Background: The conventional therapy for chronic hepatitis C is the combination of interferon-alpha and ribavirin. However, it has some adverse effects and does not response to some patients, and it is also very expensive. Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of Chinese medicinal herbs for chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Search strategy: Electronic and manual searches were conducted and the search ended in July 2009. Inclusion criteria: We included randomized clinical trials testing Chinese herbal medicine vs placebo, non-specific treatment, antiviral treatment, or Chinese herbal medicine combined with antiviral treatment vs antiviral treatment alone. Data extraction and analysis: Selection of trials for inclusion, assessment of methodological quality, data extraction and data syntheses were conducted according to the protocol of a Cochrane systematic review by the authors. Results: Fifty-one randomized trials (involving 3 678 patients) with various methodological quality were included. The studies published in English had good quality, while studies published in Chinese were of poor quality. The pooled results showed that Chinese herbal medicine alone or in combination with antiviral treatment was generally better than non-specific treatment or antiviral treatment alone, and herbal medicine appeared equal to antiviral treatment regarding comprehensive clinical effect in terms of symptoms, liver function and virological response. Regarding virological response including loss of serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA and anti-HCV antibodies, herbal medicine was better than non-specific treatment, equal to antiviral treatment, and the combination of herbs and antiviral treatment was better than antiviral treatment alone. Similar positive findings were found for liver function improvement. Adverse effects were observed among herbal injections and interferon treatment, and few cases had severe adverse effects. Conclusion: Herbal medicines included in this review have effects in improving symptoms, liver function, and loss of HCV markers in patients with chronic hepatitis C. However, for majority of the included trials were published in Chinese and had low quality, the promising effects from some herbs need to be confirmed in rigorous clinical trials, and the design and reporting of trials should follow international standards. Systematic review registration: http://www.cochrane.org, 380700081611301089.

Objective To explore the activation of circulating platelet in patients with cerebral infarction(CI) and its correlation with CI.Methods The fibrinogen receptor(FIB-R) and P-selectin were used as molecular marker of circulating platelets, which were analyzed by flow cytometry in 80 healthy persons and 127 CI patients in acute and rehabinating period.Results The FIB-R expression on circulating platelet of CI patients in dangerous period was significantly higher than that in steady period and healthy persons(P0.05).Conclusion The activation of circulating platelet has a close relationship with CI. FIB-R may be a sensitive molecular marker of circulating activated platelet. It will help to evaluate the severe extent of CI and give an anti-platelet treatment as soon as possible to improve the prognosis of CI through monitoring the FIB-R of CI patients successively.

Objective To study the mechanisms of increasing amyloid [β1-42 (Aβ42) level by presenilin-1 (PS-1) mutation of V97L.Methods Expression level of neprilysin (NEP) in nontransfected, or mock vector, wild type (wt) PS-1 and V97L-PS-1-transfected SH-SY5Y cells were assessed by reverse transcriptional-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot.The level of Aβ42 was also assessed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results The mRNA level of NEP was decreased significantly in PS-1 V97L transfected cells (0.650 ± 0.010) compared to that in normal cells (1.090 ± 0.015), wt PS-1 gene (1.040 ± 0.021) and mock (1.080 ± 0.020) stably transfected cell lines (t = 9.236, 10.452, 5.678; all P < 0.01).Although there was a decreased tendency in the protein expression of NEP in PS-Ⅰ V97L transfected cells (1.000 ± 0.126)compared to that in normal cells (1.020 ± 0.110), wt PS-1 gene (1.040 ±0.110), mock (2.130 ±0.130) stably transfected cell lines, nosignificant differences were found.The expression of Aβ42 was increased significantly in PS-1 V97L transfected cells compared to other cell lines (t = 2.109, 3.355, 3.976; all P < 0.01).Conclusions PS-1 V97L mutation can decrease the transcription of NEP, however, in contrast, this mutation also resulted in increased Aβ42.The mechanism needs further analysis.

Objective To study the degradation of Rhizoma Typhonii polysaccharide with sulfuric acid under the normal and ultrasonic condition. Methods The orthogonal test table L9(34) was used to optimize 4 factors including acid concentration, reaction time, reaction temperature and ultrasonic power, with the yield of the low-molecular-weight polysaccharide as the index. Results The optimal conditions of discomposing Rhizoma Typhonii polysaccharide with sulfuric acid were 10% sulfuric acid, 100 ℃ for 2 h under the normal condition,and the yield of low-molecular-weight polysaccharide was 36.17%. Under the ultrasonic condition, the optimal conditions were 150 W of the ultrasonic power, 5% sulfuric acid, 40 ℃ for 1 h, and the yield was 44.63%. Conclusion The degrading yield of the low-molecular-weight polysaccharide can be increased under ultrasonic condition with sulfuric acid.

Hepatic Veins ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; physiopathology ; Portal Pressure

Arteriovenous Fistula ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal

Objective To analyze the status of supply and the affected factors of the home care of the elderly in community of Shenzhen.Methods The investigation was carried out in 78 community health ser-vice centers and 216 elderly from 6 communities using self-designed questionnaire.Results 84% of the el-derly had the demand of home care, 38.1% of them had even received home care services.In 32 demand items of home care, the top 6 were in turn the blood pressure monitoring, the blood sugar monitoring, the health consults, the caregivers guidance, the psychological care, medication instruction.48 of 78 commu-nity health service center provided door-to-door services, 44% of them(home care service center)provided more than 10 projects, 67% of the center provided more than 5 projects, 17% of them provided 2 projects, 30 community health service center did not provide door-to-door service.The main reasons that influenced home care delivery in community were the shortage of nursing staff of home medical care, the risk factors, the medical environment, and the limited health care facilities.Conclusions The elderly has large de-mand to the home care service, home care which the community health center provided is lagging and in short supply.It is imperative to increase the number of community nurses, improve the community home care profession standard and promote stable development of home care.

The performance of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) has two key procedures: (1) portal vein branch puncturing, and (2) the correct judgment of the safety of the puncture site. The portal vein branch puncturing is the most important and difficult step for a successful TIPS procedure. Therefore, to find and to establish an proper access to the portal vein is critical. Nowadays, in clinical practice several imaging techniques have been used to localize the portal vein, such as magnetic resonance imaging, sonography, fluoroscopy, arteriography and computed tomography. This article aims to make a general review on these invasive and non - invasive localization techniques when a successful performance of TIPS is expected.

Objective To explore the reasons and preventive measures for the postoperative complications of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.Methods The clinical features,diagnosis,surgical therapy,postoperative complications and follow-up result were retrospectively analyzed on 89 cases of hilar cholangiocarcinoma admitted into our hospital from January 2008 to September 2014.Surgical approach:47 cases of radical resection including hepatoduodenal ligament skeletonized resection in 18 cases; concurrent partial hepatectomy in 29 cases,palliative resection in 17 cases,biliary tract drainage in 25 cases.There were 6 cases receiving partial portal vein resection and reconstruction.Results Among 89 patients there were 93 postoperative complications.Biliary complications developed in 22 cases (24.7％,22/89) including bile leakage in 13 cases (14.6％),biliary tract infection in 7 cases,anastomotic stricture in 2 cases.Wound infection in 19 cases,lung infection in 4 cases,ascites in 31 cases,pleural effusion in 10 cases,liver abscess in 1 case,intraabdominal bleeding in 2 cases,postoperative gastrointestinal bleeding,intestinal fistula,liver failure and multiple organ failure (MODS) developed in one each cases.One case died of MODS with the mortality of 1.1％.Conclusions Postoperative complications were common in hilar cholangiocarcinoma combined liver resection and/or vascular resection and reconstruction.Bile leakage is the most frequently seen necessitating long term proper drainage.

This article was aimed to study pretreatment method of styrene type macroporous resin and its application in the industrial production. The organic residues and heavy metals of styrene type macroporous resin were detected respectively by gas chromatography and atomic absorption spectrophotometry before and after pretreatment to optimize the pretreatment process. The results showed that contents of organic residues and heavy metals of styrene type macroporous resin with the preferred method of pretreatment are in line with relevant regulations. It was concluded that this pretreatment method was simple and feasible, which is suitable to be applied in the industrial production.