One hundred sixty cases were randomly divided into 2 groups, the treatment group and control group, and treated for 8 weeks by single blind administering method. Results revealed that the total effective rate (89. 5%) for clinical symptoms in the treatment group was far superior to that of control group (54. 2%). So was its effect on nervous functional defect. The total blood viscosity. plasmal comparative viscosity, platelet adhesion, thrombic elstic fingure. in vitro length of thrombus, were markedly improved (P

Prader-Willi syndrome( PWS) is a type of genetic disease,which is associated with low mus-cle tone,growth and development,progressive fatal obesity and sleep related respiratory disorders(SRBD). Ob-structive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome( OSAHS) is the most common type of SRBD. The cause,influencing factors and treatment of OSAHS in patients with PWS are described in this paper. To understand the degree of OSAHS in children with PWS,the polysomnography is recommended.

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), a potent chemotactic and mitogenic factor, is involved in the regulation of hematopoiesis and platelet production. Our studies demonstrate the presence of functional PDGF receptors (PDGFR) on human megakaryocytes/platelets and CD34(+) cells, and their ability to mediate a mitogenic response. PDGF promotes the ex vivo expansion of human hematopoietic stem (CD34(+)) and progenitor (CD41(+)) cells. More significantly, PDGF enhances the engraftment of human CD45(+) cells and their myeloid subsets (CD33(+), CD14(+) cells) in NOD/SCID mice. PDGF also stimulates in vitro megakaryocytopoiesis via PDGFR and/or the indirect effect on bone marrow microenvironment to produce TPO and other cytokines. It also shows a direct stimulatory effect of PDGF on c-Fos, GATA-1 and NF-E2 expressions in megakaryocytes. We speculate that these transcription factors may be involved in the signal transduction of PDGF on the regulation of megakaryocytopoiesis. PDGF also enhances platelet recovery in mouse model with radiation-induced thrombocytopenia. This radioprotective effect is likely to be mediated via PDGFR with subsequent activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway. It provides a possible explanation that blockage of PDGFR may reduce thrombopoiesis and play a role in imatinib mesylate-induced thrombocytopenia.
Animals ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Megakaryocytes ; cytology ; Mice ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; metabolism ; Receptors, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; metabolism ; Thrombopoiesis

Objective: To investigate the biological functions of the Cyr61 gene in human lung carcinomas. Methods: The Cyr61 expression levels in the cancerous and peri-cancerous tissues of 60 lung cancer patients were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: The expression of Cyr61 gene was down-regulated in 80% (48/60) primary lung cancer patients compared with the matched pericancerous tissues. The result was consistent with the immunohistochemical staining. Statistical analysis revealed that the difference between expression of cancerous tissues and the matched peri-cancerous tissues was significant [(2.742 ± 4.165) vs (4.933 ± 3.349), t = -5.112, P=0.000]. Furthermore, the clinical variables including tumor grade, tumor metastasis, tumor pathological classification, smoking, and family history influenced the level of Cyr61 expression (P<0.05). Conclusion: Cyr61 may play a key role in the progression of lung carcinoma and its protein might serve as an important target for the therapeutic intervention in clinic.

Animals ; Annexin A2 ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology ; DNA Replication ; Endocytosis ; Exocytosis ; Humans ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Prognosis ; Tissue Plasminogen Activator ; metabolism ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of natural moxibustion on regulating immune imbalance in asthma rats.

METHODSSeventy SD male rats were divided into a normal group, a placebo group, a dexamethasone group, a big-cake for long-course moxibustion group, a big-cake for short-course moxibustion group, a small-cake for long-course moxibustion group and a small-cake for short-course moxibustion group, ten rats in each one. The rat model of asthma was established by egg albumen sensitization and stimulation in all the groups except the normal group. The natural moxibustion was used in all moxibustion groups, in which big cake of 1 cmX 1 cm size was used in the big-cake groups and small cake of 0.5 cmX 0. 5 cm size was used in the small cake groups. According to relevant acupoints, the natural moxibustion was performed, 5 h per time, once a day. Four times of treatment was considered one course, and three courses were required in the long-course groups and one course was required in the short-course groups. Intraperitoneal injection of dexamethasone was applied in the dexamethasone group, which had the same course as long-course moxibustion group. After the treatment, changes of EOS in peripheral blood of asthma rats were observed; enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to test the contents of IgE, IL-4 and IFN-gamma in the lung tissue; real-time Q-PCR method was adopted to measure the expression level of transcription factor T-bet and GATA binding protein 3 (GATA-3) in the lung tissue.

RESULTSCompared with the normal group, the EOS in whole blood as well as IL-4 and IgE in plasma were all increased in the placebo group (all P< 0. 01), IFN-gamma in plasma was obviously decreased (P<0. 01); while the levels of EOS, IgE and IL-4 were significantly reduced (all P<0. 01), the content of IFN-gamma was increased (P<0. 01) in all moxibustion groups and dexametnasone group. Compared with the normal group, the expression of T-bet mRNA in the placebo group was significantly reduced (P<0. 01). Each treatment group could significantly increase the expression of T-bet mRNA and reduce that of GATA-3 mRNA (P<0. 01). Compared with the short-course moxibustion groups, the expression of T-bet mRNA was obviously increased in the long-course moxibustion group and dexamethasone group (both P<0.01), and that of GATA-3 mRNA was reduced (P<0.01). There was no significant difference between long-course moxibustion group and dexamethasone group (P> 0. 05), and also no significant difference could be seen between big-cake moxibustion group and small-cake moxibustion group (P>0. 05).

CONCLUSIONThe natural moxibustion could obviously reduce airway inflammation in asthma rats. With time passing, the efficacy is enhanced, indicating evident timeliness, which has no apparent relationship with the size of moxibustion cake.

Animals ; Asthma ; genetics ; metabolism ; therapy ; Cytokines ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Moxibustion ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; metabolism

Child, Preschool ; Epithelioid Cells ; Heart Atria ; pathology ; Heart Neoplasms ; Humans ; Perivascular Epithelioid Cell Neoplasms

Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Mastocytosis, Systemic ; diagnosis ; pathology ; therapy

Abdominal Pain ; Cough ; Humans

Objective To discuss the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and color Doppler in diagnosing esoph-ageal varices( EV) among patients suffering from portal hypertension. Methods The control group consisted of twenty nine patients without EV. Sixty patients with EV diagnosed by endoscopy were divided into two groups equal in number according to grade of EV. One being mild,the other was moderate to severe. All patients underwent color Doppler flow imaging and contrast-enhanced ultrasound, and the dynamic angiography data were collected. Time-in-tensity curves were drawn by software. The quantitative parameters including arrival time of hepatic artery ( HAAT) ,hepatic vein ( HVAT) and portal vein ( PVAT) ,damping index ( DI) of hepatic vein and portal vein ve-locity( PVV) were compared. Results The difference of PV-HV, PV-HA, PVV, DI showed statistically signifi-cant among the three groups(F=72.63,14.97,6.71,13.74,P<0.01). A comparison of the control and moderate to severe group among the above four parameters was statistically significant (P<0.01). PV-HV, PV-HA, DI in moderate to severe group showed statistically significant compared with mild group (P<0.01),however there exis-ted no significant difference grouping PVV between the two groups. Mild group contrasted to the control group,the differences of PV-HA were statistically significant (P<0.01), whereas PV-HV, DI, PVV displayed no significant difference. Conclusion Contrast-enhanced ultrasound and color Doppler are helpful in diagnosing EV,which is ex-pected to become a new noninvasive method.