Study on the efficacy of cardiac resynchronization therapy on patients with chronic heart failure evaluated by three-dimentional speckle tracking imaging / 实用医学杂志

Objective To investigate the reliable parameters of the efficacy of CRT on patients with CHF evaluated by 3D-STI. Methods Thirty-six patients with CHF were performed by three-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (3D-STI) before and at one week, one month and three months after CRT, respectively. The left ventricular end systolic volume (3D-LVESV), the left ventricular ejection fraction (3D-LVEF) and the left ventricular dys-synchrony parameters which include the standard deviation of time to peak (AT-SD) and the maximum difference of time to peak (AT-Dif) of radial strain, circumferential strain and area tracking in the 16 left ventricular segments and the changes of 3D-LVESV, 3D-LVEF (ΔLVEF), AT-SD (ΔAT-SD) and AT-Dif (ΔAT-Dif) at 3 months after CRT were determined. Forty normal volunteers as the controls were performed 3D-STI only once. Results AT-SD, AT-Dif of three kinds of strain, LVESV of the patients in both effective and non-effective groups were significantly higher than those in the control group before CRT (P 0.05). ΔAT-SD and ΔAT-Dif were negatively correlated with ΔLVEF. Conclusion 3D-STI can efficiently evaluate the short-term efficacy of CRT , and the area tracking is a reliable parameter to predict and assess CRT efficacy.

Analysis of 2 199 Irrational Prescriptions in Our Hospital / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To provide the clinical departments with a reference for promoting rational drug use. METHODS:The inpatient prescriptions given by orthopaedics and burn departments from Jun. to Dec. 2013 were selected randomly. The number of the selected prescriptions by each department accounted for 2% of the total prescriptions given by the corresponding department in that month,including 4 921 cases by orthopaedics department and 1 391 cases by burn department. Statistical analysis of irrational prescriptions was made according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia,New Materia Medica,the package insert, and other relevant references. RESULTS:1 821 prescriptions given by orthopaedics department and 378 by burn department were found to be irrational,accounting for 37.00% and 27.17% respectively. The reasons of irrationality mainly included im-proper compatibility,improper route of administration,contraindication in and use with caution by the elderly and children,re-peated drug use,improper drug combination etc. CONCLUSIONS:The system of prescription review should be strengthened, and clinical staff training system and pharmaceatical knowledge information platform are established to promote rational use of drugs.

House dust mite regulate the lung inflammation of asthmatic mice through TLR4 pathway in airway epithelial cells.

Aberrant innate and adaptive immune responsed to allergens and environmental pollutants lead to respiratory allergic disease such as asthma. In this study, we focused on toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) expressed on airway epithelium to identify house dust mite (HDM)-regulated allergic inflammation via TLR4 signaling pathway and the triggering to alveolar macrophages (AM)-driven adaptive immune response. The authors found that mouse exposed to HDM showed more eosinophils, neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocytes as well as total cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) confirmed by flow cytometry. Besides, the expression of TLR4 in airway epithelial cells was significantly increased in both mRNA and protein levels in mice treated with HDM and the expression of CD40 and CD86 in AM was also increased in mice exposed to HDM. Tight correlation between TLR4 protein and CD40, CD86 in AM was identified. This study demonstrates that TLR4 expression on airway epithelium played an essential role in HDM-induced activation of AM in immune responses and allergic inflammation. The airway epithelial TLR4 signaling pathway revealed tight connection between endotoxin exposure and asthma prevalence in the clinic.

Clinical Observation on Huangqi Injection in Inhibiting the Side Effects Induced by Chemotherapy / 广州中医药大学学报

[Objective] To observe the regulatory effect of Huangqi Injection (HI) on immune function of patients after chemotherapy (CT). [Methods] Thirty-four patients confirmed as acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) received two cycles of CT. During the 1st cycle, the patients were only treated with DA (daunomycin + arabinoside) regimen; in the 2nd cycle, intravenous injection of 20 mL of HI, qd for 2 weeks was added. The effect of CT on myelosuppression and immune function of the patients was observed. [Results] Immunosuppressive manifestations such as myelosuppression, fatigue, spontaneous sweating, impaired appetite, lassitude were found after the 1st cycle of CT, and peripheral immunoglobulin A (IgA), IgG, IgM and complements C3 levels were also decreased (P