Brown-Sequard Syndrome ; etiology ; Cervical Vertebrae ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; complications ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged

This study is to investigate the effect and mechanism of puerarin on DNA damage of HaCaT cells induced by UVB. Puerarin pre-treated cells were irradiated with UVB at 30 mJ x cm(-2). Twenty four hours after irradiation, DNA damage was detected by comet assay, ceramide was measured by thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography, intracellular free calcium ion was analyzed by flow cytometry, the phosphorylation level of p38 protein was examined by Western blotting method. Levels of DNA damage, ceramide, free calcium ion and p-p38 protein were elevated in UVB model cells. Contrary to the model group, all indicators above were reduced in all groups pre-treated by puerarin. Puerarin restrains the ceramide accumulation to block downstream p38 MAPK pathway and calcium ion rising, therefore reduces DNA damage in HaCaT cells induced by UVB.
Calcium ; metabolism ; Cell Line ; Ceramides ; metabolism ; DNA Damage ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Down-Regulation ; Humans ; Isoflavones ; pharmacology ; Keratinocytes ; cytology ; metabolism ; Phosphorylation ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Ultraviolet Rays ; adverse effects ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect (ASD) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) using Amplatzer occluder. Methods Routine cardiac catheterization and angiography were performed in 50 patients (23 male, 27 female, age ranging from 3 to 64 years old), including 19 cases of ASD and 31 cases of PDA under local or general anesthesia. After balloon sizing of the ASD, the optimal Amplazter septal occluder (ASO) was transmitted into the left atrial, and the left and right disks were released in turn. The Amplatzer occluder was completely released after transthoracic echocardiography confirmed that there was no residual shunts or new onset mitral valve regurgitation. The Amplatzer duct occluder (ADO) size was selected according to the narrowest point of PDA measured by angiography, and the occluder was released after the repeated angiography showed no residual shunts. Results ① The mean diameter of the ASD measured by balloon was 13-31 (23?6) mm and the diameter of ASO was (17-40) mm. The immediate closure rate was 100%. ② Angiography confirmed that closure of the ductus using ADO was achieved in 30 patients, and closure of the large size (12 mm) was achieved in 1 case of PDA patient using ASO (17 mm). No complications were encountered. Conclusion Transcatheter closure of ASD and PDA using Amplatzer device, with the advantages of simple operation, confirmative occlusion efficacy, minimal invasiveness, wide indications, and less complications, has a bright future of clinical application.

Objective To investigate the clinical features and TCD-detected microembolic signals in patients with hypercoagulability related multiple acute cerebral infarcts within non-single arterial territories, and to explore the possi?ble underlying mechanisms. Methods A retrospective review was conducted on all clinical, laboratory, radiological and TCD monitoring records from patients with hypercoagulability related multiple acute cerebral infarcts within non-single arterial territories, who admitted to the neurology department in our hospital. Results The data from twenty-two cases were finally included in this study. All patients presented with acute-onset localized neurological dysfunction, e.g. hemi?paresis, aphasia, hemiparesthesia, dysarthria, hemianopsia and cortical blindness. Their hypercoagulability related diseas?es included 10 cases of systemic malignancy, 5 moderate to severe hyperhomocystynemia (HCY>50μmol/L), 2 nephrot?ic syndrome, 2 antiphospholipid syndrome, 1 ulcerative colitis, 1 polycythemia vera,1 paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobin?uria. In 18 cases, the hypercoagulability related diseases were diagnosed after their initial stroke onset. DWI showed mul?tiple disseminated acute cerebral infarcts in non-single arterial territories involving bilateral anterior or anterior plus pos?terior cerebral circulation simultaneously. Foci involved lobar cortex/subcortex of cerebral hemisphere in 22 cases, deep cerebral hemisphere in 12 cases, cerebellum foci in 10 cases,brainstem foci in 2 cases. TCD revealed microembolic sig? nals in ten of 22 patients monitored. Conclusions Patients with multiple acute cerebral infarcts involving non-single arte?rial territories, should be screened for hypercoagulability as in that hypercoagulability and microembolism might be in?volved in the etiology of cerebral infarction.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of ceramide on progesterone production and apoptosis in rat luteal cells in vitro. Luteal cells were prepared from the ovaries of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) primed female Wistar rats and incubated with cell permeable C2-ceramide. The effects of ceramide on progesterone production and apoptosis in luteal cells were assessed by radio immunoassay (RIA) and flow cytometry analysis. In addition, changes in nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity and nitric oxide (NO) production by luteal cells treated with C2-ceramide were also evaluated. Ceramide was found to reduce hCG-stimulated progesterone production in a dose-dependent manner, whereas it had little effect on basal progesterone content. Spontaneous apoptosis in luteal cells was observed after a 12-hour incubation in vitro and 5 μmol/L of ceramide significantly increased the apoptotic rate (P<0.05). Enhanced apoptotic peak was seen in the histogram by flow cytometry. Moreover, 50 μmol/L of C2-ceramide significantly increased NOS activity (P<0.01) and NO production (P<0.001). It is suggested that ceramide may serve as an important signaling molecule mediating certain ovarian processes, such as luteal regression.

AIM To explore the effects of ligustrazine on blood rheology,aldose reductase (AR) and renal function in diabetic nephropathy (DN) rats.METHODS The DN rat model was established by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotoein (55 mg/kg),rats were randomly divided into five groups,model group,irbesartan [50 mg/(kg · d)] group,high-,middle-and low-dose of ligustrazine [200,100,50 mg/(kg · d)] groups,together with normal control group.All the rats received daily garage for eight successive weeks.At the end of experiment,blood rheology,blood glucose,aldose reductase in erythrocyte and kidney tissue,24 h urinary protein,blood urea nitrogen,creatinine,creatinine clearance and renal function were observed.RESULTS Compared with the model group,blood rheology,blood glucose and renal function in various treatment groups were effectively improved,and aldose reductase activity was significantly decreased (P ＜ 0.05).HE staining and PAS staining showed that the pathological changes in kidney were significantly alleviated.CONCLUSION Ligustrazine can protect kidney of DN rats by ameliorating blood rheology,decreasing blood glucose and inhibiting aldose reductase activity.

OBJECTIVEThe purposes of this thesis were to study the behavior about workers exposed to dust and provide scientific basis for health promotion.

METHODSWe designed a questionnaire and carry it on the 746 dust workers in the 3 representative corporations of Machinery, Ceramic, and Metallurgy Industry. All data were input into computer. And a database was established with Excel. SPSS11.5 statistical analysis software was used to analyze the influence on protecting behavioral between the application of qualifications, different jobs, training or protection, and other aspects etc.

RESULTSThe rates were 94.4% and 75.3% about the regular physical examination and requirements for protective equipment. The rate of choosing an effective way of protection was generally low (15.4%). There was significant difference for among different educational background workers (P < 0.01). The rates of choosing an effective way of protection (20.3%), the regular physical examination (98.3%) and requirements for protective equipment (86.4%) in the dust workers who participated in the training of dust protection were superior than those who did not participated in the training. There was the significant difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). There was the significant difference for the rate of effective way of protection, regular physical examination, and requirements for protective equipment among the different corporations (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSDust workers' using rate about the choosing an effective way of protection was generally low in Machinery, Ceramic, and Metallurgy Industry. Those who were not educated had a lower using rate about the protection behavior, regular physical examination, and requirements for protective equipment than those educated.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Ceramics ; Choice Behavior ; Dust ; prevention & control ; Female ; Humans ; Industry ; Male ; Metallurgy ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Exposure ; prevention & control ; Respiratory Protective Devices ; utilization ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDMiddle mediastinal masses comprise a wide variety of tumors but may also reflect lymphadenopathy, and thus remain an interesting diagnostic challenge. We performed positron emission tomography (PET) of mediastinal masses in order to evaluate the ability of PET to predict the malignancy of these tumors. We compared histologic findings, videomediastinoscopy, computed tomography (CT), and PET-CT in patients with mediastinal disease.

METHODSThirty-two patients were evaluated with CT, PET-CT and videomediastionoscopy, and all studies were performed within four weeks in each patient. (11)C-choline as a PET tracer was used to visualize masses. PET data were evaluated using the standardized uptake value (SUV) and were compared with pathologic data.

RESULTSThere were 13 men and 19 women aged from 21 to 74 (mean 45.2) years. Among the patients with mediastinal diseases, sarcoidosis was diagnosed in 12 patients, tuberculosis in 5 patients, lymphoma in 5 patients, and noncaseating granulomata without classical "sarcoid" finding in 3 patients. N2 or N3 nodal metastasis was revealed in 6 of 7 patients who had non-small cell lung cancer or suspected lung cancer, and one was negative (the pathological diagnosis was reactive hyperplasia). The accuracies for correctly diagnosing mediastinal masses for CT, PET-CT and videomediastinoscopy were 38% (12/32), 63% (20/32), and 91% (29/32) respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of videomediastinoscopy was superior to that of PET-CT (chi(2) = 11.130, P < 0.001). The SUVs were similar among these diseases. On the other hand, if the diagnostic classification was benign vs malignancy, the accuracies for CT, PET-CT and videomediastinoscopy were 53% (17/32), 75% (24/32), 100% (32/32) respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of videomediastinoscopy was superior to that of PET-CT (chi(2) = 22.042, P < 0.001). The SUV of malignant lesions (6.9, 3.2 - 9.8; n = 11) appeared to be higher than that of benign lesions (4.9, 2.9 - 8.3; n = 21), however, this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.054).

CONCLUSIONSTo diagnose lesions located in the middle mediastinum, videomediastinoscopy possesses the highest diagnostic accuracy, and therefore remains the gold standard. PET-CT is valuable for differential diagnosis of benign vs malignant lesions, CT alone or PET alone (SUV) may provide misdiagnosis in a substantial proportion of patients with mediastinal masses.

Adult ; Aged ; Carbon Radioisotopes ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mediastinal Diseases ; diagnosis ; Mediastinoscopy ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Video Recording

Vehicle emissions are a major source of air pollution in urban areas. The impact on urban air quality could be reduced if the trends of vehicle emissions are well understood. In the present study, the real-world emissions of vehicles were measured using a remote sensing system at five sites in Hangzhou, China from February 2004 to August 2005. More than 48000 valid gasoline powered vehicle emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxide (NO) were measured. The results show that petrol vehicle fleet in Hangzhou has considerably high CO emissions, with the average emission concentration of 2.71%+/-0.02%, while HC and NO emissions are relatively lower, with the average emission concentration of (153.72+/-1.16)x10(-6) and (233.53+/-1.80)x10(-6), respectively. Quintile analysis of both average emission concentration and total amount emissions by model year suggests that in-use emission differences between well maintained and badly maintained vehicles are larger than the age-dependent deterioration of emissions. In addition, relatively new high polluting vehicles are the greatest contributors to fleet emissions with, for example, 46.55% of carbon monoxide fleet emissions being produced by the top quintile high emitting vehicles from model years 2000-2004. Therefore, fleet emissions could be significantly reduced if new highly polluting vehicles were subject to effective emissions testing followed by appropriate remedial action.
Automobiles ; statistics & numerical data ; Carbon Monoxide ; analysis ; China ; Cities ; statistics & numerical data ; Environmental Monitoring ; methods ; Hydrocarbons ; analysis ; Nitric Oxide ; analysis ; Vehicle Emissions ; analysis

OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to explore the possibility of creating a toxin, C-CPE-ETA', by fusing C-terminal high affinity binding domain of CPE (C-CPE) with a truncated form of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (ETA') and to examine whether C-CPE-ETA' could specifically target CLDN-3, 4 molecule and the targeted toxin was cytotoxic against CLDN-3,4-overexpressing ovarian cancer.

METHODSCLDN-3 and CLDN-4 expressions were analyzed at the mRNA level in three ovarian cancer cell lines and epithelial ovarian cancer tissues from 20 patients. After transforming an expression plasmid of C-CPE-ETA' into E. coli BL21 (DE3) plysS strain, the recombinant protein was purified using His-Bind resin chromatography column and analyzed by Western blot and Coomassie blue staining. The specific binding, proapoptotic and cytolytic activities were evaluated by flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy with the JC-1 probe and MTT assay in CLDN-3,4-overexpressing ovarian cancer cells.

RESULTSQuantitive RT-PCR results showed there existed high levels of CLDN-3 and CLDN-4 in ovarian cancer cells, CAOV3, OVCAR3 and SKOV3. Moreover, high expressions of CLDN-3 and CLDN-4 were observed in 90.0% (18/20) and 60.0% (12/20) of ovarian cancer tissues, with an expression level 10-fold higher than that in the normal ovarian tissue. A 58 000 recombinant protein C-CPE-ETA' was demonstrated by Western blot and Coomassie blue staining. Purified and recombinant C-CPE-ETA' was bound with high affinity to CLDN-3,4-overexpressing ovarian cancer cells, CAOV3, OVCAR3 and SKOV3 cells. C-CPE-ETA' was strongly proapoptotic and cytotoxic towards the CLDN-3,4-overexpressing ovarian cancer cells. The concentration of IC(50) was 7.364 ng/ml for CAOV3 cells, 8.110 ng/ml for OVCAR3 cells and 22.340 ng/ml for SKOV3 cells, respectively. However, control CLDN-3,4-deficient cell line HUVEC was not susceptible to the recombinant C-CPE-ETA' at a concentration up to 10 µg/ml.

CONCLUSIONSThe C-CPE-ETA' protein exhibits remarkably specific cytotoxicity for CLDN-3,4-overexpressing ovarian cancer cells. Its therapeutic potential warrants further development for ovarian cancer molecular targeted therapy.

ADP Ribose Transferases ; metabolism ; physiology ; Apoptosis ; Bacterial Toxins ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Claudin-3 ; Claudin-4 ; Claudins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Enterotoxins ; metabolism ; physiology ; Exotoxins ; metabolism ; physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunotoxins ; metabolism ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; metabolism ; physiology ; Virulence Factors ; metabolism ; physiology