China ; Heart Transplantation ; pathology ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; pathology ; Liver Transplantation ; pathology ; Organ Transplantation ; pathology ; Tissue and Organ Procurement

AIM: To evaluate the relationship between axial length ( AL ) , corneal and lens refractive power, and the refractive error in children.
METHODS:Totally 44 children 88 eyes with refractive error who underwent retinoscopy with cycloplegia, to be measured spherical equivalent refractive error. Axial length was measured by a noncontact optical biometry ( ZEISS IOL-Master) , and corneal K and anterior chamber depth ( ACD) were also measured by the same machine. The refractive power of the lens was calculated by using the SRK formula. The patients were divided into 3 groups, myopia (SE<0), hyperopia (SE>+0. 50D) and emmetropia ( 0 to + 0. 50D ). Linear Correlation and Regression were used to evaluate the correlation among the optical parameters.
RESULTS:Totally 44 subjects, 88 eyes, average 9. 04±2.39 years, spherical equivalent (SE) -3. 50D to +8. 75D. Hyperopic AL was shorter than the other two groups ( P<0.05), same trend in lens power. No significant differences among the 3 groups in corneal K and ACD. There was a negative correlation between age and SE, SE and AL, SE and lens refractive power, and there was a positive correlation between age and AL, age and lens power.
CONCLUSION:As the children's growing up, SE trends to myopia, and AL becomes longer, and lens power is stronger.

Objective To investigate the dangers of heart failure to the mother and fetal,and the diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy complicated with heart failure. Methods The clinical data of the causes,timing,management and outcomes of 87 cases of pregnant women complicated with heart failure from March 1993 to January 2006 were analyzed retrospectively. Results ①Thirty-one cases(35.6%) of heart failure in pregnancy were caused by rheumatic heart disease,26(29.9%) by pregnancy-induced hypertension(PIH),16(18.4%) by congenital heart disease,and 14(16.1%) by peripartum cardiomyopathy.②The heart failure appeared at the average of(32.69?5.57) weeks.③The average terminal time of pregnancy was(34.66?4.52) weeks.④There were 79 newborns with 6 cases of twins,and the perinatal mortality was 8.6%(8 cases).Hysterotomy was performed in 6 cases in mid-pregnancy.The average weight of babies was(2419.56?786.08) g.⑤The maternal mortality was 6.9%(6 cases).(Conclusion The main) causes of heart failure in pregnancy are rheumatic heart disease,PIH and congenital heart disease.Although the standard management of pregnancy complicated with heart failure is inotropic agents,diurectics and vasodilators,the treatment should be individualized according to the specific etiology and with the consideration of the safety of fetus as well.Pinpointing the causes of heart failure in pregnant patients and treating accordingly may be conducive to reduce the maternal and perinatal mortality.

Background The reduced glutathione(GSH) is a water soluble antioxidant in retina and it is an important component of thiol.Diabetes induce the oxidative response of retina.It is very important to detect the content of thiol in retina for the evaluation of its antioxidant role.Objective This study was to investigate the effect of carnosine,aspirin and a combination of carnosine and aspirin eye drops on the change of the thiol contents in the retina of the diabetic rats. Methods Diabetic models were induced in 76 clean male Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin(65 mg/kg).The 0.02 mi sodium citrate buffer was injected in 12 control rats.1%camosine eye drops or 0.05%aspirin eye drops were topically administered respectively in carnosine group (19 rats)or aspirin group(19 rats)two times per day for a period of 8 weeks,and the combination of 1%carnosine eye drops and 0.05%aspirin eye drops was used in the combination group at the same way(19 rats).At the end of 8 weeks.The animMs were sacrificed and the eyeballs were enucleated for the detect of thiols in the retina by colorimetry.Results The body weight of SD rats was significantly reduced and the blood glucose level was evidently arose in model group,camosine group and aspirin group in comparison with control group(P＜0.05),but those of combination group compared with control group was insignificantly changed(P＞0.05).The level of thiol in retina was(1 90.35+46.62)ms/gprot in model group,showing a considerable decrease in comparison with control (202.77+53.49 ms/gprot)(P＜0.05).However,the thiol level rose to(378.40±165.06)mg/gprot in camosine group and(351.88±211.62)mg/gprot in aspirin group,showing a statistically significant difference in comparison with control group(P＜0.05).The content of thiol in combination group compared with control group Was insignificant changed(166.972±50.287 mg/gprot us 202.77±53.49 mg/gprot).Curiously the levels in the combination group were not different from the normal control group. Conclusion The carnosine and aspirin eye drops may protect the retina against the oxidative damage caused by diabetes.

The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory of "treating heart and brain diseases with same methods (Nao Xin Tong Zhi: NXTZ)" has great significance to the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. It has been proven effective by a great deal of clinical researches. However, the underlying mechanism for this theory is still unclear. To provide insights into the potential mechanism of "NXTZ", this study attempts to deeply investigate the mechanism from two representative cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebral apoplexy. First, various data resources were integrated to obtain different types of biomedical entities including drugs, targets, pathways and diseases. Then, three different approaches including text mining, biological network and enrichment analysis were utilized to recognize the potential common features between CHD and cerebral apoplexy, and the corresponding functions of drugs which could treat both diseases, thus unveiling the mechanism of NXTZ.
Brain ; drug effects ; Coronary Artery Disease ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Databases, Bibliographic ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Heart ; drug effects ; Humans ; Stroke ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective To investigate whether velocity vector imaging (VVI) combined with stress echocardiography could detect potential myocardial impairment of the left ventricle(LV) in diabetic rats.Methods DM rats ( n = 18,administered by STZ at 65 mg/kg) and control rats( n = 12) were performed with VVI and M-mode echocardiography both at rest and after dipyridamole stress 12 weeks later. Twodimensional echocardiographic cine loops and M-mode images of three consecutive beats were obtained from the short-axis views at the mid-LV level. The means of segmental peak systolic velocity(Vs), circumferential strain(εc) ,radial strain(εr), systolic circumferential and radial strain rate (SRc, SRr) and the percent wall thickening (WT% ,derived from M-mode) were obtained. After echocardiograms were performed,the hearts were excised and prepared for HE staining and ultrastructural observations under electron microscopy.Results At rest,only SRc in the DM group was significantly lower than that in the control group( P ＜0.05), the other parameters were statistically comparable between the two groups. After dipyridamole stress,all VVI values in the DM group were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P ＜0.05).However,there was no significant difference in WT% between the two groups either at rest or after dipyridamole stress ( P ＞0.05). Conclusions The VVI parameters combined with dipyridamole stress are more effective in evaluating potential myocardial impairment of the LV walls in diabetic rats. SRc might be more sensitive indices that can be used to detect myocardial impairment at rest.

OBJECTIVETo establish a general method of focal cerebral ischemia model in different varieties of mice.

METHODEach group of healthy adult KM and C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group (n = 10) and MCAO group (n = 10). The mice in MCAO group were applied in the preparation of the MCAO model by intraluminal occlusion using monofilament. Twenty-four hours after operation,the neurologic function was evaluated,middle cerebral artery blood flow was monitored and the infarction volume was calculated by TTC staining, to evaluate the reliability of the model.

RESULTIn the MCAO group, the base value of the cerebral blood flow down of KM and C57BL/6 mice respectively was (81.65 ± 4.59)%, (83.68 ± 6.25)%. The neurological deficit score respectively was (2.30 ± 0.82), (2.50 ± 0.80). TTC staining can clearly show the infarction area, and relatively stable, 24 hours of the survival rate of KM and C57BL/6 mice were 100% and 80% respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe key link is the optimization and improvement of monofilament, temperature, anesthesia and so on. The modified intraluminal occlusion of MCAO using monofilament is a kind of reliable and simple method to establish experimental cerebral ischemia model in mice.

Animals ; Blood Flow Velocity ; Brain ; blood supply ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Brain Ischemia ; complications ; physiopathology ; Cerebrovascular Circulation ; Disease Models, Animal ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; complications ; physiopathology ; Male ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; pathology ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Nervous System Diseases ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Species Specificity

Objective To evaluate the performance of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based rapid detection of methicillin‐resistant S .aureus (MRSA) from the respiratory specimens of ICU patients in comparison with conventional sputum culture . Methods We collected 3 respiratory specimens from each patient simultaneously for bacterial culture ,fungal culture and PCR‐based detection of MRSA .The performance of the established PCR method was compared with the results of sputum culture in terms of sensitivity ,specificity ,positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) .Results The sensitivity , specificity ,PPV and NPV of PCR assay were 88 .9% ,73 .6% ,36 .4% ,and 97 .5% ,respectively ,which were lower than the reported results of PCR assay with nasal swabs .Conclusions The utility of PCR assay for active screening of MRSA from respiratory specimens still needs further supportive data .However ,PCR assay is somewhat informative in excluding MRSA infection or colonization because of its high NPV .

Aim To construct eukaryotic expression vector of shRNA(small hairpin RNA)for human SREBP-1(sterol regulation element binding protein-1)gene and explore its effects on lipid droplet formation in human renal proximal tubular epithelial cell line(HKC)under the stimulation of high glucose.Methods Two eukaryotic expression vectors of shRNA were constructed for human SREBP-1 gene.The HKC cells were transfected with negative control plasmid(pGenesil-1-HK)and two recombinant vectors(pGenesil-1-SREBP1-1 and pGenesil-1-SREBP1-2)and then were cultured under the stimulation of high glucose for about 48 h.The expression of SREBP-1 mRNA and FAS mRNA was detected by RT-PCR and SREBP-1 protein expression was investigated by Western blot.Lipid droplets were detected by Oil Red O staining.Results DNA sequencing showed that the target segments were successfully cloned into pGenesil-1 vector respectively.RT-PCR indicated that two recombinant vectors could inhibit the expression of SREBP-1 mRNA and FAS mRNA in HKC cells under the stimulation of high glucose.Similarly,SREBP-1 protein was also inhibited by the transfection with recombinant vectors.Oil Red O staining found that silencing of SREBP-1 gene resulted in lipid droplets decrease.Conclusions The eukaryotic expression vector of shRNA for human SREBP-1 gene was successfully constructed,and the expression of SREBP-1 was inhibited effectively by the expressed siRNA in HKC cells that resulted in lipid droplets decrease through FAS mRNA transcription inhibition.

Objective To compare the difference in bioavailability of ligusticum wallichii microemulsion and decoction by detecting the concentration of Ferulic acid in rabbit plasma. Methods RP-HPLC was used to detect the concentration of Ferulic acid in rabbits plasma at different times, and software 3p87 was used to analyze the pharmacokinetics parameter. Results The pharmacokinetics parameters of ligusticum wallichii microemulsion and decoction were as follows: AUC0-9=2 123.6 μg/(ml?min), Cmax=5.086 μg/ml, Tpeak=56.26 min for microemulsion;Decoction:AUC0-9=878.35 μg/(ml?min), Cmax=2.427μg/ml, Tpeak=128.86 min for decoction, F(%)=241.77. Conclusion Microemulsion of ligusticum wallichii has a higher biological availability and shorter peak time than decoction.