Objective Toinvestigatetheeffectoffolicacidonplasmahomocysteine(Hcy)levels and vascular endothelial function in elderly cerebral infarction patients with hyperhomocysteinemia. Methods Thisstudywasaprospectivecontrolledtrial.Atotalof112elderlylacunarinfarction patients with high hyperhomocysteinemia admitted to the Department of Neurology,Nanjing Municipal Government Hospital from November 2012 to October 2013 were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups according to the method of random number table. The patients of both groups received the conventional drug treatment of ischemic stroke at the same time. Fifty-six patients were in group A,and they were treated with folic acid 20 mg,once a day;56 patients were in group B,and they did not treat with folic acid. The Hcy levels on admission and after 24 weeks treatment were measured. Brachial artery flow-mediated endothelium-dependent dilation (FMD)was measured by high resolution ultrasound,and nitric oxide (NO), nitricoxidesynthase(NOS),andendothelin(ET)weredetectedatthesametime.Results Twenty-four weeks after treatment,the plasma Hcy level in group A was significantly decreased as compared with prior treatment (12. 2 ± 4. 2 vs. 22. 6 ± 3. 7μmol/L;P<0. 05),moreover,it was lower than the level of group B at the same period (12. 2 ± 4. 2 vs. 21. 8 ± 4. 0μmol/L;P <0. 05 ). The FMD level of group A was significantly higher than that of prior treatment and group B (11. 2 ± 3. 6 vs. 9. 2 ± 3. 3,9. 3 ± 3. 3;P<0. 05). The NO and NOS levels of group A at 24 weeks after treatment were significantly higher than those of prior treatment and group B at the same period (76. 2 ± 9. 4 vs. 49. 2 ± 9. 0,50. 0 ± 9. 1μmol/L,47. 6 ± 9. 5 vs.38. 4 ± 7. 5,37. 8 ± 8. 8 kU/L;P<0.05). The ET level of group A was decreased as compared with that of prior treatment and group B at the same period (81. 3 ± 20. 5 vs. 105. 6 ± 25. 2,105. 3 ± 21. 8 ng/L;P<0.05).NoadversereactionwasfoundduringthetreatmentingroupA.Conclusion Alargerdoseof folic acid can significantly reduce the plasma Hcy level,decrease the FMD level,and ameliorate vascular endothelial function in elderly cerebral infarction patients with hyperhomocysteinemia.

Objective To investigate the spectrum of spiral CT imaging findings of blunt liver trauma.Methods Clinical data of 17 patients with blunt liver trauma were retrospectively collected. All patients underwent standardized spiral CT examination of the upper abdomen, which include plain scan, arterial phase and portal venous phase acquisition. The morphology, density and integrity of liver parenchyma and intrahepatic venous structures were carefully observed, as well as regions of porta hepatis, peritoneal cavity and retroperitoneal space.Results Twelve cases (70.6%) developed hepatic parenchymal laceration. There were 9 cases (52.9%) of traumatic hematoma, among which 5 were intraparenchymal and 4 were subcapsular. One case (5.9%) showed active bleeding within an intrahepatic hematoma, while two cases (11.8%) had injury (laceration) of hepatic veins. There were 7 patients (41.2%) who demonstrated the so-called “halo sign” around the intrahepatic portal branches. Thirteen patients were associated with peritoneal fluid (blood) collection, 3 with hematoma or hemorrhage of the right adrenal gland, 8 with plural effusion and 3 cases with rib fractures of right lower chest. Conclusion CT imaging findings of blunt liver trauma include parenchymal laceration, intraparenchymal and /or subcapsular hematomas, active hemorrhage, and tear of hepatic veins. Plain CT scan and contrast-enhanced dual-phase acquisition is very important for the comprehensive evaluation of patients with blunt liver trauma.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of a fast gradient-echo(GRE) three-dimensional contrast-enhanced volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination(3D-VIBE) MR sequence in evaluating focal liver lesions.Methods Conventional spin-echo T2W,2D GRE T1W plain scan and Gd-enhanced 3D-VIBE multi-phasic(early arterial,late arterial and portal venous phases) acquisitions were prospectively performed for 51 consecutive patients suspected of having focal liver lesions on CT or ultrasound imaging.Native T2W and 2D GRE T1W were acquired first,then 3D-VIBE fast scanning at early arterial,late arterial and portal venous phases respectively.The SNR and CNR of the liver lesions on plain scan and the enhancement patterns on contrast-enhanced 3D-VIBE images were carefully observed with correlation of the clinical and surgical pathological findings.Results There exited certain differences in SNR,CNR,and the enhancement patterns of different kinds of focal hepatic lesions in plain scan and Gd-enhanced multi-phasic 3D-VIBE acquisitions.Conclusion 3D-VIBE MR sequence is helpful in the detection and characterization of focal liver lesions.

Objective To investigate the relationship among paraoxonase-1 (PON 1) activity in serum,PON 1 Q192R polymorphism and chronic renal failure disease ( CRF ) in the hans of Hunan.Methods PON 1 activity in serum and PON 1 Q192R polymorphism of 79 patients with CRF and 90 healthy subjects as control were measured.Results PON 1 activity in serum of patients with CRF (372 6?150 6)U was significantly lower than that in control group (537 8?172 2)U(P

Objective To investigate gene polymorphisms and distribution features of glutathione Stransferase Omega-1 (GSTO 1 ) gene in Ala 140Asp site in 16 Chinese populations.MethodsA total of 1369 samples were from the human genome project(HGP)-the establishment and preservation program of Chinese minority genetic resources.The phenotypes of Ala/Ala (C/C),Ala/Asp (C/A),and Asp/Asp (A/A) of GSTO1 Ala140Asp were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism(PCR-RFLP).With analysis of molecular variance(AMOVA),the genetic variation levels among nations and regions were analyzed by estimating the evolutionary distance of alleles or genotypes.ResultsOf the 1369 individuals analyzed,979 (71.51％) were carriers of the wild homozygous allele Ala/Ala(C/C),365 (26.66％) were heterozygotes Ala/Asp(C/A) and 25 (1.83％) were mutant homozygotes Asp/Asp(A/A),with an overall frequency of the GSTO 1 mutant allele A 15.16％ [ (365 +50)/( 1369 × 2)].AMOVA analysis showed that the difference was statistically significant(P ＜ 0.05) of genetic variations of GSTO1 gene Ala140Asp among the 14 ethnic groups,and was significant between the northem and southern populations (P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion In different regions and populations the GSTO1Ala140Asp mutant allele frequencies are different.

Objective To investigate and evaluate the polymorphism distribution of arsenic(+3 oxidation state)methyhransferase(AS3MT)5'-UTR VNTR in Chinese populations.Methods Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood anti-coagulated with ACD of 1440 individuals in a standard phenol-chloroform protocol.The phenotypes of AS3MT 5'-UTR VNTR were determined by polymerase chain reaction(PCR)associated with agarose gel electrophoresis.Results Of the 1440 individuals,771(53.5%),426(29.6%),211(14.7%),16(1.1%)and 16(1.1%)were carriers of the V2/V3(AB/A2B),V3/V3(A2B/A2B),V2/V2(AB/AB),V2/V4(AB/A3B)and V3/V4(A2B/A3B)genotype,respectively.The AB(V2),A2B(V3)and A3B(V4)allele frequency was 41.9%,57.0%,1.1%respectively.The differences of AB(V2)and A2B(V3)allele frequency were all significant between the northern and southern populations respectively(χ2=23.39,χ2=33.28,P＜0.007).Conclusions In different regions the AB(V2)and A2B(V3)allele frequency is different,the AS3MT 5'-UTR VNTR polymorphism can be used to evaluate the susceptivity of arsenieosis.

Animals ; Cochlea ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Female ; Guinea Pigs ; Male ; Nerve Growth Factor ; metabolism

Animals ; Flunarizine ; pharmacology ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Male ; Neurons ; drug effects ; physiology ; Penicillins ; adverse effects ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Seizures ; chemically induced ; physiopathology

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Animals ; Catfishes ; Ciguatera Poisoning ; Eggs ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Vertebral artery dominance is generally considered to be a congenital vascular variation or meaningless clinical finding.Many studies have shown that the bilateral vertebral artery blood flow asymmetry caused by vertebral artery dominance is easy to result in basilar artery curvature.Some studies have shown that there are certain correlations between both the vertebral artery dominance and the basilar artery curvature and the posterior circulation stroke.