BACKGROUND: The extracellular signal-related kinase(ERK) cascade is activated by its specific upstream kinase MAPK/ERK kinase(MEK) and identified as a critical regulator of cell growth, memory formation and long-term neuronal plasticity.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of ERK activation in establishment and maintenance of chronic neuropathic pain.DESIGN: A randomized controlled experiment based on the animals.SETTING: Department of Anesthesiology of a university-affiliated hospital.MATERIALS: The experiment was performed in the Medical Institute of Anesthesiology of Jiangsu Province from September 2003 to June 2004. Totally 115 male clean SD rats weighting 220 to 300 g were provided by the Experimental Animal Center of Xuzhou Medical Colleg e. The rats were raised in separate cages with natural lighting at 20 to 25 ℃, having free access to food and water.INTERVENTIONS: Five days after chronic constrictive injury(CCI) model was established, different doses of U0126 were intrathecally injected according to Mestre' s method. The control group received sterile intrathecal injection of 50 g/L dimethylsulfoxide.hyperalgesia by using von Frey filaments and thermal hyperalgesia stimulator activation and translocation of ERK in spinal cord dorsal horn by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis.RESULTS: CCI could increase the activity of EPK in spinal cord dorsal horn. Intrathecal injection of U0126 significantly attenuated CCI-induced mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia.CONCLUSION: Activation and translocation of ERK contribute to formation and maintenance of CCI-induced neuropathic pain.

It is recommended that cyclophosphamide combined with corticosteroids should be used as the first-line treatment of ANCA ( antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody) associated with systemic vasculitis ( AASV) , however, cyclophosphamide has notable ad-verse reaction of causing pulmonary fibrosis ( PF) . In this paper, whether cyclophosphamide should be used in an AASF patient with PF was analyzed in order to decide whether AASV with PF is one of contraindications of cyclophosphamide in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect and clinical significance of radiotherapy on the expression of multidrug resistance-associated protein(MRP) in advanced cervical cancer.METHODS:The immunohistochemistry method was applied to detect the expression of lung resistance protein(LRRP),glutathione-S-transferases-?(GST-?),thymidylate synthetase(TS) and type Ⅱ topoisomerase(TopoⅡ) in 23 patients with advanced cervical cancer before radiotherapy and after receiving 30 Gy dose radiation.RESULTS:The positive expression rates of LRRP,GST-?,TS and TopoⅡ before radiotherapy were 47.8%,56.5%,30.4% and 60.9%,respectively.The positive expression rates of LRRP,GST-? and TS in patients after 30 Gy dose radiation were 69.6%,73.9% and 73.9%,respectively,which were signficantly higher as compared before radiotherapy(P

Objective:To investigate the polymorphism of the (MTHFR) C677T and its correlation with the severity of hypertension in Shanxi Province.Methods:A total of 306 patients with essential hypertension from the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from January 2017 to January 2018 were selected as subjects. The clinical data of these patients were extracted from the hospital information system. The biochemistry index, including homocysteine (Hcy) were collected from the hospital laboratory test system and the polymorphism of MTHFR C677T gene was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the severity of hypertension.Results:The frequencies of CC, CT and TT genotypes in patients with essential hypertension in Shanxi were 22.22%, 47.06% and 30.72. The C677T genotype and allele frequency revealed no signifcant departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the population from the Shanxi region. Compared with MTHFR 677CC, MTHFR 677CT and MTHFR 677TT genotypes could increase the severity of hypertension by 2.29-fold and 2.24-fold. Smoking, family history of hypertension , Hcy and TG were independent risk factors for increasing the severity of essential hypertension ( OR=2.04, 1.81, 1.04, 1.26). Conclusions:MTHFR C677T genotype, smoking, family history of hypertension, Hcy and triglycerides could be important genetic and high-risk factors for development of severe hypertension , which will help to identify populations at high-risk of hypertension and may facilitate the development of hypertension control strategies.

Objective To explore the optimal dose ratio set in the hip digital tomosynthesis (DTS),and to reduce patient's examination dose as low as possible.Methods Ninety patients who received hip DTS examination were randomly divided into 3 groups,with the dose ratio as 6,7 and 8,respectively.One-way ANOVA test was used to compare.the image quality and radiation dose among 3 groups.Results The values of entrance surface dose (ESD),dose-area product (DAP) and image quality score of 3 groups were [(3.76 ± 1.89) mGy,(18.41 ± 11.71) dGy·cm2,3.03 ± 0.24],[(5.24±2.76)mGy,(26.99±13.34)dGy·cm2),3.60±0.11],and [(6.39±1.75)mGy,(36.96± 22.49) dGy· cm2,3.64 ± 0.09],respectively.The difference among three groups was statistically significant (F =10.94,9.45,139.26,P ＜ 0.05).The S-N-K test showed that both ESD values and DAP values in 6,7,and 8 time-dose ratio group was from small to large.The image quality score of 6 time-dose ratio group was lower than that of the other groups with no significant difference.Conclusions Dose ratio is one of the important parameters to result in the radiation dose of DTS.Dose ration 7 is optimal in hip DTS,which could match the image quality and radiation dose best and finally protect patients from unnecessary radiation damage.

Objective Analyze specialty distribution of 113 First Prize winning projects of Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award by the year 2015.Summarize the status and trend of First Prize winning projects’ specialty distribution.Methods Collect basic information on 113 First Prize winning projects by utilizing "t" testing method and combining with the examination and appraisal of professional science and technology projects to analyze the characteristics of specialty distribution.Results Among the 113 First Prize winning projects,the number of First Prize winning projects of Basic Medicine is decreasing while the number of application projects is increasing.Conclusions The specialty diversification of First Prize winning projects of Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award in the past 15 years reflects recent changes in the concept of evaluating science and technology projects and judges are placing more emphasis on whether projects can solve practical problems.

