OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical effect and safety of chiropractic in treating cervicogenic sudden hearing loss.

METHODSFrom January 2011 to October 2013, 90 patients with cervicogenic sudden hearing loss were randomly divided into treatment group and control group according to the random number table produced by SPSS 19.0 software. In the treatment group, there were 17 males and 28 females, aged from 31 to 62 years old with an average of (47.57±9.43) years; course of disease was from 1 to 3 days with an average of (1.43±0.68) days; pure-tone audiometry score was from 46.5 to 77.8 dB with the mean of (61.20±9.83) dB; Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) score was from 17 to 31 scores with an average of (23.46±7.18) scores. In the control group, there were 15 males and 30 females, aged from 28 to 64 years old with an average of (45.77±6.99) years; course of disease was from 1 to 3 days with an average of (1.50±0.73) days; pure-tone audiometry score was from 48.1 to 75.0 dB with the mean of (63.91±8.05) dB; Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) score was from 20 to 29 scores with an average of (25.61±10.43) scores. The patients of control group were treated with dexamethasone intravenous drip of 10 mg, 3 days later, decreased to 5 mg, 3 days again. And with the methycobal intravenous drip of 500 μg, treatment continued for 10 days. The patients of treatment group were treated with chiropractic additionally except for the therapeutic methods of control group. Chiropractic included local muscle loosening, attacking point, bilateral pulling atlanto-axial joint, and continuous treatment for 10 days. The pure-tone audiometry score and NPQ score were compared between two groups after treatment.

RESULTSAfter the treatment, pure-tone audiometry score and NPQ score in treatment group improved to (40.23± 8.14) dB and (12.70±8.29) scores respectively, which were obviously better than that of control group's (37.70±10.61) dB and (21.24±11.13) scores (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONCompared with routine method for cervicogenic sudden hearing loss, additional chiropractic can improve hearing and relieve neck pain effectively.

Cervical Vertebrae ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Manipulation, Chiropractic ; methods ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged

Objective Through observing the clinical effect and the changes of gastrointestinal hormones caused by the treatment of different moxibustion time of the superficial gastritis patients due to the spleen and stomach weakness,to investigate the regulation of the dose-effect relation and the adjustment function on gastrointestinal hormone of serum of patients caused by the warming and nourish effect with moxibustion.Methods Eighty-four superficial gastritis Patients due to the spleen and stomach weakness were divided into group 1(treated by warming moxibustion for twenty minutes)(n=28),group 2(treated by warming moxibustion for forty minutes)(n=28),and drug(n=28)groups.The changes of the content of the Prostaglandin E2(PGE2)、Somatostatin(SS)and Epidermal growth factor(EGF)were observed before and after treatment between 3 groups and the clinical effect in different time.Results ①All 3 groups were compared after treatment,their clinical effect had no significant difference(P＞0.05):②Compared with pre-treatment,the superficial gastritis symptom score had a very significant difference after the treatment(3.07±1.54)、(3.11±1.40)、(3.79±2.25)and during the 1 month follow-up(2.25±1.32)、(2.57±1.10)、(4.11±2.48),(P＜0.01);③After treatment,the content of the PGE2 of the serum was increased obviously,compared with pre-treatment.There was a significant difference in each group(33.751±1.267)pg/ml、(33.774±8.583)pg/ml、(32.583±8.259)pg/ml,(P＜0.05);After warming moxibustion for forty minutes,the content of the EGF of the serum was increased obviously,compared with pre-treatment,showing a significant difference(1.331±0.823)pg/ml,(P＜0.05).Conclusion ①All of the three treatment methods had significant curative effect,and the curative effect had no significant difference among these 3 groups.But the moxibustion groups were markedly higher than the drug group in long-term result;②The moxibustion had established adjustment function on gastrointestinal hormone of the superficial gastritis patients due to the spleen and stomach weakness,which suggested that the gastrointestinal hormone may participate in its onset and the process of pathology and physiology.

OBJECTIVE Bergapten (BG), is a furanocoumarin derived from herbal and citrus extracts can act as antioxidant and selective anticancer agents.The current study aimed to investigate whether bergapten would attenuate immunosenescence and to exploreits immunomodulatory effects on immune responses in D-galactose-induced aging BALB/c mice.METHODS Firstly,mice were given D-galactose(180 mg·kg-1)subcutaneous injections for 30 d.To evaluate the establishment of the aging-related effect in mice, serum samples of BALB/c mice were collected from tail vein. Aging BALB/c mice were freely divided into three groups: negative control group received 1% Tween 80 solution only, named D-gal group. Positive groups were received BG administration at the dose of 20 and 100 mg·kg-1, named D-gal+BG(20)group and D-gal+BG(100)group,respectively.Effects of bergapten on T lympho-cyte proliferation and flow cytometry were assessed by using the splenic cell suspension. Enzyme linked immunospot kits were used to quantitatively determine interferon-γ(IFN-γ)and interleukin-4(IL-4) levels of the isolated serum. Immunophenotype was determined by using mixture of antibodies includ-ing anti-CD3,anti-CD4,and anti-CD8.RESULTS Bergapten(20 mg·kg-1)therapy can modulate immu-nity against viral epidemics and attenuate aging-induced immune deficiency(P<0.01),which was correlat-ed with the decline in the activation of the Th and Tc responses in D-galactose induced aging BALB/c mice.According to the in vivo results,bergapten exposure up-regulated the secretion of IFN-γ and IL-4 in T-helper 1(Th1)and T helper 2(Th2)cells(P<0.05,P<0.01).Additionally,BG(20 mg·kg-1)restored antigen-specific CD4+and CD8+T cells in aging models (P<0.05, P<0.01), which may help to curing chronic infections. CONCLUSION The beneficial effect of bergapten in D-galactose induced aging BALB/c mice may be due to the Th and Tc responses activation.

COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread around the world till these days, and it is urgent to develop more safe and effective new drugs. Due to the limited P3 biosafety laboratories for directly screening inhibitors of virulent viruses with high infectivity, it is necessary to develop rapid and efficient screening methods for viral proteases and other related targets. The main protease (M^pro), which plays a key role in the replication cycle of SARS-CoV-2, is highly conserved and has no homologous proteases in humans, making it an ideal target for drug development. From two different levels, namely, molecular level and cellular level, this paper summarizes the reported screening methods of SARS-CoV-2 M^pro inhibitors through a variety of representative examples, expecting to provide references for further development of SARS-CoV-2 M^pro inhibitors.

As a common protease with high similarity among coronavirus species, the main protease (M^pro) of SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for the catalytic hydrolysis of viral precursor proteins into functional proteins, which is essential for coronavirus replication and is one of the ideal targets for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs. This paper reviews the main protease inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2, including their molecular structures, potencies and drug-like profiles, binding modes and structure-activity relationships, etc.

OBJECTIVETo explore the roles of the closure disorder of Eustachian tube in occurrence and development of otitis media with effusion (OME).

METHODSFifty-six adults with OME, 16 children with OME, 66 health adults and 20 health children were selected according to diagnosis criteria. Sniffing test was measured by Tubo-tymanoaerodynamic graphy and the self-designed questionnaires were surveyed in all cases.

RESULTSThe positive levels in sniffing test were regarded as external auditory canal press 10dapa lower than baseline of the pressure. The positive rate was 64.86% in adults with OME, which was higher than health adults (P < 0.01). The positive rate was 70.83% in children with OME which was higher than health children (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe higher positive rate of sniff test in OME patients suggests that closure disorder in Eustachian tube playing an important role in the occurrence and development of OME.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Eustachian Tube ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Otitis Media with Effusion ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo elucidate the details of operative technique of anastomotic posterior urethroplasty for traumatic posterior urethral strictures in attempt to offer a successful result.

METHODSWe reviewed the clinical data of 106 patients who had undergone anastomotic repair for posterior urethral strictures following traumatic pelvic fracture between 1979 and 2004. Patients'age ranged from 8 to 53 years (mean 27 years). Surgical repair was performed via perinea in 72 patients, modified transperineal repair in 5 and perineoabdominal repair in 29. Follow-up ranged from 1 to 23 years (mean 8 years).

RESULTSAmong the 77 patients treated by perineal approaches, 69 (95.8%) were successfully repaired and 27 out of the 29 patients (93.1%) who were repaired by perineoabdominal protocols were successful. The successful results have sustained as long as 23 years in some cases. Urinary incontinence did not happen in any patients while impotence occurred as a result of the anastomotic surgery.

CONCLUSIONSThree important skills or principles will ensure a successful outcome, namely complete excision of scar tissues, a completely normal mucosa ready for anastomosis at both ends of the urethra, and a tension-free anastomosis. When the urethral stricture is below 2.5 cm long, restoration of urethral continuity can be accomplished by a perineal procedure. If the stricture is over 2.5 cm long, a modified perineal or transpubic perineoabdominal procedure should be used. In the presence of a competent bladder neck, anastomotic surgery does not result in urinary incontinence. Impotence is usually related to the original trauma and rarely (5.7%) to urethroplasty.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Anastomosis, Surgical ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Urethra ; surgery ; Urethral Stricture ; etiology ; surgery ; Urologic Surgical Procedures

