Objectives To analyze the relationship between the multi-organ hypoxia damage and the death of acute high altitude sickness severe case. Methods 3220 cases from 1956. 06 to 2005.06 in the hospital were reviewed by questionnaire and the cases in MODS or death were screened out. The cause of death and feature were analyzed by the data as clinical symptom, physical signs and auxiliary examination. Results 281 cases complicated by MODS (include 35 dead cases) were found out by review. The incidence with MODS is 8.73% , and the death rate was 1.09%. The masculine incidence rate of the clinical symptom, physical signs and auxiliary examination in death were 2. 86% ~65. 71% , 2. 86% ~ 100% and 14. 29% ~ 100% , respectively. The MODS incidence in dead cases was 100%. Compared with the curing group, the MODS number, cardiac functional disturbance, brain disorder and renal functional disturbance in the death group had a significantly high incidence rate in all the 281 cases with MODS( P <0.05). With dependability analysis, there were a significantly direct correlation relationship between the death in the severe cases with acute high altitude sickness and the number of MODS ( r = 0. 3473, P < 0.001). Conclusion Hypoxia to the damage of multi-organ function play an important role in death of the severe cases with acute high altitude sickness in high attitude area, and the functional disturbance of important organs as heart, brain and kidney is the most important cause to death.

Electrolyte disturbance was prominent in patients with severe acute mountain sickness. In these patients hypoxia caused water and salt retension together with vasoactive substances and excessive free radicals might play important roles in the development of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). More attention should be given to electrolyte monitoring in dealing with these severe mountain sickness in field.

OBJECTIVETo observe the difference between the combination therapy of alpha-interferon (IFN-alpha) therapy Yixuesheng Capsule and the monotherapy of IFN-alpha in treatment of chronic hepatitis B.

METHODA total of 288 patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B proven by liver biopsy were included in this study. During the individualized therapy, they received hypodermic injection of IFN-alpha 1b, with 5 MU x time(-1) and three times x w(-1). Of them, 125 patients received combination therapy with Yixuesheng Capsule for three months, with 1.0 g/time and three times/d; and 163 patients received only IFN-alpha 1b (the IFN-alpha monotherapy group). After the course of therapy, all patients were followed up for at least 24 months. The intention-to-treat analysis was adopted for statistic analysis.

RESULTThe two groups showed no statistical significance by gender, age, liver necroinflammation grading, liver fibrosis staging, serum ALT levels, serum HBV DNA levels and IFN-alpha therapy course. The whole course and the 24-month follow-up visit cover all of 112 patients in the combination treatment group and 141 cases in the IFN-alpha monotherapy group. The response rates of the combination treatment group and the IFN-alpha monotherapy group were 48.0% (60/125) and 35.0% (57/163) (x = 4.980, P = 0.026) at the end of treatment, respectively, 45.6% (57/125) and 33.1% (54/163) (x2 = 4.645, P =0.031) at the end of 12-month-follow-up period, respectively, and 38.4% (48/125) and 32.5% (53/163) (x2 = 1.076, P = 0.300) at the end of 24-month follow-up period, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe combination treatment with IFN-alpha and Yixuesheng Capsule shows a slightly better sustained efficacy on HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients compared with IFN-alpha monotherapy.

Adult ; Capsules ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Treatment Outcome

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism by which Xiaoyaosan regulates HPT axis dysfunction in the rat model with the syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency by observing its effect on the glycoprotein hormone α-subunit （CGA）/glutathione peroxidase 2 （GPX2）/thyroid-stimulating hormone β-subunit （TSHβ） pathway for thyroid hormone synthesis. MethodsSeventy-two male SD rats were randomized into six groups： normal， model， high-dose （16.7 g·kg^-1）， medium-dose （8.35 g·kg^-1）， and low-dose （4.175 g·kg^-1） Xiaoyaosan， and fluoxetine （0.001 8 g·kg^-1） groups， with 12 rats in each group. The rat model of liver depression and spleen deficiency was induced by chronic restraint stress for 21 days. The intervention groups were treated with Xiaoyaosan decoctions or fluoxetine suspension， respectively. After modeling， hematoxylin-eosin staining was employed to observe morphological changes in the thyroid and pituitary tissue of the rats. Serum levels of triiodothyronine （T3）， tetraiodothyronine （T4）， and thyroid-stimulating hormone （TSH） were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） and Western blot were employed to determine the mRNA and protein levels， respectively， of TSH receptor （TSHR） in the thyroid tissue， thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor （TRHR） and TSHβ in the pituitary tissue， and thyrotropin-releasing hormone （TRH）， CGA， GPX2， and TSHβ in the hypothalamic tissue. ResultsCompared with the normal group， the model group showed significant atrophy and irregularity of thyroid follicles， a marked reduction in colloid secretion， extensive vacuolar degeneration of adenocytes in the anterior pituitary， lowered serum levels of T3， T4， and TSH （P<0.01）， and down-regulated mRNA and protein levels of TSHR in the thyroid tissue， TRHR and TSHβ in the pituitary tissue， and TRH， CGA， GPX2， and TSHβ in the hypothalamic tissue （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， high- and medium-dose Xiaoyaosan and fluoxetine alleviated the pathological changes in the thyroid and pituitary tissue， outperforming the low-dose Xiaoyaosan group. Moreover， they elevated the serum levels of T3， T4， and TSH （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The serum TSH level was also elevated in the low-dose Xiaoyaosan group （P<0.05）. The mRNA and protein levels of TSHR in the thyroid， TRHR and TSHβ in the pituitary， and TRH， CGA， GPX2， and TSHβ in the hypothalamus were up-regulated in the high- and medium-dose Xiaoyaosan groups （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Additionally， the mRNA and protein levels of TSHβ in the hypothalamus were up-regulated in the low-dose Xiaoyaosan group （P<0.01）. In the fluoxetine group， the mRNA and protein levels of TSHR in the thyroid， TRHR in the pituitary， and TRH， CGA， and GPX2 in the hypothalamus were up-regulated （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionThe downregulation of CGA/GPX2/TSHβ pathway may be one of the biological mechanisms underlying HPT axis dysfunction in the rat model with the syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency. Xiaoyaosan may regulate the HPT axis dysfunction by up-regulating the CGA/GPX2/TSHβ pathway.