Objective To explore the influence of adenoid hypertrophy on the state of the middle ear in children.Methods Two hundred and seventy two adenoid hypertrophy patients,aged from 2 to 12 years old,were examined with otoscopy,tympanometry and temporal bone computered tomography before adenoidectomy.The average age of the patients was 6.3 years old.These patients were divided into two groups:Group A contained 94 normal hearing patients(188 ears),Group B 178 patients(356 ears) containing of hearing loss.Results Out of the temporal bone computed tomography (CT) revealed that 209 patients(396 ears) had middle ear effusions in(72.79%,396/544ears),and 37 patients(65/188 ears,34.57%) hydrotympanum in Group A and 172 patients(331/356 ears,92.98%) in Group B.All the 396 ears effusion were confirmed by operation.Three hundred seventy three ears effusion were confirmed by the CT and operation in the two groups,377 ears with B type tympanogram(373/377,98.94%),93.85%(61/65 ears) in Group A,100%(312/312 ears) in Group B,respectively.The positive predictive value for middle ear effusion of the B-type tympanogram was higher in Group B than in Group A(P＜0.01).Fourteen ears with peak pressure ＜-200 daPa revealed hydrotyrnpanum and 23 ears with normal acoustic stapedius reflex revealed no fluid by CT and operation in 73 ears with C-type tympanogram.CT also revealed two patients suffered from large vestibular aqueduct syndrome and one with cochlear malformation in Group B.Conclusion Type B tracing tympanogram has a high positive predictive value for middle ear effusion in adenoid hypertrophy children.Type C tympanogram could not exclude effusion when the peak pressure is＜-200 daPa.CT is the best tool for identifying hydrotympanum.

Vestibular schwannoma is a rare tumor, which is easily misdiagnosed. The authors presented a case of vestibular schwannoma in a 36-year-old woman. The clinical manifestations were recurrent vertigo, hearing loss of the left ear, and tinnitus. The pure tone audiometry threshold of the left ear was 45dBHL with air conduction, and 33 dBHL with bone conduction. A CT scan of the temporal bone region didn't show any abnormal finding. A MRI scan of the head showed nodule abnormal signal in the internal of left vestibular and the narrow of perilymphaticum gap in T2W1 + T2Flair. The initial diagnosis was Meniere's disease. And the post-operation pathologic diagnosis was vestibular schwannoma.
Adult ; Audiometry, Pure-Tone ; Diagnostic Errors ; Female ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Meniere Disease ; diagnosis ; Neuroma, Acoustic ; diagnosis ; Temporal Bone ; Tinnitus ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vertigo ; Vestibule, Labyrinth

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinic significance of the temporal bone high-resolution CT in discovering unilateral sensorineural hearing loss of adolescents, and to provide the basis for the rational using of medical resources. METHOD: A retrospective study was conducted on 28 outpatients with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss at unsure time. Their medical history and CT examine were reevaluated,combined with associated articles in this report. RESULT: All of the 28 patients with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss had the normal external ear and middle ear and received CT scan. Nine out of twenty-eight cases had inner ear malformation. Among the nine cases, 1 cases was Mondini malformation and 1 cases was common cavity, 5 cases were single stenosis of IAC, and 2 cases were semicircular canal and vestibular malformation. 19 cases were not found abnormal by CT, and 4 cases had had suffered from mumps. CONCLUSION CT scan was available in diagnosis of unsudden unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, which would help us to use medical resource more rationally.
Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the influence of recombinant human parathyroid hormone [rhPTH (1-34)]on the proliferation of HaCaT cells induced by tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in vitro.Methods Cultured HaCaT cells were treated with various concentrations of rhPTH (1-34) for different durations after incubation with recombinant human TNF-α of 10 g/L for 24 hours.MTT assay and flow cytometry were performed to detect the proliferation and cell cycle of HaCaT cells,respectively.Results As contrast phase microscopy showed,the growth of HaCaT cells was inhibited by rhPTH (1-34) along with a decrease in the growth speed.MTT assay showed a suppressed proliferation of HaCaT cells after being treated with rhPTH (1-34) of 0.05,0.2,0.8,3.2 and 12.8 pmol/L for 36 and 48 hours (P＜ 0.01 or 0.05).The percentage of cells at G1 phase in HaCaT cells markedly increased (all P ＜ 0.01 ),while that at S phase declined (all P ＜ 0.01 )after 48-hour treatment with rhPTH(1-34) of 0.2,0.8,3.2 and 12.8 μ mol/L.Conclusions rhPTH(1-34) has an obvious inhibitive effect on the proliferation of HaCaT cells induced by TNF-α in vitro,and the effect is in a dose-dependent manner.

