Objective To investigate the changes of plasma levels of glucagon in cirrhotic patients and its effect in the pathogenesis of portal hemodynamics.Methods Plasma levels of glueagon were measured by radioimmunoassay(RIA)in 42 patients with liver cirrhosis and 20 healthy controls.The max diameters,mean flow velocity,flow rate of the portal vein trunks(PV)and splenic veins(SV)were detected by Color Doppler Ultrasound.Results Plasma levels of glucagon in cir- rhotic patients were significantly higher than those in controls and were increased with the severity of hepatic function im- pairment as assessed by Child-Pugh grade.Patients with ascites showed signifieanthigher plasma glucagon levels than those without ascites.Plasma levels of glueagon were positively correlated with portal vein diameters,splenic vein diame- ters and splenic vein flows.Conclusion The increase of plasma glucagon levels reflects,in part,the severity of impair- ment of hepaticfunction.In addition,it may contribute to the pathogenesis of portal hypertension.

Objective To investigate the effect of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation on the expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α (HNF4c) and its role in the expression of HNF4α regulated by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1).Methods The expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA in six human hepatoma cell lines (HepG2,Huh-7,Hep3B,SMMC-7721,BEL-7405 and FOCUS),20 hepatic carcinoma specimens and corresponding adjacent tissues was detected by real-time reverse transcription polymerse chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR).The methylation status of the promoter region of HNF4αP1 in six human hepatoma cell lines was examined by bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP).FOCUS cells were treated with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-AZA-CdR) and then the methylation status of the promoter region of HNF4αP1 was examined by BSP.The expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA was detected by real-time RT-PCR.The six human hepatoma cell lines were treated with TGFβ1 and the expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA was detected by real-time RT-PCR.FOCUS cells were cotreated with 5-AZA-CdR,TGF-β1 and 5-AZA-CdR.The expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA was detected by real-time RT-PCR,and t test was performed for statistical analysis.Results Among 20 human hepatic carcinoma specimens and corresponding adjacent tissues,the expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA of 13 human hepatic carcinoma specimens was lower than that of corresponding adjacent tissues (t=2.350,P＜0.05).The relative quantity of the expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA was higher in Hep3B,HepG2 and Huh-7 cells,whereas that in SMMC-7721,BEL-7405 and FOCUS cells was lower.The methylation of the promoter region of HNF4αP1 in HepG2,Huh-7 and Hep3B was lower,but that in SMMC-7721,BEL-7405 and FOCUS was higher.Along with the increasing of the concentration of 5-AZA-CdR (0,0.1,1.0 and 2.5 μmol/L),the degree of the methylation of the promoter region of HNF4αP1 in FOCUS cells gradually decreased (61％,46％,32％ and 27％),and however the relative quantity of the expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA gradually increased ((9.661 ± 0.336)×10-7,(2.001±0.432)×10-6,(3.689±0.714)×10-6and (4.732±2.451)×10-6).After stimulated with TGF-β1,the relative quantity of the expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA was downregulated in HepG2,Huh-7 and Hep3B cells in which the methylation of the promoter region was low (t=12.994,8.441,and 9.032,all P＜0.01).There was no significant difference in the relative quantity of the expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA in SMMC-7721,BEL-7405 and FOCUS cells in which the methylation of the promoter region was high (all P ＞ 0.05).The relative quantity of the expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA in 5-AZA-CdR treated FOCUS cells ((4.972±0.035) × 10-6) was higher than that of control group ((1.411 ± 0.104) × 10-6) and the difference was statistically significant (t=13.212,P＜0.01).The relative quantity of the expression of HNF4αP1 mRNA in FOCUS cells co-treated with 5-AZA-CdR and TGF-β1 was lower than that in cells treated with 5-AZA-CdR alone and the difference was statistically significant ((1.181 ± 0.132) × 10-6 vs (4.972 ± 0.035) × 10-6,t=13.873,P＜0.01).Conclusions The expression of HNF4αP1 is down-regulated in hepatic carcinoma tissues.DNA methylation may regulate the expression of HNF4αP1 in hepatoma cells.The methylation of HNF4αP1 promoter region inhibits the regulating function of TGF-β1 in the expression of HNF4αP1.

Objective To prepare cytokine-induced killer(CIK) in vitro, and study the biological activities of CIK. Methods Lymphocytes were isolated from peripheral blood and umbilical blood, and induced by cytokine.The cell surface markers CD_3 and CD_~56 of CIK were analyzed by FACS. The proliferation of CIK was tested using 3H -TdR release method, and the cytotoxic effect of CIK on hepatic carcinoma cells was measured by MTT. Results CIK cells quickly proliferated from the second week, and expanded more than 60-fold at the 31th day after induction. The CD_3+ and CD_~56 + cells expanded more than 800 folds. The cytotoxic effect of CIK on hepatic carcinoma cells was obviously stronger than that of LAK cells, and CIK had not obvious cytotoxic effect on fetal liver cells. Conclusion CIK was a highly efficient cytotoxic cells against tumors, and had clinical application potentials.

BACKGROUND: The treatment strategy for femoral neck fractures has not been confirmed, and choosing internal fixation or arthroplasty remains controversial. After internal fixation, the occurrence of bone nonunion and osteonecrosis of femoral head makes its long-term treatment outcomes far from satisfactory. Can we improve the functional recovery through high-quality reduction, accurate fixation and active postoperative exercise? If so, it may be favorable for the elderly with femoral neck fractures, especially for those combined with other serious diseases.OBJECTIVE: To compare the quality of life in the elderly with femoral neck fractures after internal fixation and hemiarthroplasty.METHODS: 148 patients with femoral neck fractures aged more than 60 years old in the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University from January 2010 to December 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. The operation time,intraoperative blood loss, hospitalization time, mortality rate, reoperation rate and postoperative quality of life were compared between internal fixation and hemiarthroplasty in the patients with undisplaced femoral neck fractures (Garden type I or II) displaced femoral neck fractures (Garden type III or IV), respectively.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Among 148 patients, 137 cases completed follow-up, and the follow-up rate was 92.6%. (2) The operation time, intraoperative blood loss and hospitalization time in the internal fixation group were significantly superior to those in the hemiarthroplasty group in patients with displaced or undisplaced femoral neck fractures (P < 0.05). (3) There was no significant difference in the mortality rate between two groups, and the reoperation rate in the internal fixation groups was slightly higher than that in the hemiarthroplasty group. (4) The Harris and SF-36 scores in both groups were increased with time, and the difference between two groups was decreased with time, which became equal at 2.5 years postoperatively (P > 0.05). Besides, the time of the patients with undisplaced femoral neck fractures in the internal fixation group achieving the same quality of life with the hemiarthroplasty group was earlier than that of displaced ones. (5) These results suggest that internal fixation holds short operation time, simple operation skills and less trauma in the treatment of femoral neck fractures, and with the development of technology, it can achieve the early functional recovery. Thereafter, it is an effective method for senile femoral neck fractures.

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the effectiveness of Corbrin capsules for respiratory systemdisease systematically,in or-der to provide evidence-based reference for clinical use. METHODS:Retrieved from CJFD,China Dissertation Database,Wanfang database,VIP,Cochrane Library,Medline and PubMed,randomized controlled trials(RCTs)about conventional treatment plan(trial group)vs. single treatment plan(control group)in the treatment of respiratory system disease. The quality of included studies were evaluated after extracting data and modifying according to Jadad scale and Cochrane bias risk assessment scale. Meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.2 statistical software. RESULTS:A total of 17 RCTs were included,involving 1801 patients. The re-sults of Meta-analysis showed that response rate [RD=0.15,95%CI(0.10,0.19),P<0.001],FEV1[MD=0.21,95%CI(0.14,0.28), P<0.001],FVC [MD=0.26,95%CI(0.05,0.47),P<0.001] and FEV1/FEV [MD=5.60,95%CI(3.42,7.78),P<0.001] of trial group were significantly higher than those of control group,with statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS:Corbrin capsules have good therapeutic efficacy for respiratory system disease and effectively improve lung related indicators.

Objective To study the effect of cardiac troponin T(cTnT)on the prognosis of chronic heart failure in the elderly patients.Methods Serum level of cTnT,and serum activities of creatine kinase (CK)and creatine kinase-MB(CK-MB)were measured in 60 elderly patients of chronic heart failure with varied classes of cardiac function.Cardiac events,including malignant cardiac arrhythemia,repeated or aggravated heart failure or cardiac death,in patients with increased cTnT during hospitalization were compared to those without it.Results Serum level averaged(89.1?13.6)mmol/L for CK and(7.9? 1.4)mmol/L for CK-MB in 20 patients with Class Ⅱ cardiac function by New York Heart Association (NYHA)classification and without increased cTnT,(88.2?13.4)mmol/L for CK and(7.5?1.8) mmol/L for CK-MB in 19 patients with Class Ⅲ cardiac function and four of them with increased cTnT,and (93.3?14.2)mmol/L for CK and(8.1?1.6)mmol/L for CK-MB in 21 patients with Class Ⅳ cardiac function and 14 of them with increased cTnT.Malignant cardiac arrhythemia occurred in six,repeated heart failure in eight,and death in three of 18 patients with increased cTnT,and one,two and one in 22 patients without increased cTnT,respectively.Incidence of cardiac events was higher in patients with increased cTnT than those without it(P

Objective To evaluate the value of IL-17 and IL-23 expression in response prediction of infliximab treatment in Crohn's disease (CD).Methods A total of 23 CD patients were enrolled in this study including 19 males and 4 females.Another 17 patients with colonic polyps were recruited as control group.The tissue expression of IL-17 and IL-23 in intestinal mucosa was measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC).In each specimen, IL-17 or IL-23 positive cells were counted and recorded in 10 random high power fields (HPFs).Results Infliximab was effective in sixteen patients (69.6％), while 7 patients (30.4％) did not response.The numbers of IL-17 or IL-23 positive cells were much more in responders than those in nonresponders.The median numbers of IL-17 positive cells were 26.7 (18.0, 38.6)/HPF in responders, 11.8 (7.0, 14.0)/HPF in nonresponders, 3.0 (2.0,4.0)/HPF in controls (P =0.004).The median numbers of IL-23 positive cells were 74.5(44.8, 128.6)/HPF in responders, 22.4(19.0, 38.8)/HPF in nonresponders, 3.0(2.0, 4.0)/HPF in controls (P =0.018).IL-17 or IL-23 positive mucosal cells were significantly decreased after infliximab treatment.Conclusion High expression of IL-17 and IL-23 in mucosa may predict the response to infliximab in CD patients.

ObjectiveTo investigate the protective effect of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on injury of human immortalized hepatocytes (HHL-5 cells ) induced by sodium arsenite and possible mechanisms.Methods After cultured for 48 h,HHL-5 cells were divided into four groups:normal group,ATRA group,sodium arsenite group and ATRA + sodium arsenite group.HHL-5 cell viability was tested by using cell proliferation experiment (WST).Superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) activity,malondialdehyde(MDA) content,and aspartate aminottransferase (AST) activity in each group were determined by biochemical method.The microstructure of HHL-5 cells in each group was observed under transmission electron microscopy.ResultsHHL-5 cell viability(0.57 ± 0.02) of sodium arsenite group was compared with that of normal group(0.70 ± 0.01 ),the difference was statistically significant(P ＜ 0.05).Levels of SOD,GSH-Px,MDA and AST[ (153.84 ± 2.35),(0.08 ±0.02)U/mg Prot,(4.15 ± 0.50)nmol/mg Prot,(265.43 ± 4.62) × 103 U/L] of sodium arsenite group were compared with that of normal group[(237.41 ± 18.30),(0.93 ± 0.02)U/mg Prot,(2.26 ± 0.40)nmol/mg Prot,(177 ± 9.85) ×103 U/L],and the difference was statistically significant (all P ＜ 0.05).HHL-5 cell viability (0.65 ± 0.04) of ATRA + sodium arsenite group was compared with that of sodium arsenite group, and the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Levels of SOD,GSH-Px,MDA and AST[ (286.85 ± 3.39),(0.56 ± 0.09)U/mg Prot,(3.36 ± 0.37)nmol/mg Prot, (220.02 ± 1.07) × 103 U/L] of ATRA+ sodium arsenite group were compared with that of sodium arsenite group,the difference was statistically significant(all P ＜ 0.05).Compared with normal group and ATRA group,the surface microvilli of HHL-5 cells of sodium arsenite group decreased,double-membrane structure was unclear,vacuolar degeneration was seen in the cytoplasm,and glycogen was aggregated.The damage level of ATRA + sodium arsenite group was decreased.ConclusionsATRA plays a protective role through increasing intracellular antioxidant enzyme activity of HHL-5 cells,removal or reduction of oxygen free radicals produced by sodium arsenite.

Objective To observe the influences of different doses of sodium arsenite on mRNA transcription of keratinizing related and nuclear factor E2-related factor 2(Nrf2) genes in HaCaT cells.Methods Cell proliferation was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK-8) assay after the HaCaT cells were exposed to 0.00,3.13,6.25,12.50,25.00,50.00,75.00,100.00 μ mol/L sodium arsenite for 48 h,respectively.Based on the previous results of cell proliferation,0.00(control),6.25,12.50,and 25.00 μmol/L of sodium arsenite were selected to treat HaCaT cells for 48 h,respectively.The mRNA expression of keratin 1,keratin 10,involucrin,loricrin and Nrf2 were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR.ResultsCompared with the control group (100.05％),HaCaT cell proliferation rates(83.06％,51.04％,39.52％,24.51％,16.99％ and 9.04％) were significantly lower in 6.25,12.50,25.00,50.00,75.00 and 100.00 μ mol/L of sodium arsenite groups and the 50％ inhibiting concentration was 12.38 μmol/L.Compared with the control group( 1.06 ± 0.28,1.00 ± 0.12,1.00 ± 0.08),the mRNA expression of keratin 1,involucrin and loricrin (0.08 ± 0.04,0.13 ± 0.12,0.05 ± 0.03;0.47 ± 0.11,0.21 ± 0.09,0.10 ± 0.15; 0.50 ± 0.27,0.31 ± 0.10,0.57 ± 0.23) were significantly decreased(all P ＜ 0.05) in HaCaT cells treated with 6.25,12.50,25.00 μmol/L sodium arsenite,respectively.But keratin 10 mRNA expression showed a rise trend and the 6.25 μmoL/L sodium arsenite group (1.83 ± 0.45) was significantly higher than that of the control( 1.07 ± 0.14,P ＜ 0.05 ).The Nrf2 mRNA expressions of HaCaT cells in 12.50,25.00 μmol/L sodium arsenite groups(0.13 ± 0.07,0.69 ± 0.33) were significantly lower than that of the control ( 1.00 ± 0.09,all P ＜ 0.05 ).ConclusionsThe cellular proliferation and keratinization are decreased when HaCaT cells are exposed to sodium arsenite,which may be regulated by lowering Nrf2 mRNA transcription.

The present paper proposed a central-driven structure of upper limb rehabilitation robot in order to reduce the volume of the robotic arm in the structure, and also to reduce the influence of motor noise, radiation and other adverse factors on upper limb dysfunction patient. The forward and inverse kinematics equations have been obtained with using the Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) parameter method. The motion simulation has been done to obtain the angle-time curve of each joint and the position-time curve of handle under setting rehabilitation path by using Solid Works software. Experimental results showed that the rationality with the central-driven structure design had been verified by the fact that the handle could move under setting rehabilitation path. The effectiveness of kinematics equations had been proved, and the error was less than 3° by comparing the angle-time curves obtained from calculation with those from motion simulation.
Biomechanical Phenomena ; Humans ; Models, Biological ; Robotics ; Stroke Rehabilitation ; Upper Extremity