OBJECTIVETo search for an effective, safe, practical therapy for removing cholelithiasis in biliary tract.

METHODSOne hundred and twenty cases were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group. The treatment group were treated with frequency-changeable electroacupuncture at Qimen (LR 14), Liangmen (ST 21), Riyue (GB 24), Danshu (BL 19), Ganshu (BL 18), Yanglingquan (GB 34), and Dannang (EX-LE6), and the control group with Chinese medicine Paishi Decoction, 40 mL of 33% magnesium sulfate, 30 mL of 0.5% hydrochloric acid and fat diet, and with a Tuian Yunjing Instrument. Their therapeutic effects were observed.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 86.7% in the treatment group and 68.3% in the control group with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe frequency-changeable electroacupuncture has a definite therapeutic effect on the gallstone which is better than the comprehensive lithagogue therapy.

Adult ; Aged ; Cholelithiasis ; therapy ; Electroacupuncture ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Ginsenosides, belonging to a group of saponins with triterpenoid dammarane skeleton, show a variety of pharmacological effects. Among them, some ginsenoside derivatives, which can be produced by acidic and alkaline hydrolysis, biotransformation and steamed process from the major ginsenosides in ginseng plant, perform stronger activities than the major primeval ginsenosides on inhibiting growth or metastasis of tumor, inducing apoptosis and differentiation of tumor and reversing multidrug resistance of tumor. Therefore ginsenoside derivatives are promising as antitumor active compounds and drugs. In this review, the derivatization methods, ginsenoside derivatives and their anti-tumor structure-activity relationship have been summarized for providing useful information for the research and development of novel antitumor drugs.
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Ginsenosides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Hydrolysis ; Neoplasms ; pathology ; Panax ; chemistry ; classification ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Structure-Activity Relationship

Objective To observe the change of the relative concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in the frontal cortex during cognitive processing in patients with post-stroke depression (PSD), and to discuss the neural mechanism and changes of working memory function of PSD preliminarily. Methods From February to August,2017,20 patients with PSD(PSD group)and 20 patients with non-depressive(con-trol group)were recruited.NIRSport portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy system was used to observe the change of the relative concentration of hemoglobin in the frontal cortex during the emotional face gender judgment task and"1-back"working memory task. Results Compared with the control group,the change of the relative concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in the pre-frontal cortex was significantly lower after the negative emotion faces were presented in PSD group(t=3.872,P<0.001).In the implementation of the"1-back",the change of the relative concentration of oxygenated hemoglo-bin in the left prefrontal cortex was significantly lower in PSD group than in the control group(t=2.475,P<0.05), however,there was no significant difference in the change in the right prefrontal cortex between two groups(t=1.773,P=0.084). Conclusion The prefrontal cortex activity decrease in patients with PSD after the negative emotion faces were present-ed.The left prefrontal working memory function is impaired.The patients with PSD have disorder of oxygen me-tabolism in the prefrontal lobe.

Objective To evaluate the effects of low dose Ethyl Carbamate (EC)on the immune function of ICR mice and to provide evidences for developing food safety standard.Methods The ICR mice were divided into four groups,and three groups were treated with 0.1 7,0.83,1 .67 mg/kg·bw EC respectively and the control group was treated with distilled water only.The immune function of ICR mice was determined by five aspects,including cellular immunity,humoral immunity,mononuclear macrophages's phagocytosis,natural killer cell activity and the organ coefficients of immune organs. Results Compared with the control group,the 1 .67 mg/kg·bw EC significantly inhibited the proliferation of spleen lymphocyte,natural killer cell activity and the hemolysis plaque -forming ability induced by ConA (P <0.05 ). Conclusion EC can cause the inhibition of normal mouse's immune function.

