Adult ; Cryptococcosis ; physiopathology ; Cryptococcus neoformans ; Duodenal Diseases ; microbiology ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Male

Objective To assess the diagnostic performance of CT for detecting anastomotic leak after esophagectomy.Methods A total of 50 patients who underwent both CT and fluoroscopy after esophagectomy in our hospital from September 2013 to December 2015 were enrolled in this study.The fluoroscopy features and CT findings were analyzed retrospectively.Results The sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive values were 100%,86.67%,83.33%,100%,respectively,for CT,and 85%,100%,100%,90.91%,respectively,for fluoroscopy.The differences in CT features,including leak of contrast,wall discontinuity and air-fluid collection in the mediastinum were statistically significant between leak and no leak(P=0.000,P=0.000,P=0.005,retrospectively),while no statistically significant in air collection in the mediastinum,hydropneumothorax,pleural effusion and pneumatosis.The maximum diameter of air collection in leak was(1.54±0.97)cm,while the maximum diameter of air collection in no leak was (0.56±0.20)cm,the difference in the maximum diameter of air collection between leak and no leak was statistically significant(P=0.007).Conclusion CT is more sensitive but less specific than fluoroscopy for detecting anastomotic leak.CT can be a better choice for the patients who can not tolerate the fluoroscopy or the fluoroscopy results is negative but anastomotic leak is still suspected.

Objective To find out whether NOTCH receptors can serve as direct downstream targets of transforming growth factor β(TGF-β)/Smad4 signaling in endothelial cells.Methods Real-time PCR and Western blotting were performed to verify whether the expression of notch1 and notch4 was regulated by TGF-β pathway.Luciferase reporter assay was employed to investigate how the promoter of notch1 and notch4 was regulated by TGF-β.Then, ChIP assay was used confirm whether the promoter of notch1 and notch4 physically interacted with SMAD protein.Results TGF-β1 and bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) treatment increased the expression of both notch1 and notch4 at the transcriptional level.In addition, SMAD4 was physically associated with the SMAD binding sites on the notch4 promoter, which was largely enhanced under the treatment of TGF-β1 and BMP4.Importantly, TGF-β1 and BMP4 failed to transactivate notch4 in the absence of endogenous SMAD4 or the SMAD binding regions on the notch4 promoter.Conclusion The expression of NOTCH receptor can be directly up-regulated by SMAD4-mediated TGF-β/BMP signaling in cerebrovascular endothelial cells.

Adult ; Female ; Gas Poisoning ; drug therapy ; Glycoproteins ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quinuclidines ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect and safety of extracorporeal shock wave (ESW) in the treatment of pain symptom of type III B prostatitis.

METHODSWe treated 50 cases of type III B prostatitis by ESW once a week for 4 weeks. Then we evaluated the clinical effect and safety of the therapy based on the NIH-CPSI scores, visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, IIEF-5 scores, prostate volume and morphous, state of urination, color of urine, results of routine semen analysis, and changes of cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β) in expressed prostatic secretion (EPS).

RESULTSAll the patients successfully accomplished the treatment. Compared with the baseline, decreases were observed after 4 weeks of cytokine treatment in the pain scores (14. 61 ± 1. 82 vs 9. 36 ± 1. 47, P <0. 01), urination symptom scores (4. 59 ± 1. 01 vs.4. 66 ± 0. 89, P >0. 05) , quality of life scores (6. 51 ± 1. 03 vs 4. 56 ± 1. 02, P <0. 01), NIH-CPSI (25. 43 ± 1. 72 vs 18. 28 ± 2. 32, P <0. 01 ), and VAS (6. 59 ± 1. 10 vs 3. 02 ± 1. 07, P < 0. 01). The concentration of IL-6 in the EPS was significantly increased ([55.82 ± 6. 28] vs [86.59 ± 4. 55] ng/ml, P <0. 01) , while the level of TNF-α ([3.89 ± 0. 12] vs [3. 19 ± 0.22] ng/ml, P<0.01) and that of IL-1β ([3.21 ± 1.01] vs [1.48 ± 0.95] ng/ml, P< 0. 01) remarkably reduced after treatment. However, there were no statistically significant differences in IIEF-5 scores (18. 58 ± 2. 03 vs 18. 51 1. 89, P >0. 05) or various sperm parameters before and after treatment (P >0. 05). And no significant changes were observed in the prostate volume, morphous or internal echoes.

CONCLUSIONThe ESW therapy is effective and safe for the pain symptom of type III B prostatitis.

Adult ; Body Fluids ; Humans ; Interleukin-1beta ; metabolism ; Interleukin-6 ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pain ; etiology ; metabolism ; Pain Management ; methods ; Prostatitis ; complications ; metabolism ; therapy ; Quality of Life ; Spermatozoa ; physiology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism ; Ultrasonic Therapy ; methods ; Urine

Objective To explore the dynamic changes and significance of heart rate variability(HRV)during the initial phase after acute exposure to Tibet plateau by combining time,frequency domain and non-linear analysis.Methods Eighty-six healthy young men of Han nationality underwent short-term(5 min)heart rate variability(HRV)monitoring at 560 meter above sea level(plain),then were transported to Tibet plateau(3675-meter above sea level)by airplane.There,all subjects were divided into 3 groups,and A gorup(n=12)underwent HRV monitoring on the 2nd day after arrival,B group(n=48)on the 3rd day,C group(n=26)on the 4th day.Results Compared with the data obtained at plain,the standard deviation of normal to normal intervals(SDNN),high frequency(HF)and total power(TP)decreased significantly(P50 ms(PNN50)and normalized high frequency(HFnu)also decreased obviously(P

Objective To explore the effect of gastrin_(17) on E cadherin/?-catenin complex,a down- stream effector of FAK pathway,in colonic carcinoma cell line CoLo320WT.Methods pCR3.1/GR plasmid expressing gastrin receptor CCK 2R was transfected into colonic carcinoma cell line CoLo320 by Lipofectamine~(TM) 2000 and expressing stably CCK 2R clones was screened by G418.The expression levels of gastrin receptor of Coi.o320 and the transfected cell line Colo320WT were assayed by RT PCR. CoLo320WT cells were treated by 10~(-8)mmol/L gastrin_(17) at distinct time points (0 hr,1 hr,6 hr,12 hr, 24 hr,48 hr),whilst treated by 10_(-6) mmol/L L365,260 (gastrin_(17) receptor blocker) simultaneously for 30 minutes and then treated by gastrin_(17) again for 12 hr.Expression levels of phosphorylated FAK Tyr397 and total FAK in CoLo320WT under gastrin_(17)intervention were detected hy Western blot.Ex- pression levels of E-cadherin and?-catenin complex in TX-100 solution fraction and TX-100 insolution fraction of CoLo320WT cells were detected by coimmunoprecipitation and Western blot.Distribution of E-cadherin and?-catenin in CoLoWT320 were observed by immunocytochemistry.Results Phosphoryla- ted FAK Tyr397 expression in CoLo320WT cells increased in time dependent fashion under gastrin_(17) intervention and peaked at 12 hour after intervention,while decreased by L365,260 inhibition.But gas trine_(17) had no effect on total FAK in CoLo320WT cells.Expresion levels of E-cadherin and?-catenin com- plex in TX-100 solution fraction were decreased apparently,but increased again after L365,260 block- ing.On the contrary,the expression levels of E-cadherin and?-eatenin complex in TX-100 solution frac tion differed from that in TX-100 solution.Cytoehemistry observation had revealed that E-cadherin and?-catenin transferred from cell membranes into cndochylemas,nuclei and cytoskeleton under gastrin_(17) in- tervention.Conclusions Gastrin_(17)affected significantly the distribution of E cadherin/?-catenin complex in CoLo320WT by phosphorating FAK Tyr397 and activating FAK pathway when it bound to its recep- tor CCK-2,therefore promoted invasion and metastasis of CoLo320WT.

The applicator therapy is a unique method to treat infant diarrhea in traditional Chinese medicines and widely applied in clinical practice. Currently, many researchers have proved the rationality of the therapy based on the traditional Chinese medicine mechanism and on the data from clinical practice, but its action mechanism is uncertain at present. In this study, with the assistance of pediatric practitioners, the automated ribosomal intergenic-spacer analysis (ARISA) was adopted to study the effect of the adjuvant therapy with Dingguier umbilical paste on intestinal flora of diarrhea infants, in which Dingguier umbilical paste served as the adjuvant therapy in oral traditional Chinese medicines and fecal samples of infants with different diarrhea symptoms were collected and used as the study materials. The results showed that the adjuvant therapy had a significant effect on the shift of intestinal flora, which was associated with the decrease in the similarity difference to the normal control group and the increase in the number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) shared with the normal control group. Additionally, adjuvant therapy with Dingguier umbilical paste also showed long action duration and increased OTUs number. These results indicated that Dingguier umbilical paste has the effect in restoring the micro-ecosystem of unbalanced intestinal bacteria. Intestinal flora may be one of major targets for the applicator therapy for the infant diarrhea, but not for the single oral traditional Chinese medicine for infant diarrhea.
Adjuvants, Pharmaceutic ; therapeutic use ; Diarrhea ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Feces ; microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Intestines ; drug effects ; microbiology ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Ointments ; Treatment Outcome ; Umbilicus

Background Our previous study demonstrated that epigallocateehin-gallate(EGCG),an active ingredient of green tea,has protective effect on optical nerve after optic nerve crush.Astrocyte was proved to play key role in the repair of nerve tissue,but the influence of EGCG on astrocyte is unclear.Glial flbrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a special marker for astrocyte. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of EGCG on the expression of GFAP in optic nerve tissue after optic nerve crush. Methods Seventy-two clean Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control group,sham+EGCG group,optic nerve crush+normal saline group(vehicle group),optic nerve crush+EGCG group.Optic nerve crush models were established by clamping optical nerve for 60 seconds by minitype optic nerve clipper with the force of 40 gram.Only ocular tissue was cut in the rats in sham group.Normal saline solution or EGCG(25 mg/kg)was intraperitoneally injected daily for 5 days consecutively and orally administered(2 mg/kg)daily afterwards.The expression of GFAP in optic nerve was detected by immunohistochemistry and quantified by Western blotting analysis on day 7,14 and 28 after modeling. Results lmmunochemistry showed that GFAP were weakly expressed in the rats of both normal group and sham+EGCG group with the sliSht brown staining in optic nerve tissue.The deeply brown staining for GFAP was seen in vehicle group,and the staining intensity weakened in optic nerve crush+EGCG group compared to vehicle group on days 7,14 and 28 after modeling.Western blotting analysis revealed that the expression level of GFAP in rat optic nerve tissue of vehicle group was significantly enhanced in comparison with normal control group(P＜0.01).On day 7 and 14 after optic nerve modeling,the expression levels of GFAP were evidently decreased in optic nerve crush+EGCG group in comparison with vehicle group(P＜0.05).However,on day 28 after modeling,no significant difference wag found in the expression levels of GFAP between vehicle group and optic nerve erush+EGCG group(P＞0.05). Conclusion EGCG down-regulates optic nerve crush-induced of GFAP in the optic nerve and therefore attenuates the activity of astrocytes,suggesting that EGCG might reduce the formation of glial scar.

Background Researches demonstrated that epigallocatechin-3-gallate(EGCG) can protect retinal ganglion cells(RGCs) against damage induced by retinal ischemia-reperfusion and optic nerve crush(ONC),but the effect of EGCG on lateral geniculate nucleus(LGN) was under study.Objective This study was designed to detect neuroprotective effect of EGCG on LGN in the rat model with ONC.Methods Forty-eight 7-week-old female clean Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control group,sham operation+EGCG group,ONC+normal saline(NS) group and ONC+EGCG group.ONC models were created by clamping the optical nerve for 60 seconds with the clipper with the force of 40 grams in the right eyes of 24 rats.The EGCG solution(25mg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected from 2 days before operation daily for 5 consecutively days and orally administered(2mg/kg) after that,and NS was used in the same way for ONC+NS group.Four weeks after ONC,the brain tissue of the rats was obtained,and the neurons of dorsal LGN(dLGN) were counted by Nissl staining under the light microscopy.The expression of neurofilament triplet L(NF-L) was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis.Meanwhile,the neuronal nitric oxide synthase(nNOS) positive cells were counted.Results Compared with normal control group,no significant differences were found in neuron number both between sham operation+EGCG group or ipsilateral LGN of operative eyes in ONC+normal saline group and ONC+EGCG group(P=0.906,0.561,0.794,0.646 respectively) in 4 weeks after ONC,but loss of neurons in contralateral LGN in both ONC+normal saline group and ONC+EGCG group were observed(P=0.000,0.015 respectively).However,compared with ONC+normal saline group,the density of neurons in ONC+EGCG group was higher(P=0.007).Moreover,a higher expression level of NF-L protein was seen in ONC+EGCG group compared with ONC+normal saline group at contralateral LGN of operative eyes(P=0.002).Concerning the number of nNOS positive cells in LGN,there was no significant difference among normal control group,sham operation+EGCG group and ONC+EGCG group(P＞0.05).The number of nNOS positive cells in the contralateral LGN of operative eyes of ONC+normal saline group was higher than that of ONC+EGCG group(P=0.000).Conclusion EGCG plays the protective effect on LGN after ONC in rats through mediating the expression of nNOS.