Objective: To explore the relationship between ambulatory arterial stiffness indexes (AASI), AASI-blood pressure variability (AASI-BPVR) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) left atrium diameter (LAD) in patients with hypertension.
Methods: A total of 286 hypertensive patients were enrolled in this study. The AASI, AASI-BPVR were calculated from 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Left ventricular internal dimension in diastole (LVIDd), interventricular septal thickness in diastole (IVSd), posterior wall thickness in diastole (PWd), LAD were detected by echocardiography and LVMI, relative wall thickness (RWT) were calculated. The fasting blood glucose, blood lipids were examined. According to 24 h AASI, the patients were divided into 2 groups, Group A, the patients with AASI > 0.51, n=133 and Group B, the patients with AASI ≤ 0.51,n=153. Pearson and multi regression analysis were conducted to analyze the relevant correlations.
Results: Group A had increased LVMI than that in Group B,P<0.05, the left ventricular masses were similar between 2 groups,P=0.384. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that LVMI and LAD were not related to arterial stiffness index, the coefifcient between 24 h-AASI and LAD was atr=0.111,P=0.057.
Conclusion: AASI and AASI-BPVR were not the independent factors for left ventricular hypertrophy and left atrial enlargement, therefore, they were not the predictors for cardiac damage in patients with hypertension at present time.

Objective To study the effect of ATRA and IFN? on growth and differentiation of SH-SY5Y cell line and the possible molecular mechanisms.Methods The expression of TrkA mRNA was detected by RT-PCR.Trypan blue exclusion was used to detect the antiproliferative effect of ATRA,IFN?and ATRA +IFN? on SY5Y cells.Morphologic changes were observed using phase-contrast microscopy.Results TrkA mRNA was upregulated by ATRA and IFN?.ATRA and IFN? could induce morphological differentiation and inhibit growth of SY5Y cells.The combination of ATRA+IFN? enhanced the induced differentiation and growth inhibition of SY5Y cells.Conclusion Synergistic effects of ATRA and IFN? on growth inhibition and inducing differentiation in SY5Y cells are observed and this may result from upregulating the expression of TrkA mRNA.

Objective To compare the prognosis of sentinel node-positive breast cancer patients forgoing axillary lymph node dissection.Methods A systematic literature search (Medline,Embase,Cochrane Library)ended in April 2014 was performed to identify all eligible articles.Two reviewers independently screened and extracted data.RevMan5 was used for statistical analysis.Results A total of 1026 abstracts were retrieved and 18 clinical controlled studies finally included,the total number of patients were 47 894,7389 had micrometastases in sentinel lymph node,35 217 had macrometastases in sentinel lymph node and 5288 had positive sentinel lymph node regardless of micrometastases or macrometastases.For patients with MIC,the 5-year axillary recurrence rate,5-year disease free survival and 5-year overall survival had no significant difference between patients who only received sentinel lymph node biopsy and patients who received further axillary lymph node dissection,(OR =1.78;95％ CI:0.72-4.39,P=0.21),(OR =0.76,95％CI:0.56-1.04,P=0.08),(OR=0.77,95％CI:0.43-1.40,P=0.39).For patients with MAC,the 5-year axillary recurrence rate had no significant difference between patients who only received sentinel lymph node biopsy and patients who received further axillary lymph node dissection,(OR =1.21;95％ CI:O.76-1.91,P =0.42).For patients with positive sentinel lymph node regardless of micrometastases or macrometastases,the 5-year axillary recurrence rate and 5-year overall survival had no significant difference between patients who only received sentinel lymph node biopsy and patients who received further axillary lymph node dissection,(OR =1.29;95％ CI:0.92-1.80,P =0.14),(OR =0.96,95％ CI:0.64-1.45,P =0.84).Conclusions Among patients with limited positive SLN of breast cancer,patients forgoing ALND compared with ALND did not have obvious affect on long-term survival.

Objective In this study,we aim to investigate and evaluate the application of peer education on the teaching of medical graduate students and to evaluate the teaching effect,in order to provide the basis for subsequent practice reform.Methods 49 graduate students majoring Internal Medicine-Pulmonology were randomly divided into traditional teaching(24) and peer education groups (25).We chose the primary culture technology of rat distal pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells to be the teaching contents.For the traditional teaching group,we used the mode of class lecture giving and experimental skills learning under the assistance of the teachers; while in the peer education group,students benefited from the combination of class lecture given by the teacher and the seniors fixed teaching in which seniors help younger students.We selected the experimental operating time,cell purity and the practicing time to reach a standard culture as the evaluation indexes by filling a follow up questionnaire.The SPSS 13.0 was applied to the related data forx2 or t test.Results In the traditional teaching group,the average time to reach three times of standard culture was(3.2 ± 0.5) hour,which was(2.3 ± 0.4) hour in the peer education group.The cell purity was 80.1 ± 3.6％ in the traditional teaching group,while(85.4 ± 5.9)％ in the peer education group.The average practicing time was(6.3 ± 1.0) in the traditional teaching group,while(4.9 ± 0.6) in the peer education group.The peer education group master the teaching content better than the traditional teaching group (P=0.00).95.8％(23/24)of the students in the peer-education group considered the teaching contents simple,which was statistically higher(P=0.00) than traditional group (62.5％,15/24).Meanwhile,95.8％ (23/24)of the students in the peer-education group considered the teaching methods easy to accept,which was also statistically higher(P=0.02) than traditional group(70.8％,17/24).The difference was statistically significant (P=0.02).Conclusion The application effect of peer education is good and there is high degree of acceptance among the students.Besides,peer education accords with the medical postgraduate experiment teaching rules,and can cultivate medical graduate students' spirit of cooperation and communication ability in the process of implementation.

Objective To investigate the expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and vascular endothelial growth factor-D (VEGF-D) and their relationship with lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer. Methods Eighty patients with gastric cancer had been admitted to our department from January 2005 to December 2005, including 48 with local lymph node metastasis and 32 without local lymph node metastasis. Ten specimens of normal gastric mucosa from patients with gastric ulcer were used as control. The expression of VEGF-C and VEGF-D in serum and tissues were detected. Results The senun levels of VEGF-C and VEGF-D in patients with gastric cancer were significantly higher than those in the control group (χ2= 8.39, P < 0.05). The positive rate of the VEGF-C expression in the sermn of patients with gastric cancer was influenced by the lymph node metastasis (χ2 = 7.01, P < 0.05). The positive rates of the expressions of VEGF-C and VEGF-D in the gastric cancer tissue were 53% (42/80) and 63% (50/80), which were significantly higher than those in the normal gastric mucosa (χ2 =6.44, 6.58, P <0.05). The positive rate of the VEGF-C expression in the tissue of patients with gastric cancer was influenced by the lymph node metastasis (χ2=11.25, P <0.05). Conclusions The expression of VEGF-C is closely related to lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer. The serum levels of VEGF-C can be used as biologic markers in detecting lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer preoperatively.

AIM:To investigate the effect of hydrogen sulfide ( H2 S) on high glucose ( HG)-induced injury of the mouse podocyte cell line MPC5.METHODS: The cultured MPC5 cells were randomly divided into 4 groups: HG group, normal glucose (NG) group, NG+DL-propargylglycine (PPG) group, and HG+NaHS group.After treated for a certain time, the cells were collected for further detection .The expression of zonula occludens-2 (ZO-2), nephrin,β-cate-nin and cystathionine γ-lyase ( CSE) was determined by Western blotting .RESULTS:High glucose significantly reduced the expression of nephrin, ZO-2 and CSE (P<0.05), while the level of β-catenin was elevated obviously (P<0.05), all in a time-dependent manner.NG+PPG inhibited the levels of ZO-2 and nephrin significantly (P<0.05), and increased the level of β-catenin (P<0.05), all in a PPG concentration-dependent manner.HG+NaHS induced a more significant increase in the levels of ZO-2 and nephrin as compared with HG group (P<0.01), whereas a severe reduction of β-cate-nin in HG+NaHS group was observed as compared with HG group .Compared with NG group , the expression of ZO-2 and nephrin was decreased obviously , and the level of β-catenin was increased in HG +NaHS group.CONCLUSION:Down-regulation of CSE contributes to hyperglycemia-induced podocyte injury .Exogenous H 2 S protects against hyperglycemia-in-duced podocyte injury , possibly through up-regulation of ZO-2 and subsequent suppression of Wnt/β-catenin pathway .

Objective To study mother and infant's iodine metabolism and thyroid function during lactation with different iodine intakes. Methods Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four groups with severe iodine deficiency (SID), mild iodine deficiency (MiID), normal iodine (NI), and excessive iodine (ExI) intake respectively. All rats were fed on an iodine deficient food and drinking water with different quantities of potassium iodide for 3 months until mating. The urinary iodine, milk iodine, blood iodine, and thyroid hormones (TH) were detected in lactating mother and the offspring rats 14 days after birth. Thyroid weight of mother rats was determined. Thyroid morphology of mother and their offsprings was observed. Results ( 1) Iodine contents in urine, milk, and blood of lactating rats and the offsprings were increased with the increase of iodine supplied in diet. But the change in amplitude between groups was decreased in the other; urine iodine > milk iodine > blood iodine. (2) Serum TT4[ (16. 7±12. 0 vs 36.4±15. 0) nmol/L, P<0.05] was significantly decreased, but TSH [(5.73±2.90vs 1. 38±0.30)mIU/L, P<0.01]and TT3/TT4(6.6±2.7 vs 2. l±0.3,P<0.01) were increased in lactating rats of SID group compared with NI, so as TT4( 10.6±2. 3 vs 16.4±4. 7) nmol/L, P<0.05 ] of offspring rats in SID, but were not in MiID and ExI groups. (3 ) Histological studies showed that small follicular thyroid nodules with follicular hyperplasia occurred in both lactating rats and their offsprings in the SID group, mild swelling in MiID group and polymorphism changes appeared in mother rats of ExI group, but no significant difference appeared in offsprings compared with NI group. Conclusions Severe iodine deficiency will lead to hypothyroidism in mother and infant, but normal iodine nutrition and thyroid function in mother and offspring were maintained through the compensatory action of mother and child in mild iodine deficiency and iodine excess.

Objective To investigate the sodium iodide symporter (NIS) gene expression during different iodine intakes and its function in thyroid autoregulation. Methods BabL/c mice were randomly divided into five groups according to their different iodine intake levels : low iodine (LI), normal iodine (NI), five-fold iodine (5HI) ,ten-fold iodine (10 HI) and fifty-fold iodine (50 HI). After three months and six months administration, they were sacrificed and thyroids were excised. The mRNA and protein expression level were determined by real time quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry respectively. Iodine content in thyroid tissue was measured with spectrophotometry and thyroid hormone level was measured with radioimmunoassay. Results Compared with NI group, NIS mRNA and protein expression was greatly increased in LI groups. Immunohistochemistry analysis indicated that NIS was mostly located at the basolateral membrane of thyrocyte,suggesting the improved activity in transporting iodine. But when faced with long-term and severe iodine deficiency, the iodine content in thyroid was finally decreased ,and hormone level lowered. On the other hand, in HI groups NIS mRNA and protein expression was greatly down-regulated. There was a tendency of decreasing NIS gene expression level with increasing doses of iodine intakes. In addition, NIS protein was found mainly in intracellular vesicles, rather than at the cell membrane,suggesting the loss of its activity. The iodine content in thyroid tissue was only slightly increased and was not consistent with the iodine intake levels. Conclusion These findings indicate that NIS may be. regulated at transcription, translation and post-translation levels. This phenomenon constitutes a highly specialized intrinsic autoregulatory system that protects thyroid from high doses of iodine, but at the same time ensures adequate iodine uptake for hormone biosynthesis. NIS plays a critical role in thyroid autoregulation mechanism.

Objective:To investigate the expression of maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3), a long non-coding RNA gene, in gastric can-cer tissues;determine the relationship of MEG3 with the prognosis of gastric cancer;and explore the relationship between MEG3 and apoptosis-associated protein P53 as well as murine double minute 2 (MDM2). Methods:Fifty-five consecutive patients with gastric cancer admitted to Qingdao Municipal Hospital for surgical treatment from September 2012 to June 2013 were included in this study. Gastric cancer and paired normal tissues were collected. The expression of MEG3 was tested through real-time quantitative poly-merase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression of P53 and MDM2 in gastric cancer and eval-uate their correlations with MEG3. Results:The expression of MEG3 decreased in cancer tissues (7.98±0.19) relative to the correspond-ing normal tissues (9.47±0.18) (P<0.05). P53 and MDM2 showed negative relationships in the gastric cancer and normal tissues. A posi-tive relationship was found between P53 and MEG3 (r=0.591, P<0.05), whereas a negative relationship was found between MDM2 and MEG3 (r=?0.346, P<0.05). The median survival time was significantly prolonged in patients with high MEG3 expression compared with patients with low MEG3 expression. Conclusion:MEG3 exerts an inhibiting effect on the development of gastric cancer. MEG3, P53, and MDM2 may have important relationships in the biological mechanisms of gastric cancer development. Detecting the expression level of MEG3 may be useful for the prognosis of gastric cancer.

AIM: To investigate the effects of octreotide (Oct) on the proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). METHODS: HSCs were isolated from normal male Sprague-Dawley rat liver by a combination of pronase-collagenase perfusion and density gradient centrifugation. The concentration of 2.5 ?g/L transforming growth factor ?1 (TGF?1) was used in all the experiment settings. Oct at concentrations of 0.01 mg/L ,0.1 mg/L,1 mg/L and 10 mg/L,respectively,or 0.01 mg/L Oct + TGF?1,0.1 mg/L Oct+TGF?1,1 mg/L Oct+TGF?1,10 mg/L Oct+TGF?1 were respectively added to the cultured HSCs. Effects of Oct on HSC proliferation and ECM synthesis were respectively determined by MTT method,-TdR and -proline incorporation,or radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Oct inhibited MTT intake by cultured hepatic stellate cells and down-regulated -TdR incorporation,compared with control group. The concentrations of hyaluronic acid,laminin,collagen type IV in the culture supernatant and -proline incorporation in HSCs were decreased by Oct. TGF?1 obviously up-regulated proliferation and ECM synthesis in cultured HSCs,and Oct significantly blocked these actions. CONCLUSION: Oct inhibited proliferation and ECM synthesis in cultured HSCs,and elicited the effects of anti-hepatofibrogenesis.