OBJECTIVE: To determine the plasma amino acid metabolism of "same symptom for different diseases" in different cancer patients in Uyghur medicine. METHODS: Plasma amino acid concentration was tested by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in cancer patients with different symptom, and the spectral profiles were subjected to a t-test for statistical significance. RESULTS: Compared with the healthy group, lung cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer and gastric cancer patients with abnormal Savda had lower concentration of plasma amino acids except some amino acids. Lung cancer patients with abnormal Savda had higher concentration of plasma phenylalanine, serine, cystine, valine, isoleucine, leucine and aspartic acid than Unsavda patients (P<0.05). Cervical cancer patients with abnormal Savda had low concentration of plasma arginine, but higher concentration of plasma cystine than Unsavda patients (P<0.05). Breast cancer patients with abnormal Savda had higher concentration of plasma leucine, serine, taurine, cystine, tyrosine, valine, isoleucine and asparagine than Unsavda patients (P<0.05). Gastric cancer patients with abnormal Savda had high concentration of plasma cystine but lower concentration of plasma phenylalanine, threonine and arginine than Unsavda patients (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Different tumor patients with abnormal Savda have common characteristics and significant differences.
Amino Acids ; blood ; Arginine ; Aspartic Acid ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cystine ; Humans ; Isoleucine ; Leucine ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Neoplasms ; blood ; Serine ; Tyrosine ; Valine

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cochlear implantation improves hearing ability in adults with profound deafness. Using non-invasive functional brain imaging methods, it is now possible to assess regional blood flow and activity of auditory cortex which might be correlated to the outcome of cochlear implantation. The aim of this study was to measure the regional cerebral blood flow in patients with postlingual deafness utilizing controls in a variety of methods. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Six postlingual deaf adults who were planned to undertake cochlear implantation and 12 normal controls were examined with technetium-99m-labeled ethyl cysteinate dimer single-photon emission computed tomography (99mTc-ECD-SPECT). Images of the regional cerebral blood flow were processed by statistical parametric mapping and analyzed by unpaired t-test. RESULTS: The analysis of the SPECT images of the 6 deaf patients showed decreased cerebral blood flow in both superior, middle temporal and inferior prefrontal lobes compared with controls (p<0.001). Also this decreased auditory cortical blood flow was greater in left hemisphere in all patients. CONCLUSION: The degree of remaining activity of auditory cortex and the lateralization of the dominant auditory hemisphere, which may influence on the outcome of cochlear implantation, could be measured by ECD-SPECT.
Adult ; Auditory Cortex ; Cochlear Implantation ; Cochlear Implants ; Cystine ; Deafness ; Functional Neuroimaging ; Hearing ; Humans ; Regional Blood Flow ; Tomography, Emission-Computed ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

Cystinuria is an inherited renal and intestinal disease characterized by defective amino acids reabsorption and cystine urolithiasis. It is unusually associated with neurologic symptoms. Mutations in two genes, SLC3A1 and SLC7A9, have been identified in cystinuric patients. This report presents a 13-yr-old boy with cystinuria who manifested difficulty in walking, ataxia, and mental retardation. Somatosensory evoked potential of posterior tibial nerve stimulation showed the central conduction dysfunction through the posterior column of spinal cord. He was diagnosed non-type I cystinuria by urinary amino acid analysis and oral cystine loading test. We screened him and his family for gene mutation by direct sequencing of SLC3A1 and SLC7A9 genes. In this patient, we identified new missence mutation G173R in SLC7A9 gene.
Adolescent ; Amino Acid Substitution ; Amino Acid Transport Systems, Basic/*genetics ; Amino Acids/urine ; Ataxia/complications/diagnosis/*genetics ; Base Sequence ; Cystine/blood ; Cystinuria/complications/diagnosis/*genetics ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability/complications/diagnosis/*genetics ; Male ; *Mutation, Missense ; Pedigree ; Republic of Korea

AIMTo study the therapeutic effects of N,N'-diacetyl-L-cystine (DiNAC) on immunological liver failure.

METHODSSerum ALT, AST and T cell subsets in peripheral blood of the experimental animals during the trial period were analyzed by an automatic serum analyzer and a flow cytometer, respectively. The sectioned liver specimens were examined under a light microscope. And 24 h after the injection of Gal/LPS, the survival rate of rats was calculated.

RESULTSDiNAC (50, 200, 800 mg x kg(-1), i.p.) suppressed the elevation of serum levels of ALT and AST, markedly enhanced proliferation and differentiation of T cell subsets (CD4+, CD8+ and Th1, Th2), and improved all the histopathological features. In mice of fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), the survival time significantly prolonged and the survival rate increased 24 h after i.p. DiNAC. These effects were obviously dose-dependent.

CONCLUSIONDiNAC on mice with FHF has an inhibitory action which is related to immune mechanism.

Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Bilirubin ; blood ; CD4 Antigens ; metabolism ; CD8 Antigens ; metabolism ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cystine ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Liver ; pathology ; Liver Failure, Acute ; blood ; pathology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; T-Lymphocytes ; pathology