OBJECTIVETo study the association of polymorphisms in the X-ray repair cross-complementing gene 1 (XRCC1) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

METHODSA hospital based, matched case-control study was carried out. The polymorphisms in XRCC1 for 105 pairs of cases with PTC and controls were identified by PCR-RFLP.

RESULTSThe frequencies of Arg/Arg, Arg/Trp and Trp/Trp genotypes at XRCC1 Arg194Trp site were 47.6%, 49.5% and 2.9% among cases compared to 45.7%, 48.6% and 5.7% among controls. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (chi(2) = 1.07, P = 0.59). The frequencies of Arg/Arg, Arg/Gln and Gln/Gln genotypes at XRCC1 Arg399Gln site were 46.7%, 41.9% and 11.4% among cases, while 54.2%, 42.9% and 2.9% among controls respectively. There was statistically significant difference between the two groups (chi(2) = 6.40, P = 0.04). Individuals with Gln/Gln genotype had a 3.65-fold increased risk of developing PTC compared to Arg/Arg genotype (OR = 4.65, 95% CI: 1.24 - 17.45). The multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis showed that the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism, negative life events and X-irradiation history were associated with PTC, with odds ratios of 2.71 (95% CI: 1.22 - 6.05), 5.34 (95% CI: 1.40 - 20.38) and 0.38 (95% CI: 0.12 - 0.72) respectively. However, XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism, drinking tea, fruit and economic levels did not show statistically significant associations with PTC.

CONCLUSIONThe Gln/Gln genotype at XRCC1 Arg399Gln site and negative life events significantly increased while X-irradiation history decreased the risk of developing PTC.

Adult ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; etiology ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; DNA Repair ; genetics ; DNA, Neoplasm ; genetics ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; etiology ; genetics ; X-ray Repair Cross Complementing Protein 1

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical efficacy of Ganxian recipe (GXR) and lamivudine (LVD) in a two-year treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

METHODSOne hundred and twenty patients with CHB were randomly divided into the combinedly treated group (combined group) of 40 CHB patients who were treated with GXR combined with LVD. Another 40 CHB patients were treated with LVD alone (WM group), and still another 40 CHB patients were treated with GXR alone (TCM group). All these cases were randomly controlled and observed for two years.

RESULTSComprehensive efficacy: Total effective rate of the combined group (complete response and partial response) was 92.5%, while that of the WM group was 67.5% and TCM group 57.5%, respectively, with the difference between them was significant (P < 0.01); after treatment, the hepatic functions (AST, ALT, SB) of the three groups were all reduced, and the reduction in the combined group was particularly significant in comparison with the WM group or TCM group, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01 respectively, suggesting that the effect in the combined group was better than that in the other two groups; the rate of tyrosine-methionine-aspartate-aspartate (YMDD) virus mutation: it was 7.5% in the combined group, 40.0% in the WM group, and 5.0% in the TCM group; liver fibrosis improvement parameter: after treatment, the results in the combined group got better than those in the other two groups.

CONCLUSIONGXR could inhibit the appearance of YMDD after long-term application of LVD, and combined use has marked synergism.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genes, Viral ; Hepatitis B Antibodies ; blood ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; blood ; immunology ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; physiopathology ; therapy ; virology ; Humans ; Lamivudine ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Liver ; physiopathology ; Liver Cirrhosis ; pathology ; virology ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Phytotherapy ; adverse effects ; Plant Preparations ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVEIn order to explore the risk factors of the papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC), a hospital-based matched case-control study was carried out in Shanghai.

METHODSMatched by gender, age (+/- 3 years old) and native place,205 pairs of cases and controls were recruited and studied. Database was established with Epi Info 6.0 software. Univariate and multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis were carried out with SPSS 11.5 software.

RESULTSData from multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis showed that often drinking tea and having better economic living standard 20 years ago were protective factors of PTC, with ORs of 0.456 and 0.221 respectively. Personal history of CT examination, familial history of cancer and the mother's age was older than 22 years when the research subject was delivered, were risk factors of PTC, with ORs of 12.935, 7.027 and 3.729 respectively. Results data from multivariate analysis on female subjects showed that the history of CT examination, mother's age was older than 22 (when the subject was delivered) and the history of gynecological disease were the risk factors of PTC,with ORs of 107.453,29.246 and 59.521 respectively. Taking bean products frequently and having higher standard of living 20 years ago were the protective factors of PTC,with ORs of 0.025 and 0. 144 respectively.

CONCLUSIONHistory of CT examination, familial history of cancer and the mother's age(older than 22 when the subject was delivered) were the risk factors of PTC. Frequent tea drinking habit and having higher standard of living 20 years ago were the protective factors of PTC. History of CT examination,mother's age (older than 22 when the subject was delivered) and the history of gynecological disease appeared the risk factors of PTC for women. Habit on frequent bean products taking and had higher standard of living 20 years ago were the protective factors of PTC to women.

Carcinoma, Papillary ; epidemiology ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; epidemiology ; Diet ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Risk Factors ; Social Class ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; epidemiology

BACKGROUND: The restenosis occurs up to 20%-30% following metal coronary stent implantation. Under the support of the 863 program, the feasibility to treat coronary artery stenosis using a novel drug-eluting stent (DES) has been investigated to reduce restenosis. OBJECTIVE: A drug-eluting stent (rapamycin as drug mode) was implanted into porcine models of coronary stenosis. The safety and efficacy of the drug-eluting stent were observed and compared with bare-metal stent. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: A randomized controlled animal experiment was performed in the Fu Wai Hospital for Cardiovascular Disease between November 2003 and April 2004. MATERIALS: A novel bioinspired phospholipid copolymer was synthesized by free radical polymerization of stearyl methacrylate, β-hydroxypropyl methacrylateand 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propylmethacrylate. METHODS: Twenty-one pigs were randomly divided into 3 groups: bare-mental stent, drug-eluting stent, and polymer-coated stent. The treated stents pre-loaded onto a delivery system through the use of crimping instrument were implanted into pig's coronary artery, with 2 stents per pig. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Determination of luminal diameter, luminal area, mean intimal thickness on and between the stents, neointimal area, percentage of luminal area restenosis, and damage index using an image analysis instrument. RESULTS: At 28 days after implantation, there was significant difference in mean intimal thickness on and between the stents, as well as neointimal area, between the DES and bare-metal stent groups (P < 0.05). The neointimal area was reduced by 44.87% in the DES group compared with the bare-metal stent group. No significant difference in percentage of luminal area restenosis was found between the DES and bare-metal stent groups, but P value equaled to 0.053, which was close to 0.05. In addition, no restenosis was found in the DES group. CONCLUSION: Rapamycin DES can markedly resist intravascular intimal hyperplasia and restenosis following stenting.

Objective To understand the prevalence of older people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Zhejiang province and to provide the basis for elderly early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer' s disease (AD).Methods 1211 more than 60-year-old elderly populations were selected in Zhejiang province,and were given screening questionnaire by general information,the montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) and mini-mental state examination (MMSE).Results MCI prevalence of elderly populations in Zhejiang was 20.7％ and the AD prevalence was 4.5％.The patient' s gender,age,education level,nature of work,sleep status,marital status,whether or not participating in physical exercise,having smoking and drinking habits,whether combined with hypertension and diabetes for MCI prevalence of the elderly were statistically significant (P＜0.05).Conclusion We should pay attention to take appropriate measures in preventing the cognitive decline for populations as elderly,especially for women,senior,no spouse,engaged in manual labor,low education level,poor quality of sleep and no physical exercise,with smoking and drinking,combined with hypertension and diabetes.

BACKGROUNDGastrojejunostomy (GJJ) and endoscopic stenting (ES) are palliative treatments for gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) caused by gastric cancer. We compared the outcomes of GJJ with ES by performing a meta-analysis.

METHODSClinical trials that compared GJJ with ES for the treatment of GOO in gastric cancer were included in the meta-analysis. Procedure time, time to resumption of oral intake, duration of hospital stay, patency duration, and overall survival days were compared using weighted mean differences (WMDs). Technical success, clinical success, procedure-related mortality, complications, the rate of re-obstruction, postoperative chemotherapy, and reintervention were compared using odds ratios (OR s).

RESULTSNine studies were included in the analysis. Technical success and clinical success were not significantly different between the ES and GJJ groups. The ES group had a shorter procedure time (WMD = -80.89 min, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -93.99 to -67.78,P < 0.001), faster resumption of oral intake (WMD = -3.45 days, 95% CI = -5.25 to -1.65,P < 0.001), and shorter duration of hospital stay (WMD = -7.67 days, 95% CI = -11.02 to -4.33,P < 0.001). The rate of minor complications was significantly higher in the GJJ group (OR = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.04-0.40,P < 0.001). However, the rates of major complications (OR = 6.91, 95% CI = 3.90-12.25,P < 0.001), re-obstruction (OR= 7.75, 95% CI = 4.06-14.78,P < 0.001), and reintervention (OR= 6.27, 95% CI = 3.36-11.68,P < 0.001) were significantly lower in the GJJ group than that in the ES group. Moreover, GJJ was significantly associated with a longer patency duration (WMD = -167.16 days, 95% CI = -254.01 to -89.31,P < 0.001) and overall survival (WMD = -103.20 days, 95% CI = -161.49 to -44.91, P= 0.001).

CONCLUSIONSBoth GJJ and ES are effective procedures for the treatment of GOO caused by gastric cancer. ES is associated with better short-term outcomes. GJJ is preferable to ES in terms of its lower rate of stent-related complications, re-obstruction, and reintervention. GJJ should be considered a treatment option for patients with a long life expectancy and good performance status.

Gastric Bypass ; methods ; Gastric Outlet Obstruction ; mortality ; therapy ; Gastroscopy ; methods ; Humans ; Palliative Care ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; Publication Bias ; Stents ; Stomach Neoplasms ; complications

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of paroxe-tine combined with low dose of quetiapine in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder.Methods One hundred and forty patients with gener-alized anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to treatment group ( parox-etine combined with low dose of quetiapine group , n =71 ) and control group ( paroxetine group , n =69 ).The efficacy was assessed by the Hamilton rating scale for anxiety ( HAMA ) , the Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale ( TESS ) for side effects , and Pittsburgh sleep quality in-dex(PSQI)for sleep qualities of all participants at baseline and at the end of 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8thweek.Results There were no significant differ-ences between two groups at cure rate ( 70.4%/68.1%) , notable im-provement rate ( 15.5%/13.0%) , progress rate ( 8.5%/10.1%) , and ineffective rate ( 5.6%/8.7%) overall the treatment course.Compare with the baseline , the treatment group showed notable decrease of HAMA at the 1 st weekend ( P<0.05 ) , and the control group showed that at the 2nd weekend (P<0.05).The treatment group had a more significant de-crease than the control group at the 1st, 2nd, and 4th week end(P<0.05 or P<0.01 ).The psychic anxiety score of the treatment group at the 1st, 2nd, 4th weekend and the somatic anxiety score at the 2nd, 4th weekend showed significant decrease ,compared with the control group ( P<0.05 or P<0.01 ).Both of the two group had no serious adverse events.Conclusion Paroxe-tine combined with low dose of quetiapine is an effective and safe way to treat generalized anxiety disorder , and patients have good compliance under the treatment.

OBJECTIVETo explore the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and point mutations of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene in Chinese of Han ethnicity.

METHODSThe target fragments of the exon 39, exon 61 and exon 63 of ATM gene were first amplified using PCR technique, then screened for the SNPs and point mutations using single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) technique, finally the representative bands were sequenced for the verification of the new single nucleotide polymorphisms and point mutations using the automatic DNA sequencing technique.

RESULTSSix new SNPs were found in the exon 39, intron 61 and intron 63 of ATM gene. They are respectively the A/T polymorphisms at nucleotide 5689 and 5691 in exon 39, the T/G polymorphisms at nucleotide +69 and +99, the A/G polymorphism at nucleotide +94 in intron 61, the G/C polymorphism at nucleotide +17 in intron 63. Five new point mutations were found in the exon 61, intron 62 and exon 63 of ATM gene. They are respectively the T/G transversion at nucleotide 8618 in exon 61, the T/G transversion at nucleotide -13 in intron 62, the T/G transversion at nucleotide 8793, the G/A transitions at nucleotide 8816 and 8848 in exon 63. The known three SNPs, the G/A polymorphism at nucleotide 5557 in exon 39, the T/C polymorphism at nucleotide +104 in intron 61 and the T/C polymorphism at nucleotide -55 in intron 62, were verified in Chinese of Han ethnicity.

CONCLUSIONThere are great differences in the SNPs of ATM gene between Chinese of Han ethnicity and Caucasian.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Ataxia Telangiectasia ; genetics ; Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins ; Cell Cycle Proteins ; genetics ; China ; ethnology ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; European Continental Ancestry Group ; Exons ; genetics ; Humans ; Introns ; genetics ; Point Mutation ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship of the genetic polymorphisms and the haplotypes in hMLH1 and hMSH3 gene with the risk of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in Chinese Hans.

METHODSA hospital based 1:1 matched case-control study was carried out. The polymorphisms for 204 pairs of PTC cases and healthy controls were identified by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and allele specific oligonucleotide (PCR-ASO) assays.

RESULTS(1) The PTC risk was marginally increased in the hMLH1 1151TA genotype, with odds ratio (OR) of 2.15 (95%CI: 0.99-4.85); the PTC risk was significantly increased in the mutant genotype 1151TA+AA, with OR of 2.15 (95%CI: 1.02-4.69); (2) The haplotypes of -93G, 1151A, 655A in the hMLH1 gene could increase the PTC risk, with OR of 2.67 (95%CI: 1.16-6.53, P=0.011), compared with the haplotype of -93G, 1151T, 655A; (3) Compared to 3124A, 2835G haplotype in hMSH3 gene, the 3124G, 2835A haplotype could increase the PTC risk marginally, with OR of 3.08 (95%CI: 0.92-13.25).

CONCLUSIONThe 1151T/A polymorphism in hMLH1 was associated with PTC; both the haplotype of -93G, 1151A, 655A in hMLH1 and the 3124G, 2835A haplotype in hMSH3 were associated with PTC.

Adenocarcinoma, Papillary ; genetics ; Adult ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Haplotypes ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Risk ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo explore the associations between the single nucleotide polymorphism of human mismatch repair gene hMLH1 and the papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in Chinese Han people.

METHODSA hospital based 1:1 matched case-control study was carried out. The single nucleotide polymorphism (-93G > A, 1151T > A and 655A > G) for 204 pairs of cases with PTC as well as healthy controls was identified by PCR-RFLP, PCR-ASO and DNA sequencing.

RESULTSWith univariate analysis, we found that compared to 1151TT genotype, the TA genotype could increase the PTC risk marginally, with odds ratio (OR) of 2.15 (95%CI: 0.99 - 4.85); While the mutant genotype TA + AA could increase the PTC risk statistically significant, with OR of 2.15(95%CI: 1.02 - 4.69). With 2 x 4 cross-over study, we found that compared to -93GG and 1151TT genotypes, individuals with both -93GA + AA and 1151TA + AA could increase the PTC risk marginally, with OR of 2.50 (95%CI: 0.96 - 6.67); While, compared to 655AA and 1151TT genotypes, individuals with both 655AA and 1151TA + AA could increase the PTC risk statistically significant, with OR of 2.50 (95%CI: 1.02 - 4.73). Multivariate and conditional logistic regression analysis showed the genotype of 1151TA, the history of receiving CT diagnosis, the history of tumor, the negative life events and eating seafood frequently could increase the risk of PTC, with OR of 6.79 (95%CI: 3.18 - 14.49), 3.35 (95%CI: 1.93 - 5.80), 39.03 (95%CI: 3.70 - 41.60) and 3.98 (95%CI: 1.81 - 8.73); While, eating fruit frequently could decrease the PTC risk.

CONCLUSIONThe 1151TA + AA genotype, the history of receiving CT diagnosis, the history of tumor, the negative life events and eating seafood frequently were the risk factors of PTC, while eating fruit frequently was the protective factor.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing ; genetics ; Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; epidemiology ; ethnology ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Matched-Pair Analysis ; Middle Aged ; MutL Protein Homolog 1 ; Nuclear Proteins ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; ethnology ; genetics