[Abstract ] Objective To compare the accuracy between regular computed tomography colonography (CTC)and dual-energy CTC in lesion detection.Methods Twenty-eight patients with clinical suspicious space occupying lesions of the colon were selected.All patients were underwent dual-energy mode contrast-enhanced CT scan and the data were reconstructed with colonography and dual-energy iodine maps methods.The diameter,enhanced computed tomography (CT)value and iodine value were measured.The results of colonoscopy and pathology were taken as gold standard.The sensitivity, specificity,accuracy,positive predictive value and negative predictive value of regular CTC and dual-energy CTC were compared.Variance analysis was performed for measurement data comparison among groups and chi-square test was used for count data analysis.Results Among 28 patients,colorectal lesions were detected in 24 cases by regular CTC,of which four cases were false-positive and one case was false-negative confirmed by colonoscopy and pathology.Colorectal lesions were detected in 20 cases by dual-energy CTC,of which no false-positive and one case was false negative confirmed by colonoscopy and pathology.The contrast enhanced CT value of polyps,adenoma,adenocarcinoma and stool was (38.54± 6.82),(49.16±7.31 ),(52.61 ±5 .93 )and (34.00±1 .41 )Hu,respectively.The enhanced value of adenoma and adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than that of polyps and stool,the differences were statistically significant among groups (F = 10.760,P = 0.001 ).There was no significant difference between polyps and stool (t=1 .44,P =0.188).The sensitivity of regular CTC and dual-energy CTC in lesion detection was 95 .6% (95 %cofidence interval(CI ):77.9%-99.2%)and 95 .6% (95 %CI :77.9%-99.2%),respectively.The specificity was 42.8% (95 %CI :15 .4%-93.5 %)and 100.0% (95 %CI :47.9%-100.0%).Conclusion Compared with traditional CTC,dual-energy CTC would distinguish lesions from stool,help differentiate between benign and malignant tumors and further increase the accuracy of CTC diagnosis.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Tonsillectomy ; instrumentation ; methods ; Ultrasonic Therapy ; instrumentation

OBJECTIVETo study the correlation between the Th1/Th2 balance in the peripheral blood and Pi-Wei damp-heat syndrome (PDS) in chronic gastritis (CG).

METHODSFifty-one patients with CG of PDS were recruited, including 22 cases with predominant damp (PDS-D), 9 case with predominant heat (PDS-H), and 20 case with simultaneous onset of damp and Heat (PDS-DH). Besides, 10 healthy volunteers were recruited as the healthy control group. H. pylori (HP) infection was detected by fast urea enzyme, and the expressions of Th1 type cytokines interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-12 (IL-12), and Th2 type cytokines interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-10 (IL-10) in serum were detected by luminex technology.

RESULTSThe HP infection rate was 41.18% (21/51) in the PDS patients, obviously higher than that in the healthy control group (10.00%,1/10), showing statistical difference (P<0.05). The HP infection rate was 45.45% (10/22) in PDS-D, 22.22% (2/9) in PDS-H, and 45.00% (9/20) in PDS-DH. The HP infection rate in PDS-D and PDS-DH was significantly higher than that of the healthy control group, showing statistical difference (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the expressions of peripheral blood IFN-gamma, IL-12, IL-4, and IL-10 between the PDS patient group and the healthy control group (P>0.05). But the expressions of IFN-gamma and IL-12 showed an increasing trend in the PDS patient group, while the expression of IL-4 showed a decreasing trend. The expressions of IFN-gamma, IL-12, IL-4, and the ratios of IFN-gamma/IL-4 and IL-12/IL-4 were also higher in PDS-DH group than in the PDS-D group and the PDS-H group, but with no statistical significance (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe occurrence of Pi-Wei damp-heat CG was possibly correlated with the imbalance of Th1/Th2. Damp and heat pathogen might be important pathogenic factors leading to Th1 type cytokine immunoreaction.

Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Chronic Disease ; Cytokines ; blood ; Female ; Gastritis ; diagnosis ; immunology ; pathology ; Helicobacter Infections ; diagnosis ; immunology ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Th1 Cells ; immunology ; Th1-Th2 Balance ; Th2 Cells ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo assess the quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on Compound Danshen Dripping Pill, Compound Danshen Tablet, Suxiao Jiuxin Pill, Tongxinluo Capsule, and isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN) in treating coronary heart disease angina.

METHODSRCT reports were retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang Data, PubMed, China Master Theses Full-text Database, Chinese Electronic Periodical Services, Social Sciences Citation Index, Science Direct, Cambridge Journals Online, and EBM Reviews. Qualities of RCTs were assessed according to Jadad scale, M scale, CONSORT 2010, and CONSORT for herbal medicine. Kendall correlations between basic study characteristics and qualities of included RCTs were analyzed using R statistical software.

RESULTSEighty-eight RCTs were included. The medians (means, 95% CIs) were 2.00 (2.09, [1.81,2.37]) for the Jadad scale, 4.00 (3.52,[2.95, 4.09]) for the M scale, 15.00 (15.39, [13.87, 16.91]) for the CONSORT 2010, and 19.00 (19.06,[17.16, 20.96]) for the CONSORT for herbal medicine. Only 9.09% (8/88) of RCTs were of high quality (Jadad score >2). These RCT quality measures were not correlated with individual items of reporting, such as sample sizes and follow-up periods.

CONCLUSIONSThe quality of RCTs on Chinese patent medicine compared with ISDN was not improved from 1997 to 2009. It is urgent to improve the design of RCTs and the report quality.

Coronary Disease ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Phytotherapy ; methods ; Quality Control ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: The study was carried out on time limit of ACP and sperm positive-detected in mixed spot. METHODS: 600 vaginal swabs from living body after sexual intercourse were tested by routine and three-blindness methods. RESULTS: The longest time limit of ACP which was positively detected is 255 h, average time limit is 52 h, 41.3% of those samples was ACP-detected in positive degree (++). The longest time limit of sperm positively detected is 132 h, average time limit is 29 h. The number of sperms observed in 34.3% of those samples with positive result, is from 6 to 10/HP. CONCLUSION This study is helpful to forensic identification of sex cases.
Acid Phosphatase/analysis* ; Coitus ; Female ; Forensic Medicine ; Humans ; Male ; Spermatozoa ; Time Factors ; Vaginal Smears

Flavonoids are a large class of compounds widely distributed in nature. Many pharmacological activities of flavonoids have been reported such as anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antithrombotic, vasodilator, antiviral, antibacterial, antiallergic, and so on. In recent years, domestic and foreign research groups choose natural flavonoids and optimize their chemical structures in order to develop a number of new derivatives with stronger pharmacological activities. As part of the mechanisms are not clear, we need to strengthen in-depth research in the SAR (structure-activity relationship) study for targeted and efficient structure optimization. This paper systematically summarize current researches in the SAR studies of flavonoids and their derivatives, which can serve as a reference for synthesizing new flavonoid derivatives.
Animals ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Antioxidants ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Antisepsis ; Antiviral Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Fibrinolytic Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Vasodilator Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology

The research aimed to evaluate the intestinal absorption of alkaloids extracted by decoction and alcohol extraction proces- ses from Rhizoma Coptidis-Rheum rhabarum herbal pair via everted gut sacs. Berberine, palmatine, coptisine and epiberberine were the main alkaloids in this herbal pair and taken as the standard indexes in the quantitative analysis with multi-components by single marker (QAMS) method, in order to calculate absorption rate constant (Ka) and evaluate intestinal absorption characteristics of these four alkaloids extracted by different extraction methods in different intestinal segments in rats. The results showed that the four alkaloids extracted by two different processes in high, medium and low doses had linear absorption properties in the small intestine segment, which conformed to zero-order absorption rate, intestinal segment than 0.99. The absorption rate constant (Ka) of decoction group was higher than that of alcohol extraction group.
Alkaloids ; pharmacokinetics ; Animals ; Coptis ; chemistry ; Intestinal Absorption ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rheum ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo study the impact of the chloride channel dysfunction of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) on the cytoskeleton of Sertoli cells in the mouse.

METHODSTM4 Sertoli cells were cultured and treated with CFTR(inh)-172 at the concentrations of 1, 5, 10 and 20 μmol/L for 48 hours. Then the cytotoxicity of CFT(inh)-172 was assessed by CCK-8 assay, the expressions of F-actin and Ac-tub in the TM4 Sertoli cells detected by immunofluorescence assay, and those of N-cadherin, vimentin and vinculin determined by qPCR.

RESULTSCFTR(inh)-172 produced cytotoxicity to the TM4 Sertoli cells at the concentration of 20 μmol/L. The expressions of F-actin and Ac-tub were decreased gradually in the TM4 Sertoli cells with the prolonging of treatment time and increasing concentration of CFTR(inh)-172 (P < 0.05). The results of qPCR showed that different concentrations of CFTR(inh)-172 worked no significant influence on the mRNA expressions of N-cadherin, vimentin and vinculin in the Sertoli cells.

CONCLUSIONThe CFTR chloride channel plays an important role in maintaining the normal cytoskeleton of Sertoli cells. The reduced function and expression of the CFTR chloride channel may affect the function of Sertoli cells and consequently spermatogenesis of the testis.

Actins ; metabolism ; Animals ; Benzoates ; pharmacology ; Chloride Channels ; physiology ; Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Cytoskeleton ; drug effects ; Male ; Mice ; Sertoli Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Spermatogenesis ; Thiazolidines ; pharmacology ; Time Factors

Objective To study the relationship between red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and prognosis in patients with bloodstream infection.Methods A total of 112 patients with positive blood culture were identified from ICU in Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University from 2013 to 2015.The clinical data were reviewed and analyzed,including the acute physiology and chronic health assessment Ⅱ (APACHE-Ⅱ) score,RDW,average volume of red blood cells,hemoglobin,C-reactive protein (CRP),procalcitonin (PCT) and serum creatinine.Patients were summarized to compare relevant laboratory tests in terms of survival status.The correlation between RDW and corresponding tests was analyzed by Spearman's correlation.Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the independent risk factors of prognosis.The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated by ROC curve to predict the risk of death.Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to plot the 30-day survival curve.The relationship between RDW and the risk of death was estimated.Results There was a positive correlation between RDW and CRP,PCT and APACHE Ⅱ score (r=0.225,0.266,0.267,P＜0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that RDW and APACHE Ⅱ score were independent risk factors for the prognosis of the patients with bloodstream infection.The lower AUC of RDW was 0.634 associated with sensitivity of 0.600,and specificity of 0.641.Conclusions RDW can be used as a sensitive predictor of prognosis in patients with bloodstream infection.

Objective To clarify whether the +869T/C polymorphism in the transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) gene is associated with TGF-β1 expression,and involved in the severity of Graves disease(GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis(HT).Methods The TGF-β1+869T/C polymorphism was genotyped by using PCR-sequence specific primers(PCR-SSP) in genomic DNA samples in blood from 158 patients with HT who developed hypothyroidism before they were 45 years old (severe HT) and 125 untreated,euthyroid patients with HT who were older than 45(mild HT).Using the same method,129 euthyroid patients with GD who had been under treatment and were still positive for anti-thyrotropin receptor antibodies (intractable GD) and 130 euthyroid patients with GD in remission and 144 healthy controls were examined.Results It had no difference between GD,HT groups and control group (x2 =1.488,0.439; 0.626,0.005; all P ＞ 0.05 ).The frequency of the TT genotype and the T allele were higher in group with severe HT[34.81％(55/158),58.86％( 186/316)] than in those with mild HT[ 17.60％ (22/125),43.60％ (109/250); x2 =14.040,13.026,all P ＜ 0.05].In contrast,the frequency of the CC genotype was higher in group with intractable GD[ (21.03％(31/129),51.16％(132/258)] than in group with GD in remission[ 13.85％ (18/130),40.38％( 105/260); x2 =12.225,6.061,all P ＜ 0.05 ].TGF-β1 +869 T/C genotype had the correlation with severe groups of HT and GD.C allele would increase in severity of GD(OR =1.546,95％ CI =0.192 - 2.190),and T allele would increase in severity of HT(OR =1.851,95％ CI =1.323 - 2.589).Conclusion The +869T/C polymorphism in the TGF-β1 gene is associated with the severity and intractability of autoimmune thyroid disease.