OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical effect of the sacrococcygeal space injection for the treatment of failed back surgery syndrome.

METHODSFrom July 1998 to October 2012,47 patients with failed back surgery syndrome were treated and included 39 males and 8 females with an average age of 61.5 years old ranging from 35 to 89 years old. Among them,41 patients experienced one time of operation, 6 patients with twice of operation. Forty-one patients underwent single,bilateral fenestration or central laminectomy decompression, discectomy. Six patients underwent total laminectomy discectomy and inter body fusion and pedicle screw fixation. All patients were examined by X-ray plain film, CT or MRI before treatment. The anticoagulation was discontinuation before treatment. The needle was put into the sacrococcygeal gap at prone position in the sense of frustration,suction without cerebrospinal fluid and blood,with injection of Mailuoning (Chinese characters: see text) 15 ml. The pain was assessed by VAS before and after treatment. The Oswestry low back pain disability index and survival quality interference degree were evaluated.

RESULTSAt 1 month after treatment,the pain VAS decreased from 59.24 +/- 17.35 before treatment to 19.19 +/- 11.19 after treatment (P < 0.05); The Oswestry low back pain disability index decreased from (41.35 +/- 9.87)% before treatment to (23.17 +/- 17.56)% after treatment (P < 0.05); The survival quality interference degree decreased from 6.5 +/- 2.2 before treatment to 2.6 +/- 1.4 after treatment (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe sacrococcygeal gap injection for treatment of failed back surgery syndrome has advantages of simple, safe, fewer complications, and low treatment cost.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Failed Back Surgery Syndrome ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography ; Sacrococcygeal Region ; diagnostic imaging

OBJECTIVE:To strengthen the supervision of clinical antibiotics use through establishing electronic consultation system. METHODS:Based on hospital information system(HIS)and antibiotic management system,consultation system for anti-biotics of special use(ASU)was established,and the effects of the system after used(Jan. 2014)were also evaluated. RESULTS:Real-time consultation of ASU medical orders and related consultation results inquiry and statistics could be achieved through de-signing ASU consultation application form,establishing consultation experts and confirming their working content,adding statistics function,etc. The consultation have been finished 8275 times from 2014 to 2015. The inspection rate for pathogenic microbes in ASU patients rose from 78.68% in 2013 to 83.90% in 2015. CONCLUSIONS:The establishment and application of ASU consulta-tion system can improve consultation efficiency and quality,so as to promote rational use of antibiotics in the clinic.

ObjectiveTo observe protective effects of agmatine (AGM) on inflammatory response and spleen immune function in mice with trauma.Methods Forty-eight adult male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups (n= 16 each), including control group, model group (bilateral femoral fracture and removal of 35% of the total blood volume), and AGM group (trauma/hemorrhage & AGM 200 mg/kg). Eight mice in each group were sacrificed at 3 hours and 24 hours, respectively, after modeling, and blood samples and tissue homogenate of spleen and liver were collected. The contents of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukins (IL-6, IL-1β) in serum and liver tissue were determined with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) were determined with automatic biochemistry analyzer. Spleen proliferation response stimulated with concanavalin A (ConA) was evaluated with methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium colourimetry (MTT).γ-interferon (IFN-γ) and IL-2 releases were determined with ELISA.Results Compared with control group, 3 hours after trauma/hemorrhage, the levels of serum TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in model group were significantly elevated [TNF-α (ng/L): 145.38±31.50 vs. 23.06±11.14, IL-6 (ng/L): 496.94±50.76 vs. 47.13±17.47, IL-1β (ng/L): 321.31±43.02 vs. 29.25±16.24,allP< 0.01]. It was found that AGM treatment could alleviate the increase in serum pro-inflammatory mediators induced by trauma/hemorrhage, such as TNF-α (ng/L:111.56±25.47 vs. 145.38±31.50), IL-6 (ng/L: 412.56±44.33 vs. 496.94±50.76), IL-1β (ng/L: 273.38±45.25 vs. 321.31±43.02,P< 0.05 orP< 0.01). Twenty-four hours after trauma/hemorrhage, serum pro-inflammatory mediators were recovered to the levels in control group. There was no significant difference in TNF-α and IL-6 levels at 3 hours after trauma/hemorrhage among groups. Compared with control group, the expressions of liver TNF-α and IL-6 in model group were increased at 24 hours following trauma [TNF-α (ng/mg): 32.93±4.90 vs. 26.58±2.33, IL-6 (ng/mg): 11.20±1.66 vs. 8.38±0.89,bothP< 0.01]. However, AGM inhibited the level of TNF-α (ng/mg:28.92±3.16 vs. 32.93±4.90) and IL-6 (ng/mg: 9.03±1.28 vs. 11.20±1.66) in the liver as induced by trauma/hemorrhage (P< 0.05 andP< 0.01). At 24 hours after modeling, model group and AGM group had distinctly higher serum AST, ALT, LDH levels than those of control group [AST (U/L): 405.9±31.2, 245.7±22.1 vs. 128.2±15.9; ALT (U/L): 92.1±6.3, 51.6±5.0 vs. 30.1±3.2; LDH (U/L): 606.7±36.3, 478.7±25.3 vs. 384.0±16.6, allP< 0.01]. Nevertheless,the increase in serum AST, ALT and LDH was alleviated in AGM group (allP< 0.01). Meantime, trauma/hemorrhage produced a noticeable depression of proliferation of splenic cells and IFN-γ and IL-2 release stimulated with ConA compared with control group [proliferation rate: (40.97±4.13)% vs. (89.99±7.76)%, IFN-γ(ng/L): 91.6±12.3 vs. 353.2±21.5,IL-2 (ng/L): 53.4±6.4 vs. 91.0±12.2,allP< 0.01]. In contrast, AGM notably restored the capacity of proliferation response of splenic cells [proliferation rate: (74.86±5.75)% vs. (40.97±4.13)%, P< 0.01],enhanced the release of IFN-γ and IL-2 stimulated with ConA [IFN-γ (ng/L): 327.8±23.6 vs. 91.6±12.3, IL-2 (ng/L): 74.8±10.4 vs. 53.4±6.4, bothP< 0.01].Conclusion AGM can dramatically alleviate spleen immunosuppression, excessive inflammation and organ damage induced by trauma/hemorrhage.

Objective To investigate the effect of ischemic post-conditioning (IPO) on the level of Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in acute ischemia - reperfusion (I/R) injury of lung in order to illuminate its protective mechanism.Methods Forty-eight adult SD rats were randomly divided (random number) into 6groups ( n =8 each):sham operation group ( S group) ; I/R group in which the hilum of left lung was clamped for 45 min followed by 105 min reperfusion; IPO group in which left lung hilum was clamped for 45min and post - conditioned by alternation of 30 s reperfusion with 30 s re-occlusion for three times before perfect perfusion for 102 min; Hemin (HM) + I/R group; ZnPPⅨ (zinc protoporphyrin Ⅸ) + IPO group and HM + S group.Arterial partial pressure of oxygen ( PaO2 ) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in blood serum were assayed.The left lung was removed for determination of wet/dry (W/D) lung weight ratio and level of HO-1 protein was detected by immunohistochemical technique and pathohistological changes were observed under light microscopic examination. Comparisons among multiple groups were studied by using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Statistical comparisons within groups were analyzed by using paired t -test.Results The level of HO-1 in lung tissue was significantly increased in the I/R group compared with the S group and the HM + S group (P ＜0.01,P ＜0.05).Compared to the I/R group,the IPO and the HM + I/R groups had significant higher level of HO-1 ( P ＜ 0.05,P ＜ 0.01 ).The PaO2 was significantly lower in all experimental groups than that in the S group (90 ± 11 ) mmHg.However,the values of PaO2 in the IPO and the HM + I/R groups were higher than that in the I/R group (P ＜ 0.01 ).In addition to severe lung tissue damage evidenced by pathohistological changes,the lung wet/dry (W/D) weight ratio and MDA level in blood serum were significantly higher in the I/R group than those in the S group (P ＜0.01 ),whereas the lung damage was attenuated either by IPO or by HM pretreatment (P ＜ 0.05,IPO or HM + I/R vs.I/R).Conclusions IPO can attenuate the lung ischemia - reperfusion injury through upregulating the level of HO-1 protein and inhibiting lipid peroxidation injury.

This paper was aim to screen microorganisms with attenualed efficiency for Chinese medicine containing aristolochic acid A by liquid-state fermentation. Twelve Chinese medicine were detected by UPLC and aristolochic acid A was only founded in four species of Aristolochia, those were Caulis Aristolochiae Manshuriensis, Aristolochiae Radix, Aistolochia Contorta Bunge and Herba Aristolochiae Mollissima,but not in the others. With the four Chinese medicine containing aristolochic acid A as raw material, ten microorganisms were tested, and the content of aristolochic acid A was detected by UPLC. The results showed that one microorganism can decrease content of aristolochic acid A in all those four Chinese medicine.
Aristolochic Acids ; analysis ; metabolism ; Bacteria ; metabolism ; Biotransformation ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; metabolism ; Fungi ; metabolism ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; microbiology

BACKGROUNDGrowth and development of infants has been an important topic in pediatrics for a long time. Infants must be provided with food containing all necessary nutrients. Breast milk is believed to be the most desirable natural and cheapest food for well-balanced nutrition. But with the progress in the development of substitute food in developed countries, it is thought that formula milk can meet the requirement for infant growth. During early infancy, growth, as the most sensitive index of health, is therefore a critical component in evaluating the adequacy of breast-feeding, mixed-feeding and formula feeding. Iron status is another important index of infant health. Iron deficiency anemia remains the most prevalent nutritional deficiency index in infants worldwide. This study is to compare infants in Beijing at 4 months who are on three different feeding modes (breast feeding, mixed feeding and formula feeding) in physical changes and iron status. The results may provide new mothers with support in feeding mode selection, which will also be helpful to the China Nutrition Association in feeding mode education.

METHODSThis is a cohort study. One thousand and one normal Beijing infants were followed regularly for 12 months. Body weight and horizontal length were measured. Hemoglobin, red blood cell counts, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and serum iron were analyzed at 4 months.

RESULTSThe breast feeding percentage in the first 4 months was 47.9%. The feeding mode was not significantly related to maternal delivery age, education, labor pathway nor infant sex (P>0.05). Infant boys and girls exclusively breast-fed from 0 to 4 months had the highest weight at 0-6 months. The anemia rate of breast-fed infant boys at 4 months was the highest.

CONCLUSIONSBreast feeding should be given more emphasis. It is compulsory for new mothers to breast-feed their infants if possible. Social environment should also guarantee the requirement for breast feeding. Furthermore the normal values of hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume and serum iron, which were originally used to judge children's iron deficiency anemia, might not be optimal for evaluating infants. There might be a need to develop sex-specific cutoff levels of hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume and serum iron for infants.

Anemia, Iron-Deficiency ; epidemiology ; Breast Feeding ; Child Development ; Erythrocyte Indices ; Hemoglobins ; analysis ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Formula ; Infant, Newborn ; Iron ; blood ; Prevalence

OBJECTIVETo study the role of the basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

METHODSThe human stromal cells of BPH were isolated and cultured. The proliferation of the stromal cells cultured in serum-free medium was detected by MTT method, the phenotype changes of smooth muscle cells detected by immunohistochemical method, and the effect of different concentrations of bFGF and TGF-beta1 on the cultured stromal cells of BPH observed.

RESULTSbFGF stimulated the cultured BPH stromal cell proliferation (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) and decreased the expression of smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotype in higher concentration (10 microg/L). TGF-beta1 (> 1 microg/L) inhibited stromal cell proliferation and increased the expression of SMC phenotype (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). 5 microg/ml bFGF and TGF-beta1 (0.001 microg/L, 0.01 microg/L) promoted stromal cell proliferation (P < 0.01), while 5 microg/L bFGF and TGF-beta1 (0.1 microg/L, 1 microg/L, 10 microg/L) inhibited it, slightly in 0.1 microg/L (P > 0.05) and significantly in 1 microg/L and 10 microg/L (P < 0.01), and increased the expression of SMC phenotype in higher concentration (> 1 microg/L, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONbFGF stimulates the proliferation of the prostatic stromal cells of BPH in a time- and dose-dependent fashion and decreases the expression of SMC phenotype, TGF-beta1 inhibits the growth of stromal cells and induces the differentiation of stromal cells to SMC, both playing an important role in the mechanism of BPH.

Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Smooth ; cytology ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; pathology ; Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo study the protective effect of formula of removing both phlegm and blood stasis (TYTZ) on myocardial tissues of Chinese mini-swine with coronary heart disease of phlegm-stasis cementation syndrome.

METHODTotally 36 Chinese mini-swine were randomly divided to six groups: the normal control group, the model group, the Danlou tablet group, and TYTZ groups with doses of 2.0, 1.0, 0.5 g x kg(-1), with six in each group. Except for the normal control group, all of other groups were fed with high-fat diet for 2 weeks. Interventional balloons are adopted to injure their left anterior descending artery endothelium. After the operation, they were fed with high-fat diet for 8 weeks to prepare the coronary heart disease model of phlegm-stasis cementation syndrome in Chinese mini-swine. After the operation, they were administered with drugs for 8 weeks. The SOD activity and MDA content of each group were observed at the 0th week (before the experiment), the 2nd week after the high-fat diet (before the operation or drug administration) , the 6th week after the high-fat diet (4 weeks after the drug administration) and the 10th week after the high-fat diet (8 weeks after the drug administration). Meanwhile, the myocardial enzymogram test and the HE staining pathological observation were performed at the end of the experiment. The changes in the myocardial cell ultra-structure were observed under transmission electron microscope.

RESULTCompared with the normal control group, the model group showed significant decrease in serum SOD activity and notable increase in MDA content from the 2nd week to the end of experiment (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). In the 10th week, the CK, LDH and CK-MB levels in serum also significantly increased in the model group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01), with obvious structural abnormality in myocardial tissue pathologic morphology and ultra-structure. Compared with the model group, TYTZ groups showed specific increase in serum SOD activity and oblivious decrease in the MDA level (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Meanwhile, TYTZ could significantly decrease serum CK and LDH levels in the model group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), attenuate the ischemia injury of myocardial tissue, and improve the ultra-structure of cardiomyocytes.

CONCLUSIONTYTZ shows an obvious protective effect on the myocardial injury in Chinese mini-swine with coronary heart disease of phlegm-stasis cementation syndrome. Its mechanism is related to the resistance against free radical oxidation injury and the inhibition of the lipid per-oxidation.

Animals ; Coronary Artery Disease ; genetics ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mucus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Protective Agents ; administration & dosage ; Swine ; Swine, Miniature

Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; immunology ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; immunology ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; virology ; Humans ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo study the causes of poorer antiviral response to neutralizing anti-interferon-alpha antibodies (NA) in male chronic hepatitis B patients treated with recombinant interferon-alpha (rIFN-alpha).

METHODSTwo hundred sixty-nine patients (198 males and 71 females) with histologically proven chronic hepatitis B were treated with 5 MU recombinant interferon-alpha 1b (rIFN-alpha 1b) subcutaneously thrice weekly for 6-37 (median 10.0) months. For each patient, serum HBV DNA levels were detected with fluorescent-quantitative PCR, HBeAg with enzymoimmunoassay, and NA with an antiviral neutralizing biological assay during therapy.

RESULTSNA was found in 70 (35.4%) of the 198 males and in 15 (21.1%) of the 71 females during treatment (x2 = 4.894, P = 0.027). At the end of treatment combined-response was achieved in 21 (24.7%) of the 85 NA-positive patients and in 100 (54.3%) of the 184 NA-negative cases (x2 = 20.642). Stratification analysis by NA showed that combined-response rate was significantly lower in males than in females (18.6%, 13/70 vs. 53.3%, 8/15, x2 = 8.024) among NA-positive patients while it was similar in males and in females (50.8%, 65/128, vs. 62.5%, 35/56, x2 = 2.156) among NA-negative patients. In stratification analysis by gender, it was significantly lower in NA-positive patients than in NA-negative ones (18.6%, 13/70 vs. 53.3%, 8/15, x2 = 8.024) among males but there was no significant difference between combined-response rates among females.

CONCLUSIONThe poorer antiviral response to recombinant interferon-alpha in male chronic hepatitis B patients than in female patients is related to the neutralizing anti-interferon antibodies.

Antibodies ; blood ; Antiviral Agents ; immunology ; therapeutic use ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Humans ; Interferon Type I ; immunology ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Neutralization Tests ; Recombinant Proteins ; Sex Factors ; Treatment Outcome