Objective To discuss the methods of selecting different shapes occluder and to evaluate the feasibility,safety and efficacy of them in transcatheter closures of congenital ventricular septal defect (VSD) in children.Methods Transcatheter closures were performed in 226 children with congenital VSD,age ranging from 2 to 14 years(mean 5.62 years) under the guidance of transthoracic echocardiography(TTE) and fluoroscopy.There were 14 patients with intracristal VSD,209 patients with perimembranous VSD and 3 patients with muscular VSD.Left ventriculography and transthoracic echocardiography were performed repeatedly after the procedure to assess the effect of occlusion.The echocardiography and electrocardiography were scheduled before discharge,1,6 and 12 months for the follow-up.Results The occluders were deployed successfully in 211 patients.The successful rate was 93.4%.Thin waist shape occluders,were deployed in 7 patients;equal side shape occluders,were deployed in 191 patients;eccentric shape occluders were deployed in 12 patients,and muscular defect occluders were deployed in 1 patient.There were no complications encountered during or after closure.Conclusions It is very important in transcatheter closure of congenital in children to select different shape occluder according to pathologic characteristics.In general,equal side shape occluder is suita-ble for a large number of defect and it is easy for deployment.In some conditions,the other shape occluder may be necessary.

OBJECTIVETo study the relativity between La protein and the stability of HBV mRNA and the expression of HBV protein.

METHODSFour specific siRNAs were obtained by transcription in vitro. After transfection with the siRNAs into HepG2.2.15 cells for 3 days, the inhibitive effects of La protein were analyzed by Western blot; the content changes of HBsAg, HBeAg and HBV-DNA were detected by ECL and RT-PCR.

RESULTSIn comparison to normal cells, La protein was less in the cells. There was less La protein in the cells trans-infected with siRNAs. HBsAg, the HBeAg and HBV-DNA secreted by the cells transfected with siRNA were also less than that in the normal cells.

CONCLUSIONThere is a correlation between La protein and HBV mRNA and the expression of HBV protein.

Autoantigens ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; DNA, Viral ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering ; RNA, Viral ; Ribonucleoproteins ; metabolism

Chitosan microsphere has been wildly researched in controlled release of protein and peptide drug because of its excellent mucoadhesive and permeation enhancing effect across the biological surfaces. The control of the size and size distribution of microspheres is necessary in order to improve reproducibility, bioavailability, and repeatable release behavior. In this work, uniform-sized chitosan microspheres containing insulin were prepared by a novel membrane emulsification technique combined with glutaraldehyde crosslinking method. In order to prepare uniform-sized chitosn microspheres, it is necessary to modify hydrophilic membrane into hydrophobicity. It is found that there exists a linear relationship between the size of chitosan microspheres and pore size of the membrane used, so it is easy to control the size of microspheres by using membranes with different pore size. In this study, the effect of different amount of crosslinker and crosslinking time on microspheres' morphology, encapsulation efficiency (EE) and release profile of drug in vitro were investigated. It is shown that the morphology of microspheres is more smooth and spherical, and the release rate is slower with the increase of amount of glutaraldehyde and prolongation of crosslinking time. When the molar ratio of amino group of chitosan to aldehyde group of glutaraldehyde is 1:0.7, and crosslinking time is 1 h, the highest EE was obtained (about 65%). Date obtained suggest that chitosan microspheres prepared by this new method would be a promising system for controlled release of protein drugs.
Biocompatible Materials ; chemistry ; Chitosan ; chemistry ; Cross-Linking Reagents ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; chemical synthesis ; Drug Carriers ; chemical synthesis ; Emulsions ; Glutaral ; chemistry ; Humans ; Insulin ; pharmacokinetics ; Microspheres ; Particle Size

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether the fetal immune tolerance induction could replace the HLA typing for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

METHODSImmune tolerance of SD rats was induced by injecting host Wistar rats peripheral blood mononuclear cells into yolk sac of the embryo, afterward the mature male offsprings were used as donor. The host female recipients received lethal dose irradiation and bone marrow transplantation(BMT). The Wistar rats transplanted with bone marrow from donor and unrelated SD rats as well as the rats which received radiation alone were used as control. The survival, histopathologically GVHD, the mental status, food and water intake, coat characteristics, activities were observed. Forty days after BMT, autologous and allogenous skin transplantation between donor and recipient rats was performed to observe the engraftment of solid organ.

