Objective To investigate the changes of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in patients with acute cerebral infarction or chronic cerebral ischemia and discuss the related clinical significance.Methods Circulating EPCs were isolated using staining markers of CD34,CD133,and kinase insert domain receptor (KDR).Peripheral venous blood was collected from patients with acute cerebral infarction within 24 hours of onset (infarction group,n =30),with chronic cerebral ischemia (ischemia group,n =20),and without cerebral ischemia (control group,n =10) to quantify circulating level of EPCs using flow cytometry and measure parameters of systolic pressure,glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc),total cholesterol (TC),and triglyceride (TG),and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C),and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C).Results CD34-,CD34/CD133-,and CD34/KDR-positive cells counted (14.2 ± 8.1)‰,(7.1 ± 4.1)‰ and (5.0 ± 3.7)‰ in infarction group,(28.5 ± 9.9)‰,(15.2 ± 3.7)‰ and (6.8 ± 2.0)‰ in ischemia group,and (44.8 ± 9.5) ‰,(22.1 ± 6.6) ‰ and (16.7 ± 6.9) ‰ in control group.Taken together,circulating level of EPCs lowered substantially in infarction and ischemia groups compared to control group (P ＜ 0.05) and a far lower level was observed in infarction group (P ＜ 0.05).Circulating level of EPCs in infarction group was in a moderate negative correlation with systolic pressure,TC,TG,and LDL-C (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Decreased circulating level of EPCs may be a risk factor to the development of cerebral ischemia in acute cerebral infarction patients.Therefore,level of EPCs is vital for prediction,prevention and treatment of acute cerebral infarction.

To against the emergence of drug-resistent candidiasis, the studys of synergism of natural compounds combine with antifungal agents in vitro showed a continuous growth in recent years. The paper reviewed recent progresses to compare the synergetic effect by FICI method, and to conclude the synergetic mechanisms which have been confirmed as a reference for futher study.
Antifungal Agents ; therapeutic use ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; Drug Combinations ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods

Objective To investigate the efficacy of endovascular stenting for aortic arch artery stenosis after nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy. Methods The clinical data of 8 patients with symptomatic severe aortic arch artery stenosis after nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were all received endovascular stenting,and their improvement of cerebral ischemic symptoms was observed. They were followed up by cervical color Doppler ultrasound.Results The whole brain vascular DSA confirmed that there were 24 severe arterial stenoses on the aortic arch arteries of extracranial segments in 8 patients,including 11 in internal carotid artery,2 in common carotid artery,10 in vertebral artery and 1 in subclavian artery. The patients were treated with vascular angioplasty and stenting respectively. All the patients were followed up for 1 year;there were no recurrence of cerebral ischemic symptoms.Cervical color Doppler ultrasound did not reveal any obvious restenosis. Conclusion Endovascular stent angioplasty for the treatment of aortic arch artery stenosis after nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy is relatively safe and feasible.

Objective To follow-up the imaging findings in the SARS.Methods The serial thoracic images in 15 cases of SARS were taken in 7 months from the onset of this disease,and the imaging findings were analysed.Results The detecting rate of the pathological changes in lung by spiral CT was higher than that of X-ray film(t = 5.5228,P

Objective To explore the application of hydrogen proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in the diagnosis of peripheral tumor cell infiltration of gliomas. Methods Forty patients with glioma were examined by 1H-MRS preoperation, and were divided into low grade glioma group (n=20) and high grade glioma group (n=20) according to postoperative pathological diagnosis. Tumor resection with peripheral tissues marked previously was carried out under the guidance of neuronavigator system. All the pathological sections were divided into positive group and negative group according to the presence or absence of tumor cells, and the differences in pathological findings of peripheral regions (region 1, 2 and 3) and 1H-MRS values were analyzed in these two groups. Results No infiltration was found in the peripheral regions of low grade glioma group except for one case in peripheral region 1, while infiltration was found in all peripheral regions of high grade glioma group. There was no significant difference in 1H-MRS values between positive group (n=24) and negative group (n=36) in patients with high grade glioma (P>0.05). Conclusion 1H-MRS enjoys some advantages over routine radiological examinations in the diagnosis of peripheral tumor cell infiltration of gliomas. Total removal can be expected when combined with neuronavigator system, while there is room for improvement for relevant techniques.

OBJECTIVEIschemic postconditioning effectively minimizes the ischemic/reperfusion injury, and the large series of case reports on its protective effects in cardiac surgery are limited. A randomized trial was conducted to investigate the effect of ischemic postconditioning on cardiopulmonary protection in children undergoing cardiac surgery for tetralogy of Fallot.

METHODSOne hundred and five-children with tetralogy of Fallot undergoing surgery were randomly assigned to control (n=58) and ischemic postconditioning groups (n=47). Ischemic postconditioning was performed by intermittent aortic clamping after reperfusion. After surgery, the duration of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, capacity of blood transfusion, hemodynamics, inotropic scores, respiratory function, and release of blood lactate were assayed.

RESULTSThere was a significant decrease in the ICU stay in the postconditioned group compared with the control group (37+/-21 hrs vs 54+/-26 hrs; P<0.05 ). The capacity of blood transfusion (308+/-230 mL vs 526+/-515 mL; P<0.05) and the inotropic scores (5.9+/-5.0 vs 10.3+/-7.7; P<0.05) in the postconditioned group were significantly reduced compared with those in the control group. Blood lactate contents in the postconditioned group was significantly lower that those in the control group 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 20 hrs after surgery. The postconditioned group showed more improved hemodynamics and respiratory function than the control group.

CONCLUSIONSIschemic postconditioning may provide clinical benefits with respects to myocardial and pulmonary protections in children undergoing repair for tetralogy of Fallot.

Adolescent ; Cardiac Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Infant ; Lactic Acid ; metabolism ; Male ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Postoperative Complications ; prevention & control ; Respiration ; Tetralogy of Fallot ; physiopathology ; surgery

Diosgenin can inhibit the growth of A375 and K562 cell lines and induce their apoptosis with an effect on pro-apoptotic members of Bcl-2 family. To study the SAR of diosgenin derivatives, and to improve the anti-tumor activity of diosgenin, a series of novel diosgenin derivatives were designed and synthesized. Their anti-tumor activities in vitro were evaluated. The results revealed that most of the new derivatives had potent effects against K562, A375 and A549 (three tumor cell lines) in vitro, and had no or less effect against H293 and L02 (two normal cell lines). Particularly, some compounds (e.g. 1, 6-8) showed excellent activities on K562 with IC50 values ranging from 1.96 to 4.35 micromol x L(-1).
Antineoplastic Agents ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Diosgenin ; analogs & derivatives ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Drug Design ; Humans

AIM To study the chemical constituents from the Polygonum amplexicaule var.sinense.METHODS The n-butanol fraction of ethanol extract from P.amplexicaule var.sinense was isolated and purified by TLC,normal-phase silica,macroporous resin column,sephadex column,preparative TLC and semi-preparative HPLC column,then the structures of obtained compounds were identified by physicochemical properties and spectral data.RESULTS Ten compounds were identified as 2-(aminomethyl)-4-methoxy-phenol (1),p-methyl-hydroxybenzoate (2),p-methyl-hydroxyphenylacetate (3),2-[2-(methylamino) phenyl]-4-thiazolecarboxylic acid,methyl ester (4),p-methylphenylethanol (5),bergenin (6),arbutin (7),rhododendron-2-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (8),n-butyl gallate (9) and β-sitosterol (10).CONCLUSION Compounds 1-8 are isolated from this plant for the first time.

OBJECTIVETo study the association between sleep hygiene and sleep duration and quality among school-age children, and to explore the risk factors related to poor sleep hygiene.

METHODSTotally 2019 grade-five children were sampled by stratified cluster random sampling from 10 primary schools in Shanghai, during November and December 2009. Questionnaires were used to investigate children and their parents. Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale (ASHS) was used to inquiry sleep hygiene of children; Children Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) was used to assess their sleep duration and quality; Family and Social Environment Questionnaire was used to collect demographic and socio-economic information. T-test, one-way ANOVA and multiple linear regression model were established to identify the risk factors for sleep hygiene.

RESULTSThe age of subjects was (10.81 ± 0.38) years old, 49.0% (989/2019) were boys. The ASHS total score was 125.43 ± 15.17, girls with better sleep hygiene than boys (127.05 ± 14.41 vs 123.74 ± 15.75, P < 0.05). The sleep duration was (9.47 ± 0.58)h/d, children slept less than 9 h/d had lower ASHS total score than those slept 9 - 10 h/d or over 10 h/d (121.69 ± 16.09 vs 126.17 ± 14.62 vs 126.50 ± 15.36, P < 0.05). Children with poor sleep quality had worse sleep hygiene than those with good sleep quality (121.00 ± 15.84 vs 128.36 ± 13.92, P < 0.05). Children with television set in bedroom had lower ASHS total score than the others (122.40 ± 15.76 vs 126.74 ± 14.66, P < 0.05). Children from single parent family had lower ASHS total score (117.90 ± 16.80 vs 125.94 ± 14.89, P < 0.05). Children whose father had irregular sleep or wake pattern had lower ASHS total score (122.65 ± 15.30 vs 125.89 ± 14.90 vs 127.79 ± 14.71, P < 0.05). The regression model confirmed that existence of television set in children's bedroom, single-parent family and father's irregular sleep pattern were the risk factors of poor sleep hygiene.

CONCLUSIONSleep hygiene was closely associated with sleep duration and quality among school-age children. Children with television set in bedroom, male, from single parent family and whose father had irregular sleep or wake pattern had worse sleep quality.

Child ; Female ; Habits ; Humans ; Male ; Quality of Life ; Sleep ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; Students ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in subjects with different glucose metabolism status.

METHODSBetween January, 2015 and October, 2015, a total of 934 subjects without a previous diagnosis of diabetes visiting the Department of Endocrinology or Health Examination Center underwent oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), which identified 266 subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT group), 243 pre-diabetic subjects, and 425 patients with diabetes mellitus group. The baseline characteristics and laboratory test data of the subjects were collected. The diagnosis of CKD was established for an eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) or a ACR≥30 mg/g, and the prevalence of CKD were compared among the 3 groups. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the OR value of the risk factors of CKD.

RESULTSThe prevalences of CKD in NGT, pre-diabetic and diabetic groups were 10.2%, 26.3% and 32.5%, respectively. Pairwise comparisons showed that the prevalence of CKD was significantly higher in pre-diabetic group (P<0.001, OR=3.17, 95% CI 1.94-5.17) and diabetic group (P<0.001, OR=4.27, 95% CI 2.72-6.65) than in NGT group, and was comparable between the pre-diabetic and diabetic groups (P=0.115, OR=1.35, 95% CI 0.95-1.91). Logistic regression analysis, after adjustment for age, gender, blood pressure, hypertension, blood lipids and uric acid, showed that pre-diabetes (OR=2.03, P=0.044) and diabetes mellitus (OR=2.22, P=0.016) were independently associated with CKD.

CONCLUSIONGlucose metabolism status has a significant independent impact on the incidence of CKD, suggesting the importance of early detection of pre-diabetes and timely interventions in pre-diabetic subjects in prevention CKD.

Diabetes Mellitus ; epidemiology ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Humans ; Incidence ; Prediabetic State ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; epidemiology ; Risk Factors