AIM To observe the protective effect of taurine on focal cerebral ischemia in rats. METHODS Male SD rats were divided at random into three groups, i.e. sham-operated, control and treatment group respectively. Before ischemia impairment, taurine(250 mg?kg -1?d -1)was administrated ip for one week in treatment group. A nylon suture was inserted into internal carotid artery to occlude the beginning of middle cerebral artery(MCAO). After 3 h permanent occlusion, neurology deficit score was evaluated. At 6 h, all animals were decapitated rapidly to get brain tissue. Brain infarct region was stained by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium(TTC) and the size was measured by AUTOCAD. Contents of malondialdehyde(MDA) and nitric oxide synthase(NOS) and activity of superoxide dismetase(SOD) in brain tissue were detected by spectrophotometer. Expressions of iNOS and inter-cellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were observed through immunohistochemistry method. RESULTS Compared with the control group:Taurine can ameliorate neurological deficit score and decrease infarct volume induced by MCAO. Taurine improved the activity of SOD, but did not affect NOS activity in the infarct without affecting MDA content after 6 h MCAO. Taurine decreased the positive expression of ICAM-1 significantly in brain slice. CONCLUSION The results suggest that taurine may reduce expression of ICAM-1 and improve activity of SOD, and play an neuroprotective effect against middle cerebral artery occulusion.

Objective To investigate the clinical effects and indications of phacoemulsification and soft intraocular lens(IOL)implantation combined with viscogoniosynechialysis in the management of primary angle closure glaucoma(PACG).Methods Forty-six eyes of primary angle closure glaucoma with co-existing cataract were treated with phacoemulsification and IOL implantation combined with goniosynechialysis.The mean follow-up duration was 9 to 24 months.The main outcome measures were pre-operative and post-operative changes of intraocular pressure,visual acuity,depth of anterior chamber,anterior chamber angle,outflow facility of aqueous humor(C values)and PO/C ratio,and the number of glaucoma eye drops required.Results Compared with pre-operation,intraocular pressure was decreased(paired t test,P

Objective: To evaluate the quality of life,peripheral blood and immune function of patients with malignant tumors treated by PSP.Methods: We searched MEDLINE,Pubmed and other databases by computer.We assessed the identified studies in order to include high quality studies.Results:A total of 7 into the study,701 cases of patients.Meta analysis showed that polysacchariopeptide treatment for patients with certain malignant tumors after chemotherapy might improve the quality of life.Polysacchariopeptide group combined with chemotherapy drugs might improve the white blood cells,hemoglobin,platelet compared to chemotherapy drugs or batyl alcohol drugs combined with chemotherapy.Polysacchariopeptide drug combined with chemotherapy may increase the CD_3~+ ,CD_4~+ ,CD_8~+ and CD_4~+/CD_8~+ ratio,and the NK cells was no significant difference.Conclusion:PSP combined with chemotherapy to treat malignant tumors has a certain effect.However,most of trials included in the review may be of low quality,therefore,it may be neccessity to conduct multi-center randomized-controlled trials of high quality.

OBJECTIVETo compare the therapeutic effect of Astragalus and Angelica Mixture (AAM) on treating CKD patients according to different CKD primary diseases, staging and TCM syndromes.

METHODSA multicentre, open-label, and self control clinical design was used, and thirty-two patients in line with inclusive criteria were recruited. Based on maintaining their previous basic CKD treatment, patients additionally took AAM (Astragalus and Angelica each 30 g), once a day, three months consisted of one therapeutic course. Serum creatinine (SCr), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eG- FR), 24 h urinary total protein (UTP), plasma albumin (ALB), hemoglobin (Hb), and changes of TCM syndrome factor integrals were compared before treatment, at the end of month 1, 2, and 3. The differences in the aforesaid indices were compared between CKD patients with different CKD primary diseases (chronic glomerulonephritis, chronic renal tubulointerstitial disease, hypertensive renal damage), different CKD stages (CKD 3 and CKD 4), and patients of qi-blood deficiency syndrome (QBDS) and non-QBDS.

RESULTSAAM could improve 78.12% (25/32) patients' renal function. Compared with before treatment, SCr decreased (12.08% +/- 10.11%), eGFR increased (21.14% +/- 18.55%), and ALB increased (2.76% +/- 1.97%) at the end of 3-month treatment (all P < 0.05). As for TCM syndrome factor integrals, compared with before treatment, the integrals for qi deficiency syndrome, blood deficiency syndrome, and yin deficiency syndrome decreased, while the integrals for dampness heat syndrome and turbid-toxin syndrome increased (all P < 0.05). There was no obvious difference in all indices except the integral for hypertensive renal damage patients of yin deficiency syndrome (P > 0.05). The SCr decreasing percent was 19.82% +/- 8.30% for patients of non-QBDS and 5.24% +/- 10.75% for patients of QBDS. The latter was higher with statistical difference (P < 0.05). As for TCM syndrome factor integrals, the integral differences of qi deficiency and blood deficiency were obviously higher in patients of QBDS, when compared with patients of non-QBDS (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAAM could improve the renal function of CKD patients, elevate their ALB levels, and ameliorate associated qi deficiency syndrome, blood deficiency syndrome, and yin deficiency syndrome, especially for CKD patients of QBDS.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Angelica ; Astragalus Plant ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; drug therapy ; Treatment Outcome ; Yin Deficiency ; drug therapy ; Young Adult

Objective To provide a practical device and protocol to hold conscious rats for subsequent operations which can overcome the disadvantages of existing methods .Users can complete the experiment more efficiently , with or without prior experience .Methods Using transparent plastic film , plastic sealing machine and sponge to make a simple device for holding rats , by taking advantage of their escaping nature .To compare the performance of the new method and existing methods for holding and injecting rats .Results Compared with existing methods , the new device and method can reduce the time-consuming to hold rats by 44.7%, from 18.13 seconds to 10.03 seconds.For holding and injecting , the new method can reduce the time-consuming by 55.3%, from 139.33 seconds to 52.26 seconds .Conclusions The new device and method is good for holding and injecting rats or drawing blood from the caudal veins .It can shorten the time of operation and reduce the stress reaction in the animals .It’ s especially helpful for inexperienced experimenters such as students in teaching and research tasks .

Aim To explore the differences in hyper-trophic marker genes such as atrial natriuretic peptide ( ANP) , brain natriuretic peptide ( BNP) and β-myo-sin heavy chain (β-MHC) genes in different models of cardiac hypertrophy. Methods Respectively using re-nal abdominal aortic coarctation ( AAC) , arteriovenous fistula ( AVF) and isoproterenol ( ISO) methods to es-tablish C57BL/6 mouse model of cardiac hypertrophy. After modeling, each mouse ’ s body weight ( BW ) , heart weight ( HW) and left ventricular weight ( LVW) were weighed, and the heart weight ( HW/BW) and left ventricular index ( LVW/BW ) were calculated;myocardium by HE staining, pathological morphologi-cal changes were observed; myocardium by immuno-histochemistry, ANP, BNP and β-MHC protein ex-pression was observed;myocardium by Real-time PCR detection, ANP, BNP and β-MHC mRNA expression was observed. Results Compared with control group, HW/BW and LVW/BW were increased in three mod-els. Through the light microscope, each mouse model showed varying degrees of cardiac hypertrophy. ANP, BNP and β-MHC were increased in the protein and mRNA expression. Compared with AAC group, AVF and ISO groups’ myocardial tissue ANP, BNP and β-MHC expression were decreased in the protein and mRNA expression. Conclusions Three cardiac hy-pertrophy models are successful. Cardiac tissue ANP, BNP and β-MHC expression in AAC model exceeds AVF and ISO model.

Objective To investigate the effect of ultrasound-and nerve stimulator-guided femoral nerve and lateral femoral cutaneous nerve block versus general anesthesia on knee joint surgery in elderly patients.Methods The 110 elderly patients with spinal anesthetic contraindication and undergoing lower extremity surgery from June 2014 to June 2015 were randomly divided into observation group (n =55) and control group (n =55).The observation group received both ultrasound-and nerve stimulator-guided femoral nerve and lateral femoral cutaneous nerve block,and the control group was given general anesthesia.Anesthesia procedure,sensory block onset time,changes in heart rate and mean artery pressure (MAP) after anesthesia,the total quantity of fluids infusion,dosage of vasopressor and hypotensor,adverse anesthetic reactions,anesthetic fees,anesthetic effect were recorded.Results Anesthetic preparation and practicing time had no difference between the two groups [(8.3 ± 1.7) min vs.(7.7 ± 1.2) min,(t =1.661,P=0.139)].The block onset time was longer in observation group than in control group [(10.3 ± 1.4) min vs.(3.2±0.6) min,t=50.180,P＜0.01].The changes in MAP had significant difference between the two groups [5 min after anesthesia:(89.24 ± 8.30) mmHg and (77.90 ± 8.05) mmHg;after operation:(96.60±8.03) mmHg and (106.22±8.88) mmHg;P＜0.05].There were significant differences in the fluid infusion quantity,dosage of vasopressor and hypotensor,adverse reactions during or after anesthesia,and anesthetic fees between the two groups [(1150.9± 231.6) ml vs.(1400.0±256.5) ml,(3.91±1.21) mg vs.(10.83±2.19)mg,(1.80±0.37) mg vs.(8.27±1.25)mg,3.6％ vs.18.2％,(1239.1±202.9) Yuan vs.(2307.2±205.6) Yuan,all P＜0.05].No significant difference was found in anesthesia effect between the two groups (P =0.198).Conclusions The ultrasound-and nerve stimulator-guided femoral nerve and lateral femoral cutaneous nerve block versus general anesthesia is more simple and safe for the knee joint surgery in elderly patients,with less complications,lower cost and higher satisfaction of patients.

Background Corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) shows good clinical effects for keratoconus,and de-epithelized CXL appears to be benefit to the distribution and absorption of riboflavin in cornea stroma.However,de-epithelization of CXL will increase the infective risk and corneal healing time.It is very important to understand and control the affecting factors of corneal repair after de-epithelization of CXL.Objective This study was to evaluate the characteristics of corneal epithelial repair and analyze the relevant factors affecting corneal healing time after de-epithelized CXL.Methods A series-cases observational study was performed.De-epithelized CXL was performed on 77 eyes of 68 keratoconus patients in Shandong Eye Hospital from September 2013 to September 2015 under the approval of Ethic Committee of this hospital and informed consent of each patient.The age,corneal curvature,corneal thickness,breakup time of tear film (BUT),corneal front astigmatism (Astig) and epithelial healing time of the patients were recorded after surgery.The correlations between corneal epithelium healing time and above-mentioned factors were analyzed.Results De-epithelized CXL was smoothly finished in all the eyes.The corneal epithelium healing time was 2-12 days after surgery,with the average healing time 5 (4,6) days.The mean age,thickness at corneal thinnest point,minimal cornea curvature (Kf),maximal corneal curvature (Ks),corneal average curvature (Km) and Astig was 22.00 (18.00,25.00) years,436 (412,470) μm,47.40 (44.70,50.45) D,52.10 (49.00,54.55) D,50.00 (47.15,53.15) D and-3.30 (-5.45,1.70) D,respectively.Spearman rank correlation analysis showed significant negative correlations between corneal epithelium healing time and BUT or the thickness at corneal thinnest point (BUT:rs =-0.334,P =0.003;corneal thickness:rs =-0.417,P =0.000),and thesignificant positive correlations were found between corneal epithelium healing time and Km,Kf and Ks (Km:rs =0.449,P =0.000;Kf:rs =0.300,P =0.008;Ks:rs =0.432,P =0.000).There were no considerable correlarions between corneal epithelium healing time and age or Astig (age:rs =0.023,P =0.845;Astig:rs =-0.190,P =0.098).Multiple linear regression analysis were carried out to study the dependent variable and independent factors.Because of the multiple co-linearity between variables,this paper corrects the model by using ridge regression.There is significant negative correlation between BUT,corneal thickness and corneal healing time,respectively (both at P＜0.05),corneal curvature Km and Kf is positively correlated with corneal healing time (both at P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The corneal thickness,Kf,Km,as well as BUT are influencing factors of epithelial healing after CXL.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical features of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) among children of different ages.

METHODSRetrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 112 children who were hospitalized due to MMP between January 2010 and December 2011. The children were divided into 3 groups according to their ages: infants (<3 years; n=20), preschool-aged children (≥3 years; n=41), and school-aged children (6-15.2 years; n=51). The three groups were compared in terms of their clinical symptoms, pulmonary signs, chest X-ray findings and laboratory test results.

RESULTSThe infant group presented mainly with expectoration and wheezing, accompanied by low fever. They showed gastrointestinal symptoms as the most common extra-pulmonary manifestation and had evident pulmonary signs. The majority of the school-aged children group presented with high fever and a severe dry cough, and wheezing was seen in several of them. They showed rash as the most common extra-pulmonary manifestation and had slight pulmonary signs. The symptoms of the preschool-aged children group were in between. In the infant and preschool-aged children groups, most showed bronchopneumonia on chest X-ray, while in the school-aged children group, chest X-rays mostly showed segmental parenchymatous infiltration. The infant group had a higher lymphocyte count than the school-aged children group, while the school-aged children group had a higher serum C-reactive protein level than the infant group.

CONCLUSIONSThe clinical features of MPP are different among children of different ages, especially between infants and school-aged children.

Adolescent ; Age Factors ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; blood ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Retrospective Studies

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Completely-zero-ray for radiofrequency catheter ablation(RFA)of premature ventricular complexes from right ventricular outflow tract(RVOT-PVC)using a 3-dimensional electroanatomic mapping system with single catheter compared with conventional two-dimensional catheter ablation guided by X-ray. Methods 25 patients with RVOT-PVC undergoing ablation treatment in our hospital between April 2015 and March 2017 were included in the research.13 patients were in the 3-dimensional(3-D)group treated by CARTO 3 molding and mapping and ablation with completely zero X-ray.12 patients were in the 2-dimensional(2-D)group treated by ablation guided by traditional X-ray. Such indexes as mapping time,total fluoroscopy time,total procedure time,discharge times,success rate,and complications of the two groups were compared.Results The two groups have no difference in success rate(91.6% vs 92.3%,P=0.953). Compared with 2-D group,the 3-D group have the significant decrease in mapping time(14.8 ± 4.3 vs 4.5 ± 2.2,P=0.000),total fluoroscopy time(20.0 ± 4.6 vs 0 ± 0,P=0.000),total procedure time(63.8 ± 3.9 vs 54.4 ± 4.6,P=0.000)and discharge times(5.7 ± 2.3 vs 3.4 ± 1.0,P=0.003). Conclusions Compared with traditional X-ray guided ablation, mapping time,operation time,discharge times in 3-D group decreased significantly,and zero fluoroscopy can be avoided.Complete ablation for RVOT-PVC guided by zero X-ray fluoroscopy using the CARTO 3 is safe and effective.