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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidasedependent formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the transforming growth factor ß1 (TGF-ß1)-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in rat peritoneal mesothelial cells (RPMCs), and the effect of Astragalus injection (AGI) intervention. METHODS: Primary RPMCs were cultured to the second generation in vitro. After synchronization for 24 h, the cells were randomly assigned to the following groups: control (Group A), AGI (2 g/mL; Group B), TGF-ß1 (10 ng/mL; Group C), TGF-ß1 (10 ng/mL) + AGI (2 g/mL; Group D; pretreated for 1 h with AGI before TGF-ß1 stimulation). Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis were employed to evaluate the mRNA and protein expression of the NADPH oxidase subunit p67phox, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and E-cadherin. The dichlorofluorescein-sensitive cellular ROS levels were measured by a fluorometric assay and confocal microscopy. RESULTS: TGF-ß1 significantly induced NADPH oxidase subunit p67phox mRNA and protein expression in RPMCs, as well as inducing the production of intracellular ROS. AGI inhibited this TGF-ß1-induced up-regulation by 39.3% and 47.8%, respectively (P<0.05), as well as inhibiting the TGF-ß1-induced ROS generation by 56.3% (P<0.05). TGF-ß1 also induced α-SMA mRNA and protein expression, and down-regulated E-cadherin mRNA and protein expression (P<0.05). This effect was suppressed by AGI (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: NADPH oxidase-dependent formation of ROS may mediate the TGF-ß1-dependent EMT in RPMCs. AGI could inhibit this process, providing a theoretical basis for AGI in the prevention of peritoneal fibrosis.

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An electrochemical method has been successfully demonstrated for sensitive determination of azithromycin (Azi) with room temperature ionic liquid (IL) of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIMPF(6)) - graphene (Gr) composite modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The cyclic voltammetric results indicate that Gr/IL/GCE can remarkably enhance electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of Azi in neutral solutions. Azi produce an anodic peak at about 0.82 V at this electrode. The electrocatalytic behavior was further exploited as a sensitive detection scheme for the Azi determination by differential-pulse voltammetry (DPV). Under optimized conditions, the concentration range and detection limit were 0.49-28.57 µg ml(-1) and 0.19 µg ml(-1) (S/N=3) respectively for Azi. The method was successfully applied assay of the drug in the pharmaceutical dosage forms.

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OBJECTIVE: To explore the characteristics and the long-term trend of suicidal deaths among the rural population in Hubei province. METHODS: Data on suicide deaths from 1984 through 2008 were released from Macheng Death Registration System and analyzed by year, gender and age. RESULTS: The suicidal death rates were decreasing during the last 25 years in Macheng city, with the standardized suicide mortality rapidly decreasing from 113.29/100,000 in 1984 to 20.11/100,000 in 2008. The proportion of suicide deaths in the total deaths caused by injuries were declining but not obviously. Suicide was still the leading cause of deaths among all the deaths due to injuries. Number of suicidal deaths among females was outnumbered the males during the last 25 years, representing 50% - 60% in total suicide deaths annually. The proportion of suicide deaths among the elderly aged 65 and over had significantly increased in the recent years, which accounting for 46.81% of all the suicidal deaths in 2008. CONCLUSION: Suicide remained the leading cause of injury deaths among the population in this area, especially in females. Attention should be paid to the females and the elderly aged 65 and over, in the rural areas.

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AIM: To identify the incidence and related risk factors of injuries in pre-school children aged 0-6 years in China. METHODS: Children with non-fatal injuries (n=122) were matched to healthy controls by sex, age, community of residency and history of injury. Conditional multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: The overall incidence of injuries was 3.3%. After adjustment for all selected variables, the risk factors for childhood injuries included father's occupation as a self-employed person (OR: 5.7, 95% CI: 1.8-18.5), child's active temperament type (OR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.5-5.3), inappropriate storage of medicines (OR: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.3-6.9) and inappropriate placement of heating equipment (OR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.0-4.4). The protective factors included children's acquirement of safety education from their teachers at school (OR: 0.03, 95% CI: 0.01-0.2), and from their parents (OR: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.02-0.3). CONCLUSIONS: Interventions targeting the risk factors specifically may help prevent and reduce the occurrence of injuries in young children.

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OBJECTIVE: To study the long-term trend of injury related deaths, the distribution of causes of injuries as well as disease burden in Macheng city, Hubei province, in 1974 - 2008. METHODS: Data was gathered from vital statistics and registration system of Macheng city which was established in 1974. Data related to Cause Eliminated Life Expectancy (CELE), years of potential life lost (YPLL) and proportion of YPLL on total deaths were calculated. RESULTS: The injury death rates varied between 62.64/100 000 and 154.97/100 000 during that 35 years. In males and females, injury death rates varied between 69.16/100 000 - 163.86/100 000 and 55.34/100 000 - 157.35/100 000, respectively. Death rates on injury in males exceeded those of females. The average infant injury mortality was 770.13/100 000, stayed the highest in all of the age groups. In terms of geographic region, death rate showed the highest in the hilly area (37.03/100 000), followed by mountainous area (33.66/100 000) and the rate was lowest in the plain area (31.43/100 000). In terms of causes of deaths, suicide, drowning, suffocation, traffic accident and fall were the five top causes of injury, accounting for 84.26% of all the injury mortality. The mortality of suicide showed highest in the injury mortality accounting for 48.14% of all the injury mortality. Injury was the main causes of death among children and youths. The mortality of injury was the highest in people aged from 15 to 29 years, with 59.38% in males and 62.26% in females. Injury eliminated life expectancy increased while the YPLL due to injury decreased, annually. CONCLUSION: Although the trends of mortality rates on injuries were declining over the past 10 years, it remained high in figures. The main causes of injury shifted around, but suicide had always been the main cause over the years, in different age groups, sex or terrains. The death rate of traffic accident was increasing. Effective control strategies should be formulated based on the caused of death related to injuries and among the high-risk populations.

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BACKGROUND: In China, where follow-up with hospitalized attempters is generally lacking, there is a great need for inexpensive and effective means of maintaining contact and decreasing recidivism. AIMS: Our objective was to test whether mobile telephone message contacts after discharge would be feasible and acceptable to suicide attempters in China. METHODS: Fifteen participants were recruited from suicide attempters seen in the Emergency Department in Wuhan, China, to participate in a pilot study to receive mobile telephone messages after discharge. All participants have access to a mobile telephone, and there is no charge for the user to receive text messages. RESULTS: Most participants (12) considered the text message contacts an acceptable and useful form of help and would like to continue to receive them for a longer period of time. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that, as a low-cost and quick method of intervention in areas where more intensive follow-up is not practical or available, telephone messages contacts are accessible, feasible, and acceptable to suicide attempters. We hope that this will inspire future research on regular and long-term message interventions to prevent recidivism in suicide attempters.

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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of Premarin and Kuntai capsule (a traditional Chinese patent medicine) on the quality of life (QOL) and their cost-utility in early postmenopausal women. METHODS: Fifty-seven women with menopausal syndrome in the early postmenopausal stage were randomly allocated into Premarin group (0.3 mg/day and 0.6 mg/day alternately, n=29) and Kuntai group (4 g/day, n=28). The therapies lasted for one year and the patients were followed up every 3 months. The QOL of the patients was evaluated and the utility scores were obtained from rating scale to conduct a cost-utility analysis (CUA). RESULTS: At each follow-up examination, no significant difference was found in the QOL between the two groups (P>0.05). The QOL obviously increased after the 1-year-long therapy in both the groups, and Kuntai required longer treatment time than Premarin to take effect. The cost-utility ratio of Premarin and Kuntai were 13581.45 yuan/QALY (quality adjusted life year) and 25105.12 yuan/QALY, respectively. Both incremental cost analysis and sensitivity analysis showed that Kuntai was more costly than Premarin. The result of per-protocol analysis was consistent with that of intention-to-treat analysis. CONCLUSION: At early stage of menopause, the QOL of women with menopausal syndrome can be significantly improved by low-dose Premarin and Kuntai capsule, but the latter is more costly.

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OBJECTIVE: To understand the characteristics of nonfatal injuries among home-stranded children in the rural environment of Hubei province, and to evaluate the effect on child injury due to their parents going out for work. METHODS: Cross-sectional study and cluster sampling surveys were applied in September 2006 to survey students in six schools in Macheng city, Baiguo town and Songpu town. RESULTS: 3019 students were surveyed, 1182 students were home-stranded children, constituting a rate to 39.15%. Male and female children accounted for 61.51% and 38.49% of students respectively. The rates of home-stranded male and female students were 39.92% and 37.98% respectively. Home-stranded students who had both parents accounted for a 62.29%, and those who had one parent at home accounted for 37.71%. Among these students, the total injury rate was 179.1 per thousand, while for home-stranded children it was 253.0 per thousand. Male home-stranded children had the highest injury rate, higher than the rate for females. The three leading causes of injury were fall (84.6 per thousand), mechanical (40.6 per thousand) and animal related injures (36.4 per thousand). The main injury sites were at home, school and on the street. The total length of stay in the hospital was 208 days, and the total cost was RMB 47 268 Yuan, and the average cost per person was RMB 201 Yuan. CONCLUSION: There was a high proportion of home-stranded children in school of Macheng and two towns. Injuries were more serious than general students. It causes a high injury burden to these home-stranded children. It is important to pay close attention to these children and to improve their safety.

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OBJECTIVE: To explore the risk indicators of newborn hearing loss. METHODS: Statistic description was used to analyze the basic characteristics of 41 hearing loss infants screened from 8,262 newborns; one way analysis was used by 1:2 matched case control study to analyze the risk indicators of newborns with hearing loss; chi-square test and multivariate condition Logistic stepwise regression mode were also used to find risk the indicators. RESULTS: By one way analysis, there were 3 high risk indicators associated with newborn hearing loss: family history of hearing loss, craniofacial anomalies, and NICU care history. By analysis of multivariate condition Logistic stepwise regression mode, family history of hearing loss (OR=16.945, 95% CI 1.21-237.369) and craniofacial anomalies (OR=6.703, 95% CI 0.61-73.85) were 2 independent risk factors of newborn hearing loss. CONCLUSION: Appropriate intervention measure should be done to reduce the high risk indicators that cause newborn hearing loss.

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