Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Vestibular Diseases ; diagnosis ; Vestibular Function Tests ; Vestibule, Labyrinth ; pathology ; Young Adult

Aged ; Chordoma ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Nasal Cavity ; pathology ; Nose Neoplasms ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo explore the tumor growth inhibition of gamma secretase inhibitor MRK003 on human multiple myeloma xenograft mice by inhibition of AKT and Notch1 expression.

METHODSNOD/SCID mice were injected with human multiple myeloma cell lines RPMI8226 to establish a xenograft mouse model. Mice were randomized into two groups：the experimental group were injected with MRK003 at a dose of 5 mg× kg⁻¹×d⁻¹ for 14 days; the inhibitor was replaced by an equal saline in the control group. Mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation on the next day after the last injection and tumor tissue was removed to detect the expression of Notch1 and AKT by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSAfter subcutaneous injection with RPMI8226, mice had tumor formation in 5-7 days and the largest tumor block in 10-12 days. Before RPMI8226 injection, the mean sizes of tumor block in the experimental and the control groups were 509.2 mm³, 511.2 mm³(P>0.05). 9 days after injection, the mean sizes of tumor tissue in the experimental and the control groups were 636.6 mm³, 691.2 mm³(P<0.01). On the next day after the last injection, the tumor sizes of the experimental and the control groups were 683.5 mm³ and 1798.7 mm³(P<0.01). The size of tumor block in the experimental group was significantly smaller than that of the control group(P<0.01). Immunohistochemistry staining showed that the positive expression rates of Notch1(11.1%, P<0.01) and AKT(13.3%, P<0.01) in experimental group were significantly decreased compared with the control group(Notch1: 95.6%; AKT: 93.3%). Western blot results showed that Notch1 and AKT protein in experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group.

CONCLUSIONMRK003 could inhibit the tumor growth of human multiple myeloma xenograft mice by downregulated expression of Notch1 signaling pathway.

Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cyclic S-Oxides ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred NOD ; Mice, SCID ; Multiple Myeloma ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; metabolism ; Receptor, Notch1 ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Thiadiazoles ; pharmacology ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Air Pollutants, Occupational ; analysis ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Facility Design and Construction ; Humans ; Occupational Diseases ; prevention & control ; Occupational Exposure ; analysis ; prevention & control ; Quality Control

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Cerebral Cortex ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit ; metabolism ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; metabolism ; Progesterone ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for the content determination of sinomenine in Qihuang capsule. METHODS:HPLC was performed on the column of welch C18-AQ with mobile phase of methanol-phosphate buffer(gradient elution) at flow rate of 1.0 ml/min,detection wavelength was 264 nm,column temperature was 30 ℃ and volume injection was 10 μl. RESULTS:The linear range of sinomenine was 0.200 3-10.016 0 μg(r=0.999 8),RSDs of precision,stability and reproducibility tests were lower than 1.0%,recovery was 98.80%-100.94%(RSD=0.79%,n=6). CONCLUSIONS:The method is simple,accurate and re-producible,and can be used for the content determination of sinomenine in Qihuang capsule.

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical effects of Mobi-C cervical artificial disc replacement (CADR) and anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) in treating single cervical disc herniation.

METHODSFrom June 2009 to June 2012, the clinical data of 27 patients with single cervical disc herniation were retrospectively analyzed. There were 18 males and 9 females, aged from 30 to 62 years old with an average of 46.7 years. Of them, 12 patients were treated with CADR (CADR group) and 15 patients with ACDF (ACDF group). All patients had pain and numbness in neck, shoulder and upper limbs, and courses of disease was from 1 to 13 months with an average of 2.4 months. The data of clinical evaluation and questionnaire survey about quality of life were collected before operation, postoperative at 1 week and final follow-up. Odom criterion was used to evaluate postoperative effect. Visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to record pain levels. Neck disability index (NDI) and health questionnaire SF-36 were used to assess the quality of life.

RESULTSNo complications about nerve and blood vessel were found and the patients were followed up from 6 to 30 months, with an average of 16 months. One week after operation, 10 cases got excellent results and 2 good in CADR group; 5 cases got excellent results and 10 good in ACDF group; there was significant difference between two groups (P<0.05). At final follow-up, 10 cases got excellent results and 2 good in CADR group; 12 cases got excellent results and 3 good in ACDF group; there was no significant difference between two groups (P> 0.05). Pain of upper limbs had obviously relieved between two groups at 1 week after operation and final follow-up (P<0.05). VAS of neck and NDI in CADR group had decreased respectively from preoperative 3.58±0.79, 23.42±6.36 to 0.58±0.51, 5.42±1.68 at 1 week after operation (P<0.05); but the index in ACDF group was no obvious at 1 week after operation. At final follow-up, VAS of neck and NDI and SF-36 score were obviously improved than preoperation (P<0.05) between two groups.

CONCLUSIONMobi-C CADR retains the movement unit in the decompression segment and can quickly recover normal action for patients. Using CADR method has a good curative effect in the early phase, and the clinical effect is reliable, may improve the quality of life.

Adult ; Decompression, Surgical ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fusion ; methods ; Total Disc Replacement ; methods ; Visual Analog Scale

Recently, the immunotherapy has been highlighted among cancer treatments. Cancer-testis antigen (CTA) has been studied in a variety of solid tumors because of its specific expression in tumors, and testis, ovary and placenta tissues, but not in other normal tissues. In order to provide a new approach for multiple myeloma (MM) immunotherapy, we examined the CTA expression in MM cell lines, and primary myeloma cells in patients with MM. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression of MAGE-C1/CT7, SSX1, SSX2 and SSX4 in MM cell lines of RPMI-8226 and U266, and bone marrow (BM) cells of 25 MM patients and 18 healthy volunteers. The results showed that the 4 CTAs were expressed in RPMI-8226 and U266 cell lines. The positive expression rate of MAGE-C1/CT7, SSX1, SSX2 and SSX4 in the BM cells of 25 MM patients was 28% (7/25), 80% (20/25), 40% (10/25) and 68% (17/25), respectively. In contrast, the expression of any member of the CTAs was not detected in BM cells of 18 healthy volunteers. The expression of two or more CTAs was detected in 80% (20/25) MM patients, and that of at least one CTA in 88% (22/25). The mRNA expression levels of SSX1 and SSX4 were significantly higher in patients with MM at stage III than in those at stage I and II (P<0.05). No statistically significant differences were observed in the mRNA expression levels of MAGE-C1/CT7 and SSX2 in further stratified analyses by age, gender, MM types and percentage of MM cells in BM (P>0.05). In conclusion, our present study showed that MAGE-C1/CT7, SSX1, SSX2 and SSX4 were co-expressed in MM cell lines and the primary myeloma cells in MM patients, but not expressed in BM cells of healthy subjects. The mRNA levels of SSX1 and SSX4 are associated with MM clinical stage. This work may provide a new insight into MM immunotherapy in the future.

Objective To investigate clinical features and prognostic factors in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients with opportunistic infections.Methods Forty-two cases of AIDS patients with opportunistic infections were enrolled in this study.Clinical data and major factors affecting the prognosis were analyzed using Logistic regression.Results Bacterial infection was the first etiological factor(57.1%) of opportunistic infections in AIDS patients.Eighty-three point three percent of patients infected with more than two kind of etiological agents.Fifty-seven point one per- cent of cases were infected in multiple sites.CD4~+ T cells count was associated with the opportunistic infections.Conclusions The CD4~- T lymphocytes count is the key factor affecting the prognosis of AIDS patients with opportunistic infections.The average of CD4~+ T lymphocytes count is significant- ly related with the major opportunistic infections in AIDS paitents.

BACKGROUND:Sepsis-induced myocardial injury is one of the major predictors of morbidity and mortality of sepsis. The cytoprotective function of erythropoietin (EPO) has been discovered and extensively studied. However, the cardioprotective effects of EPO on sepsis-induced myocardial injury in the rat sepsis model has not been reported.METHODS:The rat models of sepsis were produced by cecal ligation and perforation (CLP) surgery. Rats were randomly (random number) assigned to one of three groups (n=8 for each group):sham group, CLP group and EPO group (1000 IU/kg erythropoietin). Arterial blood was withdrawn at 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours after CLP. cTnI, BNP, CK-MB, LDH, AST, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and CRP were tested by the ELISA assay. Changes of hemodynamic parameters were recorded at 3, 6, 12, 24 hours after the surgery. Histological diagnosis was made by hematoxylin and eosin. Flow cytometry was performed to examine cell apoptosis, myocardium mitochondrial inner membrane potential, and NF-κB (p65). Survival rate at 7 days after CLP was recorded.RESULTS:In the CLP group, myocardial enzyme index and inflammatory index increased at 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours after CLP compared with the sham group, and EPO significantly blocked the increase. Compared with the CLP group, EPO significantly improved LVSP, LV +dp/dtmax, LV -dp/dtmin, and decreased LVEDP at different time. EPO blocked the reduction of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, suppressed the cardiomyocyte apoptosis, inhibited the activation of NF-κB, and reduced the production of proinflmmatory cytokines. No difference in the survival rate at 7 days was observed between the CLP group and the EPO group.CONCLUSION:Exogenous EPO has cardioprotective effects on sepsis-induced myocardial injury.