BACKGROUND:Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS),an acute infection with a mutant coronavirus,is characterized by acute pulmonary inflammatory injury accompanied by possible multiple organ injuries. Besides somatic symptoms,affective disorder constitutes an obvious neuropsychiatric symptom in SARS patients.OBJECTIVE:To analyze the clinical features of SARS with neuropsychiatric involvement.DESIGN:A retrospective case analysis.SETTING:Department of Neurology,Department of Respiratory Diseases and Department of Radiology of Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.PARTICIPANTS:Totally 325 SARS patients treated in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and the 8th People's Hospital of Guangzhou from February 2003 to May 2003 were involved,including 173cases who developed neuropsychiatric symptoms.METHODS:The clinical data of 325 of SARS including 173 cases with neuropsychiatric symptoms were retrospectively analyzed.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Clinical neuropsychiatric symptoms,ophthalmoscopic examination,and pathological findings in autopsy.RESULTS: ①The incidence of neuropsychiatric involvement was about 53.2% in SARS patients. The manifestations consisted mostly of headache (67.1%),dizziness(28.9%),conscious-ness disturbance(10.4%),mental disorder(4.6%), local orientational disorder(0.6%),seizures(1.2%),and affective disorders (30.6%);anxiety occurred in 20.2%,depression in 6.4%,suicidal tendency in 1.2%,and phobia in 7.5% of the patients with neuropsychiatric involvement. ②Among the 325 patients,56 were in critical condition of whom 47 had accompanying neuropsychiatric impairment,with significantly greater incidence than that in mild cases (P＜0.01). ③Ophthalmoscopic examination performed in 4 patients showed blurred margin of the optic disc with retinal venous congestion. ④Autopsy in 2 cases identified edema of the perivascular tissue and vascular wall of the small veins with mononuclear cell and lymphocyte infiltration,neuron degeneration and demyelination in focal brain tissues.CONCLUSION:The manifestations of neuropsychiatric involement can vary in association with the severity of SARS,and the typical pathological changes include edema,neuronal demyelination etc.in the brain.

Objective To study in vitro anti-HIV activity of an extract of herb medicines,SanJiangDan,and the possible mechanism.Methods The main active ingredient of SanJiangDan was extracted by distillation.Three subtypes of HIV pseudovirus (B subtype,C subtype,CRF01_AE subtype) were used to evaluate the anti-HIV activity of SanJiangDan extract in vitro.The possible mechanism was evaluated through analyzing the effects of SanJiangDan extract on the expression of surface receptors and cytokines by T cells.The cytotoxicity of SanJiangDan extract was detected by using four different sources of cell lines including epithelial cells Caco-2 cells,TZM cells,Huh7 cells derived from liver cells and lymphocyte Jurkat-T cells.Results SanJiangDan extract effectively inhibited the infection of HIV pseudoviruses at concentrations of 1.6 mg/ml and 0.16 mg/ml.The inhibition rates were 30.9％,36.6％ and 65.0％ for B subtype,C subtype and CRF01_AE subtype respectively at the concentration of 0.16 mg/ml.As the concentration increased to 1.6 mg/ml,the inhibition rates increased to 96.4％ (B subtype),97.4％ (C subtype) and 99.5％ (CRF01_AE subtypes),but no toxicity to host cells was detected.Moreover,SanJiangDan extract inhibited the expression of HIV surface receptors including CD4,CXCR4 and CCR5 on TZM-bl cells,but enhanced IL-2 production.Conclusion SanJiangDan extract could inhibit HIV pseudovirus infection without causing cytotoxicity to host cells in vitro.The possible mechanism might be associated with the reduced expression of CD4,CXCR4 and CCR5 and enhanced secretion of IL-2 as well.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the high risk factors and etiology character of ventilator-associated pneumonia(VAP) and provide the guidance for preventing VAP. METHODS Eighty three cases given mechanic ventilation over 48 hours in ICU of our hospital from Jan to Oct 2005 were observed.Thirty seven cases met the diagnosis criteria of VAP,while 46 cases without VAP were taken as control. RESULTS Airway secretion was cultivated and Gram-negative germ was the majority(58.0%).The first three pathogens were Pseudomonas aeruginosa(32.0%),Acinetobacter,and Staphylococcus epidermidis,22.0% cases had mixed infection with fungi.Except antiacid treatment,the following factors,such as long time for mechanical ventilation,trachea incision,corticosteroids treatment and coma state had significant relationship with the occurrence of VAP. CONCLUSIONS The occurrence of VAP is related with multiple clinical factors.Clinicians should reduce high risk factors to lower the occurrence of VAP.

