OBJECTIVETo observe therapeutic effects of locking titanium plate for the treatment of comminuted proximal humeral fracture in elderly.

METHODSFrom June 2011 to May 2013, 72 elderly patients with comminuted proximal humeral- fractures were divided into locking titanium plate group and anatomical plate group, 36 cases in each group. In locking titanium plate group, there were 16 males and 20 females aged from 60 to 79 years old with an average of (69.55±5.62) years old; 10 cases were type Neer II, 18 were type Neer III and 8 cases were type Neer IV in accordance with Neer classification; treated with locking titanium plate. In anatomical plate group, there were 15 males and 21 females aged from 60 to 81 years old with an average of (69.76±5.70) years old; 9 cases were type Neer II, 20 were type Neer III and 7 cases were type Neer IV; and treated with anatomical plate. Clinical effects, preoperative and postoperative Neer scoring, operative time, bone healing time and incidence of complications between two groups were compared.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up from 1 to 3 years with an average of 15 months. The excellent and good rate of locking titanium plate group (91.7%) was significantly higher than anatomical plate group (75.0%). Postoperative Neer score of two groups were improved obviously, but locking titanium plate group (92.51±7.85) was higher than anatomical plate group (83.64±8.56); there was no significant differences between two groups in operative time (P>0.05); bone healing time in locking titanium plate was (18.6±3.4) weeks, and shorter than anatomical plate group (24.3±3.9) weeks; incidence of complications in locking titanium plate was (5.6%) shorter than anatomical plate group (22.2%), and had obviously differences between two groups.

CONCLUSIONLocking titanium plate for the treatment of comminuted proximal humeral fracture in elderly plays an important role in good rate, bone healing time and Neer score. It has advantages of early rehabilitation exercise, less shoulder pain, rapid recovery of shoulder joint, less complications, safe and effective, and be worthy of clinical application, especially for senile osteoporosis patients.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bone Plates ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Fractures, Comminuted ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Shoulder Fractures ; surgery ; Titanium

The reports on chemical constituents of Hyoscyamus niger were summarized. The compounds include alkaloids, saponins, lignans, coumarinolignans, flavonoids, and some other nonalkaloidal compounds. TLC, HPLC, and GC were used for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of some chemical constituents in H. niger. Modern pharmacological experiments showed that H. niger had the analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, anticonvulsant, spasmolytic, antidiarrhoeal, antisecretory, bronchodilatory, urinary bladder relaxant, hypotensive, cardiosuppressant, vasodilator, antitumor, and feeding deterrent properties. In addition, the toxicities of this medicinal plant were also described.

Objective To identify the important risk factors for type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and develop effective strategies to address the problem of T2DM.Our study aimed to evaluate the association between apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genetic polymorphism and type 2 diabetes,and to provide clues for the etiology of T2DM.Methods Based on the criteria of inclusion and exclusion,we extracted,pooled,analyzed and assessed the case-control studies of ApoE polymorphism and T2DM published in PubMed,Web of Science,Medline,WanFang,VIP,and CNKI databases by R soft-ware (version 3.4.3).We used Random-effect models when heterogeneity was present in between-study,and fixed-effect models otherwise.Results We had 59 studies covering 6,872 cases with T2DM and 8,250 controls,and compared the alleles and genotypes of ApoE between cases and controls.When we conducted a comparison between ApoE ε4 and ε3 alleles,we produced a pooled OR of 1.18 (95％ CI:1.09-1.28;P ＜ 0.001).ApoE ε2/ε2 genotype displayed a possible association with T2DM (OR =1.46;95％ CI:1.11-1.93;P =0.007),ε3/ε4 genotype showed a 1.11-fold risk (OR =1.11;95％ CI:1.01-1.22;P =0.039) and ε4/ε4 genotype had a 1.71-fold risk of developing T2DM (OR =1.71;95％ CI:1.33-2.19;P ＜ 0.001) when they were compared with ε3/ε3 genotype.Conclusions There is an association between ApoE polymorphism and T2DM:allele ε4 and genotypes (ε2/ε2,ε3/ε4,and ε4/ε4) are associated with the increased risk for the development of T2DM,and they may be risk factors for T2DM.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare psychomotor performance related with automobile driving in patients with schizophrenia under the treatment of a typical antipsychotic agent, haloperidol, or an atypical antipsychotic agent, aripiprazole. METHODS: We evaluated driving ability of schizophrenia patients by using the cognitive perceptual assessment for driving (CPAD). Twelve patients receiving haloperidol monotherapy and 18 taking aripiprazole monotherapy participated in this study and the results of CPAD were compared with each other. RESULTS: Of 30 participants, 15 (50%) of the patients passed the CPAD to be regarded as competent to drive, 3 (10%) of the patients failed the CPAD considered to be severely impaired. Controlling for sex, age, education, duration of illness, there were no significant differences in the CPAD results between two treatment groups. We observed a trend that patients who received aripiprazole showed a higher total score of the CPAD than haloperidol-treated patients (55.2+/-4.9 vs. 45.7+/-8.4, p=0.080). CONCLUSION: There were no significant differences in the psychomotor performance relevant to driving ability between haloperidol and aripiprazole groups. But our results suggest that aripiprazole might have the neurocognitive advantage over haloperidol. Future study with a large sample size and diverse antipsychotics is warranted.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Automobile Driving ; Haloperidol ; Humans ; Imidazoles ; Nitro Compounds ; Piperazines ; Psychomotor Performance ; Quinolones ; Sample Size ; Schizophrenia ; Aripiprazole

OBJECTIVETo determine the effects of Chinese herbal monomers such as baicalin, berberine, and matrine on the androgen receptor (AR) mRNA expression in SZ95 sebocytes in vitro and to explore the possible mechanism of using traditional Chinese medicines to treat acne.

METHODSSZ95 sebocytes were cultured and then treated with berberine, baicalin, matrine, and 13-cis-retinoic acid for 24 hours. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was applied to detect the changes of AR.

RESULTAR mRNA was downregulated by 13-cis-retinoic acid of 1 x 10(-5) mol/L and 1 x 10(-6) mol/L, and by baicalin of 1 x 10(-4) mol/L (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION13-cis-retinoic acid and baicalin may exert antiandrogenitic action by inhibiting AR mRNA expression in human sebocytes.

Androgen Antagonists ; pharmacology ; Cell Line ; Down-Regulation ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Humans ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; Receptors, Androgen ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Skin ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo analyze the inpatient cost of AIDS related opportunistic infection in a high HIV epidemic area of China.

METHODSInformation was collected and analyzed from 158 inpatients with AIDS related opportunistic infection, including demographic characteristics of patients, types of opportunistic infection and treatment cost (median) from 2008 to 2010 in a high HIV epidemic area.

RESULTSThe inpatient cost per visit for AIDS related opportunistic infection was 2935.7 yuan. The fee per visit for examination, laboratory test, medicine, diagnosis and treatment, nursing, bed was 132.5, 269.0, 1485.5, 367.3, 302.5 and 264.0 yuan, respectively. The inpatient cost per visit for AIDS related opportunistic infection was 4383.1 yuan for male and 3418.6 yuan for female inpatient (U = -1.279, P = 0.201). The cost per visit for AIDS related opportunistic infection was 4703.1 yuan for Han nationality and 3475.9 yuan for minority patient (U = -1.025, P = 0.305). The inpatient cost per visit for AIDS related opportunistic infection was respectively 3429.3, 5022.2, 6705.5 and 2396.7 yuan for farmers, individual businessmen, employees of enterprise and public institution and jobless (H = 28.633, P = 0.000). The cost per visit was lowest for illiteracy patients (2590.2 yuan), 3626.5 yuan for primary school, 4214.3 yuan for junior high school and 6865.8 yuan for high school and higher education (H = 10.828, P = 0.013). The cost per visit for AIDS related opportunistic infection was respectively 2873.6, 4534.3, 3077.8 and 3208.1 yuan for under the age of 29, 30-39 years old, 40-49 years old and beyond the age of 50 (H = 1.515, P = 0.679). The AIDS related opportunistic infection cost per visit for inpatients infected through sex (4621.3 yuan) was higher than that of intravenous drug users (3208.6 yuan, U = -2.588, P = 0.010). Among various types of opportunistic infections, the cost was highest for neurological diseases (5819.7 yuan), 4300.8, 2806.8, and 2083.9 yuan for respiratory diseases, digestive system diseases and skin and mucous membrane diseases, respectively (H = 15.142, P = 0.004).

CONCLUSIONThe study shows difference of inpatient cost per visit between subgroups, the cost of public institution was higher than that of other professions, the cost of illiteracy patients was lower than other education level, the cost of inpatients infected through sex was higher than that of intravenous drug users, the cost of neurological diseases was higher than that of other types of opportunistic infections.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections ; economics ; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; economics ; Adult ; Female ; Health Care Costs ; Hospitalization ; economics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Adult ; Aged ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Bone Screws ; Female ; Humans ; Joint Instability ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Spinal Diseases ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Spinal Fusion ; instrumentation

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prospective effect of applying midline partial glossectomy with Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty in the treatment of OSAHS. METHOD: The data of 40 patients with OSAHS operated with midline partial glossectomy with UPPP were analyzed. RESULT: The follow-up polysomnography (6-month follow-up) revealed that the mean apnea and hypopnea index decreased from 62.39+/-21.68 to 18.60+/-5.01 (P<0.01), and the mean minimal oxygen saturation (SaO2) increased from 64.40%+/-14.96% to 88.39%+/-9.21% (P<0.01). In general, 29 patients were with excellent curative effect, 8 with good effect, and 3 with bad effect. Total effective rate was 92.5%. CONCLUSION The study confirms that the same-stage midline partial glossectomy with UPPP for OSAHS is a safe and effective procedure.
Adult ; Female ; Glossectomy ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Palate, Soft ; surgery ; Pharynx ; surgery ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Uvula ; surgery

Both Plasmodium spp. and Toxoplasma gondii are important apicomplexan parasites, which infect humans worldwide. Genetic analyses have revealed that 33% of amino acid sequences of inner membrane complex from the malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei is similar to that of Toxoplasma gondii. Inner membrane complex is known to be involved in cell invasion and replication. In this study, we investigated the resistance against T. gondii (ME49) infection induced by previously infected P. berghei (ANKA) in mice. Levels of T. gondii-specific IgG, IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG2b antibody responses, CD4+ and CD8+ T cell populations were found higher in the mice infected with P. berghei (ANKA) and challenged with T. gondii (ME49) compared to that in control mice infected with T. gondii alone (ME49). P. berghei (ANKA) + T. gondii (ME49) group showed significantly reduced the number and size of T. gondii (ME49) cysts in the brains of mice, resulting in lower body weight loss compared to ME49 control group. These results indicate that previous exposure to P. berghei (ANKA) induce resistance to subsequent T. gondii (ME49) infection.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Antibody Formation ; Body Weight ; Brain ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Malaria ; Membranes ; Mice ; Parasites ; Plasmodium berghei ; Plasmodium ; Toxoplasma ; Toxoplasmosis

Human infections due to the monkey malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi is increasingly being reported from most Southeast Asian countries specifically Malaysia. The parasite causes severe and fatal malaria thus there is a need for urgent measures for its control. In this study, the level of polymorphisms, haplotypes and natural selection of full-length pkmsp8 in 37 clinical samples from Malaysian Borneo along with 6 lab-adapted strains were investigated. Low levels of polymorphism were observed across the full-length gene, the double epidermal growth factor (EGF) domains were mostly conserved, and non-synonymous substitutions were absent. Evidence of strong negative selection pressure in the non-EGF regions were found indicating functional constrains acting at different domains. Phylogenetic haplotype network analysis identified shared haplotypes and indicated geographical clustering of samples originating from Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. This is the first study to genetically characterize the full-length msp8 gene from clinical isolates of P. knowlesi from Malaysia; however, further functional characterization would be useful for future rational vaccine design.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Borneo ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Genetic Variation ; Haplorhini ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Malaria ; Malaysia ; Merozoites ; Parasites ; Plasmodium knowlesi ; Selection, Genetic