Atrial Flutter ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Treatment Outcome

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of acupoints stimulation with silver spike point therapy on insomnia.Methods60 patients with insomnia were randomly divided into the trial group and control group with 30 cases in each group. Patients of the trial group were treated by acupoints stimulation with silver spike point therapy and patients of control group were treated only with Clonopin. All patients of two groups were tested with Self-Rating Scale of Sleep (SRSS) before and after treatment.ResultsThe curative effect rate of the trial group was 86.6%; that of the control group was 60%; the curative effect of the trial group was superior to the control group (P<0.05). SRSS difference of the trial group pre-and post-treatment was 12.79±3.20; that of the control group was 10.1±3.89. There was also a significant difference between two groups (P<0.01).ConclusionThe silver spike point therapy has the better curative effect on insomnia than Clonopin.

A in vitro platelet aggregation bioassay was developed for the quality control of XST capsules. The in vitro anti-platelet aggregation effect in rats was observed to detect the bioactivity of XST capsules. Panax notoginseng saponins and Xuesaitong lyophilizedpowder for injection were taken as standard control substances to determine the potency. According to the results, XST capsules showeda significant inhibitory effect on thrombin-induced platelet aggregation in a dose-dependent manner. The in vitro anti-platelet activity oflyophilized powder for injection was stabler than that of Panax notoginseng saponins, and so suitable to serve as a standard control substance. The biological potency of XST capsules compared with standard control substance was detected by using parallel line assay. According to the results, the established bioassay method had a good repeatability (RSD 2.92%). The sample test results could pass thereliability test(linear deviation P > 0.05, parallel deviation P > 0.05). This bioassay method could be used as one of the complementary quality control methods for XST capsules.
Animals ; Capsules ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Male ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; Platelet Aggregation ; drug effects ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Saponins ; pharmacology

Objective:To methodologically establish the lentivirus granule packaging, concentration and infection against CD34~+ cells from umbilical blood. Methods:The lentivirus system of the 3~(rd) generation was used to produce the virus. Ultrafiltration and ultracentrifugation were employed to concentrate virus. Several treatments were used to improve virus infection including in vitro amplification culture, facilitation of rest cells into cell cycle, promotion of cell adhesion and immobilization during infection, and repeat infection methods. Results:CD34~+ cells were not obviously changed by checking the expression level of CD34 marker on the cell surface after 48 h culture. After two-step concentration, virus titer was increased up to 5.06×10~7/ml, and the infection rate against CD34~+ cells from umbilical blood was increased up to 37.7%.Conclusion:Lentivirus supernatant with over 10~7/ml titer can be obtained using the above methods. Efficient infection against CD34~+ cells from umbilical blood can be achieved.

ONYX-015 and H101 are E1B 55-kDa protein-deficient replicating C group adenoviruses that are currently in clinical trials as antitumor agents. However, their application in cancer gene therapy is limited by the native tropism of C group adenoviruses. This is in part due to low expression of the C group adenovirus receptor (coxsackievirus-adenovirus receptor, CAR) on malignant tumors. An H101-based chimeric virus vector containing sequences encoding the Ad35 fiber domain instead of the Ad5 fiber (H101-F35) was constructed. This modification allowed infection of tumor cells through CD46, a membrane protein over-expressed on tumors. The CAR and CD46 RNA expression was evaluated by RT-PCR method. H101-F35 conferred a stronger cytocidal effect than H101 and ONYX-015 in tumor cell lines that lacked CAR expression (MDA-MB-435 and MCF-7), while the cytocidal effect of H101-35, H101 and ONYX-015 was similar in high-level CAR expressing cancer cell lines (A549, NCI-H446, Hep3B, LNCaP, ZR-75-30 and Bcap-37). In an MDA-MB-435 xenograft mouse tumor model, tumor growth in mice receiving H101-F35 was significantly inhibited compared with mice injected with H101. These results suggest that the chimeric oncolytic adenovirus H101-F35 vector might be a useful candidate for gene therapy of cancer.

OBJECTIVETo synthesize Gal-BSA-SPIO as the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent targeting asialoglycoprotein (ASG) receptors in the liver and observe its role in MRI detection of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs).

