OBJECTIVETo evaluate a breast augmentation technique for correction of minor and moderate breast ptosis with an anatomic implant.

METHODSFifteen patients of macromastia with minor and moderate breast ptosis were treated by using a breast augmentation with the anatomic implant under the breast gland. The results were judged with the the patient's satisfaction.

RESULTSAll of the patient achieved big improvement of the breast ptosis with very satisfactory results.

CONCLUSIONSThe minor and moderate breast ptosis could be achieved by using breast augmentation with an anatomic implant.

Adult ; Breast Diseases ; surgery ; Breast Implantation ; methods ; Breast Implants ; Female ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo study the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in cartilage of temporomandibular joint osteoarthriti (TMJOA), and to evaluate the role of iNOS in the progression of TMJOA.

METHODSThe goats were used and TMJOA was induced by injection of collagenase in upper joint space. The joints were obtained and were investigated by using immunohistochemistry at 2, 4, 12, 24 weeks after injection.

RESULTSAlmost no expression of iNOS in normal cartilage of TMJ. In the diseased joints, strong or definite iNOS reactivity was expressed.

CONCLUSIONiNOS plays an important role in the progression of TMJOA.

Cartilage ; Humans ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; Osteoarthritis ; Temporomandibular Joint

BACKGROUNDCoronal diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values have gradually become applied (following conventional axial DW-MRI) in the renal analysis. To explore whether data obtained using coronal DW-MRI are comparable with those derived using axial DW-MRI, this preliminary study sought to assess the agreement in renal ADC values between coronal DW-MRI and axial DW-MRI.

METHODSThirty-four healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study; written consents were obtained. All subjects underwent respiratory-triggered axial and coronal DW-MRI using a 1.5-MR system with b values of 0 and 800 s/mm 2 . The signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the two DW-MRI sequences were measured and statistically compared using the paired t-test. The extent of agreement of ADC values of the upper pole, mid-pole, and lower pole of the kidney; the mean ADC values of the left kidney and right kidney; and the mean ADC values of the bilateral kidneys were evaluated via calculation of intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) or Bland-Altman method between the two DW-MRI sequences.

RESULTSThe SNR of coronal DW-MR images was statistically inferior to that of axial DW-MR images (P < 0.001). The ICCs of the ADC values of each region of interest, and the mean ADC values of bilateral kidneys, between the two sequences, were greater than 0.5, and the mean ADCs of the bilateral kidneys demonstrated the highest ICC (0.869; 95% confidence interval: 0.739-0.935). In addition, 94.1% (32/34), 94.1% (32/34), and 97.1% (31/34) of the ADC bias was inside the limits of agreement in terms of the mean ADC values of the left kidneys, right kidneys, and bilateral kidneys when coronal and axial DWI-MRI were compared.

CONCLUSIONSADC values derived using coronal DW-MRI exhibited moderate-to-good agreement to those of axial DW-MRI, rendering the former an additional useful DW-MRI method, and causing the ADC values derived using the two types of DW-MRI to be comparable.

Adult ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Kidney ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of the flexible surgical approaches on therapeutic and cosmetic outcomes of facial nevi.

METHODSFrom August 2002 to January 2008, 16 cases with facial nevi had been treated in our wards with the selected approaches. Surgical approaches including serial excision or one-time radical excision, free skin graft, and expanded flap were adopted in accordance with the individual size and location of the facial nevi.

RESULTSAll cases experienced complete excision and had satisfactory cosmetic appearance in the end.

CONCLUSIONThe flexible surgical measures help to minimize the risk of malignant transformation and achieve good cosmetic results.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Face ; pathology ; surgery ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; surgery ; Humans ; Infant ; Nevus, Pigmented ; pathology ; surgery ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Skin Transplantation ; Surgical Flaps ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo verify the clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with auricle cutting method for treatment of blood stasis-type psoriasis.

METHODSFifty-six cases of blood stasis-type psoriasis were randomly divided into a combined therapy group, a auricle cutting group, an acupuncture group and a control group, 14 cases in each one. Based on regular treatment of TCM decoction in four groups, the combined therapy group was treated with acupuncture and auricle cutting method, and the auricle cutting group was treated with sham-acupuncture and auricle cutting, and the acupuncture group was treated with acupuncture and sham auricle cutting, and the control group was treated with sham-acupuncture and sham auricle cutting. The acupuncture was applied at Dazhui (GV 14), Feishu (BL 13), Ganshu (BL 18) and Geshu (BL 17), etc., and manipulated with routine technique; in the sham acupuncture, the needle was inserted into dermis layer so that the needles could be swung without being dropped out. In the auricle cutting, erbeixin (P1) of unilateral auricle was selected and cut by Chan needle to perform bloodletting; in the sham auricle cutting, the neighborhood approximately 0.5 cm next to erbeixin (P) of auricle was selected as cutting area. The treatment was given once a day, seven days as a treatment session for totally two sessions. Psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) before and after treatment was observed and efficacy of each group was compared.

RESULTSThe effective rate was 57.1% (8/14) in the combined therapy group, which was superior to 14.3% (2/14) in the auricle cutting group, 7.1% (1/14) in the acupuncture group and 0.0% (0/14) in the control group (all P < 0.05). The scores of PASI were all decreased in each group after the treatment (all P < 0.05), which was the most significant in the combined therapy group (all P < 0.05). After factorial analysis, the main effect was P < 0.05 in the auricle cutting, P < 0.05 in the acupuncture and P < 0.05 in interaction effect of combined therapy.

CONCLUSIONThe scores of PASI of blood stasis-type psoriasis could be effectively reduced by acupuncture, auricle cutting method and TCM decoction, among which the interaction effect of auricle cutting and acupuncture combined with TCM decoction is the most significant.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Bloodletting ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Ear ; blood supply ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Psoriasis ; blood ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Objective To determine the clinical features,neurophysiological characteristics and cervical magnetic resonance imaging of sensory neumnopathy,and to describe the pathology of skin nerve, sural nerve and spinal dorsal columns.Methods Two patients who died from sensory neuron disease (SND)after infection of digestive tract were discussed including clinical features and ancillary tests which included neurophysiology and pathology of peripheral nerve and spinal dorsal columns.Associated documents are reviewed.Results Early ataxia,widespread sensory symptoms and global loss of deep tendon reflex were the distinctive signs of SND,which was characterized by non-length-dependent abnormalities of sensory nerve action potentials,a hallmark of ganglionopathies.The second patient showed normal cervical magnetic resonance imaging possibly because of short course of disease,while diffuse hyperintensity in the spinal posterior columns of SND was reported.Demyelination of spinal posterior columns and loss of mostly large diameter nerve fibers without regeneration clusters were the main pathological features.Conclusions The distinctive clinical features and neurophysiological characteristics of SND indicate that peripheral sensory nerve fibers are widely damaged.Pathology of spinal posterior columns confirm that central sensory pathway are impaired which allow the localization of the pathologic site to the dorsal root ganglion neurons.Cervical spinal MRI of SND are possibly normal at early phase.

Objective To investigate the protective effect and the underlying mechanism of water soluble coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)against rotenone induced injury on PC12 cells model.Methods PC12 cells were cultured with rotenone,water-soluble CoQ1 0 was added to the culture media 3 hours prior to the rotenone incubation.We determined cell viability by CCK8;reactive oxygen species (ROS)was detected by spectrophotometer;and Bcl-2, Bax,active Caspase-3,Caspase-9 and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF)were measured by Western blotting after 24-hour rotenone incubation.Results After the treatment by rotenone,cell viability decreased significantly (P＜0.01)and ROS level increased (P＜0.01).CoQ10 could improve PC12 cell viability (P＜0.01)and reduce the level of ROS (P＜0.01).Western blotting experiments showed that CoQ10 could reduce rotenone-induced Caspase-9 (P＜0.05),active Caspase-3 (P＜0.05)and Bax (P＜0.01)expressions,increase the expression of Bcl-2 (P＜0.01),and prevent nuclear translocation of AIF (P＜0.05).Conclusion CoQ10 has a protective effect on rotenone-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells,the mechanism of which may be through scavenging ROS in cells;decreasing caspase-9 ,active caspase-3 and Bax expressions;and increasing the expression of Bcl-2 ;and preventing AIF nuclear translocation.

