Objective:To study the effects of pioglitazone on atherosclerosis on ApoE-/-mice,and to investigate the roles of adiponectin and its receptors.Methods:ApoE-/-mice were fed with high-fat chow for the induction of atherosclerosis and were divided into three subgroups:placebo(n=10),low-dose[10 mg/(kg?d),n=10] pioglitazone therapy,and high-dose[20 mg/(kg?d),n=10] pioglitazone therapy.C57BL/6J wild type mice(n=9) were used as control.Aortic atherosclerosis and intima-media thickness(intima-media thickness,IMT) of abdominal aorta were monitored,and plasma adiponectin was also measured.Expression levels of the adiponectin receptor 1(AdipoR1)and adiponectin receptor 2(AdipoR2) in vessels were analyzed(RT-PCR).Results:(1) Aortic atherosclerotic lesions were observed in ApoE-/-mice but not in wild type mice.Interestingly,these lesions were significantly prevented by high-dose pioglitazone therapy.Compared with wild type mice,ApoE-/-mice had increased IMT of abdominal aorta [(0.290?0.063 vs 0.178?0.012) cm,P

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical effect and safety of circumcision stapler in the treatment of phimosis and redundant prepuce.

METHODSWe treated 120 patients with redundant prepuce or phimosis using circumcision stapler and another 60 by conventional dorsal-incision circumcision. We observed intraoperative blood loss, operation time, postoperative pain, wound healing time, cosmetic appearance of the penis, and postoperative complications and compared them between the two groups of patients.

RESULTSStapler circumcision showed obvious advantages over the conventional method in intraoperative blood loss ([2. 3 ± 1. 3] vs [15.6 ± 2.9] ml), operation time ([7.1 ± 1.4] vs [22.6 ± 4.6] min), wound healing time ([12.0 ± 2.9] as [16.3 ± 3. 1] d), postoperative pain score (1. 9 ± 1. 3 vs 5. 2 ± 1. 7), incision edema, and cosmetic appearance of the penis (all P <0. 05). Besides, stapler circumcision exempted the patients from stitch-removal pain. However, the incidence rate of postoperative local ecchymosis was significantly higher in the circumcision stapler group than in the conventional circumcision group (20. 8% vs 8. 3% , P <0. 05).

CONCLUSIONCircumcision stapler, with its advantages of easier manipulation, shorter operation time, better cosmetic penile appearance, less pain, and fewer complications, is superior to conventional circumcision in the treatment of phimosis and redundant prepuce.

Blood Loss, Surgical ; Circumcision, Male ; instrumentation ; methods ; Ecchymosis ; etiology ; Humans ; Male ; Pain, Postoperative ; Penis ; abnormalities ; Phimosis ; therapy ; Postoperative Complications ; Postoperative Period ; Surgical Staplers ; adverse effects ; Wound Healing

Taxus is the source plant of anti-cancer drug paclitaxel and its biosynthetic precursor, analogs and derivatives, which has been studying for decades. There are many endemic Taxus species in China, which have been studied in the field of multiple disciplines. Based on the recent studies of the researchers, this review comments on the study of Taxus biology and chemistry. The bibliometric method is used to quantify the global scientific production of Taxus-related research, and identify patterns and tendencies of Taxus-related articles. Gaps are present in knowledge about the genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics of Taxus and their endophytic fungi. Systems biology and various omics technologies will play an increasingly important role in the coming decades.
Computational Biology ; Endophytes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Epigenomics ; methods ; Fungi ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Genomics ; methods ; Metabolomics ; Molecular Biology ; Paclitaxel ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Phylogeny ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; classification ; genetics ; microbiology ; Proteomics ; Systems Biology ; Taxus ; chemistry ; classification ; genetics ; microbiology

OBJECTIVEApneaGragh is a new device for simultaneous determination of obstructive sleep apnoeic events and continuous pressure measurements for localization of upper airway obstructive site. This study is to evaluate the clinical value of it.

METHODSFrom April to October in 2006, 32 obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients diagnosed by polysomnography (PSG) were examined by two methods: Endoscopy with müller's maneuver at daytime and continuous upper airway pressure recording with ApneaGraph at night in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The upper airway obstructive sites determined by the two methods were compared. ApneaGraph transducer catheter contains two pressure sensors and two temperature sensors used for obstruction site determination and detection of apnoeic events during sleep. Obstructive sites were divided into upper (retropalatal oropharynx) or lower level (retroglossal region). The lower limit of upper airway obstruction was determined by observed pressure pattern. Used constituent retio to reflect the obstructive proportion of different levels. The apnea hypopnea index (AHI) measured by PSG and ApneaGraph were also compared.

RESULTSTwo patterns of obstruction were observed in our group: 1. The site of obstruction was located only at the upper level. 2. The obstruction of upper and lower level all present. Site of obstruction determined by Apneagraph: 28 (87.5%) cases had predominant sites of obstructions in upper level (the constituent retio of retropalatal obstruction > 50%), the others in lower level (the constituent retio of retroglossal obstruction > 50%). Endoscopy localization of obstruction: 18 cases had retropalatal obstructions alone, 13 cases had obstructions of retropalate combined with retroglossa, only 1 patient didn't have obstruction. Defined the constituent retio higher than thirty percent the criteria of obstruction, then identical results were obtained by both methods in retropalatal segment in 27 (84.4%) of the patients, while in only 17 (53.1%) obstructions was determined by the both methods in retroglossal areas. The polysomnograpic AHI (x +/- s) was 52.2 +/- 18.1, versus 50.2 +/- 16.0 obtained by ApneaGraph. There was a significant correlation between them (r = 0.876, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONSApneaGraph can identify the level of upper airway obstruction more accurate than fiberoptic pharyngoscopy. In the meantime, it also can serve as a portable PSG to diagnose sleep disordered breathing qualitatively.

Adult ; Aged ; Continuous Positive Airway Pressure ; instrumentation ; methods ; Endoscopy ; methods ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Monitoring, Ambulatory ; instrumentation ; methods ; Polysomnography ; instrumentation ; methods ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the mechanism of gene regulation of xiaoyao Powder in the treatment of liver-stagnation and spleen-deficiency syndrome.Methods All SD rats(n=75)were randomly divided into 5 groups,including the normal group,model group,sham-operation group,CNQX group and Xiaoyao Powder group.The model was established by chronic restraint for 21 days and then CNQX group wag given CNQX microinjection by cerebral stereotaxis instrument.The sham-operation group was set up for review the influence of operative injury on the model.The modeling method of xiaoyao Powder group was as the same ag possible with that of CNQX group for the comparison between these two groups. The expression changes of GluR1-mRNA and GluR2-mRNA were detected, which were two important subunits in CA1 and CA3 regions of hippocampus and AMPA receptor of amygdala, by onestep RT-PCR method. The trends of indexes in all regions were compared between CNQX group and Xiaoyao Powder group. Results The expressions of GluR1-mRNA and GluB2-mRNA had no statistical significance among the normal group, CNQX group and Xiaoyao Powder group in CA1 and CA3 regions of hippocampus (all P＞0.05). In BLA region of amygdala the expressions of GluR1-mRNA and GluR2mRNA reached the lowest in CNQX group because the antagonism of CNQX to AMPA receptor, but had no statistical significance between the normal group and Xiaoyao Powder group ( all P＞0. 05 ). The trends of the expressions of GluRI-mRNA and GluR2-mRNA in hippocampns and amygdala were similar showed by RT-PCR in CNQX group and Xiaoyao Powder group after dismissing confounding factors like operative injury. Conclusion The regulating mechanism of Xiaoyao Powder to the expressions of subunits of hippocampus and amygdala AMPA receptor may be coincidence with that of CNQX in rat model of liver-stagnation and spleen-deficiency syndrome. It is deduced that Xiaoyao Powder cures liver-stagnation and spleen-deficiency syndrome through correcting the disorder of "excitation-inhibition" of hippocampus and amygdala and reconstructing the homeostasis.

Objective:To analyze the key differentially expressed genes and related pathways in patients with de-layed cerebral ischemia(DCI)occurring after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage(aSAH)based on gene expression database(GEO)datasets.Methods:Gene datasets meeting the study requirements were screened from the GEO data-base and divided into a patient group with DCI after aSAH and a control group without DCI,and differentially expressed genes(DEGs)analysis,gene ontology(GO)enrichment analysis,Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway analysis,and gene set enrichment analysis(GSEA)were performed by using R software to find rele-vant genes and pathways.Results:A total 140 differentially expressed genes were identified.KEGG analysis showed that there were 10 significantly enriched signaling pathways(P＜0.05),mainly related to hypoxia-inducible factor-1(HIF-1)signaling pathway,glutamatergic synapses,cell adhesion molecules,and chemokine signaling pathways,etc.Twenty-six significantly enriched entries were obtained according to the functional analysis of GO,which involved entries in three categories,namely,biological processes,cellular components,and molecular functions.GSEA analysis showed that two pathways,extracellular matrix receptor interactions as well as peroxisomes,had significant enrichment differ-ences between the patient group and the control group.Conclusion:The development of DCI after aSAH involves sever-al genes such as COL17A1,RPL11,FCAMR,GNB2L1,HIF1A,and can affect the development of DCI through various pathways such as vascular dysfunction,inflammatory response,neurological injury,and oxidative stress.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) risk score and efficacy of different treatment strategies in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS).

METHODSFrom Oct. 2001 to Oct. 2003, 545 consecutive patients with NSTE-ACS were randomly assigned to early conservative strategy (n = 284) or early invasive strategy group (n = 261). The combined cardiovascular events (a combination of cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal heart failure and re-hospital admission due to recurrent ischemia angina) within 30 days and 6 months were analyzed and related to the TIMI risk score at admission.

RESULTSRehospitalization due to recurrent ischemia angina of 30 days and the combined cardiovascular events of 30 days and 6 months were significantly lower in early invasive strategy group (3.5%, 10.0%, 21.1%) compared with early conservative strategy group (8.1%, 16.9%, 28.2%, all P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis indicated early invasive strategy could significantly decrease the 30 d incidence of the combined end point events in patients with high TIMI risk score and the 6 months incidence of the combined end point events in patients with moderate and high TIMI risk score (all P < 0.01), but the incidence was similar between the two different strategies in patients with low TIMI risk score.

CONCLUSIONSEarly invasive strategy may significantly reduce combined cardiovascular events in NSTE-ACS patients with moderate and high TIMI risk score compared with early conservative strategy.

Aged ; Angina, Unstable ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Coronary Disease ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; drug therapy ; Risk Assessment ; Thrombolytic Therapy

OBJECTIVESevere nasopharyngeal stenosis (NPS) is a rare complication of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) and very difficult to manage. This report presents our successful treatment experience.

METHODSFrom Nov 1997 to Feb 2006, 6 adults patients with NPS secondary to UPPP were treated in Peking Union Hospital. Two cases was grade II stenosis, received surgery of local pharyngeal and soft palate mucosa flap rotation to enlarge nasopharyngeal airway with stenosis; For the remaining 4 cases with more severe NPS (grade III) who had received 1-3 times unsuccessful repair procedures previously, prolonged nasopharyngeal hollow obturators were used for 6 months after stenosis repair surgery.

RESULTSWith 9-48 months follow-up, All cases results were satisfactory. Nasal obstruction symptom was eliminated, NPS corrected, no velopharyngeal insufficiency complication happened. Daytime removable nasopharyngeal hollow stent obturators with palate support device is more comfortable for patients.

CONCLUSIONSLocal flap rotation to enlarge stenosis airway and prolonged use nasopharyngeal hollow obturators are reliable methods of correction NPS following UPPP.

Adult ; Cicatrix ; complications ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasopharyngeal Diseases ; etiology ; surgery ; Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Palate, Soft ; surgery ; Pharynx ; surgery ; Reoperation ; Treatment Outcome ; Uvula ; surgery

Objective To investigate the efficacy ofpoly (lactic acid co castor oil) microspheres containing ropivacaine for sciatic nerve block of mice.Methods A total of 150 Kunming male mice were randomly assigned into 3 groups,namely placebo microspheres (lactic acid co castor oil) group (group A,n=50),ropivacaine injection group (group B,n=50) and ropivacaine microspheres group (group C,n=50).After sevoflurane anesthesia,the mouse was fixed on the operating table and the bilateral sciatic nerve was exposed.The corresponding preparations were implanted or injected near the sciatic nerve.Five mice were randomly selected from each group for the next experiments.Paw withdrawal thermal latency,the ability to splay and flex of the hind paw and plasma ropivacaine concentration were measured 10min,30min,1h,3h,5h,7h,10h,15h,30h and 48h after drug administration.Results The anesthetic effect of group C began to work at 3h.Compared with group B,the duration of sciatic nerve sensory block of group C was significantly longer and the effect of motor block was weaker.No anesthetic effect was observed in group A.The sensory and motor block of group B reached the peak at 1h,and the pharmacodynamics subsided at 7h.Compared with group B,the concentration of ropivacaine in group C increased slowly,and the peak value at 10h after administration was gradually decreased.Conclusions Ropivacaine loading poly (lactic acid co castor oil) microspheres can significantly extend the effect of ropivacaine on sciatic nerve sensory block.Compared with ropivacaine injection,motor block effect of ropivacaine loading poly (lactic acid co castor oil) microspheres is reduced and its plasma ropivacaine concentration fluctuation range is small.

Objective: To explore the virulence related risk factors based on the enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) genome. Methods: The pairwise distance of each section of gene between mild and fatal cases was analyzed. The ⅴ domain of 5′UTR from mild and fatal cases in this study were constructed. Amino acid sequences of EV-A71 were analyzed to find the potential virulence regions which were statistically different between fatal and mild cases. Results: The two EV-A71 genome sequences in this study belonged to C4a genotype with the genomic homology of 96.2%-97.5%. The nucleotides in the ⅴ domains of the 5 ′UTR of EV-A71 from mild and fatal cases were the same. Each gene of EV-A71 from 31 mild cases and 30 fatal cases shared high homology. A total of four potential virulence sites (2 A: R68 M、2C: K41R、3 A: T/V47 A and 3C: I158 V) which were significantly different between mild cases and fatal cases were obtained. Conclusions The four sites in the unstructured protein coding region might be related with the virulence of EV-A71.