Child ; Contracture ; congenital ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Neck Muscles ; pathology ; Torticollis ; congenital

Objective To compare the effect of Solitaire AB and Enterprise stent-assisted endovascular embolization of intracranial wide-necked aneurysms. Methods The clinical data 218 patients with intracranial aneurysm treated with Solitaire AB stent or Enterprise stent in Guangdong General Hospital from January 2012 to December 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. Seventy patients were treated with Solitaire AB stents and 148 were treated with Enterprise stents. They were followed up after procedure (2 months to 2 years). The Raymond grade and the modified Rankin scale (mRS)scores were used to compare the efficacy of the 2 kinds of stents. Results There were no significant differences in patients before procedure in the Hunt-Hess grade (Z = 1. 550,P = 0. 121),Fisher grade (Z =1. 537,P =0. 124),aneurysm size (Z =0. 192,P =0. 848),and position (χ2 = 0. 337,P = 0. 736)between the 2 stent groups,while there were no significant differences in patients after procedure in the instant Raymond grade (Z = 0. 682,P = 0. 495), follow-up Raymond grade (Z = 0. 206,P =0. 837),and mRS score (P =0. 662)between the 2 stent groups. Further multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the stent type (Solitaire AB stent or Enterprise stent),Raymond grade follow-up grade (OR,0. 029 ,95% CI 0. 126 - 0. 199,P = 0. 661 ),and postoperative mRS score (OR,2. 000,95% CI 0. 204 - 19. 603,P = 0. 552)had no influence on the
prognosis. Conclusions In the assisted embolization of intracranial wide-necked aneurysms using the Solitaire AB and Enterprise stents,the effects of both stents are good in the assisted embolization of intracranial wide-necked aneurysms.

OBJECTIVETo detect serum levels of MMP-9 and VEGF in patients with bladder cancer.

METHODSSerum levels of MMP-9 and VEGF in 58 patients with bladder cancer and 45 healthy controls were measured by sandwich-ELISA.

RESULTSSerum levels of MMP-9 and VEGF (737.12 micro g/L and 1148.88 ng/L) were significantly higher in the cancer patients than those of controls (423.51 micro g/L and 846.96 ng/L, P < 0.01). The serum levels were associated with tumor stage and grade. In patients with invasive cancer, the levels were significantly higher than those of superficial cancer (P < 0.01). Patients with distant metastasis had significantly higher levels of MMP-9 and VEGF than those with localized invasion (P < 0.01). But there was no significant difference between patients with superficial cancer and controls. Patients with G(3) tumors had significantly higher levels of MMP-9 and VEGF than those of patients with G(1) and G(2) tumors (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSElevated MMP-9 and VEGF levels are associated with a high stage and grade of bladder cancer and they may serve as markers of tumor progression in the future.

Aged ; Humans ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; blood ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; blood ; pathology ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; blood

Animals ; Brain Edema ; Brain Ischemia ; Cerebral Infarction ; Cerebrovascular Circulation ; Rats ; Reperfusion ; Reperfusion Injury

425 halophilic bacteria strains were isolated by using six different media from thirty salt-soil samples collected from Heijing ancient salt mine,Yunnan. By the growth on NaCl grandient concentration and other screening methods,79 strains of extremely halophilic microorganisms were chosen for further research. Based on colonies color,shape and size,15 stains were selected to be sequenced. The sequencing results revealed that 11 of them were haloarchaea. According to the phylogenetic analysis,they belong to four genera of the family Halobacteriaceae. The blast results showed that the similarities of six sequences were higher than 97 % with the validly described species of the following four genera: Halorubrum,Natronococcus,Natrialba,Halalkalicoccus. The similarities of other five sequences with any validly described species were less than 97 %,therefore,the taxonomic positions of the following five strains YIM-ARC 0032,YIM-ARC 0036,YIM-ARC 0037,and YIM-ARC 0050 could be determined according to further polyphasic taxonomy data.The results indicated that there was a considerable diversity of haloarcheaea in salt-mine environment of Heijing ancient salt mine,Yunnan and it was worth continuing to research on this area.

This meta-analysis compared the therapeutic effect of cable pin system (CPS) with K-wire tension band (KTB) in the treatment of patella fractures among Chinese Han population.The databases of PubMed,Cochrane library,China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI),Chinese WanFang and Chinese VIP were searched for studies on CPS versus KTB in the treatment of patella fractures among Chinese Han population.Literatures were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria.The quality of the studies was assessed,and meta-analysis was performed using the Cochrane Collaboration's REVMAN 5.3 software.A total of 932 patients from 15 studies were included in this meta-analysis (426 fractures treated with CPS and 506 fractures treated with KTB).There were significant differences in duration of hospital stay [mean difference (MD)=-1.07;95％ confidence interval (CI):-1.71 to-0.43],fracture healing time (MD=-l.23;95％ CI:-1.68 to-0.77),flexion degree of knee joint at 6th month after operation (MD=14.82;95％ CI:10.93 to 18.71),incidence of postoperative complication [risk ratio (RR)=0.16;95％ CI:0.09 to 0.27] and excellent-good rate of B(o)stman score (RR=1.09;95％ CI:1.03 to 1.16) between the CPS group and KTB group,while no significant difference was found in operative time between the two groups (MD=-4.52;95％ CI:-11.70 to 2.67).For the treatment of patella tractures among Chinese Han population,limited evidence suggests that the CPS is more suitable than the KTB when considering the hospital stay,fracture healing time,flexion degree of knee at 6th month after operation,incidence of postoperative complication and excellent-good rate of B(o)stman joint score.Due to the limitation of high quality evidence and sample size,more large-scale randomized controlled trials are needed to validate the findings in the future.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in bladder transitional cell carcinoma tissues, and understand its clinical significance.

METHODSReversal transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to assess the expression of COX-2 mRNA in 52 cases of bladder transitional cell carcinoma tissues and 17 cases of normal bladder tissues far from neoplasm; Western blot was used to assess the expression of COX-2 protein in 49 cases of bladder cancerous tissues and 17 cases of normal tissues.

RESULTSPositive expression of COX-2 mRNA was detected in 83% (43/52) of bladder cancer tissues and in 29% (5/17) of normal tissues by RT-PCR and there was significant difference in expression of COX-2 mRNA between cancer tissues and normal tissues. Western blot analysis showed that expression of COX-2 protein was correlation with the stage and grade of cancer.

CONCLUSIONCOX-2 is overexpressed in bladder transitional cell carcinoma. COX-2 maybe play a certain role in carcinogenesis and progression of bladder cancer and turn into a useful target of chemoprevention of bladder cancer.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Blotting, Western ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell ; enzymology ; pathology ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Urinary Bladder ; enzymology ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; enzymology ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate changes in serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and their significance in children with left-to-right shunt congenital heart disease (CHD) associated with heart failure (HF).

METHODSTwenty healthy children (control group), 20 children with HF, without basic heart disease (HF group), 20 children with left-to-right shunt CHD, without HF (CHD group), and 30 children with left-to-right shunt CHD associated with HF (CHD+HF group) were included in the study. These groups were compared in terms of serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels. According to the New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Classification, the CHD+HF group was further divided into NYHA-II, NYHA-III and NYHA-IV subgroups and the subgroups were compared in terms of serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3, and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels. The correlation of serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels with serum cTnI level in the CHD+HF group was analyzed.

RESULTSThe CHD group showed decreased serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels compared with the control group (P<0.01). The CHD+HF group showed a significantly decreased serum IGF-1 level compared with the control group (P<0.01) and CHD group (P<0.05). The HF group had significantly increased serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels compared with other groups (P<0.01). The NYHA-II subgroup had the highest serum IGF-1 level and the NYHA-IV subgroup had the lowest serum IGF-1 level (P<0.01). In the CHD+HF group, serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels were negatively correlated with serum cTnI level (r=-0.692, P<0.05; r=-0.530, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSSerum IGF-1 level can be used as an objective condition evaluation indicator for CHD, and low serum IGF-1 level is a risk factor for HF. This also provides a clinical basis for treatment of HF using exogenous IGF-1.

Child, Preschool ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; blood ; Heart Failure ; blood ; Humans ; Infant ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 ; blood ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; analysis ; Male ; Troponin I ; blood

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of tuina on the mechanical properties of skeletal muscles of four limbs in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

METHODSThirty CFS patients were recruited as the test group, while another 30 healthy volunteers were recruited as the healthy control group. Patients in the test group received tuina therapy, 30 min each time, once every other day, for totally 10 times. Isokinetic testing technology was used to compare peak torque (PT), total watt (TW), average power (AP), and flexor/extensor (F/E) ratio in the elbow and knee muscles of CFS patients before and after treatment. The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) fatigue scale was used to evaluate the fatigue degree before and after treatment, and compared with the healthy control group.

RESULTSAfter treatment the FACIT fatigue scale score decreased significantly in the test group when compared with before treatment (27.5 +/- 9.1 vs 42.5 +/- 11.2), showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). The pre-treatment PT, TW, AP, and F/E ratio in the skeletal muscle were all lower in the test group than in the healthy control group. Compared with before treatment in the test group, patients' elbow 60 degrees/s angular velocity values during exercise extensor PT and TW, knee 60 degrees/s and 180 degrees/s angular velocity values during exercise flexor PT and TW increased significantly; elbow extensor and knee extensor, flexor AP was significantly elevated; knee in 180 degrees/s angular velocity of movement F/E ratio significantly increased, and all the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The improvement of the fatigue degree in CFS patients and elbow in 60 degrees/s angular velocity values under the flexor and extensor TW, and flexor AP value of the degree of improvement were negatively correlated (r = -0.282, -0.482, -0.285, P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Meanwhile, the muscles with the knee in 180 degrees/s angular velocity was negatively correlated with the F/E ratio of the degree of improvement (r = -0. 330, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSCFS patients have lowered mechanical properties of four limbs. Tuina therapy can improve the biomechanical properties of limb skeletal muscle and reduce the overall degree of fatigue in patients. The changes of limb skeletal muscle and mechanical properties can provide objective reference for the clinical diagnosis and assessment of CFS.

Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Skeletal ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the effects of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide(ASON) on the cyclic nucleotide monophosphates (cNMP) in smooth muscle cells of human corpus cavernosum, and provide experimental groundwork for the gene therapy of erectile dysfunction.

METHODSPDE5 gene ASON(containing exon 1) was transfected into the corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells with the presence of liposome DOTAP. Another sense oligodeoxynucleotide(SON) and 1% of bovine serum were also transducted into the cells as controls. Two of cNMP, cAMP and cGMP, were probed and measured by ELISA at 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 24 and 48 h after transfection.

RESULTSAfter transfection, the level of cGMP(1-6 h) in human corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells was significantly higher than that in controls(P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe PDE5 gene ASON had been showed to manifest stimulative effect on the cGMP in smooth muscle cells of human corpus cavernosum in vitro, and it provides experimental groundwork for the gene therapy of erectile dysfunction.

3',5'-Cyclic-GMP Phosphodiesterases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; genetics ; Cyclic AMP ; metabolism ; Cyclic GMP ; metabolism ; Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases, Type 5 ; Humans ; Male ; Muscle, Smooth ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, Antisense ; pharmacology ; Penis ; cytology