Objective To investigate the clinical features and TCD-detected microembolic signals in patients with hypercoagulability related multiple acute cerebral infarcts within non-single arterial territories, and to explore the possi?ble underlying mechanisms. Methods A retrospective review was conducted on all clinical, laboratory, radiological and TCD monitoring records from patients with hypercoagulability related multiple acute cerebral infarcts within non-single arterial territories, who admitted to the neurology department in our hospital. Results The data from twenty-two cases were finally included in this study. All patients presented with acute-onset localized neurological dysfunction, e.g. hemi?paresis, aphasia, hemiparesthesia, dysarthria, hemianopsia and cortical blindness. Their hypercoagulability related diseas?es included 10 cases of systemic malignancy, 5 moderate to severe hyperhomocystynemia (HCY>50μmol/L), 2 nephrot?ic syndrome, 2 antiphospholipid syndrome, 1 ulcerative colitis, 1 polycythemia vera,1 paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobin?uria. In 18 cases, the hypercoagulability related diseases were diagnosed after their initial stroke onset. DWI showed mul?tiple disseminated acute cerebral infarcts in non-single arterial territories involving bilateral anterior or anterior plus pos?terior cerebral circulation simultaneously. Foci involved lobar cortex/subcortex of cerebral hemisphere in 22 cases, deep cerebral hemisphere in 12 cases, cerebellum foci in 10 cases,brainstem foci in 2 cases. TCD revealed microembolic sig? nals in ten of 22 patients monitored. Conclusions Patients with multiple acute cerebral infarcts involving non-single arte?rial territories, should be screened for hypercoagulability as in that hypercoagulability and microembolism might be in?volved in the etiology of cerebral infarction.

Objective To characterize the clinical manifestations, laboratory findings of patients with occult sys?temic malignant neoplasms, whose initial manifestation presented as multiple acute cerebral infarcts including coagula?tion function,radiological imaging and microembolic signals (MES) detection by transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) and to explore the possible underlying mechanisms. Methods All clinical records, laboratory hematological tests includ?ing hypercoagulable states measured by D-dimer levels, brain MRI including DWI, and TCD monitoring MES, the treat?ment and prognosis were retrospectively reviewed in 12 patients with multiple acute cerebral infarcts as the first manifes?tation of occult systemic malignancy. Results The clinical manifestations presented as localized neurological dysfunction, e.g. hemiparesis, aphasia, hemiparesthesia, dysarthria, vertigo and seizures, etc. DWI revealed multiple disseminated acute cerebral infarcts in multiple arterial territories such as the bilateral anterior or anterior plus posterior cerebral circu?lation in all patients. Eleven of 12 patients tested had elevated D-dimer. TCD detected MES in 5 of 7 patients. There were 12 patients diagnosed with occult systemic malignancy including 5 lung cancer, 3 pancreatic cancer, 1 gastric can?cer, 1 colon cancer, 1 endometrial adenocarcinoma and 1 metastatic poorly differentiated mucinous adenocarcinoma with unknown primary. Ten patients already had remote metastasis at diagnosis. The prognosis was usually poor and there were 7 cases with ischemic stroke recurrence, 4 cases with acute myocardial infarction, 3 cases died during hospitaliza?tion. Conclusions When patients present with multiple disseminated acute cerebral infarcts involving multiple arterial territories as initial manifestation, the underlying occult systemic malignancy should be considered. Hypercoagulopathy and MES might provide the clues to the diagnosis.

OBJECTIVETo search for a new method for treatment of acute gouty arthritis.

METHODSSixty cases of acute gouty arthritis were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group, 30 cases in each group. The treatment group were treated with electroacupuncture combined with point-injection, and the control group with western medicine. Their therapeutic effects were observed and serum uric acid contents were detected before and after treatment.

RESULTSThere was a very significantly difference between the two groups in the therapeutic effect (P<0. 01) and the analgesic effect in the treatment group was better than that in the control group (P<0. 01). The treatment group was superior to the control group in decrease of blood uric acid (P<0. 01).

CONCLUSIONElectroacupuncture combined with point-injection is an effective method for treatment of acute gouty arthritis, and it can decrease blood uric acid content.

Acupuncture Points ; Adult ; Aged ; Arthritis, Gouty ; therapy ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Humans ; Injections ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Uric Acid ; blood

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV), an enveloped positive-stranded RNA virus in the genus Pestivirus of the Flaviviridae family, is the causative agent of a highly contagious swine disease characterized by symptoms of hemorrhagic fever and immune depression, usually leading to substantial economic losses. The serological methods for detection of CSFV antibody such as ELISA are important means for the diagnosis of CSFV and immune surveillance. It is difficult to obtain CSFV antigen with high quality using traditional method because its titration titer is low in cell culture. CSFV has four structural protein named C, E0, El and E2. The E2 protein contains major antigenic determinants that are conserved between different CSFV strains and involved in neutralization by antibodies. So recombinant E2 protein can be developed as an alternative to the intact viral antigen. So far, CSFV E2 have not been expressed in E. coli with high level. Many factors, such as the secondary structure, the stability of 5' and 3' terminus of gene, the location of SD sequence and the bias of codes, are involved in the expressing level of foreign gene in E. coli . In this study, two sites of the E2 gene sequence were confirmed to be detrimental to its expression efficiency in E. coli through the computer-aided analysis. So they were mutated using recombinant PCR without changing the amino acids sequence of CSFV E2 gene. A plasmid was constructed by inserting the mutated E2 gene into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-28a(+) and named pETE2. The E. coli competent host BL21 (DE3)lysS transformed with pETE2 could express the E2 gene at high level, amounting to 28% of the total protein of the induced recombinant bacteria at the presence of IPTG. Except the hydrophobic transmembrane domain at C terminus, the recombinant E2 protein includes the total aa sequence. So it contains all the potential linear antigen epitopes of E2 protein because hydrophobic aa region can not form epitope. The recombinant E2 protein was CSFV-specific as proved by Western blotting and indirect ELISA. The rabbits immunized with the recombinant E2 can be protect from the challenge of hog cholera lapinized virus. This is the first report that E2 gene is expressed with high level expression in E. coli. In conclusion, it is an effective measure that mutate the CSFV E2 gene to increase its expression level in E. coli. The recombinant CSFV E2 protein possess fine immunonicity and can be used the antigen for the detection of CSFV antibody.
Antigens, Viral ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Blotting, Western ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed ; methods ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Viral Envelope Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo explore the analgesic effect of electroacupuncture (EA) combined with acupoint-injection in treating lumbar intervertebral disc herniation.

METHODSSixty patients with lumbar intervertebral disc herniation were divided randomly into treatment group (30 cases, group A) and control group (30 cases, group B) according to random digits table. Involved 31 males and. 29 females in the study,the age was from 35 to 62 years with an average of 48.3 years. The patients in group A were treated with EA (once a day, a total of 10 times) and acupoint-injection (once every two days, a total of 5 times) at L4 Jiaji (EX-B2), L5 Jiaji (EX-B2), Zhibian (BL54), Huantiao (GB30), Yanglingquan (GB34), Weizhong (BLA0) and Kunlun (BL60); and the patients in group B were treated with single EA (Once a day, a total of 10 times). After 10 days of treatment, the visual analogue scale (VAS) was adopted to examine and compare the main pain score, and the clinical effects were compared between two groups from the symptoms and signs in accordance with efficacy criteria.

RESULTSThe paregoric effect of group A was better than that of group B, there was significant differences in the main pain score between two groups (t = 7.18, P < 0.01). The clinical effect of group A was better than that of group B,there was significant differences between two groups (u = 2.91, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONEA combined with acupoint-injection is a convenient and highly effective therapy for lumbar intervertebral disc herniation, which can effectively relieve the pain of the patients, should be to promote clinical use.

Acupuncture Analgesia ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Adult ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Humans ; Injections ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; drug therapy ; pathology ; therapy ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; drug effects ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pain ; drug therapy ; Pain Management

Blood-brain barrier (BBB) is the major obstacle for drug delivery into the central nervous system (CNS). However, there is no ideal model animal for the study of BBB permeability till now. Currently zebrafish (Danio rerio) has emerged as a powerful model organism for the study of vertebrate biology. In this study, the feasibility of using zebrafish as model animal was investigated for BBB permeability by comparing the results of administration of BBB-penetrating peptide and protein to mouse and zebrafish. The results showed that the BBBs of mouse and zebrafish were similar in molecular permeability. Additionally, zebrafish has advantageous features as a model animal, such as small size, fertile and easy to breed. Therefore, it is suggested that zebrafish may be a favored model for the study of BBB permeability.
Animals ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; metabolism ; Brain ; metabolism ; Female ; Fluorescent Dyes ; pharmacokinetics ; Glycoproteins ; pharmacokinetics ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Mice ; Models, Animal ; Peptide Fragments ; pharmacokinetics ; Permeability ; Rhodamines ; pharmacokinetics ; Tissue Distribution ; Viral Proteins ; pharmacokinetics ; Zebrafish ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of early application of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) on white matter development in preterm infants using fractional anisotropy (FA) of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

METHODSA total of 81 preterm infants with gestational age ≤32 weeks, birth weight <1 500 g, and hospitalization within 24 hours after birth were randomly divided into rhEPO group (42 infants) and control group (39 infants). The infants in the rhEPO group were administered rhEPO, while those in the control group were given the same volume of normal saline. The preterm infants of both groups took examinations of head magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging, and DTI at the corrected gestational age of 35-37 weeks. FA was calculated for the regions of interest in both groups.

RESULTSThere was no significant difference in the incidence of intracranial hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, focal cerebral white matter damage (CWMD), and extensive CWMD between rhEPO and control groups (P>0.05). Compared with the control group, the rhEPO group showed higher FA values at the posterior limb of the internal capsule, the splenium of the corpus callosum, frontal white matter, and occipital white matter (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in FA values at the parietal white matter, thalamus, lenticular nucleus, and caudate nucleus between the two groups (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSEarly application of rhEPO has a neuroprotective effect on white matter development in preterm infants.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging ; Erythropoietin ; pharmacology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Male ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Recombinant Proteins ; pharmacology ; White Matter ; drug effects ; growth & development

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect and safety of the implantation of a new type of testicular prosthesis in the treatment of testis loss.

METHODSWe recruited for this study 18 patients with testis loss treated by testicular prosthesis implantation, including 10 cases of prostate cancer, 3 cases of anorchia, 2 case of orchiatrophy, 2 cases of hermaphroditism and 1 case of cryptorchidism. The prosthesis was a hollow silicone elastomer YH-G1 made in China, selected according to the volume of the scrotum and the size of the contralateral testis.

RESULTSThirteen of the patients received testicular prosthesis implantation with orchiectomy, and the other 5 underwent the procedure 6 months later. The operation time of testicular prosthesis implantation was (22.6 +/- 4.6) min, ranging from 15 to 30 minutes. All the patients were discharged after 12 hours of postoperative observation, with a mean hospital stay of (1.3 +/- 0.4) days. A follow-up after 6 months revealed no complications in 17 cases. Rejection occurred in 1 case at 3 months after the implantation, ending in the removal of the prosthesis. Of the 17 successful cases, 15 were very satisfied with the size of the prosthesis, 14 with its weight, 12 with its comfortableness, and all with the appearance of the scrotum and the position of the prosthesis, while 5 found the implant too rigid.

CONCLUSIONThe implantation of the new home-made silicone elastomer testicular prosthesis YH-G1 was safe and effective for the treatment of testis loss, and could meet the esthetic and psychological requirements of the patient. But further observation is needed for its long-term complications and influence on the patient's quality of life.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Gonadal Dysgenesis, 46,XY ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Orchiectomy ; Patient Satisfaction ; Prostheses and Implants ; Prosthesis Implantation ; adverse effects ; Silicone Elastomers ; Testis ; abnormalities ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study optimum inclusion conditions for volatile oil from three medicinal slices in Xiongdan Xiaoyan capsules.

METHODSaturated water solution method (agitation method), ultrasonic method and rubbing method were studied and compared. The preparation conditions of ultrasonic method were investigated by the orthogonal test.

RESULTThe optimum inclusion conditions of ultrasonic method were established.

CONCLUSIONThe ultrasonic method can be used for production of inclusion complex in the factory with high inclusion rate and was effectiveness.

Angelica ; chemistry ; Capsules ; Drug Carriers ; Drug Combinations ; Drug Stability ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; Mentha ; chemistry ; Oils, Volatile ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Saururaceae ; chemistry ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Ultrasonics ; beta-Cyclodextrins

OBJECTIVETo analyze the results of multiple Chinese orthodontic specialists' subjective evaluation of orthodontic treatment outcome, to investigate the relevance of different experiment items and to explore the weight of each monomial material.

METHODSAs a randomized clinical trial, with six orthodontic treatment centers and Angle's classification being regarded as two stratification factors, it contained 108 cases with integrity data, which was random extracted from 2383 cases that received orthodontic treatment in six orthodontic treatment centers during the past five years, gathering post-treatment study casts, cephalometrics and photographs of 48 cases as the research subject. Similarly taking Angle's classification as a stratification factor, 108 cases were randomly divided into 9 groups. The randomization of sampling and grouping were both generated by a pseudo-random number generator. According to the monomial and combined subjects, 69 orthodontic specialists were regarded as the raters to rank the 12 cases in each group, and to judge whether the case was qualified.

RESULTSCorrelation analysis: the Spearman r between Post-M + C and Post-M + C + P and the Spearman r between Post-M + P and Post-M + C + P were both greater than 0.950. The Spearman r between Post-M and Post-P and the Spearman r between Post-M and Post-C were about 0.300. The Spearman r between Post-P and Post-C was 0.505. Regression analysis: the linear regression results: M + C = 0.782M + 0.308C - 0.150, M + P = 0.804M + 0.233P - 0.091, M + C + P = 0.764M + 0.243P + 0.131C - 0.291. The r(2) of above three models was greater than 0.9.

CONCLUSIONSIt was applicable to use M + C and M + P instead of M + C + P. Study casts could not replace cephalometrics or photographs when doing subjective evaluation. Cephalometrics and photographs could not substitute for each other either. In the combined materials evaluation, model accounted for the largest percentage. Based on the regression model, for the greater part, the integration of several monomial materials could replace the combined material assessment effectively.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cephalometry ; Child ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Malocclusion ; therapy ; Orthodontics, Corrective ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult