Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; Periarthritis ; therapy ; Punctures ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy of CO2 laser combined with 32P-patch contact brachyradiotherapy for the treatment of keloids.

METHODSFrom 2001 to 2006, 121 cases with 151 keloids, which reoccurred after treatment with more than 2 methods, underwent continuous CO2 laser treatment to remove the hypertrophic scar tissue, following by ultra-pulse CO2 laser to treat the fresh granulation tissue. After wound healing, 32P-patch contact brachyradiotherapy was used for the lesion, 0.5-1 MBQ/cm2 for 72-96 hours, every 1-2 months. 2-3 treatment were applied.

RESULTSAmong the 151 keloids, good result was achieved in 111 keloids, and effective result in 40 keloids. Adverse effect included hyperpigmentation in 21 lesions and hypopigmentation in 32 lesions. The patients were followed up for 2-6 years without relapse.

CONCLUSIONCO2 laser combined with 32P-patch contact brachyradiotherapy is an effective and safe method for the treatment of recalcitrant keloids.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Keloid ; therapy ; Lasers, Gas ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phosphates ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Phosphorus Radioisotopes ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Transdermal Patch ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the relationship of chimerism status of cell subsets with engraftment, occurrence of acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD), graft rejection and disease relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT).

METHODSChimerism status in peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) of 65 patients received allo-HSCT were monitored at regular intervals post-transplant. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) was used to sort CD3(+)T lymphocytes in 65 cases, CD3(-)CD56(+)CD16(+)NK cells in 52 cases, CD15(+) granulocytes in 32 cases and CD19(+)B lymphocytes in 20 cases post transplants. The chimerism status of different lineage cells was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction amplification of short tandem repeats (PCR-STR).

RESULTSOn day +7, NK-cells donor chimerism (DC 55.5%) was higher than other cell subsets. T lymphocyte was the latest one to reach complete donor chimerism (CDC) with a median on day +21. Patients whose T lymphocytes donor chimerism was more than 70% on day +7 and more than 95% on day +14 had a high risk for acute aGVHD. In all cases except those with ALL, the decreased DC of T lymphocytes were observed before molecular or hematological relapse occurred.

CONCLUSIONSerial and quantitative T cell chimerism analysis provides a reliable and rapid screening method for the early detection of engraftment, graft rejection, disease relapse and occurrence of aGVHD, therefore, is a prognostic tool to identify patients at high risk of aGVHD and disease relapse following allo-HSCT.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Chimerism ; Female ; Graft Rejection ; immunology ; Graft vs Host Disease ; immunology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Recurrence ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; Young Adult

AIMTo optimize the method of investigating structural integration between proteins and study the integration between arrhythmia related proteins in molecular level.

METHODSImmunostaining the normal ventricular myocytes was used to observe the distribution of connexin 43 and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR). The five mAChR subtypes were precipitated using immunoprecipitation. Then, SDS-PAGE and Western blotting with the anti-connexin 43 antibody were performed to observe whether they were structurally integrated. Further, different concentrations of detergent were used to observe whether this relationship could be broken.

RESULTSThe five subtypes of mAChR existed in the cardiac myocyte of the rat, and all the five mAChR subtypes combined with connexin 43. In the normal rat ventricular myocyte membrane, connexin 43 and M3 receptor are co-located. When adding certain concentration of detergent to the membrane protein, the integration between M3 receptor and connexin 43 was broken, and the phosphorylated form of connexin 43 integrated with M3 receptor.

CONCLUSIONThe results indicated that the structural integration between mAChR and phosphorylation of connexin 43 existed in rat ventricular myocardium, and this integration could be broken by certain concentration of detergent.

Animals ; Cell Membrane ; metabolism ; Connexin 43 ; metabolism ; Heart Ventricles ; Immunoprecipitation ; Male ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; metabolism ; Phosphorylation ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptor, Muscarinic M3 ; metabolism ; Receptors, Muscarinic ; metabolism ; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate ; pharmacology