BACKGROUNDRecent studies have shown that T helper type-2 (Th2) cells can induce the apoptosis of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells or resist the immunosuppressive effect of Treg cells. We hypothesize that an imbalance of Th2/Treg is present in patients with allergic asthma.

METHODSTwenty-two patients with mild asthma, 17 patients with moderate to severe asthma, and 20 healthy donors were enrolled. All patients were allergic to house dust mites. The proportion of peripheral blood CD4+CD25+ Treg cells and Th2 cells were determined by flow cytometry. The concentration of interleukin (IL)-10, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and IL-4 in plasma was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. In these subjects, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 17 mild asthmatic patients, 13 moderate to severe asthmatic patients and 14 healthy donors were acquired and expression of forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) and GATA-3 mRNA was detected by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTSCompared with healthy donors and patients with mild asthma, the percent of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells and plasma IL-10 levels were decreased in patients with moderate to severe asthma. There were no significant differences in Foxp3 mRNA expression among three groups, but a downward trend seen among patients with asthma. However, the percent of Th2 cells, IL-4 levels and expression of GATA-3 mRNA was markedly higher in patients with mild and moderate to severe asthma than in the control group. The ratio of Th2/Treg and their cytokines was increased in allergic asthma, especially for moderate to severe asthma. The ratio of GATA-3/Foxp3 mRNA was also increased in allergic asthma. In patients with moderate to severe asthma, the percentage of peripheral blood Treg cells was negatively correlated to the percentage of Th2 cells and IL-4 levels.

CONCLUSIONSThe decline of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells in patients with moderate to severe asthma may play an important role in progress of the disease. Furthermore, the deficiency of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells was associated with the over-expression of Th2 response.

Asthma ; etiology ; immunology ; Cytokines ; blood ; Forkhead Transcription Factors ; genetics ; GATA3 Transcription Factor ; genetics ; Humans ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; immunology ; Th2 Cells ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo observe the pathological changes and morphological alterations of ECV304 cells after the infection by herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) in vitro.

METHODSPassaged ECV304 cells were infected with HSV-2, TCID50 and morphological changes were observed by optical microscopy and tissue staining.

RESULTSOne day after HSV-2 infection, swelling, rounding, and increase of thickened cytoplasmic granules occurred in the ECV304 cells, and on day 2, cell fusion was observed with weakened nuclear staining.

CONCLUSIONECV304 cells mostly undergo necrosis after HSV-2 infection without obvious evidence of cell apoptosis.

Cells, Cultured ; Endothelium, Vascular ; pathology ; virology ; Herpesviridae Infections ; pathology ; Herpesvirus 2, Human ; Humans ; Necrosis ; Umbilical Veins ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the mechanisms for the cytopathic effect (CPE) of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in ECV304 endothelial-like cells.

METHODSPCR and indirect immunofluorescence were used to detect HCMV infection by examining immediate-early (IE) gene and protein expression of the virus in ECV304 cells. Phase-contrast and electron microscopies were performed to observe the morphological changes of the infected and uninfected cells, and DNA ladder analysis and flow cytometry were carried out to study HCMV-induced cell apoptosis.

RESULTSIn HCMV-infected ECV304 cells, cytopathic effects were first observed at approximately 72 h post-infection. The cells with CPE changes exhibited detachment from the monolayer, cell rounding and shrinkage. The expression of the IE gene was detected. Chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation along with dramatic changes of the mitochondria were observed by electron microscopy at 96 h post-infection. Cellular DNA fragmentation was observed in the infected cells, which had cells apoptotic rates of 4.1% and 45.7% at 96 h and 144 h post-infection, respectively.

CONCLUSIONHCMV can induce apoptosis of ECV304 endothelial-like cells.

Antigens, Viral ; genetics ; metabolism ; Apoptosis ; physiology ; Cell Line ; Cytomegalovirus ; genetics ; growth & development ; metabolism ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; ultrastructure ; virology ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect ; Humans ; Immediate-Early Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Microscopy, Electron ; Microscopy, Phase-Contrast ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Umbilical Veins ; cytology ; virology