Standard-dose versus low-dose azathioprine in the treatment of Crohn's disease: A prospective randomized study.

OBJECTIVE: Azathioprine (AZA) is widely used to treat Crohn's disease (CD) with a recommended dose of 2-2.5 mg/kg per day for Westerners. Asian patients are suggested to take a lower dose. However, many clinicians reported poor efficacy with a reduced dose. This study aimed to explore a efficient and safe dose of AZA providing the best efficacy for Chinese CD patients. METHODS: Fifty patients with active CD were enrolled and randomized into two groups (n = 25 each). All other treatments were the same except that group A received 1 mg/kg per day and group B took 2 mg/kg per day of AZA. Complete remission (CR) rate and response rate at weeks 12, 24 and 48 were assessed by using intent-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses. Adverse events and recurrence rate were also evaluated. RESULTS: At week 48, CR rate and response rate in group B (ITT: 50.0% and 59.1%; PP: 57.9% and 68.4%) were significantly higher than those in group A (ITT: 13.0% and 17.4%; PP: 16.7% and 22.2%) (P < 0.05). Nine adverse events occurred, including pancreatitis (n = 1), arthritis (n = 2) and myelosuppression (n = 6). There was no significant difference in adverse events between the two groups. However, recurrence rate was significantly higher in group A than in group B (P = 0.042). CONCLUSION: AZA 2 mg/kg per day is more appropriate than 1 mg/kg per day for Chinese CD patients with a high efficacy, a low recurrence rate and not increased adverse events.

Clinical significance of integrin ß6 as a tumor recurrence factor in follicular thyroid carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Overexpression of integrin ß6 plays an important role in a variety of malignant tumor invasion and metastasis. METHODS: The expression levels of integrin ß6, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 were analyzed by immunohistochemistry with human follicular thyroid carcinomas. Then we investigated their correlation with clinical outcomes parameters, relationship, and the survival time. RESULTS: The integrin ß6 staining was expressed in cellular membrane and cytoplasm of follicular thyroid carcinoma cells. The MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions were mainly found in cellular cytoplasm. In correlation with the clinical outcome parameters of 60 patients, there were significant statistical differences of integrin ß6, MMP-2, and MMP-9 expression levels in different size of tumor. Integrin ß6 and MMP-9 expressions have significant statistical differences in T classifications. MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions have significant statistical differences in different M classification. Other clinical outcome parameters had no significant statistical differences. CONCLUSION: Integrin ß6 expression correlated significantly with MMP-9 expression, and may be a valuable recurrence indicator for follicular thyroid carcinomas.

[Chuzhen therapy for sub-health: a randomized controlled study].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect on intervention of sub-health with pestle needle (Chuzhen). METHOD: Randomized controlled trail was adopted for this research. One hundred and fifty-three cases were randomly divided into two groups of a Chuzhen group (79 cases) and a massage group (74 cases). Acupoint of Bazhen (Baihui Bazhen, Shendao Bazhen, Zhiyang Bazhen, Mingmen Bazhen, Yaoyangguan Bazhen), Hechelu on the head, the neck and the lumbar area were adopted in Chuzhen group. While regular whole-body massage was applied in the massage group. The human sub-health score, the cornell medical index (CMI) and thermal texture maps system (TTM) technology of the two groups before and after the intervention were observed. RESULTS: 1) After treatment, sub-health condition score, the CMI score, the M-R score and the TTM index were all increased in both groups (all P<0.01) 2) Comparison of D-value of the two groups before and after the intervention: the level of the sub-health score, the total score of CMI, and the index of sleep, pressure, Governor Vessel, Hukou (first web), blood lipid, viscosity of blood, microcirculation of TTM index of the Chuzhen group changed more obvious (all P<0.01), but there was no statistic significances in the M-R score and blood sugar of the TTM (both P>0.05). 3) The sub-health condition score in Chuzhen group was higher than that in the massage group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Chuzhen therapy has definite effect on intervention of sub-health, which is better than regular general massage.