Plasma thyroid hormones were measured in 8 patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The results showed that plasma TT_3 and FT_3 levels were decreased and plasma rT_3 level tended to increase in these patients. These findings are in accord with the diagnosis of low T_3 syndrome.

A cross-sectional study of 92 women with polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS) was performed.The patients were composed of 4 groups according to the Rotterdam criteria and were also divided into 2 groups according to body mass index and divided into 2 groups according to insulin-releasing test.Anthropometric measurements were recorded,and hormonal profile was assessed by measuring FSH,LH,prolactin,and testosterone.The metabolic profile was investigated by measuring glucose and insulin level during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT),then calculating the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA).Serum lipid levels,including total cholesterol,triglycerides,high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol,and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were determirned.The result suggests that the classification according to the revised 2003 Rotterdam consensus on diagnosis does not reflect dyslipidemia in PCOS.Dyslipidemia in hyperinsulinemic group and obesity group were more severe than that in non-hyperinsulinemic group and non-obese group ; this finding needs our attention in early treatment and prevention of late complications of PCOS.

Objective To improve the understanding of clinical features,pathological changes and therapy in patients of severe primary hypothyroidism accompanied with myoapthy.Methods Clinical features and prognosis of five cases of primary hypothyroidism accompanied with severe myopathy admitted to the hospital during March 1996 to November 2003 were anaylzed retrospectively by medical records combined with review of relevant literatures.Results Prominent clinical manifestations of the five patients were muscular damage,symmetrical proximal weakness of the muscles(myasthenia),shortness of breath,chest pain,dysphagia,and significant increase in activity of serum creatine phosphokinase(2 885~10 450(U/L).)Conclusions Patients of primary hypothynoidism with muscular damage should be diffrentiated from those of polymyositis and better effectiveness can be achieved for its related myopathy by timely thyroid hormone replacement therapy.

C-type natriuretic peptide(CNP),mainly expressed in central nervous system and vascular endothelial cells maintains renal homeostasis by autocrine or paracrine pathway,which regulates water-electrolyte metabolism,vascular resistance,glomerular permeability,and cell proliferation.Thus,clarifying the characteristics of CNP metabolism in kidney would appear promising to develop some new prospects for the evaluation of kidney injury and the targeted therapy.

Objective To examine the hemodynamic changes and oxygen metabolism during off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG) .Methods Twenty patients (18 male, 2 female) aged (60?8)yr, weighing (71?9)kg undergoing OPCABG were studied. The patients were premedicated with diazepam 10 mg PO 2h before operation and morphine 10 mg and scopolamine 0.3 mg im 30 min before operation. Anesthesia was induced with midazolam 0.1-0.2 mg?kg-1, fentanyl 5-10 ug?kg-1 and vecuronium 0.12-0.15 mg?kg-1 and maintained with 0.5%-2% isoflurane inhalation, fentanyl 10-20 ug?kg-1 and intermittent iv boluses of vecuronium and in some patients propofol infusion. Radial artery was cannulated. Swan-Ganz catheter was placed via internal jugular vein into pulmonary artery. Hemodynamic parameters including MAP, HR, cardiac index (CI), stroke volume (SV), MPAP, PCWP, SVR, left ventricle stroke work index (LVSWI) and RVSWI; oxygen metabolism including oxygen delivery (DO2) , oxygen consumption (VO2) and oxygen extraction ratio (ERO2); regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSCO2) and arterial blood lactate level (ABL) were measured and recorded before skin incision (A), when pericardium was incised before operation on the heart (B), during operation on the heart (C), 10 min after operation on the heart (D) and at the end of surgery (E) . Results During surgical manipulation on the heart (C) MAP, SV and CI decreased while CVP and HR increased, but the decrease in CI and SV was not significant. During manipulation on the heart(C) DO2 decreased whereas ERO2 increased, but there was no significant change in VO2. After manipulation on the heart (D) DO2 and ERO2 returned to the pre-manipulation level. Arterial blood lactate concentration increased at E. Conclusion OPCABG can be performed uneventfully under our general anesthetic regimen. During operation while the beating heart is being manipulated MAP tends to decrease while CVP and HR increase. The changes are of short duration and do not result in any serious consequeaces.

