Plasma exchange (PE) is a therapeutic blood component replacement method. The blood of patients is first separated into plasma and blood cell components using a blood cell separator in vitro, the plasma containing harmful pathogenic substances is then discarded and replaced with the same volume of exchange solution. Finally the separated blood cells together with the exchange solution are returned back to the blood circulation of patients. By reducing the circulating antibodies, abnormal plasma proteins or cytokines and other pathogenic molecules, PE can block the disease process. PE has a good therapeutic effect on neuromyelitis optica-related optic neuritis (NMO-ON), which shows resistant to glucocorticoid therapy for the first onset. The American Society for Apheresis guideline evaluates PE for acute optic neuritis as a recommended grade 1B, type II indication. In the implementation of PE treatment for NMO-ON and other diseases, indications and contraindications should be strictly adhered to the guideline, treatment procedures and protocols should be optimized, common adverse events and its prevention and management should be known and alerted. It is important to conduct multi-center clinical cooperation and a high standard clinical randomized controlled study, to find out the optimal time window, the best protocol, and the associated factors for the efficacy and prognosis of PE in NMO-ON.

BACKGROUND:The need for bone graft and its substitutes has dramatically increased during the past decade. Either bio-derived graft materials or synthetic materials cannot satisfy this need. Study of composite bone graft has become a focused field.OBJECTIVE: To develop a novel porous poly (lactic-acid) (PLA)/bone matrix gelatin (BMG) bioactive composite material by means of supercritical carbon dioxide fluid technique (SC-CO2) and evaluate the bone forming potential in vitro.DESIGN: A comparative study and observation.SETTING: Research Center of Tissue Engineering, Southern Medical University; Institute of Biomaterials and Pharmaceutical Technique, China Institute for Radiation Protection.MATERTALS: Mouse osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells were obtained from RIKEN Cell Bank in Japan. PLA was supplied by the Institute of Bio-technique of Jinan University. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) kit was the product of Nanjing Jiancheng Bio-engineering Institute. MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified eagle medium (DMEM) (Gibco Laboratories, USA) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS, Si Ji Qing, China), 100 mg/L penicillin and 100 U/L streptomycin in a 37℃ humidified atmosphere. The cells were passaged with 0.25% trypsin (Gibco Laboratories, USA).METHODS: The experiment was carried out in the Research Center of Tissue Engineering, Southern Medical University from October 2005 to July 2006. The porous PLA/BMG composite biomaterials and PLA were prepared with SC-CO2 technique, and then macroscopic and microscopic observations were performed. The MC3T3-E1 cells were co-cultured with PLA and PLA/BMG in vitro, and DMEM was taken as the blank control group. Each well was pictured with digital camera.The percentage of the stained area, standing for the calcification deposition, was determined with an image processing and analysis software. The ALP activity and calcium content were determined with the method of ultrasonic cell lysis.MArN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Macroscopic and microscopic observation of PLA/BMG; ③ Quantitative measurement of the calcification area; ② ALP activity and calcium content.RESULTS: ① Macroscopic and microscopic observation of PLA/BMG: The PLA/BMG showed good homological porosity with the size of 50-150 μm and connectivity: There were many holes with the size of 5-10 μm in the PLA/BMG walls. The PLA and BMG were mixed uniformly. ② Calcification areas: The percents of calcification area were significantly different among the PLA/BMG group, PLA group and blank control group [(42.98±4.44)%, (9.55±1.94)%, (0.86±0.41)%, P ＜ 0.01]. ③ Results of calcium content and ALP activity: The ALP activities were significantly different among the PLA/BMG group, PLA group and blank control group [(5 427.58±1173.57), (1 060.54±500.27),(40.01±24.50) nkat/g, P ＜ 0.05-0.01]; The calcium content in the PLA/BMG group was higher than those in the PLA group and blank control group [(3.51±1.64), (1.04±0.21), 0.70±0.24] mmol/g, P ＜ 0.01].CONCLUSTON: The PLA/BMG prepared by means of SC-CO2 has a good osteoinductive activity and it is worth studying further as bone biomaterial and bone tissue engineered scaffold.

Objective:To discusses the medication rules of Professor Yuan-Shaoying in the treatment of chronic prostatitis (CP), and to explore the relationship between TCM Syndrome Types and UPOINT system classification. Methods:The TCM syndrome type frequency, UPOINT system classification frequency, drug frequency, four Qi and five flavor meridian tropism frequency were counted by using TCM inheritance auxiliary platform (v2.5). The TCM Syndrome Types and TCM of each type in UPOINT system were obtained according to complex system entropy clustering.Results:A total of 123 prescriptions were included, involving 9 TCM syndrome types, of which the top five were dampness heat stasis syndrome, qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, kidney deficiency and blood stasis syndrome, dampness heat downpour syndrome, liver depression and kidney deficiency syndrome. The majority of patients with damp heat stasis syndrome were U-type (urination symptoms) and I-type (infection symptoms), liver depression and kidney deficiency syndrome were mainly p-type (psychological symptoms) and N-type (neural symptoms), most of qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome were O-type (organ-specific symptoms) and T-type (pelvic floor muscle pain). There were 123 kinds of herbs, and the top five are Shixiaosan ( Wulingzhi + Puhuang), Yanhusuo, licorice, wild grape root and Salvia miltiorrhiza. The drugs mainly include promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, clearing heat and tonifying deficiency. The channels of meridian are mainly liver, spleen and kidney. Cold and flat properties are common, while bitter, sweet and pungent are common. According to the U-type classification, the Chinese medicines for clearing heat and detoxification, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis were the main drugs, and the top three Chinese medicines were wild grape root, snake berry and licorice root; the P-type was mainly composed of soothing the liver and relieving depression, promoting blood circulation and tonifying the kidney; the top three used frequency were bupleurum, licorice and Paeonia Alba; the O-type was mainly used for promoting Qi, promoting blood circulation, dredging collaterals and relieving pain, and the top three were used frequently. According to the I-type, the main TCMs were clearing heat and activating blood circulation, removing dampness and removing dampness. The top three kinds of TCM were wild grape root, Shixiaosan and liquorice. The N-type was mainly composed of soothing the liver and dredging collaterals, promoting blood circulation and tonifying the kidney, and the top three were bupleurum, Sparganium and Salvia miltiorrhiza; the T-type was mainly the TCM of promoting blood circulation and relieving pain, tonifying liver and kidney; and Yanhusuo, Shixiaosan and Salvia miltiorrhiza were the top three Chinese medicines used frequently. Conclusions:Professor Yuan-Shaoying often takes "promoting Qi, activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis "as the main treatment principle of CP, focusing on regulating the three meridians of liver,spleen and kidney. The relationship between UPOINT system and TCM syndrome types were warranted in further.

Objective To evaluate the visual improvement of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for refractory optic neuritis (ON) patients in acute phase.Methods Seventy-five affected eyes from 44 refractory ON patients with severe visual defect or resistance to high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP) therapy,who were admitted to The Chinese PLA General Hospital between January 2015 and August 2016,were recruited and received TPE therapy.Among these patients,11 were male and 33 were female;the average age was 39.1 ± 13.9;31 patients had two affected eyes,13 patients had one affected eye.The course of the disease on the group of patients were more than 2 weeks,and the visual acuity worsened for more than 10 days and continued to deteriorate.TPE treatment was performed on all of the patients.BCVA was recorded before and 24 h after treatment,and the visual function was scored using visual outcome scale (VOS).At the same time,the adverse reactions of TPE treatment were observed.The paired t-test was used to compare the VOS before and after treatment.The correlation between VOS before and after treatment was analyzed by Linear-by-Linear correlation analysis.Results Among 75 affected eyes,the post-therapy VOS 3.89 ±2.13 was significantly improved from pre-therapy VOS 5.56± 1.69 (t=6.77,P＜0.001).Forty-eight of 75 eyes were improved at lease 1 score of VOS,the overall rate of visual improvement was 64.0％.Especially among the eyes with initial vision of light perception,an improved rate of 82.4％ was presented.75.0％ in those eyes with initial vision of count fingers and 67.7％ in no light perception.Linear-by-Linear correlation analysis showed a significant linear correlation between the scores of VOS before and after TPE treatment (r=0.398,P=0.01).During the course of TPE treatment,5 patients had mild adverse reactions such as low calcium reaction and allergic reaction and were well controlled after treatment.Conclusion Using TPE to treat refractory ON in acute phased can improve the visual function of patients.

Objective:To analyze the characteristics of smoking network among smokers in Kunming smoking cessation outpatient service.Methods:A multicenter, cross-sectional study was carried out, and smoking cessation outpatients from 8 tertiary hospitals (the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Yan′an Hospital, Ganmei Hospital, the 920 Hospital of the Chinese People′s Liberation Army Joint Logistic Support Force, Kunming First People′s Hospital, the First People′s Hospital of Yunnan Province and the Second People′s Hospital of Yunnan Province) in Kunming, Yunnan Province were included to receive a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire mainly consisted of four parts: (1) demographic characteristics of smokers; (2) the specific situation of smoking; (3) social support network; (4) smoking network. A total of 360 questionnaires were distributed in this survey, 351 were recovered, and 351 were valid, the collected data from valid questionnaire were statistically analyzed to analyze the social demographic characteristics, smoking status and smoking network characteristics of smokers.Results:In this survey, the demographic characteristics of the 351 patients in the smoking cessation clinic were as follows: there were 342 male cases (97.4%), 249 cases (70.9%) were Han, 233 patients (66.4%) were non-religious, there were 236 cases (67.2%) with college degree or above, and 51 cases (14.5%) were unemployed. The analysis of smoking status showed that 167 patients (47.6%) maintained daily smoking, 247 patients (70.4%) had plans to quit smoking, at least one parent of 258 patients (73.5%) had a history of smoking, 188 patients (53.6 %) smoked at home. In the smoking network of the surveyed patients, there were 304 patients (86.6%) who smoked together with two or more people, and more than 90 percent of the patients smoked with the same sex.Conclusions:The smoking network of patients in Kunming smoking cessation clinic is small, and a third of smokers are friends. It is suggested to use the characteristics of smoking network to carry out smoking cessation intervention activities, so as to improve the success rate of smoking cessation.