Objective To investigate the changes of serum glycocholicacid(CG),hyaluronic acid(HA),procollagen type Ⅲ(PCⅢ) in neonatal diseases.Method The levels of serum CG,HA and PCⅢ were measured by radioimmunoassay in 46 neonates with different diseases and 20 healthy neonates.Results Serum CG and HA in patients group were significant higher than those in healthy control group(P

Myopia is one of the most popular eye diseases all over the world. The development of the current understanding of its mechanism is still limited. Many studies indicated that the growth factors closely related to eye development and myopia. Some growth factors with biological activity, such as transforming growth factor ( TGF ), fibroblast growth factor ( FGF ) and epidermal growth factor ( EGF ), have an impact on scleral thickness variation, the regulation of the development of myopia and so on, which plays a non-negligible role in the pathogenesis of myopia. In this paper, the function of various growth factors in myopia will be reviewed.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical application value of 8.5/11.5 F transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of refractory hematospermia.

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed 78 cases of refractory hematospermia diagnosed and treated by 8.5/11.5 F transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy from June 2012 to June 2014. The patients underwent serum PSA examination, transrectal ultrasonography, seminal vesicle ultrasonography, and pelvis CT or MRI before surgery, and all received transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy under the 8.5/11.5 F rigid ureteroscope.

RESULTSOperations were all successfully accomplished, which revealed abnormal opening of the ejaculatory duct in 5 cases, mucosal inflammatory hyperemia in the prostatic utricle and seminal vesicle in 78, dark red mucilage substance in the seminal vesicle in 34, seminal vesicle stones in 19, small polyp in the seminal vesicle in 2, and ejaculatory duct or seminal vesicle cyst in 4. All the patients received symptomatic treatment during the surgery. After surgery, hematouria was found in 13 cases, which disappeared within 2 weeks, pelvic hematoma in 1 case, which was cured by conservative treatment within 3 months, and epididymitis in 2 cases, which was controlled by anti-infection treatment. Hematospermia recurred in 3 cases during the 1-year postoperative follow-up.

CONCLUSION8.5/11.5 F transurethral seminal vesiculoscopy, with its advantages of easy operation, wide field of vision, large channel for operation, and few complications, deserves general clinical application in the diagnosis and treatment of refractory hematospermia.

Calculi ; Ejaculatory Ducts ; Endoscopy ; methods ; Epididymitis ; etiology ; Hemospermia ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Postoperative Period ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Seminal Vesicles ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Urethra

Hepatitis ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Liver Regeneration

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in the down-regulation of fibroblast proliferation in normal skin (NFb) and hyperplastic scar (SFb) by adrenaline.

METHODSHuman NFb and SFb cells were cultured in vitro. Phentolamine (in final concentrations of 0 and 3 x 10(-6) micromol/L) was added to the culture medium. One hour later, adrenaline in different final concentrations (0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20 micromol/L) was added to the culture medium and incubated for 24 hours. The cellular proliferation activity and cell viability rate were determined with MTT. The cell culture supernatant was harvested for the determination of LDH activity to assess the toxicity of phentolamine and adrenaline. The phosph-PKC activity was determined with Western-blotting and was semiquantitatively analyzed.

RESULTS(1) After stimulation with adrenaline alone, or combined 0.20 micromol/L adrenaline with 3 x 10(-6) micromol/L phentolamine, the cell viability of both NFb and SFb decreased significantly (P < 0.05 or 0.01). (2) There was no difference in the LDH activity between the cells either stimulated by adrenaline in all concentrations or by combination of adrenaline and phentolamine (P > 0.05). (3) The phosphorylation of PKC in NFb and SFb cells stimulated by 0.05, 0.10, 0.20 micromol/L adrenaline was obviously higher than that before stimulation (P < 0.01). When phentolamine in the concentration of 3 x 10(-6) micromol/L was used alone for stimulation, the phosphorylation of PKC in NFb cells (123 +/- 5) was also evidently higher than that before stimulation (80 +/- 5, P < 0.01). But there was no such effect on SFb cells (P > 0.05). When adrenaline in the concentration of 0.05, 0.10 or 0.20 micromol/L was separately added together with phentolamine in the dose of 3 x 10(6) micromol/L for the stimulation, the phosphorylation of PKC in NFb and SFb cells was evidently lower than that when 3 different concentrations of adrenaline was used alone for stimulation (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAdrenaline can inhibit the proliferation of NFb and SFb by activating PKC through binding alpha adrenaline receptor.

Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic ; metabolism ; Down-Regulation ; Epinephrine ; adverse effects ; Fibroblasts ; cytology ; Humans ; Phentolamine ; adverse effects ; Phosphorylation ; Protein Kinase C ; metabolism ; Skin ; drug effects

Aged ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Electroretinography ; Female ; Humans ; Macular Edema ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retina ; physiopathology ; Visual Acuity ; Vitrectomy

BACKGROUNDMinimally invasive surgery in skull base relying on searching for possible anatomic basis for endoscopic technology is controversial. The objective of this study was to observe the spatial relationships between main blood vessels and nerves in the cerebellopontine angle area and provide anatomic basis for lateral and posterior skull base minimally invasive surgery via endoscopic retrosigmoid keyhole approach.

METHODSThis study was conducted on thirty dried adult skulls to measure the spatial relationships among the surface bony marks of posterior cranial fossa, and to locate the most appropriate drilling area for retrosigmoid keyhole approach. In addition, we used 10 formaldehyde-fixed adult cadaver specimens for simulating endoscopic retrosigmoid approach to determine the visible scope.

RESULTSThe midpoint between the mastoid tip and the asterion was the best drilling point for retrosigmoid approach. A hole centered on this point with the 2.0 cm in diameter was suitable for exposing the related structures in the cerebellopontine angle. Retrosigmoid keyhole approach can decrease the pressure on the cerebellum and expose the related structures effectively which include facial nerve, vestibulocochlear nerve, trigeminal nerve, glossopharyngeal nerve, vagus nerve, accessory nerve, hypoglossal nerve, anterior inferior cerebellar artery, posterior inferior cerebellar artery and labyrinthine artery, etc.

CONCLUSIONSExact location on endoscope retrosigmoid approach can avoid dragging cerebellum during the minimally invasive surgery. The application of retrosigmoid keyhole approach will extend the application of endoscopic technology.

Adult ; Cerebellopontine Angle ; anatomy & histology ; surgery ; Endoscopes ; Humans ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures

This study was undertaken to analyze and evaluate the diagnosis and principal treatment methods for congenital choledochal cyst, focusing on various surgical procedures and clinical outcome. A comprehensive, retrospective study was conducted on 72 adult patients who presented with choledochal cyst from 1985 to 2002. Surgical procedures were cyst excision with hepaticojejunostomy in 25 cases for type I or type IV-B, extrahepatic cyst excision with hepaticojejunostomy in 8 cases for type IV-A, extrahepatic cyst excision with modified hepaticojejunostomy in 2 cases for type IV-B, non-cyst excision with or without hepaticojejunostomy in 27 cases for types I, II, IV-A, IV-B. The early postoperative morbidity and mortality rate were 16.1% (9/62) and 6.5% (4/62) respectively, and the complication rate related to surgical procedure was 30.6% (19/62). The incidence of cholangiocarcinoma with non-cyst excision or non-operated congenital choledochal cyst was 10.8% (4/37). One patient died of primary hepatocellular carcinoma after cyst excision with hepatojejunostomy. In conclusion, our results showed that complete exci-sion of choledochal cyst for types I, II, and IV-B and complete excision of extra-hepatic choledochal cyst from the hepatic hilum in type IV-A with hepaticojejunostomy or modified hepaticojejunostomy are the treatment of choice for choledochal cyst in adult patients.
Academic Medical Centers/trends ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Choledochal Cyst/*epidemiology/*surgery ; Female ; Hepatectomy/*methods/*statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Jejunostomy/*methods/*statistics & numerical data ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications/*epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

Objective:To investigate the association between dopamine receptor D2(DRD2) polymorphisms and smoking in male patients with schizophrenia.Methods:Totally 773 patients with schizophrenia (567 smokers and 206 non-smokers) and 302 normal controls (168 smokers and 134 non-smokers) were recruited.The two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs1800497 and rs1079597) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RELP).SHEsis genetic analysis platform was used to calculate linkage disequilibrium index and infer allele distribution and haplotype frequency.Results:There was no significant difference in two SNPs genotype and allele distributions between the patients and normal controls or between smokers and non-smokers in either patients or normal controls alone (Ps ＞ 0.05);the frequency estimations of haplotype C-A and T-G in patients with schizophrenia were higher than in normal controls (8.0％ vs.5.2％,10.2％ vs.4.1％,Ps ＜0.05),T-A (34.6％ vs.40.2％,P ＜0.05),whereas the frequency estimation of haplotype T-A in patients with schizophrenia was lower than in normal controls,and all the differences were statistically significant (34.6％ vs.40.2％,P ＜ 0.05).It was also observed that the frequency estimation of haplotype T-A in normal smokers was significantly lower than in normal non-smokers (2.5％ vs.6.1％,P ＜0.05).Conclusion:There may be a correlation between DRD2 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to schizophrenia,but not between DRD2 polymorphisms and smoking neither in patients with schizophrenia nor in normal controls.

Objective To cross-link the porous biological ceramics and PVA hydrogel to form a double layer construction between the artificial cartilage and hard joint, and to analyze its morphologies and mechanical properties. Methods With hydroxyl apatite (HA) as the substrate, the porous hydroxyl apatite biological ceramics with different porosities were prepared by using NH4HCO3 crystal grains as the pore-formed material. The poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) and epoxypropane were used as the primary material and cross-linking agent, respectively. The PVA hydrogel with double layer construction was cross-linked and prepared on the porous biological ceramics surface. The fracture appearances of the test specimen section were characterized. The performances of anti tensile strength and anti-shear strength for PVA hydrogel were analyzed. Results The cross-linked PVA hydrogel could permeate in the biological ceramics substrate, and the union between ceramic substrate and PVA hydrogel performed well. With the porosity of the porous biological ceramics increasing, the tension load and shear load of the PVA hydrogel samples both increased, and with the average porosity of 70%, the samples’ biggest tension load and shear load were 153.61 N and 64.46 N, respectively. But the corresponding tensile strength and shear strength both decreased and with the average porsity of 70%, the samples’ biggest tensile strength and shear strength were 2.12 MPa and 1.13 MPa, respectively. The failure mode of both tension and shear tests for PVA hydrogel samples was due to the crack propagation, and the fracture morphologies showed that obvious cracks and internal defects appeared on the fracture surface, while the source of the crack and the direction of the crack propagation could be observed. Conclusions Considering the compression strength of porous biological ceramics, the permeation effect on the porous biological ceramic substrate with the average porosity of 50% is moderate to be used, which ensures the appropriate shear and tensile strength of PVA hydrogel samples and the compression strength of porous biological ceramic.