Objective: To evaluate the superiority in diagnosing DVT between venography and duplex ultrasound, and the effectiveness of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a biomarker. Methods: Firstly,the iliac - femoral vein of the dog left hind leg was isolated,and then, the thrombosis model was established by infusing the thrombin after breaking endangium.The recanalization of thrombosis was assessed by duplex ultrasound and venography, and the expression of serum hsCRP was also examined. From 2006 to 2008, 77 patients with acute DVT proximal to the knee joint were admitted. The interval between the onset of DVT and admission was 1-21 days. They were treated mainly with urokinase and low molecular weight heparin for 2 weeks. The assessment of each patient including clinical manifestation, venography, duplex ultrasound and serum highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were performed immediately after admission and 4 weeks after discharge. Results: After medical therapy for 2 weeks, the clinical features prominently subsided in 49 patients, improved in 23 and didn’t ameliorate in 5.4 weeks after discharge, venography showed clot regression in 15 patients; while in the remaining 62 patients the occluded venous lumen were not visualized, duplex ultrasound showed partial lysis of the thrombosis. At admission, the hsCRP was 28.91?29.4mg/L, and it dropped to 8.13?12.7mg/L at 4 weeks after discharge. Conclusion:Duplex ultrasound was effective to assess DVT. The hsCRP was positively related to the severity of DVT.

Aim To observe the effect of total flavonoid from Mori folium(TFMF) on renal interstitial fibrosis in type 1 diabetic mice and its possible mechanism.Methods Diabetic mice were induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin(STZ) dissolved in 0.01 mol·L-1 citrate buffer(pH 4.5) at 150 mg·kg-1 body weight after 12 h of food deprivation.Forty model mice were divided randomly into four groups: model group, and low-(0.25 g·kg-1), moderate-(0.5 g·kg-1), high-dose groups(1 g·kg-1) fed with TFMF once daily.In addition, eight normal mice were used as normal group.After 12 weeks, the fasting blood glucose(FBG), serum creatinine(Cr), blood urea nitrogen(BUN) and microalbuminuria(mAlb) were measured.Masson staining, Sirius red staining and collagen type Ⅳ immunohistochemical staining were used to detect the expression of collagen protein in the cortex, while laminin staining to assess the degree of glomerular and renal tubular basement membrane thickening.The protein expressions related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition and PI3K/Akt/mTOR in the renal cortex of mice were detected by Western blot.Results The moderate and high dose of TFMF could significantly decrease the levels of FBG, Cr, BUN and mAlb in diabetic mice, meanwhile decreasing the expression of α-SMA protein by inhibiting the activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, which led to the amelioration of the pathological alterations of renal tissue.Conclusions The moderate and high dose of TFMF can reduce the level of renal interstitial fibrosis in type 1 diabetic mice, and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect and safety of endoscopic injection of cyanoacrylate in the treatment of esophageal and gastric variceal bleeding (EGVB) in children. MethodsThe clinical data of 35 children with acute EGVB who were treated with endoscopic injection of cyanoacrylate in Children′s Hospital of Baoji Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from August 2010 to August 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. The emergency response rate, rebleeding rate, and incidence of complications after the treatment were analyzed statistically. ResultsThirty-five patients received 46 times of endoscopic injection of cyanoacrylate in total. The response rate to the initial injection was 95.6% (44/46). The volume of cyanoacrylate injected was 0.2-0.6 ml, with a mean volume of 0.4±0.2 ml. The emergency hemostasis rate was 93.4% (43/46), the rebleeding rate was 11.4% (4/35), and the cycle for 4 patients with the recurrence of bleeding to be cured was 1.2-23.0 months (mean 121±10.9 months). One patient experienced abdominal pain, and no patients experienced ectopic embolism. Two patients died after injection. ConclusionFrequent, small-volume endoscopic injection of cyanoacrylate is an effective and convenient therapeutic method for EGVB in children, has few complications, and holds promise for clinical application.

