OBJECTIVETo observe protective effects of Schisandra extract (SE) on embryotoxicity and reproductive toxicity of early pregnant rats exposed to Benzo[a]pyrene (Bap).

METHODSPregnant rat model was prepared using periodic screening cage method. Totally 50 female pregnant SD rats were divided into five groups by randomized block design according to the weight, i.e., the BaP model group, the low dose SE group, the middle dose SE group, the high dose SE group, the normal control group, 10 rats in each group. Rats in the BaP model group were administered with BaP at a daily dose of 2 mg/kg by gastrogavage. Rats in low, middle, and high dose SE groups were administered by gastrogavage with BaP (at a daily dose of 2 mg/kg) plus SE at a daily dose of 40, 200, and 1 000 mg/kg, respectively. Equal volume of olive oil was administered to rats in the normal control group by gastrogavage. All medication was performed for 8 successive days. Changes of rat body weight in each period were observed. The uterus embryonic total quality and ovary quality were measured, and organ index calculated. The number of corpus luteum, the number of embryo implantation, and the number of absorbed embryo were statistically calculated respectively. The implantation rate and the absorbed embryos rate were calculated. Serum levels of human chorionic gonadotrophin β (β-HCG) and progesterone (PROG) were detected by ELISA.

RESULTSCompared with the normal control group, the weight of 9-day pregnant rats, the number of embryo implantation, the uterus embryonic total index, ovary index, serum levels of β-HCG and PROG all decreased in the Bap model group with significant difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with the Bap model group, body weight, the uterus embryonic total index, and the PROG level increased in 3 dose SE groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Ovary index and serum β-HCG increased in middle and high dose SE groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The number of implantation obviously increased in the high dose SE groups (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSE could reduce the embryotoxicity and reproductive toxicity of early pregnant rats exposed to Benzo[a]pyrene.

Animals ; Benzo(a)pyrene ; toxicity ; Chorionic Gonadotropin ; blood ; Embryo Implantation ; drug effects ; Female ; Ovary ; drug effects ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Pregnancy ; Progesterone ; blood ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reproduction ; drug effects ; Schisandra ; chemistry ; Uterus ; drug effects

BACKGROUND:There is evidence that internal fixation through an anterior or posterior approach for treatment of severe kyphotic deformity in spinal tuberculosis exhibits good curative effects. However, few prospective, long-term fol ow-up case control studies are reported. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the efficacy and safety of cobalt al oy pedicle screw implantation for treatment of severe kyphotic deformity in spinal tuberculosis. METHODS/DESIGN:This is a prospective, single-center, self-control, open-label trial, which wil be performed at the Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, China. Eighty-four patients with severe kyphotic deformity in spinal tuberculosis wil be included according to the diagnosis criteria. Among 52 patients with tuberculosis of the thoracic spine, 28 wil undergo surgery through a posterior approach, and 24 through an anterior approach. According to the Frankel Grade classification, grade C, D and E spinal cord function wil be assessed in 8, 31 and 13 patients, respectively. Surgery through a posterior and anterior approach wil be respectively performed in half of 32 patients with tuberculosis of the lumbar spine. Grade C, D and E spinal cord function wil be assessed in 7, 14 and 11 patients, respectively. The primary outcome measure of this study wil be the Cobb angle at the thoracic spine segments before and 2 years after surgery, which wil be used to evaluate the angle of the spine curvature at the thoracic segments. The secondary outcome measures wil be X-ray scan or MRI findings before and 2 years after surgery, which wil be used to evaluate vertebral fusion after internal fixation;and Frankel Grade before and 2 years after surgery, which wil be used to evaluate recovery of spinal cord function after injury. Other outcome measures wil include multiple logistic regression analysis results of the factors that influence patient's curative effects and the incidence of adverse events 2 years after surgery. The trial protocol has been approved by the Ethics Committee, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, China and wil be performed in strict accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, formulated by the World Medical Association. Signed informed consent regarding the trial protocol wil be obtained from each participant. DISCUSSION:This study is to validate that cobalt al oy pedicle screw implantation shows precise curative effects in the treatment of severe kyphotic deformity in spinal tuberculosis and to analyze through what approach, posterior or anterior, internal fixation wil be more beneficial to surgery performance. The outcomes of this study wil provide objective long-term fol ow-up evidence for internal fixation treatment of severe kyphotic deformity in spinal tuberculosis in the clinic.

