Brachial Plexus/injuries* ; Disabled Persons ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo assess the effectiveness and safety of intratympanic versus systemic steroid therapy in the initial treatment of idiopathic sudden hearing loss.

METHODSAn extensive search of the literature was performed in Pubmed and other available database from January, 1980 to November, 2011. After filtering by the criteria of Cochrane Collaboration, a meta-analysis was conducted.

RESULTSNine studies met the criteria for meta-analysis, for idiopathic sudden hearing loss patients without diabetes received intratympanic steroid therapy, the improvement rate (RR = 1.11,95% CI = 0.96-1.28, P = 0.15) did not show any significance when compared with the patients received systemic therapy. While a significant difference of improvement rate occurred between intratympanic and systemic steroid therapy in the idiopathic sudden hearing loss patients with diabetes (RR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.02-1.50, P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONFor the initial therapy of idiopathic sudden hearing loss patients without diabetes, systemic steroid treatment still remains the first choice, but for the idiopathic sudden hearing loss patients with diabetes, intratympanic steroid treatment should be used for the initial treatment.

Administration, Oral ; Audiometry, Pure-Tone ; Dexamethasone ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; drug therapy ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Methylprednisolone ; Steroids ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Tympanic Membrane

OBJECTIVETo assess the efficacy of tendons of minimally invasive therapy (TMIT) combined drug therapy by comparing it with treatment by drug therapy alone on patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

METHODSTotally 60 KOA patients were assigned to the treatment group and the control group according to random digit table, 30 in each group. Patients in the control group took Hydrochloric Acid Glucosamine Capsule and Celecoxib Capsule. Patients in the treatment group additionally received TMIT. The treatment course for all was 4 weeks. Scores for visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index were observed and recorded at week 1 and 4 after treatment by acupotomology mirror.

RESULTSCompared with before treatment, improvement was shown in VAS score, pain and stiffness degrees, activities and functions, and WOMAC scores at week 1 and 4 after treatment in all patients with statistical difference (P < 0.05). Besides, better effect was shown in the treatment group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSTMIT combined drug therapy could relieve KOA patients' pain, stiffness and joint activities, elevate the overall efficacy. TMIT was easily operated with less injury.

Celecoxib ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; methods ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; drug therapy ; Pain ; Pain Measurement ; Tendons ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the potential protective effect of the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant Mitoquinone (MitoQ) on post-thaw human sperm.

METHODSSemen samples were collected from 60 normal fertile men, each divided into six parts of equal volume to be incubated at 37 °C in normal saline (G0, control) or in the extender with 2 nmol/L (G1), 20 nmol/L (G2), 200 nmol/L (G3), 2 µmol/L (G4), and 20 µmol/L of MitoQ (G5). After one hour of incubation, the samples were subjected to computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) for sperm motility, flow cytometry for reactive oxygen species (ROS), thiobarbituric acid assay for the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), and MitoTracker fluorescent staining and flow cytometry for the sperm mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Then, the semen were cryopreserved with none (B0), 200 nmol/L (B1), and 2 µmol/L of MitoQ (B2), followed by detection of the changes in the ROS, MDA, and MMP of the post-thaw sperm.

RESULTSThe percentage of progressively motile sperm and total rate of sperm motility were significantly higher in G3 ([30.8 ± 10.2]% and [70.6 ± 9.0]%) and G4 ([32.7 ± 13.5]% and [70.3 ± 11.9]%) than in G0 ([17.6 ± 5.0]% and [54.9 ± 11.5]%) (P < 0.05). The level of ROS dropped markedly with the increased concentration of MitoQ, 86.5 ± 31.6 in G3, 93.6 ± 42.0 in G4, and 45.1 ± 15.0 in G5, as compared with 160.8 ± 39.7 in G0 (P < 0.05). The content of MDA was remarkably lower in G3 ([0.9 ± 0.5] µmol/mg) and G4 ([0.9 ± 0.5] µmol/mg) than in G0 ([1.9 ± 1.1] µmol/mg) (P < 0.05), but not in G5 ([1.7 ± 0.7] µmol/mg), which was even higher than in G3 and G4 (P < 0.05). The MMP showed a significant reduction in G5 (1156 ± 216) in comparison with G0 (1701 ± 251) (P < 0.05) but exhibited no remarkable difference between G0 and G1 (1810 ± 298), G2 (1995 ± 437), G3 (1950 ± 334), or G4 (1582 ± 314). The percentage of progressively motile sperm and total rate of sperm motility after freezing-thawing were significantly decreased as compared with those of the fresh semen (P < 0.01), but both were remarkably higher in B1 ([3.2 ± 2.3]% and [ 43.0 ± 9.5]%) than in B0 ([0.8 ± 0.6]% and [26.5 ± 11.4]%) (P < 0.05). The ROS level was significantly lower in B1 and B2 than in B0 (34.6 ± 12. 3 and 37.0 ± 10.5 vs 56.9 ± 14.3, P < 0.05), and so was the MDA content ([1.4 ± 0.5] and [1.4 ± 0.6] µmol/mg vs [2.6 ± 1.0] µmol/mg, P < 0.05), but the MMP was markedly higher in B1 and B2 than in B0 (1010.0 ± 130.5 and 880.6 ± 128.6 vs 721.1 ± 24.8, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAddition of MitoQ to the freezing extender at 200 nmol/L may effectively improve the quality of human sperm and MitoQ is a good protective addictive for human sperm cryopreservation.

Antioxidants ; Cryopreservation ; Humans ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; analysis ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; Mitochondria ; Organophosphorus Compounds ; pharmacology ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Semen ; Semen Analysis ; Semen Preservation ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; drug effects ; Ubiquinone ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo study the prevalence and associated factors of suicide attempt in middle school students.

METHODSFive middle schools in Chengdu were randomly sampled in the study. A total of 1393 students between the ages of 11 and 18 finished a self-administered questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List (ASLEC) and Egma Minnen av Bardodosnauppforstran (EMBU). Everyone who had suicide attempts was interviewed. Data were analysed by SPSS 8.0 (statistical package for the social science) program on computer.

RESULTSThirty-six (2.6%) of the 1 393 students has the history of attempted suicide and the ratio of boys and girls was 1:2. Among the suicide attempters, 33.3% had recurrent events. The most common reason of suicide attempts in middle school stage was family conflicts (34.4%) with most common event as taking overdose tranquilizers or poisoning (50.0%). Risk factors of suicide attempt seemed to include hallucination, cigarette smoking, being bullied by peers, wanting to change sex, parents' remarriage, being female, father's refusal, being neglected in childhood and experiencing more events in the previous year. Protecting factor was found to have been family warmness.

CONCLUSIONSuicide attempts were not uncommonly seen in middle school students. Clinicians and teaching staff should identify the risk factors and carry out intervention as early as possible.

Adolescent ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Risk Factors ; Sampling Studies ; Sex Factors ; Students ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Suicide, Attempted ; prevention & control ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Urban Population

BACKGROUND:This systematic review aims to investigate the prediction value of diffusion tensor imaging for motor function recovery of ischemic stroke patients. METHODS:Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (the Cochrane Library 2016, Issue 9), PubMed, Embase, Clarivate Analytics, Scopus, CINAHL, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Google Scholar were searched for either motor recovery or corticospinal tract integrity by diffusion tensor imaging in different stroke phase from January 1, 1970, to October 31, 2016. The study design and participants were subjected to metrological analysis. Correlation coefficient (r) was used for evaluating the relationship between fractional anisotropy (FA) and motor function outcome. Correlation coefficient values were extracted from each study, and 95％ confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by Fisher's z transformation. Meta-analysis was conducted by STATA software. RESULTS:Fifteen studies with a total of 414 patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that FA in the subacute phase had the significant correlation with motor function outcome (ES=0.75, 95％CI 0.62-0.87), which showed moderate quality based on GRADE system. The weight correlation coefficient revealed that an effect size (ES) of FA in acute phase and chronic phase was 0.51 (95％CI 0.33-0.68) and 0.62 (95％CI 0.47-0.77) respectively. CONCLUSION:This meta-analysis reveals that FA in the subacute phase after ischemic stroke is a good predictor for functional motor recovery, which shows moderate quality based on the GRADE system.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the impact of depression on clinical outcome of patients undergoing revascularization.

METHODSSelf-rating depression scale (SDS) assessment was made before and after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG, n = 345) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, n = 308) procedure. Patients were divided into depression and non-depression group. All patients were followed up for 12 months after procedure for the occurrence of rehospitalization and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including all-cause mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction or target lesion revascularization.

RESULTSDepression was present in 40.9% (n = 141) of patients after CABG, which was significantly higher than before procedure (24.3%, P < 0.01). The MACE rate was significantly higher in patients with post-procedure depression [8.5% (12/141)] than in patients without depression [2.9% (6/204), P < 0.05] and the incidences of target lesion revascularization and rehospitalization were also significantly higher in depression patients than in non-depression patients during the 12 months follow-up (all P < 0.05). Depression was present in 36.4% (n = 112) of patients after PCI, which was significantly higher than that before procedure (28.6%, P < 0.05). The MACE rate [8.0% (9/112) vs. 2.0% (4/196)] and rehospitalization rate [12.5% (14/112) vs. 4.6% (9/196)] were significantly higher in depression patients than in patients without depression during the 12 months follow-up (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference on SDS score between the PCI and CABG before the procedure. However, after the procedure, the SDS score for patients undergoing CABG was significantly higher than in patients undergoing PCI (48.9 ± 9.8 vs. 45.7 ± 10.5 P = 0.01). The level of serum IL-6 was significantly higher in depression patients than in patients without depression (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONPrevalence of depression is high in patients treated with revascularization procedures and is linked with poor post-procedure prognosis.

Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Coronary Disease ; diagnosis ; psychology ; therapy ; Coronary Stenosis ; Depression ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of arctiin on mouse podocyte epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP).

METHODSMouse podocytes were stimulated by 200 µg/ml AOPP for 24 h in the presence of 50, 100, 200, and 400 µmol/L arctiin. The expressions of α-smooth muscle actin, Grp78 and CHOP were detected using Western blotting.

RESULTThe expressions of α-SMA, Grp78 and CHOP were inhibited by arctiin, showing a dose-dependent effect within a given range of arctiin concentration.

CONCLUSIONAOPP causes endoplasmic reticulum stress to induce EMT of mouse podocytes, and arctiin can decrease EMT by alleviating the stress. This finding sheds light on a new scope of research of renal fibrosis.

Actins ; metabolism ; Advanced Oxidation Protein Products ; adverse effects ; Animals ; Cell Line ; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress ; drug effects ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; drug effects ; Furans ; pharmacology ; Glucosides ; pharmacology ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; metabolism ; Mice ; Podocytes ; metabolism ; pathology ; Transcription Factor CHOP ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo identify the expression characteristics of the 1700001022RIK (RIKEN cDNA 1700001022) gene in mice and explore its function by bioinformatic analysis.

METHODSUsing the expression profile of gene microarray, we detected the expression of a new testis-specific gene, 1700001022RIK, in mice. We analyzed its expression characteristics in the testis tissue and their changes in different developmental stages of the testis by RT-PCR, real-time RT-PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry. We performed bioinformatic analysis using a bioinformatic software.

RESULTSThe 1700001022RIK gene was specifically expressed in the mouse testis in an age-dependent manner, most highly in the adult mice. The 1700001022RIK protein was mainly expressed in the spermatogonia, spermatocytes, and round spermatids of the adult mice. Bioinformatic analysis showed that the 1700001022RIK protein amino acid sequence had a high similarity in human and mice, which indicated that this gene was highly conserved in mammals.

CONCLUSION1700001022RIK is a testis-specific gene mainly expressed in the spermatogonia, spermatocytes, and round spermatids of seminiferous tubules, which might be involved in the regulation of spermatogenesis.

Age Factors ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Computational Biology ; DNA, Complementary ; Gene Expression ; Genomics ; Male ; Mice ; Molecular Chaperones ; genetics ; Seminiferous Tubules ; Spermatids ; Spermatocytes ; Spermatogenesis ; genetics ; Spermatogonia ; Testis

In this study the chemical constituents of the higher polar sustances from Desmodium caudatum were investigated.The compounds were isolated by using column chromatographies over silicagel, polyamide, ODS, Sephadex LH-20, and preparative HPLC. The structures of these compounds were identified on the basis of NMR and MS spectra. Thirteen compounds were obtained and their structures were identified as vanillin(1), loliolide(2), indole-3-carboxaldehyde(3), salicylic acid(4), swertisin(5), saccharumoside C(6), isosinensin (7), kaempferol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (8), isovitexin (9), vitexin (10), nothofagin(11), resveratroloside (12), and 2"-α-rhamnopyranosyl-7-O-methylvitexin (13). Except for compound 5, the remaining compounds were isolated from D. caudatum for the first time. Compounds 2, 3, 6-8, 11-13 were separated from the genus Desmodium for the first time.
Apigenin ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Fabaceae ; chemistry ; Molecular Structure ; Saponins ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization