Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Antagonists ; therapeutic use ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; therapeutic use ; Calcium Channel Blockers ; therapeutic use ; Glucocorticoids ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Urinary Calculi ; drug therapy

Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polychondritis, Relapsing ; surgery ; Tracheotomy ; methods

Objective To improve the diagnosis and treatment of xanthogranulomatous pyelonephri- tis(XGP).Methods The clinical data of 18 cases(5 males and 13 females;mean age,47 years)with XGP were analyzed.Of them,6 had the lesion on the left,and 12 on the right.Before operation,XGP was mis- diagnosed as renal calculus with hydronephrosis in 4 cases,ureteral calculus with severe hydronephrosis in 3 cases,renal tuberculosis in 3 cases and renal carcinoma in 8 cases.Results Of the 18 cases,7 were diag- nosed to have XGP by frozen section during operation and 11 cases had a definite diagnosis by pathological examination after nephrectomy.After a follow-up of 6-124 months,no recurrence was observed in all these 18 cases.Conclusions Preoperative diagnosis of XGP is difficult.This disease is clinically characterized by foam cells in urine smear,low-density value of kidney CT and ineffective antibiotic therapy.Combined a- nalysis of clinical data and improvement of clinical recognition of XGP is the key to avoiding delayed diagno- sis or misdiagnosis of XGP.

Objective To investigate the proliferation and identification of dendritic cells(DC)de- rived from peripheral blood of patients with bladder cancer in vitro.Methods The mononuclear cells were prepared from peripheral blood of patients with bladder cancer by Ficoll-Hypaque centrifugation method,and were induced by the recombinant cytokines hGM-CSF(50 ng/ml),hlL-4(10 ng/ml)and hTNF-?(50 ng/ ml)for 2 weeks.The growth and morphology of DC were observed through the phase contrast or electron mi- croscope,and their pheuotypes were determined by flow cytometry.The capacity of DC to activate T cell-de- pendent anti-tumor immune responses was tested by MTT method.Results The DC cultured in vitro turned into suspensive growth from adhesive situation on the 6th day,then the number of DC increased con- tinuously and the cells showed the irregular morphologic appearance of DC with veiled edges on the 8th day. Flow cytometry showed that the mature DC expressed high levels of specific markers such as CD_(1a),CD_(83), CD_(86)and HLA-DR.T cells activated by DC showed strong cytotoxicity to bladder cancer cell line BIU87 with a killing rate of(48.8?3.7)%,while the killing rate of T cells which were not activated by DC was(25.7?1.5)%;the difference of the rate between them was significant(P＜0.01). Conclusions The DC can be cultured from peripheral blood of patients with bladder cancer by induction of rhGM-CSF,rhIL-4 and hT- NF-?in vitro.This may lay an experimental foundation for further research on DC vaccine.

Calcium Oxalate ; Humans ; Kidney Calculi ; etiology ; therapy

Objective To explore the association of the calcitonin receptor (CTR) allelic polymor- phism in the 1377 bp region with the risk of idiopathic hypercalciuria (IH) in the Han nationality in Hubei area,and to study the pathogenesis of IH.Methods The CTR genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism in 76 patients with IH and 126 healthy controls from the Han nationality in Hubei area,using restriction endonuclease AluI.Results The distribution frequen- cies of AluI alleles in the 2 groups followed the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.The distribution frequencies of the CC,TC and TT genotypes were 73.7% ,17.1% and 9.2% in IH patient group,and 89.7% ,9.5% and 0.8% in control group;the distribution frequencies of C and T alleles in the 2 groups were 84.2% ,15.8% and 94.4% ,5.6% ,respectively.The distribution frequencies of T and TT alleles were higher,while those of C and CC alleles were lower,compared with control group;the differences between the 2 groups were signifi- cant (P＜0.05).Conclusions The results indicate that the C/T single nucleotide polymorphism in the CTR gene play a significant role in the mechanism of IH in the Han nationality in Hubei area in China.

The hG -CSF cDNA was cloned by RT-PCR and confirmed by sequencing, which contains the full length of hG-CSF encoding region and parts of 5 '、3' non - coding region. Then the hG - CSF retroviral vector pLGSN was constructed by orientationally inserting the hG-CSF cDNA into the EcoRI/XhoI cloning sites of pLXSN vector. Packaged with CRE and CRIP packaging cell lines which are considered to be unlikely to produce helper viruses, the final pLGSN retrovirion titer reached 1. 1 ?106 CFU/ml. During constitutive passaging, the CRIP - LGSN cell clone produced relatively stable tilers of pLGSN retrovirion, ranging from 6. 8?105CFU/ml to 1. 1?106CFU/ml. By infecting the murine fibroblast cell line NIH3T3 with pLGSN retrovirion, a cell clone designated as NIH3T3 -G -CSF was obstained, secreting 168U/ml G-CSF . The integration and expression of hG-CSF gene in this cell clone were confirmed by Southern and Northern blotting analyses. Western blotting has also detected specifically the hG-CSF protein in the condensed supernalants from NIH3T3-G-CSF cells . After packaging the hG-CSF-secreting fibroblasts with collagen and implanting them into synergenic mice peritoneally , we detected a certain levels of G-CSF in the sera of mice, which suggested the implanted NIH3T3-G-CSF fibroblast cells could constitutively express and release hG-CSF in vivo. Our data showed the constructed hG-CSF retroviral vector could be used to further investigate the fibroblasl-mediated hG-CSF gene therapy .

Objective To discuss the method, safety and clinical value of biliary stenting combined with 125I seed implantation intracavitary irradiation in treating malignant obstructive jaundice. Methods A total of 36 patients with malignant obstructive jaundice were enrolled in this study. PTCD was carried out in all patients, which was followed by biliary stenting combined with 125I seed implantation intracavitary irradiation treatment. The results were analyzed. Results During the interventional management, displacement of the stent and 125I seeds were observed in two cases, and the displaced stent and 125I seeds were replaced to the right position with the help of biliary biopsy forceps. The technical success rate was 100%, and the remission rate of the jaundice was 100%. All the patients were followed up for 1-23 months. No radioactive particles leaking or complications such as radiation enteritis occurred. No in-stent obstruction due to tumor recurrence was observed although slight dilatation of intrahepatic bile duct was detected in 25%of patients, which was resulted from intimal hyperplasia at the stent mesh and/or biliary stone formation. The median survival time was 10.9 months. Conclusion For the treatment of malignant obstructive jaundice, biliary stenting combined with 125I seed implantation intracavitary irradiation is safe, reliable and effective. This technique can prolong stent patency time as well as the patient’s survival time.

BACKGROUNDImmediate intravesical instillation of chemotherapeutic agents after transurethral resection (TUR) of nonmuscle invasive transitional cell bladder cancer has recently been suggested and has been proven to decrease the tumor recurrence rate significantly. This study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of immediate intravesical instillation combined with regular instillations of Pirarubicin (THP(®)) as prophylaxis compared to regular instillations only after TUR operation.

METHODSThis was a prospective, randomized, multi-center, clinical study. Patients diagnosed with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (Ta and T1) pathologically and suitable for TUR were enrolled randomly into two groups. In the study group, the patients received intravesical instillation within 24-hour post TURBT, followed by regular intravesical therapy using 30 mg/50 ml of THP(®) once a week for 8 weeks, and then once a month to 1 year postoperatively Among the patients. In the control group, patients received regular instillation only.

RESULTSA total of 403 patients were enrolled into this study from 26 institutions in China. Among the potients, 210 were enrolled into the study group and 193 were enrolled into the control group. At the median follow-up of 18 months, the recurrence rate was 7.8% in the study group, significantly lower than that in the control group (14.3%; P = 0.042). Subgroup analysis showed that the recurrence rate in low and intermediate-risk patients was significantly lower in the study group (6.8%) than in the control group (14.0%; P = 0.047), although no significant differences were found in high-risk patients.

CONCLUSIONOne immediate dose of THP(®) 30 mg after TURBT followed by regular intravesical therapy appears well tolerated and more effective than regular intravesical therapy for preventing tumor recurrence, especially in low and intermediate-risk patients.

Administration, Intravesical ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; surgery ; Cystectomy ; Doxorubicin ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Prospective Studies ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) pathway in erectile dysfunction (ED) caused by the absence of testosterone (T).

METHODSWe randomly divided 30 eight-week-old healthy male SD rats into groups A (control) , B (castration), and C (castration + androgen replacement). The rats in groups B and C were castrated surgically, and those in C injected with T undecanoate (100 mg/kg) at 1 week after castration, while the others with 0.9% normal saline instead. At 1 month after treatment, we determined the serum T level, intracavernous pressure (ICP), and mean carotid arterial pressure (MAP) of the rats, and detected the expressions of ERK1/2 and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) by Western blot.

RESULTSThe serum T level was significantly lower in group B ([1.27 ± 0.48] nmol/L) than in A ([17.14 ± 1.07] nmol/L) and C ([16.24 ± 1.90] nmol/L) (P < 0.05), and so were ICP and MAP (P < 0.05). The expression of ERK1/2 showed no statistically significant differences among the three groups (P > 0.05), that of phosphatase ERK1/2 was markedly higher while that of eNOS remarkably lower in group B than in A and C (both P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAndrogen replacement may improve the erectile function of castrated rats by regulating the ERK1/2 pathway.

Androgens ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Erectile Dysfunction ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Male ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 ; metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; metabolism ; Orchiectomy ; Penile Erection ; Penis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Testosterone ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use