Objective:To study the role of TOLL-like receptor4/MAPKs pathway of renal tissue in the diabetic rats treated with piogitazone. Methods:The male Sprague Dawlry rats were randomly selected as the control group (n=8) and experimental group(n=32). The experimental rats were randomly divided into three groups. The expression of ERK1/2,JNK and p38MAPK,and levels of their phosphorylation in kidney were measured by Western blot in control group and experimental group. Results:The expression of TOLL-like receptor 4 in all renal tissue in the diabetic rats were significantlyincreased than those in control group (P<0. 01). Compared with the control group. The activity of p-ERK1/2 and p38MAPK significantly increased in each experimental group (P<0. 05),but the expression level of p-JNK was no statistical significance. TOLL-like receptor 4 could regulatory effect on the phorylation of ERK1/2 and p38MAPK. Compared with the model group,the expression of p-ERK1/2 and p38MAPK significantly decreased(P<0. 05),moreover, these changes were more significant in high-dose treated group ( P<0. 05 ) . Conclusion:Pioglitazone inhibits the expression of TOLL-like receptor 4 of renal tissue in the diabetic rats,and these effects may be related to TOLL-like receptor 4/ERK1/2 and TOLL-like receptor 4/p38MAPK pathways.

?AIM:To compare the coherence and difference on the fundus examination made with two kinds of optical coherence tomography ( OCT): Angio-OCT and fourier domain-optical coherence tomography ( FD-OCT) .?METHODS:Using Angio-OCT and FD-OCT to measure the retinal nerve fiber layer ( RNFL ) thickness, optic parameters, and ganglion cell complexes ( GCC ) thickness from 20 subjects respectively.The coherence was tested with Pearson's correlation coefficient, the difference was tested with paired Student t testing.?RESULTS:The total correlation of the RNFL thickness, optic parameters, GCC thickness made with two kinds of OCT was between 0.7-0.8;the RNFL thickness, optic disk area etc.made with the Angio-OCT were lower than those made with FD-OCT except for the GCC thickness.?CONCLUSION: The results made with two kinds of OCT from the same subject has certain coherence, but cannot be compared directly.

AIM:To prepare sustained release matrine tablet,and study its drug release test in vitro. METHODS: In combination with HPLC,we studied the cumulative matrine release using HPLC and EC as the sustained materials. RESULTS: The release of matrine was conformed to Higuchi equation. CONCLUSION: The drug release behavior could be well described in vitro,and meet the design criteria,it is easy to be produced.

Objective To investigate whether mesenchymal stem cells can promote the recovery of acute renal tubular damage induced by mercuric chloride and to explore its possible mechanism.Methods Acute renal failure rat model was established by intraperitoneal injection of mercuric chloride.SD rats were randomly divided into three groups which were MSCs injection group, saline infusion group and normal control group.Seven days later,the changes of rat weight,survival,renal function and pathology were observed;PCNA,ED-1 and GFP were detected by immunohistochemistry; The expression of cytokines in kidney and the distribution of GFP plasmid-transfected MSCs in kidney were examined by RT-PCR.Results MSCs infusion ameliorated the decline of rat weight,survival, renal function,and pathological changes.PCNA and ED-1 positive cells in MSCs group were fewer than those in saline group.Expression of growth factors EGF,PDGF,HGF were obviously up- regulated and pre-inflammatory cytokines TNF-?was significantly reduced in MSCs-treated kidneys. GFP-labelled MSCs occurred occasionally in renal interstitium of MSCs-treated rats,but not in renal tubules.Conclusions Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can promote the recovery of acute renal tubular epithelial cells damage caused by mercuric chloride.The mechanism may partly depend on regulating the excretion of cytokines in renal microenvironment rather than completely depend on their differentiation to tubular cells.

Objective To evaluate the performance of automated blood cell analysis parameters for differential diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and aplastic anemia (AA).Methods Data of automatic blood cell analysis parameters at diagnosis of confirmed patients with MDS and AA from December 2002 to February 2011 in Peking University Shenzhen Hospital were retrospectively reviewed.Results 33 cases of MDS and 36 cases of AA were recruited in this study.Based on the evaluable data,mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (328.58 ± 17.24 g/L vs 342.47±18.75 g/L,n=33/36) was significantly lower (P=0.002 1),while monocyte percentage (MONO％) (11.48±9.99 vs 6.94±2.50,n=32/34),platelet distribution width (PDW％) (13.51±4.24 vs 10.62±3.68,n=20/22) and platelet hematocrit (PCT％)(0.11 ±0.10 vs 0.04±0.07,n=11/15) were markedly higer (all P＜0.05) in patients with MDS than that of AA.No significantly differences for other blood cell analysis parameters were seen between patients with MDS and AA.Under the condition of best cut-off value,areas under the ROC curve of MCHC,MONO％,PDW and PCT were 0.706 (95％ confidence interval:0.584～0.809),0.666 (0.540～0.778),0.668 (0.506～0.805) and 0.745 (0.538～0.894) respectively.MONO％ and MCHC had high specificities (97.06％ and 88.89％) and positive predictive values (93.3％ and 80.0％) for differential diagnosis of MDS from AA.Conclusion MONO％ and MCHC may be used as simple indicators for differential diagnosis of MDS and AA.

Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of bone scintigraphy in the preoperative diagnosis of sacral tumor. Methods Preoperative 99Tcm-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) whole body bone scintigraphy was performed in total of 103 patients with sacral tumor for whole body survey and radionuclide uptake in the sacral tumor. Of these 103 patients,39 had SPECT. According to the osteoblastic reaction in bone SPECT studies,patterns of tumor with a "hot" lesion was defined as type Ⅰ,a "cold" lesion accompanied with partial uptake was defined as type Ⅱ,a purely "cold" lesion was defined as type Ⅲ,and a "cold" lesion with marginal uptake which produced "doughnut sign" was defined as type Ⅳ. Imaging interpretation was correlated with the final pathologic diagnosis. Results Of the 103 patients,18 ( 17.5% ) had polyostotic involvement. About 46.6% (48/103 ) in planar and 84.6% ( 33/39 ) in SPECT showed decreased uptake at sacrum. Of the bone metastatic patients (n =21 ) ,12 (51.7%) had sole metastasis to sacrum. Tumor with type Ⅰ (6/6) or type Ⅱ (16/19) uptake was likely to be a malignancy,whereas type Ⅲ uptake tended to occur in the benign disease in those patients without polyostotic involvement( 5/7 ),and type Ⅳ was all appeared in giant cell tumors( n = 5 ). Conclusions Preoperative bone scintigraphy is useful in examination of polyostotic involvement for the patients with sacral tumor,but it is limited for diagnosing isolated sacral metastatic disease. Tumor uptake on bone scintigraphy can be helpful in differential diagnosis of sacral tumor.

OBJECTIVETo observe the therapeutic effect of Zhenggan Recipe (ZGR) in treating liver cirrhosis with abnormal Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and to explore its mechanism.

METHODSSixty-four patients of liver cirrhosis with abnormal AFP were randomly divided into the treated group and the control group. All the patients received conventional combined Western medicinal treatment. Besides, additional ZGR was given to the patients in the treated group, one dose every day for orally taken in two times, 6 months as a therapeutic course. Changes in liver function (ALT, GGT, TBIL and ALB), AFP, T-lymphocyte subsets (CD4, CD4/CD8) and iconological examination were observed in the two groups before and after treatment to compared the efficacy.

RESULTSZGR could effectively lower the AFP level (P < 0.01), and improve the levels of CD4 and CD4/CD8 (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONZGR can effectively lower the level of AFP, its mechanism might be related to the improving of cellular immune function of the patients.

Adult ; Aged ; CD4-CD8 Ratio ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; blood ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of the rib cage on the vertebral axial rotation of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis under axial load condition.

METHODSThree dimensional finite element model of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis included and excluded thoracic cage was built based on the data of computer tomography. The model was imported into the preprocessor of the ANSYS 8.0 software for assigning boundary and loading conditions. Then the axial loading condition was simulated after entering the solution modular. The magnitude and direction of each vertebral axial rotation of the scoliotic spine were read and analyzed in the postprocessor of the ANSYS software.

RESULTSThe rib cage had a significant influence on the axial rotation of the vertebra above the structural curve and had no influence on the axial rotation of the lumbar and sacral vertebra. The effect of the thoracic cage on the axial rotation of the apical vertebra was limited. Under different loading conditions, the apical vertebra of both models rotated in the same direction. The magnitude of the vertebral rotation of both models has no statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONSAdolescent idiopathic scoliosis can lead to the anatomical changes of the vertebra and the thoracic cage. The corresponding changes of biomechanical features of the scoliotic spine and rib cage would occur. The deformed thoracic cage could not maintain the rotation stability as the normal one.

Adolescent ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Finite Element Analysis ; Humans ; Male ; Ribs ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Rotation ; Scoliosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Spine ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Thoracic Wall ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical characteristics and the corneal morphological abnormalities in Fleck corneal dystrophy.

METHODSEighteen eyes with Fleck corneal dystrophy of 9 patients from two unrelated families were examined by slit-lamp biomicroscopy, Cochet-Bonnet esthesiometer and in vivo confocal microscopy. The corneal cells, nerves and stromal deposits were analyzed quantitatively with NAVIS software.

RESULTSlit-lamp biomicroscopy of the Fleck corneal dystrophy revealed that bilateral small grey-white fleck-like or wreath-like opacities were scattered in all layer of the corneal stroma from the center to the periphery, the intervening stroma between the lesions was clear. In vivo confocal microscopy identified that the opacities appeared as doughnut-like or nephroid-like deposits approximately 70.6 μm × 110.3 μm in size, (1.6 ± 0.4)/frame in density and involved about (438.4 ± 22.0) μm of the corneal stroma, with hyper reflective dot-like intracellular particles,measuring 2 to 18 μm in diameter. In two eyes of 1 patient associated with decreased corneal sensation, confocal images showed that abnormal hyper reflective deposits involved the Bowman's layer and the branch and density of the subbasal nerve was reduced. The other eyes with normal corneal sensation appeared normal in the morphology and the density of the corneal nerves.

CONCLUSIONFleck corneal dystrophy has typical clinical characteristics. In vivo confocal microscopy allows to study the morphological changes of the cornea at cellular level, which is valuable for the clinical diagnosis and evaluation of the corneal dystrophy. Decreased corneal sensitivity in Fleck corneal dystrophy is probably caused by corneal stromal deposits involved in the Bowman's layer.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cornea ; pathology ; Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo analyze factors related to the virulence associated genes of Leptospires.

METHODSTwelve putative virulence associated genes were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method in 38 reference strains, 81 field strains of Leptospira interrogans isolated from patients or animals, and 12 avirulent strains of Leptospira biflexa.

RESULTSThese putative virulent genes were widely distributed among the strains of Leptospira interrogans, but only few of them were detected in Leptospira biflexa. Gene lipL32 was detected in all strains of Leptospira interrogans. Distribution of gene lipL36 was varied significantly with detected rates from 0 to 90.91%. Gene la1608 had a positive rate of 87.50% for strains of serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae, but was only detected in few strains of other serogroups with a range from 0 to 25.00%. Rate of detection on gene sphA was 17.65% in Leptospira interrogans, and was absent in serovar hardjo reference strain.

CONCLUSIONResults indicated that these genes might be of importance for the virulence and pathogenicity of Leptospira interrogans, while gene lipL32 might be one of the common antigens. Gene lipL36 might be involved in serogroup specificity with genetic diversity, but gene la1608 was as one of the genes with specificity for serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae. However, serovar hadjo might hold quite different genetic characteristics when compared with the other serovars of Leptospires.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; Carbohydrate Dehydrogenases ; genetics ; Flagellin ; genetics ; Genes, Bacterial ; genetics ; Hemolysin Proteins ; genetics ; Leptospira ; genetics ; pathogenicity ; Lipoproteins ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Virulence ; genetics ; Virulence Factors ; genetics