Objective To investigate the efficiency of target gene transfection of the heart and liver after tail vein or intramyocardial injection of adenovirus vector (GFP-Ad).Methods GFP-AD was constructed at first.A total of 20 male 8-week old C57BL/6 mice were randomly and equally divided into tail vein injection of GFP-AD group and intramyocardial injection of GFP-AD group.The mRNA levels of GFP in the heart and liver tissues were detected by Q-PCR at different time points.Fluorescence microscopy was performed to visualize the expression of GFP fluorescence.Results Compared with the tail vein injection group, the GFP mRNA level in mouse heart tissue was apparently higher in the intramyocardial injection group.In both groups, the GFP mRNA levels in liver tissue were significantly increased compared with that in the heart tissue.In the tail vein injection group, the GFP mRNA level in liver tissue reached a peak on day 7;but in the intramyocardial injection group, the mRNA level of GFP in liver tissue reached apeak on day 3.We also observed the same trend of GFP fluorescence expression in the tail vein injection group compared with that in the intramyocardial injection group.Conclusions Intramyocardial injection of adenovirus vector is suitable to achieve a higher transfection efficiency in mouse heart tissue compared with the tail vein injection method.Although both injection methods are suitable for transfection of mouse liver, the tail vein injection method is preferential for it is simple and less invasive.

BACKGROUND: Allogeneic blood transfusion in humans of the same blood type has been implemented, but studies regarding swine blood type and how to perform allogeneic blood transfusion have been rarely reported. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of preoperative autologous blood donation using the leap-frog technique for cardiopulmonary bypass surgery in a swine model.METHODS: Sixteen domestic swine were randomly divided into two groups: autologous blood donation and allogeneic blood transfusion. Another four swine were used as blood donors. Two groups of swine underwent cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. The autologous blood donation group received self-transfusion reserved before surgery while the allogeneic blood transfusion group received the same amount of allogeneic blood. Hemoglobin (Hb) concentration and hematocrit (Hct) level prior to and after donation in the autologous blood donation group was recorded. Hb concentration in the two groups was recorded prior to, during, immediately after, and 1 day after the surgery. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The total blood volume of each experimental swine was (2500±428) mL. For the autologous blood donation group, the predicted blood volume of the first donation was (501±86) mL and the actual blood volume was (493±93) mL; in the second donation, the predicted blood volume was (750±128) mL and the actual blood volume was (719±98) mL. There was a significant difference in Hb concentration and Hct level between prior to and after donation in the autologous blood donation group (P < 0.01). Hb concentration at 1 day after the surgery was significantly higher in the autologous blood donation group than in the allogeneic blood transfusion group (P < 0.01), while no significant difference in Hb concentration existed between these two groups prior to, during, and immediately after the surgery (P > 0.05). Compared with prior to surgery, Hb concentration in each group was significantly lower at 1 day after the surgery (P < 0.01). The autologous blood donation group exhibited significantly higher survival rate of swine than the allogeneic blood transfusion group (P < 0.01). These findings indicate that compared with allogeneic blood transfusion, preoperative autologous blood donation using the leap-frog technique appears to be a safe, effective method with a high survival rate for cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.

Obesity and its associated complications are highly related to a current public health crisis around the world. A growing body of evidence has indicated that G-protein coupled bile acid (BA) receptor TGR5 (also known as Gpbar-1) is a potential drug target to treat obesity and associated metabolic disorders. We have identified notoginsenoside Ft1 (Ft1) from