Adolescent ; Cough ; complications ; Fatal Outcome ; Female ; Fever ; complications ; Humans ; Pulmonary Fibrosis ; complications ; diagnosis

Adult ; Brain Abscess ; Cholesteatoma ; surgery ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Maxillary Sinus ; surgery

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Maxillary Sinus ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of catecholamine hormone on the blood and brain of heroin addicts.

METHODSRats were divided into three groups and treated with the glucose (control group), the heroin (im) (heroin group), and the combination of the intramuscular injection of reserpine and heroin (reserpine group). Changes in the levels of the dopamine (DA), cAMP, and cGMP were detected by the radioimmunoassay (RIA) method in the blood and brain tissue.

RESULTSNo significant withdrawal symptoms were observed in the reserpine group. Compared with the control and heroin groups, the blood cAMP levels were increased by 35.36% and 15.53% in the reserpine group, respectively; the cAMP levels in the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA), prefrontal cortex (PFC), and hippocampus (Hipp) were increased by 24.08% & 8.53%, 15.66% & 8.13%, and 21.95% & 8.40%, respectively. While compared to the control and heroin groups, the DA levels of the PFC, Hipp, striatum, and nucleus accumbens (NAc) were significantly reduced in the reserpine group, decreasing by 74.09% & 82.86%, 81.06% & 82.23%, 91.62% & 86.55% and 84.35% & 90.63%, respectively. The concentrations of cGMP of the brain tissues in the reserpine group were lower than those in the control group. In addition, the neural electrophysiological testing showed that the electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), and muscle spindle discharge diagram of rats in both the reserpine and heroin groups were apparently changed.

CONCLUSIONCatecholamine hormone plays an important role in heroin addiction.

Animals ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Catecholamines ; physiology ; Cyclic AMP ; blood ; metabolism ; Cyclic GMP ; blood ; metabolism ; Dopamine ; blood ; metabolism ; Heroin Dependence ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

Seven compounds were isolated from Onychium japonicum by macroporous resin, silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and semi-preparative HPLC. Their structures were identified by NMR, MS and other spectroscopic methods as onychone A (1), quercetin (2), quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside (3), kaempferol-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (5), (-)-prunin (6), and norathyriol (7). Compound 1 is a novel macrocyclic flavonoid, and all the others are reported from this plant for the first time. In vitro cytotoxic activities of compounds 1-7 were evaluated by MTS testing with five cancer cell lines. Compound 7 exhibited weak cytotoxicity against tumor cell lines A549, SMMC-7721, and SW480.

BACKGROUNDThe recruitment maneuver (RM) has been shown to improve oxygenation in some patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. But there is a lack of standardization and lack of clinical studies to prove the improvement on clinical outcome. We conducted this study to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of the RM in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) using low tidal volume ventilation.

METHODSWe randomly assigned 110 patients with ARDS from 14 Chinese intensive care units (ICUs) at the tertiary teaching hospitals. Patients with PaO2 ≤ 200 mmHg at FiO2 1.0 and PEEP ≥ 10 cmH2O were included in the study. Patients were randomized into two groups: control group and RM group. The tidal volume was set to 6 - 8 ml per kilogram of predicted body weight (PBW) in both groups. RM was performed by continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) of 40 cmH2O maintained for 40 seconds. RMs was conducted every eight hours for the first five days, or stopped within five days if the patient reached the weaning standard.

RESULTSOne hundred and ten patients had completed the requirements for the primary study goals, 55 from the RM group and 55 control patients. Baseline characteristics remained similar in the two groups. In the RM group the PaO2/FiO2 was significantly increased compared to baseline at 120 minutes after RM on day one and day two (P = 0.007 and P = 0.001). There were no significant differences between the RM and control group in hospital mortality (41.8% vs. 56.4%, P = 0.13), 28-day mortality (29.1% vs. 43.6%, P = 0.11) and ventilator-free days at day 28 (10.8 ± 10.1 vs. 7.4 ± 10.0, P = 0.08). ICU mortality (32.7% vs. 52.7%, P = 0.03), the rate of survival with unassisted breathing for at least 48 consecutive hours at day 28 (58.2% vs. 36.2%, P = 0.02), and nonpulmonary organ failure-free days at day 28 (17.4 ± 11.1 vs. 13.0 ± 12.0, P = 0.03) favored the RM group. There was no significant difference in mean blood pressure and heart rate before RM and at 30, 60, 120 minutes after RM. There was no incidence of barotraumas.