Clinical evidence of hematopoietic restoration with umbilical cord blood (UCB) grafts indicates the UCB can be a useful source of hematopoietic stem cells for routine bone marrow reconstitution. Considering (10 +/- 5) x 10(8) nucleared cells per cord blood unit, there is a potential limitation for the use of cord blood in adults, which, however, can be overcome by ex vivo expansion of cells. A prerequisite for expansion is the significantly higher recovery of MNC, CD34+ cells and colony-forming cells (CFC) by thawing cryopreserved MNC. Cooling rate always acts as a critical factor that can affect the recovery of cells. Although the rate of - 1 degrees C/min is adopted in most of the cryopreservations, no data has been reported about the detailed effects of different cooling rates. The aim of the study was to reveal the different effects of cooling rates on cryopreservation of hematopoietic stem cells from cord blood. UCB samples were collected, and cryopreserved as mononuclear cells (MNC) with different cooling rates of - 0.5 degrees C/min, - 1 degrees C/min, - 5 degrees C/min, and the recovery and viability of MNC and CD34+ cells, the clonogenic capacity and the ex vivo expansion potential of UCB progenitor cells were evaluated after thawing. With - 1 degrees C/min cooling rate, the recovery of MNC reached 93.3% +/- 1.8% , viability 95.0% +/- 3.9% , recovery of CD34+ cells 80.0% +/- 17.9% , and clonogenic recovery were 87.1% +/- 5.5%, 88.5% +/- 8.9%, 86.2% +/- 7.4% for BFU-E CFU-GM CFU-MK, respectively. After 14 days of liquid culture, no significant difference was detected in CFC expansion between fresh and cryopreserved MNC cells with - 1 degrees C/min cooling rate, but this was not the case with - 0.5 degreesC/min and - 5 degrees C/min. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that controlling the rate at - 1 degrees C/min is more suitable for cryopreservation of hematopoietic stem cells than - 0.5 degrees C/min and - 5 degrees C/min.
Cell Survival ; physiology ; Cells, Cultured ; Cryopreservation ; methods ; Erythroid Precursor Cells ; cytology ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; Flow Cytometry ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Progenitor Cells ; cytology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Humans

To optimize the culture environment and protocol of hematopoietic cells' expansion, avoiding the fluctuation caused by medium changing in stirred culture and concentration gradient in static culture, the hematopoietic cells from cord blood (CB) were cultured in a stirred bioreactor connected with a cell retention system, which is a gravity sedimentation settler designed for hematopoietic cell. Total cells expanded 11.5 and 18.6 fold respectively in the twice perfusion stirred cultures, in which CFU-Mix was expanded 23.2 and 20.4 fold, CFU-GM 13.9 fold and 21.5 fold, BFU-E 8.0 fold and 6.9 fold, CD34+ cells 17.1 fold and 15.4 fold. After 12-day culture, it was obtained that 1082 x 10(6) total cells, 6.31 x 10(6) CFU-GM, 6.2 x 10(6) CFU-Mix and 23 x 10(6) CD34+ cells from 267 x 10(6) CB mononuclear cells (MNC) in the first culture, and 1080 x 10(6) total cells, 4.65 x 10(6) CFU-GM, 11.0 x 10(6) CFU-Mix, and 25.0 x 10(6) CD34+ cells from 180 x 10(6) CB MNC. These two cultures met to the clinical scale. Due to the optimized dissolved oxygen (DO) and stable culture environment, the rate of stem/progenitor cells to total cells in the perfusion culture was higher than that in T-flask cell-retention feeding culture. But the cell growth was inhibited in the later phase of perfusion culture, when the cell density is high. The inhibition should be attribute to the high cell density itself. The perfusion culture environment in bioreactor with optimal DO and pH controlling is more favorable for stem/progenitor cells' maintenance and expansion, and the expanded cells' number has reached a clinical scale. But the high cell density in the later phase of perfusion culture caused inhibition to mature hematopoietic cell's growth.
Bioreactors ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Cells, Cultured ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo investigate clinicopathological characteristics and the pattern of lymph node metastasis of patients with gastric remnant cancer.

METHODSThe data of the clinicopathological characteristics and the pattern of lymph node metastasis in 56 patients with gastric remnant cancer treated from March 1994 to December 2008 was investigated and compared with those in 1171 patients with primary gastric cancer treated over the same period.

RESULTSFifty-six patients (4.6%) with gastric remnant cancer were enrolled in this study during the period. Compared with patients with primary gastric cancer, the age of cancer onset was older [(64.3+/-9.0) vs. (58.3+/-12.6) yrs], lymph node metastasis rate was higher (31.8% vs. 25.5%), Borrmann's classification was later and neighbor organ resection rate was higher (57.1% vs. 26.4%) in patients with gastric remnant cancer; the differences were all significant (chi2=18.800, 11.679, 9.177, 25.190; P<0.05). Patients with gastric remnant cancer who underwent lymph node dissection tended to have a higher incidence of No.10 (splenic hilar lymph node) and No.11 (splenic artery lymph node) group lymph node metastasis than those in primary gastric cancer (chi2=5.558, 6.099; P<0.05). In contrast, patients with primary gastric cancer had a higher incidence of No. 2 (left cardiac lymph node), No.3 (lesser curvature lymph node) and No.8 (common hepatic artery lymph node) group lymph node metastasis than those in gastric remnant cancer (chi2=15.508, 6.003, 4.084; P<0.05). The jejunal mesentery lymph node metastasis was 24.0% (6/25) in patients with gastric remnant cancer and the peripheral connective tissue infiltration rate was 14.3% (8/56).

CONCLUSIONSIt suggested that patients with gastric remnant cancer has different clinicopathologic characteristics and the pattern of lymph node metastasis from those with primary gastric cancer. D2 lymph node dissection of proximate gastric cancer and jejunal mesentery lymph node dissection should be the standard operation for these patients; but combined neighboring organ resection should be taken into consideration.

Age of Onset ; Aged ; Female ; Gastric Stump ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stomach Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery