Objective To investigate the effects of acute nicotine exposure on expression of Caspase-3 and apoptosis of neuron in adolescent rat's brain. Methods The Caspase-3 expression was detected with immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Apoptosis cells were detected by TUNEL method. Results The Caspase-3 expression in cerebral cortex, hippocampal dentate gyrus, CA2 and CA3 of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group through immunohistiochemistry. The expression of Caspase-3 prototype and active fragments in cerebral cortex and hippocampus of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group with Western blotting. The TUNEL positive cells in cerebral cortex and hippocampal dentate gyrus of the experimental group were more than that of the control group.Conclusion Acute nicotine exposure can activate Caspase-3 and increase neuron apoptosis in cerebral cortex and hippocampal dentate gyrus of the adolescent rat's brain.

Chemical investigation of the whole plants of Valeriana hardwickii has led to the isolation of 11 flavones and 2 monoterpe- noids by using various chromatographic techniques including column chromatography on silica gel and Sephadex LH-20, preparative TLC, and preparative HPLC. Their structures were identified by spectroscopic data analysis as syzalterin (1), 6-methylapigenin (2), 5-hydroxy-7,4'-dimethoxyflavone (3), genkwanin (4), acacetin (5), apigenin (6), quercetin (7), tricin (8), (-)-farrerol (9), sosakuranetin (10), 5,3',4'-trihydroxy-7-methoxyflavanone (11), (-)-bornyl ferulate ( 12) , and (-)-bornyl caffeate ( 13). All compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time, while compounds 1, 9-13 were obtained from this genus for the first time.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Structure ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Valerian ; chemistry

Objective To investigate the expression of humanβ-defensin 2 (HBD-2) in gastric mucosa of Helico-bacter pylori (H. pylori) associated gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, and the role of HBD-2 in gastric MALT lymphoma. Methods Forty gastric mucosa specimens from patients with H. pylori associated gastric MALT lymphoma were collected. And 36 gastric mucosa specimens from chronic superficial gastritis without H. pylori infection were included as control group. The expression of HBD-2 was detected by immunohistochemistry staining. Results The ex-pression of HBD-2 was significantly higher in H. pylori associated gastric MALT lymphoma than that of control group. (P＜0.01). The expression of HBD-2 was significantly decreased after the eradication of H. pylori (P＜0.01). The expression of HBD-2 was significantly higher in H. pylori associated gastric MALT lymphoma than that of lymphoma cells (P＜0.01). There was no expression of HBD-2 in lymphoma cells. Conclusion HBD-2 is possibly involved in the pathogenesis of H. pylori associated gastric MALT lymphoma. But whether it has anti-tumor effect is not clear.

Objective To evaluate the treatment outcomes and toxicities of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) combined with chemotherapy for children and adolescents with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods Forty-three nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients less than 19 years old were recruited between April 2010 and April 2016.All patients were treated with IMRT (total dose 61.2-76 Gy) combined with cisplatin based chemotherapy.The Kaplan-Meier test was used to calculate overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).The patient's clinical characteristics,side effects and longterm effects of treatment were retrospectively analyzed.Results Among 43 patients,there were 29 (67.4％) male and 14 (32.6％) female,and the median age was 14 years old (range,6-18 years).According to AJCC 7thstaging system,2 patients were in stage Ⅱ,26 in stage Ⅲ,7 in stage ⅣA and 8 in stage Ⅳ B.All patients were confirmed as non-keratinizing carcinoma.The positive rates of EB virus VCAIgA was 53.8％ (7/13),and Rta-IgG was 60.0％ (6/10) before treatment.The median radiation dose was 70 Gy (range,61.2-76 Gy) to the primary tumor.Thirty-three (76.7％) patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy,with 20 (46.5％) and 36 (83.7％) patients treated by concurrent and adjuvant chemotherapy,respectively.With a median follow-up of 24 months (range,3-76 months),the 5-year OS and PFS ratios were 75.3％ and 64.7％,respectively.There were 5 patients (11.6％) occurred to bone metastasis within 2 years after treatment.Hypothyroidism was reported in 47.4％ (9/19) patients after IMRT.Conclusions Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in childhood and adolescence is mostly locally advanced diseases with poor differentiation.IMRT combined with chemotherapy produce a well treatment outcome with good tolerance in children and adolescents patients.The most common treatment failure bone metastasis.Radiation-induced hypothyroidism is common.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is one of the major risk factors for penile cancer. This article presents an overview on the biological characteristics of HPVs, HPV infection in penile cancer, possible carcinogenic mechanisms of HPV, prognostic value of HPV in penile cancer, and HPV vaccine.
Humans ; Male ; Papillomaviridae ; Papillomavirus Infections ; Penile Neoplasms ; virology

Objective To summarize the long-term efficacy of oral mucosal urethroplasty.Methods The clinical data of 324 patients with anterior urethral stricture who underwent oral mucosal urethroplasty from January 2013 to May 2018 were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were 27-65 years old with an average age of 47 years.Among them,51 patients had urethral meatal stenosis,174 patients had penile urethral stricture and 99 patients had bulbar urethral stricture.The length of urethral stricture was 2.8-14.0 cm,with an average of 6.4 cm.The preoperative maximal urinary flow rate Qmax was 3.2-8.4 ml/s,with an average of 4.8 ml/s.In the urethral meatal stenosis group (51 patients),15 underwent urethrotomy and 36 underwent meatal urethroplasty.In the penile urethral stricture group (174 patients),ventral sagittal incision was done in 21 patients,subcoronal circumferential incision in 49 patients and midline perineal incision in 104 patients.The perineal incision or verted Y incision were done in all the bulbar urethral strictures.Results The patients were followed-up for 3-75 months,with an average of 35.0 months.The results were satisfied in 290 (89.5％) patients.The post-operative maximal urinary flow rate Qmax was 15.8-32.2ml/s,with an average of 21.5 ml/s.Thirty-four patients (10.5％) developed recurrent urethral stricture,including 7 patients in the urethral meatus,17 patients in the penile urethra and 12 patients in the bulbar urethra.Among the recurrent urethral stricture patients,18 treated with the dilatation and 16 treated with the urethroplasty.Five patients (1.5％) developed fistula,including 2 patients in the ventral sagittal incision,1 patient in the circumferential incision and 2 patient in the perineal incision.Conclusions The long-term effect of oral mucosal urethroplasty is realistic.The rate of urethral stricture recurrence and fistula is low.The recurrence can be treated again by urethroplasty.The surgical approach for oral mucosa urethroplasty depends on the location and length of the anterior urethral stricture.

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a highly aggressive mature B﹣cell lymphoma originating from the germinal center, and accounts for 30%-50% of childhood non﹣Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The current dose﹣intensive, multi﹣agent chemotherapy has made great progress in the treatment of BL with the cure rate of 80%-90%; however, the relapse or death rate still remains 10%-20% due to toxicity of such therapy. Studies have shown that abnormal activation of PI3K﹣AKT﹣mTOR signaling pathway and abnormal expression of key regulatory genes are closely related to the pathogenesis, development, treatment and prognosis of BL. This article will review the abnormal activation mechanisms of PI3K﹣AKT﹣mTOR signaling pathway and targeted therapy of pediatric BL to further clarify the pathogenesis and potential targets for drug therapy of pediatric BL at the molecular and genetic levels.

BACKGROUNDThis study was designed to evaluate the relationship between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and coronary heart disease (CHD) death and to explore the protective effect of HDL against CHD in the elderly Chinese.

METHODSStarted from 1986, 1211 retirees (92% males) were enrolled consecutively and studied prospectively. The average starting age was 70 +/- 9 years, and that at the end of the study was 80 +/- 9 years. During the follow-up study, all the participants received yearly physical examination and blood chemistry survey from 1986 - 2000. The average duration of the follow up study was 11.2 years. The end point of this study was either attacks of AMI or death due to CHD and other causes. CHD risk factors were screened by logistic regression analysis. According to their HDL-C levels, cases were divided into low (< 1.03 mmol/L), medium (or normal, 1.03 - 1.56 mmol/L) and high (> 1.56 mmol/L) level groups, the differences in incidence of AMI and CHD death in each group were analyzed.

RESULTSThe cumulative attacks of acute coronary syndrome (mostly AMI) were 214 cases, including 89 cases of coronary death and 308 death caused by other diseases during the follow up study. AMI occurrence and CHD death in normal HDL-C group were lower than those in the low HDL-C group by 40% and 53%; and those in the high HDL-C group were lower than in the normal group by 56% and 50%, respectively. Statistical analysis on normal lipid cases (411 cases, total cholesterol < 5.17 mmol/L, triglyceride < 1.69 mmol/L) revealed that the cases at low HDL-C level had similar rates of AMI events and CHD mortality as those of the entire group (including hyperlipidemia); however, AMI attacks and CHD deaths decreased significantly at the normal and high HDL-C levels. The results demonstrated that the protective effect of HDL against coronary artery disease is more prominent in people with low lipid level.

