AIM: To study the application of macular ganglion cell complex (mGCC) and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (pRNFL) measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the early diagnosis of glaucoma.METHODS: Case-control study.Eighty-six subjects, including 30 eyes in normal subjects, 27 eyes in suspected primary open angle glaucoma, 29 eyes in primary open angle glaucoma were enrolled in this study.The thickness of mGCC and pRNFL were measured by OCT.The area under the receiver operating characteristic(AROC) curve at fixed specificities were calculated for each parameter.RESULTS: There were significant differences in mean pRNFL thickness, superior pRNFL thickness and inferior pRNFL thickness between normal group, suspected glaucoma group and early glaucoma group (P=0.001, 0.004, 0.011).The mean mGCC thickness, the thickness of the top mGCC, the thickness of the lower mGCC were statistically significant (P=0.008, 0.002, 0.003);the difference of general loss of volume (GLV) and focal loss of volume (FLV) between the three groups was statistically significant (P=0.002).Compared with the normal group, all the pRNFL and the mGCC parameters were higher in the suspected glaucoma group, and the FLV had the highest AROC (0.801), all the remaining AROC was >0.700 except above Prnlf (0.688).Compared with the normal group and the early glaucoma group, all the pRNFL and the mGCC had higher AROC, average mGCC was hightest(0.804), all parameters AROC were >0.700 except mean pRNFL (0.683).In suspected glaucoma group, 58% patients had abnormal mGCC thickness and 23% had abnormal pRNFL thickness;in early glaucoma group, 98%patients had abnormal mGCC thickness and 90% had abnormal pRNFL thickness;in normal group, 93%patients had abnormal mGCC thickness and 93%had abnormal pRNFL thickness, the correlation between the three groups was statistically significant (x2=12.11, P<0.05).CONCLUSION: OCT measurement of mGCC thickness and pRNFL thickness in early glaucoma have good diagnostic ability;mGCC thickness measurement can be used as an effective method for early diagnosis of glaucoma.

Objective To study the diagnosis and treatment of ch ildren with congenital choledochal cyst (CCC).Methods From Janu ary 1998 to January 2003, data from 43 cases children with CCC were used for thi s study. Their parameters included sex, age, diagnosis , types of CCC, time of surgery and style of surgery were retrospectively analyzed. Results The incidence of patients whose age under 2 years old was 72 %.The ratio o f gender (male:female) was 1:3. The children were examined by B-ultrasonic(B-u s),computed tomography(CT), and MRCP with the accuracy of 83.7 %, 78.9 % and 80. 0 % respectively.Forty cases underwent biliary reconstruction, cystectomy and Ro ux-en -Y bilioenteric anastomosis. There was no mortality, pre or postoperative compli cation. Conclusion B-us examination is the best method to diag nose the disease.Cystectomy and biliary reconstruction are effect to treat this disease.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the influence of dopamine (DA) and DA receptor's antagonist on the transmission of noxious information in the central nervous system of normal rats or morphinistic rats.

METHODSThe influence of DA on the electric activity of the pain-excited neuron (PEN) in the caudate nucleus (Cd) of normal rats or morphinistic rats was recorded after the sciatic nerve was noxiously stimulated.

RESULTSDA shortened the average latency of the evoked discharge of PEN in the Cd of normal rats, indicating that DA could increase the activity of PEN and pain sensitivity in normal rats. This effect could be inhibited by Droperidol. DA increased the average latency of the evoked discharge of PEN in the Cd of morphinistic rats, indicating that DA could inhibit the activity of PEN and pain sensitivity in morphinistic rats.

CONCLUSIONThe responses to painful stimulation were completely opposite between normal rats and morphinistic rats after the intracerebroventricular injection of DA.

Action Potentials ; drug effects ; physiology ; radiation effects ; Analysis of Variance ; Animals ; Caudate Nucleus ; drug effects ; Disease Models, Animal ; Dopamine ; pharmacology ; Dopamine Antagonists ; pharmacology ; Droperidol ; pharmacology ; Drug Interactions ; Electric Stimulation ; adverse effects ; Female ; Male ; Morphine Dependence ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Neurons ; drug effects ; Pain ; drug therapy ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Pain Threshold ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reaction Time ; drug effects ; physiology ; radiation effects

OBJECTIVETo examine the effect of acetylcholine (ACh) on the electric activities of pain-excitation neurons (PEN) and pain-inhibitation neurons (PIN) in the hippocampal CA1 area of normal rats or morphinistic rats, and to explore the role of ACh in regulation of pain perception in CA1 area under normal condition and morphine addiction.

METHODSThe trains of electric impulses applied to sciatic nerve were set as noxious stimulation. The discharges of PEN and PIN in the CA1 area were recorded extracellularly by glass microelectrode. We observed the influence of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of ACh and atropine on the noxious stimulation-evoked activities of PEN and PIN in the CA1 area.

