Objective To explore the incidence rate, total incidence numbers and possible impacting factors of non-motor symptoms (NMSs) in Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods The NMS questionnaire (NMS Quest) was used to investigate 131 out-patients diagnosed with PD, and the prevalence of each item, the total NMS numbers and their relationships with clinical features were assessed. Results All of the patients, who were distributed in every stage of PD, had NMSs and each case with 11 items on average. Autonomic symptoms such as nocturia and constipation were the most frequent ones. The patients over 65 versus less than 65 years old had a higher prevalence in a number of items such as olfactory disturbance, dysphagia and constipation. At the same time, the rigidity subtype patients had a higher prevalence in depression items than the tremor subtype ones.The total number of NMS was positively correlated with course of disease, age, UPDRS score and Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) stage. Conclusions NMSs are common among PD patients. While the prevalence of each item may vary with different clinical features, the total number of NMS is increased with the severity of PD. More attention should be paid to the diagnosis and rational treatment of the NMSs.

The study was aimed to examine the prevalence of depression in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and identify its features. A total of 131 out-patients, diagnosed as having idiopathic PD in accordance with the United Kingdom Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Bank criteria, were interviewed with questionnaire and evaluated by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Hohen &Yahr staging (H&Y staging) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD). Patients were divided into three groups in terms of HRSD score: depression group, sub-threshold depression group and non-depression group. The clinical variables and symptom profiles were obtained and compared among the three groups. The results showed that 27 patients (20.6%) fell into the depression group, 71 (54.2%) into the sub-threshold depression group, and 33 (25.2%) into the non-depression group. There were no differences in age, gender or tremor score among the groups (P>0.05). Significant differences were found in duration of PD, UPDRS score, rigidity score and H&Y stage between the sub-threshold depression group (or the depression group) and the non-depression group (P<0.05). Moreover, the clinical variables in the subthreshold depression group had the trend of increasing with the severity of PD and their values were similar to those in the depression group. Anhedonia, feeling of incapability, sleep disturbance, gastrointestinal symptoms and depressive moods were most common in the depression group. And these symptoms also were more common in the other two groups. It is concluded that depression and sub-threshold depression are common in PD and share similar clinical features. Furthermore, subthreshold depression might be the prodrome of depression and may develop into depression as the condition progresses.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the chlorpyrifos in human blood by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and to validate its application in poisoning cases. METHODS: The samples were extracted by a simple one-step protein precipitation procedure. Chromatography was performed on a Capcell Pack C18 MGII column (250 mm x 2.0 mm, 5 μm) using an isocratic elution of solvent A (0.1% formic acid-water with 2 mmol/L ammonium acetate) and solvent B (methanol with 2 mmol/L ammonium acetate) at 5:95 V:V). RESULTS: The linear ranged from 5 to 500 ng/mL (r = 0.998 7). The limit of detection (LOD) and the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) were 2 ng/mL and 4 ng/mL, respectively. For this method, the precision and accuracy of intra-day and inter-day were < 10% and 97.44%-101.10%, respectively. The results in stability test of long-term frozen were satisfied. The matrix effect, recovery and process efficiency were 64.97%-86.81%, 76.70%-85.52%, and 55.57%-66.58%, respectively. CONCLUSION This method can provide a rapid approach to chlorpyrifos extraction and determination in toxicological analysis of forensic and clinical treatment.
Chlorpyrifos/blood* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Chromatography, Liquid/methods* ; Humans ; Limit of Detection ; Poisoning ; Reproducibility of Results ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods*

Objective To investigate the efficacy and toxicity of conventional fractionated three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) on unresectable hepatocelluar carcinoma(HCC).Methods Fifty two patients with unresectable HCC,all without extrahepatic metastases,were treated by 3D-CRT conducted 5 times a week with the total radiation dose of 36-66 Gy and a daily dose of 2 Gy.The curative effect was evaluated by CT scan to observe the maximum tumor size.Survival rates,survival time,and adverse responses were recorded.Results The total effective rate of the 52 patients was 69.2％ with complete response (CR) in 2 patients and partial response (PR) in 34 patients.The incidence rate of radioactive hepatitis was 1.92％.The 1-,2-,3-,and 4-year survival rates were 57.7％,34.6％,23.1％,and 9.61％ respectively,and the median survival time was 10.5 months.The 1-,2-,3-,and 4-year local control rates were 67％,51.5％,32.3％,and 2.24％,and the 1-,2-,3-,and 4-year distant metastasis rate were 17.2％,23.5％,36.7％,and 76.9％ respectively.The intrahepatic metastases rate was 62.5％ and 37.5％ of the patients suffered from extrahepatic metastasis,including metastases of lung,bone,and retroperitoneal lymph nodes.The remission rate of the≥50 Gy group was 76.9％,significantly higher than that of the ≤50 Gy group (46.2％,x2 =10.72,P ＜ 0.05 ).There was no grade 3 or 4 acute toxicity,and two patients (3.84％) developed gastric or duodenal ulcer.Conclusions Conventional fractionaled 3D-CRT evokes a rather effective response for unresectable HCC with acceptable toxicity.Radiation dose seems to be a significant prognostic factor in RT response for HCC.

In order to summarize and perfect the basic skill practicing method in acupuncture teaching and form a characteristic teaching, the research on skill training and technique improving of acupuncture and tuina major was carried out. The undergraduate students in acupuncture and tuina major from College of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. Students from both groups received the basic courses of acupuncture-moxibustion and tuina as requested in the syllabus and the special teaching was added to the experimental group, namely "three practice" (strength practice, coordination practice, targeted practice of acupuncture basic skills) and "three enlightenment" (technique enlightenment, mind and qi enlightenment, efficacy enlightenment). During and after the courses, the teaching effectiveness was evaluated on the basis of needling manipulation. The peacetime score in the experimental group was superior to that in the control group (38.03 +/- 1.14 vs 33.25 +/- 1.31, P < 0.05), the total score in the experimental group was superior to that in the control group (84.03 +/- 6.30 vs 78.05 +/- 6.55, P < 0.05). The special teaching method of "three practice" and "three enlightenment" can improve the effect of skill training teaching method. It highlights the unique feature of central plains by integrating the essence of Shaolin internal qigong and Chen-style Taiji, it can also provide new ideas for the practical teaching of TCM professional courses and the construction of characteristic professionals.
Acupuncture ; education ; manpower ; Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Humans ; Students ; Teaching

The effect of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), with a wide range of its different concentrations, upon cultured mouse cortical neurons was assessed by electrophoresis of DNA fragments, HO33342 and TUNEL stainings, and also by ultrastructural examination at times. The results showed that administration of LPA at lower concentrations (0.1-30 micromol/L) dose-dependently protected cortical neurons from apoptosis that was induced by deprivation of serum from the cultural medium, while 50 micromol/L or higher concentrations of LPA failed to show this effect; and moreover, the concentrations higher than 50 micromol/L induced apoptosis in neurons cultured in serum-containing complete medium. These results suggest that a moderate concentration of LPA may play as a survival factor in apoptotic cortical neurons, while an excessive level of LPA induces apoptosis in neurons cultured in complete medium.
Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Cerebral Cortex ; cytology ; Culture Media, Serum-Free ; Lysophospholipids ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Neurons ; cytology

It has been reported that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) at its lower concentrations prevents apoptosis induced by serum-deprivation in cultured cortical neurons when LPA is added into the cultural medium with serum withdrawal. The present study was designed to investigate whether LPA could also block the apoptosis induced by beta-amyloid peptide fragment 31-35 (AbetaP31-35) in cultured cortical neurons by using techniques of DNA fragmentation electrophoresis, HO33342 staining, and TUNEL examinations. The results showed that pretreatment of LPA suppressed the AbetaP31-35-induced apoptosis only when LPA was applied to the cultured neurons with lower concentrations (1-10 micromol/L) and especially, with a preceding time of 12-24 h before the AbetaP31-35 exposure. These facts imply that LPA also acts as a neuroprotective factor against AbetaP31-35-induced apoptosis, though the mechanism underlying the protective action in this case may be more complex than that involved in the serum deprivation-induced apoptosis.
Amyloid beta-Peptides ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; physiology ; Cells, Cultured ; Cerebral Cortex ; pathology ; Lysophospholipids ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Neurons ; pathology ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Peptide Fragments ; antagonists & inhibitors

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of water soluble extracts of traditional Chinese herbs on growth of mouse hair follicles and hair bulb cells in vitro.

METHODSMouse hair follicles and hair bulb cells were cultured in Williams E medium with (experimental groups) or without (control group) water soluble extracts of Chinese herbs; the experimental group was further divided into mixture and single herb groups. Hair growth was observed by microscopy and growth activity of hair bulb cells was detected by MTT colorimetric assay.

RESULTOn day 7 of culture, the hair growth in the mixture groups was faster than that in the control group (P<0.05). On day 3 and 5 of culture, the cell growth activity in the mixture groups was greater than that in the control group (P<0.05). While the hair growth and the cell growth activity between the single herb groups and the control group were not significantly different.

CONCLUSIONThe water soluble extracts of mixed traditional Chinese medicines can promote the growth of mouse hair in vitro and stimulate the proliferation of hair bulb cells; while those of the single traditional Chinese herb have no effect.

Angelica sinensis ; Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Hair ; drug effects ; growth & development ; Hair Cells, Auditory ; cytology ; drug effects ; Hair Follicle ; drug effects ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Organ Culture Techniques

Objective To understand the status of suicidal ideation and attitudes towards suicide among university students in Harbin as well as the influencing factors. Methods A multi-stage stratified random clustered sampling procedure was used to select university students(n=5240)who were aged 16-43 years, in Harbin. Factors associated with suicidal ideation were analyzed with logistic regression by demography characteristics and scores on the suicide acceptability scale and the social support rating scale(SSRS). Results According to our data, 9.1% of the respondents had suicidal ideation and 1% had made a suicide attempt. The influencing factors for suicidal ideation were gender, major, relationship between their parents, acceptance on thc idca of suicide attempt,the state of social support and the history of suicide attempt. Conclusion The suicidal ideation of university students in Harbin should not be neglected. Measures should be taken to improve the quality of mental health and to reduce the ratio of suicide behavior among college students.

The study was aimed to examine the prevalence of depression in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and identify its features. A total of 131 out-patients,diagnosed as having idiopathic PD in accordance with the United Kingdom Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Bank criteria,were interviewed with questionnaire and evaluated by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE),Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS),Hohen & Yahr staging (H & Y staging) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD). Patients were divided into three groups in terms of HRSD score:depression group,sub-threshold depression group and non-depression group. The clinical variables and symptom profiles were obtained and compared among the three groups. The results showed that 27 patients (20.6%) fell into the depression group,71 (54.2%) into the sub-threshold depression group,and 33 (25.2%) into the non-depression group. There were no differences in age,gender or tremor score among the groups (P＞0.05). Significant differences were found in duration of PD,UPDRS score,rigidity score and H&Y stage between the sub-threshold depression group (or the depression group) and the non-depression group (P＜0.05). Moreover,the clinical variables in the subthreshold depression group had the trend of increasing with the severity of PD and their values were similar to those in the depression group. Anhedonia,feeling of incapability,sleep disturbance,gastrointestinal symptoms and depressive moods were most common in the depression group. And these symptoms also were more common in the other two groups. It is concluded that depression and sub-threshold depression are common in PD and share similar clinical features. Furthermore,subthreshold depression might be the prodrome of depression and may develop into depression as the condition progresses.