Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of amiodarone combined with botulinum toxin A in the treatment of hemifacial spasm.Methods Sixty-five patients with hemifacial spasm were randomly divided into amiodarone(n=33)and control(n=32)group.In the amiodarone group,oral amiodarone and local intramuscular injection of botulinum toxin A were administered.In the control group,only local intramuscular injections of botulinum toxin A was performed.The clinical efficacy was evaluated according to the Cohen rating on the 1st,4th,16th,32nd week.Results The Cohen rating in amiodarone group was significantly better than control group on 4th,16th,32nd week(P<0.05).The complete remission in amiodarone group was significantly higher than control group on 4th,16th,32nd week(75.8% vs.43.8%,81.8% vs.12.5%,81.8% vs.6.2%,all P <0.05).The total effective rate in amiodarone group was significantly higher than control group on 16th,32nd week(97.0%vs.75.0%,93.9% vs.65.6%,all P<0.05). There was one case of recurrence in control group on 4th week,while there was no recurrence in amiodarone group.The recurrence in control group on 16th,32nd week was higher than amiodarone group(56.3 % vs.0.0 %,65.6% vs.12.1%,all P<0.05).There was no signigicant difference in adverse reactions between amiodarone group and control group(24.2%vs.18.8%).Conclusion Combination of amiodarone and botulinum toxin A is more effective than botulinum toxin A alone in the treatment of hemifacial spasm.

A new compound and five known compounds were isolated from the ethanolic extract of the leaves of Ilex pernyi Franch. Their structures were established on the basis of spectral analysis and identified as trans-isoeugenyl-α-L-arabinopynosyl(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), kaempferol-3-O-sambubioside (2), quercetin-3-O-sambubioside (3), isoquercitrin (4), (+)-syringaresinol-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), amarantholidoside IV (6). Among them, compound 1 is a new phenolic glycoside, named as ilexperphenoside A, and compounds 2-6 were isolated from this plant for the first time.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of basic fibroblast growth factor-polyactide release nanospheres on proliferation and adipogenic induction of adipose-derived stem cells in vitro.MethodsAdipose-derived stem cells were isolated and induced for three-line differentiation in vitro.The culture medium and inductive medium of stem cells were prepared containing 0,1,2,3,4 and 5 mg/ml basic fibroblast growth factor-polyactide release nanospheres,respectively.Adipose-derived stem cells were cultured ina 96-well plate and replaced the culture medium containing release nanospheres the second day.The cells proliferation was detected by the method of MTT every day and quanti fication of oil red O every other day.The data obtained were analyzed with SPSS13.0 statistical software.ResultsThe basic fibroblast growth factor polyactide release nanospheres had the ability promoting proliferation and adipogenic induction of adipose-derived stem cells.The best concentration of nanospheres was 3 mg/ml and 4 mg/ml,respectively.ConclusionsThe basic fibroblast growth factor-polyactide release nanospheres could promote proliferation and adipogenic induetionof adipose-derived stem cells significantly.It could be used as an ideal cytokine release nanospheres in adipose tissue engineering.

Purpose To evaluate the role of 18F-FDG PET/CT tumor metabolic imaging in the detection of lung cancer lesions,using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analysis and investigate the diagnostic value of TNR and TLR in lung lesions.Materials and Methods A total of 82 patients who were confirmed with lung space-occupying lesionsby 18F-FDG PET/CT tumor metabolic imaging were retrospectively analyzed.Based on the pathological gold standard,evaluate the diagnostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT tumor metabolic imaging in lung space-occupying lesions by t-test and ROC curve.Results There was a significant difference of TNR and TLR between benign and malignant lesion (P＜0.01).The AUC on ROC curve of TLR ratio was 0.943 in the lung lesions while the TNR was 0.927.The sensitivity,specificity and the accuracy were 86.36％,62.50％ and 81.71％,respectively with the TNR cutoff of 6.87.The sensitivity,specificity and the accuracy were 90.91％,68.75％ and 86.58％,respectively with the TLR cutoff of 2.86.Conclusion 18F-FDG PET/CT tumor metabolic imaging is useful for differentiating lung space-occupying lesions.But for cases of atypical 18F-FDG uptake,it is suggested to combine with clinical information.

Objective To investigate the value of multi-slice spiral CT image texture analysis in differentiating metastatic (MLN) from non-metastatic lymph nodes (NLN) in patients with rectal cancer.Methods Thirty five patiets with rectal cancer who were pathologically confirmed by total mesorectum excision were included retrospectively,with regional lymph nodes (short-axis diameter of larger than 3 mm)found in preoperative CT images.All the patients underwent preoperative abdominal and pelvic dynamic contrast-enhanced CT scan.Regional lymph nodes were identified according to pathological findings,and were divided into MLN and NLN groups.The short-axis diameter,short-to long-axis diameter ratio of lymph nodes were manually measured and calculated,and the texture features,including skewness,kurtosis,variance,entropy and inverse difference moment,were analyzed.The above parameters between MLN and NLN groups were compared using independent sample t test or Mann-Whitney U test.ROC curve analysis was performed regarding the statistically significant parameters and the areas under curve (AUC) were calculated.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was accomplished to obtain the independent predictive factor of diagnosing regional lymph nodes.Results A total of 68 regional lymph nodes were obtained and consisted of 31 MLNs and 37 NLNs.The short-axis diameter,kurtosis,and entropy of the MLN group were significantly higher than those of the NLN group (all P＜0.05).Whereas,the short-to long-axis diameter ratio,skewness,variance,and inverse difference moment did not differ significantly between the two groups (all P＞0.05).The AUC for distinguishing MLN from NLN of the short-axis diameter,kurtosis and entropy were 0.79,0.67,and 0.85,respectively.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that only entropy (odds ratio=8.48,95％ confidence interval was 3.01 to 23.92,P＜0.01) was screened out as the independent variable,which suggested that the entropy was the unique predictor for characterizing regional lymph nodes of rectal cancer.Conclusion Multi-slice spiral CT images texture analysis can facilitate the accurate differentiation between MLN and NLN in patients with rectal cancer,and especially the entropy has the optimal reference significance.

AIM: To explore the effect of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) combined with vitamin E on the inflammatory reaction in acute kidney injury ( AKI) rats.METHODS:Gentamicin was used to in-duce AKI and the rats were treated with BMSCs combined with vitamin E.After treatment, the rat plasma and kidney tis-sues were collected, and the expression of inflammatory factors at mRNA and protein levels was detected by real-time quan-titative PCR and ELISA.RESULTS:After the treatment with BMSCs combined with vitamin E, the inflammatory proteins were down-regulated in the plasma and the renal tissues.Compared with single treatment group, the decreases in the in-flammatory proteins were more obvious in combined treatment group.CONCLUSION: The method of BMSCs combined with vitamin E takes the anti-inflammatory effect on AKI, indicating a new and potential mode in clinical application for AKI therapy.

BACKGROUND:The research and development of scaffold materials is the key to tissue engineering, as the scaffold can provide a stable external environment for cell growth.OBJECTIVE:To summarize the clinical advances in tendon tissue engineering materials.METHODS:We searched CBM, CNKI, CSTJ and PubMed database for relevant articles published from January 2004 to May 2016. The keywords were tissue engineering, tendon injuries, biological scaffold, tendon healing in Chinese and English, respectively.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The commonly used tissue engineering tendon materials include natural polymer materials, biological derivatives, synthetic materials and composite materials. Natural polymer materials retain the three-dimensional network structure of the normal tissue, with good biocompatibility but poor mechanical properties and degradation speed. Synthetic polymer materials present with good mechanical properties and biodegradability, but have low hydrophilicity and poor cell adhesion capability. Composite materials as an effective combination of the two above-mentioned materials exhibit a certain potential in clinical practice. Biological derivatives come from organisms, and have a net structure and biomechanical properties most similar to the human body after appropriate treatment. Additionaly, these derivatives also have the normal physiological activity and functions, which are considered as the future development direction of biomedical materials.

Objective To investigate the effect of adenovirus-bone morphogenic protein 9 ( Ad-BMP9 ) on osteogenic differentiation of immortalized calvarial mesenchymal progenitor cells ( iCALs ) .Methods iCALs were infected with adenoviral vectors encoding BMP-9 or green fluorescent protein ( GFP) and the early osteogenic differentiation was assessed by detecting alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity after being cultured for 3, 5 and 7 days.14 days after infection, alizarin red S staining was performed to study the formation of osteogenic calcium nodules .The expression of osteogenic marker genes Runx2 and OCN was assessed by quantitative real-time ( RT )-PCR and Western blotting .Results Significant increases in ALP activity and in the expressions of Runx 2 and OCN were detected in BMP-9 treated iCALs compared with GFP-treated cells(P<0.05).Meanwhile, alizarin red S staining showed that more mineralized nodules were found in the BMP-9 induced group .Conclusion BMP-9 can promote the osteogenic differentiation of iCALs .

Objective To study the effects of ginkgo biloba extract(GBE)on c-reactive protein(CRP) and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)in serum and alveolar lavage fluid(BALF)from rats with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD). Methods 90 rats were randomly divided into groups A,B,C,D,E and F. There were 15 rats in each group. The rat model of COPD were established in groups B,C,D,E and F. Groups C and D were given intraperitoneal injections with GBE from day l to day l4 and day 29 to day 42. Groups E and F weregiven intraperitoneal injections with erythromycin from day l to day l4 and day 29 to day 42. After the end of experi-ment ,the contents of CRP and TNF-α in serum and BALF were detected in all groups. Results The contents of CRP and TNF-α in the serum and the BALF were markedly lower in groups C,D,E and F than in group B (P<0.05);and the contents of CRP in the serum and the BALF and TNF-αin the BALF were lower in groups C, E and F than in group D(P<0.05). Conclusions GBE can inhibit the airway and systemic inflammatory response in COPD rats. Early intervention is more effective.

Poria cocos,Cortex Poriae,Polyporusumbellatusand Alisma orientalisare common tra-ditionaI Chinese diuretic medicines. According to reported Iiterature,P.cocostriterpenes and poIysaccha-rides,steroids and tetracycIic triterpenes are the main chemicaI components of P.cocos,its epidermis, Pol.umbellatusand A.orientalis,respectiveIy. most of these diuretic drugs contain tetracycIic triterpenes and steroids,which have a simiIar structure to aIdosterone nucIeus structure. Therefore,this characteris-tic may reveaI their diuretic mechanisms. The tetracycIic triterpenes and steroids may exert diuretic effect through competitive inhibition of aIdosterone receptors in different parts of tubuIar reabsorption to increase urine output. The present articIe reviewed the chemicaI components of these diuretic Chinese medicines. Furthermore,their bioactive components and action mechanisms were aIso anaIyzed and discussed.