OBJECTIVESTo investigate the clinical effect of sequential therapeutic intervention Yupei Qisun [compensating for weakness by invigorating Kidney (Shen) and Spleen (Pi) in advance] in Chinese medicine (CM) and hysteroscopic endometrial mechanical stimulation on the treatment of infertile patients with repeated implantation failure (RIF); and to study the differences in patients' endometrial thickness and type on the day of embryo transfer, serum hormone levels on embryo transfer day and clinical pregnancy outcomes.

METHODSIn the clinical study, 168 frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles for couples with RIF conforming to the research protocol were randomly divided into three groups: a CM group with 56 cycles (CM combined with FET), a hysteroscopy group with 55 cycles (hysteroscopic endometrial mechanical stimulation), and a control group with 57 cycles (conventional FET). Differences in endometrial thickness on the embryo transfer day, levels of serum estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) on the embryo transfer day, the E2/P ratio on the embryo transfer day, biochemical and clinical pregnancy rates, implantation rate, abnormal pregnancy rate and other indices were compared among the three groups.

RESULTSEndometrial thickness, E2 and P levels, and the E2/P ratio on embryo transfer day and other factors had no significant differences among groups. The biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, and implantation rates of the CM and hysteroscopy groups were significantly higher than the control group (P<0.05), and there were no significant differences between these two groups. The abnormal pregnancy rate had no significant difference among the three groups.

CONCLUSIONSSequential therapy of Yupei Qisun could significantly improve the clinical outcomes of rif-fet cycles, being equivalent to hysteroscopic endometrial mechanical stimulation, and provided a reliable method to treat such infertile couples.

Abortion, Habitual ; therapy ; Adult ; Embryo Implantation ; Embryo Loss ; therapy ; Embryo Transfer ; Endometrium ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Hysteroscopy ; Infertility, Female ; pathology ; therapy ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Physical Stimulation ; methods ; Pregnancy ; Retreatment ; statistics & numerical data

OBJECTIVETo investigate the change of free Ca(2+) in cytoplasma in the neurotoxicity of the manganese (Mn).

METHODSThe cortical neurons were separated from the neonatal Wistar rats and cultured in vitro. The neurons were grouped as the Mn-treated groups and the untreated group. The neurons in the Mn-added groups were incubated in the culture media containing lower, medium and high dosage manganese chloride (MnCl(2 x 4) H2O) with the concentration at 0.2, 0.6, 1.0 mmol/L respectively. Meanwhile, neurons in control were cultured in the normal culture media. All treatments stopped 24 h later. Neurons were labeled Ca(2+) sensitive prober, Fluo-3/AM. The fluorescence intensity of Fluo-3 combined with Ca(2+) was examined by LSCM (Laser scanning confocal microscope) and was treated by the picture analysis technique. The intensity was equal to the free Ca(2+) concentrations in cytoplasma of neurons.

RESULTSMnCl(2) can induce free Ca(2+) overloaded in cytoplasma of neurons, but the increasing degree varied in MnCl(2) dosage. Cytoplasma Ca(2+) concentration in the moderate dosage The moderate dosage MnCl(2) group and the high dosage MnCl(2) group were significantly higher than that in the lower dosage MnCl(2) group and the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe Ca(2+) overload is involved in the neurotoxicity of manganese, and a dosage response relationship is found between the manganese chloride dose and Ca(2+) overload in cortical neurons.

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Cerebral Cortex ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Manganese ; toxicity ; Neurons ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of neurotoxicity induced by manganese, and observe the effects on the apoptosis of neurons in rat striatum.

METHODSSD rats were divided into four groups, six rats each group. Three dose groups were exposed to high, middle, and low level of MnCl(2). At the end of experiment, all rats of the exposed groups and control group were decapitated, their striatums were removed and the Mn content of striatum, the apoptotic morphology, ratio and ultrastructural organization were analyzed.

RESULTSThe Mn content of striatum and apoptosis index of the three dose groups exposed to high, middle, and low level of Mn were significantly higher than control group (P < 0.05). The Mn content of striatum of the three dose groups exposed to high, middle, low level of MnCl(2) and control group were 2.98 +/- 0.52, 2.75 +/- 0.37, 2.61 +/- 0.73, 0.60 +/- 0.20 respectively. The apoptosis index of striatum of the three dose groups exposed to high, middle, low level of MnCl(2) and control group were 24.83 +/- 5.98, 17.00 +/- 5.33, 15.33 +/- 2.58, 2.83 +/- 0.41 respectively, and following higher level dose, the apoptosis index increased. The nucleus of neurons in striatum become smaller, condensed, etc, and these character showed apoptosis of neurons.

CONCLUSIONMn can result in apoptotic morphology and increase level of apoptosis in striatum. The level of apoptos varies with Mn concentration.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Corpus Striatum ; drug effects ; Manganese ; Neurons ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

BACKGROUNDOff-label application of drug-eluting stents (DES) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was not uncommon in daily practice, however DES in treating Chinese patients with complex lesion subset was under-investigated. The primary objective of the FIREMAN registry was to evaluate the long term efficacy and safety of the Firebird sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) in treating patients with complex coronary lesions. Here we report the mid-term of one-year clinical outcomes and eight-month angiographic follow-up results of FIREMAN registry.

METHODSThe FIREMAN registry was a prospective multi-center registry, which included 1029 consecutive patients undergoing PCI with Firebird SES implantation between September 2006 and July 2007 in 45 centers in China. The clinical follow-up was designed to be performed at 1, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months post index procedure, and non-mandatory angiographic follow-up at 8 months was planned. One hundred percent site monitoring was conducted.

RESULTSLong lesions (59.2%), multi-vessel disease (50.4%), and small vessel disease (31.6%) were mostly found in angiography. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) occurred in 51 (5.1%) patients at 1 year clinical follow-up, including cardiac mortality in 6 (0.6%), non-fatal myocardial infarction in 11 (1.1%), and target lesion revascularization in 36 (3.5%) of the patients. Definite and probable stent thrombosis (ST) by Academic Research Consortium (ARC) definition occurred in 12 (1.36%) patients at one-year clinical follow-up. The 8-month binary restenosis rate was 5.7% in-segment and 4.3% in-stent, respectively. Late lumen loss was (0.21 ± 0.40) mm in-segment and (0.23 ± 0.36) mm in-stent, respectively. Furthermore, Cox regression analysis revealed that diabetes, small vessel diameter, and chronic total occlusion were independent predictors of ST.

CONCLUSIONSThe results showed that the Firebird SES was effective and safe in treating Chinese patients with complex coronary lesions and occurrence of ST rate at one-year clinical follow-up was acceptable, however further long-term follow-up was still necessary. (NCT00552656)

Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; adverse effects ; methods ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Disease ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; Drug-Eluting Stents ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Sirolimus ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome

The apoptosis of mono-hepatocellular induced by the active ingredients of the Zanthoxyli Radix was investigated using laser Raman spectroscopy. Hepatoma cells (BEL-7404) were treated with 10 mg•L⁻¹ nitidine chloride and 3 g•L⁻¹ the extracts of Zanthoxyli Radix, respectively, then were divided into two parts, one for fluorescence staining, the other for determination of Raman spectroscopy. The acquired spectra were then processed by background elimination, smoothing, and normalization. Fluorescence staining results showed that the nucleuses from untreated group were uniformly stained, while those from the group treated for 48 hours were densely stained and broken. The spectra results revealed that the intensity of peaks associated with nucleic acid and protein decreased after the cells were incubated with the extracts of Zanthoxyli Radix for 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours. The intensity of peaks at 785,1 002,1 175,1 660 cm⁻¹ was decreased with the time of the cells were incubated by the extracts of Zanthoxyli Radix. The results indicated that the extracts of Zanthoxyli Radix could induce the apoptosis of hepatoma cells and reduce the amount of nucleic acid and protein in the cells. There is a certain relevance between the drug treatment time and the efficacy. The above results suggest that Raman spectra can provide abundant information about the changes in biological macromolecules within the cells after incubated by the extracts of Zanthoxyli Radix and serve as an effective method for the real time measurement of apoptosis.