A preliminary clinical application of sICAM-1 RIA in three kinds of thyroid d isease

Objective To examine serum levels of sICAM-1 from normal controls and patients with thyroid diseases (simple goitre, Graves’ disease or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) with (125)Ⅰ-sICAM-1 RIA established in our lab. Methods Using (125)Ⅰ-sICAM-1 RIA, serum sICAM-1 levels of 400 healthy individuals as the normal group and 1020 patients with simple goitre (SG), Graves’ disease (GD) or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) were examined for a comporative chinical study.Results The serum level of sICAM-1 (mean±s) in the normal group was 168.43±36.23 μg/L. There was no significant difference between the normal and SG groups (P>0.05), whereas the serum levels of sICAM-1 in autoimmune thyroid diseases (GD or HT) were higher than those in the normal or SG groups (P<0.05, respectively). After GD patients received one of three medical treatments, their serum sICAM-1 levels decreased (P<0.05). After GD patients were treated and their thyroid function decreased to normal, their serum sICAM-1 levels were lower than those in relapsed GD patients (P<0.05).Conclusions sICAM-1 RIA can be used to examine autoimmune thyroid diseases. Serum levels of sICAM-1 can be used as a parameter in diagnosing autoimmune thyroid disease and in evaluating the effects of therapy, drug administration or relapse in GD.     

A STUDY ON THE CLINICAL EFFECT AND IMMUNOLOGICAL MECHANISM IN THE TREATMENT OF HASHIMOTO'S THYROIDITIS BY MOXIBUSTION

71 cases of Hashimoto's thyroiditis were treated by moxibustion and their immune functionand thyroid function were observed.It was found that moxibustion was able to reduce thethyroid amibodies in the peripheral blood of the patients with hypothyroidism and to recovertheir thyroid function.It was also found that moxibustion could lower the thyroid antibodysecretory levels and ADCC(antibody-dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity)activities ofthe lymphocytes,in addition,the action of moxibustion in reducing the secretion of thyroidantibodies was related to its action of regulating the proportions of T lymphocyte subsets.The results indicate that the treatment of Hashimoto's thyroiditis by moxihustion is probably accomplished through its effect in regulating the relationship among the T lymphocytesubsets.     

LECTURES ON FORMULATING ACUPUNCTURE PRESCRIPTIONS—SELECTION AND MATCHING OF ACUPOINTS——ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT OF IMPOTENCE

One form of sexual dysfunction,impotencerefers to the inability to reach an erection,orwhat's called“half stand”,so that normal marri-ed life is frustrated.It is often related to psy-chological factors;or results from frequentemissions.habitual masturbation,and indulgencein sexsual pleasures leading to deficiency in theKidney and decline of the fire of the Vital Gate;or is caused by impairment of the Heart andSpleen by overexertion or impairment of theKidney by fright and fear.A few cases are dueto impairment of the Liver and Kidney by damp-     

Polymorphism of Glutathione S—transferaseT1,M1and P1Genes in a Shanghai Population：Patients With Occupational of Non—occupational Bladder Cancer

Objective Glutathione S-transferases are involved in the conjugation of xenobiotics. To explore whether GSTs polymorphisms are involved in the development of occupational or non-occupational bladder cancer, polymorphism frequencies of GSTT1, M1 and P1 were investigated in a normal population, which had been settled in a rural area in Shanghai suburb for at least 5 generations as well as in a group of patients with benzidine exposure related occupational bladder cancer in Shanghai dyestuff industry and a group of patients with non-occupational bladder cancer. Methods PCR based procedures were performed in the study populations to confirm the genotypes of GSTT1, M1 and P1. Results The polymorphisms at locus of GSTP1- A1578G in the normal population differed significantly from those in Caucasians or African Americans. All the subjects genotyped so far (n =118) bore only homogenous wild genotype (C2293/ C2293) at GSTP1 - C2293T locus. This locus seemed to be a monomorphic in Shanghai population. No significant difference in GSTT1 and GSTM1 polymorphic form frequencies could be confirmed among three groups of subjects. An overrepresentation of GSTP1 AG or GG genotype corresponding a less stable and less effective isozyme protein was detected in patients with benzidine related occupational bladder cancer, compared with that in the normal population though a statistical significance was not yet reached (P=0.09, OR=1.96, 95% CI 0.89-4.32,). Conclusion This study suggests that GSTM1 or GSTT1 homozygous deficiency genotypes and their combination do not have a clear impact on bladder cancer incidence in a Shanghai population. It seems that GSTP1 polymorphism is not associated with non-occupational bladder cancer. GSTP1 AG or GG genotype has a higher frequency in the patients with benzidine related occupational bladder cancer, and further work is needed to confirm if GSTP1 AG or GG genotype plays a role in the development of occupational bladder cancer.     

THE CHARACTERS AND FUNCTIONS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE DRUGS——Selected from A Practical English—Chinese Library of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Drugs with the principal effects of dis-persing pathogenic factors from thesuperficies of the body and relieving exteriorsyndromes are called drugs for treating exte-rior syndromes,or diaphoretics.Most of the drugs in this class are pun-gent in flavour,used to expel pathogenic fac-tors from the superficies of the body or re-     

Non—Genotoxic Carcinogens.Approaches to Their Rish Assessment

Epidemiological studies support the idea that most human cancers are related to chemicals present in the human environment.In turn,chemicals are believed to cause cancer via either genotoxic or non-genotoxic mechanisms.There were described in literature several simple rapid and inexpensive short term ests to reasonably predict the genotoxic nature of chemicals but in contrast,there is no reliable test or battery of tests available to predict the carcinogenicity of non-genotoxic compounds and this poses a major problem to their rish assessment.In addition,there are conflictive opinions about rish assessment needs for both classes of carcinogens.Some workers elieve that for non-genotoxic carcinogens,thresholds for exposure can be drawn while others do not.In this review,the reasons behind both of these opinions and the present hypotheses about the mechanism of action of non-genotoxic carcinogens are described and analyzed in relation to future needs.     

Intracheally Administaered Liposomal α—Tocopherol Protects the Lung against Long—Term Toxic Effects of Paraquat

Paraquat is a broad-spectrum herbicide known to produce lung injury via oxidative stress-mediated mechanisms.Different pharmacological strategies have been explored to reduce the formation of these reactive oxygen species and/or prevent their toxic effects in the treatment of paraquat oisoning.The present study was carried out to investigate whether the antioxidant α-tocopherol,incorporated into liposomes and delivered directly to the lungs of rats,could protect the organ against the long-term toxic effects of paraquat. Plain liposomes(composed of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine,DPPC)of α-topcopherol liposomes(8mg α-tocopherol/kg body weight)were administered intratracheally to animals 24h prior to an intraperitoneal injection of paraquat dichloride(20mg/kg)and rats were killed 0,1,4,6,8,10,12,16,19or 24days after paraquat treatment.Results of this study showed that lungs of animals treated with paraquat were extensively damaged,as evidenced by significant increases in lung weight and decreases in lung angiotensin converting enzyme(ACE)and alkaline phosphatase enzyme(AKP)activities.Moreover,paraquat treatme resulted in a significant reduction in the number of neutrophils in the blood of rats with a concurrent increase in the pulmonary myeloperoxidase activity,suggestive of neutrophil infiltration in the lungs of treated animals.Pretreatment of rats with liposomes alone did not significantly alter the paraquat-induced changes of all parameters examined.On the other hand,pretreatment of rats with α-tocopherol liposoes,24 prior to paraquat challenge,attenuated paraquat-induced changes in ACE,AKP and myeloperoxidase activities but failed to prevent increases in lung weight.Thus,pretreatment of rat with liposome-associated α-tocopherol appears to protect the lung against some of the toxic effects of paraquat.     

Studies on Toxicity,Anti—stress and Hepato—Protective properties of Kombucha Tea

Objective :The objective of the study was to evaluate toxicity,anti-stress activity and hepatoprotective properties of Kombucha tea.Method :Kombucha tea was fed orally for 15 days using three different doses i.e.normal dose,five and ten times the dose,Rats were then sacrficed and various biochemical,and histological parameters were estimated.Anti-stress activity was evaluated either by 1)by exposing animals to cold and hypoxia and estimating the levels of malondialdehyde and reduced glutathione in plasma/blood or 2) by subjecting the animals to restraint stress and recording faecal output.Hepato-toxicity was induced by challenging the animals to an acute dose of paracetamol(1gm/kg)orally and determining the plasma levels of SGPT,SGOT and MDA.REsults:The effect of oral administration of different doses of K-tea to albion rats was examined and the results indicate that K-tea has no significant toxicity as revealed by various biochemical and histopathological parameters.K-tea has been found to prevent lipid peroxidation and fall in reduced glutathione level when rats were exposed to cold and hypoxia in simulated chamber.Further,K-tea has also been found to decrease the Wrap-restraint faecal pellet output in rats.K-tea has also been found to decrease paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity significantly.Conclusion:The study shows that K-tea has anti-stress and hepato-protective activities.     

TREATMENT OF DIABETES IN THE ELDERLY——An analysis of 885 Cases

Besides treating elderly diabetics basically for the disease,the author treated the patients bytraditional Chinese medicine based on an overall analysis of their symptoms and signs,di-viding the course of the disease into 5 stages comprising 16 syndromes types.He evaluatedthe quality of their survival according to an the health rating of Karnofsky,and advised themon the amount of work or other activity appropriate in each case in order to relieve thesymptoms,retard the disease process,and improve the quality of survival.     

Monitoring of clinical islet transplantation

Islet transplantation has recently emerged as one of the most promising therapeutic approaches to improving glycometabolic control in diabetic patients.The Edmonton trials demonstrated a marked improvement in the short-term rate of success of islet transplantation,with an 80％ rate of insulin-independence being at 1 year after transplantation,as reported by several institutions worldwide.Unfortunately,this rate consistently decreases to 10％ by 5 years post-transplantation.1 Other data reported that less than half of the patients achieved insulin independence at 1 year and ＜15％ remained insulin independent at 2 years.2It is not clear whether this decline in insulin independence is the result of islet loss.Also unclear are the mechanisms that underlie the deterioration of graft function,though possibilities include auto or alloimmune destruction,immunosuppressant toxicity,or a progressive disruption of insulin secretion.Several questions with respect to islet transplantation remain regarding why and when insulin independence is attained,the effective volume of marginal islet mass,and the mechanism of loss of islet mass following transplantation.As such,there is an urgent need for efficient monitoring tools to label and track islets,detect graft damage,and monitor the long-term function and survival of transplanted islets.Furthermore,because complications of islet transplantation may be either immediate or delayed as a consequence of the migration of engrafted islets to the liver or as a side effect of immunosuppressive therapy,routine post-transplantation imaging is important to detect complications that are not apparent with clinical or laboratory examinations.3 Successful monitoring of the stability and function of the graft and graft-related complications will assist in the evaluation of various immunosuppressive regimens and islet delivery strategies and ultimately assist in optimizing the islet transplantation procedure.In this article,we summarize the recent advances in the monitoring of islet post-transplantation,as shown in Table 1.     

RhoA/Rho kinase: a novel therapeutic target in diabetic complications

Objective To reveal the roles of Rho kinase （ROCK） in the mechanisms of complications in diabetes by reviewing the correlations between ROCK and related complications in diabetes.Data sources The data used in the present article were mainly from PubMed with relevant English articles published from 1998 to 2010. The search terms were ＂ROCK＂ and ＂diabetes＂.Study selection Original articles including the roles of ROCK or its inhibitors in diabetic complications and review articles about the biological character of ROCK were selected.Results The activity and expression of ROCK were up-regulated in the models of type 1 or type 2 diabetes animals and the cultured cells with concentrations of high glucose, ROCK activation was associated with the development or progression of complications in diabetes. Inhibition of RhoA/ROCK pathway prevented or ameliorated the pathologic changes of diabetic complications, and ROCK has been regarded as a key target for treatment of these complications.Conclusion RhoA/ROCK signaling plays important roles in the pathogenesis of long-term complications in diabetes and ROCK inhibitors are becoming a promising solution to treatments of complications in diabetes.     

A REPORT ON THE CLINICAL APPLICATION OF THE LB—I SAFE AND AUTOMATIC AIR EXHAUSTINC TRANSFUSION SYSTEM ON 3,000 PATIENTS

none of the abovementioned transfusion systems can automatically get rid of the air that gets into the infusion tube either because it was not completely exhausted before infusion or because the tubes are not properly onnected or the infusion fluid is not added in time. In order to solve this problem in clinical nursing, the LB—I safe and automatic air exhausting transfusion system has been designed and made. After repeated successes in basic tests, animal tests and clincal verifications, and in clinical applications on 3,000 patients in Luzhou Medical College Hospital and in the First Attached Hospital to Chongqing MedicalU niversity,it is safe to say that the ex     

Effect of arsenic trioxide on cytokine expression by acute promyelocytic leukemia cells

Objective To detect the expression of cytokines by acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cells before and after exposure to arsenic trioxide. Methods Diagnoses were performed according to the FAB cytological classification criteria and cytogenetic criteria. Bone marrow or blood samples from APL patients were collected in heparinized tubes,then primary APL cells were separated by traditional Ficoll-Hypaque density centrifugation and purified after adherence to plastic surfaces. IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNFα and G-CSF levels in the leukemia cell culture supernatants were detected by ELISA. At the same time, nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction test was used to detect the differentiation of APL cells. Results After 96 hours exposure to arsenic trioxide, 10(-6) mol/L in vitro or 10 mg/d in vivo, APL cells showed a significant increase of IL-1β(P<0.05) and G-CSF(P<0.05) production, and a significant decrease of IL-6 (P<0.05) and IL-8 (P<0.05). However, there was no obvious variation of TNFα when compared with APL cells without exposure to arsenic trioxide. On the other hand, the proliferation ratio of APL cells in vitro was statistically correlated to the IL-1β secretion ratio or G-CSF secretion ratio. The cell number ratio in patients with detectable IL-1β or G-CSF was higher than that without detectable IL-1β or G-CSF.Conclusion IL-1β and G-CSF secretion may play an important role in the proliferation of APL cells after exposure to arsenic trioxide.     

Effects of Low Concentrations of Di-（2-ethylhexyl） and Mono-（2-ethylhexyl） Phthalate on Steroidogenesis Pathways and Apoptosis in the Murine Leydig Tumor Cell Line MLTC-1

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of low concentrations of DEHP and MEHP on steroidogenesis in a murine Leydig tumor cell line （MLTC-1） in vitro. The result of flow cytometry analysis revealed that the proportion of apoptotic cells was significantly increased after the exposure to DEHP. All three genes （P450scc, P450c17, and 38HSD） under study showed an increased expression following exposure to DEHP or MEHP, although some insignificant inhibitory effects appeared in the 10μmol/L treatment group as compared with the controls. It was also found that DEHP or MEHP stimulated INSL3 mRNA and protein especially in the 0.001 μmol/L treatment group. Testosterone secretions were stimulated after the exposure to DEHP or MEHP. Alterations of steroidogenic enzymes and INSL3 in MLTC-1 cells might be involved in the biphasic effects of DEHP/MEHP on androgen production.     

OBSERVATION OF SHAPE AND POSTURE

Observation of shape and posture is a means of examination forillness through the survey of the patient's shape and posture. According to TCM,changes in the shape and posture of the humanbody go in accordance with the status of blood and vigour of the internalorgans.Through observation of shape and posture,therefore,the doctordetects whether the patient's status of blood and vigour of the internalorgans is prosperous or declining,whetber the changes in the balance ofhis various internal factors are going in a positive or negativ direction,thus hs is able to understand the trend of development of the disease.     

Evaluation with low-dose dual-phase helical computed tomography of patients with thyroid lesions

Background The incidence of thyroid cancer has been increasing.Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of low-dose dualphase helical computed tomography （CT） in the characterization of thyroid lesions,and to discuss the relationship between image characteristics and their pathology.Methods One hundred and six patients with thyroid lesions underwent low-dose dual-phase helical CT after the injection of contrast material.CT scans were obtained at arterial and venous phase with delays of 25 and 65 seconds,and tube current of 60 and 120 mA,respectively.The attenuation change in the lesion between the arterial and venous phase was analyzed and categorized as ＂increased,＂ ＂decreased,＂ ＂mixed＂ or ＂no change.＂ Results Histopathologic diagnosis was obtained by surgery in 106 patients （115 lesions）.Of the 106 patients,45 had nodular goiter,5 thyroid adenoma,6 thyroiditis,and 50 papillary thyroid carcinoma （PTC） （59 lesions）.The attenuation value showed a significant difference （P ＜0.05） between the arterial and venous phase for the high attenuation area.There was statistical significant difference in terms of attenuation value in high attenuation areas at both phases and in low attenuation areas on arterial phase between nodular goiter and PTC （P ＜0.05）.However,there was no significant difference in attenuation value between adenoma and PTC.Twenty-nine cases （76.3％） of goiter manifested mixed type,3 cases （3/5） of adenoma showed decreased type,6 cases （6/6） of thyroiditis showed increased type,and 55 cases （93.2％） of PTC showed decreased type attenuation.The sensitivity,specificity for thyroid carcinoma by dual-phase CT were 94.9％ and 80.4％ respectively.The overall diagnostic accuracy for thyroid lesions by dual-phase CT was 87.8％.Conclusions The performance of dual-phase helical CT is related to the pathological structure of the lesions.The analysis of enhancement patterns by using dual-phase helical CT will be helpful in the differential diagnosis of thyr     

Radiation hormesis in relation to radiation protection.

A radiation-induced adaptive response has been convincingly demonstrated in a variety of cultured cells. It is associated with the activation of genes and the up-regulation of protein enzymes, resulting in a delay in cell-cycling and the opportunity to repair radiation-damaged DNA as a transient phenomenon. Just how the adaptive response operates in a multi-cellular organism is still obscure, but there is little or no evidence in rodents and the beagle dog of a shortening of lifespan after exposure to acute doses up to a few hundreds of mGy or after chronic daily exposure resulting in accumulated doses of up to a few Gy. Nevertheless there is an increase in both non-neoplastic and neoplastic diseases which need not be life-threatening. A prudent approach has been used by the 1CRP in deriving a value for radiation-induced detriment at low doses from which to recommend individual dose and risk limits in their system of radiological protection. This is not to deny the possible existence of an adaptive respo     

Estrogen Receptor α and β Expressions in Hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary Axis in Rats Exposed Lactationally to Soy Isoflavones and Bisphenol A

Objectives This paper aims to investigate the uterotrophic activities of lactational exposure to combination of soy isoflavones （SIF） and bisphenol A （BPA） and to examine estrogen receptor α （ERα） and estrogen receptor β （ERβ） expressions in hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary axis and uterus.Methods Maternal rats that were breeding about 8 litters were randomly divided into four groups with seven dams in each group.Dams in different treatment groups received corn oil （control）,150 mg/kg BW of SIF,150 mg/kg BW of BPA or combination of 150 mg/kg BW of SIF and 150 mg/kg BW of BPA,respectively,from postnatal day 5 to 11 （PND5-11） by gavage.On PND12 and PND70,10 female litters were killed and hypothalamus,pituitary,ovary and uterus were collected.ERα and ERβ expressions in these organs were detected with Western blotting assay.And vaginal opening time and estrus cycle were examined in animals fed for PND70.Results On PND12,the relative uterine weight of rats treated with ISF or BPA or their combination was significantly higher than that of untreated rats （P〈0.05）.But the relative uterine weight of rats in the co-exposure group was slightly lower than that in the group only exposed to SIF or BPA.On PND 70,however,the relative uterine weight in each treatment group was not statistically different from that in the control group （P〈0.05）.Vaginal opening time and estrus cycle in groups treated with SIF or BPA or their combination were similar to those in the control group （P〈0.05）.Exposure to SIF or BPA or their combination could up-regulate or down-regulate ERα and ERβ expressions in hypothalamus,pituitary,ovary and uterus on PND12 and PND70.These regulation patterns for ERα and ERβ were different in different organs at different time points.Conclusion Lactational exposure to ISF or BPA or their combination could induce uterotrophic responses in neonate rats,which disappeared in later life.But these data fail to suggest a possibility for synergic actions between SIF and BPA.It was also demonstrated that the uterotrophic effects of SIF and BPA exposure might,at least,involve modification of ERα or ERβ expressions in the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary axis.     

Plummer-Vinson syndrome associated with solid- pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas

Plummer-Vinson syndrome （PVS）, also known as Paterson-Kelly syndrome or sideropenic dysphagia1 is characterized by dysphagia, iron deficiency anemia and esophageal webs. This syndrome is known to be associated with an increased risk of hypopharyngeal and/or cervical esophageal cancer. Three to 15 percent of the patients with PVS, mostly women between 15 and 50 years of age, have been reported to develop esophageal or pharyngeal cancer. There is a decreasing trend in the overall incidence of hypopharyngeal cancer in women, probably due to the diminished prevalence of PVS. There are few reports of gastric cancer in association with PVS.2[第一段]     

MEDICAL OPPORTUNITIES IN U.S.A.AN ACCMS ANNOUNCEMENT

Through the extensive personal efforts of Dr. W, P. Loh, ACCMS President, the following medical centers and their departments in the United States have agreed to provide positions to suitable visiting scholars from China for 3 months or longer periods. No stipend or scholarship was discussed. Those who are interested in the opportunities should apply directly to the department heads or Dean mentioned below in connection with the departments and send copies of communication to Dr. Loh for his information and ACCMS file. The applicants should be competent in English language and their medical specialties. They should have reached the academic ranks of professor, associate professor or the equivalent.