BACKGROUND: It has been thought that posterior cervical decompression increases the risk of cervical instability and the stress on posterior longitudinal ligament may change growth factor expression in vivo. However, the association between BMP-4 expression and heterotopic bone formation has not been confirmed. Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP-4) is one of factors that can lead to heterotopic bone formation alone.OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of posterior cervical decompression on BMP-4 mRNA expression in the posterior longitudinal ligament.DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: A randomized controlled animal experiment was performed in Taishan Medical College between January 2005 and December 2006.MATERIALS: A total of 48 adult Sprague Dawley rats of either gender and of clean grade, weighing 270-350 g, were included in this study.METHODS: All rats were randomly and evenly divided into 3 groups: experimental, sham-operated, and blank control. In the experimental group, C36 laminectomy for decompression was performed.In the sham-operated group: only skin incision was made. Rats in the blank control group received no any treatment. Four rats were allocated for each time point (1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks post-surgery) for harvesting posterior longitudinal ligament.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Detection of BMP-4 mRNA expression in the cervical posterior longitudinal ligament by semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.RESULTS: In the experimental group, obvious BMP-4 mRNA expression was found at 1-8 weeks post-surgery. While no BMP-4 mRNA expression was found at all times in the sham-operated and blank control groups.CONCLUSION: Posterior cervical decompression can increase BMP-4 mRNA expression in the posterior longitudinal ligament.Endogenous BMP-4 may contribute to ligamentous ossification and development post-surgery.

Adult ; Endocarditis ; microbiology ; Humans ; Male ; Mycoses ; Recurrence

Objective To evaluate the effect of lovastatin on shedding of heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) and syndecan-1 (SDC-1) in the lung tissues of rats with sepsis-induced acute lung injury.Methods One-hundred and twenty male Wistar rats aged 8-12 weeks,weighing 325-425 g,were randomly divided into 3 groups (n =40 each) using a random number table:sham operation group (group S),cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) group and lovastatin group (group L).Lovastatin 4 mg/kg was injected once a day for 5 consecutive days in S and L groups,while the equal volume of 0.5％ CMC (the solvent) was given in CLP group.Sepsis was produced by CLP on 5th day of administration in CLP and L groups.The left lung was lavaged at 24 h after operation.The broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected for determination of protein concentrations,white blood cell (WBC) count and percentage of neutrophils.Blood samples were collected for determination of the concentrations of HSPG and SDC-1 in serum (by ELISA).Evans blue was injected at 24 h after operation in the remaining 20 rats of each group.The lungs were removed for examination of the pathological changes and for measurement of HSPG and SDC-1 mRNA and protein expression (using Western blot and PCR),and Evans blue content (reflecting pulmonary capillary permeability) in the lung tissue.Results Compared with group S,the protein concentrations,WBC count and percentage of neutrophils in BALF,Evans blue content in lung tissues and the concentrations of HSPG and SDC-1 in serum were significantly increased,and HSPG and SDC-1 mRNA and protein expression was down-regulated in CLP and L groups.Compared with group CLP,the protein concentrations,WBC count and percentage of neutrophils in BALF,Evans blue content in lung tissues and the concentrations of HSPG and SDC-1 in serum were significantly decreased,and HSPG and SDC-1 mRNA and protein expression was up-regulated in group L.The pathological changes of lungs were significantly attenuated in group L as compared with group CLP.Conclusion The mechanism by which lovastatin attenuates acute lung injury induced by sepsis may be related to reduced shedding of HSPG and SDC-1 in lung tissues and improved function of pulmonary vascular endothelium in rats.

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection in the ovarian neoplasms.Methods:A search of the literature describing ovarian SLN was performed using China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WANFANG DATA, VIP, PubMed, Embase, web of science, Cochrane library from 2000.01.01 to 2020.07.29. The quality evaluation and data extraction of the included literature were conducted, and the development rate, sensitivity and negative predictive value of SLN were calculated.Results:Eight prospective single-arm studies were included, with heterogeneity I2=57.41%>50%, and the P<0.1. A total of 96 patients with ovarian cancer [Stage International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)Ⅰ-Ⅱ] were included, of whom 93 completed systematic pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy after SLN detection. The most common tracers were technetium-99m radioactive colloid ( 99Tc m), blue dye or indocyanine green (ICG), and the most common injection sites were the infundibulopelvic ligaments and the proper ovarian ligaments. The SLN detection rate was 88.5%(85/96) and the average number was 2-3. SLN was found in the ipsilateral or contralateral regions of the tumor, 40.8%(31/76) was found only in the para-aortic, 14.5%(11/76) was found only in the pelvic, and 44.7%(34/76) was found only in the para-aortic and pelvic region. The sensitivity was 90.9%(10/11) and the negative predictive value was 98.8%(82/83) of lymph node metastasis. Conclusions:SLN detection for ovarian neoplasms is feasible, and whether it can effectively predict lymph node status of ovarian cancer still needs large sample, multi-center, prospective clinical studies to further verify.

Objective: To analyze the composition regularities of the traditional Chinese medicine formulas (TCMFs) for treating five kinds of ophthalmic diseases, including swelling and pain of eyes, night blindness, pterygium, blepharitis marginalis and nebula based on the data mining methodology. Methods: A total of 1999 TCMFs for ophthalmic diseases were collected from the Dictionary of Chinese Medicine Prescriptions. Then frequency analyses and association rules analyses were conducted with the three indicators of support, confidence and lift based on the Apriori algorithm. Results: The diaphoretic drugs and heat-clearing drugs were the commonly used types of the traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) for swelling and pain of eyes, pterygium and blepharitis marginalis. The heat-clearing drugs and tonifying drugs were the commonly used types of TCMs for night blindness and nebula. Coptidis Rhizoma was frequently used for swelling and pain of eyes, Schizonepetae Herba was for blepharitis marginalis, and Chuanxiong Rhizoma was for nebula. The latent association rules with significant lift included Margarita→Calamina for swelling and pain of eyes, Myrrha→Olibanum for pterygium, Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix→Saposhnikoviae Radix for blepharitis marginalis, and Lithargite→Sal Ammoniac for nebula. Conclusion: Using association rules, the comparative study on the five kinds of ophthalmic diseases can reveal the similarities and differences of treatments for these ophthalmic diseases and explore the composition regularities of TCMs, which helps to explore the hidden value of TCMFs.

Objective To investigate quitting motivation of smoking patients with mild and moder-ate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD) and evaluate the effects of smoking cessation methods based on cognitive intervention.Methods A total of 102 smoking patients with mild and moderate COPD from the outpatient department was divided into 4 blocks according to their intention of quitting smoking.Pa-tients in each block were randomly divided into intervention and control groups.Results ⑴All the re-spondents were at an average age of (61.3 ±12.3) years old.The sex ratio of men to women was 99∶3. The average smoking index (bag/year) in all the respondents was (39.81 ±11.53).The average daily smoking was (14.22 ±2.30) packs.The respondents with a lower degrees accounted for 55.9%and the respondents with high nicotine dependence 49.0%.A total of 39 people (38.2%) hoped to give up smok-ing, 20 people (19.6%) strongly hoped to give up smoking.⑵The main reasons for smoking included en-joyment (7.02), dependence (6.88), and calm (6.55).⑶There were statistically significant difference in the half-year continuous abstinence rates (χ2 =4.993, P =0.025) and in June quit rates (χ2 =6.668, P =0.010) between the intervention (58.82%) and control (33.33%) groups.The weight gain had sig-nificant difference between the intervention and control groups at the 3rd month ( t =2.65, P <0.01) or 6th month ( t =2.07, P <0.05) after quitting smoking.Conclusions The quitting motivation of smoking patients with mild and moderate COPD is not strong, while the smoking cessation methods based on cogni-tive intervention are effective for those patients.

Recently,zebrafish,as a new model species,has been used widely in the study of developmental mechanism of the embryo,a model of human disease and the drug screening.Zebrafish has been applied widely in the study of the drug for tumor antiangiogenesis with the development of the advanced technology of the mutagenesis and the confocal microscopy using for observation.Zebrafish applied in the screening of tumor antiangiogenesis drug and the mechanism of tumor angiogenesis are summered.

Objective To observe the protective effects of lovastatin against lung injury and the expression changes of adiponectin in the septic rats.Methods Fifty four male Wistar rats weighting 250-300g were randomly divided into the three groups:sham operation group ( group Sham) ,sepsis group ( group CLP) and lovastatin interven tion group (group LOV).Rats were injected with lovastatin (4mg/kg) or 0.5%CMC (vehicle) for five days and then subjected to CLP.At 4h,12h and 24h after operation.BALF was collected to determine the levels of TNF-αand IL-6,lung tissue was obtained to observe histopathological changes,and to detect the content of MPO and MDA,the blood sample was obtained to detect the level of adiponectin.Results In the group Sham,at 4h,12h and 24h time points,the levels of TNF-αwere (1.80 ±0.13)pg/mL,(2.04 ±0.15)pg/mL and (1.930.19)pg/mL;the levels of IL-6 were (20.56 ±0.23)pg/mL,(18.35 ±0.15) pg/mL and (21.23 ±0.20) pg/mL;the contents of MPO were (2.82 ±0.14) U/g tissue,(2.88 ±0.07) U/g tissue and (2.76 ±0.18) U/g tissue;and the levels of MDA were (3.32 ±0.12)nmol/mg,(3.09 ±0.11)nmol/mg and (3.21 ±0.08)nmol/mg;the concentrations of adiponectin were (2.68 ±0.14)μg/mL,(2.80 ±0.07)μg/mL and (2.86 ±0.18)μg/mL.Compared with group Sham,both LOV group and CLP group had increased pulmonary damage:(1)the levels of TNF-α[4h,12h and 24h were (4.23 ± 0.18)pg/mL,(5.62 ±0.24)pg/mL and (5.14 ±0.10)pg/mL,t=28.41,30.98 and 36.62]and IL-6[4h,12h and 24h were (39.12 ±0.17) pg/mL,(47.25 ±0.21) pg/mL and (44.690.27) pg/mL,t =158.90,273.40 and 127.28] of the CLP group in BALF were both increased,and MPO[4h,12h and 24h were (4.85 ±0.13) U/g tissue, (6.17 ±0.08)U/g tissue and (7.84 ±0.10)U/g tissue,t=26.39,79.40 and 60.43]and MDA[4h,12h and 24h were (6.24 ±0.06)nmol/mg,(7.56 ±0.15)nmol/mg and (8.43 ±0.10)nmol/mg,t=53.31,58.86 and 90.06] concentrations in lung homogenate were raised with the decreased expression of serum adiponectin[4h,12h and 24h were (1.35 ±0.10)μg/mL,(1.17 ±0.07)μg/mL and (1.24 ±0.11)μg/mL,t=19.86,12.75 and 18.81](all P<0.05);(2) meanwhile the levels of TNF-α[4h,12h and 24h were (2.85 ±0.17) pg/mL,(3.720.13) pg/mL and (3.240.09)pg/mL,t=12.02、20.73 and 16.68]and IL-6[4h,12h and 24h were (30.75 ±0.22)pg/mL, (37.52 ±0.29)pg/mL and (32.43 ±0.26)pg/mL,t=78.42,68.29 and 83.67]in BALF of the LOV group were all increased,the contents of MPO[4h,12h and 24h were(3.59 ±0.05)U/g tissue,(4.67 ±0.11)U/g tissue and (5.33 ± 0.05)U/g tissue,t=12.03,33.63 and 33.70]and MDA[4h,12h and 24h were (4.45 ±0.10)nmol/mg,(5.01 ± 0.11)nmol/mg and (5.83 ±0.04) nmol/mg,t =17.72,30.23 and 71.75] were also increased with the serum adiponectin concentrations[4h,12h and 24h were (2.09 ±0.08)μg/mL,(2.07 ±0.05)μg/mL and (2.03 ± 0.10)μg/mL,t=8.96,20.79 and 6.30]dicreased(all P<0.05).There were less histopathological changes in the LOV group,and the levels of TNF-α(t=13.46,17.05 and 15.43),IL-6(t=73.70,64.10 and 80.12),MPO(t=22.16,27.01and 32.86) and MDA(t=37.59,42.72 and 59.13) were lower than those in CLP group,also the level of adiponectin(t=14.15,8.10 and 3.19) increased siginificantly(all P<0.05).Conclusion Administration of lovastatin could attenuate lung injury of the sepsis by down-regulate the level of TNF-αand IL-6,with reduced inflam-matory response and oxidative stress,and could upregulate the level of adiponectin in serums of rats with sepsis.

Three-parent test tube baby technology is important to solve the mitochondrial genetic disease.Once available,it raises greatly ethical controversy such as breaking traditional family values,hitting the religious belief,existing unknown risks,correctly handling the failed embryo,as well as the influence on the social status of the babies.Regarding these controversy,we can discuss it from several aspects.Because the development of ethics is behind the progress of science and technology,we should affirm the value of three-parent test tube baby technology and balance the development of science and technology with respecting the religious beliefs.Strict supervision system and standard application system reflect our respect for life.Incomprehension to the unknown things should become the motivation of our inquiry.We should face up to our fear of three-parent test tube baby technology,and thus to strengthen research and deepen understanding.Based on the above argument,this paper puts forward the ethical principles that should be followed in the development of three-parent test tube baby technology,namely respect,benefit,no harm and justice.

AIM: To study the effectiveness of hyaluronidase periocular injection combined with α - lipoic acid and Chinese medicine in the treatment of diabetic vitreous hemorrhage.
METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 67 patientswith proliferative diabetic retinophathy ( PDR ) and vitreous hemorrhage, were divided into two groups: treatment group and control group. There were 32 cases in every group, the treatment group were giving hyaluronidase periocular injection combined with α - lipoic acid intravenously and with traditional Chinese medicine in promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis, control group were only given Chinese medicine treatment in promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis.
RESULTS: Followed up 2-3mo, the total efficiency of treatment group ( 78%) was better than control group (57%), there was statistically significant difference ( P<0-05 ) . The efficiency of the two groups' patients with vitreous hemorrhage more than 2wk time was 22% and 25% respectively, there was no statistically significant difference in the two groups (P>0. 05).
CONCLUSION: Hyaluronidase periocular injection combined with α-lipoic acid and Chinese medicine in the treatment of PDR combined with vitreous hemorrhageis more effective than only use Chinese medicine. But it only has effect for the early, over 2wk, it has no significant effect.