[Curative effect of anti-HBV treatment in advanced schistosomiasis patients with ascites and HIBV infection].

OBJECTIVE: To improve the curative effect of advanced schistosomiasis patients with ascites and HBV infection. METHODS: A total of 27 advanced schistosomiasis patients with ascites and HBV infection were selected as a trial group and given with anti-HBV treatment, and 31 corresponding patients were as the controls and did not received anti-HBV treatment from February 2003 to December 2012. RESULTS: The incidence of ascites recurrence, spontaneous peritonitis, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatorenal syndrome, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and primary liver cancer in the trial group were significantly lower than those in the control group. The detection indexes of liver function, renal function and prothrombin time in the trial group were superior to those in the control group. The mortality in the treatment group was also significantly lower than that in the control group. CONCLUSION: The anti-HBV treatment in the advanced schistosomiasis patients with ascites and HBV infection can obviously improve their physical conditions, the survival rate, and their life qualities.

[Curative effect of Ruangan pills in treatment of schistosomiasis liver fibrosis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the efficacy, mechanism and safety of silibinin combined with Ruangan pills (a Chinese herbal preparation) in the treatment of schistosomiasis liver fibrosis. METHODS: A total of 200 patients with schistosomiasis liver fibrosis were randomly divided into a control group and a treatment group, and 100 patients in each group were respectively administered with oral silibinin alone and oral silibinin combined with Ruangan pills, respectively. The curative effects in the two groups were evaluated in 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months respectively. RESULTS: The common five clinical symptoms of schistosomiasis liver fibrosis patients significantly relieved in the treatment group 12 months after the therapy, and the total efficiency reached more than 75%, which were significantly higher than that in the control group. In the treatment group and the control group, there was no improvement in the liver B ultrasonic classification 3 months and 6 months after the therapy (P > 0.05); however, in 9 months and 12 months, the liver B ultrasonic classification in the treatment group was better than that in the control group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, respectively). For the four serum indexes of liver fibrosis, there was no significant differences between the two groups in 3 months, however, in 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months, there was a significant improvement in the treatment group compared with the control group. There were no obviously adverse effects in two groups. CONCLUSION: Silibinin combined with Ruangan pills has a better curative effect in the treatment of schistosomiasis liver fibrosis.

[Long-term therapeutic effect of Ruangan pills on advanced schistosomiasis patients with ascites].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term therapeutic effect of Ruangan pills on advanced schistosomiasis combined with ascites. METHODS: The data of 54 advanced schistosomiasis patients with ascites were collected, and the patients were divided into two groups namely a treatment group and a control group according to whether taking Ruangan pills. The effective rates, improvement status of symptoms and levels of serum albumin (ALB) and hyaluronic acid (HA) of the two groups were compared. RESULTS: The effective rates of the treatment group and control group were 92.59% and 44.44%, respectively, and the difference between them was statistically significant (P < 0.05). After the treatment for 9 and 12 months, the percentages of patients without ascites and patients with symptom improvement in the treatment group were 77.78% and 92.59%, 92.59% and 96.30%, respectively, while those in the control group were 29.63% and 37.00%, 48.15% and 51.85%, respectively, and the differences between the two groups by different time were all statistical significant (all P < 0.05). After the treatment for 9 months, the percentages of patients with the normal levels of ALB and HA were 88.89% and 59.26%, while those in the control group were 40.74% and 14.81%, respectively, and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant (both P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The long-term treatment of Ruangan pills can not only improve clinical symptoms but also control the ascites recurrence, however, the therapeutic effect and the recurrence rate of ascites in longer-term still need further observation.

Dopamine effect on the stimulus pattern related changes in response characteristics of R/G horizontal cells in carp retina.

Repetitive red flashes increased the R/G horizontal cells' red response amplitude and induced a hyperpolarization of the cells' dark membrane potential. These phenomena were eliminated in 6-OHDA pretreated retinas and restored by exogenous dopamine, which suggests the involvement of dopamine receptor activity changes instead of dopamine release changes. Furthermore, the phenomena persisted on D(1) receptor antagonist (SKF-83566) application, whereas they diminished on D(2) receptor antagonist (eticlopride) application, indicating that the mechanism is related to a D(2) receptor, possibly located on photoreceptors.

Metabotropic glutamate receptor-mediated hetero-synaptic interaction of red- and green-cone inputs to LHC of carp retina.

The role of presynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) on the interaction of red- and green-cone signals was investigated in luminosity-type horizontal cell (LHC) of isolated carp retina. It was found that a dim red background could enhance LHC's light response to green stimulus, and a dim green background was also able to increase the cell's response to red flash. Such mutual color enhancement was eliminated by application of groups II and III mGluR antagonist (S)-methyl-4-carboxyphenyl-glycine (MCPG). Furthermore, inhibition of glutamate uptake by using D-aspartate (D-Asp) or DL-threo-beta-hydroxy-aspartic acid (THA) completely blocked the mutual enhancement of color signals in LHC. However, the GABAergic feedback pathway in the outer retina was unnecessarily involved.