AIMTo investigate the chronic cardioprotection of testosterone against ischemia/reperfusion injury and acute effect against H2O2-stress injury.

METHODSThe vas deferens were ligated bilaterally and the testes removed from male Sprague-Dawley rats, and testosterone propionate was supplemented every day. Eight weeks after gonadectomy, all the hearts were mounted on a Langendorff apparatus to assess the level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the coronary effluent and the infarct size. Isolated adult ventricular myocytes were obtained by enzymatic dissociation, in which H2O2-stress injury model was copied. The myocyte contraction was determined, and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was measured by loading with fluorescent probe DCFH-DA.

RESULTSIn gonadectomy model, pretreatment with testosterone propionate significantly decreases the LDH release and the infarct size. In the isolated myocytes model, testosterone attenuated the decreases of +/- dL/dtmax and dL which produced by H2O2-stress, and prevented the production of ROS induced by H2O2-stress. Co-treatment with atractyloside or 5-HD attenuated the effect of testosterone.

CONCLUSIONThe findings show the chronic cardioprotection of testosterone against ischemia/reperfusion injury and acute effect against H2O2-stress injury via opening of mitoK(ATP) channel or/and the inhibiting mitochondrial permeability transition pore.

Animals ; Cardiotonic Agents ; pharmacology ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; KATP Channels ; metabolism ; Male ; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins ; drug effects ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; prevention & control ; Orchiectomy ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Testosterone ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use

ObjectiveTo explore the effects of epidermal proteins and lamellar bodies on skin barrier in glucocorticoid-dependent dermatitis.MethodsTotally,60 patients with glucocorticoid-dependent dermatitis and 40 normal human controls were eligible for this study.A noninvasive method using TewameterTM was applied to determine transepidermal water loss (TEWL) value in these subjects.Tissue specimens were obtained from the lesions of 13 patients with glucocorticoid-dependent dermatitis and normal skin of 10 human controls.Subsequently,haematoxylin and eosin(HE) staining was performed to observe the histopathological changes,immunohistochemistry to detect the protein expressions of K6,K10,K14,K15,loricrin,filaggrin,involucrin in epidermis,and electron microscopy(EM) to estimate the density of lamellar bodies in tissue specimens.ResultsCompared with the normal controls,the patients displayed an elevated TEWL value (P ＜ 0.05),which suggested an impaired epidermal barrier.Histopathology of lesions revealed nonspecific inflammatorychanges withmarkeddifferencesbetweendifferentclinicaltypesofglucocorticoid-dependentdermatitis.Immunohistochemistry revealed an attenuated expression of K10,K14,loricrin,filaggrin,involucrin and abnormal expression of K15 in lesional epidermis compared with the normal epidermis (all P ＜ 0.05),hinting a suppression of epidermal differentiation and proliferation as well as an impairment of cornified envelope structure.The number and density of lamellar bodies were also reduced in lesional epidermis compared with the control epidermis.ConclusionsCompared with normal skin,the structure of skin barrier is impaired in lesions of glucocorticoid-dependent dermatitis,to restore skin barrier is essential for the treatment of this entity.

Objetives To investigate the outcomes of sirolumus-eluting stent(CypherTM,Cordis/Johnson&Johnson,Warren,NJ,USA)and paclitaxel-eluting stent(TaxusTM,Boston Scientific,Natick,MA.USA)in the treatment of coronary heart disease after a four.year clinical follow-up.Methods 237 consecutive patients were enrolled in this study and treated with Cypher(136 patients)or Taxus(101 patients)from January to October 2003.111e rates of stenosis.stent thrombosis according to ARC definition and major adverse cardiac events(MACE a composite of cardiac death,myocardial infarction and target vessel revascularization)were analysed.Results There was no significant difference on secondary restenosis.target lesion revascularization(TLR)and MACE between Cypher and Taxus groups at six.month angiographic follow-up,but late luminal loss was higher in Taxus group[(0.15±0.43)mm vs(0.42±0.34)mm,P=0.022].At four-year follow-up,TVR-free survival rate was 88.97% in Cypher group versus 82.28% in Taxus group(P=0.158).MACE.free survival rate was 83.8% in Cypher group and 79.2% in Taxus group(P=0.056).The incidence of stent tllrombosis was no difference between the two groups(1.47% vs 1.98%).There was also no difference among early(0 vs 0.99%),late(0.73%vs0.99%)and very late stent thrombosis(0.73%vs 0)between the 2 groups.Conlusions There were nodifference between Cypher and Taxus in the treatment of coronary artery disease:Both Cypher and Taxus have good clinical outcomes except that Taxus had highcr late loss.

