Objective To determine the nature of enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes,the study of CT-guided transbronchial needle aspiration biopsy(CT-TBNA) was conducted. Methods According to classification and locating standard of mediastinal lymph nodes,CT-TBNA was performed in 158 mediastinal lymph nodes of 73 patients,including 54 primary lung cancer with enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes,5 malignant lymphoma, 3 mediastinal abscess and 11 mediastinal inflammatory adenopathy. Results CT confirmed that the needles were inside all 158 lymph nodes. Adequate aspirates for histologic and/or cytologic diagnosis were obtained in 136 of 158 (86%) lymph node biopsies. No serious complications occurred. Conclusion Locating standard of CT-guided TBNA was reliable. Puncture was safe and cost-effective.CT-TBNA was important for ascertaining the nature of mediastinal adenopathy and staging of neoplasms.

Acetyltransferases ; genetics ; Breast Neoplasms ; genetics ; Female ; GPI-Linked Proteins ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; genetics ; Humans ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; genetics ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; genetics ; physiopathology ; S100 Proteins ; genetics ; Transcription Factors ; genetics

Burns ; pathology ; Humans ; Wound Healing

Objective To analyse the pathogenesis,diagnosis and treatment of tethered cord syndrome(TCS) and to improve the knowledge of the disease.Method The clinical data of 16 cases with TCS who underwent surgical lysis were analyzed,retrospectively.Results Thirteen cases were followed-up for 6 months to 1 year.Three cases with handicap of lower limb function and aesthesia and rectum and bladder sphincter dysfunction got good outcome,and 2 cases showed no improvement,while 10 cases with no symptoms(didn′t) appear TCS.Conclusions It is necessary to diagnose and manage as early as possible.The tethered cord lysis can relieve the symptoms of some cases and control development of TCS.

Objective To study the expression of protein kinase B (Akt/PKB) isoforms in the gastrocnemius muscle of rats at different ages. Methods The expression levels of mRNA and protein of three Akt isoforms in the gastrocnemius muscle of 30-month-old and 6-month-old rats were detected respectively by RT-PCR and Western blotting. Data were analyzed statistically. Results (1) The levels of Akt1 and Akt2 mRNA in the 30-month-old rats was significantly higher than those in the 6-month-old rats (t=7.124, P=0.000; t=2.598, P=0.021), however, no significant difference was found in the level of Akt3 mRNA between the two groups (t=0.460, P=0.653) . (2) The level of Akt-Thr308 phosphorylation in the 30-month-old rats was significantly lower than that in the 6-month-old rats (t=-9.861, P=0.000), while the level of Akt2 protein in the 30-month group was significantly higher than that in the younger rats (t=7.522, P=0.000). No significant differences were detected in the levels of Akt1 and Akt3 proteins between the two groups (t=0.469, P=0.646; t=0.058, P=0.955). Conclusion The expression levels of three Akt isoforms in the gastrocnemius muscle of rats change with age, suggesting that the three isoforms of Akt have different functions in the gastrocnemius muscle metabolism of rats at different ages.

Objective To evaluate the immunomodulatory effect of Haishen-Xiyangshen-Gouqizi Koufuye(HXGK),an oral liquid of healthy food product,on the immunocompromised mouse model. Methods The cytotoxicity was assayed by the MTT method using murine monocyte macrophagse Raw264.7 cells. The in vitro phagocytic activity of RAW264.7 cells was assayed by the colorimet-ric neutral red phagocytosis test. In the in vivo mouse test,animals were randomized into six groups,each with ten mice:the normal control,model control,positive control groups and three HXGK(5,10,and 20 ml/kg)test groups. The immunocompromised mouse model was created by the intraperitoneal injection of 40 mg/kg dexamethasone once every other day for a total of five times. After first time injection of dexamethasone,the normal control(without the dexamethasone injection)and model control groups were adminis-tered orally once a day with saline,the positive control group with 25 mg/kg levamisole,and the three test groups with 5,10 and 20 ml/kg HXGK,respectively,for a total of 21 days. Then the carbon particle clearance index,the spleen and thymus indices,and the leukocytes,lymphocytes,IgG and IgA in peripheral blood were measured respectively. Results Compared with the normal control, HXGK significantly enhanced the phagocytic index of RAW264.7 cells from 1.00 to 1.12(P<0.01)and 1.32(P<0.01)at the 100-and 20-fold diluted dosages,respectively,in the in vitro neutral red phagocytosis test. In the in vivo mouse test,compared with the model control group,HXGK at the doses of 5,10 and 20 ml/kg obviously increased the carbon particle clearance index about 1.8(P<0.01),1.5(P<0.05)and 1.7-fold(P<0.05)and improved the spleen index from 1.60 to 2.96(P<0.01),2.56(P<0.01)and 2.32(P<0.05),the thymus index from 1.31 to 1.46,1.59(P<0.05)and 1.71(P<0.05),respectively. Meanwhile,HXGH at the 5,10 and 20 ml/kg dosages also increased the leukocytes about 1.32,1.75(P<0.05)and 1.46 folds(P<0.05),the lymphocytes about 16 (P<0.01),20(P<0.01)and 19 folds(P<0.01),the IgG level about 19%,57%(P<0.01)and 64%(P<0.05),and the IgA lev-el about 65%(P<0.01),47%(P<0.05)and 44%(P<0.01),all in the peripheral blood respectively. Conclusion HXGH could significantly enhance the immune function of the immunocompromised mice.

Objective To investigate the probability and timing of childhood Miller-Fisher syndrome (MFS) progressing to Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis (BBE), classical Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), and pharyngeal-cervical-brachial (PCB-GBS). Methods The clinical data of 128 children with confirmed MFS diagnosis were retrospectively analyzed. Results Among 128 children, 60 cases were simple MFS (ocular muscle paralysis, ataxia, reflexes diminished or disappeared, without limbs weakness and lethargy; laboratory tests suggest cerebrospinal fluid protein-cell separation and/or serum anti-GQ1b antibody positive), 28 cases developed MFS/PCB-GBS (met MFS diagnosis criteria, accompanied by weakness of pharynx, neck and upper limb, weakened or disappeared of upper limb reflex, without weakness of lower limb), 22 cases developed MFS/GBS (met MFS diagnosis criteria, accompanied by weakness of limb), 18 cases developed MFS/BBE (met MFS diagnosis criteria, accompanied by lethargy, pyramidal tract positive). There were no differences in the age at onset, the interval from onset to the start of the treatment, Hughes functional grading, and the percentage of cases having a history of preceding infections, the rate of positive serum anti-GQ1b antibody, the ratio of albumin cytological dissociation in cerebrospinal fluid among 4 groups (P>0.05). The interval from MFS onset to progression to MFS/PCB-GBS, MFS/GBS, or MFS/BBE was within 10 days. Conclusions In children with MFS, 50% developed PCB-GBS, GBS, or BBE, which occurred within 10 days after onset. Clinicians should pay attention to the time window and adjust the medicine rationally.

BACKGROUND: Vascular dementia is a syndrome characterized by cognitive impairment, which is induced by ischemic or hemorrhagic apoplexy or ischemic-anoxic brain injury. It is assigned to "imbecility", "dementia", "sluggish consciousness", "susceptible to forget things" etc. By traditional Chinese medicine. Impairments of memory and cognition etc. Caused by dementia seriously affect psychosomatic health and quality of life of elderly people.OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of shuanggen cephalocathartic decoctum on learning, memory and spatial discrimination ability of vascular dementia rats.DESIGN: Randomized control trail taking experimental animals as objects.SETTING: Teaching and Research Section of Basic Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Preclinical Medicine College, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.MATERIALS: The experiment was performed in Laboratory of Viscerastate of Teaching and Research Section of Basic Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Preclinical Medicine College, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, from January to February 2004. A total of 40 male SD rats were selected and randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, model plus traditional Chinese medicine group and model plus Western medicine group, with 10 in each group. Before the experiment, all the rats were adaptively fed for one week, free drinking and eating before and during the experiment. Medicine and reagent are shuanggen cephalocathartic decoctum and Nimotop tablet, and main experimental apparatuses are DTT-2 jumping apparatus and SMG-2 water maze apparatus.METHODS: Blood was collected from left ventricle under aseptic condi tion, and dried in incubator at 37 ℃, after trituration, it was sifted with sieve of 200μm meshes and embolus was prepared. 1 mg embolus and 0.3 mL physiological saline was mixed and shaken up into suspension. Common carotid artery was temporarily occluded with a vascular clamp, and external carotid artery was retrogradely intubated and the embolus suspension was injected into encephalon to establish model of multiple cerebral infarction. In sham operation group, canulate tubule was intubated only to the bifurcation of common carotid artery, with no fluid injected in. Before the experiment, rats in model group and sham operation group were normally fed, while rats in model plus traditional Chinese medicine group were additionally given shuanggen cephalocathartic decoctum [4 g/(kg·d)] infusion and rats in model plus western medicine group were additionally given Nimotop [2 mg/(kg·d)] infusion, once a day for consecutive 15 days. Passive escape jumping experiment was conducted on rats in each group on the 9th day.Recorded the reaction time for rat jumping onto the rubber cushion after electric shock and the frequency of mistakes of suffering electric shock due to jumping down from the platform in 3 minutes, and took the results as learning indexes. The test was repeated on the 10th day. Put the rat into the box for 3-minture adaptation, then put it on the rubber cushion; recorded the latency for rat first jumping down from the rubber cushion and the frequency of jumpingdown from the rubber cushion in 3 minutes, and took the results as memory indexes. Water maze spatial discrimination experiment was conducted on rats in each group on the 11th day, recorded the frequency of mistakes of rats entering dead end and the latency for landing on safe platform. Every time, took a 40-second rest after swimming. Each rat was trained 10 times a day for consecutive three days. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Results of passive escape jumping experiment and water maze spatial discrimination experiment. RESULTS: Each group had a rat dead in the process of operation except sham operation group in which all rats moved normally. Totally 37 rats entered results analysis. ① Results of passive escape jumping experiment: On the 9th day, compared with model group, the reaction time of rats in sham operation group, model plus traditional Chinese medicine group and model plus western medicine group significantly shortened (P < 0.01 -0.05), the frequency of mistakes in 3 minutes remarkably decreased in sham operation group and model plus traditional Chinese medicine group (P < 0.05); on the 10th day, the latency was significantly prolonged in sham operation group as compared with model group (P < 0.05); compared with model group, the frequency of mistakes in 3 minutes significantly decreased in sham operation group, model plus traditional Chinese medicine group and model plus western medicine group (P < 0.05). ② Results of water maze spatial discrimination: On the 3rd day, compared with model group, the frequency of mistakes of rats entering dead end significantly decreased in sham operation group, model plus traditional Chinese medicine group and model plus western medicine group (P < 0.001-0.05); the frequency of mistakes in model plus traditional Chinese medicine group obvi ously decreased as compared with model plus western medicine group (P < 0.05). During the 2nd and 3rd days of water maze experiment, the time for the rat reaching terminal was significantly shortened in sham operation group, model plus traditional Chinese medicine group and model plus western medicine group as compared with model group (P < 0.05).CONCLUSION: Shuanggen cephalocathartic decoctum can significantly improve learning and memory ability of rat model of vascular dementia, and is more effective than Nimotop in the aspect of improving spatial discrimination ability of rat.

Objective To evaluate the impact of different anatomical landmarks on registration in imaging-guided radiation (IGRT) for lung cancer. Methods For 20 patients with non-small cell lung cancer receiving stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in Fudan University Cancer Hospital, 100 frames of kilo-voltage cone-beam computed tomography scanning were evaluated in this study. The spine, carina and tumor were selected as landmarks for registration, respectively. Results of registration using different landmarks were documented and compared. Results The average set-up errors in the left-right, superiorinferior and anterior-posterior directions were -0. 08 cm ±0. 32 cm, -0. 16 cm ±0. 45 cm and 0. 06 cm ±0. 23 cm with the spine for registration;0. 06 cm ±0. 34 cm, -0. 13 cm ±0. 45 cm and -0. 02 cm±0.23 cm with the carina;and -0. 17 cm ±0.25 cm, 0.03 cm ±0.47 cm and 0. 15 cm ±0.38 cm with tumor. The registration results between using the carina and tumor as landmarks were statistically significant different (q=4.61, P=0. 002 ;q = 2. 23 , P=0. 118;q=3.44, P=0. 017). The registration results were equal when using the spine and tumor as landmarks ( q = 1.85, P = 0. 195; q = 2. 54, P = 0. 075; q = 1.89,P=0. 185), as well as using the carina and tumor as landmarks (q=2.76, P=0. 054;q=0.31, P=0. 826 ;q = 1.55, P = 0. 276). Conclusions For early stage lung cancer, the spine and tumor can be used equally as registration landmarks in imaging-guided SBRT. The carina is not suggested for its poor reproducible position.

Tyrosine phosphorylation is a key post-translational mechanism that regulates cellular processes and maintains homeostasis.Aberrant changes in tyrosine phosphorylation are often associated with disease states such as metabolicdisorders,cancer and cardiovascular disease.Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) are the enzyme family that regulates protein phosphorylation level of tyrosine residues in the cellular processes and signaling ways.So far,scientists have discovered 112 kinds of human PTPs.Among them,PTP1B is widely and clearly studied.Recently,as an enzyme that play a role in oncogenesis,PTP1B has been wildey studied by scientists.Here,we highlight the relationship between protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B and hematologic neoplasms.