Objective To explore the values and relationship among the contents of thrombus precursor protein(TpP)and plasma D-dimer(D-D),complications after mechanical heart valve replace-ment and their correlation with international normalized ratio(INR)in anticoagulation therapy and monito-ring.Methods A total of 150 patients with mechanical heart valve replacement were enrolled.TpP,D-D, INR,other indicators and complications were compared to draw conclusions.Results There were signifi-cant differences in TpP among the groups(P<0.0083).Significant differences in D-D among the postop-erative group(100.96 ±61.56),thrombosis group(17.78 ±5.94)and control group(5.97 ±1.58)were observed(P<0.0083).Significant differences in INR among the postoperative group(1.65 ±0.34),hem-orrhage group(2.22 ±0.65)and control group(1.11 ±0.10)were observed(P<0.0083),but the effec-tiveness of INR monitoring for determining the state of thrombosis was limited to a certain extent.Conclu-sion TpP and D-D examination can facilitate monitoring after mechanical heart valve replacement,and it has a certain guiding significance for determining anticoagulation therapy and monitoring of complications after mechanical heart valve replacement.

Objective To explore the best safe dose of warfarin in patients with heart valve replacement.Methods One hundred patients with heart valve replacement were selected.They were divided into ≤60 kg group(47 cases) and ＞ 60 kg group(53 cases),postoperative time ≤3 months group (39 cases) and postoperative time ＞ 3 months group(61 cases),international normalized ratio(INR) ＜ 1.5 (group Ⅰ,23 cases),INR 1.5-2.5 (group Ⅱ,66 cases),INR ＞ 2.5 (group Ⅲ,11 cases).The dose of warfarin,plasma thrombus precursor protein(TpP) and D-dimer(D-D) were compared.Results The dose of warfarin was (2.90 ± 1.11) mg in ≤ 60 kg group and (2.47 ± 0.18) mg in ＞ 60 kg group,and there was significant difference between two groups (P ＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the dose of warfarin between postoperative time ≤3 months group and postoperative time ＞ 3 months group (P＞ 0.05),but there was significant difference in TpP and D-D [(6.32 ± 0.01) mg/L vs.(4.97 ± 0.81) mg/L,(879 ± 52) μ g/L vs.(151 ± 35) μ g/L] (P ＜ 0.05).The incidence of complications was 2.6％ (1/39) in postoperative time ≤3 months group,which was lower than that in postoperative time ＞ 3 months group[18.0％(11/61)],and there was significant difference between two groups (P＜ 0.05).There was significant difference in the dose of warfarin and D-D between group Ⅰ and group Ⅱ,group Ⅲ [(2.56 ±0.21) mg vs.(2.94 ±0.57),(3.07 ±0.44) mg,(793.92 ±42.73) μg/L vs.(100.96 ± 21.56),(61.08 ± 20.34) μg/L](P＜ 0.05),but there was no significant difference between group Ⅱ and group Ⅲ (P ＞0.05).There was significant difference in TpP among three groups [(8.50 ± 0.63),(5.42 ± 0.78),(3.16 ± 0.38) mg/L in group Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ respectively] (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion With warfarin dose and the incidence of complications,the best dosage of wadarin is (2.94 ± 0.57) mg; the optimal range of INR is 1.5-2.5.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hemopneumothorax ; surgery ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paracentesis ; Thoracoscopy

Objective To evaluate the susceptibility of itraconazole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus isolates to four other antifungal drugs.Methods Six strains of Aspergillus fumigatus were serially isolated from a patient with lung aspergilloma,who was resistant to itraconazole therapy.Clinical Laboratory Stan- dard Institute broth microdilution method M38-A and E-test were applied to test the susceptibility of A.fumi- gatus strains to amphotericin B,itraconazole,voriconazole,caspofungin and micafungin.Results With M38-A method,the minimal inhibitory concentration(MIC)of itraconazole was 0.5?g/mL for 2 strains and more than 16?g/mL for the other 4 strains;the MICs of amphotericin B and voriconazole were 1?g/mL and 0.25-1?g/mL respectively for all the 6 strains;and the minimal effective concentration(MEC)of caspofungin and micafungin were no more than 0.03?g/mL for all the 6 strains.Moreover,E-test results also revealed that caspofungin and voriconazole had a good antifungal activity against all the strains,including the 4 itraconazole-resistant ones.Conclusion The itraconazole-resistant A.fumigatus strains isolated from a patient with lung aspergilloma are susceptible to amphotericin B,voriconazole,caspofungin,and micafungin.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of Bushen Huoxue Compound (BHC) on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage, expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF mRNA in retinal Muller cells under high glucose condition or advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs) condition by using serum pharmacological method.

METHODSThe retinal Müller cells of 5-7 days post-natal Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were cultured with modified enzyme-digestion method. Purified retinal Muller cells were cultured in normal conditions, high glucose condition (50 mmol/L) or AGEs (50 mg/L and 100 mg/L) conditions, and BHC-containing serum was added to culture medium. The LDH leakage and VEGF expressions were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In addition, the relative expression of VEGF mRNA was tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTSCompared with the normal control group, expressions of VEGF and VEGF mRNA were significantly increased in the high glucose group, the low dose AGEs group and the high dose AGEs group (all P < 0.01). The LDH leakage was obviously increased in the high dose AGEs group, when compared with the normal control group and the high glucose group (P < 0.01). The LDH leakage, expressions of VEGF and VEGF mRNA were obviously decreased by BHC-containing serum both in high glucose and AGEs conditions (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). BHC-containing serum had no significant effect on the LDH leakage and expressions of VEGF and VEGF mRNA in normal conditions (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSAGEs intervention could obviously lower the stability of Müller cell membrane. Up-regulated expressions of VEGF and VEGF mRNA in cultured Müller cells could be induced by AGEs or high glucose. BHC-containing serum could stabilize the stability of Müller cell membrane, inhibit the transcription of VEGF mRNA and decrease the protein expression of VEGF, which might be one of important mechanisms for preventing and treating diabetic retinopathy.

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Ependymoglial Cells ; Glucose ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; RNA, Messenger ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

The marine biological source of mineral drugs recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 version) mainly including pearl, nacre, clam shell, common oyster shell, ark shell, cuttle bone, and sea-ear shell are widely used in clinical. Calcium carbonate and a small amount of protein are the main components in this type of drugs. In this paper, a systematical and comparable study were carried out by determination of calcium carbonate by EDTA titration method, the crystal of calcium carbonate by X-Ray powder diffraction and the total amino acids (TAAs) of the hydrolyzed samples by ultraviolet spectrophotometry method. As a result, the crystal structure is calcite for common oyster shell, mixture of calcite and aragonite for nacre and sea-ear shell, aragonite for the other drugs. The content of calcium carbonate ranged from 86% to 96%. Cuttle bone has the highest amount of TAAs among the seven drugs which reached 1.7% while clam shell has the lowest content of 0.16% on average. In conclusion, an effective method was developed for the quality control of marine mineral drugs by comprehensive analysis of calcium carbonate and TAAs in the seven marine mineral drugs.
Amino Acids ; analysis ; chemistry ; Animal Shells ; chemistry ; Animals ; Calcium Carbonate ; analysis ; chemistry ; Crystallization ; Edetic Acid ; chemistry ; Mollusca ; chemistry ; classification ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; analysis ; chemistry ; standards ; Quality Control ; Reproducibility of Results ; Seawater ; Species Specificity ; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet ; X-Ray Diffraction

Cytometric bead array (CBA) is a new analytical technique, which can achieve real-time and rapid detection of targeted components in a small amount of sample. With many advantages of high throughput screening, high specificity and sensitivity, low cost, easy operation and good repeatability, this CBA technique has been widely used for the detection of various components in foods, agricultural products and environmental samples. Recently, it has got significant development in rapid detection of small molecules. This review briefly introduced the theory of CBA technique, summarized the application in the analysis of small molecules, such as mycotoxins, pesticide residues, shellfish toxins, and then prospected the application of trace small molecules detection in the complex matrices of traditional Chinese medicine and the development trend of it.
Drug Contamination ; High-Throughput Screening Assays ; instrumentation ; methods ; Immunoassay ; instrumentation ; methods ; Microspheres ; Pesticides ; analysis ; Toxins, Biological ; analysis

Objective To summarize the experience of the ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) in communicating hydrocephalus and its complications. Methods The clinical features, operative techniques and outcome of 100 patients with hydrocephalus were analysed retrospectively. Results Ninety-five (95%) cases had a good result. Postoperative complications were found in 6(6%) cases including shunt apparatus blockage (4 cases) and shunt infection (2 cases). All the cases improved after taking the corresponding measures. Conclusion VPS is the most common shunt style for communicating hydrocephalus. The shunt apparatus blockage and infection are common postoperative complications. Intraoperative aseptic technique, the minimally invasive procedure, and the optimal placement of shunt tube may play an important role in improving the outcome of cerebrospinal fluid shunting surgery for communicating hydrocephalus.

BACKGROUND:The intracel ular accumulation of reactive oxygen species leads to oxidative stress. Hypoxia is widespread in physiological and pathological condition. Variation of bone proliferation and differentiation when bone tissues cultured or bone cel s induced toxicity by reactive oxygen species under hypoxia have not yet been reported. OBJECTIVE:To observe the biological characteristics of MC3T3-E1 pretreated with different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in hypoxia, thus understanding the cel mechanism underlying prolonged bone healing in the elderly with osteoporosis and diabetes. METHODS:The MC3T3-E1 cel s pretreated with different concentrations of H2O2 were cultured in different oxygen concentrations. The proliferation of MC3T3-E1 was detected by cel counting kit-8. The cel differentiation was detected through alkaline phosphatase staining and alizarin red staining. Total RNAs were extracted and used for analyzing the mRNA levels of col age type 1, alkaline phosphatase and Cbfa1. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:When MC3T3-E1 pretreated with 200μmol/L H2O2 for 6 hours, the cel proliferation was increased with time, but lower than that in the control group. The alkaline phosphatase activity was weakened, and the number of mineralized nodes was decreased at the early stage of differentiation. When MC3T3-E1 pretreated with 400μmol/L H2O2 for 6 hours, the cel proliferation was decreased obviously. The alkaline phosphatase activity was stil weakened, and the number of mineralized nodes was decreased further, but not affected by hypoxia. When MC3T3-E1 pretreated with 400μmol/L H2O2 for 6 hours and then cultured in hypoxia, the mRNA expression of Cbfa1 was decreased, but the mRNA expressions of col age type 1 and alkaline phosphatase were significantly increased. These results suggest that MC3T3-E1 pretreated with low concentration of H2O2 show a significant decrease in proliferation, while MC3T3-E1 pretreated with a high concentration of H2O2 and cultured in hypoxia show a decrease in osteogenic differentiation, especial y at the early stage of alkaline phosphatase formation.

Objective To evaluate the indications and intraoperative management of nephron-spar- ing surgery (NSS) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC).Methods A total of 53 patients (32 men and 21 women;age range,21 -76 years) with unilateral RCC and a normal contralateral kidney underwent NSS.The disease course ranged from 1 week to 13 months.The unilateral RCCs were detected by B-uhrasonography. Partial nephrectomy was performed on 38 cases of polar RCC and wedge nephrectomy was performed on 15 cases of central RCC.Both renal vein and artery were blocked for 10 - 15 min,and unclamped for 1 -2 min if necessary.The resections were finished within 7 -21 min (mean,12 min).No inosine and regional hypo- thermia were used during operation.Absorbable hemostatic gauze and terylene flake were used to suture renal wound surface.After operation all patients were treated with interferon hypodermic injection of 5 000 000 U every other day for 3 months.Results The diagnosis of RCC with negative cutting margin was confirmed by pathological examination in all patients.The greatest dimension of the renal cancers were＜4 cm except for one of 6 cm.The clinical stage was T_1N_0M_0 in all patients.During the follow-up of 6 -48 months,all pa- tients were alive without recurrence and had normal renal function.Conclusions NSS can be rapidly per- formed for T_1 stage renal cancer＜4 cm or single clearly localized cancer＞4 cm in diameter.The follow-up results are satisfactory.