OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of depside salt from salvia miltiorrhizae (DSSM) in repairing advanced glycation end products (AGE)-induced late endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) dysfunction, and its possible molecular mechanism.

METHODSMononuclear cells (MNCs) were separated using density gradient centrifugation from human umbilical cord blood, and cultured with EGM-2-MV culture fluid to late EPCs. Then the EPCs were divided into 5 groups: Group A incubated with 200 microg/mL AGE-modified bovine serum albumin (AGE-albumin) alone (A), Groups B, C and D with equal dosage of AGE-albumin plus DSSM at different dosages (0.1 microg/mL, 1 microg/mL, and 10 microg/mL), Group E with 200 microg/mL of unmodified-AGE. The late EPCs apoptosis was detected by Annexin V+/PI double-stain, angiogenic capacity was detected by ECMatrix-gel, mRNA expressions of the receptor for AGE (RAGE) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) were measured by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and the protein expressions of RAGE, eNOS and protein kinase (Akt) were measured by Western blot.

RESULTSCompared with Group E, in Group A, the Annexin V+/PI- ratio and expression of RAGE in EPCs increased, the angiogenic capacity, mRNA and protein expressions of eNOS, and protein expression of Akt decreased significantly. These abnormal changes in Groups C and D were significantly smaller than those in Group A (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). And all the indices in Group D were adjacent to those in Group E, showing insignificant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSAGE could injure the function of EPCs, revealing increase of cell apoptosis and migration, deprivation of angiogenic capacity in vitro. DSSM could repair the EPCs dysfunction induced by AGE-albumin. Up-regulation of eNOS and Akt in these cells may be involved in the mechanism.

Adult ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Movement ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Depsides ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Endothelium, Vascular ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Female ; Glycation End Products, Advanced ; antagonists & inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; metabolism ; Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products ; Receptors, Immunologic ; metabolism ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry ; Stem Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; physiology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo compare therapeutic effects between suspine rotation and flexion manipulation for treating lumbar disc herniation.

METHODSFrom December 2008 to January 2011, 134 patients with lumbar disc herniation were treated, including 74 males and 60 females,ranging in age from 17 to 67 years,33 patients with age over 50 years old. According to diagnosis the ladder of the 9 cases bulging type, 74 hernia type, 51 cases free type. The patients were randomly divided into treatment group ( 69 cases) and control group (65 cases). All the patients were treated with the three-dimensional computer-controlled traction therapeutic apparatus,with continued traction for 20 minutes. After traction, flexion manipulation and rotat-ing manipulation were respectively adopted in treatment group and control group (on alternate days one time, 3 times as a course of treatment). The symptoms and signs (including back pain and discomfort, lower limb pain and numbness, powerless urination and defecation,numbness in perineum, straight-leg raising degree,ability of lower extremity walking,work and live) of patients were observed after treatment.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up for 0.5 to 6 months with an average of 1.1 months. After treatment, the symptoms and signs of patients have significantly improved (P < 0.01), but the symptomes of powerless urination and defecation,numbness in perineum was not improved obviously (P>0.05). Forty-two of 69 patients in treatment group got excellent result, moderate in 20, poor in 7; Twenty of 65 patients in control group got excellent result, moderate in 25,poor in 20.

CONCLUSIONThe whole effect of lumbar backwards rotation manipulation is more satisfactory than flexsion manipulation for treating lumbar intervertebral disc herniation. But spinning force and times should be noticed.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; physiopathology ; Male ; Manipulation, Orthopedic ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Recovery of Function ; Rotation ; Young Adult

Organ shortage is a common problem in the field of transplantation worldwide. It is urgent to expand the donor pool via different effective and safe approaches. Recently, "the statement from international collaborative on expanding controlled donation after the circulatory determination of death (cDCDD)" has attracted widespread attention from scholars. The statement aims to promote cDCDD in order to increase organ donation rates, with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency in transplantation. In this article, the key contents mentioned in the statement were summarized, the terminology update and relevant discussion of donation after the circulatory determination of death (DCDD), the development trend of DCDD, the basic part of the clinical pathway of cDCDD and the key factors affecting the implementation of cDCDD were illustrated, and the inspiration drew from this statement to the sustainable development of organ donation program in China was reflected.

OBJECTIVETo discuss the operation skills and evaluate the effects of open total extraperitoneal herniorrhaphy for inguinal hernia via a ventral midline incision.

METHODSFrom June 2008 to December 2009, 106 patients with inguinal hernia received open total extraperitoneal herniorrhaphy via a ventral midline incision, the clinical data were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSOf the patients, 86 cases were male, 20 were female, the mean age was 60.2 years (range, 21 - 86 years). The mean operation time was (32.6 ± 10.5) minutes. The postoperative hospital stay was (2.3 ± 0.7) days. Intra-operative peritoneal perforation occurred in 2 cases. Four cases experienced urine retention and seroma happened in 2 cases, 6 cases suffered early surgical-site pain, and all of the complications were cured with conservative treatment. Three cases developed scrotal hydrocele. No neuralgia or incisional infection occurred in this group. During a 3- to 22-months follow-up period (mean, 10.2 months), no patient complained of discomfort or foreign body sensation in the inguinal area. Two cases recurred 2 and 11 months after the surgery, respectively; the recurrence rate was 1.9%, the two patients healed after reoperation.

CONCLUSIONSOpen total extraperitoneal herniorrhaphy operation via a ventral midline incision is a safe, effective and convenient technique for inguinal hernia with few postoperative complications. This method is worth popularizing.

Abdomen ; surgery ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hernia, Inguinal ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

AIMTo study the influence of enterococci on human sperm membrane in vitro.

METHODSEjaculated human sperm were artificially infected with beta-hemolytic or non-beta-hemolytic enterococci at the bacteria: sperm ratio of 50:1 at 37 degrees . Sperm membrane integrity was examined after incubation for 1, 3 and 5 h by hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test and electron microscopy.

RESULTSSperm infected with beta-hemolytic enterococci had lower HOS scores compared with non-beta-hemolytic strains or uninfected control (P < 0.01). The HOS test scores of sperm infected with beta-hemolytic enterococci increased in the presence of phosphatidylcholine, an inhibitor of hemolysin. Non-beta-hemolytic strains showed no significant difference in swelling rate, compared with the control group (P > 0.05). It was shown by electron microscopy that beta-hemolytic enterococci caused significant rupture of human sperm membrane.

CONCLUSIONBeta-hemolytic enterococci caused human sperm membrane injury, and might be mediated by the hemolysin of enterococci.

Cell Membrane ; drug effects ; microbiology ; Ejaculation ; Enterococcus ; physiology ; Feces ; microbiology ; Humans ; Male ; Phosphatidylcholines ; pharmacology ; Reference Values ; Spermatozoa ; drug effects ; microbiology ; ultrastructure

Differences between Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients in China and Western countries are known to exist, but data on Chinese patients with HL are limited. It is not clear whether there are clinical and histological differences in patients with HL involving different extranodal sites. This is the first study to analyze Chinese patients with HL involving different extranodal sites. We selected 22 HL patients with extranodal involvement from more than 250 previously untreated HL patients. Most patients were young males, and 20 of the 22 patients had stage IV disease. The major pathologic types were nodular sclerosis classical HL (NSCHL) and mixed cellularity classical HL(MCCHL). At diagnosis, the most commonly involved extranodal sites were the liver and lung, followed by the bones. There was no significant association between the international prognostic score(IPS) and survival in patients with different extranodal sites. Our data showed the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates of low-risk group (IPS = 0-2) were relatively higher than those of high-risk group (IPS ≥ 3), but the IPS did not show predictive power for survival. Although HL with extranodal involvement is rare, it should be considered as a unique form of HL.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Bleomycin ; therapeutic use ; Bone Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; Cyclophosphamide ; therapeutic use ; Dacarbazine ; therapeutic use ; Disease-Free Survival ; Doxorubicin ; therapeutic use ; Etoposide ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hodgkin Disease ; drug therapy ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Procarbazine ; therapeutic use ; Remission Induction ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Vinblastine ; therapeutic use ; Vincristine ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Liver ; parasitology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Schistosomiasis japonica ; immunology ; Thiourea ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; virology ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis B virus ; Hepatitis C ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; virology

BACKGROUNDActivation of glial cells and the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway play an important role in the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain. Curcumin can alleviate the symptom of inflammatory pain by inhibiting the production and release of interleukin and tumor necrosis factor. However, whether curcumin affects neuropathic pain induced by nerve injury and the possible mechanism involved are still unknown. This study investigated the effects of tolerable doses of curcumin on the activation of astrocytes and ERK signaling in the spinal dorsal horn in rat model of neuropathic pain.

METHODSAdult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: a control (sham operated) group, and chronic constriction injury groups (to induce neuropathic pain) that were either untreated or treated with curcumin. Thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia thresholds were measured. The distribution and morphological changes of astrocytes were observed by immunofluorescence. Western blotting was used to detect changes in the expression of glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) and phosphorylated ERK.

RESULTSInjured rats showed obvious mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia. The number of GFAP-positive astrocytes, and the fluorescence intensity of GFAP were significantly increased in the spinal dorsal horn of injured compared with control rats. The soma of astrocytes also appeared hypertrophied in injured animals. Expression of GFAP and phosphorylated ERK was also significantly increased in the spinal dorsal horn of injured compared with control rats. Curcumin reduced the injury-induced thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia, the increase in the fluorescence intensity of GFAP and the hypertrophy of astrocytic soma, activation of GFAP and phosphorylation of ERK in the spinal dorsal horn.

CONCLUSIONSCurcumin can markedly alleviate nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain in rats. The analgesic effect of curcumin may be attributed to its inhibition of astrocyte hypertrophy in the spinal dorsal horn and phosphorylation of the ERK signaling pathway.

Analgesics ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Astrocytes ; drug effects ; Blotting, Western ; Constriction, Pathologic ; metabolism ; Curcumin ; therapeutic use ; Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases ; metabolism ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; metabolism ; Hyperalgesia ; metabolism ; Male ; Neuralgia ; drug therapy ; Phosphorylation ; drug effects ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of the goblet cells in the intestine during the restitution process of the gut barrier after hemorrhagic shock.

METHODSForty-nine Sprague-Dawley rats with body weight of 250-300 g were divided into control group (n=7) and experimental group (n=42). Rats in the experimental group was further divided into 6 groups (n=7 each) according to different time point at 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 hours after hemorrhagic shock resuscitation. The specimens from ileum tissue were taken to observe the morphological chan ges of the intestinal mucosa. The number of goblet cells was determined by light microscope and/or electron microscope. The contents of trefoil factor family 3 (TFF3) of goblet cells were examined using GC-9A gas chromatographic instrument.

RESULTSAfter hemorrhagic shock, mucosal epithelial injury was obvious in the small intestine. Tissue restitution was found after 3 hours, and mostly established after 12 hours. Following tissue restitution,the denuded mucosal surface was covered intensively by goblet cells. The number of goblet cells on the intestinal mucosa was reduced significantly from 243+/- 13 at 1 h to 157+/- 9 at 24 h (r=- 0.910, P< 0.01), and returned to normal level at 36 h. In the experimental group, the content of TFF3 in the intestinal mucosa increased significantly at 12 hours, decreased, but was still higher at 24 hours (t=3.24, P< 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe goblet cells play a key role in the restitution of intestinal mucosa. High expression of TFF3 may facilitate the intestinal mucosal restitution in the early phase.

Animals ; Goblet Cells ; metabolism ; Ileum ; cytology ; Intestinal Mucosa ; cytology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neuropeptides ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Shock, Hemorrhagic ; metabolism ; Trefoil Factor-3