OBJECTIVE:To discuss the economic effectiveness of different therapeutic schemes for the same disease.METH_ODS:104 cases of female's urogenital tract infections of gonococcus combining chlamydia were randomly divided into five gro_ups,which were given ofloxacin(A),levofloxacin hydrochloride(B),clarithromycin(C),azithromycin(D)and ceftriaxone+erythromycin(E)respectively.Using pharmacoeconomic cost-effectiveness analysis method,the five schemes were compared.RES_ULTS:The costs of the five schemes were RMB 351,390,474,633 and 666 yuans,respectively.The ratios between cost and effectiveness were 5.7,4.5,5.5,7.6 and 8.3 in term of curative rate and 4.9,4.1,5.2,7.1 and 7.8 in term of effective rate respectively.CONCLUSION: B and C schemes are the best ones.

AIM: To investigate the protective effect of sodium selenite ( Na2 SeO3 ) on human keratinocytes under ultraviolet-B (UVB) irradiation.METHODS: The cultured HaCaT cells were divided into 4 groups: (1) normal control group;(2) Na2 SeO3 group:pretreated with Na2 SeO3 at doses of 10 nmol/L, 50 nmol/L, 100 nmol/L, 200 nmol/L and 1 μmol/L for 24 h;(3) UVB group: irradiated with UVB at doses of 300, 600 and 900 J/m2; (4) Na2SeO3 +UVB group:after pretreated with Na2SeO3 for 24 h, irradiated with UVB at doses of 300, 600 and 900 J/m2.The cell pro-liferation was detected by MTT assay .The apoptotic rates of HaCaT cells treated with UVB at dose of 300 J/m2 were as-sessed by flow cytometry .RESULTS:Compared with normal control group , the cell proliferation activity in UVB group de-creased significantly ( P<0.05 ) .The cell activity was inversely correlated with the irradiation intensity .No significant difference of the cell activity between Na 2 SeO3 group and normal control group was observed .The cell proliferation in Na2SeO3 +UVB group was higher than that in UVB group significantly (P<0.05).Na2SeO3 at concentration of 100 nmol/L showed the strongest activity to promote cell proliferation .After 300 J/m2 UVB irradiation, the apoptotic rate in Na2SeO3+UVB group decreased significantly ( P<0.05) compared with UVB group .The inhibitory effect of Na 2 SeO3 at concentra-tion of 100 nmol/L on apoptosis was the strongest .CONCLUSION: The damage of human keratinocytes by UVB irradia-tion is in a dose-dependent manner .The photoprotection performance of Na 2 SeO3 reduces the damage of human keratino-cytes induced by UVB irradiation .

BACKGROUND: There are plenty of studies of estrogen effects on mammalian osteoblast, but the studies of estrogen effects on bird osteoblast cannot be found. There are many reports about the side effects of letrozole on bone metabolism, but there are no reports about the effect of letrozole on osteoblast.OBJECTIVE: The effects of estrogen and letrozole on the proliferation, cell cycle, estrogen receptor mRNA expression and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of chicken osteoblast in vitro were studied in order to illustrate the mechanism of medullary bone osteogenesis.METHODS: The osteoblasts were harvested from the frontal bone of 15-day SPF chicken embryos by the enzyme digestion, and treated with various mass concentrations of estrogen (0, 5, 10, 20, 100. 200, 400,800, 2 000, 20 000 ng/L) and letrozole (0, 5.10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1 000, 5 000 μg/L). The proliferation rates of the osteoblast treated with estrogen or letrozole were measured through the MTT method, The ALP activities of osteoblast were measured by the pNPP method. The cell cycle was measured by flow cytometry. The expression of estrogen receptor mRNA was detected using real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR).RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The estrogen could promote proliferation of osteoblast in concentration- and time-dependent fashion. Estrogen could increase the expression of estrogen receptor mRNA, impulse cell cycle, and elevate ALP activities.Letrozole could increase the cell population, impulse cell cycle, inhibit estrogen receptor mRNA expression, but letrozole has no effects on ALP synthesis and secretion.

