OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza on renal morphology and renal function of rats with streptozotocin diabetes. METHODS: Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups, which were normal control group, untreated group and Salvia miltiorrhiza-treated group. Diabetic nephropathy was induced in rats of the last two groups by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin after unilateral nephrectomy. Then the rats in the normal control and untreated groups were fed with normal saline while those in the Salvia miltiorrhiza-treated group were fed Salvia miltiorrhiza preparation for 8 weeks. The glomerular volume (VG), kidney-to-body weight ratio (KW/BW), urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER) and creatinine clearance (Ccr) were observed. The expression levels of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), fibronectin (FN) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) were detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) at the end of the experiment. RESULTS: UAER, Ccr, VG and KW/BW ratio were significantly higher in the untreated group than those in the normal control group (P<0.05). The expression levels of TGF-beta1, CTGF, PAI-1 and FN in the untreated group were also significantly higher as compared with those in the normal control group (P<0.05). UAER, Ccr, VG, KW/BW ratio and the levels of TGF-beta1, CTGF, PAI-1 and FN in the Salvia miltiorrhiza-treated group were obviously lower than those in the untreated group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Salvia miltiorrhiza can protect rats with streptozotocin diabetes from diabetic nephropathy by suppressing the over-expressions of TGF-beta1, CTGF, PAI-1 and FN in renal cortex.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of transumbilical endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy on women patients with palmar hyperhidrosis.Methods A total of 25 consecutive women patients with palmar hyperhidrosis underwent transumblical thoracic sympathectomy with ultra-thin endoscope.The operative data,including duration of operation,intra-operative and postoperative complications were recorded.Results The procedure was performed successfully in all 25 patients with a mean operative time of 64 min(58-113 min).No umbilical hernia,diaphragmatic hernia,Horner's syndrome or hemothorax were observed.Minor pneumothorax was found in postoperative chest X-ray in 3 patients,all of which were completely resolved with conservative treatment.All patients recovered to their normal life at 1 week after discharge.The scar was small and hidden in umbilical with no visible incisions.After a follow-up of 4 to 12 months,all patients' hands sweating symptoms completely disappeared,axillary sweat symptoms completely resolved in 6 patients,significantly improved in 4 and mildly improved in 1.Conclusion Transumbilical thoracic sympathectomy with ultrathin flexible endoscope is a safe and effective option for women patients with severe palmar hyperhidrosis,which provides excellent cosmetic outcomes.

Objective To prepare a new kind of targeted liposome ultrasound contrast agent with small peptide K237 as the ligand which can combine specifically with KDR which is the main receptor of VEGF.and to test its capability in vitro. Methods Targeted bubbles(P-Bio-Av-Bio-Mbs) were formed through "biotin-avidin" bridge grafting, then they were incubated respectively with LOVO, HUVECs and LS174T which were KDR positive or negative expressed in various cells,meanwhile incubated LOVO cells with FITC- P-Bio-Av-Bio-Mbs,FITC-P-Mbs and FITC-Mbs respectively. After that, the rosette formation rate and fluorescence intensity of the combination between microbubbles and cells were observed with microscope and fluorescence microscope. After being incubated with small peptide K237 of 10 μg and 50 μg, LOVO cells were incubated with P-Bio-Av-Bio-Mbs for observing the distribution of microbubbles. Results In KDR sharply positive expressed LOVO cells, the surrounding rosette formation rate was as high as 90. 52% with the fluorescence intensity of grade 3, and it was 53. 46% with grade 2 fluorescence intensity rate in KDR positive expressed HUVECs cells, while in KDR negative expressed LS174T cells, there were few microbubbles surrounded with rosette formation rate of 5. 57% and fluorescence intensity rate of grade 0-1, therefore there were significant statistic differences in rosette formation rate among groups ( P < 0.05). After LOVO cells combined with FITC-P-Bio-Av-Bio-Mbs, FITC-P-Mbs and FITC-Mbs respectively,there were significant differences in their rosette formation rate, namely 89.62%, 7. 56% , 0 with the fluorescence rate of 3,0 - 1 and 0 respectively. Targeted cells pretreated with 10 pg K237 showed significant decreased rosette formation,and there was no formation in 50 ?g pretreated group. Conclusions KDR-Targeted liposome contrast agent with small peptide K237 liganded has been successfully prepared through biotin-avidin mediation and could combine specifically and high efficiently with targeted cells in vitro. The KDR-targeted molecular imaging of tumor neovascularizaiton may provide a new approach for early diagnosis of carcinoma.

Objective To investigate the clinical therapeutic effect of comprehensive treatment in young women with cervical car-cinoma.Methods A total of 52 young women with cervical carcinoma were treated with uterine artery chemoembolization.50 cases underwent radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy after interventional therapy.The patients with pathological risk factors were given supplementary radiotherapy.Results The clinical overall response rate was 88.5%.96.2% of patients underwent sur-gery and lymph node metastasis rate was 26.9%.The 2,5 year overall survival rates of patients were 91.5%,71.2% respectively. Conclusion The comprehensive treatment can improve overall survival rate and quality of life for young woman with cervical carci-noma.Postoperative patients with pathologically related risk factors should be treated with supplement chemoradiotherapy.

