Objective To investigate the effects of creatine supplement on contractile properties of soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) in elder rat. Methods 20 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group and creatine supplement group with 10 rats in each group. After 6 weeks, the content of creatine and phosphocreatine were detected by high performance liquid chromatography,and contractile properties were examined in SOL and EDL in vitro at 30 ℃. Results The content of creatine and phosphocreatine both in SOL and EDL were higher in the creatine supplement group than in the control group (P<0.05). In SOL, creatine supplements increased the maximum twitch tension (Pt), maximum titanic tension(P0), decreased time to maximum twitch tension (TPT), but only time from maximum twitch to half relaxation (TPR50) significantly decreased, compared with the control group. In EDL, creatine supplements significantly increased Pt, P0 and decreased TPT (P<0.05). But there was no significant difference in TPR50 between 2 groups (P>0.05). Creatine supplements significantly increased the fatigue resistance of the SOL and there was no significant effect on EDL. The force potentiation which occurred in EDL during the initial 20~30 s of the fatigue test significantly increased (P<0.05). Conclusion Creatine supplement is effective on the contractile properties of SOL and EDL in elder rats, but the effect is dependent on the fiber types.

Peripheral artery disease is a cardiovascular risk factor. Exercise training may benefit patients with peripheral artery disease from preserving or improving functional capacity and reducing cardiovascular events. Accordingly, this article reviewed the effects of exercise training on peripheral artery disease, and the possible mechanisms

Aging is associated with declines of the muscular strength and cardiorespiratory functions, resulting in an impaired capacity to perform daily activities. Frailty is a clinical geriatric syndrome characterized by decreases in the biological functional reserve and resis-tance to stressors, which puts older individuals at special risk of disability. To counteract the muscular strength and cardiorespiratory func-tions declines associated with aging, as well as to prevent and treat the frailty syndrome, the strength and endurance training seems to be an effective strategy to improve muscular strength and endurance performance. This article reviewed the exercise prescription in health and frail elderly subjects according to the current situation of the researches about muscular strength and cardiorespiratory function training. Based on the results found, for the healthy older adults, strength training should be performed at moderate-to high-intensity (60%-80%of 1 RM ), and moderate volume (2-3 sets per exercise, 2-3 times/week ). Also, endurance training should be performed at moderate-to high-in-tensity (60%-85% of VO2max), and moderat volume (25-40 min). The frail older adults should exercise 2-3 times a week, for 45-60 min. Strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance training components should be incorporated, and strength and balance training should be empha-sized.

Objective To investigate the relationship between the expression of the survivin gene and CpC methylation in exon 1 of the survivin gene in CA tissue, and to study the expression of survivin protein in CA tissue and its modulation mechanism. Methods Tissue samples were obtained from the CA lesions of 30 patients, normal cervix of 10 female controls, and normal foreskin of 10 male controls. Immunohistochemistry was carried out to detect the expression of survivin protein in these specimens, RT-PCR to measure the mRNA expression of survivin, and methylation specific PCR (MSP) to analyze the methylation status of CpG island in the survivin gene exon 1. Results The positivity rate of survivin protein and mRNA was 90% (27/30) and 93.3% (28/30) in CA tissue specimens, respectively, 5% (1/20) and 5% (1/20) in control tissue specimens, respectively; there was a significant difference between the two groups of specimens in both the parameters (x2 = 35.187, 38.437, both P < 0.01). The demethylation of CpG island in the survivin gene exon 1 was observed in 86.7% (26/30) of the CA tissue specimens and in 15% (3/20) of the control tissue specimens (x2 = 10.865, P < 0.01). There was a positive correlation between the demethylation status of CpG island in exon 1 and the mRNA expression of survivin gene (x2 = 13.929, P = 0.014). Conclusions The expression of survivin protein in CA tissues might be associated with the demethylation of CpG island in exon 1 of the survivin gene, and may play a certain role in the development of CA.

Objective To explore the effects of strength training on aging muscular atrophy and inflammatory factors levels in old men.Methods 11 old men participated in 12 weeks of strength training. Muscle strength/muscle thickness and serum levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and adiponectin were measured before and after training. Results After training, the muscle thickness increased, but there was no significantly difference (P>0.05); the levels of hsCRP decreased (P<0.001) and adiponectin increased (P<0.05). Conclusion Strength training may assist in maintaining or improving muscle strength/muscle mass and reducing inflammatory factors levels.

Objective　To investigate the relationship betwee n tricuspid insufficiency (TI) and the function of the right ventricle, degree o f pulmonary vascular pathological change in patients with rheumatic heart diseas e so as to provide the indication of operation for treating TI. Methods 　41 cases of rheumatic heart disease with TI accompanying with bicuspid pathological changes were reviewed. Correlation analysis was done between the s everity of TI and the right ventricular size(RVS), pulmonary artery pressure(PAP ), pulmonary artery resistance(PAR) etc. Results　It was found t hat the size of the right ventricle, PAP, PAR were positively correlated to th e degree of TI. Tricuspid annuloplasty should be carried out in patients with RV D>40 mm, PAR >48 kPa*s/L, PAP>8 kPa. Conclusion　TI resulted ma inly from insufficient function of the right ventricle and marked patholog ical changes of the pulmonary blood vessels. Doppler echocardiography evaluation for the function of right ventricle and pathological condition of pulmonary blo od vessels might be of significant in deciding whether tricuspid annuloplasty sh ould be performed simutaneously in patients of bicuspid valve replacement.

Objective To investigate DNA methylation markers in the whole blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE),in hope to facilitate the evaluation of SLE severity.Methods Whole blood samples were obtained from 58 patients with SLE(including 14 cases of severe SLE,25 moderate SLE,19 inactive SLE)and 50 healthy controls.Bisulphite sequencing was performed to determine the methylation status of interleukin-2 common receptor gamma chain(IL-2RG)promoter region,and real-time reverse transcriptionPCR to quantify the expression level of IL-2RG mRNA,in these subjects.Results The methylation level of IL2RG promoter region was 0.217 ± 0.140,0.325 ± 0.230,0.342 ± 0.085 and 0.175 ± 0.036 in the patients withsevere,moderate and inactive SLE and healthy controls,respectively.A significant increase was observed in the methylation level of IL-2RG promoter region in the patients with inactive SLE compared with the patients with severe SLE and healthy controls(both P ＜ 0.01),and in the patients with SLE compared with the healthy controls(0.263 ± 0.047 vs.0.175 ± 0.036,P ＜ 0.05).The expression level of IL-2RG mRNA was significantly lower in the patients with SLE than in the healthy controls(2.550 ± 0.823 vs.4.293 ± 1.283,P ＜ 0.05).A negative correlation was observed between the expression level of IL-2RG mRNA and methylation level of IL2RG promoter region in 20 patients with SLE(r =-0.44,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The methylation status of IL2RG promoter region is statistically higher in patients with SLE than in healthy controls,and significantly different between patients with active SLE and those with stable SLE.

OBJECTIVE: To establish an algorithm based on 3D convolution neural network to segment the organs at risk (OARs) in the head and neck on CT images. METHODS: We propose an automatic segmentation algorithm of head and neck OARs based on V-Net. To enhance the feature expression ability of the 3D neural network, we combined the squeeze and exception (SE) module with the residual convolution module in V-Net to increase the weight of the features that has greater contributions to the segmentation task. Using a multi-scale strategy, we completed organ segmentation using two cascade models for location and fine segmentation, and the input image was resampled to different resolutions during preprocessing to allow the two models to focus on the extraction of global location information and local detail features respectively. RESULTS: Our experiments on segmentation of 22 OARs in the head and neck indicated that compared with the existing methods, the proposed method achieved better segmentation accuracy and efficiency, and the average segmentation accuracy was improved by 9%. At the same time, the average test time was reduced from 33.82 s to 2.79 s. CONCLUSIONS The 3D convolution neural network based on multi-scale strategy can effectively and efficiently improve the accuracy of organ segmentation and can be potentially used in clinical setting for segmentation of other organs to improve the efficiency of clinical treatment.
Head ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Neck ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Organs at Risk ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Autoimmune-related skin diseases are a group of disorders with diverse etiology and pathophysiology involved in autoimmunity. Genetics and environmental factors may contribute to the development of these autoimmune disorders. Although the etiology and pathogenesis of these disorders are poorly understood, environmental variables that induce aberrant epigenetic regulations may provide some insights. Epigenetics is the study of heritable mechanisms that regulate gene expression without changing DNA sequences. The most important epigenetic mechanisms are DNA methylation, histone modification, and noncoding RNAs. In this review, we discuss the most recent findings regarding the function of epigenetic mechanisms in autoimmune-related skin disorders, including systemic lupus erythematosus, bullous skin diseases, psoriasis, and systemic sclerosis. These findings will expand our understanding and highlight the possible clinical applications of precision epigenetics approaches.
Humans ; Autoimmune Diseases/genetics* ; Epigenesis, Genetic ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/genetics* ; DNA Methylation ; Psoriasis/genetics*