OBJECTIVETo comparatively observe the curative effect, adverse reaction and compliance of Modified Xiaoyao Pill combining amitriptyline (MXP-At) in treating patients with depression.

METHODSSixty-four patients with diagnosis of depression matched to the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders (CCMD-3) were randomly assigned to 2 groups, the treatment group treated with MXP-At and the control group with fluoxeline, 32 cases in each group. The curative effect was evaluated by Hamilton depression (HAMD) scale and the adverse reaction was recorded before treatment and at the 2nd, 4th and 12th week of the treatment. Patients were regularly followed up from the 12th week to the 24 th week. The curative effect and compliance in the two groups were compared.

RESULTSThe HAMD score dropped in both groups from the 2nd week of the treatment, and at that time, it was lower in the control group than that in the treatment group (P < 0.05); but at the 4th week, no significant difference was found in the therapeutic effect and the HAMD score between the two groups. However, 3 and 14 cases in the treatment and the control group were relapsed during the 12 weeks of follow-up respectively.

CONCLUSIONMXP-At shows a curative effect similar to fluoxetine on depression but with less adverse reaction, and is not expensive.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Amitriptyline ; therapeutic use ; Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic ; therapeutic use ; Depression ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Patient Compliance ; statistics & numerical data ; Phytotherapy ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVEThe clinical effect of the Shi's cervical reduction technique for cervical spondylosis and related disorders has confirmed, however, there were few studies on the body motion during manipulation in vivo study. This study is to summary the law of motion and the motion characteristics of the right operation shoulder, elbow, knee and ankle joints by data acquisition and analysis with the 3D motion capture system.

METHODSThe markers were pasted on the head, trunk, left and right acromion, elbow joint, wrist joint inner side and the outer side of the inner and the outer side and the lateral upper arm, forearm lateral, anterior superior iliac spine, posterior superior iliac spine, trochanter, femoral and tibial tubercle, inner and outer side of knee, ankle, fibular head, medial and lateral in first, 2,5 metatarsal head, heel and dual lateral thigh the calf, lateral tibia of one manipulation practioner, and the subject accepted a complete cycle of cervical "Jin Chu Cao and Gu Cuo Feng" manipulation which was repeated five times. The movement trajectory of the practioner's four markers of operation joints were captured, recorded, calculated and analyzed.

RESULTSThe movement trajectories of four joints were consistent, while the elbow joint had the biggest discrete degree. The 3D activities of the shoulder and elbow were more obvious than other two joints, but the degree of flexion and extension in the knee was significantly greater than the rotation and lateral bending.

CONCLUSIONThe flexibility of upper limb joint and stability of lower limb joint are the important guarantees for the Shi's cervical reduction technique, and the right knee facilitated the exerting force of upper limb by the flexion and extension activities. The 3D model built by the motion capture system would provide a new idea for manipulation teaching and further basic biomechanical research.

Adult ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Cervical Vertebrae ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Manipulation, Orthopedic ; methods ; Movement

OBJECTIVETo compare the changes of nucleus pulposus after in vitro culture of rabbit whole intervertebral disc and spinal motion segment.

METHODSTwenty-one New Zealand white rabbits which were randomly divided into organ group with 8 rabbits and segment group with 13 rabbits. Fifty intervertebral discs and 50 spinal motion segments were harvested respectively under aseptic conditions from two groups. These specimens were maintained in organ culture with hyperosmotic media (410 mOsm/kg), then 10 discs of the two groups were observed respectively by HE staining, immunohistochemistry of collagen type III, proteoglycan content and cells viability of nucleus pulposus before culture and at 3, 7, 14, 21 days after culture.

RESULTSHE staining showed the intervertebral disc tissue structure remained intact after culture of 21 days organ group and 14 days segment group,but there was severely degenerated of 21 days segment group. The intensity value of type II collagen immunohistochemical staining in the nucleus pulposus were not changed significantly between 21 days organ group and 14 days segment group (P > 0.05), but the staining of segment group at 21 days became shallower, there was significant difference compared with before each time points and organ group at 21 days (P < 0.05). PAS/AB staining of proteoglycan of nucleus pulposus showed that there were not decrease of tinting strength of two groups within 7 days, but the strength weakened slightly of two groups at 14 days, and the tinting strength became weaker at 21 days segment group, the change is more obvious than the organ group. The intensity value of fluorescence staining of nucleus pulposus cells was not changed significantly within 7 days of two groups (P > 0.05), the intensity value decreased slightly at 21 days organ group and 14 days segment group, but there were no significant difference compared with before time points (P > 0.05) however at 21 days segment group the intensity decreased as cells viability of nucleus pulposus decreased,and there was a significant difference compared with before each time points and organ group at 21 days (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONIt is not obviously degenerated of the discs of organ group cultured within 21 days and segment group cultured within 14 days, but there was significant degeneration of the intervertebral disc of segment group after cultured 21 days, so the rabbit spinal motion segment can be used on research about the biomechanics of intervertebral disc as a vitro experimental model within 14 days.

Animals ; Collagen Type II ; analysis ; Female ; Immunohistochemistry ; Intervertebral Disc ; chemistry ; pathology ; Male ; Organ Culture Techniques ; Rabbits

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be propagated indefinitely, while maintaining the capacity to differentiate into all cell types in the body except for the extra-embryonic tissues. This iPSC technology not only represents a new way to use individual-specific stem cells for regenerative medicine but also constitutes a novel method to obtain large numbers of disease-specific cells for biomedical research. However, the low efficiency of reprogramming and genomic integration of oncogenes and viral vectors limit the potential application of iPSCs. Chemical-induced reprogramming offers a novel approach to generating iPSCs. In this study, a new combination of small-molecule compounds (SMs) (sodium butyrate, A-83-01, CHIR99021, Y-27632) under conditions of transient folate deprivation was used to generate iPSC. It was found that transient folate deprivation combined with SMs was sufficient to permit reprogramming from mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) in the presence of transcription factors, Oct4 and Klf4, within 25 days, replacing Sox2 and c-Myc, and accelerated the generation of mouse iPSCs. The resulting cell lines resembled mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells with respect to proliferation rate, morphology, pluripotency-associated markers and gene expressions. Deprivation of folic acid, combined with treating MEFs with SMs, can improve the inducing efficiency of iPSCs and reduce their carcinogenicity and the use of exogenous reprogramming factors.

Objective To investigate the effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on human immunodeficiency virus type-1 ( HIV-1 ) antigen specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) immune responses. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected from 38 HIV-1 infected individuals receiving HAART ( HAART group) and 31 HIV-1 infected individuals not receiving HAART (non-HAART group), and stimulated with a peptide pool containing 12 overlapping peptides in HIV-1 P24;then the frequency of interferon γ ( IFNγ ) secreting cells were assessed by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) method. Difference in HIV-1 antigen specific CTL immune response between non-HAART group and HAART group was analyzed by χ2 and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results Positive response rate of HIV-1 antigen specific CTL immune responses in HAART group ( 65.8%, 24/38 ) was higher than that of non-HAART group (32.3%, 10/31, χ2 = 6. 522, P ＜ 0.05 ). For HIV-1 infected individuals with blood CD4 +T cells ＞ 350/μL, the frequency of HIV-1 antigen specific CTL responses in HAART group was higher than that in non-HAART group (Z = -2. 819, P ＜0.05 ). In the HAART group, those receiving HAART more than 12 months were of higher frequency of HIV-1 antigen specific CTL responses ( Z =-2. 195, P ＜ 0. 05 ). Conclusion HAART especially long-term treatment may enhance HIV-1 specific CTL responses in HIV-1 infected individuals.

Objective To investigate the expression change of LRP16 in endometrial cancer tissues and its influence on the pro-liferation of human endometrial carcinoma HEC-1-B cells .Methods HEC-1-B cells were transfected with LRP16 .RT-PCR was used to examine the expression of LRP16 in 26 normal endometrium specimens ,10 endometrial cancer specimens .RT-PCR was used for verifying the transfection success .WES-T was used to observe the proliferation change of HEC-1-B cells .Results The positive expression rate and level of LRP16 mRNA in the endometrial cancer tissues were 83 .33% and 0 .82 ± 0 .21 ,which were significantly higher than 30 .00% ,0 .47 ± 0 .18 in the normal endometrium tissues(P<0 .05) .The RT-PCR detection results revealed that the expression of LRP16 mRNA after transfection was significantly increased .HEC-1-B cells in the transfection group could continued to proliferate in vitro ,but the proliferation capacity was not increased .Conclusion The expression abnormality of LRP16 may be closely related to the occurrence and progress of endometrial cancer ,LRP16 gene may have potential value for the endometrial canc-er gene therapy .

Objective To investigate the types of dysphagia after stroke (DAS) calling for neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and to explore the probable mechanisms of the treatment. Methods Sixty patients with DAS diagnosed by videofluoroscopie swallowing study (VFSS) were enrolled in this study. They were randomly divided into a treatment group (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). VFSS, misaspiration, laryngeal elevation, food residues and food intake scores of the two groups were evaluated and compared before and after 10 days of treat-ment. After that, both groups were divided into mild, moderate and severe sub-groups separately according to their VFSS scores. The VFSS scores of the six subgroups were then compared. Results There was no significant differ-ence between the two groups with regard to VFSS scores and misaspiration, laryngeal elevation, food residues, food intake scores before treatment. After 10 days of treatment, VFSS scores in the treatment group were significantly high-er than in the control group, and miaspiration and laryngeal elevation scores were significantly lower. There were no significant difference between the two groups in terms of food residues and food intake scores. The VFSS scores of pa-tients with moderate DAS in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group, but there was no significant difference between patients with mild and moderate DAS in the two groups. Conclusions NMES could be an effective treatment for DAS. NMES treatment is most effective for moderate DAS, but has no advantage in treating the mild cases. NMES may improve laryngeal elevation and decrease misaspiration.

Objective To evaluate the stability and biodistribution of a novel SPECT-MRI bi-functional agem 99Tcm-Gd-DTPA-DG in tumor-bearing nude mice. Methods DTPA-DG was synthesized and then conjugated with Gd2O3 to generate Gd-DTPA-DG. The tumor-bearing nude mice were scanned by MRI to evaluate the tumor targeting ability of Gd-DTPA-DG. The orthogonal experiment was applied to optimize pH value of reaction medium and reaction temperature. The radiolabeling efficiency was measured by thin layer chromatography. The distribution of 99Tcm-Gd-DTPA-DG in nude mice was evaluated by scintigrapy in vivo. The % ID/g was measured at different time after intravenous injection of 99Tcm-Gd-DTPA-DG. Results The tumor was significantly enhanced by Gd-DTPA-DG with MRI. The radiochemical purity of 99Tcm-Gd-DTPADG was about 98.5% and remained 96.2% at room temperature for 6 h. The tumor was well visualized by 99TcmGd-DTPA-DG SPECT at 2 h after injection. The tumor uptake was (1.48 ±0.12) %ID/g, and the rumor to muscle radioactivity ratio was 2.91. Conclusions MRI contrast of Gd-DTPA-DG may enhance tumor detection. 99Tcm-labeled Gd-DTPA-DG may be useful for tumor imaging and might have a potential role as a SPECT-MRI bi-functional agent.

OBJECTIVETo study the liver histopathological features of chronic HBV carriers and inactive HBsAg carriers.

METHODSLiver biopsies were performed on 189 chronic HBV carriers and 30 inactive HBsAg carriers (219 cases in total). All of them had a normal serum ALT value; they were then followed-up for more than 6 months. HBsAg and HBcAg were detected by immunohistochemistry. The circulating HBV DNA loads and serologic markers of HBV were examined at the same time. Grades of liver necrosis/inflammation and fibrosis were compared between the patients regarding their HBV DNA positivity or negativity. The relationships between the HBeAg positivity and degrees of liver histological changes were evaluated. The grades of liver necrosis/inflammation and fibrosis were compared between three age groups: younger than 18 years, 18-40, and older than 40 years.

RESULTSTwo hundred eight carriers of the total 219 (95.0%) had histological liver changes. Fifty percent (104/208) of them had mild histological changes (G0-1/S0-1), while more severe changes (G3-4 and/or S3-4) were found in 18 out of the 208. There were no significant differences in the grades of liver necrosis/inflammation and fibrosis between the chronic HBV carriers and the inactive HBsAg carriers. Among the serologic HBV DNA positive carriers, hepatic fibrosis was more severe in the HBeAg negative group than in the positive group (chi2 = 9.551, P = 0.008), but no differences of the necrosis/inflammation grades were seen between the two groups. The rate of severe fibrosis (S3-4) was 21.1% in those carriers older than 40 years but was 7.7% in patients younger than 18 years. However, no statistically significant differences in degrees of liver inflammation and fibrosis were found among the three age groups. HBcAg positive rate was 100% in the liver tissues of all the chronic HBV carriers, but only in 33.3% in the inactive HBsAg carriers.

CONCLUSIONSThe majority of our HBV carriers have liver inflammation and fibrosis. More severe histological changes were found in 8.65% of them. Liver fibrosis existed in the carriers with negative HBeAg and in those older than 40 years. HBcAg was found in hepatic tissues while their serological HBV DNA was negative.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Carrier State ; pathology ; virology ; Child ; Female ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B virus ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; pathology ; virology ; Humans ; Liver ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the color reappearance effect of metal-ceram restoration and foundry-ceram restoration using Crystaleye spectrophotometer.

METHODS58 metal-ceram restorations and 58 foundry-ceram restorations according to the result of the Crystaleye spectrophotometer were made respectively. The deltaE between restorations and natural teeth as referenced were analyzed. And satisfaction of dentists and patients were evaluated.

RESULTSThe deltaE between metal-ceram restorations and natural teeth was 7.13 +/- 0.74. The deltaE between foundry-ceram restorations and teeth was 1.47 +/- 0.84. There were statistical differences between the deltaE (P < 0.01). The satisnatural faction of dentists and patients to the foundry-ceram restorations were higher than to the metal-ceram restorations (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCrystaleye spectrophotometer can provide accurate reference for foundry-ceram restoration, but for metal-ceram restoration it is not accurate.

Color ; Humans ; Metals ; Spectrophotometry ; Tooth