BACKGROUND: Protein drugs such as insulin are usually used in the form of injection due to its low oral administration bioavailability. For the purpose of higher bioavailability, the common method is to encapsulate the drug into algitnate/chitosan microspheres, which introduced polysaccharides to accelerate biological absorption or reduce demolition of protease. OBJECTIVE: To construct alginate/chitosan microspheres containing cationic?-cyclodextrin polymer (CP?CD) /insulin complex for insulin oral delivery system, in addition, to inspect the influence of the charge density of cationic ?-cyclodextrin polymers on insulin release performance in vitro. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: The contrast observation experiment was performed at the Laboratory of Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University from November 2006 to July 2008. MATERIALS: ?-cyclodextrin, epichlorohydrin was supplied by Tianjin Bodi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Choline chloride and alginate was provided by Kelong Reagent Company, chitosan was purchased from Golden-shell Biochemical Co., Ltd. And insulin was produced by Wanbang Biochemical Pharmaceutical Company. METHODS: Cationic ?-cyclodextrin polymer was synthesized through a one-step polymerization of ?-cyclodextrin, epichlorohydrin and choline chloride. It was combined with insulin and then encapsulated into alginate/chitosan microspheres. In vitro insulin release behavior of the microsphere was studied in simulative gastrointestinal fluid. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The entrapment efficiency, as well as insulin release in simulative gastrointestinal fluid. RESULTS: The charge density of CP?CD had a great impact on the insulin association efficiency of microspheres. The maximum association efficiency could reach (76.3?1.5)%. It showed that cumulative insulin release of microspheres containing CP?CD was less than that of the control group in simulated gastric fluid. The insulin released was 5.8 IU in simulated intestinal fluid, which was higher than the control group. CONCLUSION: Alginate/chitosan microsphere containing CP?CD/insulin complex is a promising system for improving insulin oral delivery efficiency.

Objective The effectiveness of Zhuang nationality medical lotus needle plus back cupping therapy ( Zhuang needle-cupping therapy) , Flixonase aqueous nasal spray and cetirizine tablets in treating allergic rhinitis (AR) was compared for the exploration of the therapeutic mechanism of Zhuang needle-cupping therapy. Methods A total of 200 recruited AR patients were randomly divided into four groups in the proportion of 1:1:1:1. The four groups were Zhuang needle-cupping therapy group, cetirizine group, Flixonase group and blank control group. The blank control group had no medication, and the patients of the other three medication groups were given the corresponding treatment. Ten days constituted one treatment course, and interval between two courses lasted one week. After two courses, the therapeutic effect was evaluated. The changes of specific IgE (S-IgE), leukotriene (LT), interleukin 4(IL-4), IL-9 mRNA, interferon gamma (IFN-γ), Thl / Th2 cells, and Th17 cytokine ( IL-17) were observed before and after treatment. Results ( 1) After two treatment courses, Zhuang needle-cupping therapy group had better therapeutic effect than cetirizine group , Flixonase group and blank control group, and the therapeutic effect of cetirizine group and Flixonase group was better than the blank control group (P<0.05). However, the therapeutic effect of cetirizine group was similar to that of Flixonase group ( P>0.05). ( 2) After treatment, the levels of S-IgE, LT, IL-9 mRNA, IL-4 and IL-17 were decreased, and IFN-γ and Th1/Th2 levels were increased in the three medication groups ( P<0.05 compared with those before treatment) . The differ ences of the laboratory indexes in the blank control group were insignificant before and after treatment ( P>0.05). The results of inter-group comparison after treatment showed that Zhuang needle-cupping therapy group had better effect on improving S-IgE, LT, IFN-γand Th1/Th2 than cetirizine group and Flixonase group (P<0.05). (3) During the trial, no adverse reaction was found. Conclusion Zhuang needle-cupping therapy exerts certain therapeutic effect for AR, and the mechanism may be related with the inhibition of S-IgE, LT, IL-9 mRNA and IL-17 expression, and with the regulation of Th1/Th2 imbalance by decreasing TH2 cytokine level and increasing Th1 cytokine level.

