BACKGROUND:Osteoarthritis is an age-related joint disease characterized by articular cartilage degeneration.
OBJECTIVE:To assess the expression of miR-140-3p in synovial fluid of knee osteoarthritis, and identify whether miR-140-3p levels in synovial fluid are correlated with disease severity.
METHODS:We col ected 10 healthy volunteers, 10 patients with gouty arthritis, 10 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and 45 patients with knee osteoarthritis (15 cases in early stage, 15 cases in middle stage and 15 cases in the late stage). Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect miR-140-3p expression in synovial fluid in each group.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) Expression of miR-140-3p was significantly down-regulated in knee osteoarthritis group. Significant differences in miR-140-3p expression were detected between non-knee osteoarthritis group and knee osteoarthritis group (P<0.05). No significant difference in miR-140-3p expression was determined among healthy control group, gouty arthritis group and rheumatoid arthritis group (P>0.05). (2) The miR-140-3p expression in the healthy control group was 11.4 times that in the knee osteoarthritis group. The expression of miR-140-3p decreased with the increase of the severity of osteoarthritis. (3) Spearman rank correlation analysis suggested that the expression of miR-140-3p was negatively correlated with osteoarthritis severity. (4) Results suggest that the expression of miR-140-3p in synovial fluid can reflect the progression of knee osteoarthritis to a certain extent.

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the utilization of aztreonam in perioperative patients in order to promote rational use of antimicrobial agents. METHODS: 215 discharged surgery cases were collected in Mar. 2009 and analyzed retrospectively to evaluate the rationality of drug use. RESULTS: Of 215 cases, preventive use accounted for 122 cases, among which rational use 29 cases and irrational use 93 cases; treatment use accounted for 93 cases, among which reasonable use 54 cases and unreasonable use 39 cases. CONCLUSION: Perioperative use of aztreonam was not in line with Guiding Principles for Clinical Use of Antibacterial Drugs, Notice for Further Strengthen Management of Clinical Use of Antibacterial Drugs Issued by General Office of the Ministry of Health. Unreasonable utilization require to arouse attention of medical personnel and strengthen management.

Objective To study the value of the ovarian cyst treated with sclerotherapy under CT guiding. Methods Forty-five cases with ovarian cyst treated with sclerotherapy under CT guiding. Results 36 cases were all cured and other 8 cases reduced and 1 cases was not changed. Conclusion This study suggests that the method of ovarian cyst treated with sclerotherapy under CT guidance is uncomplicated and curative effect.

Prospective studies have indicated that the incidence of recurrent stroke in patients with symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis is approximately 15-20％ per year,and the mortality rate is significantly higher.Although the strict control of the risk factors for atherosclerosis and antithrombotic drugs,especially the use of anti-platelet drugs,is the main basis treatment for these patients,some patients may have drug resistance.These high-riskpatients showed severe stenosis ( ＞ 70％ ) of the recent clinical symptoms of ischemia and theclinical and imaging evidence of distal hemodynamic irnpairment accompanying arterial stenosis.The advances in balloon and stenting have made people begun to consider the possibility ofusing angioplasty and stenting for the treatment of these high-risk patients.However,becausethe relative efficacy of these invasive therapy and drug therapy is not very clear,furtherrandomized clinical trial is still needed.This article reviews the available drug treatment optionsfor symptomatic intracranial arteriosclerotic disease and the current status of endovascudartreatment.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Humans ; Laryngeal Diseases ; etiology ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Diseases ; therapy ; Singing ; Young Adult

Atrial fibrillation is an important cause of ischemic stroke.Studies have shown that the acute ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation may have more severe neurological deficits and higher mortality compared with those without atrial fibrillation.In addition,atrial fibrillation is also an independent risk factor for the failure of recanalization after iotravenous thrombolysis,and it is associated with poor outcome.Mechanical thrombectomy treatment provides a new therapeutic regimen for acute ischemic stroke patients with atrial fibrillation.This article reviews the intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic patients with atrial fibrillation.

Recently,wide application of MRI in clinic accelerates researches into the etiology,diagnosis,treatment and prognosis of bone bruises.MRI manifestations of bone bruises include trabecular microfracture associated with hemorrhage,oedema of subchondral bone because of direct or indirect traumatic force and focal abnormalities in subchondral bone of the knee.This condition is also known as occult injury of the knee,because it is likely to be overlooked or misdiagnosed in hospital due to its diagnostic difficulty by plain radiographs and CT.If timely intervention is not given,it will be accompanied by chronic pain which seriously affects the daily life of the patients,even resulting in early degeneration.This article discusses the current research on bone bruises of the knee.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of long-term repeated treatment of facial wrinkles with application of botulinum toxin A (BTXA). Methods A total of 52 patients had received 8 injections in seven years with BTXA against facial wrinkles, including forehead wrinkles, fishtail lines, glabellas wrinkles, and nasal dorsum transverse wrinkles. Besides day 1 (baseline) and day for the next injection (end-point), follow-up visits were scheduled on 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after every injection. The therapy effect and safety were evaluated. Results For all the patients, it began to take effect on day 3 or 4 after the treatment and best effect appeared on 1 month post-treatment. Patients' selfevaluation as grade 1 for the improvement of forehead wrinkles, fishtail lines, glabellas wrinkles and nasal dorsum transverse wrinkles, accounted for 100%, 97.1%, 99.8% and 99%, respectively. Correspondingly, cases as grade 2 accounted for 0, 2.9%, 0.2% and 1.0%. Grades 3 to 5 had not been reported. With the repetition of treatment, the efficiency increased. The average of effective duration was (7.8±1.1) months, which lasted longer with the injection times increased (r= 0.256, P= 0.02). Adverse reactions observed in the previous several injections, including ecchymosis, feeling of tightness, rigid expression and severer wrinkles near the injected site, which were mild and the incidence rate decreased after the following injections (r= 0.850, P= 0.01). Severe adverse effects, such as allergic reaction,headache, blepharoptosis and dysraphism of eyes had not happened in all the 52 patients. Conclusion Long-term repeated application of BTXA against facial wrinkles is safe and the efficacy is confirmed. The approach can be applied repeatedly to those who have indications and good tolerance.

ObjectiveTo study B-cell activating factor(BAFF)/a proliferation inducing ligand (APRIL)protein and mRNA expression levels in patients with primary Sj(o)gren's syndrome(pSS)and its contribution to the pathogenesis of pSS.Methotis The levels of serum BAFF and APRIL were tested by ELISA method in 32 pSS patients and compared with 23 healthy control sabjects.BAFF/APRIL protein levels of labial salivary glands were examined in 17 pSS patients by immunohistochemical staining and compared with 8 healthy controls.BAFF/APRIL mRNA expression relative levels to GAPDH of PBMC were also detected in 18 pSS patients by real time RT-PCR and compared with 20 healthy controls.The relationship between BAFF/APRIL levels and several clinical manifestations in pSS patients were analyzed.Results The median level of serum BAFF in pSS were markedly higher than that in healthy controls[(7.4±3.9)ng/ml vs(3.7±1.1)ng/ml,P＜0.01].Serum APRIL levels were also significantly elevated compared to healthy controls[(26±15)ng/ml vs(16±15)ng/ml,P=0.039].The higher levels of BAFF were associated with higher levels of IgG,ESR.total globulin and the titer of ANA(P＜0.05).There was a positive correlation between serum APRIL levels and ESR and labial salivary gland lymphocyte focus scores(P＜0.05).The two cytokines levels inversely correlated with the count of peripheral white blood cells and platelets in pSS(P＜0.05).When comparing serum Ievels of APRIL and BAFF in patients with pSS,a positive correlation could be found(r=0.534,P=0.002).The BAFF/APRIL protein levels were higher in infiltrating lymphocytes of labial salivary glands from pSS patients than from the controls(P＜0.05).The BAFF mRNA[(0.023±0.024)vs(0.245±0.188),P＜0.01]and APRIL mRNA[(0.047±0.035)vs(0.130±0.097),P=0.002]levels of PBMC were significantly lower in pSS patients than in the normal controls.Conclusion The BAFF/APRIL levels of serum and labial salivary glands are significantly elevated in patients with pSS and correlate with clinical parameters.These indicate that BAFF and APRIL may be involved in the pathogenesis of pSS.The low BAFF mRNA and APRIL mRNA levels of PBMC in pSS may reveal that the production and regulation of this system is complicated.

Objective To investigate the effect of curcumin on chronic pancreatitis in rat.Methods Eighteen one-month old male SD rats were randomly divided into control group,ANP group and curcumin group with 6 rats in each group.After fed by 25％ alcohol for twelve weeks,the rats in ANP group were intraperitoneally injected with lipopolysaccharides ( LPS,2 mg/kg body weight) once a week for 4 weeks.The rats in curcumin group were fed with curcumin when they were intraperitoneally injected with lipopolysaccharides.Seventeen weeks later,the rats were sacrificed.Serum glucose was measured,pancreatic morphology was routinely examined,collagen deposition was determined by Masson stain,and the amylase and lipase in pancreatic tissue were evaluated,TGF-β1 mRNA was determined by using RT-PCR.Results The pathological score of control group,ANP group and curcumin group was 1.17 ±0.41,7.33 ±2.58 and 3.50 ± 1.05,and the score in curcumin group was lower than that of ANP group (P ＜ 0.01 ),but which was higher than that in control group (P ＜ 0.05 ).There was no difference in the serum glucose among the groups.The levels of amylase and lipase in pancreatic tissue were (7348 ± 102 ),( 14135 ± 1272) U/g,which were significantly higher than those in ANP group[( 5428 ± 547 ) and (9123 ± 1250 ) U/g,P ＜ 0.05].The expressions of TGF β1 mRNA in control group,ANP group and curcumin group were 0.618 ± 0.019,0.818 ±0.012,0.745 ±0.088,and the values in ANP group were significantly higher than those in control group and curcumin group (P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusions On the basis of long term ethanol intake,repeatedly intraperitoneal injection of LPS can induce chronic pancreatitis,and curcumin has anti-fibrosis effect possibly by its inhibitory effect on the expression of TGF-β1.