Allogeneic bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation traditionally uses myeloablative regimen for conditioning to enable grafting of donor's stem cells. Animal experiments have shown that a milder non-myeloablative conditioning regimen does allow engraftment to occur. Nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens are low-intensity immunosuppressive treatment given to the recipient before infusion of donor's stem cells. It was reported to have decreased immediate procedural mortality, in particular those secondary to acute graft versus host reaction. However, it did give rise to higher risks of graft rejection, tumour tolerance and disease progression. Fortunately, appropriately administered donor lymphocyte infusion has been shown to establish full donor chimerism (complete donor stem cell grafting in the recipient's bone marrow) and potentiate antitumour effect (graft versus tumour reaction). The reduction of immediate transplant mortality allows the procedure to be carried out in older age groups, patients with concomitant diseases that otherwise would have made the patients unfit for the procedure, patients with non-malignant disorders such as congenital immune deficiencies, autoimmune disorders or thalassaemia majors. The regimen also allows transplantation of genetically manipulated haemopoietic stem cells (gene thrapy) to be carried out more readily in the immediate future. Lastly, the regimen may serve as a platform for immunotherapy using specific T cell clones for anti-tumour therapy with or without the knowledge of known tumour antigen.
seconds ; regimen ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; Stem Cells ; Exertional dyspnea

AIMTo create a simple behavioral procedure for detecting tinnitus of rats.

METHODSA procedure based on a Pavlovian-conditioned suppression paradigm was set referencing Jastreboff's way to detect tinnitus behaviorally in conscious animals. Rats received acquisition training through Pavlovian conditioning to associate the conditioned stimulus (noise offset) with the unavoidable unconditioned stimulus (foot-shock). The manifestation here is escape reaction. An extinction procedure followed, during which the subject was exposed to the conditioned stimulus, but shock is no longer given. The manifestations of the rats in different group during the extinction processes were observed. Tinnitus was induced by salicylate (SA) injection to validate the method.

RESULTSThe escaped rate of SA group is lower than that of the control. It indicated that the SA rats escaped seldom when there was a sound off, because the rats might perceive the salicylate-induced auditory sensation as a substitute for the background noise that had acquired a safety value during training.

CONCLUSIONThe behavioral procedure could be used to detect tinnitus of rats induced by salicylate.

Animals ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; Disease Models, Animal ; Escape Reaction ; Male ; Psychometrics ; methods ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Tinnitus ; diagnosis

Animals ; Conditioning, Classical ; Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory ; Fear ; psychology ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Stress, Psychological

OBJECTIVETo study the correlation between EEG characteristics of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and drug-seeking behavior of rats with morphine dependent place preference under shuttling condition.

METHODSForty rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10): morphine PL group, NS PL group, morphine IL group and NS IL group. After embeding the electrode in prelimbic (PL) or infralimbic (IL) cortex of each group by brain stereotaxic operation, the model of morphine dependent conditioned place preference (CPP) in rats was established. The differences of EEG wave percentage in mPFC were telemetered and analyzed when rats shuttled before and after the model.

RESULTSAfter the model, the withdrawal symptoms were evident in morphine PL and IL group, and the activity time and distance in white box were increased obviously. Compared with control group, after the model, the EEG in morphine PL group showed that: when the rats shuttled to white box, 8 wave decreased obviously, P wave increased obviously. When the rats shuttled to black box, brain waves showed opposite changes. The EEG in morphine IL group showed that: when the rats shuttled to white box, a wave increased obviously, P and a wave decreased obviously. When the rats shuttled to black box, the brain wave had no significant differences compared with control group.

CONCLUSIONThe EEG changes are different in PL and IL cortex of morphine CPP rats under shuttling condition, and the EEG changes are also different when rats shuttling to white or black box. There is possibly different mechanism, when different drug-seeking environmental cues caused EEG changes in different regions of mPFC.

Animals ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; Cues ; Drug-Seeking Behavior ; Electroencephalography ; Morphine Dependence ; physiopathology ; Prefrontal Cortex ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Telemetry

OBJECTIVEConditioned taste preference (CTP) is a taste learning reflex by which an animal learns to prefer a substance which tastes not well and has been studied with much interest in recent years. However, the neural substrates of CTP are less known. This study aimed to determine the possible neural path- ways of CTP and whether serum leptin level and the leptin receptor (OB-Rb) in the hind brain are involved following CTP formation.

METHODSWe established CTP of quinine in rats with a 2-bottle preference test. The serum leptin concentrations were detected, the expression of c-fos in the rat brain was tested to determine the nuclei in relation with establishment of CTR Finally, the OB-Rb mRNA expression was examined by RT-qPCR assay in parabrachial nucleus (PBN) and the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) of the hind brain.

RESULTSCompared with control group, the level of serum leptin was higher in the CTP group (4.58 ± 0.52 vs 1.67 ± 0.25 µg/L, P < 0.01); increased c-fos positive cells were found in the anterior hypothalamus (AH, 221.75 ± 4.96 vs. 178.50 ± 6.63 cells/mm², P < 0.05), the basal lateral amygdala (BLA, 70.75 ± 6.17 vs 56.50 ± 3.62 cells/ mm², P < 0.05) and the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST, 41.25 ± 1.32 vs 32.50 ± 1.02 cells/mm², P < 0.05). But in ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH, 20.75 ± 2.73 vs 38.5 ± 1.54 per 1 mm², P < 005), PBN (21.50 ± 2.24 vs 36.25 ± 1.49 cells/mm², P < 0.05) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA, 22.25 ± 1.53 vs 35.50 ± 2.11 cells/mm², P < 0.05), the number of c-fos positive cells was decreased in the CTP group. In addition, we found OB-Rb mRNA expression in PBN of CTP group rats was higher than that of control group (0.95 ± 0.055 vs 0.57 ± 0.034, P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference of OB-Rb mRNA expression in NST between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONNuclei AH, BLA, NST, VMH, PBN and CeA participate in the formation of CTP. Leptin and its receptor in PBN may be involved in the formation and maintenance of CTP.

Animals ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; Leptin ; blood ; Rats ; Receptors, Leptin ; physiology ; Rhombencephalon ; physiology ; Taste ; physiology

Amygdala ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Animals ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; Morphine ; adverse effects ; Rats ; Receptors, Opioid, kappa ; metabolism

Acoustics ; Animals ; Behavior, Animal ; radiation effects ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; Cytokines ; blood ; Male ; Microwaves ; Rats, Wistar

Biofeedback therapy is an instrument-based learning process centered on operant conditioning. The goal of biofeedback therapy in defecatory disorders is to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, retrain rectal sensation and coordinate pelvic floor muscles during evacuation. Biofeedback therapy, in a broader sense, includes education, counseling, and diaphragmatic muscle training as well as exercise, sensory, and coordination training. For dyssynergic defecation, biofeedback therapy is a well-known and useful treatment option that had response rates of approximately 70-80% in randomized controlled trials. Biofeedback therapy for dyssynergic defecation consists of improving the abdominal push effort together with biofeedback technique-guided pelvic floor relaxation followed by simulated defecation and/or sensory training. For fecal incontinence, the results of a randomized controlled trial, which had a response rate of 76%, indicated that biofeedback therapy is useful in selected patients who fail to respond to conservative treatment and that training to enhance rectal discrimination of sensation may be helpful in reducing fecal incontinence. The focus of biofeedback therapy for fecal incontinence is on exercising external sphincter contractions under instant feedback, either alone or synchronously with rectal distension and/or sensory training. Biofeedback therapy is a safe treatment that may produce durable improvement beyond the active treatment period; however, a well-designed study to establish a standard protocol for biofeedback therapy is needed. This review discusses the technique of biofeedback therapy to achieve the goal and clinical outcomes for constipation and fecal incontinence.
Biofeedback, Psychology* ; Conditioning, Operant ; Constipation* ; Counseling ; Defecation ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Fecal Incontinence* ; Humans ; Learning ; Muscles ; Pelvic Floor ; Relaxation ; Sensation ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo analyse the relationship between the electrical activity changes of nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell and the drug-seeking behavior by recording NAc shell electrical activity in conditioned place preference (CPP) rats induced by morphine.

METHODSForty SD rats were randomly divided into operation-only control group and the morphine-induced CPP group after stereotaxic electrode was buried on rats NAc shell and the latter group was used to establish the morphine CPP model(n = 20). A CPP video system combining with the technique of electrical activity wireless telemetry was used in the study. The NAc electrical activity from each group of rats was recorded by wireless telemetry respectively, which included staying in black or white chamber of video box, shuttling between black-white chambers and between white-black chambers. The electrical activity differences were analyzed by the percentage of each wave.

RESULTSWhen the morphine-induced rats staying in black chamber, compared with the operation-only control group, the NAc shell electrical activity showed that the percentage of 0 - 10 Hz was increased(P < 0.05), meanwhile, those of 10 - 20 Hz and 30 - 40 Hz were reduced(P < 0.05, P < 0.01); when the morphine-induced rats staying in white chamber, the NAc shell electrical activity showed that the percentage of 0 - 10 Hz and 30 - 40 Hz were increased(P < 0.05 , P < 0.01) , that of 10 - 20 Hz was reduced(P < 0.05 , P < 0. 01); when the morphine-induced rats in black- white shuttling status, the NAc shell electrical activity showed that the percentage of 0 - 10 Hz was increased(P <0.05, P <0.01), that of 10- 30 Hz was reduced( P <0.05); and in the white-black shuttling status, the electrical activity showed that the percentage of 0 - 10 Hz was reduced(P <0.05), that of 10 - 30 Hz was increased(P < 0.05) ; the electrical activity was further compared between staying status and shuttling status in the morphine-induced CPP group. There was no significant difference of electrical activity between the rats in white-black shuttling status and staying in white chamber. However, when rats in black-white shuttling status, compared with staying in black chamber, the electrical activity showed that the percentage of 0 - 10 Hz and 40 - 50 Hz were increased(P < 0.05), meanwhile, those of 10 - 20 Hz and 30 - 40 Hz were reduced(P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe electrical activity changes of NAc shell in morphine-induced CPP rats were different from those of the operation-only control group, and these changes might be associated to the rat's drug-seeking behavior.

Animals ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; Drug-Seeking Behavior ; Morphine ; pharmacology ; Nucleus Accumbens ; drug effects ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Telemetry

The purpose of the present study is to analyze the relationship between the telemetry electroencephalogram (EEG) changes of the prelimbic (PL) cortex and the drug-seeking behavior of morphine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) rats by using the wavelet packet extraction and entropy measurement. The recording electrode was stereotactically implanted into the PL cortex of rats. The animals were then divided randomly into operation-only control and morphine-induced CPP groups, respectively. A CPP video system in combination with an EEG wireless telemetry device was used for recording EEG of PL cortex when the rats shuttled between black-white or white-black chambers. The telemetry recorded EEGs were analyzed by wavelet packet extraction, Welch power spectrum estimate, normalized amplitude and Shannon entropy algorithm. The results showed that, compared with operation-only control group, the left PL cortex's EEG of morphine-induced CPP group during black-white chamber shuttling exhibited the following changes: (1) the amplitude of average EEG for each frequency bands extracted by wavelet packet was reduced; (2) the Welch power intensity was increased significantly in 10-50 Hz EEG band (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05); (3) Shannon entropy was increased in β, γ₁, and γ₂waves of the EEG (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05); and (4) the average information entropy was reduced (P < 0.01). The results suggest that above mentioned EEG changes in morphine-induced CPP group rat may be related to animals' drug-seeking motivation and behavior launching.
Animals ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; Drug-Seeking Behavior ; Electroencephalography ; Entropy ; Morphine ; pharmacology ; Prefrontal Cortex ; drug effects ; Rats ; Telemetry ; Wavelet Analysis