Cochlear Implants ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Positron-Emission Tomography

Congenital malformations of the external and middle ear is the common reason of pediatric hearing impairment and cosmic problem. The treatment composes of auricular plastic surgery and auditory reconstruction surgery. The use of BAHA, vibrant sound-bridge and tissue engineering materials can significantly improve the treatment outcomes.
Contraindications ; Ear, External ; abnormalities ; surgery ; Ear, Middle ; abnormalities ; surgery ; Hearing Aids ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; Treatment Outcome

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells ( MDSC) are a bone marrow-derived heterogeneous cell population with immuno-suppressive activity.Although there is convincing evidence that autoimmune diseases are associated with MDSC expansion ,controversies remained regarding the role of MDSCs in controlling autoimmune responses .Recent studies have shown that the expansion of MDSCs , which are capable of inhibiting effector cell function in vitro ,does not always lead to alleviation of autoimmune diseases ,and in some ca-ses paradoxically exacerbates the disease progression .This review summarizes recent insights into the role of MDSCs in the development of autoimmune responses and the potential of using MDSCs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases .

Aging ; Humans ; Presbycusis ; genetics

Objective To determine pharmacokinetics profiles of sodium alginate dexamethasone in perilymph after trans-round window administration of the sodium alginate dexamethasone gel in vivo.Methods 30 healthy guinea pig were randomly divided into 6 groups.Alg-Dex gel was placed into the niche of the round window of the guinea pig on the right ear.The perilymphetic samples were harvested on day 1,2,3,4 and 5 after administration of Alg-Dex gel respectively.The concentrations of dexamethasone in perilymph were assayed with high performance liquid chromatograph(HPLC).Results Concentrations of dexamethasone in perilymph on day 1,2,3,4 and 5 after administration of Alg-Dex gel were 0.49?0.06,1.32?0.28,0.65?0.08,0.66?0.05,0.53?0.17 mg/L respectively.Concentrations of dexamethasone in perilymph reached a peak on the second day and maintained 0.61?0.07 mg/L steadily on following days after administration.Conclusion Dexamethasone can be released from the sodium alginate dexamethasone gel persisitently and steadily in vivo.

China ; Deafness ; genetics ; Humans

Objective To explore the expression levels of RAS-interacting protein 1 (RASIP1) mRNA and protein in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and its cell lines,and to analyze the relationship between RASIP1 and tumorigenesis and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods The expression levels of RASIP1 mRNA and protein in 29 hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and the corresponding adjacent non-cancer liver tissues (ANLTs),as well as those in the HCC cell lines such as LO2,HEPG2,MHCC97-H and HCCLM3 were detected using real-time PCR and western blot.Results The RASIP1 expression levels decreased significantly in HCC tissues when compared with the corresponding ANLTs; The expression levels of RASIP1 mRNA and protein in LO2 were significantly higher than those in other HCC cell lines (P ＜ 0.05) ; The expression levels of RASIP1 mRNA and protein in MHCC97-H and HCCLM3 were significantly lower than those in HepG2 (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions HCC tissues had lower expression than those in ANLTs.On analyzing the RASIP1 levels of HCC tissues and its cell lines,we speculated that RASIP1 might suppress recurrence and metastasis of HCC.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnosis and therapeutic effects for fungal otitis externa by clinical symptoms, endoscopic findings, and fungus culture of the ear discharge. METHOD: Sixty outpatients diagnosed with otitis externa were enrolled in the study. All patients were treated with a thorough debridement of the ear and one antifungal medication regimens (compound resorcinol solution) in case of a positive fungus culture. One subgroup of patients treated with daub glycerol during 2 weeks of follow-up. RESULT: Positive cultures were found in 42 cases. The efficacy was observed in all patients even in those who received only ear endoscopy. CONCLUSION Fungal otitis externa could be easily diagnosed by ear endoscopy. A thorough debridement of the ear and utility of compound resorcinol solution is an easy and effective approach for treatment of fungal otitis externa.
Antifungal Agents ; therapeutic use ; Debridement ; Fungi ; Glycerol ; Humans ; Otitis Externa ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Otomycosis ; diagnosis ; Outpatients

Purpose:To investigate the relationship between cell apoptosis and dephosphorylated RB protein in human breast cancer. Methods:In our work,human breast cell lines (MCF-7/S,the chemosensitive cell line and MCF-7/ADR,the chemoresistent cell line)were evaluated. Chemosensitivity of two cell lines was evaluated by the MTT colorimetric assay;the expressive levels of dephosphorylated RB protein were detected with immunocytochemistry. Apoptosis rates were determined by flow cytometry(FCM). Results:ADR inhibited proliferation of chemosensitive cell line MCF-7/S ,the 50% inhibition concentration (IC 50 ) was 0.128 ?g/ml;And IC 50 of MCF-7/ADR was 10.89 ?g/ml. The chemotherapeutic sensitivity of MCF-7/S was more than that of MCF-7/ADR by 86 times . Before treatment with ADR,phosphorylated RB protein was positive in two cell lines,but dephosphorylated RB protein was negative;After treatment of different concentration ADR,when the concentration of ADR was increased,expression of dephosphorylated RB protein elevated accordingly in MCF-7/S,but no significant change in MCF-7/ADR. Apoptosis and cell cycle was detected by FCM assays shows ADR induced apoptosis of MCF-7/S more than MCF-7/ADR(P0.05).

Objective To compare clinical outcomes in cardiac transplant recipients treated with individualized dosing (ID) and fixed dosing (FD) of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF).Methods Fortyeight de novo cardiac transplant patients in ID group received MMF (2.0 g/day) in combination with calcineurin inhibitors and prednisone.The MMF dosages were adjusted individually based on clinical events and MPA trough levels (MPA-C0).The target range of C0 was maintained within 2.0-4.0rng/L.The FD group included 55 recipients retrospectively from the transplant database who were also treated with MMF (2.0 g/day).In this group,the MMF dose adjustment was performed empirically according to clinical events only.All of the follow-up data were collected up to 12 months post-transplantation.Results The follow-up rate was 95.8％ and the mean MPA-AUC0-12 was (54.37± 17.03) rng h-1 L-1 in the ID group.The mean MPA-C0 on the day 7 post-transplantation was significantly higher in the ID group than that at 12th month [(3.44 ± 0.58) mg/L vs.(2.79 ± 0.54)mg/L] (P＜0.05).The dose of MMF was significantly lower in the ID group at 4th week posttransplantation than in control group [(1.49± 0.48) g/day vs.(1.96 ± 0.39) g/d] (P＜0.05),while there was no significant difference at 12 th month post-transplantation [(1.61 ± 0.77) g/day vs.(1.68 ± 0.84) g/day] (P＞ 0.05).No significant difference was found in the incidence of acute rejection episode between two groups (8.7％ vs.9.1％,P＞0.05).57.6％ of overall side effects were observed within one month postoperatively,and the incidence of MPA-related side effects was significantly lower in the ID group than in the control group (47.8％ vs.67.3％,P＜0.05).Conclusion It was demonstrated that individualized use of MMF based on therapeutic drug monitoring may prevent MMF-related side effect and appears to be valuable to optimize the treatment of cardiac transplantation.