Biofilms

China ; Humans ; Occupational Health Services ; manpower

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Mice ; Microscopy, Electron ; Sputum ; drug effects

Objective To investigate the clinical features of primary retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF), and to find out better method for diagnosis and therapy. Methods Nine patients with primary RPF in Peking Union Medical College Hospital since 1990 to 2003 were analyzed retrospectively. Results All patients had abnormal findings in CT or MRI, and 8 of them had chronic non-specific inflammation of the retroperitoneum in pathology. Six patients had renal involvement and 2 of them had severe renal failure. Eight of the patients had received therapy with corticosteroid or tamoxifene. Conclusions RPF is an uncommon collagen vascular disease characterized by a chronic non-specific inflammation of the retroperitoneum.Because of the atypical manifestations of RPF, awareness of the disease is important.CT and (or) open biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis.Management typically includes surgery and drug treatment.Corticosteroid therapy or more recently,tamoxifen has been used successfully. The clinical and radiographic improvement with drug treatment has been seen in several patients and confirmed the diagnosis,thereby early diagnosis and treatment can bring the patient more excellent renal and general outcome.

Objective To evaluate the security and biocompatibility of a new kind of absorbable high-strength PDLLA-CPP composite, which is used for internal fracture fixation. Methods According to the national standard of the procedure of appraise in food security and toxicology, micronucleus test of bone marrow cell, spermatic aberration test, chromosomal aberration test, and teratogenic test were measured with IP maximal tolerance dose of maceration extract from PDLLA-CPP composites. Meanwhile, chondrocyte culture with PDLLA-CPP composite was used to evaluate the effect of PDLLA-CPP composite on cartilage cell proliferation. Results Micronucleus test of bone marrow cell, spermatic aberration test, chromosomal aberration test, and teratogenic test were not affected by IP maximal tolerance dose of PDLLA-CPP maceration extract. PDLLA-CPP composite also had no cytotoxicity on cartilage cell proliferation. Conclusion PDLLA-CPP is a new and safe medical material with good biocompatibility and absorbability.

The plants of genus Kadsura Kaempf. ex Juss. are distributed widely in China, and some of them are used as traditional medicinal plants. Lignans and triterpenoids are considered to be the main chemical constituents which exhibit the anti-cancer and anti-HIV activities in the recent studies. In this paper, chemical constituents in the plants of Kadsura Kaempf. ex Juss. and their pharmacological activities are reviewed, which provides the evidence for further development and use for the plants of Kadsura Kaempf. ex Juss.

Objective To study the clinical characteristics and curative effects of pancreatic cystade- nocarcinoma in order to improve its diagnostic and therapeutic accuracy.Methods A retrospective analysis was done on the clinical materials of 13 cases of pancreatic cystadenocarcinoma hospitalized in Shanxi Cancer Hospital from 1990 to 2006.Results The preoperative diagnosis were as follows:pancreatic cystadenocarci- noma 6 cases,pancreatic cystadenoma 2 cases,pancreatic cancer 1 case,pancreatic pseudocyst 4 cases.The misdiagnosis rate was 53.8 %.Surgical operation was done on the 13 cases,and 10 of them were treated by radical operation.A 5-year follow-up was done on 6 still alive cases,and 1 of them lived over 11 years.3 cases were treated by palliative operation,and all of them died within 3 years.Conclusion Since there is no specific clinical manifestations of pancreatic cystadenocarcinoma,it is very difficult to get an accurate preop- erative diagnosis.Radical operation is the most effective therapeutic methods.

Notopterygium incisum is the important medicinal materials of the Tibetan-Qiang medical system in China, also one of the rare and endangered medicinal materials in the Plateau areas in the meantime. Taking the planting of in Sichuan province as an example, research on the N. incisum in Sichuan utilize remote sensing and GIS techniques, bind growth environment factor, including height factor, average annual precipitation, average annual temperature, forest information, were chosen according to habitat conditions. And combine field measurement to verify. The results indicate that N. incisum resources in Sichuan province were mainly distributed in the alpine valley and the northwest of the plateau, which suitability distribution areas of 4145 km2 approximately and accounting for 2% of the total area. Suitability areas accounting for more than 2% of the respective total area in Heishui county, Lixian county, Xiaojin county, Kangding county, ect. According to the field investigation and the related document information record, drawn that the suitability distribution based on RS and GIS were corresponded with the actual distribution areas of N. incisum resources. It's feasible to divide the suitability distribution area of N. incisum using RS and GIS, which will provide a scientific basis for a comprehensive investigation of the distribution as well as its rational exploitation and protection.
Apiaceae ; China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Geographic Information Systems ; Telemetry

Background: Sorafenib and sunitinib are widely used as first-line targeted therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) in China. This study aimed to compare the efficacy, safety, and quality of life (QoL) in Chinese mRCC patients treated with sorafenib and sunitinib as first-line therapy. Methods: Clinical data of patients with mRCC who received sorafenib (400 mg twice daily; 4 weeks) or sunitinib (50 mg twice daily; on a schedule of 4 weeks on treatment followed by 2 weeks off) were retrieved. Primary outcomes were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), adverse events (AEs), and QoL (SF-36 scores), and secondary outcomes were associations of clinical characteristics with QoL. Results: Medical records of 184 patients (110 in the sorafenib group and 74 in the sunitinib group) were reviewed. PFS and OS were comparable between the sorafenib and sunitinib groups (bothP > 0.05). The occurrence rates of leukocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, and hypothyroidism were higher in the sunitinib group (36.5％ vs. 10.9％, P < 0.001; 40.5％ vs. 10.9％,P < 0.001; 17.6％ vs. 3.6％,P= 0.001), and that of diarrhea was higher in the sorafenib group (62.7％ vs. 35.2％,P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in SF-36 scores between the two groups. Multivariate analysis indicated that role-physical and bodily pain scores were associated with the occurrence rate of grade 3 or 4 AEs (P= 0.017 and 0.005). Conclusions: Sorafenib has comparable efficacy and lower toxicity profile than sunitinib as first-line therapy for mRCC. Both agents showed no significant impact on QoL of patients.

Objective To study the expressions of survivin and PTEN in ampullary carcinoma and their clinical significance.Methods The expressions of Survivin and PTEN proteins were tested by EnVision immunohistochemistry in 40 cases of ampullary carcinomas and 8 cases of normal ampulla of vater as control.Results The positive rate of Survivin in ampullary carcinomas was significantly higher than normal human controls (82.5％ vs 0％,P ＜ 0.01 ).The differences of the expression of Survivin in ampullaty carcinoma of duodenal invasion,pancreatic invasion,and lymph node metastasis were significant ( P ＜0.05 ).Significant differences were also observed in the expression rate of PTEN hetween the patients with ampullary carcinoma and the normal controls (50％ vs 100％,P ＜ 0.01 ).The differences of the expression of PTEN in ampullary carcinoma of duodenal invasion,pancreatic invasion,and lymph node metastasis were significant ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Significantly negative correlation was found between the expression of Survivin and PTEN by using spearman correlation analysis ( r =-0.57,P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusions The abnormal expression of Survivin and PTEN gene may promote tumor genesis and progression of ampullary carcinomas and it may be used as the marker for prognosis.