Objective To investigate the effects of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) on the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and intedeukin-10 (IL-10) by peri-pheral blood monohuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with psoriasis vulgaris. Methods Heparinized peri-pheral blood was obtained from 20 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 10 healthy human controls. PBMCs were isolated, cultured in complete medium, and stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) alone, the com-bination of PHA and various concentrations of alpha-MSH, or nothing. After another 48-hour culture, ELISA and real-time PCR were performed to measure the secretion levels of TNF-alpha and IL-10 in the super-natants of cultured PBMCs as well as the mRNA expression levels of TNF-alpha and IL-10 in PBMCs. Results The secretion level of TNF-alpha in the supematants of patient-derived PBMCs stimulated by nothing or PHA alone was significantly higher than that from normal control-derived PBMCs (329.87 ± 99.33 ng/L vs 116.95 ± 37.15 ng/L, 1756.01 ± 183.60 ng/L vs 1287.30 ± 152.36 ng/L, both P<0.01). alpha-MSH of all tested concentrations (10-13, 10-11, 10-7,mol/L) could inhibit the secretion of TNF-alpha by PBMCs com-pared with PHA alone (all P < 0.01), and the maximum effective concentration was 10-13 mol/L. On the con-Wary, a significant decrease was observed in the secretion level of IL-10 in the supematants of patient-derived PBMCs stimulated by nothing or PHA alone compared with normal control-derived PBMCs (P <0.05 or 0.01). Moreover, the secretion of IL-10 by PBMCs was promoted by alpha-MSH of all tested con-centrations (P < 0.01 or 0.05), with the maximum effective concentration being 10-13 mol/L (P < 0.01). The alpha-MSH of 10-13 mol/L down-regulated the mRNA expression of TNF-alpha (P < 0.001), but up-regnlated that of IL-10 (P < 0.001) in PHA-stimulated PBMCs from patients. Conclusion alpha-MSH can regulate the production of TNF-alpha and IL-10 by PHA-stimulated PBMCs from patients with psoriasis vulgaris.

Objective To extract breathing pattern parameters during sleep and get the varying law of NREM and REM sleep stages. Method A newly designed respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) and a polysomnography (PSG) are utilized to record whole-night-sleep data simultaneously. The breathing pattern parameters obtained by RIP are dealt with according to the results of sleep stages and sleep apnea by PSG. Then the rule found out and summarized from the experiment is applied to distinguish REM sleep. Conclusion RC/VT can be used as an effective parameter to differentiate NREM and REM sleep. Using this parameter, the results of RIP totally accord with the results of PSG.

Objective:To search for a better RT-PCR method for detecting CK19 mRNA. Methods: RT-PCR methods were used to detect the expression of CK19 mRNA in the tumor tissues and in the peripheral blood of patients with gastric cancer and in the peripheral blood of healthy subjects. Results: The influence of pseudogene and genome was observed through nonreversely transcripted RNA controls and comparison of several pairs of primers.The interference could be effectively eliminated by regulating the annealing temperature based on mismatched primers. Conclusion: The presence of pseudogene and genome interferes the experimental protocol in RT-PCR,which can be resolved with the method introduced in our paper.

Objective To investigate the imaging features of malignant invasion of major intrahepatic ductal structures (the portal and hepatic venous vasculature, the bilie duct) by primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using multi-detector-row spiral CT (MDCT). Methods We retrospectively analyzed 68 documented HCC patients with tumorous invasion of the major intrahepatic ductal structures who had undergone contrast-enhanced dual-phase MDCT scanning of the upper abdomen.The morphological changes of the portal and hepatic venous vasculature, the bile duct, and the liver parenchyma at both the hepatic arterial phase and portal venous phase images were carefully observed and recorded. Results Among the 68 patients, 47 patients had malignant invasion of the intrahepatic portal venous vessels with secondary tumor thrombus formation; 12 patients had tumor involvement of the hepatic veins and intraheptic segment of the inferior vena cava; Tumor invasion of the bile duct was seen in 9 patents. The direct CT signs of tumor invasion of intrahepatic venous vessels included: ①dilatation or enlargement of the involved vein with intraluminal soft-tissue “filling defect”; ②enhancement of the tumor thrombus at hepatic arterial phase, the so-called “venous arterialization” phenomenon. The indirect CT signs included: ①arterial-venous shunt, ②early and heterogeneous enhancement of the hepatic parenchyma adjacent to HCC focus, ③cavernous transformation of the portal vein. The CT signs suggesting tumor invasion of the bile duct included: ①dilation of the bile ducts near or proximal to HCC lesion, ②soft-tissue nodule or mass inside the bile ducts. Conclusion Invasion of major intrahepatic ductal structures by HCC will present corresponding CT imaging features. Contrast-enhanced MDCT dual-phase scanning combined with appropriate image post-processing techniques can better evaluate the malignant invasion of major intrahepatic ductal structures.

Humans ; Hyperphosphatemia ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Phytotherapy ; methods

Objective: To separate and identify chemical constituents from Cynodon dactylon. Methods: The chemical constituents of the alcohol extract of C. dactylon were isolated and purified by various chromatography methods, and their structures were identified by physical and chemical properties and spectral data. Results: Twelve compounds were separated from C. dactylon and their structures were examined by physicochemical characters and spectral data and identified as leachianol G (1), leachianol F (2), parthenostilbenin B (3), parthenostilbenin A (4), restrytisol B (5), caraphenol C (6), pallidol (7), laetevirenol A (8), quadrangularin B (9), quadrangularin C (10), quadrangularin A (11), and parthenocissine A (12). Conclusion: Compounds 1-12 are isolated from C. dactylon for the first time.

Objective To study the inter-rater reliability of Wisconsin Gait Scale (WGS) and Gait Abnormality Rating Scale (GARS) in patients with stroke. Methods 20 hemiplegic patients were required to walk on their comfortable speed and videotaped from frontal, backward and lateral. The video recordings were scored with WGS and GARS by 2 experienced physical therapists. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated for the scores in each category and the total score. Results ICC for the WGS were 0.372~1, and were 0~0.875 for the GARS. Conclusion WGS is more appropriater to assess the gait of hemiplegic stroke patients than GARS.

Objective To investigate the relationship between a mutation in the platelet-activating factor (PAF) acetylhydrolase gene (Arg92→His) and psoriasis. Methods Genomic DNA was analyzed in 47 patients with psoriasis and 52 healthy controls via polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results The frequency of the mutation in the PAF acetylhydrolase gene (Arg92→His) was significantly higher in patients with psoriasis than that in the controls (P

Objective: To explore the relationship between platelet counts at admission and in-hospital mortality in patients with type A acute aortic dissection (AAD). Methods: We investigated 183 consecutive patients with CT conifrmed diagnosis of type A AAD treated in our hospital from 2012-02 to 2013-05. There were 126 (68.9%) male and the patients were divided into 3 sets of groups.①In-hospital surviving group,n=157 and In-hospital death group,n=26.②According to platelet counts, the patients were divided into 5 groups: Q1 group, platelet counts ≤ 119×109/L,n=36, Q2 group, platelet (120-149) ×109/L,n=37, Q3 group, platelet (150-173)×109/L, n=36, Q4 group, platelet (174-228)×109/L,n=37, Q5 group, platelet >228×109/L,n=37.③At admission, platelet ≤ 119×109/L,n=36 and platelet >119×109/L,n=147. In addition, the patients were further divided into another 4 groups based on operative condition: platelet ≤ 119×109/L with operation,n=18, without operation,n=18; platelet > 119×109/L with operation,n=96, without operation,n=51. The basic information at admission including platelet counts, WBC and D-dimer were studied in all groups, the primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality. Results: The overall in-hospital mortality was 14.3%. Compared with In-hospital surviving group, the In-hospital mortality group had decreased platelet counts, lower blood pressure and higher level of D-dimer. The mortality in Q1 group (38.9%) was higher than those in Q2, Q3, Q4 and Q5 groups (10.8%, 11.1%, 8.1% and 2.7%), allP<0.001. The risk of death in Q5 group was higher than Q1 group (HR=11.2, 95% CI 2.13-123.3,P=0.007). With adjusted age, gender and other relevant factors, when platelet counts ≤ 119×109/L, the risk of in-hospital mortality with Cox multivariate model I analysis was (HR3.90, 95% CI 1.67-9.09,P=0.002), with Cox model II was (HR=2.67, 95% CI 1.15 -6.19,P=0.023). Conclusion: AAD patients with admission platelet counts ≤ 119×109/L had the high risk of in-hospital death, even with operation, lower platelet counts was still related to in-hospital death.