AIM: To study the effect of ouabain at different concentrations on human vascular endothelial cells (HUVEC), and early endothelial responses to ouabain in physiological concentration by genomic-scale gene expression analysis. METHODS: The proliferation of HUVEC was determined by MTT method. The vitality of cells was determined by LDH, and PCNA was assessed by using immunohistochemistry. The response of endothelial cells to ouabain was explored with a complementary DNA microarray representing ~8 464 different human genes. RESULTS: Ouabain stimulated the proliferation of HUVEC at physiological concentration (0.3-0.9 nmol/L). Ouabain at pathological concentration (0.9-1.8 nmol/L) inhibited proliferation and induced cellular swelling and apoptosis. However, the effect of ouabain at the concentration of 10 nmol/L also stimulated proliferation. The results of mRNA profiles analysis indicated that 340 of genes were differentially expressed, among them 145 were upregulated and 6 were upregulated significantly. The upregulated genes were mainly related to cellular metabolism and gene transcription. CONCLUSIONS: Ouabain has important role in controlling the growth and metabolism of vascular endothelial cell and vascular remodeling in the pathogenesis of hypertension.

Objective To study the effects of chronic ouabain treatment on Na+-K+-ATPase activity and the expression of dopamine D1 receptor in rat kidney cortex. Methods A total of 28 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into ouabain group and control group,which were treated with ouabain or saline for 5 weeks; rat tail systolic blood pressure (SBP) was recorded weekly. Rats were sacrificed after 3 and 5 weeks,respectively. Then Na+-K+-ATPase activity and the expression of dopamine D1 receptor in rat kidney cortex were measured by colorimetric assay and real-time PCR,respectively. Results After 3 weeks of ouabain treatment,the mean SBP did not change significantly,but the Na+-K+-ATPase activity increased (P

Objective To explore the association between air pollution and the pregnancy outcome in a severe air pollution city and to provide the evidence for health related policy-making.Methods The subject population included the newborns from 1997 to 2004 in Taiyuan and the data of air pollution in the same time were collected.Logistic regression was used to analyze OR in the case-control design.Results Statistically,the prevalence of premature birth,birth defects and the mortality of infants and fetuses were significantly associated with PM10 air pollution.For premature birth,odds ratios were ranged from 1.17 to 1.76,the highest OR,1.76(95%CI:1.64-1.90),was found during the first 3 months of pregnancy.For birth defects,odds ratios were from 1.37 to 1.67,the highest OR,1.67(95%CI:1.28-2.17),was found in the third month.Concerning mortality of infants and fetuses,it only showed a significant association in the third trimester and the OR was 1.66(95%CI:1.26-2.19).Regarding SO2 air pollution,it only showed the significant effect on premature birth during the first and second month,the odds ratios were 1.27(95%CI:1.21-1.34)and 1.07(95%CI:1.01-1.14)respectively.Conclusion Air pollution in the investigated city had an adverse effect on the pregnancy outcome and the stringent measures should be taken to abate the air pollution and to reduce the risk for reproductive health.

Objective To explore application of case management for hypertension in the elderly.Methods In total, 106 elderly patients with hypertension treated at outpatient and inpatient departments of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xian Jiaotong University were recruited during January to October 2007, and divided randomly into two groups, one with conventional management and the other with case management.Patients with conventional treatment accepted routine diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and were followed-up passively, and patients with case management accepted integrated therapy and active interview provided by a team with a cardiovascular specialist as core, were followed-up actively and their medical records were kept in files. Percentage of the patients with blood pressure lowered to meet criteria of effectiveness and their improvement in depression and anxiety status and quality of life were evaluated two years after management for the two groups. Results Percentage of patients with their blood pressure lowered to meet effective criteria increased significantly in both of the groups, from 32. 8% to 67.5% in patients with conventional management and from 33.7% to 83.4% in those with case management ( P = 0. 007 ),respectively. Scores of self-rating anxiety scale ( SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) decreased in patients of the both groups, from 57 ± 10 and 56 ± 11 before management to 40 ±9 and 48 ± 10 after it,respectively in patients of conventional management ( P = 0. 032 ), and from 56 ± 10 and 57 ± 10 before management to 35 ±9 and 40 ± 9 after it ( P = 0. 008 ), respectively in those with case management; and scores of quality of life improved in patients of the two group, from 65 ± 13 before management to 85 ± 14 after it in those with conventional management, and from 64 ± 13 before management to 98 ± 14 after it in those with case management ( P = 0.017 ), respectively. Conclusions Case management is better for chronic diseases and recommended in management for the elderly with hypertension, which can improve their targets of blood pressure lowering, decrease their scores of SAS and SDS and improve their quality of life,with an integrated, in-depth, continuous management.

Objective To detect the antiplatelet function of clopidogel by Thrombelastography (TEG)and light transmmi-tance aggregometry (LTA)and analyze efficiency of two methods.Methods ①Venous blood samples were taken from 48 outparients and inpatient with acute corotary syndrome (ACS)in PLA General Hospital,including unstable anqina,ST seg-ment elevation myocardial infarction and non ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (32 males,16 females)by random number table from March to July 2011,whose average age was 73 (62~90).②All of them were served 160 mg aspirin and 300 mg clopidogrel after they were in hospital at first time,and then served with 75 mg/d clopidogrel for 9 months.After that,venous blood samples were drew from them who were served clopidogrel 2 hours later.③Platelet aggregation function was assayed with LTA and TEG.All volunteers were signed informed consent and the experiment was approved by the hos-pital ethics committee.Results The platelet aggregation rate detected with LTA induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADPL-TA-INDU)was 40~80% in 41 individuals (85.4%),>80% in 7 individuals (14.6%),coefficient of variation (CV)was 0.19.The inhibition ration of platelet function (INHI)detected with TEG (ADPTEG-INHI)was 10~60% in 40 individu-als (83.3%),<10% in 2 individuals (4.2%),>60 in 6 individuals (12.5%),CV was 0.54.The sum of ADPLTA-INDU and ADPTEG-INHI (ADPLTA-INDU+ADPTEG-INHI)tended to a constant (Mean=98%,SD=12.1).There was no significant indifference between every (ADPLTA-INDU+ADPTEG-INHI)and their Mean (98%)by paired t-test.The ADPLTA-INDU was negative correlated with ADPTEG-INHI (r=-0.75,P<0.01).Conclusion The effect of clopidogrel was mild and the efficiency of TEG and LTA was similar in detecting the antiplatelet function of clopidogrel,but the preci-sion of TEG was lower than LTA.

Objective To evaluate the antidepressant efficacy and adverse reactions of 3 different stimulus dosage of modified electroconvulsive therapy ( MECT) in patients with depressive episode. Methods 120 patients with depressive episode were randomized into low dosage group ( n=40) ,medium dosage group ( n=40) and high dosage group ( n=40) . Low dosage were 50%× age,medium dosage was 70%×age,high dosage was 80%×age . All patients received 6 treatments. Hamilton depression scale?17(HAMD?17) was used to evaluate the clinical symptoms at baseline,3 and 6 treatments. Effects and adverse reactions were compared among three groups.Results Compared with baseline the HAMD?17 scores of the 3 groups were significantly improved after 6 treatments( t=24.026, P=0.000;t=26.541, P=0.000;t=25.904, P=0.000) , but there were no statistically significant differences among the three dosage groups(F=0.409, P=0.665). Compared with low dosage group((27.2±5.4)%),the HAMD?17 scores reductive ratio of medium dosage group((34.3±6.8)%) and high dosage group((33.9±6.9)%)) were significantly improved after 3 treat?ments ( t=-5.513, P=0.000;t=-4.785, P=0.000). Compared with the low dosage group,the incidence rate of headache,nausea and vomiting,delirium were significantly higher in high dosage groups( headache:χ2=14.532, P=0.000;nausea and vomiting:χ2=13.333, P=0.000;delirium:χ2=14.907, P=0.000) . The re?covery time was significantly longer in medium dosage group ( ( 10. 5 ± 1. 6 ) min ) and high dosage group ((11.2±1.8)min) than that in low dosage group((8.8±1.2)min)( t=-5.144,=0.000;t=-6.889, P=0.000).Conclusion Different stimulus dosage of MECT for depressive episode has equivalent curative effect after 6 treatment . Medium dosage and high dosage treatments appear to have an early onset of efficacy,but may also be associated with more adverse reactions.

Objective:To investigate the damaging traits of cognitive function in late-onset depression.Methods:In this cross-sectional study,30 elderly out-and in-patients whose first onset of major depression occurred at 60 years of age and older were included as the case group,and 30 age-and gender-matched normal elderly people were included as the controls.The diagnoses of moderate to severe depressive episode or recurrent depression were made according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems,Tenth Revision (ICD-10) diagnostic criteria.The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST),Stroop Test and Verbal Fluency Test (VFT) were used to assess attentional set shifting,attentional inhibition and working memory.The severity of depression was evaluated with the Hamilton Depression Scale-17(HAMD-17).Results:The performance scores of errors,perseverative responses,perseverative errors,percent of perseverative errors in the WCST were significantly higher in the patient group then in the control group[(61 ± 23) vs.(41 ± 25),(44 ± 27) vs.(27± 19),(36 ± 20) vs.(23 ± 16),(28 ± 15) vs.(19 ± 11),P ＜ 0.01].The scores of conceptual level responses [(36±24) vs.(54 ±26)],the correct scores of consistent group in Stroop test[(19 ±3) vs.(20 ±2)] and the scores of VFT in WCST[(10 ±2) vs.(11 ±2)] were lower in the patient group than in the control group (Ps ＜0.01).The scores of perseverative responses in the WCST were positively correlated with retardation factor scores(r =0.38,P ＜ 0.05).The correct scores of consistent group in the Stroop test were negatively correlated with retardation factor scores(r =-0.41,P ＜ 0.05).The scores of VFT were negatively correlated with retardation factor scores(r =-0.52,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion:There may be impairment of cognitive function in late-onset depression,especially severe executive dysfunction.