RESULTSNoxious stimulation enhanced the electric activity of PEN and depressed that of PIN in the CA1 area of both normal and addiction rats. In normal rats, ACh decrease the pain-evoked discharge frequency of PEN, while increased the frequency of PIN. These effects reached the peak value at 4 min after injection of ACh. In morphinistic rats, ACh also inhibited the PEN electric activity and potentialized the PIN electric activity, but the maximum effect appeared at 6 min after administration. The ACh-induced responses were significantly blocked by muscarinic receptor antagonist atropine.

CONCLUSIONCholinergic neurons and muscarinic receptors in the hippocampal CA1 area are involved in the processing of nociceptive information and they may play an analgesia role in pain modulation. Morphine addiction attenuated the sensitivity of pain-related neurons to the noxious information.

Acetylcholine ; administration & dosage ; metabolism ; Adaptation, Physiological ; drug effects ; physiology ; Animals ; Electric Stimulation ; Evoked Potentials ; physiology ; Female ; Hippocampus ; cytology ; metabolism ; Injections, Intraventricular ; Male ; Morphine ; pharmacology ; Morphine Dependence ; metabolism ; Narcotics ; pharmacology ; Neuronal Plasticity ; physiology ; Neurons ; drug effects ; physiology ; Pain ; metabolism ; Pain Threshold ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptors, Cholinergic ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Sciatic Nerve ; physiopathology ; Signal Transduction ; physiology

Objective:To investigate the significance of metronomic therapy against Helicobacter pylori (HP) in the prevention of delayed emesis caused by chemotherapy of gastric cancer compared with the routine therapy. Methods:HP infection was confirmed by carbon 14 breath test in 69 patients. Combined chemotherapy was employed for the first time in the patients, who were divided into groups A and B. Metronomic therapy was administered to group A (n=33). Briefly, triplex medication against Helicobacter bacil i triplex was oral y ad-ministered:20 mg of omeprazole and 0.5 g of amoxicillin twice daily, with 200 mg of tinidazole once daily. Oral administration in group A was performed for 14 days from the start of chemotherapy. Simultaneously, 5-HT3 antagonists were applied. By contrast, group B (n=36) was treated with the oral triplex medication against Helicobacter bacilli:20 mg of omeprazole and 1 g of amoxicillin twice daily, with 400 mg of tinidazole once daily. Oral administration in group B was performed for 7 days from the beginning of chemotherapy with simultaneous application of 5-HT3 antagonists. Both groups were simultaneously treated with the 5-HT3 antagonist granisetron at 3 mg once daily during the administration of anti-HP therapy. HP infection was evaluated by immunohistochemistry before and after treatment. Results:The total effective rate for emesis in group A was 84.85%, which was significantly higher than that in group B (55.56%). Among the patients in group A, 15.15%demonstrated delayed emesis, compared with 44.44%of the patients in group B;the number of individuals was significantly lower in group A than in group B. The average number of chemotherapy cycles in group A was significantly higher than that in group B at 3.1 cycles;the difference between groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). In addition, the HP infection in group B was significantly lower than that in group A (P<0.05). Conclusion:Compared with one week of treatment with the conventional dose, two weeks of low-dose metronomic therapy against HP during chemotherapy can significantly reduce chemotherapy induced delayed emesis and can significantly reduce the degree of HP infection in patients with gastric cancer with HP infection.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on the electric activities of pain-excited neurons (PEN) in nucleus accumbens (NAc) in central nervous system (CNS) of morphine-dependent rats.

METHODSAfter GABA or the GABA(A)-receptor antagonist, bicuculline (Bic), was injected into cerebral ventricles or NAc, right sciatic nerve was stimulated by electrical pulses, which was considered as traumatic pain stimulation. Extracellular recordings methods were used to record the electric activities of PEN in NAc.

RESULTSWhen GABA was injected into intracerebroventricle (ICV) as well as NAc, it could decrease the pain-evoked discharge frequency and prolong the latency of PEN. Bic could interdict the above effects of GABA on the electric activities of PEN.

CONCLUSIONExogenous GABA might have an inhibitory effect on the central pain adjustment. Furthermore, GABA and GABA(A) receptor participate and mediate the traumatic information transmission process in CNS.

Action Potentials ; drug effects ; physiology ; Animals ; Bicuculline ; pharmacology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drug Administration Schedule ; Electric Stimulation ; adverse effects ; Female ; GABA Antagonists ; pharmacology ; Injections, Intraventricular ; methods ; Male ; Morphine ; administration & dosage ; Morphine Dependence ; etiology ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Narcotics ; administration & dosage ; Nucleus Accumbens ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Pain ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Pain Threshold ; drug effects ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reaction Time ; drug effects ; physiology ; Time Factors ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid ; metabolism ; pharmacology

Objective To investigate the expression of DNMT3b and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters of pancreatic cancer.Methods The expressions of DNMT3b protein in 12 pancreatic cancer tissues and para-cancerous tissues were detected by Western blot.The expressions of DNMT3b protein in 59 pancreatic cancer tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry.The association of DNMT3b expression and clinicopathological parameters of pancreatic carcinoma were analyzed.Results Western blot results showed the expressions of DNMT3b protein in pancreatic cancer tissues and para-cancerous tissues were 0.69 ±0.13and 0.14 ±0.03,and the protein level of DNMT3b in pancreatic cancer tissues were significantly higher than that in para-cancerous tissues (t =4.464,P ＜0.05 ).Immunohistochemistry examination showed that the positive rates of DNMT3b protein were 59％ in pancreatic cancer tissues and negative in para-cancerous tissues.DNMT3b expression was positively correlated with the TNM stage and lymph node metastasis.Conclusions DNMT3b is highly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissues,and it is related with malignant biological behaviors of pancreatic cancer cells.

The experiment explored the influence of glutamic acid (Glu) and the NMDA-receptor antagonist dizocilpine maleate (MK-801) on the pain-evoked responses of pain-excitation neurons (PEN) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of rats. The trains of electric impulses applied to the sciatic nerve were used as noxious stimulation. The discharges of PEN in NAc were recorded by glass microelectrode. We observed the influence of intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of Glu and microinjection of MK-801 into the NAc on the noxious stimulation-evoked activities of PEN in NAc. The results showed that the noxious stimulation potentiated the electric activities of PEN in NAc. Intracerebroventricular injection of Glu (10 nmol/10 microl) increased the frequency of the discharge of PEN evoked by the noxious stimulation in NAc, the Glu-induced response was blocked by the injection of MK-801 (1.0 nmol/0.5 microl) into NAc. MK-801 partly inhibited the response of PEN upon the noxious stimulation. It is therefore suggested that the facilitatory effect of Glu on PEN response in NAc to the noxious stimulation is mediated by NMDA receptors, and that Glu and NMDA receptors are involved in the modulation of nociceptive information transmission in the NAc.
Animals ; Dizocilpine Maleate ; pharmacology ; Electric Stimulation ; methods ; Electrophysiological Phenomena ; Female ; Glutamic Acid ; physiology ; Male ; Neurons ; physiology ; Nociceptors ; physiology ; Nucleus Accumbens ; physiology ; Pain ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate ; antagonists & inhibitors ; physiology

BACKGROUNDGinsenosides are main components extracted from ginseng, and ginsenoside Rg3 is one of the most important parts. Ginsenoside Rg3 has been found to inhibit several kinds of tumor growth and metastasis. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of ginsenoside Rg3 on human ovarian cancer metastasis and the possible mechanism.

METHODSThe experimental lung metastasis models of ovarian cancer SKOV-3 and the assay of tumor-induced angiogenesis were used to observe the inhibitory effects of Rg3 on tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. The effect of Rg3 on invasive ability of SKOV-3 cells in vitro was detected by Boyden chamber, and immunofluorescence staining was used to recognize the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) in SKOV-3 cells.

RESULTSIn the experimental lung metastasis models of ovarian cancer, the number of tumor colonies in the lung and vessels oriented toward the tumor mass in each ginsenoside Rg3 group, was lower than that of control group. The invasive ability and MMP-9 expression of SKOV-3 cells decreased significantly after treatment with ginsenoside Rg3.

CONCLUSIONSGinsenoside Rg3 can significantly inhibit the metastasis of ovarian cancer. The inhibitory effect is partially due to inhibition of tumor-induced angiogenesis and decrease of invasive ability and MMP-9 expression of SKOV-3 cells.

Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Female ; Ginsenosides ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; prevention & control ; secondary ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; metabolism ; Mice ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; prevention & control ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology

This study is to determine age-specific prostate-specific antigen (PSA) distributions in Chinese men without prostate cancer (PC) and to recommend reference ranges for this population after comparison with other studies. From September 2003 to December 2006, 9 374 adult men aged from 18 to 96 years agreed to participate in the study. After all cases of PC were excluded, 8 422 adult men participated in statistical analysis and were divided into five age groups. Simple descriptive statistical analyses were carried out and quartiles and 95th percentiles were calculated for each age group. The age-specific PSA reference ranges are as follows: 40-49 years, 2.15 ng mL(-1); 50-59 years, 3.20 ng mL(-1); 60-69 years, 4.10 ng mL(-1); 70-79 years, 5.37 ng mL(-1). The results indicate that the ethnic differences in PSA levels are obvious. The currently adopted Oesterling's age-specific PSA reference ranges are not appropriate for Chinese men. The reference ranges of this study should be more suitable to Chinese men.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aging ; blood ; ethnology ; China ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; blood ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; blood ; diagnosis ; ethnology ; Reference Values ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult