Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of efalizumab in the treatment of psoriasis. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCT) on efalizumab in the treatment of psoriasis were identified from The Cochrane Library ( issue 1, 2006) , specialized trials registered in Cochrane Skin Group (2006), MEDLINE (1966 - 2006) and EMBASE (1974 - 2006). The quality of the trials was assessed by two reviewers independently. RevMan 4.2.7 software provided by the Cochrane Collaboration was used for statistical analysis. Results Three RCTs involving 1 651 patients were included, all of which were of high methodological quality. All the patients were diagnosed as chronic moderate to severe plaque psoriasis with the age of 18-75 years. Meta-analysis indicated that at week 12, significantly more patients in both 1mg/kg/w and 2 mg/kg/w efalizumab subcutaneous groups achieved PASI50, PASI75, PASI90 improvement compared to the placebo group (Plt;0.0001), while there was no significant difference in PASI50, PASI75 and PASI90 responses between 1mg and 2mg efalizumab groups (P gt;0.05). No serious adverse effects were identified. Extended treatment for another 12w may contribute to further efficacy without increasing toxicty. Conclusions Efalizumab 12w therapy is safe and effective for treating adult patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. More RCTs are required to assess the efficacy of the extended treatment.
Objective To assess efficacy of a mouthwash containing 0.1% cetylpiridinium on gingivitis and plaque and its safety. Methods Multi-center randomized double-blind trial with positive control and split-mouth comparison was designed. Scaling on teeth of left side were conducted at do then on those of right side at D8. The cases rinsed five times a day in same way with assigned agents. Efficacy was measured using before-after differences of clinical and microbial variables. Re-examinations were scheduled at D4 and D8. Brushing was refrained between D0 and D4, resumed between D4 and D8. Results There were 144 patients with gingivitis included, 4 lost follow up. Data of 69 cases in test group and 71 in control group could be analyzed. Baseline data analysis showed that distributions of sex, age and values of clinical and microbial variables in both groups were well comparable. At D4 plaque accumulations of the scaled side in both groups were in same level, and Gingival index (GI), sulcus bleeding index (SBI) and VAS for halitosis were significantly reduced. At D8 the measurements of plaque index (PI), GI, SBI and VAS of halitosis decreased significantly more than those of D4. More than half of the suspected pathogenic strains were eliminated and log value of its CFU/ml decreased significantly but at same level in both groups. The balance of intra-oral bacterial flora was not disturbed. Seventeen cases in test group (24.6%) had minor and transient adverse reactions related to the mouthwash. Antimicrobial tests in vitro confirmed that the test agent could kill or inhibit growth of the pathogenic bacteria involving with oropharyngeal infection, gingivitis, periodontal diseases and caries. Conclusion The mouthwash containing cetylpiridinium could inhibit plaque, reduce severity of gingivitis and halitosis, with acceptable minor adverse reactions, similar to those of the marketed cetylpiridinum solution.
【摘要】 目的 探讨血尿酸水平、颈动脉斑块与冠心病之间的关系。 方法 收集2006年1月-2009年12月拟诊为冠心病的住院患者280例,冠状动脉造影检查冠状动脉狭窄程度gt;50%的194例为冠心病组,冠状动脉无狭窄或狭窄程度lt;50%的86例为对照组;冠心病组又分为单支、双支、多支病变亚组。分别测定冠心病组与对照组颈总动脉与颈动脉分叉处内膜中层厚度(IMT)、等级评分、Crouse积分、血尿酸浓度。结果 与对照组相比,冠心病组颈总动脉与颈动脉分叉处IMT、等级评分、Crouse积分、血尿酸浓度均高于对照组,差异有统计学意义。在冠心病组,随病变分支的增多,颈动脉超声检查指标与血尿酸随之升高(Plt;0.05或0.01)。 结论 颈动脉IMT、等级评分、Crouse积分、血尿酸浓度与冠心病相关,是冠心病的独立危险因素。【Abstract】 Objective To investigate the relationships between serum uric acid levels, carotid artery plaque and coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods 194 patients with CHD and 86 nonCHD patients were selected through coronary angiography in patients with essential hypertension. CHD group was divided into three subgroups including a single branch, doublebranch and multivessel disease. Intimamedia thickness (IMT) of carotid artery and carotid bifurcation, grade score, Crouse score, serum uric acid concentrations were detected in patients with coronary heart disease and control group. Results IMT of carotid artery and carotid bifurcation, grade score,crouse score, serum uric acid concentrations were higher in CHD group than that in control group, and the difference was statistically significant. In the CHD group, ultrasound parameters of carotid artery and serum uric acid increased with the increase in branch lesions (Plt;005 or 001). Conclusions Carotid IMT, grade score, Crouse score, serum uric acid concentration relate to coronary heart disease, which is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease, respectively.
