Objective To explore the application value of diffusion tensor imaging and diffusion tensor tractography in the benign lesion of spinal cord.Methods 30 cases with the benign lesions of spinal cord and 10 healthy volunteers underwent MRI and DTI scanning by 1.5T MR.Results Compared with normal control group,ADC values [(1.29±0.24)×10 -3 mm2/s]of extramedullary group-Ⅰwere increased slightly,and FA values (0.46±0.06)were decreased slightly(P <0.05).In extramedullary group-Ⅱ,ADC values [(2.03±0.19)×10-3 mm2/s]were significantly increased and FA values (0.37±0.03)decreased in the lesion level (P <0.05).The ADC values [(1.71±0.24)×10 -3 mm2/s]of intramedullary group was significantly elevated,and the FA values (0.30±0.06)was obviously reduced (P <0.05 ).The fiber tracts showed the abnormality of the white matter,including compression,sparseness, grow downwards,interruption and other changes.Conclusion The changes of the FA and ADC values,diffusion tensor imaging of the bundle can quantitatively evaluate the severity of spinal cord damage and stereo display fiber bundle damage.

Objective To investigate the expression of β-catenin and Oct-4 in colonal carcinoma and explore the relationship with recurrence and metastasis after operation. MethodsImmunohistochemical analysis was used to evaluate the expression of β-catenin and Oct-4.The correlation of β-catenin and Oct-4 expression with tumor cell differentiation,T stage,N stage and metastasis was analyzed.The gene expression of Oct-4 was examined by RT-PCR in 20 frozen tumor tissues and normal tissues adjacent to tumor.Results Thirty-five patients had metastasis. The positive rates of β-catenin and Oct-4 expression were significantly higher in metastasis group than in the non-metastasis group (65.71％ vs 31.11％,51.43 ％vs 13.33 ％,x2 =9.843,P =0.002,x2 =13.605,P =0.001).Expression of β-catenin and Oct-4 was not associated with differentiation,T stage or N stage.The positive expression rate of Oct-4 in colonal carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in normal tissues.Metastatic rates in patients with positive expression of β-catenin and Oct-4 was higher than that in negative expression.The survival analysis showed that time of metastasis was significantly different in two groups of patients (P ＜0.05).Conclusion The expression of β-catenin and Oct-4 in tumor tissues is related to metastasis of colonal cancer after surgery and might be used to predict metastasis of colonal cancer after operation.

Objective To investigate the effects of intrathecally coadministered dexamethasone and spironolactone in trathecally on radicular pain behaviors.Methods Using rat model of radicular pain induced by chronic compression of dorsal root ganglion (CCD) ,48 male SD rats successfully received intrathecal catheter implantation and without motor dysfunction were randomly divided into Sham-operation group (Sham group, n= 12),Control group ( C group, n = 12 ), Dexamethasone group ( D group, n = 8 ), Spironolactone group ( S group, n = 8 )and Dexamethasone plus spironolactone group (DS group, n=8).Rats in D group,S group or DS group were intrathecally treated with dexamethasone 4 μg, spironolactone 3 μg or dexamethasone 4 μg plus spironolactone 3 μg twice daily on day 2 ～4 after CCD respectively,while rats in C and Sham group received 10μl 10% alcohol.Paw withdrawal mechanical threshold(PWMT) and paw withdrawal thermal latency (PWTL) were tested on day 1 before CCD and day 1,4,7,10,14,17 and 21 after CCD.Results Compared with Sham group, both PWMT and PWTL were significantly decreased after CCD surgery on the ipsilateral side(P＜0.01 ＝.Intrathecally administrated with dexamethasone significantly improved pain behaviors (P＜0.01 ＝ and these therapeutic effects lasted up to 10 days after CCD surgery.As with dexamethasone,intrathecal spironolactone also significantly attenuated PWMT (P＜0.01 ＝ and PWTL (P＜0.01 ＝ and the change lasted up to 7 days after CCD surgery.Coadministration spironolactone and dexamethasone exhibited significant synergies( PWMT: ( 13.52 ± 0.72) g vs ( 11.58 ± 1.38 ) g, P ＜0.01; PWTL: ( 19.63 ± 1.68) s vs ( 14.14 ± 1.52) s, P ＜ 0.01 ＝.These effects lasted up to at least 10 days.Conclusion Both dexamethasone and spironolactone intrathecally have therapeutic effects on radicular pain behaviors, combination injection of these two drugs could generate significant synergies.

Objective To investigate the analgesic effects of intraperitoneal lithium chloride injection on radicular pain behaviors in rats.Methods Using rat model of radicular pain induced by chronic compression of dorsal root ganglion(CCD) ,40 male SD rats were randomly divided into model group and Sham-operation group (group S, n= 12) of radicular pain were established.The rats in the model group were subdivided randomly into Control group(group C, n= 12) ,Early treatment group(group E, n=8) and Later treatment group(group L, n= 8 ).Rats in group E were intraperitoneal injected with lithium chloride once daily on day 2 ～ 4 after CCD respectively,while rats in L,group C and S treated with Vehicle(0.9% NaCl).Rats in L group were intraperitoneal treated with lithium chloride on day 12 ～ 14 after CCD respectively,while rats in E,group C and S received Vehicle.The pain ethology indexes such as paw withdrawal mechanical threshold (PWMT) and paw withdrawal thermal latency (PWTL) were tested on day 1 before operation and day 1,4,7,10, 14, 17 and 21 after operation.Results Compared to S group and preoperative level, PWMT and PWTL decreased at Day 1 postoperative in group C (P＜0.05).At day 4 after the operation,compared with group C(7.712 ±0.237)g and (8.190 ±0.382) s,PWMT and PWTL of E group increased to ( 14.607 ± 0,280) g and ( 19.940 ± 0.933 ) s (P ＜ 0.05 ) after intraperitoneal injected lithium chloride.At day 14, compared with group C ( 6.788 ± 0.331 ) g and ( 7.301 ± 0.481 ) s, PWMT and PWTL of group L increased to ( 11.700 ± 0.379) 8 and ( 18.524 ± 1.060) s (P ＜ 0.05 ).This analgesic effect of lithium chloride continued to exist at day 21.However, there was still a significant difference between S group and E,group L(P＜0.05).Conclusion Intraperitoneal lithium chloride injection alleviates pain behavior on radicular pain in rats.

Objective T o explore the relationship betw een the change rules of volatile organic com pounds (V O C s) in rat m uscle and postm ortem interval (PM I). Methods A total of 120 healthy rats w ere divided random ly into 12 groups (10 for each group). A fter the rats w ere sacrificed by cervical dislocation, the bodies w ere kept at (25±1)℃. R at m uscle sam ples w ere separately obtained at 12 PM I points, including 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 d. T he V O C s in rat m uscles w ere collected, detected and ana-lyzed by headspace solid-phase m icroextraction (H S-SPM E ) coupled to gas chrom atography-m ass spec-trom eter (G C-M S ). Results In total, 15 species of V O C s w ere identified, including 9 arom atic com-pounds, 3 sulfur com pounds, 2 aliphatic acids and 1 heterocyclic com pound. T he species of V O C s in-creased w ith PM I: no species w ere detected w ithin 1 day, 3 species w ere detected on day 2, 9 on day 3, 11 on day 4, 14 from day 5 to 7, and 15 from day 8 to 10. T otal peak area of 15 species of V O C s w as significantly correlated to PM I (adjusted R2=0.15-0.96): the regression function w as y=-17.05 x2+164.36 x-246.36 (adjusted R2=0.96) from day 2 to 5, and y=2.24 x+101.13 (adjusted R2=0.97) from day 6 to 10. Conclusion T he change rules of V O C s in rat m uscle are helpful for PM I estim ation.

Objective To discuss the clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of sleep related rhythmic movement disorder ( SRMD).Methods We studied the clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of 3 patients diagnosed as SRMD in the Electroencephalography Monitoring Center of Xijing Hospital, Xi′an, China.The 3 patients accorded with diagnostic criteria of SRMD that international classification of sleep disorders-3 edition recommended and were followed up for more than 1 year.Results These 3 male patients were ranging from 6 to 27 years old.The onset age of the patient 1 was 13 years,and the others were 1 year old.The patient 2 became symptom-free at the age of 7.The patient 3 relieved at 2-year-old, but recurred at the age of 21. There was no epileptic seizure discharge in video-electroencephalography of the 3 patients, but synchronous electromyography changes during the attack were mistaken for slow wave.Video-polysomnography showed that numbers of awakenings and arousals index were high.Two patients were treated with clonazepam.One had an obvious curative effect, the other had marked efficacy until added trazodone.Conclusions SRMD can occur not only in infants, but also in adolescents and adults.Patients who have the problems of the sleep quality should be treated.Clonazepam can obviously relieve symptoms and improve sleep quality.Patients who do not have a good effect with clonazepam can try to add trazodone.Video-electroencephalography monitoring and interpreting it correctly are important to the diagnosis of paroxysmal disease.

