Effect of Donepezil on Dysgnosia in Patients with General Paralysis of the Insane / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

[Objective]To investigate the effect of Donepezil on dysgnosia in patients with mild-moderate general paralysis of the insane(GPI).[Methods]Forty-seven patients with GPI were assigned into study group(n=24)or control group(n=23). All these patients were treated with a large dose of penicillin for 2 weeks and then with Benzathine for 3 weeks. And the Donepezil admin-istered to patients in study group.The mini-mental state examination(MMSE)and the clinical dementia rating(CDR)were scored as the measurement of efficiency.[Result]The scores of the MMSE and CDR were not statistically different between the two groups at baseline and 4 weeks after treatment,and both were increased 12 weeks after treatment(P<0.05),especially in study group as com-pared with those in control group(P < 0.05).[Conclusion]Donepezil as an adjunctive therapy may be effective for dysgnosia in patients with mild-moderate GPI. Donepezil is also safe and well tolerated.

ROSIER scale is useful in an emergency medical service transfer protocol for acute stroke patients in primary care center: A southern China study

Objective: The aim of the study is to validate whether the Recognition Of Stroke In the Emergency Room (ROSIER) scale can be used by general practitioners (GPs) in an emergency medical service (EMS) protocol to transfer stroke patients from primary care center to advanced hospital with acute stroke center. Methods: GPs prospectively performed the ROSIER scale and the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS) on suspected stroke patients as a transfer protocol. All patients were immediately transferred to the Level-II hospital for further treatment. Results: 468 of the 512 suspected stroke patients met the inclusion criteria in this study. The ROSIER scale showed a diagnostic sensitivity of 83.13% (95% confidence intervals [CI] 79.74-86.52%) and specificity of 80.88% (95% CI 77.32- 84.44%). The CPSS showed a diagnostic sensitivity of 78.01% (95% CI 74.26-81.76%) and specificity of 70.59% (95% CI 66.46-74.72%). The Kappa statistic value of the ROSIER scale and the CPSS were 0.601 and 0.454, respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) of ROSIER scale was large than the CPSS (AUC 0.855 vs. 0.791). However, the difference was not significantly different. Conclusions: This study suggest that ROSIER and CPSS could be used in an EMS protocol to transfer stroke patients from a primary care center to an advanced hospital offering thrombolysis service

Efficacy of pregabalin in patients with painful radiation-induced brachial plexus injury / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of pregabalin on painful radiation-induced brachial plexus injury.Methods A total of forty-five patients with painful radiation-induced brachial plexus injury were assigned to treatment group with pregabalin 150-600 mg/d combined with conventional therapy, and to control group with conventional treatment for 12 weeks.The visual analogue scale (VAS) and neuropathic pain symptom inventory (NPSI) were evaluated.The response rate (proportion of subjects with at least a 30％ to 50％ reduction in visual analogue scale) was evaluated as the primary endpoint.Results The response rate of the pregabalin group(36.4％) was significantly higher than that of the control group (9.1％) (x2 =4.98, P ＜ 0.05).Although hospital anxiety and depression level, clinical global impression of change, and clinical global impression of change (CGIC) did not differ significantly between pregabalin group and control group (P ＞ 0.05), improvements in neuropathic pain symptom inventory (NPSI), patient global impression of change (PGIC) and the sleep interference score(t =-6.62,-5.65,-6.16, P ＜ 0.05)suggested some utility in the management of radiation-induced brachial plexus.Conclusions Pregabalin treatment combined with conventional treatment exerts efficacy on patients with painful radiation-induced brachial plexus and patients are well tolerated.

Minocycline inhibits BV-2 cell activation by regulating P2X7 receptor / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM: To explore the role of P2X7 receptor in inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 cell activation by minocycline .METHODS:BV-2 cells were divided into 5 groups:control group, LPS group, LPS+0.1 μmol/L Mino group, LPS+1 μmol/L Mino group and LPS+10 μmol/L Mino group.The expression of P2X7 re-ceptor was determined by real-time PCR and Western blotting .The levels of TNF-αand IL-1βin the microglia culture su-pernatants were measured by ELISA .The morphological changes of the cells were also observed .RESULTS: After ex-posed to LPS, the expression of P2X7 receptor increased in BV-2 cells at mRNA and protein levels .The concentrations of TNF-αand IL-1βin the microglia culture supernatants also increased .Meanwhile, 0.1~10μmol/L minocycline inhibited those changes in a dose-dependent manner .CONCLUSION:Minocycline inhibits the activation of microglia .The mecha-nism may be related to the P2X7 receptor.

The value of the use of plasma B-type natriuretic peptide among acute ischemic stroke patients in a Chinese emergency department.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the value of the use of plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) among acute ischemic stroke patients in a Chinese emergency department (ED). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In our ED, the emergency physicians prospectively assessed consecutive adult patients with acute phase of ischemic stroke and measured plasma BNP by Biosite Triage(®)BNP POCT platform on admission, then followed up these patients. And the stroke neurologists evaluated patients' functional outcome at hospital discharge, and also made discharge diagnosis and stroke etiologic subtypes according to TOAST criteria: large-artery atherosclerosis (LAA), cardioembolism (CE), small-artery occlusion (SAO), stroke of other determined etiology (SOE) and stroke of other undetermined etiology (SUE). RESULTS: In this study, 142 of 238 acute ischemic stroke patients met the study criteria [mean age 70.84 ± 11.48 years, 74 (52.11%) female]. Of the 142 patients, 35.92% were diagnosed with LAA at discharge, 25.35% with CE, 27.46% with SAO, 11.27% with SOE or SUE. Age, previous cardiac disease, atrial fibrillation, the length of hospital stays, SSS score on admission ≤ 25 and mRS ≥ 3 or death at discharge were all significantly higher in the CE patients compared to other subtypes (p<0.01). And the mean BNP concentration was significantly higher in the CE group than in other three subtypes (p<0.001). The optimal cut-off concentration, sensitivity and specificity of the plasma BNP concentration suitable to distinguish CE from non-CE were 66.50 pg/ml, 75.0% and 88.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma BNP level is significantly higher in CE patients than in other TOAST subtypes, and by using Biosite Triage(®)BNP POCT platform, emergency physicians should strongly consider CE subtype with the plasma BNP level of over 66.50 pg/ml. However, the single BNP biomarker panel cannot be used to confidently rule out or identify stroke subtypes as a diagnosis and must be taken in context with clinical assessment and judgment before making management decisions in the ED.

Protective effect and mechanism of ulinastatin on rats with hemorrhagic shock / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM: To investigate the protective effect of ulinastatin on rats with hemorrhagic shock. METHODS: A prospective, controlled animal study was designed. The model of hemorrhagic shock in rats was produced by Chaudry method. After 60 min, rats were resuscitated by transfusion of shed blood and normal saline, but a half of them were treated with ulinastatin. At different time points after reperfusion, the levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-?), interleukin-6 (IL-6), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in serum were detected. RESULTS: The levels of TNF-?, IL-6 and MDA significantly increased and the activity of SOD decreased. In the ulinastatin-treated groups, the blood pressure and heart rate were obviously improved; the levels of TNF-?, IL-6 and MDA significantly decreased and the activity of SOD had little change after hemorrhagic shock and reperfusion. CONCLUSION: Ulinastatin has a protection effect on rats with hemorrhagic shock by suppressing the production of inflammatory factors and reducing oxidative damage.