OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical effects and operative options for the treatment of Forestier disease.

METHODSFrom June 2005 to May 2012, 8 patients with progressive dysphagia due to Forestier disease were treated through anterior approach, their clinical data were retrospective analyzed. There were 6 males and 2 females, aged from 65 to 83 years old with an average of 73 years. Among the patients, osteophytes removal was performed in 3 cases, osteophytes removal with discectomy and fusion was performed in 2 cases, osteophytes removal with corpectomy and fusion was performed in 3 cases. According to Bazaz dysphagia score to assess the improvement of the patients' symptoms before and after operation.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up from 12 to 40 months with the mean of 18.5 months. Seven cases were asymptomatic and 1 case had mild symptom in the last follow-up. Radiographs showed the space enlargement between vertebral body and trachea.

CONCLUSIONIt is effective to treat patients with progressive dysphagia due to Forestier disease through surgical method. And the operative options depend on the stability of cervical spine and the neurological symptoms of the patients.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperostosis, Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal ; diagnosis ; etiology ; surgery ; Male

Objective To explore the DNA damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes of rats exposed to sodium arsenite. Methods Thirty-two Wistar rats, weighing 180 - 200 g, equal male and female, were randomly divided into 4 groups, 8 in each group. Sodium arsenite 0(control) ,0.05,0.15,0.45 mg/L were given through drinking water for 30 days. Body weight and drinking water consumption were measured every day. Blood were collected and DNA damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes was examined by single cell gel electrophoresis.Results The increase of body mass[( 121.00 ± 38.57), ( 120.62 ± 42.80), ( 125.38 ± 48.68)g]and water intake [(36.9 ± 6.2), (37.9 ± 5.8), (39.3 ± 4.2)ml/d]in 0.05,0.15,0.45 mg/L sodium arsenite groups were compared with the control group[( 119.25 ± 47.27)g, (38.4 ± 5.1 )ml/d], and the difference were not significant (F = 0.040,0.828, all P ＞ 0.05). The tail ratios[46.25%(185/400) ,57.00%(228/400),64.00%(256/400)], tail lengths [(32.89 ± 17.18), (58.74 ± 36.28), (77.55 ± 35.73 ) μm]and tail moments [(6.29 ± 3.74), ( 11.20 ± 9.64),(17.30 ± 12.60)μm]in 0.05,0.15,0.45 mg/L sodium arsenite groups were significantly higher than those of the control group[39.25%(157/400), (18.73 ± 15.83),(2.61 ± 1.05)μm, all P ＜ 0.01], and the tail ratios,tail lengths and tail moments in lymphocytes increased with increased doses of arsenic concentration. Conclusions Low doses of arsenic exposure can induce DNA damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes of rats.

Animals ; Collagen Type IV ; metabolism ; Fibronectins ; metabolism ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous ; metabolism ; pathology ; Immune Sera ; immunology ; Kidney Glomerulus ; pathology ; ultrastructure ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; blood ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; pharmacology ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood ; Taurine ; pharmacology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo identify the changes in serum insulin like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) in children with nephrotic syndrome (NS) and the effect of glucocorticoid on serum IGF-I and IGFBPs.

METHODSWe measured serum IGF-I and IGFBPs levels by radioimmune assay and immune radiomagnetic assay in 36 children with NS, consisting of an active stage group (ANS, n = 12), a remission stage group (RE, n = 12), an active stage group with glucocorticoid treatment (GNS, n = 12), and a normal control group (NC, n = 10).

RESULTS1) Compared to NC, serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were decreased (P < 0.01); serum levels of IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-2 were increased (P < 0.01) in the ANS group. 2) Serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were higher and IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-2 were lower in the RE Group than in theANS Group (P < 0.01). 3) Compared to the ANS group, serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were increased (P < 0.01) and serum levels of IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-2 were decreased (P < 0.01) in the GNS group. 4) A correlation was found between serum levels of IGFBP-3 and albumin in the active stage group (r = 0.76, P < 0.01). There was also a correlation between serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 and an inverse correlation between the serum level of IGF-I and serum levels of IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-2 in the ANS group. No other correlations were observed.

CONCLUSIONSThe serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBPs are altered in children in the active stage of NS, but return to normal in the remission stage. GC treatment may influence serum IGF-I and IGFBPs in children with NS. Changes in IGF-I and IGFBPs levels may play a role in the growth retardation of NS children.

Child ; Dexamethasone ; pharmacology ; Female ; Glucocorticoids ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Proteins ; blood ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; analysis ; Male ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; blood

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of light irradiation intensity on bond durability of dual-cured resin luting agents to silanized ceramics.

METHODSLinkmax HV (LMHV), Nexus 2 (NX2), Variolink II HV (VL II HV) as dual-cured resin luting agents were bonded to silanized GN-I glass ceramics, and irradiated by 800, 310 and 80 mW x cm(-2) light intensity to form micro-shear test specimens. After 1, 90 d water storage, micro-shear bond strength of silanized resin/ceramic luting agent were measured. Data of each resin luting agent were analyzed by one-way ANOVA.

RESULTS90 d water storage decreased significantly the bond strength of all test groups, and the weak of irradiation intensity did not deteriorate this reduction of bond strength of luting resin/cermaic, oppositely in which LMHV irradiated by 310 mW x cm(-2) light intensity and NX2 irradiated by 80 mW x cm(-2) showed the higher bond strength than that irradiated by 800 mW x cm(-2).

CONCLUSIONThe weak of irradiation intensity does not affect the bond durability of dual-cured resin luting agents to silanized ceramics.

Ceramics ; Composite Resins ; Dental Cements ; Humans ; Materials Testing ; Resin Cements

OBJECTIVETo analyze the effect of different silane coupling agents on the resin bond durability of glass-infiltrated alumina ceramic. Methods A glass-infiltrated alumina ceramic was silanized or not by three silane coupling agents. The treated ceramic surfaces were bonded with two resin cements. Their micro-bond strength were measured after 0, 30,000 thermal cycles.

RESULTSBefore thermal cycling, resin cement A had lowest bond strength to ceramic, and ceramic treated by silane coupling agent A with two cements had lower bond strength than those treated by silane coupling agent B and C. After thermal cycling, cement A had no bond strength with no treated ceramic, only ceramic treated by silane coupling agent A with two cements had more than 5 MPa bond strength.

CONCLUSIONThe glass-infiltrated alumina cermaic treated by the silane coupling agent activated by 10-methacryloyloxydecyl-dihydrogen phosphate could obtain better bond durability with different type of resin cements.

Aluminum Oxide ; chemistry ; Ceramics ; chemistry ; Dental Bonding ; Glass ; chemistry ; Resin Cements ; chemistry

Adhesives ; chemistry ; Benzene ; analysis ; Chromatography, Gas ; Hexanes ; analysis ; Toluene ; analysis ; Trichloroethylene ; analysis

This paper introduces a random measurement analysis of, lung function measurement values with two different apparatus. in 41 patients. It shows that the differences are not statistically significant (P>0.05) between two apparatus measurement values except DLCO, FEF25, FEF75 in the group of normal ventilation, FVC in the group of abnormal ventilation. The two groups are both correlated closely (r> 0.9) except MMF(r=0.7725, RV r=0.808) in the normal group of ventilation, and FEF75 (r=0.58) in the abnormal group of ventilation (p<0.001). The two apparatus with different measuring theories have a good correlation.
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Respiratory Function Tests ; instrumentation ; methods

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the value and inadequacy in clinical practice of the concept of gastric high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HIN).

METHODSForty-five cases with gastric HIN diagnosed by the esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) biopsy were treated from 2003 to 2009. The clinical and histopathological data were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSRadical surgeries were successfully performed on all the patients, among whom 33 underwent distal subtotal gastrectomy, 3 proximal partial gastrectomy, 7 total gastrectomy, and 2 endoscopic mucosal resection. In postoperative pathological examination, only 15 cases (33.3%) were HIN, while 14 cases (31.1%) were found to be early gastric cancers, and 16 (35.6%) were advanced cancers. Twelve(40.0%) out of 30 cancers had regional lymph nodes metastasis. When the maximum diameter of the HIN lesion was greater than 3.0 cm, or when ulcer or the features of poorly-differentiated carcinoma or signet-ring cell carcinoma were present in preoperative biopsy, the likelihood of cancer in postoperative pathological examination was higher (P<0.05), and when malignancy was confirmed, the presence of the features above was associated with lymph nodes metastasis and advanced cancer.

CONCLUSIONSCarcinoma is identified in a large proportion of patients with gastric HIN by the EGD biopsy. Lymph nodes metastasis or advanced cancer may be detected in these cases. Cautions must be taken when the new concept of HIN is widely used for diagnosing gastric lesion. Radical resection should be considered when the maximum diameter of the HIN lesion is greater than 3.0 cm, or when ulcer, or the feature of poorly-differentiated carcinoma or signet-ring cell carcinoma are present in the EGD biopsy.

Adult ; Aged ; Biopsy ; methods ; Carcinoma ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDTransforming growth factor (TGF) beta(1)-Smads signal plays an important role in cardiac remodeling following myocardial infarction (MI). In addition, both angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) and angiotensin II type I receptor blocker (ARB) can effectively prevent left ventricular remodeling. The current study focused on whether the combination of ACEI and ARB is more beneficial for preventing ventricular remodeling and whether Smad proteins mediate this beneficial effect.

METHODSMI was induced by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery in rats. Twenty-four hours after ligation, the survived rats were randomly divided into five groups and treated for 8 weeks: placebo group, ACEI group (benazepril 10 mg.kg(-1).d(-1)), ARB group (irbesartan 50 mg.kg(-1).d(-1)), ACEI + ARB group (benazepril 10 mg.kg(-1).d(-1) + irbesartan 50 mg.kg(-1).d(-1)) and control group (sham-operated rats). After 8 weeks, we examined the following indexes: the ratio of ventricular weight to body weight (VW/BW), left ventricular end diastolic dimension (LVDd), ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS), ratio of E-wave to A-wave velocity, collagen of noninfarcted zone, the mRNA expression of TGFbeta(1), Smad 2, and Smad 3 by RT-PCR in noninfarcted zone, the protein expression of Smad 2 and Smad 3 in noninfarcted zone by Western blot.

RESULTSVW/BW significantly increased in the placebo groups compared with that in the control group (P < 0.01). This increase was limited in ACEI, ARB, and combined groups (P < 0.01 compared with placebo group). There was no significant difference among the three actively treated groups. Collagen was increased in placebo group (5.68 +/- 0.5)% compared with that in control group (P < 0.01). ACEI, ARB and combined treatment attenuated this increase of collagen [(4.3 +/- 0.5)%, (3.5 +/- 0.5)%, (3.2 +/- 0.4)%] in comparison with that in placebo group (P < 0.01 respectively). Combined treatment showed more significant effect on collagen deposition. EF and FS significantly decreased, LVDd and E/A significantly increased in placebo group compared with that in control group (P < 0.01 respectively). ACEI, ARB and combined treatment ameliorated these indexes (P < 0.01 compared with placebo group). The mRNA expression of TGFbeta(1), Smad 2, and Smad 3 (0.700 +/- 0.045, 0.959 +/- 0.037 and 0.850 +/- 0.051) increased in placebo group compared with that in control group (P < 0.01). ACEI, ARB and combined treatment normalized the increase (P < 0.01). Furthermore, ARB and combined treatment proved to be more effective in decreasing TGF beta(1) and Smad mRNA expression than ACEI treatment (P < 0.01). The expression of Smad 2 and Smad 3 protein increased in placebo group compared with that in control group (P < 0.01). ACEI, ARB and combined treatment normalized the increase (P < 0.01). Furthermore, ARB and combined treatment proved to be more effective than ACEI alone (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSTGFbeta(1)-Smads signal activation is correlated with ventricular remodeling following MI. ACEI and ARB treatment prevents ventricular remodeling by inhibiting expression of Smad 2 and Smad 3. ARB and combined treatment are more effective than ACEI alone.

Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Echocardiography ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; drug therapy ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Smad2 Protein ; analysis ; genetics ; Smad3 Protein ; analysis ; genetics ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; genetics ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; Ventricular Remodeling ; drug effects