OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical effects of Dynesys system combined with posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) in treating multiple lumbar degenerative disease.

METHODSThe clinical data of 46 patients with multiple lumbar degenerative diseases treated by Dynesys system combined with PLIF from September 2010 to May 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 17 males and 29 females, aged from 38 to 68 years old with an average of (56.38±11.63) years. Operation section was in L2-L5 of 16 patients (6 with fusion of L4,5 and 10 with fusion of L4,5,L5S1) and in L3-S1 of 30 patients (11 with fusion of L5S1 and 19 with fusion of L4,5,L5S1). Patients were followed up for three times: postoperative 3 months, 1 year and final follow-up. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were used to assess clinical symptoms preoperatively and postoperatively. All patients underwent flexion/extension radiographs examinations before surgery and at final follow-up. Range of motion (ROM) and disc height index (DHI) were recorded.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up from 16 to 48 months with the mean of (23.23±7.34) months. At third follow-up after operation, ODI and VAS of lumbago and leg pain were significant improved than that of preoperative (P<0.01). DHI of fusion segment was significantly increased than that of preoperative (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in adjacent non-fusion segment between preoperative and postoperative (P>0.05). Postoperative ROM of fusion and non-fusion segments were obviously decreased than that of preoperative. There was no significant difference in ROM of upper adjacent non-fusion segment between 3 months and 1 year after operation (P>0.05), but at final follow-up, the ROM was increased (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe preliminary clinical results of the Dynesys system combined with PLIF in the treatment of multiple lumbar degenerative diseases are satisfactory. It can be determined in fusion or non-fusion according to the individual needs and can reserve the some intervertebral motion, prevent the early degeneration of adjacent segments. However, its long-term clinical efficacy should be verified with long time.

Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; surgery ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Diseases ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Spinal Fusion ; methods ; Visual Analog Scale

To verify the differential expression of non-metastasis cell 3 (NME3) protein in HL-60 cells when they were induced to differentiate into monocyte and granulocyte like cells, and study its value in diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and a new steroidal drug NSC67657 were employed to induce acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells into monocyte and granulocyte like cells. Then the cell differentiating direction was observed by chemical staining, the degree of differentiation was determined by surface antigen CD11b/CD14 detection, and the apoptosis was excluded by phosphatidylserine valgus analysis, by which cellular differentiating model was constructed. Furthermore, RT-PCR and Western blot were employed to verify the differentially expression of NME3 before and after differentiation of HL-60 cells. At last, samples from bone marrow nucleated cells of 26 patients with myeloid leukemia, which were diagnosed definitely by clinical doctors, and 5 normal people were chosen. Then the expressing trend of NME3 protein in these testing groups was analyzed by means of comparison. The results showed that ATRA (2 µmol/L for 5 d) and NSC67657 (10 µmol/L for 5 d) could induce HL-60 cells to differentiate into monocyte and granulocyte like cells above 90% without cell apoptosis. The expression of NME3 gene and protein were down-regulated by the inducers, which was accorded with the screening results that was got using proteomics technology in the former research. The expression of NME3 protein in bone marrow from acute myeloid leukemia patients was elevated significantly as compared to normal persons. It is concluded that the expression level of NME3 protein is down-regulated after cellular differentiation, according with the changing trend in leukemia patients, which imply that NME3 protein may be a potential biomarker for diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Bone Marrow ; metabolism ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mesylates ; pharmacology ; Middle Aged ; NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases ; metabolism ; Steroids ; pharmacology ; Tretinoin ; pharmacology ; Young Adult

Background: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide and is char?acterized by numerous genetic mutations. TNM staging is not sufcient for predicting patient outcomes. Addition?ally, ESCC shows poor responsiveness to chemotherapy and radiation. Thus, there is an urgent need to find efcient therapy targets. Previous ESCC high?throughput genomic studies have lacked intensive survival analysis, particularly for copy number variation (CNV) and the genes involved. Main body: In the study“Genomic Characterization of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Reveals Critical Genes Underlying Tumorigenesis and Poor Prognosis”recently published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, we comprehensively analyzed the effects of CNVs, mutations, and relative gene expression on patient outcomes. To validate our findings for our 67 sequencing samples, we collected a 321?patient retrospective cohort with detailed 5?year follow?up information and carried out univariate and multivariate survival analyses. In addition, the biological functions of the survival predictors in ESCC were investigated both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: We found the independent ESCC survival predictors and potential therapy targets. Nevertheless, the effects of numerous low?frequency mutations need to be explored using larger sample sequencing. Overall, con?structing multi?gene prognostic signatures will remain a great challenge in the future.

Adult ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; secondary ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Vaginal Neoplasms ; secondary

Administration, Oral ; Anticoagulants/adverse effects* ; Atrial Fibrillation/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Stroke ; Vascular Calcification/drug therapy* ; Warfarin

Objective To study the discharges regularity of ambulatory electroencephalogram (ambulatory,EEG,AEEG)during sleep and hyperventilation(HV)-induced EEG. Methods Features of epileptiform discharges of AEEG and HV-induced EEG were evaluated comparatively in 65 cases with frontal lobe epilepsy. Results The epileptiform discharge rate of HV-induced EEG was evidently lower than that of AEEG during the shallow sleep period (non-rapid-eye-movement phase 1 and 2,NREM phase 1 and 2),which had statistical significance(P＜0.01);however,the rate of HV-induced EEG had no significant difference from that of AEEG during the awake period and deep sleep period(NREM phase 3 and 4)(P＞0.05). Conclusions The epileptiform discharge rate of AEEG during the shallow sleep period is obviously higher than that of HV-induced EEG in patients with frontal lobe epilepsy,and thus sleep EEG is helpful to enhance the diagnostic rate of epileptiform discharges in these patients.

Retinoid resistance has limited clinical activity of retinoids as differentiation-inducing and apoptosis-inducing drugs. The present study was designed to investigate whether celecoxib (selective COX-2 inhibitor) has effects on cellular retinoid sensitivity of human colon cancer cell lines and its possible mechanism. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. Apoptosis was detected by Annexin-V/PI staining and flow cytometry assay. PGE2 production was measured by ELISA assay. Expression of RARbeta was assayed by Western blotting. The results showed that celecoxib enhanced the inhibitory effect of ATRA in both COX-2 high-expressing HT-29 and COX-2 low-expressing SW480 cell lines. Further study showed the ATRA and celecoxib combination induced greater apoptosis, and the addition of PGE2 did not affect the number of apoptotic cells induced by the combination. Moreover, NS398 (another selective COX-2 inhibitor) did not affect the inhibitory effects of ATRA on both cell lines. Western blotting showed that the expression of RARbeta in HT-29 cell lines increased in celecoxib group and combination group. And the addition of PGE2 did not affect the expression of RARbeta induced by celecoxib either. In conclusion, celecoxib increased expression of RARbeta and cellular ATRA sensitivity through COX-2-independent mechanisms, which may provide a potential strategy for combination therapy.
Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Celecoxib ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Colonic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; metabolism ; Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Dinoprostone ; metabolism ; Drug Synergism ; HT29 Cells ; Humans ; Nitrobenzenes ; pharmacology ; Pyrazoles ; pharmacology ; Receptors, Retinoic Acid ; metabolism ; Sulfonamides ; pharmacology ; Tretinoin ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the industrial noise over-limit status of the worksites in Guangzhou factories, so as to promote the prevention and control of occupational noise hazards.

METHODS211 factories in Guangzhou were monitored and investigated. The analysis and assessment were developed for the properties and size of the factories, the districts of the factories being located, the industries of the factories being classified and the date of monitoring.

RESULTSIn this understudied factories, most of them were national-owned and joint-ventures, medium size, located in urban, and mainly involved in the industries of manufacturing of motor vehicle, shipping, electron and electric equipment, and the industries of petroleum and chemicals. The prevalence of noise over-limit was higher in joint-ventures (36.0%) and private-run enterprises (31.2%). The over-limit status mainly presented in industries of textile, food and beverage processing, and leather producing, with getting prevalence of over-limit 46.7%, 43.1% and 41.3% respectively. Subsequence were industries of manufacturing of electron and electric equipment, motor vehicle and shipping, and industries of printing and goods producing for culture and sports, with the prevalence for all > 35%. Factories monitored during spring and summer also had higher prevalence of noise over-limit. The similar results were got after adjustment for each other using multivariable regression. The most common over-limit sites mainly focused on the operation of cutting and sawing, milling and planing, pressing, riveting, drilling, jointing, assembling and quality inspecting in industries of mechanism processing and manufacturing, on quality inspecting and packing in industries of pharmacy and food and beverage manufacture, on spinning and scutching in textile industry, and on cleaning and maintaining as assistant jobs, and patrolling and inspecting air-press machine, ventilation machine, dynamotor and pump.

CONCLUSIONNoise in Guangzhou factories widely exists with different industries and districts. To strengthen noise occupational hazards prevention and control for the high risk districts, industries and worksites should be the key job in the future.

China ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Industry ; Noise, Occupational ; prevention & control ; Occupational Exposure ; prevention & control ; Occupational Health ; Workplace

OBJECTIVETo observe the protective effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Zusanli" (ST 36) on inflammatory injury induced by intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) in rats.

METHODSForty-eight Wistar rats were randomly divided into a sham injury group, a model group, an EA group and a sham EA group, 12 rats in each group. Intestinal I/R rat models were established by method of clamping with occlusion of superior mesenteric artery (SMA) for 45 min followed by reperfusion. The EA group was treated with EA (2.5 mA, 2 Hz/100 Hz, 0.5 h) at "Zusanli" (ST 36) 30 min before reperfusion, and at the same time, the sham EA group was treated with fast insertion at two non-meridian acupoints on skin surface (2 cm horizontally away from linea alba abdominis and about 5 cm paralleled to cartilago ensiformis downward). No interventions were added on the sham injury group and the model group. The degree of pathological injury in intestines, water rate of intestines, diamine oxidase (DAO) activity and intestinal mucosal blood flow (IMBF) were examined at 1 h and 3 h after reperfusion.

RESULTSAt 1 h and 3 h after reperfusion, the intestinal pathological injury in EA group was significantly attenuated compared with that in model group, and the intestinal water rate of (74.00 +/- 2.11)% and (78.78 +/- 0.80)% in EA group were significantly lower than (80.69 +/- 1.66)% and (83.17 +/- 2.08)% in model group (both P < 0.01), but DAO of (68.83 +/- 4.31) U/L and (47.84 +/- 5.57) U/L as well as IMBF of (152 +/- 5.8) PU and (139.8 +/- 6.1) PU in EA group were significantly higher than DAO of (32.86 +/- 4.72) U/L, (17.01 +/- 2.96) U/L as well as IMBF of (124.7 +/- 8.3) PU and (89.4 +/- 13.2) PU in model group (all P < 0.01). Meanwhile, the above mentioned changes in sham EA group showed no significant differences compared with those in model group (all P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONElectroacupuncture can not only reduce the inflammatory injury induced by intestinal IR but also increase intestinal blood supply so as to protect the intestine function.

Acupuncture Points ; Amine Oxidase (Copper-Containing) ; metabolism ; Animals ; Electroacupuncture ; Inflammation ; therapy ; Intestines ; blood supply ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reperfusion Injury ; therapy

Objective To investigate the diagnostic values of interleukin-8 (IL-8), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and interferon gamma (INF-γ) levels in patients with tuberculous meningitis and viral meningitis by detecting the contents of these biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Methods Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the levels of IL-8,MMP-9 and INF-γ in the CSF of patients with tuberculous meningitis (n=20),viral meningitis (n=15) and noninfectious neurologic diseases (n=20) who admitted to our hospital from August 2010 to November 2011. Results The IL-8,MMP-9 and INF-γlevels in the samples from the tuberculous meningitis patients were significantly higher than those from either viral meningitis or noninfectious neurologic diseases (P＜0.05).The contents of IL-8 and MMP-9 in patients with viral meningitis were significantly higher than those in patients with noninfectious neurologic diseases (P＜0.05),while that of INF-γ showed no significant difference between the 2 groups (P＞0.05). Conclusion Detection of IL-8,MMP-9 and INF-γ in CSF is useful in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis; IL-8 and MMP-9 participate in the progress of viral meningitis; the detective value of high concentration of INF-γ in CSF is more significant in diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis than that of IL-8 and MMP-9.