AIM: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation for refractory glaucoma after sequential failed trabeculectomy.
METHODS: Thirty - six patients (36 eyes) with prior failed sequential trabeculectomy who underwent Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation were included. The intraocular pressure ( IOP), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and complications were ovserved and all the patients were followed up at least for 12mo.
RESULTS: Mean preoperative IOP was 35. 20±7. 28mmHg and reduced to 10. 15±3. 34, 11. 23±3. 56, 15. 63±5. 72, 17. 17±5. 47, 17. 73±6. 23,19. 76±5. 43mmHg at 1, 2wk, 1, 3, 6 and 12mo after surgery, which was significant different from the preoperative level (t = 12. 643, 11. 837, 10. 324, 8. 839, 8. 462, 8. 046, all P < 0. 05 ). Visual acuity was not significantly different between pre - operation and 12mo post- operation ( Z = - 0. 420, P > 0. 05). At 12mo after operation, the complete success rate reached 78% and the conditional success rate reached 92%. There were 5 eyes complicated with shallow anterior chamber, 3 eye complicated with anterior chamber hemorrhage, which all recovered after additional treatments. Late complications included valve exposure and encapsulated cystic blebs around the plate. Severe corneal endothelium loss occurred in 1 patient.
CONCLUSION: Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation is effective in reducing IOP at 1-year follow-up in refractory glaucoma patients with prior sequential failed trabeculectomy, but we should fully understand and attach great importance to all kinds of complications that may occur.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Coronary Artery Disease ; complications ; therapy ; Coronary Stenosis ; complications ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Taking application of some isolation and purification technologies, such as solvent extraction, preliminary solvent isolation, column chromatographies over silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 gel and preparative HPLC, 10 compounds were obtained from Gynura nepalensis cultivated in the suburban area of Beijing. Their structures were identified by spectroscopic methods and comparison with literature as (3R) -3-hydroxy-β-ionone (1), (3S,5R, 6S, 7E) -5, 6-epoxy-3-hydroxy-7-megastigmen-9-one (2), (+) -boscialin (3), 3, 6-trans-3-hydroxy-α-ionone (4), 3, 6-cis-3-hydroxy-α-ionone (5), 3, 4-cis-3, 4-dihydroxy-β-ionone (6), ethyl caffeate (7), loliolide (8), 1H-indole-3-carbaldehyde (9), and 3-(hydroxyacetyl)indole (10), respectively. All compounds were isolated from the title plant for the first time, and with compounds 1, 2, 4-7, 9 and 10 being isolated from Gynura species for the first time. Structurally, the above compounds 1-6 belong to C13 nor-sesquiterpenoids, sharing the same carbon skeleton of megastigmane. According to this study, they are one of major kinds of chemical constituents of Gynura nepalensis and have important reference value for the investigation on phytotaxonomy of this species.
Asteraceae ; chemistry ; Caffeic Acids ; chemistry ; Cyclohexanones ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Glucosides ; Indoles ; chemistry ; Mass Spectrometry ; Molecular Structure ; Norisoprenoids ; chemistry

Objective To explore the initial clinical and imaging characteristics of basal ganglia germinoma in children.Methods Four patients with basal ganglia germinoma were reported.Their clinical features,laboratory findings,radiological manifestations,treatment and outcome were analyzed.They recieved radiation therapy and chemotherapy after diagnosis.All patients were clinically diagnosed,according to the results of low-dose cranial irradiation.The outcomes were followed up for 2 years.Results All patients were male and school-aged(9-13 years) children.The course of the disease ranged from 5 to 13 months.All patients were presented with slowly progressive hemiparesis,and 2 cases of them were presented with cognitive decline and psychosis.Seizure occurred in 2 patients.The serum ?-human chorionic gonadotropin(?-hcG) level was significantly increased in 2 patients(30.16 IU/L and 77.85 IU/L,respectively),and mildly elevated in 1 patient(4.29 IU/L),while serum ?-hcG level in another case was within normal control range.MRI demonstrated mildly high intensity in the left or right basal ganglia on T1-weighted and T2-weighted images without remarkable occupying lesion.Ipsilateral hemiatrophy of the hemisphere and midbrain was also noted.Inhomogeneous Gd-DTPA enhancement was observed.All patients had been treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy.During 2 years follow up,significant improvement was observed in all patients after therapy,imaging lesions disappeared and the elevated ?-hcG level of those elevated before therapy returned to normal.Conclusions Early diagnosis and treatment for basal ganglia germinoma are critically important to improve the prognosis.In young male patients with progressive hamiparesis,basal ganglia germinoma should be considered for differentiation,if abnormal high intensity signals in basal ganglia on T1-weighted and T2-weighted image with ipsilateral hemiatrophy of the hemisphere are demonstrated on MRI,even without occupying effect.

Objective To investigate the changes of oxidative stress level in brain tissues and serum, and learning and memory in rats with oxidative stress level in nerve damage in chronic fluorosis. Methods The rats were randomly divided into 3 groups according to the body weight, eight rats in each group, i.e., control group, drinking water containing less than 0.5 mg/L of fluoride; lower fluoride exposure group, drinking water containing 5 mg/L of fluoride; higher fluoride exposure group, drinking water containing 50 mg/L of fluoride. The animals were examined six months after initiating the experiment. The total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and malondialdehyde (MDA), as well as learning and memory, were measured. Results Escape latency in higher fluoride exposed group[ (14.37±3.48)s] was significantly higher than that of controls[ (5.84±1.87)s] and exposed te lower fluoride [ (7.18±1.42)s], the difference being statistically signifieant(P<0.05). As compared with controls[ (2.17±0.11)× 103 U/L , (0.79±0.11)×103 U/g Pr] ,the rats exposed to higher fluoride and lower fluoride exhibited lower levels of T-AOC [(1.37±0.27)×103 U/L,(0.24±0.06)×103 U/g Prand (1.20±0.14) x 103 U/L,(0.41 ~ 0.10)×103 U/g Pr], the difference being statistically signifieant(P<0.05). As compared with controls[ (2.34±0.16) mmoL/L, (2.97±0.11)mmol/g Pr] and low fluoride exposed group[ (2.68±0.33)mmoL/L, (3.38±0.21)mmol/g Pr], higher level of MDA were observed in higher fluoride exposed group[ (3.72±0.59)retool/L, (4.01±0.21)mmol/g Pr], the difference being statistically significant(P<0.05). Conclusion The results indicated that higher amount of fluoride induced an increased level of oxidation, which might result in the decreased capacity of intelligence of rats with fluorosis.

The viral RNA was extracted from purified cymbidium mosa ic virus (CyMV) isolated from Dendrobium orchid cultivated in Hainan island. The gene of the movement protein (MP) was amplified by means of reverse transcripti on-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and cloned into pGEM-T easy vector. Se quence analysis showed that the gene fragment contained 3 open reading frames (O RFs) which may be encoding 14 kD、12 kD and 10 kD peptides. The nucleotide seque nce of the cloned gene fragment shared 97.8% homology with the MP genes of CyMV isolated from orchids cultivated in Hawaii and Singapore.

Objective To investigate the expression of c-Jun-N-terminal kinase(JNK) in rat brains with chronic fluorosis and try to reveal the molecular mechanism for the neural impairment induced by the disease.Methods The rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, normal control group(drinking water containing less than 0.5 mg/L of sodium fluoride, NaF), lower fluoride exposed group(drinking water containing 5 mg/L NaF) and higher fluoride exposed group(drinking water containing 50 mg/L NaF), 24 in every group. The rats were examined at the sixth month after feeding. The concentration of fluorine in urine and blood was detected by F-ion selective electrode. The expression of JNK in brains was investigated by using Western blotting and immunohitochemistry staining, and analyze the correlation between activating of JNK and the concentration of fluorine in blood. Results The increased concentration of fluorine in urine(control: 0.92 ± 0.30, lower fluoride exposed group: 2.56 ± 0.91,higher fluoride exposed group: 5.73 ± 3.14, P ＜ 0.05) were observed when 6 months after the beginning of the experiment, and the amount of fluorine in blood was also higher in rats with fluorosis(control: 0.12 ± 0.07, lower fluoride exposed group: 0.36 ± 0.14, higher fluoride exposed group: 0.50 ± 0.18, P ＜ 0.05). The expression of phospho-JNK at protein levels were higher in the brains of rats with fluorosis than that of controls (control: 1.00 ± 0.37, lower fluoride exposed group: 1.20 ± 0.28, higher fluoride exposed group: 1.74 ± 0.69, P ＜ 0.05), whereas no change of total-JNK was found(F = 0.046, P ＞ 0.05). Furthermore, the expression of phospho-JNK in the parietal cortex(119.3 ± 14.1), occipital cortex(112.7 ± 5.4), hippocampus CA3(100.6 ± 8.9), dorsal thalamus (117.8 ± 10.4) and olivary nucleus( 112.6 ± 5.9) of rats in higher fluoride exposed group were higher than that in control( 104.1 ± 8.9,106.6 ± 9.6,106.6 ± 9.7,108.9 ± 6.4,100.3 ± 8.4, all P ＜ 0.05) and lower fluoride exposed group(96.7 ± 17.1,102.5 ± 8.3,106.4 ± 6.5,110.2 ± 9.3,102.4 ± 4.7,102.5 ± 9.8, all P＜ 0.05). The positive stained neurons of total-JNK also distributed in the same brain regions of rats, but no difference was detected between the rats with fluorosis and controls(all P ＞ 0.05). The increased level of phospho-JNK was positively correlated with the fluoride contents in blood of the rats with fluorosis (r = 0.677). Conclusions The expression of phospho-JNK in brains of rats with fluorosis was significantly increased with a correlation to fluoride content in blood, which might be connected to the mechanism of neural impairment induced by chronic fluorosis.

Objective To investigate the expression of extraeellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK1/2)pathway in rat brains with fluorosis and the effects of fluoride on learning and memory of the rats,and to reveal the mechanisms of damaged nervous system resulted from the toxicity of the ion.Methods Seventy-two SD rats were divided into 3 groups and 24 rats were in each group.Three groups were fed respectively with different concentrations of fluoride(NaF)for 6 months to establish rat models with fluorosis.Controls were fed with tap water (NaF＜0.5 mg/L):lower and higher concentration group were fed with water containing NaF(5,50 ms/L).Animals are sacrificed after 6 months of treatment with fluoride and the dissected brains were kept for analysis.The protein levels of ERK1/2 in rat brains were detected by Western-blotting and the mRNA level by RT-PCR. The spatial learning and memorizing ability was measured by Morris water maze test. Results The ERK1/2 protein in control group,lower and higher concentration group was 0.944±0.10,1.253±0.02,1.953±0.07,the differece being statistieally sighificant between any two groups (P ＜ 0.05). The phospho-ERKl/2 protein in control group,lower and higher concentration group was 0.73±0.08,0.77±0.07,1.28±0.11,the differece being statistieally sighificant between any two groups(P ＜ 0.05);the activation rate of phospho-ERK1/2 in lower and higher concentration group [(68.4± 3.8)%,(64.1±3.2)%] was decreased compared to control group[ (82.3±10.7)%],the differece being significant(P ＜ 0.05). In the navigation trial,longer escape latencies of lower concentration group on the second, the third,the fifth and the sixth day were observed[ (46.0±8.0),(24.0±2.7),(8.9±5.3),(7.4±4.1 )s] compared to the control[ (39.3±6.9),(19.1±9.1 ),(8.3±3.4),(4.8±2.7)s],the differece being significant (P ＜ 0.05 or ＜ 0.01 );the similar results were also observed in the higher concentration group[ (36.9±16.8),(37.7±12.9), (19.7±7.6),(12.2±5.7 )s],and the escape latencies of the higher concentration group on the third,the fifth and the sixth day were longer than that in lower concentration group. In the probe test,the rats took more time to reach the first cross in lower and higher concentration group[(1.17±0.75),(4.18±1.10)s] than control group[ (5.89± 0.56 ) s ],the differece being significant (P ＜ 0.05 or ＜ 0.01 ) ;stayed shorter [ ( 17.05±4.25 ),(18.20±4.57 ) s ] than control [(25.37±5.65 )s ] in platform area (P ＜ 0.01 );the activation rates of ERK1/2 were directly correlated with the time taken to reach the first cross platform located in the probe test(r = 0.364,P ＜ 0.05) and the activation rates were also directly correlated with the escape latencies on the sixth day(r = 0.497,P ＜ 0.05). Conclusion Long-term exposure of excessive fluoride induces the change of expression and activating rate of the ERK1/2 in rat brains,leading to the decreased capacity of learning and memory.

This study aims to investigate the change of plasma concentration of digoxin (DIG) in rats with ovariectomy. Twelve female SD rats were randomly assigned into ovariectomized group and sham group (n = 6). All rats plasma was collected after a single dose of 2 mg x kg(-1) DIG administrated orally, serum DIG concentration was determined by LC-MS/MS. The level of P-gp in the intestinal was analyzed by Western blotting. Pharmacokinetic calculations were performed on each individual using DAS 2.0 practical pharmacokinetic software. Compared with the sham group, C(max) of ovariectomized group decreased significantly (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference of AUC(0-t), and the level of P-gp was elevated in ovariectomized group. It was found that C(max) of DIG was significantly reduced after ovariectomy, and the change was associated with the decreased level of estrogen, which contributes to the increased level of P-gp.

Objective To evaluate the value of reducing radiation dose with ECG-pulsing and image quality in 64-row multi-alice CT coronary angiography.Methods Fifty-nine consecutive patients whose heart rates were less than 80 beat per minute and cardiac rhythm was regular were randomly divided into two groups from October 26, 2007 to March 12, 2008.Conventional technique of CT coronary angiography was employed in group 1, while ECG-pulsing technique was applied in group 2.CT dose index volume (CTDIvol) and dose length product (DLP) were obtained automatically, and then the corresponding effective dose (ED) were calculated.The quality scores were performed on obtained imaging by using double blind method.Student t-test was applied in the comparison of value of CTDIvol, value of ED and quality of imagiugbetween two groups.Results The value of CTDIvol was (70.0±1.1) and (39.0±2.7) mGy, the value of ED was (16.8±2.0) and (9.5±1.7) rosy in group 1 and group 2, respectively, which reached statistically significant differences between the groups(t=57.675,15.346 ,P <0.01, respectively). The quality scores of coronary images were 3.8±0.2 and 3.8±0.1 in the groups, which did not reach the statistical significance (t=-0.222, P 0.05).Conclusions The proper application of ECG-Pulsing technology in 64-slice spiral CT coronary angiography can reduce radiation dose significantly while having no influence on the quality of the imaging.