Objective Adult isolated ACTH deficiency ( IAD) is an uncommon and underestimated disorder with high rate of misdiagnosis.This paper aimed to analyze and summarize the clinical features of 6 patients with IAD to have deeper understanding of the disease. Methods Retrospective analysis was made on the data of 6 IAD cases enrolled in Nanjing Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from 2007 to 2015.Statistical analysis was made on the clinical manifestations, therapeutic schemes, laboratory and imaging results, along with outpatient follow-up(ranging from 0.5-10 years), in order to analyze clinical efficacy and prognosis result. Results Of 6 IAD patients, 4 patients showed main symptoms of long-term fatigue, anorexia, weight loss;5 patients were with differ-ent degrees of hypoglycemia (fasting blood glucose2.70 [1.2-3.0]mmol/L), among which 3 had hypoglycemic coma (fasting blood glucose <1.8mmol/L), 1 had chronic hypoglycemia and 1 had asymptomatic hypoglycemia( asymptomatic hypoglycemia by continu-ous glucose monitor system).4 of them had refractory hyponatremia (Serum Na+117 [110-120]mmol/L).ACTH values of all the patients were less than 0.01ng/L.After glucocorticoid replacement therapy, all the patients were followed up for six months after treat-ment and cortisol rhythm, plasma cortisol, urine cortisol, fasting blood glucose, serum sodium of the patients were in normal range, but still at a low level of ACTH. Conclusion The clinical manifestation of IAD is characterized as hypoglycemia, hyponatremia, low ACTH with other normal pituitary hormones.Long-term glucocor-ticosteroid therapy has favorable prognosis for patients with adult isola-ted ACTH deficiency.

Objective To observe the effect of acupuncture plus thunder fire moxibustion plus deglutition training plus VitalStim electrical stimulation on patients with deglutition disorder of early stroke.Methods 80 patients with deglutition disorder of early stroke were randomly divided into treatment group and control group,40 cases in each group.The treatment group was treated with acupuncture plus thunder fire moxibustion plus deglutition training plus VitalStim electrical stimulation,while the control group was only treated with deglutition training.The therapeutic effects of all patients were assessed by using drinking experiment before therapy and twenty times after therapy. Results The total effective rate of the treatment group was 97.5%,which was significantly higher than 82.5% of the control group,the difference was statistically significant(χ2 =12.50,P <0.05).Watian integration of the two groups were decreased after treatment,the difference was significant(t =5.606,9.056,all P <0.05),which of the treatment group was significantly lower than the control group,the difference was statistically significant(t =3.044,P <0.05). The lung infection rate and malnutrition rates in the control group were 10.0% and 20.0%,which were significantly higher than those in the treatment group(2.5% and 5.0%),the differences were statistically significance(χ2 =4.80, 10.29,all P <0.05).Conclusion Acupuncture plus thunder fire moxibustion plus deglutition training plus VitalS-tim electrical stimulation are beneficial to the recovery of swallowing functions to early swallowing disorder in patients and could avoid the incidence of aspiration pneumonia and malnutrition.

Objective To investigate the expression level of miRNA-146a (miR-146a) in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells aging and age-related macular degeneration (AMD),and discuss its regulation mechanism of AMD by repressing VEGF-A.Methods The expressions of miR-146 and VEGF-A were examined by qRT-PCR in RPE cells in mice aged 2 months,8 months,12 months,18 months or 24 months,and in RPE cells from 75 years old AMD patients.The protein level of VEGF-A was also detected by Western Blotting.Finally,the effects of overexpression of miR-146a in APRE-19 cell line on expression of VEGF-A was checked.Results MiR-146 was up-regulated to 8 times or 24 times at 18 months or 24 months aged mice,and the expression of VEGFA was down-regulated in aging RPE from 1.5 times to 0.8 times.However,the expression of miR-146 decreased to 14.5 times and VEGF-A increased in RPE cells of AMD.In cultured cells,overexpression of miR-146a inhibited the expression of VEGF-A.Conclusion Up-regulation of miR-146a in aging RPE cells and its down-regulation in AMD suggest a potential of miR-146a as molecular marker.MiR-146a overexpression inhibits the expression of VEGF-A,supporting a potential clinical treatment of miR-146 in AMD.

BACKGROUND:Tooth wear is the physiological change that accompanied by a person’s life, type and nature, maxil ary and mandibular occlusion status, physical status, and living environment may affect it.
OBJECTIVE:To review the occurrence and development of tooth wear, as wel as research on the morphology of wear surface.
METHODS:The PubMed database was searched by the first author for the articles from January 1952 to
December 2012. The articles on the generation of tooth wear facets, macroscopic and microscopic studies of occlusal wear facets, wear measurement method, relationship between tooth wear and oral diseases, and
application of tooth wear facets in forensic research were included. The key words were“tooth, wear, diet,
information, dentistry, anthropology”in English. A total of 59 articles were included according to the inclusion criteria for review.
RESUTLS AND CONCLUSION:With the development of wearing, some oral clinical symptoms may occur. Just as there are no same fingerprints in the world, the individual tooth wear facet is unique. Therefore, the research on occlusal wear facets has great significance for understanding the diet habits, cultural development, age and other information, as wel as for dentistry, anthropology and forensic science. The macroscopic and microscopic study of tooth wear surface can provide a large amount of individual information. The current studies on tooth wear facets cannot ful y exhibit al the implicated information, so the further studies are needed.

BACKGROUND:Atlantal lateral mass screw fixation contains lateral mass screw fixation under the posterior arch of the atlas and lateral mass screw fixation via the posterior arch of atlas (also cal ed atlas pedicle screw fixation) according to different insertion points. The two methods have their advantages and disadvantages. There are lacks of the comparative studies on bony anatomy feasibility by two kinds of atlantal lateral mass screw fixation.
OBJECTIVE:To compare the feasibility associated with two kinds of atlantal lateral mass screw fixations taking Chinese data of atlantal bony anatomy as evidence.
METHODS:Data of CT scans in 30 adults with cervical spondylosis (60 sides) were col ected, and data were reconstructed using CT workstation. We measured key bone anatomy structure after atlantal lateral mass screw fixation. The atlantal lateral mass was suitable for lateral mass screw fixation via the posterior arch of atlas if its height and width of vertebral artery groove at the posterior arch ≥ 4 mm. It was suitable for lateral mass screw fixation under the posterior arch of the atlas if the height of posterior arch of atlas lateral mass ≥ 4 mm.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The height of vertebral artery groove at the posterior arch was (4.54±1.17) mm. The width of vertebral artery groove at the posterior arch was (8.69±1.12) mm. The height of posterior arch of atlas lateral mass was (4.98±1.07) mm. There were 41 cases with the height of vertebral artery groove at the posterior arch>4 mm (suitable for lateral mass screw fixation via the posterior arch of atlas, occupying 68%. There were 52 cases with the height of posterior arch of atlas lateral mass>4 mm (suitable for lateral mass screw fixation under the posterior arch of the atlas), occupying 87%. There were significant differences in the differences between the two groups (P<0.05). These results indicated that lateral mass screw fixation under the posterior arch of the atlas was more feasible compared with lateral mass screw fixation via the posterior arch of atlas. Preoperative CT measure for key anatomic structure was significant for making personalized surgical plan.

Objective To evaluate the clinical effect and safety of retroperitoneal laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in treatment of patients with T1b renal carcinoma.Methods Fourteen patients (11 males and 3 females) with T1b renal carcinoma were retrospectively performed.The age of patients was (54.5 ± 9.2)years old,with 8 cases on the left side and 6 cases on the right side.Tumor diameter was (5.1±1.3) cm.All the patients received retroperitoneal laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.Results None of the 14 cases was converted to open surgery.The operation time was (112.0 ± 24.7) min,the intraoperative blood loss was (64.6 ± 15.9) ml,the warm ischemia time was (26.5 ± 9.3) min.The 14 patients were not blood transfusion in intraoperative and postoperative.Postoperative negative pressure drainage placement time was (3.1 ± 1.5)d,lying in bed time was 72 h.Serum creatinine increase was found in 1 case postoperative 12 h,others were no severe complications.Postoperative pathology:the incisal margin of 14 cases were all negative,clear cell carcinoma was in 13 cases,the pathology stage was T1bNoM0;angiomyolipoma of kidney was in 1 case.All the patients were follow-up 3-16 (21.4 ± 9.6) months,all the patients had normal renal function and had no tumor recurrence or metastasis.Conclusion Retroperitoneal laparoscopic partial nephrectomy is safe and reliable for treatment of patients with T1b renal carcinoma.

To detect the expression of p16 protein and Ki-67 antigen in gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma(MALTL)and normal gastric mucosa and to investigate the clinical significance of their expression in the occurrence and development of gastric MALTL.Methods 47 samples of gastric MALTL diagnosed pathologically in the department of pathology of the PLA General Hospital from March 1993 to June 2005 were collected.By using immunohistochemial methods,the expression of p16 protein and Ki-67 antigen was detected in 20 samples of normal gastric tissue and the 47 samples of gastric MALTL.Results The positive rate of p16 protein Was 21.3%(10/47)and 90.0% in gastric MALTL and normal gastric tissue respectively.The positive rate of p16 protein in gastric MALTL was lower than that in normal gastric tissue(P<0.05).The expression of p16 was related to the degree of lymph node metastasis.The positive rate of Ki-67 labelling index(LI)in gnstric MALTL was hiigher than that in normal gastric tissue.A negative correlation was found between the expression of p16 protein and Ki-67 LI(P<0.05). Conclusions Detection p16 and Ki-67 may help to predict the possibility of lymph node metastasis and prognosis in gastric MALTL.

Objective To characterize the features of breast mucinous carcinoma on T2WI, dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging (DCE-MRI) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and correlate the MR features with histopathology. Methods MR imaging in 8 women (aged 33--65 years old) with mncinous carcinoma of the breast verified histopathologically was performed on 1.5 T scanner with T1WI, FS T2 WI, 3D DCE-MRI using volume imaging for breast assessment(VIBRANT) sequence, DWI with b value of 500 and 1000 s/mm2 by single-shot EPI sequence. According to the lexicon of BI-RADS-MRI designed by ACR, the MR findings were retrospectively studied, including morphology, signal intensity on T1WI and FS T2WI, mass enhancement, the patterns of dynamic enhancement curve, and the mean ADC on DWI. The pathologic diagnosis was made according to the standard criteria by the World Health Organization Classification of Tumors. Results Five patients were pure mucinous carcinoma and 3 patients were the mixed. The amount of mucus ranged from 60% to 90%. All 8 tumors presented as a mass on MRI with low signal intensity on T1WI, high or strongly high signal intensity on FS T2WI and high signal on DWI. The tumor size ranged from 1.3 to 3. 2 cm in diameter. Five tumors showed rim enhancement in early phase and the central part was gradually enhanced in delayed phase. One tumor presented slightly heterogeneous enhancement. Two tumors showed progressively heterogeneous enhancement. The mean ADC values of tumor were (2.41±0.28) ×10-3 mm2/s with b value of 500 s/mm2 and (2.06 ±0. 14) × 10-3 mm2/s with b value of 1000 s/mm2, and higher than that of the normal breast tissue [ ( 1.71 ±0. 32) × 10-3 and ( 1.43 ± 0. 24) × 10-3 mm2/s]. Conclusions The MR features of breast mucinous carcinoma on T1WI, DCE-MRI, and DWI are different from that of invasive ductal carcinomas and may reflect its distinct histological type. The combination of these MR sequences may lead to a pre-operative diagnosis of this tumor.

Aim Toobservetheeffectofconcisepre-scriptions of Chinese medicine Huannao Yicong Decoc-tion(HYD)on regulatory pathway of secretase in APP/PS1 double transgenic cell line(HEK293),and to in-vestgateitsmechanism.Methods Theproliferationof AD cell model and the toxicity of each investigational drugs were ebserved by CCK-8;the changes in micro-scopic structure of each group were observed by(Trans-mission electron microscope,TEM);the activities of gamma-secretes was observed by Dual Luciferase Re-porter Gene Assay Kit ,and then the expression of pre-senilin 1(PS1),carboxyl terminus of Hsc70-interacting protein(CHIP),GTP binding protein (CDC42 ),ante-rior pharynx defective-1α(APH-1α),Hypoxia induc-ible factor-1α(HIF-1α) were detected by Western blot.Results 15%HYDserumincreasedthecellac-tivity compared to blank serum (P <0. 01 ).Under TEM,human APP/PS1 Double Transgenic cell line's mitochondria showed swelling and degenerat,and lipo-fuscin was deposited;after 48 h of medication,theswelling of mitochondria was reduced and crista was clear,and the number of lipofuscin was reduced.For the activity ofγsecretase,after 24 h medication,com-pared to control group,HYD directly group and DAPT group obviously inhibited the activity ofγsecretase (P<0. 05 or P<0. 01 ),compared to DAPT group,only 15% serum containing HYD group had significant difference (P <0. 05 );after 48 h medication,com-pared to control group,the other group all showed sig-nificant difference(P<0. 05 or P<0. 01 ).For the in-fluence of PS pathway,after 48 h medication,com-pared to control group,the other group all inhibited the PS1protein expression(P<0. 05 or P<0. 01),HYD directly group could activate the CDC42 protein expres-sion(P<0. 05 );compared to 0 h midicaiton,DAPT group inhibited the CHIP protein expression at the point of 48 h(P<0. 05 )and activated the CDC42 pro-tein expression at the point of 24 h.For the influence of Aph-1 pathway,there was no significant difference for Aph-1α(P>0. 05 );compared to control group,HYD directly group inhibited the HIF-1αprotein ex-pression after 48h medication(P<0. 05);compared to 0h midicaiton,DAPT group inhibited the HIF-1αpro-tein expression at the point of 24 h (P<0. 05 ).Con-clusions HYDcantreatADthroughprotectingthe mitochondrial function,reducing the formation of lipo-fuscin,inhibiting the activity of γsecretase by down-regulating the activity of HIF-1α,decreasing the stabil-ity and activity of PS1 by promoting the expression of CDC42.This shows that HYD has good research and development prospect as an effective drug for preven-tion and treatment of AD.

Biofilms are microbial communities which are enclosed within a matrix of exopolysaccharides produced by the bacteria,fungi and protozoa growing intimately on a living or inert surfaces.Further researches on bcterial biofilms formation and molecular machines,pathogenic mechanisms (especially drug resistance),detection and treatment maybe provide novel pathways to refractory infections caused by bcterial biofilms.