Objective: A traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) transformed from Jian Er Ⅱ,Cong Er capsule was studied in protection against age-induced degeneration in cochlear spiral ganglion neurons and auditory nerve fibers in C57 BL /6J mice.A possible protective mechanism was also discussed.Methods : 40 neonatal C57 BL /6J mice were randomly divided into 2 groups with an average of 20 animals in each group.The animals in control group were fed with regular mouse feedstuff and regular water after ablactation,while animals in experimental group were fed the same mouse food after ablactation,but drink the medical solution of Cong Er capsule instead of regular water from two months of age.Animals were terminated at 7 months of age.The cochlea were removed and processed for a series of modiolus sections.The density of spiral ganglion neurons in Rosenthal's canal in different turns was counted,and the auditory nerve fibers in habenula perforata at basal turn and apical turn were also quantified respectively.Statistical comparative analysis was performed between the two groups.Results: Density of spiral ganglion neurons in cochlear basal turn in control group was significantly reduced.In survival ganglion neurons,an obvious degeneration was observed in control group.The number of auditory nerve fibers in cochlear basal turn also decreased.In contrast,Cong Er capsule treated animals had an increase in survival ganglions and auditory nerve fibers,especially,a significant difference was seen in density of spiral ganglion neurons in the basal turn between the two groups(P

Objective　To investigate the development of the guinea pig's eye during the stage of embryo.Method　The guncotton grafts of the guinea pig's skull was observed on the 19th ,24th,28th,35th,40th,43th and the 45th day of embryo.Results　The optic vesicle and lens plate developed on the 19th day in embryo.The optic cup and lens fovea could be found on the 24th day.The eye of embryo of the guinea pig had formed on the 28th day.Conclusion　The results should be used for progressive study of the development of the eyes of embryo.

OBJECTIVE Exploration of project is to introduce a cochlear organotypic culture technique and the histological evaluation of cochlear hair cells, auditory nerve fibers, and spiral ganglion neurons from rat on post-natal day 3. METHODS The cochlear basilar membrane was placed on the surface of rattail collagen gel in culture medium. The cochlear specimens were double-labeled with FITC-conjugated phalloidin for showing the stereocilia and cuticular plate of the hair cells plus a monoclonal antibody against neurofilament 200 for showing the spiral ganglion neurons and their auditory nerve fibers. Specimens were observed under a Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope with appropriate filters. RESULTS Following the culturing period of 1 to 3 days, cochlear inner and outer hair cells presented normal without any contabescence or missing. The auditory nerve fibers were in an orderly arrangement and the morphology of spiral ganglion neurons were also in good shape. CONCLUSION The cochlear organotypic culture technique and the histological examinations will be helpful to evaluate the cochlear hair cells and the spiral ganglion neurons in various experimental models in vitro.

Free radicals are atoms, molecules or ions with unpaired electrons. In biological systems, free radicals can have a dual role, being beneficial in some situations and deleterious in others. Free radicals are required for normal cellular metabolism, but they lead to cellular degeneration if overproduced. To prevent the excessive buildup of free radicals, cells have developed an elaborate series of antioxidant enzymes that counteract oxidative stress and protect cells by maintaining the proper balance of oxidation and anti-oxidation. Therefore, when there is an oxidant/anti-oxidant imbalance, no matter what direction, cells are likely to be damaged. Numerous reports in the literature indicate that free radicals play important roles in diseases of the inner ear as a result of noise exposure, ototoxic drugs, aging, and other pathological conditions. Therefore, there have been many attempts to employ antioxidants treat inner ear damage. However, antioxidant therapy could be harmful if the improper compound or dose is employed. Effective antioxidant therapy requires prior knowledge of the type(s) of oxidative stress occurring in real time in the inner ear. Since most techniques for detecting free radicals in the inner ear are not clinically feasible, systemic anti-oxidant therapy is generally performed "blindly" and therefore likely to disrupt normal antioxidant levels in the inner ear or elsewhere in the body. If only a single anti-oxidant is used to treat a disease, it may disturb subsequent steps the oxidative/anti-oxidative chain reaction. An alternative approach, hydrogen therapy represents a promising therapeutic tool because it can selectively scavenge the strongest oxidant species, the hydroxyl radical and peroxynitrite anion, without disturbing normal oxidant/anti-oxidant cellular processes. In addition, hydrogen has no cytotoxic effects to cells so that it provides a near ideal therapy to eliminate toxic free radicals.
Animals ; Ear, Inner ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Free Radicals ; metabolism ; Humans ; Oxidative Stress

AIM:To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal dexamethasone implant(DEX-I)in the treatment of different types of macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion(RVO).METHODS:A retrospective observational case study was conducted. A total of 46 patients(46 eyes)who were diagnosed with RVO-macular edema(ME)and received DEX-I of 0.7 mg as the initial treatment in Dalian No.3 People's Hospital from July 2019 to June 2020 were collected. According to the morphological characteristics of optical coherence tomography(OCT), they were divided into diffuse retinal thickening type(DRT type, 13 patients, 13 eyes), cystoid macular edema type(CME type, 22 patients, 22 eyes )and serous retinal detachment type(SRD type, 11 patients, 11 eyes ). The best corrected visual acuity(BCVA)and central retinal thickness(CRT)of patients with three types of macular edema were observed and compared before treatment and 1, 2 and 3mo after treatment.RESULTS:Compared with before treatment, BCVA of patients with DRT, CME and SRD were significantly improved at 1, 2 and 3mo after treatment, and CRT was significantly decreased(all P<0.017). At 3mo after treatment, BCVA(0.21±0.12, 0.22±0.10LogMAR)of DRT and SRD patients was significantly better than that of CME(0.45±0.14LogMAR, both P<0.017), and CRT(254.08±49.07, 248.92±44.19μm)was significantly lower than that of CME(314.70±92.66 μm, both P<0.017).CONCLUSIONS: DEX-I is effective in the treatment of various OCT types of macular edema secondary to RVO, and the treatment response of CME type is worse than that of DRT and SRD types.

The latency change detection of EPs is of special interest in many clinical applications such as diagnosis of the injury and pathological changes in the nervous system. This paper reviews the adaptive latency change detection approaches under stable noise conditions, based on the fractional lower order statistics. It also evaluates and compares the performances of the presented algorithms.
Algorithms ; Animals ; Brain ; physiology ; Electroencephalography ; methods ; Evoked Potentials ; physiology ; Humans ; Reaction Time ; physiology ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted

According to the pharmacokinetic theory, the authors studied the accumulation of gentamycin in perilymph of guinea pigs by searching the drug concentration at various time with Fluorescene Polarization Immunoassay (FPIA). The results indicated that: (1) The drug concentration in perilymph increased with the augment of total doses administered and there was almost a linear correlation between them. (2) In animals of 7-day injectious group, the drug could be still detected during 72 hours after the last dose administration. The concentration was 1 37?0.95 ?g/ml which was close to the level of serum minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). It suggested that the elimination of the drug from inner ear was too slow and evident accumulation of gentamycin was indeed. (3) The fact mentioned above implied that the drug ototoxities could still damage the ear even if the drug administered had ceased before. It is the reason by which we could explain the problem encountered in clinic, that is why in some patients the ototoxic syndrom may still presented or enhanced even though the treatment has been stopped a few days before.

Ultrastructural changes in the spiral organ of cochlea at various intervals after exposure to impulse noise were investigated. Guinea pigs were exposed to 10 impulses noise of 166 dB SPL peak level which had duration of 0.1 ms. Thirteen of the exposed animals were used to systematically measure threshold shift at regular intervals from 30 min to 30d post-exposure. The other fourteen animals who had been exposed to the same impulse noise were killed for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) examination at the same intervals, respectively. The recovery pattern of threshold shift showed a nonmonotonic type. There was a progressive deterioration of changes in the hair cells between 30 min and 8h after exposure. Intracellular degeneration reached a peak at 8h and marked edema and swelling leading to deformation of the outer hair cells (OHCs), fused stereocilia, large vesicles in cytoplasm and swollen submembraneous cisterns were found. After that time the extent of degeneration in the hair cells reduced. The time sequence of changes in the spiral organ of cochlea in the present study was associated with the recovery pattern of threshold shift.

Guinea pigs were exposed to either 110dB SPL white noise for 30min (ITS group )or 120 dB SPL for 150 nun (PTS group). At varying postexposure intervals, threshold shifts were assessed using auditory cortex evoked response to tone bursts and intracellular ultrastructural changes in the spiral organ of cochleae were exmained with a transmission electron microscope.. The threshold shifts induced by 110dB noise were reversible while those induced by 120dB noise were generally irreversible. In the TTS cochleae, damage was confined to the third row of OHCs where depolymerization of actin filaments within the stereocilia, slight celluar swelling and small vacuolization were found. The subnuclear area and nerve-endings were not involved. In the PTS cochleae, the inner hair cells (IHCs) and the first row of OHCs were affected. The abnormilities consisted of ruptures and holes in the cuticular plates, fusion of stereocilia, marked edema, tranclucence of subcuticular region, swelling of submembraneous cisterns and large vesiculation in the efferent nerve-endings blow OHCs. Based on the ultrastructural observations, structural bases in cochleae for TTS and PTS, sequence of pathological changes in hair cells as well as reversibility of specific pathologies were suggested.

Ideal preparation of cancer therapy could specifically target to tumor cells, serving as safe and effective drug delivery system. With peculiar molecular recognition ability, aptamers become the most promising biological target molecules. This review was based on representative literatures, and the data was summarized and analyzed. It summarizes the latest research progress of aptamers modified targeted tumor preparation in the past five years from tethered way and carriers type, and the existing problems are analyzed and prospected.