BACKGROUND:A newly developed calcium phosphate/β-tricalcium phosphate composite bone cement with a negative surface charge (genex?) has been reported to possess osteoinductivity properties. However, to our knowledge, no previous literatures have reported genex? for vertebroplasty in the osteoporotic spine.
OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the biomechanical properties and osteogenesis of vertebral bodies injected with genex? cement in a rabbit vertebroplasty defect model.
METHODS:Thirty New Zealand rabbits were used to establish osteoporosis models. Four weeks after modeling, model rabbits had an iatrogenical y created cavitary lesion at L 3 and L 5 and were injected with either genex? cement (experimental group) or polymethyl methacrylate bone cement (control group). The L 1 vertebral body served as model group without treatment. After 3 and 6 months, 15 rats from each group were executed respectively, and three vertebral samples were taken for Micro-CT analysis and biomechanical tests.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) The Micro-CT showed better three-dimensional structure parameters of the trabecular bone in the experimental group than the control group (P<0.05) after 3 months, which however had no difference from the model group (P>0.05). After 6 months, the structure parameters in the experimental group were superior to those in the control and model groups (P<0.05). (2) After 3 months, the vertebral body compression strength of the experimental group was lower than that of the control group (P<0.05), but higher than that in the model group (P<0.05). The vertebral stiffness of the experimental group was lower than that in control and model groups (P<0.05). After 6 months, the vertebral body compression strength of the experimental group was not different from that of the control group (P>0.05), but stil higher than that of the model group (P<0.05). The vertebral stiffness showed no difference between three groups (P>0.05). These findings indicate that genex? cement can rapidly repair osteoporotic vertebral defects and improve the bone strength. Verterbroplasty with genex? cement has adequate osteoinductivity, biocompatibility, and adequate compressive strength.

Aim To investigate the modeling of breast cancer in zebrafish embryos and its related protein expression. Methods 48hpf wild type AB/ TG(Transgenic) zebrafishs were micro-in-jected with breast cancer cell line: MCF-7,T-47D, MDA-MB-231 respectively, the relationship between the number of tumor and model application was investigated, and the number of sub-intestinal veins(SIVs) was detected under confocal microscope, as well as the metastasis of tumor cells in embryos; then the ze-brafish xenografts of MB-231 were co-cultured with tofacitinib/ptk787 for 48 h, optical density(OD) of the cell survival and subintestinal veins(SIVs) were evaluated under confocal micro-scope, and Western blot(WB) analysis was used to test micro-circumstances related protein. Results When the number of in-oculated cells was more than 200 per embryo, xenograft model rate woule be more than 0. 90;MB-231 xenografts showed metas-tasis feature in zebrafish, which could be inhibited by tofacitinib (P < 0. 01), while the number of xenograft MB-231 cells was reduced significantly(P < 0. 01); in another zebrafish xenografts SIVs assay, the tumor could promote the proliferation of SIVs, and 4 mg·L - 1 PTK787 showed inhibiton effect( P < 0. 01). Western blot showed 4d T-47D xenograft zebrafish got more HER2 expression than AB embryos; VEGFa expression in ze-brafish MB-231 model group was higher, and model zebrafish P53 expressi was higher after treated by tofacitinib. Conclusion A zebrafish xenograft model of human brest cancer can be es-tablished, which demonstrates applicability for screening com-pounds in drug discovery studies.

Aim To study the effect of rhein on renal damage induced by aristolochic acid. Methods Ze-brafish model of aristolochic acid nephropathy, genera-ted by treating zebrafish larvae with aristolochic acid for 24 h, was treated with rhein simultaneously . Mor-pholigical changes were observed and the creatinine level in larvae tissue was measured. And mRNA ex-pression levels of inflammatory factor cox2 a and fibrosis factor TGF-β1 in larvae tissue were detected using qPCR. Results Some larvae show periocular edema and circulation system defection e. g. weak heart beat, narrow cardiac vesicle, decreased blood flow and even blockage , with a dose-response relationship after expo-sure to aristolochic acid for 24 h. The creatinine level in larvae tissue of the treated group was significantly higher than that of the control larvae. And the expres-sion levels of cox2 a and TGF-β1 in larvae tissue of the treated group were also significantly increased. Per-centage of abnormal larvae and creatinine level in lar-vae tissue were decreased when treated with rhein sim-ultaneously. And the expression levels of cox2a was down-regulated by rhein compared with the aristolochic acid treated group. But rhein had no effect on TGF-β1 expression. Conclusion To some extent rhein can protect renal from damage induced by aristolochic acid.

Objective To investigate the effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) on autophagy and the secretion of chemokine receptor CXCR4 induced by low-dose immunosuppressive durgs.Methods Flow cytometry was used to detect the changes of hUC-MSCs surface markers after treatment with low-dose tacrolimus and rapamycin.The effect of treatment with tacrolimus and rapamycin on proliferation of hUC-MSCs was analyzed with WST-1 assay.Regular RT-PCR was applied to analyze the mRNAs expression of ligands such as LC3B,Atg5 and Beclin1 in hUC-MSCs.Western blotting was carried out to detect the expression of LC3B,Atg5,Beclin1 and p-ULK1 in hUC-MSCs after treatment with tacrolimus and rapamycin.The secretion of chemokine receptor CXCR4 in hUC-MSCs was analyzed under the state of autophay by flow cytometry.Results Flow cytometry analysis confirmed low-dose immunosuppressive drugs tacrolimus and rapamycin did not cause changes in hUC-MSCs phenotypes significantly.Low-dose tacrolimus had no cytotoxic effect on hUC-MSCs,while,rapamycin could inhibit the proliferation of hUC-MSCs after 24 h or 48 h,with survival rate being 73.66％ and 68.81％ (P＜0.05) of controls,respectively.Moreover,both tacrolimus and rapamycin could inhibit PI3K/AKt/mTOR signaling pathway to activate hUC-MSCs autophagy,and the related proteins of LC3B,Atg5 and Beclin1 increased significantly and induced the up-regulation of CXCR4 secretion.Conclusion Our results here demonstrated that low-dose tacrolimus and rapamycin induce autophagy in hUC-MSCs and promote the secretion of CXCR4.

As a model organism, zebrafish have many advantages over other animal models and is suitable for studies on establishment of human disease model and mechanism.In zebrafish, there are two phases of endocrine formation during early development, which are directed by concomitant activity of many signaling pathways.Zebrafish pancreas possess similar cell structure with that of other animals, which can express various endocrine hormones including insulin.The main organs required for metabolic control, such as the pancreas, islet, and insulin sensitive tissue (muscle, liver) are conserved in zebrafish, and the mechanisms of glucose regulation in zebrafish is similar to that seen in mammalian models.These render it an excellent model to study glucose metabolism.Hyperglycemia in zebrafish model can be induced by administration of the diabetogenic drug, streptozotocin (STZ), alternatively immersion of the fish in glucose solution and water, or disturbing of signaling pathways associated with glucose metabolism.Glucose levels in adult zebrafish blood or embryo tissue and phenotype of retinal cell layers or retinal vasculature are the commonly used measurement organs in zebrafish diabetic models.

Objective To explore the effects of hydrocolloid dressing on neonatal scleredema.Methods Forty patients with neonatal scleredema were enrolled from Department of Neonatology,Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from February 2015 to February 2017.The patients were assigned to the experimental group and the control group by random number table with 20 cases in each group.The experimental group was treated with hydrocolloid dressing besides routine comprehensive treatment,and the hydrocolloid dressing was changed every 3～4 d until swelling disappeared.The control group was treated with routine comprehensive treatment.Body temperature,response and swelling of two groups were observed.Results For therapeutic effects between two groups,the total effective rate of the experiment group was 95％,and was significantly better than that of the control group which was 65％(P＜0.05).The recovery time of body temperature and the time of swelling disappear in the experiment group were 38.25±17.33 h and 3.05±1.00 d;while those in the control group were 57.35±32.21 h and 4.65±1.57 d,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).Conclusion Applying hydrocolloid dressing at swelling site in premature infants can significantly shorten the time of skin swelling,promote body temperature recovery,and improve treatment effects.