Objective: To study therapeutic effects of simvastatin on vascular endothelial cell dysfunction in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods: According to LDL-C level, a total of 90 CHD patients were divided into simvastatin 20mg group (n=37, LDL-C≥2.5mmol/L), simvastatin 10mg group (n=35, 1.8mmol/L≤LDL-C<2.5mmol/L) and routine treatment group (n=18, LDL-C<1.8mmol/L). Their course of treatment was 8 weeks. Color Doppler ultrasound diagnostic instrument was used to measure flow-mediated dilation of brachial artery (FMD), and nitrate reductase method was used to measure concentration of nitric oxide (NO) in all CHD patients. Serum concentrations of TC, TG, LDL-C and HDL-C were routinely measured. Results: After treatment of eight weeks, compared with before treatment, there were significant decrease in concentrations of TC, TG and LDL-C (P<0.05 all), and significant increase in HDL-C level (P<0.05 all) in simvastatin 20mg and 10mg group, but there were no significant difference in above-mentioned all indexes between simvastatin 20mg and 10mg groups, P>0.05 all; Compared with routine treatment group, there were significant improvement in FMD [(6.01±0.49)% vs. (9.01±0.39)% vs. (9.01±0.47)%，P<0.01 all] and significant increase in serum NO concentration [(38.97±8.89)μmol/L vs. (47.67±10.89) μmol/L vs. (45.61±9.09) μmol/L，P<0.05 all] in simvastatin 20mg and 10mg group; But there were also no significant difference in serum NO and FMD between simvastatin 20mg and 10mg groups, P>0.05 all. Conclusion: Simvastatin can increase NO concentration and improve vascular endothelial cell dysfunction in CHD patients. Its mechanism may be related with lipid-lowering effect, but independent of its lipid-lowering effect

Objective To study the clinical value of color Doppler ultrasonography in typing tuberculous epididymitis.Methods The appearances of color Doppler ultrasound and the findings on operation were analysed in 33 patients with tuberculous epididymitis.Results Of the 33 patients,epididymis appeared as diffusely and heterogeneously enlarged lesions with increased flow in 2 cases,appeared as nodular lesions in 13 cases including nodi with echofree space in 3 cases, nodi with high-level echo patches in 3 cases, and low echo-level nodi in 7 cases. Multiple lesions in scrotum were detected in 17 cases, of whom epididymis up to 11 cases appeared as diffusely enlarged heterogeneous lesions with flow increased.The sonographic appearancs of tuberculous epididymitis could be divided into 3 types:diffusion type, nodus type and complicated type. Nodus type included 3 subtypes: purulence type, calcification type, and cheese type.The accuracy rate of ultrsound diagnosis was 87.9%.Conclusions Testis is easy to be involved when epididymitis appears as diffusion type, so surgical treatments should be early.Purulence type and complicated type need surgical treatments while calcification type does not. Antituberculous drug treatments can be tried before surgical treatments in cheese type.Sonography of urinary system is helpful for the diagnosis of asymptomatic tuberculosis in urinary system when tuberculous epididymitis is first suspected on sonography.

OBJECTIVETo study the impact of neonatal bacillus Calmette-Guerin(BCG) vaccination on lung Th17 cells and IL-17 in murine asthma model.

METHODSNeonatal BALB/c mice were divided into three groups: control, OVA and BCG/OVA groups. BCG was administerd in the BCG/OVA group on postnatal day 2 or 3. Except the control group, the mice in the other two groups were sensitized and undergone OVA challenge. Inflammatory cell numbers and morphological identification of leucocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were measured by light microscopy. Cytokine IFN-gamma and IL-17 levels in BALF were measured using ELISA. The percentage of lung Th17 cells were assayed by flow cytometry.

RESULTSThere was significantly larger number of total cells, lymphocytes, eosinophils and neutrophils in BALF in the OVA and BCG/OVA groups compared with the control group. The number or percentage of those cells in the BCG/OVA group was lower than that in the OVA group. The level of IL-17 in BALF was significantly higher in the OVA and the BCG/OVA groups compared with the control group, while the level of IFN-gamma was lower. The OVA group had higher level of IL-17 than the BCG/OVA group. The mice in the OVA and the BCG/OVA groups had a higher percentage of Th17 cells in lungs compared with the control group, but there were no significant differences in the percentage of Th17 cells between the OVA and the BCG/OVA groups.

CONCLUSIONSTh17 cells and IL-17 play roles in the pathogenesis of asthma. BCG vaccination can reduce the level of IL-17 in BALF and the reduced IL-17 may be mainly from other IL-17-producing cells in the lungs, not Th17 cells.

