ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism by which Feixin decoction treats hypoxic pulmonary hypertension （HPH） by regulating the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma （PPARγ）/nuclear factor-kappa B （NF-κB）/NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing 3 （NLRP3） signaling pathway. MethodsForty-eight male SD rats were randomly allocated into normal， hypoxia， and low-， medium- and high-dose （5.85， 11.7， 23.4 g·kg^-1， respectively） Feixin decoction groups， with 8 rats in each group. Except the normal group， the remaining five groups were placed in a hypoxia chamber with an oxygen concentration of （10.0±0.5）% for 8 h per day， 28 days， and administrated with corresponding drugs during the modeling process. After 4 weeks of treatment， echocardiographic parameters ［pulmonary artery acceleration time （PAT）， pulmonary artery ejection time （PET）， right ventricular anterior wall thickness （RVAWd）， and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion （TAPSE）］ were measured for each group. The right ventricular systolic pressure （RVSP） was measured by the right heart catheterization method， and the right ventricular hypertrophy index （RVHI） was calculated by weighing the heart. The pathological changes in pulmonary arterioles were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The co-localization of α-smooth muscle actin （α-SMA） with NLRP3， N-terminal gasdermin D （N-GSDMD）， and cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase-1 （Caspase-1） in pulmonary arteries was detected by immunofluorescence. The protein levels of PPARγ， NF-κB， NLRP3， apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD （ASC）， N-GSDMD， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， interleukin-18（IL-18）， and cleaved Caspase-1 in the lung tissue was determined by Western blot. The ultrastructural changes in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells （PASMCs） were observed by transmission electron microscopy. ResultsCompared with the normal group， the hypoxia group showed increased RVSP and RVHI （P<0.01）， decreased right heart function （P<0.01）， increased pulmonary vascular remodeling （P<0.01）， increased co-localization of α-SMA with NLRP3， N-GSDMD， and Caspase-1 in pulmonary arterioles （P<0.01）， up-regulated protein levels of NF-κB， NLRP3， ASC， N-GSDMD， IL-1β， IL-18， and cleaved Caspase-1 in the lung tissue （P<0.05， P<0.01）， a down-regulated protein level of PPARγ （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and pyroptosis in PASMCs. Compared with the hypoxia group， Feixin decoction reduced RVSP and RVHI， improved the right heart function and ameliorated pulmonary vascular remodeling （P<0.05， P<0.01）， decreased the co-localization of α-SMA with NLRP3， N-GSDMD， and Caspase-1 （P<0.05， P<0.01）， down-regulated the protein levels of NF-κB， NLRP3， ASC， N-GSDMD， IL-1β， IL-18， and cleaved Caspase-1 in the lung tissue （P<0.05， P<0.01）， up-regulated the protein level of PPARγ （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and alleviated pyroptosis in PASMCs. ConclusionFeixin decoction can ameliorate pulmonary vascular remodeling and right heart dysfunction in chronically induced HPH rats by regulating pyroptosis in PASMCs through the PPARγ/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway.

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), derived from the solid tumor microenvironment, have significant advantages in adoptive cell therapy for solid tumors as they are believed to have more specific antitumor activity than peripheral lymphocytes. TILs was first reported in 1986. With the development and improvement of isolation and activation techniques, TILs-based adoptive cell therapy has shown long-term clinical benefit in phase Ⅱ/Ⅲ trials for advanced melanoma in recent years, and the first TILs-based therapy has been approved for market. Gene editing technology has improved the antitumor activity of TILs and made TILs widely used in other solid tumors besides advanced melanoma, such as head and neck cancer, breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and ovarian cancer. In addition, TILs-based adoptive cell therapy used in combination with other tumor therapies has shown promising therapeutic potential in a variety of solid tumors. This review summarizes the significant progress of TILs-based therapy in basic research, clinical trials, and industrial application in the past two years, and analyzes the challenges and development trends, hoping to provide reference for further development in this field.

The paper proposes and realizes a programmable wireless neural stimulation system which can be used as a solution of functional electrical stimulation to treat neural diseases. The system is composed of two parts: controller and neural stimulator. The controller can transmit pulse parameters to the stimulator wirelessly, and the stimulator can generate bidirectional pulses with charge balance. The simulator takes use of ADCs to sample on the bidirectional pulse output, which compared with preset amplitude to the DAC output voltage to realize the voltage calibration. Through the test, the whole system works stably and the output of the biphasic charge balanced circuit is definite. The stimulator output ranges from 0 to 5 V ajustably, and the frequency ranges from 1 Hz to 200 Hz ajustably, while the pulse width ranges from 500 μs to 1500 μs ajustably. The duration of the stimulation can be set from 10 s to 10 min.
Electric Stimulation ; instrumentation ; Equipment Design ; Wireless Technology

Humans ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; diagnosis ; Pleural Effusion

This study was aimed to observe the effect ofIllicium verum water extract on excess-cold syndrome in rats. The intragastric administration of the decoction of gypsum, gentian, phellodendron andrhizoma anemarrhenae (2:1.2:1:1.5) was used to establish the excess-cold rat model. Effects ofI. verum water extract on general body signs of excess-cold syndrome rats were observed. The detection was made on the contents of LD, PA, TG, TSH, T4 in the serum and LD, PA, glycogen in liver tissues. The vitality of the LDH, SDH and ATPas was also detected. The results showed thatI. verum water extract can improve the general body signs of excess-cold syndrome rats. It reduced the content of TG; increased the content of PA, T4, TSH; reduced the content of LD, glycogen, and the vitality of LDH;increased the vitality of LDH, Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase in liver tissues. It was concluded thatI. verum water extract can improve some general body signs of excess-cold syndrome rats, improve the substance and energy metabolism, and regulate the thyroid axis function, in order to achieve the warmingyang for dispelling cold effect.

BACKGROUNDBased on the excellent medical care and management system for Chinese veterans, as well as the detailed medical documentation available, we aim to construct a Chinese Veteran Clinical Research (CVCR) platform on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and carry out studies of the primary disabling NCDs.

METHODSThe Geriatric Neurology Department of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital and veterans' hospitals serve as the leading and participating units in the platform construction. The fundamental constituents of the platform are veteran communities. Stratified typical cluster sampling is adopted to recruit veteran communities. A cross-sectional study of mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders are performed in two stages using screening scale such as the Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal cognitive assessment, followed by systematic neuropsychological assessments to make clinical diagnoses, evaluated disease awareness and care situation.

RESULTSA total of 9 676 among 277 veteran communities from 18 cities are recruited into this platform, yielding a response rate of 83.86%. 8 812 subjects complete the MNS subproject screening and total response rate is 91.70%. The average participant age is (82.01±4.61) years, 69.47% of veterans are 80 years or older. Most participants are male (94.01%), 83.36% of subjects have at least a junior high school degree. The overall health status of veterans is good and stable. The most common NCD are cardiovascular disorders (86.44%), urinary and genital diseases (73.14%), eye and ear problems (66.25%), endocrine (56.56%) and neuro-psychiatric disturbances (50.78%).

CONCLUSIONWe first construct a veterans' comprehensive clinical research platform for the study of NCDs that is primarily composed of highly educated Chinese males of advanced age and utilize this platform to complete a cross-sectional national investigation of MNS disorders among veterans. The good and stable health condition of the veterans could facilitate the long-term follow-up studies of NCDs and provide prospective data to the prevention and management of NCDs.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Disease ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; Veterans ; statistics & numerical data

ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy of rapamycin combined with CsA/Tacrolimus (Tac) in chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN).MethodsFifty-three cases of CAN accepted the quadruple immunosuppressive drug program,which contained rapamycin combined with CsA/Tac and MMF and prednisone,and CsA/Tac and MMF were reduced to the original amount of 25％ to 50％.After treatment for 12 months,more relevant indicators,including serum creatinine,glomerular filtration rate,serum cholesterol,triglycerides,urinary protein,GPT and bilirubin and other changes were observed.ResultsIn the patients receiving quadruple regimen of rapamycin during 12 months,the blood Ccr was decreased from (161.51 ± 106.48)μmol/L before treatment to (126.51 ± 56.2)μmol/L after treatment for 6 months (P＜0.05) and to (123.43 ± 54.18)μmol/L after for 12 months (P＜0.01).The GFR was increased from (0.754 ± 0.302) ml/s before treatment to (0.952 ± 0.347)ml/s after treatment for 6 months (P＜0.05) and to (1.007 ± 0.394) ml/s after treatment for 12 months (P＜0.01).Cholesterol and triglycerides in patients had no significant change before and after treatment.The positive rate of proteinuria after treatment showed an increasing trend from 9.4％ before treatment to 26.4％ after treatment for 12 months.ConclusionThe quadruple program of rapamycin combined with CsA/FK506 and MMF can significantly improve Ccr and GFR in patients with CAN,but it can increase the incidence of proteinuria in patients:

Objective To explore the relationship between coagulation/anticoagulation imbalance and oxidative stress in the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during acute exacerbation (AECOPD)before and after treatment.Methods Plasma tissue factor(TF)and tissue factor pathway inhibitor(TFPl)activity was detected by chromogenic assay in 28 AECOPD patients before and after treatment as well as in 30 healthy controls.The total antioxidative capacity(TAC),malondialdehyde (MDA)and gtutathione peroxidase(GSH-PX)in plasma were measured in both groups.Results The levels of plasma TF and TFPI,and their ratio(TF/TFPI)in AECOPD patients before treatment were significantly higher than those after treatment(all P<0.0 1),the latter were still higher than those in the healthy persons(all P<0.01).The levels of the TAC and GSH-PX in plasma in AECOPD patients before treatment were significantly lower than those after treatment(all P<0.01),the latter were still lower than those in the healthy persons(all P<0.01).The plasma MDA in AECOPD patients before treatment was significantly higher than that after treatment(P<0.0 1),which was still higher than that in the healthy persons(P<0.05).There were negative correlations between TF/TFPI ratio and TAC(r=-0.518.P<0.01),GSH-PX(r=-0.454,P<0.05),PaO2(r=-0.511,P<0.01)respectively and a positive correlation between TF/TFPI ratio and the percentage of neutrophils(r=0.379,P<0.05)in AECOPD patients before treatment.There still were negative correlations between TF/TFPI ratio and TAC (r=-0.420,P<0.05),FEV1% to predicted(r=-0.480,P<0.05)respectively,and a positive correlation between TF/TFPI ratio and MDA(r=0.45 1,P<0.05)in AECOPD patients after treatment.Conclusions There existed coagulation/anticoagulation imbalance and oxidation/antioxidation imbalance before and after treatment in AECOPD patients and their relationship was explored.

Objective To analyze the surgical technique of extraperitoneal laparoseopic radical prostatectomy with neurovascular bundle preservation and its effect on micturition control and sexual function in patients with prostate cancer. Methods Twenty-two patients with a median age of 66. 9 years underwent extraperitoneal laparoscopic radical prostatectomy with neurovascular bundle preservation from October 2005 to March 2009 in our hospital and Shanghai Changzheng hospital. All patients had no erectile dysfunction. According to the pathology, there were 2 cases of PIN high grade, 4 cases of Tla-b, 9 cases of Tlc, 4 cases of T2a-b, 2 cases of T2e and 1 case of T3a. Results All operation were successful and no case was conversed to open surgery. The average operation time was 225 min and the mean blood loss was 850ml. The amount of blood loss in 1 case was 1200 ml because of injuring deep dorsal vein of penis. 4 cases received blood transfusion, gatheters of all patients were removed 2 weeks after operation, and three cases with mild incontinence regained continence of urine after 6 months follow-up. No patient occurred postoperative vesicourethral anastomotic leakage of urine. The surgical margin of 1 case was positive. No biochemical index of prostatl cancer recurred during postoperative follow-up of 10-24 months (with an average of 16 months). 20 cases had sexual function recovery after operation. Conclusions The extraperitoneal laparoscopie radical prostatectomy with neurovascular bundle preservation for prostate cancer is a safe and effective treatment method with less bleeding, small damage and less complications. It can guarantee the maximum of micturition control and sexual function, which is worthy to be popularized in the clinic.

Objective To investigate the application of real-time quantitative PCR in quantification of cell-free fetal DNA maternal plasma in patients bearing fetuses affected with DOWN syndrome. Methods Cell-free fetal DNA in maternal serum was isolated from 30 samples(7 male DOWN syndrome fetal ,3 female DOWN syndrome fe-tal,14 male euploid fetal,6 female euploid fetal). Cell-free fetal DNA levels in maternal serum were measured using real-time quantitative PCR using SRY as marker. Results The median cell-free fetal DNA levels in pregnant carry-ing male fetuses(n=7) and the controls (pregnant carrying male euploid fetuses,n=14)were 318.03±96.74 ge-nome-equivalents/ml and 154.40±39.43 genome-equivalents/ml of maternal serum,respectively (t=3.33,P=0.004 ),which was o in women with female fetuses. Conclusion The cell-free fetal DNA levels in pregnant women with DOWN syndrome fetuses are higher than that in pregnant women with normal fetuses.