BACKGROUND:Methylene blue can hinder abnormal pain conduction via the sensory nerve, and its mechanism is to block bradykinin-induced hyperalgesia and eliminate pain caused by local tissue inflammation.
OBJECTIVE:To observe the influence of methylene blue solution on the lumbar spinal cord and spinal ganglia function of rats, and to investigate whether methylene blue is safe for treating discogenic low back pain.
METHODTotal y 120 Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groupthree experimental groups, a saline control group and a blank control group, n=24 in each group. Lumbar segmental dura was exposed in rats. In the three experimental groups, 0.2, 1, and 2 mL methylene blue were injected epidural y, respectively. The saline control group was subjected to the epidural injection of 1 mL saline. In the blank control group, there was no treatment. Six rats from each group were selected randomly and perfused at 30 minutes, 2 hours, 24 hours, 72 hours after injection, respectively. Then, the corresponding segments of the spinal cord and ganglions were removed. Hematoxylin eosin staining was used for comparing histological and structural changes under light microscope.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that at 30 minutes, 2 hours, 24 hours and 72 hours after injection of methylene blue, the spinal dorsal side exhibited the structural integrity, clear boundaries between the white matter and gray matter, dense nerve fibers in the white matter, and round or oval nuclei of glial cells among fibers;dense nerve fibers in the posterior horn of gray matter;light-colored neuronal nuclei with prominent nucleoli;a bundle of nerve fibers among cellpopulations. There was no significant change in tissue structure of lumbar spinal cord and spinal ganglia between the experimental groups and the saline control group or between the experimental groups and the blank control group. Thus, the epidural injection of 1%methylene blue has no significant effect on the spinal cord and spinal nerve structures.

Objective: Our purpose was to study the concentration of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-Ⅰ(sTNFR-Ⅰ) in the serum of patients with acute tuberculosis. Methods: The levels of soluble TNFR-Ⅰ in serum were measured in 11 patients with acute tuberculosis. Concentration of sTNFR-Ⅰ were measured by using enzyme-linked immunological binding assay. Results: In patients with acute tuberculosis, especially severe tuberculosis, serum levels of sTNFR-Ⅰ increased significantly (P<0.01), compared with those of control. After antituberculosis therapy, serum levels of sTNFR-Ⅰin patients with acute tuberculosis decreased by various degrees. Conclusion: Measurements of sTNFR-Ⅰ in serum of patients with acute tuberculosis could be an important index in the judgement of the outcome of the disease.

Objective To explore the clinical effect of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on post-stroke depression (PSD). Methods Sixty PSD patients were randomly divided into an rTMS group and a control group, each of 30 patients. In addition to conventional treatment, rTMS group members were given high-frequency rTMS treatment for 10 d while the control group were given sham stimulation. In order to test the efficacy, the two groups were compared using the Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD) before and after 10 and 30 days treatment. Results After 10 days of treatment the rTMS group had significantly lower HAMD scores than before treatment, and average HAMD scores differed significantly between the rTMS group and the controls, with the former performing significantly better. There was no obvious difference in HAMD scores after 30 days of treatment between the two groups. Conclusions High-frequency rTMS is a safe and effective treatment for PSD.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Peptic Ulcer

OBJECTIVETo study the results of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for medial meniscal tear in late middle-aged adults.

METHODSFrom October 2010 to October 2012,49 patients meeting inclusion criteria were treated with arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for medial meniscal tear. There were 31 males and 18 females,with an average age of (55.3±2.8) years old. There were 22 left knees and 27 right knees. The average flexion angle was (116.01±12.03)°. The pre-operative HSS Knee Score was 48.73±8.43, and the Lysholm score was 63.95±5.45. The patients were followed up and evaluated. All the patients received a standard surgery, in which the torn tissue was removed, and the anterior part of the meniscus was left in situ.

RESULTSAll the surgeries were successful with no serious complications. All the patients were followed up,and the duration ranged from 12 to 36 months. All the patients had 5 degrees of muscle strength. The average flexion angle was (136.77±18.56)°. There was significant difference between the two angles before operation and after operation. The pre-operative HSS Knee Score was 90.17±4.10, and the Lysholm score was 87.84±5.16. Statistically, the difference between preoperative score and the postoperative score was significant.

CONCLUSIONArthroscopic partial meniscectomy is a good option for medial meniscal tear in late middle-aged adults. Operative indication is crucial and the excellent surgical technique is also critical for the good clinical outcome. All the patients could get good clinical results, although there are some patients with motion restrictions in the early stage after operation.

Arthroscopy ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Knee Injuries ; surgery ; Male ; Menisci, Tibial ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Tibial Meniscus Injuries

Information Services ; Information Systems ; standards ; Public Health ; statistics & numerical data ; Public Health Informatics

As a characteristic tumor therapy in China, Chinese medicine (CM) plays an important position in comprehensive treatment of tumor. It's a critical issue of objective realization, analysis and evaluation of CM safety for scientific decision-making in tumor safe medication and it also is a pivotal issue which affects the international communication. The safety evaluation of CM includes three phases: pre-clinical safety evaluation, clinical trials (micro-dose studies and traditional clinical trials) and post-marketing CM safety assessment. The key point of evaluation should be distinguished among different stages and various types of CM (such as classic formulas, Chinese herbal extracts, etc). Emphasis should be given to chronic toxicity when evaluating oral Chinese herbal , microdose studies and quality control must be underlined while injection is evaluated and more attention should be pay to the dose-effect relationship and time-effect relationship when turned to toxic Chinese medicine , and so as for the toxicity grading study. Moreover, we should constantly improve CM safety assessment method in various stages of tumor treatment, such as introducing the concept of syndrome classification theory, bringing in metabonomics and real-world research method which are similar to the CM therapeutic concept. Most importantly, we must keep its own feature of CM theory when we learn the concept of safety evaluation from abroad. Actively exploring the anti-tumor medicine safety evaluation methods and strategies is of great significance for clinical and experimental research, and it can provide supportability platform to CM's international communication.
Animals ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; adverse effects ; methods ; Neoplasms ; therapy ; Safety

Objective To compare difference of nt and aa of H gene between the measles virus strains(MVW) recently circulating and used vacci ne strain (Chang-47) in Liaoning province of China, and to study biological an d immunological characteristic and genotype of MVW and Chang-47. Method s The analysis of 1～1 800 nt and 1～600 aa abou t H gene of MVW and Chang- 47 vaccine strain was performed. Neutralization test was performed against MVW and Chang-47 vaccine strain in the sera of measles cases and children vaccinated after 30 days. Results The genoty pe of the MVW was different from genotypes previously described in other c ountries and vaccine strain (Chang-47) used in Liaoning province. It also showe d that 18～28 aa were distinct from aa of other genotype, but most of the importa nt biological and immunological sites were not changing except the site at aa 24 0 .Neutralization antibody titer GMT against MVW and Chang-47 strains were no sig n ificantly different in the sera of measles cases and the children vaccinated af te r 30 days, but antibody titers GMT of the measles cases sera against MVW or Cha ng-47 strain were much higher than children vaccinated. Conclusions There was nt variation in the MVW. Most of biological and immunological a a sites of the MVW and Chang -47 strains were the same and were not changing. C hang -47 vaccine may also protect from infection of the MVW.

The infrastructure of Liberia has been destroyed due to the prolonged civil war.In this situation,it's critical for the Medical Contingent to have a good self-communication to carry out medical support for the United Nations Mission in Liberia.The communication instruments,their management and maintenance are introduced in this paper.The communication support for large-scale movement is emphasized on.The methods for using effectively the restricted Internet connection are discussed in detail.To cope with the problems of poor communication between the Medical Contingent and homeland,an Internet connection system is put forward which is based on VSAT(very small aperture terminal)hardware platform and subscription of international Internet connection.The system is believed to be reliable,economical,flexible and convenient.

Objective To study the positions,features and sectional anatomy of the palatovaginal canal and vomerovaginal canal,comparing with CT and MRI findings. Methods The palatovaginal canals in 104 sides and vomerovaginal canals in 60 sides of dry skulls were observed.Three adult cephalic specimens were sliced into celloidin contiguous sections on coronal plane(0.5 mm in thickness) and the results were correlated with the CT studies of 11 patients and MR imaging of a cephalic specimen. Results In dry skulls,the palatovaginal canal displayed as complete canal in 79.8% of the cases,while appeared as groof in 15.4%.There was neither significant canal nor groof in 4.8%.The vomerovaginal canal demonstrated as complete canal in 36.7% of the speciments,while appeared as groof in 33.3%.This canal was communicated with the lateral palatovaginal canal in 15% and it was not detected in 15%.Four typical slices of the celloidin and 3 plane of CT and 3 plane of MRI were selected and the key structures were described.Conclusion The palatovaginal canal and vomerovaginal canal can be well depicted on coronal plane.