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Asthma ; immunology ; BCG Vaccine ; immunology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Interferon-gamma ; analysis ; Interleukin-17 ; analysis ; Lung ; immunology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Ovalbumin ; immunology ; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer ; immunology ; Vaccination

BACKGROUND:Anti-infective ability determine the success or failure of skin grafting. It is one of the commonly used methods to enhance the anti-infective ability of implants by compounding antibacterial materials with scaffolds. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of porous collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds carrying zinc oxide nanoparticles against infection and inflammation, and to evaluate its effect on wound healing. METHODS:Thirty-two Sprague-Dawley rats with a full-thickness wound on the back skin were randomly divided into two groups. In experimental groiup, porous collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds containing zinc oxide nanoparticles were implanted, while only collagen/silk fibroin scaffolds were implanted in control group. Wound healing was compared between the two groups by measuring residual wound area at 1, 2, 4, 8 weeks post implantation. Hematoxylin-eosin and interleukin 6 immumohistochemical staining were performed at 1, 2, 4 weeks post implantation to observe wound morphology and inflammatory reactions. Meanwhile, expression of interleukin 6 and interleukin 1β was detected by real-time PCR. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) At 2, 4, 8 weeks post implantation, significantly increased healing rate was observed in the experiment group compared with the control group (P<0.05). (2) Findings from the hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that obvious inflammatory cell infiltration was observed in the control group, but less inflammation with vigorous growth of granulation tissues on the wound surface occurred in the experimental group at 1 week after implantation. Then, the wound repair was basically completed in the experimental group presenting with complete and compact epidermal tissue structure, while scar formation with no skin cover was found in the control group at 4 weeks after implantation. (3) Findings from the interleukin 6 immumohistochemical staining showed that there was interleukin 6 positive expression in both two groups to different extents; at 4 weeks after implantation, the expression of interleukin 6 was remarkably reduced in the control group, but it was still a strong positive expression, while week positive expression of interleukin 6 was observed in the experimental group. (4) Compared with the control group, the mRNA expression of interleukin 6 and interleukin 1β was both lower in the experimental group at 1, 2, 4 weeks after implantation, but there was a significant difference between the two groups at 1 and 2 weeks after implantation (P<0.05). Overall, the porous collagen/silk fibroin scaffold carrying zinc oxide nanoparticles can effectively reduce inflammations following skin injury, and accelerate skin wound healing.

Objective To provide evidence for effective implementation of influenza and pneumonia immune strategies, we investigated the awareness of influenza and pneumonia and the willingness of vaccination among chronic disease patients.Methods A stratified multistage cluster sampling method was used to investigate 720 patients less than 75 years of age.Results Overall, 717 completed responses were received.The awareness rates of influenza and pneumonia diseases were 59.83% and 59.55%, respectively.However, the awareness rates of influenza and pneumonia vaccine were 17.71% and 6.00%, respectively.The vaccination rate of influenza vaccine was 1.26% while no patients received pneumonia vaccination.Among those not vaccinated the most frequent reasons for not receiving the vaccine included "Believed oneself unlikely to be infected with influenza/pneumonia" and "No recommendation has been received for influenza/pneumonia vaccination".The influence on recommendations by doctors at vaccine clinic and by general practitioner had no significant statistical difference (P>0.05).Conclusion The main reasons for such low awareness and willingness may be due to their poorly knowledge on the risk of influenza/pneumonia diseases, and related vaccines.Health education and intervention should be taken to heighten the vaccination rates of influenza/pneumonia vaccines.

OBJECTIVETo explore the relation between hepatitis B virus DNA load and genotype with the level of large envelope protein.

METHODSSerum HBV DNA was quantitively detected by using real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The LHBs were detected by using enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) and HBV markers were detected by time differentiate immunofluorescence assay in 140 serum samples collected from chronic hepatitis B patients.The genotypes of HBV were identified by DNA sequencing; and analyze their relationship.

RESULTSThere was no significant difference between positive rate of LHBs and that of HBV DNA in HBeAg negative and positive group (P > 0.05); The HBV LHBs absorbency was markedly correlated with the HBV DNA load ( R2 = 0.9267). The difference of HBV LHBs absorbency between HBV genotype B and C was not significant.

CONCLUSIONSThe close correlation between HBV LHBs absorbence and HBV DNA load illustrated that he level of serum LHBs can be used to estimate the state of HBV replication; and there is no relationship between HBV LHBs absorbency and genotypes. So HBV LHBs may be used as a new serological marker to detect HBV replication.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; genetics ; immunology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepatitis B ; genetics ; virology ; Hepatitis B virus ; chemistry ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Viral Envelope Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; Virion ; chemistry ; genetics ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDFor patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG), it is important to establish a hemodynamic monitoring system to obtain powerful parameters for better intraoperative treatment. This study aimed to observe the clinical feasibility of arterial pressure-based cardiac output (APCO) for cardiac output (CO) monitoring and to evaluate the correlation between APCO and pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) for CO measurement for patients undergoing OPCABG intraoperatively.

METHODSFifty patients of American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) classification II-III, undergoing elective OPCABG at Beijing Anzhen Hospital were randomly enrolled into this study. All patients were assigned to CO monitoring by PAC and APCO simultaneously. Patients with pacemaker, severe valvular heart disease, left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) < 40%, cardiac arrhythmias, peripheral vascular disease, application of intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) and emergent diversion to cardiac pulmonary bypass were excluded. The radial artery waveform was analyzed to estimate the stroke volume (SV) and heart rate (HR) continuously. CO was calculated as SV ' HR; other derived parameters were cardiac index (CI), stroke volume index (SVI), systemic vascular resistance (SVR), and systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI). PAC was placed via right internal jugular vein and the correct position was confirmed by PAC waveforms. Continuous cardiac output (CCO), CI and other hemodynamic parameters were monitored at following 5 time points: immediate after anesthesia induction (baseline value), anastomosis of left internal mammary artery to left anterior descending artery (LAD), anastomosis of left circumflex (LCX), anastomosis of posterior descending artery (PDA) and immediate after sternal closure.

RESULTSIn the 50 patients, preoperative echocardiography measured left ventricular EF was (52.8 ± 11.5)%, and 35 patients (70%) showed regional wall motion abnormalities. The correlation coefficient of CO monitored by APCO and PAC were 0.70, 0.59, 0.78, 0.74 and 0.85 at each time point. The bias range of CI monitored from both APCO and PAC were (0.39 ± 0.06) L×min(-1)×m(-2), (0.48 ± 0.12) L×min(-1)×m(-2), (0.26 ± 0.06) L×min(-1)×m(-2), (0.27 ± 0.06) L×min(-1)×m(-2), (0.30 ± 0.05) L×min(-1)×m(-2) at each time point. The results of SVR by two hemodynamic monitoring techniques had good correlation during OPCABG. The variation trends of SVR were opposite comparing with the results of CO. SVR collected from PAC obtained the highest value of (1220.0 ± 254.0) dyn×s×cm(-5) at PDA anastomosis, but the highest value obtained from APCO was (1206.0 ± 226.5) dyn×s×cm(-5) in LCX anastomosis.

CONCLUSIONSAPCO is feasible in hemodynamic monitoring for patients undergoing OPCABG. The results of hemodynamic monitoring derived from APCO and PAC are closely correlated. Its characterizations of timely, accurate and continuous display of hemodynamic parameters are also obviously demonstrated in the present study.

Aged ; Arterial Pressure ; physiology ; Cardiac Output ; physiology ; Catheterization, Swan-Ganz ; methods ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; methods ; Female ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Monitoring, Intraoperative ; methods

Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; immunology ; Influenza Vaccines ; chemistry ; immunology ; Influenza, Human ; immunology ; prevention & control ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Vaccination

OBJECTIVESTo establish the testicular fibrosis model in rats.

METHODSWistar rats were divided into control group(n = 12) and model group(n = 40) randomly. Testicular fibrosis model was built with the classical method of establishing experimental autoimmune orchitis (EAO) combined with injecting Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) into left testis.

RESULTSThe incidence rate of EAO and the rate of testicular fibrosis were 100%, 11.1% and 100%, 81.5% at 80, 140 days after the first infection, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSThe model of rat testicular fibrosis was established successfully.

Animals ; Autoimmune Diseases ; pathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Fibrosis ; Male ; Mycobacterium bovis ; Orchitis ; pathology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Testis ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the diagnosis and treatment of serious pediatric airway obstruction.

METHODSSeventy three pediatric cases with serious airway obstruction, admitted to Shantou hospital from 1995 to 2005, were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSAmong the 73 cases, 28 cases (38.4%) with inflammatory disease and 33 cases (45.2%) with foreign body. In addition, 8 cases of laryngeal papilloma, 3 cases of laryngotracheobronchial spasm and 1 case of pharyngeal dysembryoma were also included in this study. The patients who had endotracheal intubation or tracheotomy were 39 cases (53.4%) and 27 cases (36.9%) respectively. Ten cases received non-surgery treatment. Seventy two cases diagnosis was confirmed and the related serious airway obstruction condition got stable within 12 hours. While serious complications occurred in 23 cases (31.5%) and operative complications occurred in 3 cases (4.1%). Four cases ( 5.5%) died and 68 cases (93.2%) were cured. One case refused to be treated.

CONCLUSIONSThe condition of serious pediatric airway obstruction patients is usually critical, the related causes could be complicated, quick diagnosis and timely removal of the obstruction factors are imperative.

Adolescent ; Airway Obstruction ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Critical Illness ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome