Cardiovascular Diseases ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Environmental Exposure ; adverse effects ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo study and compare the prophylatic efficacy of levetiracetam, valproate and phenobarbital on febrile convulsions in rats.

METHODSSixty Wistar rats were randomly administered with levetiracetam (200 mg/kg), valproate (250 mg/kg), phenobarbital (30 mg/kg) or normal saline (8 ml/kg) for 5 days. Five days later, febrile convulsions were induced by hyperthermal bath (45 Celcius degree). The latency, duration and the severity of seizures were observed.

RESULTSIn all the three drug-treated groups, the latency was significantly prolonged, and the duration and the severity of seizures were notably reduced compared with the saline group (P<0.05 or 0.01). The phenobarbital group had the shortest duration of seizures and the least severe seizures among the three drug-treated groups. There were no significant differences between the levetiracetam and valproate groups.

CONCLUSIONSContinuous administration of levetiracetam, valproate or phenobarbital is effective in preventing recurrent febrile convulsions in rats. Phenobarbital appears to be more effective than levetiracetam and valproate. There were no significant differences in the prophylactic efficacy between levetiracetam and valproate.

Animals ; Anticonvulsants ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Phenobarbital ; therapeutic use ; Piracetam ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Recurrence ; Seizures, Febrile ; prevention & control ; Valproic Acid ; therapeutic use

Objective　To study the effects of irradiation and W11-a12，a kind of repair-promoting drug，on anion-selective channel in membranes of mouse peritoneal macrophage. Methods　The activity of anion-selective channel was recorded from cell-attached patches with patch clamp techniques． Results　The effects of irradiation on anion-selective channel in membranes of peritoneal macrophage included：①decreasing the mean number of activated channels by the presence of zymosan; ②prolonging the mean time from stimulus to the opening of channels; ③depressing the opening of channels by decreasing open-state probability，shortening open-time and prolonging close-time． The effects of irradiation could partly be depressed by W11-a12. Conclusion　Irradiation will depress the anion-selective channel of peritoneal macrophage, which may be an important way to depress the function of macrophage．

OBJECTIVETo explore the influence of exogenous putrescine and cadaverine on pro-inflammatory factors in the peripheral blood of rabbits.

METHODSForty ordinary adult New Zealand rabbits were divided into saline, necrotic tissue homogenate (NTH), putrescine, and cadaverine groups according to the random number table, with 10 rabbits in each group. Saline, NTH, 10 g/L putrescine, and 10 g/L cadaverine were respectively peritoneally injected into rabbits of corresponding group in the amount of 1 mL/kg. The blood sample in the volume of 2 mL was collected from the central artery of rabbit ears before injection and at 2, 6, 12, 24, 30, 36, 48, 60 hours post injection (PIH). Contents of TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6 in the serum were determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data were processed with repeated measurement data analysis of variance and Spearman correlation analysis, and cubic model curve was applied in curve fitting for the contents of inflammatory factors.

RESULTS(1) The serum contents of TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6 were increased in NTH, putrescine, and cadaverine groups in different degrees at most post injection time points. There was no significant change in the concentrations of the three pro-inflammatory factors in saline group, and they were significantly lower than those of the other three groups at most post injection time points (with F values from 3.49 to 13.58, P values all below 0.05). The serum contents of TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6 in putrescine group began to increase at PIH 2, 6, and 6, which was similar to the trend of NTH group, but the changes were delayed compared with those of cadaverine group(all at PIH 2). The peak values of TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6 in putrescine group were respectively (339 ± 36), (518 ± 44), and (265.9 ± 33.5) pg/mL, which were significantly lower than those of cadaverine group [ (476 ± 86), (539 ± 22), and (309.4 ± 27.1) pg/mL], with F values respectively 5.11, 1.90, and 5.56, P values all below 0.05. (2) The period of time in which contents of TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6 began to increase (PIH 3-4) and the peaking time of the three pro-inflammatory cytokines (PIH 18-30) in putrescine group appeared later than those of cadaverine group (PIH 2 and 12-30). The duration of peaking time of the three pro-inflammatory cytokines in putrescine group was shorter than that of cadaverine group (PIH 18-30 vs. PIH 12-30). The increasing period and the duration of peaking time of TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6 in putrescine group were close to those of NTH group (PIH 3-5 and 18-30). The correlation coefficient test analysis showed that the trends of changes in contents of three pro-inflammatory cytokines in putrescine group were significantly correlated with those of NTH group (r(TNF-α) = 0.933, P < 0.01; r(IL-1) = 0.967, P < 0.01; r(IL-6) = 0.950, P < 0.01). The obvious correlation between cadaverine group and NTH group was only found in the contents of IL-1 and IL-6 (r(IL-1) = 0.913, P < 0.01; r(IL-6) = 0.883, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSBoth exogenous putrescine and cadaverine can cause inflammatory reaction in rabbits. The trend of the inflammatory reaction induced by putrescine was similar with that by NTH, suggesting that putrescine may play a leading role in the inflammatory reaction induced by necrotic tissue decomposition.

Animals ; Cadaverine ; adverse effects ; Inflammation ; blood ; Interleukin-1 ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Necrosis ; blood ; Putrescine ; adverse effects ; Rabbits ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood

[Objective]To investigate the influence of healthy walking intervention on risk factors of noncommunicable chronic disease in occupational population, and to explore the suitable mode of exercise intervention for occupational population in Shanghai. [Methods]Before and after healthy walking intervention were compared the changes of body weight, BMI, waist circumference, body fat rate, visceral fat index, over-weight and obesity rate, central obesity rate, blood-pressure controlling rate. [Results]Weight, BMI, waist circumference, body fat percentage, viscera index, SBP and DBP all reduced after100 days of healthy walking, and the results were (1.52 ± 2.75) kg (Z =-21.99, P < 0.01) , (0.55 ±1.03) kg/m2 (Z =-21.64, P<0.01) , (2.10±5.27) cm (Z =-17.62, P<0.01) , (0.31±4.59) ％ (Z=-3.48, P < 0.01) , (0.12 ± 1.99) (Z =-2.70, P < 0.01) , (2.51 ± 10.87) mm Hg (Z =-9.35, P <0.01) and (1.67±8.26) mm Hg (Z =-9.06, P < 0.01). The rate of over-weight and obesity decreased7.86％, the rate of central obesity decreased 6.92％, and the rate of blood-pressure controlling increased2.72％. There were significant difference between the three indicators before and after healthy walking (χ2= 916.48, P< 0.01; χ2= 585.90, P < 0.01; χ2= 366.37, P < 0.01). [Conclusion] Healthy walking could reduce occupational population' s over-weight and obesity rate, central obesity rate, and increase blood-pressure controlling rate. The risk factors of un-communicable chronic disease have improved significantly. Healthy walking plays a positive role in the prevention and control of chronic diseases.

Objective To investigate clinical and histopathological manifestations of cutaneous plasmacytosis.Methods The clinical and histopathological data were collected from 7 cases of cutaneous plasmacytosis and analyzed retrospectively.Results Of the 7 patients,2 were female,and 5 were male.The average age was 42.4 years,and the duration of disease ranged from 2 to 10 years.All the 7 patients presented with multiple slow progressive brown patches and plaques.No abnormality was observed in routine examinations of blood,urine and faeces,electrocardiogram and abdominal ultrasonography in the 7 patients.Three patients underwent serum IgG detection,and their serum levels of IgG were all higher than reference values.Two patients were subjected to cytological examination of bone marrow,which showed the percentage of plasma cells (mainly mature plasma cells) was up to 5％.Histopathological examination of 7 cases showed pigmentation in the basal layer of the epidermis,and infiltration mainly consisting of lymphocytes and mature plasma cells around the blood vessels in the dermis.Immunohistochemical study revealed that the ratio of κ to λ light chain was approximately 1∶ 1,and the plasma cells were strongly positive for IgG.IgG4 was positive in very few plasma cells in 1 case,and negative in the other 6 cases.Conclusion The etiology of cutaneous plasmacytosis is still unclear,but it has characteristic clinical and histopathological manifestations.

Corneal stromal is an important structure to maintain corneal transparency. The corneal stroma can be injured by trauma, infection and surgery. Therefore, corneal stromal wound starts repair with phenotype changes in stromal cell, extracellular matrix remodeling and immune cells migration. The corneal scar was the leading cause of blindness worldwide, which can be caused by corneal stromal fibrosis from increased myofibroblasts and deposited extracellular matrix after sever damage. At present, corneal transplantation is the main treatment for corneal scar, which has limited therapeutic effect because of corneal donor shortage, surgical requirements and the risk of postoperative immune rejection. Recently, great progress has been made in the study of control mechanism of corneal stromal wound healing with various molecules, cells and tissues. This paper reviews the repair mechanism of corneal stromal injury and the regulation mechanism of cause of corneal injury, corneal structure and molecule factors towards corneal stromal injury. It aims at providing new ideas for exploring the mechanism of corneal stromal repair and regeneration, which is supposed to help prevent corneal scar clinically.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects and the molecular mechanism of puerariae radix flavones (PRF) on acute myeloid leukemia cell line Kasumi-1 cells in vitro.

METHODSKasumi-1 cells treated by PRF for 48 hours were observed with Wright's and Hoechst 33258 dying. The apoptotic cells were analyzed by flow cytometry with AnnexinV/PI staining. The expression levels of bcl-2, Bim and Caspase-3/-8/-9 protein were assayed by Western blot and the AML1-ETO fusion gene was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTSPRF could induce Kasumi-1 cells to apoptosis effectively. The proportion of apoptotic cells in 50, 200 and 500 µg/ml PRF treatment groups were (14.1 ± 0.8)%, (17.7 ± 1.3)% and (32.4 ± 1.4)%, respectively, and significantly higher than that of control \[(7.8 ± 0.7)%\]. The relative expression levels of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein were 0.85 ± 0.05, 0.62 ± 0.07 and 0.43 ± 0.05; the apoptotic Bim protein were 0.21 ± 0.06, 0.39 ± 0.04 and 0.75 ± 0.05; the caspase-3 and caspase-9 were 0.92 ± 0.04, 1.21 ± 0.07, 1.33 ± 0.04 and 0.35 ± 0.05, 0.53 ± 0.03, 0.69 ± 0.07, respectively. Compared to the blank control group, all these changes were significant (P < 0.01). Nevertheless, nearly no changes could be observed on the expression level of AML1-ETO fusion gene and caspase-8 protein.

CONCLUSIONApoptosis of Kasumi-1 cells induced by PRF might correlate to the down-regulation of Bcl-2 protein expression and the activation of caspase-3 and caspase-8 protein in the cells. It seemed that all these effects had no relationship with the AML1-ETO fusion gene.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Caspase 8 ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit ; genetics ; metabolism ; Flavones ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion ; genetics ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Pueraria ; RUNX1 Translocation Partner 1 Protein

BACKGROUNDWhile the abnormal appearance of the concealed penis has been well recognized, the effect of buried penis on the structure and function of corpus cavernosum has not been well studied. To explore this issue, we established a rat model and evaluated the effect of buried penis on cavernosum weight, contents and ultrastructure of tissue, and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity.

METHODSTwo hundred and ten rats were randomly divided into 3 equal cohorts for 2, 4 and 6 months study (groups A, B and C). Each group was randomly divided into buried group (n = 40), control group (n = 15), and normal group (n = 15), respectively. Intra-purse-string suture of the root of the penis was used to establish the model. Macroscopic development was judged by measuring the weight of the corpus cavernosum. Masson's trichrome staining was performed for observing microstructure while a transmission electron microscope was used for observing ultrastructure. The NOS activity was detected by a NOS activity assay kit.

RESULTSBuried penis had no significant influence on the appearance and weight of the corpus cavernosum. Buried penis resulted in decreased smooth muscle content (P > 0.05 in group A, and P < 0.05 in groups B and C) and increased fibrous connective tissue content (P > 0.05 in groups A and B, and P < 0.05 in group C) compared with the normal and control groups. Ultrastructural abnormalities of corpus cavernosum were observed in the 6-month buried group. Moreover, there was decrease of NOS activity in groups B and C (P < 0.05 in group B and P < 0.01 in group C) when compared with the normal and control groups.

CONCLUSIONBuried penis affects the structure and function of corpus cavernosum in rats and the effect is positively correlated with the buried time, but there is no significant effect on the macroscopic development.

Animals ; Male ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; metabolism ; Penis ; anatomy & histology ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo study therapeutic effects of capsulitis of little toe treated with minimal incisional osteotomy and manipulations procedures.

METHODSFrom 2003.7 to 2008.6, 90 patients (160 feet) with capsulitis of little toe including 3 male (5 foot) and 87 female (155 foot) ranging in age from 17 to 76 years(average of 49.2 years).The average medical history was 10.1 years ranging from 1 to 32 years. All patients with capsulitis of little toe were treated with minimal incisional osteotomy and manipulations procedures adopting the modified Coughlin standard to evaluation.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up, the duration of follow-up raunged from 3 to 36 months with averagement of 15.7 months. According to the modified Coughlin standard, 80 cases obtained an excellent result, 8 good, 2 fair and 0 poor, the effective rate was 97.8%. However,two patients were found delayed union after operation, the distal fragments healed following the time of fixation were delayed.

CONCLUSIONThe treatment of capsulitis of little toe with minimal incisional osteotomy and manipulations procedures is easy to operate and its therapeutic effect is convincing.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Bunion, Tailor's ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Manipulation, Orthopedic ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; Osteotomy ; methods ; Toes ; surgery