AIM: To investigate the pentanucleotide repeat(PNR) polymorphism of apolipoprotein(a) in patients with coronary heart disease(CHD) in Hubei area, and evaluate the association of polymorphism of apo(a) PNR with the level of serum lipid. METHODS: Objects examined were composed of two groups: 88 patients with CHD and 153 healthy controls. Lp(a), TC,TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, ApoAⅠand ApoB of two groups were tested. Meanwhile,the PNR in the 5' control region of the Apo(a) was detected by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and high voltage polyacrylamid gels electropherosis. RESULTS: The serum Lp(a), TC, TG and LDL-C levels were remarkably higher in the CHD than that in control( P

Background Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) was mostly performed with fluoroscopy and/or ultrasonography.The safety and feasibility of PCNL performed totally under ultrasound are not clearly defined.Therefore,we introduce the 9-year experience of 8 025 ultrasound guided PCNL procedures from multiple centers in China performed by the same surgeon,to evaluate the feasibility and security of this technique.Methods From September 2004 to August 2013,8 025 cases,4 398 males (54.8％) and 3 627 females (45.2％),whose age ranged from 6 months to 85 years old,with upper urinary tract stones,underwent PCNL in our center and the supported hospitals.Puncture site selection and channel dilation were all guided using only Doppler ultrasound.Single stones were treated in 1 356 cases,there were 2 817 cases of multi stones,and 3 852 cases of staghorn calculi.The pre-and post-operative imaging data,the intraoperative findings,operation time,perioperative complications,and related parameters were recorded.Results All procedures were successful.No patients died during the operation.Average operation time was 42 minutes (range 10 to 168 minutes),4 cases converted to open surgery,and 2 patients lost the diseased kidney due to refractory bleeding in the early stage of the PCNL.Ninety-four (1.2％) patients received blood transfusions and 20 (0.25％) patients needed highly selective renal artery embolization.Fifteen (0.19％) patients had a pleural injury.5 457 (68％) cases were completed by a single tract and 2 568 (32％) cases added more tracts.The mean stone size (longest diameter) was 2.8 cm (range 1.2 to 26.5 cm).The final stone-free rate was 85.5％.Residual stones occurred mainly in patients with renal dysfunction,medullary sponge kidney,and complete staghom calculi with a slim calyceal neck.Conclusions X-ray free Doppler ultrasound guided percutaneous nephrolithotomy is feasible and safe in a variety of cases of renal and/or upper ureteral stones.The probability of radiation hazard and adjacent organ injury is low.The morbidity from major complications was reduced remarkably after special training.It is worthy of wider use compared with fluoroscopy in patients with special kidneys (e.g.solitary kidney,spinal deformity,ectopic kidney) and in infants.

Child ; Humans ; Muscular Atrophy, Spinal ; blood ; diagnosis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods

AIM: To study the expression of hepatitis B virus core gene in Pichia pastoris and to obtain high-level expressed recombinant HBcAg with good immunoreactivity and high specificity. METHODS: HBV core gene was amplified by PCR from plasmid pHBV1 which contained HBV whole DNA sequence. The PCR product was cloned into pGEM-T vector by TA cloning strategy. After confirmed by DNA sequence analysis, the gene of interest was inserted into the yeast expression vector pPIC9. The recombinant plasmid pPIC9-cAg was constructed and transformed into GS115 by electroporation. The recombinant yeast GS115 was induced by 0.5% methanol. The expressed product was analysed by SDS-PAGE,Western blot and ELISA. RESULTS: The restriction analysis and DNA sequence analysis proved that HBV core gene had already been cloned to yeast expression plasmid pPIC9. The expressed HBcAg existed in SDS-PAGE. Good immunoreactivity and high specificity of the recombinant HBcAg have been proved by ELISA and Western blot. The titre of the recombinant HBcAg in the cell lysate was 1∶ 12 800 . CONCLUSION: The recombinant plasmid pPIC9-cAg was successfully constructed. The recombinant HBcAg with good immunoreactivity and high specificity was successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris expression system and can be applied to further developing HBcAb immunoassay. [

The solvent sublation technique was applied for the separation and enrichment of L-Arg using dodecylbenzene sulfonic (DBSA) as the surfactant, di (2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (P204) as the extractant and n-heptane as the organic solution. The solvent sublation was compared with the floatation complexation extraction, foam floatation and solvent extraction. The experimental results showed that enrichment ratio of 16.2 and removal rate of 97.2% to L-Arg were obtained by the solvent sublation under the conditions of room temperature, 0.09 g/L L-Arg aqueous solution 250 mL, DBSA concentration 0.15 g/L, the initial pH 7.0, volume of n-heptane 10 mL, volume of P204 4.5 mL, gas flow rate of 200 mL/min. The study of the kinetics indicated that the solvent sublation process could be divided into three stages distinctly. The processes of the first stage and the second stage followed the first order kinetics equation; the process of the third stage followed the zero order kinetics equation. The separation mechanism of solvent sublation was also discussed.

Objective To review the experience with mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy (MPC NL) in early children and discuss its safety and indications. Methods Between Dec 2005 and Apr 2009, 34 boys and 22 girls aged 7 months to 36 months underwent MPCNL for upper urinary tract calculi. Clinical data were analyzed retrospectively. Results The mini-percutaneous renal access of 12 - 16 F was successfully established in 56 patients under realtime colour ultrasound guidance and immediate lithotripsy was performed. Average accessing time was 2. 9±0. 6 min, and stone management time was 13. 9±3. 2 min. No severe complication occurred. Stone free rate was 92. 5%. Conclusions MPCNL was highly effective to treat stone disease in this population. The indications for MPCNL in early children include large upper tract stone burden ( greater than 1. 5 cm ) , multiple renal calculi, staghorn calculi, stones with high-grade obstruction, and those could not be cleared by EWSL or other treatment conservatively.

Objective: To compare the long term prognosis between revascularization (REV) and medical therapy (MP) in patients with three-vessel disease (3VD) with or without left main (LM) lesion.
Methods: A total of 4,875 consecutive patients with elective coronary angiography (CAG) diagnosed 3VD with or without LM lesion treated in our hospital from 2007-01 to 2008-12 were retrospectively studied. The patients were divided into 2 groups: MT group,n=705 (14.5%) and REV group,n=4170 (85.5%). The all cause mortality and the rate of revascularization during follow-up period were compared between 2 groups by inverse-probability-weighting approach with propensity score.
Results: There were 3962/4875 (81.3%) patients with simple 3VD (right, left anterior descending and left circumlfex coronary arteries) and 913 (18.7%) with 3VD+LM lesion. The in-hospital mortality was similar between 2 groups (OR=0.7, 95% CI 0.3-1.4,P=0.30). With the longest 2-year follow-up study, the adjusted all cause mortality and the rate of revascularization in MT group were both higher than those in REV group (HR=8.3, 95% CI 6.7-11.1,P<0.001) and (HR=1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.6,P<0.001). No matter the patients with simple 3VD or 3VD+LM lesion, compared with REV group, MT group had the higher all cause mortality, for 3VD+LM lesion (HR=10.4, 95% CI 7.1-15.4,P<0.001) and for simple 3VD (HR=7.1, 95% CI 5.3-10.0,P<0.001).
Conclusion: In real world, the long term prognosis by revascularization treatment was superior to medical treatment in patients with either simple 3 vessel coronary disease or 3 vessel combining LM disease.

With the advance of drug development and research techniques, the drug metabolic processes and mechanism can be more deeply achieved. As the drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics process are mediated by drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters, study of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters has become an important part for drug development. The traditional immunoassays with low sensitivity and poor specificity can not reflect the accurate expression level of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters. We now give a brief review on the quantitative study of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters by mass spectrometry-based proteomic approach.
Enzymes ; chemistry ; Humans ; Inactivation, Metabolic ; Mass Spectrometry ; Membrane Transport Proteins ; chemistry ; Pharmacokinetics ; Proteomics

Objective To explore the operative main point and clinical effects of laparoscopic treatment for hepatic cyst. Methods Between August 2006 and April 2009, Forty-eight cases of laparoscopic treatment for hepatic cyst were performed, and the data were analyzed retrospectively. Of these treatments, there were laparoscopic fenestration (46 cases) and laparoscopic anatomical resection of left hepatic lobe (2 cases). Of the patients, there were solitary cyst (41 cases) and multiple cyst (7 cases). Results Fortyeight cases all performed laparoscopic treatment successfully. There were no converting to open operation, no biliary leakage and no bleeding. Except for resection of left hepatic lobe, the operating time was 30 -96 minutes (mean, 45 minutes), the intraoperative blood loss was 10 -90 mL (mean, 26 mL) and the postoperative hospital stay was 3 - 9 days (mean, 5 days). All the 48 patients were followed up for 6 to 36 months (mean, 32 months), 2 cases were found recurrence. Conclusions Affluent experience and proper standard of operation are key points for avoiding recurrence and complication in laparoscopic treatment for hepatic cyst. Laparoscopic treatment for hepatic cyst is safe, characterized by less pain and rapid recovery.

Objective To. investigate the effect of electroacupuncture at acupoint Zusanli (ST36) on the liver injury during the early stage after bum in rats. Methods Forty adult male SD rats weighing 220-250 g were randomly divided into 5 groups ( n = 8 each) : group sham operation (group Ⅰ ) ; group burn (group Ⅱ ) ; group acupoint at Zusanli (ST36) (group Ⅲ ); group non-acupoint stimulation (group Ⅳ ) and group ST36 + alphabungarotoxin (alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist) (group Ⅴ ). Rats were subjected to 3rd degree burn covering 30% of the total body surface area. Rats were resuscitated with lactataed Ringer's solution according to Parkland formula (4 ml/kg per 1% body surface area) immediately after burn. Bilateral acupoints Zusanli were stimulated with constant voltage (3 V, 3 Hz,2ms) for 20 min 3 times a day for 2 days starting immediately after resuscitation in H and V groups. In group V alpha-bungarotoxin 1.0 μg/kg was administered iv immediately after fluid resuscitation before acupuncture. In group Ⅳ same electric stimulation was performed at a point 0.5 cm lateral to Zusanli. The animals were sacrificed at 48 h after burn. The content and expression of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein in liver were measured. Liver specimens were obtained for microscopic examination (with light and electronic microscope). Results Compared with group Ⅰ , hepatic HMGB1 protein level significantly increased in Ⅱ and Ⅳ groups. There were significant ultrastructural changes in the liver in burn rats in group Ⅱ and group Ⅳ. Electric stimulation of ST36 significantly attenuated the histologic changes in the liver and decreased the hepatic HMGB1 protein level in group Ⅲ . Pretreatment with specific alpha.7 nicotinie acetylcholine receptor antagonist alpha-bungarotoxin reversed the beneficial effect of electroacupuncture at Zusanli. Conclusion Electric stimulation of acupoint ST36 can ameliorate liver injury during the early stage of burn by activating alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-mediated pathways for anti-inflammation.