The effect of nateglinide or sequential treatment with metformin on glycemic stability in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes was investigated. Thirty-four cases of newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes received nateglinide therapy, or sequential treatment with metformin according to fasting and postprandial blood glucose, and were classified into isolated nateglinide therapy group(n=14) and sequentially treated with metformin group(n=20). Glycemic stability, reflected by mean amplitude of glycemic excursions(MAGE) and HbA1C, was determined in all patients before and after therapy for three months. HbA1C and MAGE in two groups were all improved after treatment(P＜0.05). The therapy of nateglinide alone or combined with metformin can significantly improve glycemic stability in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

Objective To investigate the effect of thalidomide on the proliferation of as well as the expression and secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) by the human keratinocyte cell line HaCaT.Methods Cultured HaCaT cells were divided into several groups to be treated with dimethyl sulfoxide (negative control group) and various concentrations (0.01nmol/L-100 μmol/L) of thalidomide (experimental groups) respectively for 20 to 24 hours.Subsequently,water soluble tetrazolium-1(WST-1) assay was performed to estimate cellular proliferation,real time quantitative PCR to detect the mRNA expression of VEGF and TNF-α in HaCaT cells,and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to quantify the protein expressions of VEGF and TNF-α in the culture supernatants of HaCaT cells.Statistical analysis was done by one-way analysis of variance with least significant difference post hoc test.Results The survival rate of HaCaT cells was 74.3％,82.9％ and 90.8％ after 24-hour treatment with thalidomide of 100,10 and 1 μmol/L respectively,significantly lower than that in the negative control group (100％,all P ＜0.01).A significant decrease was induced in the mRNA expression (0.439-to 0.634-fold change,all P ＜0.01) and supematant level ((0.587-to 0.923-fold change,P ＜0.05) of VEGF in HaCaT cells by thalidomide of 0.01-100 nmol/L,as well as in the mRNA expression (0.493-to 0.587-fold change,P ＜0.05) and supernatant level (0.408-to 0.617-fold change,P ＜0.01) of TNF-α by thalidomide of 0.1-100 nmol/L.Conclusion Within a certain range of concentration,thalidomide could suppress the proliferation of,as well as the expression and secretion of VEGF and TNF-α by,HaCaT cells.

Female ; Humans ; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ; therapy

Objective To evaluate the relationship of serum levels of interleukin (IL)-36α,IL-36β and IL-36γas well as their receptor antagonist IL-36Ra with disease severity in patients with psoriasis.Methods Venous blood samples were collected from 45 patients with generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP),34 patients with psoriasis vulgaris (PV),and 37 healthy human controls.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine the serum levels of IL-36α,IL-36β,IL-36γ and IL-36Ra.Nonparametric Mann-Whitney test was conducted to compare the levels of IL-36 and IL-36Ra among these groups,and Spearman's rank correlation analysis to assess the relationship between the serum levels of IL-36 and IL-36Ra and disease severity.Results No statistical difference was observed in the serum levels of IL-36 or IL-36Ra among the patients with GPP,patients with PV,and healthy human controls.The serum levels of IL-36β and IL-36γ (given as the median ± interquartile range) were significantly higher in 27 patients with GPP during episodes of pustules ((12.101 ± 11.315) ng/L and (34.541 ± 15.580) ng/L respectively) and in 7 patients with severe GPP ((11.218 ± 9.318) ng/L and (38.536 ± 17.332) ng/L respectively) than in the healthy human controls ((5.355 ± 9.020) ng/L and (23.052 ± 22.410) ng/L respectively,P ＜ 0.05 or 0.01).The serum level of IL-36γwas positively correlated with that of IL-36β in patients with GPP,patients with PV,and the healthy human controls (r =0.85,0.86,0.91,respectively,all P ＜ 0.01),and both IL-36β and IL-36γserum levels were lowly and positively correlated with the severity of GPP (r =0.33,0.41,respectively,both P ＜ 0.05).A positive correlation was also observed between the serum level of IL-36β and psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) scores in patients with PV (r =0.54,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions The serum levels of IL-363 and IL-36γ are lowly and positively correlated with disease severity in patients with GPP,suggesting that IL-36β and IL-36γplay an important role in the pathogenesis of GPP.

OBJECTIVETo observe the primary prevention role of Wuling Capsule (WC) on poststroke depression (PSD) patients.

METHODSAcute stroke patients were recruited and randomized into 2 groups by stratification, 55 in each group. All patients received same routine treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Patients in the experimental group additionally took WC (0.33 g each pill), 3 pills per day, three times per day; while those in the control group additionally took placebos, 3 pills per day, three times per day. Two weeks consisted of one therapeutic course. The diagnosis of PSD was performed once every other week. Those in accordance with PSD diagnosis discontinued any drug therapy. Those not in accordance with PSD diagnosis continued the drug therapy for 1-12 therapeutic course(s) (in total of 6 months). If they were still not in accordance with PSD diagnosis, then they discontinued the drug therapy. The morbidity of PSD, the average time of depression occurrence, Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD) score, and adverse reactions were observed.

RESULTSThe 1-, 3-, and 6-month morbidity of PSD was 8%, 16%, and 34% in the experimental group, while they were 19.6%, 29.4%, and 54.9% in the control group. The occurrence rate was lower in the experimental group than in the control group. Besides, there was statistical difference in the 6-month occurrence rate between the two groups (chi2 = 4.465, P < 0.05). The average time of PSD occurrence was longer in the experimental group than in the control group (14.96 +/- 8.31 weeks vs. 9.36 +/- 6.06 weeks; t=6.762, P < 0.05). The HAMD score at the PSD occurrence was 11.96 +/- 2.14 in the experimental group, lower than that of the control group (14.57 +/- 4.24), showing statistical difference (t=5.641, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONWC was superior to the placebos in lowering the incidence of PSD, delaying the occurrence time of PSD, attenuating the depression degree of PSD, and had certain preventive effect on the incidence of PSD.

Aged ; Capsules ; Depression ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Primary Prevention ; Stroke ; complications

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of dual stent placements for the treatment of occlusion/stenosis of subclavian artery associated with stenosis of adjacent vertebral artery initial site. Methods The clinical data of 9 patients with occlusion/stenosis of subclavian artery associated with stenosis of adjacent vertebral artery initial site were retrospectively analyzed. Stent implantations in the affected subclavian artery and vertebral artery were separately performed; the patients were followed up for 3-12 months after the treatment. The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated with the clinical symptoms and Doppler ultrasonic examination. Results Successful implantation of two stents was accomplished in all 9 patients, with the technical success rate of 100%. After the treatment, the blood flow in both the subclavian and vertebral arteries was unobstructed. Following-up examination showed that the subjective symptoms were obviously improved in all 9 patients, and no serious procedure-related complications occurred. Doppler ultrasound examination showed that no in-stent restenosis or stent displacement was observed. Conclusion For the treatment of occlusion/stenosis of subclavian artery associated with stenosis of adjacent vertebral artery initial site, dual stent placement technique is a safe and feasible means with satisfactory effect in improving vertebro-basilar arterial insufficiency.

This paper reports the hematology screening and parasite morphological features of one case of imported falci?parum malaria and reviews the relevant literature.

[Objective] To investigate combined application of multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(mRT-PCR)and karyotype analysis detect of clonal chromosomal aberrations in acute lymphoblasfic leukemia (ALL),and explore the expression of common fusion genes.Methods 189 ALL patients were examined by multiplex RT-PCR and R or G banding techniques.[Results]10 fusion genes were detected in 69 out of 189 ALL patients(36.5％),including E2A/PBX1,TEL/AML1,BCR/ABL,MLL/AF4,MLL/AF6、MLL/AF9,MLL/AF10,MLL/ELL,SIL/TAL1,TLS/ERG.R or G banding techniques could find chromosome structural and numeracy abnormalities in 86 out of 152 patients (56.6％) available for analysis.Combination of mRT-PCR and R or G banding could raise the rate of detecting clonal chromosomal abnormalities to 69.3％.Fusion genes were detected in 33 out of 90 (36.7％) patients with adult ALL and 36out of 99 (36.4 ％) patients with children ALL,there were 22 patients with positive BCR/ABL but no TEL/AML1 in adult ALL group,while there were 24 patients with positive TEL/AML.1 and 2 with positive BCR/ABL in children ALL group.There was significant statistical difference for the expression of RCR/ABL and TEL/AML1 between adult ALL and children ALL (P＜0.01),but no difference for MLL related fusion gene,E2A/PBX1,SIL/TAL1 and TLS/ERG(P＞0.05).BCR/ABL and TEL/AML1 fusion gene could be detected in 66 ALL patients with normal karyotype (36.3％).[Conclusion]There were different biological characteristics between adults and children with ALL.mRT-PCR technique can quickly screen chromosome structural aberrations in patients with newly diagnosed leukemia.It is useful in detection of fusion genes in ALL with normal karyotypes and it would refine the karyotype analysis and provide imrootramt prognosis-relevant information.

Objective To explore the value of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and multiplex RT-PCR in the detection of mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene rearrangement in acute leukemia (AL) patients. Methods Dual-color MLL probe, multiplex RT-PCR and R or G banding techniques were used to detect the MLL gene rearrangement in 189 cases of AL.Results MLL gene rearrangements were detected in 9 cases (5.03 ％) by FISH,and 16 cases (8.47 ％) by multiplex RT-PCR,including MLL/AF9,MLL/AF10,MLL/AF6, MLL/AF7, MLL/ELL, MLL/PTD. R or G banding techniques could find 11q23 in 5 out of 189 patients (2.65 ％). There was no statistic difference in the incidence of 6 common MLL gene rearrangements between ALL (73 cases) and AML patients (116 cases) (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Multiplex RT-PCR is a powerful technique in the detection of MLL gene rearrangement for tentatively diagnosed AL.It could not only confirm translocation detected by conventional cytogenetic method, but also detect MLL partial tandem duplication which could not been detected by cytogenetic examination or FISH. It plays an important role in guiding therapy and predicting prognosis for AL.

In this study, plate transparent circle by Davis method was introduce firstly screening ?-Rhamnosidase high-yield strain. The spore-sprouted Aspergillus niger 8-hour were mutagenized by ethyl methane sulphonate and pre-screened via transparent circle. 11% mutants yield 40% higher of ?-rhamnosidase than the original strain. A high-yield strain, T-226 with the highest ?-rhamnosidase activity of 373.4 U/mL was finally selected from these potential high-yield mutants after rescreened by shake flask fermentation twice. When the T-226 strain was fermented in 5 L bioreactor, the enzyme activity could reach to 631.9 U/mL after 84 h. Thus, the established screening method is highly efficient to isolate ?-rhamnosidase high-yield mutant of A. niger.