OBJECTIVETo study the changes of palate cleft gap of complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) infants before and after presurgical orthodontic and cheiloplasty.

METHODSThe sample consisted of 18 complete UCLP infants who were treated using presurgical nasoalveolar molding (PNAM) appliance and cheiloplasty. The maxillary models were obtained at the initial visit, after PNAM treatment 1 month before cheiloplasty, and 2 months after cheiloplasty. The change of palate cleft gap were compared.

RESULTSAfter PNAM treatment and cheiloplasty, the lip profile was obviously improved, cleft gap was reduced, and the height of ala nasi fornix was recovered.

CONCLUSIONPNAM treatment can improve the lip shape and nasal deformity degree of UCLP patient. The cleft gap and upper lip tension are reduced.

Cleft Lip ; Cleft Palate ; Humans ; Infant ; Lip ; Nose ; Preoperative Care

OBJECTIVETo investigate the need and utilization for health services in patients with allergic rhinitis in Qingdao area.

METHODSAn investigation was conducted by the method of combining multi-stage sampling and cluster sampling. SPSS 13.0 software was used to analyse the data.

RESULTSAmong Two thousand and four hundred questionnaires, two thousand and fifty-two questionnaires were available. The effective rate was 85.5%. The total two-week prevalence in male was 6.5%, while that in female was 6.2%. There was no significant difference between male and female (χ(2) = 0.103, P > 0.05). The total ratio of those who visited doctors was 1.7%. The ratio of those who visited doctors in the first two weeks was 26.7% (35/131). 49.0% of non-users of health service thought it was unnecessary to consult a doctor because of mild symptoms. In the investigation about the allergic rhinitis, 60.2% patients (1235/2052) confessed that they heard of allergic rhinitis, 30.0% patients (616/2052) thought of allergic rhinitis was common cold.

CONCLUSIONSThe number of patients treated for allergic rhinitis was less than its prevalence. The primary reason for low attendance was that the majority of patients with mild symptoms thought it was no need to see a doctor. In order to improve the residents' health services utilization, medical education for allergic rhinitis is necessary.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; epidemiology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDLiving donor kidney transplantation (LKT) has been booming in China. This study aimed to elucidate the renal function of both Chinese donors and recipients after the donation and transplantation.

METHODSOne hundred and forty-one pairs of donors and recipients for LKT were randomly selected and followed up for up to seven years. The donors' and recipients' renal function was recorded before and after operation.

RESULTSThe donors presented a mean age of (43.9 ± 7.5) years at donation. The female contributed 101/141 (71.6%) in all donors, and no effect was shown between genders on healthy donors' renal function. The donors' glomerular filtration rates (GFR) were (119.5 ± 20.4) ml/min, (85.2 ± 17.6) ml/min, (87.2 ± 15.9) ml/min, (82.1 ± 14.6) ml/min and (83.0 ± 13.7) ml/min preoperatively, and for five days, three months, one year and beyond one year after the operation. The donors for the period of 1 - 3 years, 3 - 5 years and more than 5 years after donation showed GFR as (83.9 ± 12.7) ml/min, (83.0 ± 17.6) ml/min, and (80.9 ± 20.8) ml/min, respectively, no statistically significant difference was found. Moreover, no significant clinical changes in blood pressure and proteinuria were found among the donors. In the recipients, delayed graft function (DGF) rate was 6.4%, acute rejection rate was 11.3%, and GFR were (66.5 ± 16.4) ml/min, (73.2 ± 19.6) ml/min and (63.9 ± 18.6) ml/min respectively at three months, one year and beyond one year post-transplantation respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe donors/recipients of LKT in Chinese population experience well-functioning remaining/donor kidneys.

Adult ; Aged ; Blood Pressure ; physiology ; China ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; physiology ; Humans ; Kidney Function Tests ; Kidney Transplantation ; Living Donors ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Period ; Proteinuria ; physiopathology

BACKGROUND: Groundwater is believed to possess many beneficial effects due to its natural source of various minerals. In this study, we examined the effects of natural Jeju groundwater S1 (Samdasoo(TM)), S2 and S3 pumped up from different locations of Jeju Island, Korea, along with local tap water, on body weight gain, serum lipids and lipoproteins, and liver histopathology in high-fat diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats. MATERIALS/METHODS: Rats were randomly and equally divided into 6 groups. Different water samples were supplied to the hyperlipidemic rats as their daily drinking water and the widely-used anti-hyperlipidemic drug simvastatin was used as a positive control. Body weight, serum lipids and lipoproteins were measured weekly. Liver weight, liver index and liver histopathology were examined after the execution of the rats. RESULTS: After drinking Jeju groundwaters for two months, S2 but not S3 significantly reduced weight growth and serum triglycerides levels and increased high density lipoprotein-C (HDL-C) without affecting total cholesterol or LDL-C. S1 and particularly S2 significantly reduced the severity of liver hypertrophy and steatosis. All Groundwaters had much higher contents of vanadium (S3>S2>S1>>tap water) whereas S1 and S2 but not S3 markedly blocked autoxidation of ferrous ions. CONCLUSION: Jeju Groundwater S1 and particularly S2 exhibit protective effects against hyperlipidemia and fatty liver and hypothesize that the beneficial effect of Jeju Groundwaters may be contributed from blockade of autoxidation of ferrous ions rather than their high contents of vanadium.
Animals ; Body Weight ; Cholesterol ; Drinking ; Drinking Water ; Fatty Liver ; Groundwater* ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertrophy ; Ions ; Korea ; Lipid Metabolism* ; Lipoproteins ; Liver ; Minerals ; Rats* ; Simvastatin ; Triglycerides ; Vanadium ; Water

OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effects on allografts and the possible mechanism of adeno-associated heme-oxygenase-1 (AdHO-1) gene therapy against chronic rejection injury.

