Sixty-six rabbits were divided into 2 groups, the control group and the experimental group. The latter was subdivided into 10 groups according to the time of observation after burn injury including 2nd-hour group to 30th-day group. Each group consisted of 6 animals. Specimens from the trachea and the lungs were examined with optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.No obvious lesion was seen in the specimens from the control. In the experimental group, various pathological changes began to appear from the 6th hour after injury. In the trachea and bronchi, congestion of varying degrees, edema, leucocytic infiltration, lodging, adhesion, breaking or separation of cilia, and increase of goblet cells and Clara cells in number weie found. In. the lungs, interstitial edema of varying degrees, accumulation and infiltration of neutro-phils in capillaries, pulmonary interstitium and alveolar spaces, decrease in num ber of type II pneumocytes and their lamellar bodies, vacuolization of lamellar bodies, and phagocytosis of lamellar bodies by macrophages were seen. Most prominent changes were shown on the 3rd day postburn, and they began to alleviate on the 7th day. The number of type II pneumocytes and their lamellar bodies gradually increased number. Some lesions still existed on the 30th day postburn but no significant fibrosis could be found. The occurrence and development of the main lesions and their significance were discussed.

Objective　To investigate the effects of TNP-470 on the growth of a human malignant glioma cell line SHG-44 in vivo and in vitro. Methods　The colorimetric MTT assay, soft agar culture, flow cytometry，light and electron microscopy were used to determine the proliferation, the cloning efficiency, cell cycle and the morphological changes of SHG-44 cells as well as the growth of its xenografted tumor. Results　TNP-470 (20～2 000 ng/ml) significantly inhibited the proliferation of SHG-44 cells in vitro (the 50% inhibitory concentration was 200 ng/ml). Cloning efficiency reduced obviously. The number of cells in G0/G1 phase increased, while that in S, G2/M phases decreased significantly. Weight and volume of xenografted tumors treated with TNP-470 (30 mg/kg, injected subcutaneously every other day) reduced notably. Furthermore, there were necrotic area and apoptosis in the tumor. No severe side effect of TNP-470 was found in this study. Conclusion　The inhibitory effect of TNP-470 on the growth of SHG-44 cells correlates with its functions of regulating cell cycle and inducing apoptosis, which suggests that the angiogenesis inhibitor TNP-470 has strong inhibitory effect on human malignant gliomas.

0bjective To summarize the experience of postoperative and mid-term echocardiographic evaluation of modified Blalock-Tasussig(BT)shunts. Methods During 2003-2006,thirty five consecutive patients received modified BT shunts and survived postoperative 6 months were enrolled in this study.Transthoracic echocardiography was utilized to evaluate the patency of shunts and the change of pulmonaryarteries(PA)and left ventricle(LV). Results Three patients received the emergence surgery for the intervention for the BT shunts. The follow-up was (21.2±11.3) months. During the follow up,the obstruction of shunts occurred in 7 cases. After the placement of shunts,the mean size of PA increased by 31.2%,meanwhile,the size of LV increased by 25.6%. Nineteen patients received the followed definitive repair or palliative operations. Compared with the patients still waiting for the growth of PA,the patients who receiving the second staged procedure achieved the more appropriate PA growth. Furthermore,for the above patients,there was no significant difference between the angiographic and echocardiographic evaluation for the PA size. Conclusions Echocardiography could accurately diagnose the patency of shunts and record the growth of PA and LV following BT shunts. Echocardiography is a highly reliable noninvasive approach for the perioperative evaluation and mid-term follow-up for the modified BT shunts.

Drinking a great amount of alcohol over a long period of time has serious effect on people's health and their families.It has been the chief concern for many experts to find ways to help people to give up alcohol.Radix pueraria is the most typical traditional Chinese herb to help giving up driking alcohol.Some experts had done some deep-seated pharmacological researches on the effect of puerarin and daidzin,the contents distilled from Radix pueraria,on treating alcohol-dependence disease.The present paper is a general survey of recent developments of this research.

Objective To identify the suitable echocardiographic predictor,the standard 2-demensional echocardiography and speckle tracking imaging (STI) techniques were applied for the late referred children with transposition of great arteries with intact ventricular septum (TGA-IVS) after neonatal period.Methods 22 children with TGA-IVS after neonatal period were enrolled.According to the intraoperative left ventricular (LV)/right ventricular systolic pressure ratio,they received pulmonary artery banding (PAB group,n =10) or arterial switch operation (ASO group,n =12).15 body surface area matched healthy children were served as control group,Echocardiography was performed before the operation.The dynamic images in basal and apical short axis view were collected respectively.Meanwhile,using the STI technique,the rotation curves at apex and base was analyzed.Results All the patients discharged eventually.A right to left bulging of the ventricular septum was observed in all the patients by the 2D short-axis view.There were no differences in wall thickness and ejection fraction between control,PAB and ASO group.Compared with the control group,the end diastolic diameter,end diastolic volume and indexed LV mass in PAB and ASO group were significantly reduced,however,no difference in the end diastolic diameter and volume and LV mass was observed between the PAB and ASO group.The hypoplasia of LV in PAB and ASO group was associated with an extended time to peak basal rotation and reduced basal rotation and global torsion.Furthermore,the shorter time to peak apical rotation and reduced apical rotation and global torsion were only observed in PAB group.Conclusions The standard echocardiography could be useful for the initial evaluation for regressed LV of the children with TGA-IVS.However,STI allows a much more precious approach to the assessment of LV regressing after neonatal period.The apical rotation and global torsion might be the better predictor to identify the borderline or regressed LV for the surgical management for the children with TGA-IVS.

ObjectiveTo identify the suitable echocardiographic predictor of speckle tracking imaging (STI) for evaluation of development of left ventricle(LV) after pulmonary artery banding (PAB).Methods Seven children older than 3 months with transposition of great arteries with intact ventricular septum (TGA) were enrolled,they received pulmonary artery banding (PAB group).Eight body surface area matched healthy children were severed as control group.Using the STI technique,the rotation curves at apex and base were analyzed.ResultsAll the patients discharged eventually.The intraoperative LV/RV systolic pressure ratio in PAB group was (0.32 ± 0.04):1.There were no differences in ejection fraction and wall thickness between control and PAB group.However,the end diastolic diameter and end diastolic volume in PAB group was significantly reduced.Compared with the control group,the hypoplasia of LV in PAB group was associated with an extended time to peak basal rotation,and furthermore,the basal and global torsion was significantly reduced by 3 times.ConclusionsSTI showed local rotation and global torsion might be thevaluable predictor to evaluate the regressed and the development of LV peri-PAB procedure for the older children with TGA.

Objective　To investigate morphological changes of endothelial cells after nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) treatment in vitro. Methods　The morphological changes of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) cell line ECV-304 and the cell apoptosis rate in sub-G0 phase were observed with invert, light and electron microscope and flow cytometry after NDGA treatment at different concentrations or with PBS (0.01 mol/L) as control. Results　①After the treatment of NDGA at 50～200 μmol/L for 1～3 d or up to 8 d at 100 μmol/L, ECV-304 cells tended to elongate into a shuttle-like sparse appearance and those in mitosis were decreased, indicating the suppression of cell proliferation. All these alteration was in a time-and dose-dependent manner. ②NDGA-treated ECV-304 cells displayed morphological features of apoptosis, especially at the 48th h after the treatment. With flow cytometry, the cells in sub-G0 phase were significantly increased, and reached its peak at hour 12 (20.42%) after NDGA treatment. In addition, the degeneration and necrosis of ECV-304 cells were related to the concentrations of NDGA. Conclusion　NDGA can inhibit the proliferation and growth of endothhelial cells, and induce apopotosis, which might also inhibit angiogenesis.

Objective　To explore the effect of nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) on the expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor, kinase-inserted domain containing receptor(KDR) and the possible mechanism. Methods　The expression of VEGF in human malignant glioma cell line SHG-44 and that of KDR in human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) line ECV-304 were observed 1～3 d after NDGA treatment with immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and image analysis. Results　The expression of VEGF was declined at protein or mRNA levels in SHG-44 cells after treated with 100 μmol/L NDGA for 1 to 3 d. The expression of KDR in endothelial cells with 100 μmol/L NDGA treatment for 1 to 3 d was decreased too, in a more obvious way compared with the decline of VEGF expression in SHG-44 cells. Conclusion　The results suggest that NDGA inhibits the expression of VEGF in glioma cells as well as that of VEGF receptor KDR in endothelial cells, which may be the important molecular mechanism of anti-angiogenesis of NDGA.

Objective　To investigate the changes and their significance of bcl-2 and c-myc in nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA)-induced apoptosis of human malignant glioma cell line SHG-44. Methods　The apoptosis of SHG-44 cells was observed with light and electron microscopy and TUNEL method. The expression of bcl-2 and c-myc gene was measured with immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and image analysis. Results ① The SHG-44 cell apoptosis was induced by NDGA at a concentration lower than 200 μmol/L in a time-dependent manner. ② The expressions of bcl-2 and c-myc gene in SHG-44 cells were decreased after the treatment of 100 μmol/L NDGA with the elapse of time, indicating a close association with cell apoptosis. ③ The expressions of bcl-2 and c-myc mRNA in SHG-44 cells were decreased after the treatment with 100μmol/L NDGA, which was apparently consistent with the immunohistochemical results. Conclusion　The NDGA-induced apoptosis in human malignant glioma cells might be related with the down-regulated expressions of bcl-2 and c-myc gene. The exact mechanism needs further research.

Objective　To investigate roles of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) in nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA)-induced inhibitory effect on proliferation of human malignant glioma cells. Methods　The techniques of cell culture, cell counts, flow cytometry, immunoprecipitation, immunohistochemistry and image analysis were employed in this study. Results　①A concentration-dependent inhibition of proliferation was demonstrated in the SHG-44 cells incubated for 24 hours in the presence of NDGA, and cell proliferation was blocked in the G1→S phase. ②The activity of CDK4 was decreased apparently in the SHG-44 cells treated for 24 hours with 10 to 200 μmol/L NDGA in a concentration-dependent way. ③The expression of CDK4 gene was downregulated in the cells after NDGA treatment. Conclusion　CDK4 plays an important role in NDGA-induced inhibition of glioma cell proliferation.