To explore the effects of extracts of Radix Scrophulariae (ERS) on blood pressure, vasoconstrictors and morphology of artery in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs).

Objective:To analyze the characteristics of clinical manifestation, auxiliary examination and gene mutation of 3-hydroxy-isobutyryl-coenzyme A hydrolase (HIBCH) deficiency to better understand this disease.Methods:The clinical manifestations and genetic results of a patient with HIBCH deficiency were analyzed. The clinical features and genetic characteristics of HIBCH deficiency were summarized based on the literature review.Results:The proband, female, one year and four months old, was admitted to Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University for “vomiting and diarrhea for 15 days, dyspnea and intermittent convulsions for 13 days after digestive tract infection”. The intelligence was normal, however, the motor development was slightly delayed before onset. Physical examination showed light coma, poor response and insensitivity to light. She also had shortness of breath, weak positive three concave signs and coarse breath sound in both lungs with sputum purrs. In addition, the muscle tension of extremities was increased. Bilateral Brudzinski′s sign, Babinski′s sign and Kernig′s sign were negative. Serum hydroxybutyryl carnitine (C4OH) was increased. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed atrophy in bilateral cerebral hemispheres and abnormal symmetry signals in bilateral globus pallidus and cerebral peduncle. Novel compound heterozygous variants of HIBCH, c.489T>A (p. C163*) and c.740A>G (p. Y247C), were found in the patient, which respectively inherited from her healthy parents. Her symptoms were relieved after“cocktail”therapy and symptomatic treatment. Literature related to HIBCH deficiency published all around the world was reviewed. As a result, 17 articles, including 24 cases, had been reported. The majority of patients presented with poor feeding, dystonia and progressive motor developmental delay in early infancy. Cranial MRI showed lesions in bilateral basal ganglia. Serum C4OH concentration was elevated. And compound heterozygous or homozygous variants of HIBCH gene were found in patients with HIBCH deficiency.Conclusions:The detection of serum amino acids and acylcarnitine profiles on HIBCH deficiency was relatively specific and it was helpful to make a clear diagnosis by combining with cranial MRI and genetic tests. In this study, a case of HIBCH deficiency was confirmed, which expanded the mutation spectrum of HIBCH gene. Meanwhile, summarizing the clinical and genetic characteristics of cases reported improved understanding of HIBCH deficiency.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the detection and accuracy of fetal echocardiography for congenital heart defects among high-risk populations.

METHODSA prospective observational study of prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease was conducted in two tertiary obstetrics and gynecology hospitals between January 2003 and December 2004. Consecutive fetuses at risk of congenital heart disease underwent detailed fetal echocardiography during the study period. B-mode and colour/pulsed Doppler flow imaging were used in all cases. Follow-up was sought for all pregnancies. Indications for referral, maternal and gestational age at diagnosis, as well as prenatal and postnatal diagnosis were recorded prospectively. By comparing prenatal and postnatal diagnoses, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were estimated.

RESULTSA series of 2063 high-risk fetuses underwent detailed fetal echocardiography during the study period. The mean gestational age at examination was 26.5 weeks, ranging from 16 to 42 weeks. The most common indications for fetal echocardiography were advanced maternal age (31.7%), fetal arrhythmias (13.5%) and maternal infections (10.4%). Forty-three cases of fetal congenital heart disease were detected. The mean gestational age at prenatal diagnosis was 27.3 weeks ranging from 16 to 40 weeks. There were 3 false-negatives and 1 false-positive. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 92.1%, 99.9%, 97.2%, and 99.8%, respectively. Diagnostic accuracy was 86.1%. A cardiac defect suspected on routine prenatal sonography accounted for the highest proportion of abnormal cases (67.4%). As for pregnancy outcome, there were 24 (52.1%) terminations; 2.2% died in utero, 13% postnatally, and 28.3% survived.

CONCLUSIONS(1) Fetal congenital heart disease can be identified reliably by prenatal echocardiography. (2) Possible congenital heart disease or suspected heart defect noted on a screening obstetric sonogram is an important indication for fetal echocardiography. (3) A sequential segmental approach is critical for correct evaluation of the cardiac malformation. (4) The outcome of the patients with congenital heart disease is poor and a multidisciplinary approach is needed to the parental counseling and perinatal management planning.

