Increased recognition of human parvovirus B19,as a significant human pathogen has resulted in intensive researches to understand the pathogenesis of B19 infection,to elucidate the nature of Th1-mediated cellular immune response,to improve diagnostic strategy that is deployed to detect B19 infection and blood-product contamination,and to lay a foundation that should contribute to the development of an effective vaccine to prevent B19 infection.In this review,the biologic characteristics and the pathogenesis of human parvovirus B19,and B19-related manifestations as well as laboratory diagnostic methods for B19 infection were comprehensively discussed.

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of transplantation of marrow multi- function stem ceils in treating femoral head necrosis.Methods Sixty japanese rabbits were divided into A,B and C groups randomly.After creation of the models of hormone induced necrosis of femoral head;A group was designated as the treatment,B as the control and C as the normal groups.The bone marrow of A group was extracted and isolated and then injected into the left femoral head and the right femoral head was decompressed by drilling only.The rabbits were killed at 8 weeks after the treatment and changes in various parameters were observed,including imaging data of molybdenum target films,CT and MRI;routine pathology with HE staining and ultrastructural alteration by election microscopy.Results Eight weeks after the treatment of transplantation of marrow multifunction stem cells,the X-ray showed only a little change but the typical appearances were revealed by CT and MRI.Pathohistologic manifestation demonstrated decrease of empty bone lacuna,increase of osteoblast and new bone formation.Election microscopy displayed abundant organelles in osteoblasts with few empty bone lacuna,in addition the tansplantation of marrow multifunction stem cells could obtain better reconstraction for the involved femoral head.Conclusions The treatment of transplantation of marrow muhifunction stem cells in femoral head necrosis could accelerate the process of repairing,worthy to be acknowledged as a good and valuable management in rabbits.(J Intervent Radial,2007,16:122-126)

Objective To evaluate the effect of curcumin on diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) in rats. Methods Forty-eight male SD rats weighing 200-230 g were randomly divided into 6 groups ( n = 8 each) : group Ⅰ normal control (group C); group Ⅱ DNP (group D) ; group Ⅲ DNP+ DMSO (solvent of curcumin) (group DD) and group Ⅳ , Ⅴ , Ⅵ DNP + curcumin 50, 100 or 200 mg/kg ( group DC50, 100, 200 ). Diabetes was induced with intraperitoneal (IP) streptozocin 75 mg/kg in group Ⅱ -Ⅵ. Curcumin 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg were given IP once a day for 14 consecutive days starting from 14 d after streptozocin in group Ⅳ , Ⅴ and Ⅵ respectively. Venous blood samples were taken before and 72 h after IP streptosocin for determination of blood glucose level. Successful induction of diabetes was defined as blood glucose > 14.6 mmol/L. Mechanical paw withdrawal threshold to yon Frey stimuli (MWT) and paw withdrawal latency to thermal nociceptive stimulus (TWL) were measured 2 d before and 14 d after IP streptesocin and on the 1, 3, 7, 14 d of curcumin administration. Animals with pain threshold measured at 14 d after IP streptozocin decreasing by less than 15% of the baseline were excluded from the study. The animals were sacrificed after the last pain threshold measurement and the lumbar segment of the spinal cord and p65 was significantly higher in group D than in group C ( P < 0.05). Curcumin administration significantly reduced thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia induced by diabetes and down-regulated the expression of p-JNK and horn and DRG.

Objective To report a case of the implantation of thyroid hyperplastic or neoplastic tissue after endoscopic thyroidectomy and discuss this complication in aspects of prevalence, pathogenesis, protection, and therapies.
Methods A systematic search of literature from the PubMed database was conducted for identifying eligible studies on implantation of thyroid hyperplastic or neoplastic cells after endoscopic thyroid surgery.
Results Overall, 5 reported cases on patients suffering from endoscopic thyroid surgery with implantation of thyroid hyperplastic or neoplastic cells were included in the systematic review.
Conclusions Unskilled surgeons, rough intraoperative surgical treatment, scarification or rupture of tumor, contamination of instruments, chimney effect, aerosolization of tumor cells may be associated with the implantation after endoscopic thyroidectomy. To minimize the risk of such complication, we should be more meticulous and strict the endoscopic surgery indications.

Aged ; Carcinoma, Small Cell ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1 ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Objective To investigate the value of three-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (3D-STI) in assessment of left ventricular (LV) strains. Methods Thirty healthy young adults examined by two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D-STI) and 3D-STI. And the results of LV measurements were compared, which included mean peak systolic longitudinal strains, radial strains and circumferential strains. Also, the time consumption of these two methods was compared. Results The time needed for 3D-STI in acquisition and analysis of the images were (309.3±23.4)s, (305.5±11.2)s, while the time for 2D-STI were (490.6±14.4)s, (1261.4±39.9)s. The differences were signiifcant(t=-21.81, 69.94, both P<0.01). The global mean peak systolic radial strains was (48.59±7.68)%by 3D-STI and (33.25±7.27)%by 2D-STI. The difference was signiifcant(t=9.16, P<0.01). The global mean peak systolic longitudinal and circumferential strains were (-17.66±3.14)%, (-17.13±2.29)% by 3D-STI and (-21.35±2.46)%, (-21.97±3.84)% by 2D-STI. The differences were signiifcant(t=5.33, 5.99, both P < 0.01). The 3D-STI strains were different at different levels of LV. The longitudinal, circumferential and radial 3D-STI strains were largest at middle levels. However, 2D-STI strains didn′ t show such trend. Peak strains measured by 3D-STI and 2D-STI showed high inter-observer and intra-observer agreement in Bland-Altman chart. Conclusion 3D-STI is a novel, convenient and reproducible method to evaluate the strains of LV.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of clinical application of stand-alone MC+PEEK cage in anterior cervical fusion.

METHODSFrom January 2011 to January 2014,50 patients were treated with the MC+PEEK cage filled with autogenous cancellous illic-bone graft after anterior cervical discectomy. There were 22 patients with cervical spondylosis,26 patients with traumatic cervical disc herniation, 2 patients with cervical instability in these patients. There were 32 males and 18 females, aged from 30 to 79 years old with an average of 53.30 years old. There were 32 patients with single segment, 15 patients with double segments and 3 patients with three segments. Cervical AP and lateral and the flexion-extension X-rays were regularly taken in order to assess the cervical physiological curvature, the graft fusion and internal fixation related complications. Nerve function, clinical effect and bone fusion were respectively evaluated according to Japan Orthopedic Association (JOA), Otani grade and Suk method.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up from 6 to 36 months with an average of 20 months. No correlated surgical complications were found and all patients obtained bony fusion with an average time of 4.30 months. JOA score had significantly improvement after surgery (P < 0.05). The JOA score was 10.60 ± 3.00 before surgery and 16.10 ± 2.20, 16.40 ± 2.35 at one week and six months after surgery respectively. According to Otani grade,40 cases got excellent results, 9 good, 1 fair. No significant dysphagia and internal fixation related complications such as displacement of cages were found during the follow-up period.

CONCLUSIONUsing this cage in anterior cervical fusion can obtain satisfactory clinical effect with less operation injury and reduce the complications. It is a better fusion method in anterior cervical fusion.

Adult ; Aged ; Cervical Vertebrae ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Spinal Fusion ; adverse effects ; instrumentation ; methods

Abstract: Our previous work revealed berberine can significantly enhance the susceptibility of fluconazole against fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans, which suggested that berberine has synergistic antifungal activity with fluconazole. Preliminary SAR of berberine needs to be studied for the possibility of investigating its target and SAR, improving its drug-likeness, and exploring new scaffold. In this work, 13-substitutited benzyl berberine derivatives and N-benzyl isoquinoline analogues were synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR and MS. Their synergetic activity with fluconazole against fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans was evaluated in vitro. The 13-substitutited benzyl berberine derivatives 1a-1e exhibited comparable activity to berberine, which suggested that the introduction of functional groups to C-13 can maintain its activity. The N-benzyl isoquinolines, which were designed as analogues of berberine with its D ring opened, exhibited lower activity than berberine. However, compound 2b, 2c, and 4b showed moderate activity, which indicated that berberine may be deconstructed to new scaffold with synergistic antifungal activity with fluconazole. The results of our research may be helpful to the SAR studies on its other biological activities.
Antifungal Agents ; pharmacology ; Berberine ; pharmacology ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; Drug Resistance, Fungal ; Drug Synergism ; Fluconazole ; pharmacology ; Isoquinolines ; pharmacology ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests

OBJECTIVEThe effect of vascular endothelial growth factor(165) (VEGF(165)) on intracellular free magnesium ([Mg(2+)](i)) and the relationship between Mg(2+) and angiogenesis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were investigated in this study.

METHODS[Mg(2+)](i) in HUVECs loaded with fluorescent magnesium indicator mag-fura-2 were quantitatively detected with the use of intracellular cation measurement system. HUVECs were obtained from normal fetus and cultured in M199 with 0.2 fetal bovine serum. The angiogenesis effects of VEGF(165) were observed in presence of 0 mmol/L, 1 mmol/L or 2 mmol/L of extracellular Mg(2+).

RESULTSVEGF(165) significantly increased [Mg(2+)](i) in a dose-dependent manner independent of extracellular Mg(2+), Na(+) and Ca(2+) and this effect could be blocked by pretreatment with VEGF(165) receptor-2 (KDR) inhibitor (SU1498). The angiogenesis induced by VEGF(165) was significantly inhibited cells with 0 mmol/L extracellular Mg(2+), the angiogenesis effects of VEGF(165) were similar in cells with 1 mmol/L and 2 mmol/L extracellular Mg(2+) and these effects could be blocked by SU1498.

CONCLUSIONSThese results suggest that the [Mg(2+)](i) increase induced by VEGF(165) originates from intracellular Mg(2+) pools and promotes angiogenesis via KDR-dependent signaling pathways.

Cations, Divalent ; Cells, Cultured ; Endothelial Cells ; metabolism ; Humans ; Magnesium ; metabolism ; Neovascularization, Physiologic ; Signal Transduction ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; metabolism ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 ; metabolism

Objective:To observe the effect of acupuncture in regulating ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP),and discuss the action of acupuncture in intervening heroin-induced brain damage.Methods:Thirty male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into a control group,a model group and an acupuncture group by using the random number table.Rats in the model and acupuncture groups received intramuscular heroin injection for successive 8 d at a progressively increased dose.Afterwards,the injection was suspended for 5 d for withdrawal.The heroin relapse rat model was established by repeating the drug addiction and withdrawal process for 3 times.The control group followed the step of the model establishment,but was given intramuscular injection of normal saline at the stage of addiction and no intervention at the stage of withdrawal;the model group was given intramuscular heroin injection at a progressively increased dose at the addiction stage and no intervention at the withdrawal stage;the acupuncture group was dealt in the same way as the model group at the addiction stage,but received acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20) and Dazhui (GV 14) at the withdrawal stage,with the needles retained for 30 min each time,1 session a day,for successive 5 d.On the 39th day,brain tissues were extracted from the hippocampus and ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the three groups of rats.The apoptosis of brain nerve cells was detected by using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick and labeling (TUNEL).The mRNA and protein expressions of ubiquitin (Ub),ubiquitin protein ligase (E3) and 26S were examined by immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).Results:Compared with the model group,rat's hippocampus and VTA in the acupuncture group showed significantly fewer cells positively stained by TUNEL staining (P＜0.01),and its mRNA and protein expressions of Ub,E3,26S were significantly lower (P＜0.01).Conclusion:Reducing nerve cell apoptosis and regulating the mRNA and protein expressions of Ub,E3 and 26S in rat's hippocampus and VTA are possibly one of the action mechanisms of acupuncture in intervening heroin-induced brain damage.