BACKGROUND: Both Allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma are allergic diseases of respiratory tract. They frequently coexist in the same patients.OBJECTIVE: To study the incidence of allergic rhinitis in patients with bronchial asthma in Nanjing, and to analyze the correlation of clinical characteristic between allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma.DESIGN: The questionnaire survey.SETTING: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Department of Respiratory, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Area Command of Chinese PLA.PARTICIPANTS: A total of 134 patients with bronchial asthma including 73 males and 61 females were selected form Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Area Command of Chinese PLA from February 2001 to April 2005. Their ages ranged from 3 to 72 years. Severity of asthma of all patients was classified based on Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). The diagnostic criteria of allergic rhinitis were established referred to the guideline of Haikou Meeting (November, 1997). All patients provided the confirmed consent.METHODS: The questionnaire survey of 134 bronchial asthma patients from the city of Nanjing was conducted. Their age, classification, severity, treatment status, and the family history of all 134 patients were investigated in details. Differences of age, age at onset, and course of disease between rhinitis and asthma of all patients were examined by two independent t tests. The correlation between clinical characteristics of allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma was analyzed by Spearman rank correlation.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES : Incidence of allergic rhinitis in patients with bronchial asthma and the correlation of clinical characteristic between allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma.RESULTS：Of all 134 bronchial asthma patients，82(61．2％,82/134)were accompanied with allergic rhinitis．There were 45 males and 37 females．Of 82 patients with allergic rhinitis accompanying with bronchial asthma，severity was classified into grade Ⅰ (mild pause,n=56)，grade Ⅱ (mild persistence，n=21)，grade Ⅲ (moderate persistence，n=4)，and grade Ⅳ (severe persistence，n=1)．In addition,allergic rhinitis was classified into periodicity (n=65) and persistence(n=17)．According to the classification and seventy system recommended in ARIA,63 patients had mild symptoms and 19 had moderate and severe symptoms．Severity of allergic rhinitis was positively related to that of bronchial asthma(r=0.689,P＜0．01)．CONCLUSION: The morbidity of allergic rhinitis combining with bronchial asthma is high in Nanjing, China. While, their classification and severity are highly coherent.

BACKGROUND:Chitosan is a kind of natural biomaterial and is characterized by great biocompatibility, progressive degeneration and absorption and excellent mechanical property; however, whether it may become an ideal cytoskeleton in the engineering of cartilage tissue or not should be researched further.OBJECTIVE: To observe the hydrophilicity and adsorptivity to human nasal septum chondrocytes and the effect of its function of a novel scaffold made by [poly (dl-lactide-co-glycolide)] (PLGA)/chitosan nonwoven cloth embedded with lecithin (LEC) and poly-L-lysine (PLYS).DESIGN: Blank control study.SETTING: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Area Command of Chinese PLA.MATERIALS: The experiment was carried out in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Area Command of Chinese PLA from October 2005 to June 2006. Chitosan nonwoven cloth was provided by Hainan Xinlong Company. The mainly technical parameters were detailed as the follows: degree of deacetylation ≥ 90% and relative molecular weight 2-5 × 105. PLGA/chitosan nonwoven cloth scaffold was made in Department of Otolaryngology-Hean and Neck Surgery, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Area Command of Chinese PLA and High Polymer Institute of Sun Yat-sen University. The mainly technical parameters were detailed as the follows: mole ratio between monome lactide and glycolide 75:25, porosity 82%-86%, pore diamater 100-300 μm, shear strength 48 MPa, depth 1.5 mm and completely degenerated duration 14-18 weeks. Human nasal septum chondrocytes were the septal cartilage of nose which was derived from operated patients with deflection of nasal septum under sterile condition.METHODS: PLGA/chitosan nonwoven cloth was sheared into pieces with the size of 1.5 cm × 1.5 cm, dipped in 0.01 volume fraction of LEC anhydrous alcohol and 1 g/L PLYS for 6 hours, dealt with ultraviolet radiation after dehydration for 1hour, dipped in 0.75 volume fraction of ethanol for 24 hours, washed with Hanks solution, and incubated for 24 hours. After operations mentioned above, two kinds of novel scaffolds containing various components were obtained, and they were simple scaffold and scaffold embedded with LEC and PLYS. Cells derived from the third generation of human nasal septum chondrocytes were used to make suspension. In addition, cell suspension was grown on those two scaffolds to determine the degree of hydrophilicity through observing diffused degree of cell suspension. Whether cell suspension of human nasal septum chondrocytes was wafted on scaffolds or not were observed under phase contrast microscope so as to determine adsorptivity between cells and scaffolds; meanwhile, growth of cells and production of matrix were also observed.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Hydrophilicity of those two kinds of scaffolds (diffused degree of cell suspension of human nasal septum chondrocytes on scaffold) and adsorptivity to cells (whether cell suspension of human nasal septum chondrocytes was wafted on scaffolds or not); ② growth of cells and production of matrix.RESULTS: ① When simple scaffold was put in cell suspension of human nasal septum chondrocytes, cell suspension showing like balls attached to the surface of scaffold, and then, scattered into space of scaffold gradually. During the period of culture, phase contrast microscope indicated that masses of cells attached to the surface of fiber of scaffold.When the petri dish was shaken, cell groups drifted irregularly. The adherent rate was (21±3.7)%. With the cultured time passing by, matrix was not produced. ② When scaffold embedded with LEC and PLYS was put in cell suspension of human nasal septum chondrocytes, cell suspension scattered into space of scaffold rapidly. The adherent rate was (89±5.6)%, which was higher than that of single scaffold group. This suggested that scaffold showed a strong hydrophilicity.Phase contrast microscope indicated that chondrocytes as the form of monome or community were distributed between scaffold and fiber averagely and attached to the surface of fiber of scaffold. When the petri dish was shaken, cell groups did not drift irregularly, and only a few of cells were scarred at the bottom of petri dish. This suggested that scaffold had a strong adsorptivity to cells. One week after culture, matrix showing like cobweb was produced among fibers of scaffold.With the cultured time passing by, matrix was produced abundantly.CONCLUSION: The novel scaffold of PLGA/chitosan nonwoven cloth embedded with LEC and PLYS is characterized by an excellent hydrophilicity and adsorptivity to human nasal septum chondrocytes; meanwhile, it also can secrete matrix.

Objective Small airway hypofunction is an early manifestation of asthmatic airway injury and is found in patients with non-asthma allergic rhinitis.However, no report has been seen on the changes of small airway function in patients with non-aller-gic rhinitis ( NAR) .This study was to investigate the possibility of small airway lesion in NAR patients and its relationship with airway responsiveness by observing the changes of small airway function in NAR patients without asthma and/or lower airway symptoms. Methods We recruited 324 subjects for this study, including 262 NAR patients and 62 healthy controls, and assigned them to an air-way hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and a non-airway hyperresponsiveness (nAHR) group.All the subjects underwent medical history collection, nasal examination, allergen skin prick test, blood routine test, serum total immunoglobin E assay, pulmonary function test, and bronchial challenge test. Results Compared with the healthy con-trols, the NAR patients showed remarkably lower predicted percenta-ges of maximal mid-expiratory flow ([85.6 ±17.1] vs [81.3 ± 19.9]%), mid-expiratory flow (MEF) with 75% of forced vital ca-pacity (FVC) expired ([96.1 ±16.1] vs [88.8 ±23.1]%), MEF with 50%of FVC expired ([88.4 ±17.8] vs [84.8 ±20.8]%), and MEF with 25%of FVC expired ([92.7 ±25.9] vs [82.9 ± 28.7]%) (P<0.05), but had no statistically significant differences in the predicted percentages of FVC, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and the ratio of FEV1 to FVC (P>0.05).The positive rate of AHR was 6.1% (16/246) in the NAR group.All the indices of small airway function were significantly lower in the AHR than in the nAHR group (P <0.01). Conclusion NAR patients are apt to undergo obvious changes in small airway function, some with AHR, which is associated with lower airway function changes.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the features and causes of complications of unilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral percutaneous translaminar facet screw fixation and lumbar interbody fusion in treating lower lumbar diseases.

METHODSThe clinical data of 166 patients with lower lumbar diseases who underwent unilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral percutaneous translaminar facet screw fixation and lumbar interbody fusion with intervertebral cages from January 2008 to December 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 64 males and 102 females, aged from 24 to 74 years with a mean of 51.9 years old, suffered from lower lumbar lesions for 47.5 months on average (ranged, 8 months to 30 years). Among these patients, lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration was found in 49 patients, recurred lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion in 17 patients, massive lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion in 23 patients, lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion accompany with spinal canal stenosis in 27 patients, lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis with degree I (Meyerding grade) in 21 patients, far lateral lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion in 5 patients. Single segmental diseases occurred in 124 patients and two segmental diseases in 42 patients. The diseases occurred at L(3,4) segment in 6 patients, at L(4,5) segment in 97 patients, at L5S1 segment in 21 patients, at L(2,3), and L(3,4) segments in 1 patient, at L(3,4) and L4,5) segments in 26 patients, and at L(4,5), and L5S1 segments in 15 patients.

