In temporomandibular disorders (TMD), pain takes place when neuropeptides stimulate synovial tissue to produce several cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, which activate neurons and glia of synovial membrane at the bilaminar regions of temporomandibular joint (TMJ). It has been reported that, after neurogenic differentiation, the synovial mesenchymal stem cells (SMSCs), deriving from TMJ, possess the same cytological features as the neuronal cells. This study examined the ability of substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) to stimulate SMSCs and neurogenic SMSCs secreting inflammatory cytokines during TMD, evaluated the mutual effects of inflammatory cytokines and neuropeptides and tested the analgesic effect of hyaluronic acid (HA). The levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in SMSCs and neurogenic SMSCs in the presence of neuropeptides were measured by ELISA. SP and CGRP produced by SMSCs and neurogenic SMSCs were determined by RT-PCR and Western blotting. The results showed that the expression of SP and CGRP was significantly enhanced in the neurogenic SMSCs in response to IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, and the effect was remarkably inhibited by HA. IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, in return, could be enhanced in the neurogenic SMSCs upon stimulation by SP and CGRP. Neuropeptides and inflammatory cytokines might work mutually on the TMD pain. The HA-mediated analgesic effect may be implicated in the inhibition of SP and CGRP expression in neurogenic SMSCs.

To assess the clinical effect and safety of Chinese traditional medicine injection combined with radiotherapy for esophageal cancer. The relative randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Chinese medical injections (CMI) combined with radiotherapy as well as simple radiotherapy for esophageal cancer were searched from PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database(CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database and VIP Database as at September 2014. Two researchers completed the data extraction and quality evaluation independently. The data were analyzed by GeMTC 0.14.3 and Stata 12. 0 software. Finally, 43 RCTs involving 3 289 patients were finally included. The star network was constructed by different comparison groups. The results of network meta-analysis showed that the seven CMIs combined with radiotherapy was superior to simple radiotherapy in the treatment of esophageal cancer in efficacy, quality of life, and reduction in the incidence of nausea and leucopenia, but with no significant difference among the seven CMIs. Probability ranking result showed a great possibility for Shenqi Fuzheng and astragalus polysaccharide injections in improving the overall response rate and quality of life, which were followed by cinobufagin and kangai injections. However, only one study was included for Shenqi Fuzheng and astragalus polysaccharide injections. Therefore, cinobufagin or kangai injections were preferred in improving the overall response rate and quality of life. Aidi or compound sophora injections were better than other CMIs in reducing? the incidences of nausea (III-IV) and leukopenia. More RCTs of Shenqi Fuzheng and astragalus polysaccharide injections combined with radiotherapy for patients with esophageal cancer were expected in the future to confirm our results. Moreover, study findings will be reported, particularly for the adverse events in radiotherapy for esophageal cancer.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; radiotherapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Objective To find out the iodine nutritional status of children in Xiamen island, and to provide the scientific basis for iodine supplimentation. Methods On March 2010, thyroids of all children aged 6to 12, from primary school on the Xiaodeng island of Xiamen were examined by palpation, urinary iodine, iodine content of salt athome and IQ level were tested, and were collected 20 households, iodine content of drinking water was tested randomly. Results IQ testing and thyroid palpation were carried out among a total of 156 children, the goiter rate of children was 1.28% (2/156), the mean IQ was 110; 154 urine samples were taken, the median urinary iodine was 219.1 μg/L; a total of 153 salt samples were tested, and the qualified rate of iodized salt was 87.58%(134/153), and the mean iodine content in the tap water was 4.52 μg/L Conclusions Iodine nutritional status of the island residents is better, and there are no such problems as excessive iodine.

The rupture of carotid atherosclerotic plaques and thrombosis are the main risk factor for ischemic stroke. The risk of carotid plaque rupture is closely related with the local biomechanical situation, morphology, components and biological activity of the carotid plaques. In this article, the research progress on methodology for studying carotid stenosis biomechanics, the risk of vulnerable plaque rupture in carotid stenosis and decision-making in clinical treatment, the animal modeling and experiment on vulnerable carotid plaques, and the components and biological activities of carotid plaques was summarized, the existing problems were analyzed, and the in-depth prospective about the biomechanical mechanism and quantitative assessment indices for vulnerable carotid plaques was also proposed, expecting to provide necessary theoretical guidance for feasible decision-making on the treatment of carotid stenosis.

OBJECTIVETFo compare the efficacy and complications rate of intramedullary (IM) nailing or K-wire versus plating fixation for clavicular fractures.

METHODSPubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library databases, CNKI, VIP and Wangfang databases were searched to find all randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials of clavicle fractures using plating versus IM nailing or K-wire. The methodologic quality of the studies was assessed. After independent study selection by 2 authors ,data were collected and extracted independently. Outcomes of postoperative shoulder functional measurement, the efficacy and information of the operation and complications rate were meta-analyzed using RevMan 5 software.

RESULTSNine hundreds and seventy-six patients in 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 3 quasi-RCTs were involved in the meta-analysis,of which 5 studies compared the K-wire and the plating fixations and 8 studies compared the IM nailing and the plating fixations. The overall odds ratio(OR) (with 95% CI) of the operation efficacy for K-wire versus the plating was 3.79 (1.93, 7.46). The overall weighted mean difference (with 95% CI) of Constant Shoulder score for plating versus IM fixation was -1.39 (-3.43, 0.65) in 6 studies. The overall OR of the plating versus IM nailing was 9.34(2.70, 32.32) for the overall major complications in 5 studies and 5.04 (1.52,16.77) for the revision rate in 5 studies.

CONCLUSIONThe current limited evidences suggested that the IM fixation could reduce the incidences of the overall major complications and the revision surgery, while the post-operative efficacy of the plating was superior to the K-wire. More high quality RCTs are still needed in the future.

Bone Nails ; Bone Wires ; Clavicle ; injuries ; surgery ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary ; instrumentation ; methods ; Fractures, Bone ; surgery ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Objective To explore the effect of iodine excess on bone metabolism in experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) rats. Methods We selected 36 female Lewis rats with body weight of (131 ± 15)g,and divided them into 3 groups randomly: control group, EAT group and EAT + high iodine group, assuring 12 rats in every group. These rats were fed fodder with different concentration of iodine(0.9,0.9, 18.0 mg/kg), and rats in EAT group and EAT + high iodine group were immunized with pig thyroglobulin(pTG) and complete Freund's adjuvant(CFA) to create EAT model. After two weeks, the pathological changes of the thyroid tissues were observed,and the serum thyroid autoantibody[thyroglobulin antibody(TGAb) and thyroid microsomal antibody(TMAb)], the thyroid hormone levels[triiodo thyronine(T3) and thyrine(T4)] and some relevant data of bone metabolism[bone gla protein (BGP), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), C-terminal propeptide of type Ⅰ procollagen (PICP),C-terminal telopeptide of type Ⅰ collagen (ICTP), insulin-like growth factor- 1 ( IGF- 1 ), osteoprotegerin (OPG) and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL)] were measured. Results Inflammatory cell infiltration and local follicular structural damage were observed in the thyroid tissues of EAT rats in EAT group and EAT + high iodine group, and the pathological changes of EAT + high iodine group were mainly thyroid follicular expansion and integration. The level of serum TGAb, TMAb, T3 and T4 of EAT rats in EAT group and EAT + high iodine group[ (63.01 ± 12.36)%, (60.62 ± 11.24)%, (3.78 ± 1.43), (125.12 ± 16.00)pmol/L and (75.00 ± 15.44)%,(72.15 ± 15.00)%, (3.69 ± 0.91 ), (149.40 ± 20.67)pmol/L] were higher than those of the control group[ (4.47 ±1.04)%, (5.73 ± 1.01 )%, (0.75 ± 0.12), (76.91 ± 9.30)pmol/L, all P ＜ 0.05], and the level of serum TGAb,TMAb and T4 of EAT rats in EAT + high iodine group were higher than those of the EAT group(all P ＜ 0.05).The level of serum BGP, PICP and IGF- 1 in EAT group[ ( 1.70 ± 0.31 ), ( 11.31 ± 1.52) μg/L, (0.31 ± 0.06 ) mg/L]were lower than those of the control group[ (8.60 ± 0.33), (14.28 ± 3.10)μg/L, (1.16 ± 0.02)mg/L, all P ＜0.05], and the level of serum TRAP, ICTP, OPG and RANKL[ ( 19.88 ± 3.60)ng/L, (2.43 ± 0.82), (22.36 ± 2.80),( 1.35 ± 0.23 )μg/L] were higher than those of the control group[ ( 14.57 ± 3.56)ng/L, (0.50 ± 0.20), (1.61 ± 0.34),(0.10 ± 0.02)μg/L, all P ＜ 0.05]; compared with EAT group, the level of PCIP and OPG in EAT + high iodine group [ (8.03 ± 1.84), ( 16.80 ± 3.79)μg/L] were obviously decreased(all P ＜ 0.05). Conclusions The reinforcement of differentiation and maturation of osteoblast in the EAT rats results in the increasing of bone resorption. The activity of osteoblast and osteoclast of the EAT rats are inhibited by excessive iodine, showing a low conversion-type osteoporosis.

Objective To investigate the current conditions of water iodine,childrens'iodine nutrition and residents'edible circumstance of iodized salt in the villages with high iodine in drinking water and the adjacent three villages in Xiamen city of Fujian province.Methods Four natural villages of Qianbian,Donglian,Dazhong and Dongshan of Xiangan county were chosen as survey spots in 2008.In each village,one running water sample and all well water samples were collected to obtain the benchmark for each location.All children aged 7-13 year in the four villages underwent thyroid palpation and were selected to measure the urine iodine and the salt iodine.The water iodine and urine iodine were determined by As3+-Ce4+ catalytic spectrophotometry digestion,salt iodine was determined by direct titration.Results In four investigated villages,iodine of four running water samples were all 1.5μg/L.The range of 237 well water iodine samples was from 0.1 μg/L to 506.0 μg/L.There were 18.6% (44/237)specimens in which the well water iodine less than 10 μg/L,73.4%(174/237)between 10 μg/L and 150 μg/L and 8%(19/237)more than 150μg/L.The median of urinary iodine was 153.3 μg/L in 79 urine samples,which was 114%(9/79)more than 200μg/L and less than 300μg/L,12.7%(10/79)equal or more than 300 μg/L and less than 500μg/L,7.6%(6/79)equal or more than 500μg/L and less than 800 μg/L in all samples.Seventy-nine students were examined by palpation and the total goiter rate of children measured was 11.4% (9/79).Seventy-one samples of iodine salt were detected and the coverage rate of iodized salt was 77.5%(55/71).Conclusions The well water iodine contents have a wide distribution in the investigated villages.We should enhance the community awareness by educating them on the damage of iodine excess and iodine deficiency.

Objective To conduct a microbiological and parasitological investigation of experimental minipigs in Guangdong province. Methods Four major experimental minipig production units in Guangdong province were included in this investigation. Samples were taken from a total of 154 pigs of 4 brreds, i. e. , Bama minipigs, Juema minipigs, Tibet minipigs and Wuzhishan minipigs. Pig fur, scales, serum, rectal swabs and feces samples were collected for detection of 20 pathogens. The data were analyzed and compared among the production units and breeds. Results Mixed infections were detected in all the four institutions. The infection rates of 7 pathogens were rather high: Streptococcus suis type 2 (50. 7%), Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (40. 3%), Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (100%), Japanese encephalitis virus (41. 3%), porcine circovirus type 2 (74. 8%), porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus (73. 8%),gastroenteritis virus (44. 7%). Porcine parvovirus (26. 0%), pseudorabies virus(15. 6%) and intestinal worms (3. 2%) were also detected in some animals. The immune qualified rates of classical swine fever virus (62. 8%) and foot-and-mouth disease virus (35. 8%) were rather low. The immune qualified rate of pseudorabies virus was as high as 98. 4%. Besides, Salmonella, Brucella, swine dysentery snake like spirochetes, dermatophytes, influenza virus. Toxoplasma gondii, ectoparasites, and coccidia were not detected. Conclusions The results of this investigation indicate that epidemiological quality control of pathogens in experimental minipigs and efforts to establish high grade minipig population in Guangdong province remain to be strengthened. Our study also provides a basis for revision of local and even national standards for experimental minipigs.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the influence of fluorosis on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in protein and gene levels in SH-SY5Y cells and the mechanism of the receptor modification.

METHODSSH-SY5Y cells, a human neuroblastoma cell line, were incubated with different concentrations of fluoride or with antioxidant for 48 hours. The functions of cells were measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide (MTT) method, and protein oxidation detected by carbonyl content; the alpha3 and alpha7 nAChR subunits in protein level were measured by Western blotting and in mRNA level by RT-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTSIn high-dose group as compared to the control, the decreased MTT (49%), increased protein oxidation (72%), and lower expression of alpha3 (51%) and alpha7 (47%) nAChR subunit proteins were obviously observed in SH-SY5Y cells. There were no changes in expression of nAChR subunit mRNAs between the cells treated with fluoride and those un-treated in controls. Prior treatment with antioxidant resulted in preventing the decrease of nAChR protein in cells exposed to the high doses of fluoride.

CONCLUSIONFluorosis should result in damage of cells and the declined expression of nAChRs in protein levels, but no influences on gene expression of the receptors in human neuroblastoma neurons. The decreased nAChR proteins might be involved in the mechanism of oxidative stress induced by fluorosis.

Cell Line, Tumor ; Fluoride Poisoning ; metabolism ; Fluorides ; toxicity ; Humans ; Neuroblastoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Protein Processing, Post-Translational ; drug effects ; Proteins ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Receptors, Nicotinic ; biosynthesis ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo introduce a modification of Lejour reduction mammaplasty.

METHODSWith the upper pedical flap as the base of mammaplasty, the lower part of breast was resected while excess skin was pushed to lateral and formed "L"-shaped scar after it was resected.

RESULTSFrom October 2005 to April 2006, the modified Lejour reduction mammaplasty was applied to 10 mammahypertrophic patients with 20 breasts in sum. The result of operation was good and only "L"-shape scar was left in the lower lateral part of the breast.

CONCLUSIONSThis method is easy to perform and could avoid inverted T scar caused by routine mammaplasty technique. This method is worth introducing widely.

Adult ; Cicatrix ; prevention & control ; Female ; Humans ; Mammaplasty ; methods ; Young Adult