Objective To explore the diagnostic significance of differential cell count in induced sputum to chronic cough and assessment of airway inflammation.Methods The sputum of 335 chronic cough patients were induced.Differential cell counts were measured in these samples.The side effects were observed during the induced procedure.The final diagnosis was made based on clinical manifestation and examination findings including pulmonary function tests,provocation test,induced sputum cell differentials, etc.Results The cause of chronic cough was defined in 322 patients.The six most important causes of cough were typical asthma(TA,n=84),eosinophilic bronchitis (EB,n=62),atopic cough (AC,n= 42),cough variant asthma (CVA,n=40),gastroesophageal reflux cough(GERC,n=37),rhinitis and/ or paranasal sinusitis (PNDs,n=32),and others and indefinite cause (n=25,13).Percentage of eosinophils were significantly increased in the induced sputum of AC,EB,CVA,and GERC patients (0.005,0.052,0.059,0.234) compared with those in other causes and the healthy controls (0) (P

OBJECTIVETo study the prevalence of cough and its risk factors in young college students in Guangzhou.

METHODSUsing a questionnaire with uniform scheme, a cluster-randomized sampling survey was conducted among young college students in Guangzhou. Fluoroscopy of chest was performed in subjects with persisted cough longer than 8 weeks.

RESULTSThere were 1087 cases with complete data from 1091 people including 648 males, 439 females with an average age of 21.16 years old. The total prevalence of cough was 10.9%. Difference in prevalence of cough between males and females showed no significance (10.3% vs. 11.9%, P > 0.05). There were also no significant differences between male and female in prevalence rates of acute cough (6.9% vs. 8.7%, P > 0.05) and chronic cough (3.4% vs. 3.2%, P > 0.05). Under chronic cough condition, cough was more likely to be the only or major symptom than under acute cough condition (77.8% vs. 44.6%, chi(2) = 11.166, P < 0.01). Nasal disease was an important risk factor to the development of chronic cough, which was found in 33.3% of the patients with chronic cough and when having chronic nasal diseases.

CONCLUSIONCough seemed a common disorder in young college student in Guangzhou and there was no significant difference in prevalence between males and females. Nasal disease was an important risk factor to chronic cough.

China ; epidemiology ; Chronic Disease ; Cough ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Female ; Fluoroscopy ; Humans ; Male ; Nose Diseases ; complications ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Sampling Studies ; Students ; statistics & numerical data ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Universities ; Young Adult

The traditional methods of skeletal age estimation mainly include Numeration, Atlas, and Counting scores. In recent years, other new methods were proposed by several scholars. Utilizing image logical characteristics of X-ray film to extrapolate skeletal age is a key means by present forensic medicine workers in evaluating skeletal age. However, there exist some variations when we present the conclusion of skeletal age as an "evidence" directly to the Justice Trial Authority. In order to enhance the accuracy of skeletal age determination, further investigation for appropriate methodology should be undertaken. After a collective study of pertinent domestic and international literatures, we present this review of the research and advancement on skeletal age evaluation methods of X-ray film.
Age Determination by Skeleton/trends* ; Carpal Bones/diagnostic imaging* ; Elbow/diagnostic imaging* ; Female ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Hand Bones/diagnostic imaging* ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods* ; Male ; Radius/diagnostic imaging* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods* ; X-Ray Film

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of repeated esophageal acid infusion on specific airway resistance (sRaw) and airway reactivity in the guinea pigs and explore the mechanism.

METHODSsRaw and airway reactivity were measured by double-chamber plethysmography in normal control group (group N), saline control group (group NS), and repeated acid irrigation group (group H). The initial measurement was used as the baseline sRaw and airway reactivity (1d1), and 2 h after the initial measurement, sRaw and airway reactivity were measured again (1d2). Similarly, such measurements were repeated on the 15th day for all the guinea pigs (15d1, 15d2) with a 2-h interval. The content of Substance P (SP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in lung tissue, trachea, BALF and ganglion were detected by ELISA.

RESULTSThe percent change of sRaw, (15d2-1d1)/1d1 in group H was significantly higher than that in group N. The differences in the airway reactivity of the group N, group NS, and group H were not statistically significant. The SP content in the lung, trachea, ganglion and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in group H was significantly higher than those in group N. The SP content in ganglion showed a significant positive correlation to that in the trachea. No significant differences were found in the VIP content in the lung, trachea, ganglion or BALF between the groups.

CONCLUSIONRepeated esophageal acid infusion increases the airway resistance, but not the airway reactivity in normal guinea pigs. SP may be involved in development of high sRaw through the esophageal-tracheobronchial reflex.

Airway Resistance ; Animals ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; chemistry ; Esophagus ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Guinea Pigs ; Lung ; metabolism ; Male ; Respiratory System ; Substance P ; metabolism ; Trachea ; metabolism ; Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo establish a method for measurement of airway resistance (sRaw) and reactivity in guinea pigs.

METHODSMethacholine spray at gradient concentrations was given to guinea pigs. PC100 was defined as the concentration of methacholine when the sRaw doubled in the guinea pigs using a double-chamber plethysmograph. The time for the recovery of PC100 resistance to baseline levels was measured. The sRaw and PC100 were measured twice on days 1 and 15 (4 time points) in the guinea pigs before and after OVA challenge.

RESULTSPC100 in a normal guinea pig airway was shown to recover the baseline level within 1 h. Double-chamber plethysmographical measurement of the sRaw and PC100 in normal guinea pigs did not show significant differences between the time points [sRaw: 3.25-/+0.67, 3.33-/+0.58, 3.30-/+0.56, and 3.32-/+0.75 cm H2O.s; log2PC100: 8.48-/+0.94, 8.64-/+1.04, 8.56-/+0.67, and 8.64-/+0.60, respectively, P>0.05]. The sRaw and airway reactivity were significantly increased in guinea pigs challenged with OVA [sRaw: 7.08-/+1.82 vs 2.87-/+0.53 cmH2O.s, P<0.01; log2PC100: 6.64-/+1.26 vs 8.48-/+1.17, P<0.01].

CONCLUSIONA double-chamber plethysmography for measurement of sRaw and airway reactivity in guinea pig is established successfully.

Airway Resistance ; Animals ; Asthma ; chemically induced ; physiopathology ; Bronchial Hyperreactivity ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Guinea Pigs ; Male ; Methacholine Chloride ; Plethysmography ; instrumentation ; methods ; Random Allocation

OBJECTIVETo summarize the experience of laparoscopic common bile duct exploration.

METHODSThe clinical data of 587 cases who underwent laparoscopic common bile duct exploration from June 1992 to May 2006 were analyzed.

RESULTSThe surgery was successful in 585 cases (99.7%), 2 cases were converted to open common bile duct exploration. The duration of operation was 60 approximately 230 min (averaged 85 min), the complications consisted of biliary fistula (n=13), injury of the duodenum (n=1), abscess of drainage tube orifice (n=1), titanium clip discharging out from T tube (n=3), residual common bile duct stones (n=35). The patients could take food and walk on the second postoperative day and average postoperative hospital stay was 4.6 days.

CONCLUSIONSLaparoscopic common bile duct exploration is a safe and effective procedure in treating the calculus of bile duct.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biliary Tract Diseases ; surgery ; Biliary Tract Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Common Bile Duct ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; prevention & control ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

AIM To investigate the preventive effects of herbal pair,Scutellariae Radix and Coptidis Rhizoma (SC),on Alzheimer's disease (AD),and its mechanism of action.METHODS Dementia mice induced by 8-week s.i.d subcutaneous injection of D-galactose (100 mg/kg),were simultaneously given respective,intragastric administration of SC crude drug at doses of 5,10,20 g/kg,or piracetam support at 0.75 g/kg,and isometrical distilled water was applied to the mice of normal control group.The mice had their learning and memory abilities checked by Morris water maze at intervals of four weeks and eight weeks since the start of the trial,and their blood and brain tissue biochemical indices measured at the end of the test.RESULTS Significantly shortened latent period in place navigation test and the time of enter into the original platform in the space exploration test were observed in the mice treated with 4-week D-galactose and SC (P ＜0.05 或 P ＜0.01).The 8-week intervention demonstrated SC capacity in the significant promotion of T-SOD activity,decreased blood MDA levels (P ＜ 0.01)and the brain AchE levels,and increased brain GSH-Px activity (P ＜ 0.01).CONCLUSION SC increases the concentration of acetylcholine in brain tissue and protects the central nervous tissue under oxidative stress,highlighting its therapeutic effect on AD.

OBJECTIVETo establish the method of cytological examination and the normal reference values for hypertonic saline solution-induced sputum of healthy children (age range from 5 to 15 years) with physical examination in Guangzhou.

METHODA total of 352 children, 5 to 15 years old, were enrolled from primary school and middle school in Guangzhou from January to December, 2010. All subjects completed a standardized questionnaire on the presence of respiratory, allergic symptoms and family history, the medical history and the physical examination was performed by doctors, lung function (forced expiratory volume at 1 s in predicted normal, FEV(1)%) was determined. There were 266 healthy children (137 males, 129 females) who were selected and undergone hypertonic saline solution induction of sputum, and cytological examination was performed. Hypertonic saline (5%) was nebulized and inhaled for 15 - 30 min. No expectoration within 30 min was defined as failure, and the procedure was terminated. The part of opaque and higher density sputum samples was detected by cytology. The proportion of neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, macrophages and monocytes was calculated. This study was approved by the institutional Ethics Review Committee of First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College. Informed consent was obtained from the legal guardians of all participants following a detailed description of the purpose and potential benefits of the study.

RESULTThere were 175 subjects' induced sputum specimens (175/266, 65.8%), non-qualified sputum samples were obtained from 16 of the subjects. The proportions of median (IQR) of lymphocytes were 0.012 (0.020), 95%CI were ranged from 0.015 to 0.022; neutrophils 0.207 (0.330), 95%CI 0.266 - 0.356 macrophages 0.761 (0.327), 95%CI 0.607 - 0.699; eosinophils 0.004 (0.019), 95%CI 0.013 - 0.022. There were no significant differences in proportions of cytological findings of female or male, different age groups and second-hand smoking or not (all P > 0.05). The incidence of adverse event was 4.40% (7/159).

CONCLUSIONThe method and the preliminary data may be used for research, diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic cough and airway inflammation.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Cough ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Eosinophils ; cytology ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Leukocyte Count ; Lymphocyte Count ; Lymphocytes ; cytology ; Male ; Monocytes ; cytology ; Neutrophils ; cytology ; Reference Values ; Saline Solution, Hypertonic ; chemistry ; Sputum ; cytology ; metabolism

OBJECTIVEDendritic cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. To explore the effects of hyperglycemia on the maturation and immune function of human monocyte derived dendritic cells (MDCs).

METHODSImmature MDCs were cultured in RPMI1640 medium with either 5.5 mmol/L D-glucose (NG), 25 mmol/L D-glucose (HG) or 5.5 mmol/L D-glucose + 19.5 mmol/L mannitol (HM) in the absence or presence of 30 mmol/L N-acetylcysteine [NAC, a reactive oxygen species inhibitor (ROS)] for 48 hours. FACS was used to investigate the MDCs immunophenotypic expression. Immune function was evaluated by allogeneic mixed T lymphocyte reaction and measurement of cytokine levels from culture supernatants. Intracellular ROS production in MDCs was also measured by 2', 7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCF, 10 micromol/L) fluorescence using confocal laser-scanning microscopy techniques.

RESULTSCompared with NG and HM treated MDCs, the expression of maturation markers such as CD1a, HLA-DR, CD83, CD86 were significantly upregulated, allogeneic T cells proliferation as well as the cytokines secretions (IL-2, IL-12, IL-10 and IFN-gamma) significantly increased in HG treated MDCs. Intracellular ROS production in MDCs was also significantly increased and all these stimulatory effects of HG could be partially attenuated by NAC.

CONCLUSIONHigh glucose promote the maturation of MDCs and augment their capacity to stimulate T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretions at least in part through enhancing intracellular ROS generation. These stimulating effects of high glucose on MDCs maturation may be one of the mechanisms of accelerated atherosclerosis found in patients with diabetes.

Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Culture Media ; Cytokines ; biosynthesis ; Dendritic Cells ; drug effects ; immunology ; metabolism ; Glucose ; adverse effects ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Monocytes ; cytology ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes ; cytology

Objective:To observe the effect of Chaibei Zhixian decoction and peimine on Carbamazepine (CBZ) concentration, P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and multi drug resistance 1(MDR1) expression in the brain tissues of rats with refractory epilepsy, and to understand the contribution of Peimine in the compound prescription to treat the refractory epilepsy. Method:Epilepsy rat models were established by injecting kainic acid (KA) in the lateral ventricle. The successfully modeled rats were randomly divided into model group, CBZ group(0.12 g·kg^-1),Chaibei Zhixian decoction+CBZ group(8.39 g·kg^-1+0.12 g·kg^-1), peimine+CBZ group(0.01 g·kg^-1+0.12 g·kg^-1) and sham operation group. After 60 days of intervention, the expression levels of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and MDR1b mRNA in the brain cortex were detected by Western blot and quantitative real\|time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction(Real-time PCR),the contents of CBZ and 10,11-epoxidation of carbamazepine (CBZE) were measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Result:Compared with sham group, the expression of P-gp/MDR1 in the cortex of model group was significantly increased (P<0.05, P<0.01).Compared with model group, the P-gp/MDR1 level in CBZ group was increased.The expression of P-gp/MDR1 in the cortex of Chaibei Zhixian decoction+CBZ group and peimine+CBZ group was reduced. Compared with CBZ group, The expression of P-gp/MDR1 was significantly decreased in the cortex of Chaibei Zhixian decoction+CBZ group and peimine+CBZ group (P<0.05,P<0.01), and the content of CBZ and CBZE in the brain of peimine+CBZ group was significantly increased (P<0.05,P<0.01), and the content of CBZE in the brain of the Chaibei Zhixian decoction+CBZ group was significantly increased (P<0.05).Compared with the Chaibei Zhixian decoction+CBZ group,the content of CBZ and CBZE in the brain of the peimine+CBZ group was increased in rats, but the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion:Chaibei Zhixian decoction and peimine may increase the content of CBZ and CBZE in the brain tissues in rats with intractable epilepsy by reducing the expression of MDR1/P-gp in the cortex.