Objective:Comparing the effect of different doses of simvastatin in lowering the serum lipid.Methods:79 patients were randomized into group A and group B,and were given simvastatin 10 mg*d-1 (group A) and 20 mg*d-1 (group B),respectively for a total of 8 weeks.Results:Comparing with baseline,in group A,TC,TG,LDL-C were decreased by 23.4%,20.0% and 30.7%,respectively (P＜0.01); HDL-C was increased by 17.5%.The content of serum TC,TG and LDL-C was decreased to the normal range in 12.8%,28.2% and 15.4% of the patients in group A.For the group B,TC,TG,LDL-C were decreased by 32.7%,22.8% and 42.8%,respectively (P＜0.01); HDL-C was increased by 13.7%.The content of serum TC,TG and LDL-C was decreased to the normal range in 65.0%,57.5% and 65.0% of the group B patients.Conclusion:Oral intake of 20 mg of simvastatin once a day can effectively reduce the serum lipid.The patients can well tolerate and no obvious side effect was observed in our study.

According to the requirement of simulated actual combat,based on the traditional contents of sanitary reconnaissance of water source,this paper introduced some practical knowledge and skills in drinking water under emergency,including water source search,utilization,drinking principles and some measures to reduce the loss of body water.These practices enriched and consum- mated the subject of sanitary reconnaissance of water source.

OBJECTIVEThe present study was undertaken to design antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (AS-ODNs) of glial glutamate transporter-la (GLT-1a) and to evaluate the effectiveness of the designed AS-ODNs on the expression of GLT-1a.

METHODSFive sequences of GLT-1a AS-ODNs were designed according to the C terminus specific sequences of GLT-1a mRNA using antisense design software of IDT Com- pany. Western blot analysis was used to evaluate the inhibition effects of the five GLT-1a AS-ODNs on the expression of GLT-la.

RESULTSThe sequence of GLT-1a AS-ODNs with sequence of 5'-GGTTCTTCCTCAACACTGCA-3' could specifically inhibit the expression of GLT-1a in the hippocampal CA1 subfield of rats, while it had no effect on the expression of GLT-1b. This sequence showed similar inhibition on the expression of GLT-la in sham and ceftriaxone (Cef)-treated rats. It could also significantly inhibit the cerebral ischemic preconditioning (CIP)-induced up-regulation in the expression of GLT-1a. The magnitude of the inhibition in sham, Cef- or CIP-treated rats was similar by more than 60%.

CONCLUSIONFrom the designed five sequences of GLT-1a AS-ODNs, we obtained an effective sequence which can specifically inhibit the expression of GLT-1a.

Animals ; CA1 Region, Hippocampal ; metabolism ; Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2 ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; Ischemic Preconditioning ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; Rats ; Up-Regulation

·AIM: To detect the effect of CTGF on the apoptosis in the diabetic retina with small interfering RNAs (siRNA) targeting with CTGF. ·METHODS: A total of 60 rats were divided into six groups including control group, diabetic 4,8,12,16 weeks group, and interference group. Diabetic rats were induced by STZ intra-peritoneal. At 4, 8, 12, 16 weeks after diabetic setting up, retinas were obtained from control, diabetic rats and diabetic animals treated by intravitreal injection of CTGFsiRNA to suppress the expression of CTGF mRNA. Retinal cells apoptosis was detected by Tunnel staining and mRNA expression of CTGF was analyzed by RT-PCR.·RESULTS: The levels of CTGF and the apoptosis in the retinas of diabetic rats were significantly higher than those in the controls. Apoptosis occurred at 4 weeks after a diabetic model setting up, became serious with the diabetes developing, while CTGF elevated at 8 weeks. The cell apoptosis counts increased to 25.8cells/mm2 at 24 weeks of diabetes. SiRNA-mediated inhibition of CTGF mRNA resulted in a significant decrease in apoptosis. Significant correlations were found between CTGF and apoptosis in the retina.·CONCLUSION: These results suggest that CTGF might be involved in retinal cells apoptosis which is a characteristic of early diabetic retina. siRNA targeting CTGF seems to have the advantage of ameliorating retinal cells lost.

To determine whether the pathological changes caused by injury to the spinal cord can be correlated with values obtained by the Magnetic Motor Evoked Potential (MEPs) technique, we studied spinal cords from 41 adult cats who were divided into 4 groups. The groups ranged from normal cats whose spinal cords were not compressed, to slightly, moderately and severely injured. MEPs were recorded before compression and in 30 minutes, 6 hours, 1 week, 2 week and 4 week after the compression unit was installed. Pathological changes with increased pressure were seen in blood vessels, nerve cells and fibers, Nissl substance and the central canal. A reversal of pathological changes was observed in slight or moderate injury during the 4 weeks of the experiment. Extensive injury, however, caused irreversible changes in the nerve cells with loss of motor function. The latency of MEPs at 30 minutes and 6 hours in the slightly injured group was 0.37 and 0.38 times greater than the baseline and returned to normal levels in 4 weeks. In the moderately injured group, the latency was increased 0.77 and 0.81 times and in the severely injured 1.32 and 1.36 times over the baseline. Recovery in the second group was partial and not at all in the severely injured. Thus, there appears to be good correlation between observed pathological changes, motor functions and MEPs.

Objective To improve the diagnosis and treatment of ureteral cancer. Methods A retrospective analysis of 24 cases of primary ureteral cancer treated from January 1990 to March 2005 was performed.The diagnostic value of ultrasound,IVU,CT,MRU and the patients' outcomes were reviewed. There were 19 males and 5 females aged 38-72 years(mean,59 years).The tumors were on the left side in 16 cases and on the right in 8.Of the 24 cases,17(71%)had gross hematuria and 7(29%)had micro- scopic hematuria.Urine cytology was performed in 16 cases with a positive rate of 6.3%.B-ultrasonic exami- nation showed hydronephrosis in 19 cases(79%)and low-echo space-occupying disease of middle-inferior ureter in 3(12%).IVU demonstrated hydronephrosis in 20 cases(83%)and filling defect of the diseased ureter in 3(12%).Retrograde pyelography showed filling defect of the diseased ureter in 16(76%)of 21 cases(5 cases had failure of intubation).CT scan was performed in 20 cases,indicating thickening of the ureteral wall and infiltration of the cancer in 14(70%).In 3 cases who had undergone spiral CT thin layer scan and 1 of 3 cases who had undergone MRU,the definite diagnosis was made.Results All the 24 pa- tients underwent surgical treatment.Among them,nephroureterectomy and bladder cuff or partial resection were performed in 18 cases,and nephrectomy and partial ureterectomy in 6 cases.Postoperative pathology showed transitional cell carcinoma in 23 cases,and adenoma in 1.Of the 14 cases during 1990-1999 peri- od,1,5,3,2,2 and 1 cases had survival time of 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 years,respectively.Of the 10 cases during 2000-2005 period,3 were lost to follow-up;2 survived for 3 years and 2,for 1 year;the other 3 who have survived near 5 years have been followed till now.Conclusions IVU and retrograde urography are the most common diagnostic measures for primary ureteral cancer.They can be used in combination with other imaging study to reduce missed diagnosis rate.The 5-year survival rate was lower because of late pathologic stage of the tumors in the patients of this series.

Aim To explore the effect of genetic poly-morphisms of POR on the stable warfarin maintenance doses in Han Chinese patients receiving mechanical heart valve replacement. Methods The association between POR gene polymorphisms and warfarin doses of 185 Han Chinese patients were investigated through ANOVA or t test. SNPs of POR and VKORC1 were de-tected by Sequenom? DNA MassArray genotyping method. CYP2C9*3 was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method ( PCR-RFLP ) . Patients ’ clinical characteris-tics, INR value and daily dose were obtained from their medical records. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS 21. 0 software. Results No mutant carriers of POR rs17148944 , POR rs56256515 and rs72553971 were found in this study. The genotype frequencies of other SNPs were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg e-quilibrium. In the group of patients with CYP2C9*1*1 , the mutant type carriers ( T carriers ) of POR rs17685 had a significantly higher dose than CC carri-ers(3. 50 ± 1. 07) mg·d-1 vs (3. 14 ± 0. 94) mg· d-1,P =0. 03. Also, in the group of patients with CYP2 C9*1*1 and VKORC1 rs9934438 G allele carri-ers, the mutant type carriers ( T carriers ) of POR rs17685 had a significantly higher dose than CC carri-ers(4. 76 ± 0. 90) mg·d-1 vs (4. 08 ± 1. 03) mg· d-1 ,P=0. 04. No significant difference was found in different genotypes of POR rs2868177 . Conclusion These results illustrate that POR rs17685 T carrier is closely associated with a higher warfarin maintenance dose, suggesting that this SNP is useful for clinical guidance of warfarin.

Objective To understand how serum DHEAS levels change with sex,age and stage of sexual maturation in children and adolescents and explore the relationship between adrenarche and pubertal maturatiotL Methods Serum samples from 120 healthy boys,198 healthy girls and 152 girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP) were examined for DHEAS.Referenee ranges for healthy children and adolescents and statistical difierences between heahhy girls and ICPP girls were analyzed with respect to sex,age and stage of sexual maturation.Results Both healthy children and ICPP girls showed extremely low levels of serum DHEAS and they were not related to sex.age or tanner stages in the individuals below age of 6 years.Serum DHEAS levels were positively related to both age (above age of 6 years)and tanner stage in healthy groups(r=0.69 and 0.71 respectively,P＜0.01).After the onset of puberty,serum DHEAS levels appeared to be higher in boys than that in girls within the same tanner stage(P＜0.05).Within the individusis in the same age group with same sex.serum DHEAS levels increased along with pubertal development.While within the individuals in same tanner stage group with salne sex after puberty onset.serum DHEAS levels showed no significant difference among different age groups.For example.there was no difference in serum DHEAS levels of healthy girls in tanner stage Ⅲ among different age subgroups(age of8-9;age of 10-11,age of 12-13)and the mean vallie of serum DHEAS was 532.0-557.8μg/L(F=0.21,P=0.98).In different age subgroups above age of 6 years,Z scores for serum DHEAS in ICPP girls were highher than them healthy ones with advanced tanner stages(0.97us-0.1 and 1.39us-0.08,JP≤0.01)In different tanner stage subgroups.Z scores for serum DHEAS showed no difierence between healthy and ICPP girls despite apparent different age ranges(0.00 us-0.31-0.18,P＞0.05).Conclusions Serum DHEAS level increased along with both age (above 6 years) and tanner stage in healthy children and adolescents.There was no gender difference until the onset of puberty.It was demonstrated that adrenache and gonadarche were related to each other.Reference ranges for adolescents should be interpreted according to sex.age and tanner stage simultaneously.

Objective To study the effects of urinary kallidinogenase (kallikrein) on focal cerebral blood flow (CBF) following cerebral infarction in rats by laser speckle imaging.Methods Permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by the intraluminal filament technique.Laser speckle imaging was used to measure CBF in the ischemic cortical area and middle cerebral artery territory.The brain was stained with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) to determine the infarct size.Neurological deficit score was measured.Results CBF increased in both hemispheric cortical area and MCA territory on the first and second days following urinary kallikrein administration at high dose but not at low dose.Larger blood vessel diameter and increased blood flow velocity were noticed in the high dose group in some arteries when compared to the low dose group and normal saline control group.At 36 h after cerebral ischemia,the brain infarct size was 10.14% ±3.02% ,25.99% ±3.90% and 27.10% ±3.32% in high, low dose and normal saline control groups,respectively.The infarct size was significantly smaller in the high ( F = 61.14, P<0.01 ) but not low dose group when compared to the normal saline control group.The neurological deficit was milder in the high dose group but not the other two groups at 4 h after cerebral ischemia; however, there were no differences among the groups at 36 h after MCAO.Conclusions Urinary kallidinogenase can reduce cerebral infarction volume and neurological deficit in rats following focal cerebral ischemia.These effects may be attributed to enhanced collateral circulation and improved CBF in the hemispheric cortical area and MCA territory.

Objective To explore the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus among Chinese Takayasu arteritis (TAK) patients. Methods This was a single center, prospective study of active TAK patients treated with tacrolimus. Clinical manifestations, white blood cell count, hemoglobin level, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), hypersensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP), alanine and aspartate aminotransferase and serum creatinine were recorded before and during tacrolimus treatment. Vascular changes were repeated every 6 months during tacrolimus treatment. All data were analyzed by statistical product and service solutions (SPSS) 20.0 statistical software, unpaired t test and Fisher exact probability and Kruskal-Wallis H test were used for statistical analysis. Results A total of 19 consecutive patients with an average age of (26 ±6) years were analyzed in this study. Sixteen of them were women. Pulselessness, fatigue, asymmetric blood pressure and fever were the most common clinical findings. Cervical and subclavian artery were more vulnerable. The most common artery involvement pattern was Numano type Ⅰ, followed by type Ⅱa and type Ⅴ. The median tacrolimus dosage was 2(2, 3) mg. Tacrolimus was effective in 9 out of the 19 patients. Patients who responded to tacrolimus tended to have lower mean ESR [(33±29) mm/1 h vs (42±20) mm/1 h, t=-0.776, P=0.448] and hsCRP [(20 ±31) mg/L vs (54 ±45) mg/L, t=-1.758, P=0.099] levels. However, no statistical significance was observed. During tacrolimus treatment, no drug related side effect was observed. Conclusion Tacrolimus is an alternative and effective therapy for some of the TAK patients.