Full-length coxsackie adenovirus receptor (CAR) eukaryotic expression plasmid was transfected into an ovarian cell line, SKOV3, and its effect on the change of malignant metastasis phenotype was explored. CAR mRNA and protein expression levels among 4 ovarian cancer cell lines (A2780, SKOV3, SW626, CAOV3) and the positive control 293 (a transformed human embryo kidney cell line) was detected by using semi-quantitative RT-RCR and Western blot and compared. CAR-negative SKOV3 was transfected with the eukaryotic expression plasmid containing a full-length CAR cDNA and mock-vector respectively. The positive clones were screened by G418. The biological behavior changes of positive transfected cells were gauged by colony formation in soft agar assay and cell adhesion assay. Among the cell lines, there were obviously different CAR expression levels. CAR could not be detected in SKOV3. In transfected cell group, CAR expression was enhanced obviously as compared with non-transfected or mock-transfected groups. Cell adhesion in the transfected group was promoted. The number of colony formation was reduced significantly in transfected groups (25.32 +/- 8.91) as compared with that in non-transfected group (88.75 +/- 13. 98) and mock-transfected group (82.53 +/- 19.37). Among the 4 ovarian cancer cell lines, CAR expression level was variable. Exogenous CAR expression had a potential role in inhibiting the malignant metastasis phenotype of ovary cancer cells.
Cell Line, Tumor ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Ovarian Neoplasms/metabolism ; Ovarian Neoplasms/*pathology ; Phenotype ; Receptors, Virus/*biosynthesis ; Receptors, Virus/genetics ; Transfection

Hereditary bilirubin metabolic disorder is an important cause for jaundice. For its diverse types and similar clinical manifestations, it has been difficult to make a clear etiological diagnosis. The application of next generation sequencing in recent years has delineated the more and more genetic etiologies for jaundice. This article has reviewed the clinical manifestations and genetic etiology of bilirubin metabolic disorder jaundice, with an aim to enhance the understanding of such diseases and facilitate their clinical diagnosis and treatment, which will provide a reference for genetic counseling and/or prenatal diagnosis for the affected individuals and families.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Humans ; Metabolic Diseases/genetics* ; Jaundice/genetics* ; Bilirubin ; Genetic Counseling ; Phenotype

BACKGROUND:Experimental studies have showed that puerarin has an obvious protective effect on osteoporosis in ovariectomized and orchiectomized mice. But the influence of puerarin in the molecular level in the process of osteoblast differentiation is seldom reported.
OBJECTIVE:To observe the effect of puerarin on the mRNA expression of alkaline phosphatase, bone sialoprotein, osteopontin and osteocalcin in osteoblasts.
METHODS:The MC3T3-E1 cells from mice cultured in vitro were randomly divided into control group, puerarin group (10-6 mol/L puerarin) and estradiol group (10-7 mol/L estradiol) to observe the effects of puerarin on the differentiation of osteoblasts. mRNA expression of alkaline phosphatase, bone sialoprotein, osteopontin and osteocalcin in MC3T3-E1 cells was determined using RT-PCR method.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Puerarin and estradiol both could prolong the expression of alkaline phosphatase that reached the peak at 12 days. Puerarin and estradiol strengthened the mRNA expression of bone sialoprotein at 10 and 12 days, reduced expression of osteopontin at 5 and 12 days, and increased expression of osteocalcin at 10 and 12 days. These results reveal that puerarin can induce the differentiation of cultured osteoblasts by influencing osteoblast differentiation-related protein mRNA expressions, which may be one of the important molecular mechanisms of puerarin for prevention of osteoporosis.

Aim To investigate the effect of curcumin against high-fat-diet induced C57BL/6J mice bone changes and the correlation between the expression of cathepsin K and curcumin.Methods Curcumin treated C57BL/6J mice had been on high fat diet for 12 weeks.The HE, Alizarin red S staining and Safranin O/fast green staining of femur were employed to evaluate bone microstructure, bone metabolism and bone development.The expressions of cathepsin K were assessed by Western blot and immunohistochemical staining.Results Histopathological results showed that curcumin could improve the destruction of trabecular bone structure, cartilage development and bone calcification.Biomechanical results proved that curcumin could improve the bone strength of the type 2 diabetic mice induced by high fat.The results of immunohistochemistry and Western blot assay indicated that curcumin could significantly inhibit the expression of cathepsin K in bone tissues of mice.Conclusion Curcumin can increase bone strength, improve bone microstructure, and enhance the degree of bone calcification, which may be achieved by inhibiting the expression of cathepsin K.