Objective To observe the influence of taurine supplementation during early postnatal life on body weight and ultrastructure of islet ? cells in neonatal rats with low birth weight(LBW).Methods LBW neonatal rats were made by feeding 20%(C group) or 10%(R group) protein diet to fetal rats during gestation and lactation.Half of femal rats in group R were given a supplementation with 2.5% taurine drinking water(RT group) only during lactation,while other femal rats freely drunk.At postnatal day 1 and 21,the neonatal rats were weighted and their pancreas were removed.The ultrastructural changes of ? cells were observed by electron microscopy.Results At postnatal 21 days,the body weight of offsprings in group RT was significantly highter than that in group R(P=0.003);and the ultrastructure of ? cells in group RT got more improvement than that in group R.Conclusion Taurine supplementation can improve the growth-catch-up and the ultrastructure of islet ? cells of neonateal rats with LBW.

Objective To study the feasibility and curative effect of laparoscopic radical resection of rectal carcinoma. Methods Sixty-two cases were enrolled in this study between Feb 2003 and Mar 2005, including 32 cases undergoing laparoscopic radical resection (19 Dixon and 13 Miles) , and 30 cases undergoing open radical resection (22 Dixons and 8 Miles). Results The mean operation time of laparoscopic group was 195 min, and open group was 156 min (P 0. 05 ). The GI and urination function of laparoscopic group recovered faster than open group ( evacuated was 2. 7 days vs. 3. 7 days, P

[Objective] To explore the techniques of hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy plus portozygos disconnection procedure. [Methods] 18 patients with portal hypertension were operated by hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy plus portozygos disconnection. [Results] The operations were completed successfully. The mean operative time was 180(150～260) minutes, the mean blood loss estimated was 540(200～2 000) mL, the mean weight of spleen was 910 (500～2000) g and the mean length of hospital stay was 9.7 (8～18) days after operation. All patients had recovered rapidly and suffered less pain and only 5 patients needed analgesic. The mean recovery time of the bowel function was 52(24～74) hours. The hand incisions healed well, and only one occurred complications and another suffered death. [ Conclusions ] Hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy plus portozygos disconnection procedure is to be feasible and safe, and has the merits of minimally invasive surgery.

Animals ; Atherosclerosis ; diet therapy ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; drug therapy

Objective To explore the optimal methods to detect helicobacter pylori(Hp)antigen in children.Methods 13C labeled urea breath test(13C-UBT)was performed on 937 children of alimentary department from Sep.2000 to Feb.2006.Gastric mucosa biopsy of 96 children was detected.Hp stool antigen(HpSA)status of the 557 children were evaluated.Both 13C-UBT and HpSA were assayed in 105 children from Apr.2003 to Apr.2004.Method of 13C-UBT was taken as the golden standard on diagnosis of Hp infection.Results Forty-one point seven percent children was positive for 13C-UBT.Forty point six percent children was positive for gastric mucosa biopsy.Thirty-eight point two percent was positive for HpSA.The difference was not significant.2.Among the 105 children performed by both 13C-UBT and HpSA,41.9% was positive for 13C-UBT and 39.0% for HpSA.Taking 13C-UBT as the golden standard,sensitivity of HpSA to diagnose Hp infection was 91.8%,and its specificity was 81.8%.Consistency Kappa coefficient was 0.743(P=0),which denoted that there was no significant difference on the positive detection rate between 13C-UBT and HpSA(P=0.388).Conclusions 13C-UBT and HpSA as non-invasive technique is effective to detect the Hp antigen.Compared to 13C-UBT,as a convenient,noninvasive,economical method,HpSA detection is much more acceptable to children and their patients.

Objective To study the clinical value of using a four-point method (FP) in measuring joint angles.Method Methods Twenty-five subjects without knee dysfunction were studied.Every knee joint was tested in extension,below 90° of flexion and above 90° of flexion with the traditional three-point method (TP) and the new four-point method.X-rays were taken as a gold standard measurement.The reliability and validity were analyzed using Bland-Altman plots,which can yield 95% limits of agreement (LOA).Results (1) The joint axis centers moved with changes in joint angle.(2) The 95% LOA of inter-tester reliability was (-5.0,2.7) with the FP and (-6.5,4.4) with the TP.The 95% LOAs of intra-tester reliability were (-3.6,4.0) for tester A and (-4.1,4.8) for tester B with the FP,while (-5.0,6.4) for tester A and (-6.1,5.8) for tester B with the TP.(3) The 95% LOAs in the three positions were (3.5,2.6) in extension,(-3.3,3.6) in mild flexion and (-1.9,5.7) in greater flexion with the FP,and ( 6.8,1.1),(-4.0,7.1) and (0,8.5) with the TP.Conclusions The FP gives better reliability and validity than the TP in joint angle measurement.

AIM To explore the mechanism of amyloid β-protein fragment 25-35(Aβ25-35)-induced inflammation and apoptosis in rat hippocampus in vivo by studying mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway and the protective effect of anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen. METHODS Rats were given ibuprofen (7.5 mg·kg-1 daily, ig) for 3 weeks prior to and 1 week after icv single dose of Aβ25-35 (10 μL, 1 mmol·L-1). Seven days after injection, Nissl staining and immunocytochemical technique were employed to determine the morphology of pyramidal neurons and astrocyte infiltration in hippocampal CA1. The expressions of IL-1β, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38 MAPK, PKC, and caspase-3 were determined by Western blot. Reverse transcription-PCR analysis showed changes in IL-1β mRNA level. RESULTS Intracerebroventricular injection of Aβ25-35 elicited astrocyte activation and infiltration and caused a strong inflammatory reaction characterized by increased IL-1β production and elevated IL-1β mRNA level. The inflammatory reaction was accompanied by the loss of pyramidal neurons in hippocampal CA1. The phosphorylation of p38 MAPK was significantly increased, on the other hand, the phosphorylation of ERK was significantly reduced and these were coupled with the increase of caspase-3 expression in hippocampal CA1. Ibuprofen (7.5 mg·kg-1 daily, 4 weeks) significantly reduced Aβ-induced IL-1β expression, caspase-3 expression and p38 MAPK activation. The loss of pyramidal neurons was also significantly attenuated by treatment with ibuprofen. CONCLUSION The activation of p38 MAPK and the down-regulation of ERK play a pivotal role in the inflam-matory response and apoptosis evoked by Aβ25-35 in vivo, which can be prevented by ibuprofen.

Objective To investigate the relationship between mtND4 point mutation in sperms and asthenospermia. Methods Fifty-six asthenospermia cases and 44 control cases were collected using the WHO criterion for defining asthenospermia, the regions of mtND4 gene were amplified by using PCR of 3 pairs primers. Consequently, the point mutation, missense mutation and multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were analyzed by employing sequencing technology and bioinformatics tools. Results Six mutations never before identified were found. The frequency of single point mutation T10873C and T11944C in the control group were significantly higher than those in the asthenospermia group (P＜0.05). Eight cases involved T10873C or T11944C among the 10 cases in control groups with missense mutations were found. But, there were only 2 cases with such mutation in the 10 asthenospermia cases with missense mutations (P＜0.05). The previous 20 cases of missense mutations can be described as either multiple SNP group (with T10873C or T11944C) or nonmultiple SNP group. The percentage of a range and a plus b range of multiple SNP group of sperm was significantly higher than the non-multiple SNP group(P＜0.05). Conclusions mtND4 gene mutation, especially the missense mutation may induce loss of sperm motility. The mutations of T10873C and T11944C may be useful for sperm motility or counteract the influence for the sperm motility caused by these harmful mutations.

Objective To establish a new determination method for the measuring of alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) with p-acetyl phenyl phosphace (PAP-PNa_2) as substrate.Methods With the help of Vital semiautomatic analyzer,researched a continuous-monitoring procedure and set up experimental parameters.Results When using this assay,the wavelength of PAP's absorption was 325 nm and the Km of ALP was 0.376 mmol/L.The molecular extinction coefficient of PAP at 340 nm was 23 390 L?mol~(-1)? cm~(-1) and the concentration of citrate buffer was 0.438 mol/L.During the process,we found that the optimum pH of enzyme was 10.4,and the concentration of substrate was 5.0 mmol/L.The time of linear reaction was 900 seconds,and the linear range was 0-1 110 U/L.Serum total ALP were 63.1-118.3 U/ L(male) and 52.5-89.0 U/L(female),based on results from 60 heath adults.Conclusions The method is practical in its repetition and convenience,saves time and is not liable to be affected by bilirubin in serum.It is especially suited to the use of automatic analyzers.