Objective To observe the changes of plasma neuropeptide Y(NPY) and neurotensin(NT) levels in patients with essential hypertension and the relationship between those changes and damage of cardiac function. Methods Eighty patients of essential hypertension and 28 normal controls were chosen. The cardiac function was divided into 3 classes on the standard of New York Heart Association(NYHA). The plasma NPY,NT concentration was determined by radioimmunoassay. Results The level of NPY in hypertension patients was higher than that of the normal controls(P

Objective To investigate the molecular defects of CYPl7A1 gene in a pedigree with two 46,XY patients suffering from 17α-hydroxylase deficiency (17-OHD) and explore the steroid biosynthetic difference in carriers of 17-OHD before and after adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) test.Methods Clinical data and hormone profiles were collected from the members of the pedigree.CYPl7A1 genotyping was performed in the patients and family members with PCR-direct sequencing.A short ACTH test was evaluated in some cases.Results The CYP17 genes of the patients were proved to hold a homozygous mutation with a base deletion and a base transversion (TAC/AA) in exon 6,which produced a missense mutation of Tyr→ Lvs at codon 329 and changed the open reading frame following this codon.The hormone response of the carriers after ACTH stimulation was abnormal between the patients and normal controls.Conclusion 17-OHD in this family was caused by CYP17A1 mutation (TAC329AA):some hormonal response to ACTH stimulation Was abnormal in carriers.

Objective To investigate the correlation between vertebral artery tortuosity and posterior circulation ischemia (PCI). Methods The patients with PCI aged ≥50 years old and the controls without PCI at the same time were enrolled. CT angiography was performed in all patients. The cervical vertebral artery tortuosity was observed and rated, and the related risk factors for influencing PCI were analyzed. Results A total of 112 patients with PCI and 90 controls were enrolled. Univariate analysis showed that the proportions of patients with hypertension (80. 36% vs. 54. 44% ; χ2 = 15. 613, P < 0. 001), smoking (35. 71% vs. 18. 89% ; χ2 = 6. 974, P = 0. 008), alcohol consumption (25. 89% vs. 10. 00% ; χ2 = 8. 253, P = 0. 004), posterior circulation vascular stenosis (54. 46% vs. 24. 44% ; χ2 = 18. 578, P < 0. 001), and vertebral artery tortuosity (71. 43% vs. 48. 89% ; χ2 = 10. 695, P = 0. 001), as well as the levels of the total cholesterol (4. 96 ± 1. 26 mmol/L vs. 4. 61 ± 1. 04 mmol/L; t = - 2. 110, P = 0. 036 ), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (3. 02 ± 0. 90 mmol/L vs. 2. 69 ± 0. 78 mmol/L; t = - 2. 671, P = 0. 008 ), and fibrinogen (3. 67 ± 1. 69 mg/L vs. 3. 25 ± 0. 97 mg/L; t = - 2. 002, P = 0. 047) in the PCI group were significantly higher than those in the control group. The proportion of bilateral vertebral artery tortuosity in the PCI group was significantly higher that in the control group (30. 36% vs. 12. 22% ; χ2 = 9. 478, P =0. 002). The proportion of grade 3 vertebral artery tortuosity in the PCI group was significantly higher than that in the control group (43. 75% vs. 26. 67% ; χ2 = 6. 310, P = 0. 012). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking (odds ratio [OR] 2. 339, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1. 037-5. 278; P =0. 041), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR 1. 580,95% CI 1. 050-2. 377; P = 0. 028), hypertension (OR 2. 631, 95% CI 1. 237-5. 596; P = 0. 012), posterior circulation vascular stenosis (OR 3. 419, 95% CI 1. 638-7. 134; P = 0. 001), and vertebral artery tortuosity (OR 2. 413, 95% CI 1. 212-4. 803; P = 0. 012) were the independent risk factors for PCI. Conclusion The vertebral artery tortuosity is an independent risk factor for PCI in the middle-aged and elderly people.

Knee osteoarthritis is one of the common type of arthropathy, the clinical stage of the typical patients belongs to the middle-late stage, so it urges to improve the early diagnosis. At present, magnetic resonance imaging is most used in clinical diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis, and with the development of different MRI sequences, the sequences of early articular cartilage lesions are used in clinic. In the early diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis, the simple and practical methods such as ultrasonography is becoming a trend, and the specific biomarkers of early knee osteoarthritis have become the hot research. This overview article outlined the methods of early diagnosis from the ultrashort echo time MRI, ultrasonography and biomarkers.
Biomarkers ; analysis ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; metabolism ; Radiography ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE; survivin, a member of inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) gene family, expresses in various human cancer tissues, and may facilitate tumor cell evasion from apoptosis, and promote aberrant mitotic progression. This study was to investigate cell proliferation and apoptosis status of human breast carcinoma cell line MCF-7 after knockdown of survivin. METHODS; Small interfering RNA was transfected into MCF-7 cells to inhibit expression of survivin. mRNA and protein levels of survivin were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot. Proliferation inhibition rate of MCF-7 cells was analyzed by MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was assayed by flow cytometry (FCM). RESULTS; The expression of survivin in siRNA-transfected group decreased by 64% in comparison to untransfected group. After treatment of different concentrations of siRNA, proliferation inhibition rate and apoptosis rate of MCF-7 cells were increased. The highest proliferation inhibition rate was 60.9%, and the highest apoptosis rate was 29.0% after treatment of 200 nmol/L of siRNA. CONCLUSION; survivin siRNA might be a useful therapeutic agent for the treatment of breast carcinoma.

OBJECTIVETo study the clinical effect of arthroscopic excision of popliteal cysts through a combined anterior and posterior approach.

METHODSFrom January 2010 to December 2012,20 patients with popliteal cysts were treated with arthroscopic excision. There were 14 males and 6 females, with an average age of 49.5 years old, ranging from 45 to 65 years old. The lump has been found for 4 to 18 months,with a mean time of 12 months. Their mean sagittal diameter was 4.5 cm (ranged from 3 to 7 cm). There were 12 popliteal cysts in the left and 8 popliteal cysts in the right. The main clinical manifestation included lump at popliteal fossa, swelling and pain at knee joint and some extent of dysfunction. All diagnoses were determined according to MRI, which clearly showed the communication of cyst and articular cavity. The cyst was removed under arthroscopy, through the posterior approach and then the intra-articular lesion was treated via the anterior approach. According to Rauschning and Lindgren classification, 2 patients were grade I, 6 patients were grade II, and 12 patients were grade III. The guidelines of Rauschning and Lindgren were used to evaluate the clinical effects.

RESULTSNo complications such as the injury of blood vessel and nerve, or incision infection occurred in all patients. All the patients were followed up, and the duration ranged from 8 to 24 months, with a mean time of 16 months. According to the criteria of Rauschning and Lindgren, there were 14 cases of grade 0, and 6 cases of grade I after operation, which was improved obviously compared with that pre-operation. No cyst reoccurred and the knee joint pain was relieved.

CONCLUSIONTreatment of popliteal cysts with arthroscopic excision through a combined anterior and posterior approach is effective to remove the cyst sac and treat intra-articular diseases simultaneously, resulting in the decrease recurrence rate of cyst.

Objective To reversing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus(MRS) to methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus(MSS) by changing nutritional conditions and continuous transfer of culture .Methods MRS trains separating from clinical specimens were cultured in different conditions ,continuous cultural transfer ,and drug sensitive test were proceeded periodically to observe the phe-notypic and chemical reaction change of MRS .The mecA gene were detected of the original and mutant strains by polymerase chain reaction(PCR) ,then the gene sequenced and compared .Results 53 MRS strains were studied .6 strains were phenotype successful-ly converted to MSS in different cultural conditions ,among them mecA gene was undetected in 2 strains ,and down expressed in 4 strains .Conclusion The MRS strains separated from clinical specimens may revert to MSS by culture under different nutritional conditions .The mecA gene of MRS may be lost or lower expressed and the MRS and mutant strains may be different in genomics .

OBJECTIVETo probe into the method for effectively increasing complete abortion rate of medicine-induced abortion and observe pathological changes.

METHODSTwo hundred cases were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 100 cases in each group. The observation group were treated by acupuncture at Hegu (LI 4), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Neiguan (PC 6) and Kunlun (BL 60), and the control group were not treated by acupuncture. The abortion rate, bleeding condition, adverse reaction and pathological changes were observed in the two groups.

RESULTSThe complete abortion rate was 96.0% in the observation group, better than 88.0% in the control group (P < 0.05). There were significant differences between the two groups in bleeding time and pathological changes (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture can increase complete abortion rate of medicine-induced abortion, with shorter bleeding time and less residual villus.

Objective To explore the association between polymorphisms of adiponectin gene and the risk of ischemic stroke in Han population from the Northern parts of China.Methods TaqMan probe of RT-PCR was applied to detect the genotype frequency of single nucleotide polymorphism(SNPs)(rs266729 and rs2241766)of adiponectin gene in 357 ischemic stroke cases who developed the episode at first time and with 345 healthy controls.Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship of each genotype of SNPs and ischemic stroke.Results Mutation of rs2241766(T＞G)increased the risk of ischemic stroke among all the samples(0R=1.55,P=0.01)and it was still the risk factor of ischemic stroke when analyzed by multi-factors logistic regression after each factor was adjusted(OR=1.55,P=0.00).The polymorphism of rs266729 was not related to the risk of ischemic stroke among all the samples(OR=1.13,P=0.57).However,the genotype GG of rs266729 increased the risk of ischemic stroke among female population(OR=3.25,P=0.04).Conclusion The variance of rs2241766 in adiponectin gene was related to the risk of ischemic stroke in Han population from the Northern parts of China and the genotype GG of rs266729 could possibly increase the risk of ischemic stroke in women of Han population from the Northern parts of the country.

Objective To analys hyperinsulinemia in Bartter syndrome. Methods Twenty-three cases of Bartter syndrome [age (27 ±9) years;fasting serum potassium(2. 8 ±0. 5)mmol/L], 20 patients of aldosterone-producing adenoma [APA, age (45 ± 11 ) years, fasting serum potassium ( 3.0 ± 0. 4 ) mmol/L], 20 patients of idiopathic hyperaldosteronism [IHA, age (51 ± 11 ) years, fasting serum potassium (3.4 ±0. 2)mmol/L] were diagnosed in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from September 2003 to May 2008. All patients underwent 3-hours oral glucose tolerance test(3hOGTT), postural stimulation test and calculated HOMA-insulin resistance ( HOMA-IR ) and HOMA-insulin sensitivity ( HOMA-IS ) by Homeostasis model.Results The insulin area under curve-(229.0±162.4)mIU·L-1·h] was singnificantly higher than APA group [(227.7±158.6)mIU·-1·h].But HOMA-IR in Bartter group were similar to APA group( 1.96 ± 1.14 vs 1.41 ± 0. 91 ), and HOMA-IR in APA group was lower than IHA group ( 1.96 ± 1.14 vs 2.40 ± 1.60, P ＜ 0. 05 ). There was no deference in HOMA-IS among three groups,but APA group had lower level. In all three groups, the peak of insulin secretion was delayed. Conclusion Bartter syndrome patients commonly present with hyperinsulinemia.