Objective: To make long-term comparison of drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation betweenleft internal mammary artery (LIMA) graft and native vessel in patients with previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
Methods: A total of 151 patients with anterior wall ischemia because of previous CABG induced LIMA graft lesion who received percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in our hospital from 2004-07 to 2012-12 were retrospectively studied. The clinical, coronaryangiography (CAG) and follow-up conditions for DES implantation were analyzed;according to the target vessel, the patients were divided into 2 groups:LIMA group, n=40 and Native vessel (NV) group, which meant all segments of left main to left anterior descending arteries, n=111. Primary end points included target lesion revascularization (TLR), target lesion failure (TLF) as cardiac death, target vessel related non-fatal MI with the composition of TLR and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE).
Results:The median follow-up time was 30 (10-100) months. The rates of TLR and TLF were similar between 2 groups:(15.0%vs 11.7%, log-rank P=0.65) and (17.5%vs 13.5%, log-rank P=0.63). MACE occurrence in LIMA group was higher than NV group (35.0%vs 18.0%, log-rank P=0.043) which was mainly presented by new non-target vessel revascularization as right coronary artery, left circumlfex and saphenous vein graft(17.5%vs 4.5%, log-rank P=0.014). Cox multivariate analysis indicated that target lesion stent length was the only independent predictor for both TLR (HR=1.03, 95%CI1.00-1.06, P=0.01) and TLF (HR=1.03, 95%CI1.00-1.05, P=0.02);whereas, LIMA-PCI was the only independent predictor for MACE occurrence (HR=3.09, 95%CI1.28-7.60, P=0.012).
Conclusion: The chances of TLR and TLF were similar inpatients with previous CABG by either LIMA or NV, while MACE occurrence was higher in LIMA patients which should be further investigated.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between haplotypes of multilocus markers and ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

METHODSFive families with AS were recruited from Shanghai area. Eleven microsatellite markers around D6S276 were analyzed by Linkage package and by Cyrillic package.

RESULTSFine linkage analysis showed the significant Lod score values with D6S276 was 3.8821, Lod score values with D6S1691 and D6S1618 near D6S276 were larger than 1.5. The crossover value in 5 pedigrees was 14%. The haplotype analysis showed that the regions between D6S1691 and D6S1618 were associated with AS.

CONCLUSIONThe regions of D6S1691-D6S276-D6S1618 may harbor a susceptible gene of AS. The specific haplotypes of different pedigrees may play an important role in the presymptomatic diagnosis for AS.

Female ; Haplotypes ; genetics ; Humans ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; genetics ; Male ; Pedigree ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo detect the diversity of killer Ig-like receptor(KIR) gene content and the combination of haplotypes in Chinese Han population in Shanghai area.

METHODSDNA samples from 87 randomly unrelated healthy individuals in Shanghai Han population were genotyped with SSP/PCR method.

RESULTS(1) Frequencies of KIR genes: All of 18 known KIRs genes, such as 2DL1-5, 2DS1-5, 3DL1-3, 3DS1, KIR1D and the pseudogenes X, Xv and Z(KIR2DP1) were observed in Shanghai Hans. All individuals contain 3DL3, 2DL4, 3DL2 and 3DL1; the most common genes were 2DL3, Z, 2DL1 and X; the following were 2DS4, 1D, 2DL5, 2DS1, 3DS1 and 2DS5; the next were 2DS2, 2DL2, 2DS3 and Xv. (2) Frequencies of KIR gene haplotypes; there were 13 haplotypes detected in 87 Han individuals, among them, the most frequent one was type 2 (haplotypeA-2DS4). (3) Frequencies of KIR genotypes: 18 kinds of the combinations of the haplotypes were observed; the most frequent ones were AJ(2,2), AF (1,2). Also, In this study were identified five new genotypes FZ1 2 9 , FZ2 1 16 , FZ3 6 17 , FZ4 4 13 and FZ5 2 6 ,which had not been observed in Caucasians so far.

CONCLUSIONThese findings suggest that there are distinctive frequencies of KIR gene content, haplotype as well as genotype in Chinese Han population in Shanghai area.

China ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; genetics ; Humans ; Receptors, Immunologic ; genetics ; Receptors, KIR ; Receptors, KIR2DL1 ; Receptors, KIR2DL3 ; Receptors, KIR2DL4 ; Receptors, KIR3DL1 ; Receptors, KIR3DL2 ; Receptors, KIR3DS1

Objective: To evaluate the hybrid of drug eluting stent (DES) with bare metal stent (BMS) and exclusive DES implantation for treating the patients with multi-lesion coronary disease.
Methods: A total of 6495 patients with multi-lesion coronary disease received elective PCI in our hospital from 2004-04 to 2006-10 were retrospectively studied. The patients were divided into 2 groups, Hybrid group, n=848 and Exclusive DES group, n=5647. With 1:1 propensity score matching, there were 823 pair of patients were ifnally studied. The clinical outcomes included 1, 2 years post-operative all cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), target lesion revascularization (TLR), target vessel revascularization (TVR), major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and in-stent thrombosis. The relative risks of all outcomes were assessed by Cox’s proportional-hazard model after propensity match.
Results: With propensity match, Cox’s proportional-hazard model analysis indicated that compared with Exclusive DES group, Hybrid group had the higher risks of TLR (HR 2.38, 95%CI 1.50-3.70), TVR (HR 1.61, 95%CI 1.15-2.27), MACE (HR 1.37, 95%CI 1.02-1.85), all P<0.01. The all cause death, MI and the ratio of all cause death/MI were similar between 2 groups in 1, 2 years follow-up period, all P>0.05.
Conclusion:Compared with exclusive DES, the hybrid of DES with BMS implantation had the higher risk of TLR, TVR and MACE for treating the patients with multi-lesion coronary disease.

BACKGROUNDRecent data have shown that sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) reduced not only the incidences of restenosis but also of target vessel revascularization (TVR). CYPHER and FIREBIRD stents are both widely used SES in China. However, comparative data concerning differences in long-term safety and efficacy regarding CYPHER and FIREBIRD stents in the Chinese population are still not available.

METHODSFrom April 2004 to October 2006, 3979 consecutive patients who underwent successful SES (FIREBIRD 2274; CYPHER 1705) implantation were prospectively enrolled into this study. All enrolled patients were divided into two groups based on stent type. Follow-up data, including death, myocardial infarction (MI), thrombosis, target lesion revascularization (TLR), TVR, and major adverse cardiac events (MACE, the composite of death, MI, and TVR) were obtained at 24 months. Cox's proportional-hazards models were used to assess relative risks of all the outcome measures between the two groups before and after propensity match.

RESULTSUnadjusted clinical outcomes demonstrated higher TVR (hazard ratio (HR) 1.78, 95%CI 1.26 - 2.50) and MACE (HR 1.40, 95%CI 1.08 - 1.82) for patients treated with FIREBIRD SES. After propensity match, the results showed a non-significant trend towards superiority of the CYPHER stent in all the analyzed parameters, however, no significant differences were found for all events at 24 months between FIREBIRD and CYPHER groups, and all thrombosis rates by Academic Research Consortium (ARC) definition were comparable between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONSIn this large, real-world population, the use of domestic FIREBIRD SES in China was associated with nearly the same safety and efficacy versus the imported CYPHER SES. FIREBIRD SES can be taken as an alternative for CYPHER SES in daily practice.

Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; methods ; China ; Coronary Restenosis ; therapy ; Drug-Eluting Stents ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; therapy ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Sirolimus ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDRecent studies have shown that drug eluting stent (DES) implantation improved clinical outcome concerning efficacy compared with bare-metal stent (BMS) implantation, and sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) seemed superior to paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) in improving the outcomes. Firebird SES is the most widely used SES in China. Long-term comparison of safety and efficacy between Firebird SES and Taxus PES in Chinese population is still not available. The aim of this research was to compare the safety and efficacy at 24 months after the successful implantation of Firebird SES and TAXUS PES in Chinese population.

METHODSFrom April 2004 to October 2006, 3110 consecutive patients who underwent successful DES (Firebird SES 2274; Taxus PES 836) implantation were prospectively enrolled into this study. All enrolled patients were divided into two groups based on stent type. By outpatient clinic visit and telephone interview, we obtained 24-month clinical outcome including death, myocardial infarction (MI), thrombosis, target lesion revascularization (TLR), target vessel revascularization (TVR), and major adverse cardiac events (MACE, the composite of death, MI, and TVR). We used Cox's proportional-hazards models to assess relative risks of all the outcome measures before and after propensity match.

RESULTSUnadjusted clinical outcomes indicated that the patients treated with Firebird SES were associated with lower risk of TLR (HR 0.38, 95%CI 0.26 - 0.54), TVR (HR 0.51, 95%CI 0.38 - 0.68) and MACE (HR 0.53, 95%CI 0.41 - 0.68). The results after propensity match were consistent with that before matching, lower risk of TLR (HR 0.33, 95%CI 0.19 - 0.58), TVR (HR 0.41, 95%CI 0.26 - 0.64), MACE (HR 0.48, 95%CI 0.33 - 0.68) in Firebird group.

CONCLUSIONCompared with Taxus PES, the use of domestic Firebird SES may decrease the risk of TLR, TVR and MACE in daily practice.

Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; adverse effects ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; therapeutic use ; Drug-Eluting Stents ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paclitaxel ; therapeutic use ; Sirolimus ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDSeveral clinical trials have shown that sirolimus-eluting stents significantly reduce the risk of restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The FIREBIRD stent (coated with durable polymer) and the EXCEL stent (coated with bioabsorbable polymer) are two different types of sirolimus-eluting stents made in China; both have been approved for clinical use in China by the State Food and Drug Administration. The mid-term (6-month) angiographic and clinical results of both stents have been confirmed exciting perspective outcomes. However, it is unclear whether there are differences in the long-term safety and efficacy between the two types of stents in daily practice.

METHODSAll consecutive patients undergoing elective PCI with EXCEL or FIREBIRD stents between June 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006 at Fu Wai Hospital in Beijing were included. Patients were classified from the index admission according to stent types (EXCEL or FIREBIRD) used. Clinical and procedural risk factors were collected prospectively. With propensity score matching without replacement, the frequency of major adverse cardiac events (MACE, a composite of death, myocardial infarction or target vessel revascularization) and stent thrombosis during a 2-year follow-up period were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSA total of 474 patients were treated with EXCEL, and 640 were treated with FIREBIRD. Three hundred and ninety-seven EXCEL patients were matched to 397 FIREBIRD patients, 2-year risk-adjusted MACE rates were 6.1% in EXCEL group and 7.6% in FIREBIRD group (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.50-1.43), whereas the respective rates for mortality, myocardial infarction and target-vessel revascularization were 2.3% vs 2.8% (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.30-0.85), 1.8% vs 1.3% (HR 1.41, 95% CI 0.45-4.43) and 2.5% vs 4.0% (HR 0.62, 95% CI 0.28-0.37), respectively. Cumulative incidence of stent thrombosis at 2 years was 1.8% in the EXCEL group vs 1.3% in the FIREBIRD group (P = 0.5610), whereas the rate of very late stent thrombosis was 0.5% vs 1.3% (P = 0.2550).

CONCLUSIONSResults from this long-term, relatively large size, single-center study showed that both of the EXCEL and the FIREBIRD sirolimus-eluting stent had similar and lower incidence of MACE after PCI in daily practice.

Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; methods ; Coronary Restenosis ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Drug-Eluting Stents ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sirolimus ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome