Objective To investigate the effects of astragalus membranaceus and angelica sinensis on grafted cochlea stem cells apoptosis in hearing imparied rats.Methods The hearing impaired rats were divided into 3 groups:cochlea stem cells group(45 rats),astragalus membranaceus and angelica sinensis group(45 rats),and the control group(35 rats).Cochlea stem cells only were grafted into the first group cochlea regions,mixture of stem cells and astragalus membranaceus and angelica sinensis were grafted into that of the second group.Saline was grafted into that of control rats.Observed was apoptosis at 1 day,3 days,5 days,10 days,15 days after the transplantation by CASPASE-3 and Bcl-2 immunofluorescence.Results After transplantationn 1 day,3 days,5 days,10 days,and 15 days of five time,for the cochlea stem cell group,the rates of apoptotic cells were 27.84%,49.37%,44.78%,39.37%,and 34.82%,respectively.The rates of astragalus membranaceus and angelica sinensis group were 18.35%,26.92%,23.18%,21.38%,and 18.19%,respectively.The percent of grafted cochlea stem cells apoptosis in astragalus membranaceus and angelica sinensis group was much lower than that in cochlea stem cells group and control group.The majority of apoptotic cells occurred within three to five days after transplantation.Conclusion The majority of apoptotic cells occur within three to five days after transplantation in the hearing impaired rats.The astragalus membranaceus and angelica sinensis could reduce the apoptotic rates of transplanted stem cells.

This paper deals with the regional anatomy of the neck and some common acupoints. Acupoint Renying (ST 9) is taken as an example to elaborate the needling techniques and needling precautions of neck acupoints.

Objective To observe the effects of total saponins of tribulus of various consistency on the differentiation of neural hippocampus stem cells. Methods The hippocampus stem cells from newborn rat were obtained by serum-free medium and single-cell cloning technique. Hippocampus stem cells were induced by total saponins of tribulus of various consistency. Nestin, BrdU, neurofilament (NF-200), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression were detected using immunocytochemical stains. The numbers of NF and GFAP positive cells were counted. The percentages of positive cells were obtained. Results The dissociated cells from the organ of hippocampus developed into much of indiffrentiated otopheres of nestin positive cells. The hippocampus stem cell differentiated into neurons and astrocytes with the total saponins of tribulus. The percentage of NF positive neuron in the 20 mg/kg consistency of total saponins of tribulus groups was significantly higher than that in the control group and other consistency of total saponins of tribulus groups. Conclusion Total saponins of tribulus may enhance neural hippocampus stem cells differentiate into NF positive neuron.