Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; drug therapy ; Tripterygium

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataract are the most common causes of low vision worldwide.Nowadays, there is still a controversy about whether cataract surgery should be taken in patients combined with AMD and when should the surgery be taken.The aim of this review is to assess the influence of cataract surgery on the occurrence and development of AMD, to analyze the risk factors, to explore the occasion of cataract surgery in patients with AMD, and joint with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment, also including the development and application of intraocular lens.It helps to avoid and postpone the development and progression of macular degeneration after cataract surgery and get good visual outcome.

Neurology is a relatively difficult subject in all medical subjects, to which medical students, interns and low qualification residents generally have a kind of fear, called neurophobia. Through such teaching methods as bedside teaching, problem and case oriented group discussions, mini-lectures and net-work communication, and combined with the specific case and imaging data, our teaching and research section helps students consolidate the basic knowledge of neuroanatomy, grasp the physical examination of the nervous system, and cultivate their thinking of positioning and qualitative diagnosis, so as to enable them to achieve better learning effect in the shortest practice time when they are in clinical neurological depart-ment, and help them to overcome neurophobia.

ObjectiveTo sum up the clinical experience in recent 10 years in our organ transplantation center. Methods We retrospectively reviewed clinical data of 120 patients receiving liver transplantation from April 1993 to October 2002. The patients′ clinical characteristics, surgical techniques, complications and survival rates were compared between the periods of 1993～1997 (phase Ⅰ), 1999 (phase Ⅱ), and 2000～2002 (phase Ⅲ). ResultsMalignant liver diseases were major indications for liver transplantation in phase Ⅰ (100%) and Ⅱ (53%), and phase Ⅲ (34%), respectively. The survival rate of recipients with benign liver diseases in phase Ⅲ significantly improved with the 3-month, 6-month and 1-year survival rates of 86%, 85% and 83.1%, respectively. For patients with malignant liver diseases, the 3-month, 6-month and 1-year survival rates were 87%, 81% and 46%, respectively. The recurrence of hepatitis B was 24% in 12 months after transplantation. The incidence of postransplantation vascular complications decreased significantly (from 29% in phase Ⅰ and Ⅱ to 4.9% in phase Ⅲ).Biliary complications remained one of the major problems for long-term survival. No veno-venous bypass was applied in phase Ⅲ. ConclusionStrict selection of candidate recipients, technical refinement, appropriate management of vascular and biliary complications, and prevention of recurrence of hepatitis B and malignant liver diseases are important for long-term survival.

Objective To investigate the effect of flavopiridol on the proliferation,invasiveness and apoptosis of human prostate cancer cell line LNCaP,and to explore the possibility of its application in clinical treatment.Methods MTT assay was used to detect cell proliferation,cell invasion in vitro was detected by Transwell assay,and flow cytometer was used to observe apoptosis.Results Flavopiridol inhibited the growth of LNCaP cells in a concentration-dependent and time-dependent way (P ＜ 0.05),and reduced the ability of invasion capacity.After treated by 10 nmol/L flavopiridol for 24 h,the apoptosis rate was increased significantly to (7.5±0.9) ％ compared with the control group [(5.3±0.5) ％] (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Flavopiridol can inhibit proliferation of LNCaP cells and induce apoptosis,which may be applicable for the treatment of prostate cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To test cathepsin L as a biomarker of myocardial ischemia by examination of cathepsin L expression in plasma after myocardial ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion in rats. METHODS: The rat models were established and divided in acute myocardial ischemia model (myocardial ischemia 30 min, 1 h, 2 h groups), ischemia-reperfusion model (ischemia-reperfusion group), and isoflurane-pretreated ischemia-reperfusion model (isoflurane-pretreated group), respectively. Normal control group and sham-operated group were established as contrast. The contents of cathepsin L in plasma were examined by ELISA and myocardial infarction areas were measured after TTC staining. RESULTS: No statistical significant changes were found among the experimental groups compared with the normal control group and sham-operated group (P>0.05). The cathepsin L from the ischemia-reperfusion group increased to 2.37 times compared with the normal control group (P<0.05). The cathepsin L and myocardium infarction size of isoflurane-pretreated group decreased compared with the ischemia-reperfusion group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The cathepsin L in plasma is not a promising biomarker of acute myocardial ischemia. Isoflurane preconditioning can reduce the cathepsin L in plasma caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Animals ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Cathepsin L/analysis* ; Isoflurane ; Myocardial Infarction/metabolism* ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury/metabolism* ; Myocardium ; Rats

Child ; Humans ; Male ; Paralyses, Familial Periodic ; diagnosis ; therapy

Bronchi ; pathology ; Child ; Humans ; Lung Diseases ; complications ; Male ; Pulmonary Emphysema ; congenital

Aged ; Catheter Ablation ; adverse effects ; Heart Injuries ; etiology ; Humans ; Male ; Tachycardia, Ventricular ; therapy

AIM: To evaluate the effects of NS-398, a cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) inhibitor, on the proliferation and apoptosis in HepG2 cells. METHODS: The effects of NS-398 on the proliferation of HepG2 cells was evaluated by MTT. DNA fragmentation gel analysis was used to analyze the apoptotic cells; DNA ploidy and apoptotic cell percentage were examined by flow cytometry. Furthermore, the expression of COX-2 and Bcl-2 mRNA was identified by competitive RT-PCR. RESULTS: NS-398 inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in HepG2 in a concentration-dependent manner. DNA ploidy analysis showed that S phase cells were significantly decreased with NS-398 concentration increasing. The quiescent G_0/G_1 phase was accumulated with decreasing of Bcl-2 mRNA. Whereas NS-398 had no effect on the expression of COX-2 mRNA, no correlations were found between COX-2 mRNA and the HepG2 cell proliferation and apoptosis induced by NS-398 (r=0.056 and r=0.119, respectively). CONCLUSION: NS-398 significantly inhibits the proliferation and induces apoptosis in HepG2. Mechanisms may be involved in accumulation of quiescent G_0/G_1 phase and decrease in Bcl-2 mRNA expression, but independent to COX-2 mRNA expression. [