Objective To study the effect of balloon dilatation therapy on dysphagia caused by cricopharyn- geal achalasia.Methods Ten cases of dysphagia were diagnosed as cricopharyngeal achalasia by videofluoroscopic swallowing study(VFSS).A 14~* urethral catheter was inserted into the esophagus and an amount of water was injec- ted into the balloon of the urethral catheter to make it turgid.Then the catheter was pulled upwards and passed through the stricture of esophagus to dilatate the cricopbarygeus muscle.Meanwhile,low frequency electrical stimula- tion was used and combined with functional training of the organs related to deglutition and ingestion.The results be- fore and after the treatment were evaluated.Results After 19.7 times of dilatation therapy,the content of water in- jected into the balloon was increased from 2.65?0.91 ml to 8.20?0.92 ml.Cricopharyngeal achalasia was alle- viated significantly(P

Objective To investigate the effect of silencing E6-associated protein(E6AP)on the level of p53 protein in human papilloma virus(HPV)negative cervical cancer cells(C33A cells).Methods The siRNA sequence silencing E6AP(siE6AP)and silencing control disordered siRNA sequence(siControl)were transfected into C33A cells with the mediation of LipofectamineTM2000 transfection reagent respectively.The silencing effect of siRNA on E6AP and the expression of p53and cleaved-caspase-3 proteins were detected by Western blot.Results The levels of E6AP protein in C33A cells of siE6AP group were significantly lower(t =-4.597,P<0.05),while the levels of p53 and cleaved-caspase-3 proteins were significantly higher than those of siControl group(t = 4.533 and 7.099 respectively,each P<0.05).Conclusion Silencing of E6AP significantly increased the expression of p53 protein in C33A cells,indicating that silencing of E6AP may restore the activity and function of p53 protein in C33A cells.

BACKGROUNDTraditional Chinese medicine has been used widely for many years in China to treat acute pancreatitis. We have investigated the effects of Dachengqi decoction on intestinal mucosal permeability and outcome in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).

METHODSForty patients with sustained SAP that required admission to the surgical intensive care unit were enrolled prospectively in the study. All of these patients were divided randomly into the Dachengqi decoction group (n = 20) and control group (n = 20) on admission. Intestinal permeability was assessed by measuring absorption of two metabolically inert markers, lactulose (L) and mannitol (M), which were administered orally. Serum concentrations of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) and the ratio of lactulose to mannitol in urine (L/M) were detected in all patients.

RESULTSCompared with those in the control group, urinary L/M ratio decreased significantly in the Dachengqi decoction group on the 7th day after admission (P = 0.001). Also, serum concentrations of LPS were reduced on the 5th and 7th day after admission (P = 0.006, P = 0.008, respectively). Incidence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and pancreatic infection was significantly lower in the Dachengqi decoction group compared with those in the control group (P = 0.038,P = 0.025, respectively).

CONCLUSIONDachengqi decoction may promote the recovery of intestinal mucosal permeability and decrease the incidence of MODS and pancreatic infection in patients with SAP.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; metabolism ; Intestinal Mucosa ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatitis ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate clinical and imaging features of a patient with adult-onset Krabbe disease and to detect the underlying genetic mutations.

METHODSClinical and cranial MRI features of the patient were analyzed. Pathogenesis, clinical manifestation, cranial MRI features and diagnostic criteria for the disease were discussed.

RESULTSThe patient had presented asymmetric limb weakness and difficulty in walking. Electromyography suggested peripheral nerve demyelination. Cranial MRI showed increased signal intensity in white matter with involvement of the corticospinal tracts. Screening of GALC gene mutation has found the patient to be heterozygous for T1685C (Ile562Thr) and homozygous for A1921G (Thr641Ala), both of which were considered to be polymorphisms. In addition, he was heterozygous for G136T (Asp46Tyr), which had not been described previously.

CONCLUSIONClinical manifestations of adult-onset Krabbe disease may be atypical. Cranial MRI and galactocerebroside activity assay should be carried out for patients featuring chronic progressive corticospinal tract injury. An Asp46Tyr mutation probably underlies the disease in the current case.

Adult ; Base Sequence ; Brain ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Leukodystrophy, Globoid Cell ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; genetics ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Point Mutation ; Radiography

This study was aimed to investigate the clinical features and laboratory data of 56 patients with multiple myeloma (MM), find the potential prognostic factors and compare Durie Salmon staging system with International Staging System for patients classification. The median survival time was calculated by the Kaplan Meier, and survival curves were compared using the Log-Rank test. Potential prognostic factors were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Bivariate correlation of Durie Salmon staging system with International Staging System were analyzed. The results showed that the median survival time of the patients was 42.7 months. Prognostic factors identified as adversely affecting survival included low levels of hemoglobin, platelet, serum albumin, high levels of lactate dehydrogenase, creatinine, C-reactive, serum β2-microglobulin and high proportion of plasma cells in bone marrow. Among them, only hemoglobin level had independent prognostic value in MM. Durie Salmon staging system significantly correlated with International Staging System. In DS staging system, significant survival differences were found between patients in stages I and III, but statistically significant survival differences were observed among the all three stages in International Staging System. It is concluded that hemoglobin, platelet, serum albumin, lactate dehydrogenase, creatinine, C-reactive, β2-microglobulin and the number of plasma cells in bone marrow have clinical value for evaluating the prognosis of MM patients. International Staging System can significantly distinguish three clinical stages of MM patients.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis

Objective:To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) of different frequencies on the expression levels of substance P (SP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in the colon of rats with slow transit constipation (STC).Methods:One hundred healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a normal group,a model group,a low-frequency EA group,a high-frequency EA group and a variable-frequency EA group,with 20 rats in each group.The rats in the normal group were fed with normal diet.The rats in the other groups were fed with phenethylpiperidine in the diet at a dose of 8 mg/(kg·bw) per day,for 120 d,to establish the STC model.Rats in the normal group and the model group did not receive any treatment;rats in the low-frequency EA group were treated with 2 Hz continuous wave EA,rats in the high-frequency EA group were treated with 100 Hz continuous wave EA,and rats in the variable-frequency EA group were treated with 2 Hz/100 Hz sparse-dense EA.The current intensity of the EA was determined by the slight vibration of the rat limbs without painful screaming.The intervention was performed once a day,15 min/time for continuous 15 d.After treatment,the intestinal transit function and the expression levels of SP and VIP in the colon of the rats in each group were determined.Results:After treatment,the defecation duration of the first dark stool in the model group was significantly longer than that in the normal group (P＜0.05);the defecation durations of the first dark stool in the low-frequency EA group,high-frequency EA group and variable-frequency EA group were significantly shorter than the duration in the model group (all P＜0.05);compared with the low-frequency EA group,the first dark stool defecation duration of rats in the variable-frequency EA group was significantly shorter (P＜0.05);compared with the normal group,the SP and VIP expression levels in the colon of the model group were significantly decreased (both P＜0.01);the SP and VIP expression levels in the colon of the low-frequency EA group,the high-frequency EA group and the variable-frequency EA group were significantly higher than those in the model group (all P＜0.05);compared with the high-frequency EA group,the SP expression levels in the colon in the low-frequency EA group and the variable-frequency EA group were significantly increased (both P＜0.05);compared with the low-frequency EA group,the VIP expression levels in the colon in the high-frequency EA group and the variable-frequency EA group were significantly increased (both P＜0.05).Conclusion:EA improves the intestinal function of STC model rats by regulating the expression levels of SP and VIP in rat colon.The EA stimulation with 100 Hz continuous wave,2 Hz/100 Hz sparse-dense wave shows a better improvement in the colonic transit function in STC rats,followed by 2 Hz continuous wave.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the genetic polymorphism in the 5' and 3' region of TPH2 gene of Northern Chinese Han population and to explore its application value in forensic medicine. METHODS: The sequence variants and the genetic polymorphisms of 6 SNP loci (rs4570625, rs11178997, rs11178998, rs41317118, rs17110747 and rs41317114) within a 905 bp 5' flanking region and a 1,104bp 3' flanking region of TPH2 gene were analyzed by DNA sequencing in a total of 244 unrelated healthy individuals in Northern Chinese Han population. The statistical analysis was carried out by Haploview v4.2 software. RESULTS: The genotypic distributions of the 6 SNP loci in the TPH2 gene were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. One C/T variant in 92922 site was found. There was a high linkage disequilibrium among the 3 SNP loci (rs4570625, rs11178997 and rs11178998) in the 5' region and the 3 SNP loci (rs41317118, rs17110747 and rs41317114) in the 3' region of TPH2 gene, respectively. The parameters of population genetics of 6 SNP loci were obtained. CONCLUSION There are great polymorphisms in the 5' and 3' region of TPH2 gene in Northern Chinese Han population, which could be used as genetic indexes for association analysis of the related diseases, as well as for forensic individual identification and paternity testing.
3' Untranslated Regions ; 5' Untranslated Regions ; Asian People/genetics* ; China/ethnology* ; Forensic Genetics ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population ; Genotype ; Humans ; Linkage Disequilibrium/genetics* ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Tryptophan Hydroxylase/genetics*

