OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to investigate the feature of D(L)CO (Diffusion Lung Capacity for Carbon Monoxide) in CHF (left ventricular heart failure) patients, underlying pathophysiological mechanism and clinical significance.

METHODSWe retrospectively studied the D(L)CO, pulmonary ventilation function, cardiopulmonary exercise testing and related clinical information in severer HF patients.

RESULTSPeak VO2 severely decreased to 34 ± 7 percentage of predicted(%pred) and anaerobic threshold to 48 ± 11%pred in all patients. D(L)CO moderately decreased to 63 ± 12%pred and there were 25 patients lower than 80%pred. FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC and TLC were 75 ± 14%pred, 71 ± 17%pred, 97 ± 11%pred, and 79 ± 13%pred, which indicated borderline or mild restrictive ventilatory dysfunction. The decrease of D(L)CO was more severe than those of TLC, FEV1 and FVC.

CONCLUSIONFor patients with severe CHF, cardiopulmonary exercise function is extremely limited, D(L)CO generally moderately declines and ventilation function is merely mildly limited. D(L)CO is the parameter for cardiopulmonary coupling, reflecting limitation of the cardiovascular dysfunction while without ventilatory limit.

Blood Gas Analysis ; Heart Failure ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of recipient derived bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) on immunological rejection in mouse allogeneic skin transplantation.

METHODSThe C57BL/6 to BALB/c allogeneic skin transplantation model was created. The bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) were isolated from BALB/c by gradient density centrifugation and adhesion separation. The BMSCs were injected back through tail vein. The mouse were divided into three groups as group A (BALB/c + BMSCs), group B (BALB/c with skin transplantation), and group C (BALB/c with skin transplantation + BMSCs). The pathologic examination of the graft was performed and the cytokines such as IL-2, IFN-gamma were detected at the different time.

RESULTSThe attained BMSCs in the experiment had the characteristics of BMSCs. The acute immunological rejection reaction detected by immunohistochemistry staining was alleviated noticeably in group C than that in group B. The concentrations of cytokines IL-2, IFN-gamma in group B were lower than that in group C at 7 d (F = 248,954.6, P < 0.05; F = 148,311.7, P < 0.05) and 14 d (F = 117,372.3, P < 0.05; F = 126,743.3, P < 0.05) after skin transplantation.

CONCLUSIONSRecipient derived BMSCs transfusion can alleviate the acute immunological rejection after allogeneic skin transplantation. The possible mechanism maybe related to the inhibitory effect on the secretion of cytokines like IL-2, IFN-gamma.

Animals ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Female ; Graft Rejection ; Interferon-gamma ; metabolism ; Interleukin-2 ; metabolism ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Skin Transplantation ; Stromal Cells ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo study the correlation between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression in peripheral lung cancer.

METHODSThe expression of PCNA was detected by means of SABC immunohistochemistry in 45 cases of surgically and pathologically confirmed peripheral lung cancer. The correlation between PCNA expression in the tumors and the MRI findings was analyzed.

RESULTSPCNA expression was correlated to the differentiation, tumor size, lobulation, and mediastinal lymph node metastasis of the tumors (P<0.05), but not to the histological type, clinical stage, pleural retraction, spiculation, or signal feature.

CONCLUSIONCorrelations are found between MRI findings of lung cancer and abnormal expression of PCNA.

Adenocarcinoma ; pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lung Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo develop a novel scaffolding method for the copolymers poly lactide-co-glycolide acid (PLGA) to construct a three-dimensional (3-D) scaffold and explore its biocompatibility through culturing Schwann cells (SCs) on it.

METHODSThe 3-D scaffolds were made by means of melt spinning, extension and weaving. The queueing discipline of the micro-channels were observed under a scanning electronic microscope (SEM).The sizes of the micropores and the factors of porosity were also measured. Sciatic nerves were harvested from 3-day-old Sprague Dawley (SD) rats for culture of SCs. SCs were separated, purified, and then implanted on PLGA scaffolds, gelatin sponge and poly-L-lysine (PLL)-coated tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) were used as biomaterial and cell-supportive controls, respectively. The effect of PLGA on the adherence, proliferation and apoptosis of SCs were examined in vitro in comparison with gelatin sponge and TCPS.

RESULTSThe micro-channels arrayed in parallel manners, and the pore sizes of the channels were uniform. No significant difference was found in the activity of Schwann cells cultured on PLGA and those on TCPS (P larger than 0.05), and the DNA of PLGA scaffolds was not damaged.

CONCLUSIONThe 3-D scaffolds developed in this study have excellent structure and biocompatibility, which may be taken as a novel scaffold candidate for nerve-tissue engineering.

Animals ; Biocompatible Materials ; Cell Adhesion ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Separation ; Cells, Cultured ; Lactic Acid ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Polyglycolic Acid ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Schwann Cells ; cytology ; Tissue Engineering ; methods ; Tissue Scaffolds

Objective To study the influence on the tumor after percutaneous intra-tumor injection of ~(32)P-GMS in liver cancer as well as its suitable dose.Methods 24 New Zealand rabbits were used to establish the animal model of VX-2 liver cancer,and divided into A,B,C and D groups with individually 37,74,111 and 148 MBq of ~(32)P-GMS being injected,respectively;and then pathological changes of tumor were observed by light and electron microscope respectively.Result The dose of ~(32)P-GMS was obviously correlated with the radioactivity damage of tumor cells.In the A and B groups,the tumor cells were not observed to disappear completely after injection of ~(32)P-GMS,but in C group,tumor cells were almost completely disappeared and surrounded by a lot of connective tissue.Although the tumor cells were found to disappear completely in D group,normal liver tissues were also involved.Conclusion Percutaneous intra-tumor injection of ~(32)P-GMS with suitable dose that may induce the tumor tissue to be maximally damaged and may also provide some significances to prevent the tumor metastasis.

Objective To study the clinical diagnostic value of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery(HAIR)pulse sequence in low-field MR for the acute myelitis.Methods Fifty-two healthy controls and 33 patients with acute myelitis were imaged with TIWI,T2WI and FLAIR imaging in a 0.5T superconducting MR SCalHler,and among them,23 patients were imaged with TlMI after the injection of Gd-DTPA.The detectable abilities of lesions with FLAIR and TSE-T2W1 were compared.Results The FLAIR imaging showed 33 lesions(100%),but the TSE-T2WI only showed 23 lesions (69.7%)inthe 33 cases;32 lesions were clear with FLAIR in demonstrating the border of lesions,and 13 lesions with TSE-T2WI Therefore,the FLAIR sequence were superior to TSE-T2WI in demonstrating the border of lesions and displaying the lesions(P<0.01).Conclusion FLAIR is a very useful sequence in the low-field MR for the acute myelitis.and it should be used as a routine diagnostic method for the acute myelitis.

Objective To investigate the neurotoxic effects ofLDN-57444, a specific ubiquitin C-termiual hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) inhibitor, on dopaminergic neurons and the possible mechanism. Methods The viability of SK-N-SH cells exposed to 5, 10, 25, 50, 75 or 100 μmol/L LDN-57444 for 24 h was assessed using MTT assay, and the cell apoptosis was detected with Hoechst staining. Western blot was performed to identify the expressions of UCH-L1 protein, ubiquitin monomer and polyubiquitinated proteins, and the activity of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) was evaluated with fluorometry. Results After exposure to UCH-LI inhibitor for 24 h, the cell process-like structures of SK-N-SH cells diminished, and the cell body shrank and became spherical. Exposure to LDN-57444 resulted in concentration-dependent reduction of the cell viability, and the reduction became statistically significant following the exposure to 50 μmol/L LDN-57444, as compared with that in the control group (P<0.05). The exposure also resulted in obvious cell apoptosis as shown by nuclear fragmentation and presence of the apoptotie bodies. Western blot detected no obvious changes in UCH-L1 protein expression but identified reduced ubiquitin monomer and increased polyubiquitinated protein expression in the cells. Fluorometry showed reduced activity of UPS in the exposed cells. Conclusion UCH-L1 inhibitor produces neurotoxicity to dopaminergie neurons and induces cell apoptosis possibly as the result of impaired UPS activity and intracellular accumulation of polyubiquitinated proteins following the exposure.

Objective To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and aquaporin 4 (AQP4) in giiomas and brain metastases, and explore the role of VEGF and AQP4 in the histopathology and formation of peritumoral edema of primary and metastatic gliomas. Methods Immunohistocbemical method was used to examine the protein expression of VEGF and AQP4 in 73 paraffin-embeded, pathologically confirmed glioma and 15 metastatic tumor specimens collected between 1999 and 2001. Eight normal brain tissue specimens were used as the control. Results VEGF protein was not detected in normal brain tissues. VEGF expression was detected in gliomas and the expression level increased obviously along with the histological grade of the tumor. Significant differences were found in VEGF expression between malignant and low-grade gliomas, between low-grade gliomas and normal brain tissues, and between intracranial metastatic tumors and normal brain tissues and low-grade gliomas (P<0.05), but not between intracranial metastatic tumors and malignant gliomas (P>0.05). AQP4 protein expression was found in all the collected samples, and its expression differed significantly between normal brain tissues and malignant gliomas or intracranial metastatic tumors, and also between low-grade gliomas and malignant gliomas or intracranial metastatic tumors (P<0.05), but not between normal brain tissues and low-grade gliomas or between intracranialmetastatic tumors and malignant gliomas (P>0.05). VEGF protein expression showed a significant positive correlation to AQP4 protein expression (r=0.516, P<0.05). Conclusion As important molecular biological factors, VEGF and AQP4 participate in the formation peritumoral brain edema of gliomas and exhibit a synergie effect in this process.

Objective To investigate the clinical application value of Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA) battery in Chinese patients with post-stroke aphasia.
Methods Cognitive functions of 59 Chinese patients with aphasia following a stroke were assessed with the Chinese version of the second edition of LOTCA battery and their linguistic functions were tested with the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) Scale, respectively. The results of LOTCA were analyzed and compared across different groups, in the light of gender, age, educational background, the length of illness, and the degree of aphasia.
Results Neither the score of subtests of the LOTCA nor the overall scores of LOTCA of aphasia patients with different gender and educational background differed (all P>0.05). In different age groups, apart from thinking operation (F=3.373, P=0.016), visuomotor organization (F=3.124, P=0.022), attention (F=3.729, P=0.009) and the total score (F=2.683, P=0.041), there was no difference in terms of the other subtest scores of LOTCA (all P>0.05). In the groups of different length of time with illness, apart from orientation (F=2.982, P=0.039) and attention (F=3.485, P=0.022), the score of other subtests and the total score of LOTCA were not different (all P>0.05). In the groups of different degree of aphasia, apart from attention (F=2.061, P=0.074), both the score of other subtests and the total score of LOTCA differed (all P<0.05).
Conclusion LOTCA might be suitable to assessing the cognitive ability of post-stroke Chinese patients with aphasia.

OBJECTIVETo compare effects of integrated treatment traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine (TCM-WM) and simple western medicine on TCM clincal symptoms in the patient of AIDS with pulmonary inflammation.

METHODA multicenter randomized controlled trials of 164 subjects evaluated the effects of clinical symptoms of AIDS with pulmonary inflammation of TWO regimens: the TCM-WM group (n = 111) and western medicine treatment group (n = 53), while incidence of TCM symptoms in different time points in two groups were analyzed.

RESULTTwenty eight days after treatment, the cured and markedly effective rate of TCM symptoms in the TCM-WM group significantly exceeding that in the western medicine treatment group (cured and markedly effective rate significant efficiency 44.55% vs 20.00%), while the incidence rate for the TCM symptoms of fever and headache in the TCM-WM group was significantly lower than that in western medicine group.

CONCLUSIONThe integrated treatment of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine helps to alleviate the TCM clinical symptoms of AIDS with pulmonary inflammation.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; complications ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pneumonia ; complications ; drug therapy ; Treatment Outcome