Objective:To explore the effects of levocarnitine adjunctive therapy on serum nutritional index and inflammatory factor level in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Methods:Totally 62 patients with hemodialysis were randomly divided into the observation group and the control group with 31 cases in each. The observation group was treated with 1g levocarnitine injection with intravenous in-jection after the dialysis, and the control group was treated with 0. 9% physiological saline injection with the same volume after the di-alysis. After 3-month treatment, the nutritional indices including Hb, Alb, TC, TG, LDL-C and HDL-C and the change in inflamma-tory factors including C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α of the patients in the two groups were studied and compared. Results:After the treatment, the level of Hb and Alb was improved in the observation group (P<0. 05), while the level of TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C had no significant change (P>0. 05). All of the indices showed no significant change in the control group (P>0. 05). After the treatment, the level of Hb and Alb in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (P<0. 05). After the treatment, the level of CRP, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α was reduced in the observation group (P<0.05), while the control group had no significant changes in the indices (P>0. 05). All of the indices in the observation group was better than those in the control group (P<0. 05). Conclusion:Levocarnitine used in the treatment of patients with hemodialysis can effectively improve the nutritional status and inflammatory factors level without obvious effects on lipid metabolism, which is very important for the reduction of complication and the improvement of life quality, and worthy of clinical promotion.

Objective To compare disk diffusion with E-test methods for clarithromycin susceptibility testing of Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori).Methods A total of 44 strains of H.pylori were isolated from gastric mucosa biopsy from patients undergoing gastroscopic examination.Disk diffusion and E-test methods were used for clarithromycin susceptibility testing of H.pylori.The agreement of disk diffusion and E-test was assessed by linear regression analysis.Results The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) tested by E-test method ranged from 0.016 to 256 μg/mL,and drug resistance was observed in 12(27.3％) isolates.In range of 0-35 mm of inhibition diameter,the results of disk diffusion method were correlated well with the MICs obtained by E-test method (r2 =0.91,P ＜0.01).Regression analysis showed that with inhibition diameters≥ 18 mm as considered sensitive to clarithromycin and ≤ 15 mm as resistant,the agreement was 100％ between two methods.Conclusion The disk diffusion method is equivalent to the E-test method for clarithromycin susceptibility testing of H.pylori,which can be an alternative method for clinical application.