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An economical, rapid, and sensitive method of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed and validated to determine the presence of six pesticides (dichlorvos, acetochlor, atrazine, chlorpyrifos, α-endosulfan, and β-endosulfan) in human plasma. The pesticides were extracted with acetonitrile and concentrated using anhydrous sodium sulfate. Then, the target compounds were analyzed and quantified with GC-MS using borneol as an internal standard. Separation was performed on a HP-5MS capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm x 0.25 µm) with temperature programming. Detection was accomplished under electro-spray ionization (ESI) in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. Under optimized conditions, satisfactory linear ranges of 0.05-10 µg/mL were obtained for all of the analyzed pesticides. The linear correlation coefficients were greater than 0.99. The average recovery was between 86.8 and 106.5%. The inter- and intra-day precision ranged from 1.7-14.5% and 4.2-13.8%, respectively. Dichlorvos was unstable in plasma both at room temperature and when frozen. The other five pesticides were stable after storage at -- 20°C for 17 days and two freeze-thaw cycles. Thirty-five plasma samples from 15 patients with acute self-poisoning were analyzed using this method. Dichlorvos was found in 13 plasma samples with a mean concentration of 0.289 µg/mL, and atrazine was found in 6 with a mean concentration of 0.261 µg/mL. Acetochlor was found in one plasma sample (0.153 µg/mL). This method is simple, reliable and cost-effective. It takes little time and does not waste solvents, and it can be used to routinely detect six pesticides in patients with acute poisoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclosporin A (CyA) is an immunosuppressive agent widely used in clinical therapy. In the therapeutic process, the blood concentration of CyA should be monitored to avoid or prevent rejection and toxicity. The objectives of this study were to compare the correlation of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and enzyme-multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) for the determination of the CyA concentration in human blood and to provide evidence for the rational usage of EMIT in clinical practice. Blood samples collected from 132 patients undergoing a liver or kidney transplant or patients with aplastic anemia at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University were tested using the two methods. The calibration curve was linear from 25-500 ng·mL-1 for LC-MS/MS and from 50-450 ng·mL-1 for EMIT. The inter- and intra-day RSDs were less than 15%. The CyA blood concentration according to EMIT was 3.5 ng·mL-1 more than that according to LC-MS/MS. The 95% confidence interval was -10.0~16.9 ng·mL-1. The CyA blood concentration according to the two methods did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). LC-MS/MS and EMIT were suitable methods for determining the CyA blood concentration. The two methods were closely correlated (r2 = 0.969), but the CyA blood concentration according to EMIT was slightly higher than that according to LC-MS/MS. The clinical significance of this finding needs to be further evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

40 healthy mixed-breed dogs were randomly divided into 2 groups, arterial ischaemia (AI) and venous congestion (VC), each containing 20 dogs. The dogs underwent a procedure where the deep femoral artery or deep femoral vein was ligated randomly on the left or right side to establish the femoral head osteonecrosis model. 13 dogs from each group, AI and VC, were randomly selected for subsequent study. 3 dogs were randomly chosen from each group to receive core decompression (CD) every 2 weeks for a total of 4 sessions.~Methods~Methods~The development of femoral head osteonecrosis was slightly slowed at each measurement time point after CD in the arterial ischaemia (AI) group, but no restoration was observed. The venous congestion (VC) group showed a gradually reduced mixed signal after CD and exhibited a trend towards restoration. The various VC subgroups had significantly improved symptoms compared to the AI subgroups.~Results~Results~CD displayed greater treatment efficacy for femoral head osteonecrosis caused by VC, but poor efficacy for femoral head osteonecrosis caused by AI.~Conclusions~Conclusions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a common disease with high disability rate. However, a few studies investigate the etiology and clinical characteristics of nontraumatic ONFH patients in China. Therefore, we conducted this cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: Totally, information of 7268 nontraumatic ONFH patients treated between August 2005 and August 2015 was extracted from the medical records. The extracted information included the age, gender, diagnostic criteria, cause of nontraumatic ONFH, types of steroid use, and types of alcohol. Results: Among these included patients, there were 5126 (70.5%) male patients with average age of 44.5 years and 2142 (29.5%) female patients with average age of 47.6 years (P = 0.54). The number of steroid-, alcohol-, steroid/alcohol-, and idiopathic-induced nontraumatic ONFH men patients was 1684, 2310, 364, and 768, respectively, and nontraumatic ONFH women patients was 1058, 482, 140, and 462, respectively. Meanwhile, we found that both the levels of triglycerides (P = 0.03) and low-density lipoprotein (P = 0.02) were significantly changed in the idiopathic-induced nontraumatic ONFH patients. Conclusion: These results indicated the earlier onset of nontraumatic ONFH in male patients than in female patients, different main etiology for male (alcohol consumption) and female (steroid use) patients, and close relationship between the lipid metabolism and idiopathic-induced nontraumatic ONFH. Our findings could be helpful for researchers to investigate the pathogenesis of ONFH and aid the clinicians in the early prevention and diagnosis of nontraumatic ONFH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Avascular necrosis of femoral head and nonunion is a major complication after the treatment of displaced femoral neck fracture in young adults. The purpose of this study was to introduce a new technique using biodegradable magnesium screws and vascularised iliac grafting for displaced femoral neck fracture in young adults.Methods: Totally 19 patients with displaced femoral neck fracture treated with this technique were retrospectively reviewed. The major steps of this technique included the harvesting of vascularized iliac graft, fixing of the fracture and biodegradable magnesium screws combined with vascularized iliac grafting implantation.Results: All patients were followed for an average of 16 months (range: 8-24 months). Clinical and radiological outcomes were evaluated. In 18 cases (94.7 %), the hip union was achieved at an average duration of 4.1 months (range: 3.6-5 months). The nonunion was observed in 1 hip (5.3 %) and the revision to a hip replacement was conducted after twelve months of the operation. According to the Harris hip score (HHS) that was available for 17 hips with satisfactory union, excellent results were achieved in 14 cases (HHS ≥ 90), fair results in 3 cases (HHS: 80-90), and poor result in 1 hip (HHS < 80). No patient developed avascular necrosis of femoral head after operation.Conclusion: Biodegradable magnesium screws and vascularized iliac grafting based on the ascending branch of lateral femoral circumflex artery for displaced femoral neck fracture in young adults can provide the satisfactory results with a low rate of complications including avascular necrosis and nonunion.Trial Registration: This prospective and randomized controlled study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( ChiCTR-TRC-13003238). Date of registration: 2013-3-21. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymorphisms located at microRNA (miRNA) binding sites may affect the expression of genes. The present study aimed to identify the association between an insertion/ deletion (Ins/Del) polymorphism (rs3783553) in the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of interleukin-1a (IL-1A) and the risk for osteoarthritis (OA). Using a luciferase reporter system, IL-1A was identified in the present study as an effective target gene of miR-122 in synovial cells that were obtained from patients who had received a synovectomy. This finding was verified further by the observation that exogenous over-expression of miR-122 in the synovial cells significantly downregulated the expression of IL-1A in the cells with Ins/Ins and Ins/Del genotypes, but not in the cells with Del/Del genotypes. Patients with OA (n=931) and OA-free volunteers (n=952) were enrolled in the study. Compared with the Del/Del genotype, patients possessing the Ins/Del or Ins/Ins genotype were associated with a lower risk for OA [odds ratio (OR)=0.67, P=0.0051; OR=0.65, P=0.0031, respectively], and the association was even stronger in young subjects (<62 years) (OR=0.53; P<0.001). Additionally, it was found that genotype was associated with radiographic severity (OR=0.72; P=0.023). The synovial fluid (SF) concentrations of IL-1A and miR-122 were measured in 75 OA patients. While the miR-122 concentrations were found to be comparable between each genotype group, the SF concentration of IL-1A in the Del/Del group was significantly higher than in the Ins/Del and Ins/Ins genotype groups. Therefore, the present study identified that the Ins/Del polymorphism in the 3'-UTR of IL-1A may affect genetic expression and, to the best of our knowledge, is the first study to demonstrate that the minor allele (Del) is associated with an elevated risk for OA and disease severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]