Retinopathy of prematurity( ROP),a leading cause of childhood visual impairment,is a vascular proliferative retinopathy in premature infants. Although the hallmark of ROP is abnormal retinal vasculature, a growing body of research in animals and observations in patients support a critical role for the neural retina in the ROP disease process. ROP can affect the foundation of the retina and optical nerve during the development duration in childhood, presenting with abnormalities in electroretinogram and multifocal electroretinogram. In addition,it was found that ROP has different degrees of influence on the development of the dioptric system ,which will result in refractive error as the child progress to adulthood. The relationship of the electrophysiology features or refractive abnormality and ROP was summarized in this article.

Objective To detect the quantity of Th17 cells and expressions of related cytokines including interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-22, in peripheral blood and skin lesions of patients with psoriasis vulgaris, and to analyze their correlation with disease severity and clinical course. Methods Peripheral blood was obtained from 44 patients with progressive psoriasis vulgaris and 28 normal human controls. Three-color flow cytometry was carried out to detect the quantity of Th17 cells, and ELISA to examine the levels of serum IL-17 and -22.Skin samples were obtained from 20 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 8 normal human controls, and a quantum dot-based double labled immumofluorescence method was used to determine the quantity of Th17 cells.Results The percentage of peripheral blood Th17 cells was higher in patients with psoriasis vulgaris than in normal human controls (4.71% ± 2.55% vs. 0.55% ± 0.39%, P ＜ 0.01 ). Elevated expressions of IL-17 and IL-22 were noted in the patients compared with the normal human controls (24.02 ± 12.31 ng/L vs. 7.16 ±4.04 ng/L, P ＜ 0.05; 18.32 ± 8.14 ng/L vs. 6.52 ± 4.15 ng/L, P ＜ 0.01 ). The percentage of peripheral blood Th17 cells and serum levels of IL-17 and IL-22 were positively correlated with psoriasis area and severity index (r= 0.53, 0.47, 0.53, respectively, all P ＜ 0.01 ), but unrelated to the clinical course of psoriasis (r = 0.09,0.03, 0.19, respectively, all P ＞ 0.05). There was an infiltrate of Th17 cells in psoriatic lesions, which was mainly distributed around the blood vessels in superficial dermis, whereas there were only a small number of CD4+ T cells in the normal control skin with the absence of Th17 cells. Conclusions Th17 cells are involved in the development of psoriasis, and Th17 cell-secreted cytokines, such as IL-17 and IL-22, may serve as a new therapeutic target for psoriasis.

The progress of modality therapy has improved both survival rate and quality of life of retinoblastoma(RB) patients.However,some problems are still left and unsolved.Parts of the RB relapse after they are treated for the first time.Even more remarkable,the related individuals to the RB patients run a risk of RB.Gene diagnosis and treatment are emerging and appear to solve these problems.Some researches in developed countries and Hong Kong have successfully made progress in gene diagnosis of RB.However,the detection rate of Rb1 gene mutation is very low.Researches documented for many years that gene diagnosis for RB is extremely complex,so we should go further to achieve a goal of gene diagnosis.Gene diagnosis of RB is still an initiation in China.We should strengthen relevant study and spread this technique.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of anatomic M-mode echocardiography (AMM)for pristine diagnosis of myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary heart diseases (CAD).Methods 44 inner patients who were suspected as CAD were detected.Ordinary ultrasound was performed first.The ventricular segmental wall thickness and amplitude were measured by AMM.Then,we got the ventricular wall thickening fractions.All subjects should take the coronary angiography after the ultrasound examination in 1 -3 days.Patients with the vascular stenosis rate≥50% were defined as the CAD group,patients with the completely normal angiographic results were included in the normal control group according to the results of angiography.The parametric differences between the patients and the normal control subjects were compared.Results In the normal control subjects,the ventricular segmental wall amplitude >5mm accounted for 78.67%,the ventricular wall thickening fractions >30% accounted for 99.13%.But in CAD group,the ventricular segmental wall amplitude <4mm accounted for 61.14%,<5mm accounted for 93.47%,the abnormal ventricular wall thickening fractions <30% accounted for 88.43%.The sensitivity, specificity,accuracy of AMM were 77.47%,90.00%,77.39% respectively.Conclusion The ventricular wall thickening fractions of AMMhas quite significant correlation with morbid blood vessel in patients with CAD,they are effective reference indicators to evaluate the left ventricular wall motion quantitatively.

