ObjectiveTo explore the clinical efficacy of Ningmitai capsule for treatment of patients with diabetic urinary tract infection.Methods A total of 100 diabetes patients with urinary tract infection from Zunyi First People's Hospital in Guizhou Province and Longkou Family Planning Service Station in Shandong Province wereenrolled in the study and randomly divided into control and treatment groups after they were informed and gave consent. With basic therapy to lower blood glucose, 65 cases in the treatment group were treated with Ningmitai capsule(4 granules/time, every grain of 0.38 g), while another 35 cases of the control group were given Sanjin tablets (4 granules/time, every grain of 0.29 g), 3 times a dayfor 2 weeks in both groups. Before and after treatment, the clinical effect, blood routine, urine routine, blood glucose, negative conversion ratio of midstream urine bacteria culture and tradition Chinese medicine syndrome curative effect in both groups were observed.Results The total effective rate of treatment group was significantly higher than that of the control group〔88.52%(54/61) vs. 70.59%(24/34),P<0.01〕. Before treatment, the differences in red blood cell(RBC) and white blood cell(WBC) count in urine samples as well as RBC, WBC, hemoglobin(Hb) and glucose in blood samples had no statistical significance in the comparisons between the two groups(allP>0.05). Compared with those before treatment, after treatment, the urinary RBC and WBC were decreased in treatment group, while in control group WBC was decreased but RBC increased, and in the comparisons of above indexes between the two groups there were statistical significant differences〔RBC(cell/μL): 1.99±0.59 vs. 9.11±3.76, WBC(cell/μL): 23.09±6.18 vs. 63.72±25.76, bothP<0.05〕. The blood RBC was significantly lowered after treatment in control group(×109/L: 3.93±0.40 vs. 4.02±0.39,P<0.05). In both groups, after treatment, WBC, Hb and glucose in blood were reduced in comparisons to those before treatment, and no statistical significant differences were found(allP>0.05). Negative conversion ratio of midstream urine bacterial culture in treatment group was significantly higher than that in control group〔80%(4/5) vs. 0(0/2)〕. Syndromes of traditional Chinese medicine were ameliorated at different degrees after treatment in both groups. The effectiveness of treatment group on urinary urgency, yellowish turbid urine and swelling pain in lower abdomen were obviously more valid than that of control group〔urinary urgency: 90.0%(54/60) vs. 61.8%(21/34), yellowish turbid urine: 75.0%(39/52) vs. 47.6%(10/21), swelling pain in lower abdomen: 74.5%(35/47) vs. 70.6%(12/17),P<0.05 orP<0.01〕, but other symptoms were similar in the two groups(allP>0.05).ConclusionThe clinical efficacy of Ningmitai capsule is better than that of Sanjin tablet for treatment of patients with diabetic urinary tract infection, and no adverse reaction has been seen in clinical observation.

Objective To investigate the clinical and pathological characteristics of renal involvement in Beh(c)et's disease (BD).Methods A retrospective analysis was carried out in BD patients complicated with renal damage who were admitted to Peking Union Medical College Hospital from June 1998 to July 2012.Results Twenty patients with renal involvement constituted 3.2％ of all the 618 hospitalized BD patients.The presentation of renal disease was chronic glomerulonephritis in 6 patients (1 with nephrotic syndrome),renal tubular acidosis in 1 patient,renal artery stenosis in 7 patients,renal vein thrombosis in 1 patient,and chronic renal failure of unknown etiology in 5 patients.Kidney biopsy was performed in 5 patients,3 of them revealed glomerular minor lesion,mild mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis and chronic tubularinterstitial nephropathy,respectively.The other 2 patients underwent a second biopsy,one with glomerular minor lesion transforming into IgA nephropathy of grade Ⅲ on Lee's glomerular grading system after 6 years,and the other with IgA nephropathy of grade Ⅱ progressing to grade Ⅳ after 2 years.After the diagnosis of renal BD,one patient with uremia underwent peritoneal dialysis,while the remaining 19 patients received immunosuppressant (or with combination of glucocorticoid,angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin Ⅱ receptor blockers.etc.) therapy.Among the 8 patients with renal vascular involvement,2 underwent surgery,and several received anticoagulant therapy.During the follow-up of 13 patients,the urine protein quantifications were reduced,and renal functions remained relatively stable.Conclusion Renal damage is relatively uncommon in BD patients.There are various clinical spectrums for renal BD.Routine screening with urinalysis,serum creatinine and imaging studies should be carried out for the early diagnosis of renal BD.

BACKGROUND:Nowadays increasing experimental findings have proved that the low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields (LPEMF) can induce osteogenic differentiation of a variety of stem cells in the two-dimensional scaffold. However, little is reported on the LPEMF effect on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of stem cells in the three-dimensional scaffold.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of LPEMF on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) in the 3D Insert-PCL scaffold.METHODS:Passage 3 hASCs were directly cultured in the 3D Insert-PCL scaffolds folowed by LPEMF (50 Hz, 1 mT) exposure, 2 hours per day, for continuous 14 days (experimental group) or no intervention (control group). After 7 days of culture, Live/Dead staining was used to observe cell survival. After 1, 3, 5, 7 days of culture, MTT assay was used to detect cell proliferation. After 7 and 14 days of culture, the osteogenic differentiation of hASCs was assessed through the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and qRT-PCR.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Live/dead cell staining proved that the hASCs had a good growth in the 3D Insert-PCL scaffolds as well as a high survival rate. The absorbance values of hASCs in the two groups were increased gradualy with time, and the absorbance value in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group at 1 and 3 days after culture (P < 0.05). The ALP activity in the experimental group was stronger than that in the control group at 7 and 14 days after culture. qRT-PCR findings showed that at 7 days after culture, the mRNA levels of ALP and type Ⅰ collagen were significantly higher in the experimental group than the control group (P < 0.01), while at 14 days after culture, the mRNA levels of osteopontin, Runt-related transcription factor, ALP and type Ⅰ collagen were significantly higher in the experimental group than the control group (P < 0.05). To conclude, the LPEMF exposure can promote the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of hASCs cultured on the the 3D Insert-PCL scaffold.

OBJECTIVE: Osteoblasts are essential for osteogenesis and bone metabolism, the in vitro culture of osteoblasts is the foundation for studies on bone metabolism and osteogenetic mechanism. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the related factors affecting it.DATA SOURCES: Related literature about the influencing factors of in vitro culture of osteoblasts were searched for in Medline from January 1980 to December 2004 with retrieval words of "osteoblasts, culture in vitro, in fluencing factors", with the language limited to English. Meanwhile, it was also searched in the CBM between January 1995 and December 2004 with the retrieval words of "osteoblasts, in vitro culture, influencing factors",with the language of the articles limited to Chinese.STUDY SELECTION: After preliminary examination, literature that met the need of this study was searched for the full text. Inclusion criteria: Factors influencing the in vitro culture of osteoblasts included ① physical factors; ② microelements; ③ growth factors; and ④ hormones.Reviews were removed from this study because of summary or repetitive research.DATA EXTRACTION: A total of 105 articles related to the influencing factors of the in vitrocul ture of osteoblasts were obtained, articles of repetitive and similar researchwere removed; thereby 17 articles were included in the study.DATA SYNTHESIS: ① Physical factors: Ionizing radiation, microgravity,external force, and oxygen pressure. ② Microelements: microelement deficiency would hinder the skeletal growth, or even lead to malformation. Osteoblastic proliferation is closely related to some microelements, mainly including zinc, aluminum, fluorine, copper, manganese, calcium, and magnesium. ③ Growth factors closely related to osteogenesis mainly consist of bone morphogenetic protein, platelet-derived growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, transforming growth factor-beta, insulin like growth factor,and osteogenic growth peptide (OGP). ④ Hormones capable of promoting the proliferation and differentiation are growth hormone, estrogen, thyroxine, parathyroxine, and glucocorticosteroid.CONCLUSION: Multiple factors are involved in the in vitro culture of osteoblasts. It is helpful to understand these influencing factors to seek an effective way for the in vitro culture ofosteoblasts that is applied in tissue engineering.

Objective To observe the acute toxicity of local achyranthes aspera, and its injury to major internal organs. Methods Estimated the dose before the experiment, then selected 40 mice and divided them into five groups randomly, namely 4 dose-groups and one control group. The doses used in the dose-groups were 400 g/kg, 300 g/kg, 225 g/kg and 169 g/kg respectively. Observed the symptoms and the death for successive 7 days and calculated LD (50)with statistic methods. Dissected the dead mice and observed the lesion of organs. Results The LD50 of acute toxicity test of achyranthes aspera was 309.21 g/kg, Sx=0.0359 g/kg. 95% of the limit of trust was 309.14～309.28 g/kg. According to the acute toxic standard, it belonged to non-toxicity. The specimen revealed that large dose administration caused coagulation of blood in both liver and spleen. Conclusion Local achyranthes aspera had little toxicity. Large dose administration affected heart function of mice.

Objective To evaluate the effect of sufentanil postconditioning on the level of cathepsin B in the myocardium during ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in the rats.Methods Eighteen healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats,weighing 250-300 g,were divided into 3 groups (n=6 each) using a random nunber table:shamn operation group (group S),group I/R and sufentanil postconditioning group (group SP).The rats were anesthetized with intraperitoneal 20％ urethane 5 ml/kg.Myocardial I/R was induced by occlusion of the left anterior descending branch of the coronary artery for 30 min followed by 120 min reperfusion.At 5 min before reperfusion,sufentanil 1.0 μg/kg was intravenously injected in group SP,and the equal volume of normal saline was given instead in S and I/R groups.At the end of reperfusion,blood samples from the abdominal aorta were collected for determination of serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) concentrations,and myocardial specimnens were obtained for examination of the ultrastructure of cardiomyocytes (using transmission electron microscopy) and for determination of Beclin1,microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 Ⅱ (LC3 Ⅱ) and cathepsin B expression (by Western blot) and cathepsin B activity (by fluorometric assay).Results Compared with group S,the serum cTnI and CK-MB concentrations were significantly increased,the expression of Beclin-1,LC3 Ⅱ and cathepsin B was up-regulated,and the activity of cathepsin B was enhanced in I/R and SP groups (P＜0.05).Compared with group I/R,the serum cTnI and CK-MB concentrations were significantly decreased,the expression of Beclin-1 and LC3 Ⅱ was down-regulated,the expression of cathepsin B was up-regulated,and the activity of cathepsin B was enhanced (P＜0.05),the pathological changes of myocardial tissues were signifieantly attenuated,and autophagosomes were reduced in group SP.Conclusion The mechanism by which sufentanil postconditioning inhibits cardiomyocyte autophagy during myocardial I/R is probably related to increased expression and activity of cathepsin B in rats.

Objective To detect the positive rate of anti-endothelial cell antibody (AECA) in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) associated with connective tissue diseases(CTD)and to investigate the specific target antigen.Methods Sera of 68 patients with CTD associated PAH were collected to detect AECA by Western blotting with extracted membrane protein of the endothelial cell line EA.hy926.Sera of 61 CTD patients without PAH,20 with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension(IPAH),20 with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and pulmonary arterial hypertension (COPD-PAH) and 20 healthy donors were collected as controls.The correlation between PAH and specific bands of AECA was studied by X2 test.Liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrography was used to detect the target antigens related to PAH associated with CTD.Results The specific molecular size of antigen was 78 000.The AECA-78 000positive rate of CTD patients with PAH was 79% (54/68).not significantly ditierent from that of CTD with glomerulonephritis(71%,15/21),but significantly higher than those of CTD with interstitial lung disease (ILD)(15%,3/20)and CTD without systemic involvement(P<0.01 and P<0.05 respectively).also higher than those of IPAH(8%,1/12).The AECA-78 000 was negative in COPD-PAH and healthy controls.The target antigen of AECA-78 000 was identified by proteomic techniques as moesin.Conclusion CTD patients with different target organ involvement have different AECA-78 000 positive rates,which could be frequently detected in CTD associated PAH and those with glomerulonephritis.The common antigen is moesin.

Objective To observe the effects of eluting stents coated with arsenic trioxide(As2O3)and suspended in poly-L-lactic acid(PLLA)on expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1)and interleukin-6(IL-6)and to assess the effects of As2O3 eluting stents on local inflammatory reaction in injured coronary arteries in pigs. Methods Bare metal stents,rapamycin eluting stents and As2O3-eluting stents were randomly and double-blindly implanted into the anterior descending branches,circumflex branches and right coronary arteries in eight pigs.Animals were sacrificed and coronary arteries were isolated 7 days after stents implantation.The expression levels of protein and mRNA of MCP-1 and IL-6 were determined by Western blot analysis and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR),and the inflammatory cell infiltration was observed by HE staining and immunohistochemistry. Results Compared to bare metal stents,As2O3-eluting stents and rapamycin-eluting stents identically and markedly inhibited the protein expression level of MCP-1(0.421±0.055 and 0.406±0.042 vs.0.857±0.053,P＜0.01)and IL-6(0.151±0.032 and 0.146±0.051 vs.0.551±0.032,P＜0.01)and correspondingly lowered the mRNA expression level of MCP-1(0.338±0.047 and 0.327±0.051 vs.0.724±0.027,P＜0.01)and IL-6(0.531±0.052 and 0.523±0.061 vs.1.015±0.041,P＜0.01),and significantly reduced the inflammatory cell infiltration of injured coronary arteries in pigs. Conclusions As2O3-eluting stents can effectively inhibit the expressions of MCp-1 and IL-6 and reduce the inflammatory cell infiltration of injured coronary arteries in pigs.

Objective To investigate the prevalence of anti-endothelial cell antibody fAECA) in the sera of patients with connective tissue diseases(CTD)complicated with pulmonary arterial hyperten-sion (PAH)and to detect the specific antigens of AECA which may be related to clinical manifestations.Methods AECA was detected with Western blotting in 39 CTD patients with PAH.22 CTD patients without PAH and 30 healthy donors.Results The prevalence of AECA was 82%in CTD patients with PAH.73%in CTD patients without PAH and 20%in healthy donors.Anti-22 000 AECA was only detected in CTD patients with PAH(15%).Anti-75 000 AECA was more frequently detected in CTD patients with PAH than in thosewithout PAH(51%vs 23%.P＜0.05).In CTD patients complicated with PAH.anti-75 000 AECA was morefrequently detected in those with Raynaud's phenomenon or with positive anti-RNP antibody.Conclusion AECA can be more frequently detected in CTD patients with or without PAH.Furthermore,anti-22 000 and anti-75 000 AECA may play a special role in CTD patients with PAH.

Objective:To evaluate the precision of digital impressions taken under simulated clinical impression taking conditions with TRIOS and to compare with the precision of extraoral digitalizations . Methods:Six #14 -#17 epoxy resin dentitions with extracted #16 tooth preparations embedded were made.For each artificial dentition , ( 1 ) a silicone rubber impression was taken with individual tray , poured with type IV plaster ,and digitalized with 3Shape D700 model scanner for 10 times;(2) fastened to a dental simulator , 10 digital impressions for each were taken with 3Shape TRIOS intraoral scanner .To assess the precision , best-fit algorithm and 3 D comparison were conducted between repeated scan models pairwise by Geomagic Qualify 12.0, exported as averaged errors (AE) and color-coded diagrams.Non-parametric analysis was performed to compare the precisions of digital impressions and model images .The color-coded diagrams were used to show the deviations distributions .Results:The mean of AE for digital impressions was 7.058 281 μm, which was greater than that of 4.092 363 μm for the model images (P<0.05).However, the means and medians of AE for digital impressions were no more than 10 μm, which meant that the consistency between the digital impressions was good .The deviations distribution was uniform in the model images ,while nonuniform in the digital impressions with greater deviations lay mainly around the shoulders and interproximal surfaces .Conclusion:Digital impressions with TRIOS are of good precision and up to the clinical standard .Shoulders and interproximal surfaces scanning are more difficult.