Objective To evaluate the value of two-dimensional (2D) and color Doppler ultrasonography and B-blood flow (B-flow) in quick screening for venous diseases of the lower extremities in late pregnant women. Methods Sixty late pregnant women excluding other-cause blood vessel diseases were recruited during September 2007 to January 2008 and underwent 2D and color Doppler ultrasonography and B-blood flow examinations for diameter and blood flow velocity of the veins in their both lower extremities during prenatal and postnatal periods to record intravenous condition, activities of the venous valve and venous valvular regurgitation in detail. Results Diameters of the veins in beth lower extremities of the late pregnant women widened significantly during prenatal period, as compared to that in postnatal period [(11.5±1.5) mm vs. (8.4±1.0) mm, t =7.14, P <0.01] and their blood flow velocity slowed down significantly in prenatal period than that in postnatal period [(11.5±4.0) cm/s vs. (29.7±6.9) cm/s, t =-15.74, P <0.01]. Spontaneous enhancement phenomenon could be shown in their veins in 57 of 60 (95%) pregnant women by 2D and color Doppler ultrasonography, but could not be shown by 2D and color Doppler uhrasonography in the poplitel veins in 21 pregnant women (35%) or in the small and great saphenous veins in 39 pregnant women (65%), which should be activated by B-flow. Venous valvular regurgitation occurred in the great saphenous veins and the superficial femoral veins in 24 percent of pregnant women during prenatal period, and small venous valve bag thrombus formed in 20 percent of the superficial femoral veins and 10 percent of the great saphenous veins, but disappeared two weeks after delivery, without formation of pulmonary embolism. Conclusion Tow-dimentional and color Doppler ultrasonography and B-blood flow examinations can be used in late pregnant women to quickly screen for venous diseases in their lower extremities.

Objective To investigate the status of Helicobacter pylori and “Helicobacter macacae” infection in rhesus and cynomolgus monkeys in China.Methods With the use of 16S rRNA specific primers for Helicobacter spp and Helicobacter pylori ( HP ) from published literatures, and new 16S rRNA specific primers designed for “Helicobacter macacae” ( HM ) , we investigated the infection status of these two Helicobacter spps in both of 45 rhesus and 90 cynomolgus monkeys by qPCR or conventional PCR on stool samples.Results All three primer sets for 16S rRNA exhibited excellently sensitivity and specificity.Both the infection rates of HP and HM were 100% among 45 young adult rhesus monkeys.The infection rate of HP and HM in 90 young adult cynomolgus monkeys were 100% and 97.8%, respectively.Conclusions Helicobacter pylori and “Helicobacter macacae” are present in almost every artificially bred adult rhesus and cynomolgus individuals which may adversely affect the health of laboratory monkeys and the accuracy of related animal experiments.

Aim To investigate the molecular mecha-nism for the inhibitory effect of puerarin on IL-6 secre-tion in human osteoblast-likeMG-63 cells. Methods According to our previous studies, human osteoblast-like MG-63 cells containing two estrogen receptor ( ER) isoforms are a suitable model for this study. En-zyme-linked immnosorbent assay (ELISA), RT-PCR, luciferase reporter assay and small interfering RNA were performed to investigate the effect of puerarin on IL-6 expression in osteoblast-derived cells and underly-ing molecular mechanism. Results Puerarin could obviously inhibit IL-6 expression and IL-6 promoter ac-tivity by human osteoblastic MG-63 cells. Treatment with the ER antagonist ICI 182,780 abrogates the a-bove actions of puerarin on osteoblast-derived cells. U-sing siRNA technology, we further demonstrated that the effects of puerarin on IL-6 production were media-ted by ERα. Conclusion The effect of puerarin on IL-6 production in osteoblast is mediated by ERα.

Objective To investigate the relationship between brachial- ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and heart rate variability (HRV), cardiac function in patients with essential hypertension.Methods One hundred and eighty patients with essential hypertensive from January 2014 to August 2016 were collected.The patients were divided into elevated group(baPWV≥1 400 cm/s,100 cases) and normal group (baPWV < 1 400 cm/s, 80 cases) according to the baPWV value. The general data, heart function and HRV of the 2 groups were compared. Results The standard deviation of all normal-to-normal(SDNN),standard deviation of all 5-min mean NN intervals(SDANN)and proportion of number of pairs of adjacent normal-to-normal intervals by more than 50 ms(PNN50%)in elevated group were significantly lower than those in normal group: (116.3 ± 17.0) ms vs. (135.8 ± 19.4) ms, (96.0 ± 21.4) ms vs. (120.0 ± 25.1) ms and (9.3 ± 3.1)% vs. (12.0 ± 4.1)%,and there were statistical differences (P<0.01); there was no statistical difference in root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD)between 2 groups(P>0.05);the left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)in elevated group was significantly lower than that in normal group:(57.2 ± 7.0)% vs.(63.0 ± 8.2)%,and there was statistical difference (P<0.01); there were no statistical differences in left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVDd) and left ventricular end systolic dimension (LVSd) between 2 groups (P>0.05); the interventricular septal thickness (IVST) in elevated group was significantly higher than that in normal group:(11.4 ± 2.5)mm vs.(9.5 ± 1.4)mm,and there was statistical difference(P<0.01).In patients with essential hypertension,there was a significant negative correlation between baPWV and SDNN,SDANN, PNN50%,LVEF(P<0.01),and there was a significant positive correlation between baPWV and IVST (P<0.05).Conclusions The baPWV measured in patients with essential hypertension can effectively reflect the HRV and cardiac function of the patients.

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of changes in serum cholesterol level in sepsis patients, and to explore its correlation with prognosis. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted. Two hundred and six patients with sepsis admitted in the Third People′s Hospital of Dalian from February 2015 to February 2019 were enrolled (observation group), and 206 patients without sepsis hospitalized in the same period were served as control group. The basic clinical data of the two groups were collected, and the results of total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and biochemical parameters were compared. The patients with sepsis were divided into death group and survival group, and risk factors influencing the prognosis of patients with sepsis were analyzed with Logistic regression analysis. Results: Compared with control group, the levels of serum TC [(2.49 ± 1.14) mmol/L vs. (3.40 ± 1.26) mmol/L, t=6.240] and HDL-C [(1.66 ± 0.89) mmol/L vs. (2.49 ± 0.81) mmol/L, t=5.532] in observation group were significantly lower (P<0.05), and that of LDL-C showed no statistically significant difference [(1.96 ± 0.91) mmol/L vs. (2.10 ± 0.72) mmo/L, t=0.940, P>0.05]. In observation group, the patients in death group (85 cases) were older than those of the survival group (121 cases)[(75.6 ± 8.6) years vs. (62.5 ± 6.0) years, t=4.565], serum creatinine (SCr) was higher than that of survival group [(246.2 ± 34.6) μmol/L vs. (165.4 ± 35.6) μmol/L, t=5.420], and the levels of serum TC [(2.15 ± 0.59) mmol/L vs. (2.89 ± 1.02) mmol/L, t= 5.475], HDL-C [(1.40 ± 0.42) mmol/L vs. (1.94 ± 0.52) mmol/L, t=4.856] and LDL-C [(1.73 ± 0.56) mmol/L vs. (1.97 ± 0.72) mmol/L, t=4.261] were significantly lower than those of survival group (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that age was the risk factor of death in sepsis patients (OR=1.256, 95% CI 1.006 -1.056, P=0.012), and TC was the protective factor for the prognosis of sepsispatients (OR=-0.758, 95%CI 0.579-0.867, P=0.014). Conclusions The levels of TC, HDL-C in sepsis patients are significantly lowered, and the levels of TC, HDL-C, LDL-C in death group are significantly lower than those in survival group. TC may be used as a clinical indicator to assess the outcome of sepsis patients.