ObjectiveTo explore the correlation between coronary artery plaque composition and the gender via 128-slice spiral CT coronary angiography (128-SCTCA). MethodsBetween January and December 2012, 143 patients with coronary artery plaque diagnosed by 128-SCTCA were selected. The patients were divided into group A (no more than 50 years old, n=37) and group B (over 50 years old, n=106). ResultsThere were 29 male patients in group A, with 70 plaques including 30 fibrous plaques, 17 mixed plaques, 11 soft plaques, 12 calcified plaques; and the other 8 female patients had 13 plaques including 7 fibrous plaques, 2 mixed plaques, 2 soft plaques, and 2 calcified plaques. In group B, 56 male patients had 116 plaques, including 48 mixed plaques, 40 fibrous plaques, 14 soft plaques and 14 calcified plaques; the other 50 female patients had 90 plaques, including 36 mixed plaques, 22 fibrous plaques, and 16 soft plaques and calcified plaques. The differences of the plaque composition between males and females were not significant both in group A (χ2=0.664, P>0.05) and group B (χ2=3.708, P>0.05). ConclusionThere is no obvious correlation between gender and coronary plaque composition.
The present paper intends to discuss the antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibition effect of solanesol from three aspects of ultraviolet radiation and free radical scavenging. The paper makes a survey on diurnal variation rule of the minimum ultraviolet transmittance and ultraviolet transmittance of solanesol, hydroxyl (·OH) free radical scavenging method of Smirnoff reaction system model, superoxide anion O2-· free radical scavenging method of pyrogallol autoxidation, and the inhibitory effect of solanesol on tyrosinase activity by enzyme kinetic method. The experiment results showed that solanesol could effectively scavenge lipid radicals to block lipid peroxidation, and inhibit effects on tyrosinase. Solanesol is a natural extract which could be used to prevent senile atrophy of human skin and senile plaque.
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is widely used in coronary artery examination. Ultrasonic elastography combined with IVUS is very conspicuous in identifying plaque component and in detecting plaque vulnerability degree. In this study, a simulation model of the blood vessel based on finite element analysis (FEA) was established. The vessel walls generally have radial changes caused by different intravascular pressure. The signals at lower pressures were used as the pre-deformation data and the signals at higher pressure were used as the post-deformation data. Displacement distribution was constructed using the time-domain cross-correlation method, and then strain images. By comparison of elastograms under different pressures, we obtained the optimal pressure step. Furthermore, on the basis of the obtained optimize pressure step, the simulation results showed that this method could effectively distinguish characteristics between different component plaques, and could guide the later experiments and clinical applications.
ObjectiveTo study the characteristics of carotid atherosclerotic plaque and investigate the relationship between visfatin and plaque stabilization. Methodsfifty-six patients with carotid stenosis were divided into symptomatic group (n=31) and asymptomatic group (n=25) based on the clinical manifestation and onset time.All plaque specimens were stained with HE and Masson trichrome staining and studied pathologically.The plaques were grouped into stable and unstable plaques based on thickness of the fibrous cap and the area of lipid-rich core in the plaques.The expression of visfatin was detected by immunohistochemistry staining. Results①The proportion of unstable plaques were significantly higher in symptomatic group than in asymptomatic group (67.74% vs 36.00%, P < 0.05).②Compared with stable plaques, unstable plaques had thinner fibrous cap, larger lipid necrotic core, and higher proportion of hemorrhage: (49.87±8.75)μm vs (74.54±6.80)μm (P < 0.001), (65.63±12.97)% vs (31.81±5.13)% (P < 0.001), and 63.33% vs 30.77% (P < 0.05).③The integral optical density value of expressed visfatin in unstable plaques was significantly more than in stable plaques (84 165.47±9 183.12 vs 55 694.08±4 818.57, P < 0.001). ConclusionsThe plaque destabilization is closely related to the clinical symptoms of atherosclerosis.The thickness of fibrous cap, area of lipid-rich core, and hemorrhage play an important role in the plaque stabilization.The visfatin is related to atherogenesis and plaque destabilization.
ObjectiveTo study the correlation between neck artery vascular sclerosis and homocysteine levels in hypertensive patients. MethodsA total of 2 132 patients with hypertension participated in the program of "Stroke screening and prevention in Dongying city" were included from Sep. 2012 to Jan. 2013. Questionnaire, physical examination, biochemical blood tests and carotid artery ultrasound were conducted in all included patients. According to the level of homocysteine (Hcy), patients were divided into three groups:716 patients with Hcy level less than 12.3 mm/L were in Group 1, 703 patients with Hcy level 12.3 to 16.5 mm/L were in Group 2, and 713 patients with Hcy level more than 16.5 mm/L were in Group 3. The influence of Hcy levels on carotid atherosclerosis was analyzed. Results① The prevalence rate for carotid plaques in Groups 1, 2, and 3 were 50.28%, 60.03% and 65.36%, respectively. The prevalence rate for carotid plaques in Group 2 was higher than that in Group 1 with a statistical difference (OR=1.485, 95% CI 1.203 to 1.833, P=0.000). The prevalence rate in Group 3 was also higher than that in Group 1 with a statistical difference (OR=1.866, 95% CI 1.508 to 2.308, P=0.000). ② The prevalence rate for carotid plaques was 62.24% in the rural population, and 52.39% in the urban population. The difference between urban and rural populations was statistically significant (OR=1.500, 95% CI 1.259 to 1.788, P=0.000). ③ Using the presence of carotid plaques as a dependent variable and Hcy level as a covariant, logistic regression analysis found that the plaque formation in Group 2 was 1.491 times than in Group 1 and the plaque formation in Group 3 was 1.752 times than in Group 1. After adjusting the risk factors (gender, age, BMI, TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and blood sugar level), the results showed that the plaque formation in Group 2 was 1.388 times than in Group 1, and the plaque formation in Group 3 was 1.452 times than in Group 1. ConclusionThere is a correlation between the increased incidence of carotid plaque and homocysteine levels in patients with hypertension. The incidence of carotid plaque in the rural population with hypertension is higher than that in the urban population. In the population with hypertension, high homocysteine level is an independent risk factor for the formation of carotid plaques.
The segmentation of the intracoronary optical coherence tomography (OCT) images is the basis of the plaque recognition, and it is important to the following plaque feature analysis, vulnerable plaque recognition and further coronary disease aided diagnosis. This paper proposes an algorithm about multi region plaque segmentation based on kernel graph cuts model that realizes accurate segmentation of fibrous, calcium and lipid pool plaques in coronary OCT image, while boundary information has been well reserved. We segmented 20 coronary images with typical plaques in our experiment, and compared the plaque regions segmented by this algorithm to the plaque regions obtained by doctor's manual segmentation. The results showed that our algorithm is accurate to segment the plaque regions. This work has demonstrated that it can be used for reducing doctors' working time on segmenting plaque significantly, reduce subjectivity and differences between different doctors, assist clinician's diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease.
A method of ultrasonic simulation based on the FIELD II software platform for carotid artery plaque was proposed according to the analysis for geometrical shape, tissue characteristics and acoustic properties of carotid artery plaques in clinic, and then a simulation system was developed by using the MATLAB graphical user interface (GUI). In the simulation and development, a three-dimensional geometric model of blood vessel with plaques was set up by using the metaball implicit surface technique, and a tissue model was established based on the scatterers with spatial position of gamma random distribution. Comparison of the statistical and geometrical characteristics from simulated ultrasound B-mode images with those based on clinical ones and preset values, the results fully demonstrated the effectiveness of the simulation methods and system.