A neuroendocrine mechanism of co-morbidity of depression-like behavior and myocardial injury in rats.

Depression is generally a recurrent psychiatric disorder. Evidence shows that depression and cardiovascular diseases are common comorbid conditions, but the specific pathological mechanisms remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of depression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) on myocardial injury and to further elucidate the biological mechanism of depression. Rats were used as a model. The CUMS procedure lasted for a total of 8 weeks. After 4 weeks of CUMS, treated rats exhibited a reduced sucrose preference and changes in scores on an open field test, body weight and content of 5-HT in the brain as compared with the values of these variables in controls. These changes indicated depression-like changes in CUMS rats and demonstrated the feasibility of the depression model. In addition, pathological changes in the myocardium and increased cardiomyocyte apoptosis demonstrated that myocardial injury had occurred after 6 weeks of CUMS and had increased significantly by the end of 8 weeks of CUMS. Plasma serotonin (5-HT), norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E), all depression-related neuroendocrine factors, were measured by HPLC-ECD techniques, and the content of plasma corticosterone (GC) was evaluated by an I(125)-cortisol radioactivity immunoassay in control and CUMS rats. The results indicated that 5-HT had decreased, whereas NE, E and GC had increased in CUMS rats, and these factors might be associated with depression-induced myocardial injury. The effects of 5-HT, NE and GC on the survival rate of cultured cardiomyocytes were determined using an orthogonal design. The results showed that 5-HT was a more important factor affecting cell survival than GC or NE. The results suggested that normal blood levels of 5-HT had a cytoprotective effect. The neuroendocrine disorders characterized by decreased 5-HT combined with increased GC and NE mediated the occurrence of depression-induced myocardial injury.

Method for determining 2, 4-D butylate in serum by gas chromatography / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a method for determining 2, 4-D butylate in serum by gas chromatography (GC)and to provide a basis for the diagnosis and treatment of clinical poisoning.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Serum 2, 4-D butylate level was determined by the following steps: mixing serum (0.5 ml)with trichloromethane (2.0 ml), adequately shaking for extraction, standing for 5 min, centrifuging at 4 000 rpm for 10 min, blow-drying the trichloromethane layer with nitrogen, adding ethanol (50 µl)to a certain volume, adding the sample (1.0 µl), and performing GC with a hydrogen flame ionization detector.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum 2, 4-D butylate level showed a linear relationship within 5∼40 µg/ml, with a regression equation of y = 1 831.6.4x-899.4 (r = 0.999 2); the minimum detectable concentration was 1.0 µg/ml. The recovery rate was 88.7%∼103.0% (relative standard deviation (RSD) 3.8%∼5.0%). The intra-day RSD and inter-day RSD were 3.87-4.92% and 3.33%∼5.34%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This determination method is simple, efficient, and accurate and provides a good means for rapid diagnosis and treatment of 2, 4-D butylate poisoning.</p>

Clinical feature and drug resistance of multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumanii in hospital / 中国基层医药

Objective To investigate the clinical feature of Acinetobacter baumannii and to provide the basis for clinical rational use of anti-microbial agents.Methods ATB system was used to identify Acinetobacter baumanii, and antimicrobial resistance was determined by Kirby-Bauer method.The results were analyzed by Whonet 5.4 soft-ware.Results A total of the 358 strains Acinetobacter baumannii were isolated,91.62% were from sputum and throat swab.The main departments was ICU(52.23%);In 358 strains Acinetobacter baumannii,217 strains were multi-drug resistant strains(60.61%).The drug resistance to polymyxin B was the lowest 0% followed by minocy-cline 19.8% and cefoperazone/sulbactam 9.8%, the next was netilmicin 21.1% and meropenem 41.5%. Conclusion Acinetobacter baumannii shows multi-drug resistance, especially in ICU.Anti-microbial agents should be the rational use according to the results of drug susceptibility in order to reduce and control the incidence of noso-comial infections.