Objective To preliminarily evaluate the value of color power doppler ultrasonography in the diagnosis of sacroiliitis in ankylosing spondylitis(AS). Methods Fifty-seven sacroiliac joints in 31 patients with active AS and 40 sacroiliac joints in 20 volunteers were detected by color power doppler ultrasonography.The color flow signs inside the sacroiliac joints were observed,and the resistance index(RI) was measured. Results In active AS,color flow signs were seen in 55 joints,and the mean RI value was 0.53?0.08 in 45 joints,while the other 10 color flow signs represented reversed phase in diastolic phase on pulse doppler ultrasonography.In the volunteers,color flow signs were seen in 16 joints,and the mean RI value was 0.97?0.01 in 6 joints,while the other 10 color flow signs represented reversed phase in diastolic phase on pulse doppler ultrasonography. Conclusion The abnormal flow signs at the sacroiliac joints can be detected by color power doppler ultrasonography.Low RI values provide diagnosis evidence for active AS.

Fifty-six patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy(GO)were treated with antithyroid drug and oral prednisone for three months,TSH receptor antibody(TRAb)level was reduced,GO activity and severity of some patients were ameliorated but still positively associated with TRAb.It suggests that TRAb not only triggers off GO but also plays a possible role in the maintenance of the autoimmune process in GO.

BACKGROUND: In the treatment of unicompartmental knee osteoarthritis, unicompartmental knee arthroplasty has the advantages of less blood loss, less trauma, quick recovery, maximum retention of bone mass, low cost, fewer complications and higher patient satisfaction. However, for the mobile bearing and the fixed bearing, the choice of single condylar prosthesis is till controversial.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the difference of LINK fixed-bearing and Oxford mobile-bearing unicompartment arthroplasty in relieving knee joint pain, reconstruction of the knee joint function, correct the knee joint deformity for medial unicompartment knee osteoarthritis, thus providing the basis for selecting a better prosthesis.METHODS: Ninety patients with medial unicompartment knee osteoarthritis undergoing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty in the Department of Joint Surgery, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of TCM from December 2014 to June 2016 were analyzed retrospectively, followed by allotted into Oxford mobile-bearing and LINK fixed-bearing groups (n=45 per group). The preoperative and postoperative pain level, range of motion of the knee, complications, and limb alignment were assessed. The range of motion and function of the knee were evaluated by Knee Society Score system.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The two kinds of prosthesises both could obtain good clinical effectiveness. (2)There was no significant difference in the Knee Society Score, Visual Analogue Scale scores, or the range of motion of the knee between two groups (P > 0.05). (3) No complications such as deep vein thrombosis, prosthesis loosening and joint revision were found in both groups. (4) The correction of limb alignment showed significant difference between two groups (P < 0.05). The corrective femorotibial angle in the Oxford mobile-bearing group was larger than that in the LINK fixed-bearing group. (5) These findings manifest that under the precondition of strictly mastering the indications, both fixed-bearing and Oxford mobile-bearing unicompartment arthroplasties can effectively relieve the pain and improve the function of knee joint in the treatment of unicompartmental knee osteoarthritis. Oxford mobile-bearing prosthesis exhibits advantage in restoring the limb alignment; the movable platform lower limb alignment correction angle is often bigger than fixed platform correction angle, but may accelerate the lateral cartilage wear.

OBJECTIVETo compare craniofacial structural characteristic of syndromic and non-syndromic patients with cleft palate and to probe into the reason of their maxillary hypoplasia and to lay a foundation for better treatment protocol for syndromic patients with cleft palate.

METHODSThe sample consisted of 8 individuals with Treacher Collin syndrome, 9 patients with Pierre Robin syndrome, and 40 patients with non-syndromic cleft palate which met certain criterions. Lateral cephalometric radiographs were obtained from each study subject. A total of 18 variables, comprising 9 angular, 7 linear, and 2 ratio measurements, were studied. SPSS 12.0 software was used to describe the statistics data, consisting of means, SD, and t test.

RESULTSThe tendency for smaller value in SNB and larger value in ANB indicate a severer anteroposterior mandibular hypoplasia in the syndromic type cleft. There was no difference between syndromic and non-syndromic cleft palate patients with regards to maxillary anteroposterior development. No significant difference on the development in cranial base area was found either.

CONCLUSIONThis interplay of cranio-facial bones is very important in the development of this complex, which will not only affect the growth but also the defect development. In this study, the patients with the two syndromes showed the similar growth potential of maxilla with the non-syndromic cleft patients.

Cephalometry ; Cleft Lip ; Cleft Palate ; Humans ; Male ; Malocclusion ; Maxilla

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the immunogenicity of bovine jugular vein conduits (BJVCs) treated with different cross-linking methods. METHODS: The BJVCs were treated with glutaradehyde (GA), dye-mediated photooxidation (DMP) and polyepoxy compound (PC) (n = 10). The tissue homogenates obtained from BJVCs treated with PC, GA, DMP, and fresh BJVCs, were mixed with the complete Freand adjavant to form the emulsive antigen, which were used to immunize rabbits correspondently. The antibody concentrations to BJVCs in those rabbits' serum were measured by counter double immuno diffusion. The immunologic responses to the BJVCs in different groups were measured with Western blotting. RESULTS: The positive bands appeared when the sera of rabbits were immunized by fresh BJVCs reacted with antigens of fresh BJVCs, but no bands appeared when the sera of rabbits were immunized by fresh BJVCs reacted with those antigens of the BJVCs treated with GA, DMP, and PC in Western blotting. CONCLUSION The immunogenicity of BJVCs treated with PC, DMP, and GA can be reduced significantly and meet the clinical standard.
Animals ; Bioprosthesis ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis ; Cattle ; Cross-Linking Reagents ; Glutaral ; pharmacology ; Jugular Veins ; immunology ; Prostheses and Implants ; Rabbits ; Random Allocation

OBJECTIVETo investigate the dose-effect relationship of enalaprilat (ENA) injection on the organ damage following early burn injury in rats.

METHODSA total of 54 SD rats were subjected to 30% total body surface area III scald injury, and were randomly divided into simple scald group (B group, with conventional fluid transfusion after scald), ENA treated group (E1, E2, E3 group, with intraperitoneal enalaprilat injection of 1, 2, 4 mg/kg after scald respectively). Other 6 rats were taken as normal control. Aortic systolic pressure (AOSP), aortic diastolic blood pressure (AODP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), angiotensin 1, blood urea nitrogen (Bun), creatinine (Cr), creatinine kinase (CK), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) of the simple scald group, E1 group, E2 group and E3 group were investigated at 6 h and 12 h post burn.

RESULTSAng II, Bun, Cr, CK, ALT, AST levels in ENA treated group after 6 h and 12 hours were significantly lower than those of simple scald group (all P < 0.05). AOSP, AODP, MAP in ENA treated group after 6 and 12 hours were significantly higher than those of simple scald group (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONLow-dose enalaprilat, injection (1 mg/kg) could alleviate organ damage in post-burned rats, but has little effect on AOSP and AODP.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Burns ; blood ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Enalaprilat ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Viscera ; drug effects ; pathology

BACKGROUNDThe key components of metabolic syndrome (MS) are waist circumference, blood pressure, fast blood glucose, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and triglycerides (TG). These components have, separately and jointly, been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we aimed to explore the association between MS components and cancer risk in a population-based cohort in China.

METHODSWe established a population-based cohort with 17 779 individuals aged 35 and above at baseline in 2004 and 2005 in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. All participants were face-to-face interviewed to complete a questionnaire and were accepted physical examinations including blood tests for glucose and lipids and physical measurements for obesity and blood pressure. In 2009, a total of 16 284 subjects (6886 men and 9398 women, 91.6%) attended the flow-up interviews and the participants or their family members reported all the hospitalizations and diseases including cancer occurred during the follow-up period. Multivariate Cox regression was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) of metabolic syndrome components and cancer incidence.

RESULTSThere was a dose-response association between cancer risk and the number of MS components presented at baseline (P for trend = 0.012) and the HR (95% confidence interval (CI)) was 2.63 (1.27 - 5.45) for subjects carrying 3 or more metabolic syndrome components after adjustment for possible confounding factors. Specifically, the multivariate-adjusted HRs (95%CIs) for cancer risk in subjects with central obesity, high fasting glucose, low HDL-c were 1.94 (1.01 - 3.74), 2.04 (1.10 - 3.77) and 2.05 (1.09 - 3.88), respectively.

CONCLUSIONSIn this population-based, prospective cohort study in China, we found MS components, e.g., central obesity, high fasting glucose, low HDL-c were risk factors for cancer development. Early intervention of MS components may be also beneficial to reduce cancer burden.

Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Blood Glucose ; physiology ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome ; epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; Prospective Studies ; Triglycerides ; blood ; Waist Circumference ; physiology

China ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Risk ; Smoking

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of montelukast on atherosclerosis and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 expression in a hypercholesterolemic rabbit model.

METHODSThirty four male New Zealand white rabbits were randomized into four groups including normal control group (n = 6), placebo group (n = 8), atorvastatin group (1.5 mgxkg(-1)xd(-1), beginning at 8(th) weeks for 4 weeks, n = 10) and montelukast group (1 mgxkg(-1)xd(-1), beginning at 8(th) weeks for 4 weeks, n = 10). Rabbits except those in normal control group were fed a high cholesterol diet for 12 weeks. Serum lipids were measured at 0, 8 and 12 weeks after intervention. The intima/media ratio, percentages of macrophages or smooth muscle cells in intima and the expression of MCP-1 mRNA were examined.

RESULTSAtherosclerosis was evidenced in placebo group and atorvastatin or montelukast treatment significantly reduced neointima (0.32 +/- 0.12 and 0.34 +/- 0.10 vs. 1.12 +/- 0.36, P < 0.05) and macrophage content [(9.8 +/- 4.6)% and (11.2 +/- 3.7)% vs. (34.6 +/- 8.8)%, P < 0.05], increased SMC content [(18.6 +/- 6.9)% and (19.2 +/- 8.6)% vs. (5.2 +/- 2.3)%, P < 0.05] and inhibited expression of MCP-1 mRNA (0.42 +/- 0.08 and 0.40 +/- 0.06 vs. 2.36 +/- 0.48, P < 0.01). Montelukast had similar anti-atherogenetic effects as atorvastatin but had no influence on plasma lipids.

CONCLUSIONSMontelukast could attenuate atherosclerosis in this hypercholesterolemic rabbit model which might be attributed to its anti-inflammatory effects.

Animals ; Atherosclerosis ; metabolism ; Chemokine CCL2 ; metabolism ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Macrophages ; metabolism ; Rabbits ; Tunica Intima

AIMTo study the active constituents of Swertia davidi Franch.

METHODSColumn chromatographies on silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 and Diaion-201 et al. were used to isolate and purify the chemical components. Their structures were identified by UV, IR, MS, NMR and 2D-NMR.

RESULTSThese compounds were elucidated as 8-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1, 3, 5-trihydroxyxanthone (I), 5-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1, 8-dihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone (II), 5-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1, 3, 8-trihydroxyxanthone (III) and swertamarin (IV).

CONCLUSIONCompound III is a new xanthone glucoside. The other compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time.

Glucosides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Conformation ; Molecular Structure ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Swertia ; chemistry ; Xanthones ; chemistry ; isolation & purification