CONCLUSIONLow HDL is an important independent risk factor for AMI attacks and CHD death in the elderly; high HDL has significant protective effect against coronary artery disease.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cholesterol, HDL ; blood ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Coronary Disease ; blood ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; etiology ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUNDIt is still controversial whether or not the correlation between lipid abnormality and coronary heart disease (CHD) becomes weaker in the elderly, and whether patients above 80 years old still benefit from lipid management for the secondary prevention of CHD. The purpose of this study is to assess the correlation between hyperlipidemia and the risk of CHD events in the elderly, and to determine if it is appropriate to use lipid-lowering drugs in those aged above 80, as prescribed by the recommended guidelines for lipid management.

METHODSOne thousand two hundred and eleven retirees, mainly males (92%), aged 70 +/- 9 years, were enrolled in this study. Lifestyle habits and medical history were recorded via questionnaires. During the period 1986 - 2000, all subjects participated in an annual physical examination with a blood chemistry survey. The mean follow-up period was 11.2 years. Subjects with incidental illnesses, especially cardiovascular diseases, were diagnosed or treated promptly. Serum lipid parameters, including total cholesterol (TC), low and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C and HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) levels were analyzed according to standardization of lipid and lipoprotein measurements. The association between lipid levels and the prevalence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or coronary death was analyzed statistically.

RESULTSLipid abnormalities occurred in 2/3 of the 1211 subjects. The most common lipid disorder was high TC and high LDL-C, which was much more prevalent than high TG. Among the subjects, 51.6% had TC levels above 5.2 mmol/L. Mean TC and LDL-C reached peak levels in the 65 - 74 age group without significant decrease until ages over 90. The cumulative total number of deaths due to various causes was 397 in the 15-year follow-up period, with the mortality rate in the high lipid group slightly lower than that in the normal lipid group (30.6% vs 35.3%), although the difference was not significant (P = 0.1931). However, there were more cases of coronary death in the high lipid group than in the normal lipid group (7.9% vs 4.6%, P = 0.0045). When examining AMI survivors, more AMI cases were found in the high lipid group than in the low lipid group (20.9% vs 11.4%, P < 0.0001). The cumulative number of coronary deaths was 89 (with 88 cases above age 70), and the total number of CHD cases was 214 (17.7% of the whole group). Logistic regression analysis reveals that age, hypertension, LDL-C, and HDL-C are important risk factors for CHD. Lifestyle changes were common, but only 45% of the hyperlipidemic cases received drug treatment. Statins were commonly used only in recent years.

CONCLUSIONThe above results show that high TC and LDL-C levels are correlated with a high CHD risk even in people over 80. For elderly patients with clinical CHD and an aggregation of CHD risk factors, cholesterol-lowering therapy might be considered if the general health of the patient makes this permissible.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Cholesterol, HDL ; blood ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Coronary Disease ; blood ; etiology ; mortality ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; complications ; mortality ; Lipids ; blood ; Male ; Risk Factors ; Triglycerides ; blood

OBJECTIVETo study the clinical characteristics of urticaria in children versus adults, and to provide reference for the etiological analysis, disease evaluation, and treatment of urticaria in children.

METHODSThe clinical data of 2 411 patients with urticaria who visited the Department of Dermatology at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from January 2013 to May 2017 were collected to study their socio-demographic characteristics. The clinical characteristics of urticaria were compared between the 68 children and 672 adults of the 740 patients with complete follow-up data.

RESULTSAmong the 411 pediatric patients, 314 (76.4%) had acute urticaria; among the 2 000 adult patients, 896 (44.8%) had chronic spontaneous urticaria. The causes of acute urticaria in children included infection (41%, 16/39). The accompanying symptoms of acute urticaria in children mainly included abdominal pain and diarrhea (44%, 17/39), while those in adults mainly included chest distress and shortness of breath (32%, 11/34). Compared with the adult patients, the pediatric patients had significantly lower chronic urticaria activity scores before and after treatment (P<0.05), a significantly higher rate of response to second-generation antihistamines (82.1% vs 62.2%; P<0.05), and a significantly higher proportion of individuals with a personal and family history of urticaria (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSAcute urticaria is more commonly seen than chronic urticaria in children with urticaria, and the main accompanying symptoms are abdominal pain and diarrhea, which are different from adults with urticaria. Chronic urticaria has a better treatment outcome in children than in adults. The most frequently seen cause of acute urticaria is infection in children. Atopic children may be susceptible to urticaria.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Urticaria ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Young Adult