The dissolution of Panacis Quinquefolii Radix ultrafine granular powder and common powder, traditional pieces in water and simulated gastric juice in vitro was compared, and the effect of particles size of Panacis Quinquefolii Radix on the dissolution was studied. HPLC method was used for determination of five ginsenosides including Rg1, Re, Rb1, Rc and Rd from ultrafine granular powder and common powder, traditional pieces of Panacis Quinquefolii Radix at different points in time, furthermore, the dissolution curves of Panacis Quinquefolii Radix ultrafine granular powder and common powder, traditional pieces were obtained. The dissolution characteristics of the three Panacis Quinquefolii Radix forms were also compared in this study. According to the results, the dissolution rates of ginsenosides from ultrafine granular powder exceeded 90% of the total content with 5 min, significantly higher than that of the other two forms in water in vitro. At the same time, the dissolved amount of the ultrafine granular powder was fourteen percent higher than that of the traditional pieces and eight percent higher than that of the common powder. Under the condition of simulated gastric juice in vitro, the dissolution rates of ginsenosides from ultrafine granular powder were little lower than that of the other two, but the maximum dissolved amount of the former was fourteen percent higher than that of the common powder and five percent higher than that of the extracts. Therefore the conclusion is that micronization of Panacis Quinquefolii Radix contributed to dissolution of effective components.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Ginsenosides ; chemistry ; Panax ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Powders ; Solubility

OBJECTIVETo examine the change of Smoothened (Smo) expression in the retinofugal pathway and in the growth cones during the period of embryonic day 13 (E13) to E15.

METHODSSmo expression in the chiasm and growth cones was observed by fluorescent immunostaining and retinal explant culture.

RESULTSOn E13 and E14, Smo was expressed moderately in the retina and optic disc, and in the corner of the retina, Smo expression was especially dense. On E13, Smo expression was detected in the optic nerves and ventral diencephalon, but only in the superficial region of the optic tract on E14. Smo was also detected in the stem and filopodia of the growth cones in the retinal explant culture during this period.

CONCLUSIONSmo expression changes in different developmental phases, suggesting that Smo might play a role in signal optic axon growth during the development of the retinofugal pathway.

Animals ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Optic Chiasm ; cytology ; embryology ; metabolism ; Optic Nerve ; cytology ; embryology ; metabolism ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ; biosynthesis ; Retina ; cytology ; embryology ; metabolism ; Smoothened Receptor ; Visual Pathways ; cytology ; embryology ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of the length of covered stents in the portal and hepatic veins on long-term clinical efficacy of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS).

METHODSWe retrospectively reviewed 53 cases receiving TIPSs between January, 2008 and December, 2011. All the shunts were created with Fluency stents (8 mm in diameter). Bare metal grafts of the same diameter were implanted to extend the length in the portal and hepatic veins as deemed necessary according to angiographic images. The primary patency, hepatic encephalopathy and patient survival were evaluated during the follow up. The length of the covered stents within the hepatic vein (X1) and in the portal vein (X2), and the total length of stents placed in the hepatic vein (X3) and the portal vein (X4) were measured and their effects on primary patency and the patients'outcomes were evaluated.

RESULTSThe procedures were completed successfully in all the patients and the mean portosystemic pressure decreased from 29.80∓4.83 mmHg to 19.00∓3.92 mmHg (t=13.44, P<0.01) after the procedure. The patients were followed up for a median of 64 months (3 to 89 months, 39 months on average). Hepatic encephalopathy occurred in 23% (12/53) of the patients after TIPS. Shunt dysfunction occurred in 16 cases, and the cumulative primary patency rates at 1 to 5 years were 83%, 75%, 63%, 62%, and 54%, respectively. The cumulative survival rates of the patients at 1 to 5 years were 79%, 72%, 72%, 69%, and 69%, respectively. Cox proportional regression analysis showed a significant association between the length of covered-stent in the hepatic vein and the primary patency (OR=0.42, P<0.01), and there was a significant association between the length of stent in the portal vein and the patient survival. No significant correlation was found between these parameters and hepatic encephalopathy.

CONCLUSIONIncreasing the length of the covered stent in the hepatic vein and decreasing the stent length in the portal vein can improve the primary patency and the patient survival receiving TIPS.

Angiography ; Hepatic Encephalopathy ; Hepatic Veins ; surgery ; Humans ; Portal Vein ; surgery ; Portasystemic Shunt, Transjugular Intrahepatic ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome

A 4-month-old girl developed convulsion in the neonatal period, which was focal motor seizures in the initial stage and later became spasm and tonic spasm. And the girl also had psychomotor retardation and recurrent pulmonary infection. Electroencephalography showed hypsarrhythmia, normal results were obtained from cranial magnetic resonance imaging, cerebrospinal fluid examination, and urine organic acid analysis, as well as the spectral analyses of blood ammonia, blood lactic acid, blood amino acids, and acylcarnitines. Gene detection revealed a de novo heterozygous mutation, c.607G>A (p.G203R) , in GNAO1. The girl was then diagnosed with GNAO1-associated early infantile epileptic encephalopathy (EIEE type 17). The seizures were well controlled by topiramate and vigabatrin, but there was no improvement in psychomotor development. She also suffered from recurrent pulmonary infection and died at the age of 12 months due to severe pneumonia. For children with unexplained early infantile epileptic encephalopathy, GNAO1 gene mutations should be considered and genetic tests should be performed as early as possible. Recurrent pulmonary infection should also be taken seriously.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinicopathological features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of primary clear cell carcinoma of the liver (PCCCL).

METHODSThe clinicopathological data of 24 cases with pathologically proven PCCCL in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from May 1996 to December 2003 were collected and analyzed.

RESULTSThere were 21 males and 3 females in this group, with an average age of 46 years (range: 30 approximately 78 years). HBV infection was detected in 83.3%, and AFP expression was found in 75.0% of them. Of the 24 cases, 28 tumors were found with an average size of (6.64 +/- 5.54) cm. Liver cirrhosis was found in 75.0% of the patients. Macroscopic and microscopic tumor thrombi were found in 20.8% and 29.2%, respectively. Lymph node metastasis was found in 4.2% of the patents. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates of the 24 cases were 75.0%, 41.7% and 27.8%, respectively, with a median survival time of 29 months.

CONCLUSIONThe clinical characteristics of primary clear cell carcinoma of the liver are similar to that of common hepatocellular carcinoma. It is difficult to be diagnosed preoperatively and final diagnosis depends on pathological examination. Surgical resection is an effective way to achieve favorable treatment outcome and even long-term survival.

Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell ; blood ; pathology ; surgery ; virology ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatectomy ; methods ; Hepatitis B ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; pathology ; surgery ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Survival Rate ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; analysis

PURPOSE: G-protein coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER) probably play important roles in the progression of breast cancer including endocrine therapeutic resistance. We evaluated GPER in primary breast cancers. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect GPER in paraffin-embedded tissues of primary breast cancers from 423 patients and GPER expression was correlated with clinicopathological factors. RESULTS: GPER was expressed in 63.8% of specimens, coexpressed with estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) in 36.6% of tumors and was positive in 62.5% of the ERalpha-negative tumors. The expression of GPER had no relationship with the status of ERalpha, progesterone receptor and HER2. Although the expression of GPER was significantly inversely related with nodal status (p=0.045), no correlation between GPER expression and other clinicopathological variables (age, menstruation status, tumor size, stage, histologic grade, Nottingham Prognostic Index or pathological type) was found. CONCLUSION: GPER and ERalpha exhibited independent expression pattern of distribution in primary breast cancers. A long-term follow-up and a more definite molecular phenotype for ER are necessary in confirming studies.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Estrogen Receptor alpha ; Estrogens ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; GTP-Binding Proteins ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Menstruation ; Phenotype ; Receptors, Progesterone

The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical efficacy and safety of Gynostemma pentaphyllum (G. pentaphyllum) in the treatment of hyperlipidemia, and to provide systematic evaluation basis for clinical application. CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP, Web of science, PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about G. pentaphyllum in the treatment of hyperlipidemia. Review Manager 5.4 were used for statistical analysis. Through reading topics, abstracts, and full texts, 27 papers with 2311 cases involved that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were finally included for the analysis. In terms of curative effect, the effect of G. pentaphyllum alone in increasing high density lipoprotein (HDL) index was better than that of conventional treatment, and the effect of reducing total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) was similar to that of conventional treatment. There was a synergistic effect between G. pentaphyllum and conventional drugs, and the combination of G. pentaphyllum and conventional drugs was superior to conventional treatment in reducing TG and increasing HDL. G. pentaphyllum can also decrease the levels of serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase in the treatment of hyperlipidemia, indicating a certain protective function of the liver. In terms of safety, there were fewer cases of adverse reactions in the G. pentaphyllum treatment group, and the adverse reaction events reported in the literature was mild. According to the results of meta-analysis, G. pentaphyllum was effective in the treatment of hyperlipidemia, and it has the potential to be combined with traditional drugs, has a certain liver protection function, and was superior to traditional drugs in the treatment of hyperlipidemia.

BACKGROUNDThe clinical outcome of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is poorer in women than that in men. This study aimed at comparing the impact of gender difference on the strategy of primary PCI in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

METHODSTwo hundred and fifty-nine patients with STEMI who underwent primary PCI within 12 hours of symptom onset were enrolled. The male group consisted of 143 men aged > 55 years, and a female group included 116 women without age limitation. Procedural success was defined as residual stenosis < 20% with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow grade > 2 and without death, emergency bypass surgery or disabling cerebral events during the hospitalization. The rate of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including death, nonfatal myocardial infarction and target vessel revascularization during follow-up, was recorded.

RESULTSFemale patients were more hypertensive and diabetic and with fewer cigarette smokers than male counterparts. The prevalence of angiographic 3-vessel disease was higher in the female group, but the procedural success rate was comparable between the two groups (94.4% vs 92.2%). The occurrence rate of MACE did not differ during the hospitalization (4.2% vs 6.0%, P = 0.50), but was significantly higher in the female group during follow-up (mean (16.0 +/- 11.2) months) than that in the male group (5.4% vs 0.7%, P = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONDespite a similar success rate of primary PCI and in-hospital outcomes in both genders, female patients with acute STEMI still have a worse prognosis during the long-term follow-up.

Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; methods ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; therapy ; Sex Factors ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVEMultinodular hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) might originate from multicentric occurrence (MO) or intrahepatic metastasis(IM). This study was to find out proteins which play important roles in clonal origin of multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma bt screening the differentially expressed proteins between the MO and IM tissues using comparative proteomic analysis.

METHODSTotal protein extracted was separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Comparative analyses of the 2-DE protein patterns between the two groups were carried out using computerized imaging techniques. Proteins exhibiting significant alternations were subsequently isolated and identified by mass spectrometry.

RESULTSA total 1025+/-52 and 900+/-98 spots were detected in the protein profile in IM and MO, respectively. Twenty-five protein spots were statistically different at expression levels between the two groups. Twenty of them were identified by MALDI-TOF-MS and bioinformatics.

CONCLUSIONSThe protein profile of MO HCC tissues is different from that in IM HCC tissues. The twenty differentially expressed proteins might play a key role in the carcinogenesis and progression of multinodular HCC. These newly identified proteins might be potential and valuable biomarkers for identifying the multinodular HCC of clonal origin.

Adult ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; metabolism ; pathology ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasms, Multiple Primary ; metabolism ; pathology ; Protein Array Analysis ; Proteomics ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between health promotion lifestyle and self-efficacy of the nurses.METHODS: By stratified random sampling method,a total of 360 nurses were selected as investigation objects and measured by the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-Ⅱ( HPLP-Ⅱ) and General Self-Efficacy Scale( GSES). RESULTS: The total score of HPLP-Ⅱ was 67. 0-194. 0( 110. 8 ± 19. 8). The dimension scores from high to low were as follow: interpersonal relationship scored 13. 0-33. 0( 21. 6 ± 3. 7),nutrition scored 11. 0-35. 0( 20. 4 ± 3. 9),self-realization scored 9. 0-36. 0( 20. 2 ± 4. 4),health responsibility scored 10. 0-31. 0( 18. 0 ± 3. 9),stress management scored 9. 0-32. 0( 16. 6 ± 3. 9),excise training scored 8. 0-32. 0( 14. 1 ± 4. 2). The GSES total score was 10. 0-40. 0( 22. 0 ± 5. 2),the nurses with medium and low level of self-efficacy were 92. 8%( 334 /360). The GSES total score of nurses showed a positive correlation with total HPLP-Ⅱ score,and other dimension scores of interpersonal relationship,nutrition,self-realization,health responsibility,stress management and excise training( the correlation coefficients were 0. 501,0. 420,0. 429,0. 469,0. 381,0. 429 and 0. 354,respectively,P < 0. 05). CONCLUSION: The general self-efficacy of nurses is positively correlated with their health promotion lifestyle. The health promotion lifestyle could be formed by improving the self-efficacy level.