0.05) during the experiment. The TC of middle dose GSPE group was marked ly different compared with that of normal group(P

Objective To study the effect of MK801 on behavioral changes and the possible mechanisms. Methods To observe the behavioral changes of levodopa induced dyskinesia (LID) rats during the period of chronic MK801 treatment, immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to measure the changes in expression of FosB, preproenkephalin (PPE) mRNA and prodynorphin (PDyn) mRNA in striatum, respectively. Double labling technique including immunohistochemistry of FosB and retrograde HRP transport tracing was used to observe the cell distribution of FosB. Results Pulsatile treatment with levodopa induced Abnormal involuntary movements (AIM) in PD rats, similar to LID in PD patients. FosB positive neurons and expressions of PPE mRNA and PDyn mRNA in striatum of 6-OHDA-lesioned hemisphere were increased in LID rats, and AIM scores of LID rats were reduced by MK801 treatment(41.9?15.6 vs 7.2?3.0), accompanied by the decrease in expressions of FosB and PDyn mRNA, but not PPE mRNA. Neurons immunoreactive for FosB were mainly located in striatonigral neurons which were labeled by cholera toxin-HRP (CT-HRP) injected in the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr). Conclusions MK801 could prevent the occurrence of dyskinesias induced by chronic levodopa treatment. The mechanism might be involved in the high expression of immediate early gene FosB and specific gene PDyn on the direct pathway. It suggests that LID might be related to the abnormal activity of direct pathway.

Objective To summarize the clinical experience of Gilbert tension-free hernioplasty in the elderly patient under local anesthesia. Methods Seventy-six elderly hernia patients operated by Gilbert tension-free hernioplasty under local anesthesia were analyzed in operating time, postoperative complications, hospitalization days and recurrence rate, etc. Results Patients with abdominal hernia were all cured. The average operation time was 25.7 minutes and the time staying in bed after operation was 2-5 hours. The complications of incision pain, foreign body sensation and scrotum hydroceles after operation were observed in 8, 4 and 3 patients respectively. The average hospitalization period was 2.3 days. All patients were followed-up for 1-12 months and no recurrence and infection were observed. Conclusions Gilbert tension-free hernioplasty under local anesthesia is an ideal operation to treat abdominal hernia for elderly patients with less interference to physiological function, quick recovery and less complications.

5 ml groups were 95.5% and 81.1% respectively. This difference was statistically significant (P5 ml groups were 4.5 % and 32.1%, respectively (P50 Gy was increased statistically, but the occurrence of complications was also increased. Conclusions Stereotactic radiosurgery improves the outcome of the elderly patients with brain metastases. Radiation dosage and tumor volume are significantly related with the therapeutic efficacy and the occurrence of complications.

Objective To determine the association between fatty liver and coronary risk fcators in elderly men. Methods A cross-sectional study of 920 elderly men with or without fatty liver and obesity was performed in 2002. Age, body mass index (BMI), GPT, cholesterol, triglyceridemia, fast glucose, mean blood pressure, smoking and drinking consumption were analyzed. Results The prevalence of fatty liver was 11.1% in the non-obese participants (BMI

Objective To evaluate clinical features and mortality of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) in the aged patients. Methods Clinical data of 108 patients diagnosed with PBC was reviewed. The diagnosis of PBC was made according to the 2000 practice guidelines of American Association for the study of liver Diseases (AASLD). Elderly patients (≥60 years) were compared in terms of clinical, biochemical, immunological features and mortality with younger patients (0.05). After a median follow-up of 36 months, the mortality ratio for liver diseases was higher in the elderly than in younger group (21.4% vs 2.5%, ~P

Objective To investigate the impact of renal function and insulin resistance on serum total homocysteine(tHcy) levels in aged diabetic patients with nephropathy. Methods Serum tHcy, blood glucose, lipids, renal function, serum insulin were measured for 98 elderly patients with type 2 diabetes and 36 normal control subjects. Results (1) Serum tHcy levels were significantly higher in diabetic group than in control group [(17.2?7.6) ?mol/L vs (9.4?3.5)?mol/L,P

Objective To investigate the effect of focal cerebral ischemic preconditioning (IPC) on brain edema and the expression of nuclear factor-?B( NF-?B) and its target gene MMP-9. Methods Forty-five SD rats were divided into 3 groups in which control group received sham surgery only, and the other two groups received 2 hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by 22 hours of reperfusion with or without 10 minutes of IPC 3 days before. Brain water content, expression of NF-?B and MMP-9 mRNA were evaluated in each group by wet-dry weight method, immunohistochemistry staining and RT-PCR. Results Compared with the SS group, there was a lower NF-?B immunoreactivity and MMP-9 mRNA level (16 098.2?1 265.3 vs 23 565.8?1 978.4,50.7% vs 84.1%, P

Objective To construct genetically engineered cells that secrete human TH and GDNF at the same time by stable co-transfection pcDNA3.0/hTH and pcDNA3.1/hGDNF in SH-SY5Y cells and study their effects on the gene therapy of Parkinson′s disease (PD). Methods pcDNA3.0/hTH and pcDNA3.1/hGDNF were constructed by inserting human TH and GDNF cDNA into pcDNA3.0 and pcDNA3.1, respectively. SH-SY5Y cells were transfected with pcDNA3.0/hTH and pcDNA3.1/hGDNF and the positive cell clones of human TH and GDNF cDNA engineered cells could be identified by RT-PCR. The engineered cells were co-cultured with primary dopaminergic neurons in mouse. The number and growth condition of primary dopaminergic neurons were examined by Immunocytochemistry. Results The number of primary dopaminergic neurons protected by double-gene engineered cells increased at least by 2.8 times in comparison with the control cells(P

Objective To identify and clone rat aging-related genes to provide clues for human aging mechanism. Methods Improved different display reverse transcript-PCR method was applied to identify differentially expressed genes in cortex tissues of 4-month and 24-month old BALB/c mouse. Results Forty-two cDNA fragments with differential expression were identified, and 21 with increase and 21 with decrease of expression in old mice. Among them, 17 represented genes with known protein function, 12 represented known gene sequences but their protein function was unknown, and the other 13 probably belonged to new cDNAs. Among the genes with known protein function, 2 genes were associated with oxidative stress, 3 with energy production, and 4 with protein metabolism, respectively. Additionally, gene expression alterations were also found in those related to cell apoptosis, neurodegenerative disorder, and growth and development regulation. Conclusions Rat aging might be related with the alteration of oxidative stress status, energy production and protein metabolism.