Objective:To explore the clinical value on application of laparoscopic ultrasonography (Lap US) in the adnexal operation. Methods:Eleven patients including 7 cases of tubal pregnancy, 3 cases of teratoma of ovary and 1 case of endometrial cyst of ovary were examined by LapUS, then operated with laparoscopy.Results:The results showed that the modality presented is a big progress over the traditional operative management for adnexal diseas. Conclusions:It is a good approach for micro-surgery in the adnexal operation by laparoscopy.

OBJECTIVEChinese herbal medicine has been extensively used in the treatment of vascular dementia (VaD), but lacked systematic review on its efficacy and safety. So we conducted a systematic review to assess the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine in treating VaD.

METHODSCNKI, CBM, PubMed, and Wiley Online Library were retrieved for randomized trials (RCTs) on Chinese herbal medicine treating VaD patients. Randomized parallel control trials by taking Chinese herbal medicine as one treatment method and placebos/cholinesterase inhibitors/Memantine hydrochloride as the control were included. Quality rating and data extraction were performed. RevMan5.2.0 Software was used for meta-analysis. Standardized mean difference (SMD) at 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to indicate effect indicators of results.

RESULTSSeven RCTs met the inclusive criteria. Totally 677 VaD patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group and the control group. Descriptive analyses were performed in inclusive trials. The cognitive function was assessed in all trials. Results showed Mini-Mental state examination (MMSE) score was better in the Chinese herbal medicine group than in the placebo group, but with no significant difference when compared with the donepezil group (P > 0.05). Adverse reactions were mainly manifested as gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain in the Chinese herbal medicine group. But they occurred more in the donepezil group than in the Chinese herbal medicine group.

CONCLUSIONSThe methodological quality of included trials was poor with less samples. Results of different trials were lack of consistency. Present evidence is not sufficient to prove or disapprove the role of Chinese herbal medicine in improving clinical symptoms and outcome indicators of VaD patients. Their clinical efficacy and safety need to be supported by more higher quality RCTs.

Complementary Therapies ; Dementia, Vascular ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Indans ; therapeutic use ; Piperidines ; therapeutic use ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

To study the effect of Wansheng Huafeng Dan (WSHFD) and mercuric chloride on renal mercury (Hg) extraction transporters (Oat1, Oct2), renal mercury excretion transporters (Mrp4, Mate2K), renal mercury accumulation and kidney injury molecule-1 (Kim-1). The ancient prescription of WSHFD containing 10-fold Hg caused much lower renal mercury accumulation and renal toxicity than HgCl2 in rats, with less effect on renal transporters than HgCl2. The above indicators had no significant difference in WSHFDO, WSHFD2 and WSHFD3 groups, indicating no effect of WSHFD with reduced or no cinnabar.
Animals ; Ardisia ; chemistry ; Biological Transport ; drug effects ; Cell Adhesion Molecules ; genetics ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Kidney ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Mercuric Chloride ; metabolism ; Multidrug Resistance-Associated Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To study the differentially expressed microRNA (miRNA) between pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and para-cancerous tissues,and determine related target genes.Methods Nine fresh PDAC tumor tissues and 3 adjacent normal pancreatic tissues were collected,then Agilent miRNAmicroarray with 713 miRNA loci was used to identify the differentially expressed miRNA.Real-time PCR method was applied to verify the up-regulated miRNA.TargetScan 5.1 and miRandaV5 software were used to analyze the related target genes.Results miRNA microarray identified 11 PDAC related miRNAs,among them,the expressions of miR-194*,miR-192*,miR-602,miR-194 were up-regulated,while the expressions of miR-139-3p,miR-513a-5p,miR-630,miR-30c-1 *,miR-887,miR-508-5p,miR-516a-5p were down-regulated.The expressions of miR-192,miR-194 and their homolog were verified in 31 PDAC tumor tissues.After software analysis,it was found that target genes of miR-192 were ZEB2,CXCL-2,EEF1A1,ERCC3,and target genes of miR-192 * were DCC,SMAD4,FAS,and target genes of miR-194 included DACHI,IGSF11,PTPN2,RBBP4,while target genes of miR-194 * included CD40LG,CIDEB,FHL1.Conclusions Eleven differentially expressed miRNAs are present in PDC,and they may be involved in the occurrence and development of PDC.

Objective To explore the predictive values of the levels of procalcitonin (PCT) and thyroid hormone on the prognosis in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) complicated with euthyroid sick syndrome (ESS) and their values on differential diagnosis of ESS. Methods A total of 238 patients with SIRS hospitalized in the Emergency Department, Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Integration of Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangsu Branch of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences from July 2012 to December 2014 were divided into two groups: death group (31 cases) and survival group (207 cases), 182 patients being complicated with ESS and 56 patients without ESS. The differences in the levels of PCT, free triiodothyronine (FT3) and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE Ⅱ) score in patients with different clinical outcomes were analyzed. The effects of the inflammatory mediators including levels of PCT, interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and thyroid function such as free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) on clinical outcomes and their predictive values on death of emergency patients with SIRS were also studied. Furthermore, the correlations between APACHEⅡscore and PCT, IL-6, CRP, thyroid hormone were analyzed. Results The level of PCT and APACHE Ⅱ score in death group were significantly higher than those in survival group [PCT (ng/L): 8.38 (13.88) vs. 1.04 (3.57), APACHEⅡscore:27.42±6.88 vs. 16.35±6.72, both P<0.01], while FT3 level was obviously lower in death group (pmol/L: 2.19±0.58 vs. 3.07±0.94, P < 0.05). No significant differences in levels of IL-6, CRP, FT4 and TSH were observed between the two groups (all P>0.05). The mortality was increased markedly in patients with higher PTC level and lower FT3 level compared with normal PCT level and normal FT3 level [18.8% (30/160) vs. 1.3% (1/78), 17.1%(31/181) vs. 0 (0/57), both P<0.05]. However, the abnormalities of IL-6, CRP, FT4 and TSH levels did not contribute to patient's mortality (all P>0.05). PCT was positively correlated with APACHEⅡscore (r>0.33, P<0.001), while FT3 was negatively correlated with APACHEⅡscore (r<-0.33, P<0.001). There were no correlations between IL-6 (r = 0.319, P < 0.001), CRP (r = 0.161, P < 0.05), FT4 (r = -0.170, P < 0.01), TSH (r = -0.057, P = 0.385), and APACHEⅡscore. The levels of PCT, IL-6 and CRP and APACHEⅡscore in patients with ESS were significantly higher than those in patients without ESS [PCT (ng/L):2.54 (5.90) vs. 0.20 (0.43), IL-6 (ng/L):98.62 (351.20) vs. 16.85 (33.60), CRP (mg/L):88.00 (110.50) vs. 25.50 (48.00), APACHEⅡscore:17.62±8.17 vs. 10.98±4.97, all P<0.01]. The cut-off values for predicting patient's death of these indexes showed by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) analysis were as follows: PCT: cut-off value ≥ 1.755 ng/L, sensitivity: 87.1%, specificity: 58.0%, area under the ROC curve (AUC): 0.802; FT3: cut-off value ≤ 2.92 pmol/L, sensitivity: 93.5%, specificity: 54.1%, AUC: 0.785;APACHE Ⅱ score: cut-off value ≥ 21.5, sensitivity: 83.9%, specificity: 88.4%, AUC: 0.920. Conclusions The levels of serum PCT, FT3 and APACHEⅡscore are prognostic factors in patients with SIRS. Meanwhile, the levels of serum PCT, IL-6, CRP and APACHE Ⅱ score should be taken into consideration in differential diagnosis of ESS in patients with SIRS.

Objective:To investigate frequency of blood stasis syndrome(BSS) defined by traditional Chinese medicine in cerebral infarction and its correlations with carotid atherosclerotic plaque(CAP).Methods: All subjects comprised 151 patients aged 40 to 80 years(Mean ? SD age,65 ?11 years) with 67.9% for males and 32.1% for females.With the use of ACUSON7 color Doppler ultrasound,carotid atherosclerosis was evaluated by the plaque score,the left plaque score,the right plaque score,the numbers of the plaque respectively as defined by the sum of all plaque heights in bilateral carotid arteries.On the basis of neurological signs and symptoms,medical history,and brain MRI,we diagnosed stroke and its subtypes as follows: stroke(n=117),and vertebrobasilar insufficiency(VBI)(n=34) without the history of the stroke,which were based on Diagnostic Criteria for Cerebral Vascular Diseases in 2005.Diagnosis for syndromes defined by traditional Chinese medicine were made according to Diagnostic Criteria for Stroke in 1994.One-way ANOVA was used in comparison between groups,and multivariant Logistic Regression Analysis was conferred in correlations between several variables.Results: 47.0% of all cases with cerebral infarction presented the BSS,with as lower than syndrome of fire-heat(51.0%),as but significantly higher than syndrome of Qi deficiency(32.0%),liver-wind syndrome(27.0%),phlegm syndrome(23.0%) and syndrome of asthenic yin causing predominant yang(6.0%).There is a significant difference between groups for 44(79.0%) cases of 56 patients with cerebral infarction and the BSS have CAP,and only 35(57.0%) cases of 61 patients with cerebral infarction but without the BSS have CAP(P

