6 level (r=0.813,P

Objective:To determine the effect of standardized patients in medical international students' graduation practice assessment.Methods:The students were divided into two groups ofstandardized patient assessment and traditional assessment,the theoretical and professional performance was compared and analyzed after the assessments.All the students were investigated using questionnaire.Result:The students assessed using standardized patients reported higher skill scores than those with traditional assessments,and the difference was statistically significant.However,no difference was observed in theoretical scores.Gorcltusion:The introduction of standardized patient to medical international students' graduation practice assessment alleviates the status that emphasizes theory but ignores practice due to the lack of clinical resources,eliminates the obstacles in the communication between students and patients,and is conducive to the cultivation of humanistic quality and adaptability of the students.It is worthy popularizing in international students' graduation practice assessment.

Objective To investigate the influence of Batroxobin on plasma level of lysophosphatidic acid(LPA) in patients with acute cerebral infarction.Methods A total of 61 patients with acute cerebral infarction were selecued randomly to Batroxobin group ( n=31) or control group ( n=30). Aspirin and Danshen root were used in both groups as basic treatment. Batroxobin was used in Batroxobin group for one course of treatment. The plasma levels of LPA were measured before treatment and 5th, 7th, 10th, and 14th day after treatment in both acute cerebral infraction groups, and compared with health volunteers(normal group).Results The plasma levels of LPA in both Batroxobin group and control group were remarkably higher than that in normal group(all P0.05). In Batroxobin group the plasma levels of LPA were significantly lower than that in control group at 5th, 7th, 10th, 14th day after treatment(all P

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of Dickkopf-1 and GATA-6 in laryngeal carcinoma and to discuss their relevance and the roles in carcinogenesis and development of laryngeal carcinoma. METHOD: Immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the expression of Dickkopf-1 and GATA-6 protein in 48 tissues of larynge al carcinoma, 48 para-carcinoma tissues and 20 normal laryngeal mucosal tissues. RESULT: (1) The expression of Dick kopf-1 protein in laryngeal cancer is significantly lower than in para-carcinoma tissues and normal laryngeal mucosa tissues (P < 0.05). (2) The expression of GATA-6 protein in laryngeal cancer is significantly higher than in para-carcinoma tissues and normal laryngeal mucosa tissues (P < 0.05). (3) The expression of Dickkopf-1 and GATA-6 protein in laryngeal cancer is correlated with lymph node metastasis, clinical stage, histological grade (P < 0.05). (4) The expression of Dickkopf-1 and GATA-6 are negatively correlated in laryngeal cancer. CONCLUSION The expression of Dickkopf-1 and GATA-6 may contribute to the carcinogenesis and development of laryngeal carcinoma.
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; GATA6 Transcription Factor ; metabolism ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; metabolism ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To compare and analyze the changes of CEA,CA19-9,CA72-4 in different pathologictypes of gastric cancer.Methods 93 patients with gastric cancer were divided into different groups according to the histological types,pathologic types and TNM staging.The levels of CEA,CA19-9,CA72-4 of the patients were measured,then the results were compared and analyzed.Results The level of serum tumor marker of the moderately differentiated group was obviously higher than that of well-differentiated group(P ＜ 0.05),while the level of serum tumor marker of the poorly differentiated group was obviously higher than that of moderately differentiated group (P ＜ 0.05).The differences of levels of CEA,CA19-9,CA72-4 between the well-differentiated group,moderately differentiatedgroup and poorly differentiated group were statistically significant(F =61.433,57.882,125.547,all P ＜ 0.05).The differences of levels of CEA,CA19-9,CA72-4 between patients of TMN Ⅰ stage,TMN Ⅱ stage,TMN Ⅲ stage,TMN Ⅳstage were statistically significant(F =189.624,95.236,80.342,all P ＜ 0.05).The difference of serum tumor marker between different histological groups was not statistically significant (all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion The concentration of serum CEA,CA19-9,CA72-4 will be higher if the gastric tumor is poorly differentiated or invades deeply,but the concentration of serum tumor has nothing to do with the histological types of the tumor.

Objective To evaluate the accuracy of different methods in detecting free amino acids in plasma.Method 40 blood samples from healthy volunteers were analyzed by an automatic amino acid analyzer ( Li+system) and the results compared with previous reports using other analyzers.Results The results ob-tained by this analyzer for major amino acids [asparagine (Asn), glutamic acid (Glu), glutamine (Gln), valine (Val), tyrosine (Tyr), phenylalanine (Phe), ornithine (Orn), arginine (Arg)] were similar with those previously reported using other amino acid analyzers ( all P>0.05 ) and liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) (all P>0.05).Except for Glu and Tyr, the results for major amino acids showed large deviation compared to the results from high performance liquid chromatography ( HPLC) ( all P<0.05).Conclusion The amino acid analyzer (Li+) and LC-MS/MS (iTRAQ kit) could accurately detect free amino acids in plasma.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of combined therapy of Chinese and West-ern medicine in the treatment of schizophrenia.Methods According to the digital table,130 patients with schizophre-nia were randomly divided into the observation group and control group,with 65 cases in each group.The control group was treated with perphenazine and other Western medicine treatment,the observation group was treated based on the control group with Jieyu Kaiqiao pill added,The clinical curative effect,PANSS score and adverse drug reaction of both groups were compared.Results In the observation group,the total effective rate was 96.92%,significantly high-er than that of the control group (72.31%);After treatment,PANSS score of observation group was (42.68 ±6.11), while it was (55.12 ±6.45)in control group.The PANSS scores of both groups were significantly lower than that before treatment,PANSS score of observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group,there was significant difference between groups(t=6.61,P<0.05);the incidence of adverse reaction of the observation group was 10.77%,significantly lower than the control group (58.46%);the difference was statistically significant (χ2 =32.66,P<0.05).Conclusion Jieyu Kaiqiao pill combined with Western medicine for the treatment of schizophre-nia can significantly improve the clinical efficacy,reduce the incidence of adverse drug reactions.

Objective:To investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at Neiguan (PC 6) and Baihui (GV 20) by observing the changes of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein(C/EBP) homologous protein (CHOP) and caspase-12 gene expressions in rats after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), and explore whether the apoptosis pathway of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is involved in the protective mechanisms of EA.
Methods:Sixty rats were randomly assigned to five groups (12 in each group): a normal control group (group A), a sham-operation group (group B), an operation group (group C), an Edaravone group (group D) and an EA group (group E). The cerebral IRI rat model was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) using intraluminal monofilament. 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was adopted in the measurement of cerebral infarction volume. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the mRNA expressions of CHOP and caspase-12.
Results: Compared with group A and group B, the volume of cerebral infarction and mRNA expressions of CHOP and caspase-12 in group C, group D and group E were increased, with statistical significances (P<0.05 orP<0.01); compared with group C, the volume of cerebral infarction and mRNA expressions of CHOP and caspase-12 in group D and group E were decreased significantly (P<0.05 orP<0.01); there were no significant differences between group D and group E in comparing the above items (P>0.05).
Conclusion:EA at Neiguan (PC 6) and Baihui (GV 20) can effectively suppress the volume of cerebral infarction. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism of EA at Neiguan (PC 6) and Baihui (GV 20) is possibly related to the down-regulation of CHOP and caspase-12 mRNA expressions, so as to decrease cell apoptosis.