RESULTSThe survival of the rats received bone marrow grafts from the immune tolerant donor was significantly longer than that of control groups (30 day survival rates were 86.7%, 6.7%, 0%, and 0% respectively), and there was no histopathologically GVHD observed, while in the sham group, the manifestations of GVHD was clearly visible. The skin engraftment rate between the host and the immune tolerant donor was significantly higher than that among non-related rats (84.6% and 0% respectively).

CONCLUSIONThe induction of immune tolerance in embryo can overcome the HLA barrier and provide a good donor for hematopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplantation.

Animals ; Embryo, Mammalian ; immunology ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; immunology ; prevention & control ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Histocompatibility Testing ; Immunosuppression ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rats, Wistar ; Transplantation Chimera

OBJECTIVETo analyze the degrees on the epidemic foci of Angiostronglus cantonensis and to explore the measurement methods.

METHODSSnails (Pila gigas) were collected from the spots of Wenzhou, Cangnan, Yongjia, Yueqing in Zhejiang province and Minhou, Changle, Ningde in Fujian province. The snails were examined microscopically in order to calculate their infection rates and the average worm number in the positive snails, then taking the product of multiplication of both values as infestation index.

RESULTSThe infection rates of the epidemic foci were 10.59% (9/85), 60.74% (181/298), 34.96% (79/226), 32.90% (76/231), 57.50% (184/320), 40.00% (82/205), 17.65% (12/68) and the rates of infectivity were 6.57, 183.54, 121.73, 93.45, 276.36, 76.08, 12.65, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe epidemic foci were divided into five ranks (super, high, mid-range, low and non-epidemic foci) according to the value of infestation index which ranked from > 75, 30-75, 5-29, < 5 to 0.

Angiostrongylus ; pathogenicity ; Animals ; China ; Disease Outbreaks ; Snails ; parasitology ; Strongylida Infections ; epidemiology

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for a child with infantile liver failure syndrome type 2 (ILFS type 2). METHODS: Clinical features of the child were analyzed. Next generation sequencing was also carried out for him. RESULTS: The child was found to harbor compound heterozygous variants of the NBAS gene, which included a novel nonsense c.2746A>T (p.R916X, 1456) variant in exon 24 and a missense c.3596G>A (p.C1199Y) mutation in exon 31, which has been associated with ILFS type 2. The two variants were respectively inherited from his father and mother. CONCLUSION The compound heterozygous variants of c.3596G>A and c.2746A>T of the NBAS gene probably underlay the ILFS type 2 in this child.
Child ; Exons/genetics* ; Genetic Testing ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; Liver Failure ; Male ; Mutation

Introduction: We recently developed a scoring system for diagnosis of acute appendicitis. This study prospectively evaluates the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Appendicitis (RIPASA) score for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in patients presenting to the Accident & Emergency department or the Surgical wards with right iliac fossa pain. Materials and Methods: From November 2008 to April 2009, consecutive patients presenting to the Accident & Emergency department or the surgical wards with right iliac fossa pain were recruited for the study. The RIPASA score was applied but the decision for radiological investigations or emergency appendicectomy was made based on clinical judgement. Receiver operating curve (ROC), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the new scoring system were derived. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Medical & Health Review Ethics Committee. Results: Within six months, 144 consecutive patients with a mean age of 29.5 ± 13.3 yrs were recruited to the study. Ninety-eight patients underwent emergency appendicectomy of which 79 were confirmed histologically for acute appendicitis. The observed negative appendicectomy rate was 19.4%. The optimal cut-off threshold score from the ROC was 7.5, with a sensitivity of 97.5%, specificity of 81.8%, PPV of 86.5%, NPV of 96.4% and a diagnostic accuracy of 91.8%. The predicted negative appendicectomy rate was 13.5%, which is a 5.9% reduction from the observed rate of 19.4% (p=0.3). Conclusion: The RIPASA score is a more suitable appendicitis scoring system developed for our local settings with a population that is reflective of our region in South-east Asia and has high sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy.
Appendicitis ; Appendectomy ; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures ; Surgical Procedures, Operative ; Signs and Symptoms

OBJECTIVETo ascertain the genetic characterization and genotype of measles viruses isolated in Shanghai region, in 2005.

METHODSMeasles virus was isolated from throat swab specimens collected from suspected measles cases and 450 bp fragment of C terminus of nucleprotein (N) gene was amplified by RT-PCR. Sequence analysis was conducted to ascertain the genotype and to compare the difference of nucleotide with other measles virus strain published in GenBank.

RESULTS4 measles viruses were isolated from 10 throat swab specimens, and the sequence analysis indicated that they belonged to H1 genotype. The homogeneity of 450 nucleotides in the C terminal of the N gene was at 98%-98.2% as compared to H1 genotype (China93-7). They differed from genotype H2 (China94-1) at 6.4%-6.9% and from genotype A (Edmonston) at 6.7%-6.9%, from measles vaccine (Shanghail91) at 7.6%-8.0%. They differed from the other measles viral strain isolated in China in 1993 - 2005 at 0.2%-3.7%. The variation within 4 isolated measles viruses was at 0.7%-1.3%.

CONCLUSIONIt was H1 genotype measles viruses,which are the native viruses in China that led to the outbreak of measles in Shanghai, in 2005.

China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Genotype ; Humans ; Measles ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Measles virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy of penyan pill (PP) in treating ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) infection patients of qi deficiency blood stasis syndrome (QDBSS).

METHODSTotally 188 UU infection patients of QDBSS were randomly assigned to two groups, the treatment group and the control group. Patients in the treatment group were treated with PP (10 g each time, thrice daily, 14 consecutive days as one therapeutic course), while those in the control group took azithromycin (10 g each day, 7 consecutive days as one therapeutic course). They were continually treated for 3 therapeutic courses. The clinical symptom integrals were observed in the two groups before and after treatment. The short-term efficacy was judged. Their recurrence rates were followed-up to assess their long-term efficacies.

RESULTSThe total effective rate of the comprehensive efficacy in the treatment group was 91.4%, while it was 79. 3%in the control group, showing no statistical difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). Better effects were obtained in improving Chinese medical clinical symptoms in the treatment group (P <0.01). There was no statistical difference in the negative conversion rate between the two groups after treatment (P >0. 05). There was statistical difference in the recurrence rate between the two groups (12. 82% vs 54.76%,P <0. 05).

CONCLUSIONSPP showed equivalent effects in treating UU infection patients of QDBSS to those of azithromycin. But PP showed obvious advantages over azithromycin in improving Chinese medical syndromes.

Adult ; Azithromycin ; therapeutic use ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Ureaplasma Infections ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Ureaplasma urealyticum

Objective To observe the changes of plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) and cardiac performance in children with ventricular septal defect (VSD) before and after interventional therapy,and analyze the relationship between the cardiac performance and NT-proBNP level.Methods A total of 100 children[43 male,57 female,5-8(6.3 ±-2.1) years old] with VSD for cardiac catheter occlusion in the First Hospital of Hebei Medical University were enrolled in this study as the VSD group.The control group included 50 healthy children.Concentrations of plasma NT-proBNP were measured before operation and the 3rd day and the 6th month after cardiac catheterization,respectively.Before operation and the 7th day and the 6th month after cardiac catheterization,the parameters of left ventricular end diastolic diameter(LVEDD),left ventricular end systolic diameter(LVESD),left ventricular end systolic volume (LVESV),left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were measured by echocardiography.The relationships between plasma NT-proBNP levels and echocardiographic cardiac functional indexes were analyzed.Results There was a significant difference in plasma NT-proBNP levels measured between the 2 groups before catheterization(P ＜ 0.01) ;In the 3rd day and the 6th month after cardiac catheterization,the plasma NT-proBNP level decreased significantly as compared to that in the before operation and the 3rd day respectively (P ＜ 0.01),while it was similar to the control group (P ＞ 0.05).The para-meters of LVEDD,LVESD,LVESV and LVEDV in the 6th month and the 7th day after catheterization were decreased significantly as compared to those before catheterization in VSD group(all P ＜ 0.05),and those in the 6th month were more decreased as compared to those in the 7th day(all P ＜ 0.05).The plasma NT-proBNP level was significantly correlated with LVEDD,LVESD,LVESV,LVEDV in VSD group(r =0.82,0.56,0.62,0.77,all P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions The value of plasma NT-proBNP in the children with VSD was decreased after catheterization was correlated with the recover of the heart function.It is indicated that the test of plasma NT-proBNP will be of important significance in asses-sing the heart function change of the children with VSD after catheterization.