Objective To study the clinic features and prognosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA)-associated iridocyclitis.Methods Ten cases of JRA -associated iridocyclitis choosed from 107 cases with JRA were reviewed and analysed.Results Polyarticular( n =9) and pauciarticular( n =1) were observed among JRA -associated iridocyclitis.Four were acute cases and all were recovered.Secondary glaucoma ( n =1) and ablepsia( n =1) were find in the chronic cases of 6,respectively.Conclusions Iridocyclitis is a common complication of JRA. Most of them are polyarticular group. The acute cases have better results compared to the chronic cases which often have more complications such as glaucoma,cataract, et al .

Objective To evaluate the development of immature oocytes after freezing-thawing by conventional cryopreservation method for mature oocytes.Methods Immature oocytes were collected from stimulated ovaries of intracytoplasmic sperm injection(ICSI)cycles.Immature oocytes were in vitro matured directly or after slow freezing-fast thawing and immunostained for tubulin and chromatin and at last visualized by confocal microscopy.Results No statistical difference was found in maturity rate between freezing groups and the controls.There was a statistically significant increase in abnormalities of chromosome(23.7% vs. 50%)and spindle(28.9% vs.53.9%)in the GV freezing group compared with the GV control(P

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of wrist-ankle acupuncture plus bloodletting cupping in treating diabetic peripheral neuropathies (DPN). Method A total of 120 patients were randomized into two groups by using the random number table. Sixty cases in the treatment group were intervened by wrist-ankle acupuncture plus bloodletting cupping; sixty cases in the control group were treated with Mecobalamin tablets. The clinical efficacies were evaluated and electroneurogram was tested after 28-day treatment. Result The total effective rate was 95.0% in the treatment group versus 88.3% in the control group. The clinical efficacy of the treatment group was significantly superior to that of the control group (P<0.05). The treatment group was significantly better than the control group in comparing the major symptoms and signs including numbness, pain, and weakness in limbs (P<0.05); there were no significant between-group differences in comparing symptoms including cold limbs, short of breath and unwilling to speak, lassitude, and thirsty with desire to drink (P>0.05). The treatment group had better effect than the control group in comparing the motor conduction velocity of superficial peroneal nerve and sensory conduction velocity of common peroneal nerve (P<0.05). Conclusion Wrist-ankle acupuncture plus bloodletting cupping is effective in treating DPN, and it benefits the recovery of motor and sensory function of the impaired peripheral nerves.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the pathogenesis of globozoospermia, fertilization ability of round-headed sperm, and the application value of assisted oocyte activation in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for the wives of glohozoospermia men.

METHODSWe collected oocytes from the wives of 2 globozoospermia patients and randomly divided them into two groups after ICSI to receive calcium ionophore A23187-activation and conventional treatment, respectively. We reviewed the relevant literature published at home and abroad, and discussed the etiology of globozoospermia, fertilization ability of round-headed sperm, and treatment options for this disease.

RESULTSQuality embryos were obtained in the A23187-activation group while no fertilized oocytes, oocyte cleavage, quality embryos, or blastular formation were found in the conventional treatment group. Both women achieved pregnancy and gave birth to healthy neonates after transfer of the quality embryos from the A23187-activation group.

CONCLUSIONCalcium ionophore A23187 can be applied to ICSI for the wives of globozoospermia men and bring about desirable clinical outcomes. Meanwhile, attention should be paid to its safety.

Calcimycin ; therapeutic use ; Calcium Ionophores ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; drug therapy ; Male ; Oocytes ; Pregnancy ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic ; Spermatozoa ; abnormalities

Objective:To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the expressions of acetylcholine (ACh) and mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) in the lungs of rats with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),and explore the mechanism of EA in treating COPD.Methods:Thirty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a control group,a COPD group,and an EA group,with 10 rats in each group.The control group was a group of normal rats.The COPD rat model was induced by cigarette smoke combined with lipopolysaccharide (LPS).The COPD rats were treated with EA at bilateral Feishu (BL 13) and Zusanli (ST 36) in the EA group,30 min each time,once a day,successively for 14 d.The lung function was tested.The contents of ACh and MUC5AC in lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Pearson method was used to analyze the correlation between pulmonary function and the content of MUC5AC in lungs.The mRNA and protein expressions of MUC5AC in lung tissues were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot (WB),respectively.The immune response of MUC5AC was observed by immunohistochemistry.Results:Eight rats were left in each group,and the other two died.Compared with the control group,the total airway resistance (Raw) increased significantly and dynamic compliance (Cdyn) decreased significantly in the COPD group (P＜0.01);compared with the COPD group,the Raw level declined significantly and Cdyn increased significantly in the EA group (P＜0.01).The contents of ACh and MUC5AC in the lungs and BALF were remarkably higher in the COPD group compared with those in the control group (P＜0.01,P＜0.001);compared with the COPD group,the contents of ACh and MUC5AC were significantly lower in the EA group (P＜0.05,P＜0.001).There was a negative correlation between MUC5AC content and lung function (P＜0.001).The mRNA and protein expressions of MUC5AC in the lungs were significantly higher in the COPD group than in the control group (P＜0.001);compared with the COPD group,the expressions were significantly lower in the EA group (P＜0.01).Compared with the control group,the immune response of MUC5AC in the airway epithelium significantly increased in the COPD group (P＜0.001);the immune response of MUC5AC was significantly lower in the EA group compared with that in the COPD group (P＜0.001).Conclusion:EA treatment can improve the lung function of COPD rats,which may be related to its effect in the down-regulation of ACh and MUC5AC contents in the lungs as well as the inhibition of mucus hypersecretion.

OBJECTIVETo compare the effects of the cryoprotectant containing glucose and that containing sucrose on the motility of post-thaw human sperm.

METHODSThe cryoprotectant containing glucose and that containing sucrose were applied to 50 semen samples and the motility of the post-thaw human sperm was compared before and after cryopreservation and between the study groups.

RESULTSThe forward motility and total motility of the sperm were (58.4 +/- 5.7)% and (63.4 +/- 6.1)% before cryopreservation, (43.8 +/- 7.6)% and (48.4 +/- 7.6)% after thawing with the cryoprotectant containing glucose, and(42.6 +/- 8.9)% and (48.0 +/- 8.5)% after thawing with the cryoprotectant containing sucrose. Decreased sperm motility was observed after cryopreservation, with statistic significance (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the forward and total motility of the post-thaw sperm between the two cryoprotectants.

CONCLUSIONCryopreservation inflicts obvious damage on sperm. Sucrose is a feasible sperm cryoprotectant.

Adult ; Cryopreservation ; methods ; Cryoprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Glucose ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Male ; Semen Preservation ; methods ; Sperm Motility ; drug effects ; Spermatozoa ; drug effects ; physiology ; Sucrose ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the apoptosis-promoting effect of PDCD5 on human prostate cancer cells PC-3M-1E8.

METHODSPCI-neo and PCI-neo-PDCD5 were transfected into PC-3M-1E8 cells by Lipofectamine 2000, the viability of the cells was analyzed by MTT assay 16 hours after removal of the serum, and the apoptosis was determined by in situ end-labeling and electron microscopy.

RESULTSThe viability and growing speed of the transfected cells were significantly decreased and their apoptotic indexes significantly increased as compared with the control group (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONPDCD5 may significantly inhibit the in vitro growth and promote the apoptosis of human prostate cancer cells PC-3M-1E8.

Apoptosis ; genetics ; physiology ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; genetics ; physiology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Lipids ; chemistry ; Male ; Neoplasm Proteins ; genetics ; physiology ; Plasmids ; chemistry ; genetics ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transfection ; methods

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of the compound Chinese traditional drug Xianling Gubao Capsule on the semen quality of infertile males.

METHODSWe treated 66 infertile men with Xianling Gubao Capsule for 24 months, and analyzed the semen quality and sperm morphology before and after the treatment.

