Aim To study the biotransformation of gly-cyrrhizin in rat intestine-liver. Methods The in situ vascularly perfused rat intestine-liver model was estab-lished with a validated LC-MS/MS method for assay of the model perfusate glycyrrhizin and glycyrrhetinic acid. Results The steady state intestinal and liver ex-traction ratios in the once-through perfused rat intes-tine-liver model for glycyrrhizin were ( 4. 2 ± 0. 6 )%and (28. 0 ± 3. 0)%, respectively; the first-order ab-sorption rate constant for glycyrrhizin in the recircula-tion of perfusate to the intestine model was ( 0. 33 ± 0. 06 ) min-1;after intraduodenal administration of gly-cyrrhizin,the main active metabolite in was the perfu-sate glycyrrhetinic acid, which was also found in intes-tinal luminal fluids. Conclusions The first-pass effi-cacy of glycyrrhizin is obvious and there is only a small amount of metabolite in the intestinal mucosa cells;gly-cyrrhizin is metabolized by gut bacteria or liver cells af-ter oral administration;the in situ vascularly perfused rat intestine-liver model can be used in glycyrrhizin pharmacokinetic studies.

OBJECTIVETo summarize the clinical efficacy of pediatric liver transplantation, and investigate the characters of pediatric liver transplantation in their indications, surgical procedures and postoperative management.

METHODSFrom August 2000 to March 2007, 23 liver transplantations were performed on 20 children, aging from 6 months to 13 years old. The most common indications were biliary atresia, Wilson's disease, glycogen storage disease and urea cycle defects. Surgical procedures included 4 living donor liver transplantations, 1 Domino liver transplantation, 5 split grafts, 10 reduced liver grafts and 3 whole cadaveric grafts. The triple-drug (FK506, steroid and MMF) immunosuppressive regimen was used in 19 children, except one children using cyclosporine.

RESULTSThree children died of primary non-function, heart failure and abdominal infections respectively during peri-operative period, and the mortality was 15.0%. Nine children showed different post-operative complications including 2 hepatic artery thrombosis, 1 portal vein thrombosis, 1 acute rejection, 3 biliary leakage, 2 biliary stricture, 2 intestinal fistula, 3 abdominal infection, 1 pulmonary infection and 1 heart failure. Cumulative patient survival rates at 6-month, 1-and 2-year were 80.0%, 73.9% and 73.9%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSLiver transplantation is an effective option to cure the liver disease of children with end-stage. Different surgical procedure could be chosen according to the children's age and body weight.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; administration & dosage ; Infant ; Liver Transplantation ; methods ; Male ; Postoperative Complications ; therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDAlthough liver transplantation has become a standard therapy for end-stage liver diseases, the experience of pediatric liver transplantation is limited in China. In this article we report our experience in pediatric liver transplantation, and summarize its characters in their indications, surgical techniques, and postoperative managements.

METHODSThirty-one children (< or = 18 years old) underwent liver transplantation in our centers. The mean age at transplantation was 12.4 years old (ranged from 5 months to 18 years) with 7 children being less than 4 years of age at transplantation. The most common diagnosis of patients who underwent liver transplantation were biliary atresia, Wilson's disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, glycogen storage disease, hepatoblastoma, urea cycle defects, fulminant hepatic failure, etc. The surgical procedures included 12 standard (without venovenous bypass), 6 pigyback, 6 reduced-size, 3 split, 3 living donor liver transplantation, and 1 Domino liver transplantation. The triple-drug (FK506, steroid, and mycophenolate mofetil) immunosuppressive regimen was used in most of patients. Patients were followed up for a mean of 21.8 months.

RESULTSFive of the 31 patients died during perioperative time; mortality rate was 16.1%. The reasons of death were infections, primary non-function, heart failure, and hypovolemic shock. Postoperative complications in 10 patients included biliary leakage, acute rejection, abdominal infection, hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and pulmonary infection. Overall patient cumulative survival rate at 1-, 3-, and 5-year was 78.1%, 62.6%, 62.6%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSThe most common indications of pediatric liver transplantation were congenital end-stage liver diseases. According to patients' age and body weight, standard, piggyback, reduced-size, split, or living donor liver transplantation should be performed. Pediatric liver transplantation especially requires higher surgical skills. The early postoperative management is the key to success. Postoperative bile leak was common, but most patients underwent liver transplantation had a better prognosis.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects ; mortality ; Male ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVETo explore the mental health status of residents scattered living in Anxian after Wenchuan earthquake so as to provide scientific basis for further mental health intervention.

METHODSA face to face interview was conducted among the scattered residents with designed questionnaire, which had three parts of the physical and emotional reaction, the relax methods and the social care and supports expected. Two-stage probability proportional to size (PPS) sample method was performed to sample 2184 from 0.44 million scattered residents in Anxian. On the basis of statistical description, mental health of different characteristics groups was compared.

RESULTSThree main symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorders in 2184 residents (11.23+/-3.44) were higher than the 103 fire victims in Hunan in 2003 (10.06+/-3.26), three factor scores of SCL-90 (5.76+/-1.74) were higher than normal in 1998 repair mode (n=23 891) (4.72+/-1.44), and the statistical difference was observed (t=10.77, P<0.05; t=706.04, P<0.05). Comparing the mental health of different groups, some significant differences were found by age, gender and education background.

CONCLUSIONThe earthquake disaster brought prevalent physical and emotional reaction. Elderly people, female, junior students need mental intervention immediately. Therefore, strengthen the mental education and assistance (especially in high risk groups) would be of more significance.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Disasters ; Earthquakes ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Mental Health ; Middle Aged ; Sampling Studies ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore the public health situation and needs in Anxian after Wenchuan earthquake so as to make an effective strategy for disease control and prevention.

METHODS69 concentrated settlements with 100 residents were investigated. Probability proportion to size was adopted for sampling of 2200 residents from 687 scattered households (about 440 000 scattered residents). The content of this survey included drinking water, food hygiene, environment sanitation, planning immunity and medical health service, disease surveillance and so on. SPSS 16.0 was used for data analysis, and statistical interpretation was used to describe the results.

RESULTS90.9% (31/66) resettled residents in Anxian lived in tents, 7.6% (5/66) lived in the movable-plate house, 93.3% (621/666) scattered households lived in tents and 71.9% (446/621) of them lived in tents which were built by residents themselves; the rate of drinking water disinfection in resettlement sites and scattered households were 97.1% (66/68) and 94.6% (650/687); 12.8% scattered residents had mouldy or food; 50% of resettlement sites raised animals; 43.6% (17/39) medical station didn't have bacterin inoculation service; 66.7% (10/15) lacked sufficient disinfection equipment; register rate was 50.0% (33/66) and report rate of symptoms and infectious diseases was 56.1% (37/66).

CONCLUSIONThere was still some risk of enteric and vector-borne diseases in Anxian, therefore, some tailored measures should be very important.

Disasters ; Earthquakes ; Environmental Monitoring ; Health Care Surveys ; Health Services ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Water Supply

Objective To investigate the prevalence of Spirometra mansoni infections in hosts in Jiangsu Province, so as to provide the scientific basis for the management of sparganosis mansoni. Methods From 2018 to 2019, nine counties (cities, districts) were randomly selected from Jiangsu Province as the survey sites, and 100 healthy individuals were randomly selected to perform the serological test of S. mansoni infections and the detection of S. mansoni eggs. The procercoids were detected in the intermediate host Cyclops, and the S. mansoni eggs were identified in the stool samples of the definitive hosts cats and dogs. Results The prevalence of S. mansoni human infections was 0 (0/900) in the 9 survey sites of Jiangsu Province, and the sero-prevalence of the specific IgG antibody against S. mansoni was 1.22% (11/900). The positive rate of procercoids was 0.33% (3/900) in Cyclops. In addition, the S. mansoni egg-positive rate was 1.48% (2/135) in cats and dogs. Conclusions Sparganosis mansoni is prevalent in Jiangsu Province. Health education pertaining to the damages of sparganosis mansoni and the route of S. mansoni infections should be improved.

The present study explored the drying effect of new spiral vibration drying technology on Chinese medicinal pills with Liuwei Dihuang Pills, Zhuanggu Guanjie Pills, and Muxiang Shunqi Pills as model drugs. With the drying uniformity, drying time, energy consumption, pill split, dissolution time, and change of index components as evaluation indicators, the drying effect of spiral vibration drying technology on model drugs was evaluated and compared with traditional drying methods, such as hot air drying and vacuum drying in the oven. The dynamic changes of moisture in Liuwei Dihuang Pills with different drying time were investigated. Compared with the traditional drying methods in the oven(hot air drying and vacuum drying) at 80 ℃, the spiral vibration drying only took 80 min, shortened by 80%, with 10%-13% energy consumed. The results showed that the moisture of Liuwei Dihuang Pills was negatively related to the drying time. By virtue of multi-layer countercurrent drying and super resonant fluidization techniques, the new spiral vibration drying technology can significantly improve the drying quality of Chinese medicinal pills, improve the drying efficiency, and enhance the manufacturing capacity of Chinese medicinal pills. This study is expected to provide references for the innovation and development of new drying technology of Chinese medicinal pills.
China ; Desiccation ; Physical Therapy Modalities ; Technology ; Vibration