OBJECTIVETo measure the levels of urinary prostaglandins E2 (PGE2) in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients with or without overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms and determine whether urinary PGE2 can serve as a biomarker for BPH-related OAB.

METHODSThis study included 86 BPH patients and 34 male control subjects without lower urinary tract symptoms. Based on the OAB symptom scores (OABSS), the BPH cases were classified as BPH/OAB (n =49) and BPH/non-OAB (n = 37) to be treated orally with tamsulosin alone and tamsulosin + tolterodine-tartrate, respectively, for 12 weeks. We measured the urinary PGE2 levels of all the subjects by ELISA before and after medication, the total PGE2 level normalized to the concentration of the urinary creatinine (PGE2/Cr). We also obtained the residual urine volume, Qmax, prostate volume, PSA level, IPSS and OABSS of the BPH patients, and compared them among different groups.

RESULTSThe baseline PGE2/Cr level was significantly lower in the control than in the BPH/OAB and BPH/non-OAB groups (both P <0.05), and higher in the BPH/OAB than in the BPH/non-OAB patients (P <0.05). After 12 weeks'treatment, the urinary PGE2/Cr level was remarkably decreased with relief of the OAB symptoms in the BPH/OAB patients (P <0.05) , but not in the BPH/non-OAB group (P >0.05). The concentration of PGE2 was not correlated with the IPSS storage score and OABSS of the BPH/OAB patients (P >0.05).

CONCLUSIONPatients with BPH/OAB have significantly higher urinary PGE2/Cr levels than those with BPH/non-OAB and normal controls, which tend to decrease with the alleviation of OAB symptoms. Our findings suggest that urinary PGE2 can be a potential biomarker for BPH/OAB.

Aged ; Biomarkers ; urine ; Case-Control Studies ; Dinoprostone ; urine ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; complications ; urine ; Urinary Bladder, Overactive ; complications ; urine

Objective To evaluate the changes of reticulated platelets (RP)in diagnosis and treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Methods RPs were measured by flow cytometry and the percentage and absolute counts of RPs were calcula- ted in ITP group,non-ITP group and control group.Results Compared with control group,ITP group had a significantly high percentage and low absolute counts of RPs (P

Literatures of study on acupoint functional effect of encephalic region with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are collected from the database of China National Knowledge Information (CNKI) and Wan fang database. Analysis and comments are made respectively from the status quo of studies on combination of single acupoint, two acupoints and multiple acupoints under both physiological and pathological conditions. The results show that the corresponding encephalic regions can be specifically activated by acupuncture. And different regions can be activated by different acupoints. However, studies on single acupoint, two acupoints and three acupoints are the major researches carried out at present. It is still lack of observation on effect of commonly-used combinations in clinic. Moreover, the reliability of the research results are also affected by disunity of operations protocol, reinforcing or reducing manipulations, intensity or depth of stimulation and duration of needling retention. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a unified and standard operation protocol to strictly control the bias factors which may affect the result of research in the future, and take patients as the study target as much as possible, so as to further explore the central effect mechanism.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Brain ; diagnostic imaging ; physiology ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Radiography

AIM: To compare the efficiency and safety of torsional phacoemulsification with or without intelligent phacoemulsification ( IP ) software in hard nucleus cataract extraction.
METHODS: Ninety two eyes with Ⅳ - Ⅴ grades cataracts were enrolled in this randomized prospective study. Operated eyes were divided into two groups -those operated without IP software ( non- IP group, n =43) and those operated using IP software (IP group, n =49 ). The two groups were compared in terms of ultrasound time (UST) and cumulative dissipated energy (CDE). Post- operative outcome measures included the corneal edema and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at 1,7d and 3mo postoperatively, corneal endothelial cell density and percentage of hexagonal cell at 7d and 3mo postoperatively.
RESULTS: UST was measured as 52. 51±9. 64s in non-IP Group and 48. 79±7. 13s in IP Group (P = 0. 030). CDE was 15. 78±3. 73% in non-IP Group and 14. 29±2. 77% in IP Group ( P = 0. 026). At the first postoperative day, the rate of BCVA>0. 1 in non-IP Group was 56%, and the rate in IP Group was 79% (P= 0. 066). Corneal edema in non-IP Group was 2. 98±0. 77 scores, and in IP Group it was 2. 61±0. 64 scores (P = 0. 021). At the postoperative 7 and 30d, the BCVA and corneal edema were no differences between two groups. At the postoperative 7d, corneal endothelial cell density in non- IP Group were 2497. 95 ±211. 48 / mm2 , less than 2586. 26±154. 71 / mm 2 in IP Group (P= 0. 029);percentage of hexagonal cell in IP group was 48. 33±8. 69%,higher than 44. 19±9. 48% of non-IP group(P= 0. 030).CONCLUSION: In hard nucleus cataract extraction, the IP software can combine the advantages of the two kinds of ultrasonic modes, which is more effective with lower ultrasound energy and less injury for the corneal endothclium, and is helpful for the recovery of vision at early stage after surgeries.

To construct expression vectors of small hairpin RNA aimed at N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase Ⅴ(GnT-Ⅴ) gene, and to investigate effects of GnT-Ⅴ shRNA on proliferation, adhesion, migration and invasion of LoVo cell line. siRNAs were designed according to the coding sequence of GnT-Ⅴ gene, shRNA expression vectors were constructed and transfected into LoVo cell line, cell lines which stably expressed low level of GnT-Ⅴ were established by G418 screening. The mRNA and protein expression of GnT-Ⅴ were measured by semi- quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis, respectively. The effects of pGPU6/GFP/Neo GnT-Ⅴ shRNA vectors on proliferation, adhesion, migration and invasion of LoVo cell line were evaluated by CCK-8 assay, heterogenous adhesion, wound closure assay, chemotactic migration and cell invasive experiment, respectively. GnT- Ⅴ shRNA expression plasmid was constructed successfully and pGPU6/GFP/Neo GnT-Ⅴ shRNA down-regulated expression of GnT-Ⅴ dramatically in LoVo cell. Expression of LoVo GnT-Ⅴ/1564 and LoVo GnT-Ⅴ/2224 dereased by 82%, 71.5% respectively at mRNA level, and 68%, 56% respectively at protein level. The more effective interfered cell line, LoVo GnT-Ⅴ/1564, was chosen to do further experiment. CCK-8 assay showed proliferation of LoVo GnT- Ⅴ/1564 was suppressed obviously, compared to proliferation of negative control group cell (P

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of Nimodipine on the hemorrheology and brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) in the patients with vertebrobasilar insufficiency (VBI) and to explore the mechanism.Methods50 cases with VBI were divided into Nimodipine group (25 cases) and routine therapy group (25 cases). The hemorrheology and BAEP were measured before the treatment and 1 month later.ResultsThe blood viscosity,including the whole blood viscosity shear value, plasma viscosity and blood fat of patients with VBI was increased. The total abnormity rate of BAEP was 76%. The main abnormity was brainstem type. The hemorrheology and the function of nerve conduction were improved distinctly (P<0.05) after treatment. Compared with the routine therapy group, the level of plasma viscosity was decreased markedly (P<0.05) in Nimodipine group, and peak latency of V wave, interpeak latency of III-V and I-V were also improved significantly (P<0.05).Conclusions Nimodipine can improve the hemorrheology and the function of nerve conduction in patients with VBI.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of the covered stent placements in the treatment of malignant esophageal stenosis and to analyze the interrelated factors and countermeasures of complications.Methods 102 patients with malignant esophageal stenosis were undergone treatment with the covered stent placements through the mouths under X-ray fluoroscopy.The stents included China-made and imports,and the specifications were various.92 patients underwent radiotheraphy before or after process.All cases were followed up after operations.Results The successful rate of operation was 100%,110 covered stents were placed in total.The clinical symptoms of patients disappeared or abated obviously.Complications included:chest pain in 36 cases(35.3 %),restenosis in 7 cases(6.9%),stomach-esophageal countercurrent in 6 cases(5.9%),stent migration in 6 cases(5.9%),esophageal bleeding in 4 cases(3.9%),esophagus-mediastinum fistula in 1 case(1%),stent jam in 1 case(1%)and stent fell off accompanied with rupture partially in 1 case(1%).The mean survival time was 10.6 months.Conclusion The covered stent placement in the treatment of malignant esophageal stenosis is a high effective and easy method,but it is not very safe.

Objective To investigate the effect of a newly developed photosensitizer—chlorophyll derivative combined with irradiation of 650 nm laser for PC3, an androgen independent cell line in vitro. Methods PC3 was cultured and designed to 4 groups,including blank control,laser irradiation,medication of photosensitizer and medication of photosensitizer with laser irradiation (treated).The medicated concentration of chlorophyll was 0.1 g/L and irradation fluence of 650 nm semiconductor laser was 6 J/cm2.Intracellular distribution of photosensitizer and cellular morphological alterations were studied through light microscopy, electron microscopy and laser confocal microscopy. Results It showed the shrinkage, round-up and membrane integrity of treated PC3 under light microscopy.Sable deposits were observed in cytoplasm of cells in both photosensitizer and treated groups.Transmission electron microscopy showed the fragmentation of DNA and condensation of chromatin beneath the karyolemma in treated cells.In cytoplasm,the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria swell to form vesicles and vacuoles.It showed the strong red fluorescence in the cytoplasm of treat cells compared with the red fluorescence indifferent to the background through laser confocal microscopy. Conclusions Chlorophyll derivative based photodynamic therapy is able to induce apoptosis of PC3 in vitro.Mitochondria is presumed to be the primary target of photodynamic therapy and trigger the apoptotic pathway.

Objective To estimate the biological effects of leptin on human HaCaT keratinocytes and explore their molecular mechanisms.Methods Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to evaluate the proliferation of cultured HaCaT cells treated with different concentrations of leptin for 24 and 48 hours.Some HaCaT cells were classified into four groups to remain untreated,be treated with leptin (100 μg/L) and piceatannol (a specific inhibitor of STAT3 phosphorylation) alone or in combination for 24 hours,respectively,followed by the evaluation of cell proliferation using CCK-8 kit.Flow cytometry was performed to assess cell cycle of HaCaT cells treated with leptin of 100 μg/L,Western blot to determine the phosphorylation level of Erk1/2 and STAT3 in HaCaT cells treated with leptin of 100 μg/L for different durations.Statistical analysis was done by Student's t-test for unpaired data using GraphPad Prism 5 software.Results The proliferation of HaCaT cells was accelerated to different degrees after treatment with leptin of 50 and 100 μg/L for 24 and 48 hours,and the accelerating effect was in a dose-dependent manner within 24 hours (r =0.9989,P ＜ 0.05).Piceatannol apparently inhibited the promotive effect of leptin on the proliferation of HaCaT cells.There was an obvious elevation in the percentage of cells at S phase ((57.70 ± 5.88)％ vs.(42.50 ± 7.55)％,P ＞ 0.05),but a significant decrease in that at G0/G1 phase ((39.70 ± 1.57)％ vs.(45.20 ± 1.44)％,P ＜ 0.05),with a significant increase in proliferation index (0.603 ±0.0157 vs.0.564 ± 0.0144,P ＜ 0.05) in HaCaT cells treated with leptin of 100 μg/L for 24 hours compared with the untreated controls.Western blot showed that leptin of 100 μg/L markedly enhanced the phosphorylation level of STAT3 in HaCaT cells.Conclusion Leptin may upregulate the proliferation of HaCaT cells through activation of STAT3 pathway.

Background To establish the ideal animal model of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is very important for onward relevant study.Previous research determined that N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) can selectively damage photoreceptors via intravenous injection in mammal.However,whether MNU can be used to create an RP model needs to be investigated.Objective This experiment was designed to evaluate the toxic effect of MNU on photoreceptor cells of cats.Methods MNU was injected into 20 2-year-old cats via femoral vein and randomized into 20mg/kg, 25mg/kg, 30mg/kg, 35mg/kg and 40mg/kg MNU groups,and equal amount of normal saline solution was used in the same way in 4 normal cats as the control group.The activity,pupil size and light reflex were observed after injection of MNU.The cats were sacrificed and eyeballs were enucleated for histological examination to evaluate the structural and morphological changes of photoreceptors at 24 hours,72 hours,7 days and 14 days after the administration of MNU.This experimental study complied with the Statement for the Use of Animals in Ophthalmic and Vision Research.Results Dilated pupil and inertia of light reaction were found in experimental cats on the 7th days in the various groups.In 24 hours after MNU injection,the damage of photoreceptors was primarily characterized by pyknosis and disorder.In 72 hours after MNU injection,attenuation of the outer nuclear layer and disruption of cells were seen.Loss of photoreceptors and disappearance of the outer nuclear layer were observed on the 7th and 14th day.The extent of retinal photoreceptor cell damage was dependent on the dose of MNU.Conclusion MNU can selectively induce serious damage of the photoreceptor cells in cats retina in a time- and dose-dependent manner.