Objective To discuss the blood perfusion characteristic of benign and malignant gallbladder disease by contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS).Methods The enhancement characteristic of 62 patients with occupying lesions in gallbladder were observed.Four case of cholecystolithiasis accompany biliary sludge were proven by surgery and remaining 58 case were confirmed by histopathological examination.Their enhancement time and enhancement pattern were analyzed.Results The Time-to peak of benign and malignant disease were (22.4± 4.0)s and (27.7± 2.6)s (t =5.756,P ＜0.01),the Time-to-hypoenhancement of benign and malignant disease were (58.0 ± 7.3)s and (41.5 ± 4.0)s (t =10.33,P ＜0.01),respectively.The peak intensity of benign and malignant disease were (19.2 ± 3.6)dB and (25.1 ± 2.9) dB (t =6.85,P ＜0.01),the mean transit time of benign and malignant disease were (22.72 ± 4.7)s and (6.3± 6.4)s (t =15.001,P ＜0.01),respectively.The destruction of the gallbladder wall of benign and malignant disease were 0％ (0/36) and 57.7％ (15/26) (x2 =25.05,P ＜ 0.01),the inhomogeneous enhancement of benign except biliary sludge and malignant disease were 43.8％ (14/32) and 57.7％ (15/26) (x2 =1.115,P =0.291,respectively).In early phase,78.1％ (25/32) and 80.8 ％ (21/26) of benign disease except biliary sludge and malignant showed hyperenhancement respectively(x2 =3.15,P =0.207).In later phase,84.4％ (27/32) and 76.9％ (20/26) of benign disease except biliary sludge and malignant showed hypoenhancement respectively(x2 =3.615,P =0.164).Conclusions CEUS can obtain the information of blood perfusion and make quantitatively analysis about the enhancement time.It also facilitate the diagnosis of solid occupying lesion in gallbladder.

Objective To investigate the prevalence and the transmission of oqxAB gene in clinical strains of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae .Methods Nonduplicate clinical isolates of E.coli (n=72)and K .pneumoniae (n=49)were col-lected.The oqxAB gene was amplified by PCR.The product was sequenced.Plasmid conjugation experiments were done in oqxAB-positive E.coli and K.pneumoniae strains to detemine whether oqxAB gene is located in plasmid.The MICs and mu-tant prevention concentrations (MPCs)for ciprofloxacin were determined in transconjugants with oqxAB gene by agar dilution method.Results The oqxA,oqxB and oqxAB were identified in 15,4,and 7 of the 72 strains of Escherichia coli and 4,1,and 34 of the 49 strains of K.pneumoniae,respectively.The oqxAB gene was positive in 2 (2/16)ciprofloxacin sensitive and 5 (5/56)ciprofloxacin resistant E.coli strains,in 8 (8/14)ciprofloxacin sensitive and 26 (26/35)ciprofloxacin resistant K. pneumoniae strains,respectively.The E.coli and K.pneumoniae strains with or without oqxAB did not show different sus-ceptibility to ciprofloxacin.The oqxA and oqxB sequences from E.coli and K.pneumoniae showed 99% similarity to the se-quences of GeneBank accession number AB601773.1 and accession number FJ975561.1,respectively.The oqxAB gene was successfully transferred in 4 of the 5 oqxAB-positive E.coli strains.The MIC of ciprofloxacin was 0.25-0.5 mg/L against the transconjugants,31-62 times higher than the MICs for the recipient strains.The MPC of ciprofloxacin was 8-16 mg/L against the transconjugants,32 times higher than that for recipient strain J53.The oqxAB gene were not transferred in K. pneumoniae. When the MIC of ciprofloxacin was ≤0.062 5 mg/L,the MPC of ciprofloxacin was 0.25-0.5 mg/L for K.pneumoniae strains with or without oqxAB.When MIC was 0.25-0.5 mg/L,the MPC of ciprofloxacin was 2-16 mg/L for K .pneumoniae strains with or without oqxAB .Conclusions oqxAB gene is present in E .coli and K .pneumoni-ae .The oqxAB gene spreads through plasmid in E .coli.The nonsiginificant difference of oqxAB prevalence between ciproflox-acin sensitive and ciprofloxacin resistant strains indicates that oqxAB gene may mediate low level resistance to ciprofloxacin in E.coli.The E.coli transconjugants of oqxAB gene can produce high level resistance under the selection pressure of ciproflox-acin.The high level resistance in K .pneumoniae under selection pressure of ciprofloxacin is not associated with oqxAB gene, but related to the ciprofloxacin MIC against these strains.

Objective:To explore the environmental risk factors of different categories of congenital heart defects ( CHD) and provide evidence for further risk factors and prevention research of CHD pheno-types. Methods:Data of Guangdong CHD Register Study from 2004 to 2012 were used. In the study, 3 038 CHD cases and 3 038 paired controls from 34 hospitals distributed in 17 cities were registered and related information were collected using uniform, and structured questionnaires. All the CHD phenotypes were coded according to the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10) and classified into 6 categories according to their pathological features. Univariate analyses were adopted to filter poten-tial risk factors for each category of CHD. Then multivariate conditional Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios of the risk factors for each category of CHD. Results:The risk factors for left-to-right shunt CHD included low ( OR=2 . 63 , 95%CI:2 . 04 -3 . 39 ) or over birth weight ( OR =2 . 21 , 95%CI:1 . 47-3 . 32 ) , premature delivery ( OR=1 . 95 , 95%CI:1 . 53-2 . 49 ) , polyembryony ( OR=1. 99, 95%CI: 1. 22 -3. 26), maternal low education, mother as factory worker (OR =1. 62, 95%CI:1 . 32-1 . 98 ) , parity≥2 ( OR =1 . 38 , 95%CI: 1 . 13 -1 . 69 ) , maternal abnormal reproduction history ( OR=2 . 29 , 95%CI:1 . 75-3 . 01 ) , fever ( OR=2 . 38 , 95%CI:1 . 26-4 . 48 ) , virus infection ( OR=1 . 80 , 95%CI:1 . 29 -2 . 51 ) , medicine usage ( OR=1 . 73 , 95%CI:1 . 11 -2 . 69 ) , passive smoking ( OR=1 . 69 , 95%CI:1 . 26-2 . 29 ) , chemical agent contact ( OR=8 . 71 , 95%CI:2 . 33 -32 . 58 ) , living in newly decorated houses ( OR=2 . 56 , 95%CI:1 . 60-4 . 09 ) or room close to the main road ( OR=1 . 40 , 95%CI:1 . 14-1 . 72 ) in the first 3 months of pregnancy and father as factory worker ( OR=1 . 46 , 95%CI:1 . 23-1 . 73 ) . The risk factors for pulmonary outflow tract obstruction CHD in-cluded low ( OR =5 . 98 , 95% CI: 2 . 88 -12 . 44 ) or over birth weight ( OR = 6 . 56 , 95% CI:1. 19-36. 26), maternal low education, parity≥2 (OR=2. 08, 95%CI:1. 03-4. 22), virus infection in the first 3 months of pregnancy ( OR =4 . 30 , 95%CI: 1 . 27 -13 . 45 ) . The risk factors for left ventricular outflow tract obstruction CHD included father as factory worker ( OR=6 . 01 , 95%CI:1 . 05-34. 59). The risk factors for transposition of the great arteries included low birth weight (OR=12. 93, 95%CI:1. 14-146. 26), maternal low education, mother as factory worker (OR=3. 69, 95%CI:1. 53-8. 91). The risk factors for conditions with intra cardiac mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in-cluded parity=2 ( OR=3 . 45 , 95%CI:1 . 42-8 . 38 ) . The risk factors for other CHD included over birth weight (OR=4. 87, 95%CI:1. 19-19. 94), maternal abnormal reproduction history (OR=2. 96, 95%CI:1. 14 - 7. 68 ), virus infection ( OR = 4. 92, 95% CI: 1. 56 - 15. 47 ), medicine usage (OR=4. 90, 95%CI:1. 22-19. 77) or passive smoking (OR=10. 31, 95%CI:1. 25-85. 05) in the first 3 months of pregnancy. Conclusion:The environmental risk factors were discrepant among different categories of CHD. Further risk factors study of CHD phenotypes should be performed specially. To prevent CHD, attention should be paid to the risk factors which are related to multi or complex categories of CHD.

OBJECTIVE To explore the expression of long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) HOTAIR, enhancer of Zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and their relationship between HOTAIR and prognosis. METHODS We examined the expression of HOTAIR, EZH2 and VEGF in NPC tissues, and analyzed the clinical significance of HOTAIR expression in patients with NPC. RESULTS We found that the expression of HOTAIR, EZH2 and VEGF in the NPC tissues were significantly higher than those in the chronic nasopharyngitis tissues in the gene and protein levels (U=955,P<0.05). The HOTAIR was positively correlated with VEGF (r=0.599,P<0.001), VEGF was positively correlated with EZH2 (r=0.369, P=0.012), and HOTAIR had no significant correlation with EZH2 (r=0.139,P=0.357). Moreover, HOTAIR expression levels increased with clinical stage progression. CONCLUSION The expression of HOTAIR, EZH2 and VEGF were significantly increased in the NPC tissues, and the expression of HOTAIR was related with the TNM stage, the clinical stage and the short term therapeutic effect of the NPC patients, which indicated that the HOTAIR might be used as a biological indicator to determine the prognosis of the NPC.

Objective: Our purpose was to study the relationship between the Fas antigen expression and neuron apoptosis after cerebral ischemia. Methods: We detected the Fas antigen expression and neuron apoptosis dynamically in the animal models with cerebral ischemia by immunohistochemistry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) method. Results: Fas antigen was positive after 30 minutes of ischemia and reached peak at 60 minutes. At the 24th hour, it began to decrease, and negative on the 3th day. While the positive cell for TUNEL method appeared after 60 minutes of ischemia, reached peak on 3 day, and decreased on 7 day. Conclusion: Neuron apoptosis after cerebral ischemia is closely related to the over-expression of Fas antigen.

[Objective]To evaluate the effects of sutureless technique in comparison to conventional techniques for repair of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection(TAPVC)with the method of propensity score analysis.[Methods]From October 2007 to December 2013,179 consecutive patients were enrolled in this study. Patients were operated with sutureless technique(n = 81)or Conventional technique(n=98),and followed up at an interval of 1 month,3 months,6 months and then once a year post-operation. During analysis,three type of propensity-score matching methods,including nearest neighbor caliper matching,Mahalanobis metric matching with propensity score ,optimal full matching were used to create balanced groups of patients receiving each treatment. Surgeons’performance difference was assessed with random frailty proportional hazards models with gamma. Composite endpoints was defined by postoperative death or late death or postoperative pulmonary venous obstruction(PVO),which was evaluated with Kaplan-Meier curve and multivariable Cox proportional hazard model,adjusted by Preoperative-PVO,age,gender,weight and TAPVC type.[Results]Nearest neighbor caliper matching method was the best choice during propensity score analysis. After matching ,sutureless group included 73 patients and Conventional group73 patients. In sutureless group,cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB)time(Z=2.18, P=0.030),cross-clamp time(Z=3.63,P<0.001),rate of composite endpoints(HR 95%CI=0.20(0.06~0.61),P=0.005),late death(HR 95%CI=0.03(0.01~0.55),P=0.017)were significantly better than that in Conventional group. In subgroup analysis ,for patients with pre-PVO,decreased composite endpoints was seen in sutureless group.[Conclusion]Comparison using thepropensity score analysis demonstrated that sutureless strategy for primary repair of TAPVC may associate with decreased mortality rate of post-PVO and CPB time and cross-clamp time.

AIM: To study the effects of xijiao dihuang decoction, a Chinese medicine, on the expression of adhesion molecules in vascular endothelial cells (VECs) of adrenine and hypothermia-treated rats. METHODS: The expression of VCAM-1, ICAM-1, PECAM-1, iNOS and their corresponding mRNA in VECs was assayed by immunohistochemistry analysis and RT-PCR, respectively. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry analysis showed the expression of VCAM-1, ICAM-1, PECAM-1 and iNOS are higher in adrenine and hypothermia-treated rats than that in controls, xijiao dihuang decoction decreased the expression of VCAM-1, ICAM-1, PECAM-1 and iNOS in a dose-dependent manner in adrenine and hypothermia-treated rats. CONCLUSION: Xijiao dihuang decoction can down-regulate the expression of adhesion molecules in vascular endothelial cells of adrenine and hypothermia-treated rats.

OBJECTIVETo establish a method for monitoring the quality of intermediates generated in each working procedure during the production process of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) , in order to ensure the batch-to-batch quality consistency of TCM products.

METHODThe multistage multivariate statistic quality control (MMSQC) was proposed to monitor production quality of TCMs based on multivariate data analysis technique. Hotelling T2 and SPE were adopted for monitoring the quality of intermediates generated in each working procedure. Danshen injection was taken as the example to introduce the application method of MMSQC.

RESULTMMSQC can monitor the quality of intermediates generated in multiple working procedures, which is simpler and more accurate compared with single-indicator monitoring method.

CONCLUSIONMMSQC can be popularized to monitor quality of multistage production of TCMs.

Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; standards ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; standards ; Phenanthrolines ; chemistry ; standards ; Quality Control ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry

Objective To study the effect of Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BHD) on adhesion molecules in vascular endothelial cells (VECs) of blood stasis rats. Methods Expression of ICAM-1, VCAM-1, PECAM-1, iNOS in vascular endothelial cells of blood stasis rats receiving different doses of BHD was observed by immunohistochemical method and RT-PCR.Results The expression of ICAM-1, VCAM-1, PECAM-1, iNOS was increased in model group, while was decreased by BHD. There was an increase tendency on the expression of molecules and significant dose-effect relationship along with the decrease of the BHD doses. Conclusion The increased expression of adhesion molecules in vascular endothelial cells of blood stasis rats could be reduced by BHD in a dose dependent manner.

Background Researches showed that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) modulate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase/tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (MMP/TIMP) in cells,but the association of expression of MMP/TIMP in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and the dose and active time of PDGF is unclear.Objective This study was to observe the effects of PDGF on the expressions of MMP-2,MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in cultured RPE cells in vitro.Methods RPE cell line,ARPE-19,was calculated in vitro,and the cells were divided into 5 groups when they reached 70％-80％ confluence.Different concentrations (0,0.1,1,10,50 mg/L) of PDGF was added into the medium respectively for 36 hours,and the expressing levels of mRNA and protein of MMP-2,MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were detected by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blot assay.In addition,RPE cells in PDGF group were treated with 10 mg/L PDGF for 24,36,48 hours respectively to detect the expressions of mRNA and protein of MMP-2,MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in the cells and to compare with the control group without PDGF.Results PDGF stimulated proliferation of RPE cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner.As the increase of the PDGF concentrations,the expression values of MMP-2 mRNA and MMP-9 mRNA in RPE cells were gradually elevated,with a statistically significant difference among various groups (MMP-2 mRNA:F=79.304,P=0.000;MMP-9 mRNA:F =8.465,P=0.003),and the expressions of MMP-2 mRNA and MMP-9 mRNA were significantly higher in the 1,10,50 mg/L PDGF groups compared with 0 mg/L PDGF normal control group (all at P＜0.05).Also,the expression values of MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins in RPE cells were gradually elevated with the increase of PDGF concentrations,showing statistically differences among the groups (MMP-2:F=26.550,P=0.000;MMP-9:F=80.993,P=0.000).Compared with the 0 mg/L PDGF group,MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression levels in the 1,10,50 mg/L PDGF groups were significantly up-regulated (all at P＜ 0.05).However,the expression levels of TIMP-1 mRNA and protein group in the cells were not significantly different among various groups (mRNA:F =0.143,P =0.962 ; protein:F =1.955,P =0.178).The expression levels of M MP-2 mRNA,M MP-9 mRNA in the cells were increased in the PDGF group compared with the control group at different time points (MMP-2 mRNA:Ftime =83.250,P=0.002 ; MMP-9 mRNA:Ftime =6.785,P =0.019).Also,the expression values of MMP-2 and MMP-9proteins in RPE cells were increased in the PDGF group compared with the control group at different time points (MMP-2:Ftime =1 l.185,P =0.041 ; MMP-9:Ftime =968.413,P =0.000).The expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNAs and proteins were significant between the two groups at different time points (all at Pgroup =0.000;all at Ptime＜0.05).While the expression changes of TIMP-1 werc not significant between the two groups and among various time points (all at P＞0.05) Conclusions PDGF up-regulates MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions in RPE cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner.But,PDGF dose not alter the expression of TIMP-1.These results indicate that PDGF disrupt the balance of MMP/TIMP,which may damage the extracellular matrix and therefore facilitate the migration of RPE cells in the pathogenesis of proliferative vitreoretinopathy.