Objective To establish normal reference ranges for serum cystatin C (Cys C)in relatively healthy middle-aged and elderly(＞50 years)Chinese individuals.Methods A total of 1087 candidates were consecutively selected and serum Cys-C levels were measured by transmission turbidimetry.Frequency analysis and histogram were used to establish the 95％ confidence reference range according to methods provided by CLSI (C28-A2).Results Based on the definition and verification procedures for clinical laboratory reference ranges(CLSI C28-A2,second edition),Cys-C levels of 1087 participants fell within the range of 0.30-1.55 mg/L;Male participants had higher serum Cys-C levels than female participants(Z=-10.19,P＜0.01).The serum Cys-C level increased with age,regardless of gender(R =0.600,P＜ 0.01).Differences in Cys-C levels between age groups were statistically significant (x2=411.17,P＜ 0.01).The reference ranges of normal serum Cys-C levels for different age groups (50-,55-,60-,65-,70-,75-,) were 0.42-0.98mg/L,0.45-1.04mg/L,0.47-1.34mg/L,0.46-1.38mg/L,0.61-1.33mg/L,0.61-1.28 mg/L,respectively,for males,and 0.39-0.94mg/L,0.42-1.01mg/L,0.40-0.91mg/L,0.46-1.03mg/L,0.57-1.04mg/L,0.55-1.27mg/L,respectively,for females.Conclusions This study established preliminary normal serum Cys-C reference ranges for healthy middle-aged and elderly(＞ 50 years)individuals in this region,which can serve as parameters for disease diagnosis and treatment evaluation.

Objective To apply 3 .0T MRI in diagnosing injuries of anterior bundle of medial collateral ligament after elbow dislo‐cation .Methods The MRI features of the injuries of medial collateral ligament anterior bundle were analyzed retrospectively in 20 patients with elbow dislocation .The coronal ,sagittal ,axial and lamina oblique coronal were scanned routinely with SE T1WI ,T2WI‐FS sequences .Results Varying degrees of anterior bundle injuries of medial collateral ligament were observed in all the 20 patients ,in‐cluding the mild injury(n=8) ,part avnlsion(n=5) ,completely rupture(n=7) .Furthermore ,concomitant injuries including lateral collateral ligament(n=11) ,ringlike ligament(n=5) ,flex/stretch muscle tendon(n=9) ,and the fracture(n=7) were also observed . Conclusion The injuries of medial collateral ligament anterior bundle after elbow dislocation could be diagnosed accurately with 3 .0T MRI and the degree of injuries could also be defined on image .The 3 .0T MRI could be recommended as regular examination to pa‐tients with elbow dislocation .

AIM:To explore the involvement of oxidative stress and apoptosis in the pathogenesis of diabetic cataract induced by Streptozotocin ( STZ) and the interventions of puerarin in order to supply references for clinical treatment.
METHODS:Male SD rats were divided into four groups randomly, control group, diabetic group, apocynin group and puerarin group. The diabetic group were replicated by single injection of STZ (65mg/kg, ip). The expression of p22, p47, p67, Bax/Bcl2, Caspase 3 and P53 proteins were detected by Western Blotting.
RESULTS:The diabetic rats were replicated successfully and the expression of Bcl2 was downregulated while the expression of p22, p47, p67, Bax, Caspase 3 and P53 were upregulated in diabetic group with a significant statistical differences when compared with control group (P<0. 05). Apocynin and prerarin can reverse the abnormal expression of the aforementioned proteins dramatically (P<0. 05).
CONCLUSION: NADPH oxidase mediated oxidative stress and P53, Bax/Bcl2 mediated apoptosis are involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic cataract and puerarin can alleviate cataract greatly by inhibiting the aforementioned signal pathway.