Objective To analyze and evaluate neoadjuvant chemotherapy's value and significance in combining with surgical treatment for limited small cell lung cancer(LD-SCLC).Methods A total of 94 LD-SCLC patients underwent complete resections combined with chemotherapy between January 2000 and January 2011 in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital.Among these cases,initial two cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapies were performed for all pathologically confirmed patients (Group A),and initial operations followed by adjuvant chemotherapy were administered to patients without pathology (Group B).The survival rate was analyzed by log-rank test and Kaplan-Meier method.Multivariate analysis of the prognostic factors was performed using Cox's regression model.Results Group A included 43 cases and Group B included 51 cases.The mean age was (56.37 ± 10.18) years.According to the 6th edition of Tumor,Node,Metastasis(TNM) classification of lung cancer,54 cases were at stage Ⅰ or Ⅱ,40 cases were at stage Ⅲ.Overall 5-year survival(5-YS) was 27％.The 5-YS for patients with stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ was notably better than that of stage Ⅲ (34％ vs 20％,P =0.033).For patients with stage Ⅲ,the 5-YS of Group A was significantly better than that of Group B(34％ vs 12％,P =0.020),besides median overall survival for Group A and Group B were 46 and 15 months(P =0.009).Furthermore,the results of multivariate analysis showed that neoadjuvant chemotherapy,surgery and histopathology of SCLC were independent factors that strongly affected survival and prognosis.Conclusion In combined surgical treatment for LD-SCLC,neoadjuvant chemotherapy obviously improved the prognosis of patients with stage Ⅲ.Therefore,it was very important and necessary that pre-surgical neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered to resectable stage Ⅲ LD-SCLC patients.

Objective To investigate the effect of atorvastatin and rosuvastatin on endothelial function in diabetics with coronary heart disease. Methods A total of 73 consecutive diabetics with coronary heart disease who were not receiving statins were randomized to receive atorvastatin 20 mg/d or rosuvastatin 10 mg/d. The levels of lipids, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP), monoxide nitrogen(NO), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and endothclium-dependent relaxing function(EDF) were assessed before and after 3 months of the treatment. Results The treatment with statins significantly improved endothelial function in diabetics with coronary heart disease. For both rosuvastatin group and atorvastatin group in pro-treatment versus post-treatment, EDF was higher[(5.2±2.4)% vs. (7.9±3.1)%, P=0.008; (5.0±2.8)% vs. (7.6±3.6)%, P=0.024, respectively], NO was also higher((46.6±14.5) μmmol/L vs. (73.3±18.5) μmmol/L; (51.7±14.0) μmmol/L vs. (79.8±16.0) μmmol/L,both P<0.001], ET-1 was lower[(108.2±29.6) pg/L vs. (77.5±26.4) pg/L, P =0.005;(117.1±34.5) pg/L vs. (80.7±28.2) pg/L, P= 0.003, respectively],and hs-CRP was lower[3.17(1.33～6.32) mg/Lvs. 1.39(0.81～2.58) mg/L, P=0.006; 3.43(1.51～7.02) mg/L vs. 1.63(0.69～3.11) mg/L, P = 0.001, respectively]. There were no differences in these between rosuvastatin group and atorvastatin group. Significant negative correlation existed between EDF and hs-CRP. Conclusions A 3 months treatment with either atorvastatin 20 mg/d or rosuvastatin 10 mg/d is effective in improving endothelial function in diabetics with coronary heart disease.

Objective To study the role of photoallergens and contact allergens in the pathogenesis of chronic actinic dermatitis (CAD).Methods Ba sed on the standard procedures of photopatch test recommended by the British Pho todermatology Group (BPG) and the routine procedures of patch test,photopatch a nd patch tests were performed on 56 patients with CAD,42 patients with polymorp hous light eruption (PLE) and 25 patients with chronic eczema on scalp and face by standard photopatch test series recommended by the International Contact Derm atitis Research Group (ICDRG) and home-made standard series of contact allerge ns.A set of ten Philips TL20W/09N tubes was used as the source of irradiation.Results In the 56 CAD patients,the positive rates were 46.43 %,57.14 % and 32.14% for photopatch test,patch test and both tests,respectively,which appea red to be significantly higher than those in the patients with PLE.Positive pa tch reactions were found in 65% of the patients with chronic eczema,which was s imilar to that of CAD.And the frequency of the positive allergens in chronic ec zema was the same as that in CAD,in which fragrance mixture (FM) ranked the fir st,followed by balsam of Peru (BOP),cobalt chloride,nickel sulphate.In CAD,FM and BOP were the most common allergens and photoallergens,which accounted fo r 44% and 32% of the positive reactions in patch tests,15.38% and 17.95% in pho topatch tests,respectively.Conclusions Both photoallergens and contact aller gens may play important roles in the pathogenesis of CAD.Allergens positive in patch tests and photopatch tests and related compounds which can cause cross-r eactivity with the above allergens should be avoided by the patients with CAD.

Objective To study the relationship of sunlight exposure and photoprotection with clinical activity in systemic lupus erythematosus. Methods A structured questionaire was administered to 107 SLE patients, to assess their attitudes and behavior regarding sunlight exposure and photoprotection. The clinical manifestations, laboratory findings and treatment were evaluated. Results All patients were classified into two groups based on the duration of exposure to sunlight per day. Fourty-eight (44.86%) patients were exposed to direct sunlight for an average of less than one hour per day in one group and 59 (55.14%) for one hour or more in the other group. Twenty-four (22.43%) patients reported use of photoprotective measures in spring and summer. The patients in the former group had significantly lower incidences of photosensitivity, arthritis, alopecia, exacerbations, presence of anti-dsDNA antibody, decrease of complement C3, C4 and CH50 than those in the latter group(P

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of oral cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) on lymphangiogenesis in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

METHODSCAFs and normal fibroblasts (NFs) were obtained from the tissues of patients with OSCC who did not receive radio-chemotherapy before operation. And the CAFs and NFs were isolated by method of tissue block and identified by immunohistochemical staining. The effects of CAFs (group A) and NFs (group B) to human lymphatic endothelial cells (HLEC) were detected by using a 24-multiwell transwell cell culture chamber. DMEM sugar medium was as blank control group. The number of proliferative, migratory, invasive and tubes of HLEC were counted under inverted phase contrast microscope.

RESULTSThe proliferative number of HLEC of group A for 96, 144, 196 h was significantly higher than that of group B and blank control group, group B higher than blank control group (P<0.01). The migratory and invasive number of HLEC of group A for 96 h was significantly higher than that of group B and blank control group, group B higher than blank control group (P<0.01). The number of tube formation of HLEC of group A for 24 h was significantly higher than that of group B and blank control group, group B higher than blank control group (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONCAFs promote HLEC's proliferation, migration, invasion, tube formation, and these effects are stronger than NFs.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation ; Endothelial Cells ; Fibroblasts ; physiology ; Humans ; Mouth Neoplasms ; pathology

AIM: To evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of thickness profile measurement of intra-retinal layers determined by an automated algorithm applied to OCT images from Cirrus optical coherence tomography (OCT) instrument.METHODS: In this prospective cross-sectional study,retinal thickness images at 6mm×6mm around fovea were obtained from 86 eyes of 43 normal subjects with Cirrus HD-OCT instrument.The retinal images from patients were analysis by Cirrus automated algorithm GCA software,including ganglion cell layer and inner plexiform layer(GCIPL).During this study,operator A would make 2 times measurements to all patients,after that operator B would make another 2 times measurements by Repeat scan model.All the data,including GCL average thickness,min thickness,12 clock average thickness,2 clock average thickness,4 clock average thickness,6 clock average thickness,8 clock average thickness and 10 clock average thickness were measured by SPSS 15.0 software.Standard deviation (SD),coefficient of variation (CV) and interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated from the results of three-times tests by different examiner to evaluate the repeatability and from the results of two different examiners to assess the reproducibility.Written informed consent was obtained from each subject prior to any medical procedure.RESULTS: The average GCIPL thickness of OD was 85.12±3.95μm;the minimum average GCIPL thickness was 83.21±4.41μm;the standard deviation of OD in clock map was from 3.79μm to 4.84μm;CV(95%CI) was between 0.26 and 0.93;ICC was from 0.939 to 0.989.The average GCL+IPL thickness of OS was 84.65±8.73μm;the minimum average GCPL thickness was 81±13.08μm;the standard deviation of OS in clock map was from 8.24μm to 10.56μm;CV(95%CI) was between 0.92 and 4.94;ICC was from 0.264 to 0.968.CONCLUSION: Cirrus HD-OCT GCA software with automated algorithm can offer accurate and repeatable thickness profile of OCT retinal image.GCA is a useful and reliable approach to the measurement of intra-retinal layer thickness,which may improve the diagnosis and monitoring of retinal diseases.