Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Musculoskeletal Manipulations ; Periarthritis ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Tendons ; physiopathology

Age-related macular degeneration( AMD) is one of the major reasons of blindness among the elderly in the developed countries. As AMD patients are increasing year by year, AMD has become one of the important topics of ophthalmic research to prevent blindness. Its pathogenesis is not fully understood, but many studies have shown that vascular endothelial growth factor ( VEGF ) plays an important role in the pathogenesis. With the development and application of anti - VEGF drugs, there are a variety of drugs applied to the disease. This article introduces conbercept for the treatment of AMD.

The Tongmai Yangxin pill (TMYX) has potential clinical effects on no-reflow (NR); however, the effective substances and mechanisms by which this occurs remain unclear. This study evaluates the cardioprotective effects and molecular mechanisms of TMYX against NR. We used a myocardial NR rat model (2 h after myocardial ischemia and 2 h after reperfusion) to confirm the effect and mechanism of action of TMYX in alleviating NR. In vitro studies in isolated coronary microvasculature of NR rats and in silico network pharmacology analyses were performed to reveal the underlying mechanisms of TMYX and determine the main components, targets, and pathways of TMYX, respectively. The experiment was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine (LLBH-202212160001). TMYX showed therapeutic effects on NR by improving cardiac structure and function, reducing NR, ischemic areas, and cardiomyocyte injury, and decreasing the content of cardiac troponin I (cTnI). Moreover, the mechanism of TMYX predicted by network pharmacology is related to the hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathways. TMYX increased the expression of G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK), and HIF-1α. In vitro, TMYX enhanced the diastolic function of coronary microvascular cells; however, this effect was inhibited by GPER inhibitor (G-15), eNOS inhibitor (L-NAME), and sGC inhibitor (ODQ). This study integrates pharmacology and experimental evaluation to reveal that TMYX activates HIF-1α/eNOS signaling pathway by upregulating GPER to relax coronary microvessels, thereby significantly alleviating NR.

Background:More and more evidences suggest that microRNA plays an important role in the development of gastric cancer (GC).Expression of miR-129 in GC tissues is found abnormal, however, the mechanism of miR-129 in cell proliferation and invasion is still undefined.Aims:To investigate the expression of miR-129 in GC tissue and GC cell lines and the mechanism of miR-129 in proliferation and invasion of SGC-7901 cells.Methods:Eighty-two GC tissues and corresponding paracancerous tissues were collected, human gastric epithelial cell line and different GC cell lines were cultured, qPCR was conducted to assess miR-129 expression.SGC-7901 cells were transfected with miR-129 mimic or miR-NC, and then were transfected with overexpressed HMGA2 plasmid.Colony formation assay was used to detect cell proliferation ability, and Transwell chamber was used to assess cell invasion ability.Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between miR-129 and HMGA2 mRNA expression.Luciferase assay was performed to determine the activity of luciferase.mRNA and protein expressions of miR-129, HMGA2 were determined by qPCR and Western blotting, respectively.Results:Compared with paracancerous tissues, expression of miR-129 was significantly decreased in GC tissues (P<0.05);when compared with human gastric epithelial cells, expression of miR-129 was significantly decreased in GC cell lines (P<0.05).Compared with miR-NC group, proliferation and invasion abilities of SGC-7901 cells were inhibited in miR-129 mimic group (P<0.05).HMGA2 mRNA expression in GC tissues was significantly upregulated (P<0.05), and was negatively correlated with miR-129 expression (r=-0.543 9, P<0.01).Luciferase activity in wild-type miR-129 mimic group was significantly lower than that in miR-NC group (P<0.05);mRNA and protein expressions of HMGA2 were decreased after transfection with miR-129 mimic (P<0.05).Compared with miR-129+vector group, proliferation and invasion of SGC-7901 cells were significantly increased in miR-129 mimic+HMGA2 group (P<0.05).Conclusions:The expression of miR-129 is decreased in GC tissue and cells;miR-129 inhibits SGC-7901 cells proliferation and invasion by negatively regulating HMGA2.

