Objective To observe the effect of stellate ganglion block on patients with cerebral infarction.Methods36 patients with cerebral infarction were randomly divided into the control group and research group.Both two groups were treated with traditional treatment.The research group was added with stellate ganglion block.ResultsAfter 20 days treatment,the Neuro-function Deficit(NFD) scores of both two groups were significantly lower than that before treatment(P<0.01);but the NFD scores of the research group were significantly lower than that of the control group(P<0.01).The scores of Fugl-Meyer Assessment(FMA) and Barthel Index(BI) of both two groups were significantly higher after treatment(P<0.01);but the scores of FMA and BI of the research group were significantly higher than that of the control group(P<0.01).ConclusionStellate ganglion block can improve the nerve function of patients with cerebral infarction.

AIM To study the experimental therapeutic effects of iptakalim hydrochloride(Ipt) on hypertensive cardiac remodeling in spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHR) and stroke prone spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHRsp). METHODS SHR at the age of 12 week old were treated ig with lisinopril 12 mg?kg -1 ?d -1 or Ipt 3 mg?kg -1 ?d -1 , once a day for 30 days. Age matched Wistar rats were used as normal control. 10 week old SHRsp were treated ig with Ipt 0 25,1 0 and 4 0 mg?kg -1 , once a day for 12 weeks. Age matched Wistar rats were used as normal control. After killing animals, the effects of Ipt on hypertensive cardiac remodeling were investigated. RESULTS During the 4 week experimental period, the systolic blood pressure(SBP) and heart rates(HR) of the untreated SHR were increased progressively. Ipt 3 mg?kg -1 ?d -1 could decrease SBP effectively and inhibit the increasing tendency of HR. Ipt had no effects on hypertensive cardiac remodeling in SHR. Under the same experimental conditions, lisinopril 12 mg?kg -1 ?d -1 could decrease SBP effe-ctively and had no effects on HR. The hypertensive cardiac remodeling could be alleviated by lisinopril. During the 12 week experimental period, the SBP of the untreated SHRsp were increased progressively. Ipt 0 25,1 0 and 4 0 mg?kg -1 could decrease the SBP of SHRsp effectively. Ipt at the doses of 0 25 and 1 0 mg?kg -1 had no effects on heart rates. But in the 4th week after administration of Ipt 4 0 mg?kg -1 , significant decrease in heart rates was observed. Compared with Wistar rats, the weight of left ventricle and septum(LV+S) and the ratio of LV+S to body weight(LV+S/BW) in untreated SHRsp were elevated significantly. Ipt 0 25, 1 0 and 4 0 mg?kg -1 ?d -1 could decrease LV+S and LV+S/BW significantly. CONCLUSION Ipt could decrease SBP of SHR and SHRsp effectively. The effects of Ipt on hypertensive cardiac remodeling were related with the experimental therapeutic period. After having been treated with Ipt for 4 weeks, the hypertensive cardiac remodeling could not be reversed. But after having been treated with Ipt for 12 weeks, the hypertensive cardiac remodeling could be reversed significantly.

Objective To evaluate the clinical application of the fistulography of multi-slice spiral CT(MSCT)in the diagnosis of anal fistula.Methods A total of 28 patients who were verified operatively of fistula in ano underwent preoperative fistulography of MSCT.The multi-planar reformation(MPR)and surface shadow display(SSD)images were generated and analyzed retrorespectively.Results There were 8 cases with perianal abscess and 20 cases with anal fistula in 28 patients.Complex fistula was diagnosed in 16 cases,and simple inter-sphincteric fistula was found in 4 cases;the inner orificiums of anal fistulas were revealed accurately with MPR images in 18 cases.Conclusion The fistulography of MSCT is valuable for preoperative assessment of anal fistula,in particular for investigation of the inner orificiums of anal fistulas with MPR.

Objective To assess the value of procalcitonin (PCT) levels compared to C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and blood white cell count in early detection of sepsis following percutaneous nephrolithotomy.Methods This prospective observational study included 91 patients,including 59 male patients and 32 female patients,undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy between April 2014 and October 2015.Their mean age was (54 ± 15)years old,ranging 15 to 88 years old.The average size of stone was (20.9 7.0) am.Those patients were classified into two groups,based on whether the postoperative sepsis existed.In this group,51 cases were concluded in the sepsis group and 40 in the non-sepsis group.A statistically significant difference between patients with and without sepsis was found in the hydronephrosis (44 vs.25,P =0.009),urine white cell count [(402 ± 970) / μ1 vs.(70 ± 171) / μ1,P ＜ 0.01],positive urine culture(36 vs.20,P ＜ 0.05),positive pelvic urine culture (22 vs.5,P =0.001).There was not any significant difference in sex,age,size of calculi and blood culture between patients with and without sepsis (P ＞ 0.05).Blood white blood cell count,CRP,and PCT were measured in patients with an acute onset of sepsis.Diagnostic accuracy of PCT values was analyzed by the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve.Results A statistically significant difference between patients with and without sepsis was found in the PCT [(7.43 ± 10.15)μg/L vs.(0.14 ± 0.10)μg/L,P ＜ 0.01] and blood white cell count [(14.18 ± 6.47) × 109/L vs.(11.22±4.22) × 109/L,P ＜0.05].There was not any significant difference in CRP [(64.93 ± 68.60) mg/ml vs.(70.76 ± 53.36) mg/ml,P ＞ 0.05] between patients with and without sepsis.ROC curve analysis showed that blood white cell count and PCT concentrations had similar predictive values for the development of sepsis (area under the curve,0.78 and 0.90,respectively) with the best cut-off values of blood white cell count for 12 × 109/L (sensitivity 50％,specify 88％) and 0.5 μg/L (sensitivity 64％,specify 100％)for PCT.54 cases were performed blood culture,which showed positive in 12 cases and negative in 42 cases.The significant difference of PCT level could be noticed in two groups [(16.99 ± 11.64) μg/ L vs.(3.77 ± 7.23) μg/ L,P ＜ 0.05)].No significant difference was found in CRP,Blood white cells count among those groups (P ＜ 0.05).ROC curve analysis showed that PCT concentrations had predictive values for the positive blood culture (area under the curve,0.80) with the best cut-off values of 8 μg/L (sensitivity 71％,specify 88％) for PCT.Conclusions PCT was a useful marker for the diagnosis of the sepsis after percutaneous nephrolithotomy as compared with WBC and CRP.

Objective This study is undertaken to evaluate the changes of serum cytokine levels in different stages of collagen induced arthritis(CIA)rats,to search for the specific proteins related with rheuma- toid arthritis(RA)pathogenesis and inflammation,and to explore the mechanism of RA pathogenesis.Methods Rat cytokine antibody array coated with 19 specific cytokine antibodies was used to examine serum samples at peak and late stage of CIA rats,and were compared to normal cytokine levels.At the same time,ELISA assay for serum TNF-?production was used to verify the array results.Results Among the target cytokines,10 up- regulating cytokines were kept in high expression in different phases of disease,while 1 showed significant change only at the peak of disease.There was no downregnlating cytokines in the results.Serum TNF-?assay results were consistent to the array results.Conclusion Cytokines show different expression in CIA at differ- ent stages,and specific cytokines can be used as the candidates to further study of the RA pathogenesis.This study also provides molecular makers for early diagnosis.

Objective To explore the features of transsphenoidal microsurgical treatment of male pro- lactinoma and to evaluate the sexual function before and after transsphenoidal microsurgery.Methods A se- ries of 23 cases male prolactinoma were analysed combined with retrospective and prospective study.9 casese with sexual disfunction had finished the International Index of Erectile Function with 15-item questionnnaire (ⅡEF-15) before and after the surgery.Results 8/10 cases treated with dopaminergic agonist combined with surgery achieved complete remission,while only 4/13 cases achieved complete remission with surgery on- ly(x~2=5.490,P=0.036).Aecoding toⅡEF-15,sexual function improved after surgery in 9 cases(paired- sample) t test,P＜0.05).Conclusion Transsphenoidal microsurgical treatment of prolactinoma may im- prove the male sexual functions.Dopaminergic agonist combined transsphenoidal microsurgery may achieve a better outcome.

Health Promotion ; Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care) ; Workplace

Post-stroke depression(PSD) is one of the most common complications after stroke,and seriously influenced the quality of life of hemiplegic patients.The article would review the associated factors and mechanism of PSD.

Our previous results have demonstrated that insulin reduces myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury and increases the postischemic myocardial functions via activating the cellular survival signaling, i.e., phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K)-Akt-endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)-nitric oxide (NO) cascade. However, it remains largely controversial whether c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) is involved in the effects of insulin on MI/R injury. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to investigate the role of JNK, especially the cross-talk between JNK and previously expatiated Akt signaling, in the protective effect of insulin on I/R myocardium. Isolated hearts from adult Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 30 min of regional ischemia and followed by 2 or 4 h of reperfusion (n=6). The hearts were pretreated with PI3-K inhibitor LY294002, or phosphorylated-JNK inhibitor SP600125, respectively, then perfused retrogradely with insulin, and the mechanical functions of hearts, including the heart rate (HR), left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and instantaneous first derivation of left ventricular pressure (+/-LVdp/dt(max)) were measured. At the end of reperfusion, the infarct size (IS) and apoptotic index (AI) were examined. MI/R caused significant cardiac dysfunction and myocardial apoptosis (strong TUNEL-positive staining). Compared with the control group, insulin treatment in MI/R rats exerted protective effects as evidenced by reduced myocardial IS [(28.9 +/- 2.0)% vs (45.0 +/- 4.0) %, n=6, P<0.01], inhibited cardiomyocyte apoptosis [decreased AI: (16.0 +/- 0.7) % vs (27.6 +/- 1.3) %, n=6, P<0.01] and improved recovery of cardiac systolic/diastolic function (including LVDP and +/-LVdp/dt(max)) at the end of reperfusion. Moreover, insulin resulted in 1.7-fold and 1.5-fold increases in Akt and JNK phosphorylation in I/R myocardium, respectively (n=6, P<0.05). Inhibition of Akt activation with LY294002 abolished, and inhibition of JNK activation with SP600125 enhanced the cardioprotection by insulin, respectively. And the abolishment by LY294002 could be partly converted by SP600125 pretreatment. In addition, SP600125 also decreased the Akt phosphorylation (n=6, P<0.05). These results demonstrate that insulin simultaneously activates both Akt and JNK, and the latter further increases the phosphorylation of Akt which attenuates MI/R injury and improves heart function; this cross-talk between Akt and JNK in the insulin signaling is involved in insulin-induced cardioprotective effect.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Heart ; Insulin ; metabolism ; JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Myocardial Infarction ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; Myocardium ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase ; metabolism ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; metabolism ; Phosphorylation ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; Signal Transduction

Background and Objectives: Stroke is the most common neurological disease in China and regulation of lipid levels is important for secondary prevention. This study aimed to investigate the practice of lipid lowering agents immediately after and one month following ischemic stroke in China, and to determine the factors affecting the practice. Methods: A total of 857 patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled from 11 hospitals in the Qingdao area, Northern China. Data pertaining to the patients’ demographic, clinical data, and treatment before and after the stroke were recorded. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the factors associated with the treatment at two time points: at the acute stage and at one month follow-up. Results: The frequency of lipid lowering therapy was 50.3% (431/857) at acute stage and 41.5% (306/738) at one month. Lipid lowering therapy at acute stage was independently and positively associated with a history of hyperlipidemia((P=0.002, OR (95%CI): 3.784 (1.610-8.898)) and excess alcohol consumption (P=0.005, OR (95%CI): 1.928 (1.214-3.062)), partial anterior circulation infarct classifi cation (P=0.000, OR (95%CI): 1.974 (1.370-2.767)), and low-density lipoprotein levels ((P=0.000, OR (95%CI): 1.426 (1.170-1.739)). Lipid lowering therapy at one month follow-up was independently and positively associated with lipid lowering therapy at acute stage ((P=0.000, OR (95%CI): 18.275 (11.476- 29.101)), and negatively with the Modifi ed Rankin Scale ≥4 at follow-up ((P=0.030, OR (95%CI): 0.568 (0.341-0.948)). Conclusions: Lipid lowering therapy was found to be used in about half of patients during acute and early secondary prevention of ischemic stroke in the Qingdao area of Northern China. There should be more education efforts to the health care professionals and public to increase its use.