OBJECTIVETo evaluate the role of serum level of procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and white blood cell count (WBC) as predictors in postoperative early infectious complications with fever after posterior lumbar internal fixation (PLIF).

METHODSA retrospective study was conducted from January 2012 to January 2014. Fifty-two patients with fever in the early stage(within 10 days) after the PLIF were collected in the study. They were divided into infection group and non-infection group (group A and group B) according to the results of postoperative blood culture. There were 26 patients in group A and 32 patients in group B. The values of PCT, CRP, ESR, and WBC count were compared and analyzed between two groups.

RESULTSThe values of PCT, CRP, and ESR in group A were higher than those of group B. Meanwhile, CRP and ESR in group B were still higher than the normal range. Among the 26 patients with infections (group A), PCT was superior to CRP and ESR, had a good ability in discriminating different kinds of postoperative infections. The area under the ROC curve of serum PCT levels was the largest (CI 95% was 0.81 to 0.98) in the indexs; and ROC curve of WBC count was no statistically significant. When the cut off points of each predictors were evaluated, the higher sensitive was CRP and reached at 90.27% and the higher specific was ESR and reached at 88.50%.

CONCLUSIONFor the patients with fever at the early stage after the PLIF should be paid attention and reasonable choosing predictors are helpful to identify postoperative infection in the early stage. The CRP and ESR may be influenced by the surgery, and the PCT level is helpful to differentiate infection type.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Blood Sedimentation ; C-Reactive Protein ; analysis ; Calcitonin ; blood ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; Female ; Fever ; blood ; diagnosis ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Infection ; blood ; diagnosis ; Leukocyte Count ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; blood ; diagnosis ; Protein Precursors ; blood

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality.The aim of the current study was to determine the risk factors for AKI in patients undergoing OLT.A total of 103 patients who received OLT between January 2015 and May 2016 in Tongji Hospital,China,were retrospectively analyzed.Their demographic characteristics and perioperative parameters were collected,and AKI was diagnosed using 2012 Kidney Disease:Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) staging criteria.It was found that the incidence of AKI was 40.8％ in this cohort and AKI was significantly associated with body mass index,urine volume,operation duration (especially ＞ 480 min),and the postoperative use of vasopressors.It was concluded that relative low urine output,long operation duration,and the postoperative use of vasopressors are risk factors for AKI following OLT.

Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Solitary Fibrous Tumors ; diagnosis

OBJECTIVETo evaluate their long-term outcome and the efficacy and economic significance of antiviral drugs by investigating the long-term health-related quality of life (HQL) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.

METHODSThe HQL of 101 CHB patients with biopsy-proven 6 to 18 years ago and 105 persons of general population as control was studied with revised SF-36 questionnaire.

RESULTSThe HQL in CHB patients was lower than that in general population in physical functioning, role physical, general health, mental health, and specific symptoms (mu > or = 2.10, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe long-term HQL in chronic hepatitis B patients is poor.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Cost of Illness ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; economics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of radiosensitivity and X-ray dose on the expression of miR-7 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells.

METHODSLow radiosensitive NPC cells CNE-1 and high radiosensitive NPC cells CNE-2 were exposed to 0, 2 and 8 Gy X-ray. The total RNAs of the cell lines were extracted 10 h after radiation for reverse transcription of miR-7 and 18S rRNA by stem-loop primer and random hexamers, respectively. The non-irradiated CNE-1 cells served as the control sample and the relative quantity of the expression level was calculated after real-time PCR using SyBR green.

RESULTSmiR-7 expression differed significantly between CNE-1 and CNE-2 cells (4.49-/+3.62 vs 1.29-/+1.10, F=135.483, P<0.001). The radiation dose also significantly affected the expression of miR-7 in NPC cells (F=39.565, P<0.001). CNE-1 cells with a 2 Gy exposure had the highest expression level of miR-7, while the non-irradiated CNE-1 cells had the lowest expression. CNE-2 cells exposed to 2 Gy X-ray had the lowest expression level of miR-7 and the non-irradiated CNE-2 cells had the highest.

CONCLUSIONRadiosensitivity and radiation dose of X-ray have significant effect on the expression of miR-7 in NPC cells, indicating that miR-7 plays an important role in radioresistance of NPC cells to X-ray, and suppressed miR-7 expression may elevate the radiosensitivity of NPC cells.

Apoptosis ; radiation effects ; Carcinoma ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; radiation effects ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; genetics ; Radiation Tolerance ; genetics ; X-Rays

OBJECTIVETo explore the pattern of lymph node metastasis and its influence on the prognosis of early gastric cancer(EGC).

METHODSThe pattern of lymph node metastasis and the 3-,5-year survival rates in 157 EGC patients undergone surgery from October 1995 to October 2005 were analyzed retrospectively. The SPSS 11.5 statistics software was used to perform univariate and multivariate analysis.

RESULTSTwenty-two cases had lymph node metastasis among 157 EGC patients(14%). Two mucous cancers(2.4%) and 20 submucosal tumors(27.0%) had lymph node metastases (P<0.01). Lymph node metastasis was not seen in minute gastric cancer(diameter < or =0.5 cm). Lymph node metastasis rates were 6.4% in the cancers with diameter 1.1-2.0 cm and 21.5% in the cancers with the diameter >2.0 cm(P<0.01). Besides, lymph node metastasis rate of well-differentiated EGC was 0, of moderate differentiated EGC 11.1%, and poor-differentiated EGC 0.9%(P<0.01). Of 9 cases with vascular cancer embolus, 4 had lymph node metastases. Logistic regression analysis showed that tumor size, vascular cancer embolus, histopathological type and depth of invasion were independent factors of lymph node metastasis in EGC. The 3- and 5-year survival rates of EGC patients with lymph node metastasis were 81.6 % and 79.5% respectively, which were much lower than those without lymph node metastasis(95.7% and 93.2%, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSLymph node metastasis in EGC is mainly correlated with depth of infiltration, tumor size, vascular cancer embolus and differentiation. For EGC treatment, choice should be made reasonably based on the risk of lymph node metastasis.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVETo study the protective effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on cultured rat hippocampal neurons against radiation injury and explore new therapies for preventing radiation encephalopathy.

METHODSRat hippocampal neurons cultured for 12 days were subjected to a single-dose X-ray exposure of 30 Gy. 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining was used to detect the neuronal apoptosis and NOS activity kit utilized to evaluate NOS activity in the cells after the exposure.

RESULTSNuclear condensation was detected in (25.3-/+3.57)% of the neurons 24 h after 30 Gy X-ray exposure, a rate significantly higher than that in the control cells [(1.95-/+0.78)%, P<0.01]. In the neurons pretreated with ginsenoside Rg1, only (7.43-/+1.51)% of the cells presented with nuclear condensation after the exposure, significantly different from the rates in the control cultures and the exposed cultures (P<0.01). The NOS activity of exposed cultures was 6.46-/+0.95 U/ml, significantly higher than that in the control cultures (3.20-/+0.70 U/ml, P<0.01). The NOS activity of the neurons pretreated with ginsenoside Rg1 was 3.85-/+0.69 U/ml, significantly different from that in the control cultures (P<0.05) and the exposed cultures (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONGinsenoside Rg1 offers significant protective effect on rat hippocampal neurons from radiation-induced apoptosis by reducing the activity of NOS.

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Ginsenosides ; pharmacology ; Hippocampus ; cytology ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Neurons ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; metabolism ; Radiation Injuries ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

BACKGROUNDAnimal models that demonstrate changes of renal function in response to acute lung injury (ALI) and mechanical ventilation (MV) are few. The present study was performed to examine the effect of ALI induced by oleic acid (OA) in combination with conventional MV strategy on renal function in piglets.

METHODSTwelve Chinese mini-piglets were randomly divided into two groups: the OA group (n = 6), animals were ventilated with a conventional MV strategy of 12 ml/kg and suffered an ALI induced by administration of OA, and the control group (n = 6), animals were ventilated with a protective MV strategy of 6 ml/kg and received the same amount of sterile saline.

RESULTSSix hours after OA injection a severe lung injury and a mild-moderate degree of renal histopathological injury were seen, while no apparent histological abnormalities were observed in the control group. Although we observed an increase in the plasma concentrations of creatinine and urea after ALI, there was no significant difference compared with the control group. Plasma concentrations of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and cystatin C increased (5.6 ± 1.3) and (7.4 ± 1.5) times in the OA group compared to baseline values, and were significantly higher than the values in the control group. OA injection in combination with conventional MV strategy resulted in a dramatic aggravation of hemodynamic and blood gas exchange parameters, while these parameters remained stable during the experiment in the control group. The plasma expression of TNF-α and IL-6 in the OA group were significantly higher than that in the control group. Compared with high expression in the lung and renal tissue in the OA group, TNF-α and IL-6 were too low to be detected in the lung and renal tissue in the control group.

CONCLUSIONSOA injection in combination with conventional MV strategy not only resulted in a severe lung injury but also an apparent renal injury. The potential mechanisms involved a cytokine response of TNF-α and IL-6 in plasma, lung and renal tissues.

Acute Lung Injury ; chemically induced ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Animals ; Cytokines ; analysis ; Hemodynamics ; Kidney ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Lung ; pathology ; Oleic Acid ; pharmacology ; Respiration, Artificial ; Swine ; Swine, Miniature

BACKGROUNDTo study the anti-SARS virus activities of different recombinant human interferons on the cell culture system.

METHODSAnti-SARS virus activities of interferons were determined by using CPE inhibition test in human skeletal muscle sarcoma (Rda) cell culture.

RESULTSThe average minimum amount of interferon alpha 2b, alpha 1b, beta 1b or omega 1b to inhibit 50% CPE in Rda cell culture was (160.5+/-129.5) IU/ml, (149.0+/-71.7) IU/ml, (69.5+/-61.5) IU/ml, (87.3+/-47.1) IU/ml, respectively or (0.6+/-0.5) ng/ml, (10.6+/-5.1) ng/ml, (3.5+/-3.1) ng/ml, (0.9+/-0.5) ng/ml, respectively.

CONCLUSIONAll the tested recombinant interferons showed anti-SARS virus activities on the Rda cell culture with different sensitivities.

Antiviral Agents ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Interferon Type I ; pharmacology ; Interferon-alpha ; pharmacology ; Recombinant Proteins ; SARS Virus ; drug effects ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; drug therapy ; virology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy of the interferon alpha-2b nasal spray in prevention of rubella and measles virus infections.

METHODSThe properly selected volunteer groups have been divided into interferon alpha-2b experimental and control group. The experimental group received interferon alpha-2b treatment by nasal spray for 2 days before the immunization, then both groups were challenged with rubella and measles attenuated live vaccine respectively through nasal spray. The sera from pre-immunization and 21 and 28 days after immunization were collected to test the IgG antibody titers. The influence on the viral antibody titer reflects the viral preventive effect by interferon alpha-2b.

RESULTSThe antibody titer difference of measles virus between experimental and control group was 1.26 (21 day) and 2.96 (28 day), there were statistically difference between them; the difference of rubella virus was 0.95 (21 day) and 0.37 (28 day), but there were no statistically differences found.

CONCLUSIONThe preliminary results showed that the interferon alpha-2b can be used as prevention method for measles and rubella viral infections.

Administration, Intranasal ; Adult ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Antiviral Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Measles ; immunology ; prevention & control ; virology ; Measles Vaccine ; immunology ; therapeutic use ; Measles virus ; drug effects ; immunology ; Recombinant Proteins ; Rubella ; immunology ; prevention & control ; virology ; Rubella Vaccine ; immunology ; therapeutic use ; Rubella virus ; drug effects ; immunology ; Treatment Outcome ; Vaccination ; methods ; Vaccines, Attenuated ; immunology ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult