Objective To investigate the relationship between Clq/tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related protein 9 (CTRP9)and coronary heart disease.Methods A total of 232 patients diagnosed with coronary heart disease(CHD)by coronary angiography at our hospital were selected as the CHD group,and 90 cases with normal coronary angiography served as the control group.The double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to determine serum CTRP9 levels.Results Serum CTRP9 levels were lower in the CHD patients than in the controls [(116.9±19.5)ng/ml vs.(142.3±17.9)ng/ml,t＝-5.404,P＝0.000].SerumCTRP91evelswere negatively correlated with body mass index,fasting plasma insulin,fasting blood glucose,insulin resistanceindex(IRI),triglyceride and TNF-α(r＝-0.230,-0.225,-0.267,-0.235,-0.230and-0.222,P＝0.017,0.011,0.002,0.010,0.011 and 0.022).Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that uric acid,IRI,CTRP9,and TNF-α were independent influencing factors for CHD,of which CTRP9 was a protective factor for CHD occurrence(OR ＝ 0.907,95％C1:0.854～0.963,P＝ 0.001).Conclusions Decreased serum levels of CTRP9 are associated with coronary heart disease,indicating that CTRP9 may play a protective role in coronary heart disease occurrence.

[Objective]To investigate the advantages, risks and kye points of minimally invasive total knee arthroplasty with subvastus approach. [Method] From April 2005 to December 2006, 204 primary total knee arthroplasties were performed, among them 146 cases with convention incision (CI), 58 cases with minimally invasive subvastus approach(MIS). All knees were implanted with the same prosthesis (NEXGEN-LPS, Zimmer).The anesthesia time,operation time, hospitalization time were recorded.The first walking time, walking distance, active knee range of motion, preoperative and postoperative HSS Score and the complications were compared. [Result] Totally 204 cases were followed up and the mean follow-up time was 22 months (range, 13-36 months). The difference of anesthesia time, length of incision, operation time, hospitalization time, walking time had significance between the CI and MIS groups ( u test, P0.05). The difference of active range of motion in 24 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks postoperation had significance between the two groups ( u test, P0.05).The difference of HSS score in 24 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks after operation had significance between the two groups ( u test, P0.05). [Conclusion] The minimally invasive total knee arthroplasty with subvastus approach reduces the quadriceps injury, offers early active knee motion and quickly recovery of knee function. However there is no significant difference in long-term walking distance, range of motion and HSS score.

Objective To investigate the anatomy of the skull base for minimally invasive keyhole approach to sellar lesions.MethodsSixty-seven samples of adult skull bone(134 sides) were collected and sawed at the levels of the supraorbital arch and anterior skull base.After inspecting the opening of the frontal sinus,we observed the appearance of the orbit roof(cerebral juga),and measured the maximum height of the two cerebral jugas.Afterwards,the operation distances and angles with regard to the anterior and posterior clinoid processes through the trans-upper orbit,trans-lateral front,trans-pterion,and trans-sub-temple keyhole approaches in 15 skull bone samples were measured.And then,we statistically analyzed the variance in these measurements among the four operative approaches.ResultsOf the 67(134 sides) adult skull bone samples,52 sides showed frontal sinus openness(38.8%,52/134).Most of the skull bases were clawed(multicuspidity or oblique ridge multicuspidity).The maximum height of the cerebral juga that was less than 2.50 mm was found in 36 sides(26.9%),and over 2.51 mm in 98 sides(73.1%).Among the four methods,the shortest distances between the keyhole and the anterior and posterior clinoid processes were found in the trans-sub-temple keyhole approach [(4.87?0.47) cm and(4.93?0.45) cm],and the longest were observed in the trans-lateral front keyhole approach[(6.45?0.30) cm and(7.83?0.54) cm],and trans-upper orbit keyhole approach[(6.47?0.28) cm and(8.31?0.34) cm].The angle between the sagittal section and the keyhole in the trans-lateral front keyhole approach [(40.83?1.11) ? and(37.86?1.37)?] was larger than that in the trans-upper orbit one [(10.23?0.90) ? and(12.29?0.86)?],while the angle between the cross section and the keyhole in the trans-sub-temple keyhole approach [(21.21?0.45) ? and(20.10?0.63)?] was larger than that in the trans-pterion one [(5.49?0.30)? and(9.84?0.58)?].ConclusionsThe size of the frontal sinus,shape and height of the cerebral juga,depth of the skull base operation,and angle between the operational and the skull base planes play important roles in the selection of minimally invasive keyhole approach for sellar lesions.

Objective To analyze the results of sputum culture from smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis cases after treatment for 2 months.Methods Sputum specimens from newly diagnosed 147 smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis cases after treatment for 2 months were fast cultured by BacT/ALERT 3D.Poeitive cultures were further detected by HAIN test in Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and prevention and compared with L-J meditun.Results Mycobacteria were found in 45 specimens by Bact/ALERT 3D in contrast to 22 by Lonswtein-Jenson method.The median time was 19.3 days for the whole Bact/ALERT 3D test while the whole procedure would cost 3 months for traditional L-J test.Conclusion Results from sputum smear could not reflect tuberculosis progress properly while BacT/ALERT 3D fast culture would help to find drug resistant patients promptly and accurately.

Objective To determine the effects of intrauterine growth retardation(IUGR) caused by malnutrition during pregnancy on the lung structure and expression of Clara cell protein (CCSP) and interferon (IFN)-γ in the fetal lungs,and to explore their relation ship with pulmonary disease.Methods Fetal rats from maternal protein-malnutrition dams were studied on day 20(term 21.5 day).The lung pathology was examined by means of Hematoxylin and eosin(HE) stain.Plasma was collected to determine the CCSP and IFN-γ concentration.Lungs were harvested to measure the expression of CCSP and IFN-γ mRNA by using fluorescent quantization reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and the levels of CCSP and IFN-γ protein were assessed by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results Malnutrition fetus body weight significantly less compared to control group,so did the lung weight.However,lung weight,expressed as a percentage of body weight between the 2 groups was not different.The IUGR group had significantly decreased alveolar number manifested by lower radial alveolar count,and significantly increased mean linear intercept of alveoli.Both the CCSP mRNA expression and protein level in lung of IUGR rats were decreased compared with control rats (all P ＜ 0.05).A decline in plasma CCSP protein concentration was also noted compared with control group (P ＜0.05).Furthermore,IUGR group fetus showed lower IFN-γ levels both in circulation and in the lung tissue (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Intrauterine malnutrition significantly alters lung structure and cytokine IFN-γ level,and the latter may further inhibit the transcription of CCSP gene.These alterations may contribute to both early and late postnatal respiratory morbidity.

Objective To investigate the construction of Streptococcus mutans luxS gene knockout mutant which can act as the technical platform for following researches on luxS quorum sensing function in oral ecosystem.Methods Erythromycin resistance gene was inserted between two 1 kb fragments containing regions of DNA immediately upstream and downstream of the luxS translational start and stop codons.The resuhing construct was linearized and electro-transformed into Streptococcus mutans cells.After allelic exchange,the luxS gene knockout mutant strains were selected on 10μg/ml erythromycin plates,and compared the growth and biofilms formation of luxS knockout mutant with wild type strains.Results The luxSknockout mutant was confirmed by PCR,and it was also confirmed that this gene mutant could be stably passed through in vitro.The growth mode of luxS knockout mutant showed obvious difierences against that of wild type at stationary phase,the knockout mutant gained more bacteria cells growth.Conclusion Streptococcus mutans luxS gene has been successfully disrupted with allelic exchange.This mutant strains showed higher growth abilitv which could be the consequence of quorum sensing mutant.

Objective To investigate the effect of different bone cement volume injected after vertebroplasty on stress distribution of the upper and lower endplates of the injured vertebra in the flexion and extension positions by finite element analysis.Methods Two patients with osteoporotic compression fractures of L2 vertebral body were chosen.Bone cement volumes of 25％ and 50％ were respectively injected into the fractured vertebral body bilaterally.Pre-and post-operative finite element models of fractured and adjacent vertebral bodies were developed after extracting the CT data.Stress changes at L2 superior-and inferior-vertebral endplates were observed in the vertical,flexion,and extension loading.Results Stress at the upper and lower endplates of the fractured vertebra increased after bone cement injection and more increase was observed in 50％ bone cement group than in 25％ bone cement group.In the neutral position,the stress mainly concentrated at posterior vertebral body,with stress of the upper endplate improving from 0.91 × 106 N · mm to 0.93 × 106 N · mm and stress of the lower endplate from 0.98 × 106 N ·mm to 1.03 × 106 N · mm.In the anterior flexion,the stress mainly concentrated at anterior vertebral body,with stress of the upper endplate improving from 4.44 × 106 N · mm to 5.55 × 106 N · mm.In the posterior extension,the stress mainly concentrated at medial vertebral body,with stress of the upper endplate improving from 21.95 × 106 N · mm to 22.10 × 106 N · mm and stress of the lower endplate from 30.60 ×106 N · mm to 30.88 × 106 N · mm.The finite element model revealed stress at the upper and lower endplates was higher in the anterior flexion and posterior extension than in the neutral position,while in the anterior flexion the stress was comparatively higher.Conclusions A small amount of implanted bone cement act no evident effect on stress distribution of the upper and lower vertebral endplates.However,the stress changes are significant as cement volume reached up to 50％,especially in the flexion position,as may suggest an enhanced risk of adjacent intervertebral disc degeneration and adjacent vertebral body fractures.

Objective To investigate the clinical prediction value of chemokine CCL21 level for acute coronary syndrome.Methods Totally 212 patients receiving coronary arteriography were divided into acute myocardial infarction group(AMI,n=72),unstable angina pectoris group(UAP,n=76),and stable angina pectoris group(SAP,n=64).The serum level of chemokine CCL21 was detected by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)and the pathological changes of coronary artery were measured by Gensini scoring system.All patients were followed up for six months and the cardiovascular adverse events were recorded.Results The serum level of CCL21 was(169.72±14.64)ng/L in AMI group,(154.42±16.50)ng/L in UAP group,and(143.87±9.80) ng/L in SAP group,with statistically significant differences (F =99.818,P =0.000).Serum levels of CCL21 in ACS group and SAP group were positively correlated with Gensini score(r=0.474,P =0.000;r=0.350,P=0.049).Binary Logistic regression analysis revealed that chemokine CCL21 was an independent risk factor for predicting acute coronary syndrome (OR =1.049,P =0.022).The CCL21-judged area under the ROC curve in acute coronary syndrome group was 0.887 ± 0.028 (P =0.000),with diagnostic point of serum level of chemokine CCL21 at 159.15 ng/L,sensitivity of 0.635,specificity of 0.981.Serum level of CCL21 was higher in the patients with cardiovascular adverse events than in the patients without cardiovascular adverse events[(168.57±7.24)ng/L vs.(156.92± 6.53) ng/L],with statistically significant difference (t =16.100,P =0.000).Conclusions Serum level of chemokine CCL21 reflects the severity degree of coronary artery disease.The chemokine CCL21,as an independent and effective marker,can predict acute coronary syndrome.

Objective To explore the value of MR diffusion tensor imaging ( DTI) in diagnosis of traumatic Axonal injury ( TAI) .Methods Twenty nine patients with traumatic brain injury ( TBI) and matched 22 control subjects were performed with DTI . Fractional anisotropy ( FA) was calculated from semioval center , corpus callosum , internal capsule and pons of controls and TBI pa-tients.According to Glasgow Score (GCS), TBI patients were divided into mild group (GCS≥13) and moderate-severe group (GCS≤12), each group compared with control group in FA value .The correlation between FA values in different regions and GCS score were analyzed in DTI group .Results FA value of semioval center was decreased in mild DTI group ( P <0.01 ) .FA values of semio-val center , corpus callosum , and internal capsule were decreased in moderate-severe DTI group ( P <0.05 ) .The FA values in semio-val center , corpus callosum , and internal capsule were positively correlated with GCS score in TBI group ( P <0.05 ) .Conclusions DTI is sensitive to detect the traumatic axonal injury??Changes of FA value in ROIs can access the severity of axonal injury ?? which ishelpful for diagnosis earlier and improving prognosis.

Background:Inflammation plays an important role in intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury(IRI),and erythropoietin (EPO)has been reported to have anti-inflammatory activity. Aims:To explore the protective effect of EPO on intestinal IRI and its potential mechanism. Methods:Thirty-two healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups:sham operation group(sham group),IRI group,EPO group and 740Y-P group. Rats in IRI,EPO and 740Y-P groups were injected intraperitoneally with 0. 9% NaCl,EPO and EPO + 740Y-P,respectively,one hour before the establishment of intestinal IRI model by superior mesenteric artery clamping(45 min)-reperfusion. All rats were sacrificed one hour after reperfusion. Histopathological changes of small intestine were observed;expression of proteins in PI3K/ Akt and NF-κB signaling pathways was measured by Western blotting;expression and secretion of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-8(IL-8),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1)were examined by real-time PCR and ELISA. Results:Compared with sham group,the damage score of small intestine,protein expressions of PI3K,p-Akt and p-NF-κB p65,as well as mRNA expressions and serum levels of IL-8,TNF-α and MCP-1 in IRI group were significantly increased(P < 0. 05). EPO pretreatment could ameliorate the histopathological changes of small intestine in IRI model rats,inhibit PI3K/ Akt and NF-κB signaling activation and down-regulate expression and secretion of inflammatory cytokines. When 740Y-P,a PI3K agonist,was used combinedly,the effect exerted by EPO was diminished. Conclusions:EPO pretreatment can protect against intestinal IRI by inhibiting the activation of PI3K/ Akt/NF-κB signaling and the subsequent inflammatory response.