Objective To explore the relationship between insulin resistance (IR) and plasma tumor necrosis factor ?(TNF ?) in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) in the elderly. Methods The levels of fasting plasma insulin (FINS) and TNF ? were determined by means of radioimmunoassay in 52 elderly patients with CHF and 36 elder healthy controls. Insulin sensitivity of CHF patients was assessed using reciprocal of the product of fasting plasma insulin and glucose (IAI). The correlation between the grades of cardiac function, left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) and IAI of the CHF patients and TNF ? were analyzed. Results Compared to the elder healthy controls, elder patients with CHF showed significantly higher levels of TNF ?〔(0 36?0 13) ?g/L vs (0 21?0 12) ?g/L, P

Child ; Humans ; Multiple Organ Failure

Objective To explore the clinical effect of the radial artery perforator flap on repairing soft tissue defect after palm postoperative scar contracture. Methods Eighteen patients with palm scar contracture were selected. The palm soft tissue defect was repaired by radial artery perforator flap after the operation of scar removal and soft tissue release. The areas of soft tissue ranged from 5 cm × 3 cm to 8 cm × 5 cm. The area of donor flap exceeds 20%of the wounds area, and wounds were repaired by free skin grafting. Six months after operation, the hand function was compared with that before operation. Results All the patients were followed up for 6-15 months (mean 10.8 months), all flaps survived with good shape, and flap donor site wounds were healed by skin grafting. The patients were evaluated 6 months after operation according to the Chinese Medical Hand Surgery Society of upper part of functional assessment criteria: excellent in 11 cases, good in 5 cases and general in 2 cases, but preoperative functional evaluation was excellent 0 case, good in 3 cases, general in 7 cases and poor in 8 cases. Compared with that before operation, the postoperative function was significantly improved. Conclusions It is a commendable approach of repairing soft tissue defect after postoperative palm scar contracture by radial artery perforator flap, because it can provide reliable blood supply, and significantly improve hand function with exactly clinical effect.

Physical exercise of moderate intensity is becoming readily accepted as an adjunct therapy to enhance curative effects of chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. In this study, we investigated the putative effect of physical exercise on inhibition of breast cancer and the possible mechanism therein involoved. Balb/c female mice were transplanted with BCAP-37 breast xenografts and randomly assigned to four groups: (a) saline control, (b) exercise-only, (c) DHAQ-loaded NPs, (d) exercise + DHAQ-loaded NPs. The mice in exercise groups performed progressive wheel running up to 15 m/min for 30 minutes, 6 d/wk for 4 weeks. Tumor growth delay was significantly longer in the DHAQ-loaded NPs group and the exercise + DHAQ-loaded NPs groups compared with that in the control group (P < 0.05; P < 0.01, respectively). Tumor volume and the value of hemoglobin (HGB) showed significant difference between the DHAQ-loaded NPs and exercise + DHAQ-loaded NPs groups (P < 0.05), suggesting that physical exercise of moderate intensity can significantly induce an influence of DHAQ-loaded NPs on delay in tumor growth, and can enhance the anti-tumor efficacy of DHAQ-loaded PLA-PLL-RGD NPs. It is a contributor to adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Drug Carriers ; administration & dosage ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Exercise Therapy ; Female ; Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental ; therapy ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mitoxantrone ; administration & dosage ; Nanoparticles ; administration & dosage ; Random Allocation