Objective To study the effects of MF59 in combination with heat-killed BCG ( hBCG) as adjuvant on the immunogenicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis fusion protein PstS1-LEP.Methods BALB/c mice were divided into six groups from group 1 through group 6.They were immunized with PstS1-LEP+MF59 ( group 1 ) , PstS1-LEP+MF59/hBCG ( group 2 ) , PstS1-LEP+hBCG ( group 3 ) , MF59 ( group 4 ) , PstS1-LEP (group 5) and hBCG (group 6) for three times at intervals of two weeks , respectively.The mice were sac-rificed two weeks after the last immunization .The serum samples were collected for antibodies detection .The splenic lymphocytes and peritoneal macrophages were isolated and cultured with PstS 1-LEP.Indirect ELISA and sandwich ELISA were used to detect PstS 1-LEP-specific antibodies and cytokines in the supernatants of culture , respectively.Results The level of IFN-γ, IL-1β, IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a in group 1 were higher than those in groups 4, 5 and 6 (P<0.05).The level of IL-2 and IL-4 in group 1 were higher than those in groups 4 and 6 (P<0.05).The level of IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-12, IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a in group 2 were higher than those in groups 4, 5 and 6 (P<0.05).The level of IL-2 was higher in group 2 than that in groups 4 and 6 (P<0.05). The level of IL-4 in group 3 was higher than that in group 4 ( P=0.05 ) .The level of IL-1βin group 3 were higher than that in groups 4 and 5 ( P<0.05 ) .The level of IgG was higher in group 3 than that in groups 4 and 6 (P<0.05).IgG1 level in group C was up-regulated in comparison with that in groups 4, 5 and 6 (P<0.05 ) .Conclusion hBCG as PstS1-LEP adjuvant induces a shift towards Th 2-type immune response , while MF59 induces Th1/Th2-type immune response.The combination of MF59 and hBCG inhibits the secretion of IL-4 by spleen lymphocytes , but enhances the secretion of IL-12 by macrophage .

Objective To study the effect of osgentide (OST) on proliferation of mouse preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 under simulated microgravity ( SMG ) .Methods Under normal conditions , cell proliferation was evaluated by MTT assay to screen an OST compound of an effective concentration after MC 3T3-E1 cells were treated with series OSTs .Furthermore, cell proliferation and cell cycle distribution of MC 3T3-E1 cells were analyzed after treatment with 1 nmol/L OST5 by MTT assay and by flow cytometry ( FCM) scanning under SMG .Results Under normal conditions , 1 nmol/L OST5 was able to significantly promote the proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells (P<0.01).Under SMG, proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells was significantly inhibited and more cells entered G 1 than under normal conditions (CN).The proportion of S phase of MC3T3-E1 cells after treatment with 1 nmol/L OST5 ( OST-SMG) for 3 d was higher than that of untreated MC 3T3-E1 cells under SMG,suggesting that OST5 could promote DNA synthesis ( P<0.05 ) .Conclusion OST5 facilitates the proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells under SMG, which provides a basis for the use of OST5 in the prevention and treatment of bone loss relat-ed to microgravity .

Objective To explore the effect of dose rate of X-rays on migration of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and provide the experimental basis for developing radiotherapy scheme. Methods Human NSCLC cell line A549 was cultured and irradiated with X-rays at dose of 6 Gy from a linear accelerator. The dose rates of 1, 2, 4 and 6 Gy/min were selected. Monolayer adherent cells were scratched and photographed at 0 hour and 24 hours under a microscope to measure the scratch width. Results After 24 hours, the scratch width of nonirradiated control cells was (640.7±8.1)μm. The scratch widths of cells were different when cells were irradiated with X-rays of various dose rates. Scratch widths were the largest in cells irradiated at dose rates of 1 Gy/min [(691.4±7.6)μm] and 6 Gy/min [(691.8±12.1)μm]. The scratch width was (666.2±1.3) μm of X-rays at 4 Gy/min, and there were significant differences compared with nonirradiated group (all P< 0.01), which suggested that inhibitory effect of X-rays at dose rates on A549 cell migration was obvious. However, the scratch width of cells irradiated at 2 Gy/min [(643.5 ±6.8) μm] had no difference compared with the control cells (t=-0.336, P=0.742). Conclusions The effect of X-rays irradiation on cell migration of human NSCLC cell line A549 is related with irradiated dose rate. The effect of different dose rates on cell migration is significantly different. Selecting appropriate dose rates for irradiation may help to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy.

Objective To explore the clinical significance of plasma D-dimer level before and after chemotherapy in patients with malignant lymphoma.Methods 402 patients admitted to Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital and pathologically diagnosed with malignant lymphoma were retrospectively analyzed to investigate the relationship between patients' plasma D-dimer level and their clinic pathology.Meanwhile,the association between patients' plasma D-dimer level change after chemotherapy and therapeutic effect was also evaluated.Results The median plasma D-dimer levels in malignant lymphoma patients (734.51ng/ml) was distinctly higher than that in normal population (＜500 ng/ml).The plasma D-dimer level had obvious correlation with age,pathological type,level of LDH,clinical stage,B symptom and IPI score.The level of plasma D-dimer in positive response group significantly decreased from 949.40 ng/ml to 499.88 ng/ml after chemotherapy (P ＜ 0.05),whereas that in the negtive response group significantly increased from 611.09 ng/ml to 899.76 ng/ml (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The level of plasma D-dimer may provide the basis for evaluating the chemotherapeutic effect in patients with malignant lymphoma.