Objective To evaluate the effect of lipoic acid on endothelial microparticles (EMP) in diabetic patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) of the lower limbs. Methods Forty eight diabetic patients with PAD of the lower limbs were randomly divided into two groups: the therapeutic group and control group (each group has 24 cases). Patients of control group only received internal comprehensive medicine therapies for 3 weeks. Patients of therapeutic group were treated with both lipoic acid (600 mg lipoic acid injection in normal saline solution for intravenous drip, once daily for 3 weeks) and internal comprehensive medicine therapies at the same time. The levels of EMP in venous blood and Ankle-brachial index (ABI) were estimated before and after treatment by flow cytometry. Results Compared to the control group after treatment [(1 179. 8± 120. 1) per μL], EMP value showed a significant reduction in therapeutic group [(1 032. 4±117. 2) per μL] (P<0. 01). The levels of ABI of therapeutic group (0. 68 ±0. 10) was increased obviously as compared that before lipoic acid treatment (P<0. 01). Patients treated with lipoic acid showed the higher levels of ABI than the control group after treatment (0. 58±0. 11) (P<0. 01). Conclusion Lipoic acid injection significantly decreased the level of EMP in diabetic patients with PAD of lower limbs. Lipoic acid might be an effective drug for diabetic patients with PAD.

Objective: To observe curative effect of radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) and changes of cardiac function and left atrial diameter after operation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: A total of 28 AF patients with obvious clinical symptoms and without effective for drug therapy received RFCA in our hospital, their data were retrospectively analyzed. They received RFCA under guidance of three dimensional electro-anatomic mapping (EAM) system. Changes of cardiac function and left atrial diameter were evaluated by echocardiography and curative effect was evaluated by ambulary blood pressure monitoring before, three and six months after operation. Results: Pulmonary vein isolation rate was 100% in all patients. No severe complication occurred during or after operation. After six-month follow-up, 27 cases（96.4%）did not recur AF among the 28 patients; Compared with before operation, there were significant decrease in left atrial diameter [(37.3±4.8) mm vs. (33.6±4.5) mm] and significant increase in left ventricular ejection fraction [(59.8±8.7) % vs. (64.2±6.8) %] by echocardiography, P<0.05 both. Conclusion: Radiofrequency catheter ablation is safe and effective in treatment of atrial fibrillation, and there are significant improvements in cardiac function and left atrial diameter.

Aim To isolate and characterize the human circulating fibrocytes from human peripheral blood and explore the effects of curcumin on human circulating fi-brocytes.Methods The cells were isolated and puri-fied by density gradient centrifugation,and identified by flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry .Then , CCK-8 and flow cytometry were used to study the effect of curcumin on the proliferation as well as COL I ex-pression of human circulating fibrocytes,respectively. Results After being isolated the cells expressed CD34,CD45 and COLⅠ,among which 79.7% were both CD45 and collagen I positive,typical of human circulating fibrocytes.Curcumin could exert regulatory effects on proliferation of human circulating fibrocytes. Exposure of the cells to curcumin for as short as 24 hours promoted their growth,while prolonged treatment (72 h ) significantly inhibited cell propagation and downregulated the COLⅠ levels,best manifested at a concentration as high as 20 μmol · L-1 .Conclusion The proliferation of cells and COLⅠexpressions can be effectively inhibited by curcumin with the prolonged action period and high concentrations.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of Wenyang jieyu decoction on phosphoinositide 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） signaling pathway and neurotransmitters in rats with kidney-yang deficiency depression. METHODS The SD rats were divided into blank group， model group， fluoxetine group （positive control of western medicine， 4.17 mg/kg）， Xiaoyao powder group （positive control of TCM， 1.88 g/kg） and Wenyang jieyu decoction low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups （1.25， 2.50， 5.00 g/kg）， with 15 rats in each group. Except for blank group， the other groups were treated with corticosterone 20 mg/kg subcutaneously to induce kidney-yang deficiency depressed model， meanwhile the mice were given relevant medicine intragastrically， once a day， for 28 consecutive days. The general conditions of rats were observed. The sucrose preference rate and the static time of forced swimming were detected， and organ indexes of rats were calculated. The levels/contents of neurotransmitters in serum were detected， the expressions of PI3K/Akt pathway-related proteins in hippocampus were detected， and the number of dendritic spines was determined. RESULTS Compared with blank group， model group suffered from the symptoms such as hair loss， fear of cold， curling up； sucrose preference rate， indexes of adrenal gland， thymus gland and spleen，serum levels of cyclic adenosine phosphate （cAMP）， brain-derived neurotrophic factor and gamma-aminobutyric acid， the ratio of cAMP to cyclic guanosine monophosphate， the contents of norepinephrine， dopamine and 5-hydroxy-tryptamine， the expressions of PI3K， Akt， mammalian target of rapamycin， and the number of dendritic spines in the hippocampus were significantly decreased （P＜0.01）. The time of immobility， level of glutamic acid and protein expression of glycogen synthetase kinase-3β were prolonged and increased （P＜0.01）. Compared with model group， depression symptoms of rats in each administration group were improved， and the above indexes were mostly reversed （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS Wenyang jieyu decoction can improve depression-like behavior and the deficiency of kidney-yang， regulate the secretion of neurotransmitters， and activate PI3K/Akt signaling pathway， thus playing a role in protecting hippocampal neurons.

Objective:To verify the feasibility of a self-designed laparoscopic magnetic anchoring device for assisting thoracoscopic wedge resection.Methods:Six healthy Beagle dogs were selected as animal models, and underwent thoracoscopic wedge resection after general anesthesia. We replaced the pulmonary forceps with a magnetic anchoring device to complete the traction exposure of the lobes, and recorded the operation time of the operation, the amount of intraoperative blood loss, and the safety and feasibility of the magnetic anchoring device.Results:Six Beagle dogs successfully completed a thoracoscopic wedge resection with the aid of a magnetic anchoring device. During the operation, the magnetic anchoring device can completely replaced the exposure function of the pulmonary forceps, effectively eliminating the " chopstick effect" between the instruments during the uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic operation. The magnetic anchoring device provided sufficient traction for the surgery to achieve a clear exposure of the field. Tissue damage and magnetic anchoring pliers slip did not occur during the operation. The operation time was(22.67±3.25)min(range 18-26 min), and the intraoperative blood loss was less than 10 ml. The experimental animals survived well after surgery.Conclusion:Magnetic anchoring device is safe and effective for thoracoscopic wedge resection, which can eliminate mutual interference between operating instruments and has potential for clinical application.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of three screening questionnaires for COPD in the community residents of Songjiang District， Shanghai， and to provide a basis for selecting COPD screening questionnaire and process that are more suitable. MethodsCommunity residents aged 40 years or over were randomly selected from the Shanghai Suburban Adult Cohort and Biobank for the study with screening questionnaires and spirometry. Questionnaires included the COPD screening questionnaire （COPD-SQ）， the COPD population screener （COPD-PS） and the revised COPD diagnostic questionnaire （revised-CDQ）. Evaluation of the efficacy of these questionnaires was based on the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve （AUC） of the subjects. DeLong test was used to compare the accuracy of different questionnaires； Z test was used to compare the accuracy of different cut-off values for the same questionnaire. ResultsAmong 3 184 community residents， a total of 259 （8.1%） COPD patients were screened by spirometry. AUC values of these 3 screening questionnaires were >0.7 indicating that they were reliable COPD screening tools. The sensitivity and specificity of the questionnaires at the recommended cut-off values were COPD-SQ （63.7% and 72.2%）， COPD-PS （12.0% and 96.1%）， and revised CDQ （78.8% and 52.7%）， with the COPD-SQ having the highest screening accuracy （AUC=0.754）. The optimal and recommended cut-off values for the three questionnaires differed in this population， but the difference in accuracy was statistically significant only for COPD-PS. The optimal cut-off values for the three questionnaires differed between male and female， and the sensitivity and accuracy of COPD-SQ and COPD-PS improved when lower cut-off values were used for women. The AUC was greater when two questionnaires were utilized simultaneously for screening， but the differences were not statistically significant. ConclusionThe COPD-SQ is recommended for primary COPD screening； a lower cut-off value for women should be considered. The COPD screening questionnaire needs to be further improved for the early diagnosis and treatment of COPD patients.