Objective: Our purpose was to study the concentration of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-Ⅰ(sTNFR-Ⅰ) in the serum of patients with acute tuberculosis. Methods: The levels of soluble TNFR-Ⅰ in serum were measured in 11 patients with acute tuberculosis. Concentration of sTNFR-Ⅰ were measured by using enzyme-linked immunological binding assay. Results: In patients with acute tuberculosis, especially severe tuberculosis, serum levels of sTNFR-Ⅰ increased significantly (P<0.01), compared with those of control. After antituberculosis therapy, serum levels of sTNFR-Ⅰin patients with acute tuberculosis decreased by various degrees. Conclusion: Measurements of sTNFR-Ⅰ in serum of patients with acute tuberculosis could be an important index in the judgement of the outcome of the disease.

BACKGROUND:Methylene blue can hinder abnormal pain conduction via the sensory nerve, and its mechanism is to block bradykinin-induced hyperalgesia and eliminate pain caused by local tissue inflammation.
OBJECTIVE:To observe the influence of methylene blue solution on the lumbar spinal cord and spinal ganglia function of rats, and to investigate whether methylene blue is safe for treating discogenic low back pain.
METHODTotal y 120 Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groupthree experimental groups, a saline control group and a blank control group, n=24 in each group. Lumbar segmental dura was exposed in rats. In the three experimental groups, 0.2, 1, and 2 mL methylene blue were injected epidural y, respectively. The saline control group was subjected to the epidural injection of 1 mL saline. In the blank control group, there was no treatment. Six rats from each group were selected randomly and perfused at 30 minutes, 2 hours, 24 hours, 72 hours after injection, respectively. Then, the corresponding segments of the spinal cord and ganglions were removed. Hematoxylin eosin staining was used for comparing histological and structural changes under light microscope.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that at 30 minutes, 2 hours, 24 hours and 72 hours after injection of methylene blue, the spinal dorsal side exhibited the structural integrity, clear boundaries between the white matter and gray matter, dense nerve fibers in the white matter, and round or oval nuclei of glial cells among fibers;dense nerve fibers in the posterior horn of gray matter;light-colored neuronal nuclei with prominent nucleoli;a bundle of nerve fibers among cellpopulations. There was no significant change in tissue structure of lumbar spinal cord and spinal ganglia between the experimental groups and the saline control group or between the experimental groups and the blank control group. Thus, the epidural injection of 1%methylene blue has no significant effect on the spinal cord and spinal nerve structures.

Objective To explore the clinical effect of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on post-stroke depression (PSD). Methods Sixty PSD patients were randomly divided into an rTMS group and a control group, each of 30 patients. In addition to conventional treatment, rTMS group members were given high-frequency rTMS treatment for 10 d while the control group were given sham stimulation. In order to test the efficacy, the two groups were compared using the Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD) before and after 10 and 30 days treatment. Results After 10 days of treatment the rTMS group had significantly lower HAMD scores than before treatment, and average HAMD scores differed significantly between the rTMS group and the controls, with the former performing significantly better. There was no obvious difference in HAMD scores after 30 days of treatment between the two groups. Conclusions High-frequency rTMS is a safe and effective treatment for PSD.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Peptic Ulcer

As a characteristic tumor therapy in China, Chinese medicine (CM) plays an important position in comprehensive treatment of tumor. It's a critical issue of objective realization, analysis and evaluation of CM safety for scientific decision-making in tumor safe medication and it also is a pivotal issue which affects the international communication. The safety evaluation of CM includes three phases: pre-clinical safety evaluation, clinical trials (micro-dose studies and traditional clinical trials) and post-marketing CM safety assessment. The key point of evaluation should be distinguished among different stages and various types of CM (such as classic formulas, Chinese herbal extracts, etc). Emphasis should be given to chronic toxicity when evaluating oral Chinese herbal , microdose studies and quality control must be underlined while injection is evaluated and more attention should be pay to the dose-effect relationship and time-effect relationship when turned to toxic Chinese medicine , and so as for the toxicity grading study. Moreover, we should constantly improve CM safety assessment method in various stages of tumor treatment, such as introducing the concept of syndrome classification theory, bringing in metabonomics and real-world research method which are similar to the CM therapeutic concept. Most importantly, we must keep its own feature of CM theory when we learn the concept of safety evaluation from abroad. Actively exploring the anti-tumor medicine safety evaluation methods and strategies is of great significance for clinical and experimental research, and it can provide supportability platform to CM's international communication.
Animals ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; adverse effects ; methods ; Neoplasms ; therapy ; Safety

Information Services ; Information Systems ; standards ; Public Health ; statistics & numerical data ; Public Health Informatics

OBJECTIVETo study the results of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for medial meniscal tear in late middle-aged adults.

METHODSFrom October 2010 to October 2012,49 patients meeting inclusion criteria were treated with arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for medial meniscal tear. There were 31 males and 18 females,with an average age of (55.3±2.8) years old. There were 22 left knees and 27 right knees. The average flexion angle was (116.01±12.03)°. The pre-operative HSS Knee Score was 48.73±8.43, and the Lysholm score was 63.95±5.45. The patients were followed up and evaluated. All the patients received a standard surgery, in which the torn tissue was removed, and the anterior part of the meniscus was left in situ.

RESULTSAll the surgeries were successful with no serious complications. All the patients were followed up,and the duration ranged from 12 to 36 months. All the patients had 5 degrees of muscle strength. The average flexion angle was (136.77±18.56)°. There was significant difference between the two angles before operation and after operation. The pre-operative HSS Knee Score was 90.17±4.10, and the Lysholm score was 87.84±5.16. Statistically, the difference between preoperative score and the postoperative score was significant.

CONCLUSIONArthroscopic partial meniscectomy is a good option for medial meniscal tear in late middle-aged adults. Operative indication is crucial and the excellent surgical technique is also critical for the good clinical outcome. All the patients could get good clinical results, although there are some patients with motion restrictions in the early stage after operation.

Arthroscopy ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Knee Injuries ; surgery ; Male ; Menisci, Tibial ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Tibial Meniscus Injuries

Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells therapy plays an important role in cancer adjuvant treatment.Researches show that the number of peripheral blood immunocytes will change if patients with cancer accept the treatment of CIK cells.The changes of T cell subsets,regulatory T cells are relatively obvious,which may be one of the standards that can evaluate the curative effect of CIK cells.

Objective:To investigate effect of curcumin on serum gelatinases level in patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP). Methods:A total of 80 UAP patients admitted from January 2010 to September 2010 were enrolled and randomly divided into curcumin treatment group (n=40) and routine treatment control group (n=40). Serum levels of gelatinases [contain matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9] of the two groups were measured before and 30d after treatment.Results: Compared with before treatment , after treatment, serum levels of gelatinases significantly decreased [MMP-2:(52.64±6.77)ng/ml vs.(32.65±1.67)ng/ml,MMP-9:(56.75±7.34)ng/ml vs.(35±1.88)ng/ml]in curcumin treatment group (P<0.01), and they were significantly lower than those of routine treatment control group[MMP-2:(32.65±1.67)ng/ml vs.(37.78±2.76)ng/ml,MMP9:(35±1.88)ng/ml vs.(40.23±1.95)ng/ml]],P<0.05. Conclusion:Curcumin could decrease serum levels of gelatinases in patients with unstable angina pectoris, and possesses effect stabilizing coronary artery plaque.

BACKGROUND: It is of great significance to understand the effects of different components of blood pressure on the occurrence of cerebrovascular diseases and administer proper decompression treatments in various situations.OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship of increased pulse pressure with the occurrence and severity degree of cerebral infarction by analyzing the data of pulse pressure recorded in hospitalized patients with acute cerebral infarction.DESIGN: Case-control analysis.SETTING: First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University.PARTICIPANTS: A total of 300 patients hospitalized at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University between June 2002 and January 2003 for ischemic cerebral infarction were enrolled, including 196males and 104 females aged (57.9±11.9) years. Another 199 persons who came to the same hospital for physical examination at the same period were set as normal group, including 110 males and 89 females aged (55.9±12.4)years.METHODS: ① Measurement of blood pressure: Systolic pressure and diastolic pressure of each person were recorded with mercury sphygmomanometer at the site of brachial artery of the right upper extremity and pulse pressure was calculated. ② Evaluation of neurological impairment:Upon hospital admission, each patient with ischemic cerebral infarction was evaluated with the stroke scale made by the National Institute of Health (NIHSS), in which a higher score means more severe infarction.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Comparison of blood pressure parameters of subjects in the two groups. ② Distribution of different pulse pressure levels in the two groups. ③ Comparison of pulse pressure of subjects of different age in the two groups. ④ Results of non-parameters tests of neural function loss in cerebral infarction patients with different pulse pressure levels.RESULTS: ① Mean systolic pressure: It was significantly higher in the case group than in control group [(152±22), (133±19) mm Hg, t' =10.494,P ＜ 0.01]. Mean diastolic pressure: It was higher in the case group than in control group [(93±14), (81±11) mm Hg, t' = 10.129, P ＜ 0.01]. Meanpulse pressure: It was higher in the case group than in control group [(59.61±11.86), (51.93±14.10) mm Hg, t' =5.612, P ＜ 0.05]. Pairwise corre lation analysis showed that Pearson correlation coefficient between pulse pressure and systolic pressure was 0.789 (P ＜ 0.01); Pearson correlation.coefficient between pulse pressure and diastolic pressure was 0.169 (P ＜ 0.01). Therefore, there was a close correlation between pulse pressure and systolic pressure. ② Pulse pressure was distributed between 60 mm Hg and 69 mm Hg in most subjects in the case group, which accounted for 27.7%.It was 40-49 mm Hg in control group, which accounted for 35.7%. It indicated that the incidence rate was high when the pulse pressure was over 60 mm Hg in cerebral infarction. ③ Pulse pressure increased with age.The level of pulse pressure in 40-69 years case group was higher than that in 40-69 control group [(54±16), (45±9)mm Hg, t=4.86, P=0.000]. ④ Patients with cerebral infarction of different levels of pulse pressure were given non-parameter tests of neurological impairment evaluation. The resuits of Kruskal-Wallis test were χ2=4.779, P=0.572 ＞ 0.05; results of median test were as x2=8.365, P=0.213 ＞ 0.05. The results of the two non-parameter tests suggested that there was no significant differences in hospitalization evaluation, that is, although the pulse pressure increased obviously in cerebral infarction, the degree of increase had no correlation with the severity of neurological impairment.CONCLUSION: The increase of pulse pressure is related to the occurrence of cerebral infarction and is also an important factor for evaluating cerebral infarction. However, pulse pressure change is not related to the severity of cerebral infarction.