China ; epidemiology ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Fetal Heart ; abnormalities ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Fetus ; abnormalities ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gestational Age ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; diagnostic imaging ; epidemiology ; pathology ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Pregnancy ; Prospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal

Obejective To explore the inhibition effects of erlotinib on invasion and metastasis in non -small cell lung cancer brain metastasis cell PC14/B.Methods MTT method was used to detect the viability of PC14/B cells 48 h after the cultivation with erlotinib of 0 ( control group), 1, 5 and 25 μmol· L -1(erlotinib ,test groups).The cell inva-sion was detected by tranaswell method.The phosphorylation of protein kinase B ( AKT ) and the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 ( MMP2 ) , MMP9 epithelial -mesenchymal transition ( EMT ) related proteins including E -cadhherin and Vimentin were detected by Western blot.Results Compared with control group (0.75 ±0.09), three dose test groups[(0.63 ±0.06), (0.52 ±0.04), (0.38 ±0.03)] inhibited the cell viability.Compared with control group , three dose test groups inhibited invasion, up -regulated the expression of E -cadherin, and down-regulated the expressions of MMP2, MMP9, Vimentin and the phosphorylation of AKT.Conclusion Erlotinib suppressed PC 14/B cell invasion and metastasis , which was related to the down -regulation of the expression of MMPs , and the inhibition on the generation of EMT and the phosphorylation of AKT.

AIM: To investigate the protective mechanism of hydrogen on retinal senescence induced by oxidative stress.

METHODS: Mice were randomly divided into three groups: control group, model group and treatment group. Animal models of retinal oxidative stress injury were established by injecting sodium iodate solution into mice caudal vein. Harvesting the mice retina, Western-blot was used to detect the level of proteins related to DNA damage response such as ATM, NF-κB, cyclin D1 and HMGB1 that associated with DNA repair.

RESULTS: SA-β-gal staining showed that the blue-green deposits in treatment group were reduced than that in model group. The expression of DNA damage reactive protein in treatment group ATM, cyclin D1, NF-κB(0.10±0.009, 0.32±0.01, 0.19±0.002)were significantly lower than those in the model groups(0.77±0.08, 0.70±0.02, 0.36±0.01), and the differences were statistically significant(all P<0.01). At the same time, the expression of DNA repair protein HMGB1 in treatment group(0.927±0.06)were notably higher than that in model group(0.383±0.07)and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.01).

CONCLUSION: H₂ can attenuate senescence by inhibiting oxidative-stress induced DNA damage.

Objective To investigate the effect of soft occlusal splint in the treatment of condylar fracture in children and adolescents.Methods Twenty-three children with condylar fracture aged from 3 to 16 were included in this study.Impressions of both jaws were taken and stone working models poured.After occlusion was recovered by mounting on a bionic articulator,a soft occlusal splint was fabricated.The occlusal splint was worn for 1 to 3 months accompanied with functional exercise.Follow-up was carried out by clinical observation and panoramic image.Results Clinical satisfactory results were obtained in all the patients with good occlusion,unimpaired function and normal growth and development of the mandibles.Panoramic image showed reconstruction of the fractured condyles,which were flattened and short.Conclusions Soft occlasal splint is a promising approach for treating condylar fracture in children.

Calcifying tendinopathy is a tendon disorder with calcium deposits in the mid-substance presented with chronic activity-related pain, tenderness, local edema and various degrees of incapacitation. Most of current treatments are neither effective nor evidence-based because its underlying pathogenesis is poorly understood and treatment is usually symptomatic. Understanding the pathogenesis of calcifying tendinopathy is essential for its effective evidence-based management. One of the key histopathological features of calcifying tendinopathy is the presence of chondrocyte phenotype which surrounds the calcific deposits, suggesting that the formation of calcific deposits was cell-mediated. Although the origin of cells participating in the formation of chondrocyte phenotype and ossification is still unknown, many evidences have suggested that erroneous tendon cell differentiation is involved in the process. Recent studies have shown the presence of stem cells with self-renewal and multi-differentiation potential in human, horse, mouse and rat tendon tissues. We hypothesized that the erroneous differentiation of tendon-derived stem cells (TDSCs) to chondrocytes or osteoblasts leads to chondrometaplasia and ossification and hence weaker tendon, failed healing and pain, in calcifying tendinopathy. We present a hypothetical model on the pathogenesis and evidences to support this hypothesis. Understanding the key role of TDSCs in the pathogenesis of calcifying tendinopathy and the mechanisms contributing to their erroneous differentiation would provide new opportunities for the management of calcifying tendinopathy. The re-direction of the differentiation of resident TDSCs to tenogenic or supplementation of MSCs programmed for tenogenic differentiation may be enticing targets for the management of calcifying tendinopathy in the future.
Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; physiology ; Humans ; Mice ; Rats ; Stem Cells ; pathology ; Tendinopathy ; etiology ; pathology ; Tendons ; pathology

BACKGROUNDGenetic factors are the main cause of early miscarriage. This study aimed to investigate aneuploidy in spontaneous abortion by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using probes for 13, 16, 18, 21, 22, X and Y chromosomes.

METHODSA total of 840 chorionic samples from spontaneous abortion were collected and examined by FISH. We analyzed the incidence and type of abnormal cases and sex ratio in the samples. We also analyzed the relationship between the rate of aneuploidy and parental age, the rate of aneuploidy between recurrent abortion and sporadic abortion, the difference in incidence of aneuploidy between samples from previous artificial abortion and those from no previous induced abortion.

RESULTSA total of 832 samples were finally analyzed. 368 (44.23%) were abnormal, in which 84.24% (310/368) were aneuploidies and 15.76% (58/368) were polyploidies. The first was trisomy 16 (121/310), followed by trisomy 22, and X monosomy. There was no significant difference in the rate of aneuploidy in the advanced maternal age group (≥ 35 years old) and young maternal age group (<35 years old). However, the rate of trisomy 22 and the total rate of trisomies 21, 13, and 18 (the number of trisomy 21 plus trisomy 13 and trisomy 18 together) showed significantly different in two groups. We found no skewed sex ratio. There was no significant difference in the rate of aneuploidy between recurrent miscarriage and sporadic abortion or between the samples from previous artificial abortion and those from no previous artificial abortion.

CONCLUSIONSAneuploidy is a principal factor of miscarriage and total parental age is a risk factor. There is no skewed sex ratio in spontaneous abortion. There is also no difference in the rate of aneuploidy between recurrent abortion and sporadic abortion or between previous artificial abortion and no previous induced abortion.

Abortion, Habitual ; genetics ; Abortion, Spontaneous ; genetics ; Adult ; Aneuploidy ; Female ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Middle Aged ; Pregnancy ; Sex Ratio

Objective To evaluate the prenatal diagnostic accuracy of fetal echocardiography for congenital heart defects.Methods Fetal echocardiographic databases from 2001 to 2007 were searched for patients with a prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart defect,medical records were obtained and the prenatal echocardiographic findings were correlated with postnatal echocardiography results or autopsy findings,if the pregnancy was terminated or the fetus died in utero.Results Prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart defects was made in 113 pregnancies at a mean gestational age of 26.8 weeks.Pathology or postnatal echocardiography was available in 79 cases(70%)and the accuracy of prenatal diagnosis was 86%(68/79).Prenatal diagnosis was accurate in 24 of 31 patients(77%)with conotruncal malformations,26 of 27 patients(96%)with septal defects,9 of 10 patients(90%)with valve abnormalities,and 5 of 6 patients(83%)with univentricular hearts.There were 4 false-positives and the positive predictive value was 95%(75/79).Conclusion Fetal echocardiography is a reliable tool for prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart defects despite Limitations for correctly diagnosing some spocific fetal heart defects.

China ; Female ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; Influenza Vaccines ; therapeutic use ; Influenza, Human ; prevention & control ; Intention ; Male ; Medical Staff ; Pregnancy ; Students ; Vaccination ; statistics & numerical data