The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of Lai Fu Cheng Qi decoction on myocardial injury in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). In total, 30 rats were randomly divided into sham, SAP and decoction treatment groups. SAP was induced by a retrograde pancreatic duct injection of 5% sodium taurocholate in the SAP and decoction treatment groups. Rats in decoction treatment gr...

BACKGROUND Devastating extremity injuries are prevalent but most often survivable on the modern battlefield. The complexity of these injuries requires advanced methods of reconstruction. This study is designed to validate the feasibility of gracilis myocutaneous flap transplantation via microvascular free tissue transfer in a porcine model. This model will facilitate study of autotransplant phy...

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of phosphocreatine (PCr) post-treatment combined with ischemic post-conditioning on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in a rat model. METHODS Forty Sprague-Dawley rats that had undergone 30 minutes ischemia and 120 minutes reperfusion were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10 in each group): the I/R group, the isch...

OBJECTIVES Lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP) were measured serially in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum in twenty five cases of meningitis and an equal number of age and sex matched healthy control subjects with an aim to find out their diagnostic and prognostic significance in cases of meningitis. METHODS The enzymatic activity was m...

BACKGROUND This study evaluated the protective effect of Echinatin against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats. METHODS The effect of Echinatin on cardiac function in rats subjected to I/R was demonstrated through improved Langendorff retrograde perfusion technology. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups, and myocardial infarct size was macroscopica...

From January, 1984 to March, 1999, 31 children under 15 y old (ages 1-14 y, median 8 y) were admitted after being bitten by rattlesnakes (Crotalus durissus ssp). One patient was classified as "dry-bite", 3 as mild envenoming, 9 as moderate envenoming and 18 as severe envenoming. Most patients had neuromuscular manifestations, such as palpebral ptosis (27/31), myalgia (23/31) and weakness (20/31...

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is one of the most potent angiogenic growth factors. It improves angiogenesis and tissue perfusion in ischemic skeletal muscle. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that ischemic postconditioning is effective for salvaging ischemic skeletal muscle resulting from limb ischemia-reperfusion injury, and that the mechanism involves expression of HIF-1α....

BACKGROUND To evaluate the effect of continuous, moderate-intensity ultra-endurance running exercise on skeletal muscle and hepatic damage, as indicated by serum enzyme activity measured immediately following the race. METHODS Thirty-nine runners of the Spartathlon race (a 246-km continuous race from Athens to Sparta, Greece) who managed to complete the race within the 36-h limit participated...

BACKGROUND:  Canine low-dose sepsis model provides a reliable setting to study innovative drugs. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), a major constituent of bacterial outer membrane, have been demonstrated to play a critical role in the initiation of pathogenesis. Lipopolysaccharide-induced sepsis has been extensively studied in laboratory animals; but its importance has mainly remained unknown in dogs. ...