Objective To describe the sonographic features of abdominal wall endometriosis(AWE).Methods 105 consecutive women with proven pathological endometriosis of the abdominal wall were retrospectively recruited.The clinical data and the result of the sonographic examinations were reviewed and described.The AWE lesions were divided into ＜3 cm and ≥3 cm groups according to their maximum diameter.Results The sonographic feature of AWE includes irregular hypoechoic nodules with ill-defined margins,anechoic and hyperechoic ring maybe exist.In color Doppler,most of them showed few internal vascularity.Compared with≥3 cm group,＜3 cm group nodules manifested as shorter latent period,with more superficial location,round or oval shape,peripheral hyperechoic ring and none or few vascularity were more common.As for ≥3 cm group nodules manifested as longer latent period,with deeper location,irregular shape,abundant of vascularity were more common.Conclusions Specific diagnosis of AWE can be made by using high frequency sonography combined with clinical features.More accurate information can be provided by judging the size,range and infiltrative depth.

Objective To investigate the effects of lipid-associated membrane proteins ( LAMPs) derived from Mycoplasma pneumoniae ( M.pneumoniae) strains on the expression of heme oxygenase 1 ( HO-1) in a human monocyte cell line (THP-1).Methods THP-1 cells were in vitro cultured with different concentrations of LAMPs for different times.The cytotoxicity of LAMPs to THP-1 cells was analyzed by using lactate dehydrogenase ( LDH) releasing test.The expression of HO-1 at protein and mRNA levels were de-tected by Western blot and real-time RT-PCR, respectively.The enzymatic activity of HO-1 protein was ex-amined by colorimetric assay.THP-1 cells stimulated with PBS and LPS were set up as the negative and pos-itive controls, respectively.Results A significantly enhanced LDH releasing rate was observed in THP-1 cells treated with 10 μg/ml of LAMPs.The expression of HO-1 at protein and mRNA levels in THP-1 cells were induced by LAMPs in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner.The highest level of HO-1 protein was detected in THP-1 cells treated with 5.0 μg/ml of LAMPs.The transcriptional levels of HO-1 induced by LAMPs were significantly elevated at 3 h, peaked at 9 h and were decreased at 12 h.The expression of HO-1 protein in THP-1 cells was enhanced after 8 h of treatment with LAMPs and a significant decrease was observed at 20 h after reaching peaks at 12 h and 16 h.The activity of HO-1 protein was significantly en-hanced along with the increased expression of HO-1 protein.Conclusion The LAMPs derived from M.pneumoniae strains induced the expression of HO-1 at mRNA and protein levels.Moreover, the enzyme activity of HO-1 protein was enhanced in LAMPs treated THP-1 cells.

This study was aimed to investigate the comprehensive ecological factors of Hippophae rhamnoides L. and their regional suitability in China. Based on field survey, specimen examination and literature investigation, ecologi-cal factors and appropriate production areas were analyzed by Traditional Chinese Medicine Geographic Information System (TCMGIS-II). The results showed that the proper region (with similarity of 95%~100%) of H. rhamnoides L. accounts for 737 994.71 km2, including 15 provinces/municipalities and 387 counties/cities. The largest area among them is Tibet autonomous region with area of 313 857.73 km2 (42.53%), followed by Sichuan province (223 987.02 km2, 30.35%), Gansu province (66 314.43 km2, 8.99%) and Shanxi province (4 237.79 km2, 0.57%). There are also certain appropriate production areas distributed in Liaoning province, Beijing, Chongqing and Hubei province. It was concluded that this system is much valuable to the recognition of the formation of the producing area, the division of adaptive area, introduction and acclimatization of medicinal materials. It also provided a scientific reference for the introduction and cultivation of H. rhamnoides L. Through further field study and experiments, these new areas have the potential to be developed into suitable production region of H. rhamnoides L. in the future.

AIM: To study the role of calcineurin in the progression of right ventricle cardiac hypertrophy in the chronic hypoxia rats and examine the effect of Ca 2+ channel blockers on the activation of calcineurin. METHODS: Sixty rats were divided into three groups: treatment group with amlodipine besylate ablets, chronic hypoxia group, normal control group with normal oxygen. The rats in treatment group and chronic hypoxia group were exposed to normobaric chronic hypoxia(10?0 5)% O 2 for 21 days. All hearts were removed immediately after dissection for further investigation. RESULTS: (1)The RV/(LV+S),RV/BW were significantly higher in hypoxia group than that of control group and treatment group( P

Objective Many studies showed that Ca~(2+) channel blocker could prevent and treat right ventricular hypertrophy(RVH) induced by chronic hypoxia.To further identify the mechanism,we investigated the effect of Ca~(2+) channel blocker on the levels of myocardial calcineurin A?mRNA(CnA?)in RV and plasma nitric oxide(NO),NO synthase and endothelin-1(ET-1) in rats with chronic hypoxia.Methods 30 rats were divided into three groups by randomized block design: treatment group with Amlodipine Besylate ablets [(30 mg?kg~(-1)?d~(-1)),administered via gavage],chronic hypoxia group,and control group.The rats in treatment group and chronic hypoxia group were exposed to normobaric chronic hypoxia [(10.0?0.5)% O_2 ] for 21 days.On the 21st day of experiment,all rats were sacrificed and the hearts were collected for measuring the weight.Blood samples were also drawn from the ventricles for measuring plasma NO,iNOS and ET-1 levels.CnA?mRNA levels in RV were measured by RT-PCR.Results ⑴The RV/(LV+S)、RV/BW ratios were significantly higher in chronic hypoxia group than those of control group and treatment group(P

The 1H-NMR fingerprints of three different species tibetan medicine sea buckthorn were established by 1H-HMR metabolomics to find out different motablism which could provide a new method for the quality evaluation of sea buckthorn. The obtained free induction decay (FID) signal will be imported into MestReNova software and into divide segments. The data will be normalized and processed by principal component analysis and.partial least squares discriminant analysis to perform pattern recognition. The results showed that 25 metabolites belonging to different chemical types were detected from sea buckthorn,including flavonoids, triterpenoids, amino acids, carbohydrates, fatty acids, etc. PCA and PLS-DA analysis showed three different varietiest of sea buckthorn that can be clearly separated by the content of L-quebrachitol, malic acid and some unidentified sugars, which can be used as the differences metabolites of three species of sea buckthorn. 1H-NMR-based metabonomies method had a holistic characteristic with sample preparation and handling. The results of this study can offer an important reference for the species identification and quality control of sea buckthorn.
Hippophae ; metabolism ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; methods ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional ; Metabolomics

OBJECTIVETo observe the application effect of minimally invasive decompression, bone graft implantation and metal trabecular bone reconstruction system for early stage osteonecrosis of femoral head and discuss the treatment of hip-salvage operation in early stage osteonecrosis of femoral head;

METHODSFrom January 2010 to June 2011, 50 patients (62 hips) Which were osteonecrosis of femoral head of early stake,were treated with minimally invasive decompression, bone graft implantation and metal trabecular bone reconstruction system, including 31 males (40 hips), 19 females (22 hip) with an average age of 36.2 years old ranging from 22 to 54 years old. The course of disease was from 6 to 15 months (averaged 10.5 months). Among them, 19 cases (23 hips) were steroid-induced, 25 cases (33 hips) were alcohol-induced, 6 cases (6 hips) were idiopathic; According to ARCO stage, 28 hips were at stage I, 34 hips were at stage II. All of them were diagnosed as femoral head necrosis by imaging examination before operation. Then each patient was followed to assess by Harris hip score, curative effect, and conduct the femoral head survival analysis during the postoperation.

RESULTSAll patients had finished operation, the operation time was between 30 and 85 min, intraoperative blood loss was 50 to 220 ml, and 47 cases (58 hips) were follow-up from 24 to 46 months with an average of 34.05 months. As compared with preoperative, the Harris hip score at the last follow-up was improved, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.01). The Harris hip score, curative effect and survival time of femoral head in ARCO stage I was superior to these in ARCO Stage II, the difference was statistically significant (P< 0.05).

CONCLUSIONEffect of minimally invasive decompression,bone graft implantation combine with the metal trabecular bone reconstruction system for early stage osteonecrosis of femoral head was good,it could significantly improve the Harris hip score, increase the femoral head survival time, delay the hip replacement, and performance better in ARCO stage I.

Adult ; Bone Transplantation ; Decompression, Surgical ; Female ; Femur Head ; injuries ; pathology ; surgery ; Femur Head Necrosis ; surgery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostheses and Implants ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo observe the curative effect of porous tantalum rod and Gugutou Huaisiyu Capsule (GHC) for steroid-induced osteonecrosis of femoral head (SONFH).

METHODSA total 60 hips of 50 SONFH patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group and the control group according to grouping time, 25 in each group (30 hips). Patients in the control group were implanted with porous tantalum rod, while those in the treatment group additionally took GHC (5 pills each time, three time per day for 2 successive months; and then twice per day for 4 successive months). Then all patients were followed-up to observe Harris hip score. The curative effect and the femoral head survival time were assessed.

RESULTSA total of 49 patients (59 hips) were followed-up. The Harris hip score of the two groups at the final follow-up was significantly improved after treatment, with statistical difference when compared with before treatment (P < 0.01). Besides, it was higher in the treatment group than in the control group. The curative effect and the survival time were superior in the treatment group, with statistical difference when compared with the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSPorous tantalum rod combined GHC got better effect in treating SONFH. It could significantly improve the function of affected hips and prolong the survival time of femoral head.

Capsules ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Femur Head Necrosis ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Prostheses and Implants ; Steroids ; adverse effects ; Tantalum

BACKGROUNDIschemic disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world. In order to further study gene therapy for ischemic disease, we constructed a recombinant plasmid for co-expression of human angiopoietin-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor 165(VEGF165) gene in adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene delivery system.

METHODSHuman angiopoietin 1 and VEGF165 gene were obtained using PCR. The upstream of angiopoietin 1 contained restriction enzyme site HindIII, and the downstream of angiopoietin 1 contained restriction enzyme site BamHI. The upstream of VEGF165 contained restriction enzyme site BglII, and the downstream of VEGF165 contained restriction enzyme site BamHI. Using the multiple cloning sites (MCS) in plasmid pZero++ such as BamHI, BglII, HindIII, NotI, XhoI, XbaI, SalI, BspHI, KspI and the corresponding MCS in plasmid pAAV-MCS, angiopoietin 1 and VEGF165 gene were subcloned into pAAV-MCS.

RESULTSDNA sequencing revealed that the PCR- amplified angiopoietin 1 and VEGF165 were consistent with NCBI Gene Bank. The recombinant plasmid was identified using PCR and digestion, which proved to be consistent with our hypothesis. In recombinant plasmid, angiopoietin1 and VEGF possessed a CMV promoter and polyA terminator system respectively, thus assuring co-expression of the two genes.

CONCLUSIONSuccessful construction of AAV co-expression system for human angiopoietin 1 and VEGF165 gene will provide the foundation for gene therapy to cure severe ischemic disease.

Angiopoietin-1 ; genetics ; Dependovirus ; genetics ; Genetic Therapy ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Humans ; Plasmids ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of adenovirus vector encoding human vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (hVEGFR-2 or hKDR) on breaking the immune tolerance and inducing immunity against murine hepatocellular carcinomas.

METHODSHuman and mouse KDR cDNA were cloned from human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and C57BL/6 mouse embryo cells respectively using RT-PCR, and then Ad hKDR and Ad mKDR were constructed. Seven days after immunization of the mice with Ad hKDR or Ad mKDR, an analysis of cytotoxic activity of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) was made by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay, in which splenocytes of the immunized mice acted as effectors and Hepa 1-6/mKDR cells as the targets. In addition, the survival of the mice immunized with Hepa 1-6 hepatoma cells was checked.

RESULTSSeven days after immunization, the 6 h killing activities of CTL elicited by the Ad hKDR were 84.3%+/-6.7%, 71.5%+/-5.2%, and 44.6%+/-4.7% at the ratio of the effectors:targets (E:T) of 100:1, 50:1, and 25:1, respectively. Correspondingly, the CTL activities by Ad mKDR were 65.2%+/-6.1%, 46.7%+/-5.0%, and 22.6%+/-3.7%. Sixty percent of the Ad hKDR-immunized mice with 5*10(6) Hepa 1-6 hepatoma cells were still alive two months after the inoculation, whereas just 40% of the Ad mKDR-immunized mice with 2*10(6) Hepa 1-6 cells survived two months. When CD8+ or CD4+ T lymphocytes were deleted in the mice the above mentioned CTL activities and protection of the mice from tumors disappeared.

CONCLUSIONAdenovirus vector-mediated xenogeneic KDR can effectively break the immune tolerance to hepatocellular carcinomas in an animal model and induce a strong antigen-specific T cell response, which is dependent on CD8+ and CD4+ T cells.

Adenoviruses, Human ; genetics ; Animals ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; genetics ; immunology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Female ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; immunology ; Transfection ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 ; immunology