Objective To evaluate the effect of the endotracheal tube (ETT) depth on the efficacy of bronchial blocker when used for one-lung ventilation.Methods Sixty patients of both sexes,aged 46-78 yr,weighing 48-85 kg,with body mass index＜30 kg/m2,scheduled for elective thoracotomy requiring one-lung ventilation,were divided into 2 groups (n =30 each) using a random number table:the distance between the tip of ETT and the carina was 3 cm group (group Ⅰ) and the ETT cuff was placed at 2 cm below the glottis group (group Ⅱ).The bronchial blocker was inserted under the guidance of a fiberoptic bronchoscope.The ETT depth,time to bronchial blocker position,development of bronchial blocker displacement and increase in airway peak pressure,degree of lung collapse,severity of postoperative tracheal mucous membrane injury and development of sore throat and hoarseness were recorded.Results Compared with group Ⅰ,the ETT depth was significantly shallower,the time to bronchial blocker position was shortened,postoperative tracheal mucous membrane injury was attenuated (P＜0.05 or 0.01),and no significant change was found in the incidence of bronchial blocker displacement and increase in airway peak pressure,degree of lung collapse or incidence of sore throat and hoarseness in group Ⅱ (P＞0.05).Conclusion The ETT depth the ETT cuff placed at 2 cm below the glottis can improve the efficacy of bronchial blocker when used for one-lung ventilation.

As the dilution procedure was applied, a simple, rapid and cost-effective high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for determination of aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, and G2 was successfully by performed in a total 83 samples of 10 traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), which were collected from 5 different hospital pharmacies and 5 different medical stores in Guangzhou city. Matrix effects of these 10 TCMs were ranged from 80.23% to 115.5% in low, intermediate and high concentration levels, indicating that the negative effect was overcome in this study. Meanwhile, the analysis method was proved to be stable and reliable during the whole analysis using Semen Armeniacae Amarum spiked 3 concentration levels of standard solution as quality control samples and the RSD < 6.6% was obtained. The contamination levels of 83 investigated samples were 13.89% and 17.02% in hospital pharmacies and medical stores, respectively. The result was presented to provide relevant reference and supplement to those researchers in TCMs analysis and screening.
Aflatoxin B1 ; analysis ; Aflatoxins ; analysis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drug Contamination ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Quality Control ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; methods

Objective To investigate the effect of Rivastaban tablet combined with psychological intervention after radiofrequency ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Methods According to the random number table method, 86 patients of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation ablation were divided into the control group and the observation group. The control group was treated with Rivastaban table and routine nursing. The observation group was given psychological intervention on the basis treatment of the control group. The quality of life of two groups was evaluated by SF-36 quality of life scale, anxiety and depression symptoms of two groups were evaluated before and after the intervention. Recurrence of two groups were observed by followed-up of 6 to 12 months. Results The anxiety and depression scores of the observation group were significantly lower than those of the control group. The anxiety and depression scores of the two groups were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<0.05). The body function, physical character, social function, body pain, body emotion, vitality, mental health and overall health score of the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). The recurrence rate was 4.65% (2/43) in the observation group, which was significantly lower than (18.60%, 8/43) in the control group (χ2=4.07, P=0.04). Conclusion Radiotherapy with radiofrequency ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation combined with Rivastaban tablet plus psychological intervention could help improve the mental state of patients, reduce their recurrence and improve their quality of life.

OBJECTIVETo explore the diagnostic value of whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging score (WORMS) in knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

METHODSFrom November 2009 to January 2011,70 patients with KOA combined with knee effusion among outpatient and inpatient were analyzed retrospectively. Among the patients, 12 patients were male, 58 patients were female,ranging in age from 46 to 75 years,with a mean age of (59.66 +/- 9.93) years. The clinical symptoms were evaluated by WOMAC, the imaging of KOA was assessed by K-L score and WORMS, and COMP and CTX- II were measured respectively by ELISA. The correlation analyses and multiple linear regression analysis were studied to determine associations among biomarkers, clinical variables and radiographic findings of knee joints.

RESULTSThe average scores of WOMAC and WORMS were (57.50 +/- 8.20) and (64.54 +/- 16.45) respectively. The median of CTX- II nd COMP were 2.42 ng/ml and 4.56 ng/ml respectively. Grouped by less than the lowest quartile and more than the highest quartile of WORMS, COMP was significantly different (Z=2.04, P=0.039), but there was no significant difference in CTX-II (Z=0.79, P=0.427). WORMS were positively correlated with WOMAC and K-L score (r=0.777, P<0.01; r=0.716, P<0.01; respectively); WOMAC was also positively correlated with K-L score (r=0.692, P<0.01). WORMS's cartilage, osteophytes and synovitis were positively correlated with WOMAC, K-L score and COMP respectively (r=0.771, P<0.01; r=0.509, P<0.01; r=0.917, P<0.01). It was determined by stepwise regression that the KOA was mainly affected by WORMS, K-L score (P=0.015, P=0.025 respectively) when WOMAC as a dependent variable, age, gender, K-L score, WORMS, COMP and CTX- II as independent variables (F=20.327, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONWORMS has a better reference value for diagnosis of KOA. The expression of COMP is high in the synovial fluid when WORMS at the high point. The clinical symptoms of knee osteoarthritis are mainly affected by WORMS and K-L score.

Aged ; Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein ; Collagen Type I ; analysis ; Extracellular Matrix Proteins ; analysis ; Female ; Glycoproteins ; analysis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Matrilin Proteins ; Middle Aged ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Peptides ; analysis

Effective biomarkers for clinical usage of osteoarthritis are still limited. It was confirmed that C-terminal crosslinking telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX- II) was a specific marker reflecting degradation of articular cartilage. Detection of CTX- II could promptly reflect level of cartilage injury and degradation ,diagnose OA,predict its progress,monitor effects of drug treatment, thus, reflect the condition of osteoarthritis patient indirectly. Application of CTX- II focused mainly on in the early stage of OA and need together to detect with other biomarkers,in order to more accurately reflection of the pathological changes of OA,but the specific clinical significance of CTX- II results still need to improve further.
Biomarkers ; analysis ; Cartilage, Articular ; pathology ; Collagen Type II ; analysis ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Osteoarthritis ; diagnosis ; Peptide Fragments ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo evaluate fungal contamination on the surface of Chinese herbal medicines and explore an appropriate method for fast and efficient identification of contaminant fungi.

METHODChinese herbal medicines were first washed and the washing solution was plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) to obtain the pure isolates. For molecular identification, two new pairs of specific primers were designed according to ITS region of fungi genome sequences. The strains were identified through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence analysis.

RESULTFifty fungal strains were obtained from the surface of 15 Chinese herbal medicines with the percent of contaminated samples of 93.3%. Twenty-seven strains among them were successfully identified.

CONCLUSIONFungal contamination on the surface of Chinese herbal medicines is quite common. Although different fungal species were isolated, the genus Aspergillus was the predominant. The primer pairs developed in this study are compatible and can be used to identify fungal species from the surface of Chinese herbal medicines.

Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Fungi ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

Objective To investigate the effect of different concentrations of magnesium-calcium alloy extract on the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP3) in human colonic epithelial NCM460 cells.Methods The different concentrations of extracts (the volume fraction was 10％,50％ and 100％ respectively) were made with magnesium-calcium alloy.The 5 × 106 L-1 NCM460 suspension was randomly divided into control group,experimental group 1,experimental group 2 and experimental group 3.The cells in the control group were cultured by 2 000 μL high glucose Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (containing 10％ volume fraction of fetal bovine serum).The cells in the experimental group 1,2 and 3 were cultured by 2 000 μL magnesium-calcium alloy extract with volume fraction of 10％,50％ and 100％ respectively.The expressions of MMP9 and TIMP3 mRNA in NCM460 cells was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction,and the expression of MMP9 and TIMP3 protein in NCM460 cells was detected by Western blot at after one,three and five days of cultivation respectively.Results The expression of MMP9 mRNA and TIMP3 mRNA in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 1,2 and 3 was significantly lower than that in the control group after one day of cultivation (P ＜ 0.05).After three and five days of cultivation,the expression of MMP9 mRNA in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 1 was significantly lower than that in the control group (P ＜ 0.05),but the expression of MMP9 mRNA in the NCM460 cells of the experimental group 2 and 3 was significantly higher than that in the control group and the experimental group 1 (P ＜ 0.05).The expression of MMP9 mRNA in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 3 was significantly higher than that in the experimental group 2 after five days of cultivation (P ＜ 0.05).The expression of MMP9 mRNA in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 1,2 and 3 after three and five days of cultivation was significantly higher than that after one day of cultivation(P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the expression of MMP9 mRNA in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 1 between three and five days of cultivation (P ＞ 0.05).The expression of MMP9 mRNA in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 2 and 3 after five days of cultivation was significantly higher than that after three days of cultivation(P ＜ 0.05).The expression of TIMP3 mRNA in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 2 and 3 was significantly higher than that in the experimental group 1 after one day of euhivation (P ＜ 0.05).After three days of cultivation,the expression of TIMP3 mRNA in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 1,2 and 3 was significantly lower than that in the control group (P ＜ 0.05);the expression of TIMP3 mRNA in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 2 was significantly lower than that in the experimental group 1 and 3 (P ＜ 0.05).After five days of cultivation,the expression of TIMP3 mRNA in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 1,2 and 3 was significantly higher than that in the control group (P ＜ 0.05).The expression of TIMP3 mRNA in NCM460 cells after three and five days of cultivation was significantly higher than that after one day of cultivation (P ＜ 0.05),and the expression of TIMP3 after five days of cultivation was significantly higher than that after three days of cultivation in the experimental group 1 (P ＜ 0.05).The expression of TIMP3 mRNA in NCM460 cells after three days of cultivation was significantly lower than that after one day of cultivation (P ＜ 0.05),and the expression of TIMP3 after five days of cultivation was significantly higher than that after one and three days of cultivation in the experimental group 2 (P ＜ 0.05).The expression of TIMP3 mRNA in NCM460 cells after five days of cultivation was significantly higher than that after one and three days of cultivation in the experimental group 3 (P ＜ 0.05).After five days of cultivation,there was no significant difference in the expression of MMP9 protein in NCM460 cells between the experimental group 1 and control group (P ＞ 0.05),the expression of MMP9 protein in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 2 and 3 was significantly higher than that in the control group and the experimental group 1 (P ＜ 0.05),but there was no significant difference in the expression of MMP9 protein in NCM460 cells between the experimental group 2 and 3 (P ＞ 0.05).After five days of cultivation,the expression of TIMP3 protein in NCM460 cells of the experimental group 1,2 and 3 was significantly higher than that in the control group (P ＜0.05);but there was no significant difference in the expression of TIMP3 protein in NCM460 cells among the experimental group 1,2and 3 (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The high concentration of magnesium-calcium alloy extract has certain influence on the expression of MMP9 and TIMP3 gene in NCM460 cells,which may lead to the early inflammatory reaction,and the mechanism may be related to the calcium ion concentration in the extract.

ObjectiveRecent studies revealed that the transcription factor EB (TFEB) plays an important role in regulating autophagy, reducing intracellular lipids, and inhibiting atherosclerosis. This study aims to explore the effects of atorvastatin (ATV) on autophagy and cholesterol levels of foam cells by activating TFEB.MethodsHuman mononuclear cell line THP-1 was cultured in vitro and induced to differentiate into macrophages using phorbol ester. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) was added to macrophages, which were induced for 48 hours to establish a foam cell model. The experiment was divided into four groups: blank group, model group (oxLDL group), oxLDL+ Chloroquine (CQ) group, oxLDL+ ATV group, and oxLDL+CQ+ ATV group. Cells in each group were treated with drugs for 48 h. The toxicity of ATV and chloroquine on the cells was detected by the CCK8 method. Oil red O staining was used to test the level of lipid droplets. Oxidase method was used to detect levels of intracellular free cholesterol (FC), total cholesterol (TC) and others related to. Cholesterol efflux fluorescence analysis was used to determine the cholesterol efflux rate of the cells. Expression of I, P62, TFEB, LAMP 1 protein was determined by Western blot.ResultsThe results of the CCK8 method showed that the cell survival rate decreased significantly with the increase of ATV and CQ concentrations (P<0.01). Compared to the blank group, the levels of lipid droplets, FC, TC, and CE/TC in the model group significantly increased (P<0.05), and the cholesterol outflow rate significantly decreased (P<0.05). Compared to the model group, the intracellular lipid droplets, FC, TC, and CE/TC levels in the oxLDL+CQ group elevated significantly (P<0.05), while the cholesterol outflow rate decreased significantly (P<0.05). The intracellular lipid droplets, FC, TC, and CE/TC contents in the oxLDL+ATV group decreased significantly (P<0.05), and the cholesterol outflow rate increased significantly (P<0.05). Compared to the oxLDL+CQ group, the intracellular lipid droplets, FC, TC, and CE/TC content in the oxLDL+CQ+ATV group decreased significantly (P<0.05), while the cholesterol outflow rate increased significantly (P<0.05). Western blotting results showed that protein expression levels of LC3II/I, P62 and TFEB were decreased in the model histone in comparison to the blank group (P<0.05). Compared to the expression levels of LC3II/I, P62, TFEB and LAMP1 ((1.006±0.052), (0.183±0.013), (0.333±0.020), and (0.957±0.026)) in the model group, the expression levels of oxLDL+CQ histamine ((1.594±0.017), (0.257±0.006), (0.477±0.024), and (0.957±0.026)) were significantly higher (P<0.05).The protein expression levels of LC3II/I, TFEB and LAMP1 in oxLDL+ATV group ((1.146±0.060), (0.540±0.031), and (1.027±0.054)) were increased, while the protein expression levels of P62 (0.115±0.009) were decreased (P<0.05). Compared to LC3II/I and P62 in oxLDL+CQ group, the expression level of oxLDL+CQ+ATV histone was decreased ((1.419±0.036) and (0.165±0.006)), and the difference was statistically significant (P< 0.05).ConclusionATV can increase the cholesterol outflow rate of macrophages, reduce the level of cholesterol and lipid droplets in macrophages, and reduce the formation of foam cells. The mechanisms behind this are still unknown, which may be related to the activation of TFEB by ATV and influencing the process of autophagy.

To detect the expression level of ICOS on Th9 cells in mice infected with Schistosoma japonicum, and investigate the relation between ICOS signaling and Th9 cell polarization.Twenty-five mice with S. japonicum infection were used as models. IL-9⁺cells in CD4⁺ T cells and ICOS⁺ cells in Th9 cells of the mice were detected by flow cytometry 0, 4, 7, 9 weeks and 12 weeks after the infection.Compared with that 0 week after the infection, the proportion of Th9 cells in CD4⁺ T cells of the mice significantly increased 4, 7, 9, 12 weeks after the infection (all P < 0.05), and the proportion of ICOS⁺ cells in Th9 cells also markedly improved (P < 0.05).In S. japonicum infection, the ICOS signaling may have a regulatory effect on Th9 cell polarization.

OBJECTIVETo perform variation and phylogenetics analysis on the SARS-CoV genome sequence (PUMC01) isolated in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

METHODSThe cDNA library of SARS-CoV (PUMC01 isolate) was constructed by means of random-priming strategy. Random selected plasmid was sequenced and the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-PUMC01 was assembled by conventional methods (The Genebank Accession No. of SARS-CoV-PUMC01 is AY350750). The variation and phylogenetics analysis were performed by comparing the PUMC01 sequence with other SARS-CoV isolates.

RESULTSTen variation sites were found by comparing PUMC01 isolate with Tor2 and Urbani isolates. In phylogenetic analysis of 18 SARS-CoV isolates, two classes were observed and there is different differential time between these two classes and the different isolates in each class.

CONCLUSIONSThe evidence of phylogenetic analysis of different SARS-CoV isolates from different region is instructive for understanding the clinical relations between the different isolates and the transmission chain of SARS-CoV.

Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; China ; DNA, Viral ; genetics ; Genetic Variation ; Genome, Viral ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; SARS Virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Viral Proteins ; genetics