Benzofurans ; analysis ; chemistry ; Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated ; Dioxins ; analysis ; chemistry ; Humans ; Occupational Exposure ; prevention & control

Objective To evaluate laparoscopic appendectomy(LA) and open appendectomy(OA)in obese patients.Methods From January 2008 to November 2010,153 obese patients with appendicitis were operated on,92 cases were treated with initial LA and 61 cases with upfront OA.The operative time,intraoperative bleeding volume,intestinal recovery period,the rate of using acesodyne,major postoperative complications,the duration and hospital cost were studied.Results In LA group,4 cases were converted to open surgery.All the variables in LA group were better than those in OA group except the hospital cost and the differences were statistically significant (the operative time:t =14.0,P ＜ 0.001 ;intraoperative bleeding volume:t =19.7,P ＜ 0.00 1 ;intestinal recovery period:t =12.3,P ＜ 0.001 ;the rate of using acesodyne:t =21.01,P ＜ 0.001 ;main postoperative complications:x2 =40.138,P ＜ 0.001 ;the hospital stay:t=17.3,P＜0.001) except the in-hospital cost(t=1.434,P＞0.05).Conclusions Compared with OA,LA is a better choice for obese patients with appendicitis because of its advantages of minimal injury,early recovery,less complications and short hospital stay.

Whole-cell patch clamp technique was performed on acutely isolated rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons to investigate the modulatory effect of caffeine on γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-activated currents (IGABA). The results showed that the majority of the neurons examined (97.4%, 113/116) were sensitive to GABA. 1-1000 μmol/L GABA activated a concentration-dependent inward current which manifested obvious desensitization. After the neurons were treated with caffeine (0.01-100 μmol/L) prior to the application of GABA (100 μmol/L) for 30 s, GABA-activated membrane currents were obviously inhibited. Caffeine shifted the GABA dose-response curve downward and decreased the maximum response to 57% without changing Kd value. These results indicate that the inhibitory effect is non-competitive. Theophylline showed a similar and stronger inhibitory effect on IGABA. The pretreatment with caffeine (10 μmol/L) inhibited IGABA, which was potentized by diazepam (1 μmol/L). Intracellular application of H-8 almost completely abolished the inhibitory effect of caffeine on IGABA. The present results suggest that caffeine may be able to antagonize the effect of presynaptic inhibition of GABA in primary afferent.

Objective To investigate clinical significance of computed tomography (CT) scan in diagnosis of bronchial foreign body in children.Methods Twenty-one suspected children with bronchial foreign body were studied with spiral CT cross-section scan and coronal reconstruction and diagnosis was confirmed with bronchoscopy.Results The foreign body was displayed in all of 21 cases. CT scan showed foreign body was located in right main bronchial 12 cases, right middle bronchial 1 case, right inferior lobar bronchial 2 cases and left main bronchial 6 cases. Foreign bodies were extracted with bronchoscopy.Conclusion CT scan can display and locate accurately foreign body in bronchial of children,and has very important diagnostic value in patients having atypical histories, clinical and radiological findings.

OBJECTIVETo explore clinical significance of rotational axis of distal femur on Chinese adults in total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

METHODSThere were 86 Chinese adults (106 normal knees) including 47 males (53 knees) and 39 females (53 knees), 54 knees were on left and 52 on right. The CT scan was employed in the distal femur. The scan direction was aligned to be on the plane perpendicular to the mechanical axis of the femoral. The CT images of cross sections across lateral and medial femoral epicondyle were moved to personal computer,lateral angle between anterior posterior line (APL) and surgical transepicondylar axis (STEA) (ATA),lateral angle between posterior condylar line (PCL) and APL (APA), angle between perpendicularity of APL and PCL (A-PA), posterior condylar angle (PCA), condylar twist angle (CTA), angle between clinical transepicondylar axis (CTEA) and STEA (CSA) were measured. These values were divided into different groups according to gender and side, the values of CTA, PCA, A-PA, angle PT (varus of tibia plateau), constant 3, ATA, APA and constant 90° were compared by statistically. A-PA and PCA, and CTA were analysed statistically with the liner regression, the relationship among CTEA, STEA ,PCL, APL and PLP were performed to assess by liner regression.

RESULTSATA was (89.79 ± 1.22)°, APA was (84.84 ± 1.83)°, A-PA was (5.16 ± 1.83)°, PCA was (4.80 ± 1.23)°, CTA was (8.23 ± 1.40), CSA was (3.45 ± 0.68)°. All the parameters had no differences on sex and side,but CSA had difference on male and female. There was no difference among angle PT, PCA, A-PA. There was significant difference in CAT, constant 30 and angle PT, PCA,A-PA. There was no difference between ATA and constant 90°, but there was difference between APA and constant 90°. There was relativity between PCA and CTA, and also PCA and A-PA, CTA and A-PA. There was significant relativity between STEA and CTEA, between STEA and APL, between STEA and PCL, and also between APLP, APL and PCL, but there was no significant relativity between PCL and CTEA.

CONCLUSIONTKA for Chinese, the section of femoral posterior condyle should be external 5° to obtain the optimum rotational orientation. The property is different entirely between STEA and CTEA, the rotational alignment is not performed according to parallel to the CTEA in distal femur. Among STEA, APL, PCL, the STEA is the most reliable mark ofrotational alignment of the distal femur, and the PCL is the less reliable mark.

Adult ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; Female ; Femur ; anatomy & histology ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rotation ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Sphingolipids, especially ceramide and S1P, are structural components of biological membranes and bioactive molecules which participate in diverse cellular activities such as cell division, differentiation, gene expression and apoptosis. Emerging evidence demonstrates the role of sphingolipids in hepatocellular death, which contributes to the progression of several liver diseases including ischaemia-reperfusion liver injury, steatohepatitis or hepatocarcinogenesis. Furthermore, some data indicate that the accumulation of some sphingolipids contributes to the hepatic dysfunctions. Hence, understanding of sphingolipid may open up a novel therapeutic avenue to liver diseases. This review focuses on the progress in the sphingolipid metabolic pathway with a focus on hepatic diseases and drugs targeting the sphingolipid pathway.
Apoptosis ; Ceramides ; metabolism ; Fatty Liver ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Lysophospholipids ; metabolism ; Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Sphingolipids ; metabolism ; Sphingosine ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism

This study aimed to investigate the synergistic effect of lidamycin (LDM) and rituximab on human B cell lymphoma Ramos cells. Cell proliferation was measured using MTS assay, cell apoptosis was analyzed by Annexin V-FITC/PI assay, the expression of apoptosis related proteins was analyzed by Western blotting, and the in vivo lymphoma inhibition was verified using BALB/c mice inoculated via tail vein using Ramos cells which stably expressed pEGFP-N1 plasmid. The results showed that, after the pretreatment with rituximab for 48 h, rituximab and LDM showed significantly synergistic effects on cell proliferation. Cells in combined treatment group had a higher apoptosis rate than that in LDM treatment group. Compared with the LDM treatment group, the expression of apoptosis-related proteins such as Cleaved caspase-3, Cleaved caspase-7, Cleaved caspase-9 and Cleaved PARP in combined treatment groups increased, and expression of cIAP-2 and Bcl-2 decreased. The result of in vivo experiment showed that, in the combined treatment group, the survival time of BALB/c mice was significantly longer than the mice in control group and LDM treatment group, and the degree of tumor accumulation and metastasis to lymph nodes and spleen was lower.
Aminoglycosides ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Caspase 7 ; metabolism ; Caspase 9 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drug Synergism ; Enediynes ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins ; metabolism ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rituximab ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the balance function of injured lower limb by dynamic posturography. METHODS: Using the dynamic posturography instrument, the postural evoked responses of sixty-two normal people and two hundred and fifty-eight people with injured lower limb bones and joints were detected. The test was included sensory organization test (SOT) and adaption test (ADT). The results of two groups were compared by t test. RESULTS: Compared with the normal people, the impaired people had significant statistical differences in balance scores of SOT3-SOT6 and proportion score of dynamic proprioception (P < 0.05). There was no obvious decrease in ADT. CONCLUSION The balance function of injured lower limb significantly decreases.
Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Lower Extremity/physiopathology* ; Postural Balance/physiology* ; Posture/physiology* ; Proprioception/physiology*

AIM: To clarify the effects of specific and non-specific cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors on gastric epithelial cell proliferating and gastric healing following acid-induced damage. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were given 1 mL of 0.6 mol/L hydrochloric acid (HCl) into the stomach. Ten minutes after the administration of the acid,the animals were given NS-398 (COX-2 inhibitor) or indomethacin. Levels of COX-1 and COX-2 in the gastric mucosa before and after HCl-administration were analyzed using western blotting and immunohistochemical staining. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was detected using immunohistochemistry for epithelial cell proliferation. Gastric lesion index (LI) was assessed using planimetry. RESULTS: Expression of COX-2 was enhanced mainly in surface epithelial cells and neck cells following HCl-administration. At 24 h following acid administration,PCNA labeling index (PCNA-LI) was (22.72?4.33) % and (21.98?5.18) % in the groups treated with 40 mg/kg of NS-398 and indomethacin respectively,which was significantly lower than that in the control group [ (34.46?3.61) %,P

BACKGROUNDThere were some papers published in the Jonrnal of Science, December 2000 suggesting that one or more important susceptibility genes for late onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) were located on the long arm of chromosome 10. Linkage analysis showed maximum lod score close to D10S1225 loci, which indicated the loci might contribute to the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

METHODSFifty-nine LOAD patients and 107 controls were recruited. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotypes were determined by reverse dot blotting hybridization assay. The D10S1225 was genotyped by 12% nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels electrophoresis and analyzed by silver staining. Statistical analysis was used to compare genotype and allele distributions between LOAD group and control group for ApoE and D10S1225 polymorphisms.

RESULTSApoE epsilon 4 was significantly higher in LOAD group in comparison with the control group (chi(2) = 6.530, P = 0.011). Seven different alleles of D10S1225 have been identified. The length of these gene fragments were 178 bp, 181 bp, 184 bp, 187 bp, 190 bp, 193 bp, and 196 bp, respectively. A total of 21 different genotypes were observed. There was no relationship between D10S1225 polymorphism and LOAD (chi(2) = 4.488, P > 0.05). Conclusion This study suggests that ApoE epsilon 4 is a risk factor for LOAD, however, the results indicated that there is not any possible linkage for disequilibria with a nearby AD risk gene near D10S1225.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alleles ; Alzheimer Disease ; genetics ; Apolipoproteins E ; genetics ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic