The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of supraventricular tachycardia were systematically reviewed. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding acupuncture for supraventricular tachycardia were searched in domestic and overseas databases, and the evaluation tool of bias risk in Cochrane Handbook 5.1.0 software was used to perform the evaluation of bias risk in literature, and RevMan 5.2 software was applied for statistics and Meta-analysis. Five RCTs involving 323 patients were included. The results showed that compared with the blank control group, the acupuncture reduced the heart rate by 18.8 times/min [95% CI (12.68, 24.92)]; the clinical effective rate in the acupuncture group was superior to that in the diltiazem group [OR= 3.11, 95% CI (1.50, 6.46)]; the difference of immediate effect between propafenone and acupuncture was not significant. No reports regarding adverse events was described in 5 RCTs. As was shown in the present evidence, acupuncture is safe and effective for the treatment of supraventricular tachycardia, but the level of evidence was low and the intensity of conclusion needed to be improved.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Tachycardia, Supraventricular ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Based on the Bacillus sp., isolated from Lop Nur Desert, the technology of separation and purification and the antioxidant effect were studied. After centrifugation and vacuum filtration, the deproteinization of supernatant was operated with Sevag reagent. The crude exopolysaccharide (EPS) was obtained by precipitation with ethanol. The optimum conditions for the isolation were as follow: pH 7.0, temperature 4?C, time 1.5 h, and material to ethanol ratio 1: 4. Dissolved in water, the crude EPS was fractional separated on activated carbon column (1.5 cm ? 24 cm), eluted with distilled water, 60% ethanol, 95% ethanol, and the main fraction was collected. Then the EPS was purified on Sephadex G-100 gel column, eluted with NaCl (0.2 mol/L). Fractions (4 mL, each) were also combined according to total sugar by phenol-sulfuric acid method and protein content was determined by Coomassie brilliant blue. The results showed that EPS was relatively homogeneous glycoprotein. The data of antioxidation in vitro showed that the EPS had a high antioxidant activity, which could quench hydroxyl radical, superoxide radical and had antilipid peroxidation activity. All of these indicated that EPS was a good natural antioxidant.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men with high-normal blood pressure (HNBP).

METHODSThis study included 120 men with HNBP and another 120 with normal blood pressure (NBP) as controls. We analyzed the scores of the two groups on the International Index of Erectile Dysfunction 5 (IIEF-5).

RESULTSThe ED prevalence in the men with HNBP was 25.8%. After controlling for age, nationality, occupation, education, income, smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, obesity, fatty liver, blood lipids, blood glucose, and blood uric acid, the incidence of ED was 25.8% in the HNBP group, significantly higher than 14.2% in the NBP group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of ED is higher in men with HNBP than in those with NBP.

Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Erectile Dysfunction ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective To purify Shiga toxin Ⅱ (STX Ⅱ) of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157: H7 by affinity chromatography, and characterize its biological function. Methods The immno-affinity chromatography column was prepared by STX Ⅱ A subunit-specific antibody S1D8 coupling to Sepharose 4B matrix. The purity and specificity of STX Ⅱ molecule secreted by EHEC O157:H7 were detected by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blot, respectively. The purified toxin was serially diluted and the toxic activities to Vero cell line and mice were observed. The 50% cytotoxic dose (CD50) for Vero cell line and 100% lethal dose (LD100) for mice were calculated. The protection effect of anti-STX Ⅱ polysera to the mice against the purified toxin challenge was also observed. Results STX Ⅱ was successfully purified from culture supernatant of EHEC O157:H7 using affinity chromatography scheme. The relative molecular weights of STX Ⅱ A and B subunits were 32 000 and 7 500 confirmed by SDS-PAGE, respectively. The purified toxin could react with monoclonal antibodies against STX Ⅱ A and B subunits, respectively.The toxin was cytotoxic to Vero cell with CD50 of 20 ng/L and lethal to mice with LD100 of 5 ng.The toxin could be neutralized by anti-STX Ⅱ polysera in vivo. Conclusion STX Ⅱ is successfully purified and its toxic effects are confirmed in both cell line and mouse model.

OBJECTIVES: This study is aimed at developing a set of data groups (DGs) to be employed as reusable building blocks for the construction of the eight most common clinical documents used in China's general hospitals in order to achieve their structural and semantic standardization. METHODS: The Diagnostics knowledge framework, the related approaches taken from the Health Level Seven (HL7), the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE), and the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) and 1,487 original clinical records were considered together to form the DG architecture and data sets. The internal structure, content, and semantics of each DG were then defined by mapping each DG data set to a corresponding Clinical Document Architecture data element and matching each DG data set to the metadata in the Chinese National Health Data Dictionary. By using the DGs as reusable building blocks, standardized structures and semantics regarding the clinical documents for semantic interoperability were able to be constructed. RESULTS: Altogether, 5 header DGs, 48 section DGs, and 17 entry DGs were developed. Several issues regarding the DGs, including their internal structure, identifiers, data set names, definitions, length and format, data types, and value sets, were further defined. Standardized structures and semantics regarding the eight clinical documents were structured by the DGs. CONCLUSIONS: This approach of constructing clinical document standards using DGs is a feasible standard-driven solution useful in preparing documents possessing semantic interoperability among the disparate information systems in China. These standards need to be validated and refined through further study.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; China ; Delivery of Health Care ; Electronic Health Records ; Health Level Seven ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Information Systems ; Semantics

OBJECTIVETo investigate the feasibility and reliability on the quantitative evaluation of Colles' fracture by multislice CT (MSCT) multiplanner reconstruction (MPR).

METHODSA total of 36 patients with Colles' fracture from July 2011 to July 2014 were investigated in this study. There were 11 males and 25 females with a mean age of (42.5 ± 5.4) years old (ranged 35 to 72 years). All the patients underwent anteroposterior and lateral X-ray films and MSCT scans on wrist joints within 2 days after trauma. Images were sent to the workstation through picture archiving and conserving system (PACS). One associate chief physician independently and respectively measured the dorsal intercalation depth of distal fracture block, palmar angle and dislocation degree of wrist articular surface collapse on anteroposterior and lateral X-ray film and MSCT-MPR. The time interval between the two measurements was 2 weeks. All the data between the first and second measurement on X-ray and MPR and the mean value between the X-ray and MPR was examined with paired t-test. The pearson analyzed their correlation.

RESULTSAmong the 35 cases, 35 cases of palmar angle, 21 cases of intercalation depth and 16 cases of dislocation of wrist articular surface collapse could be measured on both X-ray and MPR. For the above parameters, the first measurement results were (12.5 ± 3.6)°, (4.5 ± 2.1) mm, (3.7 ± 1.6) mm and the second measurement results were (4.8 ± 2.2)°, (6.4 ± 3.6) mm, (2.5 ± 1.2) mm on X-ray films respectively. The first measurement results on MPR were (14.5 ± 5.3)°, (4.2 ± 1.2) mm, (5.7 ± 2.3) mm, and the results were (13.2 ± 2.6)°, (4.7 ± 2.2) mm, (4.6 ± 2.1) mm for the second measurement respectively. The three parameters between the first and second measurement on plain film had statistical difference and low correlation (r = 0.681, 0.640, 0.345, P < 0.05). The data between the first and second measurement on MPR showed that the dislocation degree of wrist articular surface collapse had statistical difference (P < 0.05) and no statistical significance was found for the other two parameters (P > 0.05), with the moderate correlation (r = 0.954, 0.854, 0.642). The three parameters had low or moderate correlation with each other on X-ray (r = 0.454, 0.532, 0.378, P < 0.05), compared with the mean value on MPR.

CONCLUSIONUsing MSCT MPR images may carry on the multiple parameter measurement of Colles fracture, to make quantitative evaluation, and repeated measurement is better reliability.

Adult ; Aged ; Colles' Fracture ; diagnostic imaging ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multidetector Computed Tomography ; methods

Objective:To explore the effect of high glucose-based peritoneal dialysis fluids on NLRP3-IL-1β in human peritoneal mesothelial cells.Methods:HMrSV5 cells (SV40 immortalized human peritoneal mesothelial cell line) were grown in type Ⅰ collagen-coated dishes in DMEM/F12 containing 10％ fetal calf serum (FCS).All experiments on HMrSV5 cells were performed between passages 5 and 10.The cells were divided into 7 groups:control,1.5％ dextrose,2.5％ dextrose,4.25％ dextrose,rotenone,thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTFA),and antimycin A.Immunoblotting was used to evaluate the expression of IL-1 β.Small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting NLRP3 was used to downregulate the expression of NLRP3 and Western blot was used to evaluate the expression of IL-1 β in human peritoneal mesothelial cells exposed to 4.25％ dextrose.In the meanwhile,resveratrol (RSV) was used to induce autophagy,3-methyladenine (3-MA) and siRNA against Beclin 1 or ATG5 were used to block autophagy,flow cytometric was used to analyze the respiring (mitotracker deep red),total (mitotracker green) and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating mitochondria (mitoSOX);Western blot was used to evaluate the expression of IL-1β.Results:The IL-1β relative expressions were 0,0.175 ±0.082,0.418 ± 0.163,2.357 ±0.288,2.642 ±0.358,3.271 ±0.462,and 0.123 ±0.091,indicating that the cells exposed to high glucose-based peritoneal dialysis fluids and cells treated with mitochondria respiratory chain key enzyme complex Ⅰ,and complex Ⅲ inhibitors increased the IL-1β expression.And we found that NLRP3 knock-down significantly blocked the upregulation of IL-1 β.In addition,the fluorescence intensity of total mitochondria and ROS-generating mitochondria in the following groups:control,negative control,RSV,3-MA,ATG5 siRNA,Beclin1 siRNA were 1.76 ± 0.42,1.83 ± 0.55,1.85 ± 0.62,7.36 ± 0.92,5.35 ± 0.77,5.06 ± 0.62 and 821.68 ± 95.12,868.15 ± 102.82,723.39 ± 92.56,1 660.08 ± 113.65,1 433.01 ± 107.24,1 562.36 ± 112.88 respectively.The increased concentrations of mitochondrial ROS and IL-1β upregulation were confirmed in the inhibition but not the induction of autophagy.We also found that downregulation of ATG5 and Beclin1 sensitized cells for the release of IL-1β induced by MSU (monosodium urate) or nigericin which was the NLRP3 inflammasome activator.RSV treatment attentuated this effect.Conclusion:Long-term application of high glucose-based peritoneal dialysis fluids can trigger the consistent activation of NLRP3-IL-1ββ in peritoneal mesothelial cells.Timely initiation of autophagy may block the NLRP3-IL-1ββ activation and provide a basis for the further development of a potential therapeutic strategy for delay of chronic inflammation and peritoneal fibrosis associated with peritoneal dialysis.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between a -799C/T polymorphism in the promotor region of matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) gene and instability of carotid plaque in Chinese Han population.

METHODSA total of 451 acute infarction patients from the Department of Neurology of Taizhou Hospital were divided into carotid vulnerable plaque group and carotid stable plaque group according to the results of carotid B-mode ultrasonography. Serum MMP -8 level was measured by the means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). At the same time, the MMP-8 -799C/T polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method.

RESULTSSerum level of MMP-8 in the carotid vulnerable plaque group was higher than that in the carotid stable plaque group (t= 2.894, P= 0.004). The genotype distribution of -799C/T polymorphism between the two groups was significantly different (Chi-square = 13.65, P= 0.000). Serum level of MMP-8 in patients with TT genotype was higher than that in patients with CC genotype (t= 3.141, P= 0.001).

CONCLUSIONThe present study suggested that serum level of MMP-8 and the -799C/T polymorphism of MMP-8 gene are associated with carotid vulnerable plaque in Chinese Han population, and the T allele may be a predictor for the susceptibility of carotid vulnerable plaque.

Aged ; Base Sequence ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 8 ; genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; enzymology ; genetics ; pathology ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Promoter Regions, Genetic

Objective To study the variational features of the brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) and the preservation of the facial and auditory nerves during the microsurgery in patients with acoustic neuromas (AN). Methods We retrospectively analyzed the data of 76 patients with AN, admitted to our hospital fi'om May 2006 to May 2009: preoperative BAEP were examined; the peak latency (PL) of Ⅰ, Ⅲ and Ⅴ waves and their interpeak latency (IPL) were noted and compared. The tumors were microsurgically removed under intraoperative electrophysiologic monitoring to preserve the facial and auditory nerves. The relationships between the preservation of facial and auditory nerves and both the tumor size and the utilization of intraoperative monitoring were discussed. Results Before the operation, the 100% abnormal rate of BAEP was showed on the diseased side with the disappearance of Ⅲ and Ⅴ waves as its main features, while 82.9% (63/76) of that was noted on the contralateral side with the IPL ratio of Ⅲ-Ⅴ / Ⅰ-Ⅲ greater than or equal to 1 as its main features; the BAEP features between the 2 sides had statistical significance (P<0.05). Seventy patients (92.1%) were found abnormal of BAEP on the contralateral side during the operation; the BAEP features of the contralateral side had statistical significance between preoperation and intraoperation (P<0.05). The tumors were totally removed in 69 (90.8%), subtotally removed in 6 (7.9%) and partially removed in 2 (1.3%). The preservation of facial and auditory nerves increased obviously through monitoring the response of BAEP during the surgery and a positive correlation was observed between the preservation of facial and auditory nerves and the response of BAEP in the contralateral side(r=0.912, P=0.000; r=0.613, P=0.000). However, an inverse correlation was observed between the preservation of facial and auditory nerves and the size of AN (r=-0.869, P=0.000; r=-0.738, P=0.000). Conclusion Preoperative BAEP can help to make an exact diagnosis on patients with AN and the preservation of facial and auditory nerves can increase obviously through monitoring the normal response of BAEP during the surgery. The anatomy preservation of facial and auditory nerves depends on the size of AN.

Objectives: . Reactive oxygen species in the stria vascularis (SV) of the cochlea may be involved in the pathogenesis of sensorineural hearing loss. However, the effects of oxidative stress on SV endothelial cells (SV-ECs) remain largely unknown, and no feasible in vitro cell culture model exists for the functional study of SV-ECs. Methods: . We isolated primary SV-ECs from the SV of neonatal mice. The apoptosis-reducing effects of fibronectin in SV-ECs cultured with serum-free medium were determined using β-galactosidase staining and flow cytometry. SV-ECs incubated in serum-free medium were treated with various H2O2 concentrations to evaluate the effects of H2O2 on their viability. The secretome of SV-ECs treated with or without H2O2 (100 μM or 500 μM) was analyzed using high-resolution mass spectrometry. The function of the SV-EC secretome was evaluated by a macrophage assay. Results: . We successfully isolated and characterized the SV-ECs. Treatment with H2O2 at concentrations up to 500 μM for 2 hours and further incubation with serum-free medium in plates precoated with fibronectin showed no significant effect on apoptosis. Compared to the control SV-ECs, the amount of differential proteins in the secretome of SV-ECs stimulated with 500 μM H2O2 was much higher than in those treated with 100 μM H2O2. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology analyses suggested that the proteins differentially expressed in SV-ECs treated with 500 μM H2O2 were involved in the regulation of multiple signaling pathways and cellular processes. The secretome of H2O2-stimulated SV-ECs exhibited significant pro-inflammatory effects on macrophages. Conclusion . We successfully established an in vitro serum-free culture method, identified the differential proteins released by oxidative stress-induced ECs and their functions, and revealed the pro-inflammatory effects of the secretome of H2O2-stimulated SV-ECs. Therefore, SV-ECs might elicit immunoregulatory effects on bystander cells in the microenvironment of oxidative stress-induced cochlea, especially cochlear macrophages.