To assess the effect of prostaglandin E_1(PGE_1)on renal blood flow and serum endothelin of liver recipients.Methods PGE_1 was administered in 38 liver recipients at the dose of 0.6?g?kg~(-1)?h~(-1)during liver transplantation and every day after operation.The effects of PGE_1 on serum endothelin concentration and creatinine(Cr)were observed and these indexes were compared with those in the control group(n=18).The renal blood flow resistance indexes(RI)were measured by Doppler ultrasound.Results Cr and RI were significantly lower in PGE1=treated group than those in the control group.PGE_1-treated group also showed a significantly lower serum endothelin concen- tration.Conclusion Administration of PGE_1 in liver recipients can significantly improve the early re- nal function by reducing serum endothelin concentration and dilating renal blood vessels.

OBJECTIVETo establish discriminant functions of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) by studying it from quantitative diagnosis angle, hoping to reduce interference of subjective factors in diagnosing and differentially diagnosing Chinese medical syndromes of IBS-D.

METHODSA Chinese medical clinical epidemiological survey was carried out in 439 IBS-D patients using Clinical Information Collection Table of IBS. Initial syndromes were obtained by cluster analysis. They were analyzed using step-by-step discrimination by taking information of four Chinese medical diagnostic methods and serum brain-gut peptides (BGP) as variables.

RESULTSClustering results were Gan stagnation Pi deficiency syndrome (GSPDS), Pi-Wei weakness syndrome (PWWS), Gan stagnation qi stasis syndrome (GSQSS), Pi-Shen yang deficiency syndrome (PSYDS), Pi-Wei damp-heat syndrome (PWDHS), cold-damp disturbing Pi syndrome (CDDPS). Of them, GSPDS was mostly often seen with effective percentage of 34. 2%, while CDDPS was the least often seen with effective percentage of 5.5%. A total of 5 discriminant functions for GSPDS, PWWS, GSQSS, PSYDS, and PWDHS were obtained by step-by-step dis- crimination method. The retrospective misjudgment rate was 4.1% (16/390), while the cross-validation misjudgment rate was 15.4% (60/390).

CONCLUSIONThe establishment of discriminant functions is of value in objectively diagnosing and differentially diagnosing Chinese medical syndromes of IBS-D.

Alarmins ; Brain ; Cluster Analysis ; Diarrhea ; classification ; diagnosis ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; classification ; diagnosis ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Qi ; Retrospective Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Yang Deficiency

OBJECTIVETo study the blood pressure (BP) changes in the liver transplant recipients.

METHODSA total of 206 patients without preoperation hypertension received liver transplantation in our hospital from February 2001 to July 2005. The BP level and serum immunosuppressant concentration at preoperation and various time points post operation were determined.

RESULTSCompared with the preoperation, the average systolic and diastolic pressure was significantly increased at the 2 week, 1, 2, 4 and 6 months post operation. The mobility of hypertension increased significantly after liver transplantation, with the highest mobility (46.49%) at the 1st month post operation. There was no linear correlation between the immunosuppressant (FK506) concentration and the BP level at any time point.

CONCLUSIONThere was a high hypertension incidence after liver transplantation. Although the use of immunosuppressive drugs accompanied with the BP increase, there was no linear correlation between the immunosuppressant concentration and the BP level post operation.

Blood Pressure ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypertension ; etiology ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; adverse effects ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; physiopathology ; Retrospective Studies

AIM: To analyze the composition, distribution and characteristics of the elderly primary ocular tumors.
METHODS: This was a retrospective study and all 504 cases with primary ocular tumors aged 60 years or older were collected in Shanxi Eye Hospital, during the year 2000- 2012. The onset age, location and pathological pattern were analyzed.
RESULTS: There were 346 cases of benign ocular tumors (68. 7%), and 158 cases of malignancy (31. 3%). Papillomas was the most common type of the benign with 83 cases (16. 5%), followed by a variety of inflammatory cysts and lesions with 69 cases ( 13. 7%) and 64 cases (12-7%) respectively. Among malignant tumors cases, eyelid basal cell carcinoma originated from epithelial was the most common with 72 cases (14. 3%), followed by skin appendages sources malignant tumors with 39 cases (7. 7%). Concerning the location of ocular tumors, there were 282 cases of eyelid tumor (56. 0%) occupied the first position followed by conjunctival tumor with 157 cases (31. 2%).
CONCLUSION: The prevalence and type of primary ocular tumor in elderly people are significant differences from the general population and children's, and the proportion of malignant tumors tended to increase along with the increase of age.

Background: Nonlinguistic cognitive impairment has become an important issue for aphasic patients, but currently there are few neuropsychological cognitive assessment tests for it. To get more information on cognitive impairment of aphasic patients, this study aimed to develop a new cognitive assessment test battery for aphasic patients, the Non?language?based Cognitive Assessment (NLCA), and evaluate its utility in Chinese?speaking patients with aphasia. Methods: The NLCA consists of five nonverbal tests, which could assess five nonlinguistic cognitive domains such as visuospatial functions, attention test, memory, reasoning, and executive functions of aphasic patients. All tests are modified from the nonverbal items of the current existed tests with some changes to the characteristics of Chinese culture. The NLCA was tested in 157 participants (including 57 aphasic patients, 50 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients, and 50 normal controls), and was compared with other well?established relative neuropsychological tests on the reliability, validity, and utility. Results: The NLCA was fully applicable in the MCI patients and the normal controls, almost working in the aphasic patients (57/62 patients, 91.9%). The NLCA scores were 66.70 ± 6.30, 48.67 ± 15.04, and 77.58 ± 2.56 for the MCI group, the aphasic group, and the control group, respectively , and a significant difference was found among three groups (F = 118.446, P < 0.001). The Cronbach's alpha of the NLCA as an index of internal consistency was 0.805, and the test?retest and interrater reliability was adequate (r=0.977 and r= 0.970, respectively). The correlations of the cognitive subtests and their validation instruments were between 0.540 and 0.670 (all P < 0.05). Spearman's correlation analysis indicated that the coefficient of internal consistency of each subtest itself was higher than other subtests.When choosing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment score of <26 as the diagnostic criteria of cognitive impairment, the area under the curve for all participants in the control and MCI groups was 0.942 (95% confidence interval: 0.895–0.989), and an optimal cutoff point of 75.00 seemed to provide the best balance between sensitivity and specificity. Age (r = ?0.406, P < 0.001) was the main influence factor for the NLCA. Conclusions: The NLCA could efficiently differentiate the cognitive impairment patients from the normal controls and is a reliable and valid cognitive assessment test battery to specially find nonlinguistic cognitive function for aphasic patients.

OBJECTIVETo refine the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 5p15 and screen new tumor suppressor gene(s) in colorectal tumorigenesis.

METHODSSamples of colorectal cancer and normal tissue of 83 cases were collected in this study. Sixteen polymorphic microsatellite markers were analyzed on chromosome 5 and another 6 markers on chromosome 5p15 by PCR. PCR products were electrophoresed on an ABI 377 DNA sequencer. Genescan 3.1 and Genotype 2.1 software were used for LOH scanning and analysis.

RESULTSTwo distinct regions of frequent allelic deletions at D5S416 on 5p15 and D5S428-D5S410 on 5q were detected. Another 6 polymorphic microsatellite markers were applied to 5p15 and the minimal region of frequrent loss of heterozygosity was established on 5p15 spanning the D5S416 locus.

CONCLUSIONA critical and precise location of 5p deletions, 5p15.2-5p15.3, has been detected, which may contain one or more unknown tumor suppressor gene(s) related to colorectal cancer.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Chromosome Mapping ; methods ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5 ; genetics ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; Female ; Gene Deletion ; Humans ; Loss of Heterozygosity ; Male ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo screen the candidate TSGs on 22q13 involved in sporadic colorectal cancer.

METHODSThe DNA samples of 83 cases with colorectal carcinoma and normal tissues were analyzed using eight fluorescent labeled polymorphic microsatellite markers by PCR. PCR products were electrophoresed on an ABI 377 DNA sequencer. Genescan 3.7 and Genotype 3.7 software was used for LOH scanning and analysis. Comparison between LOH frequency and clinicopathological factors were performed by chia2 test.

RESULTSThe prevalence of LOH was 35.58%, and the average hereditary distance was 1.9 cM. The highest frequency of LOH (D22S1160 locus) and the lowest (D22S1170 locus) were 64.71% and 20%, respectively. Two obvious LOH regions were detected: One between D22S1171 locus and D22S274 locus (about 2.7 cM); another between D22S1160 and D22S1149 locus (about 1.8 cM). Furthermore,significant differences were observed between the frequency of LOH on D22S1171 locus and tumors location (P=0.020), the frequency of LOH on D22S114 locus and liver metastasis (P=0.008), the frequency of LOH on D22S1160 locus and lymph node metastasis (P=0.016). No significant differences were found between LOH on other loci and those factors above. Gene function screening revealed that ARHGAP8 and PPARA gene were involved in carcinogenesis.

CONCLUSIONSTwo obvious high frequency LOH regions are detected by refined deletion mapping. One locates between D22S1171 locus and D22S274 locus (about 2.7 cM); another locates between D22S1160 and D22S1149 locus (about 1.8cM), ARHGAP8 and PPARA gene may be TSGs which contribute to carcinogenesis and progression of sporadic CRC on 22q13 region.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans ; Loss of Heterozygosity ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Deletion

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of pentobarbital sodium in generation and modulation of rhythmical respiration in neonatal rats.

METHODSThe effects of pentobarbital sodium were examined on hypoglossal nerve (XII) rootlets and inspiratory neurons in the medullary preparations including the medial region of the nucleus retrofacialis, pre-Bötzinger complex and the dorsal respiratory group of neonatal rats aged 0-3 days. The electrical activity of XII nerve rootlets and inspiratory neurons were recorded. Different doses of pentobarbital sodium (20, 40, 60, 80 micromol/L) were added into modified Krebs solution to observe changes in the discharge activity of XII nerve and inspiratory neurons. Bicuculline was used to further investigate the mechanisms that pentobarbital sodium suppresses respiration.

RESULTSThe discharge activity inhibition of XII nerve was increased as pentobarbital sodium doses increased from 20 to 60 micromol/L, but no significant difference was observed between the doses of 60 and 80 micromol/L. Bicuculline can partly restore the rhythmical respiration discharge activity.

CONCLUSIONPentobarbital sodium can suppress respiration partly via GABAA receptors.

Adjuvants, Anesthesia ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Medulla Oblongata ; cytology ; drug effects ; physiology ; Neurons ; drug effects ; physiology ; Pentobarbital ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, GABA-A ; physiology ; Respiration ; drug effects ; Respiratory Center ; drug effects ; physiology

In 2013, the World Health Organization reported the first case of human infection with a new influenza A (H7N9) virus in China. This has caused damage and panic within certain areas in China. Therefore, analysis of this virus with bioinformatics technology is very necessary. Neuraminidase (NA) is one of the most important antigens of the influenza virus and an important target for anti-flu drugs. In this study, the nucleotide and protein sequences of NA gene of A/H7N9 influenza viruses were retrieved from the NCBI database, and MEGA 5.0 software was employed to construct a phylogenetic tree based on the nucleotide coding sequence; BioEdit software was used to align the nucleotide and protein sequences of NA and calculate the homologies of nucleotides and amino acids and then to analyze the important mutation sites of NA gene. The results demonstrated that the spread of influenza virus H7N9 showed certain geographical and temporal relations. The H7N9 virus isolated from China in 2013 belonged to Euroasiatic serotype, and its NA stalk region hadobvious variation, which may be one of the reasons that this virus infects human. These analyses may be very helpful for understanding the evolutionary relationship and mutation trend of A/H7N9 influenza viruses.
Databases, Genetic ; Evolution, Molecular ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H7N9 Subtype ; enzymology ; genetics ; Mutation ; Neuraminidase ; chemistry ; genetics ; Phylogeny ; Sequence Analysis