Objective To research the relationship between flash visual evoked potentials (fVEP)and intracranial pressure (ICP),to evaluate the usefulness of baseline fVEP testing in the diagnosis of increased ICP Methods 22 normal individuals,44 increased intracranial pressure patients and other 35 patients which were measured by lumbar puncture were recorded with fVEP The latency of their waves were compared Results A positive correlationship between elevated intracranial pressure and a latency shift of the P 2,N 2,P 3,N 3 wave of the flash evoked potential is demonstrated( P

Acupuncture Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ; etiology ; therapy

Objective To investigate the diagnostic values of model of end-stage with incorporation of serum sodium (MELD-Na) score, chronic liver failure-sequential organ failure assessment (CLIF-SOFA) score and APASL-ACLF research consortium score (AARC-ACLF) for evaluation of prognosis of hepatitis B virus related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF). Methods A total of 72 consecutive patients with HBV-ACLF were included in the study and divided into two groups (group A and group B) according to the prognosis in three-month. Group A were included 29 patients with stable disease or better after medical treatment at least for 3 months, and group B included 43 patients who were dead after treatment or received liver transplantation as failure of medical treatment. When the patients were diagnosed as ACLF or after admission, the data were collected. Results of the laboratory examination were collected when the international normalized ratio (INR) was minimum. Data of total bilirubin (TBIL), prothrombin time (PT), INR, serum creatinine (Cr), serum sodium (Na), albumin (ALB), MELD-Na, CLIF-SOFA and AARC-ACLF scores were calculated respectively. The comparative analysis was performed. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) of MELD-Na and CLIF-SOFA scores were used to assess the short-term prognosis in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure. Results The values of TBIL, INR, MELD-Na, AARC-ACLF and CLIF-SOFA were significantly higher in group B than those in group A (P<0.05). The serum level of Na was significantly lower in group B than that of group A (P<0.05). The area under curve (AUC) values generated by the ROC curves was higher for CLIF-SOFA score (AUC 0.887) than that of MELD-Na score (AUC 0.764) (Z=2.255, P<0.0167). The AUC values generated by the ROC curves showed no significant differences between CLIF-SOFA score and AARC-ACLF score (AUC 0.825) or MELD-Na score and AARC-ACLF score (Z=1.361, 1.127, P>0.0167). The cut-off scores of MELD-Na, CLIF-SOFA and AARC-ACLF were 23.84, 8.50 and 8.50 respectively. Conclusion MELD-Na, CLIF-SOFA and AARC-ACLF scores have appreciable values to evaluate the prognosis in patients with HBV-related ACLF. AARC-ACLF is better than that of MELD-Na and CLIF-SOFA in assessing prognosis of HBV-related ACLF.

Corneal endothelial cell(CEC)is the most critical part for the cornea, of which activity can influence the postoperative vision.It is very important for the clinical cornea preservation considering the function and its self-purification of donor cornea.There are a variety of classical methods, which can significantly prolong the saving time of donor cornea with its good quality of CEC.We reviewed the published papers about present preservation methods of cornea, which can give us many suggestions for the clinical cornea preservation.

OBJECTIVETo dynamically assess drug targeting of Yougui Pill (YP) and Zuogui Pill (ZP) using infrared thermography.

METHODSIn this self-control experiment, five healthy volunteers were recruited. By using infrared thermography 10 to 11 thermal images of different body locations were taken from each participant after they took warm water, YP, ZP, and their dissembled prescriptions at 30, 70, 100, 130, and 160 min, respectively. The heat values in the lower quadrant abdomen, uterus, Du channel, and Shenque (CV8) were statistically analyzed after scanning for 125 times.

RESULTSAdministration of YP and its disassembled prescriptions enhanced the heat value of the locations of the Du channel and Shenque (CV8), but did no enhance the heat value of the lower quadrant abdomen at 30 min. Administration of ZP and its disassembled prescriptions reduced the heat value in the locations of the lower quadrant abdomen, uterus, Du channel, and Shenque (CV8) at each time point.

CONCLUSIONThe drug targeting of ZP and YP focused on the locations of the Du channel and Shenque (CV8), not on the locations of the lower quadrant abdomen or uterus.

Adult ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Infrared Rays ; Thermography ; methods ; Young Adult

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of varied hyperglycemia and durations on preventing peripheral neuropathy (PN) with methylcobal in diabetic rats.Methods80 Sprague Dawley rats were selected and randomly chosen 16 as normal control (NC) group, others 64 animals as diabetic model induced by alloxan. The model rats were evenly divided into relatively good control (GC) group and relatively poor control (PC) group based on levels of hyperglycemia regulated with exogenous insulin. 16 rats of each GC/PC group were intramuscularly injected with methylcobal (500 μg/kg). The sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV), motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) and evoked potential amplitute (EPA) of sciatic nerve of rats were detected by evoked electromyogram respectively at 2nd, 8th and 12th week after onset of diabetes. Fructosamine in serum was also detected.ResultsThe rats injected with methylcobal had a significantly delayed reduction of SNCV, MNCV and EP in GC group (fructosamine,1.0 mmol/L) than that in PC group (fructosamine, 1.2 mmol/L) ( P<0.05～0.01). Up to 8th week after onset of diabetes, there was no obvious difference in physioelectroparameters between the GC group and NC group. At 12th week after onset of diabetes, physioelectroparameters in the PC group fell to the level of non-methylcobal injected group. No effect of methylcobal on blood glucose revealed in any groups ( P>0.05).ConclusionMethylcobal has a beneficial effect on delaying the onset of diabetic PN, and is of high efficacy with a good control of diabetic state, especially at early stage.

Objective To evaluate the significance of anti-endothelial cell antibody (AECA) and the correlation between AECA and clinical features of Behcet's disease (BD). Methods AECA was detected in 73 BD, 60 SLE, 35 SSc, 30 RA, 62 systemic vasculitis patients and 40 health controls by indirect immunofluorescence analysis in which the endothelial cells from umbilical vein were used as the substrate. Results Higher frequency of AECA was found in BD (54.8%) with the specificity of 87.2%, compared to those in SLE (8%), SSc (9%), RA (10%), systemic vasculitis (27%) and healthy controls (2%, P

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of adefovir dipivoxil made in China for treating hepatitis B e antigen(HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B patients.Methods This was a multicenter,double-blinded,randomized controlled trial.Two hundred and thirty-eight patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B were assigned to receive either adefovir dipivoxil(10 mg/d,120 patients)or placebo(118 patients)for 12 weeks in 5 medical centers in China.Then,both groups of patients entered 36 weeks open-labeled adefovir dipivoxil treatment phase(10 mg/d),The rates of serum HBV DNA clearances,alanine aminotransferase levels(ALT)normalization,HBeAg loss and anti-HBe seroconversion were evaluated respectively during and post the 48-week treatment.Results After 12 weeks of treatment,the rates of serum HBV DNA clearance(real-time fluorescent quanti- tative polymerase chain reaction,the detection limit was 1?10~4 copy per milliliter),ALT normaliza- tion,HBeAg loss and anti-HBe seroconversion of adefovir dipivoxil group were all significantly higher than those of placebo group(50.0% vs 5.1%,35.0% vs 8.5%,12.5% vs 2.5% and 5.8% vs 0, respectively,x~2=59.89,24.52,P0.05).The safety profile of adefovir dipivoxil was similar to that of placebo. Conclusions The safety profile and efficacy of domestic adefovir dipivoxil for treating HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients are similar to its counterparts that have been licensed aboard.

To investigate the gene typing, molecular characteristics of virulence and resistance associated gene of Clostridium difficile from clinical isolates in China, the genes tcdA,tcdB of toxin A and B, cdtA,cdt B of binary-toxin, and erm B of clindamycin resistance were detected by conventional PCR. Genotyping of toxic C. difficile were conducted by means of analysis of 16s-23s internal spacer region polymorphism with PCR assay. Then the antibiotic resistance of toxic C. difficile to ampiciline, clindamycin, metronidazole and vancomycin was conducted with E-test. It was found that 8 toxic C. difficile strains were demonstrated out of 12 clinical isolates, in which 5 strains were tcdA+ and tcdB+, and 3 strains tcdA- and tcdB+, accounting for 62.5% and 37.5% respectively. Binary-toxin genes detection were negative in all the strains. Clindamycin resistance associated gene ermB was positive in 4 out of 8 toxic C. difficile strains, accounting for 50%. 8 toxic isolates were typed into 4 gene types, the dominant type was ZR I,accounting for 62.5%. Resistance rate of 8 toxic C. difficile strains against ampiciline(AC), clindamycin(CM), metronidazole(MZ) and vancomycin(VA) was 37.5%,87.5%,12.5%, and 0 respectively. No isolates belonged to ribotype 027 or 078. Isolation rate of toxic C. difficile is high to 66.7%. There is obvious gene polymorphism in clinical isolates of Chinese toxic C.difficite, and ZR I is preponderant genotype in 4 genotypes. C. difficile shows some resistance to ampiciline, clindamycin, metronidazole, but susceptive to vancomycin.

AIM: To investigate the action of testosterone on atherosclerosis in a rabbit model. METHODS: 37 male cholesterol-fed rabbits were divided into five groups: castration group: castrated rabbits without exogenous testosterone administration; testosterone Ⅰ group: castrated rabbits with exogenous testosterone 0.25 mg?kg -1?d -1; testosterone Ⅱ group: castrated rabbits with exogenous testosterone 2.5 mg?kg -1?d -1; testosterone Ⅲ group: castrated rabbits with exogenous testosterone 12.5 mg?kg -1?d -1. The sham operation group was also set. Three months later, the levels of testosterone, blood lipids (including TG, HDL-C, LDL-C), PAI activity, nitric oxide (NO) content, endothelin (ET), angiotensin Ⅱ (AngⅡ) in blood were detected. RESULTS: It showed that testosterone in castration group was the lowest. There was no significant difference of TG or LDL-C between castration group and the other four groups. HDL-C in castration group was lower than that in other four groups. NO content of castration group was lower than that in others, but PAI activity, ET and AngⅡ concentration were higher than that in other groups. CONCLUSION: Testosterone is a protective factor against atherosclerosis in male rabbits.