The present study aimed to explore the neuroprotective effect and possible mechanisms of rhGLP-1 (7–36) against transient ischemia/reperfusion injuries induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in type 2 diabetic rats. First, diabetic rats were established by a combination of a high-fat diet and low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) (30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). Second, they were subjected to MCAO for 2 h, then treated with rhGLP-1 (7–36) (10, 20, 40 µg/kg i.p.) at the same time of reperfusion. In the following 3 days, they were injected with rhGLP-1 (7–36) at the same dose and route for three times each day. After 72 h, hypoglycemic effects were assessed by blood glucose changes, and neuroprotective effects were evaluated by neurological deficits, infarct volume and histomorphology. Mechanisms were investigated by detecting the distribution and expression of the nuclear factor erythroid-derived factor 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) in ischemic brain tissue, the levels of phospho-PI3 kinase (PI3K)/PI3K ratio and heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-l), as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA). Our results showed that rhGLP-1 (7–36) significantly reduced blood glucose and infarction volume, alleviated neurological deficits, enhanced the density of surviving neurons and vascular proliferation. The nuclear positive cells ratio and expression of Nrf2, the levels of P-PI3K/PI3K ratio and HO-l increased, the activities of SOD increased and the contents of MDA decreased. The current results indicated the protective effect of rhGLP-1 (7–36) in diabetic rats following MCAO/R that may be concerned with reducing blood glucose, up-regulating expression of Nrf2/HO-1 and increasing the activities of SOD.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Brain ; Diet, High-Fat ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; Infarction ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; Malondialdehyde ; Neurons ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Phosphotransferases ; Rats* ; Reperfusion ; Reperfusion Injury* ; Streptozocin ; Superoxide Dismutase

The occurrence of benign prostate hyperplasia(BPH)was related to disrupted sex steroid hormones,and metformin(Met)had a clinical response to sex steroid hormone-related gynaecological disease.How-ever,whether Met exerts an antiproliferative effect on BPH via sex steroid hormones remains unclear.Here,our clinical study showed that along with prostatic epithelial cell(PEC)proliferation,sex steroid hormones were dysregulated in the serum and prostate of BPH patients.As the major contributor to dysregulated sex steroid hormones,elevated dihydrotestosterone(DHT)had a significant positive rela-tionship with the clinical characteristics of BPH patients.Activation of adenosine 5'-monophosphate(AMP)-activated protein kinase(AMPK)by Met restored dysregulated sex steroid hormone homeostasis and exerted antiproliferative effects against DHT-induced proliferation by inhibiting the formation of androgen receptor(AR)-mediated Yes-associated protein(YAP1)-TEA domain transcription factor(TEAD4)heterodimers.Met's anti-proliferative effects were blocked by AMPK inhibitor or YAP1 over-expression in DHT-cultured BPH-1 cells.Our findings indicated that Met would be a promising clinical therapeutic approach for BPH by inhibiting dysregulated steroid hormone-induced PEC proliferation.

Objective:To investigate the correlation between basilar artery (BA) dolichosis and clinical outcome of patients with acute isolated pontine infarction.Methods:Consecutive patients with acute isolated pontine infarction within 7 d after onset admitted to the Department of Neurology, the Affiliated Hefei Hospital of Anhui Medical University were enrolled. The demographic, clinical and MRI data were collected. The modified Rankin Scale was used to evaluate the clinical outcome at 3 months after the onset. 0-2 was defined as good outcome, and >2 was defined as poor outcome. A binary multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the correlation between BA dolichosis and clinical outcome of the patients. Results:A total of 116 patients with acute isolated pontine infarction were enrolled. There were 69 (59.5%) males and 47 (40.5%) females, with a median age of 65 years (interquartile range: 57-76 years). There were 39 patients (33.6%) in BA dolichosis group and 77 (66.4%) in non-BA dolichosis group. The BA diameter ( P=0.021), theoretical length (basilar artery length, BAL) ( P<0.001), bending length (BL) ( P<0.001) and the proportion of patients with BA bending ( P<0.001) in the BA dolichosis group were significantly higher than those of the non-BA dolichosis group. There were 93 (80.2%) patients in good outcome group and 23 (19.8%) in poor outcome group. The baseline National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) score ( P<0.001), approximate length of BA ( P=0.007), BAL ( P=0.020), BL ( P=0.005) and the proportion of patients with BA dolichosis ( P=0.002) and bending ( P=0.008) in the poor outcome group were significantly higher than those in the good outcome group. Spearman correlation analysis showed that the approximate length of BA was significantly positively correlated with BL ( r=0.597, P<0001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that BA dolichosis (odds ratio 5.441, 95% confidence interval 1.814-16.320; P=0.003) and the higher baseline NIHSS score (odds ratio 1.696, 95% confidence interval 1.291-2.228; P<0.001) were the independent risk factors for poor outcomes in patients with acute isolated pontine infarction. Conclusion:BA dolichosis is common in patients with acute isolated pontine infarction. BA dolichosis may be an independent risk factor for poor outcome in patients with acute isolated pontine infarction at 3 months after onset.