Multidisciplinary Treatment for Severe Secondary Raynaud's Phenomenon: A Case Report / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

Raynaud's phenomenon is a symptom complex manifested as intermittent fingertip ischemia caused by cold or other sympathetic drivers. Secondary Raynaud's phenomenon is often more severe and could even lead to finger ulceration, making it particularly complicated to treat. We describe a case of severe Raynaud's phenomenon secondary to subclinical hypothyroidism lasting for more than 6 hours in a 65-year-old woman. The patient was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism, epilepsy, and secondary soft tissue infection of the right middle and ring fingers. After careful multidisciplinary consultation and discussion, the patient received vasodilation, anticoagulation, thyroxine supplementation, stellate ganglion block, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and debridement. The patient responded well to the medication, avoiding amputation or obviously dysfunction. Multidisciplinary team gathering the doctors from different departments proposes appropriate strategies for patients with severe Raynaud's phenomenon and could improve the prognosis and satisfaction of patient effectively.

Awareness rate of adverse events following immunization among Chinese parents: a meta-analysis / 预防医学

Objective@#To learn the awareness rate of adverse events following immunization ( AEFI ) among Chinese parents, so as to provide suggestions for promoting vaccination.@*Methods@#We searched relevant articles published before 24th June, 2020 from CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, CBM, PubMed and Web of Science, calculated the pooled awareness rate and 95% confidence interval ( CI ) , conducted Egger＇s test for publication bias and sensitivity analysis for stability of results. @*Results@#Eight articles using cross-sectional design were included after screening from 235 initial records. Among 5 433 subjects, the pooled awareness rate of AEFI was 66.76% ( 95%CI: 52.75%-78.33% ) . Non-immigrant population possessed a higher awareness rate ( 67.32% ) compared with the immigrant population ( 56.54% ) . The parents with different levels of education showed various awareness rate of AEFI ( P<0.05 ) . The awareness rates of "children should be observed for at least 30 minutes after vaccination","slight adverse effects were commonly seen after vaccination","local redness and induration might occur after diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis ( DTP ) immunization","polio vaccine might bring mild diarrhea" were 86.18%, 66.76%, 41.89% and 30.22%, respectively. Egger＇s test showed that there was no publication bias. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the results were robust.@*Conclusion@#The pooled awareness rate of AEFI among Chinese parents is 66.76%, with lower rates found in the parents who are immigrants and have lower level of education.

Effect of early electroacupuncture intervention on conscious state of patients after traumatic brain injury surgery / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate recovering consciousness effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on patients after traumatic brain injury (TBI) surgery.@*METHODS@#A total of 100 patients with traumatic coma were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 50 cases in each group. The control group was mainly treated with awakening drugs and neurotrophic drugs; on the basis of treatment in the control group, the observation group was treated with EA at Neiguan (PC 6) and Shuigou (GV 26) with disperse-dense wave, 2 Hz/100 Hz in frequency, 0.1-5 mA in intensity. After 30 min of EA, the needles were stayed 60 min. The treatment was performed once a day for 14 consecutive days. The changes in Glasgow coma score (GCS) was observed in the two groups before treatment and after 7, 14 days of treatment; and the two groups were followed up for 3 months after treatment to evaluate the Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) and Barthel index (BI) scores.@*RESULTS@#After 7, 14 days of treatment, the GCS scores of the two groups were higher than those before treatment (<0.05), and the increase degree in the observation group was significantly larger than that in the control group (<0.05). At 3 months of follow-up, the GOS and BI scores of the observation group were better than those of the control group (<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Early electroacupuncture intervention can effectively promote the recovery of consciousness after traumatic brain injury surgery, and has a curative long-term effect.

Improved antimelanogenesis and antioxidant effects of polysaccharide from Cuscuta chinensis Lam seeds after enzymatic hydrolysis

Cuscuta chinensis polysaccharide (CPS) was extracted using hot water and enzymatically hydrolyzed C. chinensis polysaccharide (ECPS) was produced by the mannase enzymatic hydrolysis process. The purpose of this research was to investigate the antimelanogenic activity of ECPS and CPS in B16F10 melanoma cells. The in vitro antioxidant activity was assessed by their ferric iron reducing power and DPPH free radical scavenging activities. The molecular mass distribution of polysaccharides was determined using SEC-MALLS-RI. CPS was successfully enzymatically degraded using mannase and the weighted average molecular weights of CPS and ECPS were 434.6 kDa and 211.7 kDa. The results of biological activity assays suggested that the enzymatically hydrolyzed polysaccharide had superior antimelanogenic activity and antioxidant effect than the original polysaccharide. ECPS exhibited antimelanogenic activity by down-regulating the expression of tyrosinase, MITF, and TRP-1 without cytotoxic effects in B16F10 melanoma cells. In conclusion, ECPS have the potential to become a skin whitening product.

The changes of organelle ultrastructure and Ca2+ homeostasis in maize mesophyll cells during the process of drought-induced leaf senescence

The changes of cell ultra structure as well as Ca2+ homeostasis involved in the drought-induced maize leaf senescence was investigated. Meanwhile, many indicatives of leaf senescence including thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (MDA), electrolyte leakage (EL), and chlorophyll along with soluble proteins were also detected during the process. The Polyethylene glycol6000(PEG6000)-incubated detached leaves showed a slight increase in the MDA content and electrolyte leakage during the first 30 min of our detection, which was corresponded to an unobvious alteration of the cell ultrastructure. Other typical senescence parameters measured in whole leaf exhibited a moderate elevation as well. Thereafter, however, the EL and MDA rose to a large extent, which was correlated with a dramatic damage to the cell ultrastructure with concomitant sharp decrease in the chlorophyll and soluble proteins content. The deposits of calcium antimonite, being an indicator for Ca2+ localization, were observed in the vacuoles as well as intercellular spaces in the leaves grown under normal condition. Nevertheless, after PEG treatment, it was revealed a distinct increment of Ca2+ in the cytoplasm as well as chloroplasts and nuclei. Moreover, with long-lasting treatment of PEG to the detached leaves, the concentration of Ca2+ as described above showed a continuous increment which was consist with the remarked alteration of physiological parameters and severe damage to the ultrastructure of cells, all of which indicated the leaf senescence. Such drought-induced leaf senescence might result from a loss of the cell's capability to extrude Ca2+. All above findings give us a good insight into the important role of Ca2+ homeostasis in the process of leaf senescence accelerated by the drought stress.