OBJECTIVE To find out the situation of bacteriological contamination of oxygen humidified fluid in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber in Nanfang Hospital and take appropriate measures accordingly to provide valuable reference for avoiding possibly resulting hospital infection.METHODS Before and after beginning periodically changing oxygen humidified fluid,the humidifying fluid in the oxygen humidifiers of three hyperbaric oxygen chambers in this hospital was sampled once a season.The samples were analyzed with bacteria counting and identification.RESULTS The average amount of bacteria in the samples before and after changing oxygen humidified fluid was(7.9 ? 104) CFU/ml and(2.8 ? 103) CFU/ml,respectively.Identified bacteria were conditioned pathogens,including Chryseobacterium,Acinetobacter baumannii,Escherichia coli,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Candida albicans,etc.Among them the frequency of Chryseobacterium was the highest.The results had no correlation with the changing of seasons.CONCLUSIONS Hyperbaric oxygen chamber should be disinfected periodically,the humidified fluid should be changed every day,and the amount of bacteria in it should lower than 103 CFU/ml.

BACKGROUND: Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) can improve the liver function of rats with liver failure, which illustrates the important research value in the field of tissue engineering and cell transplantation.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic potential of human ADMSCs in heart failure rats and to discuss the possible biological mechanisms involved.METHODS: Heart failure rats were randomized into model and ADMSCs groups, which were given normal saline or DAPI-labeled human ADMSCs (3.0×106) via the tail vein. At 1, 3, 7 days after transplantation, we detected the biochemical indexes for liver function in rats. At 3 days after transplantation, the serum levels of cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin-10, were detected, the histomorphological changes in the liver were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining, and the protein expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen was detected by western blot. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: We found that human ADMSCs could migrate to the liver and lung tissues in rats after the transplantation via the tail vein. At 1 and 3 days after transplantation, the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase were significantly reduced in the ADMSCs group as compared with the model group (P< 0.05); furthermore, the secretion of tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin-10 was significantly suppressed at 3 days after cell transplantation (P < 0.05). The results of hematoxylin-eosin staining indicated a significant improvement in liver degeneration and necrosis. The expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen protein in the ADMSCs group was significantly up-regulated compared with the model group. To conclude, human ADMSCs can inhibit the inflammatory reaction and up-regulate the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, to promote the regeneration of liver cells and he recovery of liver function.

The aim of the research is to study the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylabocter jejuni isolated from poultry in Jiangsu Province.A total of 753 samples from poultry meat and cloacal swabs were investigated,after the pure culture and the polymerase chain reaction of the mapA gene,207 isolates were examined for antimicrobial resistance by using K-B method according to World Health Organization.Results showed that all isolates performed different degree of antimicrobial resistance except meropenem,gentamycin,kanamycin,florfenicol and fosfomycin,the resistance rates of 194 strains to trimethoprim,norfloxacin,ceftriaxone and tetracycline were 100％,84.02％,80.9％ and 79.4％ respectively,1 strain isolated from Xuzhou was resistant to 92.6 ％ antibiotics.The multi-drug resistance appeared and the advantage of drug-resistant spectrum was LIN/CTX/CRO/NOR/CIP/T/TE,the resistant type focused on 40％-60％.The research provided evidence for surveillance of the antimicrobial resistance of C.jejuni and highlighted the need to employ more prudent use of critically important antimicrobial.

Objective To investigate the effect of rosuvastatin on the morphine tolerance in rats and the underlying mechanism.Methods Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats,weighing 200-250 g,were randomly divided into 6 groups (n =8 each):control group (group C),morphine tolerance group (group MT),rosuvastatin control group (group RC),rosuvastatin 0.4 mg/kg group (group R1),rosuvastatin 2.0 mg/kg group (group R2)and rosuvastatin 10.0 mg/kg group (group R3).Morphine tolerance was induced by subcutaneous injection of morphine 10.0 mg/kg at 8:00 and 16:00 everyday for 5 consecutive days.The equal volume of normal saline was given in groups C and RC.Normal saline 10 ml/kg was injected through a gastric tube into stomach everyday at 30 min after subcutaneous injection of normal saline or morphine for 5 consecutive days in groups C and MT.Rosuvastatin 10,0.4,2.0 and 10.0 mg/kg were injected through a gastric tube into stomach everyday at 30 min after subcutaneous injection of normal saline or morphine for 5 consecutive days in groups RC,R1,R2 and R3,respectively.The paw withdrawal latency to nociceptive thermal stimulation was measured 1 day before (T1) and 1 day after morphine tolerance was induced (T2).The percentage of maximal possible effect (MPE) was calculated.The rats were sacrificed after the last measurement of pain threshold and the L5 segment of the spinal cord was removed for determination of the expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and phosphorylated ERK (p-ERK)(by Western blot) and contents of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (by ELISA).Results Compared with group C,MPE was significantly decreased at T2 and the expression of p-ERK and contents of IL-1β and TNF-α were increased in groups MT and R1 (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with group MT,MPE was significantly increased at T2 and the expression of p-ERK and contents of IL-1β and TNF-α were decreased in groups RC,R2 and R3 (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the indicators mentioned above between groups R2 and R3,and in the expression of ERK between the six groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Rosuvastatin can attenuate the morphine tolerance in rats by inhibiting the phosphorylation of ERK and decreasing the level of IL-1β and TNF-α.

BACKGROUND: Memory loss is the main presentation during the earlier stage of radiative eneephalopathy, and it was reported that ganglioside (GM1) played important role in neural rehabilitation, particular in the improvement of memory.OBJECTIVE: To study the improving effect of GM1 on spatial learning and memory retardation in rats following radiative encepholopathy. DESIGN: Randomized control and comparative observing study based on the experimental animals.SETTING: Department of Neurology and Department of Radiation of Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.MATERIALS: This study was carried out at the Laboratory of the Second Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University between March 2001 and May 2002. Tctally 80 SD rats were randomly selected and divided into control group, GM1 treatment group, physiological saline group and non-intervention group with 20 rats in each group.INTERVENTIONS: Rats in GM1 group, physiological saline group and non-intervention group subjected to head 60Coγ irradiation of 7Gy each time after anesthesia, once a day for consecutive 6 days, and the total dosage was 42Gy while rats in control group did not receive irradiation after anesthesia. Rats in GM1 and physiological saline(PS) group were given intraperitoneal injection of GM1 and physiological saline of 30 mg/kg respectively at 1 hour after each time of radiation, once a day for consecutive 6 days but not in control group and non-intervention group. Evaluation: ①After irradiation, morris water labyrinth navigation test was used to assess the capability of learning and memory of rats by the time for reaching platform (latency); ② Spatial searching test was used to detect their spatial memory after learning how to reach the platform by recording the way of rats searching the platform in 120 s and calculating the percentage of swimming distance in platform quadrant in the total distance; ③ After labyrinth test, brains were taken out of the rats in GM1 group, PS group and non-intervention group for observing the histological and pathological changes in rat brains.RESULTS: ① The latency become stable form onset of the 4th day in each group. On the 5th day, the searching platform latency in GM1 group was(13.6±1.4) s, shorter than(17.1±2.9) s of PS group and [(15.8±2.2) s, (P＜0.05)] of non-intervention group; ② Rats in GM 1 and control group were found capable of searching platform according to their spatial memory, presented by swimming trail most located in platform quadrant while rats in PS and non-intervention groups were found mostly swimming around the pool with moving trails distributed randomly. The percentage of swimming distance in platform quadrant was found higher in GM 1 treatment group than in the PS group and non-intervention group, but lower than that in the control group; ③ Histological examination revealed slight neuronal degeneration in PS group, part of which was changes of vacuolar degeneration with cell shrank, chromosome concentrated and nuclei gathered aside, and the number of astrocytes also decreased; the pathological changes in non-intervention group and PS group were similar; in GM1 group, part neurons became smaller with peripalsm turning red but the pathological changes, such as the number of cells,neuclei shrank and gathered aside, and vacuolar changes were less than those of the former two groups.ONCLUSION: Radiative encephalopathy would result in obvious learning nd memory impairments in rats but histological and pathological changes due o brain radiation injury can be attenuated with the treatment of GM1, implying that GM1 may play important role in the improvement of radiation-induced spatial learning and memory loss.

BACKGROUND: At present, the researches on murine model of acute radiation encephalopathy are still in investigation, and mature model making method is not clear.OBJECTIVE: To establish a murine model of acute radiation encephalopathy in order to provide a good foundation for further researches of radiation encephalopathy(REP) mechanism and therapy.DESIGN: Randomized controlled study based on the experimental animals.SETTING: Animal laboratory in a university hospital. The Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.MATERIALS: The experiment was completed in the Laboratory of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from June 2001 to August 2002. Totally 30 female and 30 male SD rats, weighted(300 ± 30) g, were selected from the Animal Experiment Center of Sun Yat-sen University, and randomly divided into blank control group with 20 rats and experimental group with 40 rats.METHODS: Fourty rats' brain received 60Co γ-ray irradiation with the dosage of 7 Gy/time per day for 6 consecutive days with the total dosage of 42 Gy. The amount of ingestion and drinking, general activities, central nervous system(CNS) symptoms and signs were recorded every day. The hairs and skin of irradiated field and weight were checked and recorded weekly. On the 3rd, 7th, 14th, 30th days after radiation, the brain tissue was collected and the histopathologic changes were examined.Histopathologic changes after radiation.RESULTS: Since the third day, the ingestion and drinking amount of irradiated rats were decreased. The general activities were increased for the first two days, but decreased without abnormal nervous signs on the 3rd day. The rats in experimental group had a slower weight gain than those of control group, and the difference between them was of no statistical significance. All rats had slight alopecia and neuronal necrosis 2 weeks after irradiation.CONCLUSION: The irradiation method is reliable, practical and good for modeling REP process, which can be used in preventing or reducing the harm effect of radiation therapy on brain tissue.

Objectives: To identify any craniofacial morphological changes induced by a mandibular-repositioning oral appliance (MRA) and to explore the possibility of predicting the treatment response to MRA by cephalometric analysis in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods: Seventy OSA patients [male/female: 63/7; age: (50.5±11.6) years; BMI: (27.6±4.6) kg/m2; AI: (34.9±21.3) episodes/hour; and oxygen saturation nadir: (66.3±16.5) %] were enrolled. MRA was fabricated individually for each patient after the consultation by a dentist. Polysomnographic (PSG) examination was repeated with MRA in place 3 months after the initiation of the MRA therapy. For cephalometric analysis, a pair of cephalograms of each patient was obtained, one with and another without MRA. Results and Conclusions: After 3 months' treatment, AI was (156±19.2) episodes/hour, significantly reduced compared with the pre-treatment average AI (34.9±21.3 episodes/hour,P<0.000 1). Oxygen saturation nadir improved from (66.3±16.5)% (pre-treatment) to (74.1±15.5)% (with MRA) (P<0.001). A reduction of AI≥50% was achieved in 42 patients. Insertion of MRA led to anterior shift of the mandible, increase in upper airway width and area and decrease in upper airway length. Those with evident retrognathia and longer anterior upper facial height were more likely to benefit from the MRA management.