Objective To compare the efficacy and side-effects of preoperative neoadjuvant uterine arterial chemoembolization and venous chemotherapy in treating cervical cancer in young female patients. Methods A total of 241 young females(≤35 years old) with cervical cancer were enrolled in this study. The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into group A (n=63) and group B (n=57). Patients in group A received preoperative neoadjuvant uterine arterial chemoembolization with subsequent surgery, while patients in group B were treated with preoperative neoadjuvant intravenous chemotherapy followed by surgery. The chemotherapy scheme included carboplatin (50 mg/m2) and gemcitabine (1 000 mg/m2). The short-term effect, the amount of blood loss during the surgery, pathological findings and the side-effects of the two groups were compared. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rate, and the log-rank test was used for survival difference analysis. Results The short-term response rate of group A was 90.5%, which was significantly higher than that of group B (71.9%), the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (χ2=7.5, P<0.05). The resection rate of group A was 95.2%, which was higher than that of group B (84.2%). The amount of intra-operative blood loss of group A and group B was (443±263) ml and (695±312) ml respectively, the difference was statistically significant (t=4.802, P<0.05). The pathological complete remission of group A and group B was 9.5%(6/63) and 5.3%(3/57)respectively; the differences in postoperative pathological results between the two groups were statistically significant (χ2=12.3, P<0.05). The side effect of group A was milder than that of group B (P<0.05). The 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate of group A and group B was 73.0% and 54.4% respectively (χ2=4.471, P<0.05);and the overall survival (OS) rate of group A and group B was 77.8%and 63.2%respectively (χ2=3.022, P>0.05). In both groups, the clinical stage, the pathological grade and the size (≥ 4 cm) of the tumor were the main factors that could influence the prognosis in young females with cervical cancer (P<0.05). Conclusion The short-term efficacy of preoperative uterine artery chemoembolization is better than that of preoperative intravenous chemotherapy for the treatment of cervical cancer in young female patients. Besides, this therapy carries mild side effect, and it can improve the 5-year progression-free survival rate, although the long-term survival rate has not been obviously improved.

Objective To investigate the effect of diabetes on clinical efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the treatment of non-viral hepatitis hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 367 non-hepatitis virus HCC patients treated by TACE, included 153 diabetes mellitus cases (test group) and blood glucose of 214 patients was normal (control group). To assess the treatment effect after 1 month of TACE based on response evaluation criteria in solid tumors, include complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD), progressive disease (PD), and calculate the disease control rate. Through 6 to 75 months follow-up to observed long-term efficacy, record the time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) time. Survival rate were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank analysis by SPSS 16.0. The single-factor analysis was used to analyze variables which variables that differed were analyzed by Cox regression. Results The disease control rate of test group was 69.9%(107/153) and control group was 74.3%(159/214), the difference was no statistically significant (P=0.125). The median time to progression (mTTP) and median overall survival (mOS) of test group were 10.0 and 15.0 months;and the mTTP and mOS of control group were 14.0 and 19.0 months, the difference were statistically significant (P=0.023 and P= 0.026). Tumor diameter ≥4.5 cm, numbers of tumor ≥3, invasion of blood vessels, α-fetoprotein≥200 μg/L, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score and diabetes were risk factors for OS of HCC patients. Conclusion Diabetes is unfavorable factors for overall survival of non-hepatitis HCC tread by TACE.

Objective To investigate the current popularity of ERCP training in China.Methods A questionnaire-based survey was performed on a professional survey website.A total of 48 questions were designed,including personal information,training information,current status of ERCP performance and sug-gestions to ERCP training.The questionnaire was completed anonymously by physicians who fulfilled full-time ERCP training in any Chinese endoscopy center for at least 1 year before.Results A total of 464 phy-sicians,from all the regions of mainland China,among which 362 people completed all the questions.More than two thirds trainees thought that they had got fruitful training and 27.4% trainees had their ERCP vol-umes greatly increased and 64.3% trainees increased practice.According to related index,the physicians who were competent in routine ERCP performance were 84.5%,with outstanding operators of 12.2%.Con-clusion China has made great progress in the training program of ERCP technique in recent decades,but problems still remain such as various admission standard,insufficient training duration,incomprehensive program,as well as lack of evaluation and follow-up system.

Central venous catheterization plays an important role in the rescue of critically patients. Commonly used central veins in clinical practice include subclavian vein, internal jugular vein, and femoral vein. Serious complications after catheterization can endanger patients′ lives in severe cases. It is necessary to improve the understanding and treatment of serious complications of central vein catheterization in clinical work. A case of iliac vein dissection caused by right femoral vein catheterization was summarized in this article, and the catheter was successfully removed under digital subtraction angiography direct vision after the distal end of the catheter penetrated the vascular wall and reached the peritonea, which provided reference for the treatment of iatrogenic injury caused by central vein catheterization.

Objective To design water-equivalent plastic scintillator detector for the measurement of absorbed dose in tumor radiotherapy.Methods The concentration of ZrO2to be doped in polystyrene was estimated according to the empirical formula,and then the Monte Carlo program Geant 4(GEometry And Tracking 4)was used to simulate the energy deposition and transport process of X-rays with different energies in water,solid water RW34(composed of 2.1 wt％TiO2doping polystyrene)and different concentrations of ZrO2particles doped in polystyrene.The dose and attenuation coefficients were compared among different materials at different depths of water.Results The doses at different depths and the attenuation coefficient of polystyrene(doped with about 0.4 wt％ZrO2nanoparticles)were much more consistent with those of water and even exhibit much better water-equivalence than RW34.Conclusions The simulation results provide the basis for the development of water-equivalent scintillator.

A 3-year-old male patient was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1(NF1) for two years. The patient has multiple neurofibromas in retroperitoneum, lumbococcygeal paravertebral, lumbosacral spinal canal, and foramina. Due to retroperitoneal mass compression, the child suffered from urological complications such as hydronephrosis, ureterdilation, neurogenic bladder, etc., which seriously affected the urination function and resulted in multiple surgical treatments. Currently, the patient has been treated with mitogen activates extracelluar signal-regulated kinases(MEK) inhibitor selumetinib targeted therapy, and has voluntarily urinated, and his general state is better than before medication. The diagnosis and treatment of this case reflects the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration in the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases.