Animals ; Female ; Male ; Rabbits ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; analysis ; Vibration ; adverse effects

Objective To evaluate the conventional ultrasound (US) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in diagnosis of splenic trauma including its grading diagnosis. Methods US and CEUS in 42 patients with splenic trauma confirmed by CT and/or operation were performed during 9.2004-10.2007. All the data were compared and analyzed retrospectively. Results Of 42 patients with splenic trauma, 28 cases were detected and 14 cases were missed on US examination, whereas, 40 cases were detected and only 2 mild cases were missed on CEUS examination. The detection rate of lesions with CEUS was significantly higher than that of US (P<0.001) . Ten cases in grading the injury were underestimated by US, however, none of them were underestimated by CEUS. CEUS had good concordance with CT and/or operation in grading diagnosis of 42 cases except two mild cases. Conclusions CEUS has very good concordance with CT and/or operation in detecting injury and grading the splenic trauma compared with conventional US. CEUS as a new imaging technology has made great advance of ultrasoongraphy in evaluation of splenic trauma including injury grading,and it is very useful in clinical application.

AIM: To investigate the safety and effect of EX-PRESS glaucoma drainage device on open-angle glaucoma.
METHODS: A retrospective review of 40 patients ( 47 eyes ) whose eyes were diagnosed as open angle glaucoma through the best - corrected visual acuity ( BCVA ) , intraocular pressure ( IOP ) , gonioscope, examination of the ocular fundus, and visual fields et al. Fourty patients 6-73y old ( mean 39. 90±16. 50y old) with the BCVA from 0. 01 to 0. 6 and the IOP from 18mmHg to 65mmHg were treated with EX-PRESS glaucoma drainage device after achieving not well IOP over three drugs. Follow - up of these patients 1d, 3d and 1wk after treatment, IOP, slit lamp examination were retrospectively observed. The changes of the BCVA, IOP were used to evaluate the safety and effect before and after treatmeat.
RESULTS: The mean BCVA was 0. 26 ± 0. 29 pre -operatively, while it was 0. 24±0. 22 after treatment one week. The mean BCVA decreased slightly, but there was no statistic difference between pre-treatment and post-treatment (t=1. 56,P=0. 13). The mean IOP was (36. 62 ±14.01)mmHg pre-operatively, (10.04±5.77)mmHg after treatment one day , ( 9. 59±4. 93 ) mmHg after treatment three days, (9. 47±3. 06)mmHg after treatment one week. The IOP was decreased significantly in post-treatment after one day, three days, one week compared with pre-treatment (F=157. 20, P<0. 05). Except for 5 eyes of the IOP below 5mmHg, there was no ocular or systemic adverse events observed in all patients.
CONCLUSION:EX-PRESS glaucoma drainage device is an effective and safe treatment for the patients with open-angle glaucoma. The risk and complication are low intraoperatively and postoperatively.

OBJECTIVETo introduce an arthroscopic technique in managing recurrent dislocation of the patella and its clinical results.

METHODSSixteen patients with recurrent patellar dislocation were reviewed, including 3 males and 13 females. The average age was 17.6 years old (ranged from 14 to 32 years). The patients suffering from patellar sub-luxation averaged 18.5 months (ranged from 6 to 23 months)before operation. These patients were treated with lateral patellar retinacular release outside the synovial bursa of knee joint and medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction using the semitendinosus tendon free autograft. The Lyshohm scores before and after operation were used to evaluate outcomes at the final follow-up.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up, and the duration ranged from 6 to 48 months, with an average of 12 months. There was no recurrence. The Q angle decreased from (16.4 ± 3.7)° to (10.1 ± 1.4)°; insall index decreased from 1.37 ± 0.25 to 1.28 ± 0.23; congruence angle decreased from (21.3 ± 2.6)° to (5.86 ± 2.23)°; Lysholm score improved from 76.1 ± 5.2 to 89.8 ± 4.1 at 6 months after operation.

CONCLUSIONCompared with conventional procedure, arthroscopic surgery for recurrent dislocation of the patella achieves excellent outcomes with minimum invasion.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Arthroscopy ; Bursa, Synovial ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; surgery ; Male ; Patellar Dislocation ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Patellar Ligament ; surgery ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of curcumin on apoptosis of human prostatic stromal cells.

METHODDifferent concentrations of curcumin were added into culture media system to induce apoptosis of human prostatic stromal cells. The apoptosis was detected by MTT assay, flow cytometry, RT-PCR and TUNEL method.

RESULTCurcumin at concentrations of 10-40 micromol x L(-1) could inhibit the proliferation of human prostatic stromal cells in a doseand time-dependent manner (P < 0.05). Characteristic apoptosis were confirmed by TUNEL RT-PCR manifest downregulation of Bcl-2/Bax (P < 0.05). Cell cycle was arrested into G1 phase by curcumin.

CONCLUSIONCurcumin can induce apoptosis in human prostatic stromal cells by down-regulation of Bcl-2/Bax.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Curcumin ; pharmacology ; Flow Cytometry ; G1 Phase ; drug effects ; Humans ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Male ; Prostate ; cytology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Stromal Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of adjuvant interferon (IFN) therapy for viral hepatitis related hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) after the treatment of resection, ablation or TACE.

METHODSPUBMED, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CNKI, CBM, Wan fang Data were searched, plus some manual search and searching on the internet for grey literature. The studies that according to the standards were included, then Meta-analysis were done.

RESULTSEight studies (n=857, 442 treated with IFN) were eligible for this study, pooled data showed benefit of IFN for the prevention of HCC recurrence, 1-year [RR=0.71, 95% CI (0.51, 0.99)], 3-year [RR=0.86, 95% CI (0.76-0.98)], 4-year [RR=0.79, 95% CI (0.68-0.91)]. IFN showed benefit for improving 1-year and 2-year survival, 1-year [RR=1.09, 95% CI (1.01-1.18)], 2-year [RR=1.25, 95% CI (1.04-1.50)]. The difference on 2-year, 5-year recurrence rate are without statistical significance, the same to 3-year, 4-year, 5-year survival rate.

CONCLUSIONIFN therapy after the treatment of resection, ablation or TACE can probably reduce HCC recurrence rate and improve survival with acceptable toxicities.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; therapy ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Interferons ; therapeutic use ; Liver Neoplasms ; therapy ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; prevention & control ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To seek a precise method for estimating postmortem interval (PMI) in forensic medicine practice. METHODS: This study detected the concentration of 21 elements in the vitreous humor of rabbit within 96 hours after death and explored the relationship between their concentration and PMI using the method of ICP-MS. RESULT: It was shown that the concentration of 9 elements in vitreous humor of rabbit within different intervals after death were correlated to PMI available as a reference indicator to estimate PMI. CONCLUSION The changes in the concentration of certain elements in vitreous humor of vitreous humor are correlated with PMI and determination of such changes can be used to estimate the time of death.
Animals ; Calcium/analysis* ; Forensic Medicine ; Iron/analysis* ; Magnesium/analysis* ; Postmortem Changes ; Potassium/analysis* ; Rabbits ; Time Factors ; Vitreous Body/chemistry*

OBJECTIVETo study the protective effects of garlic oil (GO) on the peripheral nerve injuries induced by n-hexane.

METHODSMale Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups (10 rats in each group): the control, the n-hexane treatment (2000 mg/kg), the low dose GO, and the high dose GO groups. The rats in the low and high doses of GO groups were pretreated with GO (40 and 80 mg/kg) before exposure to n-hexane (2000 mg/ kg), while the animals of the n-hexane treatment group were given normal saline and then 2000 mg/ kg n-hexane. The rats were exposed to GO and n-hexane 6 times a week for 10 weeks. The gait scores and staying time on the rotating rod for all rats were detected every two weeks. The rats were sacrificed at the end of ten weeks, then the levels of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), maleic dialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px), total antioxidation capacity(T-AOC) and the ability of inhibition of *OH in livers were examined.

RESULTSThe gait scores increased significantly and the time staying on the rotating rod obviously decreased in rats of n-hexane treatment group, as compared with control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). In the hepatic tissues of n-hexane group, the levels of MDA and ADH significantly increased, the activities of GSH-Px, T-AOC and the ability of inhibition of *OH obviously decreased, as compared to control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). In 2 GO groups, the gait scores and the staying time on the rotating rod were significantly improved, the levels of MDA and ADH significantly decreased, the activities of GSH-Px, T-AOC and the ability of inhibition of *OH obviously increased, as compared with n-hexane group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01 ).

CONCLUSIONADH could play an important role in the protective effects induced by garlic oil on the peripheral nerve injuries produced by n-hexane.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase ; metabolism ; Animals ; Garlic ; Hexanes ; toxicity ; Lipid Peroxidation ; drug effects ; Liver ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Male ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Plant Oils ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic polymorphism of Y-chromosome specific short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci in Zhuang ethnic group of China. Nine Y-STR loci were amplified by single multiplex and the PCR products were detected by using ABI Prism(TM) 3100 DNA Sequencer. The allele frequencies and haplotype frequencies at 9 Y-STR loci were determined in a total of 85 unrelated male individuals from Zhuang ethnic group of China. The results indicated that in the 85 unrelated male individuals, except for the DYS426 locus with a low GD value, the GD values for other 8 Y-STR loci ranged from 0.4387 to 0.8129. A total of 70 haplotypes at 9 Y-STR loci were found, the haplotype diversity was 0.9926. It is concluded that the haplotype polymorphism of 9 Y-STR loci are highly polymorphic in Zhuang ethnic group and also significantly different from our previous reported data of unrelated male individnals in southern Chinese Han population.
Alleles ; China ; ethnology ; Chromosomes, Human, Y ; genetics ; Genetic Loci ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Microsatellite Repeats ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of beta irradiation on intimal proliferation and apoptosis in vein grafts.

METHODSAutogenous vein graft model was established in 80 rats by transplanting the internal branch of the jugular vein to the carotid artery by end to end anastomosis. The veins were irradiated by (32)P solution before anastomosis. Two dose schedules were studied: control group (graft, nonirradiated) and radiation group (20 Gy). The grafted veins were harvested at 3, 1, 2 and 4 week respectively after the operation. intimal hyperplasia (IH), smooth muscle cell (SMC), proliferation, p53, bcl-2 and bax were observed pathologically and immunohistochemically. They were analyzed by a computerized system. The presence of apoptotic VSMC was demonstrated by TUNEL method.

RESULTThere was a significant decrease in the average intimal thickness at 7, 14 and 28 days (t = 15.694, P < 0.05) in the radiation group. Immunohistochemical analysis of PCNA indicated decreased positive cells in the radiation group compared with the controls at 1 and 2 weeks (t = 60.157, P < 0.01). Apoptosis of VSMC was higher in the radiation group than in the control group at 2 weeks (t = 56.176, P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in expression of P(53) between the two groups, and there was a significant increase in bax/bcl-2 in the radiation group at 2 weeks (t = 9.783, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThese preliminary results demonstrated that low dose of beta irradiation in the vein graft inhibits SMC proliferation and induces the apoptosis of VSMC in rats.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Beta Particles ; Brachytherapy ; Disease Models, Animal ; Graft Occlusion, Vascular ; metabolism ; pathology ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Male ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; pathology ; radiation effects ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; metabolism ; Rats ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; metabolism ; Tunica Intima ; pathology ; radiation effects