[High-frequency ultrasonography for epididymal stasis after vasectomy].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical application of high-frequency ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of epididymal stasis after vasectomy. METHODS: We retrospectively studied the sonographic characteristics of 23 cases of epididymal stasis treated by vasectomy, which were divided into a mild (n = 5), a moderate (n = 11) and a severe group (n = 7) according to the results of color Doppler flow imaging. We analyzed the significance of high-frequency ultrasonography in the treatment of epididymal stasis after vasectomy. RESULTS: High-frequency ultrasonography revealed 14 cases of increased bilateral epididymal volume, 6 cases of left epididymal thickening and 3 cases of right epididymal thickening, mainly the thickening of the epididymal body and tail. After conservative treatment, 18 of the epididymal stasis cases (5 mild, 11 moderate and 2 severe) were improved, and the other 5 severe cases significantly relieved and discharged from hospital following conservative treatment combined with vasectomy reversal. CONCLUSION: Post-vasectomy epididymal stasis has typical sonographic characteristics, and high-frequency ultrasonography has an extremely important application value in the clinical classification, diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Sanguinarine modulate gut microbiome and intestinal morphology to enhance growth performance in broilers.

Sanguinarine is a bioactive compound as a quaternary benzophenanthridine alkaloid from plant of the Macleaya cordata, Papaveraceae family. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary sanguinarine supplementation on growth performance, serum biochemistry parameters, intestinal mucosal morphology and gut microbiome in yellow feathered broilers. Two hundred and seventy 1-d-old female broilers were randomly assigned to 3 treatments ① Basal diet (NG); ② Basal diet containing bacitracin methylene disalicylate (50mg/Kg diet) (ANT); ③ Basal diet containing sanguinarine (0.7 mg/ kg of feed) (SAG). The statistical results showed that dietary sanguinarine supplementation enhanced growth performance and decreased glucose, uric acid as well as urea nitrogen levels of broilers at 28d of age (P<0.05). The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that sanguinarine significantly decreased the species from the phyla Bacteroidetes, and increased the species from phyla Firmicutes. Moreover, dietary sanguinarine supplementation improved mucosal morphology to achieve higher ratio of intestinal villus height to crypt depth (P < 0.05), and decreased the concentrations of TNF-α and IL-4 in jejunum mucosal. This study demonstrated that sanguinarine supplementation in the diet of yellow feathered broilers improved intestinal morphology and microbiota community structure to promote growth performance on 1-28d.

[Effects of nitroglycerin on plasma calcitonin gene-related peptide and endothelin in congestive heart failure].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the plasma calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and endothelin (ET) levels and the effects of nitroglycerin on CGRP and ET in congestive heart failure (CHF), and to make clear the mechanism of nitroglycerin in vasodilation and cardiac protection. METHODS: The fast blood samples were taken from the peripheral vein of 40 volunteers and 40 CHF patients to estimate the basal level of CGRP and ET. Infusion of nitroglycerin of 25 to 50 micrograms/min started in the forearm vein of CHF patients. Blood samples were taken at the end of the 1 hour infusion and (12 +/- 2) days of nitroglycerin treatment. Plasma concentrations of CGRP and ET were measured by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: In patients with CHF before the treatment, the plasma concentration of CGRP was significantly lower than that in the controls (P < 0.001), but the concentration of ET significantly higher than that in the controls (P < 0.001). During the nitroglycerin treatment, the plasma concentration of CGRP significantly increased (P < 0.001), whereas the concentration of ET significantly decreased (P < 0.01). The mean arterial pressure significantly decreased (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Nitroglycerin can increase the peripheral plasma CGRP level and decrease the concentration of ET when treating CHF. Intravenous nitroglycerin may be beneficial to the improvement of abnormal haemodynamics and neurohormonal derangement.