Objective To build a normal value of serum sex hormone in the healthy children in favour of the diagnosis of children precocious puberty and the evaluation of the growth of the children.Method Serum of 462 healthy children(aged from 1 month to 14 years;205 females,257 males)was collected,and the level of testosterone(T) and 17-estradiol(E2).Results There were no significant deviation in the levels of E2 of deferent genders between 1-12 months,but the level of T in boys and girls were obviously different.The puberty of boys was la-ter than girls.There was no significant deviation in the level of E2 of the boys in different periods,but the levels of T in boys at different ages were obviously different.Conclusions With the improvement the detection methods,the normal values of the serum sex hormone in healthy children have been changing.It is helpful for diagnosis of children precocious puberty by rebuilding normal values of T and E2 .

0.05).Conclusions The results by GH exercise test is identified with GH provocative test.Because the GH exercise test is safe and simple,it is appropriate to use the GH exercisetest to screen for growth hormone deficiency during childhood.

High price and poor stability of both crocin-1 and crocin-2 reference substance have become obstacles to HPLC assay of Croci Stigma. A new method based on reference extract was proposed. In this study, the reference extract was prepared from gardenia yellow which is cheap and easy to get The content of crocin-1 and crocin-2 in reference extract was determined and factors affecting stability of reference extract were investigated. Twelve batches of Croci Stigma were analyzed with reference extract and reference substance respectively. The results showed no difference. The presented method is feasible for quality control of Croci Stigma and reference extract is suitable to replace reference substances in assay.
Carotenoids ; analysis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; standards ; Crocus ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Quality Control ; Reference Standards

Objective To explore the design and application of psychological intervention paths for ascites type of advanced schistosomiasis patients. Methods A total of 156 ascites type of advanced schistosomiasis patients were divided into an inter?vention group and a control group with 78 cases each. A psychological intervention path table was designed in accordance with the psychological characteristics and demands of the advanced schistosomiasis patients. Five steps were used to guide the nurses involved to carry out the psychological intervention. Results Before the intervention there were no statistically significant dif?ferences all P>0.05 between two groups in SAS SDS WHOQOL?BRER scores but after the intervention all the evalua?tion indexes improved in the intervention group and there were statistically significant differences between the intervention group and control group in SAS SDS WHOQOL?BRER scores all P<0.05 . Conclusion The application of psychological inter?vention paths for ascites type of advanced schistosomiasis patients can improve their negative emotions and qualities of life.

Objective To investigate the effects of transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) transfected with adrenomedullin (ADM) on cardiac function in heart failure rats and the mechanism.Methods BMSCs were isolated from femur and tibia marrow of 10 rats,20 days old,body weight 30-50 g,and in vitro cultured.The third passage of BMSCs were tuansfected with adenovirus containing ADM and labeled with green fluorescent protein(GFP).Before transplantation,BMSCs were labeled with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI).Eighty healthy male Wistar rats weighted 180-200 g were randomly divided into 2 groups according to body weight:control group (n =10) was injected with normal saline (NS); diffuse myocardial injury heart failure rat model(n =70) was established by subcutaneous injection of isoproterenol (ISO,170 mg/kg) every day for 4 consecutive days.Four weeks after administration of ISO,heart function was assessed by echocardiography,the 39 rats with left ventricle ejection fraction(LVEF) ＜ 70％ of global heart failure model were randomly divided into three groups in accordance with the level of heart function:untransfected group,transfected group and NS group.DAPI labeled untransfected BMSCs suspension,ADM gene transfected BMSC suspensions (3 × 106/150 μl) and equal volume of NS were injected into the left ventricular anterior wall in 4 places in each goup.Control group received thoracotomy only.Four weeks after transplantation,rats were examined by ultrasound echocardiography,then were sacrificed and left ventricular were dissected.The myocardium was stained with Massons trichrome to analyze myocardial tissue fibrosis.The transplanted cells were observed by fluorescence microscopy and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) expression of myocardial tissue was detected in each group by Western blotting.Results After in vitro culture for three days,the BMSCs began to grow adherently,tended to be fused about 10 days,in the fusiform shape.Four weeks after transplantation,ultrasound echocardiography results showed that rat cardiac left ventricular end systolic diameter (LVDs),LVEF,and left ventricular cardiac fractional shortening (LVFS) were different between groups,and the difference were statistically significant(F =5.838,32.983,51.714,P ＜ 0.05 or P ＜ 0.01).Compared with the control group[(86.50 ± 1.54)％,(50.66 ± 1.87)％],the LVEF and LVFS of NS groups[(56.67 ± 6.86)％,(26.27 ± 4.01)％],the transfected group[(79.40 ± 1.70)％,(43.48 ±2.15)％] and untransfected group[(69.24 ± 7.30)％,(34.59 ± 5.13)％] were significantly lower(all P ＜ 0.05);compared with the NS group,the LVEF and LVFS of the transfected groups and the untransfected group were significantly increased(all P ＜ 0.05) ; compared with the untransfected group,the LVEF and LVFS of the transfected group were increased (all P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the control group [(3.16 ± 0.22)mm],the LVDs of the NS group[(5.35 ± 1.57)mm] was significantly increased (P ＜ 0.01); compared with the NS group,the LVDs of the transfected group and the untransfected group[(3.95 ± 0.55),(4.24 ± 0.92)mm] were significantly decreased (all P ＜ 0.05).There was no statistically significant difference between the control group,the transfected group and the untransfected group in LVDs (P ＞ 0.05).It can clearly be seen that there was GFP and DAPI labeled transplanted cells under a fluorescence microscope in the myocardial tissue transplanted area.There was significant difference in myocardial fibrosis area and the myocardial tissue protein expression of MMP-2 between groups(F =533.75,32.777,all P ＜ 0.01).The area ratio of the NS group[(15.200 ± 0.356)％,0.584 ± 0.013],the transfected group[(8.530 ± 0.573)％,0.386 ± 0.017] and the untransfected group [(10.670 ± 0.369)％,0.438 ± 0.015] and the MMP-2 protein expression were significantly higher than that of the control group[(1.070 ± 0.113)％,0.319 ±0.013,all P ＜ 0.01)]; compared with the NS group,the two index of the transfected group and the untransfected group were decreased (all P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the untransfected group,the two index of the transfected group was decreased (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Transplantation of ADM gene transfected BMSCs can improve heart function of rats with heart failure significantly and reduce myocardial fibrosis.

Cerebellum ; surgery ; Cystadenoma, Papillary ; complications ; pathology ; surgery ; Epididymis ; pathology ; surgery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Genital Neoplasms, Male ; complications ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Keratin-7 ; metabolism ; Kidney ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucin-1 ; metabolism ; Vimentin ; metabolism ; von Hippel-Lindau Disease ; complications ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Astragalus injection (AI) combined with chemotherapy on quality of life (QOF) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung caner (NSCLC).

METHODSSixty-NSCLC patients were randomly divided into the treated group (n = 30, treated with AI combined with chemotherapy) and the control group (n = 30, treated with chemotherapy alone). Chemotherapy of MVP protocol was applied to both groups. AI was supplemented to the treated group by intravenous dripping 60 ml per day. Treatment of 21-28 days as one treatment cycle, and 2-3 treatment cycles were applied.

RESULTSThe effective rate in the treated group was 40.0% and in the control group was 36.7%, the mean remission rate in the treated and control group was 5.4 months and 3.3 months, the median survival period 11 months and 7 months, and the 1-year survival rate 46.75% and 30.0%, respectively, the differences of these indexes between the two groups were all significant (P < 0.05). Moreover, the clinical improving rate and QOF elevation rate in the treated group was 80.4% and 43.3%, as compared with those in the control group (50.0% and 23.3% respectively), the difference was also significant (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAI combined with chemotherapy can significantly improve the QOF in NSCLC patients of advanced stage.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Astragalus membranaceus ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; drug therapy ; Cisplatin ; therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mitomycins ; therapeutic use ; Phytotherapy ; Quality of Life ; Vinblastine ; therapeutic use

BACKGROUND: Presently, the biomaterial used in ligament tissue engineering such as collagen protein, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, small intestinal submucosa, glycan and nanomaterial are characterized by rapid degradation, resulting in inflammatory reaction after applying in host.OBJECTIVE: To investigate mechanical strength and in vitro degradation of silk scaffold and explore the reaction to macrophages.DESIGN: Controlled experiment.SETTING: Experiments were performed at the Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from September 2004 to January 2005.MATERIALS: White raw Bombyx mori silkworm fibers of size 20/22 (according to the manufacturer) were obtained from the market. Bundles of 30 parallel fibers were prepared for a bundle of scaffold, which was put into fervens 5g/L Na2CO3for degumming. Ratio of Na2CO3 solution (Ml) to raw silk (g) was 1000.METHODS: In vitro degradation: 8cm long silk scaffold was weighed after drying. Subsequently, the silk scaffold was separately dipped into phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and 1.0g/L collagenase prepared with PBS. Twelve weeks later, silk scaffold was weighed to calculate weight loss rate. Simultaneously, tensile test was performed to detect the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of samples. Culture of monocyte strain RAW264.7:2×108L-1 macrophage suspension (1mL) were separately added in a silk scaffold group, a control group and a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) group. At days 1 and 7, cell supernatant was collected from each group. Tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) levels were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Changes in weight loss rate and UTS of the silk matrices after incubated with collagenase and the PBS. ②TNF-αlevels in the supernatant of each groups at days 1 and 7.RESULTS: Mass of silk matrices reduced by over 50% after incubated with collagenase for 8 weeks, but no change was found in PBS. UTS decreased by over 50% 8 weeks after incubated with collagenase, but no change was detected in PBS. At days 1 and 7, TNF-α levels in the supernatant was less in the silk scaffold group; TNF-α levels in the supernatant was significantly higher in the LPS group than in the silk scaffold group (P<0.01), but no significant difference in TNF-α levels was measured between the silk scaffold group and the control group (P>0.05).CONCLUSION: After 12-weeks degradation, silk scaffold still has good mechanical properties. Macrophages possess immunological inertia at days 1 and 7 after inoculated with macrophages.

Ergosterol is the important component of the fungal membrane, and having stable structure. This makes it a suitable indicator for growth of fungi. In the paper, isolation and determination techniques of ergosterol as the indicator of the fungal biomass were reviewed. The methods of extracting ergosterol include traditional saponification and refluxing, rapid physical disruption, rapid ultrasonication, supercritical fluid extraction and so on. The ergosterol determination methods are high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and thin-layer chromatography, et al. The application of these techniques was also introduced. Finally, the paper prospected the feasibility of applying the ergosterol as the indicator of fungal biomass in composting.

OBJECTIVE To investigates the effects of imperatorin on the oxidative stress in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus after focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. METHODS Transient focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion model in male Sprague-Dawley rats was induced by 2 h middle cerebral artery occlusion followed by 24 h reperfusion. Imperatorin (1.25 and 2.5 mg·kg- 1) or vehicle were administered intraperitoneally at 1, 5 and 9 h after the onset of ischemia. At 24 h after reperfusion, the biomarkers of oxidative stress such as the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation products malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), the activities of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus were observed. We also assessed the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), and the NAD(P)H-quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO-1) protein expression by Western blot. RESULTS As compared to vehicle-treated animals, imperatorin treatment significantly reduced the ROS, MDA, NO levels and iNOS activity, increased T-AOC and the activities of SOD and CAT. Furthermore, imperatorin treatment also significantly induced the nuclear translocation of Nrf2, enhanced the protein expression of HO-1 and NQO-1 in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that imperatorin can protect the brain against the excessive oxidative stress induced by cerebral ischemia/reperfusion through activation of Nrf2 signaling pathway.