Objective To study the operation design and surgical methods for terminal surgical reconstruction of severe post-midfacial fracture deformities. Methods From July 1997 to December 2002,11 cases of severe and complex post-midfacial deformities were reconstructed. There were four cases with Le Fort Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ fractures,five with Le Fort Ⅰ and Ⅲ fractures and two with Le Fort Ⅰ and Ⅱ fractures combined with right orbital-zygomatic fractures. Typical bicoronal and subcilliary incisions and intra-oral approach were employed to expose all the fractured sites. The displaced orbito-zygomatic bone fragments were repositioned firstly in order to reconstruct the outer midfacial framework. Then, the malunited maxilla was reduced to its proper position after osteotomy of Le Fort Ⅰ fractures under the guidance of mandible through inter-maxilla fixation. The depressed naso-orbital region were reconstructed using autogeneous outer cranial table. Meanwhile, nasal framework reconstruction, medial canthal tendon reapproximation and plasty, and fractured orbital walls repairing were performed to correct the enophathalmos. Results All the cases recovered well and the post-operative facial appearance and occlusal function were improved obviously. Conclusions Complex midfacial fractures, usually involving orbital-zygomatic bone, naso-orbit and maxillary bone, can be well improved through osteotomy and reduction, internal rigid fixation with mini-plates and screws, autogenenous bone grafting and framework reconstruction.

Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Erlotinib Hydrochloride ; Female ; Genes, erbB-1 ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; genetics ; Male ; Mutation ; Protein Kinase Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Quinazolines ; therapeutic use ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; antagonists & inhibitors ; genetics

The androgen receptor (AR) plays an important role in the development and progression of prostate cancer (PCa). Androgen deprivation therapy is initially effective in blocking tumor growth, but it eventually leads to the hormone-refractory state. The detailed mechanisms of the conversion from androgen dependence to androgen independence remain unclear. Several PCa cell lines were established to study the role of AR in PCa, but the results were often inconsistent or contrasting in different cell lines, or in the same cell line grown under different conditions. The cellular and molecular alteration of epithelial cells and their microenvironments are complicated, and it is difficult to use a single cell line to address this important issue and also to study the pathophysiological effects of AR. In this paper, we summarize the different effects of AR on multiple cell lines and show the disadvantages of using a single human PCa cell line to study AR effects on PCa. We also discuss the advantages of widely used epithelium-stroma co-culture systems, xenograft mouse models, and genetically engineered PCa mouse models. The combination of in vitro cell line studies and in vivo mouse models might lead to more credible results and better strategies for the study of AR roles in PCa.
Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Disease Models, Animal ; Epithelial Cells ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Receptors, Androgen ; physiology ; Stromal Cells ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of losartan on left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and plasma transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) in elderly patients with essential hypertension (EH).

METHODSThe elderly patients with EH were divided into two groups, namely EH+LVH group and EH group according to the data of echocardiogram. The systolic and diastolic blood pressures of the patients were monitored. Plasma TGF-beta1 was measured before and after 6 months' treatment with losartan, and the relationship between TGF-beta1 and other index were analyzed.

RESULTSAfter 6 months' treatment, the blood pressure of EH+LVH group and EH group were significantly lowered (P<0.01). Significant improvement of IVSTd, LVPWd, E/A, and LVMI (P<0.01) and obvious reduction of plasma TGF-beta1 (P<0.01) occurred in EH+LVH group after 6 months' treatment. Correlation analyses indicated that the plasma TGF-beta1 level was positively correlated to LVMI (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONLosartan can reversed LVH in elderly patients with EH partially by lowering plasma TGF-beta1 level.

Aged ; Antihypertensive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; blood ; complications ; drug therapy ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; blood ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Losartan ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; blood

Scientific data is the source of innovation in knowledge. In order to change the situation that there is few information in plenty of data and to obtain useful knowledge which has high information content, it is necessary to clean data and ensure data's accuracy and without noise off when database is established initially. High-quality data comes from high-quality data source. But incomplete and incorrect and irregular data exist widely in the data source of Chinese materia medica. The phenomenon of synonyms and homonym is quite serious, and there is no unified description for the name and origin of Chinese materia medica among different data sources. So data processing including data analysis and research is very important in the establishment of Chinese materia medica database. In order to get the most accurate and standard data, this paper analyzed the items of Medical Plants in Xiandai Bencao Gangmu, including classification analysis of medical plants: distribution analysis of different classes and analysis of medical part; analysis of synonyms and homonym; analysis of incorrect data and analysis of advantage and disadvantage of data sources.
Materia Medica ; classification ; Plants, Medicinal ; classification ; Reference Books, Medical ; Terminology as Topic

OBJECTIVETo study the mutation patterns of epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 18, 19 and 21 in Chinese non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC).

METHODSSomatic mutation in samples of 32 cases without Iressa-treatment were compared with that in 10 volunteers blood control. The mutations were identified for the forward and reverse sequence chains for the tyrosine kinase domain of the EGFR gene, followed by DNA template abstraction and Touchdown PCR.

RESULTSNine types of mutation were found in sequences of 7 cases among the 32 non-small cell lung carcinoma tissues, namely, five reported mutation within exon 19, and two new heterozygous mutations, L833V and H835L within exon 21, and two intron polymorphism. These results showed a mutation rate of 9/32 (28.1%) in Chinese with NSCLC, and of 31.6% in lung adenocarcinomas.

CONCLUSIONEGFR mutation rate in Chinese with NSCLC is consistent with those of Asian women reported in the literature but new mutation points in Chinese were presented as L833V and H835L. The mutation rate is in concordance with release rate of NSCLC obtained by Gefitinib treatment in Chinese.

Adenocarcinoma ; genetics ; Adult ; Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; ethnology ; genetics ; China ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Exons ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; ethnology ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; genetics

BACKGROUND: Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complexes are a key regulator of pancreatic beta cells mass and function. DEP-domain containing mTOR-interacting protein (DEPTOR) is a common part of mTOR complexes and whether DEPTOR loss in islet β cells affects insulin-secreting function has never been identified. OBJECTIVE: To assess the alternation of insulin secretion by silencing DEPTOR gene in pancreatic β cells NIT-1 and to explore the underlying mechanism. METHODS: Three siRNA sequences for silencing DEPTOR gene were designed and constructed, which were transfected with lipofectamine into NIT-1 cells. There were six groups: blank transfection group (NIT-1 cells plus Lipofectamin), negative control group (NC-FAM), positive control group (GAPDH), siRNA deptor 1 group (siRNA deptor385), siRNA deptor 2 group (siRNA deptor766), and siRNA deptor 3 group (siRNA deptor1275). The transfection efficiency was determined by fluorescence microscope. The relative expression level of DEPTOR mRNA was detected by quantitative-PCR. Insulin secretion in the cell conditioned medium was determined by insulin ELISA kit. The expression level of DEPTOR downstream key protein was detected by western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Specific green fluorescence accumulated in a punctated pattern under fluorescence microscope, indicating that the effectiveness of transfection was eligible. Quantitative-PCR results showed two (siDEPTOR385 and siDEPTOR766) of the three siRNA sequences could significantly disrupt the expression of DEPTOR mRNA, which had significant difference with negative control group (P＜ 0.05). The ELISA results showed that the total amount of insulin secretion in the effective transfected groups was significantly increased (P＜ 0.05). Western blot assay results showed the grey levels of p-s6 and p-4EBP-1 proteins were significantly elevated, while p-AKT of those former was slightly decreased. These findings suggest that siRNA technology can effectively silence the DEPTOR gene in NIT-1 cells, which improves β-cell insulin secretion in a manner of mTORC1 activation.

Objective: This study compared the outcomes of laparotomic radical hysterectomy (LRH) and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy (MISRH) in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: The clinical data of patients with early-stage cervical cancer who underwent LRH or MISRH (laparoscopic/robotic) at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, from 2002 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. The surgical safety (operation time, blood loss, blood transfusion rate, length of postoperative stay, and perioperative complications), overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and recurrence pattern were analyzed. Propensity score matching (PSM) at a 3:1 ratio was performed to balance prognostic variables. Results: Of the 760 patients (entire cohort), 614 underwent LRH and 146 underwent MISRH.After PSM, 394 and 140 patients were included in the LRH and MISRH groups, respectively.The 5-year OS rate was significantly lower in the MISRH group than in the LRH group (85.6% vs. 93.2%, p=0.043), and the 5-year DFS rate (p=0.21) did not differ significantly. After PSM, the 5-year OS rates did not differ significantly between the MISRH and LRH groups (87.1% vs. 92.1%, p=0.393). The MISRH group had a significantly shorter operation time (p<0.001), lower intraoperative blood loss (p<0.001), lower blood transfusion rate (p<0.001), and shorter postoperative stay (p<0.001) but a significantly higher rate of intraoperative bladder injury (p<0.001) than the LRH group. Conclusion After PSM, MISRH is associated with nonsignificantly lower OS but a significantly higher risk of intraoperative urological complications than LRH.

Objective: This study compared the outcomes of laparotomic radical hysterectomy (LRH) and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy (MISRH) in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: The clinical data of patients with early-stage cervical cancer who underwent LRH or MISRH (laparoscopic/robotic) at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, from 2002 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. The surgical safety (operation time, blood loss, blood transfusion rate, length of postoperative stay, and perioperative complications), overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and recurrence pattern were analyzed. Propensity score matching (PSM) at a 3:1 ratio was performed to balance prognostic variables. Results: Of the 760 patients (entire cohort), 614 underwent LRH and 146 underwent MISRH.After PSM, 394 and 140 patients were included in the LRH and MISRH groups, respectively.The 5-year OS rate was significantly lower in the MISRH group than in the LRH group (85.6% vs. 93.2%, p=0.043), and the 5-year DFS rate (p=0.21) did not differ significantly. After PSM, the 5-year OS rates did not differ significantly between the MISRH and LRH groups (87.1% vs. 92.1%, p=0.393). The MISRH group had a significantly shorter operation time (p<0.001), lower intraoperative blood loss (p<0.001), lower blood transfusion rate (p<0.001), and shorter postoperative stay (p<0.001) but a significantly higher rate of intraoperative bladder injury (p<0.001) than the LRH group. Conclusion After PSM, MISRH is associated with nonsignificantly lower OS but a significantly higher risk of intraoperative urological complications than LRH.

Objective: This study compared the outcomes of laparotomic radical hysterectomy (LRH) and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy (MISRH) in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: The clinical data of patients with early-stage cervical cancer who underwent LRH or MISRH (laparoscopic/robotic) at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, from 2002 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. The surgical safety (operation time, blood loss, blood transfusion rate, length of postoperative stay, and perioperative complications), overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and recurrence pattern were analyzed. Propensity score matching (PSM) at a 3:1 ratio was performed to balance prognostic variables. Results: Of the 760 patients (entire cohort), 614 underwent LRH and 146 underwent MISRH.After PSM, 394 and 140 patients were included in the LRH and MISRH groups, respectively.The 5-year OS rate was significantly lower in the MISRH group than in the LRH group (85.6% vs. 93.2%, p=0.043), and the 5-year DFS rate (p=0.21) did not differ significantly. After PSM, the 5-year OS rates did not differ significantly between the MISRH and LRH groups (87.1% vs. 92.1%, p=0.393). The MISRH group had a significantly shorter operation time (p<0.001), lower intraoperative blood loss (p<0.001), lower blood transfusion rate (p<0.001), and shorter postoperative stay (p<0.001) but a significantly higher rate of intraoperative bladder injury (p<0.001) than the LRH group. Conclusion After PSM, MISRH is associated with nonsignificantly lower OS but a significantly higher risk of intraoperative urological complications than LRH.