AIM: To determine the aqueous, vitreous, serum levels of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF)and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy(PDR), and to speculate on the source of the change in concentration and to discuss its clinical significance.METHODS:Forty-one eyes withproliferative diabetic retinopathy were included in the study, 16 of which were complicated by neovascularization of iris (NVI).Twenty-one eyes with idiopathic macular hole (MH)were as controls. The aqueous, vitreous, serum levels of PEDF and VEGF of all the groups were determined with ELISA. PEDF, VEGF and the levels in the three groups were compared with analysis of variance (ANOVA). The PEDF, VEGF concentrations in aqueous,vitreous and serum were analyzed with Pearson correlation test,and the correlation of PEDF and VEGF levels was also analyzed with Pearson correlation test.RESULTS:The aqueous levels of PEDF decreased significantly in sequence in groups of control, PDR without NVI, PDR with NVI. VEGF levels increased coordinately. The similar findings existed in vitreous samples. The PEDF,VEGF levels in aqueous were not correlated significantly with those in serum,but correlated positively with those in vitreous. The intraocular levels of PEDF had a negative correlation to those of VEGF.CONCLUSION:The reduction of intraocular PEDF level and elevation of intraocular VEGF level may play an important role in the occurrence and progression of PDR. In the development of PDR, the PEDF,VEGF levels in aqueous may be mainly effected by local pathological changes, as anti-angiogenic and pro-angiogenic factors, their unbalanced intraocular distribution may promote the angiogenesis of the iris and retina.

Arytenoid Cartilage ; pathology ; Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; diagnosis ; Neoplasm Staging

OBJECTIVETo discriminate and determine of the artificial bear bile of the compound bile capsule.

METHODTaking the pharmacopoeia as reference, the artificial bear bile was discriminated and determined by HPLC.

RESULTThe compound bile capsule and the control sample had chromatographic peak at the same time from HPLC. The content of the artificial bear bile was above 10 mg per tablets.

CONCLUSIONThe artificial bear bile of compound bile capsules can be discriminated effectively and determined accurately by HPLC method.

Animals ; Bile ; chemistry ; Capsules ; analysis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Discriminant Analysis ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Taurochenodeoxycholic Acid ; analysis ; Ursidae

Objective:To identify potentially pleiotropic genes for lean body mass ( LBM ) and age at menarche ( AAM).Methods:The discovery sample consisted of 1 692 unrelated female subjects of European ancestry.The replication sample consisted of 801 unrelated female subjects of Han Chinese ancestry.A total of 909,622 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in both samples with the Affymetrix genome-wide genotyping array SNP 6.0.Bivariate genome-wide association analyses were then performed to the appendicular LBM and AAM.Results: Two SNP rs1860547 and rs11030746 identified by the bivariate GWAS were significant at the genome-wide significance (GWS) level;their P-values were <0.05 after replications.In the upstream of rs1860547, two genes KCNA1 and KCNA5 were found to be important for both LBM and AAM.In the downstream of rs11030746, one gene KCNA4 was found.Univariate GWAS also identified both SNPs to be significant at the GWS level; their P-values were <0.05 after replications.In the upstream of rs1860547 , two genes KCNA1 and KCNA5 are found to be important for LBM.In the downstream of rs11030746 , one gene KCNA4 was found.Conclusion:KCNA1, KCNA4 and KCNA5 are likely to be pleiotropic genes closely related to both LBM and AAM in European females.

Fluorescent probes are potential fluorophores that display signals based on the changes in tissue microenvironment, interactions with analytes or specific biochemical reactions. Metabolic enzymes are the most important protein involved in bacteria activities. Complex dynamics of biological processes in bacteria are elucidated by these metabolic enzymes-based fluorescent probes with high spatial resolution and sensitivity. Here, we review recent advances in metabolic enzyme-responsive fluorescent probes for bacteria imaging. It was organized according to enzyme classification systems, focused on fluorescence masking strategies, molecular mechanisms of enzyme activation, and bio-related applications.

Adult ; Calcinosis ; Heart Aneurysm ; pathology ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Male ; Thrombosis ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical results of dorsal approach and Weil osteotomy in treating the injury of the plantar plate in second metatarsophalangeal joint.

METHODSEight feet with plantar plate tear in five cases were treated by plantar plate repairment through dorsal approach and Weil osteotomy from June 2012 to December 2013. The mean age of the patients was 52 years old. All the patients were followed up for 6 to 12 months. American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) and visual analogue scale (VAS) were used to evaluate the clinical effect.

RESULTSThe second metatarsophalangeal joint stability recovered and the pain released in all patients. Postoperative VAS was lower and AOFAS was higher than preoperative.

CONCLUSIONCombined dorsal approach and Weil osteotomy can effectively release the pian of plantar plate, stabilize the metatarsophalangeal joint, decrease the incidence rate of postoperative subluxation and anchylosis in treating plantar plate tears in the second metatarsophalangeal joint.

Female ; Humans ; Joint Instability ; surgery ; Metatarsophalangeal Joint ; injuries ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Osteotomy ; methods ; Plantar Plate ; injuries

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of cognitive impairment in older people. With the aging of society is more and more serious, AD caused great burden to patients and society. A β is a classical biomarker of AD, which has been widely used in clinical diagnosis of AD patients. Compared with positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), near infrared fluorescence imaging has many advantages including highly sensitive, non-invasive, safety and inexpensive. Therefore, many research groups have focused on developing the molecular probes of near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging. In this article, we will review the progress of the probes of NIRF.
Alzheimer Disease ; diagnosis ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; analysis ; Fluorescence ; Fluorescent Dyes ; Humans ; Molecular Probes ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

Child ; Female ; Hamartoma ; diagnosis ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Tracheal Diseases ; diagnosis ; pathology ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo evaluate clinical results of plate on the metatarsal side to reconstruction of tarsometatarsal joint dislocations secondary to diabetic charcot foot.

METHODSSeven patients (9 feet) patients with tarsometatarsal joint dislocations secondary to diabetic charcot foot were treated with plating from April 2012 to December 2014. All patients were male, and 5 cases were on the unilateral side and 2 cases were on the bilateral sides. The age of patients ranged from 45 to 52 with an average of 48 years old. The history of diabetics was from 6 to 15 years. X-ray and CT were used to evaluate fractures healing,and AOFAS was applied to estimate recovery of joint function.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up from 12 to 24 months with an average of 19 months. All incisions were healed at stage I . No infection, loosening and breakage of internal fixation, bone nonunion were found after operation. According to postoperative X-ray and CT results, the time of fracture healing ranged from 10 to 20 weeks with an average of 16 weeks. Six feet got excellent results, 2 good and 1 moderate based on AOFAS scoring.

CONCLUSIONTarsometatarsal joint dislocations secondary to diabetic charcot foot treated with plate on the metatarsal side could obtain stable fixation and got satisfied early clinical results.

Adult ; Bone Plates ; Diabetes Complications ; surgery ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; Female ; Foot Diseases ; etiology ; surgery ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; Humans ; Joint Dislocations ; surgery ; Male ; Metatarsal Bones ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Tarsal Joints ; surgery