Observation of Instant Effect of Electroacupuncture at Quchi (LI 11) and Shangjuxu (ST 37) on Functional Bowel Disorders Based on R-fMRI / 上海针灸杂志

Objective By using resting-state fMRI (r-fMRI), to observe the effect of electroacupuncture at Quchi (LI 11) and Shangjuxu (ST 37) in changing brain activity pattern in functional bowel disorders (FBD), and to provide imaging evidence for seeking the central mechanism of Quchi (LI 11) and Shangjuxu (ST 37) in treating FBD.Method Twenty patients with functional constipation were taken as the constipation group, and 20 patients with functional diarrhea were taken as the diarrhea group. The constipation group was intervened by electroacupuncture at Shangjuxu (ST 37), while the diarrhea group was intervened by electroacupuncture at Quchi (LI 11). On the next day, the two groups both received electroacupuncture at the corresponding non-meridian point. The r-fMRI data of the two groups were collected before and after the interventions. With the functional connectivity taken as the observation index and right insular lobe as the seed point, MTLAB, DPARSF and REST were adopted to obtain the brain images functionally connected with the seed point, to further analyze the difference in brain functional connectivity before and after electroacupuncture.Result After electroacupuncture at Shangjuxu (ST 37), functional constipation patients presented positive activation in left cerebellar declive, left lingual gyrus, left middle occipital gyrus, right occipital lobe, right supramarginal gyrus, right gyrus cingula and left precuneus; the right subgyrus, right insular lobe and left insular lobe were negatively evoked. After electroacupuncture at Quchi (LI 11), patients with functional diarrhea showed significant differences in left cerebellar culmen and left posterior cingulate.Conclusion Electroacupuncture at Quchi (LI 11) and Shangjuxu (ST 37) can induce changes in brain functional connectivity related to visceral hypersensitivity in FBD patients, which is possibly associated with the effect of acupuncture in improving FBD.

Characterization of serum metabolite profile in patients with rheumatoid arthritis / 中国医师杂志

Objective To investigate and characterize the serum metabolite profile of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA),a common autoimmune disease,which will be of help for early diagnosis in clinic.Methods Serum specimens from 26 patients with RA and 19 age-matched healthy volunteers were collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine from January through April 2015.Samples were detected on the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS),and serum metabolites were identified by the chemometric methods.Discriminative model of RA and healthy volunteers was established using partial least squares-linear discriminant analysis (PLS-LDA),and furthermore the established model was evaluated with double cross validation (DCV) for predicting ability.Finally,differential metabolites with clinical diagnostic potential were screened out by using subwindow permutation analysis (SPA).Results The established PLS-LDA discriminative model identified 48 metabolites.The total accuracy of the model approached 97.73％,in which the accuracy of the model for predicting RA and healthy volunteers was 96.15％ and 100％,respectively.Our studies screened out 3-hydroxy butyric acid,phosphoric acid,isoleucine,mannose and hexadecanoic acid with clinical diagnostic potential based on the SPA.Conclusions Metabolomics with the application of GC-MS combined with the PLS-LDA method can distinguish patients with RA and healthy volunteers,and can aid in potential early diagnosis of RA.

Role of nerve stimulation at Erb point in early diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome in children / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the role of proximal nerve stimulation at Erb point in the early diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in children.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-two children who were diagnosed with GBS between October 2013 and December 2014 received neurophysiological examination. Thirty healthy children were used as controls. Compound muscle action potentials and distal motor latency of the median and ulnar nerves were determined and analyzed after nerve stimulation at the wrist, elbow, and Erb point in the two groups. Moreover, F-wave latency of the median nerve and H-reflex latency of the tibial nerve were measured and analyzed in the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The F-wave and H-reflex latencies were significantly longer in the patient group than in the control group (P<0.05). In thirty-two patients, the numbers of patients with abnormal amplitude, abnormal latency, and conduction block at Erb's point were 24 (75%), 22 (69%), and 20 (62%), respectively. The patient group had significantly lower amplitudes but significantly longer latencies of the ulnar and median nerves at Erb point than the control group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the amplitudes and latencies at the wrist and elbow between the two groups (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The nerve stimulation at Erb point holds promise as a routine examination for the early diagnosis of GBS.</p>

Rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells differentiation into neuron-like cells in vitro / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) can be induced to differentiate into neuron-like cells in new environment after transplantation, and then to replace damaged cells for reconstructing neural circuit. OBJECTIVE: To establish the co-culture system between rat BMSCs and neural cells in vitro, and to study the influence of neural cells on the differentiation of BMSCs into neuron-like cells in the co-culture system. METHODS: The neural cells obtained from Wistar rat fetal brain tissue and BMSCs gained from rat thighbone were co-cultured in Transwell culture plate. The morphological changes of BMSCs were observed and the special markers of neural cells in BMSCs were examined by immunofluorescence on the fifth day of the co-culture. The results were compared with control group which where BMSCs were alone cultured. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: BMSCs in the neural cells co-culture system extended, were radial, connected each other. Neuron specific enolase immunoreactions showed positive results, showing neuron-like cells. The positive ratio of neuron specific enolase-positive cells was (33.0±10.5)%. However, BMSCs in the control group did not express neuron morphological character. Immunofluorescence exhibited that cells were negative for neuron specific enolase. These indicate that microenvironment provided by neurons improves the differentiation of BMSCs into neuron-like cells.

Clinical evaluation of 21 cases of total pancreatectomy / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical outcome of 21 cases of total pancreatectomy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 21 cases of total pancreatectomy performed from April 2003 to June 2006 was retrospectively analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the 21 patients, 1 case combined with transverse colon resection, 1 case with total gastrectomy, 9 cases with portal-superior mesentery vein resection with end-to-end anastomosis, 9 cases with portal-superior mesentery vein resection and grafts implantation, 8 cases with concomitant celiac axis resection, 4 cases with concomitant celiac axis and common hepatic artery resection, 1 case with concomitant celiac axis, portal vein and superior mesentery artery resection and reconstruction. Complications occurred in 12 cases (57.1%) post the operation and 5 cases (23.8%) died in 30 days after the operation. Insulin was given at the dose of 18 - 28 U daily post operation and blood glucose was maintained normal effectively. Sixteen cases were followed-up and median survival was 9.2 months (1.2 - 13.0 months). The median survival of tubular adenocarcinoma and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas (IPMNs) were 7 months (1.2 - 9.0 months) and 11.3 months (10.0 - 13.0 months), respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Total pancreatectomy could not improve survival and it increases the complications and death, but it could improve the quality of life. It's an operation of choice for IPMNs, but with pancreatic carcinoma, the warranty of operation should be considered. The blood glucose level could be maintained normal effectively after the operation.</p>

Diagnosis and differential diagnosis of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of pancreas / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the clinicopathologic features of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) and its distinction from mucinous cystic neoplasm of pancreas.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical, radiologic and histologic features of 17 cases of IPMN and 13 cases of mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN) were reviewed. Mucin profiles (MUC1, MUC2 and MUC5AC) were studied by histology (HE) and immunohistochemistry (EnVision).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>10 of the 17 cases of IPMN were males. 13 cases of the IPMN were located in head of pancreas. Communication with the main pancreatic duct was demonstrated in 15 cases. Histologically, there were mild to severe papillary ingrowths of dysplastic epithelial cells, associated with intervening normal or atrophic pancreatic parenchyma. Ovarian-like stroma was not seen. Ancillary investigations showed that MUC2 and MUC5AC were detected in tumor cells of 9 and 4 cases respectively. The 4 cases with invasive component showed MUC1 positivity. On the other hand, 11 of the 13 cases of MCN occurred in middle-aged to elderly females and were located in the body and tail of pancreas. Ovarian-like stroma was commonly seen and there was no connection with the main pancreatic duct. All non-invasive MCN, regardless of the degree of cytologic atypia, were positive for MUC5AC (but not MUC2). In the 2 cases with invasive component, MUC1 expression was observed, as in IPMN.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The age and sex of patients, tumor location, absence of ovarian-like stroma, communication with main pancreatic duct and characteristic mucin profiles represent useful parameters in distinguishing IPMN from MCN of pancreas. The tumor cells of IPMN express mainly MUC2, while those of MCN express MUC5AC. MUC1 may also be a useful marker in demonstration of stromal invasion in these tumors.</p>