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: Noninvasive prenatal detection of trisomy 21 (T21) has been achieved by measuring the ratio of two alleles of a single nucleotide polymorphism in circulating placenta specific 4 (PLAC4) mRNA in maternal plasma with a few assays in recent years. Our research is to explore the variations of PLAC4 mRNA expression level in maternal plasma with normal pregnancies in second trimester, which can provide pregnant women deeper insights with suitable detection period for the non-invasive prenatal detection of T21. METHODS: We measured a serial plasma PLAC4 mRNA concentrations weekly from the same 25 singleton normal pregnant women. We recruited maternal plasma samples from 45 singleton pregnant women, comprising of 25 euploid pregnancies (control group; range, 17 to 21 weeks) and 20 T21 pregnancies (T21 group; range, 19 to 24 weeks). With the application of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, we achieved an insight of PLAC4 mRNA expression levels in maternal plasma during second trimester with euploid pregnancies. RESULTS: Among the control group, the levels of PLAC4 mRNA expression in the gestation of 17 to 18 weeks were significantly less than those in the gestation of 18 to 21 weeks (P<0.05). The average PLAC4 mRNA concentration of the normal pregnant women was not higher than that of the T21 group (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The PLAC4 mRNA showed a higher level of expression in the gestation of 18 to 21 weeks with an euploid pregnancy of pregnant women. We also found that there was no significant difference in plasma PLAC4 mRNA concentration between the normal and the T21 pregnancies in second trimester.
Alleles ; Down Syndrome* ; Female ; Humans ; Placenta ; Plasma* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second* ; Pregnant Women ; Reverse Transcription ; RNA, Messenger*

OBJECTIVETo screen and identify differential serum proteins which might be involved in dermatitis medicamentosa-like of trichloroethylene (DMLT).

METHODSThree groups of sera were collected from population exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE) (group I), patients suffering from DMLT (group II), and the healed cases (group III). After removing albumin and IgG in the three pools of sera, a comparative proteomic analysis was carried out. The images were analyzed using ImageMaster Platinum 2D 5.0 to screen the differentially expressed proteins. The protein spots were then subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry sequencing of tryptic peptides for further identification.

RESULTSThe depletion of albumin and IgG greatly increased the number of protein spots to 300 ± 12.Five differential spots were identified, which were complement component C4b, apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein C-III apolipoprotein C-II and transthyretin. Compared with group I, the expression levels of complement component C4b in group III and apolipoprotein C-II in group II were up-regulated (1.352 88-fold, 1.512 14-fold, respectively); compared with group I, the expression levels of apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein C-III and transthyretin in group II were down-regulated (1.601 17-fold, 1.034 49-fold, 1.313 35-fold, respectively).

CONCLUSIONThe findings of this study show that most of the identified differential proteins are closely related to immunity and liver dysfunction, which provides some evidence on elucidating the mechanisms and screening of biomarkers of TCE intoxication.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Apolipoprotein A-I ; isolation & purification ; Apolipoprotein C-III ; isolation & purification ; Biomarkers ; analysis ; Blood Proteins ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Dermatitis, Occupational ; blood ; Drug Eruptions ; blood ; Environmental Exposure ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Proteome ; analysis ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization ; Trichloroethylene ; adverse effects ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDPancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal human cancers with a very low survival rate of 5 years. Conventional cancer treatments including surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or combinations of these show little effect on this disease. Several proteins have been proved critical to the development and the progression of pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of resveratrol on apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells.

METHODSSeveral pancreatic cancer cell lines were screened by resveratrol, and its toxicity was tested by normal pancreatic cells. Western blotting was then performed to analyze the molecular mechanism of resveratrol induced apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cell lines.

RESULTSIn the screened pancreatic cancer cell lines, capan-2 and colo357 showed high sensitivity to resveratrol induced apoptosis. Resveratrol exhibited insignificant toxicity to normal pancreatic cells. In resveratrol sensitive cells, capan-2 and colo357, the activation of caspase-3 was detected and showed significant caspase-3 activation upon resveratrol treatment; p53 and p21 were also detected up-regulated upon resveratrol treatment.

CONCLUSIONResveratrol provides a promising anti-tumor strategy to fight against pancreatic cancer.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Blotting, Western ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Humans ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Stilbenes ; pharmacology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the measurement of intravesical prostatic protrusion (IPP) by transabdominal ultrasonography (TAUS) in the diagnosis of benign prostatic obstruction (BPO).

METHODSWe studied the clinical data of 109 BPH patients referred for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) from April 2005 to December 2006. IPP was measured by TAUS, urodynamic parameters such as Qmax and PdetQmax obtained by urodynamic studies and AG values calculated. The patients were divided into an obstruction and a non-obstruction group according to their AG values.

RESULTSIPP was found statistically different between the obstruction and non-obstruction groups (P<0.001) and positively correlated with the AG value (r=0.729, P=0.001). With the cutoff at IPP > or = 10 mm for the diagnosis of BPO, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the diagnosis were 89.9%, 97.5% and 92.7%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe measurement of IPP by TAUS offers a valuable help for the diagnosis of BPO.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Endosonography ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostate ; diagnostic imaging ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Urinary Bladder ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Urodynamics

Adult ; Aged ; Aneurysm, False ; physiopathology ; Carotid Arteries ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Epistaxis ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; pathology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography