Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion for dysmenorrhea due to deficiency cold. Methods: A total of 70 patients with dysmenorrhea who met the inclusion criteria were randomized into a mild moxibustion group and a herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group by the random number table, with 35 cases in each group. Shenque (CV 8), Zhongji (CV 3) and bilateral Zigong (EX-CA 1) were selected for both groups. The treatment continued for 3 menstrual cycles. The visual analog scale (VAS) and COX menstrual symptom scale (CMSS) were scored in both groups before treatment, after treatment and at the end of the 3rd menstrual cycle after treatment. The clinical efficacy was evaluated at the end of the 3rd menstrual cycle after treatment. Results: After treatment, the clinical efficacy of the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group had the tendency to be superior to that of the mild moxibustion group, while there was no statistically significant difference in the overall efficacy between the two groups (P>0.05). The VAS and CMSS scores after treatment and at the follow-up were significantly lower than those before treatment in both groups (all P<0.05). At the follow-up, the VAS scores in both groups had no significant intra-group differences from those after treatment (both P>0.05). The CMSS scores in both groups were significantly lower than those after treatment (both P<0.05). The VAS scores at the follow-up of both groups had no statistical differences from those after treatment (both P>0.05). After treatment, the CMSS score in the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group was significantly lower than that in the mild moxibustion group (P<0.05). At the follow-up, there were no statistical differences in the CMSS score between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: The herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion has the same therapeutic efficacy for dysmenorrhea as the mild moxibustion; the two moxibustion methods can significantly improve the concomitant symptoms of dysmenorrhea, and the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion is little better.

Objective: To analyze the effect of acupuncture versus hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for premature ovarian insufficiency (POI). Methods: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Academic Journal Full-text Database (Wanfang), Chongqing VIP Database (CQVIP), China Biology Medicine Disc (CBM), Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) were searched up to January 31st, 2019 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of acupuncture for POI. The primary outcome was the level of basal serum follicle- stimulating hormone (FSH). Secondary outcomes included serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E2) and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). Two authors extracted data independently and assessed the risk of bias and the methodological quality using the Cochrane's tool. Meta-analysis was conducted by RevMan version 5.3. Results: Eight eligible RCTs with a total of 496 POI patients were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that there was a significant reduction in the basal serum FSH level (MD=-5.82, 95％CI:-9.76 to -1.87, I2=82％, P=0.004) and a remarkable elevation in the basal E2 level (SMD=0.93, 95％CI: 0.34 to 1.52, I2=88％, P=0.002) in the acupuncture group when compared with the control. Subgroup analysis showed that compared with HRT, a significant decrease in the FSH level was observed in both acupuncture alone (MD=-4.53, 95％CI:-8.96 to -0.10, I2=73％, P=0.04) and acupuncture plus HRT (MD=-9.60, 95％CI:-17.60 to -1.61, I2=50％, P=0.02), while a remarkable elevation of E2 was only found in acupuncture plus HRT (SMD=1.43, 95％CI: 1.03 to 1.82, I2=0％, P<0.00001). There was no significant difference in the LH level between acupuncture and HRT (MD=-3.16, 95％CI:-9.41 to 3.10, I2=0％, P=0.32), only one trial reported AMH, and no significant difference was found between acupuncture and HRT. Conclusion: The present study indicated that acupuncture had an advantage over HRT in reducing serum FSH level and increasing serum E2 level in women with POI. However, evidence supporting the finding is limited due to the small sample size, potential methodological flaws and significant heterogeneity. Hence, this conclusion still needs to be verified by high-quality RCTs.

OBJECTIVETo analyze CD21 expression in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and to explore its relationship with the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis.

METHODSThe clinical data from 80 DLBCL patients who were treated in First Hospital of Jilin University from June 2005 to September 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. The cases were subjected to immunohistochemical staining (SP method) for Ki-67, CD20, CD79a, CD3, CD43, CD5, cyclin D1, bcl-2, CD10, bcl-6, GCET-1, FOXP-1 and MUM-1 protein expression in the tumor tissue. Immunohistochemistry was also used to detect CD21 expression in the tumor tissue. SPSS 18.0 was used to analyze the relationship between CD21 expression and various clinical factors, and the relationship between various clinical factors including CD21 and overall survival.

RESULTSIn the patients aged under 60 years, the incidence of CD21(+) lymphoma (64.0%, 16/25) was significantly higher than that of CD21(-) lymphoma (38.2%, 21/55). There were more CD21(+) lymphoma patients who were at clinical stages I-II (52.0%, 13/25) than patients with CD21(-)lymphomas (23.6%, 13/55). There were also more CD21(+) lymphoma patients (68.0%, 17/25) having less than two extranodal sites involvement than CD21(-)lymphoma patients (41.8%, 23/55). In addition, there were more CD21(+) lymphoma patients with IPI 0-2 (68.0%, 17/25) than CD21(-)lymphoma patients (41.8%, 23/55). There were more CD21(+) lymphoma patients with GCB subtype (60.0%, 15/25) than CD21(-)lymphoma patients (23.6%, 13/55). Death related to DLBCL was less in CD21(+) lymphoma patients (32.0%, 8/25) than CD21(-) lymphoma patients (56.4%, 31/55). Univariate analysis showed that these clinical pathological characteristics affected the overall survival of DLBCL patients, including age, ECOG score, LDH, extranodal involvement, IPI index, CD21 expression, treatment option and efficacy (P < 0.05) . Cox multivariate analysis showed that ECOG score, LDH, extranodal involvement, CD21 expression were closely related to prognosis, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Among the 80 patients, the overall survival (OS) of CD21(+) lymphoma patients was significantly higher than that of CD21(-) lymphoma patients.

CONCLUSIONSThe expression of CD21 is associated with young age at onset, early clinical stage, small number of involvement and low IPI index. The OS and median overall survival of CD21(+) lymphoma patients are significantly higher than those of CD21(-) patients. CD21 expression, ECOG score, LDH, extranodal involvement are independent prognostic factors in DLBCL, and in particular, the expression of CD21 is more significant in the prognosis of DLBCL patients.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; metabolism ; Child ; Cyclophosphamide ; therapeutic use ; Doxorubicin ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; pathology ; Germinal Center ; pathology ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; metabolism ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Prognosis ; Receptors, Complement 3d ; metabolism ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Vincristine ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the antiproliferation effect on HepG2 cells and its underlying mechanism of the active chemical composition of the Viburnum Odoratissimum.

METHODS3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction assay and trypan blue dye exclusion assay were used to assess the effect of vibsane-type diterpenoids on the proliferation of various tumor cells. Alterations in cell cycle and apoptosis were determined by flowcytometry. The enzymatic activity of caspase-3/7 was measured by Apo-ONE homogeneous Caspase-3/7 Assay kit.

RESULTSCompound 1 #, a vibsane-type diterpenoid, was found to significantly inhibit the growth of HepG2 cells by anticancer proliferation activity screening. It was demonstrated that the modified groups on side chain coupled to C11 site affected the cell growth-inhibition activity of compounds by structure-activity analysis. In addition, HepG2 cell line was most sensitive to compound 1 #, which induced growth arrest of HepG2 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Study on the mechanisms underlying these effects indicated that compound 1 # induced significant G0/G1 phase arrest of HepG2 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Meanwhile, It was found that higher concentrations of compound (5-10 micromol/L) caused evident increase in the unmber of apoptotic cells and dose-dependent activation of caspase-3/7.

CONCLUSIONVibsane-type diterpenoids could significantly inhibit the growth of HCC HepG2 cells. Induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis may play important roles in their anticancer effects.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Diterpenes ; pharmacology ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Viburnum ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo compare clinical features and therapeutic response of patients with aplastic anemia with and without cytogenetic abnormalities.

METHODSClinical features of 133 patients with successful chromosomal analysis were retrospectively studied, and therapeutic response between patients with and without cytogenetic abnormalities was compared.

RESULTSCytogenetic abnormalities were found in 9 patients, which included trisomy 8 (4 cases), monosomy 7 (2 cases) and Xq- (1 case), 1q- (1 case) and 7q- (1 case). No significant difference was detected between patients with or without cytogenetic abnormalities in terms of age (50 vs. 58, P=0.337), sex ratio (male 55.56% vs. 62.10%, female 44.44% vs. 37.90%, P=0.762), or episode of acute aplastic anemia (44.44% vs. 37.10%, P=0.728). Patients with cytogenetic abnormalities had a tendency towards poorer rate of therapeutic response, which was however not significantly different from those without (55.56% vs. 79.03%, P=0.116). All of the 4 patients with +8 responded to treatment, whilst none of those with -7 or 7q- did.

CONCLUSIONNo significant difference was found between aplastic anemia patients with or without cytogenetic abnormalities in terms of clinical features and therapeutic response. Patients with trisomy 8 seem to have a favorable response towards treatment.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Anemia, Aplastic ; genetics ; therapy ; Child ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Female ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

This study was aimed to investigate the expression of SALL4 and BMI-1 mRNA in acute leukemia (AL) and its clinical significance. mRNA expression levels of SALL4 and BMI-1 in 62 AL patients and 10 controls were measured by semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The results showed that (1) the expression of SALL4 mRNA were up-regulated in AL (except M3 and T-ALL), and the expression of of SALL4 mRNA in AML was significantly higher than that in B-ALL (p<0.05); expression was negative in 9 out of 10 controls, and expression level of SALL4 mRNA in one case was low; (2) the expression of SALL4 in de novo AL was higher than that in controls, which significantly decreased at complete remission (CR). The difference between CR group and de novo group was statistically significant (p<0.05). In relapsed patients, the expression of SALL4 increased, slightly higher than that in de novo AL group (p>0.05); (3) the expression pattern of BMI-1 was the same to that of SALL4 except the up-regulation in M3, and the expression of BMI-1 was positively correlated with that of SALL4 in acute leukemia (r=0.684, p<0.01). It is concluded that SALL4 and BMI-1 expressions are up-regulated significantly in acute leukemia, which may contribute to the development of leukemia, thus become an important index for evaluation of development, relapse and prognosis in acute leukemia.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia ; genetics ; metabolism ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nuclear Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 ; Prognosis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Repressor Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transcription Factors ; genetics ; metabolism ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the mixed infection and analyze risk factors in children with severe adenovirus pneumonia.

METHODSA retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 756 children with adenovirus pneumonia between June 2009 and June 2011. Pathogens and risk factors were studied in 216 severe cases.

RESULTSOf the 216 severe cases, 138 (63.9%) were aged from 6 months to 2 years, and 161 (74.5%) developed the disease in the winter and spring; 177 (81.9%) were affected by 1-4 pathogens besides adenovirus, including 74 cases (34.3%) infected with one pathogen as an addition. A total of 334 pathogen strains were identified from the respiratory secretions and sera of the 216 cases. Of them, 163 (48.8%) were bacterial strains, dominated by Gram-negative bacteria (124 strains), 108 (32.3%) were viral strains, and 40 (12.0%) were fungal strains. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that congenital heart disease, congenital airway abnormalities, nutritional anemia, recurrent pulmonary infection, and surgical history were the independent risk factors for severe adenovirus pneumonia in children, with odds ratios of 3.3, 11.1, 7.2, 14.3 and 12.9 respectively (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSSevere adenovirus pneumonia is mostly seen in children aged from 6 months to 2 years and occurs frequently in the winter and spring. Many cases are also infected with other pathogens, most commonly Gram-negative bacteria. Congenital heart disease, congenital airway abnormalities, nutritional anemia, recurrent pulmonary infection and surgical history are the independent risk factors for severe adenovirus pneumonia in children.

Adenoviridae Infections ; epidemiology ; etiology ; microbiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Coinfection ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Pneumonia, Viral ; microbiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons

Objective:To observe the clinical effect of lower-reinforcing and upper-reducing acupuncture method for hyperplasia of mammary gland (HMG) and its influence on estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P).Methods:A randomized,single-blinded and controlled trial was conducted.A total of 124 cases conforming to the inclusion criteria were randomized by random number table into a treatment group and a control group,with 62 cases in each group.Patients in both groups received acupuncture therapy at the same acupoints,while patients in the treatment group received lower-reinforcing and upper-reducing method,and patients in the control group received even reinforcing-reducing manipulation.The treatment started around 10 d before menstruation and was conducted every other day.Patients received 5 treatments in each menstruation cycle for consecutive 3 cycles.The levels of E2,P and E2/P and clinical efficacy were measured before and after treatment.Results:After treatment,the breast lump size,pain intensity and concomitant symptoms score in both groups were substantially lower than those before treatment,showing statistical significances (all P＜0.01),and the improvement in the treatment group was higher than that in the control group,and the between-group comparisons showed statistical significances (all P＜0.01).After treatment,the overall effective rate was 91.9％ in the treatment group,higher than 72.6％ in the control group,and the between-group comparison showed a statistical significance (P＜0.01).After treatment,levels of E2,P and E2/P value showed no statistical significance when compared with those before treatment in the two groups (all P＞0.05).Conclusion:Lower-reinforcing and upper-reducing acupuncture method can effectively alleviate clinical symptoms and signs in HMG patients,and produce a better effect than even reinforcing-reducing manipulation.The majority of HMG patients' E2,P level and E2/P value were not beyond the normal ranges;therefore,acupuncture showed no substantial influence on E2 and P levels and E2/P value.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between serum free triiodothyronine (FT 3) and the severity and prognosis of elderly patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods:Clinical data of the elderly patients aged≥65 years old with COVID-19 who were admitted to the Ninth People′s Hospital of Wuxi from December 27, 2022 to January 18, 2023 were collected. The laboratory examinations of the non-severe and the severe/critical groups were compared. Patients were divided into group T1 (FT 3<2.51 pmol/L), group T2 (FT 3=2.51 to 2.95 pmol/L, ), and group T3 (FT 3>2.95 pmol/L) according to the FT 3 level. Independent sample t test was used for comparison between groups. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the risk factors for severe/critical disease, and to analyze the risk of severe/critical COVID-19 in elderly patients with different FT 3 levels. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to analyze the predictive value of FT 3 on the occurrence of severe/critical disease in patients. Kaplan-Meier survival curve and log-rank test were used to analyze the 30-day survival rate of elderly COVID-19 patients. Results:Among the 190 patients, the FT 3 level in the severe/critical group was (2.54±0.30) pmol/L, which was significantly lower than that in the non-severe group ((2.91±0.69) pmol/L), and the difference was statistically significant ( t=-3.42, P=0.001). Elevated serum FT 3 level was a protective factor for severe/critical disease in elderly COVID-19 patients (odds ratio ( OR)=0.139, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 0.034 to 0.577, P=0.007). There were 66 patients in the T1 group, 61 in the T2 group and 63 in the T3 group, respectively. After adjusted for sex, age, history of lung diseases, history of cardiac diseases, history of hypertension, history of diabetes mellitus, history of cerebral infarction, white blood cell count, lactate dehydrogenase, D-dimer, free thyroxine and thyrotropin, the risk of developing severe/critical disease in group T1 and group T2 were 10.982 folds and 3.695 folds of that in group T3, respectively (both P<0.05). The area under ROC curve of FT 3 of predicting severe/critical COVID-19 in the elderly patients was 0.731. The sensitivity and specificity were 0.733 and 0.659, respectively. The cut-off value was 2.53 pmol/L. The 30-day survival rate in patients with FT 3<2.53 pmol/L was significantly lower than that in patients with FT 3≥2.53 pmol/L ( χ2=13.49, P<0.001). Conclusions:The elevated level of FT 3 is a protective factor for progression to severe/critical disease in elderly patients with COVID-19. The evaluation of serum FT 3 could predict the severity and prognosis of elderly COVID-19 patients.

OBJECTIVETo analyze clinical characteristics and therapy of pan-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (PDRAB) infection and explore the methods for effective therapy and prevention of this infection.

METHODSNine hospitalized patients with PDRAB infection confirmed by pathogen and susceptibility testing were analyzed for the risk factors and the treatment outcomes were assessed by case analysis.

RESULTSPDRAB infections occurred mainly in patients with severe complications, most of whom had complications by diabetes or hypertension or damaged mucosal integrity due to mechanical ventilation, surgery and catheterization. The polymyxin sensitivity were 100% for these infections, but all the bacteria identified showed a antimicrobial resistance rates of 100%. The majority of the infections were acquired during hospitalization occurring mainly in the lungs; all the patients had prolonged hospitalization and received antibiotic treatments with high proportions of broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents especially third-generation cephalosporins and quinolones. Exclusive or sequential use of carbapenems and sulbactam in combination with quinolone or aminoglycoside produced favorable effects.

CONCLUSIONSThe prevalence of hospital-acquired pan-resistance of PDRAB infections increased significantly in recent years, particularly in patients with high risk factors. The widespread use of broad-spectrum antibiotics may have some relevance to drug resistant occurrence. The application of carbapenems or sulbactam, or their sequential use, in combination with other agents may produce good effects.

Acinetobacter Infections ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Acinetobacter baumannii ; drug effects ; Anti-Infective Agents ; therapeutic use ; Cross Infection ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Middle Aged