Objective: To observe the effect of different moxibustion durations on rats with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to evaluate the relationship between moxibustion amount and moxibustion efficacy.Methods: Eight rats were randomly selected as a normal group from the 40 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, and the other 32 rats were used to establish typeⅡ collagen-induced RA models. After successful modeling, the 32 rats were randomly divided into a model group, a moxibustion for 20 min group, a moxibustion for 40 min group and a moxibustion for 60 min group, with 8 rats in each group. Rats in the normal group did not receive modeling and moxibustion intervention; rats in the model group did not receive moxibustion after modeling; rats in the moxibustion for 20 min group, the moxibustion for 40 min group and the moxibustion for 60 min group were treated with moxibustion at Shenshu (BL 23) and Zusanli (ST 36) for 20 min, 40 min and 60 min, respectively. Six days were a course of treatment, with a total of 3-course treatments and a 1-day rest between the courses of treatment. After treatment, the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1β and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, arthritis index (AI) scores, toe volumes and pathological score of synovitis were evaluated in the rats.Results: Compared with the normal group, the serum IL-1β and TNF-α levels, and the toe volumes in the model group were increased, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01), before the treatment. Compared with the model group, the serum IL-1β and TNF-α levels, toe volumes and arthritis index (AI) scores were significantly decreased in the moxibustion for 20 min group, the moxibustion for 40 min group and the moxibustion for 60 min group (P<0.05 orP<0.01 ). Compared with the moxibustion for 20 min group and the moxibustion for 60 min group, serum IL-1β and TNF-α levels, toe volumes and AI scores were decreased more significantly in moxibustion for 40 min group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05 orP<0.01). There were no significant differences in serum IL-1β and TNF-α levels, AI scores and toe volumes between the moxibustion for 20 min group and the moxibustion for 60 min group (allP>0.05). The synovial histopathological improvement was the most obvious in the moxibustion for 40 min group, when the synovial histopathological changes were compared among the moxibustion for 20 min group, moxibustion for 40 min group and moxibustion for 60 min group.Conclusion: The therapeutic efficacy of moxibustion for 40 min in RA rats was more significant than that of moxibustion for 20 min and moxibustion for 60 min, indicating that the duration of moxibustion is the main factor affecting its therapeutic efficacy.

Objective To survey bacterium pollution state on the surface of medical equipment maintenance tools,and thenobserve the disinfection effect of ozone.Methods Totally 30 medical equipment maintenance tools including screwdriver,hexagona wrench and multimeter from certain hospital were placed in ozone disinfection cabinet,and then disinfected by ozoneup to 5 minutes.Samples on the surface of tools were collected by cotton swabs before and after disinfection,cultured for 48hours in 37 ℃,and then the bacterial colony counts were measured and analyzed,and pathogenicity bacteria were identified.The pollution couditions on kinds of tools were compared.Results The surface of the tools was polluted severely,bacterialcolony counts of which before disinfection reached (132.68±37.02) cfu/cm2,and decreased to (6.44±1.08) cfu/cm2 after 5-minutes' disinfecting.There was statistically significant difference in the bacterial counts before and after the disinfection (P＜0.01),and the inactivation ratio was up to 95.15％.Pathogenicity bacteria such as staphylococcus aureus and escherichia coliwere detected before the disinfection,and killed after that.The bacteria counts were significantly different in the three kindsof tools,and the screwdriver gained the highest count while the multimeter had the lowest one.Conclusion The surface ofmedical equipment maintenance tools is polluted by bacteria severely,including some pathogenicity bacteria,and should be disinfected regularly.Ozone can kill bacteria rapidly,and the tools can achieve sanitary standard after 5-minutes' ozone disinfecting.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; physiology ; Brain Ischemia ; enzymology ; physiopathology ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Ischemic Postconditioning ; methods ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; enzymology ; pathology ; prevention & control

With references of historical materials and modern literature regarding acupoint characteristic, a secondary analysis on the concept, origin, related factors and research methods in present research of acupoint characteristic is performed. The acupoint characteristic should be considered as an acupoint inherent attribute that could explain physiological and pathological manifestations at the same time, including location attribute and function attribute, which is related with time and treatment method. Some re-thinking on acupoint characteristic is proposed as well as advice on further research method and direction, hoping to promote the research development of acupoint characteristic.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; China ; History, Ancient ; Humans ; Medicine in Literature ; Meridians

Animals ; Apoptosis ; physiology ; Brain Ischemia ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Down-Regulation ; drug effects ; Ischemic Postconditioning ; methods ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism

Adult ; Embolism, Amniotic Fluid ; etiology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy

HER2, a member of epidermal growth factor receptor family proteins, is overexpressed in about 30% of human breast cancer. Increased levels of HER2 are associated with poor patient prognosis and enhanced metastasis. RNA interference (RNAi) is developed recently as a new technique which can inhibit gene expression specifically in mammalian cells. On the basis of previous study,in which two target sequences with favorable RNAi effect on HER2 were identified, a series of dual promoter siRNA-expressing vectors containing two opposing U6 and H1 promoters were constructed. After transfection of HER2-overexpressing SKBR3 breast cancer cells with the siRNA-expressing vectors, downregulation of HER2 was identified quantitatively. Subsequently, the siRNA-expressing cassettes were subcloned into lentiviral vectors by LR recombination reaction and lentivirus was prepared successfully. The results from infection of SKBR3 cells with siRNA-expressing lentivirus demonstrated that lentiviral-mediated RNAi could downregulate HER2 expression efficiently through fluorescent quantitative PCR (FQ-PCR), western blot, and FACS analysis. Furthermore, cell growth was inhibited in cell proliferation assay after treatment with siRNA lentivirus.A new tool for clarifying the function of HER2 in cancer metastasis and developing the gene therapy drug was offered.

Objective To study the interobserver variabilities and the differential diagnosis value of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System-Ultrasound (BI-RADS-US) lexicon for small ( ≤ 2 cm) breast nodules. Methods Between January 2009 and December 2011, 289 patients with small (≤2 cm) breast nodules (n=317) were included. According to sizes, the lesions were divided into two groups, i.e., 0-1 cm (n=160) group and 1-2 cm (n=157)group. Each lesion was described independently by 3 radiologists using BI-RADS-US lexicon. Interobserver variabilities were assessed by Kappa test. Chi-square test was used to compare the frequency difference of the descriptors between malignant and benign lesions. Sensitivity, speciifcity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negtive predictive value were calculated. Results (1)Moderate agreements were obtained for lesion shape, orientation, margin, echo pattern, surrounding tissue and calciifcations (κ=0.44, 0.57, 0.48, 0.43, 0.51 and 0.57) in 0-1 cm group. Substantial agreements were obtained for lesion shape, orientation, margin and echo pattern (κ=0.65, 0.61, 0.64 and 0.63) in 1-2 cm group. (2)Irregular shape, non-parallel orientation, non-circumscribed margin, echogenic halo and microcalciifcations were more frequently found in malignant nodules than in benign nodules in 0-1 cm group [52.3% (34/65) vs 20.0% (19/95), 38.5%(25/65) vs 13.7%(13/95), 75.4%(49/65) vs 32.6%(31/95), 18.6%(12/65) vs 0 (0/95) and 10.8%(7/65) vs 2.1%(2/95);χ2=18.19, 13.08, 28.22, 16.39 and 3.95;P=0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000 and 0.047]. Similarly, irregular shape, non-parallel orientation, non-circumscribed margin, echogenic halo, shadowing, changes of Cooper′s ligament and microcalciifcations were signiifcantly more frequent found in malignant nodules than in benign nodules in 1-2 cm group [74.2%(49/66) vs 12.1%(11/91), 36.3%(24/66) vs 5.5%(5/91), 93.9%(62/66) vs 22.0%(20/91), 37.9%(25/66) vs 3.3%(3/91), 30.3%(20/66) vs 7.7%(7/91), 15.2%(10/66) vs 0 (0/91) and 16.7%(11/66) vs 4.4%(4/91);χ2=62.59, 24.21, 79.40, 31.22, 13.73, 12.30 and 6.67;P=0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000 and 0.010]. (3)In both groups, a good sensitivity was demonstrated (75.4%&93.9%) when using the non-circumscribed margin as a criterion for malignancy, and high speciifcity was achieved in two groups (80.0%-100%and 87.9%-100%) when other descriptors including irregular shape, non-parallel orientation, echogenic halo, shadowing, changes of Cooper′s ligament and microcalciifcations were used as differentiation criteria. Conclusions Good interobserver agreement can be achieved using the BI-RADS-US lexicon in the diagnosis of small breast nodules. Non-circumscribed margin are proved as the most valuable sign for screening malignant breast lesions ≤ 2 cm. High speciifcity was found for irregular shape, nonparallel orientation, echogenic halo, shadowing, Cooper′s ligament changes and microcalciifcations, which can help biopsy and preoperative diagnosis.

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of action of Er'zhi Tiangui Granule (ETG) in improving quality of oocytes by observing metabonomics and level of calcium ion in follicle fluid, and to investigate the impacts of calcium ion, cholinesterase (ChE) and creatinine (CCr) levels in human follicle fluid on the quality of oocytes and outcome of pregnancy in patients after in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET).

METHODSFifty-seven patients after IVF-ET were randomly assigned to two groups: the trial group (27 patients) and the control group (30 patients), both were treated with conventional Western medical treatment, but ETG and Liuwei Dihuang Granule (LDG) was given respectively to the two groups additionally. Changes of Shen-asthenia syndrome, amount of oocyte obtained, fertilization rate, cleavage rate, high-quality embryo rate and pregnancy rate, levels of calcium ion, ChE and Cr in follicle fluid, and metabonomics in the two groups were observed and compared.

RESULTSAfter treatment, scores of Shen-asthenia syndrome 8.30 +/- 1.46, fertilization rate 0.82 +/- 0.09, cleavage rate 0.97 +/- 0.07 and high-quality embryos rate 0.51 +/- 0.18 in the trial group were all better than those in the control group (9.16 +/- 1.15, 0.74 +/- 0.18, 0.91 +/- 0.10, 0.41 +/- 0.09, respectively, P<0.05); metabonomics principal component analysis showed that in the trial group, the principal component in follicle fluid distributed mainly in the section I, and that in the control group distributed mainly in the section II, showing significant difference between the two groups; while in most pregnant patients, it distributed in the section I. The Ca2+ concentration in the trial group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). Levels of ChE and Cr in the trial group were higher than those in the control group, but the difference between them was insignificant.

CONCLUSIONETG is better than LDG in regulating metabonomics, Ca2+ concentration, improving the quality of oocyte and embryo, and increasing pregnant rate in patients after IVF-ET.

Adult ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Embryo Transfer ; Female ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Follicular Fluid ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Infertility, Female ; etiology ; metabolism ; Metabolomics ; Oocytes ; metabolism ; Phytotherapy ; Pregnancy

BACKGROUNDMany cytokines have been found to increase the insulin resistance during pregnancy complicated by glucose metabolism disorder. This study aimed to investigate which comes first, the changes of some cytokines or the abnormal glucose metabolism.

METHODSThis nested case-control study was undertaken from January 2004 to March 2005. Twenty-two women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), 10 with gestational impaired glucose tolerance (GIGT), and 20 healthy pregnant women were chosen from the women who had visited the antenatal clinics and had blood samples prospectively taken and kept during their visit. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), leptin and adiponectin were determined. One-way ANOVA analysis and bivariate correlation analysis were used to assess the laboratory results and their relationship with body mass index (BMI).

RESULTSWomen with GDM have the highest values of TNF-alpha and leptin and the lowest value of adiponectin compared with those with GIGT and the healthy controls (P < 0.01) at 14-20 weeks of gestation. This was also found when these women progressed to 24-32 weeks. The significantly increased levels of TNF-alpha and leptin and the decreased level of adiponectin were found at the different periods of gestation within the same group. Positive correlation was shown between the levels of TNF-alpha and leptin at the two periods of gestation with the BMI at 14-20 weeks, while adiponectin was negatively correlated (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe concentrations of TNF-alpha, leptin and adiponectin may change before the appearance of the abnormal glucose level during pregnancy. Further studies are required to verify the mechanism of this alteration and whether the three cytokines can be predictors for GDM at an early stage of pregnancy.

Adiponectin ; blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Diabetes, Gestational ; blood ; Female ; Glucose Intolerance ; Humans ; Leptin ; blood ; Pregnancy ; Prospective Studies ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood