Air Pollution, Indoor ; adverse effects ; Animals ; Male ; Maze Learning ; Memory ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains

Objective To evaluate the value of endoscopic profile in an adult population with typical heartburn. Methods Clinical and endoscopic data were collected from 5042 consecutive outpatients who underwent routine upper endoscopy without any alarm features between March 2006 and Feb. 2007. Results Three hundred and thirteen (6.2%) patients were diagnosed as having typical heartburn. Of these, erosive esophagitis (EE) was found in 99 (31.6%) patients, Barrett's esophagus (BE) in 10 (3. 2%) patients, peptic ulcer disease (PUD) in 21 (6. 7%) patients and carcinoma in three (0.9 %) patients (1 with esophageal carcinoma and 2 with gastric adenocarcinoma).Multivariate analysis revealed that age＞50, male, overweight and alcohol use were independent risk factors for positive endoscopy findings (P＜0.05) and EE (P＜0.05) in heartburn patients. Male and Helicobacter pylori infection were independent risk factors for PUD (P＜ 0.05). Conclusions In China, patients with typical heartburn but without alarm features, early endoscopic examination may be helpful in avoiding missing diagnosis of tumor.

BACKGROUNDPharmacological therapy has been considered as the first-line treatment for patients with uncomplicated benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tamsulosin compared with a placebo for treating BPH.

METHODSThe randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCT) of tamsulosin for the treatment of BPH from all over the world were searched. PubMed, Ovid, ScienceDirect, EBSCO, CBM, and CNKI were searched, as well as a manual search of four Chinese journals: Chinese Journal of Andrology, National Journal of Andrology, Chinese Journal of Urology, and Journal of Clinical Urology was also performed. Two reviewers independently screened the studies for eligibility, evaluated the quality and extracted the data from the eligible studies, with confirmation by cross-checking. Divergences of opinions were settled by discussion. Meta-analysis was processed by Rev Man 5.0 software, fail-safe number was performed by SAS8.0 software.

RESULTSSeven RCTs involving 2455 men met the inclusion criteria. The basic characteristics of patients were comparable in all the studies. Comparing three common criteria: international prostate symptom score (IPSS)/Boyarsky symptom score, maximum flow rate (MFR), quality of life (QOL), tamsulosin was better than placebo at improving IPSS and MFR, with no significant difference in the QOL. Adverse events of tamsulosin also showed no significant difference from the placebo group (Z=1.62, P=0.10, OR=1.22, 95% CI 0.96-1.54).

CONCLUSIONSTamsulosin is better than placebo at improving IPSS and MFR. Adverse events of tamsuloisn show no significant difference compared with placebo. More high quality trials with larger samples and longer follow-up are proposed.

Antineoplastic Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; drug therapy ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Sulfonamides ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use

Objective To study the effects of salt sensitivity on evolution of blood pressure and develope- ment to hypertension from adolescents to youth.Methods A baseline survey was carried out in 4623 adolescents aged 6-15 years old in Hanzhong rural area in 1987,310 of them were recruited for determination of salt sensitiv- ity using the tests of oral saline load and furosemide sodium-volume depletion.Salt sensitivity (SS) were diag- nosed in 101 while 209 subjects as no-sah sensitivity (NSS).This cohort of adolescents were followed up for av- erage 18 years.Results The response rate for this cohort of adolescents was 71.9%.At the end of follow up period,BP in subjects with baseline SS was higher in youth than that in NSS (SBP:122.9?13.1 vs 117.3?12.4, P

It was the first time that the complotypes of 84 chromosomes from Han nationality healthyChinese families investigated and analyzed in Guangdong are a with the methods adopted fromthe international complement reference laboratory.The results showed 18 various complolypeswere identified.The precedent complotypes are SC31,SC42,SC32 and SC41.There were 7 com-potypes of them existing the linkage disequilibria.The highest allotypes gene frequencies of thefour loci of complotypes were respectively as follows,BF S for BF alleles,C2C for C2 alleles,C4A3 and C4A4 for C4A alleles,C4B2 and C4B1 for C4B alleles.The C4AQO allele for C4A lo-cus was 4.8% and 1.2%C4BQO alleles for C4B locus.The frequencies of major complolypesfrom the data showed the similarities among Mongolian,Caucasian,Japanese and south easternAsia populations.The significance of the different frepuencies between the complotypes has beendiscussed.

Objective To investigate the effect of intraocular injection of mixed crystalline in vivo on survival of retinal ganglion cells(RGCs)after optic nerve cut.Methods Twenty Long-Evens rats were divided into normal control,and 7 day,14 day,and 21 day groups after optic nerve was cut off.There were 5 eyes in each group.Mixed crystallin(1x10~(-4)g/L)and isotonic saline solution were injected into the vitreous of fight eye and left eye respectively.The number of RGCs was counted 7,14 and 21 days after optic nerve cut.Results The density of RGCs declined clearly 7 days after optic nerve cut.In the group with crystallin injection,the density of RGCs declined to 71%,32% and 15% of the control group repec- tively,much higher than that of the controls on days 7,14 and 21 after optic nerve was cut off(P

ObjectiveTo explore the potential value of diffusion weighted imaging(DWI) in the clinical diagnosis of soft-tissue tumors.MethodsDiffusion-weighted MRI was performed in 48 histologically proven soft-tissue tumor cases using diffusion-weighted spin-echo sequences.Of the 48 soft-tissue tumor cases,there were 28 cases of sarcoma and 20 cases of benign tumor.The apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC) values of a large region with no necrosis,scar tissue,hemorrhage or calcification representing the lesion were measured.ADC values of benign tumors,malignant tumors and normal muscles were compared.ResultsThe ADC value of the malignant tumors (0.95 ± 0.31 )× 10-3mm2/s was significantly lower than that of benign lesions( 1.87 ±0.66) × 10-3mm2/s and muscles( 1.62 ±0.50) × 10 -3mm2/s.There was no significant difference in ADC value between benign lesions and muscles.Sensitivity(75％ ) and specificity(89％ ) were obtained when the ADC value was 1.38 × 10-3mm2/s in the differentiation of benign and malignant tumors.ConclusionDiffusion-weighted MRI had potential value in differentiating benign softtissue tumors from malignant ones.

Objective To investigate the gene mutation in a pedigree with pachyonychia congenita typeⅡ(PC-Ⅱ)and to explore the relationship between the mutation and clinical manifestations.Methods The exon1of K17gene of genomic DNA from peripheral blood was amplified by PCR,and the PCR products were sequenced by automated sequencing system.Results In all the3patients of the pedigree with PC-Ⅱ(2patients presented as delayed-onset PC at4and15-16years of age respectively),the codon92(AAT)of K17gene was mutated as AGT,which caused missense mutation(N92S)in the1A domain of keratin17,but the2unaffected members of the pedigree and50unrelated controls had no such mutation.Conclusions Mutation of N92S in the1A domain of keratin17exists in this pedigree with PC-Ⅱ.Our results indicate that mutation in the1A domain of keratin17can present as delayed-onset pachyonychia congenita.Therefore,the site and type of keratin mutation are not the sole determinant of the age of onset for PC-Ⅱ,there may be other genetic and/or environmental factors that determine the age of onset of PC-Ⅱ.

Objective To seek for the differentially-expressed proteins in patients with kidney-yin deficiency syndrome and to screen out the specific proteins,so as to provide evidence for the establishment of objective standard of kidney deficiency syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).Methods Five patients with typical kidney-yin deficiency syndrome and 6 normal healthy volunteers were enrolled into the study.Plasma proteins in both groups were detected by antibody chip,and then the plasma proteins profile was compared and analyzed.Results A total of 25 differentially-expressed proteins between kidney-yin deficiency group and normal control group were found,of which 2 were up-regulated and 23 were down-regulated.Conclusion The differentially-expressed proteins in patients with kidney-yin deficiency syndrome are mainly related to immune disorder,protein biosynthesis,metabolism,oxidative stress,cell apoptosis,signal transduction,and so on.