Objective To study the diagnosis and treatment of omental torsion.Methods 73 patients with omental torsion from Jan 1995 to Dec 2009 in literatures together with the one we reported were reviewed and analyzed The range of ages was from 3 to 65 years,and the median age was 25.3 years.Among them,35 cases were less than 18 years old(47%,and 27 with obesity) and others more than 18 years old(53%,1 with obesity).The accurate diagnosis before operation exsited in 9 patients.49 patients(66%) were diagnosed as primary omental torsion,and childhood obesity was the most related factor.Conversely,25(34%) were diagnosed as secondary omental torsion,while the most common reason was adhersion.In contrast with other clinical symotoms and signs,abdominal pain and tenderness were occurred in almost every people.Bultro sonography(positive rate:24%,6/25) was hardly useful in diagnosis but CT (positive rate:96%,23/24) and MRI(positive rate:100%,2/2) were beniticial.Operation was applied in all patients,while laparoscopy was uesed in 23 patients.As a rule,the appendix was removed together in 61 persons.The cobort of patients was recoverd fully without serious complications such as hemorrhage and intestinal infarction.Conclusion Omental torsion was a relatively rare disease,and the diagnosis should be easy with the help of CT and MRI,and the laparoscopy was the better choice for surgeons.

OBJECTIVERecent studies have shown that cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-6 play important roles in myocardial injury or dysfunction. Transcription nuclear factor (NF-kappa B) have been implicated in the regulation of a variety of cytokines in response to cellular defense. The authors observed the activity of NF-kappa B and cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-6 mRNA expression in myocardium to further investigate the mechanism of myocardial injury caused by infectious pneumonia. The therapeutic effect of exogenous adenosine was also studied by observing the influence on NF-kappa B and cytokines.

METHODSThirty rats were divided into three experimental groups at random, each group had 10 rats. The model of pneumonia was induced by the injection of Staphylococcus aureus into the trachea of rats. Adenosine-treated rats were given daily slow intravenous injection of adenosine at a dose of 150 microg/kg.min for 3 days from the second day. All rats were killed on the fifth day. Myocardial tissues were preserved in liquid nitrogen for examination. Pathological examination of myocardium was done and TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expression was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). NF-kappa B activity was measured by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA).

RESULTS(1) The myocardium in pneumonia group showed significant pathological lesion when compared with control group (P < 0.01). The pathological lesion of myocardium in adenosine-treated group significantly decreased when compared to pneumonia group (P < 0.05). (2) Significant increase of TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expression was observed in myocardium of pneumonic rats when compared with control group (2.27 +/- 0.27 vs. 1.05 +/- 0.16; 1.89 +/- 0.31 vs. 1.12 +/- 0.25: P < 0.01, respectively). NF-kappa B activity of myocardium in pneumonia group was significantly higher than that in control group (13,033 +/- 1286 vs. 383 +/- 15: P < 0.01). (3) TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expression was significantly decreased in adenosine-treated group when compared with pneumonia group (1.25 +/- 0.18 vs. 2.27; 1.31 +/- 0.25 vs. 1.89 +/- 0.31, P < 0.01, respectively). Comparing to that in pneumonia group, NF-kappa B activity of myocardium in adenosine-treated group was significantly decreased (4 487 +/- 562 vs. 13033 +/- 1286, P < 0.01), but it was still significantly higher than that in control group (4487 +/- 562 vs.383 +/- 15, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSIncreased activity of NF-kappa B and subsequent upregulation of TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expression probably play a pivotal role in the mechanism of myocardial injury in rats with pneumonia. Exogenous adenosine can inhibit inflammatory change by lowering NF-kappa B activity and subsequent down-regulation of TNF-alpha and IL-6 expression. Our findings provide novel therapeutic evidence of adenosine in myocardial injury induced by pneumonia in clinic.

Adenosine ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents ; pharmacology ; Cytokines ; genetics ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay ; Female ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Interleukin-6 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; NF-kappa B ; genetics ; metabolism ; Pneumonia, Staphylococcal ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of chronic endurance exercise on microcirculatory reserve capacity of biceps brachii in Chinese rowers and provide a certain basis for the date standard foundation of monitoring of functional status and the foundation of database of reserve capacity of blood of Chinese rowers.

METHODSEmpty stomach in the morning, 77 rowers from different groups and 24 common health people were noninvasive tested by using PeriFlux System 5000, the test indexes include the microcirculatory reserve capacity and other related indexes of biceps brachii. The test sites of all athletes were the same space in biceps brachii of the right side of body, there was no space differences of all athletes . All athletes were tested in the relatively stable functional status, common people were healthy. The test value included basic values and heating values, put the before and after heating of microcirculatory blood perfusion (MBP) as the microcirculatory reserve capacity.

RESULTSHeavyweight female (198. 97 ± 98. 81) > heavyweight male (183. 45 ± 64. 31) > lightweight male (151. 01 ± 65. 96) > lightweight female(140.53 ± 43.22) > common male people(127.21 ± 56.38) > common female people(103.54 ± 33.41), the microcirculatory reserve capacity of each group athletes were higher than common people, except the comparison between lightweight female and common male people, and there was no significant difference among the different group athletes.

