Treatment of ulcerative colitis by traditional Chinese medicine and dynamic study of immune functions

The effect of the traditional Chinese medicinal herbs enema and enteric-coated capsules in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) were compared in 260 cases. The immune complexes and the dynamic change of autoantibodies were monitored in 28 out of the 260 cases before and after treatment. The following results were observed. (1) There was no significant difference in the total effective rate between the enema group and the oral capsule group (93.3% and 87.5% respectively), but the recovery rates of purulent hemafecia, mucusfecia and erosion accompanying colitis, etc. in the former group were higher than those in the latter (P less than 0.01). (2) The circulating immune complexes were found 43 times above the normal range in 17 cases with positive rate 60.7%, and tended to decrease as the condition became better after treatment. Antinuclear antibodies were determined by the indirect fluorescent immune method and the indirect enzyme labelling method and the positive rates were 53.6% and 64.7% respectively, both being much higher than those in the controls (P less than 0.01).     

Intrapartum fetal heart rate patterns and neonatal intraventricular hemorrhage

A goal for the obstetrician and neonatologist is to screen for risk factors associated with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in the low-birthweight infant. Perinatal events that lead to neonatal metabolic and cardiovascular derangements seem to provoke IVH, and conflicting reports have implicated labor as being contributory. A fetal heart rate (FHR) abnormality during premature labor may be a predictor of subsequent neonatal IVH. For this reason, 5 years of FHR tracings at two university medical centers were reviewed for inborn infants who were delivered after premature labor and weighed less than or equal to 2000 gm. Sixty-four infants developed IVH, but pre-existing labor with a discernible FHR pattern was recorded in only 38 (59%) cases. Interpretations were reassuring in 17 (45%) cases, suspicious in 7 (18%) cases, and ominous in 14 (37%) cases. This proportion of FHR patterns was not significantly different from a matched group of premature infants without IVH during the same period. Interpretations of intrapartum FHR patterns of low-birthweight infants are limited, especially before 30 weeks gestation, and not useful in predicting neonatal IVH.     

自拟威秦麻细蠲痹汤治疗风寒湿性关节痛临床报告

目的：用威秦麻细蠲痹汤内服，合药渣煮水加50度白酒泡足局部热敷治疗风寒湿性关节痛45例病人，具有祛风除湿、温经通络、调节机体促进康复。方法：以威秦麻细蠲痹汤为基本方一日一剂，根据临床发病部位及风、寒、湿的偏胜而辩证加减，配合荮渣煮水加50度白酒泡足和疼痛部位热敷，七天为一疗程．结果：45例病人中治愈71．1％：有效24．4％；显效4．5％；无效为0；总有效率100％，疗程最短的二周；最长为5周；平均21天。结论：威秦麻细蠲痹汤内服配合药渣外敷及泡足和热敷疗法共奏祛风除湿、散寒止痛，益气活血之功效，使机体气充血旺，营卫复常；血行风灭，温经散寒，脾健湿去而形成通则不痛，荣则不麻不酸的良性循环，疗效满意．     

Prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and relation to glycemic control therapies at baseline in the BARI 2D cohort

Abstract   We evaluated the associations between glycemic therapies and prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) at baseline among participants in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) trial on medical and revascularization therapies for coronary artery disease (CAD) and on insulin-sensitizing vs. insulin-providing treatments for diabetes. A total of 2,368 patients with type 2 diabetes and CAD was evaluated. DPN was defined as clinical examination score >2 using the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI). DPN odds ratios across different groups of glycemic therapy were evaluated by multiple logistic regression adjusted for multiple covariates including age, sex, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and diabetes duration. Fifty-one percent of BARI 2D subjects with valid baseline characteristics and MNSI scores had DPN. After adjusting for all variables, use of insulin was significantly associated with DPN (OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.15–2.13). Patients on sulfonylurea (SU) or combination of SU/metformin (Met)/thiazolidinediones (TZD) had marginally higher rates of DPN than the Met/TZD group. This cross-sectional study in a cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes and CAD showed association of insulin use with higher DPN prevalence, independent of disease duration, glycemic control, and other characteristics. The causality between a glycemic control strategy and DPN cannot be evaluated in this cross-sectional study, but continued assessment of DPN and randomized therapies in BARI 2D trial may provide further explanations on the development of DPN.     

输尿管无细胞基质移植物的制备和评价

背景：与小肠黏膜下层等材料相比，脱细胞血管具有天然管状结构，与输尿管形态结构相近，替代输尿管时仅需端端吻合即可，手术操作简单，血管外壁光滑，获取及制备方法简便等优点。 目的：拟应用同种颈动脉血管无细胞基质体外构建输尿管。 设计、时间及地点：观察性实验，于2006-09/2008-06在上海交通大学医学院附属新华医院动物实验中心完成。 材料：长风杂交白猪由上海松联实验动物公司提供。上海交通大学医学院实验动物中心提供的健康成年大鼠8只，用于血管无细胞基质的动物毒性实验。 方法：剥去猪颈动脉血管外膜，PBS冲洗若干遍，然后将血管置于pH 7.1 的PBS中4 ℃下振荡清洗，0.5%十二烷基硫酸钠振荡24 h，后使用双蒸水4 ℃下反复振荡洗涤1周，每日换双蒸水2次。对于解剖过程中肌肉残留相对稍多的血管，在双蒸水洗涤前以混合消化液37 ℃下振荡消化约2 h，再行双蒸水洗涤。制备的无细胞基质置于青、链霉素溶液中，4 ℃保存，完成脱细胞支架制备。 主要观察指标：光镜及电镜观察脱细胞后管壁无细胞基质片的主要成分。将同种异体来源内皮祖细胞培养增殖后植入血管无细胞基质，观察细胞生长情况，并进行血管无细胞基质动物毒性实验。拉力实验了解血管无细胞基质材料的收缩性能。 结果：颈动脉血管无细胞基质中已无细胞成分，无细胞基质主要由胶原成分组成。扫描电镜未见该材料表面存在细胞及细胞碎片，同时发现该无细胞基质存在孔隙样结构。体外同种异体来源的内皮祖细胞培养增殖后植入血管无细胞基质，细胞黏附于无细胞基质。血管无细胞基质按毒性分级属于无毒级。拉力实验说明该无细胞基质具有一定的韧性和牵张性。 结论：采用胰酶和十二烷基硫酸钠制备的颈动脉血管无细胞基质材料无细胞残留，具有一定的韧性和牵张性，种植于其中的种子细胞具备一定的生长能力。     

Cutaneous miliary resistant tuberculosis in a patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus: case report and literature review

We report the case of a patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus who presented with fever and a disseminated papulous eruption, diagnosed as cutaneous miliary tuberculosis. The diagnosis was made by histological examination of a skin biopsy, which showed numerous acid‐fast bacilli. A culture grown from a skin biopsy isolated a resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain. The papules disappeared within a few days after starting treatment with pyrazinamide, isoniazid and moxifloxacin.