Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Exercise Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Objectives To explore the relationship of orthostatic hypotension in elderly hypertensive patients with left ventricular structure and function.Methods 101 cases of elderly patients with hypertension were selected from July 2013 to June 2015.After blood pressure measurement in vertical and decubitus position,all patients were divided into non-orthostatic hypotension and orthostatic hypotension groups,received the echocardiography and the accurate calculation of left ventricular mass index.Results Compared with non-orthostatic hypotension,orthostatic hypotension in patients with left ventricular diastolic diameter,left ventricular posterior wall thinckness and interventricular septum thickness.Left ventricular mass index significantly increased(48.13±5.54)mm vs.(52.45 ± 1.48)mm in left ventricular diastolic diameter,(10.08± 1.87)mm vs.(11.29± 1.98)mm in left ventricular posterior wall thickness,(10.18± 1.88)mm vs.(11.61±1.66) mm in interventricular septum thickness,and (114.59 ± 22.72) g/m2 vs.(131.98 ± 23.43)g/m2 [t=4.386、2.985、4.397、8.672,in left ventricular mass index(BMI),all P＜0.05].Left heart ventricular ejection fraction and mitral peak early/late diastolic blood flow decreased [(60.81 ± 4.73)vs.(53.60±2.58)and(0.93±0.23)vs(0.76±0.26)t=4.298、3.654,all P＜0.05].Conclusions There is relationship of orthostatic hypotension with left ventricular structure and function in elderly hypertension patients,and it is essential not only to control blood pressure effectively,but also to focus on controlling orthostatic hypotension.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic procedures and treatment choice of primary malignant tumor of the duodenum.Methods The clinical data of 54 cases with primary malignant tumor of the duodenum at Peking University People's Hospital from 1995 to 2005 were analyzed retrospectively.Resuits Tumors located in the first,second,third and fourth parts in 6 cases(10%),44 cases(82%),2 cases(4%),and 2 cases(4%)respectively,and among them,tumors within papillary area accounted for 86%(38 cases)of all cases.Fifty cases(92%)were of adenocarcinoma,2 cases(4%)of mucinous adenoearcinoma carcinoid and undifferentiated carcinoma for 1 case each(2%)respectively.The main clinical presentations included jaundice,upper abdominal pain,weight loss,abdominal distention,nausea and vomiting.gastrointestinal obstruction and abdominal mass.The accuracy rate of duodenoscopy and ERCP in preoperative diagnosis was 94%,and 78%respectively.Preoperative associated cholecystopathy accounted for 37%.Panceaticoduodenectomy was performed in 38 cases,duodenectonmy in 1 ease,palliative resection of tumor in 9 cases,and tumor was inoperable in 6 cases.Resection rate was 89%,and radical resection rate was 72%.The postoperative 3-and 5-year survival rate was 41%and 22%respectively.Patients after palliative resection died from 3 months to 24 months and all patients who did not undergo a surgery died within 6 months.Conclusions Tumors located in papillary region account for the majority of primary malignant tumors of the duodenum and are mainly of adenocarcinoma.Specific signs on abdominal examination are few.The symptoms of advanced stage are complicated,associated cholecystopathy is relatively frequent.Endoscopy and ERCP examination are the main diagnostic tools.the pancreatoduodenectomy is the first choice of therapy for patients with primary duodenal carcinoma.

Objective To provide experimental evidences for developing a safe and effective re- combinant fowlpox virus which can prevent the infection of HIV-2.Methods A fowlpox virus(FPV) transferring vector was constructed by inserting HIV-2 gag gene to the downstream of a synthetic complex promoter ATI-p7.5?20 of vector pUTA2.Transfection was then carried out,and recombi- nant FPV(rFPV)was screened by 5'-bromo-deoxyuridine(BrdU),genome PCR and western blot detection.Balb/c mice were immunized with rFPV by muscular injection.Anti-HIV-2 antibody, CD4~+ and CD8~+ T-cell count and specific target-killing activity of spleen CTL in immunized mice were analyzed by ELISA,FACS and LDH release assay,respectively.Results A transferring vector pA- gag was constructed and confirmed by amplifying a fragment of 766 bp from the rFPV genome.Mean- while,HIV-2 multi-antibody-specific protein blot(55 000)was detected from the recombinant virus and the HIV-2 specific antibody was detected from the immunized Balb/c mice.HIV-2 specific target- killing activity of spleen CTL was observed in immunized mice.Conclusion A recombinant fowlpox virus expressing HIV-2 structural protein Gag has been obtained,and it can stimulate HIV-2-specific eelluar and humoral immune reactions in mice.

Animals ; Brain ; metabolism ; Female ; Ginkgolides ; pharmacology ; Hypoxia ; metabolism ; Lactic Acid ; metabolism ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of aqueous extract of Taxus chinensis var. mairei (AETC) combined Erlotnib on the growth of A549 xenograft in nude mice and its mechanism.

METHODSThe xenograft model in nude mice was established by inoculating A549 cells subcutaneously. BALB/c nude mice bearing A549 xenograft were randomly divided into six groups, i.e., the low dose Erlotinib group (A) , the standard dose Erlotnib group (B) , the low dose Erlotinib combined AETC group (C), the standard dose Erlotnib combined AETC group (D), the AETC group (E), the control group (F), 12 in each group. Different medication was performed for 7 successive weeks after 24 h. One mL blood was withdrawn and tumor tissues taken. The tumor inhibition rate was calculated. The combined effect was analyzed by Jin's Formula [Q = Ea + b/(Ea + Eb-Ea x Eb) ]. mRNA and protein expression levels of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) in xenografts were detected using real-time RT-PCR and ELISA.

RESULTSCompared with Group F, the xenograft weight was obviously lowered in Group B-E (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The q value was 0.92 in Group C and 0.96 in Group D, which was obtained by simple adding of the two drugs. Compared with Group F, EG- FR mRNA expression in Group D and E, COX-2 mRNA expression in Group A-E; Bcl-2 mRNA expression in Group B-D; COX-2 protein expression in Group B-E; Bcl-2 protein expression in Group C and D were obviously lowered with statistical difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSAETC combined low dose and standard dose Erlotinib had synergistic effect on tumor inhibition. Its mechanism might be associated with down-regulating mRNA and protein expression levels of COX-2 and Bcl-2.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Erlotinib Hydrochloride ; pharmacology ; Heterografts ; Lung Neoplasms ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; metabolism ; Taxus ; Transplantation, Heterologous

Background and purpose:Radical nephroureterectomy can be performed in a variety of ways, and each method has its advantages and disadvantages. It still remains controversial for choosing the surgical methods. In this study, we chose six surgical methods and investigated the safety and efficacy of different methods in treating upper urinary tract carcinoma.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed 135 patients with upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma who underwent operations in our hospital from Jan. 2002 to Oct. 2013, and compared the data of six different operations in-cluding operating time, volume of bleeding, time of bowel function recovery and incidence of bladder carcinomas.Results:The operations were successfully completed in groups A and B. Five cases in group C were transferred into group A be-cause of failing to pull the nub of the ureter. Two cases in group D were transferred into group A because of failing to pull the nub of the ureter. Three cases in group E were transferred into group D and 1 case was transferred into group A because of adhesion or bleeding. One case in group F was transferred into group A because of bleeding. There was no statistically significant difference in survival rates among six operations.Conclusion:Six operations are all safe and effective for the treatment of upper urinary tract carcinomas. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. We should choose differ-ent methods according to particular cases.

Objective To investigate the effect of thalidomide on the proliferation of as well as the expression and secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) by the human keratinocyte cell line HaCaT.Methods Cultured HaCaT cells were divided into several groups to be treated with dimethyl sulfoxide (negative control group) and various concentrations (0.01nmol/L-100 μmol/L) of thalidomide (experimental groups) respectively for 20 to 24 hours.Subsequently,water soluble tetrazolium-1(WST-1) assay was performed to estimate cellular proliferation,real time quantitative PCR to detect the mRNA expression of VEGF and TNF-α in HaCaT cells,and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to quantify the protein expressions of VEGF and TNF-α in the culture supernatants of HaCaT cells.Statistical analysis was done by one-way analysis of variance with least significant difference post hoc test.Results The survival rate of HaCaT cells was 74.3％,82.9％ and 90.8％ after 24-hour treatment with thalidomide of 100,10 and 1 μmol/L respectively,significantly lower than that in the negative control group (100％,all P ＜0.01).A significant decrease was induced in the mRNA expression (0.439-to 0.634-fold change,all P ＜0.01) and supematant level ((0.587-to 0.923-fold change,P ＜0.05) of VEGF in HaCaT cells by thalidomide of 0.01-100 nmol/L,as well as in the mRNA expression (0.493-to 0.587-fold change,P ＜0.05) and supernatant level (0.408-to 0.617-fold change,P ＜0.01) of TNF-α by thalidomide of 0.1-100 nmol/L.Conclusion Within a certain range of concentration,thalidomide could suppress the proliferation of,as well as the expression and secretion of VEGF and TNF-α by,HaCaT cells.

Objective To evaluate the relationship of serum levels of interleukin (IL)-36α,IL-36β and IL-36γas well as their receptor antagonist IL-36Ra with disease severity in patients with psoriasis.Methods Venous blood samples were collected from 45 patients with generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP),34 patients with psoriasis vulgaris (PV),and 37 healthy human controls.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine the serum levels of IL-36α,IL-36β,IL-36γ and IL-36Ra.Nonparametric Mann-Whitney test was conducted to compare the levels of IL-36 and IL-36Ra among these groups,and Spearman's rank correlation analysis to assess the relationship between the serum levels of IL-36 and IL-36Ra and disease severity.Results No statistical difference was observed in the serum levels of IL-36 or IL-36Ra among the patients with GPP,patients with PV,and healthy human controls.The serum levels of IL-36β and IL-36γ (given as the median ± interquartile range) were significantly higher in 27 patients with GPP during episodes of pustules ((12.101 ± 11.315) ng/L and (34.541 ± 15.580) ng/L respectively) and in 7 patients with severe GPP ((11.218 ± 9.318) ng/L and (38.536 ± 17.332) ng/L respectively) than in the healthy human controls ((5.355 ± 9.020) ng/L and (23.052 ± 22.410) ng/L respectively,P ＜ 0.05 or 0.01).The serum level of IL-36γwas positively correlated with that of IL-36β in patients with GPP,patients with PV,and the healthy human controls (r =0.85,0.86,0.91,respectively,all P ＜ 0.01),and both IL-36β and IL-36γserum levels were lowly and positively correlated with the severity of GPP (r =0.33,0.41,respectively,both P ＜ 0.05).A positive correlation was also observed between the serum level of IL-36β and psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) scores in patients with PV (r =0.54,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions The serum levels of IL-363 and IL-36γ are lowly and positively correlated with disease severity in patients with GPP,suggesting that IL-36β and IL-36γplay an important role in the pathogenesis of GPP.

Purpose To study the clinicopathologic features, immunophenotype and differential diagnosis of solid papillary carcinoma (SPC) of breast.Methods 73 cases of breast SPC with or without invasive carcinoma were collected, and the clinical data and histopathologic features were analyzed with further investigation of transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemical staining (EnVision method). Selected antibodies included cytokeratin (CK), myoepithelial markers, neuroendocrine markers, proliferation marker Ki-67 and ER,PR,c-erbB-2,etc.Results All the patients were females with mean age of 64.7 years.The presenting symptoms were either a palpable breast mass or nipple discharge.Metastasis was observed in 43 cases who had undergone axillary lymph node dissection. Histologically, the tumor displayed a solid-papillary growth pattern, with mucin production demonstrated in 25 cases. Intraductal papilloma was not uncommon at the peripheral area of the tumor. The tumor cells were polygonal, oval, spindled or signet ring-like and contained abundant eosinophilic to granular cytoplasm and mildly to moderately pleomorphic nuclei. More than 5 mitotic figures/10 HPF were observed in 51 cases. 43 cases contained foci of invasive carcinoma which showed similar cytologic features as those of in-situ component. Immunohistochemical study showed that the tumor cells were negative for basal cell cytokeratin; positivity for smooth muscle actin-alpha and p63 were demonstrated in the myoepithelial layers of fibrovascular cores, as well as around the expanded ductolobular units.Most cases also showed cytoplasmic positivity for chromogranin A (89.0%), synaptophysin (86.3%) and neuron-specific enolase (95.9%).The proliferatiing index, as highlighted by Ki-67 imnunostaining, was 9.2%.The tumor mainly expressed estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor. The staining for c-erbB-2 oncoprotein was negative in the most cases. Neuroendocrine granules were seen under transmission electron microscope in the cytoplasm.Conclusions SPC represents a subgroup of low-grade ductal carcinoma in situ.SPC predilection in older women is associated with mucinous and neuroendocrine components. Follow-up data suggest that SPC has a good prognosis.