Objective To compare the efficacy and side effects between systemic chemotherapy and hepatic arterial infusion by combination of oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil (FOLFOX-6) with 5-fluorouracil in the patients who have developed hepatic metastasis after colorectal cancer operation. The factors that would affect the prognosis without operational treatment were also analyzed. Methods 46patients who had signed the informed consents were allocated into two groups: the group with general chemotherapy (Trial Group includes 26 cases) and the one with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (Control Group includes 20 cases). The total effective rate, the prognosis, the cytoxicitic side effects,quality of life, the total survival rate and the responses were the main parameters determined. Kaplan-Meier was used to analyze Mono-factor to the prognostic responses and the Cox mode was used to analyze poly-factor to the prognostic responses. Results The overall survival rate was significantly higher by using systemic treatment versus HAI(median, 15. 0 v 11.2 months;P＜0.05). The difference in overall responsive rate (CR+PR) between the two groups was statistically significant (50% v 10%;P=0. 011). No significant difference was found in PS scale during the treatment. (P=0. 126). Except for myelosuppression and abdominal pain, no significant difference was found in the other side effects. Univariate analysis revealed that the invasive lesions to serosa, the distribution of liver metastases, the size and number of liver metastases, primary carcinoma involving lymph nodes and the treatment were correlated with prognoses. Cox regression analysis showed that the larger diameter of liver metastases, the number of liver lesions, primary carcinomas involved in serosal layer and the treatment modules were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions The oxaliplatin-based FOLFOX-6 chemotherapy regiment has a better responsive rate and survival rate than the traditional infusion with 5-fluorouracil to the main hepatic artery for interventional therapy. The diameter of the hepatic metastasis larger than 5em, multiple hepatic metastasis and the primary lesions penetrating serosal layer suggest the poor prognosis. The oxaliplatin-based systematic chemotherapy has a better prognosis. Therefore,it is worth carrying on further study on modification of traditional hepatic arterial infusion and on evaluation of therapy by combination of the hepatic arterial infusion with the systematic chemotherapy.

Objective To improve the serum quality controlling level ,in order to regularize and standardize the laboratory processes .Methods Gallery of hemolysis ,lipidemia or icterus serum specimens was established by Roche cobas p612 QSI camera system .The trouble serum specimens were screened out through taking photos of interfere serum and comparing with the gallery . The serum indexes of hemolysis ,lipidemia and icterus were detected respectively as reference information of inspection report .Com‐paring the results of 16 710 specimens detected by system screening and visual judgment ,the accuracy of QSI camera system was verified .Results 195 trouble serum pictures were elected in the gallery .The compliance rates of hemolysis ,lipidemia and icterus se‐rum specimen between QSI camera system and visual judgment were 94 .2% ,87 .4% ,and 60 .9% respectively .Conclusion The QSI camera system can replace visual judgment to screen the trouble serum specimens .

Objective To evaluate the reliability and validity of informant questionnaire on cognitive decline in the elderly(IQCODE) in Chinese elderly patients and to estimate the efficacy of IQCODE in the screening of patients with cognitive impairment.Methods Ninety three patients with cognitive impairment and 128 community-dwelling healthy elderly over 60 years old were assessed.Informants were interviewed with the short version of the IQCODE.Results The internal consistency coefficient of IQCODE was 0.83.The correlation coefficient of test-retest reliability was 0.86.The validity coefficient of IQCODE with mini-mental state examination and activities of daily living were-0.78 and 0.71 respectively.The scores of IQCODE of the patients varied with the degree of cognitive deficits,and the differences had statistical significance.But there was no significant difference among different types of senile dementia.The scores of IQCODE of the patients with cognitive impairment were closely correlated with the degree of cognitive deficits.Conclusions IQCODE is a reliable and effective measurement for the patients with cognitive impairment.It could discriminate the cognitive impairment patients from the normal cognitive ones,and is practical in screening.But it can not distinguish different kinds of dementia.

