OBJECTIVETo study the change and relationship among bone mineral density (BMD), collagen composition and biomechanical properties of the callus in the healing process of osteoporotic fracture.

METHODSThe osteoporotic rat model and fracture model were established through bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) and osteotomy of the middle shaft of the right hind tibiae, respectively. Ninety female SD rats were randomly divided into OVX group and sham group. With the samples of blood and callus, roentgenographic and histological observation were performed for the assessment of the healing progress of the fracture, and the serum concentration of TRAP-5b, proportion of type I collagen, BMD and biomechanical properties of the callus were measured.

RESULTSThe OVX group experienced a significant delay of fracture healing. The mean serum concentration of TRAP-5b of rats in the OVX group was much higher than that in the sham group after the operation (P less than 0.05), but the difference at the same time point after fracture was smaller than that before fracture (P less than 0.05). The BMD of the callus in both groups reached the peak value at the 6 th week after fracture while the proportion of the type I collagen and the biomechanical strength reached the peak at the 8th week.

CONCLUSIONSThe deficiency of estrogen after the ovariectomy could induce the up-regulation of the osteoclasts activities, whereas the potency of further activation after fracture was depressed. Although the synthesis of collagen together with its mineralization determines the biomechanical properties of new bone, the accumulation of collagen could be assessed as an index in the prediction of biomechanical strength of bones independent of the bone mineral deposition.

Acid Phosphatase ; blood ; Animals ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Bone Density ; Bony Callus ; physiology ; Collagen ; chemistry ; Collagen Type I ; blood ; Fracture Healing ; physiology ; Isoenzymes ; blood ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tartrate-Resistant Acid Phosphatase

OBJECTIVETo study the preparative method of controlled release microspheres incorporating basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and the bioactivities of bFGF, which were released from bFGF microspheres, on the cultured Schwann cells.

METHODSbFGF was microcapsulated with the multiple emulsion encapsulative method using polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) as coating material. Its morphology, particle size distribution, drug loading, enveloping rate and in vitro release property were studied. The cultured Schwann cells were grouped according to the different ingredients being added to the culture medium of bFGF group or bFGF-PLGA group. Then the cytometry, cytoactivity detection and mitotic cycle analysis of Schwann cells were performed.

RESULTSThe morphology and the particle size distribution of the bFGF-PLGA microspheres were even and good. The drug loading and enveloping rate of microspheres were (27.18 x 10(-3))%+/-(0.51 x 10(-3))% and 66.43%+/-1.24%. The release property of microspheres in vitro was good and the overall release rate was 72.47% in 11 days. The in vitro cellular study showed that: at the first 2 days of plate culture, the cell number and viability of the bFGF group were statistically higher than the bFGF-PLGA group; at the 3rd and 4th days of plate culture, the cell number and viability of bFGF and bFGF-PLGA groups showed no difference; at the 6th and 8th days of the plate culture, the cell number and viability of the bFGF-PLGA group were statistically higher than the bFGF group. By flow cytometry examination, at the 2nd day of plate culture, the G2/M+S percentage of bFGF group was statistically higher than the bFGF-PLGA group, at the 4th and 8th days of plate culture, the G2/M+S percentage of the bFGF-PLGA group was statistically higher than the bFGF group.

CONCLUSIONSIt is practical to prepare the bFGF-PLGA microspheres with the multiple emulsion encapsulative method. bFGF-PLGA microspheres can preserve the bioactivities of bFGF effectively and promote the proliferation of Schwann cells in a long period because of the controlled release of bFGF from the microspheres.

Animals ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; In Vitro Techniques ; Microspheres ; Rabbits ; Schwann Cells

In recent years, worldwide surveys of Toxoplasma gondii infection in dogs have been reported. However, only limited surveys of T. gondii infection in police dogs have been available, including China. In the present study, we report the seroprevalence of T. gondii in police dogs in Shenyang, northeastern China. Sera from 291 police dogs were examined for T. gondii antibodies with the modified agglutination test (MAT), and 30.9% animals were tested seropositive. The results of the present study indicated a relatively high prevalence of T. gondii infection in police dogs in Shenyang, China.
Agglutination Tests/veterinary ; Animals ; Antibodies, Protozoan/*blood ; China/epidemiology ; Dog Diseases/*epidemiology/parasitology ; Dogs ; Female ; Male ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Toxoplasma/*immunology/isolation & purification ; Toxoplasmosis, Animal/*epidemiology/parasitology

It was completely collected and summarized the teaching history and the relevant historical materials of Professor YANG Zhao-min via consulting the literatures, investigation, interview, etc. in this paper. The summaries indicated that from the beginning of running a school, Professor YANG Zhao-min adhered to the CHENG's moral, worked hard and successfully explored and practiced the training pattern of teaching tour for the personnel training of acupuncture and moxibustion. He established the specialty of acupuncture and moxibustion, formatted courses and inherited the feature of practice teaching. He was in charge of the compilation of textbook and engaged in scientific innovation. He inherited the past and forged ahead into the future and had made the decision to cultivate the personnel of acupuncture and moxibustion. Professor YANG Zhao-min had practiced and developed the modern educational thought from the CHENG Dan-an and had made the important contribution to the training of acupuncture and moxibustion professionals.
Acupuncture ; education ; instrumentation ; Acupuncture Therapy ; China ; History, 20th Century ; History, 21st Century ; Humans ; Moxibustion

The comparative study of bloodletting therapy between traditional Chinese medicine and Tibetan medicine in view of history development, theoretic basis, bloodletting location, bloodletting tool, operation method, bloodletting amount, indications, contraindications and the others are conducted in this paper. It is pointed out that the bloodletting therapy could be better carried forward and developed through the interaction and integration of bloodletting therapy between traditional Chinese medicine and Tibetan medicine in term of the theoretic, practical and development patterns under the guidance of these two different medical theoretical systems.
Bloodletting ; instrumentation ; methods ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; instrumentation ; methods ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional ; instrumentation ; methods

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether transcription factor-kappaB (NF-κ B) is involved in the modulation of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) by glucosylceramide synthase (GCS) in a multidrug resistance leukemia cell line K562/A02 and to explore the relationship between NF-κ B and extracelluar signal-regulated kinase (ERK).

METHODSK562/A02 cells were treated with GCSsiRNA, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC, a NF-κ B specific inhibitor) and U0126 (a MEK1/2 inhibitor), respectively. The expression of GCS and multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1) mRNA were analyzed with qRT-PCR. Various proteins of different groups were measured by Western blotting.

RESULTSAfter transfected with GCSsiRNA for 48 h, GCS mRNA were reduced by 62% (51%-73%) and MDR1 mRNA was reduced by 52% (43%-61%) in the K562/A02 cells. Compared with the negative control, relative expression of NF-κ B p65 in nuclear and P-ERK1/2 were both down-regulated, and P-gp was also inhibited significantly at 72 h after transfected with GCSsiRNA (P< 0.05). In addition, the expression of P-gp was decreased at 24 h with 80 &mu; mol/L PDTC and 48 h with 20 &mu; mol/L PDTC. P-ERK1/2 was inhibited significantly when the cells were treated with 20 &mu; mol/L U0126 for 48 h. The expression of NF-κ B p65 in nuclear and P-gp were also down-regulated.

CONCLUSIONNF-κ B can modulate the effect of GCS on P-gp in K562/A02 cells. P-ERK1/2 can activate NF-κ B in above signal transduction pathway.

ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family B, Member 1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Glucosyltransferases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Leukemia ; genetics ; NF-kappa B ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective To find out the iodine nutritional status of Longyan downtown residents,evaluate the effectiveness of control measures and provide a scientific basis for developing control strategies.Methods Infants aged 0 to 2 year-old,children aged 8 to 10,adults aged 18 to 45 and pregnant and lactating women were selected as survey subjects.Children goiter was detected with B ultrasound.Residents per capita daily salt intake was investigated by weighing method.Three urinary samples and a milk sample of lactating women were randomly collected.Urinary iodine and milk iodine content were determined by arsenic cerium catalytic spectrophotometric assay.Blood samples were collected and thyroid function (including serum TT3,FT3,TT4 and FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH) were measured with direct chemiluminescence immunoassay,and thyroglobulin antibody(TgAb),thyromicrosome antibody(TMAb),and thyroglobulin (Tg) were measured with radioimmunoassay (RIA) in serum.ResultsThe goiter rate of children aged 8 to 10 was 1.8％ (2/110),and median thyroid volume was 2.75 ml.Household iodized salt coverage rate was 100.00％(318/318),and qualified iodized salt was 94.03％ (299/318).The daily per capita salt intake was (6.13 ± 3.56)g.The average medians of urinary iodine of the infants,children,adults,pregnant and lactating women were 181.8,315.2,196.6,158.7,136.4 μg/L,respectively.The median of milk iodine of lactating women was 155.6 μg/L.The proportions of serum TT3,FT3,TT4,FT4 and TSH which higher than normal were 3.6％ (11/308),0.6％ (2/309),23％ (7/309),1.0％ (3/313) and 1.3％ (4/312),respectively.While the proportions of serum TT3,FT3,TT4,FT4 and TSH that lower than normal were 2.3％ (7/308),11.7％(36/309),2.3％(7/309),12.8％(40/313),and 1.6％(5/312),respectively,of which 16 cases of both TgAb and TMAb were higher than normal.ConclusionsExisting salt iodine level is appropriate for 0 to 2 year-old infants and young children,18 to 45 year-old adults,pregnant and lactating women in downtown Longyan city.The iodine intake of children aged 8 to 10 is excessive.Thyroid function monitoring is recommended to be included in the routine monitoring.

OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy differences among acupotomy, electroacupuncture and acupuncture for treatment of simple obesity.

METHODSOne hundred and five cases were randomly divided into an acupotomy group, an electroacupuncture group and an acupuncture group, 35 cases in each group, and Zhongwan (CV 12), Tianshu (ST 25), Shangjuxu (ST 37), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), etc, were selected in three groups and also with selection of acupoints according to symptoms. The acupotomy group was treated with acupotomy 40 mm in length and 0.6 mm in diameter, the electroacupuncture group with the Han's LH402A electroacupuncture stimulator and the acupuncture group with simple acupuncture treatment. The clinical therapeutic effects of three groups were compared. The obesity signs such as body weight, body mass index (BMI), obesity degree, etc., and blood lipid and fasting blood sugar (FBS) were observed.

RESULTSThe markedly effective rate of 91.4% (32/35) in the acupotomy group was higher than that of 71.5% (25/35) in the electroacupuncture group and that of 42.9% (15/35) in the hand acupuncture group (both P<0.05). There were significant differences in the obesity signs and blood fat and FBS of the three groups before and after treatment (P<0.05, P<0.01). The differences rates of body weight, BMI, obesity degree, chest circumference, waistline, thighline, waist-hip ratio, total cholesterol before and after treatment in the acupotomy group were all better than those in the electroacupuncture group and in the acupuncture group (all P<0.05), and the differences rates of hipline, FBS in the acupotomy group were better than those in the acupuncture group (both P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONAcupotomy treatment can obviously reduce fat, FBS and blood lipid and has obvious therapeutic effects on simple obesity.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Humans ; Lipids ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Obesity ; metabolism ; therapy ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDConflicting results about the association between expression level of excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1) and clinical outcome in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) receiving chemotherapy have been reported. Thus, we searched the available articles and performed the meta-analysis to elucidate the prognostic role of ERCC1 expression in patients with CRC.

METHODSA thorough literature search using PubMed (Medline), Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science databases, and Chinese Science Citation Database was conducted to obtain the relevant studies. Pooled hazard ratios (HR s) or odds ratios (OR s) with 95% confidence intervals (CI s) were calculated to estimate the results.

RESULTSA total of 11 studies were finally enrolled in this meta-analysis. Compared with patients with lower ERCC1 expression, patients with higher ERCC1 expression tended to have unfavorable overall survival (OS) (HR = 2.325, 95% CI: 1.720-3.143, P < 0.001), progression-free survival (PFS) (HR = 1.917, 95% CI: 1.366-2.691, P < 0.001) and poor response to chemotherapy (OR = 0.491, 95% CI: 0.243-0.990, P = 0.047). Subgroup analyses by treatment setting, ethnicity, HR extraction, detection methods, survival analysis, and study design demonstrated that our results were robust.

CONCLUSIONSERCC1 expression may be taken as an effective prognostic factor predicting the response to chemotherapy, OS, and PFS. Further studies with better study design and longer follow-up are warranted in order to gain a deeper understanding of ERCC1's prognostic value.

Colorectal Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; mortality ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; analysis ; Endonucleases ; analysis ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Prognosis

INTRODUCTIONThe role of soluble OX40 ligand (sOX40L) in adult bronchial asthma is unclear. This study aims to determine the serum concentrations of sOX40L in adult patients with bronchial asthma, and discussed its relationship with pulmonary function.

MATERIALS AND METHODSWe measured the pulmonary function using the spirometer and detected the serum concentrations of sOX40L by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 19 healthy persons in the control group, 58 acute asthmatic adult patients who were grouped according to their disease severity: 18 mild grade, 24 moderate grade, 16 severe grade, and 24 persons in a stable asthmatic group.

RESULTSThe serum concentrations of sOX40L in asthmatic adult patients (6.80 ± 4.95 ng/L) were distinctly higher than those in the control group (3.98 ± 2.83 ng/L, P <0.05), and they were negatively correlated with pulmonary function indexes (FEV1%, FVC%, FEV1/FVC) (r = -0.754, P <0.01, r = -0.557, P <0.01, r = -0.457, P <0.01, respectively). Moreover, the serum concentrations of sOX40L showed obvious differences among control, mild, moderate, and severe groups (3.98 ± 2.83, 4.87 ± 1.89, 6.97 ± 5.91, 8.71 ± 5.18 ng/L, respectively; P <0.01). The concentrations of sOX40L decreased to the same extent as the control group after therapeutic treatments were provided to the asthmatic adult patients.

CONCLUSIONThe concentrations of sOX40L were found to be high in adult asthmatic patients and were associated with the severity of the disease. Therefore, sOX40L could be a potential inflammatory mediator in the pathogenesis of asthma.

Adult ; Analysis of Variance ; Asthma ; blood ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Inflammation Mediators ; blood ; Lung ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; OX40 Ligand ; blood ; Severity of Illness Index ; Spirometry