Objective: To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)and the significance of matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9), which is modulated by VEGF, in the invasion of gastric carcinoma. Methods: Expression of VEGF in gastric carcinoma and normal gastric tissues was detected by Western blot. MTT was used to measure the proliferation of AGS cells while real-time PCR and Western blot were used to measure the expression of MMP-9 at mRNA and protein level in AGS cells. Results: The expression of VEGF in gastric carcinoma was significantly higher than that of controls; the expression of MMP-9 in AGS cells with VEGF was significantly higher than that of controls at mRNA and protein level. Conclusion: Both VEGF and MMP-9 participate in the progression of gastric carcinoma, and VEGF may promote the invasion of gastric carcinoma by upregulating the expression of MMP-9.

Objective To compare negative expiratory pressure (NEP)technique with conventional test in detecting expiratory flow limitation (EFL)in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases( COPD) patients. Methods EFL was measured with NEP technique and conventional method respectively in 72 COPD patients;EFL was measured with NEP technique in 20 COPD patients who failed to perform conventional test. Results EFL was detected in 54 of the 72 COPD patients. NEP test was successfully performed on the 20 patients, and 19 of them were found with EFL. The level of forced expired volume in one second percentage( FEV_1 % ) of the patients with 2-score group (46. 92 ± 12. 74) % and 3-score group (33. 35 ± 8.96)% were significantly lower than that of the 1-score group(63. 60 ±16.65)%. Area under curve of NEP technique and conventional test in ROC is 0. 903 and 0. 761 respectively. Conclusions As compared with conventional test, EFL detected with NEP technique is more reliable in evaluating dyspnea of COPD patients. It is simple and doesn't require any cooperation of the patients. NEP technique can be applied in COPD patients who fail to receive conventional test.

Objective To study the change of levator urethra gap(LUG) in postpartum female using pelvic floor three-dimensional ultrasonography.Methods Totally 80 postpartum women and 30 nulliparas were examined by three-dimensional pelvic floor ultrasonography.The images were obtained at maximal pelvic floor muscle contraction,and then the morphology of puborectalis muscle on tomographic ultrasound imaging were observed and the right LUG and left LUG were measured.Results The puborectalis was intact in all nulliparas and 69 postpartum women.The puborectalis avulsion was find in 11 postpartum women.The LUG of postpartum group was greater than that of nullipara group (P ＜0.05).In postpartum group,the LUG of puborectalis avulsion was greater than that of intact puborectalis(P ＜0.05).There was no difference between the right LUG and left LUG in nullipara group and in the postpartum women with intact puborectalis (P ＞ 0.05).ConcIusions LUG is a good imaging parameter to evaluate the levator avulsion in postpartum women.

Objective To explore the clinical prognostic significance of arterial blood lactate level and early lactate clearance rate in elderly septic patients. Methods Totally 82 elderly septic patients who were admitted into emergency department were enrolled.Their arterial blood lactate levels were tested at admission and 6 hours later. Early lactate clearance rate was calculated as following:(lactate level of admission minus lactate level of 6 hours later) /lactate level of admission ×100 ％. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded at admission,and the acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ (APACHE Ⅱ ) score was evaluated in the first 24 hours.28 days after admission was the end of research.Patients were divided into survival group (n=59) and death group (n=23).Taking 10％ as cut-off,patients were divided into high lactate clearance (≥ 10％) group (n=59) and low lactate clearance (＜10％) group (n=23).Values of arterial blood lactate level,APACHE Ⅱ score and early lactate clearance to predict the prognosis of elderly septic patients were determined by ROC curves. Results Arterial blood lactate level was lower in survival group than death group[(2.4± 1.7)mmol/L vs.(3.9±3.2)mmol/L,P＜0.01].Early lactate clearance was higher in survival group than death group [(339.0 ± 28.0) ％ and (300.0 ± 81.0) ％,P ＜ 0.01].Mortality of high lactate clearance group was decreased as compared with low lactate clearance group [18.6％ (11/59) and 52.2％ (12/23),P＜0.01].The thresholds of early lactate clearance to predict mortality of elderly septic patients were 24.0％ (sensitivity 72.9％,specificity 65.2％) which was more valuable than APACHE Ⅱ score ( sensitivity 65.2 ％,specificity 57.6 ％). Conclusions Arterial blood lactate level and early lactate clearance were meaningful predictors for prognosis of elderly septic patients.

