Ventilation function changes in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy under and over 12 years of age Analysis of 65 cases

BACKGROUND：Previous studies indicate that vital capacity in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy increases with age when they are under 12 years old, and decreases from 13 or 14 years of age; however, recent studies indicate that the vital capacity in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy begins to decrease even before 12 years of age. OBJECTIVE： To verify if the vital capacity in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy decreases before the age of 12 years and to observe the effect of rehabilitation exercise on vital capacity. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： The case analysis was performed at the Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University （Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China） from December 2004 to January 2006. PARTICIPANTS： Sixty-five male patients diagnosed as having Duchenne muscular dystrophy and who underwent pulmonary ventilation function examination at the Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University （Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China） from December 2004 to January 2006; ages ranged from 6 to 22 years old. METHODS： The ventilation function of 65 patients was determined using a Sensor Medics 2100 pulmonary function test apparatus （USA）, and the data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis comparing patients under 12 years of age and those above 13 years of age, and comparing those who performed rehabilitation exercise with those who did not. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Forced vital capacity （FVC）; forced expiratory volume in one second （FEV1）; maximal voluntary ventilation （MMV）; the ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second and forced vital capacity （FEV1/FVC）; each measured value as a percentage of the corresponding predicted value. RESULTS： There were no significant differences in FVC, FEV1 and MMV between patients under 12 years of age and those above 13 years of age （P 〉 0.05）. The FVC, FEV1 and MMV values, as percentages of the predicted values, were, in patients under 12 years old, significantly higher than those in patients older than 13 （P 〈 0.05）. All ventilation function parameters except FEV1/FVC in patients undergoing rehabilitation exercise were higher than those in patients without rehabilitation exercise. This difference was not significant in patients under 12 years of age, but was statistically significant in those older than 13 years （P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Although the values of ventilation function measured increase with age in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients less than 12 years of age, real ventilation function is already damaged. Thirteen years of age is an important time point for pulmonary function change. Rehabilitation exercise can slow down the process of pulmonary function exacerbation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, especially when therapy starts before 12 years of age.

A multicenter,randomized,double blind,placebo-controlled clinical trial of DL-3-n-butylphthalide in treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

To the Editor:DL-3-n-butylphthalide(NBP)is a synthetic drug based on a component extracted from seeds of Apium graveolens Linn.(Chinese celery).It reportedly has protective effects in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS)model mice.[1]A randomized,double-blind,placebocontrolled trial was performed at 19 ALS clinical centers of the Chinese ALS association.All patients provided written informed consent.The Ethics Committee of Peking Union Medical College Hospital approved the study protocol(No.S621)and all patients signed informed consent.All centers followed the same research protocol.

Chiral plasmonic nanostructure of twistedly stacked nanogaps

Nanogap plasmonic structures with strong coupling between separated components have different responses to orthogonal-polarized light, giving rise to giant optical chirality. Here, we proposed a three-dimensional(3D) nanostructure that consists of two vertically and twistedly aligned nanogaps, showing the hybridized charge distribution within 3D structures.It is discovered that the structure twisted by 60° exhibits plasmonic coupling behavior with/without gap modes for different circular-polarized plane waves, showing giant chiral response of 60% at the wavelength of 1550 nm. By controlling the disk radius and the insulator layer, the circular dichroism signal can be further tuned between 1538 and 1626 nm.

HPLC determination of glyoxal in aldehyde solution with 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone

Based on the absorption property of a diazine that can be formed by reaction of glyoxal and 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone(MBTH)in the Ultravioletvisible(UV-vis)spectral region,a HPLC method was developed for the determination of glyoxal in acetaldehyde solution.Glyoxal was derivatised from MBTH and the derivatives(diazine)were analyzed by HPLC for identification and quantification.The determination was performed on a ZORBAX Eclipse XDB-C18 column(4.6
250 mm,5 mm)at 35℃ with an injection volume of 10 mL,using a mixture of acetonitrile-water solvent(99∶5,v∶v)as a mobile phase with a flow rate of 0.8 mL·min^(–1).The proper derivative reaction conditions were the temperature of 70℃,MBTH to carbonyl molar ratio of 12,and reaction time of 110 min.The glyoxal diazine was a yellow dye with a maximum molar absorptivity at 401 nm and its retention time was 5.2 min under optimal HPLC conditions.The standard curve for glyoxal had a strong linear relationship with a regression coefficient(R2=0.999)in the range of 0.002–0.020 g·L^(–1).The analysis of glyoxal in an oxidising solution gave accurate results with a relative standard deviation(RSD)value of 0.55%.The average relative recovery was 102%.This efficient HPLC technique is also proposed for detecting other dicarbonyl compounds besides glyoxal.