The afferant projections and their chemical nature from the midbrain raphe nuclei and periaqueductal gray to the thalamic ventral posterior nucleus were st- udied by HRP retrograde tracing combined with PAP immunocytochemical method Following injections of HRP into the thalamic ventral posterior nucleus, and reactions by HRP and PAP were performed subsequently. The double labelling cells containing HRP-positive granules and substance P-like immunoreactivity were found in various areas of brain, that is, the contralateral principal sensory nucleus of trigeminal nerve,nucleus gracilis,nucleus cuneatus, bilateral ventrola- teral divisions of the periaqueductal gray and midbrain raphe nuclei.A comparison of cell counts of double labeled cells with the total HRP-labeled cells indicated that the cells observed in the dorsal raphe nuclei were 21?7 in each rat, which constituted 48% of total HRP-labeling cells; The double labeling neurons in nuclei raphe centralis superior were found in two cases only, the cell bodies were very sparse and distributed mainly in the caudal area of these nuclei The double labeling cells were detected in bilateral ventrolateral divisions of periaqu- eductal gray, predominantly ipsilaterally. The double labeling cells observed in each rat were 26?9 ipsilaterally and 11?4 contralateraIly. The numbers of double labeling cells were 38% of the total counts of HRP-labeling cells in each side. These results above indicate that the thalamic ventral posterior nucleus receives afferent projections from midbrain raphe nuclei and ventrolateral division of periaqueductal gray and in the pathway, a part of substance P-positive neurons are exhibited. Therefore, this study provides evidence for existance ascending projection of substance P-like immunoreactivity.

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of SAA by detecting their expression levels in patients with lung cancer and the analysis of the relativity of SAA for early diagnosis.Methods There are 243 cases specimens obtained from lung cancer patients who were newly diagnosed and without any treatment in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital from April 2014 to June 2015.The 243 lung cancer individuals were 147 male, and 96 female, their ages ranged from 29 to 85 years, with an average age of 63 years.The distribution of pathological type was as follows:95 patients were adenocarcinoma, 102 patients were squamous carcinoma, and 46 patients were small cell carcinoma.The distribution of TNM staging systems was as follows: 59 patients in stage 1and stage 2, 54 patients in stage 3, and 130 patients in stage 4.While 179 cases physical examination as the control.There were 94 individuals male, and 85 individuals female.Their ages ranged from 26 to 86 years, with an average age of 61 years.By using latex enhanced immune turbidimetric method, serum SAA concentrations in patients with lung cancer and healthy controls were checked on the Hitachi-7600 automated chemistry analyzer ( Hitachi ).The comparisons of all analyses values between healthy controls and lung cancer were estimated by two independent samples nonparametric tests ( Mann-Whitney U).The association between SAA and lung cancer prognostic factors such as age, smoking status and metastasis, was evaluated by spearman correlation and multivariate analysis.Results The median and interquartile spacing of SAA concentration was 42.36 mg/L (9.35, 74.22) in lung cancer patients.While 24 mg/L ( 3.25, 21.45 ).The median level of SAA in lung cancer patients (42.36 mg/L) were significantly higher than in healthy controls (11.24 mg/L), and difference reached statistically significant (Z=-2.403,P=0.006).Nevertheless, there was no significant difference in SAA concentrations among the different pathological types(Z=-1.013, P=0.339), ages (Z=0.578, P=0.458) and gender(Z=0.726, P=0.246) of lung cancer patients.While the level of SAA in has smoking status (Z=-2.282, P=0.013) and distant metastasis (Z=-2.138, P=0.017) of lung cancer was higher.By drawing ROC curve, the cut off value of SAA in distinguishing lung cancer with healthy control was 14.48 mg/L.Meanwhile, the AUC was 0.811, the accuracy is 89.12% and the sensitivity was 88.73%.Serum concentration was positively related with smoking status ( r =0.331, P =0.018 ) and distant metastasis ( r =0.372, P=0.015 ) by Spearman correlation analysis .Conclusion Serum SAA concentrations may contribute to the auxiliary diagnosis of lung cancer, evaluate the clinical stage and distant metastases of lung cancer.

To study the chemosensitivity and the mechanisms of recombinant adenovirus vector expressing ING4 and IL-24 (Ad-ING4-IL-24) on lung adenocarcinoma in vitro and in vivo, the expression of ING4 and IL-24 in A549 cells was detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting. The growth inhibition, apoptosis rate and apoptosis body were measured by MTT, flow cytometry and Hoechst staining respectively. For in vivo study, we first established the A549 tumor model by grafting A549 cells in athymic nude mice; and then injected Ad-ING4-IL-24 into the tumors. Two weeks after injection, we killed the mice, removed the tumors, weighted and calculated the ratios of tumor-suppression. We also detected the expressions of ING4, IL-24, bax, bcl-2, VEGF with immunohistochemistry. The results indicated that ING4 and IL-24 were proved successfully transcription and expression in A549 cells. More interestingly, the joint group inhibited the growth of A549 cells and induced apoptosis. The in vivo data showed that the joint group suppressed the tumor growth conspicuously through up-regulating the expression of bax, and down-regulating the expression of bcl-2, VEGF. The study proved that Ad-ING4-IL-24 significantly enhanced the chemosensitivity to anticancer drug DDP in lung adenocarcinoma, which may related with cell apoptosis and antiangiogenesis.
Adenocarcinoma ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Adenoviridae ; genetics ; metabolism ; Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; Cell Cycle Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genetic Vectors ; Homeodomain Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Humans ; Interleukins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasms, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; pharmacology ; Transfection ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics

Objective:To evaluate the effects of sensomotor insole (SMI) on gait and energy expenditure in children with spastic cerebral palsy during walking. Methods:From December, 2014 to March, 2016, 42 children with spastic cerebral palsy aged three to 15 years were recruited. Their gait parameters and energy expenditure of six minute walking were measured under two test conditions: walking with shoes and walking with shoes and SMI. Results:After wearing SMI, the walking distance, speed, left step length and right step length were all greater (t = -6.022~-4.331, Z= -4.814~-4.183, P < 0.001), the both feet single limb support was shorter (t = 2.954, P < 0.05), and the energy expenditure was higher than before (t = -2.358, P < 0.05). Conclusion:SMI as a sort of orthopedic insole, could improve the gait parameters of children with cerebral palsy immediately after wearing it, and increase the energy expenditure slightly.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia seen in clinical settings, which has been associated with substantial rates of mortality and morbidity. However, clinically available drugs have limited efficacy and adverse effects. We aimed to investigate the mechanisms of action of andrographolide (Andr) with respect to AF. We used network pharmacology approaches to investigate the possible therapeutic effect of Andr. To define the role of Andr in AF, HL-1 cells were pro-treated with Andr for 1 h before rapid electronic stimulation (RES) and rabbits were pro-treated for 1 d before rapid atrial pacing (RAP). Apoptosis, myofibril degradation, oxidative stress, and inflammation were determined. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed to investigate the relevant mechanism. Andr treatment attenuated RAP-induced atrial electrophysiological changes, inflammation, oxidative damage, and apoptosis both in vivo and in vitro. RNA-seq indicated that oxidative phosphorylation played an important role. Transmission electron microscopy and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content assay respectively validated the morphological and functional changes in mitochondria. The translocation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) to the nucleus and the molecular docking suggested that Andr might exert a therapeutic effect by influencing the Keap1-Nrf2 complex. In conclusions, this study revealed that Andr is a potential preventive therapeutic drug toward AF via activating the translocation of Nrf2 to the nucleus and the upregulation of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) to promote mitochondrial bioenergetics.
Animals ; Rabbits ; Atrial Fibrillation/metabolism* ; Kelch-Like ECH-Associated Protein 1/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/pharmacology* ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Oxidative Stress ; Energy Metabolism ; Mitochondria/metabolism* ; Inflammation/metabolism* ; Heme Oxygenase-1