· AIM: To investigate the complications of intravitreal triamsinolone acetonide (TA) injection in vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).· METHODS: From February 2005 to January 2007, 18patients (18 eyes) with PDR who were injected with TA in vitrectomy were observed retrospectively after surgery.· RESULTS: During a postoperative follow-up period of 3 to 6 months (mean 4.6 months), some complications including deposit of TA granules on the macular region and surface of the retina (3 eyes), postoperative vitreous hemorrhage (3eyes), elevated intraocular pressure (2 eyes) and pseudohypopyon (1 eye)were observed.· CONCLUSION: The complications after surgery such as deposit of TA granules on the macular region and surface of the retina and pseudohypopyon could be cured without any special treatment. All eyes with elevated intraocular pressure after surgery were controlled by drug. Re-operation may be an effective method for patients with unabsorbable vitreous hemorrhage after vitrectomy.

Objective To investigate the role of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in the up-regulation of peripheral blood somatic stem cells after acute myocardial infarction in rats. Methods The models of acute myocardial infarction were established in 16 rata by ligation of left anterior descending branch of left coronary artery through chest incision, and the animal were divided into control group(n=8) and experiment group (n=8). The hearts of another 2 rats were obtained for normal myocardial tissue sections as controls. Monoclonal antibody of ICAM-1 was infused from the caudal vein in experimental group, and no invervention was conducted for control group. Blood samples were obtained from caudal vein on the first, third, seventh and fourteenth day after operation in these two groups. Serum concentration of ICAM-1 was measured by ELISA, positive rate of CD34 cells in peripheral blood was detected by flow cytometry, and the parameters of concentration of ICAM-1 and positive rate of CD34 cells at each time point were compared between groups. Results The concentration of ICAM-1 in peripheral blood of experiment group reached the lowest of (59.01±2.22) pg/mL on the seventh day. The concentrations of ICAM-1 in peripheral blood of experiment group were lower than those in control group, and there were significant differences between these two groups on the seventh and fourteenth day(P < 0.01). The positive rate of CD34 cells in peripheral blood of experiment group reached the highest of (12±2.11)% on the seventh day. The positive rates of CD34 cells in peripheral blood of experiment group were higher than those in control group, and there were significant differences between these two groups on the third, seventh and fourteenth day(P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion ICAM-1 can inhibit the up-regulation of peripheral blood somatic stem cells after acute myocardial infarction in rats.

Myopia is the most important cause of visual impairment in adolescents. However, its etiology is complex. In recent years, a large number of epidemiological studies have been done on risk factors of myopia. Most of these studies is cross- sectional study, not longitudinal cohort study. Overall, the incidence of myopia is the result of the interaction between genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure. This review is about the risk factors for myopia.

By using the pharmacophore model of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists as a starting point, the experiment stud- ies the method of traditional Chinese medicine formula design for anti-hypertensive. Pharmacophore models were generated by 3D-QSAR pharmacophore (Hypogen) program of the DS3.5, based on the training set composed of 33 mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists. The best pharmacophore model consisted of two Hydrogen-bond acceptors, three Hydrophobic and four excluded volumes. Its correlation coefficient of training set and test set, N, and CAI value were 0.9534, 0.6748, 2.878, and 1.119. According to the database screening, 1700 active compounds from 86 source plant were obtained. Because of lacking of available anti-hypertensive medi cation strategy in traditional theory, this article takes advantage of patent retrieval in world traditional medicine patent database, in order to design drug formula. Finally, two formulae was obtained for antihypertensive.
Antihypertensive Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Databases, Factual ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Models, Molecular

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the outcomes of T3a prostate cancer with unfavorable prognostic factors treated with permanent interstitial brachytherapy combined with external radiotherapy and hormone therapy.

METHODSFrom January 2003 to December 2008, 38 patients classified as T3a prostate cancer with unfavorable prognostic factors were treated with trimodality therapy (brachytherapy + external radiotherapy + hormone therapy). The prescription dose of brachytherapy and external radiotherapy were 110 Gy and 45 Gy, respectively. The duration of hormone therapy was 2-3 years. The endpoints of this study included biochemical failure-free survival (BFFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS). Survival curves were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Log-rank test was used to identify the prognostic predictors for univariate analysis.

RESULTSThe median follow-up was 71 months. The serum pre-treatment prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level ranged from 10.0 to 99.8 ng/ml (mean 56.3 ng/ml), the Gleason score ranged from 5 to 9 (median 8), and the percentage of positive biopsy cores ranged from 10% to 100% (mean 65%). The 5-year BFFS, DMFS, CSS, and OS rates were 44%, 69%, 82%, and 76%, respectively. All biochemical failures occurred within 40 months. The percentage of positive biopsy cores was significantly correlated with BFFS, DMFS, and OS (all P=0.000), and the Gleason score with DMFS (P=0.000) and OS (P=0.001).

CONCLUSIONST3a prostate cancer with unfavorable prognostic factors presents not so optimistic outcome. Hormone therapy should be applied to prolong the biochemical progression-free or metastasis-free survival. The percentage of positive biopsy cores and the Gleason score are significant prognostic factors.

Androgen Antagonists ; therapeutic use ; Brachytherapy ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone ; agonists ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Grading ; Prognosis ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Animals ; Female ; Fluorosis, Dental ; blood ; etiology ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; blood ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; blood ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; pathology ; ultrastructure ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sinoatrial Node ; pathology ; ultrastructure ; Sodium Fluoride ; poisoning ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood

Adult ; Embolism, Amniotic Fluid ; etiology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy

Objective To investigate the expression and distribution of the downstream substrate of extracellular regulated protein kinase(ERK1/2) pathway, ternary complex factor phospho-Elk-1, in rat brains with chronic fluorosis, and reveal the mechanism of the impaired learning and memory ability caused by chronic fluorosis. Methods Seventy-two SD rats, weighing 100 - 120 g, were randomly divided into 3 groups, 24 in each group (half male and half female). The rats in control group were fed with tap water (fluoride < 0.5 mg/L); low- and high-dose fluoride groups were fed with tap water with different concentrations of NaF(5.0,50.0 mg/L F-, respectively). After 6 months, body weight was weighed, dental fluorosis was determined by observation and urinary fluoride and bone fluoride were detected by fluorine ion-selective electrode; the learning ability of rats was measured by navigation test of Morris water maze, and memory ability by spatial probe test in Morris water maze; the expression and distribution of phospho-Elk-1 in different brain regions were detected by immunohistochemistry method. Results In low- and high-fluoride groups, the body weight of rat[(449.2 ± 77.1), (312.8 ± 89.7)g] was significantly decreased than that of control [(635.5 ± 76.2 )g, all P< 0.05], the varying degrees of dental fluorosis were observed(x2 = 7.83, P<0.05), urinary fluoride[(2.56 ±0.91),(5.73 ±3.14)mg/L] and bone fluoride[(709.2 ± 37.4) ,(1306.3 ± 102.4) mg/kg] were significantly higher than those in controls[(0.92 ± 0.30)mg/L,(348.5 ± 89.2)mg/kg, all P< 0.05]. The escape latency of low- and high-fluoride groups[ (7.4 ± 4.1), (12.2 ± 5.7)s] was longer than that of control [(4.8 ± 2.7 )s, all P < 0.05] and the escape latency in high-fluoride group was significantly longer than that in other groups (all P < 0.05); in spatial probe test, the time of first crossing platform was longer in rats with fluorosis [(4.18 ± 1.10),(5.89 ± 0.56)s] as compared to control[(1.17 ± 0.75)s, all P< 0.05]. Expressions of phospho-Elk-1 in the hippocampus CA1(167.4 ± 8.3,163.2 ± 9.4), CA2(175.7 ± 5.0,183.3 ± 4.2), CA3(165.2 ± 11.6,162.9 ± 4.4), CA4(168.7± 6.9,169.5 ±5.3), fascia dentate (185.2 ±4.0,193.1 ±6.1) and caudate putamen( 181.4 ± 3.8, 179.8 ± 5.5) in low- and high-fluoride groups were higher than those of controls(142.4 ± 8.1,144.9 ± 8.4,143.6 ± 5.8, 116.8 ± 9.1,140.2 ± 7.8,163.1 ± 13.1, all P< 0.05). Conclusion Chronic fluorosis can cause increased expression of phospho-Elk-1 in the hippocampus and caudate putamen region of rat brains, which might be related to the mechanisms of decreased learning and memory ability of rats overexposed to fluoride.

Objective To observe the effects of arsenic trioxide (ATO) on apoptosis of human fibrob- last-like synoviocytes of rheumatoid arthritis (HFLS-RA) and to study the mechanism.Methods HFLS-RA were cultured with standard medium as control group or with mediums supplemented with 0.5,2,8?mol/L ATO respectively.The apoptosis of HFLS-RA cultured for 72 h with different concentrations of ATO were in- vestigated under electron microscope.Apoptosis exponent was measured by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transf erase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL).To detect the proliferation of HFLS-RA euhured with ATO,MTr assay were carded out in 5 consecutive days.Moreover,the NF-kB mRNA level of HFLS-RA was measured by RT-PCR after treated with ATO for 24 h.Results ATO induced the apoptosis of HFLS-RA. Apoptosis exponent was increased in a dose dependent manner in TUNEL experiment,especially in the cells treated with 2 and 8?mol/L ATO (P＜0.05).HFLS-RA proliferation was inhibited in both dose and time de- pendent manner when cultured with ATO.Meanwhile,the NF-kB mRNA level was decreased in ATO treated groups,which was especially significant in mediums cultured in higher than 2?mol/L ATO (P＜0.05).Con- clusion ATO depresses the proliferation of HFLS-RA and may increase the apoptosis by decreasing the ex- pression of NF-kB mRNA.These findings suggest that ATO have the potential to be a novel therapeutic agents for rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective To observe the influence of coal burning fluorosis on learning and memory ability in rats and reveal its possible mechanisms. Methods Healthy 48 SD rats were divided into control, low-fluoride and high-fluoride group. All rats in fluoride exposed groups were fed with the eom polluted by drying processes with burning coal containing high level of fluoride obtained from the endemic fluorosis area to produce the animal model of fluorosis. The experiment period were 3,6 mouths, respectively. The ability of leaning and memory was measured by Morris test and cholinesterase activity detected by photometric method at 3 or 6 month after experiment, respectively. Results Fluoride contents signifieantlly influenced the escape latency, the numbers of crossing the platforms and the time of staying the platforms(the value of F was 29.29,6.47,6.50, respectively, P<0.01).In addition, the numbers of crossing the platforms and the time of staying the platforms were influenced by the exposed time(the value of F was 16.11,45.59, P<0.01). Furthermore, the fluoride contents and the exposed time had an interaction between the numbers of crossing the platforms and the time of staying the platforms (the value of F was 4.67,5.68, P<0.05 or<0.01). Three months after the experiment, the mean values of escape latency [(14.71± 4.85)s] of rats in highly fluoride exposed group were significantly prolonged as compared with controls [(9.28±4.22)s]; 6 month after the experiment, the mean values of escape latency[(12.42±8.03)s, (17.48± 8.05)s] of rats in both groups exposed to fluoride were significantly prolonged as compared to controls [(7.04± 3.29)s, P<0.05]. The decreased numbers of crossing the platforms[(1.62±0.87)number] and the declined time of staying the platforms[(16.70±5.02)s] were found in the rats exposed to high fluoride as compared to controls [(3.53±1.67 )number, (23.33±5.35)s, P<0.05]. The fluoride contents obviously influenced the activities of acetylcholinesterase and butylcolinesterase (the value of F was 12.83,13.27, P<0.01). On the other hand, the times of breeding also influnced the activities of butylcolinesterase (the value of F was 16.26, P<0.01). In 3 months of the experiment, the activities of butylcolinesterase [(0.55±0.12)kU/g] in low fluoride exposed group were significantly decreased in comparison with controls[(0.73±0.10)kU/g, P<0.05]. The activities of acetylcholinesterase[(0.62±0.42)kU/g] and butylcolioesterase[(0.58±0.10)kU/g] in high fluoride group were significantly decreased as compared to eontrois[(1.41±0.52), (0.73±0.10)kU/g, P<0.05]. The correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between the cholinesterase and the escape latency(r=-0.68, P< 0.01), and a positive correlation between the cholinesterase and the time of staying the platforms(r=0.57, P< 0.01). Conclusions The ability of learning and memory in rats with coal buring fluorosis was decreased, which might be connected to the decreased activity of cholinesterase in a dose-effect correlation.