Many investigators are trying to elucidate the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders on the basis of neuroendocrine responses to stimulation or perturbation. Dexamethasone(DEX) suppression has been the most widely utilized as the prototypical challenge test. Dexamethasone suppression test(DST) has proven to be valuable in diagnosing the depressive spectrum disorder. Reported specificity of diagnosis of depression is relatively high, but sensitivity is limited. Some researchers used the combination of dexamethasone and corticotropin releasing hormone(CRH) in order to improve the sensitivity. They reported that combined DEX/CRH test, i.e., we administered the insulin instead of CRH. Total subjects were 28(7 normal controls, 10 manic patients, 11 schizophrenic, patients). Subject were token DEX(1.5mg p.o.) at 11 p.m., insulin 16 hours later(0.1 unit/kg i.v.). Five blood samples for the determination of cortisol and ACTH were serially drawn at 15 minute interval. The results are as following : 1) The cortisol an ACTH levels of manic subjects increased following insulin administration. Manic subjects showed higher levels of cortisol and ACTH than schizophrenic and normal control subjects. The cortisol and ACTH levels of schizophrenic and normal control subjects did not show gross changes. 2) The sensitivity of the test was lower than that of reported DEX/CRH test.
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; Depression ; Dexamethasone ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Insulin ; Research Personnel ; Sensitivity and Specificity

No abstract available.
Hair* ; Microscopy, Electron

To knock out β-lactoglobulin (BLG) gene and insert human lactoferrin (hLF) coding sequence at BLG locus of goat, the transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN) mediated recombination was used to edit the BLG gene of goat fetal fibroblast, then as donor cells for somatic cell nuclear transfer. We designed a pair of specific plasmid TALEN-3-L/R for goat BLG exon III recognition sites, and BLC14-TK vector containing a negative selection gene HSV-TK, was used for the knock in of hLF gene. TALENs plasmids were transfected into the goat fetal fibroblast cells, and the cells were screened three days by 2 μg/mL puromycin. DNA cleavage activities of cells were verified by PCR amplification and DNA production sequencing. Then, targeting vector BLC14-TK and plasmids TALEN-3-L/R were co-transfected into goat fetal fibroblasts, both 700 μg/mL G418 and 2 μg/mL GCV were simultaneously used to screen G418-resistant cells. Detections of integration and recombination were implemented to obtain cells with hLF gene site-specific integration. We chose targeting cells as donor cells for somatic cell nuclear transfer. The mutagenicity of TALEN-3-L/R was between 25% and 30%. A total of 335 reconstructed embryos with 6 BLG-/hLF+ targeting cell lines were transferred into 16 recipient goats. There were 9 pregnancies confirmed by ultrasound on day 30 to 35 (pregnancy rate of 39.1%), and one of 50-day-old fetus with BLG-/hLF+ was achieved. These results provide the basis for hLF gene knock-in at BLG locus of goat and cultivating transgenic goat of low allergens and rich hLF in the milk.
Animals ; Animals, Genetically Modified ; genetics ; Female ; Fibroblasts ; Gene Knock-In Techniques ; Gene Knockout Techniques ; Goats ; genetics ; Humans ; Lactoferrin ; genetics ; Lactoglobulins ; genetics ; Milk ; chemistry ; Nuclear Transfer Techniques ; Plasmids ; Pregnancy ; Transfection

Objective To investigate the symptoms and the needs of transitional care for the patients with lung cancer at the intermission of chemotherapy and provide references for the symptom management and carrying out transitional care. Methods Totally 156 patients with lung cancer were investigated by questionnaire survey. Results With the increase of chemotherapy, symptoms such as cough, sputum, dyspnea were relieved after chemotherapy(F=18.266, 20.463, 17.371, P < 0.05), but symptoms like fatigue, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, sleep uncomfortable were worse than before(F=15.821, 20.116, 16.439, 13.541, 9.528, P<0.05,<0.01). Negative emotions like bitterness and sadness had no obvious change. Symptoms affected the patients′mood, the incidence and severity were higher after chemotherapy(χ2=43.162, F=11.683, P < 0.05), as for general activity and walking, the incidence and severity were higher after the first cycle chemotherapy and the second cycle(χ2=42.589, 37.689, 39.125, F=9.148, 15.325, 14.758, P < 0.05), but after 4 cycles of chemotherapy, it did not change significantly (P>0.05). 79.49%(124/156)patients did not know the content and function of transitional care, 98.72%(154/156)patients hope to get transitional care through the hospital. Conclusions Symptoms by side effects were getting worse for patients with lung cancer and influenced their daily life. Patients got to know less about transitional care, however they had a strong need for transitional care. We should
reinforce the management of symptoms and transitional care to improve their quality of life.

Object To study the chemical constituents of the extracts S 1 and S 7 in GINSENG SINI TANG, which has the effect of antihemorrhagic shock Methods The constituents of S 1 and S 7 were isolated and purified by silica gel column chromatographic methods and analyzed by ESI/MS n, MALDI TOF/MS Results The 12 compounds were identified as ginsenosides Ra 1, Ra 2, Rb 1, Rb 2, Rb 3, Rc, Rd, Re, Rg 1, Rg 2, Rg 3, Rf from constituent S 7 in GINSENG SINI TANG The six compounds of diterpenoid alkaloid were identified as 14 benzoylhypaconine 8 linoleate (HAL), 14 benzoyldeoxyaconine 8 oleate (HAO), 14 benzoylhypaconine 8 palmitate (HAP), benzoylmesaconitine (BM), benzoylaconitine (BA), benzoylhypaconitine (BH) from constituent S 1 in GINSENG SINI TANG Conclusion All these compounds were obtained from GINSENG SINI TANG and identified for the first time

The bleeding duodenal varices are a rare complication in patients with portal hypertension, but present a difficult diagnostic problem. If there is no bleeding esophageal, gastric fundal varices or ulcer in a patient with upper gastrointestinal bleeding and portal hypertension, the possibility of bleeding duodenal varices should be kept in mind. Thorough endoscopic examination of the entire duodenal mucosa is essential to document bleeding from duodenal varices. As an initial treatment, endoscopic sclerotherapy has had limited success in controlling active duodenal variceal bleeding. However, rebleeding rate is high, surgical treatment including shunt operation may be required for permanent control of bleeding and portal decompression. We report three cases of duodenal varices causing massive hemorrhage. All the patients had portal hypertension caused by liver cirrhosis of various etiologies and had varices in their esophagus. The second portion of the duodenum was the site of duodenal varices in all cases. The management was tailored to the condition of each patient, but only one patient among three survived.
Decompression ; Duodenum ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Esophagus ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Mucous Membrane ; Sclerotherapy ; Ulcer ; Varicose Veins*

The majority of cystic lesions of the pancreas are psudocysts and a small fraction neoplastic. Failure to recognize the true nature of neoplastic cyst will lead to an incorrct treatment strategy. Ultrasonography, computerized tomography and angiography were used to distingish these lesions, but diagnostic value of ERCP is in controversy. To evaluate the diagnostic value of ERCP in cystic lesions of the pancreas, we analysed 33 cases of pancreatic cystic lesions (pseudocyst 18 cases, retention cyst 3 cases and cystic, neoplasm l2 cases) between Apr. 1985 and June 1993. In 18 cases of pseudocysts, ERP findings were communication with cyst in 8 cases (44.4%), chronic pancreatitis in 8 cases (44.4%), obstruction in 4 cases (22.2%) and displscement of pancreatic duct in 2 cases (11.1%), and ERC findings, which were perfomed in 8 cases, showed cholangitis in 3 cases (37.5%), CBD stone in 2 cases (25%), mass effect in 1 case (12.5%) and normal in 2 cases (25%). There was no communication with the cyst and pancreatic duct, except two mucinous ductal ectasia, in 12 cases of cystic neoplasms, and the other findings were displacement of pancreatic duct in 4 cases (33.3%), obstruction in 2 cases (16.7%) and normal in 4 cases (33.3%). ERC findings of cystic neoplasm were almost normal (85.7%) except 1 case of cholangitis. In conclusion, ERCP findings of pseudocysts were communication with pancreatic duct, chronic pancreatitis and biliary tract abnormality. In contrast, ERCP findings of cystic neoplasms were displacement or obstruction of pancreatic duct without communication and chronic pancreatitis, and biliary tract abnormality were rare.
Angiography ; Biliary Tract ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde* ; Cholangitis ; Dilatation, Pathologic ; Mucins ; Pancreas ; Pancreatic Cyst* ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatitis, Chronic ; Ultrasonography

No abstract available.
Agranulocytosis* ; Granulocytes* ; Humans

Objective To examine the effects and mechanisms of siRNA targeting aquaporin 4 (AQP 4) in combination with hyperbaric oxygen therapy(HBO) on cerebral edema and apoptosis in the brain tissue of rats after hemorrhage.Methods Rats were randomly divided into four groups,the control group,the hyperbaric oxygen group,the AQP-4 siRNA group and the combination therapy group (24 rats).Thrombin Ⅶ was injected into the caudate nucleus to establish the hemorrhage model.Construction of siRNA targeting aquaporin 4 was conducted.The mRNA expression of AQP-4 was detected by RT-PCR at day 3.Changes in brain moisture and blood-brain barrier perme ability were measured by a wet/dry weight method and Evans blue fluorometry.The nerve cell apoptosis rate was analyzed by Annexin V andTdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL).The expression of proteins including AQP-4,MMP-2,MMP-9,Bcl-2 and caspase-3 was detected by Western Blotting.All the animals were given a score for their nerve function at day 3.Results AQP-4 siRNA treatment obtained better effects than HBO in decreasing the brain edema leveland silencing AQP-4 mRNA(P＜0.05)while,the combination therapy group achieved the best results(P＜ 0.05).Compared with the control group,the percentage of apoptotic cells decreased in all the three treatment groups,with the most marked decrease observed in the combination treatment group(4.24± 0.04)％(F=13.76,P=0.001).The expression of AQP-4,MMP-2,MMP-9 and caspase-3 was lower (P＜0.05) and the expression of Bcl-2 was higher(P＜0.01)in the combination treatment group than in the other three groups.Compared with the control group,all the other three groups received better scores on nerve function defect evaluation at day 3 after hemorrhage(P＜0.05),with the combination treatment group again achieving the most favorable score (4.7 ± 1.1) (F=7.21,P =0.013).Conclusions Targeted siRNA interference combined with hyperbaric oxygen can effectively reduce cerebral edema after cerebral hemorrhage,inhibit neuronal apoptosis and promote neuron function recovery.The underlying mechanisms may be related to down-regulation of AQP-4,MMP 2,MMP-9 and caspase-3 expression and up-regulation of Bcl-2 expression.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to evaluate the results and usefulness of the unipolar release of sternocleidomastoideus for the treatment of congenital muscular torticollis in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From March 1991 to March 1999, we retrospectively reviewed and analyzed 19 congenital muscular torticollis patients who were treated by the unipolar release of sternocleidomastoideus. Patients were followed for an average of 4.3 (range, 1.3 to 9.3) years. Clinical results were evaluated cosmetically and functionally, in a manner similar to that used by Canale et al. RESULTS: Of the 19 cases, 15 patients (79%) were good, 4 (21%) poor, and none were fair in the initial operation. Overall results were 79% good after initial operation and 89% good including after reoperating upon 2 cases. CONCLUSION: Simple unipolar release of sternocleidomastoideus in congenital muscular torticollis showed high rate of success (79%). Therefore, we considered it to be an effective primary surgical procedure for the treatment of congenital muscular torticollis.
Child* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Torticollis*