Hepatic stellate cells(HSCs) are the mesenchymal cells in the liver. In the process of tumori-genesis and metastasis, the interactions between HSCs and tumor ceils play an important role in promoting tumor invasion through extracellular matrix remodelling. Here we review the latest investigative advances a-bout the tumor-stromal interactions.

[Objective]To analyze the effect of the surgical operation for cervical myelopathy due to mixed ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). [Methods]Forty-two patients with mixed OPLL were enrolled from June 2003 to June 2007.Eighteen were treated with posterior laminoplasty combined with anchor nail fixation(group A).Fifteen with laminoplasty (group B) and the other nine with laminectomy(group C).According to the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scoring system for cervical myelopathy,the neural function scores were obtained. The cervical shoulder pain score and the influence factors for prognosis were documented.[Results]All patients were followed for 6 months to 4 years (mean 23 months). The differences between preoperation and post operation were significant among the three different surgery type groups (P

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of Radix Astragali,Radix Rehmanniae combined with glucocorticoid(GC) in treating patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) and its influence on some experimental indexes.Methods 72 cases of SLE were randomly recruited into the integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine treated group (treated group) and the western medicine treated group (control group).The control group was treated with prednisone and cyclophosphamide,while the treated group was treated with Radix Astragali and Radix Rehmanniae on the basis of the control group.Both groups had been treated for 6 months as a therapy course.The use of prednisone dosage were recorded and its influence on indexes of clinical and laboratory value were observed.Results 27 SLE patients in the treated group and 34 in the control group were completely observed.The dosages of prednisone in both groups were decreased gradually after the state of disease had been relieved.The predrisone dosage in the treated group was lower than that in the control group in the therapy course(15.41 ±7.65)mg vs (17.25±8.83)mg,but without significant difference (t=0.85,P＞0.05).The total decreased prednisone dosage in the treated group (50.12±12.53 mg) was slightly higher than that in control group(48.96± 13.71) mg (t=0.34,P＞0.05).The ratio of cases who had to add prednisone for aggravating disease in treated group(15.92％) was less than that in the control group (38.24％),the difference was significant (x2=3.24,P＜0.05).The incidence rate of cushing syndrome,infection,diseases of digestive,cardiovascular anomalies in the treated group was slightly less than the control group (x2=0.42,0.98,0.01,0.03respectivly,P＞0.05),but the number of insomnia and hot flush were significantly larger in the control group than the treatment group (x2=4.24,5.93,P＜0.05).No difference about the SLEDAI,ESR,CRP,Blood Complement3,Blood imune globinG was found between the two groups (t=2.16,1.04,1.18,0.26,1.61 respectively,P＞0.05),and 24 hours urinary protein count decreased significantly in the treated group (1.06 ± 0.12) g/L,compared with control group (1.42 ± 0.54) g/L,(t =3.78,P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion Radix Astragal,Radix Rehmanniae combined with conventional treatment of western medicine could withdraw corticosteroid smoothly,relieve symptoms and alleviate some side-effects of western medicine.

This study was aimed to evaluate impacts on immune regulation with spleen-strengthening and kidney-tonifying method among advanced malignant tumor patients. The enrolled advanced malignant tumor patients were randomly divided into the control group and the treatment group. The control group was treated with conventional treatment plan. The treatment group was treated with spleen-strengthening and kidney-tonifying Chinese herbs on the basis of conventional treatment plan for three months. Clinical effect, integral of clinical symptom (ICS), T-lym-phocyte subsets, and drug safety index were observed and detected before and after treatment. The results showed that the effective rate and response rate in the control group were 31.1% and 71.1%, respectively. And the effective rate and response rate in the treatment group were 54.2% and 85.4%, respectively. The treatment group was better than the control group (P< 0.05). Compared to the control group, the treatment group had obvious regulation on T-lymphocyte subsets. The improvement on ICS in the treatment group was better than the control group (P < 0.05). There was no obvious adverse reaction with the application of Chinese herbs. It was concluded that the spleen-strengthening and kidney-tonifying method can improve clinical effect, life of quality, and reduce adverse reaction a-mong advanced malignant tumor patients. Its mechanism may be through the regulation of immune function.

BACKGROUND:Screw loosening and shedding may occur after osteoporosis associated with lumbar degenerative disease treated with pedicle screw fixation. Application of pedicle screw enhanced with cured materials can improve the therapeutic effect.
OBJECTIVE:To compare the clinical effect of pedicle screws enhanced with poly(methyl methacrylate) and injectable calcium sulfate cement in the lumbar internal fixation of osteoporosis.
METHODS:Sixty-one patients diagnosed with osteoporosis combined with lumbar spondylolisthesis, lumbar spinal instability, and severe lumbar spinal stenosis were col ected. Al patients were divided into two groups according to the treatment method:poly(methyl methacrylate) bone cement enhanced pedicle screw group and calcium sulfate bone cement enhanced pedicle screw group.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:There were no significant differences in the operation time, blood loss, preoperative and postoperative visual analog scale score, Japanese Orthopedic Association scores and the Japanese Orthopedic Association score improvement rate between two groups (P>0.05). The results showed that two patients had bone cement leakage in poly(methyl methacrylate) group which had no neurological symptoms caused by new symptoms during fol ow-up period. The bone mineral density was not improved gradual y in poly(methyl methacrylate) group with fol ow-up time prolonging;however, in calcium sulfate group, the bone mineral density was increased significantly after treatment, and the change of bone mineral density was linearly related with Japanese Orthopaedic Association score improvement rate in calcium sulfate group. No screw loosening, pul ing out or neurological dysfunction occurred in both groups. The results indicate that like poly(methyl methacrylate), balcium sulfate bone cement can increase the stability of pedicle screws.

Objective To investigate the adrenal histopathology damage in critically ill non-survival children,and the incidence of adrenal damage,and to explore the risk factors for the adrenal hemorrhage and necrosis in critically ill children.Methods A total of 141 critically ill non-survival children was admitted in this study in Hunan Children's Hospital from January 1,2005 to December 30,2012.Clinical data in children were systematically collected,including age,sex,sodium,potassium,blood gas analysis,liver and kidney function,blood clotting function,etiology,treatment and pediatric clinical illness score (PCIS) or neonatal critical illness score (NCIS),and pathological data.All data were analyzed by SPSS 18.0.Results Logistic regression analysis showed the factors of adrenal hemorrhage and necrosis of critically ill non-survival children were sepsis,PCIS score ＜ 80 critically ill children are risk factors for adrenal hemorrhage necrosis (P ＜ 0.05),ORwas 3.659 (95％ CI:1.344-9.965),and 2.325 (95％ CI:1.028 -5.258).Intravenous corticosteroids were protective factors for critically ill non-survival children with adrenal hemorrhage necrosis (P ＜ 0.05),and ORwas 0.377 (95％ CI:0.163-0.875).Conclusions There were two significant risk factors of adrenal hemorrhage and necrosis:sepsis and critical illness score less than 80 points.Intravenous corticosteroid is a protective factor in critically ill children.

Objective To evaluate the mode of referral by response time for inter-hospital transfer of critically ill pediatric patients,and subsequently some measures taken for minimizing the response time in referral process.Methods A total of 9231 patients (≤14 years) transferred from primary hospital were included in a cross-section study.Information about age,sex,referral radius,the seasonal variation for inter-hospital transport of critically ill pediatric patients,time of referral telephone call and response time were collected.All computations were performed using the Statistic Package for Social Sciences for Windows version 18.0.Differences between groups were assessed by x2 tests or Wilcoxon test or Kruskal-Wallis for categorical data.Results Among all critically ill pediatric patients for the inter-hospital transfer,male to female ratio was 2.24:1,and the majority of patients were neonates and infants.Median retrieval mobilization time was 30 min (interquartile range,20-50 min).This study has demonstrated that referral time,age categories,referral radius,different years and seasons were associated with response time.Conclusions With the improvement of technologies and management mechanism,the response time was apparently minimized since the beginning of interhospital transportation.But there is still plenty of room for shortening rsponse time compared with advanced Westem countries.

Exosomes contain many components including variety kinds of lipids,proteins,microRNAs (miRNAs) and so on.They can transport their loaded substances to the recipient cells and play a role of biology.Exosomal miRNAs play important roles in the occurrence and development of tumors,and they are closely related to the tumor growth,metastasis,drug resistance and immune regulation.Exosomes and exosomal miRNAs can be served as reference indexes for tumor metastasis and prognosis,which provide new targets for tumor therapy.

Objective To explore the status of Cryptosporidium infection among injection drug abusers(IDUs) based on the purified recombinant CP23 protein antigen.Methods The serologic antibody response of Cryptosporidium infection was examined by indirect ELISA in the collected 588 serum episodes of IDUs and 384 cases of healthy persons. Results Among 588 cases of IDUs, 69.90% of them were serologic antibody-positive, compared with 29.43% of the healthy persons, with a significant difference(P