A study of 10 cadavers and 100 CT scans of lumbar spine was performed to investigate the topographical anatomy of the posterolateral disc puncture in percutaneous lumbar discectomy.A way of the puncture at L_5-S_1 disc,with comparative plain films of lumbar spine in different positions were taken in 50 cases.The results showed that the pos- terolateral approach for percutaneous discectony was a safe way.However,it is important to have full knowledge of the regional topographical anatomy associated with the puncture tech- nique to avoid the potential neurovascular complications.The special position designed by authors for the puncture at L_5-S_1 disc is useful by lowering the position of iliac crest which hinders the entrance of needle,thus can raise the successful rate of the percutaneous discec- tomy 100% successful rate of the disc puncture at L_5-S_1 disc was obtained in 130 cases.The two puncture parameters of Chinese associated with percutaneous lumbar discectomy were first measured;and also the route including nearby structures,the complications were dis- cussed.

Objective To explore the value of 1H-MRS on the evaluation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with neural stem cells (NSCs) transplantation in an APP-PS1 double transgenic (tg) AD mouse model.Methods NSCs from C57BL/6 mice were cultured and amplified.APP-PS1 tg mice (n =30) aged 12 months were used as the study group,and mild-type mice (n =15) were used as the control group.Animals in the study group were randomized into two subgroups,the AD mice in one subgroup received NSCs transplantation (NSCs group) and in another subgroup received phosphate buffer saline (PBS,PBS group)in bilateral hippocampal CA1.Animals in the control group were not treated.Using a 7.0 T high-fieldstrength MR imager,1H-MRS was performed before and 6 weeks after transplantation to measure the area under the peak of n-acetyl aspartate (NAA),glutamate (Glu),myo-inositol ( mI),choline (Cho) and creatine (Cr) in the hippocampal area,NAA/Cr,Glu/Cr,mI/Cr and Cho/Cr ratio were calculated and compared with histopathological results (including Nissl's staining and electron microscope examination).Comparisons among NSCs,PBS and control groups were conducted by one-way ANOVA.Results NSCs from C57BL/6 mice were cultured successfully. Before transplantation,the mean NAA/Cr,Glu/Cr and mI/Cr in NSCs,PBS and control groups were 0.89 ± 0.05,0.88 ± 0.04 and 1.15 ± 0.05,0.40 ± 0.03,0.39 ± 0.03 and 0.45 ± 0.05,0.67 ± 0.05,0.67 ± 0.05 and 0.52 ± 0.04,respectively,and differences were statistically significant (F =148.918,7.529,59.468,P ＜ 0.01 ). There were no significant differences in NAA/Cr,mI/Cr and Glu/Cr ratios between NSCs and PBS groups before transplantation (t =0.147,0.096,0.207,P ＞ 0.05 ),but the differences were significant compared with the control group (t =0.255,0.467,0.171 and t =0.269,0.527,0.151,P ＜0.05).Six weeks after transplantation,the mean NAA/Cr,Glu/Cr and mI/Cr in three groups were 1.13 ±0.07,0.86 ±0.05 and 1.14 ±0.05,0.45 ± 0.04,0.38 ± 0.02 and 0.44 ± 0.03,0.58 ± 0.04,0.67 ± 0.04 and 0.53 ± 0.04,respectively,and differences were statistically significant ( F =112.092,23.076,44.367,P ＜ 0.01 ).NAA/Cr and Glu/Cr ratios were increased and mI/Cr was decreased in NSCs group,and the difference was significant compared with PBS group at the same time point ( t =0.271,0.071,0.089,P ＜ 0.05 ).There were no significant differences in NAA/Cr and Glu/Cr ( t =0.013,0.012,P ＞ 0.05 ),but there was a significant difference in mI/Cr between NSCs and control groups ( t =0.046,P ＜ 0.05).There were no significant differences in Cho before and after transplantation among the three groups (P ＞ 0.05 ). Nissl's staining showed that the number of neurons in the hippocampal area increased more significantly in tg mice receiving NSCs than that without receiving NSCs.Electron microscopy showed that most hippocampal NSCs in NSCs group were morphologically normal with abundant organelles,while hippocampal NSCs in PBS group were swollen with sparse synapses.Conclusion 1H-MRS is able to display intracranial metabolite changes before and after NSCs in APP-PS1 double transgenic AD mice and has an applicable value in evaluating the therapeutic effect of NSCs on AD.

Objective To explore the effect of neural stem cell(NSCs) transplantation on proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) and the behavior in APP/PS1 double transgenic AD mice.Methods NSCs from C57BL/6 mice were cultured and amplified.APP/PS1 double transgenic AD mice (n=30) aged 12 months were used as the study group,and mild-type mice (n=15) were used as the control group(group C).Animals in the study group were randomly divided into two subgroups:one receiving NSCs (group A) and the other receiving PBS transplantation (group B) in bilateral hippocampal CA1 of the AD model mice.Animals in the group C were not treated.1 H-MRS and Morris water maze (MWM) were performed before transplantation and 4 weeks after transplantation,and compared with the histopathological results.Results 1H-MRS showed that there was no significant change in NAA/Cr(1.01±0.08 and 1.03±0.05) and mI/Cr (0.69±0.05 and 0.71±0.06) ratios between group A and group B before transplantation (P＞ 0.05),but the changes were significant compared with the group C (NAA/ Cr:1.21±0.05; mI/Cr:0.58±0.06) (P＜0.05).Four weeks after transplantation,NAA/ Cr ratio(1.18± 0.09) was increased and mI/Cr ratio (0.53±0.04) was decreased in group A.The difference was significant compared with the group B at the same time points (P＜0.05).MWM showed the escape latency in group A was significantly shorter than that in group B after transplantation (P＜0.05).In addition,group A also showed an exclusive preference for the target quadrant,and spent more time ((35.21±5.44) s) in the 3rd quadrant compared with group B (P＜0.05).For number of platform crossings,similar results were also shown (5.75± 3.23).Nissl's staining showed that the number of neurons in the hippocampal area increased more significantly in group A than those in group B(P＜0.05).Conclusion NSCs transplantation can improve spatial learning and memory via neurons regeneration in APP/PS1 double transgenic AD mice,and 1H-MRS is able to display intracranial metabolite changes after NSCs transplantation.

Objective To label neural stem cells (NSCs) with superparamagnetic iron oxides (SPIO) and to explore the tropism of NSCs after transplantation into the hippocampus of APP/PS1 AD mice by MRI.Methods NSCs from C57BL/6 mouse were cultured and identified.Feridex and Poly-L-Lysine were added into the medium to be co-cultured to make magnetic labeled NSCs and transmission electron microscopy was used to identify the iron particles in NSCs.Transgenic (tg) and wild-type (wt) mice at 12 months of age were divided into three groups: SPIOs labeled NSCs group (A and C),unlabeled NSCs group(B).Feridex-labeled NSCs were migrated into the hippocampus of APP/PS1 AD mice to monitor in vivo by MRI.After 1,2,4 and 6 weeks,the mice were sacrificed and their brain tissues were sectioned to investigate the migration of SPIO labeled NSCs and compared with MRI.Results NSCs of C57BL/6 mice were cultured successfully.Transmission electron microscope showed visible iron granules in cytoplasm.MRI detection of labeled cells: T2WI and T2* WI showed remarkable low signal intensity at the hippocampus injection points 1 week after transplantation,particularly on T2* WI.Area of low signal intensity enlarged increasingly along the injection points after 2 weeks.At 4 weeks,area of low signal intensity spread throughout the hippocampus,but intensity shadowed Six weeks later,low signal intensity almost disappeared.There was no obvious low signal change in unlabeled cell transplantation group.For wt mice,size and location of low signal did not appear obvious change at all designated time points.Prussian blue positive cells were observed in the hippocampus,indicating that NSCs labeled with SPIO could survive,migrate and differentiate in the brain of the APP/PS1 AD mice.Changes of pathology were well correlated with the area where a signal intensity loss was observed in MRI 1,2,4 and 6 weeks after transplantation Conclusions Diffuse migration of transplanted NSCs labeled with SPIO is observed in the hippocampus in APP/PS1 tg mice,and MRI technique is an ideal method for tracking labeled stem cells after grafting in vivo.

Objective To investigate the possible correlation between the monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 ( MCP-1 ) gene A-2518G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) in the promoter region and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Chinese Han ethnic population of Sunan region,Methods This study was conducted with a case-control design in 484 ACS patients including 290 acute myocardial infarction (AMI)patients and 194 patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP) and 346 control subjects ruled out coronary disease by coronary angiography (control group),including 166 patients with coronary atherosclerosis and 180 subjects without coronary stenosis.Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used for the detection of the A-2518G polymorphism in MCP-1 gene,and then thefrequency of genetype was statistically analyzed.Results There were AA,AG and GG genotypes of MCP-1 gene A-2518G polymorphism in the ACS group and control group.The two groups could be considered as a genetic equilibrium representative by Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium ( P ＞ 0.05 ).Compared with the control group,the frequencies of AA genotype ( 15.32％ vs.16.12％ ),AG genotype (53.47％ vs.51.86％ ),GG genotype (31.21％ vs.32.02％ ) and G allele genotype (57.95％ vs.57.95％ ) in ACS group were not significantly different ( P was 0.083,0.673,0.821 and 1.00,respectively).Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that there was no significant correlation between MCP-1 gene A-2518G polymorphism and ACS regardless of differences in gender,age,smoking,diabetes,TG and LDL-C ( P ＞0.05 ).There was no significant difference in gender and age of ACS onset between two groups ( P ＞ 0.05).There were no significant differences in the frequencies of AA,AG and GG genotypes and G allele genotype among AMI group,UAP group and normal coronary group ( P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The data shows that MCP-1 gene A-2518G polymorphism is not associated with the risk of ACS in the Chinese Han ethnic population living in Sunan region.