RESULTSTwo months after the medication, sperm concentration was increased by a small margin, but no statistically significant changes were observed in sperm vitality and motility (P > 0.05), the rate of morphologically normal sperm was significantly raised from 25.8% before treatment to 57.6% (P < 0.05) in those with the normal rate > or = 15%, but decreased from 53.0% to 25.8% (P < 0.05) in those with the normal rate < 9%. Among the 7 cases of oligospermia, the rate of morphologically normal sperm was elevated to an average of 10.9% after the 4-month medication, significantly different from the baseline rate of 5.8% (P < 0.05). Five spontaneous pregnancies and 1 successful IVF-ICSI were achieved during the treatment.

CONCLUSIONXianling Gubao Capsule can improve semen quality and significantly increase the percentage of morphologically normal sperm.

Adult ; Capsules ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; drug therapy ; Male ; Phytotherapy ; Pregnancy ; Semen Analysis ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDElevated levels of interleukin-7 (IL-7) have been correlated with CD4(+) T cell depletion and the emergence of syncytium-inducing (SI) variants in human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection, and suggested as an indicator of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) disease progression. Therefore, we investigated the effects of IL-7 on disease progression and virus phenotype in Chinese HIV/AIDS patients.

METHODSIn a cross-sectional study of 71 untreated HIV-1 seropositive individuals and 12 healthy donors, plasma IL-7 levels were determined by an ultra sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and its relations to CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T cells, plasma viral loads and HIV phenotypes were analyzed.

RESULTSSignificant higher IL-7 levels were found in Chinese HIV/AIDS patients [(3.33 +/- 3.60) pg/ml] than those of health controls [(1.2 +/- 0.81) pg/ml] (P < 0.05), and IL-7 levels were inversely associated with CD4(+) T cell counts (r = -0.497, P < 0.01). Furthermore, IL-7 levels were significant higher in patients with SI variants [(9.12 +/- 4.55) pg/ml] than those with non-syncytium-inducing variants [(1.50 +/- 2.69) pg/ml] (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSIncreased IL-7 levels were found in Chinese HIV/AIDS patients and significantly associated with disease progression, thus increased IL-7 plasma levels may indicate disease progression.

Adult ; CD4 Lymphocyte Count ; Disease Progression ; HIV Seropositivity ; blood ; immunology ; virology ; HIV-1 ; Humans ; Interleukin-7 ; blood ; physiology ; Phenotype ; Viral Load

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of mesenteric lymph drainage on erythrocyte rheology and blood viscosity in hemorrhagic shock rats.

METHODSWistar rats were randomly divided into sham-shock group, shock group (establishing hemorrhagic shock model), drainage group (establishing hemorrhagic shock model plus drainaging shock mesenteric lymph from hypotension 1 h). At 3 h of hypotension or corresponding time, blood samples were harvested from the abdominal aorta for determining the erythrocytic parameters, erythrocyte electrophoresis, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and blood viscosity, and the erythrocytes aggregation index and erythrocyte deformability index were calculated.

RESULTSCompared with the sham-shock group, the red cell contents, hematocrit (HCT), hemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), erythrocyte electrophoretic rate and mobility, erythrocyte deformability index, whole blood viscosity, whole blood relative or reduced viscosity at low and high shear rates in shock group were observably lower, and mean corpuscular volume, electrophoretic time of erythrocyte, ESR, K value of equation and K value of emendation, erythrocytes aggregation index, plasma viscosity in shock group were increased markedly; the MCHC, erythrocyte electrophoretic rate and mobility, whole blood viscosity, whole blood relative viscosity at low and high shear rates in drainage group were reduced, and the red blood cell volume distribution width -SD (RDW-SD) was increased remarkably. At the same time, in drainage group, the HCT, RDW-SD, erythrocyte deformability index, whole blood viscosity and relative viscosity at low and high shear rates were higher, the ESR, K value of equation and K value of emendation, erythrocytes aggregation index, plasma viscosity were lower than that of shock group.

CONCLUSIONThe results indicate that the mesenteric lymph drainage could improve the erythrocyte rheological behavior, as a result, improve the hemorrheological properties in hemorrhagic shock rats.

Animals ; Blood Viscosity ; Drainage ; methods ; Erythrocyte Aggregation ; Erythrocyte Deformability ; Lymph ; Male ; Mesentery ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Rheology ; Shock, Hemorrhagic ; blood ; therapy