Background: Esophageal variceal bleeding is a clinical emergency and the major cause of death in patients with liver cirrhosis.Aims: To assess the value of platelet count (PC)/spleen diameter (SD) ratio in predicting the presence of esophageal varices (EV) in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis in China.Methods: A total of 91 consecutive HBV-related cirrhosis patients with EV from Aug.2013 to Dec.2015 at Renji Hospital (South Campus),School of Medicine,Shanghai Jiao Tong University were enrolled.Thirty-two HBV-related cirrhosis patients without EV were enrolled as controls.Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy,routine laboratory examinations and abdominal ultrasonography were performed and the related parameters were collected.Binary Logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify independent risk factors associated with EV.ROC curve was used to evaluate the predictive performance of PC/SD ratio for the presence of EV.Results: The PC/SD ratio was significantly lower in EV group than in non-EV group (538.2±327.0 vs.1 105.9±426.6,P=0.001).Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that the PC/SD ratio was independently associated with the presence of EV (OR=57.29,95％ CI: 15～214,P=0.000).In ROC curve analysis,the area under the curve (AUC) of PC/SD ratio in predicting the presence of EV was 0.853;the optimal cutoff value was 842,and the sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 85.7％,75.0％,90.7％,and 64.9％,respectively.Conclusions: PC/SD ratio can be used as a non-invasive tool for prediction of the presence of EV in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis.It may reduce the number of unnecessary endoscopy.

Biopsy ; Brain ; pathology ; Frozen Sections ; methods ; Humans

Objective To study the clinical and pathologic features,histological criteria and pathologic factors contributing to diagnosis of mixed epithelial and mesenchymal tumors(mixed m?llerian tumors,MMT)of the uterus.Methods A retrospective study of 102 cases of MMT of the uterus (74 adenofibromas including 9 recurrent cases,3 atypical polypoid adenomyomas,2 carcinofibromas,10 adenosareomas and 13 carcinosarcomas)was undertaken.Clinical records,gross features and tissue slices were reviewed.The follow-up data were analysed.Results The most common symptom was vaginal bleeding.Clinical signs included pelvic mass,uterine polyps,and enlarged uterus.Benign MMT usually presented as exophytic polypoid masses extending into the uterine cavity or protruding through the external os,often broad-based,lobulated and papillary.It was hard to distinguish low-grade malignant MMT from the benign ones by gross appearance.High-grade malignant MMT had the common gross features of carcinoma and sarcoma.Histologically,MMT showed a biphasic differentiation of mesenchymal and epithelial components.MMT were classified according to whether these elements were benign or malignant.Nine cases of adenofibroma without unique features for the diagnosis of adenosarcoma recurred at postoperative intervals of 3 to 96 months.Recurrent tumors were almost always confined to the original site.Conclusions Uterine MMT tumors according to WHO diagnostic criteria are not rare.The differential diagnosis depends on a multifactorial analysis.The recurrent adenofibromas may be a kind of borderline tumors with benign appearances and malignant behavior.

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture combined with rehabilitation exercises on swallowing function and cerebral perfusion in dysphagic stroke patients.Methods Sixty-two stroke pa- tients with dysphagia were randomly divided into a treatment group(n=32)and a control group(n=30).The treat- ment group received electroacupunture,rehabilitation exercise and conventional medical treatment,while the control group received only rehabilitation exercise and conventional medical treatment.They were treated once a day,6 times a week for 4 weeks.Water drinking test,stethocatharsis scores and swallowing fluorography were used to assess the swallowing function before and after treatment.Single photon emission computed tomography(SPECT)was also em- ployed to observe the status of cerebral perfusion before and after treatment.Results It was shown that the swallo- wing function and cerebral perfusion in the treatment group were significantly better than the control group after treat- ment.The effective rate in the treatment group was 96.88% while that of the control group was 66.67%.Conclu- sion Electroacupuncture combined with rehabilitation exercises is effective in treating the dysphagic stroke patients, and can significantly improve the brain perfusion of these patients.

Neurotransmitter release is controlled by groups of proteins associated with the membranes of synaptic vesicles and the presynaptic membranes.It is a highly dynamic process which is spatially and temporally regulated via a cascade of protein-protein interactions.These proteins participate in each step of the synaptic vesicle circulation at nerve terminals including the formation of soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor-attachment protein receptors complex,the targeted trafficking of synaptic vesicles,the vesicle docking,the neurotransmitter release and finally the reuse of the proteins.This article focuses on the physiological function and the interactions of these regulating proteins.

Objective:To determine the valproate concentration in plasma of epilepsy patients by HPLC, and compare with the re-sults of chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay ( CMIA) to evaluate the consistency of the two methods. Methods:HPLC and CMIA was respectively applied to determine the plasma concentration of valproate in 230 epileptic patients. The correlation of the two methods was studied by Passing-Bablok regression and Bland-Altman method. Results:The regression equation of the determination re-sults of HPLC (Y) and CMIA (X) was Y=1. 069 7X+2. 338 2 (R2 =0. 969, n=230), which showed promising correlation. Bland-Altman analysis showed that the consistency of the two methods was poor, and the values of HPLC were higher. Conclusion: HPLC and CMIA used for the determination of valproate plasma concentration show good correlation. However, the consistency is poor and there is system error. In the clinical treatment, adjustment and choice should be paid more attention.