AIM: To explore the feasibility of direct separat and selective enlargement of the bone marrow-derived liver stem cells (BDLSC) from bone marrow cells with a culture system containing cholestatic serum in vitro . METHODS: Bone marrow cells of rats were cultured with selective media containing 2%, 5%, 7% and 10% cholestatic rat serum, respectively. The BDLSC were then induced to proliferate with the addition of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on the firth day. BDLSC were characterized using immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR for lineage markers, glycogen staining and urea synthetic assay for functions 2 weeks later. RESULTS: Bone marrow cells were unble to form colony in the presence of 2% cholestatic serum and apopotosis appeared gradually in 7% or 10% cholestatic serum. The BDLSC survived in the medium containing 5% cholestatic serum while the other types of cells did not. The survival cells proliferated with a high speed during the second week and then formed hepatocyte-like colony-forming units (H-CFU). Cells in the H-CFU expressed the characteristic proteins of fetal hepatocytes. Furthermore, they had glycogen storage and urea synthesis functions, two of the critical features of hepatocytes. CONCLUSION: The selective micro-environment effectively selected BDLSC from the bone marrow cell, and will be a new way to provide an abundant source of donor hepatocytes for clinical cell therapy.

Objective To investigate the effects of intense pulsed light (IPL) irradiation on the content of collagen fibers, elastic fibers and hyaluronic acid in Kunming mouse skin. Methods The dorsal skin of mice was divided into two areas: the right area was irradiated with IPL, and the left remaining unirradiated served as the control. Skin specimens were taken from the back of mice on day 1, 3, week 1, 2, 4 and 8 after the irradiation and subjected to staining with HE, sirius red and Gomori aldehyde-fuchsin for examinations of histological changes, type Ⅰ and Ⅲ collagen fibers and elastic fibers. The hydroxyproline and hyaluronic acid content in skin tissues of mice was determined with ultraviolet spectrophotometry and radioimmunoassay respectively. Results After irradiation, a significant increase was observed in dermal thickness on week 2 (t =4.623, P＜ 0.05), 4, and 8 (t = 3.904, P＜ 0.05), in type Ⅲ collagen fiber (t = 5.129, P＜ 0.05) on week 1,in type Ⅰ and Ⅲ collagen fibers on week 2, 4 and 8 (both P＜ 0.05), in elastic fibers from week 2 to 8 (P ＜0.05), and in hydroxyproline content from week 1 to 8 (all P ＜ 0.05) in the skin of mice compared with unirradiated mice. In detail, dermal thickness increased by 18.71% on week 4, and type Ⅲ collagen fiber by 40.54% in irradiated mice compared with unirradiated mice. Further more, the hyaluronic acid content was elevated from day 1 to 3, but gradually declined from week 1 to 8, and remained statistically higher from day 1 to week 8 (P ＜ 0.05) in irradiated mice compared to unirradiated mice. Conclusion IPL irradiation could induce an increase in the content of collagen fiber, elastic fiber and hyaluronic acid in the dorsal skin of mice.

Objective To assess the mutation in exon 8 of C1 esterase inhibitor(C1INH)gene in a patient with hereditary angioedema(HAE).Methods Genomic DNA was extracted from a female patient with HAE as well as her mother and a normal human control.The fragment of exon 8 of C1INH gene was amplified by PCR and inserted into plasmid carrier pUC19 with the help of ligase.Then,the recombinant plasmid was transformed into competent cells of E coli TG1 strains.After culture of positive transformant,plasmid DNA Was extracted and subjected to sequencing.SDS-PAGE and We:stem blot were performed on the sera of the patient to detect the concentration and function of C1INH protein.Results An A1677G mutation at exon 8 of C1INH gene.which resulted in a substitution of isoleucine to valine at codon 440,Was found in the patient who SUfiered from HAE type I.Additionally.SDS-PAGE and Western blot revealed that the molecular weight of C1INH protein was 96 000.but not 105 000 observed in noHnal human control.Conclusion The newly identified mutation 1440V.which is located at P4 residue of reactive center loop in C1INH.may result in conformational alteration of C1INH.

Objective To evaluate the first-line and second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs resistance of clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( M. TB) isolates and the prevalence of Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in hospital-base TB patients in Shandong province, China. Methods Absolute concentration method based on egg medium were examined for drug-resistance of M. TB strains to 4 first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs (INH, RFP, SM, and EMB) and 5 second-line drugs (FQ,CPM,AMK,and PAS).Results 1021 isolates were obtained from clinical TB patients at Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital during November 2004 to April 2007. Of those, 32 strains ( 3.1% ) were identified to Mycobacterium other than tuberculosis. Among 989 M. TB complexe isolates, the general resistance rate to first-line drugs were 32. 3% (95% CI:28.7% - 35.8% ), 107 isolates ( 10. 8% ) were found to be MDR-TB. According to the revised Global XDR-TB Task Force definition, a total of 20( 18. 7% ) MDR-TB patients met criteria for XDR-TB. All XDR-TB patients were previously treated pulmonary tuberculosis cases. Conclusions The prevalence of resistant to second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs in Mycobacterium tuberculosis was very serious, and high prevalence of XDR-TB in hospital-base patients was found in high-level The study showed that it is important to successively survey the anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in clinical laboratory.

Objective To investigate the expression of SOX2 in gastric carcinoma and to analyze its relationship with clinicopathological features.Methods Immunohistochemistry method was used to detect the level of SOX2 in 67 cases of gastric carcinoma group and 30 cases of normal gastric mucosa group.Results The positive expression rate of SOX2 in gastric carcinoma group (52.24 ％) was obviously lower than that in normal gastric mucosa group (93.33 ％) (x2 =16.326,P ＜ 0.01).The SOX2 expression was significantly correlated with differentiation,the depth of invasion,lymph node metastasis and TNM stage of the tumor (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The low expression of SOX2 may contribute to the early carcinogenesis of gastric carcinoma,and the expression level of SOX2 is closely related with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage.The expression level of SOX2 is a useful marker for predicting the prognosis of gastric carcinoma.

Objective To evaluate the effect of selenomethionine (Se-Met) against ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced oxidative damage to human HaCaT keratinocytes,and to explore its possible mechanisms.Methods Cultured HaCaT cells were divided into several groups:normal control group receiving no treatment,Se-Met groups treated with Se-Met at concentrations of 1,10,50,100,200 nmol/L and 1 μmol/L for 24 hours respectively,UVB groups irradiated with UVB of 30,60 and 90 mJ/cm2 respectively,Se-Met + UVB groups treated with Se-Met at concentrations of 1,10,50,100,200 nmol/L and 1 μmol/L for 24 hours firstly,then irradiated with UVB of 30,60 and 90 mJ/cm2 respectively.Subsequently,methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was performed to estimate cellular proliferative activity,flow cytometry to detect cell apoptosis,colorimetry to evaluate superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities and to determine malondialdehyde (MDA) levels.Statistical analysis was carried out by using factorial design analysis of variance (ANOVA),one-way ANOVA and least significant difference (LSD) test.Results Factorial design ANOVA showed that UVB radiation had an inhibitory effect on the proliferative activity of HaCaT cells (F =128.04,P ＜ 0.05),which significantly decreased along with the increase of UVB doses,with significant differences between the three UVB groups (P ＜ 0.05).Se-Met pretreatment also affected cellular proliferative activity (F =5.95,P ＜ 0.05),which was significantly increased in Se-Met (10 nmol/L-1 μmol/L) + UVB groups compared with the UVB groups at corresponding doses (all P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant interaction effect on cellular proliferative activity between UVB radiation and Se-Met pretreatment (F =1.65,P ＞ 0.05).The apoptosis rate of HaCaT cells in the 30-mJ/cm2 UVB group was 31.9％ ± 2.67％,significantly higher than that in the normal control group (4.1％ ± 0.67％,P＜ 0.05) and in the 10-,50-,100-,200-nmol/L and 1-μmol/L Se-Met + 30-mJ/cm2 UVB groups (21.9％ ± 3.72％,17.2％ ± 1.67％,4.6％ ±-0.85％,7.5％ ± 1.86％ and 13.5％ ± 1.95％ respectively,all P ＜ 0.05).Similarly,SOD and GSH-Px activities were significantly weaker (both P ＜ 0.05),while MDA levels were higher (all P ＜ 0.05) in the 30-mJ/cm2 UVB group than in the normal control group;however,there was a significant increase in SOD and GSH-Px activities but a decrease in MDA levels in the Se-Met (10 nmol/L-1 μmol/L) + 30-mJ/cm2 UVB groups compared with the 30-mJ/cm2 UVB group (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Se-Met can reduce UVB-induced oxidative damage to HaCaT cells,likely by enhancing antioxidase activity and decreasing oxygen radicals.

Objective To compare the efficacy of endovascular interventional treatment and surgical clipping in posterior communicating artery aneurysm (PCoAA) patients with fetal-type posterior cerebral artery (fPCA).Methods The PCoAA patients with fPCA were enrolled.Their baseline clinical data were collected.The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was used to assess the clinical outcomes at six months after procedure.The mRS score 0-2 was defined as good outcome.Results A total of 35 PCoAA patients with fPCA were enrolled into the study,23 were treated with interventional embolization therapy and 12 were treated with craniotomy clipping.There were no significant differences in age,gender,preoperative Fisher grade,Hunt-Hess grade,baseline GCS scores,and aneurysm typing between the 2 groups.The good outcome rate of the interventional embolization group at 6 months was higher than that of the surgical clipping group,but there was no significant difference (65.22％ vs.41.67％;P =0.282).Results The efficacy of PCoAA using interventional embolization therapy combined fPCA is almost the same as craniotomy clipping.