Objective To evaluate graft regeneration and influencing factors after right lobe adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) using MSCT.Method Sixty-three living recipients were included in this study.We measured graft volume periodically by using MSCT and IQQA-Liver workstation.The liver regenerative ratio (LRR) of different stages of recipients after LDLT was calculated and compared,and stepwise regression analysis was done to set up the regression equation.Result Within 0.5 month after LDLT,graft volume was increased rapidly,and LRR reached maximum [(106.11 + 30.90)％],then decreased slowly.There was significant difference in LRR among 0.5,1 month and 3,6 months after LDLT (P＜0.05).The following factors,including whether the graft containing middle hepatic vein or not,age and sex of recipients,had no significant influence on LRR after LDLT (P＞0.05).The status of liver function of recipients preoperatively had significant influence on LRR 0.5 month after LDLT (P＜0.05).There was significantly negative correlation between the graft volume and LRRs of recipients at different stages after LDLT (P ＜ 0.05).Regression equation could be derived.Conclusion Most evident graft regeneration occurs in early stage after adult LDLT.There are many and different factors influencing graft regeneration at the different stages after LDLT.Graft volumetric measurement by using MSCT is a valid modality to evaluate graft regeneration after LDLT.

Objective To evaluate donor remnant liver regeneration and influencing factors at different stages after right lobe adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) using multi-slice spiral computed tomography (MSCT).Methods 68 living donors were included in this study,We did CT volumetric measurement of the liver by using IQQA-Liver workstation.Liver regenerative ratio (LRR) at different stages of donors after LDLT were calculated and compared,correlation coefficient and stepwise regression analysis were calculated.Results The difference between LRRs at different stages after LDLT were significant (F =3.323,P =0.009),there were significant difference between LRR of 7-day and 1-month,3-month (respectively t =-2.065,-2.214,all P ＜ 0.05).The inclusion of middle hepatic vein and donor gender had no influence on LRR (respectively t =0.600,-0.622,1.464,0.926,-1.228,0.624,-0.688,0.131,all P ＞ 0.05).There were negative correlation between the remnant liver volume and LRRs (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions MSCT is a valid modality to evaluate remnant liver regeneration after LDLT.Most evident remnant liver regeneration occurs in early stage after adult LDLT.

Objective To evaluate the impact of donor age on graft short-term outcome after right lobe adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).Method Thirty living recipients were divided into 2 groups according to donor age:older donor group (O group,donor age ＞50,n =5) and younger donor group (Y group,donor age ＜30,n =25).Alanine transarninase (ALT),aspartate transaminase (AST),total bilirubin (TB),prothrombin time (PT) on the postoperative day 1 to 5 and graft liver regenerative ratio (LRR) on the postoperative month 0.5,1,3,and 6 between 2 groups were determined and compared.Result TB on postoperative day 1,2,3,4 and 5 was significantly higher in O group than in Y group there were significant differences between two groups (P＜0.01).There was no significant difference of other liver function parameters 2 groups (P ＞ 0.05).There was no significant difference in LRRs on the postoperative month 0.5,1,3 and 6 months postoperatively between 2 groups after LDLT (P＞0.05).Conclusion Although allografts from older donors in LDLT have prolonged jaundice than those of their younger counterparts,after strictly preoperative evaluation,donor age has little effect on short-term outcomes of graft after LDLT.

Objective To evaluate the impact of donor age on early remnant liver function and regeneration after right lobe adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) donation.Methods 43 living donors were divided into 2 groups:donor age ＞ 50,n =8,and donor age ＜ 30,n =35.Alanine aminotransferase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST),total bilirubin (TB) and liver regenerative ratio (LRR) of donors between the 2 groups were compared.Results There were no significantly different in ALT,AST and TB on days 1,2,3,5 after LDLT between the 2 groups (respectively t =0.147,1.030,-0.903,0.013,0.043,1.362,0.817,0.003,1.121,0.241,1.061 and 0.943,all P＞0.05).There was significant difference between LRR on day 7 (t =-0.965,P =0.042),but the difference was not statistically significant in LRR when evaluated on day 15 after LDLT (t =0.585,P =0.385).Conclusions Remnant liver regeneration on the first week is reversely affected by donor's age after hepatectomy,while the influence of age decreases significantly after 2 weeks.

Objective To observe the clinical effect of lithium carbonate on hyperthyroidism.Methods Forty-seven cases of hyperthyroidism with abnormal hepatic function and/or leucopenia were recruited from January 2010 to January 2012.Thyroid function,adverse reactions,and clinical outcome of patients treated with lithium carbonate were observed and recorded before and after treatment.Results Thyroid function,liver function,and leucopenia in all patients were improved markedly after treatment.Among the treated patients,9 cases resulted in complete remission and had the drug discontinued,11 cases received radioactive iodine therapy afterwards,6 cases underwent surgical treatment,16 cases continued to use the same drug,and 5 cases were lost during follow-up.No obvious adverse reaction appeared during the treatment.Conclusions Lithium carbonate can be effectively used in patients with hyperthyroidism complicated by leukopenia or liver damage.It is also indicated during preparation for radioactive iodine or surgical treatment in patients with thyrotoxicosis.

Objective To evaluate MSCT appearance and impaction of Ⅴ, Ⅷ segments' hepatic venous congestion ( HVC ) on hepatic functional recovery in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).Methods In this study, 83 patients undergoing LDLT in our hospital were included, all subjects received plain and contrast MSCT examinations at early stage (within 1 month) and later stage (3 months later) after LDLT. MSCT appearance of HVC was recorded, at the same time, gutamic pyruvic transaminase ( ALT),glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (AST), total bilirubin (TB) and prothrombin time (PT) of 1 to 7 days after LDLT between congestion group and non-congestion group were recorded and compared.Results Segments Ⅴ and Ⅷ congestion was identified by after LDLT CT scanning in 20 patients (24. 10% ). Congestion volume and congestion ratio was (218. 25 ± 130. 29) cm3 and 16. 68% ±8. 81%,respectively. HVC often appear as hypoattenuation on plain CT scan and arterial phase, mixed or hyperattenuation on portal vein phase. There was no significant difference of ALT, AST, TB and PT after LDLT between congestion group and non-congestion group (P ＞ 0. 05). Conclusions MSCT is a valuable method to evaluate Ⅴ, Ⅷ segments' HVC after LDLT, most HVC has no impaction on hepatic functional recovery in LDLT patients.

OBJECTIVETo observe the dynamic expression changes of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK), nucler facter kappa B (NF-κB) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in myocardial tissue after an exhausted exercise and study the impact of p38MAPK, NF-κB and COX-2 on its myocardial damage.

METHODSSixty Wister male rats were randomly divided into the control group (n = 10) and the exhausted exercise group (n = 50). Then the exhausted exercise group was further divided into 5 subgroups, namely 0 h, 3 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h after an exhausted exercise (n = 10). The myocardial injury animal model was set up by using an exhausted swimming exercise and the expression of p-p38MAPK, NF-κB and COX-2 were examined by Western blot.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the expression of p-p38MAPK were increased significantly (P < 0.01) in all the groups and the 3 h group was the highest( P < 0.01); The expression of NF-κB were increased significantly (P < 0.05) in all the groups but 0 h P > 0.05) and the 6h group was increased significantly compared with the other groups( P < 0.05); The expression of COX-2 were increased significantly( P < 0.05) in all the groups but 0 h and the 24 h groups was increased significantly compared with the other groups(P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONp38MAPK was activated in an acute exhausted exercise, p-p38MAPK may play an important role in modulating NF-κB and COX-2 expression and mediating the exhausted exercise induced myocardial damage.

Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; metabolism ; Fatigue ; Male ; Myocardium ; pathology ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Physical Conditioning, Animal ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Swimming ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo systematically assess the efficacy and safety of Rhodiola in treating chronic stable angina pectoris.

METHODSOur group searched the Cochrane library, PubMed, Embase, Chinese biomedical literature database (CBM), VIP database (VIP), Chinese Journal Full-text Database (CNKI) for the literature published in English and Chinese till April 2013. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included on the therapeutic effect of Rhodiola or Rhodiola plus conventional Western medicine in comparison with the conventional Western medicine treatment on stable angina. Data were extracted according the data extraction form. The literature methodological quality was assessed by using the Cochrane handbook, and data analyzed by Rev-Man 5.2 Software for Meta-analysis. The effect indicators of outcomes was expressed by odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI.

RESULTSA total of 7 randomized controlled trials, 662 cases of stable angina pectoris patients met the inclusion criteria and all published in Chinese, without one scientific design and high quality literature. Compared with the conventional Western medicine treatment, combined with oral administration of Rhodiola could improve the efficiency of anti-angina (OR = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.02 - 6.09). Combined with intravenous infusion of Rhodiola could also improve the efficacy of angina pectoris (OR = 4.86, 95% CI: 2.4 - 9.82). Oral administration of Rhodiola couldn't improve ECG efficacy (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 0.67 - 2.34). Intravenous infusion of Rhodiola could improve the clinical efficacy (OR = 2.94, 95% CI: 1.61 - 5.35). Combined with the conventional treatment, intravenous infusion of Rhodiola could improve the whole blood viscosity (low and high shear rates) and inverse variance (IV) (-1.36 and -0.99, 95% CI: -1.65 - 1.07 and -1.26 - 0.71), but could not reduce serum fibrinogen and D-dimer level. The incidence rate of adverse reactions was higher than that of the conventional treatment combined with Rhodiola (OR = 0.1, 95% CI: 0.02 - 0.51).

CONCLUSIONSOn the basis of routine treatment, Rhodiola could further improve patients' symptoms. Combined with intravenous medication, Rhodiola could increase the ECG improvement rate, and reduce adverse reactions. But the methodological quality of included studies was poor, the number of samples was small, and influence factors such as the intervention period was short. This conclusion needs scientific and rational design in a larger sample, multicenter clinical trial to verify.

Angina, Stable ; drug therapy ; Chronic Disease ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Rhodiola ; Treatment Outcome

ITS2 sequence was used as a barcode to identify herbal tea ingredient Plumeria rubra and its adulterants. Genomic DNAs from forty eight samples were extracted, the ITS2 sequences were amplified and sequenced bi-direstionlly, and then assembled and obtained using CodonCode Aligner. The sequences were aligned using ClustalW, the genetic distances were computed by kimura 2-parameter (K2P) model and the Neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic trees were constructed using MEGA5.0. Results showed that the length of ITS2 sequence of P. rubra were 244 bp. The intra-specific genetic distances (0-0. 016 6) were much smaller than inter-specific ones between P. rubra and its adulterants(0.320 8-0.650 4). The NJ tree indicated that P. rubra and its adulterants could be distinguished clearly. Therefore, Using ITS2 barcode can accurately andeffectively distinguish herbal tea ingredient P. rubra from its adulterants, which providesa new molecular method to identify P. rubra and ensure its safety in use.
Apocynaceae ; classification ; genetics ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer ; genetics ; Drug Contamination ; prevention & control ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; classification ; Flowers ; chemistry ; classification ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Quality Control

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of elderly patients with coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), in order to provide scientific evidence for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 in elderly patients.Methods:Clinical data of 102 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the B11 East Ward of the Zhongfaxincheng campus and the E1-3 ward of the Guanggu Campus of Tongji Hospital affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan from 1 February 2020 to 28 February 2020 were retrospectively collected and analyzed.Patients were categorized into 2 groups: the elderly group(≥60 years old)and the young and middle-aged group(<60 years old). Differences in epidemiological features, demographics, clinical symptoms, laboratory results and imaging findings between the two groups were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Among 102 patients with COVID-19, 58 were in the elderly group(≥60 years old), with a median age of 67.0(63.8, 71.0)years old, and 44 in the young and middle-aged group(<60 years old), with a median age of 47.5(38.0, 51.8)years old.There was no significant difference in gender ratio between the two groups( χ2=0.033, P=0.855). Of 102 patients, 42.0%(21/50)had close contact with an infected person, 14.0%(7/50)were from infection clusters, and 18.0%(9/50)had suspected hospital-acquired infections.Fever and cough remained the most common symptoms, but gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, poor appetite, diarrhea and muscle cramps were also warning signs.Fatigue and cough were the most common presenting symptoms in elderly male patients.Bilateral patchy infiltrates(57.9%, 22/38)and ground-glass opacities(42.1%, 16/38)were the main imaging features and 42.1%(16/38)patients had multiple areas of the lungs involved.Over 50% patients had increased levels of blood glucose, D-dimer, fibrinogen, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, multiple cytokines and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, as well as decreased levels of albumin, hemoglobin, hematocrit, lymphocytes and serum calcium.Compared with the young and middle-aged group, the elderly group had higher rates of abnormality in levels of D-dimer and serum calcium( χ2=7.067 and 4.166, P=0.008 and 0.041). Conclusions:Fever and cough are the most common symptoms in elderly patients with COVID-19.Elderly patients with COVID-19 have multiple abnormalities in clinical laboratory test results, which show a certain level of specificity compared with young and middle-aged patients.