Objective To investigate the protective effect and mechanism of taurine on the cytotoxicity of iohexol on HK-2 cells. Methods HK-2 cells were exposed to iohexol at different dosage (25, 50, 100, 125 gI/L) for 6 h and at the dose of 100 gl/L for different time(2 h, 4 h, 6 h). Then taurine (3,12,24 mmol/L) was coincubated with iohexol (100 gI/L) for 6 h.Cell viability was assessed by CCK-8 assay. Cell apoptosis was determined by Hoechest 33342 flurescence stains,flow cytometry with Annexin V-FITC/PI double stains and caspase-3 activity by colorimetric assay. Bcl-2 and Bax expression were examined by Western blot. Intracellular ROS was detected by flow cytometry with fluorescent probe DCFH-DA. Results Iohexol decreased HK-2 cell viability and induced apoptosis in concentration-dependant and time-dependant manner (all P＜0.05). ROS was increased following iohexol (100 gI/L for 6 h) treatment (P＜0.05). Taurine increased cell viability and attenuated apoptosis in dose-dependant manner. The cell viability levels in taurine intervention (3,12,24 mmol/L) group were significantly increased compared with that in iohexol treated group respectively [(88.00±1.00)%, (91.33±0.58)%, (95.67±1.52) % vs (76.67±1.53)%, all P＜0.05]. Apoptosis rate by flow cytometry were decreased respectively [(8.84±1.75)%,(7.86±1.82)%, (6.30±1.50)% vs (11.98±0.39)%, all P＜0.05]. Caspase-3 activities were decreased respectively [(1.33±0.10), (1.27±0.06), (1.10±0.04) vs (1.42±0.13), all P＜0.05].Taurine up-regulated the expression of Bcl-2, and decreased the intracellular ROS (all P＜0.05).Conclusions Iohexol induces cell apoptosis and oxidative stress. Taurine attenuates direct cytotoxic effect induced by iohexol. The anti-oxidative stress effect and up-regulated Bcl-2 expression may partly account for the protection of taurine.

The adiponeetin mRNA expression and secretion of human omental and subcutaneous preadipocytes were increaed by renin-angiotensin system (RAS) bloekers. Compared with thiazolidinedione, RAS blockers have stronger effects on human omental preadipoeytes in adiponeetin mRNA expression and secretion,suggesting a potential benefit of RAS blockers on metabolic syndrome with characteristic intra-abdominal obesity.

Objective To investigate the feasibility and clinical value of the road drainage after early mini-mally invasive treatment of severe acute pancreatitis (severe acute pancreatitis,SAP).Methods A retrospective analysis were used to investigate the clinical data of 37 patients with SAP in March 2011 to March 2011 after conven-tional treatment and early minimally invasive approach drainage treatment.Drainage of early after minimally invasive approach group were treated by laparoscopic retroperitoneal approach surgery in the early onset,and were removed of necrotic tissue and catheter drainage of the retroperitoneal clearance.Then postoperative double pipe for irrigation and the negative pressure drainage were applied.Two groups of postoperative complications,mortality,medical expenses, length of hospital stay,etc.were compared.Results Early minimally invasive drainage of into the road after acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE Ⅱ)was superior to the conventional treatment group (P =0.00).The overall incidence of complications and mortality of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (multiple out-raged dysfunction syndrome,MODS),was superior to the conventional treatment group,and the differences were statis-tically significant (P =0.023,P =0.033,P =0.046).Early into the road drainage of hospitalization expenses after minimally invasive were reduced ((19.74 ±2.22)than (36.15 ±1.92)ten thousand yuan,t =23.989,P =0.000),hospitalization time were shorter (4.76 ±0.64)weeks than (6.03 ±0.73)weeks,t =5.635,P =0.000). Conclusion Early minimally invasive retroperitoneal approach of drainage treatment of SAP can reduce the incidence of complications and mortality,reduce hospitalization expenses,shorten hospitalization time,and has the clinical feasi-bility and application value.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of early stage minimally invasive laparoscopic retroperitoneal approach of catheter drainage on early inflammatory response of severe acute pancreatitis ( SAP ) . Methods 37 SAP patients with peritoneal effusion were divided into the observation group (19 cases with early laparoscopic retroperitoneal approach of catheter drainage )and normal treatment group(18 cases with conventional drainage)using a random number table.All patients were given conventional therapy , such as fasting, gastroin-testinal decompression , anti-infection, fluid resuitation and using gastric acid and trypsin inhibitors .In addition to conventional therapy , the observation group received the early laparoscopic retroperitoneal approach of catheter drainage.The inflammatory indexes responding to acute inflammation such as TNF-α,IL-6,IL-8, IL-10 and C-re-active protein(CRP)were detected before and after treatment .Meanwhile, the date of resume diet, APACHEⅡscores and duration of systemic inflammatory response ( SIRS) , incidence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome ( MODS) and the mortality were observed .Results The acute inflammatory response occurred in both groups . The plasma levels of TNF-a,IL-6,IL-8,IL-10 and CRP in the two groups decreased obviously after 3-day treat-ment.However, the plasma levels of inflammatory mediators in the normal treatment group increased while those early laparoscopic retroperitoneal approach of catheter drainage group kept decreasing after 7-day treatment .There was a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.01).Time for resuming to diets and duration of SIRS in the observation group were less than those in the normal treatment group ( P<0.01 ) , APACHEⅡscore were significantly less than those in normal treatment group also (P<0.01).The rates of MODS, overall postoperative complication rate and mortality were significantly lower in the observation group (P<0.05).Conclusions Early laparoscopic retroperitoneal approach of catheter drainage can effectively improve the prognosis in patients with SAP and decrease the production of inflammatory mediators .Early laparoscopic retroperitoneal approach of cathe-ter drainage is simple , feasible and micro-invasive with encouraging outcomes , therefore it is an effective and safe treatment option for patients with SAP .

INTRODUCTIONWe sought to determine the opinions of patients, their visitors and healthcare workers regarding Influenza A (H1N1) response measures instituted within a tertiary hospital in Singapore.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThis questionnaire study was undertaken from 21 May 2009 to 31 August 2009.

RESULTSThere were 92 respondents, ranging in age from 15 to 77 years. Of the 90 who identified their role, 35.6% were patients, 12.2% visitors and 52.2% health care professionals. About 23% of respondents disagreed that one could have H1N1 without fever or fl u-like symptoms, while 14.3% thought influenza could not be caught from an asymptomatic infected person. About 30% perceived the H1N1 death rate as high. From this study, 82.2% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that Singapore's H1N1 responses were essential, while 14.6% found it overdone. In particular, healthcare workers and doctors found their professional work to be inconvenienced. Although more than two-thirds of doctors held this view, an equal proportion agreed the outbreak response was essential.

CONCLUSIONSThere was a high level of acceptance of response measures as essential, despite the perceived inconvenience. We propose that the success of containment measures requires unity of purpose and understanding among stakeholders at all levels.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Attitude to Health ; Communicable Disease Control ; organization & administration ; Disease Outbreaks ; Female ; Hospitals, Public ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; Influenza, Human ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Patient Satisfaction ; Personnel, Hospital ; psychology ; Public Health ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Visitors to Patients ; psychology ; Young Adult

ObjectiveToexplore the appearance ofmusclecrushinjuryatquantitative ultrasonographic elastography by supersonic shear imaging (SSI).MethodsThe animal experiment was done using a special balloon cuff device to create left hind leg crush injury with a force of 18.6 kPa.Twentythree New Zealand rabbits had crush injury of extremity and survived for 72 hours.SSI quantitative elastography was performed in crushed and no-crushed regions of each rabbit hind leg.Quantitative lesion elasticity was measured in terms of the Young modulus (in kilopascals) at 30 min,2 h,6 h,24 h and 72 h after the release of the crushing pressure.A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to assess diagnostic performance.ResultsThe area of crushed region in left hind leg accounted for 2.6％ -3.0％ of body surface area in 23 rabbits.The crushed regions exhibited maximum elasticity values of (19.51 ± 6.74)kPa,(21.47 ± 5.54) Pa,(11.36 ± 5.35)kPa,(15.09 ± 3.31)kPa and (13.72 ± 3.74) kPa,and mean elasticity values of (12.44 ± 3.77)kPa,(13.20 ± 3.60)kPa,(6.80±2.86)kPa,(10.04 ± 2.95)kPa and (6.94 ± 0.97)kPa at 30 min,2 h,6 h,24 h and 72 h after the release of the crushing pressure.Comparing with those of no-crushed regions,they were higher obviously (P＜0.001).ROC curves showed that extremity crush injury was diagnosed by using elasticity value,and the greater the elasticity value,the greater the diagnostic value.Conclusions SSI provides quantitative elasticity measurements,thus adding complementary information that potentially could help in crush injury characterization with conventional ultrasonography.

Objective To explore the protective effect and mechanism of antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC)on the cytotoxicity induced by iohexol in HK-2 cells. Methods The incubated HK-2 cells were divided into four groups:control group,iohexol group,NAC group,and NAC+iohexol group(pre-incubated with NAC and then co-incubated with iohexol).The cell viability was tested by CCK-8 assay;cell apoptosis was determined by Hoechst 33342 fluorescence staining and flow cytometry with Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining.Intracelluar ROS waft detected by flow cytometry with DCFH-DA fluorescence staining.The signaling transduction pathways were investigated by Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining. Results Iohexol decreased cell viability,and increased apoptosis in a dose-and time-dependent manner.In iohexol(100 gl/L,6 h)group,ROS was increased by 1.30-fold of control(P＜0.05).In NAC(5,10,15 mmol/L)+iohexol groups,the cell viability was increased by 104%,118%,130%respectively,and iohexol group was 63% (P＜0.05, respectively); apoptosis rate was decreased by 13.51%, 13.46%, 12.23% respectively, and iohexol group was 24.41% (P＜0.05, respectively); ROS was decreased by 1.05-fold, 0.93-fold, 0.86-fold respectively, and iohexol group was 1.3-fold (P＜0.05, respectively).Iohexol induced the increase of p53 phosphorylatian and activity, then up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2 protein expression. Iohexol induced the release of cytochrome C from mitochondria to cytoplasm, all of which caused final activation of caspase-3. The expression levels of p53, Bax and caspase-3 were decreased, while Bcl-2 protein expression level was increased by NAC. Conclusions Iohexol induces the increase of apeptosis rate and ROS generation in HK-2 cells. NAC attenuates this iohexol-induced cytotoxicity by decreasing intracelluar ROS, which is mairdy through the intrinsic pathway.

Objective To investigate the diagnosis value of aortic aneurysm with MRI.Methods Two radiologist analysed 312 cases MRI of clinically suspected aortic aneurysm retrospectively,and screening 198 cases of aortic aneurysm,analysed by double blind method.Among these patients,there were 112 male and 87 female,aged 9 to 82 years(mean age of 50.4 years).86 cases underwent X-ray angiography(XRA) examination,and 79 cases with operation.Results The MRI showed 22 cases of ture aneurysm,19 of false aneurysm,127 of dissecting aneurysm,26 of Marfan′s syndrome and 4 of compound aneurysm.Contrast analysed the XRA,CT and operation,the sensitivity and accuracy of MRI is 99% and 94%.Conclusion The MRI is an accurate and safe method for detecting aortic aneurysm.

Objective To investigate the changes of CD4+ CD25+ CD127low regulatory T cells (Treg) in peripheral blood samples collected from the patients with cervical cancer and its clinical signifi -cance , and to evaluate the correlations between Treg cells and the infection of high-risk human papillomavir-us ( HR-HPV) .Methods Flow cytometry analysis was performed to measure the percentages of CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Treg cells among CD4+T cells in peripheral blood samples collected from 249 patients with cervical cancer , 30 patients with cervix intraepithelial neoplasia ( CIN) and 60 healthy subjects .The corre-lations between the levels of Treg cells and the clinicopathological features of cervical cancer were analyzed . Flow-through hybridization and gene chip technology ( HybriMax) were used to analyze the genotypes of HPV strains isolated from the 339 subjects.The correlations between Treg cells and HR-HPV infection were ana-lyzed.Results Compared with the healthy subjects , the patients with cervical cancer or CIN showed higher percentages of CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Treg cells and rates of HR-HPV infection (P<0.01).The percentages of CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Treg cells in patients with cervical cancer were significantly correlated with the sta-ges of cervical cancer , which was staged by the Federation International of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system,and the degrees of differentiation (P<0.05).The percentages of CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Treg cells in the peripheral blood of patients with positive HR-HPV were significantly higher than those in patients without HR-HPV infection (P<0.01).Conclusion The CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Treg cells in peripheral blood might play an important role in the oncogenesis and development of cervical carcinoma , thus it could be used as a potential marker for the evaluation of disease progression .Moreover , the CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Treg cells were closely related to the HR-HPV infection.

Objective To summarize the phenotypic features of an unrecognized leukoencephalopathy in infants sharing same clinical features,and to better understand the disease and provide new evidence for identification of new leukoencephalopathy. Methods Clinical and follow-up data of 13 patients with unrecognized infantile leukoen-cephalopathy were collected from Peking University First Hospital from January, 2006 to December, 2014. Results (1) There were 7 male and 6 female. The average age of onset was 11 months (4-25 months). Thirty-eight percent (5/13 cases) of patients had incentives before the onset;all of the cases had acute onset and rapid motor function regression. Fifteen percent (2/13 cases) of the patients suffered from seizures in the course of the disease. Patients′condition became stable,and cognition and motor function improved gradually 1 month after onset. No patient died till the last follow-up. (2) Imaging features:magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the patients was characterized by im-plicating deep white matter,presenting T1 hypointense,T2 and fluid attenuated inversion recovery ( FLAIR) hyperin-tense in the periventricular area. All of MRI showed massive and symmetric lesions with heterogeneous signal and cystic degeneration. DWI showed patch or massive hyperintense in some of the lesions. The follow-up MRI showed the original lesions decreased in 88% ( 8/9 cases ) of patients, and white matters atrophied in 55% ( 5/9 cases ) of patients;the cystic degeneration still existed and even expanded;DWI showed regional linear or spot hyperintense in 88% (8/9 cases) of patients,which was smaller than before,and distributed around the original lesions. Conclusions The patients with leukoencephalopathy caused by unknown pathogenic gene were much likely to be mitochondrial leukoencephalopathy. This study provided evidence for further exploration of new pathogenic genes causing leu-koence-phalopathy.