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.

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.

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.

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 explore the effect of low intensity pulsed ultrasound stimulation (LI-PUS) on the maturation of regenerate bone in a rabbit limb lengthening model. Methods Sixty skeletal mature female New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into an LIPUS treatment group and a control group. All rabbits were underwent mid-diaphyseal tibial osteotomy and immobilized in an Orthofix M103 Mini lengther. Gradual distraction at 0. 5 mm every 12 h for 10 d was performed at day 7 postoperatively. A 4-week course of LIPUS treatment group was applied over the distraction site for 20 min daily starting immediately after the completion of the distraction only for the treatment group. Rabbits were euthanized and the mid-diaphyseal tibia was harvested for evaluation at 4, 8, and 12 wk after the completion of the bone lengthening protocol. Radiographic analysis was performed to study the formation of bone callus using the ImageJ software at 12 wk after the completion of the bone lengthening protocol. Bone mineral density (BMD) of regenerate bone was measured by Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) . Torsional testing to failure was performed on the tibia specimens at 8 and 12 wk after the completion of the bone lengthening protocol. Results Radio-graphic measurement showed higher relative gray scale of bone callus in the LIPUS group than that in the control group at 12 wk (P ＜ 0. 05) . BMD in the LIPUS group was significantly higher than that in control group at 8 and 12 wk (P ＜ 0. 05). Biomechanical testing showed that the ultimate torque, ultimate torsional stiffness, and energy absorption at failure of regenerated bone at 8 and 12 wk in the LIPUS treatment group were better than those in the control group (P ＜ 0. 05) Conclusion LIPUS as a biophysical stimulation may accelerate the formation and maturation of regenerate bone in rabbit tibia lengthening model.

Objective To investigate the variation of morbidity and clinical features of Henoch-Seh(o)nlein purpura (HSP) in childhood in recent years.Methods The clinical data of 901 cases with HSP admitted to our hospital from January 1,1995 to December 31,2005 were retrospectively analyzed.The constitute rate of admission,the initial clinical presentations,specific manifestations such as multi-system 23/2165(1.06%),29/2098(1.38%),24/1973(1.22%),39/2008(1.94%),54/2433(2.22%),86/2611(3.29%),94/2724(3.45%),99/3014(3;28%),138/2900(4.76%),143/3177(4.50%)and 172/3500(4.91%),resp-sixty-five of 901 HSP children (1 8.3%) had no palpable purpura at onset, 90 cases initially manifested as abdominal pain and (or) gastrointestinal bleeding,14 of them was diagnosed by gastroendoscopy which demonstrated mucous membrane vasculitis.Sixty-three cases manifested as arthritis/arthralgias,6 cases presented as renal involvement,1 case with neurological symptoms and 5 cases with other symptoms at their pancreatic involvement was present in 3 cases,cardiac involvement in 47 Cases and one case had lung hemorrhage.Conclusion The morbidity of HSP has increased in recent years.The diagnosis in patients who do not have palpable purpura at onset and patients who present with the cerebral,pulmonary,cardiac and pancreatic involvement as the initial manifestations is difficult.Special attention should be paid to this group of patients.Gastrointestinal endoscope is valuable in diagnosing HSP in patients whose initial symptoms are abdominal pain and (or) gastrointestinal bleeding.