BACKGROUND:Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion(TLIF)can be applied in any lumbar segment,and retain integrity of lateral vertebral plate and zygapophysiai joints.However,few studies have been conducted about the biomechanical performance.OBJECTIVE:To explore the stability of lumbar intervertebral segment following TLIF appHed bilateral and unilateral transpedicular screws fixation.DESIGN,TIME AND SETTING:Biomechanical test was performed at the Institute of Biomechanics,Shanghai University and Nantong University between August 2005 and April 2006.MATERIALS:Twenty samples of fresh one-month-old calf lumbar vertebra.METHODS:Twenty samples of calf lumbar vertebra underwent TLIF alone,TLIF in combination with bilateral or unilateral transpedicular screws fixation.Biomechanical test was performed on spinal three dimensional motion testing machine.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Stress,displacement.strain and torsion angle were recorded.RESULTS:After TLIF without fixation.no obvious changes were found in mean stress and strain,but the axes stiffness and rotational stiffness were significantly decreased,indicating TLIF could produce immediate lumbar stability.After TLIF with unilateral or bilateral transpedicular screws fixation,the lumbar stability was significantly enhanced compared with TLIF alone,especially bilateral transpedicular screws fixadon.Although the lumbar stability following unilateral transpedicular screws fixation was inferior to bilateral fixation,it was still greatly enhanced,even bxceeded normal sample,indicating TLIF with unilateral transpedicular screws fixation could produce enough initiallumbar stability.CONCLUSION:TLIF alone cannot support sufficient initial stability,but TLIF with bilateral and unilateral transpedicular screws fixation can enhance lumbar initial stability.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of multi-slice three-dimensional computed tomographic angiography(MS 3D-CTA)for vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia(VBD).Methods MS 3D-CTA of 10 patients with VBD were retrospectively analysed.Source images were got by GE Lightspeed pro scanner.Volume rendering(VR)and maximum intensity project (MIP) were adopted to reconstruct 3D images in all cases.Twenty patients were selected as the control group by suspected cerebra[vascular diseases and underwent MS 3D-CTA at the same period.Enumeration data between the patient group and the control group was assessed by Wilcoxon.test.Results There were 2 types of 10 cases with VBD,including simple type(n=4)and saddle type(n=6).Compared with the control group of the length of the basilar artery(B 1,25.60 mm),the deviant degree(Bc,1.20 mm),the height(Bh,1.90 am),the length of the vertebral artery (V1,17.55 mm),the deviant degree(Vc,2.05 mm),and the diameter of BA and/or VA (Bw/Vw,3.05 mm),there is significant difference in the B1 30.20 mm,Bc 7.10 mm,Bh 8.80 mm,V1 23.00 mm,Vc 5.95 mm,and Bw/Vw 5.05 mm(P＜0.01,all).Conclusion The clinical performances of VBD is different,MS 3D-CTA is a very effective method for the diagnosis of VBD.

Mycobacterium neoaurum has the ability to produce steroidal intermediates known as 22-hydroxy-23, 24-bisnorchol-4-en-3-one (BA) upon the knockout of the genes for either the hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (Hsd4A) or acyl-CoA thiolase (FadA5). In a previous study, we discovered a novel metabolite in the fermentation products when the fadA5 gene was deleted. This research aims to elucidate the metabolic pathway of this metabolite through structural identification, homologous sequence analysis of the fadA5 gene, phylogenetic tree analysis of M. neoaurum HGMS2, and gene knockout. Our findings revealed that the metabolite is a C23 metabolic intermediate, named 24-norchol-4-ene-3, 22-dione (designated as 3-OPD). It is formed when a thioesterase (TE) catalyzes the formation of a β-ketonic acid by removing CoA from the side chain of 3, 22-dioxo-25, 26-bisnorchol-4-ene-24-oyl CoA (22-O-BNC-CoA), followed by spontaneously undergoing decarboxylation. These results have the potential to contribute to the development of novel steroid intermediates.
Mycobacterium/metabolism* ; Phylogeny ; Steroids/metabolism* ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways ; Sterols/metabolism*