Objective To investigate changes of serum levels of interleukin(IL)-4,-6,-8 and tumor necrosis factor-?(TNF-?),and probe their clinical significance in children with Henoch-Schonlein purpura(HSP)/ HenochSchonlein purpura nephritis(HSPN).Methods Serum levels of IL-4,-6,-8 and TNF-? of 45 children with HSP/HSPN and 43 healthy children were examined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA),changes and correlation between the aforementioned cytokines in children with HSP /HSPN were analyzed.Results 1.Serum levels of IL-4,-6,-8 and TNF-? of children with HSP were higher than those of control group(P0.05);The serum level of TNF-? was positively correlated to the serum levels of IL-6,-8 of patients with HSP(r=0.670 P

OBJECTIVETo study the expression of lipoprotein related genes in subchondral bone of early experimental os-teoarthritis, which may play an important role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis.

METHODSAnimals are equally divided into two groups: experimental group and control group, both of which contain fifteen rats of similar weight. The right knee joints of experimental group underwent surgery,which involved in both medial collateral ligament(MCL) transaction and medial meniscectomy, while the control group was only carried out with a sham operation. Rats were killed at 1, 2 and 4 weeks postsurgery to obtain the right knee joints. Total RNA of the subchondral bone was extracted,and then hybridized to Agilent Whole Rat Genome Microarray. Differentially expressed genes analysis was used to study the chemokine signaling pathway.

RESULTSApoa5 expression was down-regulated at 1, 2 weeks post-surgery, Apoc2 expression was up-regulated at 1 week after surgery, Apol3 expression was up-regulated at 1 and down-regulated at 4 weeks post-surgery, Lrp1 expression was down-regulated at 1, 2 weeks after surgery. Lrp5 was down-regulated at 2 weeks after surgery. Gpihbp1, Lpl, Tfpi and Vldlr were up-regulated at 1 weeks after surgery. Lrpap1 and RGD1309808 were down-regulated at 4 weeks after surgery.

CONCLUSIONDysregulation of lipoprotein related genes plays an important role in pathogenesis of early experimental osteoarthritis.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Knee Joint ; metabolism ; Lipoproteins ; genetics ; Male ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Osteoarthritis ; genetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transcriptome

OBJECTIVETo compare the effect and impact of holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) and 120-W thulium: YAG vapoenucleation of the prostate (ThuVEP) on erectile function in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed 93 cases of symptomatic BPH treated by HoLEP or 120 W ThuVEP. We made comparisons between the two groups of patients in the baseline and postoperative clinical and surgical indexes as well as their IPSS, quality of life (QOL), maximum flow rate (Qmax), postvoid residual urine volume (PVR), and IIEF-EF scores before surgery and during the 12-month follow-up.

RESULTSThuVEP, in comparison with HoLEP, achieved a significantly shorter operation time ([57.6 +/- 12. 8] vs. [70.4 +/- 21.8] min, P = 0.001) and a higher laser efficiency ([0.71 +/- 0.18] vs. [0.62 +/- 0.19] g/min, P = 0. 021). At 1, 6, or 12 months of follow-up, no significant differences were observed in IPSS, OOL, Omax, and PVR between the two groups (P > 0.05). Both the HoLEP and ThuVEP groups showed low incidences of complications and remarkably improved IIEF-EF scores at 12 months postoperatively, but with no significant differences (both P > 0.05). However, in those with relatively normal erectile functions before operation, the mean IIEF-EF score was reduced from 22.8 +/- 2.2 preoperatively to 21.0 +/- 2.7 after HoLEP, (P = 0.036).

CONCLUSIONBoth HoLEP and 120W ThuVEP are effective and safe in the treatment of BPH. Compared with HoLEP, 120 W ThuVEP has even a higher laser efficiency. However, neither can significantly improve erectile function, and HoLEP may have a short-term negative impact on the relatively normal erectile function of the patient.

Aged ; Holmium ; Humans ; Laser Therapy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Lasers, Solid-State ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Penile Erection ; Prostatectomy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; surgery ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Thulium ; Transurethral Resection of Prostate ; Treatment Outcome ; Urine

To evaluate the automated segmentation algorithm for detection of intra - retinal layers to process images obtained from ultra- high resolution optical coherence tomography ( OCT ) . Graph theory and the shortest path search based on dynamic programming were applied to automatically segment the 8 intra - retinal layers. We experimentally verified the accuracy and reliability of the algorithm. The results showed that the intra-retinal layer boundaries between automated and manual segmentations matched well. The algorithm successfully segmented the intra- retinal layers in glaucoma, high myopia, and retinitis pigmentosa patients. The proposed automatic segmentation for intra-retinal layers provides a promising tool for quantitative analysis in clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Background Diabetic retinopathy (DR) leads to blindness because of the retinal angiogenesis caused by the ischemia of retina.Vascular endothelial growth inhibitor (VEGI) is a recently identified anti-angiogenic cytokine,which can suppress endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis.Objective The aim of this study was to detect the change of serum and vitreous VEGI/TL1A and its relative cytokines in patients with DR.Methods A non-randomized controlled clinical trial was performed.Fifty-five DR patients were enrolled in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from November 2012 to March 2013 with the informed consent.The patients were divided into non-proliferative DR (NPDR) group (20 cases) and PDR group (35 cases).Eleven cataract patients served as normal control group,and 15 patients with diabetic mellitus (DM) were included as DM group.The demography was matched among the groups,but the course of DM and the blood glucose level were elevated in the PDR group and the DM group compared with DR group (all at P＜0.05).We collected the serum of all the patients above.Another 23 PDR patients (25 eyes) were enrolled in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from November 2012 to March 2013 with the informed consent and served as PDR group,healthy corpse's eyes (n=7) as control group,the patients were assigned to the retinal photocoagulation group,surgery group and photocoagulation +surgery group according to different treatment procedures.Vitreous samples were collected during the progress of vitrectomy.TL1A/VEGI 251,VEGF,TNF-α,IL-1β and NF-κB p65 concentrations in the serum and vitreous specimens were detected using ELISA.The differences of serum and vitreous TL1A/VEGI 251,VEGF,TNF-α,IL-1β and NF-κB p65 in various groups were statistically analyzed by ANOVA and independent sample t test,respectively.The correlation between TL1A/VEGI 251 and VEGF,TNF-α,IL-1β,NF-κB p65 were calculated by Pearson correlation analysis.Results TL1A/VEGI 251 concentration was elevated in the DM group,NPDR group and PDR group compared with the normal control group,with significant difference among the 4 group (F =27.431,P =0.009),and TL1A/VEGI 251 concentration was higher in the PDR group than that in the DM group or the NPDR group (P＜0.05).VEGF,TNF-α,IL-1 β and NF-κB p65 concentrations in serum were increased in the PDR group in comparison with the DM group,NPDR group and the normal control group (P＜0.05).However,no significant difference among the DM group,NPDR group and the normal control group (P＞0.05).Serum TL1A/VEGI 251 concentration was significant correlated with VEGF,TNF-α,IL-1β and NF-κB p65 concentration (r=0.951,0.951,0.851,0.944,all at P＜0.01).Vitreous TL1A/VEGI 251,VEGF,TNF-α,IL-1 β concentrations were ascended in the PDR group compared with the normal control group (P =0.024,0.001,0.000,0.037),but there was no significantly difference in vitreous NF-κB p65 concentration between the two groups (P =0.073).Vitreous TL1A/VEGI 251 concentrations declined in the retinal photocoagulation group and the surgery group compared with the normal group (all at P＜ 0.05),and significant positive correlations were found between vitreous TL1A/VEGI 251 concentration and VEGF or TNF-α concentration (r =0.675,0.950,P ＜ 0.01) ;while Pearson correlation coefficient was not statistically significant between vitreous TL1A/VEGI 251 concentration and IL-1β or NF-κB p65 concentration (r=0.233,0.318,P＞0.05).Conclusions VEGI is involved in the pathogenesis of DR,and it interacts with VEGF,TNF-α,IL-1β and NF-κB to affect the development of DR.These results provide a new clue for the further study of DR.

Objective To detect the sperm apoptosis rate and level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in seminal plasma and explore their correlation among infertile males. Methods Ninety-two inferitile males were divided into varicocele (VC) group (n=32), leukocytospermia group(n=30) and the other cause group (n=30), and another 24 in vitro fertilization sperm samples were sereved as controls. The routine sperm parameters including seminal pH, sperm viability and sperm density were examined by computer assisted sperm analysis, the sperm apoptosis rate was asseseed using Annexin V/PI staining, and the ROS level in seminal plasma was detected by TBA method. The differences in seminal parameters between three infertile groups and control group were compared, and the correlation of sperm apoptosis rate with level of ROS in seminal plasma was explored in each group. Results The sperm viability of three infertile groups was significantly lower than that of control group (P<0.01). The sperm apoptosis rates and levels of ROS in seminal plasma in VC group and leukocytospermia group were significantly higher than those in control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The sperm apoptosis rate was positively correlated with the level of ROS in seminal plasma in leukocytospermia group(r=0. 573, P < 0.05). Conclusion The increased sperm apoptosis rate and level of seminal plasma ROS may be related to the infertility of patients with VC and leukocytospermia. The increased level of seminal plasma ROS may be one of the causes of increased sperm apoptosis rate in patients with leukocytospermia.

Objective To investigate the diagnosis and the microsurgical treatment of intramedullary hemangioblastoma in cervical spinal cord.Methods The signs of MRI,and the results of operations were analysed in 26 patients with the tumors.Rusults The tumors can be classified into two types:Solid type (14 cases)and cystic type(12 eases).All the tumors underwent total removal and were all hemangioblastoma confirmed by histopathologic examinations.Postoperatively,neurological status were improved in 17 patients, remained in 7 cases and worse in 2 cases.Conclusion For intrameduUary hemangioblastoma of cervical spinal cord MRI is of significant importance in the diagnosis of localization and the nature of the tumors which is conductive to selecting appropriate operative methods.There is high risk in operating at cervical section,but microsurgical total resection is the optimal method to stop the development of the clinical presentation.Opera- tive methods varied with the different typer of the tumor.It is the most important principal that dissection is performed along the correct interface and the tumor should be removed en bloc after it is devascularized.

Paraganglioma is a rare neuroendocrine tumor arising from the undifferentiated cells of the primitive neural crest. We report a case of malignant paraganglioma originating from the left kidney. The 55-year-old female patient was admitted for intractable cough for a month and the presence of a solid mass in the left lung detected by computer tomography (CT). Sonography revealed a mass in the left kidney after admission. Complete surgical resection of the tumor was performed and the diagnosis of malignant paraganglioma originating from the left kidney was established pathologically. During the follow-up for 12 months, the patient showed a good general condition and sonography revealed no evidence of recurrence. Based on these findings, we discussed the diagnosis of this disease using medical imaging modalities.
Female ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; secondary ; Middle Aged ; Paraganglioma ; pathology ; secondary ; surgery ; Radiography

Oroxylum indicum was a traditional Chinese medicine. In order to study the chemical constituents from the seed of O. indicum, the chemical constituents of 80% methanol extract of seeds of O. indicum were subjected to chromatography on silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and preparative HPLC, leading to the isolation of eleven compounds. The structures were identified by various spectroscopic data including ESI-MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR data as oroxin B (1), chrysin (2), baicalein (3), neglectein (4), quercetin-3-O-β-D-galactopy ranoside (5), quercetin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6), 2α,3β-dihydroxylluPeol (7), lupeol (8), rengyol (9), β-sitostero (10), and stigmasterol (11). Among them, compound 5 were firstly obtained from O. indicum.
Bignoniaceae ; chemistry ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Seeds ; chemistry