Primary mediastinal choriocarcinoma in male is not a very common disease,with nonspecific clinical manifestations.Gynecomastia and testicular atrophy are present in some cases.The levels of serum human chorionic gonadotropin are often significantly increased.Giant lump in the mediastinum and bilateral lungs multiple metastases can be seen on the computed tomography for lung.The diagnosis for it depends on pathological biopsy.Current treatment method is a comprehensive,consisting of chemotherapy,radiotherapy and surgery.This paper reported a case of primary mediastinal choriocarcinoma in male,who were diagnosed and treated in the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University.He was admitted for cough and hemoptysis,and finally diagnosed by biopsy.The prognosis is very poor.Therefore,it is important to take physical examination regularly because it can be detected and diagnosed early.

A 61-year-old woman with pulmonary alternariosis and aspergillosis was reported.The patient presented with recurrent hemoptysis and cough for 3 years.Alternaria was identified by fungal culture.Biopsy specimen showed pulmonary aspergillosis.The patient had been treated with voriconazole at 400 mg/d through intravenous guttae for 7 days,and then switched amphotericin B at 25 mg/d through intravenous guttae for 11 days.The patient was treated with voriconazole at 400 mg through oral when she was discharged from hospital.After the treatment,the clinical symptoms ofhemoptysis and cough were recovered,and the lung CT examinations showed normal.

Objective To investigate the effects of long non-coding RNA FEZ family zinc finger 1 antisense RNA 1(lncRNA FEZF1-AS1)on enhancer of zeste homolog 2(EZH2)in regulation of proliferation,migration,invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)of pulmonary interstitial cells and its mechanism.Methods The A549 cells human lung adenocarcinoma cell line were divided into control group and model group[model cells were induced into lung interstitial cells after being treated with transforming growth factor β1(TGF-β1)20 ng/mL for 48 h].The protein expression of E-cadherin,N-cadherin and vimentin in each group was detected by Western blot.The expression of lncRNA FEZF1-AS1 and EZH2 in the two groups was detected by RT-qPCR.Cells in the trans-fection group were divided into si NC group,lncRNA FEZF1-AS1+OE vector group and si lncRNA FEZF1-AS1+OE EZH2 group.Cell proliferation was examined by CCK-8 method,cell migration was detected by cell scratch,and cell invasion was detected by Transwell assays.The protein expression of E-cadherin,N-cadherin,vimentin and EZH2 in each group was detected by Western blot.The direct binding effect of FEZF1-AS1 and EZH2 was deter-mined by RNA immuno-precipitation(RIP).Results Compared with the control group,the protein expression level of E-cadherin in the model group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05),and the protein expression of N-cadherin and vimentin was significantly increased(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,the expression level of lncRNA FEZF1-AS1 and EZH2 genes was significantly increased in the model group(P＜0.05).Compared with si NC group,the proliferation,migration and invasion ability of si lncRNA FEZF1-AS1+OE vector group were decreased,the ex-pression of E-cadherin protein was increased while the expression of N-cadherin,vimentin and EZH2 was decreased(P＜0.05).Compared with si lncRNA FEZF1-AS1+OE vector group,the proliferation,invasion and migration of si lncRNA FEZF1-AS1+OE EZH2 group were increased(P＜0.05).E-cadherin expression was decreased,while N-cad-herin,vimentin and EZH2 expressions were increased(P＜0.05).RIP experiment further confirmed that lncRNA FEZF1-AS1 had direct binding effect with EZH2.Conclusions LncRNA FEZF1-AS1 can promote the proliferation,invasion,metastasis and EMT process of pulmonary fibrosis cells by regulating EZH2.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the global gene expression profile of primary cultured nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells using cDNA microarray techniques to screen new candidate genes related to the occurrence and progression of NPC.

METHODSA NPC cell line C666 and primary cultured NPC cells from biopsy specimens in 5 cases were analyzed with microarray techniques in comparison with 3 normal nasopharyngeal epithelial (NPE) biopsy specimens. Several differentially expressed genes identified from the microarray results were verified by fluorescence real-time PCR (FQ-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC).

RESULTSPrimary cultured cells of both NPC and NPE were verified by cytokeratin IHC, EBER1 in situ hybridization and EBV-DNA real-time PCR. Compared with NPE cells, a total of 493 genes in at least 4/6 of the samples were identified to be differentially expressed in the primary cultured NPC cells, including 264 up-regulated and 229 down-regulated ones. Several differentially expressed genes according to the microarray results were confirmed by real-time PCR and IHC.

CONCLUSIONcDNA microarray technique provides an effective and accurate means for global gene expression profiling of primary cultured NPC cells to screen the differentially expressed genes, which may serve as an important basis for studying the mechanism, classification and diagnosis of NPC at the molecular level.

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo uncover the transmission patterns of the HIV epidemic in Dehong prefecture.

METHODSThe reviewed case reports, data of sentinel surveillance, testing and special survey were analyzed by SAS 8.0 program. The transmission patterns were modeled by utilizing data including sizes of the whole population and the high risk groups, high risk behavior data from 1989 to 2007, and the population index such as sex ratio and fertility rate.

RESULTSIn 2005, case reports showed the proportion of people infected with HIV through sexual contact was 39.1%, and 46.9% in 2006. Among 1636 cases reported between January 1 to September 20, 2007, the proportion of people infected with HIV through sexual contact was 52%. From 1989 to 2007, the proportion of HIV infection among drug users was declining, while HIV infection through sexual contact was rising after standardizing the population tested/surveyed. The Asian Epidemic Model has shown that the proportions of incident HIV infections through sexual transmissions were 50.6%, 52.3% and 52.7% respectively from 2005 to 2007. Correspondingly, the proportions of incident cases by injecting drug user were 48.9%, 47.2% and 46.7% respectively during this period. Moreover, the Workbook method has shown that, among adults living with HIV in 2007, 50.3% were infected through injecting drugs and 48.4% through unsafe sexual activity.

CONCLUSIONThe rapid rise in HIV infections through injecting drug in Dehong prefecture has been initially curbed. HIV epidemic has already witnessed a change from predominantly through drug injecting-related activity to an almost equally fuelled epidemic by sexual and drug-related transmission.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; epidemiology ; transmission ; China ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Models, Statistical ; Risk Factors ; Social Problems

Objective To study the risk factors on anemia among elderly women in rural areas of Xiuning county, Anhui province, China. Methods Xiuning county was selected as working field and elderly women aged 50-75y were selected as subjects. Finger hemoglobin (Hb) was measured and basic health survey was face-to-face interviewed. 220 elderly women with anemia entered into the ease group; and matched by age, another 220 women with normal Hb concentration entered the control group. Survey on diet, questionnaire regarding health and lifestyle and related blood indexes were studied and tested. Results When comparing the data from both case and control groups, weight was (49.4±7.3) kg vs. (52.5±8.4) kg (t= 3.97,P<0.01 ), waist circumference was (75.8±7.8) cm vs. (79.1±9.3) cm (t=3.85,P<0.01), BMI was (21.8±2.6) kg/m2 vs. ( 22.9±3.2) kg/m2 (t = 3.775, P< 0.01 ), respectively. The total protein was ( 76.4± 5.0) g/L vs. (78.4±5.6)g/L (t=3.83 ,P<0.01 ), albumin was (45.7±3.1 ) g/L vs. (47.3±2.9)g/L (t=5.24, P<0.01 ), serum iron was ( 10.3±4.1 ) μmol/L vs. ( 12.7±4.6) μmol/L (t=5.48, P<0.01 ), and saturation of transferrin was ( 19.0±7.6)% vs. (23.1±9.1 )% (t=4.90, P<0.01 ), respectively. Results from multifactor conditioned logistic regression analysis showed that the odd ratios (OR) for anemia with staple food, BMI and vitamin A were 1.54, 1.89, 1.69, and the OR for anemia with BMI, staple food, animal food, carbohydrate and vitamin A were 2.0, 1.6, 1.6, 1.4, 1.6, with their confidence intervals (CI) as 1.3-2.9, 1.1-2.3,1.0-2.3,1.0-2.1, 1.1-2.4, respectively. Conclusion The quality of diet, health status and related blood indexes on anemia among elderly women were lower than that in control group. Lower BMI, less staple food and animal food, less carbohydrate and vitamin A intake appeared to be risk factors of anemia.