OBJECTIVETo investigate the epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of Brucella orchitis, so as to provide reliable evidence for the prevention and treatment of the disease.

METHODSWe conducted retrospective statistical analyses on the medical records of 48 outpatients and 21 inpatients with Brucella orchitis.

RESULTSBrucella orchitis was diagnosed in 6.67% of the male patients with brucellosis (69/1 034). The disease exhibited typical epidemiological features, with a higher incidence rate among those in frequent contact with sheep and elderly people, in the period from April to July, and in the areas with sheep husbandry. All the Brucella orchitis patients had such local symptoms as testicular pain and swelling, more frequently involving both testes, and other most common symptoms included fever, chills, sweating, and painful joints. Based on IIEF-5, 45 of the patients suffered from severe erectile dysfunction, with their reproductive function temporarily affected in the course of the disease. Misdiagnosis easily occurred in the early stage of the disease. Therapeutic options mainly included doxycycline hydrochloride and rifampicin, administered orally or intravenously, which could effect a cure, though relapse might occur in some cases.

CONCLUSIONBru- cella orchitis has distinct epidemiological characteristics, with clinical manifestations of testicular pain and swelling. Though a transient disease, it affects the reproductive function of the patient before cured. It can be treated by combined oral and intravenous medication, with painkillers or ice bags for testicular pain and swelling.

Animals ; Brucella ; pathogenicity ; Brucellosis ; complications ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Orchitis ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Sheep

A Comprehensive review was present on the sources, enzyme stru cture, enzyme reaction mechanism and the application of the nitrilase.

To explain the relation between diabetic vasculopathy and'Blood blocking collaterals and phlegm turbidness not being removed'proposed by Mr.ZHU Kan-yu.It is believed that the turbidness is the basic pathological product during the development of diabetes.Blood glucose remains high,which reflects the disorders of transportation and distribution of turbid yin and qi in the body.That is to say that the thick coreal nutrients in the vessels are unable to be distributed and absorbed but stay in the vessels as turbid pathologic factors.Blood stasis and phlegm is the further result of turbid pathologic factors.The TCM explanation of diabetic vasculopathy is that phlegm,turbidness,blood stasis block the meridians and collaterals.Those visible pathological factors deposit in vessels and cause narrow vessels and thick walls.Meanwhile the deposit stimulates,spreads,erodes and burns the walls and finally ruins the walls.

Objective To explore the therapeutic effectiveness and pathways of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) transplantation for acute hepatic failure in rats.Method hUCMSCs were isolated from umbilical cord with attachment culture method,and the surface antigens were tested by flow cytometry.Forty-eight male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups.The animal model of acute liver failure was induced by injecting intraperitoneally with 50％ olive oil solution of carbon tetrachloride (2.5 ml/kg).The treatment groups were injected with hUCMSCs suspension separately through the tail vein or injected into the liver 24 h post-modeling.Blood serum and liver tissues were collected at several time points to analyze the improvement of liver function and histological repair.Real-time PCR was used to detect the expression of human CK8,CK18 and AFP mRNA in liver tissues.Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of human CK18 in liver tissues.Result There were statistically significant differences among liver functions after transplantation (P＜0.05).hUCMSCs improved histological status through enhancing hepatocellular regeneration and reducing inflammatory cells.Real-time PCR results showed that the expression of CK8,CK18 and AFP mRNA was obviously increased in the tail vein transplantation group and hepatic lobe injection transplantation group as compared with the model group (P＜0.05).Immunochemistry results revealed that transplanted hUCMSCs in animal liver could differentiate into functional hepatocyte-like cells that expressed human CK18 as hepatocyte-specific marker in the tail vein transplantation group and hepatic lobe injection transplantation group.No significant differences in histological repair and grade of differentiation were examined between the tail vein transplantation group and hepatic lobe injection transplantation group (P＞0.05).Conclusion hUCMSCs can prompt the repair of acute liver failure and enhance pathological repair.Transplanted cells in animal liver can differentiate into functional hepatocyte-like cells that expressing hepatocyte-specific markers.Transplantation of hUCMSCs via the tail vein or direct injection into the liver had the similar therapeutic effects.

Objective To investigate the prevention and mechanism of Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy(ESW) induced renal Injury by pre-treating kidneys with low-energy shock waves(LESW).Methods Forty healthy female domestic rabbits were surgically managed to the mono-nephron models and random divided into 4 groups consisting of ten each: Control,LESW,ESW and ESWL plus LESW pretreated groups.LESW group received 100 LESW,ESW group received 1500 standard ESW,and same dose on ESW group except 100 LESW pretreatment in ESW plus LESW pretreated group.The rabbit kidney tissues were obtained 24 hours after ESW.Activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD) and malondialdehyde(MDA) levels in the renal tissue,and the level of N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase(NAG) in urinary were measured.Renal cell apoptosis was detected by TdT-mediated dUTP Nick End Labelling(TUNEL).Results The MDA,the urinary level of NAG and rate of apoptosis in the LESW groups were reduced(P<0.01),and the activity of SOD increased significantly(P<0.05) as compared with ESW group,and these changes in LESW group had no statistics difference compared with the control group(P>0.05).Conclusions LESW pretreatment protocol substantially limits the renal injury that often caused by ESW.LESW may suppress oxidative stress and antagonize the process of renal cellular apoptosis.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlation between articulation, velopharyngeal function, and surgical age by comparing the changes in articulation after velopharyngeal closure is performed. This study is also conducted to investigate the influencing factors of omission change between pre- and post-operation.

METHODSA total of 48 patients, including 18 males and 30 females, mean age (13.3 ± 5.8) years, with non-syndromic cleft lips and palates were selected from January 2011 to December 2011. Their speech data and articulation between pre- and post-operation were retrospectively analyzed using non-parametric tests. Correlation study was performed to analyze the influencing factors of the changes in articulation. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTSThe difference in articulation after velopharyngeal closure occurred was significant (Z = -3.796, P = 0.000). A negative correlation between the ratio of post-operative normal articulation and surgical age (R = -0.487, P = 0.000) was observed. The change in omission was positively correlated with surgical age (R = 0.589, P = 0.000) and gender (R = 0.404, P = 0.047). By comparison, the change in omission was negatively correlated with follow-up time (R = -0.235, P = 0.040).

CONCLUSIONArticulation and intelligibility are significantly improved after velopharyngeal closure is performed. These parameters are negatively correlated with surgical age to some extent. In addition, the change in omission is positively correlated with surgical age and gender, whereas the change in omission is negatively correlated with follow-up time.

Adolescent ; Articulation Disorders ; Child ; Cleft Lip ; Cleft Palate ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Velopharyngeal Insufficiency ; Young Adult

ObjectiveTo investigate the risk factors for contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) after endovascular therapy in patients with peripheral arterial diseases and to evaluate the conformance of serum cystatin C (Cys C) and serum creatinine in diagnosis of CIN. Methods In this prospective,single center study,in-hospital patients with peripheral arterial diseases undergoing non-emergency endovascular therapy from July 2010 to April 2011 in our hospital were enrolled.CIN was defined asScr increase ≥25％ after angiography.General clinical characteristics and blood biochemical parameters were compared between the non-CIN and CIN groups.Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine risk factors.Changes compared to baseline level in serum creatinine and Cys C at predefined time-points were evaluated.Results A total of 367 patients were enrolled in the study.The proportions of patients with diabetes mellims and treatment with diuretics before angiography,contrast-media dosage were significantly higher in the CIN group than those in non-CIN group (P＜0.05,＜0.01,＜0.01).Logistic regression analysis indicated that diabetes mellitus,contrast-media dosage were risk factors for CIN.Several serum Cys C increase criteria at 24 hours after contrast media exposure all had low sensitivity for predicting a Scr increase ≥25％.Only small overlapped regions were found in Venn diagram between several increasing criteria according to serum Cys C and serum creatinine criterion. Conclusions Diabetes mellitus,contrast-media dosage are independent risk factors for CIN.The results of several increasing criteria according to serum Cys C in evaluating contrast-induced AKI are not coincident well with that of serum creatinine criterion.

Objective:To screen for the pathogenesis-related genes of osteosarcoma and to assess their roles for the de- velopment of osteosareoma.Methods:Total RNA was extracted from 3 ATCC osteosarcoma cell lines and an osteoblastic cell line and was used to synthesize biotinylated cRNAs;the latter were hybridized to Affymetrix~(?)GeneChip~(?)U133A ar- rays and a gene with more than 2 folds of change was selected.Ten of the differentially expressed genes were chosen and the primers were designed and the synthesized.Then SYBR~(?)Green real-time PCR(RT-PCR)method was used to detect the expression of the 10 genes in 9 fresh osteosarcoma specimens.ABI Prism 7 000 system was used to analyze the differ- ent expression between osteosarcoma cell line and osteoblastic cell line.Results:We identified 58 up-regulated and 142 down-regulated genes in the 3 osteosareoma cell lines.Many of the genes were firstly reported to be related to the patho- genesis of osteosarcoma.These differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in energy and material metabolism,on- cogene,signal transduction gene,transcription- related genes,cell cycle-related genes,cell apoptosis-related gene,im- mune response gene,tumor suppressor genes,etc.The array results of 10 randomly selected genes were further verified by the RT-PCR in 9 fresh osteosarcoma specimens.Conclusion:Many genes are involved in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma. Gene microarray can help to discover the genes related to the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma,which may lay a foundation for studying the molecular mechanism of osteosarcom.

Carbon-nitrogen lyases (E.C.4.3) are a group of enzymes that release ammonia, amidine or amino group etc, and also show ability to form double bond or ring structure. Specifically, enzymes forming amino group are called amine-lyases (E.C.4.3.3), which are critical in the industrial production of many medicine intermediates. In this review is a summary of four major amine-lyases in terms of their source, enzymatic characteristics and their applications in preparation of pharmaceutical intermediates.