Objective To study the features and risk factors of ischemic leukoaraiosis (LA) progression in elderly patients aged 80 years and over. Methods The 56 elderly patients with ischemic LA confirmed by MRI were enrolled in this study. The characteristics and risk factors of ischemic LA were comparatively analyzed between baseline and 3 years later by single and multi-variable logistic regression analysis. Results Ischemic LA progressed mostly in the subcortical white matter in elderly patients, especially the frontal lobes (progression of white matter lesion was present in 40% in the frontal lobes at baseline and 52% after 3 years), followed by the parietal lobes (35% at baseline and 36% after 3 years); Furthermore, previous high homocysteine (Hcy) and chronic bronchitis were risk factors of ischemic LA progression. Conclusions Ischemic LA progresses mostly in the subcortical white matter in the elderly, especially the frontal lobes; High Hcy and chronic bronchitis are risk factors of ischemic LA progression in elderly patients.

Endemic dental fluorosis has been reported in some regions of the world. China seemed to have high prevalence of endemic dental fluorosis, especially in southwest China. It is now most likely that excessive fluoride intake during enamel development play a key role in the pathogenesis of dental fluorosis. However, excessive intake of fluoride-induced cellular and molecular mechanisms of dental fluorosis are not entirely conclusive. Scholars at home and abroad have made a lot of research on pathogenesis of enamel fluorosis by using various experimental techniques. More recent studies mainly suggest that endoplasmic reticulum stress and calcium overload-associated apoptotic pathway may participate in fluoride excess-evoked pathogenesis of dental fluorosis. Furthermore, the functional changes of enamel matrix protein and protease activity may be involved in the pathological event. This paper summarized the recent research progress on this topic.

China ; epidemiology ; History, 19th Century ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Parasitic Diseases ; epidemiology ; Parasitology ; education ; history ; Research

OBJECTIVETo study the correlation between lacunar cerebral infarction and level of serum uric acid in elderly male hypertension patients.

METHODSNinety-eight elderly male hypertension patients were enrolled in this study. They all underwent cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, and their clinical and laboratory data were collected. The patients were divided into the 1st group (n = 32), the 2nd group (n = 32) and the 3rd group (n = 34) according to the level of serum uric acid.

RESULTSThe numbers of lacuner infarction, serum creatinine, urea and high density lipoprotein(HDL) were significantly diferrent from the other groups. The numbers of lacuner infarction were positively related with serum uric acid and urea. Multiple variant analysis showed that serum uric acid was the independent factor of the numbers of lacuner infarction.

CONCLUSIONThe elevated level of serum uric acid may contribute to the risk factors of lacuner infarction.

Aged, 80 and over ; Cerebral Infarction ; etiology ; Humans ; Hypertension ; blood ; complications ; Male ; Regression Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Uric Acid ; blood

Thirty patients with malignant obstructive jaundice were treated with biliary stent implantation+brachytherapy+conformal radiotherapy (study group; n=15) or biliary stent implantation alone (control group; n=15). Total bilirubin (TBIL) levels significantly declined within 1 month in both groups. However, at 6 months, TBIL values began to increase in the control group and continuously declined in the study group. Maximum tumor diameter increased in the control group, while decreased in the study group (remission rate, 13/15 ). As for the study group, the survival rate at 0. 5, 1, and 2 years was 15/15,14/15, and 10/15, respectively, higher than the control group (15/15,5/15,and 1/15) . Combining biliary stent implantation with brachytherapy and conformal radiotherapy might be a safe and effective treatment of choice for patients with malignant obstructive jaundice.

Inrecentyears,somecardiovascularguidelineshavegradualyintroducedambulatory blood pressure monitoring ( ABPM ) as an indispensable means for better diagnosis and management of hypertensive patients. ABPM can more comprehensively provide 3 types of information that has potential clinical value:the assessment of real or mean blood pressure level, the diurnal rhythm of blood pressure, and the blood pressure variability. This article review s the roles of ABPM in the outcome assessment in patients w ith acute ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of α3 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) on apoptosis and p38 signal transduction pathway in SH-SY5Y cells and to assess the roles of α3 nAChR in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

METHODSThe levels of α3 nAChR mRNA and protein were measured by real-time PCR and Western blot, respectively, in SH-SY5Y cells transfected with α3 nAChR siRNA. The mRNA level of bcl-2 and bax was measured by the real-time PCR. The siRNA transfected SH-SY5Y cells and control were then treated with 10 µmol/L Aβ25-35 for another 48 h, and the change in apoptotic rate and the levels of p-p38 and p38 were measured by flow cytometry and Western blot. Subsequently these SH-SY5Y cells were exposed to a blocker of p38 protein, and the apoptotic rate was measured again.

RESULTSCompared to the controls, the expression of α3 nAChR at mRNA and protein levels in the SH-SY5Y cells transfected with α3 nAChR siRNA decreased by 95% and 86%, respectively; the mRNA levels of bax increased 2.11 times and that for bcl-2 decreased 0.53 times. The apoptotic rate was unaffected (3.40% ± 0.20%); but it increased after Aβ25-35 treatment (24.52% ± 1.59%); the level of p-p38 protein also increased by 178% in the α3 nAChR inhibited cells treated with Aβ25-35. Compared to controls, the Aβ25-35-treated SH-SY5Y cells and the Aβ25-35-treated and siRNA-transfected cells both showed a reduction in apoptosis after treatment with p38 blocker, especially in the former.

