Regulation of ischemic stroke by circadian rhythm and intervention by traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

Circadian rhythm is an internal regulatory mechanism formed in organisms in response to the circadian periodicity in the environment, which modulates the pathophysiological events, occurrence and development of diseases, and the response to treatment in mammals. It significantly influences the susceptibility, injury, and recovery of ischemic stroke, and the response to therapy. Accumulating evidence indicates that circadian rhythms not only regulate the important physiological factors of ischemic stroke events, such as blood pressure and coagulation-fibrinolysis system, but also participate in the immuno-inflammatory reaction mediated by glial cells and peripheral immune cells after ischemic injury and the regulation of neurovascular unit(NVU). This article aims to link molecular, cellular, and physiological pathways in circadian biology to the clinical consequences of ischemic stroke and to illustrate the impact of circadian rhythms on ischemic stroke pathogenesis, the regulation of NVU, and the immuno-inflammatory responses. The regulation of circadian rhythm by traditional Chinese medicine is reviewed, and the research progress of traditional Chinese medicine intervention in circadian rhythm is summarized to provide a reasonable and valuable reference for the follow-up traditional Chinese medicine research and molecular mechanism research of circadian rhythm.

Chinese Herbal Medicine Adjusting Brain Microenvironment via Mediating Central Nervous System Lymphatic Drainage in Alzheimer's Disease / 中国结合医学杂志

Due to its complex pathogenesis and lack of effective therapeutic methods, Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become a severe public health problem worldwide. Recent studies have discovered the function of central nervous system lymphatic drainage, which provides a new strategy for the treatment of AD. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been considered as a cure for AD for hundreds of years in China, and its effect on scavenging β-amyloid protein in the brain of AD patients has been confirmed. In this review, the mechanism of central nervous system lymphatic drainage and the regulatory functions of CHM on correlation factors were briefly summarized. The advances in our understanding regarding the treatment of AD via regulating the central lymphatic system with CHM will promote the clinical application of CHM in AD patients and the discovery of new therapeutic drugs.

Preliminary report about the screening program for colorectal cancer by sequential fecal occult blood in Wuhan area for 4 years / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the sequential fecal occult blood test (SFOBT) program for the screening of colorectal cancer and elucidate the prevalence of colorectal cancer in Wuhan area.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>At 19 screening sites, 63,961 residents were recruited as target population according to random cluster and stratified sampling for four years (between 2005 and 2008). Residents aged over 40 years old received SFOBT. Those with positive SFOBT underwent colonoscopy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The target population was 63,961. There were 25,837 people whose age was over 40. Finally, 7784 participants received the SFOBT screening, with a medium age of 56 years old. The positive rate of SFOBT was 12.3% (956 persons). Of the 956 persons, 240 participants underwent colonoscopy. Colorectal cancer was found in 14 cases (6.5%), gastric cancer in 2 cases (0.9%), colorectal adenoma in 53 cases(24.8%), colorectal inflammation in 80 cases (37.3%) and hemorrhoids in 65 cases (30.4%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The prevalence of colorectal cancer is relatively high in Wuhan area. The SFOBT is available and feasible in screening early changes of colorectal cancer.</p>

Fracture strength of custom-fabricated Celay all-ceramic post and core restored endodontically treated teeth / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The increased use of all-ceramic crown provides a rationale for tooth-colored core. Due to superior mechanical properties, Vita Celay infiltration ceramic developed for crown and bridge works presents the potential for fabricating all-ceramic posts and cores in one piece. This study was conducted to compare the fracture strength of endodontically treated teeth which were thereafter given different types of posts and cores and crowns restoration, respectively. The evaluated post-and-core systems are: custom-fabricated Celay all-ceramic post-core, custom cast metal post-core, and prefabricated stainless steel post (Parapost) with and without 2.0 mm dentine ferrule.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty freshly extracted human maxillary central incisors were endodontically treated and randomly divided into five groups with 12 samples each. Group A: Celay ceramic post-cores restored teeth with 2.0 mm dentine ferrule. Group B: Celay ceramic post-cores restored teeth with no dentine ferrule. Group C: cast metal post-cores restored teeth with 2.0 mm dentine ferrule. Group D: cast metal post-cores restored teeth with no dentine ferrule. Group E: prefabricated post and composite cores restored teeth with 2.0 mm dentine ferrule. All teeth were restored with Celay ceramic crowns. Each specimen was subjected to a load at a 45-degree angle to the long axis on MTS 810 material testing machine until failure, at crosshead speed of 0.02 cm/minute. Analysis of variance followed by the Newman-Keuls pairwise multiple comparison tests were used to compare the results of the groups tested.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was a statistically significant difference among the five groups (P < 0.01). Celay ceramic post-cores restored teeth with 2.0 mm dentine ferrule [(758.35+/-19.26) N] and cast metal post-cores restored teeth with 2.0 mm dentine ferrule [(756.63+/-66.22) N] had a significantly greater mean fracture strength than the other three groups in which no significant difference was observed. The 2.0 mm dentine ferrule could cause significant fracture resistance alteration of Celay post-core restored teeth.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>When covered with Celay ceramic crowns, Celay post-cores restored teeth with 2.0 mm dentine ferrule and cast metal post-cores restored teeth with 2.0 mm dentine ferrule have similar fracture strength. There was a statistically significant difference between the fracture resistance of Celay post-core restored teeth with and without 2.0 mm dentine ferrule.</p>

Comparative study on the exfoliative cytology of intraoperative peritoneal lavage in patients with rectal cancer pre- and post-tumor resection / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinical value of sequential intraoperative peritoneal lavage in reducing the positive rate of peritoneal exfoliated tumor cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Six sequential intraoperative peritoneal lavages were performed in each of the 63 patients with rectal cancer, with three before resection and three post resection, which were then compared by using cytological smear examination.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Exfoliated tumor cells were positive in the first three intraoperative peritoneal lavages of all the 63 patients before resection. The cytological smear examination of the three peritoneal lavage fluids after excision revealed that 40 cases were positive at the first lavage, 33 at the second and 13 at the third. The positive rate between the first and the second post-resection peritoneal lavages showed no significant difference (P>0.05), while the positive rate of the third lavage was significantly lower than the second after resection (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Sequential intraoperative peritoneal lavages is a useful method in reducing the positive rate of peritoneal exfoliated tumor cells in patients with rectal cancer.</p>

Effects of post-core design and ferrule on fracture resistance of endodontically treated maxillary central incisors.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Studies concerning the effects of post-core design and ferrule on the fracture resistance of endodontically treated teeth remain controversial. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate in vitro the effects of post-core design and ferrule on the fracture resistance of root canal treated human maxillary central incisors restored with metal ceramic crowns. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-eight extracted human maxillary central incisors were endodontically treated and divided into 4 groups of 12. The following treatments were evaluated: group A: restored with metal ceramic (porcelain fused to metal [PFM]) crowns as control; group B: 2-mm ferrule/custom cast post-core/PFM crowns; group C: no ferrule/custom cast post-core/PFM crowns; and group D: 2-mm ferrule/prefabricated post and resin core/PFM crowns. Each specimen was subjected to load (N) on the lingual surface at a 135-degree angle to the long axis with a MTS 810 material testing machine until fracture at a crosshead speed of 0.02 cm/min. One-way analysis of variance and nonparametric chi-square test were used to compare the results. A significant analysis of variance result was followed by Newman-Keuls pairwise multiple comparisons (P<.05). RESULTS: There were significant differences among the 4 groups studied (P<.01). Group B had the highest fracture strength (1793.59 +/- 387.93 N). There was no significant difference among the fracture resistances of the other 3 groups (group A: 958.49 +/- 286.02 N; group C: 992.98 +/- 291.00 N; group D: 994.94 +/- 285.04 N). CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of this study, not all of the post-core structures tested improved the strength of the endodontically treated teeth. Those prepared with a 2-mm dentin ferrule more effectively enhanced the fracture strength of custom cast post-core restored endodontically treated maxillary central incisors.