AIM:To explore the protective effects of atorvastatin on blood brain barrier (BBB) in cerebral is-chemia-reperfusion ( IR) injury and the potential mechanisms involved .METHODS: SD rats were divided into sham group, IR group and atorvastain group .Intraluminal suture method was used to establish cerebral IR model , and the ische-mic brain was reperfused for 72 h after the occlusion.The rats in atorvastatin group were administered with atorvastatin (20 mg? kg-1? d-1 ) by gavage once a day for 3 consecutive days after operation .At 72 h after reperfusion , neurological func-tion scores, the water content of the brain tissue , Evans blue (EB) content of ischemic hemisphere , the expression of tight junction ( TJ )-associated protein occludin and inflammation factor phosphatidylinositiol 3-kinase-p110 gamma ( PI3K-p110γ) were tested and analyzed .RESULTS: In IR group, the rats showed elevated neurological function scores ( P<0.01), brain tissue water content (P<0.01) and EB content (P<0.01), accompanied with the down-regulation of oc-cludin expression (P<0.01) and up-regulation of PI3K-p110γ(P<0.01) at 72 h after reperfusion.Compared with IR group, decreased brain edema (P<0.01) and EB leakage (P<0.01) were observed in atorvastatin group , accompanied with increased occludin expression (P<0.01) and decreased PI3K-p110γexpression (P<0.01).However, no statistical difference of the neurological function scores between the 2 groups was observed .CONCLUSION:Atorvastain attenuates cerebral IR injury , which may be associated with the inhibition of inflammatory reactions and the up -regulation of TJ-asso-ciated proteins to maintain the stability of BBB .

Objective To study effects of tethered spinal cord on functions of bladder and urethra. Methods Thirty six patients with tethered spinal cord were evaluated by video urodynamic studies. Filling phase function of bladder was evaluated by compliance of bladder and the presence of vesicoureteral reflux; voiding phase function of bladder was evaluated by maximal detrusor pressure; the synergy between detrusor and external urethral sphincter and continence of urethra were evaluated by voiding study with synchronous X ray image and pressure flow plot. Results 50% patients was diagnosed as detrusor areflexia with low compliance bladder, which was the main type of neurogenic bladder for patients with tethered spinal cord. And 22% was diagnosed as detrusor hyperreflexia. The incidence (83%)of damage of kidney function in patients with detrsusor areflexia and low compliance was significantly higher than patients with detrusor hyperreflexia ( P

0.05),(11.0?4.5)ml/s and (5.0?2.8)ml/s in urethral stricture group( P

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of midodrine (Gutron) in female patients with stress incontinence. Methods A randomized,double-blind,parallel,placebo-controlled,multicentric study was carried out.136 female patients with stress incontinence.68 cases in study group received Gutron (2.5 mg,thrice daily) for a course of 4 weeks.68 cases in control group received placebo in the same manner. Results 129 cases completed the treatment.The mean quantity of incontinent urine decreased by 9.9 g in those receiving Gutron ( n =66) and by 3.1 g in placebo ( n =63),respectively ( P 0.05). Conclusions Midodrine hydrochloride at the dose of 2.5 mg thrice daily has greater efficacy on female patients with stress incontinence than placebo, and the tolerability of midodrine was equivalent to that of placebo.

Objective To evaluate the importance of wide canal sign (increased anteroposterior diameter of the spinal canal at L5) in the MR diagnosis of lumbar isthmic spondylolisthesis.Methods One hundred cases of bilateral isthmic spondylolisthesis at L5 confirmed with conventional radiography and/or CT were randomly collected.Another age and sex matched 100 cases without spon-dylolisthesis were collected as control group.The sagittal canal diameters at the L1 and L5 levels were measured and analyzed for all 100 cases of bilateral isthmic spondylolisthesis and 100 control subjects.For each group,the sagittal canal ratio(defined as the maxi-mum anteroposterior diameter of the canal at L5 level divided by the diameter of the canal at L1 )was calculated and compared be-tween the two groups ,and anylyzed with ROC curve.Results The mean midline sagittal anteroposterior diameter was (22.3 ± 1.34)mm at L5 in patients with lumbar isthmic spondylolisthesis,and (18.8±1.57)mm in the control subjects.The sagittal canal ratio was 1.32 in the isthmic spondylolisthesis group and 1.12 in the control subjects,which was different significantly.ROC curve illustrated that the sagittal canal ratio 1.25 was a most meanful point with 88% sensitivity and 90% specificity.Conclusion The sag-ittal canal ratio at L5 is bigger than 1.25 meaning abnormally increased sagittal canal diameter (wide canal sign),which specifically indicates the presence of bilateral pars interarticularis defects.Using this sign can help to make correct MR diagnosis and differential diagnosis of isthmic spondylolisthesis .

Objective　To study the effects of measures for preventing early postburn damage in improving survival rate of burn patients during the third stage. Methods　12 568 burn cases admitted to our institute were chronically divided into three groups (1958-1980;1981-1990;1991-2000). Total burn surface area (TBSA), survival rate, incidence of burn shock, systemic infection and organ damage as well as the main treatments adopted in the recent decade were retrospectively analyzed. Results　Incidence of burn shock, systemic infection and organ damage were significantly lower, and the total survival rate and the survival rate in patients with different TBSA were markedly higher in the third group as compared with those in the first and the second group. Incidence of organ damage in patients treated with delayed fast fluid infusion, early escharectomy en masse, early enteral feeding, early prevention of inhalation injury and gut bacterial translocation were also significantly lower than in the control. Conclusion Measures taken in the third group for preventing early postburn damage play an important role in improving the survival rate of burn patients.

BACKGROUND: Human pulp tissue has been known to be less, and exhibit poor tolerance to enzymatic digestion and less adherent cells after step-by-step digestion of trypsin and collagenase, thereby often leading to a failure of passage. Only several kinds of dental pulp cells with poor activity can be obtained by the tissue explant-collagenase digestion. OBJECTIVE: To investigate human dental pulp cells cultured in vitro by tissue explant method. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: A cytological observation was performed at Heping Campus and School of Stomatology, Jilin University from 2005 to 2007. MATERIALS: Healthy young human teeth extracted for orthodontic correction or impaction. METHODS: Pulp tissue from the third molar teeth was collected, cut into small blocks with a size of 1.0 mm×1.0 mm×0.5 mm under the infiltration of small amount of Dulbecco's modified eagle's medium, and then transferred into a 6-well plate containing culture medium for incubation in a 5% CO2 and saturated humidity atmosphere at 37 ℃. During the process of incubation, pulp tissue was adjusted at a density of 3-6 blocks/well, with an equal spacing of 0.5 cm and the 6-well plate was kept inverted. Three hours later, the 6-well plate was turned over to make tissue blocks adhering to the plate wall. Culture was continued after addition of 2 mL of culture medium. Culture medium was renewed every 4-6 days. After 6-15 days, cells emigrated from the edge of tissue blocks and call outgrowth appeared around each tissue block. When cells closed to confluency, a digestion procedure of 2.0-3.0 minutes (0.25% trypsin and 0.02% ethylenadiamine tetraacetic acid) was followed by passage culture at a proportion of 1: (2-3) in 25 mL of culture flasks. Purified fibroblast-like cells were gradually obtained from primarily cultured cells by repeated digestion and passage. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cellular morphology was identified by immunohistochemistry; secreted dental pulp cells were determined using alkaline phosphatase activity; the growth curves of human pulp tissue cells were depicted by MTT assay. RESULTS: Under an inverted phase contrast microscope, the obtained dental pulp cells were primarily typical fibroblasts with a long-shuttled appearance, well-rounded call body, uniform cytoplasm, round or oval nucleus, and clear nucleolus. Immunohistochemistry results showed call surface vimentin-positive, pan cytokeratin-negative, and alkaline phosphatase-posltive These cells were decreased after culturing 1 day, were slightly increased after 2 days, entered the logarithmic growth period and were markedly increased after 4 days, entered a platform period after 8 days, and began to decrease again after 9 days. The whole growth curve of cells appeared in "S" shape.CONCLUSION: The dental pulp cells isolated from human pulp tissue by tissue explant method can effectively proliferate end retain a poody differentiated state in vitro.

Object To study the growth speed and dynamic spore production of CY-8202, which is an asexual strain of entomopathogenic fungi isloated from Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc., to explore the method of artificial culture of CY-8208 strain, to assay its antibiotic activity and spectrem and to provide the experimental basis for studies of its active components. Methods Variations in colony diameter of the cordyceps hypha cultured on the fungi media were measured. The spore-count was used to determine the dynamic colony spore outputs of the hypha on several fungi media and water agar. The agar-piece method was used to test its antibiotic activity.Results There were linear relationships between the colony extensions and the culture times on common fungi media such as PDA medium, etc.. The amounts of spore produced by the single colony of the fungi were more than 10 7 and gradually increased, but the rates of increase tended to be gentle after 200 h. Antimicrobial tests against 22 microbial strains showed strong inhibition of gram positve bacteria including Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus tetragenus and Staphylococcus albus, and to gram negative bacteria, including Proteus vulgaris, Salmonella typhi, Aerobacter aerogenes and Salmonella sp., as well as weak inhibition of three mold strains and one actinomycetes strain, but no inhibition was observed in four yeast tested.Conclusion The growth activity and the spore-production ability of Cordyceps hypha are two important factors to infect validly its insect-host. For the growth activity, its strong penetration seems more important than its fast growth. The ability to product numerous spores of Cordyceps hypha may be an important mark of its strong infectivity to insect-host. The antimicrobial tests show that CY-8202 may secrete some metabolites which have a more broad-spectrum antibacterial activity than cordycepin isolated initially from Cordyceps militaris.

The feasibility of bone marrow stromal cells autologous transplantation for rabbit model of dilated cardiomyopathy induced by adriamycin was studied. Twenty rabbits received 2 mg/kg of adriamycin intravenously once a week for 8 weeks (total dose, 16 mg/kg) to induce the cardiomyopathy model with the monitoring of cardiac function by transthoracic echocardiography. Marrow stromal cells were isolated from cell-transplanted group rabbits and were culture-expanded on the 8th week. On the 10th week, cells were labeled with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), and then injected into the myocardium of the same rabbits. The results showed that viable cells labeled with DAPI could be identified in myocardium at 2nd week after transplantation. Histological findings showed the injury of the myocardium around the injection site was relieved with less apoptosis and more expression of bcl-2. The echocardiography found the improvement of local tissue movement from (2.12+/-0.51) cm/s to (3.81+/-0.47) cm/s (P<0.05) around the inject site, but no improvement of heart function as whole. It was concluded bone marrow stromal cells transplantation for dilated cardiomyopathy was feasibe. The management of cells in vitro, the quantity and the pattern of the cells transplantation and the action mechanism still need further research.

A non spore fungal strain designated as CR 9512 was isolated from a species of Cordyceps , found in Northern Guangdong of China The growth characteristics and the morphology of the organism were studied It was initially identified as Rhizoctonia sp ,Agonomycetales Its antimicrobial tests, against 26 strains of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria, actinomycetes, filamentous fungi and yeast, showed strong inhibition to some yeast of Rhodotorula, Saccharomyces, Pichia and Cryptococcus , and weak inhibition to yeast of Candida The speciality on a limited spectrum anti yeast of the organism will show an enormous value for researches and applications