Objective To investigate the clinical and imaging features of patients with calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD).Methods The clinical data and X-rays material of knee joint of 20 patients with CPPD were retrospectively analyzed.Pearson/Spearman's correlations analysis was used for statistical analysis with software version 15.0.Results The 20 patients with CPPD had demonstrated that the typical accumulation of calcium,which accounted for about 1.5％o(20/13 536) among patients over 55 years old who had knees X-ray at the same period in Chaoyang Hospital.Female patients of CPPD was 80％ (16/20).Seventeen patients completed follow-up visits.The age of onset for CPPD ranged from 44 to 85 years old,the percentage of CPPD patients over 70 years old was 71％(12/17).Among the 17 cases of followed,14 cases (82％) were patients with paroxysmal arthritis with the initial site of knee joint (79％) and ankle joint (21％).Most patients suffered from moderate to severe pain,while some might have local congestion and increased skin temperature.Five patients had more than two different joints attacked by arthritis.The distribution of the affected areas was knee,ankle,hip,elbow,wrist and metacarpophalangeal joints.The median number of attack was 1.5 times a year,and the median duration of attack was 8.5 days.Among the 14 patients,Six cases of them had no recurrence after treatment,but six cases had recurrent attacks within a year.The imaging of lateral articular facet showed that calcium deposit was extended and thickness of calcification was increased.Plus osteophyte formation stage was 100％ with an average of 3.0±1.6 and 85％ sclerosis of articular facet.The rate of attacks of arthritis had a positive correlation with calcium deposition range of lateral articular facet (r=0.663,P=0.010) and a negative correlation with sclerosis of articular facet (r=-0.548,P=0.042).Conclusion Old patients with paroxysmal joint pain,patients with knee joint or other big joints as the initial joints involved,patients with long duration disease,patients who had more than two joints at attack and patients with calcium deposition in imaging,should be suspected for CPPD clinically.Moreover,patients with a wide range of calcium deposition are high likely to suffer from recurrent arthritis attack.

Objective By analyzing the clinical and radiographic manifestations of calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (CPDD) to improve the recognization of the disease.Methods Clinical features,diagnosis and treatment of an old female patient with CPDD was reported with literature review.Results An old female patient presented with swollen and pain on the right knee without obvious causes eight years ago,which was characterized by slightly reddness of joint surface,warm of local skin.Thcn she gradually developed swollen and pain in left knee,right ankle,both wrists,bilateral meta-carpophalangeal (MCPJ) and right elbow joints with few joint symptoms and the joints swollen and pain could relieved spontaneouslyitself in about one week.X-ray showed the thin strip of cartilage calcifications in wrist triangular fibrocartilage disc,meniscus of knee and the pubic symphysis were parallel to the surface of cartilage.Examination of microscopy with refractive filter demonstrated that short rod crystals refraction in joint fluid.CPDD was diagnosed and treated with flushing of joint cavity and injections of betamethasone as well as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug orally.Symptoms relieved after therapy.Conclusion Understanding the disease characteristics of CPDD is beneficial to for accurate diagnosis and treatment.

As a clean, efficient, and renewable energy, hydrogen is regarded as a promising alternative. Because of using biomass as substrate, microbial fermentative hydrogen production can meet the need of sustainable development. The factors affecting the process of microbial fermentative hydrogen production, are analyzed in this paper on the basis of microorganisms, substrates, products and operative parameters. The parameters related to hydrogen production from organic wastes, are also mentioned.

There are two populations of bacteria to affect the formation of urinary stones in humanity. The first one can promote the formation of urinary stone by increasing urinary pH, decreasing concentration of urinary inhibitors , and damaging the protective urothelial glycosaminoglycan layer. The second inhibit the formation of urinary stones. These bacteria ( mainly the intestinal oxalate degrading bacteria such as Oxalobacter formigenes, lactic acid bacteria, Enterococcus faecalis etc) can decrease urinary oxalate concentration by regulating exogenous oxalate. The problems faced and the developing direction were also indicated.

In order to identify Peucedani Radix, Peucedani Decursivi Radix and their adulterants, the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) regions of Peucedani Radix, Peucedani Decursivi Radix and their adulterants were amplified and bidirectionally sequenced based on the Principles for Molecular Identification of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica Using DNA Barcoding, which has been promulgated by Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission. Sequences were analyzed and assembled by Codon Code Aligner V3. 7.1. The relevant data were analyzed by MEGA 5. 0. Species identification analyses were performed by using the nearest distance methods and neighbor-joining (NJ) methods. The result showed that the ITS2 sequence lengths of Peucedani Radix were 229-230 bp and the average intra-specific genetic distances were 0.005. The ITS2 sequence lengths of Peucedani Decursivi Radix were 227 bp and the sequences contained no variation site. The average inter-specific K2P genetic distance of Peucedani Radix, Peucedani Decursivi Radix and their adulterants species were 0.044 and 0.065 respectively. The minimum inter-specific divergence is larger than the maximum intra-specific divergence of Peucedani Decursivi Radix. The nearest distance methods and NJ trees results indicated that Peucedani Radix, Peucedani Decursivi Radix and their adulterants species could be identification clearly. The ITS2 regions can stably and accurately distinguish Peucedani Radix, Peucedani Decursivi Radix and their adulterants.
Apiaceae ; classification ; genetics ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer ; Drug Contamination

Astragalus membranaceus ; chemistry ; Cell Line ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Macrophages ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Monocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Polysaccharides ; pharmacology

Objective Dendritic cell-associatedC-type lectin-1 ( Dectin-1) is one of the most important receptors in antifungal innate immune response.This study was to construct a recombinant adenovirus vector expressing themurine Dectin-1gene and acquire a high-concentration adenovirus by amplification and purification. Methods The PCR amplification product CLEC7A-pIRES2-EGFP was cloned into the intermediate vector pDONR221, and then recom-bined with the backbone vector pAD/CMV/V5-DEST to produce a re-combinant plasmid pAD-CLEC7A-pIRE2S -EGFP.The recombinant plasmid was linearized with Pac I and transfected into human embryon-ic kidney ( HEK293) cells to produce recombinant adenovirus pAD-CLEC7Ap-IRES 2-EGFP. The adenovirus was propagated in the HEK293 cells and purified by filtering through the cellulose acetate membrane and concentrating column.Fluorescence microscopy and re-al-time PCR were used to determine the expression of the Dectin-1 gene. Results PCR identification, enzyme digestion, and sequen-cing results manifested theDectin-1 gene in the vector, with the final adenovirus titer of 5×1011 IU/mL.Fluorescence microscopy revealed green fluorescence and real-time PCR assay confirmed that the expression of Dectin-1 was improved by 8677.25 times. Conclusion A relatively high-titer adenovirus expressing Dectin-1 was acquired,which may help to further study the high expression of Dectin-1 in anti-fungal innate immunity in vitro and in vivo.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the major constituents of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. LPS recognition and signal transmission are key events in the host defense reaction towards Gram-negative bacteria and are associated with many disorders. Multiple signaling pathways are involved in the response to LPS. With the help of LPS-binding protein and CD14, TLR4 binds with LPS, then recruits myeloid differentiation factor 88 and IL-1 receptor-associated kinase, and further phosphorylates and activates TNF receptor associated factor 6 (TRAF6). The activated TRAF6 leads to the activation of transcription factor NF-kappaB and MAP kinase's pathways that involves in LPS-induced cellular responses and the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL8.
Acute-Phase Proteins ; metabolism ; Carrier Proteins ; metabolism ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; chemistry ; Lipopolysaccharide Receptors ; metabolism ; Lipopolysaccharides ; pharmacology ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases ; metabolism ; NF-kappa B ; physiology ; Signal Transduction

Objective With a computer-assisted program,retinal vascular calibers were measured quantitatively.In this study the relationship between retinal vascular calibers and components of the metabolic syndrome was examined.Methods A total of 450 hypertensive patients were collected.Medical history,physical examination,blood tests,and retinal photographs were taken.Retinal vascular calibers were measured quantitatively from digital retinal photographs.In the hypertensive population the associations of retinal vascular calibers with components of the metabolic syndrome were described,and the factors that influenced retinal vascular calibers were analyzed.Results In the enrolled population,mean age was (57.53 ± 10.01) years,mean systolic blood pressure (138 ± 17) mm Hg(1 mm Hg =0.133 kPa),diastolic blood pressure (84 ± 10) mm Hg.Mean central retinal arteriolar equivalent(CRAE) was(129.26 ± 12.68) μm,and mean central retinal venular equivalent (CRVE) (198.25 ± 18.37) μm.After adjusting for age,gender,etc,CRAE in group with poor blood pressure control was smaller than that in the group with good blood pressure control [(126.45 ± 15.74) μm vs (130.30 ± 11.30) μm,P =0.029].CRAE tended to be narrower with worsened blood pressure control (P =0.075).CRVE was smaller in patients with normal high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) than in those with abnormal level [(197.36 ±17.62) μm vs (203.07 ± 21.52) μm,P =0.040].The diastolic blood pressure was raised along with the decreasing CRAE(P=0.009).And the HDL-C level was reduced as CRVE was increasing(P=0.042).Old age (r =-0.090,P=0.013) and poor blood pressure control(r=-0.098,P=0.038) were independent risk factors for narrow CRAE,while lowered HDL-C (r =0.105,P =0.024) and smoking (r =0.141,P =0.010) were independent risk factors for wide CRVE.Conclusions Narrow CRAE was related to poor blood pressure control,while wide CRVE was related to lowed HDL-C.Aging and poor blood pressure control were independent risk factors for narrow CRAE,while lowed HDL-C and smoking were independent risk factors for wide CRVE in the hypertensive patients.

Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma has the efficacy of dissolving stasis and hemostasis and reducing swelling and easing pain. Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) is the main active component of Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma, and the main components include ginsenoside Rb1, Rg1, Re, Rd and notoginsenoside R1. Injections with PNS as the medicinal material basis have become main TCM injections for the treatment of cerebral vascular diseases, with confirmed clinical efficacy. This article reviewed the research progress in pharmacological effects, clinical application and adverse reactions of PNS in treatment of cerebral vascular disease, with a purpose to provide references for further research and clinical application.