CONCLUSIONChronic endurance exercise can improve the microcirculatory reserve capacity of rowers, especially the heavyweight rowers; the normal value of microcirculatory reserve capacity of heavy weight rowers should be more than 160, and lightweight rowers should be more than 120. There was no significant difference among different sex athletes, if the value of microcirculatory reserve capacity is significant lower than normal, it shows that athletes are in the state of fatigue.

Arm ; Athletes ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Microcirculation ; Muscle, Skeletal ; blood supply ; Sports

Objective To observe whether the expression of interferon-regulatory factor genes are re- lated to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods The clinical data of 45 SLE patients and 37 normal controls were collected.Total RNA of peripheral blood was extracted and transcripted into cDNA.Sybr green dye based real-time quantitative PCR method was used to compare the expression (indicated as-??Ct value) of IRFI,IRF4,IRF8 in patients with SLE and those in the controls.Results The levels of IRF1,IRF4 and IRF8 mRNA were-3.90?0.19,-8.04?0.25 and 3.60?0.15 respectively in normal controls.In SLE patients, IRF4 mRNA expression was -8.82?0.18,higher than that in normal (P=0.011).But IRF8 mRNA expression was 3.09?0.13,lower than that in normal (P=0.012).Conclusion Abnormal IRF mRNA expression is found in the peripheral blood of SLE patients.IRFs may play roles in the pathogenesis of SLE by affecting the differen- tiation of Th cells.

Objective To investigate the prevalence of adolescent scoliosis in Guangzhou for development of effective prevention and treatment program to the disease. Methods From November2007 to July 2009, 30 142 students between 7 to 20 years old in primary and junior middle schools received physical check-up for detection of scoliosis through physical and radiographic examination.Results 211 cases were diagnosed as scoliosis (Cobb angle≥10°) , with the prevalence rate as 0.70%. 192 patients with idiopathic scoliosis (IS) were detected, accounting for 91.00%. There were 19 cases of congenital scoliosis, accounting for 9.00%. Sex ratio of scoliosis was 180/31. The prevalence of scoliosis was significantly lower in boys than that in girls (x2= 112.332, P＜0.001 ).Conclusion The crude prevalence of adolescent scoliosis was 0.70% in Guangzhou with majority of idiopathic scoliosis. Investigation on scoliosis among school-age population seemed to be important for the purposes of early diagnosis, selection of effective prevention and treatment.

OBJECTIVERecent studies showed that adenosine played important roles in vasodilation. This study aimed to investigate the effects of adenosine, its A1 and A2b receptor agonists on pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) induced by chronic hypoxia in rats by continuously subcutaneous administration with an osmotic pump for 14 days, and to see if rennin angiotensin system and inducible nitric oxygen synthase (iNOS)/nitric oxide (NO) mediate the effects.

METHODFifty-six male SD rats were randomly assigned to seven groups. Each group included eight rats. They were normoxic group, hypoxic group, adenosine-treated group [adenosine was administered at a dose of 150 µg(kg·min) under the hypoxic condition], adenosine A1 receptor agonist CPA-treated group [CPA was administered at a dose of 20 µg/(kg·min) under the hypoxic condition], CPA plus selective adenosine A1 antagonist DPCPX-treated group [CPA and DPCPX were administered simultaneously under the hypoxic condition, the dose of CPA was the same as the above, and the dose of DPCPX was 25 µg/(kg·min)], adenosine A2b receptor agonist NECA-treated group [NECA was administered at a dose of 30 µg/(kg·min) under the hypoxic condition], NECA plus selective adenosine A2b receptor antagonist MRS-treated group[ NECA and MRS1754 were administered simultaneously under the hypoxic condition, the dose of NECA was the same as the above, and the dose of MRS1754 was 50 µg/(kg·min)]. Osmotic pumps containing adenosine or selective adenosine A1 receptor agonist (CPA), or nonselective but potent adenosine A2b receptor agonist (NECA) were placed subcutaneously 7 days after hypoxia and continuously administered the agents for 14 days.Mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) was detected after administration of the agents. Then blood samples were taken from heart for measurement of renin activity, angiotensin II (AngII) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) concentration by radioimmunoassay, NO by measuring nitrate. Small pulmonary arteries were prepared for immunoreactivity staining of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and iNOS.

RESULT(1) Chronic hypoxia induced PAH [mPAP: (31.38 ± 3.42) mm Hg]. Adenosine or CPA or NECA administered for 14 days by subcutaneous route attenuated the mPAP [(21.17 ± 3.56) mm Hg, (22.88 ± 2.95) mm Hg, (19.81 ± 2.39) mm Hg, respectively], which showed significant difference when compared with hypoxia group (P < 0.05 respectively). (2) Plasma rennin activity and AngII level in hypoxia group [(2.51 ± 0.25) ng/(ml·h), (83.01 ± 9.38) pg/ml] were significantly higher than that in normoxic group (P < 0.05, respectively).(3) Adenosine treatment decreased the rennin activity and AngII level when compared with hypoxic group(P < 0.05, respectively);CPA and NECA attenuated respectively the rennin activity and AngII level of rats induced by chronic hypoxia (P < 0.05, respectively). (4) Adenosine administration for 14 days attenuated the wall thickness induced by chronic hypoxia (P < 0.05). CPA showed no effect on wall thickness, but NECA significantly attenuated the wall thickness (P < 0.05). (5) The number of iNOS staining positive cells in small pulmonary artery was higher in hypoxia group than in that in normoxic rats (23.75 ± 7.91 vs. 8.00 ± 2.20, P < 0.05). Adenosine or CPA, or NECA administration increased respectively the iNOS expression in rats treated with chronic hypoxia. Chronic hypoxia caused significant decrease of nitric oxide level. Adenosine treatment increased the nitric oxide level in rats treated with chronic hypoxia. CPA and NECA also increased respectively the nitric oxide level in rats treated with chronic hypoxia. Chronic hypoxia caused significant increase of ET-1 level. The ET-1 level in rats treated with adenosine, CPA or NCEA respectively were lower than that in chronic hypoxia rats (P < 0.05). (6) Adenosine treatment partially attenuated the number of PCNA-positively stained cells. NECA treatment also attenuated the PCNA expression, but CPA showed no effect.

CONCLUSIONAdenosine and its agonists CPA, NECA administered continually by subcutaneous route attenuate mPAP of rats induced by chronic hypoxia. CPA attenuates mPAP through reduction of RA/AngII activity and balance of NO/ET-1 level. NECA attenuates mPAP by inhibiting PCNA expression and proliferation of mooth muscle of pulmonary artery.

Adenosine ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Angiotensin II ; blood ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Endothelin-1 ; metabolism ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; drug therapy ; etiology ; metabolism ; Hypoxia ; complications ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; metabolism ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; metabolism ; Pulmonary Artery ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Purinergic P1 Receptor Agonists ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Renin ; blood

OBJECTIVETo construct a clinical database for laparoscopic colorectal surgery in Chinese population using computerized technique.

METHODSA clinical database system was constructed and used in multi-/single-center studies on laparoscopic colorectal surgery.

RESULTSThe data of more than 1200 cases in the Nanfang Hospital during the past year were collected retrospectively. The database was used as the platform for "Southern China Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery Study Group (SCLCSG)" and was used in the first stage of the clinical research of "Multicenter retrospective study of laparoscopic and open procedure for colorectal cancer" among 11 hospitals in Southern China. In order to test the system, the database was also used in "comparative study on oncologic results of laparoscopic versus open radical resection for rectal carcinoma".

CONCLUSIONSThe evaluation system is reliable and efficient. This system has established a clinical database for laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery and can be widely applied for the clinical research for colorectal cancer.

Colectomy ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Colorectal Surgery ; Data Mining ; Databases, Factual ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo develop a clinical database system of gastric cancer surgery integrated with data mining function for better management of clinical data and better performance of both retrospective and prospective studies.

METHODSCore fields for clinical data were determined based on the JGCA(13th and 14th edition) and UICC gastric cancer staging system. Microsoft Visual Basic and VistaDB were used for programming. The database structure was designed according to data mining theory and clinical workflow.

RESULTSAfter one year of development and refinement, data of over 600 patients from our hospital were retrospectively entered, and function tests were satisfactory. This system was accepted as the database platform for the Chinese Laparoscopic Gastrointestinal Surgery Study Group (CLASS) and was successfully used in the first stage of the Multicenter Retrospective Study of the Feasibility of Laparoscopy for Gastric Cancer among 30 hospitals from both Mainland China and Hong Kong. The data mining function met the requirements, which could carry out complex search with visualized presentation. Descriptive analyses could be performed with the analysis function. Efficient communication among institutions could be executed by data import and export with excellent compatibility and without errors.

CONCLUSIONThe system has established a clinical database of approximately 4000 fields with data mining function. This system can be widely applied for the clinical research for gastric cancer.

Data Mining ; Databases, Factual ; Humans ; Software Design ; Stomach Neoplasms ; surgery