Objective · To investigate the prevalence of smoking and awareness of smoking hazards in a community-based elderly population in Changning District, Shanghai. Methods · A total of 1809 subjects were randomly selected from 18 communities based on the chronic non-communicable diseases cohort in an elderly population aged 65 and over in Changning District, Shanghai. Information on smoking status, health condition and awareness of smoking hazards were obtained through face to face interviews. Chi-square tests and non-conditional Logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the risk factors of the awareness of smoking hazards and current smoking status. Results · The overall prevalence of current smoking was 15.6% among the investigated elderly population. Smoking prevalence was significantly higher in men than that in women (30.0% vs 2.1%, P=0.000). Also, it was higher in the men aged 65-69 than that in those aged 70 and over (34.3% vs 20.4%, P=0.000). The participants with middle school education had the highest prevalence (19.1%) in the population. Overall, the proportion of participants who knew "smoking causes heart disease" "smoking causes stroke"and "smoking causes cancer" was 45.1%, 43.3% and 64.4%, respectively. Among the participants, 36.4% knew all the three smoking hazards. With the confounders such as age and gender being adjusted, current smoking behavior was associated with the participants' awareness of smoking hazards (OR=0.74,P=0.000). Conclusion · Currently, the awareness of smoking hazards is generally low in Shanghai elderly population, especially in those with lower education level and current smoking behavior. More targeted educational interventions are necessary in specific population.

Chinese medical syndrome efficacy, as a second efficacy indicator, has been widely used in clinical trials of treating dementia by Chinese herbal medicine. The syndrome assessment tool is a key point in assessing the efficacy of Chinese medical syndrome. The syndrome assessment tool for dementia used nowadays needs to be optimized in content, reliability, and validity. In this paper, the authors reviewed some problems correlated with the design of Chinese medical assessment questionnaire on the basis of Chinese medical theories by combining the common requirements for questionnaire development.
Alzheimer Disease ; drug therapy ; Dementia ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Phytotherapy ; methods ; Treatment Outcome

This study was aimed to explore the level of glycosylated ferritin in the patients with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and its diagnostic significance. 29 suspected HLH patients from October 2007 to October 2008 were enrolled in the study, and 25 healthy subjects were selected as control. The 29 suspected HLH patients were divided into confirmed group (22 out of 29) and unconfirmed group (7 out of 29) according to HLH-2004 diagnostic criteria. The percentage of glycosylated ferritin in peripheral blood was determined by phytohemagglutinin adsorption assay. The results showed that the median level of total serum ferritin in patients of confirmed group (2897.6+/-1837.2 microg/L) was significantly higher than that in patients of unconfirmed group (653.1+/-249.1 microg/L) (p<0.01), and was also higher than that in controls (414.6+/-212.6 microg/L) (p<0.01). The median percentage of glycosylated ferritin in patients of confirmed group was significantly lower (17.0+/-4.2%) than that in patients of unconfirmed group (40.7+/-4.5%) (p<0.01) and was lower than that in controls (53.6+/-13.3%) (p<0.01). The sensitivity (86.4% vs 77.3%) and specificity (71.4% vs 42.9%) of glycosylated ferritin for the diagnosis of HLH were higher than that of total serum ferritin. In conclusions, glycosylated ferritin may be a helpful marker for the diagnosis of HLH.
Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Ferritins ; blood ; Humans ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic ; blood ; diagnosis ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of hepatitis B virus X gene and p53 on hepatocellular growth.

METHODSTwo kinds of plasmids containing sense and antisense human wild p53 gene respectively were constructed. SMMU-7721 cells were transfected with HBx, sense-wtp53 antisense-wtp53 separately or cotransfected with either HBx and sense-wtp53 or HBx and antisense-wtp53. Flow cytometry was adopted to measure the apoptosis rates and the effects of HBx on cell cycle progression. The activity of p21(Waf1) promoter-luciferase construct was detected. Growth curves for SMMU-7721 stably transfected with pcDNA3 and pcDNA3HBx were analyzed.

RESULTSAfter doxorubicin administration, HBx was noticed able to initiate apoptosis of the liver cells. The apoptosis rate was 5.32% in the pcDNA3 transfected and 12.66% in the pcDNA3HBx transfected groups respectively. HBx could also abrogate p53-mediated apoptosis. The apoptosis rate in groups transfected with pcDNA3, pcDNA3wtp53 and pcDNA3HBx + pcDNA3wtp53 was 5.32%, 11.72% and 4.67% respectively. In compared with the normal group, the number of cells in transiently HBx-expressed group and HBx-transfected group decreased 4.79% and 10.25% respectively. HBx inhibited the activity of p21(Waf1) promoter-luciferase constructed (P < 0.05) and promoted cell growth. The growth rate of HBx expression cells was faster.

CONCLUSIONUnder DNA damage, HBx reduced expression of p21(Waf1) by repressing the activity of p53 protein, followed by disturbing the regulation of G(0)-G(1) cell cycle checkpoint, and promoted the growth rate of hepatoma cells.

Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; pathology ; virology ; Cell Division ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Genes, p53 ; Hepatitis B Antigens ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; pathology ; virology ; Trans-Activators ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Transfection ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; biosynthesis ; genetics