To investigate the effects of catechin on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity, angiotensin II(Ang II) content and microvessel density (MVD) in renal tissues of 5/6 nephrectomized rats.

Eleven C21 steroids were isolated from chloroform extract of roots of Cynanchum otophyllumby silica gel, MCI, ODS columns, and semi-preparative HPLC. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic data analysis as otophylloside B(1), caudatin-3-O-beta-D-cymaropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-oleandropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-cymaropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-cymaropyranoside (2), caudatin-3-O-beta-D-oleandropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-oleandropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-cymaropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-cymaropyranoside (3), caudatin-3-O-beta-D-oleandropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-digitoxopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-cymaropyranoside (4), otophylloside O (5), gagamine-3-O-beta-D-oleandropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-cymaropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-cymaropyranoside (6), sinomarinoside B (7), mucronatosides C (8), wallicoside J (9), stephanoside H (10), and qinyangshengenin-3-O-beta-D-oleandropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-cymaropyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-digitoxopyranoside (11). Among them, compounds 2-3, and 6-11 were separated from the roots of this plant for the first time.
Cynanchum ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Steroids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical effect and safety of chiropractic in treating cervicogenic sudden hearing loss.

METHODSFrom January 2011 to October 2013, 90 patients with cervicogenic sudden hearing loss were randomly divided into treatment group and control group according to the random number table produced by SPSS 19.0 software. In the treatment group, there were 17 males and 28 females, aged from 31 to 62 years old with an average of (47.57±9.43) years; course of disease was from 1 to 3 days with an average of (1.43±0.68) days; pure-tone audiometry score was from 46.5 to 77.8 dB with the mean of (61.20±9.83) dB; Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) score was from 17 to 31 scores with an average of (23.46±7.18) scores. In the control group, there were 15 males and 30 females, aged from 28 to 64 years old with an average of (45.77±6.99) years; course of disease was from 1 to 3 days with an average of (1.50±0.73) days; pure-tone audiometry score was from 48.1 to 75.0 dB with the mean of (63.91±8.05) dB; Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) score was from 20 to 29 scores with an average of (25.61±10.43) scores. The patients of control group were treated with dexamethasone intravenous drip of 10 mg, 3 days later, decreased to 5 mg, 3 days again. And with the methycobal intravenous drip of 500 μg, treatment continued for 10 days. The patients of treatment group were treated with chiropractic additionally except for the therapeutic methods of control group. Chiropractic included local muscle loosening, attacking point, bilateral pulling atlanto-axial joint, and continuous treatment for 10 days. The pure-tone audiometry score and NPQ score were compared between two groups after treatment.

RESULTSAfter the treatment, pure-tone audiometry score and NPQ score in treatment group improved to (40.23± 8.14) dB and (12.70±8.29) scores respectively, which were obviously better than that of control group's (37.70±10.61) dB and (21.24±11.13) scores (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONCompared with routine method for cervicogenic sudden hearing loss, additional chiropractic can improve hearing and relieve neck pain effectively.

Cervical Vertebrae ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Manipulation, Chiropractic ; methods ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; genetics ; Exons ; genetics ; Genes, erbB-1 ; genetics ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology

Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is a hereditary disorder characterized by abnormal development of tissues derived from ectoderm. A case of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia was reported, and the molecular biological progress in this area were reviewed.
Ectodermal Dysplasia 1, Anhidrotic ; Humans

Objective To discuss the role of EB virus (EBV)in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) in children through investigating the copies of EBV DNA and expression of EBV genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs).Methods (1)PBMCs were isolated from 30 patients with SLE and 12 healthy normal controls respectively and DNA was extracted from PBMCs.(2) PBMCs were co-cultured with EBV for 12 days and RNA was extracted from PBMCs.(3)Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(Real-time PCR) was applied to detect the copies of EBV DNA in PBMCs.(4)Reverse transcription PCR was applied to detect expression of EBV genes.Results (1) Compared with the healthy control group [(40.1 ± 11.6) copies/μg],a significant increase of EBV DNA copies was observed in SLE group[(658.6 ± 183.6) copies/μg] (P ＜0.05).The EBV DNA copies in the active SLE group [(785.2 ± 179.2) copies/μg] were significantly higher than those in the non-active SLE group [(586.0 ± 193.1) copies/μg] (P ＜ 0.05).(2)There was no correlation between EBV DNA copies and systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (r =0.03,P ＞ 0.05).(3) After PBMCs got co-cultured with EBV,expression of latent EBV genes and lytic genes were both increased in the patients and healthy controls.The latent EBV genes including latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1),LMP2,EBV nuclear antigen 1 and the lytic genes including BCRF1,BLLF1 were all increased significantly in the patients compared with the healthy controls (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions There is a significant increase of EBV DNA copies and aberrant expression of EBV genes in SLE patients,which suggests that EBV may contribute to the pathogenesis of SLE.

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genes in children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from 20 children with SLE and 12 healthy human controls.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was conducted to detect anti-EBV viral capsid antigen (VCA) IgG/IgM antibodies.The culture supernatants of cells from patients with anti-EBV VCA IgG/IgM antibodies were collected,and PBMCs from the patients and controls were co-cultured with the supernatants respectively for 12 days.RNA was extracted from PBMCs before and after the coculture,and reverse transcription-PCR was performed to detect the expression of EBV genes,including LMP1,LMP2,EBNA1,BCRF1,BLLF1 and BILF1 genes.Results LMP1 gene was detected in fresh PBMCs from 10 out of 20 patients and 1 out of 12 controls (P ＜ 0.05).No significant differences were observed between the patients and controls in the detection rate of LMP2 gene (4/20 vs.1/12),EBNA1 gene (13/20 vs.3/12),BCRF1 gene (3/20 vs.1/12) or BLLF1 gene (5/20 vs.2/12) in fresh PBMCs.After co-culture with the supernatants of cells from patients with anti-EBV VCA IgG/IgM antibodies,the expressions of EBV genes in these PBMCs were increased to different degrees,and there was a significant difference in the expressions of EBV latent genes LMP1,LMP2 and EBNA-1 as well as EBV replicative genes BCRF1 and BLLF1 between the patient-derived and control-derived PBMCs (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions There is an aberrant expression of EBV genes in children with SLE,and EBV genes may contribute to the development of SLE.

Objective To explore the correlation between the two methods of pulmonary arterial thermodilution technique(ThDCO)and pulse indicator continuous cardiac output(PiCCO)in determining hemodynamic changes in patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation(OLT).Methods Eighteen patients with end-stage liver disease(ASAⅡ-IV)were performed OLT and monitored hemodynamic changes by PiCCO method and ThDCO method simultaneously.The hemodynamic parameters including mean arterial pressure(MAP),cardiac output(CO)and systemic vascular resistance(SVR)were measured at different time points before anesthesia induction,after tracheal intubation,after the beginning of operation,at anhepatic phase,at neohepatic phase,at the end of operation,and after operation.Results Good correlation was found between the two methods for the determination of CO and SVR(r=0.987,P0.05).Conclusion The hemodynamics change dramatically in patients undergoing OLT.There is good correlation between the two methods of PiCCO and ThDCO for perioperative hemodynamic monitoring in patients undergone OLT,and PiCCO detection can be used conveniently for real-time continuous monitoring.

AIM:To investigate the safety and effect of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery with Cionni modified capsular tension ring (MCTR) implantation in the management of traumatic lens subluxation.METHODS: Totally 11 patients (11 eyes) with traumatic lens subluxation were divided into three groups according to the severity of lens dislocation, ranging from 90° to 120° (4 eyes), 120° to 180° (5 eyes) and 180° to 270° (2 eyes).The contact LenSx femtosecond laser cataract surgery platform was applied to create the capsulotomy, prepare nuclear fragmentation and make corneal wound creation.Anterior vitrectomy was performed in some patients during the surgery.After capsular retractors insertion and phacoemulsification, the MCTR was inserted to the capsular bag and fixed to the sclera.Finally, the IOL was implanted into the capsular bag.Postoperative visual acuity, intra-and post-operative complications, anterior capsular opening, IOL and MCTR position and intraocular pressure (IOP) were assessed.RESULTS:The duration of follow-up was 2mo.All the operations were completed successfully.Five eyes underwent cataract surgery combined with anterior vitrectomy.Four eyes had been inserted with 2-eyelet MCTR and seven eyes with 1-eyelet MCTR.The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after operation was better than 0.5 in 4 eyes, between 0.3 and 0.5 in 3 eyes, between 0.1 and 0.3 in 3 eyes, and less than 0.1 in 1 eye.Compared with preoperative BCVA, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).All the IOLs were stably centered and the eyelet of MCTR was fixated steadily between the iris and the anterior capsule.The common intra-and post-operative complications were subconjunctival hemorrhage, incomplete capsulotomy, residual cortex, secondary glaucoma and posterior capsular opacification.CONCLUSION:Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery can improve the success rate of capsulorhexis, and reduce the difficulty of nuclear fragmentation.Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery combined with MCTR implantation is an ideal surgical method for traumatic lens subluxation.