The obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS) affects approximately 2%-4% of the middle-aged population. It is characterized by obstruction of the upper airway during sleep, resulting in repetitive breathing pauses accompanied by oxygen desaturation. It has been recognized as an independent risk factor for disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and sleepiness-related accidents. Treatment modalities for OSAHS at the present time include nasal continuous positive airway pressure( CPAP) , surgery option and oral appliances. However many patients refuse or cannot tolerate CPAP and surgery treatment and randomized trials report patient preference for o-ral appliances. Today, the most commonly used oral appliances are the mandibular advancement devices (MADs). This article provides an overview of OSAHS: its epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis and clinical application on treatment of OSAHS with MADs.

Pharmacology of Shpnxueling(SXL),a traditional Chinese medicine used for the treatment of idiopathicthrombocytopenic purpura,and its hemostatic activity were studied in experimental animals. Results showedthat SXL shortened the time of bleeding and coagulation,raised BPC in mice,increased platelet megakaryocyteproduction in rabbit,prolong the time of swiming of 1oaded mice,increased body liver and kidney weights ofyoung mice, increased p1asma cortisol Ievel. Acute and chronic toxicity tests reveaIed that SXL was nontoxicto mice or rats. These results suggested that hemostasis was associated with effects of SXl, which could faci1i-tate division and maturity of megakaryocyte,increase the BPC,accelerate coagulation and regulate the functionof endocrine. SXL could resist fatigue,endure hypoxia,faciIitate growth. lt is safe and nontoxic in its use of'SXL.

BACKGROUND:The analysis of gas flow in upper respiratory tract of patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome contributes to further understanding the correlation of anatomical structure and function of upper respiratory tract so as to know the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome. OBJECTIVE:To establish the three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model of upper airway in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome, to study the characteristics of airflow dynamics in upper respiratory tract in above patients, and to lay the foundation for further exploring the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome. METHODS:CT scan of the upper airway was performed with a moderate obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome patient. Data stored in DICOM format were imported in Mimics 10.01 software, and processed, and then computational fluid dynamics model was built. ANSYS ICEM CFD14.0 was used to perform the grid division of the three-dimensional model. The internal flow of upper respiratory tract was simulated by ANSYS 14.0-Fluid Dynamics, and relevant information on airflow field of upper airway was obtained. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model of upper airway wasestablished with 1 751 940 elements and 303 981 nodes of upper airway. The flow rate was 11.087 m/s in the lower bound of pharyngopalatiae, which was the most narrowed areas of upper airway in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome. The three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model of upper airway has accurately simulated biomechanical feature of human, which provides a foundation for further studying the airflow dynamics of upper respiratory tract of patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome.

Objective: To reconstruct a substractive complementary deoxyribornucleic acid (cDNA) library of genes sensitive to mechanical stretch in human osteoblast like cells.Methods: Mechanical stretch at 12 cycles per minute was applied to human osteoblast like cells Saos-2 and the deformation of the stretched cells was 12%. Twelve hours after loading, mRNAs were isolated from both stretched and unstretched cells. Substractive cDNA library of the genes sensitive to stretch was constructed with the technique based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and substractive hybridization. Primary sequencing of clones in the library was carried out. Results: A substractive cDNA library of genes sensitive to stretch was constructed with a capacity of about 200 clones. According to the results of sequencing, most genes in the library were related to the mechanical stimulation. One novel gene fragment was obtained. Conclusion: The method used in the experiment is effective in cloning genes sensitive to mechanical stretch.

Objective To explore whether or not the cartilage damage in the pathogenesis of pathologic synovial plicae is due to the matrix metalloproteinase. Methods The immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression and distribution of matrix metalloproteinase-1(MMP-1) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1(TIMP-1) in arthroscopically clarified pathologic synovial plicae and normal synovial plicae of the knee joint.Results The positive expression rate of MMP-1 and TIMP-1 had significant differences between the pathologic and normal synovial plicae(?~2=16.014,P=0.000;?~2=4.059,P=0.044).The expression of MMP-1 was positive in the synovial lining cells,monocytes,lymphocytes,endothelial cells,and chondrocytes,but negative in the normal synovial plicae.The TIMP-1 expression was only detected in the synovial lining cells and a small quantity of fibroblast cells.The immunohistochemical analysis revealed a greater number of positive cells and intensity of staining of MMP-1 than TIMP-1.Conclusions The development of pathologic synovial plicae may yield MMP-1 and TIMP-1 with unbalanced distributions,which may be the biological basis of the pathogenesis of cartilage destruction.

AIM: To establish an apoptotic model induced by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion(MPP~+) in PC12 cell and assess the effect of Semen Cuscuta extracts on protecting PC12 cell from apoptosis induced by MPP~+. METHODS: The cell viability was analyzed by MTT method,the morphological changes were observed by Hoechst 33258 staining assay,and the apoptosis rate was measured by flow cytometry analysis(FCM).(RESULTS:) Treatment of 0.15 mM MPP~+ for 48 h induced apoptosis in PC12 cells;concentration of 50 mg/L Semen Cuscuta extracts could protect cells from apoptosis induced by MPP~+. CONCLUSION: MPP~+-induced apoptosis in PC12 cell is greatly inhibited by Semen Cuscuta extracts.

Objective To investigate the changes in Toll-like re ceptor 4 (TLR4) and myeloid differential protein-2 (MD-2) gene expression in t he liver of septic rats, and to elucidate the relationship between the expressio n of TLR4/MD-2 mRNA and TNF? mRNA. Methods Sepsis model was reproduced in rats by intraperitoneal injection of LPS (5mg/kg). 80 Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: normal control and 1h, 2h, 6h after LPS in jection (20 rats for each group). Rats were sacrificed at different time points, and the expression of TLR4/MD-2 mRNA and TNF-? mRNA in the liver was measure d by RT-PCR. Results The expressions of TLR4/MD-2 mRNA and TN F-? mRNA were up-regulated, peaking 1h after LPS injection, and then declined gradually 2~6h after LPS challenge. The expressions at every time point were hi gher than that in control group (P

Objective To investigate the effects of different magnitudes of mechanical strain on proliferation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in mouse osteoblast-like cells (MC3T3-E1). Methods MC3T3-E1 cells were subjected to 0%, 6%, 12%, 18% elongation for 24h and 48h by using multi-passage cell stress loading system respectively. MTT colorimetric method was used to assess the proliferation of the cell, ALP activity was detected by ALP assay kit. Results The proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells was increased significantly 24h and 48h after mechanical strain treatment concomitant with increasing stretching force (P

Objective To investigate the effects of endotoxin on the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB in myocardium, and to explore the molecular mechanism of acute myocardial injury. Methods Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control group (n=10), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 1h, 2h, 6h groups (n=10 for each group). In the latter two groups, LPS was injected into the peritoneal cavity. Tissue samples from the myocardium were collected to determine NF-?B activation by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), and the mRNA expression of TNF-? was measured by semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with GAPDH as internal standard. Results The activation of NF-?B (2.173?0.063) and TNF-? mRNA expression (0.292?0.031) could be detected in myocardium in very low values in normal control group rats, while both the activation and expression were up-regulated markedly after LPS challenge, and peaked 2 hours afterwards (37.793?4.785 and 1.182?0.146, respectively). They were down-regulated (17.910?3.791 and 0.901?0.128, respectively) 6 hours after LPS challenge. Compared to normal controls, both NF-?B activity and TNF-? mRNA expression were significantly elevated at various time points following LPS stimulation (all P

To determine the role of biopterin in acute lung injury in scald rats with infection, and to observe the therapeutic effect of GTP-cyclohydrolase I(GTP-CHI) inhibitor on postburn sepsis, 56 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal controls (n=10), scald control group(n=10), postburn sepsis group(n=20) and 2,4-diamino-6-hydroxy-pyrimidine (DAHP) treatment group (n=16). Tissue samples from lungs were collected to determine GTP-CHI and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA expression, meanwhile biopterin, nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-?(TNF-?) and interferon-? (IFN-?) levels in lungs were also measured. The results showed that after scald injury followed by Staphylococcus aureus challenge, GTP-CHI gene expression and biopterin levels significantly elevated in lungs, so did the values of iNOS mRNA expression and NO induction (P