Objective To study the time distribution of non-agriculture employed population spent in a working day in China, and to provide basic information for intervention strategies.Methods The data of 2002 China Nutrition and Health Survey were used. The information on daily activities including occupation,transportation,exercise,housework,sedentary activity and sleep was described.Results Non-agriculture employed population spent 8.41 h,0.58 h,0.09 h,3.11 h,1.40 h and 7.89 h on occupation, transportation,exercise,sedentary activity,housework and sleep,respectively.Administrator,technologist and clerks spent less time on occupation activity than service workers,production and transportation workers and others did,and they spent more time on sedentary activity.Male spent more time on occupation activity and less time on housework and sleep than female did.People in rural area spent more time on occupation activity than those in urban area,but less time On transportation and sedentary activity.Conclusion Differences in time use among different employed groups,gender and area were found,which should be considered when intervention measure is developed.

The ptrpose of this study was to investigate the effects of long-term estradiol and progesterone combined therapy on bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with Turner syndrome.Eight patients with Turner syndrome received estradiol and progesterone combined therapy for six years were observed and BMD was measured for each of them before hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and at an interval of one to two years after HRT and compared with that in normal age-sex matched women.BMD was significantly lower in patients with Turner syndrome than that in normal controls before HRT.All the patients with Turner syndrome had breast enlargement and irregular vaginal bleeding after HRT.BMD increased slightly in the patients with Turner syndrome after six-year HRT ,but still much lower than that in normal controls.Their BMD of the 2nd to 4th lumbar vertebra increased to (0.84±0.22) g/cm2 after HRT from (0.75±0.12)g/cm2 before it,with Z-score increased to -2.2±0.6 from -3.2±0.9,respectively; and overall BMD of the hip increased to (0.81±0.08) g/cm2 after HRT from (0.68±0.07) g/cm2 before it,with Z-score increased to-1.2 ± 0.3 from-2.2 ± 0.5,respectively.Long-term HRT can improve their BMD for patients with Turner syndrome but can not restore it to normal.

To investigate the relationship between plasma level of homocysteine(Hcy) and the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase ( MTHFR ) gene polyroorphism with non-alcoholic fatty liver in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods In a case-control study, plasma levels of Hcy, folic acid (FA), vitamin B12 (VitB12), glycosylated hemoglobin Alc (HbAlc), fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol and triglyceride were measured in 159 T2DM patients with and without non-alcoholic fatty liver ( NAFL), as well as 52 normal controls. Mutation of the C677T of MTHFR gene was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restricted fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) for all of them. Results Patients of T2DM both without NAFL (96 case) and with NAFL had higher prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia (Hhcy) (49% and 21%, respectively ) than normal controls did (4 cases, 8% ) (P<0.05), while patients of T2DM with NAFL had higher prevalence of Hhcy than those without it did (P <0. 05). Plasma level of Hey positively correlated to genotype frequency of the MTHFR gene, plasma 0levels of HbAlc and FBG in patients of T2DM, with coefficients of correlation of 0.248, 0.423 and 0.242, respectively (P < 0.05). Results of multiple logistic regression analysis showed that course of the disease, body mass index, plasma levels of FBG and Hcy all were independent risk factors for non-alcoholic fatty liver in patients with T2DM. Conclusions Hhey was an independent risk for non-alcoholic fatty liver and plasma level of Hey was influenced by frequency of the TT genotype of the MTHFR gene, plasma levels of FA and VitB12, as well as metabolic disturbance in patients with T2DM.

Breast Feeding ; Canada ; Caregivers ; education ; Child ; Cross Infection ; prevention & control ; Feeding Behavior ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; organization & administration ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; methods ; Neonatal Nursing ; methods ; Parents ; education ; Practice Patterns, Physicians'

Objective To establish a new determination method for the measuring of alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) with p-acetyl phenyl phosphace (PAP-PNa_2) as substrate.Methods With the help of Vital semiautomatic analyzer,researched a continuous-monitoring procedure and set up experimental parameters.Results When using this assay,the wavelength of PAP's absorption was 325 nm and the Km of ALP was 0.376 mmol/L.The molecular extinction coefficient of PAP at 340 nm was 23 390 L?mol~(-1)? cm~(-1) and the concentration of citrate buffer was 0.438 mol/L.During the process,we found that the optimum pH of enzyme was 10.4,and the concentration of substrate was 5.0 mmol/L.The time of linear reaction was 900 seconds,and the linear range was 0-1 110 U/L.Serum total ALP were 63.1-118.3 U/ L(male) and 52.5-89.0 U/L(female),based on results from 60 heath adults.Conclusions The method is practical in its repetition and convenience,saves time and is not liable to be affected by bilirubin in serum.It is especially suited to the use of automatic analyzers.