AIM: To study the effects of fructose-1,6-diphosphate (FDP) on adriamycin (ADR)-induced calcium and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+-ATPase activity in cardiomyocytes of rats. METHODS: Rats were treated with ADR by intraperitoneal injection (2 5 mg?kg -1 body weight) once every two days for 11 days, and then ADR-treated rats were intervened by FDP at different dosages (ip) once every other day for 41 days. Enzyme linked immune absorption assay (ELISA) was employed to detect froponin I (CTnI). CK-MB was examined by monoclonal antibody. Intracellular free calcium concentration was measured on fluorescent spectrophotometry and SRCa 2+-ATPase activity was examined by inorganic phosphate. RESULTS: FDP (300, 600, 1 200 mg?kg -1) significantly reduced the levels of CTnI and CK-MB in serum. Decreased calcium and increased SRCa 2+-ATPase activity in cardiomyocytes were also observed when ADR-treated rats were intervened by FDP (P

Objective To explore the diagnostic value of transbronchial lung biopsy(TBLB), CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy and sputum cytology for unknown lung mass. Methods The clinical data of 101 inpatients with unknown lung mass were retrospectively analyzed. Results Among the 101 cases, 73 cases underwent fibrous bronchoscopic examination, 18 cases underwent CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy, and 10 cases underwent both of them.The diagnostic coincident rate of the two methods was 70%. 54 cases were diagnosed lung carcinoma by pathology. The sensitivity and specificity of TBLB for diagnosing central type of tumor were 88% and 100%, respectiely, and those for diagnosing peripheral type of tumor were 43% and 100%, respectively. The sensitivity of CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy was 80%,while the specificity was 100%. Complication frequency in the CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy was 22%, and much higher than that (12%) in the TBLB. Only 30% cases underwent sputum cytology examination, and the positive rat was 6%. Conclusion Sputum cytologic examination is a convenient and cheap method, but its diagnostic rate is relatively low. TBLB was the first choice for examining central type of lung mass. For the peripheral type of lung mass, examination method was selected based on the location and size of the mass.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture-moxibustion in treating chronic non-bacterial prostatitis (CNBP), and its effect on the inflammatory cytokines in prostatic fluid. Methods A hundred CNBP patients were randomized into a treatment group and a control group, 50 in each group. The control group was intervened by oral administration of Tamsulosin Hydrochloride sustained-release capsules, while the treatment group was additionally treated with acupuncture-moxibustion. After 28-day treatment, changes of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-γ, COX-2, PGE2, TNF-α, MIP-2, and iNOS contents were observed, and the clinical efficacies were compared. Results The IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-γ, COX-2, PGE2, TNF-α, MIP-2, and iNOS contents were significantly changed after intervention in both groups (P<0.05). The contents of IL-6, IL-8, IFN-γ, COX-2, PGE2, TNF-α, MIP-2, and iNOS contents in the treatment group were significantly different from those in the control group after intervention (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 89.4% in the treatment group versus 78.3% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions Acupuncture-moxibustion is an effective method in treating CNBP, and can improve the associated indexes of prostatic fluid.

Child ; Child Day Care Centers ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Male ; Nematode Infections ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Prevalence

Objective: To investigate the perioperative complications of balloon expandable stent and self-expanding stent (Wingspan stent) in the treatment of patients with symptomatic basilar artery stenosis. Methods: Sixty-two patients with symptomatic basilar artery stenosis admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from November 2006 to June 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. Twenty-four of them were treated with the balloon expandable stent and 38 were treated with the self-expanding stent. The residual stenosis rate and perioperative complications in patients of both groups were observed. Results: Circled digit oneEndovascular stenting was performed successfully in all the 62 patients. Among them, the stenotic rate from 83 ± 8% decreased to 10 ± 5% immediately after procedure in the balloon expandable stent group. The stenotic rate from 81 ± 11% decreased to 17 ± 10% immediately after procedure in the self-expanding stent group. Circled digit twoSeven (29.2%) of the 24 patients had perioperative complications in the balloon expandable stent group and 4 (10.5%) in the self-expanding stent group. The difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.061). However, if excluding the surgical factors, only comparing the stent-related ischemic complications, it showed that the incidence of complications (2/38, 5.3%) in the self-expanding stent group was significantly lower than that (7/24, 29.2%) in the balloon expandable stent group. The difference was statistically significant (P = 0.022). Observing from the pathological standpoint, it showed that the patients of Mori C type has higher incidence of complications. Conclusion: Compared to the balloon expandable stent, the self-expanding stent has a lower incidence of perioperative complications in the treatment of symptomatic basilar arterial stenosis, but the postoperative residual stenosis of the self-expanding stent is higher.

Animals ; Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic ; therapeutic use ; Disease Models, Animal ; Doxorubicin ; toxicity ; Immunotherapy ; Interleukin-18 ; immunology ; pharmacology ; Male ; Mice ; Nephrosis, Lipoid ; chemically induced ; pathology ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo observe effects of mild moxibustion and lovastatin on immunologic function in rabbits with chronic hyperlipidaemia and atherosclerosis (AS) to initially explain regulating rules of mild moxibustion on immunologic function.

METHODSAmong thirty-two Japanese male big-ear rabbits, 8 rabbits were randomly selec ted as a blank group, the rest 24 rabbits were fed with method of endothelial injury and high-fat diet to establish AS model. The blank group was raised with normal diet and free water. After ten weeks of model establishment, the rest 24 rabbits were randomly divided into a model group, a moxibustion group and a medicine group, eight rabbits in each one. Moxibustion was applied at "Shenque" (CV 8) and "Zusanli" (ST 36) for 10 min per acupoint per day in the moxibustion group, while intragastric administration of 3.6 mg/kg lovastatin capsule was applied in the medicine group. After treatment, serum was acquired. Spectrophotometry method was adapted to measure cholesterol (TC) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and evaluated atherosclerosis index (AI), while enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was used to measure interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-4 (IL-4).

RESULTS(1) The serum TC and HDL-C in the model group were significantly higher than those in the blank group, moxibustion group and medicine group (all P < 0.01). The mean value of AI was 1.683 +/- 0.486 in the moxibustion group, which was obviously lower than 20.301 +/- 4.022 in the model group (P < 0.01). (2) The ratio of Th1/Th2 was 0.569 +/- 0.143 in the moxibustion group and 0.445 +/- 0.079 in the medicine group, which were significantly lower than 0.917 +/- 0.255 in the model group (both P < 0.01), but there was no statistically significant difference between the moxibustion group and the medicine group (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe moxibustion for AS could reduce atherosclerosis index, influence drift and bias of helper T cell and regulate balance between humoral immunity and cellular immunity. As a result, status of relative balance of immunity is acquired, which could slow down the development of atherosclerosis and process of thrombus burst.

Animals ; Atherosclerosis ; immunology ; therapy ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; immunology ; therapy ; Interferon-gamma ; immunology ; Interleukin-4 ; immunology ; Male ; Moxibustion ; Rabbits ; Th1 Cells ; immunology ; Th2 Cells ; immunology

Objective To evaluate the effect of wild feces detection in Oncomelania hupensis environments on the surveil?lance of infection source of schistosomiasis,and find the weakness in schistosomiasis control in Hubei Province,so as to put for?ward the targeted strategies and measures. Methods Four environments with O. hupensis snails in endemic areas of Hubei Provinces,where human and livestock often haunted,were selected according to the river systems,namely the Juzhanghe River beach in Jingzhou City,Changjiang River beach in Jiayu County,Hanbei River beach in Tianmen City,and Changshou River beach in Zhongxiang City,then the snail survey and wild feces detection were implemented in the selected environments. Re?sults There were O. hupensis snails,livestock,wild feces of cattle or sheep as well as positive cattle feces found in all the 4 environments,and the positive rate of schistosome miracidium incubation was 47.62%. Conclusion The schistosome miracidi?um positive rate of wild feces of cattle is high in the environments with snails in endemic areas of Hubei Province ,which has high risk for schistosomiasis transmission.

Objective To observe the expressions of antimicrobial peptides LL-37,human beta defensin2 (HBD-2) and HBD-3 in the lesions of lupus vulgaris and tuberculosis verrucosa cutis,and to speculate the pathogenesis of cutaneous tuberculosis.Methods Tissue specimens were collected from the lesions of 18 patients with lupus vulgaris or tuberculosis verrucosa cutis and 15 patients with psoriasis,as well as from the normal skin of 10 healthy controls.The specimens were embedded by paraffin and subjected to an immunohistochemical analysis for the detection of antimicrobial peptides LL-37,HBD-2 and HBD-3.Statistical analysis was performed by using the SPSS 13.0 software package,and t test was carried out to compare the expressions of LL-37,HBD-2 and HBD-3 between these groups.Results LL-37 and HBD-2 were observed mainly in the upper and middle layer of the epidermis,appendages and vascular endothelial cells in cutaneous tuberculosis lesions.The expression levels of LL-37 and HBD-2 were significantly higher in tuberculosis lesions than in the normal skin (t =2.632,2.399,both P ＜ 0.05).Psoriatic and tuberculosis lesions shared a similar expression pattern for LL-37 and HBD-2.HBD-3 was absent in the lesions of cutaneous tuberculosis,but present in both psoriatic lesions and normal skin.Conclusions Both LL-37 and HBD-2 may participate in the immune response in cutaneous tuberculosis,while the absence of HBD-3 may contribute to the pathogenesis of cutaneous tuberculosis.

Objective To investigate the effects of mirror therapy supplemented with motor imaging training on the upper extremity functions of hemiplegic stroke patients and on their ability in the activities of daily living (ADL).Methods Forty-four stroke patients were divided into a control group and an experimental group with 22 patients in each.All were given routine rehabilitation treatment.In addition,the experimental group was given 30 minutes of mirror therapy daily supplemented with 15 minutes of motor imaging training.The control group was given routine occupational therapy.All the patients were assessed with Brunnstrom staging,the functional test for the hemiplegic upper extremity-Hong Kong (FTHUE-HK) and the Barthel index (BI) scale before therapy and after 6 weeks.Results After 6 weeks of treatment,both groups showed significant improvements in upper limb function,hand function,and ADL ability.There were significant intra-group differences and significant differences between the experimental and control groups in terms of Brunnstrom staging,FTHUE-HK scores and BI scores.Conclusions Mirror therapy supplemented with motor imaging training can benefit patients suffering hemiplegia in improving their upper limb functioning and their ADL ability.