Objective: To examine the therapeutic effects of dual dorsolateral prefrontal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on auditory hallucinations experienced by schizophrenic patients. Methods: A double-blind randomized controlled study was conducted. Totally 25 schizophrenic patients met DSM-Ⅳ criteria for schizophrenia and had anditory hallucination with stable antipsychotic drugs treatment were recruited. Subjects were grouped into active treatment subgroup and sham subgroup randomly. Measurements including the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) for clinical symptom and the Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS) for side-effects were evaluated Results: Totally 25 subjects completed the trial. The treatment efficiency of active treatment group was higher than that of sham group (75% vs. 31%) .No overt side effects of rTMS were observed. Conclusion: It is effective for rTMS to treat schizophrenia with auditory hallucination at 1Hz. rTMS may be a new selection of schizophrenia treatment.

Objective To observe the effect of low intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) on chondrocytes co-cultured with infrapatellar fat pads.Methods Twenty-four infrapatellar fat pads and cartilages from female knee trauma patients aged between 25 and 35 were cut and stained using hematoxylin-eosin staining.Chondrocytes were isolated from part of the integrated surface of the cartilages to be cultured in vitro.They were then randomly divided into a normal chondrocyte group (the control group),a normal chondrocyte+FCM (fat conditioned medium) group (the model group),a normal chondrocyte+ FCM + LIP US group (the treatment group),and a normal chondrocyte+ FCM + LIPUS + GRGDSP (an integrin inhibitor) group (the inhibited group).The treatment group and inhibited group received LIPUS at 40 mW/cm2 for 20 min once a day,while the other groups received sham LIPUS treatment.Five days later,the cells were collected and western blotting was used to examine the expression of type Ⅱ collagen (COL2),aggrecan (Acan),matrixmetalloproteinase (MMP)-13,integrin β1,phosphorylation-focal adhesion kinase (p-FAK) and phosphorylation p38 (p-p38).Results Western blotting showed that compared with the control group,the expression of COL2 and Acan was significantly lower in the model group,but that of MMP-13,integrin β1,p-FAK and p-p38 was significantly higher.As compared with the model group,the expression of COL2,Acan,integrin β1 and p-FAK was significantly higher,and that of MMP-13 and p-p38 was significantly lower in the treatment group.The expression of COL2,Acan,MMP-13,integrin β1,p-FAK and p-p38 showed no significant difference between the inhibited and model groups,but that of COL2,Acan,MMP-13,integrin β1,p-FAK and p-p38 was significantly different between the control and treatment groups.Conclusions LIPUS provides a protective effect on chondrocytes through inhibiting the expression of MMP-13 induced by adipokines and the degradation of COL2 and Acan through activating the integrin-FAK-p38 MAPK pathway.

Objective Using yeast two-hybrid system to screen the proteins which can interact with the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL128 which have two difference transcription structure from human fetus brain cDNA library, and compare the difference with structure and function of interacting proteins. Methods Two fragments of UL128 were amplified by 3'RACE and 5'RACE technology, the length are 519 bp and 642 bp, respectively. The "bait plasmid" (named as pGBKT7-UL128-519 bp and pGBKT7-UL128-642 bp) was constructed successfully. Using pGBKT7-UL128-519 bp and pGBKT7-UL128-642 bp as a bait, a human fetus brain cDNA was screened and the proteins interacting with UL128-519 bp and UL128-642 bp encoded protein were searched, and the positive clones were sequenced and analyzed by bioinformatic methods. Results EFEMP2 interacting with HCMV UL128-519 bp were identified, THY-1 interacting with HCMV UL128-642 bp were identified. Conclusion EFEMP2 and THY-1 proteins interacting with HCMV UL128-519 bp and UL128-642 bp in human fetus brain cDNA library were successfully screened, but same proteins weren't found from the proteins interacting with UL128-519 bp and UL128-642 bp protein, UL128-519 bp and UL128-642 bp protein may be play an different effect in the process of infect by HCMV.