RESULTSThere was no abnormal bleeding in the patients and no patient received blood transfusion. During the surgery, spinal dura mater injury with cerebrospinal fluid leakage complicated in 1 patient, a fracture of vertebral pedicle in 4 patients, and end plate injury in 2 patients. No postoperative cerebrospinal fluid, incision infection and skin necrosis were found after operation. Nerve root injury was found in 1 patient. According to the position of pedicles crew, 371 screws of 163 patients were in degree I and 3 screws of 3 patients were in degree II; position of translaminar facet screw, 199 screws of 157 patients were type I, 8 screws of 8 patients were type II, 1 screw of 1 patient was III. Translaminar facet screw was slightly short in 2 patients. Five patients were lost to follow-up, two patients were died. The remaining patients were followed up for 35.4 months on average (ranged, 12 to 60 months). During the follow-up period , end plate was cut off and intervertebral cages were embedded in 14 segments of 14 patients. Abnormal pain of both lower extremities was found in 1 patient. With the exception of 11 unidentified segments in 11 patients, 189 segments of 148 patients obtained intervertebral fusion. No loosening, displacement, breakage of pedicle screw or translaminar facet screw, displacement of intervertebral cages or obvious degeneration of adjacent segments were found. The coronal and sagittal planes balance of lumbar vertebra were obviously improved. Postoperative JOA score was significantly increased than that of preoperative.

CONCLUSIONUnilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral percutaneous translaminar facet screw fixation and lumbar interbody fusion with intervertebral cages is a good choice for the treatment of lower lumbar diseases, but it has a risk of complications. Abundant surgeon's surgical experience, careful operation, and rational use of imaging technique can effectively reduce the incidence of complications.

Adult ; Aged ; Bone Plates ; Female ; Humans ; Internal Fixators ; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration ; surgery ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; surgery ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pedicle Screws ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fusion ; Spondylolisthesis ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the protective effect of soybean protease inhibitor on LPS-induced lung injury in rats.

METHODFifty male SD rats were randomly divided in five groups, 10 rats in each group as sham-operation group, model control group, positive medicine group, and high, moderate SBTI groups. Except the sham-group, other groups were induced by intratracheal instillation of LPS with a dose of 6 mg x kg(-1). All rats were given drug throughout intraperitoneal injection except the model controlled group, the positive medicine group was given PMSF with a dose of 50 mg x kg(-1), the high dose group of SBTI was given SBTI with a dose of 100 mg x kg(-1), a dose of the moderate group is 50 mg x kg(-1). We examined all rats in seven days. Index exam: cell quantity, activity of neutrophilic granulocyte released elastic protease proteins in BALF, histopathological examination and so on.

RESULTSoybean protease inhibitor can level down the level of total protein, cell quantity, PMN percent, activity of neutrophilic granulocyte in BALF. SBTI level down the content of NF-kappa B in nucleoprotein, while increase the content of I kappa B alpha in plasmoprotein.

CONCLUSIONSBTI is useful in protecting experimental pulmonary injury induced by LPS in rats.

Acute Lung Injury ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Animals ; Endotoxins ; toxicity ; Granulocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; I-kappa B Proteins ; metabolism ; Male ; NF-KappaB Inhibitor alpha ; Rats ; Soybeans ; chemistry ; Transcription Factor RelA ; metabolism ; Trypsin Inhibitors ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo observe the association between plasma endothelin (ET) concentration and blood pressure level in essential hypertensive (EH) patients with or without complications and possible impact of statins on ET concentration.

METHODSFrom Sep 2007 to Mar 2009, 149 patients with EH were analyzed [44 EH, 40 EH complicated by left ventricular hypertrophy (EH-LVH), 36 EH complicated by atrial fibrillation (EH-AF), and 29 EH complicated by lacunar infarction (EH-LI)], 30 healthy persons were selected as controls. EH patients were randomly divided into routine treatment group (calcium antagonists, ACEI, diuretics, beta-receptor blocker for 8 weeks) and simvastatin intervention group (routine treatment + simvastatin 40 mg/d for 8 weeks), plasma ET concentrations before and after drug intervention were measured.

RESULTS(1) ET concentration was higher in EH group than that in control group [(71.42 +/- 6.62) pg/ml vs. (45.52 +/- 8.28) pg/ml, P < 0.01]. ET concentration was higher in EH-LVH group, EH-AF group and EH-LI group than that in EH group [(97.67 +/- 10.53) pg/ml, (102.15 +/- 12.96) pg/ml, (103.49 +/- 9.91) pg/ml vs. (71.42 +/- 6.62) pg/ml, P <0.01]. The degrees of elevated blood pressure was positively correlated with ET concentrations(all P < 0.001). (2) The left atrial diameters of EH-AF group were positively correlated with ET concentration (r = 0.684, P < 0.001). The left ventricular mass index of EH-LVH group were positively correlated with ET concentration (r = 0.545, P < 0.001). (3) The percentages of class 3 hypertension in EH-LVH group, EH-AF group and EH-LI group were higher than that in EH group (57.5%, 50.0%, 62.1% vs. 25.0%, all P < 0.05). (4) Blood pressure in class 3 hypertension patient treated with simvastatin decreased more significantly than that in routine treatment group (P < 0.05). (5) ET concentration of class 2 hypertension patient treated with simvastatin decreased significantly than that in routine treatment group (P < 0.05). ET concentrations of class 3 hypertension patient treated with simvastatin and routine treatment patient decreased significantly after treatment (P < 0.05), and the former was lower (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe level of ET were positively correlated with the severity of EH. Simvastatin could decrease the ET levels of patients with EH and blood pressure levels of patients with class 3 hypertension. It suggested that therapeutic alliance of antihypertensive drugs and statins could be benefit to patients with EH.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antihypertensive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Blood Pressure ; Endothelins ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Hypertension ; blood ; complications ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Simvastatin ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVE: Observe the changes of small airway function in patients with rhinitis but without asthma and/or lower airway symptoms. METHOD: Between June 2008 and December 2012, we recruited 903 subjects, including 377 with allergic rhinitis (AR), 262 with non-allergic rhinitis (NAR) and 264 healthy subjects. All subjects underwent meticulous history taking, nasal examination, allergen skin prick test, blood routine test, serum total immunoglobin E assay, pulmonary ventilation function test and bronchial challenge test. RESULT: The indices of FEV1/FVC%, MEF25pred% and MMEFpred% were lower in AR group than in the control group (P < 0.05). The indices of FEV1/FVC, MMEFpred%, MEF25pred% and MEF50pred% were also lower in NAR group than in the control group (P < 0.05). According to the FVCpred% and FEV1pred%, there were no differences between rhinitis group and the control group (P > 0.05). The positive rate of airway hyperresponsiveness(AHR) in AR group and in NAR group was 12.2%, 6.1% respectively. Indices of small airway function were all lower in the AHR group than NAHR group in rhinitis. CONCLUSION Compared with healthy controls, small airway function in patients with rhinitis has apparent changes, part of rhinitis patients has AHR, and is associated with small airway function changes.
Asthma ; Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Respiratory System ; physiopathology ; Rhinitis ; physiopathology ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; physiopathology ; Skin Tests

OBJECTIVE: To explore the application of quantitative temperature testing (QTT) in forensic identification and clinical diagnosis of neurogenic erectile dysfunction (NED). METHODS: TSA-II-NeuroSensory Analyzer was used to measure the thresholds of four kinds of sensory, including cold, cold pain, heat, heat pain, in 22 normal and 35 NED patients at dorsal glans (DG), left thigh interior (LTI) and left thenar (LT). To calculate the relative thresholds of the sensory mentioned above between DG and LTI (DG/LTI), and between DG and LT (DG/LT). Then to analyze those thresholds and the relative thresholds. RESULTS: NED group showed significant higher threshold than the normal group in DG-heat, DG-heat pain, LTI-heat, LTI-heat pain, DG/LTI-heat, DG/LT-heat, DG/LT-heat pain (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The threshold of QTT at dorsal glans could be used as an accessory indicator in forensic medicine and clinical diagnosis of NED.
Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Erectile Dysfunction/physiopathology* ; Hand/physiology* ; Humans ; Male ; Nervous System Diseases/physiopathology* ; Neurologic Examination/methods* ; Pain Threshold ; Penis/physiopathology* ; Sensory Thresholds ; Temperature ; Thermosensing

Dysregulated microRNA (miRNA) expression has a critical role in tumor development and metastasis. However, the mechanism by which miRNAs control melanoma metastasis is unknown. Here, we report reduced miR-98 expression in melanoma tissues with increasing tumor stage as well as metastasis; its expression is also negatively associated with melanoma patient survival. Furthermore, we demonstrate that miR-98 inhibits melanoma cell migration in vitro as well as metastatic tumor size in vivo. We also found that IL-6 is a target gene of miR-98, and IL-6 represses miR-98 levels via the Stat3-NF-kappaB-lin28B pathway. In an in vivo melanoma model, we demonstrate that miR-98 reduces melanoma metastasis and increases survival in part by reducing IL-6 levels; it also decreases Stat3 and p65 phosphorylation as well as lin28B mRNA levels. These results suggest that miR-98 inhibits melanoma metastasis in part through a novel miR-98-IL-6-negative feedback loop.
Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Down-Regulation ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Interleukin-6/*genetics ; Male ; Melanoma/epidemiology/*genetics/*pathology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; MicroRNAs/*genetics ; Neoplasm Metastasis/genetics/pathology ; Signal Transduction ; Survival Analysis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the advantages and disadvantages of unilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral translaminar facet screw fixation and interbody fusion with cages in the treatment of two-level lumbar vertebra diseases, by comparing bilateral pedicle screw fixation and interbody fusion with cages.

METHODSForty-nine patients with two-level lumbar diseases who received treatments from June 2009 to December 2011 were included in this study. Among these patients, 23 patients received unilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral translaminar facet screw fixation and interbody fusion with cages (combined fixation group) and the remaining 26 patients underwent bilateral pedicle screw fixation and interbody fusion with cages (bilateral fixation group). These patients consisted of 17 males and 32 females, ranging in age from 29 to 68 years old. Among these patients, lumbar intervertebral disc herniation accompanied by the spinal canal stenosis was found in 29 patients, degenerative lumbar disc diseases in 17 patients and lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis (degree I) in 3 patients. The lesions occurred at L2,3 and L3,4 segments in 1 patient, at L3,4 and L4,5 segments in 30 patients, and at L4,5 segment and L5S1 segment in 18 patients. Wound length, operation time, intraoperative blood loss and postoperative wound drainage were compared between two groups. Intervertebral space height in the lesioned segment before and during surgery and at the latest follow up was also compared between two groups. Before surgery and at the latest follow-up, the Cobb angle of the coronal plane and sagittal plane of the lumbar spine, loosening or breakage of internal fixations, the dislocation of intervertebral cages, and interbody fusion were all evaluated in each group. The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to measure lumbar incision pain. The Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scoring system was used to evaluate the function before surgery and at the latest follow-up.

RESULTSNo wound infection or skin necrosis was observed after surgery in all patients. No cerebrospinal fluid leakage, nerve root injury, cauda equia injury or worsened neural function in the lower limb occurred in all patients during and after surgery. Wound length, operation time, intraoperative blood loss and postoperative wound drainage in the combined fixation group were superior to those in the bilateral fixation group. At postoperative 72 hours, the VAS score in the combined fixation group (1 to 4 points, mean 2.35±1.20) was significantly lower than that in the bilateral fixation group (2 to 5 points, mean 3.11±1.00; P<0.05). All the patients were followed up for 12 to 48 months, with a mean of 29 months. After surgery, intervertebral space height was well recovered in each patient and it was well maintained at the latest follow-up, and there was no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05). During follow-up, pedicle screw and translaminar facet screw loosening, dislocation or breakage and dislocation of intervertebral cages were all not found. At the latest follow-up, the Cobb angle of the coronal plane and sagittal plane of the lumbar spine was obviously improved and was not significantly different between two groups (P>0.05). The lumbar interbody fusion rate was 93.5% and 96.2% in the combined fixation group and bilateral fixation group, respectively, and there was no significant difference between them (P>0.05). There was a significant difference in JOA score between before surgery and at the latest follow-up in each patient (P<0.05), and at the latest follow-up, significant difference in JOA score was found between two groups (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONCompared to bilateral pedicle screw fixation and lumbar interbody fusion with cages, unilateral pedicle screw fixation combined with contralateral translaminar facet screw fixation and lumbar interbody fusion with cages shows advantages including small skin incision, minimal invasion, ease of operation, highly reliable stability, high interbody fusion rate, rapid recovery in the treatment of two-level lumbar vertebra diseases and therefore can be preferred as a treatment method of this disease.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration ; surgery ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pedicle Screws ; Spinal Fusion ; methods ; Spinal Stenosis ; surgery ; Spondylolisthesis ; surgery