CONCLUSIONSRM was safe and useful for improving oxygenation in patients with ARDS who were ventilated with a low tidal volume, with a beneficial impact on their clinical outcome.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Respiration, Artificial ; adverse effects ; methods ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult ; therapy ; Tidal Volume ; Treatment Outcome

Recently the use of peptides in bee venom (PBV) for cancer therapy has attracted considerable attention. In this study, the sterically stabilized liposomal PBV (PBV-SL) was prepared using soybean phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, and cholesterol-PEG-COOH. The humanized antihepatoma disulfide-stabilized Fv (hdscFv25) was coupled to sterically stabilized liposomes using the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester method. The hdscFv25-immunoliposomes (SIL[hdscFv25]) were immunoreactive as determined by ELISA assay. SIL[hdscFv25] showed higher tumor cells selectivity. PBV-SIL[hdscFv25] can kill SMMC-7721 cells in vitro with higher efficiency than non-targeted liposomes. Whereas cytotoxicties were compared for Hela cells, no significant differences was observed between PBV-SIL[hdscFv25] and PBV-SL. Sterically stabilized immunoliposomal peptides in bee venom could be one drug targeting delivery system.
Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Bee Venoms ; chemistry ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Cholesterol ; chemistry ; Drug Delivery Systems ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Immunoconjugates ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Liposomes ; chemistry ; Liver Neoplasms ; pathology ; Melitten ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Peptides ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Recombinant Proteins ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology

Ferulic acid (FA) was loaded into liposomes via calcium acetate gradient with (80.2 +/- 5.2)% entrapment efficiency. The average sizes of blank liposome and FA liposome were about 155 nm and 154 nm, respectively. The zeta potential of blank liposome and FA liposome were (13.14 +/- 1.67) mV and (4.12 +/- 0.05) mV, respectively. Unilamellar vesicles were present in freeze-fracture electron microscopy. In the pharmacodynamic studies, the protective effect of liposomal ferulic acid on tBHP-challenged U937 cells was measured with the morphology of cell injury, mitochondrial transmembrane potential alternation and cell viability assay used as index. The results of MTT assay, microscopy indicated that FA liposomes exhibited greater antioxidant activity than FA solution on U937 cell.
Antioxidants ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Cholesterol ; chemistry ; Coumaric Acids ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Drug Carriers ; Humans ; Liposomes ; chemistry ; Membrane Potentials ; drug effects ; Mitochondria ; physiology ; Particle Size ; U937 Cells

BACKGROUNDSurviving sepsis campaign (SSC) bundles have been demonstrated to significantly improve survival in sepsis and septic shock patients worldwide. Compliance with these protocols and resultant mortality in sepsis patients was investigated in intensive care units (ICUs) in China.

METHODSAdult patients with severe sepsis or septic shock treated from September 2007 to October 2008 in 11 ICUs of Chinese teaching hospitals were included. The primary outcome was compliance with resuscitation and management bundles. Secondary outcomes included individual bundle protocol impact and the effects of the completed bundle protocol number on 28-day mortality.

RESULTSOverall compliance during 6-hr resuscitation and 24-hour management bundles were 5.5% and 17.4%, respectively, and 28-day mortality was 33.0%. Compliance with protocols for blood cultures before antibiotics (42.2%), central venous pressure ≥ 8 mmHg (65.9%), central venous oxygen saturation ≥ 70% (25.0%), and optimized glucose control (82.1%), were significantly associated with decreased 28-day mortality (P < 0.05). When adjusted for age, acute organ dysfunction, and APACHE II score, compliance with the blood culture before antibiotics protocol produced the most significant decrease in 28-day mortality (OR, 0.33; 95%CI, 0.16 - 0.70; P = 0.004). Compliance with ≥ 5 protocols in the 6-hour resuscitation bundle was also associated with lower 28-day mortality in septic shock patients (OR, 0.17; 95%CI, 0.06 - 0.54; P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONSCompliance with resuscitation and management bundles is generally poor in China; however, when applied, 6-hour resuscitation bundle are associated with significant reductions in 28-day mortality for sepsis patients.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Sepsis ; drug therapy ; mortality ; therapy

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Flow Cytometry ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Liver ; cytology ; drug effects ; ultrastructure