The effects of Rhizoma drynariae on interleukin-2 and T-lymphocyte levels in rats after severe head injury.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Rhizoma drynariae on the levels of interleukin-2(IL-2) and T-lymphocyte subset in rats with severe head injury (SHI). METHODS: 72 Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group, model group, and R. drynariae group. The experimental group received intragastrical infusions of with aqueous R. drynariae extract four hours after SHI while the other groups were administered with equivalent volumes of physiological saline. Infusions were administered to the 3 groups once a day for 7 d. IL-2 and T-lymphocyte (CD3, CD4, CD8) levels were measured at 24, 72, and 168 h after initial infusion. RESULTS: The levels of IL-2 and CD4 T cells reduced obviously after 24 h in the model group (P<0.05), but recovered to the levels of the control group after 72 h, and remained elevated after 168 h. In the R. drynariae group, IL-2 and CD4 levels were did not decrease while the level of CD8 T cells was reduced significantly (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: R. drynariae can protect against immune dysfunction or improve immunity in rats with severe head injury (SHI).

[A comparison between clinical value of the liver transplantation standard mathematical model score and Child-Turcotte-Pugh score in evaluating the prognosis of liver failure].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical value of the liver transplantation standard (LTS) mathematical model score and Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score in evaluating the prognosis of liver failure. METHODS: The clinical data of 150 liver failure patients were analyzed retrospectively. All the patients who were admitted from January 2004 to December 2008 were divided into survival group (n=48) and death group (n=102) in regard to their 90-day survival after their admission. LTS score and CTP score were calculated according to their respective clinical data within 24 hours after their admission. Comparison between LTS score and CTP score was conducted respectively between the survival group and death group. The correlation between LTS score/CTP score and the prognosis of liver failure was made by Spearman rank correlation. The ability of LTS score and CTP score to predict the outcome of liver failure was compared with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: The LTS score and CTP score of survival group were 38.88+/-4.27 and 11.25+/-0.97, respectively, which were lower than those of death group (52.63+/-10.65 and 12.18+/-1.22, both P<0.01). The correlation coefficient of LTS score and the prognosis of liver failure (r(s)=0.651, P<0.01) was higher than that of CTP score (r(s)=0.366, P<0.01). The area under ROC curve (AUC) of LTS score was 0.897, sensitivity (SN) was 76.52%, specificity (SP) was 91.18%, positive predictive value (PV+) was 94.39%, negative predictive value (PV-) was 66.67%, and Youden index was 0.677, respectively. The AUC of CTP score was 0.716, those of SN, SP, PV+, PV- and Youden index were 40.91%, 92.65%, 91.53%, 44.68% and 0.336, respectively. CONCLUSION: The LTS score is better than the CTP score in evaluating the prognosis of liver failure.