AIMTo investigate the role of the Chinese herbal medicine Xianhuayin on the reversal of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced premalignant mucosal lesions in the oral buccal pouch of golden hamsters.

METHODOLOGYThe animals were randomly divided into a non-diseased control group (n=5) and an experimental group including 50 animals in which the buccal mucosa had been painted with DMBA (0.5% in acetone) to generate an oral mucosa premalignant lesion. Animals in the experimental group were further divided into Xianhuayin-treated group (n=30), untreated premalignant lesion group (n=10) and normal saline (NS)-treated group (n=10). The cheek (buccal) pouch mucosa of the golden hamsters in each group was observed with light and electron microscopy eight weeks after intragastric administration with NS or Xianhuayin.

RESULTSIn the non-diseased control group, the buccal mucosa was keratinized and stratified squamous epithelium under a light microscope. In the untreated premalignant lesion group, variable degrees of epithelial dysplasia was observed. The irregular epithelial mucosa gradually became distinct in the Xianhuayin-treated group. Scanning electronic microscopic (SEM) analysis showed that surface of the cells exhibited honeycomb structures in the hamster of untreated-group. The cells were morphologically irregular, overlapped and loosened in the untreated premalignant lesion group. Most of the cell surface exhibited honeycomb structure in the Xianhuayin-treated group. Transmission electronic microscopic (TEM) analysis showed that buccal mucosal epithelial cells were morphologically regular in the non-diseased control group. Desmosomes and tonofibrils were reduced and the nucleus was morphologically irregular in the untreated premalignant lesion group. In the Xianhuayin-treated group, the widening intercellular gap was gradually reduced, desmosomes and the cells becoming morphologically regular. No significant difference was observed between the hamsters in NS-treated group and those in the untreated premalignant lesion group. Significant therapeutic efficacy was observed in the group receiving Xianhuayin.

CONCLUSIONXianhuayin is effective in the reversal of DMBA-induced premalignant lesions in the buccal pouch of golden hamsters.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene ; adverse effects ; Amomum ; Animals ; Anticarcinogenic Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Carcinogens ; Carthamus tinctorius ; Cell Nucleus ; drug effects ; Cricetinae ; Desmosomes ; drug effects ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; Epithelium ; drug effects ; Glycyrrhiza ; Hyperplasia ; Intercellular Junctions ; drug effects ; Intermediate Filaments ; drug effects ; Keratins ; Mesocricetus ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Mouth Mucosa ; drug effects ; pathology ; Mouth Neoplasms ; prevention & control ; Philodendron ; Poria ; Precancerous Conditions ; prevention & control ; Random Allocation ; Sodium Chloride

OBJECTIVETo introduce the imaging characteristics of moyamoya disease (MMD) using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) and to discuss the role of HR-MRI in differentiating MMD from other intracranial artery diseases, especially intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD).

DATA SOURCESThis review was based on the data in articles published between 2005 and 2015, which were obtained from PubMed. The keywords included HR-MRI, MMD, ICAD, and intracranial artery diseases.

STUDY SELECTIONArticles related to HR-MRI for MMD or other intracranial artery diseases were selected for review.

RESULTSThere are differences between the characteristic patterns of HR-MRI in MMD and ICAD. MMD is associated with inward remodeling, smaller outer diameters, concentric occlusive lesions and homogeneous signal intensity, while ICAD is more likely to be associated with outward remodeling, normal outer diameters, eccentric occlusive lesions, and heterogeneous signal intensity. Other intracranial artery diseases, such as dissection and vasculitis, also have distinctive characteristics in HR-MRI. HR-MRI may become a useful tool for the differential diagnosis of MMD in the future.

CONCLUSIONSHR-MRI of MMD provides a more in-depth understanding of MMD, and it is helpful in evaluating pathological changes in the vessel wall and in differentiating MMD from other intracranial artery steno-occlusive diseases, particularly ICAD.

Animals ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; pathology ; Moyamoya Disease ; diagnosis

OBJECTIVETo establish a mouse model of heterotopic heart transplantation.

METHODSIn isotransplantation,BALB/c mice were used as both donors and recipients. In allotransplantation, C57 mice were used as donors and BALB/c mice as recipients. The hearts of donor mice were transplanted into the abdominal cavity of recipient mice, connecting aortic ascent artery of donor mice and abdominal aortic artery of recipient mice, main pulmonary artery of donor mice and inferior vena cava of recipient mice.

RESULTSThe mouse model of heterotopic heart transplantation was established successfully with a success rate of 90 %. The mean time of hot ischemia and cold ischemia were (0.9 +/-0.05) min and (34.8 +/-0.7) min, respectively. The survival time of isograft was more than 100 days and that of allograft was (7.7 +/- 0.3) days.

CONCLUSIONThe operational procedure of donor heart and the quality of blood vessel anastomosis are two key points for successful heterotopic heart transplantation.

Animals ; Heart Transplantation ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Models, Animal ; Peritoneal Cavity ; Transplantation, Heterotopic

OBJECTIVEDietary factors that could potentially be related to the risk of birth defects are still unknown in Shanxi province, a region with high prevalence of neural tube defects(NTDs) in China. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the association between NTDs and local dietary factors.

METHODSA population-based case-control study was conducted during 2003-2005 in four selected counties of Shanxi province with 363 NTDs cases ascertained and 523 control babies without any external birth defects.

RESULTSBy multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found the NTDs risk was significantly associated with low consumption of meat and legume, high consumption of pickled vegetables, noncentralized supply of drinking water and drinking tea after adjusting for maternal education level and birth defects history. A significant dose response trend was found between the NTDs risk and the lower frequencies of meat and legume consumption and higher frequency of pickled vegetable consumption, with population attributable risks (PAR) of 69.4%, 22.0% and 18.5%, respectively. Mothers who got their drinking water from river or pond during periconceptional period were more likely to have a NTD-affected pregnancy [OR = 3.42, 95% CI: 1.44-8.09, population attributable risk (PAR) = 4.7%] compared with those who utilized tap or well water. Those who drank tea everyday had an elevated risk of having a NTD-affected pregnancy compared with those who didn't (OR = 4.65, 95% CI: 1.41-15.36, PAR = 2.6%).

CONCLUSIONHigher intake of meat and legume protects a woman from having a NTD-affected pregnancy, and consumption of pickled vegetables, drinking water from river or pond and drinking tea everyday increase the risk of having such a pregnancy in the study population.

Case-Control Studies ; China ; epidemiology ; Diet ; Female ; Humans ; Meat ; Neural Tube Defects ; epidemiology ; Pregnancy ; Risk Factors ; Vegetables ; Water Supply

OBJECTIVETo explore a simple,effective threrapeutic method for the treatment of ischemia necrosis of femoral head.

METHODSFrom March 2003 to April 2008, 61 hips of 55 patients, including 37 males and 18 females, aged from 12 to 55 years old (averaged 39.8), with ischemia necrosis of femoral head were treated by three methods combination of partial synovectomy, minimally invasive core decompression and impaction bone grafting. The course of diseace was from 8 months to 16 years. The therapeutic effects were evaluated according to the preoperative and postoperative X-ray and Harris scoring for hip funtion.

RESULTSThese 55 patients (61 hips) were followed up for from 6 mouths to 5 years (means 2.2 years). X-ray results showed that collapse or aggrevation occurenced in 39 hips,the aggravation of collapse no more than 2 mm in 11 hips,the collapse from 2 to 4 mm in 9 hips, the collapse surpassed 4 mm in 2 hips. Harris scores increased obviously from preoperative (59.74 +/- 11.56) points to postoperative (89.75 +/- 9.58) points (t = 2.3461, P < 0.05). The results were excellent in 31 hips, good in 22 hips, fair in 6 hips and poor in 2 hips.

CONCLUSIONMinimally invasive core decompression combined with impaction bone grafting can reduce the stress load of femoral head, stabilized the environment of femoral head,promote osteonecrotic bone rapairing and prevent effectively the femoral head form collapsing. This method can be applied to femoral head necrosis at Ficat II, III stage, especially for young and middle-age patients.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Bone Transplantation ; Child ; Decompression, Surgical ; methods ; Female ; Femur Head Necrosis ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; methods

Objective To study clinical data of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) induced by left main (LM) artery occlusion,and to find out the clinical characteristics.Method From Janurany 1995 to May 2006,there were 15 patients with AMI related with LM obstruction from 1793 AMI patients,in whom primary PCls were performed.All patients were male with a mean age of (60.6?10.4) years old (ranging from 43 to 85 years old).The clinical and interventional data were retrospectively analyzed.Results Cardiogenic shock occurred in 10 patients at admission.Primary PCls were performed with intraaortic balloon pump (IABP) in all patients.Nine patients died during short follow-up,and the mortality was 60%.Three-month follow-up was made in the all survival patients,and one patient died after 4 years.Analysis showed good collateral circulation flow from right coronary artery to left coronary artery before operation affected the short-term prognosis.Conclusions AMI related with left main artery obstruction was critically fatal with high occurrence of cardiogenic shock and high mortality.Prognosis differs at,cording to different degree of collateral circulation.Primary PCI with IABP provides a promising strategy to improve clinical outcomes.

Objective To explore the expression and clinical significance of CCAAT-enhancer-binding proteins (C/EBPα) in colon cancer tissues.Methods The expression level of C/EBPoα in colon cancer tissues and corresponding non-tumor normal tissues of 41 colon cancer patients was detected by Western blot.The correlation between the expression of C/EBPoα and clinicopathological parameters of colon cancer and survival rate of prognosis were statistically analyzed.Results In 41 cases of normal tissue adjacent to carcinoma,low expression of C/EBPeα appeared only 2 cases,high expression 39 cases,low expression rate was only 4.88％;and in 41 cases of colon cancer,C/EBP low expression appeared 32 cases,high expression only 9 cases,low expression rate was 78.05％.Compared with normal adjacent tissues,the expression of C/EBP in colon cancer was down regulated (P＜0.05).In 41 cases of colon cancer,independent of C/EBPα expression and colon cancer,cancer size,sex,age and histological classification of colon cancer clinical pathological parameters (P ＞ 0.05),but tumor node metastasis (TNM) and colon cancer staging was closely related (P ＜ 0.05).The median survival times in low expression and high expression groups were 31.5 and 54.2 months,with significant difference(P ＜0.05).Conclusion The low expression of C/EBPα in colon cancer has a close relationship with TMN staging and survival rate of prognosis,which has a great significance on early diagnosis and targeted therapy of colon cancer in the future.

BACKGROUNDInfluenza A (H7N9) virus infections were first observed in China in March 2013. This type virus can cause severe illness and deaths, the situation raises many urgent questions and global public health concerns. Our purpose was to investigate bedside chest radiography findings for patients with novel influenza A (H7N9) virus infections and the followup appearances after short-time treatment.

METHODSEight hospitalized patients infected with the novel influenza A (H7N9) virus were included in our study. All of the patients underwent bedside chest radiography after admission, and all had follow-up bedside chest radiography during their first ten days, using AXIOM Aristos MX and/or AMX-IV portable X-ray units. The exposure dose was generally 90 kV and 5 mAs, and was slightly adjusted according to the weight of the patients. The initial radiography data were evaluated for radiological patterns (ground glass opacity, consolidation, and reticulation), distribution type (focal, multifocal, and diffuse), lung zones involved, and appearance at follow-up while the patients underwent therapy.

RESULTSAll patients presented with bilateral multiple lung involvement. Two patients had bilateral diffuse lesions, three patients had unilateral diffuse lesions of the right lobe with multifocal lesions of the left lobe, and the remaining three had bilateral multifocal lung lesions. The lesions were present throughout bilateral lung zones in three patients, the whole right lung zone in three patients with additional involvement in the left middle and/or lower lung zone(s), both lower and middle lung zones in one patient, and the right middle and lower in combination with the left lower lung zones in one patient. The most common abnormal radiographic patterns were ground glass opacity (8/8), and consolidation (8/8). In three cases examined by CT we also found the pattern of reticulation in combination with CT images. Four patients had bilateral and four had unilateral pleural effusion. After a short period of treatment the pneumonia in one patient had significantly improved and three cases demonstrated disease progression. In four cases the severity of the pneumonia fluctuated.

CONCLUSIONSIn patients with influenza A (H7N9) virus infection, the distribution of the lung lesions are extensive, and the disease usually involves both lung zones. The most common imaging findings are a mixture of ground glass opacity and consolidation. Pleural effusion is common. Most cases have a poor short-time treatment response, and seem to have either rapid progressive radiographic deterioration or fluctuating radiographic changes. Chest radiography is helpful for evaluating patients with severe clinical symptoms and for follow-up evaluation.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H7N9 Subtype ; physiology ; Influenza, Human ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the relationship between tumor necrosis factor-alpha-238, transforming growth factor beta (509 and 869) gene polymorphisms and pneumoconiosis susceptibility.

METHODSWe searched published full-text from foreign language databases including Elsevier, PubMed, Wiley Online Library, EMCC, Web of Science, chinese databases containing CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, CBM and Cochrane library to collect case-control or cohort study on gene gene polymorphisms said above with pneumoconiosis susceptibility from the year January1988 to August 2011. 28 relevant articles were selected and 20 of them met the criteria. The correlated index was extracted for aggregate analysis in RevMan 4.2.

RESULTSAmong the 20 studies, 10 articles on TNF-α238 polymorphism (including 2232 pneumoconiosis cases and 1985 control subjects), 4 articles on TGF-β509 polymorphism (including 693 pneumoconiosis cases and 663 control subjects), and 6 articles on TGF-β869 polymorphism (including 1450 pneumoconiosis cases and 1101 control subjects) were included in the current study. Meta-analysis results showed that there was a significant association between TNF-α238 polymorphism and pneumoconiosis: the population with GA and AA genotypes of TNF-α238 had higher risks to pneumoconiosis (OR = 1.53, 95%CI: 1.25 ∼ 1.88) comparing to GG genotype, and the population with A allele had higher risks to pneumoconiosis comparing to allele G (OR = 1.64, 95%CI: 1.17 ∼ 2.30). The stratified analysis showed that the people with GA and AA genotypes and A allele who were silicosis, Asian or exposed to dust had higher risks to pneumoconiosis (OR = 2.14, 95%CI: 1.20 ∼ 3.82; OR = 2.16, 95%CI: 1.20 ∼ 3.88; OR = 1.78, 95%CI: 1.01 ∼ 3.11; OR = 1.83, 95%CI: 1.04 ∼ 3.22; OR = 1.80, 95%CI: 1.21 ∼ 2.66; OR = 1.50, 95%CI: 1.23 ∼ 1.83). No significant association was found between TGF-β (509 and 869) gene polymorphisms with pneumoconiosis: In contrast to the CC genotype, the population who had CT and TT genotypes had no higher risks to pneumoconiosis (OR = 1.56, 95%CI: 0.81 ∼ 3.01; OR = 0.96, 95%CI: 0.79 ∼ 1.18); The population who had T allele had no higher risks to pneumoconiosis in contrast to the C allele (OR = 1.35, 95%CI: 0.86 ∼ 2.13; OR = 1.02, 95%CI: 0.91 ∼ 1.15).

CONCLUSIONSignificant association was found between TNFα238 gene polymorphism and pneumoconiosis; and TGF-β (509 and 869) were not.

Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Pneumoconiosis ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Risk Factors ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; genetics ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; genetics

BACKGROUNDPostconditioning has been shown to reduce infarct size, ischemic/reperfusion injury and myocardial injury in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study tested the hypothesis that postconditioning attenuates the elevation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and improves heart function in patients with AMI after PCI.

METHODSA total of 75 patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: the routine group (n = 26), in which no intervention was given at the onset of reperfusion; and the Postcon-30s (n = 25) or Postcon-60 s (n = 24) groups, in which 3 cycles of 30- or 60-second balloon deflation and inflation were repetitively performed. TNF-alpha serum concentration was measured by ELISA. Global and regional left ventricular systolic function was determined by echocardiography at 1 year. Thirty-four normal controls (NC) were enrolled in the study.

RESULTSThe TNF-alpha concentration in patients with AMI was significantly elevated at baseline compared to controls (P < 0.01). Concentration levels increased in the routine and Postcon-30s, but not in Postcon-60s group at 7 days (P < 0.05). As for linear associations among the three groups, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and wall motion score index (WMSI) were ranked as follows: Postcon-60s > Postcon-30s > routine (P values all < 0.05, 65% vs. 57% vs. 52% and 1.10 vs. 1.27 vs. 1.53) after 1 year. More importantly, there was a significant relevance between the soluble TNF-alpha serum concentration at 7 days and LVEF or WMSI after 1 year (P values all < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONSPostconditioning, in particular Postcon-60s was associated with long-term cardioprotective effects for inhibition of the inflammatory response and reperfusion injury. The soluble TNF-alpha serum concentration provided powerful prognostic information of global and regional left ventricular systolic function in patients with AMI.

Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; therapy ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood