Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of the covered stent placements in the treatment of malignant esophageal stenosis and to analyze the interrelated factors and countermeasures of complications.Methods 102 patients with malignant esophageal stenosis were undergone treatment with the covered stent placements through the mouths under X-ray fluoroscopy.The stents included China-made and imports,and the specifications were various.92 patients underwent radiotheraphy before or after process.All cases were followed up after operations.Results The successful rate of operation was 100%,110 covered stents were placed in total.The clinical symptoms of patients disappeared or abated obviously.Complications included:chest pain in 36 cases(35.3 %),restenosis in 7 cases(6.9%),stomach-esophageal countercurrent in 6 cases(5.9%),stent migration in 6 cases(5.9%),esophageal bleeding in 4 cases(3.9%),esophagus-mediastinum fistula in 1 case(1%),stent jam in 1 case(1%)and stent fell off accompanied with rupture partially in 1 case(1%).The mean survival time was 10.6 months.Conclusion The covered stent placement in the treatment of malignant esophageal stenosis is a high effective and easy method,but it is not very safe.

Bacteremia ; etiology ; Catheterization ; adverse effects ; Child ; Coagulase ; metabolism ; Cross Infection ; etiology ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; drug effects ; Endocarditis, Bacterial ; etiology ; Humans ; Methicillin ; pharmacology ; Quinolones ; pharmacology ; Staphylococcal Infections ; complications ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Staphylococcus ; classification ; drug effects ; pathogenicity ; Urinary Tract Infections ; etiology ; Vancomycin ; pharmacology

Objective To summarize the experience of treating the end stage of liver disease complicated with renal failure using combined liver-kidney transplantation.Methods The clinical data of 28 cases receiving combined liver-kidney transplantation were retrospectively analyzed, including the inclusion criteria of surgical indications, modus operandi, protocol of immunosuppression and the prognosis post-operation.Results Among these 28 cases in our study, 22 cases suffered from liver and renal failure, accounting for 78.6%; 4 cases were diagnosed as having hepatorenal syndrome, accounting for 14.3%; and 1 case had hyperoxaluria and polycystic liver with polycystic kidney. As for the modus operandi we used, piggy-back procedure was adopted for 4 patients and classic procedure without bypass was used for the rest. Donor kidneys were all put in the right iliac fossa. During the follow-up period of 5 months to 7 years, one-and 3-year survival rate of the recipients was 92.9% and 78.3% respectively. Among these 28 recipients, 4 cases had the graft renal dysfunction early post-operation: One died and 3 recovered through consecutive therapy. One case received re-transplantation of the liver 3 months after the first due to the relevant complications and then recovered. During this period, no impact on the renal function occurred. Eleven cases had pulmonary infection post-operation, and 1 died. No acute rejection occurred.Conclusion Combined liver-kidney transplantation is the effective treatment to the patients with end stage liver disease complicated with renal dysfunction. Suitable case selection and perfect operation timing were the key points to the success of combined liver-kidney transplantation.

The aim was to investigate the cytolytic activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) induced by dendritic cells (DC) derived from human cord blood in vitro. Human cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMNC) were cultured in vitro with addition of various cytokines. DC was confirmed by morphology, immune phenotype and capacity of stimulating MLR (mixed lymphocyte reaction). CTL were generated through the co-culture of autologous T lymphocytes and DC. (51)Cr-release assays were performed for the measurement of cytotoxicity of CTL. The results showed that distribution of the subgroups of T lymphocytes in CBMNC was similar to that in adult peripheral blood. The percentage of CD1a-expressing cells in CBMNC was very low, merely (0.41 +/- 0.09)%. During culture, DC became larger and more irregular in shape. Spiny dendrites or multiple cell processes in morphology emerged on the surface of DC. Among the cell populations at 15 days of culture, there were (28.4 +/- 3.55)% of CD1a-expressing cells, (63.67 +/- 23.33)% of CD86-positive, (8.7 +/- 1.49)% of CD83-positive and (32.5 +/- 1.53)% of HLA-DR-positive cells. DC derived from CBMNC is capable of stimulating the proliferation of allogeneic lymphocytes in MLR. CTL derived from autologous T lymphocytes induced by dendritic cells pulsed with lysates of HL-60 cells, possessed specific cytolytic effects against HL-60 cells. In conclusions, relatively high percentage of CD1a-expressing cells can be generated in culture system of this study. DC derived from cord blood is able to induce the production of anti-leukemic CTL in vitro.
Antigens, CD1 ; analysis ; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic ; Dendritic Cells ; immunology ; Fetal Blood ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Leukemia ; immunology ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; immunology

AIMTo provide experimental basis for clinical use of cryopreserved dendritic cells (DCs) by investigating the biological properties of cryopreserved DCs derived from cord blood.

METHODSThe biological discrepancies between unfrozen DCs (UFDC) derived from unfrozen cord blood (UFCB) and DCs from cryopreserved cord blood (CPCB) or cryopreserved DCs (CPDCs) were explored by morphological observation and immunophenotype analysis. Moreover, the stimulating index (SI) in mixed lymphocyte culture and cytotoxic eliminating rate (ER) were measured by MTT.

RESULTSThe TBR of CPCB and CPDCs were 95.8% and 88.7% respectively. Compared to UFCB, CPCB differentiated toward DCs in a delayed and decreased mode, displayed lower expression of CD1a, CD83 and HLA-DR, and had reduced SI and ER. Similarly, the CPDCs became adherent DCs later and grew less in number than UFDCs. After culture, the expression of CD1a, CD83 and HLA-DR as well as SI and ER were lower in CPDCs than those in UFDCs.

CONCLUSIONThough the biological properties of CPCB and CPDCs were injured after cryopreservation, they still had relatively complete basic function. Their recoveries rate were > 85%.

Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Cryopreservation ; Dendritic Cells ; cytology ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo study the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of a case-finding program on tuberculosis (TB) in richer rural areas.

METHODSScreening was implemented every three months for a total period of 9 months, in rural areas with high case notification rates. Three villages, each with ten thousand population, were selected to carry out a household screening program. A suspect was defined as who coughed for more than 3 weeks. The suspect was then referred to further diagnosis in county TB dispensary to undergo chest X-ray and sputum test.

RESULTSOf the 86,168 community population screened, 26 TB patients were identified with 7 of them were smear positive. The ratio of effectiveness vs. cost decreased on the second but slightly increased on the third screening program. The direct costs for the 3 screening programs were 6,312,397 and 1637 RMB respectively. Of total direct cost, 5.9% was paid by TB patients, whereas 35.9% was through financing of the county itself.

CONCLUSIONThe community household screening program could achieve higher case detection rate than passive case-finding approach which could be used in richer areas with low case detection rate in China.

China ; Chronic Disease ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Cough ; etiology ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; economics ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Rural Health ; Sputum ; microbiology ; Tuberculosis ; complications ; diagnosis

AIMTo study the pharmacokinetics of fudosteine in healthy volunteers after the single and multiple dose administration.

METHODSThirty-six volunteers were divided into three groups randomly, each group included six men and six women. In the single dose design, the volunteers received either a single dose of 600 mg, 400 mg or 200 mg fudosteine. After a one-week wash out period, the volunteers of 400 mg group participated in the multiple dose design in which each volunteer received 400 mg fudosteine three times a day for five consecutive days. The plasma concentrations were determined by pre-column derivatization HPLC-FL method and the pharmacokinetic parameters of fudosteine were calculated.

RESULTSThe obtained pharmacokinetic parameters of fudosteine in single dose of 600 mg, 400 mg and 200 mg groups were as follows: T1/2 were (2.8 +/- 0.5), (2.7 +/- 0.5) and (3.2 +/- 0.6) h, respectively. T(max) were (0.51 +/- 0.22), (0.59 +/- 0.21) and (0.48 +/- 0.18) h, respectively. C(max) were (16 +/- 4), (11 +/- 3) and (6.1 +/- 1.5) microg x mL(-1), respectively. The AUC(0-10 h) and C(max) correlated linearly with doses, respectively (r > 0.99). The T(max), C(max) and AUC values of fudosteine in healthy male volunteers were smaller than those in female volunteers, and the T1/2 value was longer than that in female volunteers. The obtained multi-dose pharmacokinetic parameters of fudosteine were as follows: C(ss) was (4.1 +/- 0.8) microg x mL(-1); DF was 3.0 +/- 0.7; T1/2 was (2.5 +/- 0.4) h; T(max) was (0.6 +/- 0.3) h; C(max) was (13.2 +/- 1.3) microg x mL(-1).

CONCLUSIONThe values of pharmacokinetic parameters in healthy volunteers were linear in the range from 200 mg to 600 mg. Statistic analysis results showed that the differences of AUC and C(max) between men and women were not resulted from sexual differences, but from the weight differences. There was no significant difference in pharmacokinetic parameters between single dose and multi-dose.

Administration, Oral ; Adult ; Area Under Curve ; Body Weight ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Cystine ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacokinetics ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Sex Factors

OBJECTIVETo compare the behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs between two strains of mice.

METHODSThe Kunming (KM) and ICR mice were injected intraperitoneally with caffeine (3, 10, 30, 100 mg/kg), ephedrine (3, 10, 30, 100 mg/kg), diazepam (1, 3,1 0 mg/kg) and chloral hydrate (10, 30, 100 mg/kg), respectively. Ten min after injection, the locomotor activity in the open field was recorded for 2 h. The total distance, the distance ratio to total distance and the time in central region were analyzed for each drugs. Thirty min after injection, the latent time in the passive avoidance test was measured in a shuttle box.

RESULTSCaffeine and diazepam prolonged the latent time, and ephedrine and chloral hydrate decreased the latent time, but there were no differences between the two strains. The two strains of mice exhibited significant differences in the total distance after injection of ephedrine 10 mg/kg, diazepam 3 mg/kg and chloral hydrate 100 mg/kg. Compared to KM mice, ICR mice exhibited an increase in the distance ratio and the time in central region after injection of ephedrine 10-100 mg/kg, but a decrease after diazepam 3-10 mg/kg.

CONCLUSIONKM and ICR mice show no differences in latent time, but significant differences in the total distance, the distance ratio and the time in central region in the locomotor activity. Therefore, selection of mouse strains is important in the study of psychoactive drugs.

Animals ; Caffeine ; pharmacology ; Central Nervous System Agents ; pharmacology ; Chloral Hydrate ; pharmacology ; Diazepam ; pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Ephedrine ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Motor Activity ; drug effects

Three cyclotides were isolated from the whole plant of Viola yedoensis in this study. The two, vary peptide E and cycloviolacin Y5, were previously reported, and a novel cycloviolacin VY1 was characterized according to the interpretation of MS/MS fragmentation of peptides which were produced from the reduced and alkylated parent peptide with the digestion of Endo Lys-C, trypsin and chymotrypsin, separately. The stability of remarkable resistance to proteolytic degradation by trypsin and chymotrypsin, and that of thermal denaturation was confirmed again. Besides, the IC50 value of cycloviolacin VY1 against influenza A H1N1 virus was (2.27 +/- 0.20) microg x mL(-1). It is the first cyclotide reported with anti-influenza A H1N1 virus activity in vitro assay.
Antiviral Agents ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cyclotides ; pharmacology ; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; drug effects ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Viola ; chemistry

Because of irregular shapes of Chinese herbal pieces, we simplified the previously deduced general extraction kinetic model for TCMs, and integrated particle diameters of Chinese herbs that had been hard to be determined in the final parameter "a". The reduction of the direct determination of particle diameters of Chinese herbs was conducive to increase the accuracy of the model, expand the application scope of the model, and get closer to the actual production conditions. Finally, a simplified model was established, with its corresponding experimental methods and data processing methods determined. With total flavonoids in Scutellariae Radix as the determination index, we conducted a study on the adaptability of total flavonoids extracted from Scutellariae Radix with the water decoction method in the model. The results showed a good linear correlation among the natural logarithm value of the mass concentration of total flavonoids in Scutellariae Radix, the time and the changes in the natural logarithm of solvent multiple. Through calculating and fitting, efforts were made to establish the kinetic model of extracting total flavonoids from Scutellariae Radix with the water decoction method, and verify the model, with a good degree of fitting and deviation within the range of the industrial production requirements. This indicated that the model established by the method has a good adaptability.
Chemical Fractionation ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; Flavonoids ; isolation & purification ; Kinetics ; Models, Theoretical ; Scutellaria baicalensis ; chemistry ; Water ; chemistry