OBJECTIVETo investigate the effcacy of the staple fixation for the treatment of hamate metacarpal joint injury.

METHODSFrom May 2009 to November 2012,16 patients with hamate metacarpal joint injury were treated with staple fixation including 10 males and 6 females with an average age of 33.6 years old ranging from 21 to 57 years. Among them, 11 cases were on the fourth or fifth metacarpal base dislocation without fractures, 5 cases were the fourth or fifth metacarpal base dislocation with avulsion fractures of the back of hamatum. Regular X-ray review was used to observe the fracture healing, joint replacement and position of staple fixation. The function of carpometacarpal joint and metacarpophalangeal joint were evaluated according to ASIA (TAM) system evaluation method.

RESULTSAll incision were healed well with no infection. All patients were followed up from 16 to 24 months with an average of (10.0 +/- 2.7) months. No dislocation recurred, the position of internal fixator was good,no broken nail and screw withdrawal were occurred. Five patients with avulsion fracture of the back of hamatum achieved bone healing. The function of carpometacarpal joint and metacarpophalangeal was excellent in 10 cases,good in 5 cases, moderate in 1 case.

CONCLUSIONThe application of the staple for the treatment of hamatometacarpal joint injury has the advantages of simple operation, small trauma, reliable fixation, early postoperative function exercise and other advantages, which is the ideal operation mode for hamatometacarpal joint injury.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Carpal Joints ; injuries ; surgery ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; instrumentation ; methods ; Fractures, Bone ; surgery ; Hamate Bone ; injuries ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Metacarpal Bones ; injuries ; surgery ; Metacarpophalangeal Joint ; injuries ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Sutures ; utilization ; Young Adult

Objective:To investigate the effects of estradiol on ~(60)Co?-ray induced apoptosis of bone marrow hematopoietic cells of mice,and to discuss the related anti-irradiation mechanism.Methods:KM mice were randomly divided into 3 groups(15 mice/each group):control group(without radiation),pure radiation group and estradiol+radiation group(ER group).The pure radiation group was irradiated by 4.0 Gy?-ray at a dose rate of 1.15Gy/min;the ER group was administered with 0.1 mg estradiol(IM)at 10 days before 4.0 Gy?-ray radiation;and the control group received no special treatment.The apoptotic DNA segments of bone marrow hematopoietic cells were analyzed by DNA agarose gel electrophoresis;flow cytometry was used to examine the apoptosis rate of cells and expression of Fas and Bcl-2 at 4 h,8 h,and 12 h after irradiation.Results:Eight hours after radiation,the apoptotic DNA segments were obviously increased and apoptotic DNA ladder appeared,which was not seen in the other 2 groups.The apoptosis rate of bone marrow hematopoietic cells in ER group was significantly lower than that in the pure radiation group at 4,8,and 12 h after irradiation(P

OBJECTIVETo investigate the methods and clinical effects of repairing finger soft tissue defect with free vascularized flaps based on the wrist cutaneous branch of ulnar artery.

METHODSFrom February 2010 to December 2012, 16 patients with finger soft tissue defects were repaired by free vascularized flaps based on the wrist cutaneous branch of ulnar artery, including 10 males and 6 females with an average age of 38.2 years old ranging from 18 to 52 years. Among them, 5 cases caused by hot crush injury, 8 cases caused by machine crush injury, 3 cases caused by firecracker burst injury. The defect area varied from 1.3 cm x 2.3 cm to 2.6 cm x 5.0 cm. The flap area varied from 1.5 cm x 2.5 cm to 2.8 cm x 5.2 cm. The appearance and two-point discrimination of flap were observed after operation.

RESULTSAll flaps survived and wounds healed primarily. No wound infection and skin necrosis were found in donor site and recipient site. Among repair methods, direct suture in forearm donor site had 11 cases and skin graft had 5 cases. All patients were followed up from 6 to 24 months with an average of 10.8 months. The appearance of flap was not fat or clumsy, texture and color were similar to the recipient site, the sensation were good, two-point discrimination was 6 to 9 mm. The appearance of donor site were well complicated with mild scarring without dysfunction obviously.

CONCLUSIONThe free vascularized flaps based on the wrist cutaneous branch of ulnar artery has the advantages of vascular anatomy constant,thickness moderate and carry sensory nerves, etc, which is effective way to repair finger soft tissue defects.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Female ; Finger Injuries ; surgery ; Free Tissue Flaps ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Soft Tissue Injuries ; surgery ; Ulnar Artery ; surgery ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of intracellular 5-lipoxygenase on oxidation of benzidine in HBE cells and to provide further evidence that lipoxygenase is an alternative pathway for the oxidation of xenobiotics mediated by cytochrome P450.

METHODSEnzyme system test: Soybean lipoxygenase (SLO), substrate (benzidine) and other components reacted in the enzyme system, followed by detection of the reaction products by spectrophotometry. In vitro test: After HBE cells were exposed to benzidine, the protein levels of 5-lipoxygenase in HBE cells were assessed by Western-blot, and the DNA damage by the single cell gel electrophoresis. At last, the effect of the specific inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase (AA861) on 5-lipoxygenase protein expression and DNA damage in HBE cells were detected.

RESULTSSLO could catalyze the co-oxidation of benzidine to generate benzidine diimine in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Under optimal condition, numax value of the oxidation of benzidine catalyzed by SLO was 1.42 nmol*min(-1) SLO, and the Km value of benzidine was 1.48 mmol/L. EGCG could inhibit the oxidation of benzidine by SLO. Benzidine could induce 5-lipoxygenase protein expression in HBE cells, but AA861 was invalid. Benzidine caused DNA damage in HBE cells, which could be significantly inhibited by AA861.

CONCLUSION5-LOX protein expression in HBE cells can be regulated by benzidine, which suggests that the co-oxidation of benzidine by 5-LOX could produce into electrophile that could covalently bind to DNA and induce DNA damage, which could be one of the mechanisms for carcinogenesis of BZD. 5-LOX inhibitor AA861 can inhibit this effect.

Arachidonate 5-Lipoxygenase ; metabolism ; Benzidines ; pharmacokinetics ; toxicity ; Cells, Cultured ; DNA Damage ; drug effects ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Humans

Objective To investigate the prevalence of unintended pregnancy (UP) and exploring the risk factors of UP for married women of child-bearing age from Qingshan district,Wuhan.Methods A cross-sectional study was adopted in this study.Cluster sampling method was used with 3256 women recruited,in 2010.Information on history and risks related to social-demographic factors of UP were collected,using a self-administered questionnaire.Results Of the 3256 participants,over half of them (53.8％) reorted ever having had the history of UP and 9.1％ reported UP in the past year.Rate of UP in the past year for different age cohorts (18-30,31-40,41-49 years) were 31.8％,10.5％ and 1.8％ respectively.The most frequently reported reason for UP across all the age cohorts was "Did not use any contraceptive methods",with proportions on the reason that reported by women at 18-30,31-40 and 41-49 year-olds,were 69.7％,51.1％ and 42.4％ respectively.The second frequently reported reasons for UP were "Failure of traditional contraception" for younger cohort ( 18-30 years:13.0％ ) and "IUD dropped or pregnancy with IUD" for older-age cohorts (23.4％ at 31-40 year-olds and 37.0％ at the 41-49 year-oplds).The most frequently cited reason for "Did not use any contraceptive methods" was "Believe we were lucky so far,not to get pregnant" (59.6％).The risk factors of UP were being at older age,experiencing sex debut at younger age and got married at younger age.Conclusion The prevalence of lifetime UP history was high among women at child-bearing age from Qingshan district,Wuhan.Reproductive health services and interventions should be taken according to the needs from different age cohorts of women.Younger cohort of women should receive more attention.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the process of separating and purifying flavonoids from Smilax glabra.

METHODWith the yield of flavonoids as index, the optimum process of separating and purifying flavonoids from S. glabra Roxb was screened by static and dynamic adsorption tests.

RESULTThe static saturated adsorption capacity of D101 macroporous resin to flavonoids of S. glabra was 45.6 mg x g(-1) (dry resin). The optimum conditions of dynamic adsorption and elution were as that the pH, the concentration, the adsorption velocity of the extracting solution, and the adsorption capacity were 6.00 +/- 0.20, 4.2 mg x mL(-1), 2 mL x min(-1) and 15 mL, respectively. The adsorbed resin column was washed by 100 mL 60% ethanol with pH value of 8.00 +/- 0.20 at the eluting velocity of 3 mL x min(-1) after washed by 100 mL distilled water.

CONCLUSIONThe flavonoids of S. glabra was able to be easily separated and purified by D101 macroporous resin under the optimum conditions above, and the recovery rate was higher than 90%. The content of obtained flavonoids reached 62.6%, which was 2 times of the content before purification.

Adsorption ; Chromatography, Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Resins, Synthetic ; chemistry ; Smilax ; chemistry

AIM To observe the effects of Tangzhi Kangping Granules (Astragali Radix,Ligustri lucidi Fructus,Schisandrae chinensis Fructus,etc.) on regulating blood sugar and lipid of rats with glucose and lipid metabolism disorders.METHODS Among the seventy rats for the trial,ten rats were randomly assigned to normal control group,the other 60 rats were injected with STZ citric acid-sodium citrate solution (60 mg/kg) combined with high-fat emulsion (10 mL/kg) for 4 weeks to be the models of glucose and lipid metabolism disorders.The model rats were divided into model control group,mefformin + fenofibrate group,Xiaoke Pills + Xuezhikang group,and high,medium and low dose Tangzhi Kangping Granules groups.After 4-week intragastric administration,the rats had their levels of fasting serum glucose (GLU),triglyceride (TG),total cholesterol (TC),high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C),low density lipids (LDL-C),insulin (INS),adiponectin (ADP),leptin (Leptin),interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) measured.RESULTS Compared with the model control group,the rats in high,medium and low dose Tangzhi Kangping Granules groups displayed significantly decreased serum contents of GLU,TG and TC,lowered levels of LDL-C,ADP,Leptin,IL-6,TNF-α,and yet significantly increased levels of HDL-C and INS.CONCLUSION Tangzhi Kangping Granules,a blood sugar andlipid regulator may adjust the levels of insulin,adiponectin and leptin,and therefore improves the body's inflammatory environment to alleviate insulin resistance.

Human interleukin 4 (IL-4) cDNA was optimized and synthesized according to E. coli preferred codon. A recombinant expression plasmid pET-30a (+)/rhIL-4 was constructed with the target cDNA inserted between Nde I and EcoR I sites, which can translate the mature IL-4 protein with an extra methionine residue at N-terminal. The expression vector was transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3). The rhIL-4 protein was expressed in the inclusion body. By using the optimized fermentation conditions, the high expression level was achieved with the expression level as high as 35% of total protein obtained. A purification strategy has been designed which includes Q-Sepharose and SP-Sepharose ion-exchange chromatography and dialysis renaturation. The rhIL-4 was purified with the purity more than 98% and the yield of 40 mg per liter fermentation culture achieved. Western blot proved that the purified protein is IL-4. Amino acid sequencing revealed that N-terminal 16 residue sequence is identical to the theoretical sequence. Biological activity assay on TF-1 cells demonstrated that the rhIL-4 is active with an activity of 2.5 x 10(6) AU/mg. This study promises large scale production of rhIL-4.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Blotting, Western ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Interleukin-4 ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; metabolism

LIM kinase-1 (LIMK1) and LIM kinase-2 (LIMK2) are kinases that have serine/threonine and tyrosine dual specificity. Although they show significant structural similarity, LIMK1 and LIMK2 have different expression patterns, subcellular localization, and functions. Activation of LIM kinases regulates the downstream of Rho GTPases, and influences the architecture of the actin cytoskeleton by regulating the activity of cofilin. Recent studies have shown that LIM kinases play important roles in the nervous system. For example, development of the central nervous system is reliant upon the presence of LIMK1, and deletion of Limk1 gene is involved in the development of the human genetic disorder Williams syndrome. Therefore, it is of vital physiological significance to investigate the neuronal function of LIM kinases. In this review, we outline the structure, phosphorylation regulation and neuronal function of LIM kinases, so as to provide new ideas for the treatment of these neurological diseases.
Animals ; Humans ; Lim Kinases ; chemistry ; metabolism ; physiology ; Nervous System ; enzymology

Objective:To study the clinical application and complications of umbilical arterial catheterization (UAC) in premature infants.Methods:From January 2021 to December 2022, premature infants with UAC successfully inserted in NICU of our hospital were enrolled. According to birth weight (BW), the infants were assigned into three groups: <1 000 g, 1 000~1 499 g and ≥1 500 g. The perinatal data, UAC usage, UAC-related complications and risk factors of UAC-related complications were retrospectively analyzed.Results:A total of 39 premature infants received UAC, with gestational age 29.3(27.3, 30.4) weeks and BW 1 100 (900, 1 310) g. The insertion length (IL) of UAC was calculated using the average value of two formulas: a, IL (cm) =4×BW (kg) +7; and b, IL(cm) =3×BW (kg)+9. The accuracy of tube end position was determined using chest/abdomen radiography. 30(76.9%) cases had accurate position, 6(15.4%) had higher position and 3(7.7%) had lower position. The proportion of appropriately positioned tube end in <1 000 g, 1 000~1 499 g and ≥1 500 g groups were 80.0%, 76.5% and 71.4%, respectively, without statistically significant differences ( P>0.05) .No significant differences existed among the three groups in UAC duration and UAC routinely removal rate ( P>0.05). 9 cases (23.1%) of UAC were removed for specific reasons, including 4 cases of arterial spasm, 2 cases of withdrawal of treatment, 1 case of tube end displacement, 1 case of abdominal distension and 1 case of death. 21 cases received 1 U/ml heparin (0.9%NaCl solution) 0.5~1 ml/h arterial infusion. 23.8% (5/21) had hypernatremia and the level of sodium became normal after reducing the concentration of NaCl solution. Arterial vasospasm occurred in 4 patients with skin color changes of one side of the lower extremities. After UAC removal, the skin color returned to normal. Conclusions:UAC is helpful and safe for preterm infants, however, its complications should be alerted to.