OBJECTIVETo investigate diagnosis and therapeutic effects of knee joint synovial chondromatosis with arthroscopic.

METHODSFrom March 1995 to July 2011, 28 patients with knee joint synovial chondromatosis were treated. Among them, 18 males and 10 females ranging age from 25 to 81 (mean 55.2) years,the course of disease ranged from 0.5 to 15 (mean 5.6) years. Clinical manifestation mainly included pain, swell and functional limitation of knee joint. Knee open surgery (17 cases) and laparoscopic surgery (10 cases) were respectively used. Clinical symptom,image data,pathological manifestation and effects under arthroscopy were observed, Lysholm scoring was used to evaluate effects.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up except one lost, the duration ranging from 6 to 24 months. Lysholm score in knee open surgery was increased from (41.89 +/- 6.81) preoperatively to (67.73 +/- 7.62) postoperatively;while in laparoscopic surgery it was increased from (40.78 +/- 7.54) preoperatively to (77.46 +/- 8.43) postoperatively.

CONCLUSIONArthroscopic surgery, which has no risk of rupture of incision, nonunion, earlier to exercise, is a good method to diagnosis and treat knee joint synovial chondromatosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Chondromatosis, Synovial ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; surgery ; Laparoscopy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome

Objective Brucine and strychnine monomer reference substance as extremely toxic substance had potential threat during transportation and utilization. In this study we investigated the homogeneity, stability and assignment accuracy of the mixture reference solution of strychnine and brucine, so as to provide reference for the quality control of extremely toxic chemical reference substances for Chinese medicine. Methods Following the assay in Chinese Pharmacopoeia volume I (2015), we prepared the mixture reference solution of brucine and strychnine, and investigated the solvents and the concentration of mixutre reference solution. The stability test lasted for 12 months. F-test was used for heterogeneity assay. Three researchers were involved for collaboration. Results Methanol and chloroform solution were selected as the solvents for the stability test. Results showed the difference was not statistically significant among various mixture solutions. The results of value assignment were 0.14 mg/mL for strychnine (sR = 0.5％)and 0.10 mg/mL for brucine (sR = 1.0％). The stability of mixture solution were better under the conditions of methanol solution at 4 ℃ or -20 ℃. Conclusion The results provide a possible way to develop the mixture solution in place of the monomer reference, and the mixture reference solution is expected for the quality control in the slices of Semen Strychni and its compound preparations.

Objective To investigate the toxic effect of hemin on primary cultured neurons,astrocytes,and brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs),and the damage effect of hemin with different concentrations on the above cells. Methods (1) Primary cultured neurons,astrocytes and BCECs from the cortex of rats were exposed to different doses of hemin for 2 h,and continue culture of these cells for 24 to 96 h after withdrawing hemin was performed; the cellular morphology was examined under phase-contrast microscope; cellular survival rate was measured with Alama blue staining; and the releasing rate of lactate dehydrogenasing (LDH) was detected with regular biochemical method. (2) Primary cultured cells were exposed to different doses of hemin for 2 h,and continue culture of the cells for 4 h was performed after washing out the hemin; and then,concentrated formic acid was employed to dissociate the cells, and heme content in dissociated cells was measured with spectrophotometer. (3) Primary cultured cells was exposed to different doses ofhemin for 30,60 and 120 min,respectively,and continue culture of the cells for 4 h was performed after washing out hemin; and then,intracellular Fe3+was examined with Prussian blue staining. Results (1) Cultured neurons were injured by a low dose ofhemin (5 mmol/L) with a decreased survival rate by 40.2％ and an increased LDH releasing rate by 22.2％; and the pathological changes of cellular morphology were severe after 24 h of exposure to hemin.Following the increased doses ofhemin and time of post-exposure,the cellular death and LDH releasing were increased,and the morphological changes of cells were much severe. (2) The low and medium doses of hemin (5 mmol/L and 25 mmol/L) did not induce cellular death, LDH releasing and morphological changes in astrocytes; and a high dose ofhemin (50 mmol/L) could induce a death rate of astrocytes decreasing by 52.4％, a LDH releasing rate increasing by 31％ and obvious morphological changes of astrocytes; however, the injured astrocytes could regenerate fluent cellular monolayer 96 h after exposing to high dose of hemin treatment.(3) Hemin with either low or high dose did not induce any changes in cellular survival,LDH releasing and cellular morphology of BCECs.(4) The heme content in cultured neurons was significantly higher than that in astrocytes and BCECs after hemin treatment for 2 h.(5) The blue Fe3+ stained granules appeared in neurons as early as 30 min after neurons being exposed to hemin, and Fe3+ stained positive cells in neurons were significantly higher than those in astrocytes and BCECs at any dose ofhemin and any time point ofhemin treatment. Conclusion Hemin is highly toxic to neurons, but it can only injure astrocytes at a high dose and it can not induce direct damage in BCECs; free hemin could rapidly enter and accumulate in neurons,but less accumulate in astrocytes and not accumulate in BCECs.

OBJECTIVETo study the contents of organochlorine pesticides in human bodies and residues in serum of populations with non-occupational exposure as well as to study the relationship between organochlorine pesticides in foodstuff and residues levels in serum.

METHODSA cross-section study was conducted. 107 men and 142 women who were all healthy and living in the communities were investigated from Mar. 2004 to Jul. 2004. Level of daily food exposure was estimated through questionnaires while DDTs and HCHs serum levels were detected by EC-ECD. The relationship between organochlorine pesticides contents in foods and residues in serum were analyzed by ridge regression.

RESULTSFresh fish was positively correlated to men's serum level of beta-HCH and p,p'-DDT (beta = 0.1266 and beta = 0.0595) while vegetables and fruits were negatively correlated to women's serum level of beta-HCH (beta = -0.1066). Soybean was negatively correlated to women's serum level of p,p'-DDE and p,p'-DDT (beta = -0.0965 and 3 = -0.0581). Alcohol consumption was negatively correlated to men's serum level of beta-HCH and p,p'-DDE and women's serum level of p,p'-DDE (beta = -0.1315, beta = -0.1599 and P = -0.1128).Salted meat was negatively correlated to men's serum level of beta-HCH and p, p'-DDT (P = -0. 066 and P = - 0.0569).

CONCLUSIONIn this study, fresh fish might increase the body burden of organochlorine pesticides and residues while alcohol might promote the excretion of organochlorine pesticides. Pickled meat and vegetal foodstuff might contain low-level of organochlorine pesticides and residues.

China ; Diet ; Environmental Exposure ; Food Contamination ; Humans ; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated ; blood ; Pesticide Residues ; blood ; Seafood ; Vegetables

Pineapple (Ananas comosus) leaves contain mainly phenolic components with antioxidant and hypolipidemic effects. One of the principle components is p-coumaric acid. In this study, the transport behavior of p-coumaric acid, was observed after the administration of pineapple leaf phenols in vitro. Simultaneously, the effect of the phenols on glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides transportation and metabolism in HepG2 cells was also observed. The results showed that the phenols had good transport characteristics. 5 min after the administration, p-coumaric acid of the phenols could be detected, and the content of p-coumaric acid reached the peak concentration after 60 min of the administration. p-coumaric acid of phenols have time-and dose-dependent manner. While promoting glucose transporter (GLUT4) and low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) expression, the phenols decreased intracellular lipid content. This reduction of intracellular lipid content was highly correlated with the promotion of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hepatic triglyceride lipase (HTGL) expression, while the reduction of intracellular glucose levels was correlated with glycogen synthesis in the cells.
Ananas ; chemistry ; Biological Transport ; drug effects ; Cholesterol ; metabolism ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Lipid Metabolism ; drug effects ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo analyze the epidemiological characteristics, related risk factors, measures for its control of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

METHODSData on epidemiological features, pathogens and measures for control were collected and analyzed.

RESULTSSince Jan 2003, infectious atypical pneumonia (AP) has become epidemic in Guangzhou city. The first autochthonous case was identified on Jan 2nd. Number of cases started to increase since February and reached peak in the early 10 days of February. Hereafter the epidemic tended to decline in March and since early April, the average number of new cases began to decrease, less than 10 per day. Epidemiological studies revealed that the number of cases aged between 20 and 50 was higher than that below the age of 20. Of the total 966 cases, 429 were males versus 537 females. Geographically, the epidemics covered all 13 districts of Guangzhou, but 95% of the cases concentrated in 7 urban districts. As for professional distribution, health care workers accounted for 28.67% of the total cases. There were 36 deaths, aged from 5 to 89, with half of them older than 60. Out of the victims, 38.9% of them had complications as hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases and COPD etc. Data regarding the clustering features of cases showed that there were 42 families having 2 or more cases in one family, while 277 health workers suffered from SARS were concentrated in 28 hospitals. Only one outbreak took place in a public setting but no outbreak was reported in schools. Relevant research also indicated that SARS could be classified as an air-borne infectious disease, transmitted through aerosol and droplets, but close contact also played an important role in the mode of transmission. The disease was highly infectious, suggesting that people who had close contact with patients in the place with poor ventilation was in greater risk of getting infection. The incubation period ranged from 1 to 11 days (mainly from 3 to 8 days), with an average of 5 days. According to our observation, the following measures might be effective such as: early diagnosis, isolation and treatment provided to the patients, and suspected cases under medical observation should also be put in separate places. Improving ventilation and regular disinfection over air and stuff in hospital wards were also recommended. In order to prevent iatrogenic infection, sense on self-protection among health care workers must be strengthened. Patients were not allowed to be visited by any one other than hospital staff.

CONCLUSIONSARS is a preventable disease and can be under control. It is of great importance to prevent clustered SARS cases and the prevention of iatrogenic infection is essential.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; epidemiology ; Contact Tracing ; Disease Outbreaks ; Family Health ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; prevention & control

OBJECTIVETo analyze the specifically expressed genes in sperms for better understanding of the molecular characteristics of sperms.

METHODSThe hybridization data the genes in the sperms, oocytes and 10 normal tissues were retrieved from the GEO database to identify the genes expressed specifically in sperms and the patterns of their regulation using such bioinformatic tools as GATHER, PANTHER and DAVID.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSComparison of the spermatozoal gene expression profiles with those of the normal tissues identified 8998 differentially expressed probes, among which 25 genes were up-regulated by over 200 folds in the sperms. Comparison of the gene expression profiles between the oocytes and normal tissues resulted in the identification of 8981 differentially expressed probes. Of the 1709 up-regulated genes in the sperm with a ratio>5, 1218 genes showed similar expressions in the oocytes and the normal tissues, and 129 were up-regulated and 362 down-regulated in the oocytes. The 362 genes up-regulated in the sperms but down-regulated in the oocytes were involved mainly in protein modification and metabolism and nucleic acid metabolism, but very few participated in the intracellular signaling pathways. Numerous transcriptional factors containing the KRAB domain and receptor- independent serine/threonine kinase were specifically overexpressed in sperms, and the a very high proportion of the genes specifically overexpressed in the sperms coincided with the overexpressed genes in the neural stem cells and embryonic stem cells. The genes involved in the glycolysis were down-regulated in the sperms. These findings in the genes specifically expressed in the sperms by data mining using bioinformatic methods may provide better insight into the molecular characteristics of the sperms.

Adult ; Computational Biology ; methods ; Data Mining ; Gene Expression Profiling ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Spermatozoa ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo compare multiple organ dysfunction score (MODS), the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) and the logistic organ dysfunction score (LODS) in predicting hospital mortality in severe sepsis.

METHODSFour hundred and three patients admitted to the ICU from December 2004 to November 2007 with a diagnosis of severe sepsis were enrolled in this study. Their MODS, SOFA, LODS and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II at admission and the highest score during hospitalization were respectively recorded and collected in regard to mortality. The discrimination of three multiple organ dysfunction score systems were assessed by the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC).

RESULTSThe AUC of admission scores was 0.811 for LODS, 0.787 for SOFA, 0.725 for MODS, and 0.770 for APACHE II in predicting hospital mortality. All maximum scores had better power of discrimination than the admission scores (P < 0.01). The power of discrimination of LODS and SOFA were better than the MODS, either the admission or the highest, respectively (P < 0.01). However, no significant difference was observed between the LODS and the SOFA regarding mortality prediction (P > 0.05). The AUC value for the APACHE II score was much lower compared to LODS (P < 0.01). However, there was no difference in AUC value among APACHE II, SOFA and MODS (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONLODS, SOFA and MODS show a good discrimination power, while maximum LODS is of the highest discrimination power to predict the outcome of patient with severe sepsis.

APACHE ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Organ Failure ; pathology ; Prognosis ; Sepsis ; mortality ; Severity of Illness Index

OBJECTIVETo study the chemical constituents from the flowers of Carthamus tinctorius.

METHODCompounds were isolated by chromatographic techniques. Their structures were elucidated by spectral methods.

RESULTTen compounds were identified as 7,8-dimethylpyrazino [2,3-g] quinazolin-2, 4-(1H, 3H) -dione (1), adenosine (2), adenine (3), uridine (4), thymine (5), uracil (6), roseoside (7), 4'-O-dihydrophaseic acid-beta-D-glucopyranoside methylester (8), 4-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy-benzoic acid (9) and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (10).

CONCLUSIONCompounds 1 and 8 were isolated from natural plants for the first time, and compounds 7, 9 and 10 were isolated from this plant for the first time.

Carthamus tinctorius ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Flowers ; chemistry

AIM:To study the efficacy of conbercept intravitreal injection combined with retinal laser photocoagulation therapy and simple laser photocoagulation therapy on macular edema (ME) secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO).METHODS:Forty-eight patients (53 eyes) with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion diagnosed by clinical examination from October 2014 to March 2015 were retrospectively analyzed.Among them,28 patients (31 eyes) were treated with conbercept intravitreal injection combined with retinal laser photocoagulation,which was defined as Group A.And simple laser group contained 20 patients (22 eyes),which was defined as Group B.The clinical data including the patients' best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CMT) before treatment and 1wk and 3mo after treatment were observed.RESULTS:Followed up for 3mo,the average BCVA values of A and B were 0.44±0.25,0.56±0.24,respectively and the average CMT were 330.50 ± 121.71,354.67 ± 102.79μm at first week of treatment.There was no significant difference in BCVA and CMT of Group A compared with Group B.There was statistically significant in BCVA and CMT of Group A and Group B compared with before treatment (P＜0.05).The average BCVA values of A and B were 0.24±0.18,0.39±0.20,respectively and the average CMT were 252.62 ± 83.01,332.67 ± 102.33μ m at third month of treatment.There were statistically significant differences between the two groups and compared with before treatment (P＜0.05),and Group A was superior to Group B.CONCLUSION:Conbercept intravitreal injection combined with retinal laser photocoagulation therapy and simple laser photocoagulation treatment of macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion are both effective that macular edema is significantly reduced,and vision is stable and improved.But for serious cases,conbercept intravitreal injection can reduce retinal edema at first,then combine with retinal laser photocoagulation which has obvious therapeutic effect and it is better than simple laser photocoagulation treatment.