Adolescent ; Age Factors ; Body Height ; drug effects ; Body Mass Index ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Drug Administration Schedule ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Growth Disorders ; drug therapy ; Human Growth Hormone ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Recombinant Proteins ; therapeutic use ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

ObjectiveTo explore the value of simvastatin in improving endothelial function in the patients with acute coronary syndromes in shorter time.Methods60 patients with acute coronary syndrome(acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina/non-ST elevation myocardial infarction) were randomized to be treated with placebo(n=30) or simvastatin 20 mg daily(n=30) for 3～5 d.At the admission and endpoint,Brachial ultrasound was used to measure endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilatation(FMD) and response to endothelium-independent nitroglycerin. ResultsFMD was unchanged with placebo,but increased with simvasatin,from(2.65±2.95)% to(4.19±2.59)%(P=0.027).Responses to nitroglycerin were similar during the time course of the study in the 2 groups.The improvement of FMD was not correlated with the level of TC(R2=0.081,P=0.37),LDL-C(R2=0.056,P=0.46) or HDL-C(R2=0.073,P=0.40).ConclusionSimvastatin initiated early after acute coronary syndromes rapidly improves endothelial function in short course.No correlation has been detected between the pharmacological effects of simvastatin with the fall in TC and LDL-C.

Background Central corneal thickness (CCT)is an important parameter to evaluate corneal healthy status and is crucial for surgical planning.However,clinical study found that the center of cornea does not correspond to the thinnest point of cornea.Thus,it is essential to characterize the minimum corneal thickness(MCT) and its location.Objective Present study was to determine the thickness and location of MCT and its relationship to the fellow eye using Pentacam High Resolution technique.Methods The 564 eyes from 282 Chinese myopic patients were reviewed in this study.The CCT,MCT,pupillary central corneal thickness(PCT) and x-y coordinate of thinnest point were bilaterally measured.Written informed consent was obtained prior to the ocular biomedical measurement.Results CCT was (540.07±31.78) μm in the right eyes and (539.24±31.06) μm in the lefi eyes; PCT was (540.25±30.75)μm in the right eyes and (539.48±31.00)μm in the left eyes.MCT was (537.87± 31.91)μm in the right eyes and (536.35±31.24)μm in the left eyes,showing significant differences in all the parameters between the right eyes and left eyes expect for PCT(CCT:P=0.046;PCT:P=0.065 ;MCT:P=0.000).The C CT,PCT and M CT were significantly correlated between the right eyes and left eyes (r =0.97,0.97,0.98,P＜ 0.01).Bland-Altman plot showed a good consistence between the both eyes.The mean distance from the center was (0.50±0.21) mm in the right eyes and (0.56±0.22)mm in the left eyes,showing a significant difference (P =0.000).The difference between CCT and MCT was approximately (2.20±1.74)μm in the right eyes and (2.88±1.75) μm in the left eyes.The location of MCT in both the right eyes and left eyes tended to symmetry along the vertical midline.The distance between the R (x,y) to transformed L (x,y) was (0.29 ± 0.17)mm and the angular distance was (28.28±28.21)degree.Conclusions This study offers a range of MCT and its location in Chinese myopic patients.The difference exists between the CCT and MCT in bilateral eyes.The location of the thinnest point tends to be symmetrical along the vertical midline between the both eyes.The changes of these parameters may be helpful for the diagnosis of some corneal diseases.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the anti-emetic effect of ethanol extract from "WuZhuYu broth" and its mechanism.

METHODThree experiments were carried out test which extract has anti-emetic activity, such as CuSO4-induced pigeon's emetic response, gastric emptying in mice and ACh-induced or 5-HT-induced contraction in vitro gastric muscle in rats. Meanwhile, effect of anti-emetic extract on concentration-response curve to ACh, 5-HT, histamine was investigated.

RESULT50% ethanol extract and 70% ethanol extract were identified as having significantly stronger anti-emetic activities with little side effect, which showed the significant effect on concentration-response curve to ACh, 5-HT, histamine.

CONCLUSION50% ethanol extract and 70% ethanol extract contain more anti-emetic fractions, more anti-emetic fractions can be gained at the concentrations of 50% and 70% ethanol; the mechanism of anti-emetic effect is related to its antagonism to the receptors of ACh, 5-HT, histamine.

Animals ; Antiemetics ; therapeutic use ; Columbidae ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; therapeutic use ; Evodia ; chemistry ; Female ; Gastric Emptying ; drug effects ; Male ; Mice ; Muscle Contraction ; drug effects ; Phytotherapy ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vomiting ; drug therapy

Total 1188 subjects aged 35-74 in an urban community of Beijing were recruited by a multistage stratified random sampling procedure. Dental caries were examined by three dentists independently. The prevalence of dental crown caries was 79. 6% (DF), that of DMFS was 24. 39% and the root caries index (RCI) was 3.5% in this group. 22. 3% of the examinees required treatment for the crown caries and 26. 0% for root caries. Bivariate correlation analysis showed that DMFS was significantly correlated with RCI (P <0. 01 ), and there was no significant difference of DMFS and RCI between males and females. The study indicates that dental caries is a common health problem in adults and elderly population of urban Beijing, and the development of community oral health service system is necessary.

AIM: To observe the changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness ( SFCT ) after intravitreal injections of ranibizumab ( IVR ) for macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion ( RVO) .
METHODS:Thirty-six eyes of 36 patients with macular edema secondary to RVO) were treated with 0. 5mg IVR monthly for 3mo and received additional IVR as needed over the following 1a period. SFCT of the all eyes ( the affected eyes with RVO and unaffected fellow eyes ) was measured by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography images before and after the IVR.
RESULTS: The mean SFCT of the affected eyes with RVO decreased from 246. 7±115. 0μm at baseline to 220. 5±102.0μm at 1mo (P<0.05), 198.3± 114.0μm at 6mo (P<0.01), 212. 6± 96. 0μm at 12mo (P<0. 01). Whereas the fellow eyes changed from 229. 4±108. 0μm at baseline to 226. 3±107. 0μm at 1mo (P>0. 05), 228. 6±127. 0μm at 6mo (P>0.05), 223.6±101.0μm at 12mo(P>0.05). There were statistically significant difference between affected eyes with RVO and unaffected fellow eyes.
CONCLUSION: The SFCT is decreased after IVR for macular edema secondary to RVO. IVR seems to affect the hemorheology of the choroid.

Thrombus is a major factor leading to cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Although fibrinolytic anti-thrombotic drugs have been widely used in clinical practice, they are still limited by narrow therapeutic windows, short half-lives, susceptibility to inactivation, and abnormal bleeding caused by non-targeting. Therefore, it is crucial to effectively deliver thrombolytic agents to the site of thrombus with minimal adverse effects. Based on the long blood circulation and excellent drug-loading properties of human serum albumin (HSA), we employed genetic engineering techniques to insert a functional peptide (P-selectin binding peptide, PBP) which can target the thrombus site to the N-terminus of HSA. The fusion protein was expressed using Pichia pastoris and purified by Ni-chelating affinity chromatography. After being loaded with gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), the fusion protein formed homogeneous and stable nanoparticles (named as PBP-HSA@Au) with a diameter of 17.7 ± 1.0 nm and a zeta potential of -11.3 ± 0.2 mV. Cytotoxicity and hemolysis tests demonstrated the superb biocompatibility of PBP-HSA@Au. Platelet-targeting experiments confirmed the thrombus-targeting ability conferred by the introduction of PBP into PBP-HSA@Au. Upon near-infrared ray (NIR) irradiation, PBP-HSA@Au rapidly converted light energy into heat, thereby disrupting fibrinogen and exhibiting outstanding thrombolytic efficacy. The designed HSA fusion protein delivery system provides a precise, rapid, and drug-free treatment strategy for thrombus therapy. This system is characterized by its simple design, high biocompatibility, and strong clinical applicability. All animal experiments involved in this study were carried out under the protocols approved by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of Jiangnan University [JN. No20230915S0301015(423)].

Objective To investigate the protective effects of CBD and Nimodipine against injuries secondary to glutamate-inuced or traumatic injury in rat cortical neurons in vitro. Methods Mix-cultured cortical neurons of SD rat were subjected to either glutamate injury or mechanical damage. The degree of injury were detected by cell count of trypan blue staining and measurement of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the culture medium. Results When combined treatment with CBD and Nimodipine was used separately, moderate protective effects against the injury of cultured cortical neurons induced by glutamate or trauma were observed, which was obvious when compared with the injured group without treatment (P<0.01). When combined treatment with CBD and Nimodipine was administered, strong protective effect were observed than that with treatment using CBD or Nimodipine alone (P<0.01). Conclusion It is suggested that CBD combined with Nimodipine are synergetic. Combined use of different excitotoxic antagonists can be fruitful in the therapeutic intervention of secondary traumatic damage.

Objective To investigate the protective effects of CBD and Nimodipine against injuries secondary to glutamate-inuced or traumatic injury in rat cortical neurons in vitro. Methods Mix-cultured cortical neurons of SD rat were subjected to either glutamate injury or mechanical damage. The degree of injury were detected by cell count of trypan blue staining and measurement of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the culture medium. Results When combined treatment with CBD and Nimodipine was used separately, moderate protective effects against the injury of cultured cortical neurons induced by glutamate or trauma were observed, which was obvious when compared with the injured group without treatment (P<0.01). When combined treatment with CBD and Nimodipine was administered, strong protective effect were observed than that with treatment using CBD or Nimodipine alone (P<0.01). Conclusion It is suggested that CBD combined with Nimodipine are synergetic. Combined use of different excitotoxic antagonists can be fruitful in the therapeutic intervention of secondary traumatic damage.

BACKGROUNDAn important purpose of orthodontic treatment is to gain the harmonic soft tissue profile. This article describes a novel way to build patient-specific models of facial soft tissues by transforming a standard finite element (FE) model into one that has two stages: a first transformation and a second transformation, so as to evaluate the facial soft tissue changes after orthodontic treatment for individual patients.

METHODSThe radial basis functions (RBFs) interpolation method was used to transform the standard FE model into a patient-specific one based on landmark points. A combined strategy for selecting landmark points was developed in this study: manually for the first transformation and automatically for the second transformation. Four typical patients were chosen to validate the effectiveness of this transformation method.

RESULTSThe results showed good similarity between the transformed FE models and the computed tomography (CT) models. The absolute values of average deviations were in the range of 0.375 - 0.700 mm at the lip-mouth region after the first transformation, and they decreased to a range of 0.116 - 0.286 mm after the second transformation.

CONCLUSIONSThe modeling results show that the second transformation resulted in enhanced accuracy compared to the first transformation. Because of these results, a third transformation is usually not necessary.

Computer Simulation ; Face ; Finite Element Analysis ; Humans ; Models, Theoretical