Background and purpose: Multidrug resistance (MDR) of tumor cell is the main reason for clinical chemotherapy failure as well as cancer recurrence and metastasis. This study was to construct a lentiveral vector of RNA interference of MDR1 gene and observe its inhibitive role on the expression of MDR1 in A549 and A549/DDP cells. Methods: Oligos of base pairs for hairpin RNA targeting MDR1 were chemically synthesized. Via annealing and inserting them into the down-stream of H1 promoter of linearized pSUPER, we obtained the siRNA constructs for MDR1, which were afterwards transfected into A549, a human lung cancer cell line expressing high level MDR1, the impact of constructs was observed on the expression and interference efficiency of siRNA against MDR1. The effective sequence of siRNA targeting MDR1 gene was confirmed. Both sense and antisence oligo DNA of the targeting sequence was designed, synthesized and cloned into the PTM vector, containing a promoter and a green fluorescent protein (GFP). The resulting lentiviral vector containing MDR1 siRNA was named PTM-siMDR1 and then transfected into A549 and A549/DDP cells after being confirmed by PCR and sequencing. Results: Restriction digestion and DNA sequencing showed that the siRNA constructs for MDR1 were successfully produced and the expressed siRNA could effectively down-regnlate the expression of MDRI. PCR demonstrated that the lentivirus RNAi vector of MDR1 producing PTM-siMDR1 was constructed successfully. The chemosensitivity of A549/DDP cells to cisplatin were enhanced obviously after trartsfection. Conclusion: The lentivirus RNAi vector of MDR1 can significantly revise the resistance ofA549/ DDP cells with eisplatin after infection.

Objective To explore the expression of N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) in gastric carcinoma and the relationship with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. Methods The expression of NDRGI was detected by immunohisto chemistry in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sections with a total of 220 specimens including 110 gastric carcinoma and 110 corresponding paraneoplastic tissue. The correlation between clinicopathological parameters and the expression of NDRG1 in gastric carcinoma were also analyzed. Results Low expression of NDRG1 was detected in most gastric carcinoma sections. Among the gastric cancer tissues, NDRG1 protein expression was significantly lower in tumors with more advanced pathological stage, local tumor invasion and lymphatic metastases. There was no significant difference in sex, age, tumor differentiation and gross types of the tumor. The 1-, 3- and 5 year survival and disease free survival in patients with low NDRG1 protein expression was 84.2%, 53.9%, 21.1%, and 60.5%, 31.6%, 19.7%, respectively, which was signifivantly poorer when compared with patients with high NDRG1 protein expression. Conclusion The expression of NDRG1 is low in the majority of patients with gastric carcinoma, which was in a close relationship with advanced stage, local invasion and lymphatic metastases of gastric carcinoma. NDRG1 may be a candidate metastasis suppressor gene.

OBJECTIVE:To observe the effects of matrine in conjunction with vincristine(VCR),adriamycin(ADM)and diamminedichloroplatinum(DDP),respectively on the cell cycle of the KBV200drug-resistant cell line.METHODS:The cultured KBV drug-resistant cells were divided into control group,antitumor drug groups and the combination therapy groups(marine+antitumor drugs,respectively),FCM assay was used to detect and analyze the expression of cell cycle and apoptosis of each group.RESULTS:As compared with single antitumor drugs groups,no significant change was found in the proportion of cells and cell apoptosis in the combination therapy groups(matrine+VCR or matrine+ADM).But marine+DDD resulted in a reduction of the G 0 ～G 1 stage cell population but an increase of G 2 ～M stage cell population.CONCLUSIONS:It was assumed that matrine-induced reversal of KBV200cells'drug-resistant to VCR and ADM may not relate to cell cycle and cell apoptosis.Matrine can slightly enhance the cytotoxic effect of DDP.

OBJECTIVE: This article summarizes the matters warranting consideration in adult cochlear implants before and after operation with different deafness causes and investigates the impact of etiological variables that affect hearing and speech ability rehabilitation after cochlear implantation. METHOD: We retrospectively reviewed the preoperative data of 30 adults who have received cochlear implantation, switch on, and periodical post operative mapping. 'Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire' was used for every patient during follow-up and test their hearing thresholds at one year after switched-on. The average score of every patient in the six aspects of questionnaire, along with the average hearing threshold, has been gathered. RESULT: The average hearing threshold of every patient is lower than 35 dBHL. The average score of 28 patients is more than or equal to 75 in the basic sound perception, advanced sound perception as well as self-esteem. The average score of 26 patients is more than or equal to 75 in capacity for action. Besides, as for sociability and speech ability, the average score of 22 patients is more than or equal to 75. CONCLUSION Auditory perception can be greatly improved regardless of deafness causes, on the premise that appropriate candidate is selected. The primary disease should be brought under control before and after the operation. The influence of various causes to the language ability rehabilitation largely depends on the development of the language center at deafness onset. Self-esteem and social identity can be significantly enhanced after cochlear implantation in adult patients, particularly those with acquired deafness.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Auditory Perception ; Cochlear Implantation ; psychology ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Self Concept ; Social Identification ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Objective Using video tracking system to compare the effects of the locomotor activity between theophylline and caffeine in mice.Methods The KM mice were treated by theophylline and caffeine(both at 1,3,10,30,100 mg/kg)intraperitoneally respectively.After 10 min,the locomotor activity in the open field was recorded for 2 hours.The locomotor track,the total distance,the distances and distance ratio to total distance in central region were analyzed to evaluate the effects of these drugs on locomotor in mice.Results The mice administrated theophylline and caffeine both increased the total distances,and had similar bell-shaped dose-effect relationship.The distances reached the highest at 30 mg/kg theophylline((311±128)m)and 10 mg/kg caffeine ((279±89)m).The larger doses of caffeine inhibited the activity,and the total distance during 0～0.5 h was significantly decreased at the dose of 100 mg/kg(P＜0.05).Theophylline(30 and 100 mg/kg)and caffeine (30 mg/kg)significantly increased the distance ratio in central region(P＜0.01)and decreased the distance ratio in peripheral region(P＜0.01).Conclusion Theophylline and caffeine increase the total distance and the distance ratio in central region in mice,but have different valency and efficacy.

Objective To analyze the associations between particulate air pollution (PM10,PM25) and stroke daily attack or mortality. Methods Meta-analysis method was used to polysynthetically analyze 16 quantitative studies about the associations between particulate air pollution and stroke daily attack or mortality. The relative odds ratio(OR) of stroke attack or mortality associated with per 10 μg/m3 increase of particulate matter concentration was used as effective value,taking a sensitivity analysis for the results. Results A 10 μg/m3 increase in PM10was associated with a 1.09% (95%CI: 0.10%-2.08% ) increase in stroke daily attack (OR=1.011,95%CI: 1.001-1.021)and 0.70% (95%CI: 0.60%-0.80% ) increase in stroke daily mortality (OR= 1.007, 95%CI: 1.006-1.008). The results of sensitivity analysis supported above results. As for PM2.5 OR appeared to be 1.001 (95%CI: 0.992-1.010) with a 10 μg/m3 increase in stroke daily attack and 1.052 (95%CI:0.958-1.154) for daily mortality. Conclusion There are positive associations between PM10 and stroke daily attack and mortality, increase of PM25 was not associated with stroke attack and mortality.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the enantioselectivity of norgestrel (NG) transdermal permeation and the potential influence of linalool and lipids on the enantioselectivity. In vitro skin permeation studies of NG across the excised rat skins were performed with Valia-Chien diffusion cells, and the permeation samples were analyzed by enantioselective HPLC. The possible enantioselective permeation of NG across intact rat back skin and lipids extracted rat back skin and the influence of linalool were evaluated. The skin permeation rate of dl-NG was two times higher than that of l-NG when donor solutions (EtOH/H2O 2 : 8, v/v) containing l-NG or dl-NG. It may be mainly attributed to the solubility discrepancy between enantiomer and racemate. The enantioselective permeation of dl-NG across intact rat skin was observed when the donor solutions containing dl-linalool. The permeation flux of l-NG was 22% higher than that of d-NG. But interestingly, the enantioselective permeation of dl-NG disappeared under the same experimental condition except that the lipid extracted rat skin was used. Attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of stratum corneum showed that the wave number for asymmetric CH2 stretching vibrations of lipids treated with dl-linalool was greater than that of the control. The results indicated that the enantioselective permeation of NG may be contributed by the interaction between dl-linalool and lipids. More than half of lipids were composed of ceramides. The stereospecific interaction maybe existed among chiral enhancer (linalool), lipids (ceramides) and/or chiral drugs (NG).