CONCLUSIONThe siRNA silencing of α3 nAChR mRNA may enhance the effect of Aβ25-35 on the cell apoptosis by increasing the levels of p38 protein and bax mRNA and decreasing the level of bcl-2 mRNA, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of AD.

Alzheimer Disease ; etiology ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; metabolism ; Apoptosis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Gene Silencing ; Humans ; Neuroblastoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Peptide Fragments ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Receptors, Nicotinic ; genetics ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Transfection ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; genetics ; metabolism ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism

Objective To investigate the predictive value of plasma cystatin C (CysC) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) after pereutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).Methods A total of 660 patients with ACS admitted to cardiovascular department were enrolled in this study from January 2009 to June 2010.The enrollment criteria were:(1) the stenosis degree was above 75％ in at least one coronary artery checked by coronary angiography and successful PCI; (2) normal renal function or mild dysfunction with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ＞ 60 ml/ ( min · 1.73 m2 ).Exclusion criteria were severe liver and renal insufficiency,malignancies and valvular heart diseases.The plasma CysC levels were examined by the latex enhanced immune turbidity method within 24 hours after admission.The relevant clinical data were recorded.The patients were followed up by out-patient interview or telephone from March to June 2011 and adverse cardiovascular events were recorded.The patients were divided into four groups according to CysC level:Q1 (CysC＜1.02 mg/L),Q2 (1.02 mg/L≤＜CysC ＜1.17 mg/ L),Q3 (1.17 mg/L ≤ CysC ＜1.35 mg/L) and Q4 (CysC ≥ 1.35 mg/L).Univariate and multivariate Cox hazards regressions were established to analyze the factors related to prognosis.The proportion differences between four groups were tested by x2.The survival ratio was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.Statistical significance was established at a P value of less than 0.05.Results ① A total of 606 ( 91.7％ ) patients successfully accepted follow-up.Mean follow-up time was ( 14.3 + 1.7 ) months.Of them,95 patients were subjected to adverse cardiovascular events ( 15.7％ ).②The incidences of adverse cardiovascular events in Q2,Q3,Q4 were significantly higher than those in Q1 ( P ＜ 0.001 ).The rates of mortality,nonfatal myocardial infarction and target lesion revascularization in Q4 were higher than those in Q1 ( P ＜ 0.05 ).The incidences of heart failure in Q3 and Q4 were higher than that in Q1 ( P ＜ 0.05 ).③Univariate analysis demonstrated that CysC,creatinine,LVEF,age,history of PCI and NYHA grade ≥3 were the risk factors of poor prognosis (P ＜ 0.05 ).④ Multivarite cox hazards regression revealed that the elevation of CysC level remained an independent predictor of adverse cardiovascular events.The relative risk of Q3 and Q4 were 3.930 (95％ CI 1.306-11.829,P =0.015 ) and 6.380 (95％ CI 2.171-18.751,P =0.001 ) compared with Q1.⑤　The cumulative rates of survival without adverse cardiovascular events in Q2,Q3 and Q4 decreased compared with Q1 (P ＜ 0.001 ).Conclusions High plasma CysC concentration is an independent predictor of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with ACS after PCI.

To have a better understanding on the evolution of Metallosphaera sedula-mediated precipitation and the properties of the precipitate synthesized by this species，a newly identified extremely thermophilic strain (YN23) of Metallosphaera sedula was cultured in the medium containing Fe2+ as energy resouTce under optimal condidons (pH1.5，65℃,0.2g·1-1 yeast extract,30g·1-1 Fe2SO4·7H2O and 170rpm)．XRD，EDS，ETIR and SEM reveal the precipitate obtained from YN23-inoculated flasks to be a mixture of potassium jarosite and ammoniojarosite，with morphological features similar to the latter．Precipitation Was first detected once over 90％ of Fe2+ was oxidized at hour 25 with a peak pH value of 1.92，and was ended when precipitate reached the highest point of 7.9g·1-1 at hour 95 with the lowest pH value of 1.32 in solution．Microbial density underwent a rapid increase along with Fe2+ oxidation and a gradual decrease with precipitate piling up.

Objective: To observe the clinical effect and syndrome scores improvements of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion (HPM) and ginger-partitioned moxibustion (GPM) in treating ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods:A total of 65 eligible cases were randomly divided into a HPM group (n=32) and a GPM group (n=33) according to their visiting order. Bilateral Tianshu (ST 25) and Dachangshu (BL 25) were selected for the HPM or the GPM treatment once daily, 12 d as a treatment course with a 3-day interval, 6 courses in all. The clinical effect, syndrome scale and Mayo scale were evaluated and compared between the two groups. Results:Of the 65 cases enrolled, 2 cases dropped out in the HPM group and 3 cases dropped out in the GPM group, 30 cases of each group finished the treatment courses. The total effective rate is 93.3% in HPM group and 86.7% in the GPM group, there was no statistically significant difference in the total effective rate between the two groups (P>0.05); there were statistically significant differences between the two groups in score evaluation of lasting time of abdominal pain and frequency of diarrhea, HPM is prior to GPM (P=0.032,P=0.044). There are no statistical significant differences between the two groups in scores evaluation of general symptom, three main symptoms, quality of life (QOL), frequency and severity of abdominal pain, times, and pattern of diarrhea (allP>0.05). There was a statistical significant difference in the improvement of Mayo score between the two groups, and HPM was superior to GPM (P=0.048). Conclusion:HPM and GPM are both promising ways to treat UC, and the total effect is quite similar. HPM is superior to GPM in the improvement of lasting time of abdominal pain and frequency of diarrhea, and also the Mayo score.