Aim To explore the differences in hyper-trophic marker genes such as atrial natriuretic peptide ( ANP) , brain natriuretic peptide ( BNP) and β-myo-sin heavy chain (β-MHC) genes in different models of cardiac hypertrophy. Methods Respectively using re-nal abdominal aortic coarctation ( AAC) , arteriovenous fistula ( AVF) and isoproterenol ( ISO) methods to es-tablish C57BL/6 mouse model of cardiac hypertrophy. After modeling, each mouse ’ s body weight ( BW ) , heart weight ( HW) and left ventricular weight ( LVW) were weighed, and the heart weight ( HW/BW) and left ventricular index ( LVW/BW ) were calculated;myocardium by HE staining, pathological morphologi-cal changes were observed; myocardium by immuno-histochemistry, ANP, BNP and β-MHC protein ex-pression was observed;myocardium by Real-time PCR detection, ANP, BNP and β-MHC mRNA expression was observed. Results Compared with control group, HW/BW and LVW/BW were increased in three mod-els. Through the light microscope, each mouse model showed varying degrees of cardiac hypertrophy. ANP, BNP and β-MHC were increased in the protein and mRNA expression. Compared with AAC group, AVF and ISO groups’ myocardial tissue ANP, BNP and β-MHC expression were decreased in the protein and mRNA expression. Conclusions Three cardiac hy-pertrophy models are successful. Cardiac tissue ANP, BNP and β-MHC expression in AAC model exceeds AVF and ISO model.

Objective To provide a practical device and protocol to hold conscious rats for subsequent operations which can overcome the disadvantages of existing methods .Users can complete the experiment more efficiently , with or without prior experience .Methods Using transparent plastic film , plastic sealing machine and sponge to make a simple device for holding rats , by taking advantage of their escaping nature .To compare the performance of the new method and existing methods for holding and injecting rats .Results Compared with existing methods , the new device and method can reduce the time-consuming to hold rats by 44.7%, from 18.13 seconds to 10.03 seconds.For holding and injecting , the new method can reduce the time-consuming by 55.3%, from 139.33 seconds to 52.26 seconds .Conclusions The new device and method is good for holding and injecting rats or drawing blood from the caudal veins .It can shorten the time of operation and reduce the stress reaction in the animals .It’ s especially helpful for inexperienced experimenters such as students in teaching and research tasks .

OBJECTIVETo investigate treatment methods and therapeutic effects of the diastasis of the symphysis pubis.

METHODSThirteen patients with diastasis of the symphysis pubis, including 7 male and 6 female, ranging in age from 20 to 54 years,were treated according to classification based on the pelvic stability. Five patients of type I were treated with conservative methods, five patients of type II were treated with external fixation, and three patients with type III were treated with posterior internal fixation combined with anterior external fixation.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed-up and the duration of the follow-up ranged from 4 to 62 months, with an average of 14 months. According to the reduction, pain,gait, limb length and movement of hip,the therapeutic effects were evaluated. There were 7 patients obtaining excellent results, 5 good, 1 fair, the excellent and good rate was 92.3%.

CONCLUSIONTreatment methods should be chosen in view of the differences of the patients with diastasis of the symphysis pubis. The external fixation has advantages of simple operation, decreased wound and stable fixation.

Adult ; External Fixators ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pubic Symphysis ; injuries

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of air pollution on respiratory health in school-aged children in the main urban area of Chongqing, China.

METHODSThe main urban area of Chongqing was divided into polluted area and clean area according to the air pollution data shown on the Environmental Protection Agency Website of Chongqing between 2010 and 2015. A cluster sampling method was used to select 695 third- or fourth-grade children from 2 primary schools in the clean or polluted area as study subjects, with 313 children from the clean area and 382 children from the polluted area. Pulmonary function was examined for all children and a standard American epidemiological questionnaire (ATS-DLD-78-C) was used to investigate the prevalence of respiratory diseases and symptoms.

RESULTSCompared with the clean area, the polluted area had significantly higher concentrations of inhalable particles (PM), fine particulate matter (PM), and nitric oxide (NO) (P<0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed after adjustment for confounding factors, and the results showed that compared with those in the clean area, the children in the polluted area had significantly higher risks of cough (OR=1.644), cough during cold (OR=1.596), expectoration during cold (OR=2.196), persistent expectoration (OR=1.802), and wheezing (OR=2.415). The boys and girls in the clean area had significantly higher forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in one second than those in the polluted area (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSAir pollution in the main urban area of Chongqing is associated with the increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms in school-aged children and has certain effect on children's pulmonary function.

Air Pollution ; adverse effects ; Child ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Respiratory Tract Diseases ; etiology ; Vital Capacity

We report here a case of pentastomiasis infection in a 3-year-old girl who had high fever, abdominal pain, abdominal tension and anemia. Ultrasound scanning of the abdomen revealed disseminated hyperechoic nodules in the liver and a small amount of ascites. Abdominal MRI showed marked hepatomegaly with disseminated miliary nodules of high signal intensity throughout the hepatic parenchyma on T2-weighted images; retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy and disseminated miliary nodules on the peritoneum were also noted. Chest CT showed scattered small hyperdense nodules on both sides of the lungs. The laparoscopy demonstrated diffuse white nodules on the liver surface and the peritoneum. After the small intestinal wall and peritoneal biopsy, histological examination revealed parenchymal tubercles containing several larvae of pentastomids and a large amount of inflammatory cell infiltration around them. The pathological diagnosis was parasitic granuloma from pentastomiasis infection.
Abdomen, Acute/*parasitology ; Animals ; Biopsy ; Child, Preschool ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods ; Parasitic Diseases/*diagnosis ; *Pentastomida ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of purified CD34(+) stem cell boost in the treatment of poor graft function (PGF) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) . Methods: 12 patients with poor graft function, reported in our hospital during January 2014 to March 2018, were retrospectively analyzed; The donors of 12 patients were HLA mismatched family members, and all treated with donor purified CD34(+) stem cell after G-CSF mobilization, calculating and statistical analyzing the purity of separation and the recovery rate of CD34(+) stem cells. The related complications and the recovery of blood cells after infusion were observed. Results: The purity of CD34(+) cells in the separation products was 92.0% (44.0%-97.0%) , and the recovery rate was 55.0% (45.0%-96.7%) . The median number of CD34(+) cells was 1.9 (0.9-4.4) ×10(6)/kg with CD3(+) cells as 0.6 (0.3-2.0) ×10(4)/kg. The median durations of white blood cells, platelet and red blood cells recoveries were 18 (14-39) , 29 (16-153) and 60 (9-124) days, respectively. All 12 patients didn't experience serious adverse reactions in the process of infusion, 10 patients achieved hematopoietic recovery, 1 case partial remission, 1 case no recovery, without occurrence of aggravated infection, graft versus host disease and other complications. Conclusion: The infusion of donor purified CD34(+) stem cell was a safe and effective method for PGF after allogeneic HSCT.
Antigens, CD34 ; Graft Survival ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplantation, Homologous

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) on myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the bone marrow and peripheral blood, and explore the relationship between MDSC and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

METHODSBone marrow, peripheral blood and peripheral blood stem cells were obtained from 12 healthy hemopoietic stem cell donors before and on day 5 after G-CSF mobilization. Flow cytometry was employed to examine the number of MDSC, and the relationship between MDSC number and the incidence of GVHD was analyzed.

RESULTSIn normal physiological conditions, MDSC could be detected in the peripheral blood and bone marrow with a cell percentages of (1.35±0.35)% and (2.44±1.11)%, respectively, showing a significantly higher cell percentage in the bone marrow (P=0.015). On the 5th day after G-CSF mobilization, the percentage of MDSCs increased to (4.01±1.82)% in the peripheral blood and to (4.38±2.19)% in the bone marrow, showing no significant difference between them (P=0.083). The mobilization caused a significant increase in the number of MDSCs in the peripheral blood (P=0.047) but not in the bone marrow (P=0.761). The number of MDSCs in the collected samples showed a significant inverse correlation to the incidence of GVHD (P=0.048).

CONCLUSIONSMDSCs are present in the peripheral blood and bone marrow of healthy donors, with a greater number in the bone marrow. G-CSF can mobilize the MDSCs from the bone marrow to the peripheral blood to increase number of MDSCs in the peripheral blood, which may contribute to a lowered incidence of GVHD in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

Adolescent ; Adult ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; prevention & control ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ; administration & dosage ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization ; methods ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Male ; T-Lymphocytes ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDMany studies have shown the superior efficacy of budesonide (BUD)/formoterol (FORM) maintenance and reliever therapy, but still lack evidence of its efficacy in Chinese asthma patients in a relative large patient-group. We finished this research to compare BUD/FORM maintenance and reliever therapy and high-dose salmeterol (SALM)/fluticasone (FP) maintenance plus an as-needed short-acting β(2)-agonist in Chinese patients with persistent uncontrolled asthma. This was a post hoc analysis based on a 6-month, multicenter, randomized, double-blind study (NCT00242775).

METHODSA total of 222 eligible asthma patients from nine centers in China were randomized to either BUD/FORM+as-needed BUD/FORM (160/4.5 µg/inhalation) (640/18 µg/d; n = 111), or SALM/FP+as-needed terbutaline (0.4 mg/inhalation) (100/1000 µg/d; n = 111). The primary endpoint was time to first severe exacerbation while secondary endpoints included various measures of pulmonary function, symptom control and quality-of-life.

RESULTSTime to first severe exacerbation over six months was lower with the BUD/FORM than with the SALM/FP treatment (risk ratio = 0.52, 95%CI 0.22 - 1.22), but the difference did not achieve statistical significance (P = 0.13). The cumulative number of severe exacerbations in the BUD/FORM group was lower than in the SALM/FP group (7.2% vs. 13.5%; risk ratio = 0.45, P = 0.028). BUD/FORM produced significantly better improvements in reliever use, cumulative mild exacerbations, symptom-free days (%), and morning/evening peak expiratory flow (PEF) than SALM/FP (P < 0.05 in all cases). The two groups achieved similar improvements in their time to first mild exacerbation, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1)), asthma control questionnaire and asthma symptom scores, and percentage of nights with awakening(s). Both treatments were well tolerated.

CONCLUSIONSIn Chinese patients with persistent asthma, BUD/FORM decreased severe and mild exacerbations, decreased reliever use, increased symptom-free days, and improved morning/evening PEF compared with SALM/FP. There were no significant differences in time to first severe exacerbation or other assessments regarding daily asthma control between BUD/FORM and SALM/FP. BUD/FORM was more effective in this Chinese sub-group than in the total cohort involved in the original study.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Asthma ; complications ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Budesonide ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Double-Blind Method ; Ethanolamines ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Formoterol Fumarate ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo investigate the constitution of abnormal spermatozoa from patients with sex chromosome anomalies.

METHODSTriple color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to determine the sex chromosome constitution of spermatozoa from three patients with sex chromosome anomalies (case 1:46,XY/47,XXY, case 2:45,XO/46,X,Yqh-, case 3:47,XXY). The preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was performed to case 2.

RESULTSAn increased ratio (2.05 vs 1) of X-bearing to Y-bearing spermatozoa was only observed in case 2, who also had an increased incidence of total abnormal spermatozoa (29.71%). An increased incidence of total abnormal spermatozoa (4.91%) was also observed in case 3. Among the constitution of abnormal spermatozoa, case 2 had the increased proportions of XY18 disomy, O18 monosomy and XO monosomy, while case 3 had an increase proportion of XY18 disomy (1.87%). PGD was performed to case 2 and one embryo with XX1818 was selected for implanting.

CONCLUSIONUsing FISH to detect the sperm sex chromosomes in patients with sex chromosome anomalies can provide the useful information to evaluate the risk of sex chromosome anomalies in preimplantation embryos.

Adult ; Chromosomes, Human, X ; genetics ; Chromosomes, Human, Y ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Male ; Preimplantation Diagnosis ; methods ; Sex Chromosome Aberrations ; Spermatozoa ; metabolism

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Femoral Fractures ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography