Objective To investigate the early diagnostic value of plasma D-dimer level in acute aortic dissection (AAD) . Method A total of 80 patients with chest pain were enrolled from January 2006 to March 2009, and 40 patients of them were confirmed to be AAD with computerized tomographic angiography (CTA), and these patients were matched with 40 controls presenting suspected dissection, which were ruled out later. The D-dimer test was performed in all patients within 12 hours after onset of chest pain,and plasma D-dimer concentrations were compared between two groups. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of D-dimer used for diagnosing AAD were analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was also established. The statistical analysis of data was carried out by using Mann-Whitney test with SPSS 11.5 software. Results The plasma D-dimer oncentrations in AAD were significantly higher than those in controls [(5.48±7.95) vs. (0.64±0.75), P <0.0l]. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that D-dimer ( > 0.5 μg/mL) was predictive in the diagnosis of AAD, and the area under ROC curve was 0.848 ± 0.042, (95% CI: 0.766-0.930) with 87.5% sensitivity, 62.5% specificity,70% PPV and 83.3% NPV. Conclu-sions D-dimer may be a valuable biomarker in early diagnosis of AAD.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Qianlie Huichun capsular on Fas expression and cell apoptosis of prostate gland tissue in the model rat.

METHODHypertrophy of prostate model rat was established by injecting testosterone to gelding male rats. After being treated with Qianlie Huichun ig 30 days, the rats were killed and prostate glands were resected for examination. The Fas expression was examined by immunobistochemical SABC. The cell apoptosis and the peak of cell apoptosis in the prostate gland of the rats were examined by flow cytometry. Compared with model group, the weight of prostage gland tissue in groups treated with Qianlie Huichun capsular was light (P < 0.01).

RESULTCompared with model group, the Fas expression in all treatment groups increase(P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with normal and model groups, cell apoptosis in all treatment groups increase at different level(P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe Qianlie Huchun capsular increases the Fas expression and cell apoptosis of model rats, and shows a definite treatment effect on the hypertrophy of prostate by promoting the apoptosis of prostate cell.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Arthropods ; chemistry ; Capsules ; Cuscuta ; chemistry ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Fallopia japonica ; chemistry ; Male ; Materia Medica ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Prostate ; metabolism ; pathology ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; metabolism ; pathology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; fas Receptor ; metabolism