The practice operation is an important method of clinical pediatric teaching during internship.We should fully consider the application occasions and select the most appropriate teaching cases when using this method on the clinical application teaching.The preparation before the intern should be emphasized because it is one of keys for students to learn much in the application.In order to correctly evaluate the effects of practice operation,we must focus on testing the working ability of students and standardizing the examination.

Objective To optimize the concentration of a microRNA-21 (miR-21) inhibitor and a miR-494 mimic for the transfection of A375 human melanoma cells,and to estimate the effect of the miR-21 inbihitor and miR-494 mimic on the proliferation of A375 cells.Methods A miR-21 inbihitor and a miR-494 mimic were designed and constructed.To optimize the concentration of the miR-21 inbihitor and miR-494 mimic for transfection,six concentrations (70-250 nmol/L) of the inbihitor and mimic were transfected into A375 cells separately by using LipofectamineTM2000.Then,quantitative fluorescence-based PCR was performed to determine the expression of miR-21 and miR-494 in A375 cells.Some A375 cells were classified into five groups:Mock blank control group remaining untransfected,miR-21 inhibitor group transfected with the miR-21 inhibitor,miR-21 control group transfected with the miR-21 inhibitor negative control,miR-494 mimic group transfected with the miR-494 mimic,and miR-494 control group transfected with the miR-494 mimic negative control.Mter another 48-hour culture,the cells were collected for the analysis of cell apoptosis and cycle by using flow cytometry.Meanwhile,Cy5-labelled miR-494 mimic negative control was transfected into A375 cells for the evaluation of the transfection efficiency by using an inverted fluorescence microscope.Results miRNAs were successfully extracted from A375 cells.As quantitative PCR revealed,the A375 cells transfected with the miR-21 inhibitor at 120 nmol/L showed the lowest expression level (2-△△Ct) of miR-21 (average:0.80; range:0.65-0.92),and those transfected with the miR494 mimic at 250 nmol/L displayed the highest expression level of miR-494 (average:126.82; range:111.52-144.22).The transfection efficiency in A375 cells was higher than 90％.Compared with the corresponding negative control groups,the miR-21 inhibitor group and miR-494 mimic group showed increased apoptosis rate ((27.74 ± 1.39)％ vs.(12.93 ± 0.65)％,(34.30 ± 2.35)％ vs.(15.54 ± 1.02)％,both P ＜ 0.01),percentage of G1-phase cells ((61.61 ± 3.25)％ vs.(50.34 ± 5.62)％,(61.05 ± 3.17)％ vs.(49.95 ± 2.58)％,both P＜ 0.05),but decreased proliferation index ((38.39 ± 3.25)％ vs.(49.66 ± 5.62) ％,(38.95 ± 3.17)％ vs.(50.05 ± 2.58)％,both P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Both the miR-21 inhibitor and miR-494 mimic can promote the G1-phase arrest and apoptosis in A375 cells,and miR-21 may act as a protooncogene accelerating the proliferation of A375 cells,while miR-494 may founction as a tumor suppressor inhibiting the proliferation of A375 cells.

Objective To investigate the expression of CD200 in peripheral lymphocytes and hair follicles from patients with alopecia areata (AA).Methods Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of CD200 in peripheral lymphocytes from 43 patients with AA and 43 healthy controls.Immunohistochemistry was carried out to quantify the expression of CD200 and cytokeratin 15(CK15,a marker for basal cells of the outer root sheath) in resected scalp specimens from 8 patients with AA and 8 healthy controls.Differences in the expression of CD200 and CK15 between the patients and controls were assessed by independent-samples t test and rank sum test.Data were processed by the software SPSS17.0.Results The percentage of CD200-expressing cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes and T lymphocytes was significantly lower in the patients with AA than in the healthy controls (5.73％ ± 3.46％ vs.12.01％ ± 4.90％,8.85％ ± 4.80％ vs.12.31％ ± 3.12％,t =6.865,3.964,respectively,both P ＜ 0.05).However,no significant difference was observed in the percentage of CD200-expressing cells in peripheral blood B lymphocytes between the patients and controls (74.68％ ± 8.12％ vs.75.75％ ± 9.45％,t =0.570,P ＞ 0.05).Further more,the patients showed a lower expression of CD200 (P ＜ 0.05),but a similar expression of CK15 (P ＞ 0.05) in hair follicles compared with the controls.Conclusion The decrease in CD200 expression in peripheral lymphocytes and hair follicles may be involved in the pathogenesis of AA.

Objective To estimate the efficacy of Xiaoyin decoction combined with calcipotriol ointment in patients with mild to moderate vulgaris psoriasis of blood heat type as well as their effects on the expression of interleukin (IL)-17,-22 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α.Methods Sixty patients with mild to moderate vulgaris psoriasis of blood heat type were enrolled in this study,and equally divided into 2 groups to be treated with Xiaoyin decoction and placebo respectively for 12 weeks.Calcipotriol ointment was applied in both groups of patients.Thirty healthy volunteers served as the controls.Bicolor flow cytometry was conducted to determine the proportion of peripheral blood Th17 cells,and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure the serum levels of IL-17,IL-22 and TNF-α,in the controls and patients before and after treatment.Clinical efficacy was evaluated by psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score.Results Increased proportion of Th17 cells and serum levels of IL-17,IL-22 and TNF-α were observed in the patients with psoriasis before treatment compared with the controls (all P ＜ 0.05).After treatment,a significant decrease was noted in the proportion of Th17 cells ((8.32 ± 1.28)％ vs.(14.24 ± 1.97)％,P ＜ 0.05) and serum levels of IL-17,IL-22 and TNF-α in the Xiaoyin decoction group (all P ＜ 0.05 ),but not in the placebo group.The PASI score was significantly different between the Xiaoyin decoction and placebo group after treatment (1.83 ± 1.28 vs.2.91 ± 1.42,P ＜ 0.05).The total response rate was 93.33％ in the Xiaoyin decoction group,significantly higher than that in the placebo group (73.33％,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions There is an abnormality in the proportion of Th17 cells and serum levels of IL-17,IL-22 and TNF-α,which may be ameliorated by the combined treatment with Xiaoyin decoction and calcipotriol ointment.

Objective To study the effects of genistein on the biological characteristics of and collagen synthesis by human skin fibroblasts in vitro.Methods Human skin fibroblasts(HSFBs)were obtained from the prepuce of healthy adolescents,and suhjected to primary culture.Atier 5 to 15 passages of culture,HSFBs were treated with various concentmtions(0.03125,0.0625,0.125,0.25,0.5,1mg/L)of genistein for different durations.The potential of cell proliferation was detected by MTT assay and growth curves were drawn for HSFBs.Flow cytometry(FCM)and RT-PCR were used to estimate cell cycle phases and mRNA expression of type Ⅰ procollagen.respectively.Results The proliferation rate of HSFBs was 97.7%,113.8%,132.5%,116.4%,94.5%and 83.3%after treatment with genistein of 0.03125,0.0625,0.125,0.25,0.5 and 1 mg/L,respectively.The genistein of more than 0.5 mg/L displayed an inhibitive effect on the proliferation of HSFBs.while that between 0.0625 and 0.25 mg/L showed a promotive effect.Atier treatment with genistein at 0.0625,0.1 25 and 0.25 mg/L,the percentage of HSFBs in S phase and G2 phase significantly increased compared with untreated HSFBs(S phase:41.15%±2.88%,61.89%±3.16%,48.18%±1.68%vs30.12%±0.60%,P＜0.05;G2 phase:9.76%±3.99%,10.40%±0.54%,7.46%±2.47%vs 0.61%±0.16%,P＜0.05).Compared with the untreated HSFBs.the relative mRNA expression level of type Ⅰ procollagen was increased with genistein of 0.0625,0.125 and 0.25 mg/L(0.4814±0.0138,0.5767±0.0291,0.5675±0.0272 vs 0.4101±0.0236,P＜0.01),but decreased with genistein of Ⅰ and 0.5 mg/L(0.1662±0.0165 and 0.2017±0.0203 vs 0.4101±0.0236,P＜0.01).ConclusionCertain concentrations of genistein could enhance the proliferation and growth of as well as mRNA expression of type Ⅰ procollagen in HSFBs.

ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation between the methylation status of HLA class Ⅰ genes(HLA-A, -B and -C) in psoriatic epidermis and disease severity in patients with psoriasis vulgaris. MethodsDNA specimens were obtained from the lesional and nonlesional epidermis of 46 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and from the normal skin of 28 human controls. Methylation specific PCR (MSP) was conducted to detect the methylation status of CpG islands in the promoter region of HLA-A, -B and -C genes. The severity of psoriasis was evaluated by psoriasis area and severity index(PASI) scores. ResultsThe percentage of promoter methylation of HLA-B and HLA-C genes was 4.35％(2/46) and 21.74％(10/46), respectively in nonlesional epidermis, 4.35％ (2/46) and 4.35％ (2/46), respectively in lesional epidermis from these patients. No methylation was observed for the promoter of HLA-A, -B or -C gene in the normal control epidermis or for that of HLA-A gene in the nonlesional or lesional epidermis from the patients. The frequency of HLA-C gene promoter methylation in the nonlesional epidermis was significantly higher than that in the lesional epidermis and control epidermis, but was uncorrelated to the disease severity. No significant difference was observed for the methylation frequency of HLA-A or -B gene promoter among the three groups of specimens. Conclusion Abnormal methylation of HLA-C gene promoter is observed in patients with psoriasis vulgaris.