Objective To understand the willingness to receive human papillomawrus (HPV) vaccination of men who have sex with men (MSM) and the male clients of sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics and related factors in China.Methods MSM were enrolled from the community through snowball sampling and male clients of STD clinics were enrolled from a sexual health clinic through convenience sampling in Wuxi,China.A questionnaire survey on the subjects' socio-demographic characteristics and the awareness of HPV was conducted.Results A total of 186 MSM and 182 STD clients were recruited.The awareness rates of HPV were 18.4％ and 23.1％,respectively and the awareness rates of HPV vaccination were 10.2％ and 15.4％,respectively.STD clinic clients (70.9％) were more likely to receive HPV vaccination than MSM (34.9％) (x2=47.651,P＜0.01).Only 26.2％ of MSM and 20.2％ of STD clinic clients were willing to receive free HPV vaccination before the age of 20 years.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that MSM who had passive anal sex (OR=2.831,95％ CI:1.703-13.526),MSM who never used condom in anal sex in the past 6 months (OR=3.435,95％CI:1.416-20.108),MSM who had been diagnosed with STDs (OR=1.968,95％CI:1.201-8.312) and STD clinic clients who had commercial sex with females in the past 3 months (OR=1.748,95％ CI:1.207-8.539),STD clinic clients who never used condom in commercial sex in the past 3 months (OR=1.926,95％CI:1.343-5.819) and STD clinic clients who had been diagnosed with STDs in past 12 months (OR=2.017,95％CI:1.671-7.264) were more likely to receive free HPV vaccination.Conclusion Sexually active MSM and male clients in STD clinics in China had lower awareness of the HPV related knowledge.Their willing to receive HPV vaccination were influenced by their behavior related factors.It is necessary to strengthen the health education about HPV and improve people's awareness of HPV vaccination.

Carotid Artery, Internal/surgery* ; Carotid Stenosis/surgery* ; Endarterectomy, Carotid ; Humans ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo identify associated proteins involved in the molecular response of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) against intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (II/R) in the intestinal mucosa of rats.

METHODSSixteen SD rats were randomly divided into II/R and IPC groups. II/R injury in rats was produced by clamping superior mesenteric artery for 60 min followed by 60 min reperfusion. IPC was elicited by 20 min ischemia and 5 min reperfusion before index ischemia. The intestinal mucosa was scratched immediately after 60 min of reperfusion and total proteins were separated by immobilized pH gradient (IPG) based on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). The differentially expressed proteins were analyzed using Image Master 2D Elite 5.0 image analysis software and identified by MALDI-TOF-MS. The biological information of these proteins was searched in the database of these peptide mass finger-printing (PMF). Western blotting and RT-PCR were used to validate the differentially expressed proteins.

RESULTSImage analysis revealed that averages of 1404+/-20 and 1338+/-20 were detected in II/R and IPC groups. A total of 10 spots yielded good spectra, and 8 spots matched with known proteins after database searching. These proteins were mainly involved in anti-oxidation, inhibiting apoptosis and energy metabolism. Western blot confirmed up-regulation of aldehyde dehydrogenase and RT-PCR confirmed up-regulation of aldose reductase in IPC group.

CONCLUSIONThe clues provided by comparative proteome strategy will shed light on molecular mechanisms of IPC against II/R injury.

Animals ; Intestinal Diseases ; metabolism ; pathology ; Intestinal Mucosa ; metabolism ; pathology ; Ischemic Preconditioning ; Male ; Proteomics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; pathology