OBJECTIVE:To study the effects of Thymalfasin for injection on the apoptosis of human lung cancer A549 cells. METHODS:After treated with 0(blank control),25,50,100,200 and 400 mg/L Thymalfasin for injection for 24,48 and 72 h, the cell proliferation inhibitory rate was analyzed with MTT and calculated. After treated with 0(blank control),50 and 100 mg/L Thymalfasin for injection for 48 h,cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry,and the expression of Caspase-3,Bcl-2 and Bax and the phosphorylation level of Akt were deteced by Western blot. RESULTS:Compared with blank control group,proliferation in-hibitory rate of A549 cells increased after treated with Thymalfasin for injection,in concentration and time-dependent manner(P<0.05). The apoptotic rate of A549 cells increased after treated with Thymalfasin for injection 50,100 mg/L for 48 h (P<0.05). The expression of Caspase-3 increased while the Bcl-2/Bax and phosphorylation level of Akt decreased in A549 cells after treated with Thymalfasin for injection 100 mg/L (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Thymalfasin for injection can inhibit the proliferation of A549 cells by activating Caspase-3,decreasing Bcl-2/Bax ratio,inhibiting Akt signal pathway and induce the apoptosis of A549 cells.

ObjectiveTo explore the treatment and economic burden of urine incontinence (UI) in the rural elderly,and provide evidences for preventive intervention.MethodsA cluster sampling was carried out in 743 people (aged 60 years and over) from 5 villages dominated by Yanliu and Dafengshang health centers,Jixian County,Tianjin from 2007 to 2008.The information about general state of health,treatment and economic burden of disease were analyzed. Results The prevalence of UI was 33.4％ (248 cases) among the 743 elderly people.Only 12 patients (4.8％) with UI ever visited community health-care service centers or hospitals for diagnosis and treatment,among whom only 1 case visited hospital within 1 year,8 cases during 1 to 5 years,and 3 cases over 5 years.And the method of treatment was all drug therapy.Among 248 cases with UI,there were 227 cases (91.5％) without any treatment,9 cases (3.6％) buying medicines by themselves.The direct cost for treatment of UI was 80-12000 yuan RMB,including 2 cases below 100 yuan RMB,2 cases 100-1000 yuan RMB,7 cases 1001-5000 yuan RMB and 1 case over 10000 yuan RMB. Conclusions Prevalence of UI is high while hospital-visiting rate is very low,and the financial burden of disease is serious,thus intervention measures for UI should be taken for the elderly people in rural areas of Jixian County,Tianjin.

AIM: To investigate the effect of Shexiang Baoxin Pill(SXBXP) on endothelial in stable angina pectoris patients and its underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Sixty-eight stable angina pectoris patients were randomly divided into two groups,the conventional group(34cases),SXBXP treatment group(34cases).The conventional group was treated with standard treatment,and SXBXP group was treated with standard treatment and SXBXP.FMD,NO,ET,TXB_2,6-Keto-PGF-1a were determined before and after three months treatment. RESULTS: FMD,NO,6-Keto-PGF-1a of SXBXP group were (9.35%?0.78%)、(77.25?6.36)?mmol/L、(93.87?(10.28))?/(ng/L) after treatment,ET、TXB_2 were(81.15?5.43) pg/mL、(43.02?4.19)?/(ng/L).There were significant improvement as compared with in SXBXP group before treatment and in conventional group after treatment(P

Objective To explore the status and economic burden of falls in elderly people living in an urban community and tO provide evidence for prevention of falls in the elderly. Methods A cross-section study was conducted in a community in Beijing.A total of 1512 persons aged 60 years and over were selected with stratified cluster sampling,and the data about falls within the past 12months,the consequences and the direct economic burden were collected by face-to-face interview.Results The overall incidence of falls was 18.0%within 1 year among 1512 interviewees.Of the participants,8.7%(131 cases)suffered from injuries of falls(143 times)and 77.6%(111 times)adopted the corresponding treatments.Direct economic burden caused by falls totaled 741.82 yuan per fall,including direct medical cost 650.77 yuan per fall,and 244.76 yuan per fall should be paid by the elderly themselves.In 143 times of falls,74.8%recovered and a few(5 cases)had complications and disability accordingly. Conclusions The incidence of fall in an urban elderly community of Beijing is high and will cause huge economic burden.

Objective To investigate the effect of multidisciplinary physician/nurse collaboration care mode in diagnosis and treatment of elderly patients with intertrochanteric fracture.Methods Clinical data of 433 elderly patients with intertrochanteric fracture treated from August 2011 to September 2013 were studied retrospectively.Among them,136 were diagnosed and treated using conventional methods (control group) and 297 using the multidisciplinary physician/nurse collaboration approach (collaboration group).Hospital stay,surgery rate,time from hospitalization and operation,and complications were compared between the two groups.Results Length of hospital stay [(14.8 ± 5.9) d] in collaboration group was not statistically different from that in control group [(16.0 ± 4.7) d,t =0.433,P ＞ 0.05],but surgery rate was improved (72.8％ vs 83.9％,x2 =7.212,P ＜ 0.05),time from hospitalization and operation shortened [(5.6 ± 2.9) d vs (6.9 ± 3.4) d,t =3.096,P ＜ 0.05],and perioperative complication rate reduced in collaboration group compared to control group (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Multidisciplinary physician/nurse collaboration mode is a novel method for diagnosis and treatment of intertrochanteric fracture in the elderly and is associated with improved surgery rate,reduced perioperative complications and early functional recovery.

Objective To investigate the characteristics and significance of atypical flow cytometric immunophenotype in plasma cell myeloma.Methods Using case-control study , 48 cases with atypical immunophenotype of plasma cell myeloma and 42 cases as control group were studied by flow cytometry , the former cases were classified into three groups according to the expression of CD 38, CD138, CD19, CD56 :CD38 +/CD138 +/CD19 +/CD56 +, CD38 +/CD138 +/CD19 +/CD56 -, CD38 +/CD138 +/CD19 -/CD56 -.And compare the three groups with intracellular immunoglobulin light chain (cKappa, cLambda) , bone marrow morphology and immunofixation.The positive rate was compared with chi-square test.Results Bone marrow plasma cells showed expression of particular antigens in the following proportion of the 48 cases:CD45 29.17%, CD38 100%, CD138 100%, CD19 95.83%, CD56 43.75%, cKappa 43.75%and cLambda 56.25%.And in the three groups , the expression of monoclonal immunoglobulin were 43.75%, 52.08%and 4.17%, which bone marrow morphology and immunofixation were 57.14%,80%, 100%and 71.43%,88%,100%.The positive rate of flow cytometry , bone marrow morphology and serum immunofixation electrophoresis were 100%, 70.83% and 81.25%.While the expression of particular antigens in the control group were:CD45 47.62%, CD38 100%, CD138 100%, CD19 100%, CD56 0%, cKappa 100% and cLambda 100%.And no abnormalities were detected in bone marrow morphology and immunofixation.Conclusions Compared with the bone marrow morphology and immunofixation , multiparameter flow cytometry has more helpful to find out atypical immune phenotype of plasma cell myeloma, and differentiate malignant and benign plasma cell , contributes to the diagnosis of clinical plasma cell myeloma, prognosis and treatment monitoring.

BACKGROUND:Osteoarthritis animal models induced by papain are commonly used for studying osteoarthritis.
OBJECTIVE:To observe the morphology of articular cartilage surface during early osteoarthritis process in rats induced by papain and L-cysteine under scanning electron microscope.
METHODS:The right knees of Sprague-Dawley rats were given 0.15 mL mixed solution of 2%papain and 0.03 mol/L L-cysteine in the ratio of 2:1. The left knees were given injections of 0.15 mL 0.9%NaCl, as the control group. Another two rats (four knees) maintained untreated, as the normal control group. Al the rats were observed with scanning electron microscope at 2, 4, 6 weeks after injection, to explore the surface morphology of medial condyle of femur.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The condyles of normal and control groups revealed numerous shal ow pits on the surface of articular cartilage. At 2 weeks after injection, the surfaces of condyles were unsmooth, presenting the shrinkage and distortion. The thinner articular cartilage and local tiny cracks were seen at 4 weeks. The deep and great cracks and cartilage defect were observed on the surface of cartilage at 6 weeks. The time of 4-6 weeks is a reference point for establishing early osteoarthritis model in rats through injections of 2%papain and 0.03 mol/L L-cysteine.

OBJECTIVETo study the mechanism of the cellular proteins involved in the process of replication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) negative-strand RNA.

METHODSUltraviolet (UV) cross-linking was used to identify the cellular proteins that would bind to the 3'-end of HCV negative-strand RNA. Competition experiment was used to confirm the specificity of this binding, in which excess nonhomologous protein and RNA transcripts were used as competitors. The required binding sequence was determined by mapping, then the binding site was predicted through secondary structure analysis.

RESULTSA cellular protein of 45 kD (p45) was found to bind specifically to the 3'-end of HCV negative-strand RNA by UV cross-linking. Nonhomologous proteins and RNA transcripts could not compete out this binding, whereas the unlabeled 3'-end of HCV negative-strand RNA could. Mapping of the protein-binding site suggested that the 3'-end 131-278nt of HCV negative-strand RNA was the possible protein-binding region. Analysis of RNA secondary structure presumed that the potential binding site was located at 194-GAAAGAAC-201.

CONCLUSIONThe cellular protein p45 could specifically bind to the secondary structure of the 3'-end of HCV intermediate negative-strand RNA, and may play an important role in HCV RNA replication.

Binding Sites ; Hepacivirus ; genetics ; Nucleic Acid Conformation ; RNA, Viral ; chemistry ; metabolism ; RNA-Binding Proteins ; analysis ; metabolism ; Virus Replication

Objective:To investigate the relationship between sarcopenia and chronic heart failure(CHF)in the elderly.Methods:In the retrospective study 365 patients aged≥65 years were randomly divided into the CHF group(n=168)and the non-CHF group(n=188). Skeletal muscle mass(ASM) body mass and skeletal muscle mass index(SMI)were measured and compared between the two groups. The correlation between sarcopenia and CHF in the elderly was analyzed.Results:ASM was(15.46±3.02)kg and SMI was(5.12±0.76)kg/m 2in the CHF group which were significantly lower than those in the non-CHF group[(19.87±2.45)kg and(7.23±0.79)kg/m 2 respectively each P<0.01]. The proportion of subjects with sarcopenia in the CHF group was higher than that in the non-CHF group [26.19%(44 cases) vs. 6.38%(12 cases), P<0.01]. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that age( OR=1.87, 95% CI: 1.132 to 2.285 P<0.05) CHF( OR=23.89, 95% CI: 5.394 to 98.842, P<0.01) gender( OR=20.43, 95% CI: 4.294 to 78.324, P<0.01) and body mass index( OR=23.43, 95% CI: 5.328 to 100.786, P<0.01)were risk factors for sarcopenia in elderly patients. Conclusions:CHF is associated with an increased incidence of sarcopenia in elderly patients.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of using the F4.8 Visual Puncture Micro-percutaneous nephrolithotomy to treat the female distal calculi associated with stricture.Methods:From June 2017 to December 2019, 32 female patients with distal ureteric calculi associated with stricture, aged(35.0±10.3) years ( range from 16 to 75 years)old, were enrolled into this retrospective study. They were diagnosed by colour doppler ultrasound, IVU(intravenous Urography), or CT, et al. The average stone size was (13.0±3.6)mm in diameter(range from 3 to 20 mm), and the stone obstruction duration was from 2 to 35 days, with average of(5±17) days. Twenty-seven cases were on the unilateral ureter and 5 cases were on the bilateral ureters. There were 17 cases undergoing ESWL 2 weeks before. Six cases of stone diameter less than 6 mm were administered medical therapy for more than 7 days. All the 32 case underwent ureteroscopic lithotripsy but failed because of the ureter stricture. They all suffered from hydronephrosis, with the diameter of renal collecting system from 15 to 45 mm, with(23±15)mm on average. The lithotomy position was taken, and the F4.8 Visual Micro-percutaneous nephrolithotomy using 0.9% Sodium chloride was applied to enter into ureter through urethra. There were 21 cases of ureter orifice stricture, including 8 cases associated with avulsion or perforation, 9 cases associated with intramural ureter abnormality and stricture, the zebra guidewire being failed to enter. The F4.8 Visual Micro-percutaneous nephrolithotomy cooperated with water pressure modulation was used to flush and open the ureter orifice and intramural ureter for entering. Holmium lase was used for lithotripsy. Two cases stone were infective and obstructed seriously. F4.8 Visual Micro-percutaneous nephrolithotriptor entered the ureter and destroyed the stones, and the stone fragments were discharged. Stone migrated upward and escaped occurred in 1 case, then the zebra guidewire was indwelled and ureteroscope was used for lithotripsy successfully. All cases were indewelled F4.7 doubld-J tube and urethral catheter after operation.Result:All the 32 patients underwent lithotripsy successful by one-stage. The operation time was 15-43 min [averaged (35.0±8.7)min]. All patients were recovered and discharged 4-7(averaged 5.3) days after operation. Three patients occured fever, T>38.5℃, and they recovered by using sensitive antibiotics according to the blood and urine culture. No severe complications occurred, such as ureteral perforation or extravasation. All patients were reviewed by ultrasound and KUB 3 days after operation, finding 24 cases with stone free, and 8 cases of a little residual stone, with the stone free rate of 75%. One month later, ultrasound and IVU was performed, and no residual stone was detected, with the stone free rate of 100%. The hydronephrosis alleviated by varying degrees. The diameter of the renal collecting system was from 0 to 35 mm, with(12±9)mm on average. The IVU showed the ureter was unobstructed. Conclusions:The F4.8 Visual Micro-percutaneous nephrolithotomy is safe and effective for the female distal calculi associated with stricture, when routine ureteroscopic lithotripsy failed.