prevalence of Barrett's esophagus remains low in Eastern China Single-Center 7-year descriptive study

To detect Barrett's esophagus [BE] prevalence in patients undergoing gastroscopy in Eastern China. This study was carried out in Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated Medical College of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China from January 2005 to January 2012. All BE patients were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of BE were calculated generally in different age grades, calendar year, and by gender. The relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease [GERD] symptoms and BE were also studied. During the study period, 139,416 patients were studied and 234 patients [0.168%, 95% confidence interval, 0.146%-0.189%] were identified as BE. The mean age was 61.00 +/- 13.98 years, and the male to female ratio was 130:104. Most cases [173] were diagnosed due to endoscopic BE features; however, 61 were diagnosed with esophagitis, esophageal ulcer, esophagopolypus, and esophageal mucosa erosion. The prevalence increased with aging [chi-square= 9.25, p<0.0001]. Most BE were located in the lower segment of the esophagus [92.7%] and short-segment BE. Gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms were found in 131 patients [56%] and acid regurgitation was the most common symptom. Over a follow-up period, no BE developed to esophageal adenocarcinoma. The prevalence of BE in the studied population was very low. Approximately half of them show no signs of GERD symptoms

General characteristics and clinical practices of Chinese patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the characteristics and daily treatment compliance of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>NAFLD adult patients from 21 clinics of 12 cities in China were enrolled in this registry. Physical examination such as demographic characteristics (height, weight, waist circumference measurement), blood pressure and clinical laboratory and ultrasonographic examination of liver were undertaken. Daily practice including life style and medication were recorded and assessed in accordance with 2006 Chinese NAFLD treatment guidelines.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 1656 patients were enrolled (1146 male and 510 female), mean of 45.8 ± 12.6 years old, mean duration of NAFLD history was (47.2 ± 47.7) months. 44.9% of NAFLD were suffering from metabolic syndromes. Patients with central obesity have higher incidence of hypertension and lower level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) than those without central obesity, P < 0.05. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in ALT abnormal group were higher than those in ALT normal group (P < 0.05), HDL-C was lower in ALT abnormal group (P < 0.05). Significant differences existed between the BMI, female waist circumference, TG, fast insulin, HOMA index, ALT, AST and HDL-C among subgroups with mild, moderate and severe steatosis. Majority of the patients did not follow recommendations of NAFLD treatment guidelines. Among targeted population only 15.3% of patients used insulin sensitizers and 23.8% took lipid lowering medicine according to the guideline.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Data indicated that nearly half of NAFLD patients co-morbid with metabolic disorders. Therapy compliance was unsatisfactory and the gap between current practice and Chinese NAFLD treatment guidelines was not optimal.</p>

More questions than answers about the potential anticancer agents: DNA methylation inhibitors / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To review the emerging role of DNA methylation inhibitors in cancer therapy and make a serious reflection on their current status and future perspectives.</p><p><b>DATA SOURCES</b>The data used in the present article were mainly from PubMed with relevant English papers published from April 1988 to January 2010. The search terms were "DNA methylation", "demethylation" and "cancer".</p><p><b>STUDY SELECTION</b>Studies involved in the DNA methylation in carcinogenesis and DNA methylation inhibitors for cancer therapy were selected. The original milestone articles were also included.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Treatment with DNA methylation inhibitors leads to demethylation of a panel of tumour suppressor genes and reverse the expression in different tumors, thus making them potential cancer therapeutics. However, we cannot be very optimistic about their future perspectives because we still have a long way to go before they function well like specific targeted anticancer drugs as we expected.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The best way forward is to further clarify the exact methylation profiles of tumors and to develop novel agents targeting the specific genes.</p>

Role of minocycline in an immature rat model of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a model of immature rat hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) which was expected to be similar to periventricular leukomalacia in human preterm infants pathologically and neuroethologically, and to investigate the role of minocycline (MN) in this model.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Totally 192 Sprague-Dawley rats (postnatal day 2, P(2)), of either sex, were randomly divided into 4 groups: normal-group, sham operation group, HIBD-group, HIBD + MN group, each group had 48 rats. HIBD group and HIBD + MN group survived the left common carotid artery (CCA) ligation followed by 4h exposure to 8% O(2). Rats in sham operation group only survived the left CCA isolation. Rats in normal group were not treated with anything. In HIBD + MN group, the rats were treated with intraperitoneal injection of minocycline 45 mg/kg, immediately after HI and every 24 h for 2 days. Brain tissues were collected on day 3, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks after HI, for hematoxylin-eosin staining and histological scoring. Frozen sections of the brains were stained with anti-O4, anti-O1 immunohistochemistry on day 3 after HI, and MBP immunohistochemistry 2 weeks after HI. Rats in the four groups underwent neuroethologic examination 4 weeks after HI.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>In the HIBD group, there were pathological changes in the periventricular white matter. The pathological changes were milder in HIBD + MN group; There was no statistically significant difference between the normal group and HIBD + MN group in the number of positively stained O4 cell (P > 0.05). The number of positively stained O4 cell in the HIBD group was significantly reduced, compared with that of normal group, sham operation group, and HIBD + MN group (23.67 ± 12.00 vs. 52.89 ± 10.68, 39.28 ± 11.78, 41.63 ± 8.41, P < 0.05). The differences in the number of positively stained O1 cell among the normal group, sham operation group, HIBD group and HIBD + MN group had no statistical significance (P = 0.093). The numbers of myelin basic protein (MBP) positively immunostained fiber bundles in the HIBD + MN group were significantly less than that of the normal group and sham operation group (P < 0.05). The numbers of MBP positively immunostained fiber bundles in the HIBD group were significantly less than that of the normal group, sham operation group, and HIBD + MN group (14.71 ± 7.42 vs. 36.67 ± 6.50, 35.50 ± 3.24, 26.33 ± 5.92, P < 0.05). The HIBD group had long-term neuroethologic abnormality. There was no statistically significant difference in the inclined plane test, hanging test and cylinder test among the HIBD + MN group, normal group, and sham operation group (P > 0.05). The scores of the HIBD group had statistical significantly among the normal group, sham operation group and HIBD + MN group (P < 0.05). In the open field test, there was no statistically significant difference between the HIBD group and HIBD + MN group (P = 0.772), but there was significant difference between these two groups and the normal group, sham operation group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Minocycline protects the pre-oligodendrocyte and has protective effects in terms of long-term neuroethology.</p>

Investigation of reproductive health status and service needs among unmarried young men in Changshu / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>To investigate the status of pre-marital reproductive health education, sexual psychology behavior, contraception and pre-marital abortion in unmarried young men to get the correct way for pre-marital guidence and education.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The survey adopted the society-psychology-behavior methodology. Five hundred and ten objects who had pre-marital sexual living history were investigated randomly.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The reasons of making sexual pre-marital relations were thinking marriage and curiosity. 81.2% of them thought the best way of contraception is to use the condom. 34.8% of them used the prevenception when they had the first sexual experience. 39.7% of the objects adopted contraceptions every time, and 27.1% of the objects made the women pregnancy which resulted 22.4% women using the IUD for contraception. 63.6% of them thought the main reason of not using contraception was the fear to get trouble. The main source of contraceptives was pharmacy (59.8%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>This survey suggested that the prevalence of pre-marital sexual behavior is relatively high in Changshu. It should be taken several methods to give unmarried young men the reproductibe education.</p>