AIM: To investigate the contribution of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) to the regulation of calpain system in infarcted myocardium. METHODS: Rat myocardial infarction (MI) model was established by permanent ligation of the left coronary artery. The treatment with the ACEI inhibitor rampril (1 mg?kg~-1 ?d~-1 ) was started 7 days prior to surgery. On day 1, 3, 7 and 14 after MI, protein levels of calpainⅠ, Ⅱ and calpastatin were determined in left ventricular free wall (LVFW), interventricular septum (IS) and right ventricule. RESULTS: CalpainⅠprotein level was increased in IS 14 d post MI, whereas the protein level of calpainⅡ was maximally increased in LVFW 3 d post MI. Rampril decreased protein up-regulation of calpainⅠ and Ⅱ, and reduced infarct size and interstitial fibrosis. Calpastatin protein expression was not affected by ACEI. CONCLUSIONS: CalpainⅠ is involved in cardiac remodelling in the late and calpainⅡ contributes to cardiac tissue damage in the early phase of MI. The heart protective effect of ACEI may be related to the inhibition of calpain system in the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction.

Objective To explore the epidemiological characteristics,clinical manifestations,diagnosis and treatment of Fasciola gigantica infection,and to provide reference for future diagnosis and treatment.Methods Four cases of confirmed Fasciola gigantica infection were analyzed retrospectively for epidemiological information,clinical manifestations,laboratory results,imaging findings,diagnosis and treatment outcomes.Results Four Fasciola gigantica infection cases were farmers from Binchuan County,Yunnan Province.All presented with fever,hepatalgia,percussion pain,hepatomegaly,eosinophilia,hyperglobulinemia,neutrophilia and anemia.Computed tomography (CT) scans showed multiple low density shadows scattered in the liver parenchyma.Eggs of Fasciola gigantica were detected in feces of the patients,and results of antibody against Fasciola gigantica detected by enzyme-linked immunosorhent assay (ELISA) were positive.Triclabendazole treatment was effective.Conclusion Human Fasciola gigantica infection is rare,without specific clinical manifestations,and triclabendazole is the first choice of treatment.

Objective To investigate the effects of Mandarin speech rate on Mandarin acceptable noise level test in normal hearing adults.Methods Using the national Putonghua proficiency test material to produce 0.8 times,1.0 times and 1.2 times speed rate of ANL test materials.ANL tests were measured for 58 normal hearing a-dults using different peed matetrials.For each case,the most comfortable loudness(MCL)and background noise lev-el(BNL)were found.The ANL was then computed by subtracting the mean BNL from MCL.ResuIts Statistic anal-ysis indicated that there were no significant differences of the ANL(P>0.05)among the differenct speed materials, there were no correlation between MCL-ANL (P>0.05),negatively correlation between BNL-ANL(P<0.05)a-mong the differenct speed materials.ConcIusion Mandarin speech speed does not effect ANL test,the more the in-dividual’s ability to accept the background noise,the smaller the value of ANL.

Objective To analyze the changes of Blood Cell Count and D-dimer concentration in lung cancer patients with thrombosis.Methods ①554 cases of patients with lung cancer were included between January 2012 and November 2013,75 patients with other diseases which lead to high coagulation state were excluded,blood cell count and D-dimer concentration were compared between 64 lung cancer patients were the cases with thrombosis with 415 lung cancer patients were the con-trol group without thrombosis.②Color doppler ultrasonography was taken as the golden standard,receiver operating charac-teristic curves (ROC)were drawn for indexes which had significance in method.Results ①Compared with lung cancer pa-tients without thrombosis,lung cancer patients without thrombosis had decreased red blood cell count (RBC),increased white blood cell count (WBC)and D-dimer.And there were no significant change in platelet (PLT).②The area under curve (AUC)of ROC in RBC,WBC and D-dimer were 0.662,0.637 and 0.896,respectively.By thecut-off values of RBC>4.06× 1012 L,WBC<5.37×109/L and D-dimer<4.02 mg/L,the negative predictive values of RBC,WBC and D-dimer for diagno-sis of lung cancer patient with thrombosis were 93%,93% and 96%,respectively.By the cut-off value of D-dimer>4.02 mg/L,the positive predictive value of D-dimer for diagnosis of lung cancer patient with thrombosis was 6 6%.Conclusion RBC,WBC and D-dimer were related with the progress of thrombosis in lung cancer patients.RBC,WBC and D-dimer have good negative prediction effect on lung cancer patients with thrombosis.D-dimer had positive effect for diagnosis of lung cancer with thrombosis.

Adult ; Female ; Gas Poisoning ; drug therapy ; Glycoproteins ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quinuclidines ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the erectile and ejaculatory function of sacral tumor patients after sacral nerve root resection and investigate the relationship of erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction (EED) with the level of sacral nerve injury.

METHODSThis retrospective study included 47 male patients aged 16 to 63 (32.6 +/- 6.8) years treated by sacral tumor resection between January 2008 and August 2013. According to the levels of the sacral nerve roots spared in surgery, the patients were divided into four groups: bilateral S1-S3 (n=16), unilateral S1-S3 (n=21), unilateral S1-S2 (n=6), and unilateral S1 (n=4). The patients were followed up for 12 to 41 (27.2 +/- 10.9) months by questionnaire investigation, clinic review, and telephone calls about their erectile and ejaculatory function at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery and in August 2013.

RESULTSIn the bilateral S1-S3 group, the incidence rates of EED were 31.25% (5/16), 25% (4/16), and 12.5% (2/16) at 3, 6, and 12 months respectively after surgery, with recovery of erectile and ejaculatory function in August 2013. The incidence rates of EED in the unilateral S1-S3 group were 85.71% (18/21), 71.43% (15/21), 52.38% (11/21), and 42.86% (9/21) at 3, 6 and 12 months and in August 2013, respectively; those in the unilateral S1-S2 group were 100% (6/6), 83.33% (5/6), 83.33% (5/6), and 66.67% (4/6) at the four time points; and those in the unilateral S1 group were all 100% (4/4). No statistically significant differences were found in the incidence rate of EED among the patients of different ages or tumor types (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe incidence of postoperative EED in male patients treated by sacral tumor resection is closely related to the mode of operation. Sparing the S3 nerve root at least unilaterally in sacral tumor resection is essential for protecting the erectile and ejaculatory function of the patient.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Ejaculation ; physiology ; Erectile Dysfunction ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Organ Sparing Treatments ; Peripheral Nervous System Neoplasms ; surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; epidemiology ; Postoperative Period ; Retrospective Studies ; Sacrum ; Spinal Nerve Roots ; injuries ; surgery ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

Acupuncture Therapy ; instrumentation ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Hiccup ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the effect of growth inhibition and apoptosis induction of sunitinib-liposome-loaded microbubbles on renal carcinoma cell strain.Methods GRC-1 cell strain was cultured in vitro,and was divided into 6 groups:blank control group,pure microbubbles group,pure lipsomes group,sunitinib group,sunitinib-liposome-loaded microbubbles without ultrasound treat group,sunitinib liposome-loaded microbubbles with ultrasound treat group.Growth inhibition in different groups was observed at different time with MTT assay,apoptosis induction with Sigma-FlTC technology and transmission electron microscope.Results The growth inhibition and apoptosis promotion of GRC-1 cell were significantly increased in sunitinib-liposome-loaded microbubbles with ultrasound treat group compared to the other groups.Conclusions Microbubble guided sunitinih delivery can increase the effect of the growth inhibition and apoptosis induction of GRC-1 cells,which may provide an more effective approach for cancer treatment.

Objective To explore the changes and clinical significance of levels of serum vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)and endostatin in smokers. Methods In a case-control study,levels of serum VEGF and endostatin were determined in 82 smokers with lung cancer,82 pair-matched smokers without lung cancer and 20 healthy non-smokers by enzyme-linked immunoabsent assay(ELISA) or competitive enzyme immunoassay.Results The level of serum VEGF in smokers with lung anncer[(16.1±7.9)ng/ml]was markedly higher than that in the other two groups(both P＜0.01).The level of serum VEGF in smokers without lung cancer was significantly higher than that in healthy non-smokers(P＜0.05).The level of serum endostatin in smokers with lung cancer was significantly higher than that in healthy nonsmokers(P＜0.01),but was not significantly different from that in smokers without lung cancer(P＞0.05),and that in smokers without lung cancer was significantly higher than that in healthy non-smokers (P＜0.05).Notably,the ratio of endostatin to VEGF in smokers with lung cancer(1.3±0.5)was significantly lower than that in the other two groups(both P＜0.01).However.there was no significant difference in it between smokers without lung cancer and healthy non-smokers(P＞0.05).The level of serum VEGF correlated significantly to that of endostatin in smokers both with and without lung cancer(P＜0.01).Conclusions These findings suggest that smoking may result in imbalance of levels of serum endostatin and VEGF leading to tumorigenesis.The ratio of endostatin to VEGF can be used as an early diagnostic indicator for lung cancer in smokers.Periodic determination of levels of serum VEGF and endostatin as well as the ratio of endostatin to VEGF is of clinical importance.