To evaluate the regulating effect of Buyang Huanwu decoction and its simple prescription (Naojian tablet) on CDK4/Cyclin D1 expression in hippocampus tissues of rats with cerebral ischemia, SD rats were divided into the sham-operation group, the model group, the Buyang Huanwu decoction group (ig, 3.15 g · kg⁻¹) and the simple prescription group (ig, 2.41 g · kg⁻¹). Each group was further divided into five subgroups based on time points after the administration, i. e. 1 d, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d and 28 d, respectively. CDK4/Cyclin D1 expressions of the group at different time points were examined by using immunohistochemistry and real-time qPCR. According to the results, the cerebral ischemia model group showed higher CDK4/Cyclin D1 expression than the sham-operation groups (P < 0.05), suggesting that the cell cycle signal pathway would be activated by the cerebral ischemic injury. Both Buyang Huanwu decoction and simple prescription groups showed significantly lower cyclin expression than the model group at 3 d, 7 d, 14 d, 28 d (P < 0.05), indicating both Buyang Huanwu decoction and its simple prescription could play the neuroprotective effect through the cell cycle signal pathway.
Animals ; Brain Ischemia ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; Cyclin D1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of conventional and dynamic contrast- enhanced MRI in lymphoma of the orbit.Methods Thirteen cases of lymphoma of the orbit,including B-C (10 cases),T-C (1 case),T-NK-C (1 case)lymphoma,and multiple myeloma (1 case),were studied using conventional MR and dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging with 3D fast spoiled gradient echo sequence.Calculated values included time to peak (Tpeak),washout ratio (WR),slope and enhancement ratio (ER),and time-intensity curves (TICs),and Tpeak,WR,slope and ER were calculated preoperatively.Results Eleven of the 13 lymphomas of the orbit was seen in the anterior portion of the orbit including eyelid and lacrimal gland.On conventional MRI,10 cases showed iso-intensity on T_1WI and T_2WI and all 13 cases showed moderate enhancement after contrast administration.TIC of all 13 cases showed rapid enhancing and wash-out,Tpeak was (58.7?8.5)s,and WR was (30.9?9.4)%.The accurate diagnosis with only conventional MRI was achieved in 6 out of 13 cases,while the accurate diagnosis was achieved in all 13 cases by using combined conventional MRI and dynamic enhanment MRI.Conclusion onventional MRI combined with dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI is useful for the diagnosis of lymphoma of the orbit.

Objective To analyse the characteristics of orbital benign and malignant masses on diffusion weighted imaging in combination with conventional MR imaging and evaluate the diagnostic value of apparent diffusion coefficient in distinguishing benign and malignant orbital lesions.Methods Seventy- seven cases with orbital masses,including fifty-five benign lesions and twenty-two malignant tumors,who underwent conventional MRI and diffusion imaging scanning were studied with use of a 1.5 T magnetic resonance system.Quantitative ADC measurements of masses(ADC_M)and of the white matter of eontralateral temporal lobe(ADC_W)were made with two different b-values of 0 and 1000 s/mm~2.The ADC ratio(ADCR)of the lesion to the control was calculated.The receiver operating characteristic curves(ROC) were constructed using various cut points of ADC_M and ADCR for different parameters to differentiate between benign and malignant masses.The area under the ROC curve for each parameter was also calculated. Results All cases were proved by histopathology.The mean ADC_M and ADCR of benign orbital masses were(1.56?0.75)?10~(-3)mm~2/s and 1.85?0.91,respectively.The mean ADC_M and ADCR of malignant orbital masses were(1.09?0.42)?10~(-3)mm~2/s and 1.28?0.53,respectively.There were significant difference both between ADC_M and ADCR of benign and malignant masses(t=2.803,2.735,P

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the cardiopulmonary exercise capacity in patients with essential hypertension (EH) complicating with or without left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).

METHODSGraded maximal exercise test on the bicycle ergometer with respiratory gas analysis were performed in 30 gender and age matched normotensive controls, 40 EH patients without LVH and 30 EH patients with LVH (LVMI>125 g/m2 in males and > 120 g/m2 in females). Metabolic equivalents (METs), oxygen uptake (VO2), oxygen uptake to body mass ratio (VO2/kg) and oxygen uptake to heart beat ratio (VO2/HR) at time of reaching anaerobic threshold (AT) and at maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) were measured and compared.

RESULTSMETs and VO2/kg were significantly reduced in EH patients with or without LVH compared with controls [at AT, METs: 3.57 +/- 0.8 and 4.34 +/- 1.47 vs. 5.21 +/- 1.45; VO2/kg: 12.38 +/- 2.85 and 14.42 +/- 4.33 vs. 18.48 +/- 4.52, all P < 0.01; at VO2max, METs: 4.94 +/- 1.24 and 5.90 +/- 1.51 vs. 6.96 +/- 1.85; VO(2)/kg: (17.20 +/- 4.34) mlxmin(-1)xkg(-1) and (20.41 +/- 4.59) mlxmin(-1)xkg(-1) vs. (24.04 +/- 5.21) mlxmin(-1)xkg(-1), all P < 0.01]. METs and VO2/kg at both time points were also significantly reduced in EH patients with LVH compared EH patients without LVH (all P < 0.05). The lower VO2/kg in hypertensive patients was significantly correlated to higher LVMI (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSCardiopulmonary exercise capacity was reduced in hypertensive patients, especially in hypertensive patients with LVH.

Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Exercise Test ; Exercise Tolerance ; Female ; Heart ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Hypertension ; physiopathology ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; physiopathology ; Lung ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Respiratory Function Tests

OBJECTIVETo observe the efficacy oand safety of Compound E-Bei ointment (CEBO) in treating plaque psoriasis.

METHODSAdopting block-randomized, open, positive Western medicine and placebo parallel group controlled method, a total of 120 enrolled patients were administered orally with Saoxuan Pill, and randomized into three groups respectively treated with external application of CEBO, Daivonex, or vehicle control twice a day for 4 weeks. The changes of erythema, infiltration, scaly eruption, pruritus and the area of lesion were evaluated, the safety and the initiating time of symptom improvement (ITSI) were observed as well.

RESULTSObservation on local lesion showed that the scores of erythema, infiltration, scaly eruption, pruritus were significantly improved in difference between the CEBO group and the Daivonex group (P < 0.01). But in the placebo control group, significant improvement was only shown in scaly eruption scores (P < 0.01), so, the improvement in skin lesion in the placebo group was significantly inferior to that in the other two groups (P < 0.01). The ITSI of pruritus was shorter in CEBO group than that in the Daivonex group and the placebo group (P < 0.01), but that of other symptoms showed insignificant difference between the CEBO group and the Daivonex group, as for comparing in ITSI of erythema, infiltration, scaly eruption and pruritus, it was significantly shorter in the CEBO group and Daivonex group than that in the placebo group respectively (P < 0.01). The occurrence of adverse events in the CEBO group had insignificant difference to that in the Daivonex group, but the recurrence rate in the former was significantly lower than that in the latter (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCEBO can effectively improve the symptoms of skin lesion in patients with plaque psoriasis, the clinical efficacy is not inferior to that of positive Western medicine.

Administration, Cutaneous ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ointments ; Phytotherapy ; Psoriasis ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Skin ; drug effects ; pathology ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

To investigate the effect of Jiawei Foshou San and its various combined administration on hepatic P450 enzyme activity and hepatocyte morphology in rats. Rats were orally administered with drugs for four weeks and then sacrificed to prepare liver microsomes. The liver microsomes were incubated with the cocktail method; The metabolites were determined with the rapid liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to investigate the hepatocyte P450 enzyme activity. In addition, the hepatic pathological changes were observed by using the hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Compared with the control group, the enzyme activity of CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 in the Jiawei Foshou san group showed a significant rise (P < 0.05); the enzyme activity of CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2D6, CYP2E1 and CYP3A4 in the ferulic acid + ligustrazine group and the ligustrazine + tetrahydropalmatine group showed a significant rise (P < 0.05) ; the enzyme activity of CYP1A2, CYP2D6 and CYP2E1 in the ligustrazine group showed a significant rise (P < 0.05); the enzyme activity of CYP3A4 in the ferulic acid group showed a significant reduction (P < 0.05). After the administration with various drugs, the hepatocyte morphologies in the ferulic acid group and the ligustrazine group were normal. The pathological changes were observed in the tetrahydropalmatine group, such as unclear boundary of hepatic lobules, disordered hepatic cell arrangement, blurred edge, anisokaryosis and infiltration of inflammatory cells. The ferulic acid + tetrahydropalmatine group, the ligustrazine + tetrahydropalmatine group and the Jiawei Foshou San group also showed inflammatory infiltration, but with less pathological changes, particularly the Jiawei Foshou San group. The study result shows that Jiawei Foshou San can induce the enzyme activity of CYP1A2 and CYP3A4, and ligustrazine may be the effective substance for inducing CYP1A2. Its combination with ferulic acid and ligustrazine can significantly reduce the liver toxicity of tetrahydropalmatine.
Animals ; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Hepatocytes ; drug effects ; enzymology ; Microsomes, Liver ; drug effects ; enzymology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To investigate the association between the glycated albumin to glycated hemoglobin (GA/A1c) ratio and carotid plaque. Methods Type 2 diabetic (T2DM) patients in endocrine inpatient department of Sichuan Provincial People′s Hospital were chosen whose clinical data were collected. Results Of the recruited 154 T2DM patients , GA/HbA1c ratio was negatively correlated with BMI , blood uric acid and was positively correlated with age, HCY, FBG, PBG, left carotid IMT and right carotid IMT. In terms of carotid plaque, GA, GA/HbA1c ratio and HCY were higher in carotid plaque positive patients than those without carotid plaque. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that GA/HbA1c ratio was significantly associated with the presence of carotid plaque (P=0.008). Conclusions GA/HbA1c ratio was positively correlated with the presence of carotid artery IMT in T2DM This suggests that GA/HbA1c ratio will serve as a useful clinical marker for predicting diabetic cardiovascular complications.

BACKGROUNDDifferentiating benign from malignant sinonsal lesions is essential for treatment planning as well as determining the patient's prognosis, but the differentiation is often difficult in clinical practice. The study aimed to determine whether the combination of diffusion-weighted (DW) and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) can improve the performance in differentiating benign from malignant sinonasal tumors.

METHODSThis retrospective study included 197 consecutive patients with sinonasal tumors (116 malignant tumors and 81 benign tumors). All patients underwent both DW and DCE-MRI in a 3-T magnetic resonance scanner. Two different settings of b values (0,700 and 0,1000 s/mm 2 ) and two different strategies of region of interest (ROI) including whole slice (WS) and partial slice (PS) were used to calculate apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs). A DW parameter with WS ADCs b0,1000 and two DCE-MRI parameters (time intensity curve [TIC] and time to peak enhancement [Tpeak]) were finally combined to use in differentiating the benign from the malignant tumors in this study.

RESULTSThe mean ADCs of malignant sinonasal tumors (WS ADCs b0,1000 = 1.084 × 10-3 mm 2 /s) were significantly lower than those of benign tumors (WS ADCs b0,1000 = 1.617 × 10-3 mm 2 /s, P < 0.001). The accuracy using WS ADCs b0,1000 alone was 83.7% in differentiating the benign from the malignant tumors (85.3% sensitivity, 81.2% specificity, 86.4% positive predictive value [PPV], and 79.5% negative predictive value [NPV]). The accuracy using DCE with Tpeak and TIC alone was 72.1% (69.1% sensitivity, 74.1% specificity, 77.5% PPV, and 65.1% NPV). Using DW-MRI parameter was superior than using DCE parameters in differentiation between benign and malignant sinonasal tumors (P < 0.001). The accuracy was 87.3% (90.5% sensitivity, 82.7% specificity, 88.2% PPV, and 85.9% NPV) using DW-MRI combined with DCE-MRI, which was superior than that using DCE-MRI alone or using DW-MRI alone (both P < 0.001) in differentiating the benign from the malignant tumors.

CONCLUSIONSDiffusion-weighted combined with DCE-MRI can improve imaging performance in differentiating benign from malignant sinonasal tumors, which has the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy and to provide added value in the management for these tumors.

Adult ; Contrast Media ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Retrospective Studies

Objective To evaluate MR imaging findings of uveal metastases.Methods MR imaging findings of 20 cases with uveal metastases comfirmed by pathology or follow-up were retrospectively analyzed.MR imaging was performed in 20 patients,of which postcontrast T1-weighted imaging was performed in 19 patients including dynamic contrast enhancement scanning in four cases.Results Metastatic tumor was found in the iris and ciliary body in two cases,and in choroid in 18 cases.The tumor demonstrated slightly hypointense signal on Tl-weighted imaging and isointense signal on T2-weighted imaging in two cases,isointense signal on T1-weighted imaging and isointense signal on T2-weighted imaging in nine cases,isointense signal on T_1-weighted imaging and slightly hyperintense signal on T_2-weighted imaging in three cases,isointense signal on T_1-weighted imaging and slightly hypointense signal on T_2- weighted imaging in three cases,slighdy hyperintense signal on T_1-weighted imaging and slightly hypointense signal on T_2-weighted imaging in two cases,and slightly hyperintense signal on T_1-weighted imaging and slightly hyperintense signal on T_2-weighted imaging in one case.The tumor appeared as mild thickness of the wall of the globe in eight cases,a crescent mass in three cases,a fusiform mass in seven cases,and a nodule in two cases.Nineteen patients showed moderate or marked enhancement on postcontrast T_1-weighted imaging.The time-intensity curve of dynamic contrast enhancement in four patients suggested a rapid enhancement and slow washout pattern.Retinal detachment was observed in 11 patients and abnormal signal intensity within the vitreous body was seen in two cases.Conclusion MRI can display the location,shape, signal characteristics,and enhancement pattern of uveal metastases,contributing to diagnosis and differential diagnosis.

To investigate the effects of c-myc antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ASODN) on the telomerase activity and the induction of apoptosis in HL-60 cells, and to explore the relationship between the telomerase activity and the expression of c-myc gene in HL-60 cells, after treatment by c-myc ASODN, the expression of c-myc was detected by RT-PCR, the apoptosis, cell cycle were detected with agarose gel electrophoresis and flow cytomety, and the telomerase activity was determined with TRAP-ELISA. The results showed that after blocking c-myc gene with ASODN for 72 hours, it is obvious that the expression of c-myc gene was inhibited. The percentage of S phase HL-60 cells decreased from 55.6% to 30%, the early apoptosis peak appeared (the percentage of apoptosis cells were 25.2%) and the DNA ladders were shown. OD(450 - 690) were 2.648 +/- 0.42, 2.324 +/- 0.36, 2.162 +/- 0.38, 1.952 +/- 0.14, 1.805 +/- 0.40, 1.616 +/- 0.41 and 2.466 +/- 0.29, respectively, as the cells were treated with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 micromol/L ASODN and 5 micromol/L SODN for 72 hours. The difference was significant when compared 3, 4, 5 micromol/L groups with 0 micromol/L ASODN group respectively (P < 0.05), but the difference was no significant when compared 1, 2 micromol/L ASODN and 5 micromol/L SODN groups with 0 micromol/L ASODN group (P > 0.05). It is concluded that the c-myc gene ASODN may induce the apoptosis of cells, inhibit cells from G(1) phase into S phase and regulate the telomerase activity down in HL-60 cells by blocking the expression of c-myc gene.
Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Flow Cytometry ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; genetics ; pharmacology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Telomerase ; metabolism