This paper introduces the development and application of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scales in research on coronary heart disease (CHD). Currently, the scales for CHD patients have been more systematically developed and widely used in foreign countries, while domestically in China, they are developed successfully but problematically; research in this field has started later and the scales introduced are limited and not suitable for the entire range of domestic CHD patients. Thus, this paper introduces 26 HRQOL scales in research on CHD, including five generic scales, ten disease-specific scales from abroad and eleven scales originating from China. With the deficiency of HRQOL scales, especially that in traditional Chinese medicine and specific scales, this paper analyzes and summarizes the problems existing in development of scales. The authors also provide solutions in order to help the development and application of scales in further studies.

The mucous barrier is a major physiological obstacle that the mucosal drug delivery system needs to deal with. In response to this physiological barrier, many achievements have been made in research of mucosal adhesion and mucus penetration. This review puts emphasis on the progress of the research on new mucosal adhesion strategies such as cationization, sulfhydrylization, maleimide functionalization, lectinization and catechol conjugation; polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), poly (2-alkyl-2-oxazoline) (POZ), zwitterionic polymers and other mucus-inert materials, strategies to enhance mucus penetration ability such as enzyme functionalization, reducing agent pretreatment and so on. The problems of each strategy are also analyzed and discussed, which can provide some references for clinical transformation.

Objective To investigate the effects of levofloxacin,ciprofloxacin,ceftazidime,pip-eracillin,cefoperazone/sulbactam,erythromycin,sulfamethoxazole and gentamycin on the bacterial biofilms of Stenotrophomonas mahophilia.Methotis Biofilm and conventional susceptibilities were determined for S.maltophilia isolates from 42 patients.The model of S.maltophilia biofflms in vitro was developed in the Mueller-Hinton broth--micmtiter inoculator or silica films.After antibiotic challenge plate 20 h,each plate was sonicated and the absorbance value at 620 nm(A620)was measured on a microtiter plate colorimeter be-fore and after incubation for 6 h.Then the biofilm inhibitory concentrations were calculated.Finally,based on the acquired data.the experiments of combinafion effects of erythromycin with the 3 antibiotic agents on the formed biofilms of 5 picked strains were designed and worked out.Results The sensitive rate of 42 S.maltaphilia to levofloxacin.sulfamethoxazole and piperacillin were 83.33%,66.67%and 54.76%,re-spectively.The bilfilm inhibitory concentrations were much higher than the corresponding minimal inhibitory concentrateion after formed biofflms.Conclusion Forty-two S.maltophilia are multi-resistant to antibiotic agent.And levofioxacin may have a better effect against biofilms compared with others.The inhibition effect of combination erythromycin with levofloxacin is more obvious among all the 3 antibiotic agents.

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of apoptosis inhibitory protein, Livin and Smac,in pancreatic carcinoma. Methods The expressions of Livin and Smac protein in 46 cases of pancreatic carcinoma tissues and 15 cases of insulinoma tissues and 14 cases of normal pancreatic tissues were examined by using immunohistochemical SP staining, and its relationship with clinicopathological parameters was analyzed. Results The positive expression rates of Llivin protein were 73.9％ ( 34/46),73.3％ (11/15) and 14.3％ (2/14) in pancreatic carcinoma, insulinoma and normal pancreatic tissue. Livin was highly expressed in pancreatic carcinoma and insulinoma, but there was no significant difference between the two groups, however, both were significantly higher than that in normal pancreatic tissues group ( P ＜ 0.05 ). The expression of Livin was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, histopathological grading and clinical staging (P ＜ 0.05 or P ＜0.01 ). The positive expression rates of Smac protein were 39.1％ (18/46), 100％ ( 15/15 ) and 92.9％ (13/14) in pancreatic carcinoma, insulinoma and normal pancreatic tissue. Smac was highly expressed in normal pancreatic tissues and insulinoma, but there was no significant difference between the two groups, however, both were significantly higher than that in pancreatic cancer group (P ＜ 0.05 ). The expression rote of Smac protein was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, histopathological grading, chnical staging and patients' age (P ＜0.05 or P ＜0.01 ).Conclusions Livin protein may play an important role in genesis and development of pancreatic carcinoma,but Smac protein may play a role in preventing the development of pancreatic carcinoma.

To explore the relationship of mieroglia activation,motoneuronal loss in the ventral horn of spinal cord and sciatic nerve regen-eration after the sciatic nerve injury,Sprague-Dawley rats were prepared a modal of the fight sciatic nerve crash injury.The immunoreactiv-ity(-ir)ofmicroglia and number of the motoneurons inthe ventral horn of spinal cord were detected at 3 and7 days,light and electron mi-croscopic detection of sciatic nerve degeneration and regeneration were performed at 4 weeks after the nerve injury.The results showed:(1)At 3 days after the sciatic nerve injury,OX-42-irinthe ventral horn of spinal cord begantoincrease significantly(P<0.05);(2)The number ratio of motoneurons in ventral horn of spinal cord in ipsilateral to contralateral for injury decreased markedly(P<0.05),in-dicating the numbers of ipsilateral motoneuroanl survival decreased;(3)Histological assessment showed the poor regeneration of the in-jured nerves;(4)Simvastatin(an inhibitor of cholesterol biosynthesis,having potential immunomodulatory capacities)facilitated the mi-eroglial activation.the motoneuronal survival and sciatic nerve regeneration were better than non-simvastatin-treated vehicle rats.The pres-ent results suggest that mieroglia activation in the ventral horns ofthe spinal cord may play an important protective role in the nerve regener-ation after peripheral nerve injury of the rat.

The water-soluble polypeptide drug oxytocin was encapsulated in liposomes by reverse-phase evaporation vesicle method to obtain oxytocin loaded liposomes (OT@LPs) which was further modified with cationic cell penetrating peptide—arginine octamer (R8) to get R8 modified oxytocin loaded liposomes (OT@LPs-R8) which showed enhanced mucoadhesive. The brain targeting efficiency was evaluated preliminarily after nasal administration. OT@LPs-R8 showed a round shape with a particle size distribution of 110.2 ± 7.3 nm, a surface potential as high as +18 mV, a drug loading (62.17 ± 1.88) %, an encapsulation rate (5.85 ± 0.72) %, and stood stable in nasal mucus. After nasal administration, it could significantly prolong the retention and enhance the distribution in the brain with no irritation to the nasal mucosa. The animal experiment in line with the regulations of the Department of Laboratory Animal Science of Fudan University on the ethics of animal experiments had been carried out after passing the review of the Animal Ethics Committee of Fudan University. The results showed nasal administration of OT@LPs-R8 could promote oxytocin directly into the brain from the nose which expected to become a new carrier for delivery of oxytocin to the brain.

Tetanic stimulation of the sciatic nerve (TSS) induces long-term potentiation (LTP) of both C- and A-fiber-evoked field potentials in the spinal dorsal horn and long-lasting mechanical allodynia in rats. Though central mechanisms underlying those phenomena have been well studied, peripheral mechanisms still remain poorly known. Nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) is an important transcription factor. In the spinal cord, NFκB plays a key role in regulating the expression of numerous pro-inflammation factors and contributes to glial activation in central nervous system, suggesting the involvement of spinal NFκB in central sensitization. To address whether NFκB in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) participates in peripheral sensitization, we examined NFκB expression in the DRG and the effect of inhibiting NFκB activation on neuropathic pain using behavior test, Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical approaches. The results showed that TSS induced long-lasting mechanical allodynia in bilateral hind paws and increased phospho-NFκB expression in the bilateral DRG. The activated NFκB mainly expressed in nuclei not only of neurons, but also of Schwann cells and satellite glial cells. Moreover, NFκB inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) significantly alleviated TSS-induced allodynia. Our results suggest that peripheral NFκB may be involved in TSS-induced neuropathic pain, and provide new evidence for the peripheral mechanism of 'mirror pain'.
Animals ; Ganglia, Spinal ; metabolism ; Hyperalgesia ; physiopathology ; Long-Term Potentiation ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Neuroglia ; metabolism ; Pain Measurement ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Schwann Cells ; metabolism ; Sciatic Neuropathy ; physiopathology ; Signal Transduction ; Spinal Cord ; metabolism

Objective:To establish an experimental model for intracellular antibacteria and endotoxin neutralization in vitro to detect the antibacterial and endotoxin neutralization activity of the muBPI_(25) protein.Methods: RAW264.7 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.1(+)muBPI_(36-259), and then were infected with intracellular bacterial of either G ~+/G~-to establish the experimental model of intracellalar antibacteria.The RAW264.7 cells were co-transfected with the pSecTag2B-muBPI_(36-259) and dual-luciferase reporter gene plasmids for establishment of the experimental model of endotoxin neutralization.Results:The experimental model of intracellular antibacteria confirmed that the muBPI_(25) protein could inhibit/kill Salmonella typhi.The experimental model of endotoxin neutralization indicated that the muBPI_(25) protein could neutralize endotoxin.Conelusion: We firstly demonstrate that murine BPI N-terminal functional fragment(muBPI_(25) protein)can inhibit/kill Salmonella typhi,and can neutralize, its lysating product, endotoxin.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the "window" surgical exposure strategy of the upper anterior cervical retropharyngeal approach for the exposure and decompression and instrumentation of the upper cervical spine.

METHODSFrom Jan. 2000 to July 2008, 5 patients with upper cervical spinal injuries were treated by surgical operation included 4 males and 1 female with and average age of 35 years old ranging from 16 to 68 years. There were 2 cases of Hangman's fractures (type II ), 2 of C2.3 intervertebral disc displacement and 1 of C2 vertebral body tuberculosis. All patients underwent the upper cervical anterior retropharyngeal approach through the "window" between the hypoglossal nerve and the superior laryngeal nerve and pharynx and carotid artery. Two patients of Hangman's fractures underwent the C2,3 intervertebral disc discectomy, bone graft fusion and internal fixation. Two patients of C2,3 intervertebral disc displacement underwent the C2,3 intervertebral disc discectomy, decompression bone graft fusion and internal fixation. One patient of C2 vertebral body tuberculosis was dissected and resected and the focus and the cavity was filled by bone autografting.

RESULTSC1 anterior arch to C3 anterior vertebral body were successful exposed. Lesion resection or decompression and fusion were successful in all patients. All patients were followed-up for from 5 to 26 months (means 13.5 months). There was no important vascular and nerve injury and no wound infection. Neutral symptoms was improved and all patient got successful fusion.

CONCLUSIONThe "window" surgical exposure surgical technique of the upper cervical anterior retropharyngeal approach is a favorable strategy. This approach strategy can be performed with full exposure for C1-C3 anterior anatomical structure, and can get minimally invasive surgery results and few and far between wound complication, that is safe if corresponding experience is achieved.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cervical Vertebrae ; diagnostic imaging ; injuries ; surgery ; Female ; Fractures, Bone ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pharynx ; Spinal Fusion ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

The aim of this study was aimed to investigate the molecular genetic basis for a novel HLA allele, HLA-B*4061, in Chinese population. DNA was extracted from whole blood by salting-out method. The HLA-B exons 1 - 8 of the proband was amplified and the amplified product was cloned using TOPO TA cloning sequencing kit to split the two alleles apart. Both strands of exons 2, 3 and 4 of chosen colonies were sequencing. The PCR-SSP was performed to confirm the mutations detected by sequencing. The sequencing results showed HLA-B alleles of the proband as B*4601 and the novel allele. The sequences of the novel allele have been submitted to GenBank (DQ089628, DQ089629, DQ089630). After HLA blast analysis, the novel allele showed a single nucleotide mismatch with B*400101 in exon 2 at position 272 C-->A, as the results, changing amino acid from Ser to Tyr at codon 67. It is concluded that this allele is a novel one and has been officially named B*4061 by the WHO Nomenclature Committee.
Alleles ; Amino Acid Substitution ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; China ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; immunology ; Histocompatibility Testing ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid