Objective To evaluate the curative effect of integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine in treating diabetic nephropathy. Methods 114 cases of type 2 diabetes were randomly separated into experiment group and control group. Members in the experiment group were treated by integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine and Members in the control group were treated with western medicine alone for 8 weeks' course separately. At the end of therapeutic courses, levels of 24 h total proteinuria, serum creatinine, blood-fasting sugar were evaluated. Results In the experiment group, 8 cases got outstanding effects(11.1%), 50 cases got improvement(69.4%), and 14 cases got no effect (19.4%), with a total effective rate of 80.6%. In the control group, 0 cases got significant effect, 24 cases got improvement(33.3%), and 48 cases got no effect(66.7%), with a total effective rate of 33.3%. There was significant difference in total effective rate between the two groups (P＜0.05), that the total effective rate of the experiment group was significantly higher than that of the control group. Conclusion Integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine therapy can be more effective in treating diabetic nephropathy.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Dan-Hong Injection and Methycobal combined therapy in treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy(DPN).Methods 72 cases of peripheral neuropathy and type 2 diabetes(conformed to ADA standard published in 1999)were randomly separated into an experimem group and a control group.Members in the experiment group were treated with Dan-Hong injection 20ml/day i.v.and Methycobal 500ug/day i.m.Members in the control group were treated with Methycobal only.At the end of 2 weeks'therapeutic courses,motor nerve conducdon velocity (MNCV)and sural nerve conduction velocity(SNCV)were evaluated.Results The overall effective rate was 92.1% in the experiment group and 67.6% in the control group,showing significant difference between the two groups(P＜0.01).The post-therapeutic values of both SNCV and MNCV were significantly different from those of previous treatment.(P＜0.01)The post-therapeutic values of SNCV and MNCV of the experiment group were also significantly different from those of the control group(P＜0.05).No evidently relative adverse effects were observed in both groups.Conclusions Combined therapy of Dan-Hong injection and Methycobal was more effective in controlling the clinical activity of diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Objective To summarize the ultrasonic characteristics of urinary calculus in infants who had history of feeding melamine contaminated milk powder.Methods A total of 163 children[aged(19.4?10.9)months] with urolithiasis,who had feeding melamine contaminated milk powder,were retrospectively analyzed using ultrasonography.Twenty children [aged(16.7?9.9)months] with urolit-hiasis,who had no feeding history of melamine contaminated milk powder,were chosen as controls.Ultrasonic characteristics were compared between the 2 groups.Results For melamine calculus cases,sporadic spot or hyperechic mass with different size and shape in the collecting system,partly without acoustic shadow,was found in 65 cases;dense echo and luminous belt with obscured acoustic shadow under a band without echo was found in 48 ureteral calculus cases;irregular strong echo mass or small spot with thick acoustic shadows without side lobe artifact in the dark liquid areas was found in 8 cases with bladder calculus.There was significant difference in morphology of the calculus(P0.05).Conclusions The unique ultrasonic characteristics in infants with melamine calculus had become a very useful tool to diagnose the pediatric urinary melamine calculus.J Appl Clin Pediatr,2009,24(1):67-69

OBJECTIVETo investigate the value of(99m)Tc-MIBI/(18)F-FDG-dual-isotope simultaneous acquisition (DISA) in diagnosis and treatment of patients with myocardial infarction.

METHODSSixty-three patients with myocardial infarction who underwent DISA before and after treatment were enrolled in the study. All cases were divided into subgroups based on different treatment and myocardial viability: Group A1 (n = 16) with coronary revascularization and viable myocardium, A2 (n = 9) same as A1 but no viable myocardium; B1 (n = 6) with coronary revascularization + stem cell transplantation and viable myocardium, B2 (n = 7) same as B1 but no vital myocardium; C1 (n = 8) with stem cell transplantation and viable myocardium, C2 (n = 17) same as C1 but on viable myocardium. The changes of uptake rate of (99m)Tc-MIBI/(18)F-FDG before and after treatment were analyzed with SPSS 13.0 software.

RESULTThere were statistical significances in DF value of (99m)Tc-MIBI or (18)F-FDG imaging before and after treatment in all groups (P <0.05), except Group A2 (P>0.05). The improvement of blood perfusion and metabolism in cardiac survival groups was more marked than that in non-cardiac survival groups after treatment (P<0.05). Furthermore, Group B1 was superior to Groups A1 and C1; Group B2 was superior to Group A2 and Group C2 (P<0.05 or<0.01).

CONCLUSION(99m)Tc-MIBI/(18)F-FDG DISA can detect myocardial viability and is of value for patients with myocardial infarction to choose appropriate therapeutic strategies. The degree of cardiac improvement after treatment can be evaluated by DISA.

Aged ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Heart ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo explore the roles of matrix metalloproteinase-1(MMP-1) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1(TIMP-1) in the pathogenesis of endometriosis and the effects of estrogen and progestin on their expression.

METHODSImmunohistochemistry and RT-PCR were employed to detect the expression of MMP-1 and TIMP-1 in the ectopic tissues of 35 patients with endometriosis, 22 eutopic endometrium tissues from women with endometriosis and 28 normal controls. Fifty-nine nude mice were injected with human late secretory endometrial chippings and randomized into estrogen group, progestin group, estrogen-progestin group and control group with corresponding treatments. The implantation rates and graft morphology were observed and MMP-1 and TIMP-1 expressions in the grafts detected by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSTypical endometrial glands and stroma were observed in all the groups with comparable implantation rates. The administration of progestin was associated with multiple peritoneal implantation sites and significantly larger implants. The transplanted endometria showed proliferative or secretory changes with estrogen or progestin administration. MMP-1 expression significantly increased and TIMP-1 expression decreased with increased MMP-1/TIMP-1 ratio in human and nude mouse ectopic endometria in comparison with those in normal endometria (P<0.05, P<0.01). MMP-1 expression was higher in estrogen and estrogen-progestin groups than in the control group, and was lower in the 3 sexual hormone-treated groups than in the control group. MMP-1 mRNA expression in the eutopic endometrium was significantly higher than that in the normal endometria.

CONCLUSIONProgestrin can not inhibit MMP-1 expression or the effect of estrogen on ectopic endometrium known as progestin resistance. The high expression of MMP-1 and low expression of TIMP-1 in endometriotic tissues confer strong invasiveness of ectopic endometrial tissue, especially in eutopic endometrial tissue, and may play an important role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

Adult ; Animals ; Endometriosis ; metabolism ; Estrogens ; pharmacology ; Female ; Humans ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Middle Aged ; Progestins ; pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 ; genetics ; metabolism

Derris eriocarpa, a traditional Chinese medicine belonging to the family of Leguminosae, is widely distributed mainly over Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou of China. Modern pharmacological researches on this herb showed that it had extensive bioactivities, such as promoting urination, removing dampness and cough and reducing inspissated mucus and other biological activities. The extensive studies on the chemical constituents of this plant have resulted in the isolation of triterpenoids, steroids, fatty acid and others, but the flavone compounds haven't reported before. In our further research on the ethyl acetate of this plant, nine flavone compounds were obtained by column chromatography on silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, semi-prep HPLC, polyamide column chromatography and recrystallization for separation and purification. The structures were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis, including MS, NMR experiments and comparison with spectroscopic data in the literature, respectively, as diosmetin (1), 3, 3'-di-O-methylquercetin (2), afromosin (3), 6, 3'-dihydroxy-7, 4'-dimethoxyisoflavone (4), odoratin (5), 7, 3'-dihydroxy-8, 4'-dimethoxyisoflavone (6), 6, 4'-dihydroxy-7, 3'-dimethoxyisoflavone (7), 5, 7, 4'-trihydroxy-3, 3', 5'-trimethoxyflavone (8), and alpinumisoflavone (9). All these compounds were isolated from Derris eriocarpa How for the first time. And the in vitro assays showed that compound 2 possessed moderate inhibitory activity against human cancer cells K562 and HEL.
Derris ; chemistry ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; K562 Cells

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of pubic fractures reducted and fixed thorough the punctiform incision approach.

METHODSFrom 2002 to 2005, 10 cases with 18 fractures of pubis rami (8 male and 2 female) were treated with inserting construction plate by the punctiform incision approach. The average age of these patients was 37.2 years (range, 24 to 56 years). The mean duration between injury and operation was 8.7 days (range, 4 to 14 days).

RESULTSInternal fixation for eighteen pubis fractures were accomplished by 28 punctiform incisions. The blood loss for each incision was averagely 30 ml, operation time of each pubic was about 45 minutes. Function restoration was evaluated by Majeed' score and all patients gained excellent result.

CONCLUSIONThe fracture of pubic rami can be fixed sucessfully by punctiform incision approach. It provides smaller incision, less postoperative complications and excellent function rehabilitation.

