Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Heart Diseases ; etiology ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Spondylosis ; complications

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of panax notoginsenosides (PNS) on the proliferation of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) in mice with immune-mediated aplastic anemia.

METHODSBalb/c mice model of immune-mediated aplastic anemia was established by radiation with sublethal dose of 60Co following the intravenously infusing lymphocytes of DBA/2 mice. Model mice in the treated groups were treated separately with high, middle and low dose of PNS, 3.2 mg, 1.6 mg and 0.8 mg per day respectively by intraperitoneal injection. Model mice in the control group and normal mice in the normal control group were treated with normal saline. The peripheral white blood cell (WBC) count and pathological examination of bone marrow were carried out 12 days later, the bone marrow was taken to be incubated in semi-solid culture system for observing proliferation of HPC.

RESULTSPNS could (1) increase peripheral WBC count: as compared with that in the model control, WBC in the high, middle and low dose PNS groups was raised by (34.3 +/- 2.9)%, (29.2 +/- 1.7)% and (14.5 +/- 1.6)% respectively, P < 0.01 and P < 0.05; (2) improve the bone marrow inhibition: pathological examination showed in the model group, the hematopoietic structure was destroyed and replaced by fatty tissue, while in the PNS treated groups, the structure of marrow was rather complete and filled with abundant hematopoietic cells; (3) promote the proliferation of HPC: as compared with the model group, the colony formation of CFU-GM were increased by (64.4 +/- 2.8)%, (67.3 +/- 2.4)% and (21.9 +/- 1.8)% respectively and that of CFU-E increased by (31.9 +/- 3.6)%, (20.7 +/- 2.4)% and (12.8 +/- 2.6)% respectively in the three PNS treated group (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONPNS could enhance hematopoiesis by promoting proliferation of CFU-GM and CFU-E progenitors so as to improve the hematopoietic function in mice of immune-mediated aplastic anemia.

Anemia, Aplastic ; blood ; etiology ; immunology ; Animals ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; Female ; Ginsenosides ; pharmacology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred DBA ; Panax ; Radiation Injuries ; Random Allocation

The cupping spot is considered as one kind of skin change due to cupping treatment. With literature regarding cupping spot, the influencing factors and value of cupping spot in clinical diagnosis and treatment were analyzed, which could make a further exploration on the action mechanism of cupping treatment. The literature showed that the formation of cupping spot was related with cupping temperature, pressure, cup-retaining time, cupping area, individual difference and health condition, etc; cupping spot had the ability to assist diagnosis, prevent disease, cure disease and evaluate clinical efficacy. Previous studies on cupping spot have already made some progress, and played a positive significance on finding cupping rule and studying its mechanism. However, the research for this area is still in the primary stage, which needed deeper study to reveal scientific connotations of cupping spot.
Acupuncture Therapy ; instrumentation ; Humans ; Skin ; anatomy & histology ; blood supply

OBJECTIVETo determine if multi-detector CT (MDCT) characterization of plaque is correlated with the classification of acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

METHODSAltogether 1900 patients were examined by MDCT from December 2007 to May 2009, of whom 95 patients fulfilled the criteria of ACS. Those patients were divided into the discrete plaque group ( n=61) and diffuse plaque group ( n=34) based on the findings in MDCT. The clinical diagnosis of ACS and CT results were analyzed, including segment stenosis score, segment involvement score, 3-vessel plaque score, left main score, calcification score, and remodeling index. The incidences of major adverse cardiac events in follow-up period were also recorded.

RESULTSThe patients of the diffuse plaque group were older than those of the discrete plaque group ( Pü0.0001). The diffuse plaque group presented more cases of hypertension, peripheral artery disease, diabetes, and heart failure than discrete plaque group (all P<0.05). All the 5 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction were found in discrete plaque group. The segment stenosis score of the discrete plaque group was lower than that of the diffuse plaque group(5.15±3.55 vs. 14.91±5.37, Pü0.001). The other four scores demonstrated significant inter-group difference as well (all P<0.05). The remodeling index of thediscrete plaque group was higher (1.12±0.16 vs.0.97±0.20, Pü0.05). Follow-up data showed that major adverse cardiac events occurred more frequently in diffuse plaque group than in discrete group (29.41% vs. 11.48%, P=0.0288).

CONCLUSIONSCharacteristics of discrete and diffuse plaques may be significantly different among different classes of ACS. The diffuse plaque may present higher risk, correlated to higher mortality. The diagnosis of discrete and diffuse plaques by MDCT would provide a new insight into the prognosis and treatment of ACS.

Acute Coronary Syndrome ; classification ; Adult ; Aged ; Coronary Artery Disease ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; diagnostic imaging ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between the vasoactive substances including endothelin-1 (ET-1), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), and nitric oxide (NO) in myocardium and the cardiac functions in chronic renal ischemia rats.

METHODSMale Wistar rats weighting 180-200 g were randomly divided into 2 groups: operation group (n=30) and sham operation group (n=10). A ligation of abdominal aorta between right and left renal artery was made by silk suture in operation group and the necrosis degree of aorta was about 50%. Aorta was not ligated in sham operation group. Sixteen weeks after operation, invasive measurement of blood pressure and cardiac function were performed, and content of ET-1, CGRP, and NO in myocardium were determined.

RESULTSCompared with sham operation group, blood pressure significantly increased in the operation group after ligation, along with decreased cardiac systolic and diastolic function, increased left ventricular mass index. After 16 weeks, compared with sham operation group, the content of ET-1 in cardiac tissue were significantly elevated in operation group [(361.0+/-118.7) vs. (503.4+/-139.6 ) pg/ml, P<0.01), along with significantly decreased CGRP content [(74.4+/-24.8) vs. (45.4+/-15.1) pg/ml, P<0.01). The content of ET-1 in cardiac tissue was negatively correlated with the maximum pressure rise rate of left ventricular r=-0.37, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSChronic kidney ischemia caused by abdominal aorta ligation may result in the increase of ET-1 content in cardiac tissue and decrease of CGRP decreased. The content of ET-1 in cardiac tissue is also negatively correlated with left ventricular systolic function.

Animals ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Endothelin-1 ; metabolism ; Heart ; physiopathology ; Ischemia ; metabolism ; Kidney ; blood supply ; Male ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided percutaneous puncturing gastric wall implantation of 125 I seeds in advanced pancreatic carcinoma . Methods Sixty-five cases ( 65 tumors ) of advanced pancreatic carcinoma implanted 125 I seeds by ultrasound-guided percutaneous puncturing gastric wall were retrospectively analyzed . The change of length diameter of tumor and pain relief were evaluated . Results The total 65 cases were performed successfully according to the preoperative plans . In the following 3 months after the operation ,the results showed that complete remission (CR) was achieved in 19 cases ,partial remission( PR) was 33 ,stable disease( SD) was 10 and the progressive disease ( PD) was 3 . The overall response rate was 80％ . About the relief of pain ,complete relief patients were 36 , partial response patients were 11 and the invalid patients were 5 . The pain relief rate was 90 .38％ . There were no bleeding ,pancreatic fistula ,biliary fistula ,gastric perforation which need to do the surgery therapy . Two cases of pancreatic pseudocyst occurred when reviewed in the third month after the operation . Conclusions It is effective and safe to adopt ultrasound-guided percutaneous puncturing gastric wall implantation of 125 I seeds in advanced pancreatic carcinoma .

OBJECTIVETo establish a simple, rapid, inexpensive and sensitive method for detecting hot region for mutations in exon 7 of PAH gene.

METHODSHigh-resolution melting (HRM) technology was used to detect a c.728G>A mutation in exon 7 in 88 patients with classical type phenylketonuria. Suspected mutations were validated by direct DNA sequencing.

RESULTSThe results detected by HRM are in good agreement with the results obtained by direct sequencing.

CONCLUSIONHRM analysis is a simple, rapid, inexpensive and sensitive method for detecting hot mutational region in exon 7 of PAH gene.

Base Sequence ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; methods ; Exons ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Mutation ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ; methods ; Nucleic Acid Denaturation ; Phenylalanine Hydroxylase ; genetics ; Phenylketonurias ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Transition Temperature

OBJECTIVETo study the mutations in exons 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12 of the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene (PAH) in Shanxi population.

METHODSThe mutations in exons 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12 and flanking sequences of PAH gene were detected by PCR-DNA sequencing, in 59 patients with phynelketonuria(PKU) and 100 healthy children from Shanxi province.

RESULTSBy sequence analysis, three single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Q232Q (CAA>CAG), V245V (GTG>GTA) and L385L (CTG>CTC) were detected in both the patients and healthy children, with the frequencies of nt 696, 735 and 1155 of the PAH cDNA up to 96.2%, 76.1% and 7.6% in patients respectively, and 97.0%, 77.3% and 8.3% respectively in the healthy controls. In addition, 72 different mutations accounting for 61.0% of mutant alleles were identified in the patients only. In exon 3, R111X, H64>TfsX9 and S70 del were found accounting for 5.1%, 0.8% and 0.8%; EX6-96A>G in exon 6 was found accounting for 10.2%. In exon 7, R243Q was the highest incidence accounting for 12.7%, followed by Ivs7+2 T>A(5.1%) and T278I(2.5%); the lowest incidences were G247V, R252Q, L255S, R261Q and E280K accounting for 0.8 %, respectively. In exon 11, Y356X (5.9%) and V399V (5.1%) were found; in exon 12, R413P and A434D were found accounting for 5.9% and 2.5%. In total, 9 missense mutations, 3 splice site mutations, 2 nonsense mutations and 2 deletions were included in 16 kinds of different mutations.

CONCLUSIONThe mutation characteristics and distribution in exons 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12 of the PAH gene have been identified, and it suggested that the EX6-96A>G and R243Q were the hot spots of PAH gene mutations in Shanxi PKU population.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Exons ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Mutation ; Phenylalanine Hydroxylase ; genetics ; Phenylketonurias ; enzymology ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics

With the development and improvement of new sequencing technology, next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been applied increasingly in cancer genomics research over the past decade. More recently, NGS has been adopted in clinical oncology to advance personalized treatment of cancer. NGS is used to identify novel and rare cancer mutations, detect familial cancer mutation carriers, and provide molecular rationale for appropriate targeted therapy. Compared to traditional sequencing, NGS holds many advantages, such as the ability to fully sequence all types of mutations for a large number of genes (hundreds to thousands) in a single test at a relatively low cost. However, significant challenges, particularly with respect to the requirement for simpler assays, more flexible throughput, shorter turnaround time, and most importantly, easier data analysis and interpretation, will have to be overcome to translate NGS to the bedside of cancer patients. Overall, continuous dedication to apply NGS in clinical oncology practice will enable us to be one step closer to personalized medicine.
High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; economics ; methods ; Humans ; Mutation ; Neoplasms ; genetics ; Precision Medicine ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

Objective To observe the retinal microstructure changes in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment following vitrectomy procedures and its correlation with the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA).Methods Patients who were diagnosed with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and underwent vitrectomy were recruited in this study.BCVA and optical coherence tomography (OCT) examination were performed at 1 week,1 month,3 months and 6 months after operation for recording the neurosensory retinal thickness and outer nuclear layer thickness as well as observing the occurrence of ellipsoid zone,external limiting membrane rupture,macuiar edema,macular epiretinal membrane.Results A total of 32 eyes from 31 patients were followed up,and the BCVA became better as the follow-up prolonged.Both neurosensory retinal thickness and outer nuclear layer thickness thickened from 1 week [(122.75 ± 111.84) μm and (79.06 ±76.67) μm] to 3 months [(163.28 ± 133.10) μm and (108.66 ± 120.40)μm],and slightly thinned at 6 months [(159.50 ± 99.26) μm and (99.22 ± 74.89) μm].AS follow-up went by,the occurrence rate of ellipsoid zone and external limiting membrane rupture were 68.8％ and 53.1％,65.6％ and 46.9％,56.3％ and 40.6％,50.0％ and 37.5％ at 1 week,1 month,3 months,6 months,respectively,and both variables were significantly correlation with the patients' BCVA.Conclusion The neurosensory retinal thickness and outer nuclear layer thickness in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment became gradually thicker and the vision became better during follow-up.Meanwhile,the ellipsoid zone and external limiting membrane rupture are the key factors for patients' BCVA.