OBJECTIVETo investigate GNE gene mutations in 5 Chinese patients with distal myopathy with rimmed vacuoles (DMRV).

METHODSFive patients with typical clinical and pathological features of DMRV were studied. All the 11 coding exons and the flanking intron sequences of GNE gene were amplified by PCR and sequenced. Four family members of case 5 were also examined for GNE gene mutations.

RESULTSAll the patients were identified to have different GNE gene mutations: Cases 1-4 had complex heterozygous mutations and case 5 had homozygous mutation. Six reported mutations had been identified, including 1 nonsense mutation (p.R8X) and 5 missense mutations (p.D176V, p.I298T, p.A591T, P.A631V, and p.V696M). A novel mutation (c.317T>C, p.I106T) was identified in case 2.

CONCLUSIONThis is the first report of p.R8X, p.I298T, p.A591T and p.V696M mutations in GNE gene in Chinese population, and a novel mutation p.I106T was identified. These findings further expand the clinical and genetic spectrum of DMRV in China.

Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Distal Myopathies ; enzymology ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Multienzyme Complexes ; genetics ; Mutation ; genetics ; Mutation, Missense ; genetics ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical significance of AFP-L3 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

METHODSSerum AFP-L3 variants were separated by micro centrifugal column, and detected by chemiluminescence.

RESULTSAFP and AFP-L3 levels were higher in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma than those in patients with chronic hepatitis (P<0.001); as a diagnostic target, the sensitivity and specificity of AFP-L3 were 72.3 percent and 97.2 percent, respectively. Eight patients with hepatitis have higher AFP-L3, but none of them were found with carcinoma by CT three months later.

CONCLUSIONAFP-L3 is very useful in the diagnosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Adult ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; diagnosis ; Centrifugation ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; analysis ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the perioperative clinical outcome and predictive factors for perioperative complication morbidity and mortality.

METHODSFrom August 2003 to August 2008, the data of 338 cases of hepatectomy performed in the liver transplant center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University was collected in a prospective manner. The patients' perioperative clinical risk factors and results were analyzed.

RESULTSIn the 338 hepatectomy cases, 255 patients (75.4%) underwent precise anatomical hepatectomy. The overall perioperative complication morbidity was 18.1%, while the perioperative mortality was 0.6%. In a total of 211 (62.4%) cases, the operation was carried out without blood transfusion. Univariate analysis revealed that cirrhotic liver, thrombocytopenia, blood loss in operation > 1000 ml, blood transfusion in operation and several other factors were closely related with the incidence rate of complication. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that thrombocytopenia and perioperative blood transfusion were important independently predictive factors for the occurrence of perioperative complications in hepatectomy.

CONCLUSIONSPrecise hepatectomy enables patients to obtain better clinical outcome with low complication morbidity and perioperative mortality. Reducing hemorrhage is an important factor that lead to good clinical results.

Blood Loss, Surgical ; prevention & control ; Hepatectomy ; methods ; mortality ; Humans ; Intraoperative Complications ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Logistic Models ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; Multivariate Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Thrombocytopenia

BACKGROUNDShensong Yangxin (SSYX) is one of the compound recipe of Chinese materia medica. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of SSYX on sodium current (I(Na)), L-type calcium current (I(Ca, L)), transient outward potassium current (I(to)), delayed rectifier current (I(K)), and inward rectifier potassium currents (I(K1)) in isolated ventricular myocytes.

METHODSWhole cell patch-clamp technique was used to study ion channel currents in enzymatically isolated guinea pig or rat ventricular myocytes.

RESULTSSSYX decreased peak I(Na) by (44.84 +/- 7.65)% from 27.21 +/- 5.35 to 14.88 +/- 2.75 pA/pF (n = 5, P < 0.05). The medicine significantly inhibited the I(Ca, L). At concentrations of 0.25, 0.50, and 1.00 g/100 ml, the peak I(Ca, L) was reduced by (19.22 +/- 1.10)%, (44.82 +/- 6.50)% and (50.69 +/- 5.64)%, respectively (n = 5, all P < 0.05). SSYX lifted the I - V curve of both I(Na) and I(Ca, L) without changing the threshold, peak and reversal potentials. At the concentration of 0.5%, the drug blocked the transient component of I(to) by 50.60% at membrane voltage of 60 mV and negatively shifted the inactive curve and delayed the recovery from channel inactivation. The tail current density of I(K) was decreased by (30.77 +/- 1.11)% (n = 5, P < 0.05) at membrane voltage of 50 mV after exposure to the medicine and the time-dependent activity of I(K) was also inhibited. Similar to the effect on I(K), the SSYX inhibited I(K1) by 33.10% at the test potential of -100 mV with little effect on reversal potential and the rectification property.

CONCLUSIONSThe experiments revealed that SSYX could block multiple ion channels such as I(Na) I(Ca, L), I(k), I(to) and I(K1), which may change the action potential duration and contribute to some of its antiarrhythmic effects.

Animals ; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents ; pharmacology ; Calcium Channels ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Guinea Pigs ; Heart Ventricles ; Ion Channels ; drug effects ; Male ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; drug effects ; Potassium Channels ; drug effects ; Rats ; Sodium Channels ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the impacts of three different surgical approaches to urethral stricture on the erectile function of the patients.

METHODSThis study included 126 male patients with urethral stricture, 35 treated by substitution urethroplasty (group A), 52 by anastomotic urethroplasty (group B), and 39 by internal urethroplasty (group C). We evaluated the pre- and postoperative erectile function of the patients using IIEF-5 scores by telephone calls and interviews. We also monitored their nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT).

RESULTSThe IIEF-5 scores in groups A, B and C were 13.5 +/- 4.5, 11.1 +/- 4.8 and 14.5 +/- 4.41 respectively after surgery, all significantly decreased as compared with 17.1 +/- 2.6, 17.1 +/- 3.0 and 17.6 +/- 2.2 preoperatively (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAll the three surgical approaches can reduce IIEF-5 scores in patients with urethral stricture, but anastomotic urethroplasty may induce a higher incidence of erectile dysfunction than the other two approaches.

Adult ; Aged ; Humans ; Intraoperative Period ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Penile Erection ; physiology ; Urethral Stricture ; surgery ; Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male ; methods ; Young Adult

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype ; physiology ; Influenza, Human ; diagnostic imaging ; virology ; Male ; Radiography

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the status quo of recognition and management of renal colic among urological surgeons in China. METHODS: From November 2021 to March 2022, 725 urological surgeons in China were surveyed in the form of a questionnaire, including their province, hospital grade, professional title, the number of patients with renal colic treated per week, the preferred drugs and the cognition of the disease. This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Peking University People's Hospital, and all respondents completed informed consent online. RESULTS: During November 2021 and March 2022, urological surgeons across China were surveyed in the form of a questionnaire, and the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were verified before the study was carried out. In the study, 720 valid questionnaires were collected (accounting for 99.31% of the total number), in which 42.4% of the doctors' preferred drugs were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and 40.0% of the doctors' preferred antispasmodic drugs. Opioids were the first choice of 11.0% of the physicians and other treatments were preferred by 6.6% of physicians. In addition, 61.1% of the doctors thought that the mechanism of renal colic was elevated prostaglandin, 32.2% thought it was ureteral spasm, 5.0% thought it was calculi irritation, and 1.7% thought the mechanism was unclear. The doctor of the cognition of the generation mechanism of renal colic pain had a significant influence on the preferred treatment option (χ²=54.399, P < 0.001) that the "elevated prostaglandins" doctor more often preferred NSAIDs than the doctor who thought cramps and ureter stones caused renal colic (51.6% vs. 28.0%, χ²=34.356, P < 0.001;51.6% vs. 19.4%, χ²=13.759, P < 0.001). In addition, hospital class, physician title, and the number of weekly consultations by physicians influenced the choice of medications for renal colic (P < 0.05), tertiary hospitals, middle and senior professional titles and weekly patients with renal colic > 8 cases generally preferred NSAIDs. CONCLUSION There are deficiencies in the cognition and drug treatment of renal colic among urological surgeons in China. The choice of the preferred drug was related to the doctor's cognition of the disease, the grade of the hospital, the doctor's professional title and the weekly treatment volume.
Humans ; Renal Colic/drug therapy* ; Urologists ; East Asian People ; Reproducibility of Results ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; Surveys and Questionnaires