Objective To discuss the relationship of hypertension with ageing and comorbidities in 6426 inpatients. Methods The data of 6426 inpatients with hypertension from May 2005 to May 2009 were analyzed retrospectively. All inpatients were divided into four groups: the young-aged group from 18 to 44 yrs (n= 312, 4. 8%), the middle-aged group from 45 to 59 yrs (n= 1529,23.8%), the elderly group from 60 to 79 yrs (n=3847, 59.9%) and the old old group from 80 to 99 yrs (n=738, 11.5%). The percentages of hypertension patients in the same age group over the same period were calculated and the comorbidities were observed respectively. Results Of 6426 hypertensive cases, there were 3438 males (53.5%) and 2988 females (46.5%), ranging from 18 to 99 yrs with the average age of (66.3± 12. 1) yrs. There were 25 504 inpatients over 18 years old including 11 208 in the youth group, 5389 in the middle-aged group, 7596 in the elderly group and 1311 in the old old group. The proportions of hypertension inpatients to total in-patients in the four age groups were 2.8%, 28. 4%, 50.7% and 56.3% respectively. In the youth and middle-aged groups, numbers of males with hypertension were more than of females, however there was no significant difference in gender in the elderly and the old old groups. Within 6426 inpatients with hypertension, 2069 (32.2 %) had diabetes mellitus, 1508 (23.5%) had hyperlipidemia, 105 (1.6 % )had sleep apnea syndrome, 1061 (16.5%) had coronary artery disease, 904 (14.1%) had heart failure, 2353 (36.6%) had stroke and 678 (10. 6%) had kidney failure. Conclusions The prevalence of hypertension increases with ageing significantly. The correlated risk factors for hypertension include diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and sleep apnea syndrome, being a clustering phenomenon, especially for elder patients. These risk factors also deteriorate the damage on heart,brain, kidney and other target organs, which might ultimately result in serious cardio-cerebral vascular events. Therefore, besides control of blood pressure, we should strengthen the complex treatment on hypertension to prevent and delay the occur of complicating diseases.

Objective To investigate the related risk factors in patients with atrial fibrillation in order to prevent and delay the occurrence of atrial fibrillation.Methods Five hundred and fifty-eight inpatients with atrial fibrillation were retrospectively analyzed from June 2005 to June 2008.They were divided into several groups according to the age and the characteristics of the elder patients with atrial fibrillation were analyzed.Results In the 558 cases with atrial fibrillation, there were 298 males (53.4%) and 260 females (46.6%) aged from 21 to 97 years.The average age was (72.8 ±10.1) years.There were 57 cases aged 21-59 years(10.2 %)and 501 cases aged 60-97 years(89.8 %).The total number of inpatients in our hospital was 11 869, and there were 4049 cases aged<60 years, 2527 cases aged 60-69 years, 3971 cases aged 70-79 years, 1244 cases aged 80-89 years and 78 cases aged>90 years.The proportions of the inpatients with atrial fibrillation in the above five age groups of inpatients were 1.4%(57 cases), 4.2%(107 cases), 6.6% (262 cases), 9.5%(118 cases)and 17.9% (14 cases), respectively.In 558 cases with atrial fibrillation, there were 230 cases (41.2%) with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, 44 cases (7.9%) with persistent atrial fibrillation and 284 cases (50.9%) with permanent atrial fibrillation.The most common underlying disease was hypertension in the 558 cases, followed by coronary heart disease, heart failure, diabetes, rheumatic heart disease and so on.Conclusions The prevalence of atrial fibrillation is increased with aging.Hypertension, coronary heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, heart failure, hyperthyroidism,diabetes, chronic pulmonary disease and renal failure are all the risk factors for atrial fibrillation.

Objective To explore and evaluate the method and feasibility of applying the contrast agent fluorescein sodium to enhance the efficiency of Cerenkov radiation energy transfer (CRET).Methods Fluorescein sodium was employed as the energy transfer receptor of 18 F-FDG Cerenkov radiation (CR) to achieve stronger signal.18F-FDG was mixed with fluorescein sodium of different concentrations:0.05,0.10,0.20,1.00,2.00,4.00,8.00 mmol/L.Optical signal strength was quantified by ROI analysis.The influence of fluorescein sodium concentration on CRET efficiency and the optimal concentration that could achieve most optical signal augmentation were studied.The optimal concentration of fluorescein sodium was mixed with 1.85-11.10 MBq 18F-FDG for CLI.Linear regression was performed to investigate the range of 18F-FDG dose with most optical signal augmentation and the influence of 18F-FDG dose on CRET efficiency.A tumorbearing nude mouse was imaged after intravenous injection of 18F-FDG and then imaged again after injection of fluorescein sodium post 18 F-FDG injection.These two sets of images were compared to evaluate the CRET efficiency in vivo.Results In vitro study showed that 1.00 mmol/L fluorescein sodium was the optimal concentration for 18F-FDG dose ranging from 1.85 MBq to 11.10 MBq.The signal from 18F-FDG mixed with fluorescein sodium was 3.7 times stronger than that from 18F-FDG alone.Experiment in vivo suggested that 18F-FDG mixed with fluorescein sodium could effectively enhance the signal strength by CRET.Conclusion 18F-FDG mixed with fluorescein sodium may improve the efficiency of CRET,therefore,can enhance the signal strength,reduce the exposure time and achieve better signal to noise ratio.

Objectives To report clinical,electrophysiological and pathological features of myopathy with tubular aggregates.Methods The onset of the disease was between 5-50 years old in the 6 sporadic male cases.Skeletal muscle biopsy was performed for all cases.Specimens were examined histochemically,enzymhistochemically and electromicroscopically.Results Case 1 and 2 presented with limb girdle myasthenic syndrome.The case 1 developed exercise-induced cramps in the late stage.Case 3 complained about persistent weakness and Dopa-responsive dystonia.Case 4 and 5 were characterized by periodic paralysis.Case 6 showed exercise-induced cramps.Serum potassium was normal in all patients. Slight elevation of serum creatine kinase appeared in 3 cases.Electromyography showed neurogenic pattern in case 1 and 6,myogenic changes in case 4 and 5,and no abnormality in other 2 cases.Marked decrement of active potential amplitude was noted with low frequency repetitive nerve stimuli in case 1 and 2.Four percent to forty percent of muscle fibers showed focal material accumulation in the fibers,which involved mainly type 2 fibers in all cases.The material was stained bright red material with modified gomori trichrome,intensive staining with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-tetrazolium reductase,lack activity of succinate dehydrogenase and ATPase.Electron microscopy confirmed bundles of parallel micro-tubular structure in the muscle fiber.Conclusions Myopathy with tubular aggregates has various clinical subtypes and electromyographic pattern.Dystonia or other systemic symptoms could be noted in this disease.The limb girdle myasthenic syndrome can also be accompanied with exercise-induced cramps.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Shenshuaining Granule (SG) combined telmisartan on serum creatinine (SCr) levels and urinary albumin contents in diabetic nephropathy (DN) patients, and to explore its efficacy.

METHODSTotally 204 DN patients were recruited, and further assigned to 3 groups, i.e., the early DN group, the clinical stage of DN with normal renal function group, the clinical stage of DN with insufficient renal function group. Patients in the same group were randomly allocated to the telmisartan treatment group, the SG treatment group, and the combination of SG and telmisartan treatment group, 68 in each group. Patients in the telmisartan treatment group took telmisartan tablet, 80 mg per day, once daily. Those in the SG treatment group took SG, 5 g each time, 3 times per day. Those in the combination of SG and telmisartan treatment group took telmisartan tablet (80 mg per day, once daily) and SG (5 g each time, 3 times per day). The therapeutic course for all was 3 successive months. SCr levels, serum urea nitrogen (BUN),24 h urine microalbumin (24 h U-MA) were detected before and after treatment. Results In three different treatment groups, 24 h U-MA decreased after treatment in the telmisartan treatment group; SCr and BUN decreased after treatment in the SG treatment group; and 24 h U-MA, SCr and BUN decreased after treatment in the combination of SG and telmisartan treatment group (P<0.05). In the clinical stage of DN with insufficient renal function group, SCr obviously increased after treatment in the telmisartan treatment group (P <0. 05). In the 3 DN stages, SCr and 24 h U-MA obviously decreased in the combination of SG and telmisartan treatment group, when compared with the telmisartan treatment group and the SG treatment group (P<0.05). Compared with the telmisartan treatment group, SCr and BUN obviously decreased in the SG treatment group, but 24 h U-MA quantitation obviously increased (P<0.05). BUN obviously decreased in the combination of SG and telmisartan treatment group (P<0. 05).

CONCLUSIONThe combination of SG and telmisartan could decrease urinary albumin, and stabilize SCr levels.

Adult ; Albumins ; metabolism ; Antihypertensive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Benzimidazoles ; therapeutic use ; Benzoates ; therapeutic use ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Tablets

The combination of medicinal properties refers to expression forms of elements with active properties combined according to a specific sequence. The mode of medicinal property combination refers to the compatible relationship multiple medicinal property combinations. In this paper, based on the mode, safflower, Taohong Siwu decoction, Xuefu Zhuyu decoction and Buyang Huanwu decoction were taken for example to study the characteristics of the compatibility among single herb, herbal pairs and prescriptions. The authors discovered the similarities and differences among them, interpreted the self-similarity in medicinal property combinations of traditional Chinese medicines, and analyzed the compatible relationship among multiple medicinal property combinations, so as to bring forth new ideas in discovering the correlation between the compatibility study mode of traditional Chinese medicines based medicinal property combinations and the efficient compatibility of medicinal property combination.
Drug Combinations ; Drug Prescriptions ; Drug Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Objective To make the validation of intravascular ultrasound elastography (IVUSE) for detecting the plaque.Methods A plain strain model of vascular plaque was established and then the RF signals of IVUS were produced.The radial displacement distribution and strain distribution were calculated through 1D numerical optimization based on the RF signals.Then the elastic moduli distribution was reconstructed by finite element method (FEM) and iteration method.Results The three elastic parameters,displacement/strain/moduli,all could detect the plaque.Elastic moduli presented the information of the shape and size of the plaque,meanwhile,the displacement and strain distributions could not give the information clearly.Conclusion Elastic modulus is proved to be superior to the other two parameters in detecting the plaque,whereas it is subject to the accuracy of the strain's estimation.

The article describes the development of an Internet-based tele-rehabilitation system for patients with cognitive deficits,including overall idea,design and structure of the system,role-based authorization of operations for the patients and doctors and the procedures for patients' receiving rehabilitation treatment through the system.It is a new and convenient mode for rehabilitation service delivery to patients with cognitive deficits.Implementation of the Internet-based tele-cognitive rehabilitation system is helpful to the patients who live far from hospitals and have difficulty seeing doctors due to physical impairments,and is helpful to solving the problem with lack of medical staffs specialized in cognitive rehabilitation.Furthermore,it will also profit pushing out the spread and development of cognitive rehabilitation in China.

Aim at the two problems in the field of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) mechanism elucidation, one is the lack of detailed biological processes information, next is the low efficient in constructing network models, we constructed an auxiliary elucidation system for the TCM mechanism and realize the automatic establishment of biological network model. This study used the Entity Grammar Systems (EGS) as the theoretical framework, integrated the data of formulae, herbs, chemical components, targets of component, biological reactions, signaling pathways and disease related proteins, established the formal models, wrote the reasoning engine, constructed the auxiliary elucidation system for the TCM mechanism elucidation. The platform provides an automatic modeling method for biological network model of TCM mechanism. It would be benefit to perform the in-depth research on TCM theory of natures and combination and provides the scientific references for R&D of TCM.
Animals ; Automation ; instrumentation ; methods ; Databases, Factual ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Gene Regulatory Networks ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Chinese herbs for stasis removing and collaterals dredging (CHSRCD) upon angiotensin-converting enzyme 2-angiotensin-(1-7)-Mas axis in the renal cortex of diabetic nephropathy rats.

METHODSTotally 89 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the blank control group (C group, n=22), the high-glucose high-fat control group (H group, n=10), and the streptozotocin (STZ)-injecting group (n=57). The diabetes rat model (n=50) was induced by feeding high-glucose high-fat diet in combination with intraperitoneal injection of STZ, which were further divided into the model group (M group, n=24), the irbesartan group (I group, n=13), and the CHSRCD (Z group, n=13). Rats in I and Z groups were intragastrically fed with suspension of irbesartan and CHSRCD, once daily for 16 weeks. Equal volume of drinking water was administrated to rats in the rest groups. Blood glucose and 24 h urine protein quantitation were tested at four time points. And the mRNA expression of ACE2 and Mas at various time points was detected by Real-time PCR, immunohistochemical assay, and Western blot. Quantitative analyses of ACE2 and Mas protein expression were performed at the end of week 16.

RESULTSCompared with the C group, blood glucose increased in the H and M groups (P < 0.01). It was higher in the H group (P < 0. 01). 24 h urine protein quantitation at different time points increased in the M group, and it was higher than that in the H group (P < 0.05). Compared with the M group, 24 h urine protein quantitation decreased at the end of week 8 in the I group, and at the end of week 8 and 16 in the Z group (P < 0.05). It was lower in the Z group than in the I group at the end of week 16 (P < 0.05). Compared with the C and H groups, the expression of ACE2 mRNA in the renal cortex was lower in the M group at the end of week 16 (P < 0.01). Compared with the M group, it was higher in the Z group (P < 0. 01). There was no statistical difference in the expressions of Mas mRNA at the end of week 16 between the C group and the M group (P > 0.05). It was lower in the M group than in the H group (P < 0.05). It was higher in the Z group than in the M group (P < 0.05), and higher than in the I group (P < 0.05). The expression of ACE2 and Mas protein in the M group decreased as time went by. The expression quantitation of ACE2 and Mas protein at the end of week 16 was lower in the M group than in the C group (P < 0.05). Compared with the M group, ACE2 expression of the Z group and Mas of the I and Z groups increased more significantly (P < 0. 05).

CONCLUSIONCHSRCD could play a role in renal protection for diabetic nephropathy rats by up-regulating the mRNA and protein expression of ACE2 and Mas, promoting the ACE2-Ang-(1-7)-Mas axis, and lowering urinary protein.

Angiotensin I ; metabolism ; Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; metabolism ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Kidney Cortex ; metabolism ; Male ; Peptide Fragments ; metabolism ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ; metabolism