AIM: To investigate the influence and mechanism of blue light on the proliferation of human retinal pigment epithelial cells.METHODS: Cells were divided into two groups,including blue light group and control group.The 35W white light lamp with blue filter was used to establish damaged RPE cell model in vitro.Blue ray wavelength ranged between 470nm and 520nm.And the light intensity was about 2000Lx.After exposure to blue light,we tested the proliferation of human retinal pigment epithelial cells by CCK-8 kit.And then expression of miR-103 was measured by the real-time PCR.RESULTS: Exposure to blue light inhibited the proliferation of human retinal pigment epithelial cells and increased the expression of miR-103.Moreover,up-regulation of miR-103 inhibited the proliferation of human retinal pigment epithelial cells,and down-regulates miR-103 promoted the proliferation of human retinal pigment epithelial cells.CONCLUSION: Blue light inhibits the proliferation of human retinal pigment epithelial cells by the up-regulation of miR-103.

Objective To investigate the immunoregulatory effect and compare the different regula- tions of bone marrow mescnchymal stem cells(MSCs)derived from both lupus(NZBWF1/J)and normal(BALB/ c)mice on T lymphocytes in vitro.Methods MSCs from NZBWF1/J and BALB/c mice bone marrow were iso- lated and expanded,and identified by the surface phenotypes.CD3~+ T lymphocytes isolated by nylon wool columns were stimulated by phorbol myristate acetate(PMA)and co-cultured with or without the two strains of MSCs for 24 h.Intracellular eytokines of T cell,such as interferon(IFN)-?,interleukin(IL)-4,IL-12,IL-6, were analyzed by flow cytometry and quantification of transcription factors T-box expressed in T cells(T-bet) and GATA-binding protein 3(GATA-3)were detected by reverse transcriptase PCR(RT-PCR).T cell apop- tosis was assessed by flow cytometry using rhodamine123.Results The results showed that a decrease of CD3~+ T cell apoptosis was seen when NZBWF1/J MSCs or BALB/c MSCs were added to T cells stimulated by PMA(P＜0.05),and an increase of TH2 cytokines by NZBWF1/J MSCs and TH1 eytokines by BALB/c MSCs were observed in the CD3~+ T cells eo-cuhured with MSCs(P＜0.05).Conclusion It is suggested that the al- teration of T subsets caused by MSCs may interfere with the systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE)development and normal MSCs may be effective in the improvement of SLE.NZBWF1/J MSCs have defective immunoregula- tory function when compared with MSCs from healthy mouse strains.

Objective To summarize the surgical experience in robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy,and to investigate the efficacy and safety of this surgery.Methods The clinical data of 12 patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in Changhai Hospital from March to July in 2012 were analyzed.All the patients were male and the age range was 43-66 years.In 4 cases the tumors were in the left kidney,and 8 in the right.In 7 cases the tumors were in the dorsal part of the kidney,and 2 in the ventral part.There were 3,5 and 4 cases in the upper,middle and lower pole of the kidney respectively.Preoperative GFR test was normal in all cases.Kidney CT scan showed the maximum diameters of the tumors were 2.0-5.8 cm,with an average of 3.3 cm.The pre-operative stages in all cases were T1N0M0.Results The surgery was successfully completed in all cases.The mean duration of the surgery was 160-310 min,with an average of 242 min.The blood loss was 30-300 ml,with an average of 135 ml,and the intraoperative blood transfusion was unnecessary.The warm ischemia time was 20-49 min,with an average of 31 min.There was no intraoperative morbidity,and no conversion to open surgery.The postoperative length of hospitalization was 9-31 d,with an average of 14 d.Gross hematuria arose in 1 patient at 1 week after the surgery.The post-operative pathology showed renal clear cell carcinoma with Furhman Grade Ⅱ in 11 cases,and renal angiomyolipoma in 1 case.The maximum diameters of the tumors were 2.0-5.0 cm,with an average of 3.5 cm.The tumor resection margin was negative in all cases.Conclusions Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy is safe and effective for local renal tumors.This surgery has significant advantage over traditional laparoscopic partial nephrectomy,in terms of the resection of the renal tumors and the reconstruction of the kidney.

BACKGROUND: During the repair of thoracolumbar fracture, pedicle screw fixation is a commonly used treatment method. In the process of fixation, the different approaches can be used. OBJECTIVE: To compare effect and biocompatibility of pedicle screw by percutaneous approach, posterior median approach, and intervertebral space approach for thoracolumbar fracture. METHODS: 118 cases of thoracolumbar fracture were included after pedicle screw fixation. Al patients were divided into three groups according to the approach: posterior median approach group (38 cases), intervertebral space approach group (40 cases) and percutaneous approach group (40 cases). After 12 months of folow-up, perioperative conditions, pain score, vertebral height of anterior border, kyphosis correction effect, adverse events and biological compatibility were compared among three groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) Operation time, intraoperative bleeding and time in bed after surgery were shorter or less in the percutaneous approach and intervertebral space approach groups than in the posterior median approach group. Postoperative drainage was better in percutaneous approach and intervertebral space approach groups than in the posterior median approach group (alP < 0.05). Except drainage in the percutaneous approach and intervertebral space approach groups, no significant difference in other indicators was found. (2) Patients received imaging examination at different time points. The percentage of anterior vertebral height and kyphosis were significantly improved immediately after treatment and in final folow-up (alP < 0.05). No significant difference was detected before treatment, immediately after treatment and in final folow-up. (3) Visual Analogue score was identical before treatment. Visual analogue score was lower in the percutaneous approach and intervertebral space approach groups than in the posterior median approach group at 24 hours and 3 days after treatment and in final folow-up (alP < 0.05). No significant difference was detectable at 24 hours and 3 days after treatment and in final folow-up between the percutaneous approach and intervertebral space approach groups. (4) No rejection or wound non-healing was seen at 12 months after treatment. Some patients suffered from mild low back pain, which was improved by active symptomatic treatment. (5) These findings suggest that intervertebral space approach percutaneous approach obtained satisfactory outcomes compared with posterior median approach for treatment of thoracolumbar spine fractures, and good biocompatibility was found.

Objective To explore the fixed-effects of the treatment using transarticular screw joint lateral mass screw unilateral bi-direction fixation through posterior midline approach.Methods 16 patients,12 patients with traumatic fracture-dislocation and 4 patients with cervical disc herniation with spinal stenosis,were treated with transarticular screw(caudad) joint lateral mass screw (cephalad)unilateral bi-direction fixation in the posterior cervical.Results 32 transarticular screws were implanted,including C4-5 8 pieces,C5-6 12 pieces,C6-7 12 pieces;36 lateral mass screws were implanted,including C2 13 pieces,C3 14 pieces,C4 9 pieces.All screws were successfully implanted in operation,without injuries and other complications in vertebral artery,nerve root and spinal cord.16patients were followed up for averaged 18 months ( 10 - 30 months).Surgical incisions reduced by half than traditional ,fusion time were 2.0 to 4.5 months for an average of 3.1 months.Conclusions When through theposterior fixed cervical spine,used transarticular screw joint lateral mass screw unilateral bi-direction fixation,fixed simply and reliably,reduced internal fixation materials for implantation,reduced operative time,increased bone bed area,the bone fusion rate was high,reduced the length of surgical incision,reduced the blood vessels,nerve root injury risk ,reduced complications such as axial symptoms ,saved medical expenses,achieved good results.