Objective To study the characteristics of calcific valvular heart disease (CVHD) with the aid of echocardiography. Methods Nine thousand and seventeen patients over 50 year-old who had received transthoracic echocardiographic examination were enrolled in the study. Diagnosis of CVHD was made with 2 dimension, M-mode and color Doppler echocardiography. General state of health, clinical manifestation and history of CVHD patients were also analyzed. Results Five hundred and seventy-four cases of CVHD were diagnosed and the characteristics of CVHD were observed. The diagnostic rate increased as the age increased. There was no significant difference between male and female. The calcified regions were commoner in aortic valves than in mitral valves, more frequent in non-coronary valves than in right or left coronary valves, and more frequently seen at tips of aortic valves and annuli of mitral valves than in other parts. The size of calcific plaques was usually between 3 and 10mm. Hemodynamic changes could be found in some patients. History of hypertension, coronary artery disease, and arteriosclerosis of the aorta were often found in these patients. Conclusions Echocardiography can be used to evaluate the position of calcification, size of calcification area, and degree of valvular stenosis or insufficiency, thus offers useful information for early diagnosis and treatment, and prognosis of CVHD in clinic.

Objective To explore the incidence and predisposing factors of coronary heart disease (CHD) among the patients with different types and extent of calcified valvular heart disease (CVHD). Methods 574 patients with CVHD diagnosed by echocardiography were divided into mild and severe groups based on the hemodynamic changes. The differences of incidence and predisposing factors of coronary heart disease between the two groups were compared. Results Ninety-seven cases of CVHD were categorized as having severe lesion, including aortic stenosis subgroup (AS group), aortic insufficiency subgroup (AI group) and mitral valve subgroup (MV group). All other patients were having mild lesions. There was no significant difference in blood pressure, blood lipid, fasting blood glucose, age and incidence of CAD, incidences in hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus between two groups. Conclusions Mild CVHD showed similar prognostic value as that of severe CVHD, therefore it should not be ignored.

Objective To explore the association of urinary level of kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) with renal tubulointerstitial lesions in patients with lupus nephritis (LN). And to find a potential clinical biomarker, which could reflect the specific tubulointerstitial lesions of LN. Methods Sixty cases of biopsy proven new-onset LN patients were enrolled into the study. And 10 normal kidney tissues were collected, which came from 10 patients with kidney trauma or renal tumor nephrectomy. Sixty patients with LN were divided into mild disease group, moderate disease group, severe disease group and the extremely severe disease group according to the criteria of 2000 Hill's morphologic index for the evaluation of renal pathology. Urine and renal tissues specimen were collected. The clinical and pathological data were analyzed retrospectively. Urine level of KIM-1 was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (-). Immunohistochemical staining was used to observe the expression of KIM-1 in the renal tissue. T-test, One-Way analysis of variance(ANOVA) test or rank sum test and Pearson or Spearman correlation analysis were used for statistical analysis. Results ①With the aggravation of tubulointerstitial lesions, the urinary level of KIM-1 was increased gradually, which was shown in the control group [(0.32 ±0.03) ng/ml], mild group [(2.31 ±0.30) ng/ml], moderate group [(6.12 ±0.51) ng/ml], severe group [(12.51 ±1.83) ng/ml] and the extremely severe group [(15.30 ±2.11) ng/ml] (all P<0.05); ② With the aggravation of tubulointerstitial lesions, the expression of KIM-1 in the renal tissue was increased gradually which was shown in the control group [(2.13±0.12)%], mild group [(35.01±0.33)%], moderate group [(51.12± 2.11)%], severe group [(63.50 ±1.80)%] and the extremely severe group [(75.31 ±3.22)%] (all P<0.05);③ Urinary KIM-1 level in LN patients was positively correlated with the expression of KIM-1 in the renal tissue (r=0.870, P<0.01);④Urinary KIM-1 level in LN patients was positively correlated with 24 hUP, systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI), renol (R)-SLEDAI, glomerular activity index (GAI), tubulointerstitial ativity imdex (TLAI), chronicity (AI) (r=0.826, 0.741, 0.824, 0.743, 0.871, 0.741, P<0.05), and was negatively correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (r=-0.726, P<0.05), while was not correlated with CI (r=0.532, P>0.05). The expression of KIM-1 in the renal tissue was positively correlated with serum creatinine (SCr), quantity of 24 h UP, SLEDAI, R-SLEDAI, GAI, TLAI and AI (r=0.780, 0.780, 0.812, 0.727, 0.735, 0.910, 0.701, P<0.05), and was negatively correlated with eGFR (r=-0.727, P<0.05), while it was no correlated with CI (r=0.543, P>0.05). Conclusion Urinary KIM-1 enables to assess the tubulointerstitial lesion in LN patients, and it can be a sensitive biomarker to predict the tubulointerstitial damage and to evaluate the degree of tubulointerstitial lesions.

A total of 189 stool samples from swine with diarrhea, collected in various porcine farms in the central region of China were tested for porcine enteric caliciviruses (PEC) member porcine sapoviruses (SaV) by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification using primers designed to detect porcine SaV. Selected amplicons were sequenced to establish phylogenetic relationships with reference strains. Porcine SaV were detected in 12.70% (24/189) of the samples. Phylogenetic studies based on partial RNA polymerase gene sequences indicated that the field strains of viruses isolated in China were closely related (75.6 88.3% identity) to the porcine SaV Cowden reference strain. These results provide evidence that caliciviruses of the genus sapovirus circulate in piglets in China, but further studies are needed to clarify their importance as cause of diarrhea. This is the first report of PEC in China.

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of enriched environment (EE) combined with acupuncture at head point (HA) on behavior in rats with autism spectrum disorder. MethodsHealthy female Wistar rats were given peritoneal injection of sodium valproate at 12.5 days of gestation. Twenty-four male offspring rats were randomly selected and then randomly divided into model group (n = 6), EE group (n = 6), HA group (n = 6) and EE combined with HA group (the combined group, n = 6). Six male offspring rats born from female mice injected with the same amount of saline intraperitoneally were as control group. After four weeks of treatment, all the five groups were tested with three-chamber test and marble burying test, and the sociability index, the social novelty index and the number of buried marbles were recorded. The levels of interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 in peripheral blood were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). ResultsAfter treatment, compared with the model group, the sociability index and the social novelty index improved (P < 0.05), the number of buried marbles reduced (P < 0.05), and the levels of IL-6 and IL-1β in peripheral blood decreased in EE group, HA group and the combined group (P < 0.05); while the combined group was the best (P < 0.01). ConclusionBoth EE or acupuncture at HA could improve behavioral symptoms, and reduce the expression of inflammatory factors in rats with autism spectrum disorder. The combination of the two methods showed the best result.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of low dose sublingual nifedipine dripping pills (5 mg) in treating moderate and severe hypertension in comparison with normal dose (10 mg) of sublingual nifedipine dripping pills. Methods: This study was designed as a randomized, double-blind, positive drug parallel controlled, multi-center, non-inferiority clinical trial. Patients with moderate and severe hypertension were enrolled by 14 clinical trial centers, randomly divided into the trial group (sublingual 5 mg nifedipine dripping pills) and the control group (sublingual 10 mg nifedipine dripping pills). The changes in blood pressure were monitored continuously within 2 hours after the initial administration, repeated the dose in 20 minutes interval after the initial administration for up to additional 3 doses (maximum 4 doses) if the antihypertensive efficacy was not satisfactory. The efficacy of antihypertensive therapy between the two groups was evaluated by repeated administration rates and blood pressure changes at 60 minutes post the initial administration, and the safety of treatment was evaluated by recording adverse event rate of the two groups. Results: The anti-hypertensive effective rates at 60 minutes after sublingual administration were 83.5% (202/242) and 86.7% (208/240) respectively between the trial group and control group (χ²=1.307, P=0.253) . On the aspect of antihypertensive effectiveness at 60 minutes after single dose of sublingual administration, the anti-hypertension effective rates of the trial group and the control group were 85.6% (154/180) and 87.2% (164/188) respectively (χ²=0.221, P=0.639). Prevalence of the repeated administration was also similar between the two groups (25.6%(62/242) in the trial group and 21.7% (52/240) in the control group, χ²=1.043, P=0.307). On the safety aspect, there was no adverse events/reactions in the trial group, but there were 15 cases of adverse events/reactions occurred in control group (6.25%, χ²=15.611, P<0.001). Conclusions In the treatment of moderate to severe hypertension, the antihypertensive efficacy of low dose nifedipine dripping pills is similar to that of conventional dosage, and the safety profile of low dose nifedipine dripping pills is better than that of the conventional dose.