AIM: To investigate the effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) on auditory and cochlear damage induced by brain ischemia and reperfusion. METHODS: The rats with brain ischemia and reperfusion were divided into two groups at random. In the experimental group, the rats were injected intramuscularly with NGF . In control group, the animals were injected with normal saline instead of NGF. Then the hearing loss and cochlear structural changes of rats in both groups were compared. RESULTS: It was found that the hearing loss of rats in NGF group were less significantly than that of control group ( P

Objective To investigate the activation characteristics (contraction velocity, force and anti-fatigue) of the vastus medialis (VM), rectus femoris (RF) and vastus lateralis (VL) by using surface electromyogram (sEMG) during isometric and isokinetic quadriceps femoris force tests in knee osteoarthritis. Methods The participants included an observation group (n=34) and a control group (n=34).The age, height, body weight, gender, dominant side and Q angle were matched between the two groups. The participants' quadriceps femoris force and sEMG of VM, RF and VL were tested in isometric knee extension at knee joint angles of 10°, 60°, 100° and isokinetic knee extension at velocities of 60°/s and 180°/s. Comparisons were made for recruitment rate, average amplitude, peak torque/bodyweight ratio, index of fatigue by independent-group t-test, with the alpha level set at 0.05 for significant differences between groups.Results ①Recruitment rate of VM in isometric contraction at 60° and isokinetic contraction at 60°/s and 180°/s, RF in isometric contraction at 60° and isokinetic contraction at 60°/s and VL in isometric contraction at 10°and 100° and isokinetic contraction at 60°/s were all significantly slower in the observation group than that in the control group(P<0.05). ②The average amplitudes of VM, RF in isokinetic contraction at 60°/s and 180°/s and RF, VL in isometric contraction at 10° were significantly higher in the observation group than that in the control group(P<0.05). ③Peak torque/bodyweight ratio of quadriceps was significantly lower in the observation group than that in the control group in isometric contraction at 10°, 60°, 100° and isokinetic contraction at 60°/s and 180°/s(P<0.05). ④In isokinetic contraction at 180°/s the index of fatigue was significantly higher in the observation group than that in the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion A significant decreasing contraction velocity and force, increasing anti-fatigue of the vastus medialis, rectus femoris and vastus lateralis were found in knee osteoarthritis patients when compared with healthy subjects.

ObjectiveTo compare the coordination characteristic of the vastus medialis (VM), rectus femoris (RF) and vastus lateralis (VL) between patients with knee osteoarthritis and healthy subjects. Methods34 patients with knee osteoarthritis and 34 controls with normal knee were tested in isometric knee extension at knee joint angles of 10°, 60°, 100° flexion and isokinetic knee extension at velocities of 60°/s and 180°/s. Surface electromyogram (EMG) was recorded in the VM, RF and VL. The activation sequence of muscles and VM/VL EMG ratio were analyzed. ResultsThe VM started significantly later than the VL in isokinetic contraction at 180°/s in patients compared with the controls (P<0.05), and the VM/VL EMG ratio decreased in isometric contraction with knee extension at 10° (P<0.05). ConclusionThe coordination of the vastus medialis, rectus femoris and vastus lateralis decreases in the knee osteoarthritis patients.

ObjectiveToinvestigatetheprotectiveeffectandmechanismofscutelarincombinedwith paeoniflorin after permanent cerebral ischemia in rats. Methods Forty-eight adult male SD rats w ere randomly divided into four groups: sham-operation, cerebral ischemia, scutelarin+ paeoniflorin, and cyclopamine (n=12 in each group). A model of permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion w as induced by suture method. The intraperitoneal injection of cyclopamine 6 mg/kg, a specific inhibitor of sonic hedgehog (SHH) pathw ay, at 15 min before ischemia in the cyclopamine group, w hile other groups w ere intraperitoneal y injected an equal volume of saline. At 0 hour and 3 hours after ischemia, the scutel arin+paeoniflorin group and cyclopamine group w ere intraperitoneal y injected scutel arin ( 20 mg/kg ) and paeoniflorin (30 mg/kg), while other groups were intraperitonealy injected an equal volume of saline. Neurological deficit scores w ere performed at 24 hours after ischemia, and then the rats w ere decapitated. The cerebral infarct volume w as measured by using 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting w ere used respectively to detect the expression levels of SHH, Patched-1, Gli-1 mRNAs and proteins in the ischemic cortex. Results The neurological deficit scores in the cerebral ischemia group, scutel arin+paeoniflorin group, and cyclopamine group w ere 3.33 ±0.52, 1.50 ±0.55, and 3.67 ±0.52, respectively. The neurological deficit score in the scutel arin+paeoniflorin group w as significantly low er than that in the cerebral ischemia group ( P<0.05), and the neurological deficit score in the cyclopamine group w as significantly higher than that in the scutelarin+paeoniflorin group ( P<0.05). The infarct volume percentage in the cerebral ischemia group, scutelarin+paeoniflorin group, and cyclopamine group were 31.77%±1.19%, 22.94%±2.65%, and 35.53%±0.20%, respectively. The infarct volume in the scutel arin+paeoniflorin group w as significantly less than that in the cerebral ischemia group ( P<0.05), and the infarct volume in the cyclopamine group was significantly larger than that of the scutelarin+paeoniflorin group (P<0.05). The expression levels of SHH, Patched-1, Gli-1 mRNAs and proteins in the cerebral ischemia group, scutelarin+paeoniflorin group, and cyclopamine group w ere significantly higher than those in the sham -operation group (al P<0.05). The expression levels of SHH, Patched-1, Gli-1 mRNAs and proteins in the scutelarin+paeoniflorin group were significantly higher than those in the in the cerebral ischemia group (al P<0.05), and the expression levels of Gli-1 mRNA and protein in the cyclopamine group were significantly lower than those in the scutelarin+paeoniflorin group ( al P<0.05 ). Conclusions The scutel arin combined w ith paeoniflorin has certain protective effect on focal cerebral ischemia injury in rats. Its mechanism is associated w ith the activation of SHH signaling pathw ay.

Objective:To explore the utility of a robotic trunk support brace (a RoboBDsys) in evaluating seated trunk control after a spinal cord injury (SCI).Methods:Twenty wheelchair-dependent SCI patients were tested for trunk resistance while seated and wearing the RoboBDsys. In the test they were required to maintain an upright seated position for 1 minute while external forces were applied from the left, right, anterior and posterior directions. The system generated eight observations of swings of the center of pressure (COP), their mean velocity and their standard deviations. Sway area, sway path (SP), mean sway frequency (MF) and mean sway amplitude (MA) were also recorded along with the maximum voluntary contraction torque (MVC). The trunk control test (TCT), the Tinetti Balance Scale (Tinetti), the modified Functional Reach Test (mFRT) and Spinal Cord Independence Measure III (SCIM-III) were also administerd and their results were correlated with the RoboBDsys resistance test results.Results:All twenty of the patients completed the resistance test in the left and right directions, but only 11 did it in the anterior and posterior directions. In the left and right-direction resistance tests the average center of pressure deviation, sway area and MVC showed some significant correlation with the TCT, Tinetti, mFRT and SCIM-III results (| r| ranging from 0.46 to 0.74). The average MVC in the anterior-direction correlated moderately with the TCT, mFRT and SCIM-III results (| r|=0.63 to 0.67), while that in the posterior-direction had moderate correlation with the TCT and mFRT results only (| r|=0.63 to 0.67). Conclusion:The Robotic Brace for Dynamic Trunk Support system can be effective in assessing reactive postural control and functional independence after a spinal cord injury.

Objective:To investigate the test-retest reliability and criterion validity of the Robotic Brace for Dynamic Trunk Support System(RoboBDsys)in evaluating seated trunk control function in patients with spinal cord in-jury(SCI). Method:From October to December,2022,20 patients with spinal cord injury who were unable to walk were recruited.All participants completed RoboBDsys trunk control test including static control test and dynam-ic control test on the seated platform.The evaluation indexes were the supporting torque regression slope exert-ed by the robot platform on the direction of x,y,α,and θ,recorded as Kx,Ky,Kθ,Kα;the average sup-porting torque recorded as Fx,Fy,Mθ,Mα in the static control test;and the the Range of Motion(ROM)of trunk in four directions in the dynamic control test.All the participants completed Trunk Control Test(TCT)as criterion assessment.The test interval was one week,intraclass correlation coefficient(ICC)values were calculated between two RoboBDsys trunk control test. Result:There were 13 participants completed two tests.In the static control test,the ICCs of four indexes were 0.418-0.742 between 2 tests;the ICCs of all indexes in dynamic control test were 0.633-0.848,which all showed moderate to high test-retest reliability.In regards of criterion validity,there was low to mod-erate correlation between Ky,Mθ,Mα in static control test and TCT(|r|=0.467-0.561,P＜0.05);all indexes except right lateral flection ROM in dynamic control test showed moderate to high correlation with TCT(r=0.559-0.758,P＜0.05). Conclusion:RoboBDsys is a reliable and valid tool for evaluating seated trunk control function in patients with SCI.