Objective To investigate the effects of celecoxib on apoptosis during acute rejection of cardiac allograft in rats.Methods Forty Wistar rats underwent heterotopic heart transplantation in the abdominal portion from disparate SD rats.The cardiac grafts were harvested at 3rd and 5th day after transplantation.The cardiac allograft sections were subjected to the HE staining and in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling(TUN EL) for histopathological rejection grade and apoptotic index(AI).Results Apoptosis mainly occurred in cardiac myocytes throughout allograft rejection.Celecoxib could markedly reduce myocyte apoptosis and abate the damage to the graft tissue.The AI at 3rn and 5th day posttransplantation were(2.35)?(1.51) and(11.35)?(3.46) in control group,and (1.03)?(0.42) and(3.28)?(2.42) in celecoxib group respectively with the difference between them being significant.Conclusions Apoptosis is an important mechanism of cell death in acute cardiac allograft rejection in rats.Celecoxib can apparently inhibit the apoptosis of cardiac myocytes,which may be an important way of its immunosuppressive actions.

OBJECTIVE To observe the effect of flushing dental handpieces to prevent suction-induced contamination and to lower the bacterial level in dental unit waterlines,and then to analyze the time-effect relationship of flushing.METHODS Twelve BienAir handpieces(group A) and 12 W&H TA-96 handpieces(group B) were employed in this study.The water samples from each handpiece′s outlet were immediately taken once when operations of de-caries,cavity-preparing and dental-drilling had been completed,and then taken once per 0.5 min while the handpieces were being flushed by running without work for 4 min.The bacterial colony formation of these water samples was counted on R2A agar plates.Colony forming units vs flushing time were then compared.RESULTS Alike in groups A and B,water bacterial levels were lowered the most significantly while flushing the handpieces for 0.5 min.BienAir or W&H TA-96 handpieces still showed decreased levels of water bacteria when being flushed for 3 or 2.5 min respectively.Afterwards,the flushing effect reached to a platform,that was,more flushing time didn′t bring the bacterial level down further.CONCLUSIONS Flushing handpieces by running without work can significantly reduce the level of bacterial contamination in the waterlines.Different types of handpieces may have different flushing time at which the most effect is reached.

Objective To investigate the etiological and antibiotic resistance profile in the old patients with bloodstream infection (BSI).Methods Microbiological and clinical data were collected and reviewed retrospectively for the patients with confirmed bloodstream infection and at least 65 years of age who were treated as inpatients in Tongling People′s Hospital from January to December 2015.Results A total of 107 strains of pathogen were isolated from the blood samples of 107 patients with bloodstream infections, of which community-acquired BSI accounted for 57.9 % (62/107), and hospital-acquired BSI 42.1 % (45/107). Gram negative bacilli accounted for 67.7 % in the pathogens of community-acquired BSI and gram positive cocci accounted for 55.5 % in the pathogens of hospital-acquired BSI. More male BSI patients were secondary to respiratory tract infection than female patients (P<0.001), while more female BSI patients were secondary to urinary tract infection than male patients (P<0.001). Of the 107 isolates, gram negative bacilli, gram positive cocci and fungi accounted for 55.1 % (59/107), 42.1 % (45/107) and 2.8 % (3/107), respectively. The top six pathogens were E. coli (30.9 %), coagulase negativeStaphylococcus (CNS) (20.6 %), S. aureus (10.3 %),K. pneumoniae (6.5 %),Enterococcusspp. (6.5 %) and Acinetobacter spp. (4.7 %). About 51.5 % of the E. coli isolates and 28.6 % of the K. pneumoniae isolates produced extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs).E. coli isolates showed low resistance rate (< 10 %) to amikacin,cefoxitin and piperacillin-tazobactam. No E. coli isolate was found resistant to carbapenem. About 14.3 % to 28.6 % of K. pneumoniae isolates were resistant to carbapenems. No tigecycline-resistant K. pneumoniae was found. The prevalence of MRSA and MRCNS was 36.4 % and 72.7 %, respectively. No staphylococcal isolates were found resistant to vancomycin, teicoplanin or linezolid. One strain of E. faecium was identified as resistant to vancomycin (VRE).Conclusions This surveillance data indicate that gram negative bacilli play an important role in the BSI of old patients. E. coli and CNS are the most common pathogens. We should pay more attention to the effect of gender and site of infection on the BSI in old patients.

Objective To describe the distribution of medication costs of rheumatoid arthritis patients, and to analyze the factors that may affect the costs. Methods Data were obtained from a 12-month retrospective investigation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) across China. Department of Rheuma-tology of 18 hospitals were randomly selected. The data about their social conditions, clinical conditions, medications associated with RA such as disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), non -steroidal anti -inflammtory drugs (NSAIDs), steroids, biologic agents were collected, and the costs of drugs were calculated. A non-parameter test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed. Results Six hundred and forty six patients were enrolled into the study, 435 completed data were chosen for analysis. The results demonstrated that the average costs per patient for medications in the past year was 8018 . The total medication costs were further subdivided into the following parts: DMARDs, (represented 20% of the total costs), biologic drugs (49%), NSAIDs (4%), herbal drugs (22%), steroids (1%). Data analysis showed that patients with higher education and higher incomes, with medical insurance,better health function status and outpatients paid more on DMARDs. Extra-articular manifestations increased the odds of the high-cost group (OR: 2.180, 95%CI: 1.335～3.558, P=0.002), while poor health function status increased the probability of paying high costs (OR: 1.373, 95%CI: 1.012～1.863, P=0.041). Conclusion High medication costs in RA do exist in RA patients. The costs of medication is associated with health function status and the presence of extra-articular manifestations.

ObjectiveTo examine the clinical features of fractures and related risk factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA) in China.MethodsSix hundred and eighty-one RA patients were randomly selected from department of rheumatology of 18 hospitals of China.Data were obtained from the questionnaire,including age,sex,disease duration,the involvement of joints,treatment regimen,features of fractures etc.The possible risk factors of fracture in patients with RA were analyzed with a multi-variate Logistic regression analysis.Results① In 681 RA patients of the survey,48 patients had 54 fractures,and the incidence of fractures was about 8％.② Fractures occurred at various sites.Foot/ankle,femur,spine and wrist were the mostfrequent sites.③ The Logistic regression analysis showed that several factors increased the risk of fracture in RA patients,including long disease duration (OR:1.245,95％CI:0.987-1.570,P=0.065),male gender(OR:0.433,95％CI:0.199-0.942,P=0.035),more deformed joints(OR:1.042,95％CI:1.006-1.079,P=0.023),family history of RA (OR:2.201,95％CI:0.984-4.923,P=0.055),and high scores of SF-36(OR:1.017,95％CI:1.002-1.033,P=0.028).④ According to the degree of correlation from strong to weak,the risk factors of fracture were disease duration,SF-36,sex,number of deformed joints and family history of rheumatoid arthritis.ConclusionThe incidence of fracture is high in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Several factors could increase the risk of fractures in RA patients,including long disease duration,male gender,more deformed joints,and family history of RA.In order to prevent the occurrence of fractures,cautions should be taken to prevent the development of fractures and treat the disease aggressively to suppress the disease activity of RA.