Bacterial Infections ; Humans ; Respiratory Hypersensitivity ; microbiology

Adolescent ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Nasal Mucosa ; metabolism ; Nasal Polyps ; metabolism ; Neuropeptides ; classification ; metabolism

The effects of surfactants on the production of cellulase by Trichoderma viride in liquid substrate fermentation process were investigated. Straw was used as the sole carbon source and the surfactants were biosurfactant rhamnolipid from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Tween 80. The changes of FPA,CMCase,Avicelase and surface tension with time were analyzed under different concentrations of the two surfactants. The results showed that the surfactants can enhance the enzyme activity of Trichoderma viride. The FPA,CMCase,Avicelase were promoted 1.08,1.6 and 1.03 times higher than the controls by rhamnolipid. The enhancement of the enzyme activity by rhamnolipid was much higher than that of Tween 80. At the same time,rhamnolipid was not degraded prior to other substrate.

Objective To summarize the clinical experience in diagnosing and managing cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)rhinorrhea via transnasal endoscopic approach and its combination with frontal approach.Methods A retrospective study of 58 patients with CSF rhinorrhea was conducted.Fifty eight cases were all under CT.Fifty six cases underwent surgical treatment. Among them,45 patients were treated with transnasal endoscopic approach.11 whose cerebrospinal fistulas located in back wall of frontal sinus and orbital-frontal part with fronto-rhinal approach.Two were without any surgical treatment.Among 56 cases who underwent surgical treatment,31 cases were under normal CT,of which 25 were accurate.Another 25 cases were under thin-section spiral CT scan and three-dimonsional reconstruction.of which 23 were accurate.Eight cases locating the fistulas inaccurately by CT found the fistulas by operation.Results Postoperative follow-up lasted from 6 months to 5 years,a median follow-up period of 3 years.Among 45 cases with transnasal endoscopic approach,43 were cured after the first attempt.one Was cured after the second attempt;one died because of the intracranial infection. Among 11 cases with fronto-rhinal deossification,10 were cured after the first attempt.one with orbital-frontal absence after the fifth attempt.Two left hospital and 1ost following-up without any surgical treatment.Conclusions Thin-section spiral CT scan and three-dimonsional reconstruction make the leak locating more accurate.Combination of frontal approach may deal with transnasal endoscopic surgery's demerit to the unreachable site and enhance the achievement ratio of the first attempt.

Objective To compare the effect of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) and right ventricular apex (RVA) pacing on ventricular systolic synchrony using gated blood pool SPECT (GBPS).Methods A total of 50 patients implanted with pacemaker due to high degree or complete atria-ventricular block were enrolled in the study. Twenty-three patients were RVOT paced ( Group A, n = 23) and 27 were RVA paced (Group B, n=27). Twenty-four patients with malignancy, normal echocardiographic findings and no history of cardiac diseases were scheduled for pre-chemotherapy evaluation of cardiac structure and function and were enrolled as control group ( Group C, n = 24). All patients underwent GBPS imaging and the values of phase angle (PS), mean phase of each wall, standard deviation (SD) of mean phase of each wall, lateral-septal motion delay of left ventricle ( LV Sep-Lat Delay), septal-right ventricular (RV) delay of LV ( LV Sep-RV Delay) and LV-RV Delay were acquired. The parameters of ventricular systolic synchrony among the three groups were compared using one-way ANOVA. Results The mean phase of LV lateral wall in Groups A and B were significantly higher than that in Group C: Group A (120.50 ±40.58) ms; Group B (103.23±28.34) ms; Group C (84.63 ±22.38) ms (F=7.72, P ＜0.05). There was no significant difference between Groups A and B ( t = 1.30, P ＞ 0.05 ). The mean phase of RV in Group A was significantly larger than those in Groups B and C: Group A ( 137.05 ± 39.27) ms, Group B ( 100.85 ± 23.79) ms,Group C (59. 13 ±30.52) ms (F=35.55, P＜0.05). PS, SD and LV Sep-Lat Delay in Groups A and B were significantly higher than those in Group C: (85.73 ± 12.00)°vs (89.85 ± 15.61 )°vs (58.95 ±9.87)°, (27.68±10.66) ms vs (26.15 ±13.02) ms vs (15.63 ±8.35) ms, (25.06±34.23) ms vs (2. 62 ± 60. 31 ) ms vs ( - 23.66 ± 31.39) ms, F = 41.54,8.55,6.81, all P ＜ 0.01 ), however, there was no significant difference between Groups A and B ( t = 0. 68, 0.68, 1.30, all P ＞ 0.05 ). LV Sep-RV Delay and LV-RV Delay were significantly different among the three groups ( LV Sep-RV Delay: Group A (57.60 ±56.77) ms, Group B (6.36 ±61.88) ms, Group C ( -41.89 ±35.78) ms; LV-RV Delay:Group A (47.36 ±42.59) ms, Group B ( 3.08 ± 38.81 ) ms Group C ( - 26.50 ± 20.99 ) ms, F = 20. 32,25.38, both P ＜ 0.01 ). Conclusion Both RVA and RVOT pacing increase the segmental phases detected by GBPS, causing inter- and intra- ventricular asynchrony compared with patients without pacemakers.

Objectives To investigate the clinical features,prognosis and risk factors of patients with cryptococcal meningitis.Methods Totally 146 patients with cryptococcal meningitis who were hospitalized in Huashan Hospital from January 2000 to December 2006 were enrolled in this study.The clinical data including diagnosis and misdiagnosis,experimental and etiology tests,treat- ments and prognosis from all the patients were analyzed retrospectively.Results Among the 146 patients enrolled in the study,78 patients(53.4%)had concomitant diseases.The misdiagnosis rate of all patients was 72.6%(106/146).The positive rate of cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)India ink smear was 59.6%(87/106),while 43.2%(63/146)cases of cryptococcus neoformans culture in CSF was positive.The positive rate of Latex agglutination test(LAT)was 91.7%(134/146)in CSF among all patients.The treatments were as follows:combination of Amphotericin B(AmpB)or its lipid formula- tions with flucytosine(5-FC)(98 cases),including combination with Fluconazole initally(62 cases), single therapy of Fluconazole(13 cases).Ommaya implanted for lateral cerebral ventricle drainage(53 cases)and AmpB intrathecal injection(53 cases).The average dose of AmpB is 3.06 g.The course of treatment lasted from 12 weeks to 20 months.There were 104 patients(71.2%)cured,27(18.5%) improved,15(10.3%)died and 34(23.3%)relapsed.Conclusions High misdiagnosis rate is common in patients with cryptococcal meningitis.Immunodeficiency is the major risk factor for cryp- tococcal meningitis.CSF LAT is the most sensitive diagnostic test.Early diagnosis,combination of AmpB with 5-FC antifungal therapy and control of acute intracranial hypertension are the keys to im- prove prognosis of cryptococcal meningitis.

0.05). Dysphasia resolved significantly after stent placement in both groups.The improvement of dysphasia was more significant in Group A than in Group B after 2 months of stent placement(1.37?0.56 in group A, 1.82?0.50 in group B,P=0.004).The median survival period was longer in Group A than in Group B (7 months vs 4 months).The mean survival period was also longer in Group A than in Group B (8.3 months vs 3.5 months).There was a statistically significant difference in the survival period between the two groups(P

Objective To investigate the expression of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) on dendritic cells(DCs) derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) of chronic hepatitis B(CHB) patients and to explore the mechanism of sustained infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Methods Twenty CHB patients were randomly screened in the study,and ten healthy persons were recruited as controls.The monocytes isolated from peripheral blood of candidates were incubated with recombinant human granuloeyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) and rhIL-4 to induce the DCs generation and proliferation.Then the phenotype of DCs was identified by micro- scope.The expressions of the phenotypes[histocompatibility leukocyte antigen(HLA)-DR,CD80, CD86,CD83]of immature and mature DCs were measured by flow cytometer.Furthermore,the ex- pression of TLR3 on mature DCs(mDC) and immature DCs(imDC) was determined by flow cytometry and Western blot analysis respectively.Results As for healthy volunteers,the expressions of CD80, CD86,HLA-DR and CD83 on DCs at the 7th day,which were(82.35?8.67)%,(79.61?10.08)%, (92.79?8.48)% and (83.76?5.47)% respectively,were significantly higher than those at the 5th day which were(28.31?8.79) %,(31.17?11.23)%,(27.61?10.28)% and (23.46?11.53)% respec- tively(P0.05).The expression of TLR3 on imDC was significantly higher than that on mDC at control group (P0.05).And the expression of TLR3 on imDC in CHB patients group was significantly lower than that of control group(P

Eight compounds were isolated from the stems of Brucea mollis by various chromatographic techniques such as column chromatography on silica gel and Sephadex LH-20, and preparative HPLC, and their structures were elucidated as bruceolline O (1), 1-(1-beta-glucopyranosyl)-1H-indole-3-carbaldehyde (2), canthin-6-one (3), 11-hydroxycanthin-6-one (4), 9-methoxycanthin-6-one (5), 4-methoxycanthin-6-one (6), infractin (7), and beta-carboline-1-propionic acid (8). The cytotoxic activities of compounds 1-8 against HCT-8 and A549 human cell lines were determined, but none of them exhibited significant activity (IC 50 > 10 micromol x L(-1)). Among them, compound 1 is a new indole alkaloid, and compounds 2 and 5-7 were isolated from this plant for the first time.
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Brucea ; chemistry ; Carbolines ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Indole Alkaloids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

Despite recent advances in conventional therapeutic approaches for cancer, the efficacy of chemotherapy for cancer is limited due to the drug resistance and toxic side effects during treatment. To overcome drug resistance, higher doses of the toxic chemotherapy drugs are frequently administered, thus leading to even severe adverse side effects, which have limited their clinical application. Cationic liposome as a novel non-viral carrier for co-delivery of gene and chemotherapy drugs in cancer gene therapy has already attracted more and more attention in recent years. Most importantly, this combined strategy can generate a significant synergistic effect, which can silence the related gene expression and increase the concentration of the intracellular chemotherapy drugs. This approach allows the use of a much lower dose of the chemotherapy drugs to achieve same therapeutic effect, which may have the potential for overcoming some major limitations of the conventional chemotherapy. In conclusion, co-delivery of gene and chemotherapy drugs with cationic liposome delivery system will play a vital role in the future and especially could be a promising clinical treatment for drug-resistant tumors.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Cations ; Cell Line, Tumor ; DNA ; administration & dosage ; genetics ; Drug Carriers ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Gene Transfer Techniques ; Genetic Therapy ; methods ; Humans ; Liposomes ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; Neoplasms ; therapy ; RNA, Small Interfering ; administration & dosage ; genetics