METHODSEx vivo AdHO-1 gene therapy was performed in vascular and renal transplantation models. The structure and function, the expression of therapeutic genes and proteins, and the immune modulation were analyzed.

RESULTSAdHO-1 gene therapy protected renal transplant against chronic rejection, but the effect was not as remarkable as that in vascular transplant. The transfected empty vehicle aggravated chronic rejection damage in renal transplantation. AdHO-1 decreased the infiltration of macrophages and CD4(+) T cells.

CONCLUSIONSAdHO-1 gene therapy can lessen damage of chronic rejection in allografts. It plays roles by protecting transplants, down-regulating immune response and inducing immune deviation.

Adenoviridae ; genetics ; Animals ; Blood Vessels ; transplantation ; CD4 Lymphocyte Count ; Chronic Disease ; Genetic Therapy ; methods ; Genetic Vectors ; Graft Rejection ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Graft Survival ; Heme Oxygenase-1 ; genetics ; Kidney Transplantation ; adverse effects ; methods ; Macrophages ; pathology ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred Lew ; Transfection ; Transplantation, Homologous

Medicinal plants have provided numerous medicinal active ingredients for thousands of years and these ingredients have been used in Chinese medicine (CM) and traditional pharmacologies worldwide. Recently, the exploitation and utilisation of medicinal plant resources has increased significantly. The results of the studies have led to the identification of many active components, such as steroidal alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids, and glycosides, in various medicinal plants with different evolutionary levels. Moreover, research on the chemical classification, molecular phylogeny, and pharmacological activity of medicinal plants is increasing in popularity. Pharmacophylogeny is an interdisciplinary topic that studies the correlation between plant phylogeny, chemical composition, and curative effects (pharmacological activity and the traditional curative effect) of medicinal plants. In addition, it provides the basic tools to enable research and development of CM resources. This literature review, based on the genetic relationship between phytogroup and species, highlights the formation process, research content, applications, and future directions of pharmacophylogeny.
Alkaloids ; Glycosides ; Plant Extracts/chemistry* ; Plants, Medicinal/chemistry* ; Saponins ; Terpenes

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to clone and characterize the oxiranedicarboxylate hydrolase (ORCH) from Labrys sp. WH-1. METHODS: Purification by column chromatography, characterization of enzymatic properties, gene cloning by protein terminal sequencing and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and sequence analysis by secondary structure prediction and multiple sequence alignment were performed. RESULTS: The ORCH from Labrys sp. WH-1 was purified 26-fold with a yield of 12.7%. It is a monomer with an isoelectric point (pI) of 8.57 and molecular mass of 30.2 kDa. It was stable up to 55 °C with temperature at which the activity of the enzyme decreased by 50% in 15 min (T₅₀¹⁵) of 61 °C and the half-life at 50 °C (t_{1/2, 50 °C}) of 51 min and was also stable from pH 4 to 10, with maximum activity at 55 °C and pH 8.5. It is a metal-independent enzyme and strongly inhibited by Cu²⁺, Ag⁺, and anionic surfactants. Its kinetic parameters (K_m, k_cat, and k_cat/K_m) were 18.7 mmol/L, 222.3 s^-1, and 11.9 mmol/(L·s), respectively. The ORCH gene, which contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 825 bp encoding 274 amino acid residues, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and the enzyme activity was 33 times higher than that of the wild strain. CONCLUSIONS The catalytic efficiency and thermal stability of the ORCH from Labrys sp. WH-1 were the best among the reported ORCHs, and it provides an alternative catalyst for preparation of L(+)-2,3-dihydrobutanedioic acid.
Alphaproteobacteria/enzymology* ; Cloning, Molecular ; Dicarboxylic Acids/metabolism* ; Enzyme Stability ; Epoxide Hydrolases/metabolism*

BACKGROUNDData on the epidemiology of hypertension in Chinese non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients are limited. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the non-dialysis CKD patients through a nationwide, multicenter study in China.

METHODSThe survey was performed in 61 tertiary hospitals in 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China (except Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). Trained physicians collected demographic and clinical data and measured blood pressure (BP) using a standardized protocol. Hypertension was defined as systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg, and/or use of antihypertensive medications. BP < 140/90 mmHg and < 130/80 mmHg were used as the 2 thresholds of hypertension control. In multivariate logistic regression with adjustment for sex and age, we analyzed the association between CKD stages and uncontrolled hypertension in non-dialysis CKD patients.

RESULTSThe analysis included 8927 non-dialysis CKD patients. The prevalence, awareness, and treatment of hypertension in non-dialysis CKD patients were 67.3%, 85.8%, and 81.0%, respectively. Of hypertensive CKD patients, 33.1% and 14.1% had controlled BP to < 140/90 mmHg and < 130/80 mmHg, respectively. With successive CKD stages, the prevalence of hypertension in non-dialysis CKD patients increased, but the control of hypertension decreased (P < 0.001). When the threshold of BP < 130/80 mmHg was considered, the risk of uncontrolled hypertension in CKD 2, 3a, 3b, 4, and 5 stages increased 1.3, 1.4, 1.4, 2.5, and 4.0 times compared with CKD 1 stage, respectively (P < 0.05). Using the threshold of < 140/90 mmHg, the risk of uncontrolled hypertension increased in advanced stages (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe prevalence of hypertension Chinese non-dialysis CKD patients was high, and the hypertension control was suboptimal. With successive CKD stages, the risk of uncontrolled hypertension increased.

Adult ; Aged ; Awareness ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; complications ; epidemiology ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; complications