Objective To investigate the effect of silk fibroin scaffolds seeded with adipose mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) in remodeling fiber for tunica albuginea defect in rabbits.Methods Fifty-six New Zealand rabbits were divided into 4 groups according to the random number table after a defect was created in the tunica albuginea:Group A (the defect was repaired with silk fibroin),Group B (with silk fibroin seeded with ADMSCs),Group C (with autologous tunica vaginalis) and Group D (left unrepaired),with 14 rabbits per group.Tunica albuginea sections were obtained for HE staining,Sirius red staining,Hart staining and immunofluorescence staining of macrophages at 6 and 12 weeks after surgery.Results At 12 weeks after surgery,HE staining revealed chaotically distributed new fiber ingrowth in Group D and orderly ingrowth in Groups A,B,and C.At 12 weeks after surgery,Sirius red staining revealed mean area of type Ⅰ collagen fibers was greater than that of type Ⅲ in Groups A (98 780 ±4 190 vs 51 177 ±5 464),B(94 855 ±9 010 vs 50 815 ±3 895),and C(99 860 ±6 015 vs 50 948 ± 6 595),but the difference in area of collagen fiber of the same type was insignificant among the three Groups.Moreover,less type Ⅰ collagen fibers (79 386 ±2 237) and more type Ⅲ collagen fibers (85 278 ± 2 645) were observed in Group D compared with other three Groups (P ＜ 0.01).At 12 weeks after surgery,Hart staining showed the mean area of elastic fibers in Groups A,B,C,and D was 2 805 ± 90,2 849 ±84,3 068 ±485,and 1 961 ±96 respectively.There was no statistical difference between Groups B and C,but less amount of fibers was observed in Group A (P ＜ 0.01) and least amount was observed in Group D (P ＜0.01).At 6 weeks after surgery,the number of infiltrating macrophages in Groups A,B,C and D was 4.10 ± 0.87,3.80 ± 0.78,3.70 ± 0.94,and 6.80 ± 1.63 respectively.There was no statistical difference in the number of macrophage infiltration among Groups A,B and C,but all were lower than that in Group D (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion Silk fibroin seeded with ADMSCs is comparable to autologous grafts for repair of tunica albuginea defect in rabbits.

OBJECTIVETo explore methods and clinical outcomes of microsurgical technique in treating patients with severed palm.

METHODSFrom January 2009 to December 2012,45 patients with severed palm were treated by replantation through microsurgical technique, included 37 males and 8 females, aged from 13 to 45 years old with an average of 25. Postoperative survival rate and evaluation standard of upper limb replantation function posposed by Chinese Medical Association were applied for evaluate clinical outcomes after operation.

RESULTSForty-five patients with severed plam were treated by replantation. Thirty-nine patients (121 fingers) were survived,and survival rate was 87%. All patients were followed up 3 to 15.5 months with an average of 11.5 months. According to evaluation standard of upper limb replantation function posposed by Chinese Medical Association, the total score was 80.27 +/- 1.93, and 27 cases got excellent results, 8 good and 4 poor.

CONCLUSIONThe success of replantation of severed palm depends on grasping operation indication strictly, knowing complexity and local anatomic relationship, debridement completely during operation, making full use of remaining organization, arteriovenostomy through microsurgical technique as early as possible, constructing circulation and repairing injuried nerve rationally.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Female ; Hand Injuries ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; Replantation ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the relationship between the expression of MMP-7 in peripher- al blood and esophageal cancer.Methods By using Real time RT-PCR, blood samples from 82 cases with postoperative esophageal cancer were detected.Results 37.8 %(32/82)patients were positive for MMP-7 mRNA expression.MMP-7 mRNA positivity significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis,stage,and hematogeneous metastasis.Recurrent disease was found in 28 of 82 cases. Of 28 patients experiencing re- lapse,15 patients were serially follow-up in every three months.The number positive of MMP-7 mRNA be- fore detection by imaging,at the same time of detection by imaging,and after detection by imaging was 5 cas- es,8 cases and 2 cases respectively.Conclusion Examination of MMP-7 mRNA in peripheral blood during follow-up is useful for early detection of occult recurrence.

Objective To investigate the relation of contrast-enhanced ultrasound ( CEUS ) characteristics and microvessel density ( MVD ) in the breast cancer .Methods From October 2010 to February 2012, 45 cases of patients with breast cancer were studied in Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital , Affiliated to Qingdao University Medical College .All lesions were examined by CEUS before surgery .The blood perfusion parameters such as rising time (RT),peak intensity(PI),time to peak(TTP),wash-in slope (WIS) and mean transit time ( MTT) were obtained by time-intensity curve ( TIC).Immunohistochemical staining for anti-factor CD34 was performed on surgery specimen and the MVD was evaluated .The CEUS characteristics and blood perfusion parameters between different MVD groups of breast cancer were compared.Results In 45 cases of breast cancer,mean MVD was(47.6 ±14.2)/high power field(HPD). Twenty-one cases(46.7%) were classified as high MVD group(MVD>48/HPD) and 24 cases(53.3%) were classified as lower MVD group ( MVD≤48/HPD) .Besides two cases without contrast agent perfusion in CEUS imaging, blood perfusion was observed in 43 cases (95.6%).Heterogeneous enhancement was observed in 25 cases(55.6%).Local blood perfusion defect was observed in 27 cases(60.0%).Irregular shape was observed in 37 cases(82.2%).Centripetal enhancement was observed in 25 cases(55.6%). Penetrating surrounding vessels was observed in 32 cases(71.1%).Poorly-defined margin was observed in 34 cases(75.6%).Compared with the surrounding normal breast tissue ,RT and TTP of center region of neoplasms was shorter[(9.3 ±3.3)s vs (11.1 ±3.7)s and (25.3 ±5.9)s vs (27.5 ±6.4)s],PI was higher[(12.1 ±4.6)dB vs (9.2 ±2.8)dB],WIS was higher(1.0 ±0.4 vs 0.8 ±0.3) and differences were significant(t =-3.001, -4.785,6.987 and 5.438,all P <0.05).Compared with center region of neoplasms,TTP of periphery region of neoplasms was shorter [(22.2 ±6.0)s vs (25.3 ±5.9)s],PI was higher[(15.4 ±5.1)dB vs (12.1 ±4.6)dB],WIS was larger(1.3 ±0.5 vs 1.0 ±0.4) and differences were significant(t=-2.839,3.194 and 3.151,all P<0.05).The detection rate of blood perfusion defect and heterogeneous enhancement was higher in the high-MVD group than in the low-MVD group(χ2 =4.0179 and 7.2024,both P <0.05).While the enhancement shape,margin and penetrating vessels showed no statistical difference between the two groups .Breast neoplasms in the high-MVD group had higher PI than those in the low-MVD group[(18.2 ±5.6)dB vs (12.9 ±3.1)dB,t=-3.738,P<0.05].While the RT, TTP and WIS showed no statistical difference between the two groups ( t=-0.798,-0.760 and -0.378, all P>0.05).Conclusion CEUS characteristics of breast lesions were associated with MVD ,which may reflect the microvessel distributional characteristics of neoplasm and may be one of bases used to evaluate neoplasm angiogenesis .

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease chiefly affecting synovial membranes of multiple joints. The clinical manifestations are highly variable. Besides joint affection, extra-articular manifestations always occur in RA patients, such as lung, blood vessel, heart, endocrine glands, hematological system, and nervous system affections. In addition to Western medicine therapy, Chinese medicine also plays a significant role in the treatment of RA with good efficacy and less adverse reactions. This paper summarizes the effects of xinfeng capsule, a Chinese medicine, and the mechanisms of its action in ameliorating the extra-articular manifestations based on a series of clinical and experimental researches.
Animals ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; immunology ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Biomedical Research ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Joints ; pathology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

The dry seeds of Cassia obtusifolia were carried by the "ShenZhou 8" satellite and sowed after landing. Based on our pri- or study on SP1, the characteristics of plants growth, physiological index and content of effective components were examined. The results showed that the QC10, QC29 strains matured 5 d earlier compared with control. The plant height, across diameter and ground diameter of QC10, QC29, QC46 strains was superior to the control at whole growth period. The branch number increased ranging from 4 to 11 and the number of pods reached 321, 313,281, respectively, which was dramatically higher than the control (246). The yield of QC10, QC29, QC46 strains increased noticeably from 31.4 to 63.2 g. The 1000-seed-weight of QC10, QC29, QC46 strains was 25.86, 25.88, 24.06 g, while the control was 23.69 g. Compared to the control, the mass fraction of chlorophyll was enhanced 1.098, 1.016, 0.297 mg. There was no significant difference in aurantio-obtusin and chrysophanol content of seeds. Through two years research, three high-yield mutant strains were obtained. This study indicates that spaceflight-induced mutants could provide new germplasm for C. obtusifolia breeding and offers the theoretical basis for further utilization of spaceflight-induced mutation to breed high-quality C. obtusifolia strains.
Cassia ; chemistry ; genetics ; growth & development ; Mutation ; Space Flight