METHODSGal-BSA was synthesized by means of reductive amination and mixed with SPIO in ice bath to prepare Gal-BSA-SPIO complex. Twenty rabbits bearing VX2 liver tumor underwent MRI enhanced by SPIO (n=10) and Gal-BSA-SPIO (n=10), and the T2 values of the liver and tumor before and after the contrast imaging were measured. Fresh human normal hepatic tissues (n=3), cirrhotic tissues (n=4) and HCC tissues (n=6) were obtained and incubated with Gal-BSA-SPIO followed by Perl's Prussian blue staining to observe the distribution of ASG receptors.

RESULTSThe size of the Gal-BSA-SPIO particles was 34.4 nm. The 20 rabbits bearing VX2 tumor, with tumor size ranging from 3 mm to 12 mm, showed isointense signal in the liver and hypointense signal in the tumor on T1WI, and isointense signal in the liver and slightly hyperintense signal in the tumor on GRE T2*WI. The signal intensity of the liver decreased slightly or moderately after administration of SPIO in the rabbits, and administration Gal-BSA-SPIO resulted in obvious reduction in the signal intensity of the liver. The signal intensities of the tumors did not exhibit obvious changes after the administration of SPIO or Gal-BSA-SPIO. Histological examination revealed numerous blue iron deposits in the Kupffer cells in SPIO group and in the hepatocytes in Gal-BSA-SPIO group, but not in the tumors in either of the groups. The human liver specimens incubated with Gal-BSA-SPIO contained numerous blue iron deposits in the hepatocyte cytoplasm and cell membrane in normal liver tissue, but the deposits were reduced in the cirrhotic tissue and almost absent in the HCC tissue.

CONCLUSIONGal-BSA-SPIO can specifically bind to ASG receptors on hepatocyte membrane to improve the tumor-liver contrast-to-noise ratio.

Animals ; Asialoglycoprotein Receptor ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Contrast Media ; chemical synthesis ; Dextrans ; Female ; Ferric Compounds ; chemistry ; Ferrosoferric Oxide ; chemistry ; Galactose ; chemistry ; Humans ; Image Enhancement ; methods ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Liver ; metabolism ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; pathology ; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental ; pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Magnetite Nanoparticles ; Male ; Rabbits ; Serum Albumin, Bovine ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo explore the expression diversification of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low) regulatory T (Treg) cells and Foxp3 mRNA in the peripheral blood of children with aplastic anemia after the treatment with cyclosporine.

METHODSFifty children with chronic aplastic anemia were enrolled, among whom 30 received cyclosporine treatment (cyclosporine group) and 20 were treated with conventional methods (conventional group). Twenty healthy children were enrolled as the control group. The expression of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low) Treg cells was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of Foxp3 mRNA was detected by real-time Q-PCR.

RESULTSThe expressions of Foxp3 mRNA and CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low)Treg cells showed no significant difference between the cyclosporine and the control groups 6 months after treatment. On the contrary, there were significantly lower expressions of both in the conventional group than in the control group (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the cyclosporine group had significantly higher expressions of Foxp3 mRNA and CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low) Treg cells than the conventional group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe expressions of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low) Treg cells and Foxp3 mRNA in children with aplastic anemia increase after cyclosporine treatment.

Adolescent ; Anemia, Aplastic ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Chronic Disease ; Cyclosporine ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Forkhead Transcription Factors ; blood ; genetics ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; pharmacology ; Male ; RNA, Messenger ; blood ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo analyze the relationship between the reference values of fibrinogen (FIB) in healthy Chinese adults and geographical factors to provide scientific evidences for establishing the uniform standard.

METHODSThe reference values of FIB of 10701 Chinese healthy adults from 103 cities were collected to investigate their relationship with 18 geographical factors including spatial index, terrain index, climate index, and soil index. Geographical factors that significantly correlated with the reference values were selected for constructing the BP neural network model. The spatial distribution map of the reference value of FIB of healthy Chinese adults was fitted by disjunctive kriging interpolation. We used the 5-layer neural network and selected 2000 times of training covering 11 hidden layers to build the simulation rule for simulating the relationship between FIB and geographical environmental factors using the MATLAB software.

RESULTSs The reference value of FIB in healthy Chinese adults was significantly correlated with the latitude, sunshine duration, annual average temperature, annual average relative humidity, annual precipitation, annual range of air temperature, average annual soil gravel content, and soil cation exchange capacity (silt). The artificial neural networks were created to analyze the simulation of the selected indicators of geographical factors. The spatial distribution map of the reference values of FIB in healthy Chinese adults showed a distribution pattern that FIB levels were higher in the South and lower in the North, and higher in the East and lower in the West.

CONCLUSIONWhen the geographical factors of a certain area are known, the reference values of FIB in healthy Chinese adults can be obtained by establishing the neural network mode or plotting the spatial distribution map.

Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; China ; Climate ; Environment ; Fibrinogen ; Geography ; Humans ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Reference Values ; Software ; Temperature

BACKGROUNDRenal sympathetic nerves are involved in the reflective activation of the sympathetic nervous system in circulatory control. Catheter-based renal denervation (RDN) ameliorated treatment-resistant hypertension safely, but 10%-20% of treated patients are nonresponders to radiofrequency denervation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the safety and efficiency of cryoablation for sympathetic denervation in a swine model and to explore a new way of RDN.

METHODSSeven swines randomly assigned to two groups: Renal cryoablation (CR) group and control group. The control group underwent renal angiogram only. The CR group underwent renal angiogram plus bilateral renal cryoablation. Renal angiograms via femoral were performed before denervation, after denervation and prior to the sacrifice to access the diameter of renal arterial and the pressure of aorta abdominalis. Euthanasia of the swine was performed on 28-day to access norepinephrine (NE) changes of the renal cortex and the changes of renal nerves.

RESULTSCryoablation did not induce severe complications at any time point. There was no significant change in diameter of renal artery. CR reduced systolic blood pressure (BP) from 145.50 ± 9.95 mmHg at baseline to 119.00 ± 14.09 mmHg. There was a slight but insignificant decrease in diastolic BP. The main nerve changes at 28-day consisted of necrosis with perineurial fibrosis at the site of CR exposure in conjunction with the nerve vacuolation. Compared with the control group, renal tissue NE of CR group decreased by 89.85%.

CONCLUSIONSPercutaneous catheter-based cryoablation of the renal artery is safe. CR could effectively reduce NE storing in the renal cortex, and the efficiency could be maintained 28-day at least.

Animals ; Cryosurgery ; methods ; Female ; Kidney ; innervation ; Male ; Swine ; Sympathectomy ; methods ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo analyze the reasons of intraoperative complications of microendoscopic disectomy (MED) and corresponding preventive measures.

METHODSFrom October 2001 to January 2012, the data of 851 patients with lumbar disc herniation underwent MED were retrospectively analyzed. There were 469 males and 382 females with an average age of 42.5 years ranging 16 to 75. Course of disease was from 1 to 18 months with an average of 3 months. The segments of herniated disc including L3,4 of 24 cases, L4,5 of 418 cases and L5S1 of 409 cases . Main symptoms included low back pain with lower extremity radial pain and numbness. Of them,unilateral lower extremity symptom was in 729 cases and bilateral symptom was in 122 cases. There were at least 2 abnormal signs in the four signs which including feeling anormaly, muscle strength anormaly,dysreflexia and muscle atrophy. Distraction test of nerve was positive. CT or MRI findings must coincide with the clinical symptoms and signs. No lumbar instability,spinal stenosis,the upper lumbar disc herniation or combined with cauda equina nerve syndrome were found in 851 patients. The intraoperative complications were recorded and analyzed for the reasons of the intraoperative complication and related prevention measures.

RESULTSAccording to the Macnab standard,424 cases obstained excellent results, 321 good,106 fair,with excellent and good rate of 87.5%. The result was similar to the traditional open operation. One cases transferred to open operation due to equipment breakdown, case died for myocardial infarction at 11 days after the operation, 2 cases occurred acute epidural hematoma in 1 hour after operation. Injury of dura mate of spinal cord occurred in 28 cases and incidence rate was 3.29%(28/851); traction injury of nerve root occurred in 38 cases and incidence rate was 4.46% (38/851). One case occurred in retroperitoneal hematoma, 2 cases in incomplete cauda equina injury and 2 cases in incomplete nerve root breakage.

CONCLUSIONSkilled endoscopic hemostasis techniques,careful and meticulous operation is very important for the prevention of intraoperative complications. Moreover,timely finding and treating the complications was effective measures to prevent the coniplications.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Diskectomy ; adverse effects ; Dura Mater ; injuries ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal ; etiology ; Humans ; Intraoperative Complications ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Nerve Roots ; injuries