Adult ; Bone Plates ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Fracture Healing ; Fractures, Bone ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pubic Bone ; surgery

The present study was aimed to explore the expressions of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and Snail1 in renal tissues of diabetic rats, and their role in tubular epithelial-mesenchymal transition (TEMT). Induced diabetic rats were randomly divided into 2-, 4-, 8-, 12-, 16-, 20-, 24-week and 16wA, 20wA, 24wA groups. The rats in 16wA, 20wA and 24wA groups were treated with insulin to control blood glucose to the normal level from the 13th week. The age-matched rats were set as controls. Blood glucose, 24-hour urine protein, serum creatinine (Scr), kidney index of rats were measured. PAS staining was used to observe the renal pathological changes. Immunohistochemical staining and (or) Western blot were employed to determine the expressions of TGF-β1, Snail1, E-cadherin, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and fibronectin (FN) proteins. The expressions of Snail1 and E-cadherin mRNAs in renal cortex were examined by RT-PCR. Blood glucose, 24-hour urine protein, Scr and kidney index increased remarkably in diabetic rats as compared with those in the control groups (P<0.05, P<0.01) and insulin-treated rats (P<0.01). TGF-β1 and Snail1 protein expressions could not be detected by immunohistochemical staining in the normal renal tissues, however, the strongly positive staining was observed in diabetic rat renal tubules. A time-dependent loss of TGF-β1 and Snail1 expressions was detected in the kidney of insulin-treated rats. In diabetic rats tubular α-SMA positive staining was seen at the 16th week. E-cadherin expression was lost in diabetic rats. The expressions of TGF-β1, Snail1 proteins and Snail1 mRNA were significantly up-regulated in diabetic rats, while down-regulated in insulin-treated rats (P<0.01). The expressions of E-cadherin protein and mRNA in the cortex were contrary to the expressions of TGF-β1 and Snail1. Therefore, TGF-β1 and Snail1 are possibly involved in the pathogenesis of TEMT in diabetic nephropathy rats.
Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; metabolism ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; metabolism ; Down-Regulation ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; Kidney ; pathology ; Kidney Tubules ; metabolism ; Rats ; Snail Family Transcription Factors ; Transcription Factors ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical significance of micrometastasis detection in sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) from patients with early cervical carcinoma.

METHODSThirty patients with early cervical carcinoma were studied to identify SLN intraoperatively using methylene blue. One lymph node was removed randomly from palpable SLN and other pelvic lymph nodes (nSLN) in each patient, so 268 lymph nodes were collected and cut into two halves, one half of the lymph node was used to analyze the expression of cytokeratin 19 (CK19) mRNA by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction to determine the presence of micrometastasis, the other half was examined by routine histology with HE staining.

RESULTS67 SLNs were detected in 28 cases (93.3%). Pelvic lymph nodes of 6 cases were confirmed pathological metastasis. The sensitivity of SLN detection was 66.7%, the accuracy rate was 96.4%, and the false negative rate was 16.7%. Among 268 lymph nodes (including 9 lymph nodes with pathological metastasis) detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction, 68 lymph nodes were pathological negative but had micrometastasis, accounting for 26.3% (68/259) in pathologically negative lymph nodes. Among 24 patients with pathological negative lymph nodes, 16 cases had micrometastasis, accounting for 66.7% in those patients. Among 16 patients with micrometastasis, SLN of 3 cases were negative, but nSLN were micrometastasis, so the SLN false-negative rate rose to 18.2%. There were no significant relationships between pelvic lymph nodes micrometastasis and perivascular space involvement, deep stromal invasion and tumor grade (all P > 0.05). The micrometastasis rate of nSLN in patients with SLN micrometastasis was 100%, significantly higher than that in the patients with SLN non-micrometastasis (27.3%, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSReal-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction is a sensitive method to detect SLN micrometastasis. SLN micrometastasis may be an effective complement to SLN pathology to predict nSLN metastasis. Pelvic lymph nodes micrometastases have no significant relationship with pathological risk factors in cervical cancer and prognosis of patients.

Early Detection of Cancer ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; diagnosis ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis ; diagnosis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; diagnosis

Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the major global health problems, approximately 170 million people are infected worldwide. The chronic HCV infection is associated with a high risk of developing liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver failure. Unfortunately, there is still no effective vaccine or antibodies available for the prevention of infection. RNA interference (RNAi) represents a promising new approach to combat viral infections, and recent developments in the field of gene therapy have increased the feasibility of clinical applications. RNAi techniques have made rapid progress in the basic understanding of HCV biology and revealed numerous new viral and host-cell factors as potential targets for therapy. Together with the improvement of gene delivery technique and the discovery of the critical role of microRNA (miRNA) in HCV infection, RNAi and miRNA-based antiviral strategies hold great promise for the future. In this article, we provide a comprehensive overview of current developments of therapeutic targets of RNAi, liver-targeted delivery systems and the potential applications of miRNAs in treatment of hepatitis C infection.
Genetic Therapy ; Hepacivirus ; genetics ; Hepatitis C ; therapy ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; RNA Interference