BACKGROUND: The bone marrow stromal cells in red bone marrow (RBM) are the non-specific bone growth factors,and the target cells of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), and they have the activities of osteoinduction and osteogenesis.Injectable calcium alginate gel (CaAG) is a degradable biomaterial with good histocompatibility,it provides scaffold for the proliferation and adhesion of osteoblasts and chondroblasts,and it is good for the proliferation of new capillaries.OBJECTIVE:To prepare CaAG-BMP-RBM gel compound,and observe its osteoinductivity.DESIGN:A randomized controlled animal trial.SETTINGS:Department of Orthopaedics,Shenzhen People's Hospital;Department of Orthopaedics,Union Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology.MATERIALS:The experiments were carried out in Shenzhen People's Hospital from February 2002 to February 2003.Twenty-seven pure SD rats, either male or female,weighing (200±20) g,were purchased from the Animal Experimental Center of Southern Medical University (No.SCXK2002-99).BMP was bought from Xijing Hospital affiliated to the Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA.METHODS:The rats were randomly divided into three groups:CaAG-BMP-RBM group(n=9),CaAG.BMP group (n=9) and CaAG group (n=9).In the CaAG-BMP-RBM group,the rats were anesthetized,then 0.1 mL RBM collected from trochanteric section of fetour was added into the prepared CaAG-BMP compound (0.4 mL),sufficiently mixed,and then injected into posterior femoral muscle.The rats in the CaAG-BMP group and CaAG group were implanted with CaAG-BMP and CaAG into bilateraI posterior femoral muscles respectively.①The conditions of becoming conscious after anesthesia, incision healing, diet and activities were observed, the size and consistency of the implants and distribution of vessels were also observed.②The indexes were detected at 1,2 and 4 weeks after model establishment respectively,and 3 rats were used for each time point.The sections were observed under light microscope.and the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was determined.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ①General conditions of animals and gross observation of the implants;②Histopathological observation;③ALP activities.RESULTS: All the 27 SD rats were involved in the analvsis of results.The rats became conscious at 4.6 hours after anesthesia,and they could eat normally;Hematom at incision disappeared.and the rats could move normally at 24 hours;No sign of infection at incision was observed at 72 hours;The incisions healed completely and suture shed after 2 weeks.The incisions were stage Ⅰ healing in all the 27 rats.①Results of gross observation of the implants:At 1 week after implantation.the size of implant did not decrease and vessels in-grew in both the CaAG-BMP-RBM group and CaAG-BMP group;At 2 weeks,lhe quality was hard, and the section appeared as gray and white with deposition of bone-like tissues;At 4 weeks,a great amount of vessels in-grew,and there were many depositions of hard bone-like tissues.②Results of the histopathological observation under light microscope:In the CaAG-BMP.RBM group.many mesenchymal cells aggregated, osteoblasts and chondroblasts proliferated actively al 1 week;The chondrocytes tended to mature with cartilage-like and bone-like matrixes at 2 weeks; Many osteocytes were observed and fibrous bone formed at 4 weeks.which were more then those in the other two groups.③Results of ALP activity:At 1.2 and 4 weeks after implantation.the ALP activities in the CaAG group [(0.179±0.018),(0.058±0.017).(0.027±0.018)IU/g] were lower than those in the CaAG-BMP-RBM group[(0.922±0.226),(1.169±0.249),(0.431±0.081)IU/g,P＜0.01);At 1 and 4 weeks,the ALP activities in the CaAG-BMP group[(0.447±0.015),(0.276±0.081)IU/g]were lower than those in the CaAG-BMP-RBM group (P＜0.05).CONCLUSION:The compound of CaAG-BMP-RBM possesses stable and lasting osleoinductivity.

Objective To explore the mechanism and inhibition of botulinum toxin type A (BTXA) on hypertrohic scar fibroblasts.Methods The cells were treated by 0 (control),0.2,0.4,0.8 U/ml BTXA for 48 h.Cell viability was detected by MTT assay.Cell apoptosis was detected by Hoechst staining.Cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry.The level of cell cycle related protein D1 (Cyclin D1),proliferation nuclear antigen (PCNA) and activation of phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) / protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway were assayed by western blot.Results Compared with control group(0.75±0.07),0.2,0.4,0.8 U/mL BTXA(0.59 ± 0.06,0.43 ± 0.04,0.34± 0.03) inhibited hypertrohic scar fibroblasts cell viability,increased cell apoptotic rate[control group(2.38±0.24)％;BTXA(15.79±1.54)％,(27.32±2.69)％,(38.46±3.90)％],down-regulated the expression of Cyclin D1(control group 1.57±0.18;BTXA 0.93±0.07,0.42±0.04,0.35±0.03) and PCNA(control group 1.46±0.16;BTXA 0.50±0.05,0.59±0.05,0.37±0.03),inhibited the expression of PI3K(control group 0.98±0.06;BTXA 0.49±0.04,0.50±0.04,0.39±0.03) and the phosphorylation of AKT(control group 1.38±0.08;BTXA 0.97±0.06,0.60±0.04,0.29± 0.02),made cell cycle arrested in G1 phase,The difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).Conclusion These results suggested BTXA inhibit proliferation via blocking the activation of PI3K/AKT signal pathway and down-stream related cell cycle related protein.

Objective To investigate the gray matter volume differences between adult hypothyroid subjects and healthy controls using voxel-based morphometry (VBM).Methods A total of 28 untreated hypothyroid patients and 28 age and gender-matched uormal controlswere recruited.The coucentrations of their freetriiodothyronine (FT3),free theroxine (FT4),and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)were testedfrom their venous blood on the day they accepted MR scanning.High resolution 3D-datawereobtained using 3.0 T MRI scanner.VBM analysis was performed to detect the volume differences between the groups by using voxel-wise two sample t test.Multiple regression analysis was employed to analyze the influence exerted upon gray matter volume by serum FT3,FT4,and TSH concentrationof hypothyroid patients.Results Compared to controls,gray matter volumes in the bilateral superior frontal gyri,left precentralgyrus and bilateral cerebellum were decreased in hypothyroid patients (voxels 211-2 142,t=3.36-3.69,P＜0.01,corrected).No significant correlation between the gray matter volume in the above-mentioned brain regions and the clinical variables (serum FT3,FT4,and TSH concentration) (P＞0.05) was found in the multiple regression analysis.Conclusions VBM analysis revealed that hypothyroid patients exhibited reduced gray matter volume in multiple brain regions.It suggests that the lack of thyroid hormones can lead to the structural abnormalities in adult brain and selective gray matter atrophy in multiple brain regions.

Objective:To confirm the efficacy and safety of Tiankui antihypertension tablets combined with chemical drugs in the treatment of patients with hypertension whose blood pressure can 't reach the standard after the treatment only with chemical drugs. Methods:Randomized, double-blind, placebo control and multicenter clinical trials were performed on 240 subjects (160 in the ex-periment group and 80 in the control group) in 6 clinical trial centers. Tiankui antihypertension tablets and the placebo were respec-tively given with 4 tablets per time and 3 times a day. The efficacy and safety were observed. Results:For the blood pressure control, the significant efficiency of the experimental group was 63. 23%, while that of the control group was 31. 65%. The significant efficien-cy and effective rate of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome of the experimental group was 48. 39% and 20. 25%, re-spectively, while that of the control group was 20. 25% and 36. 71%, respectively. All of the studied clinical indicators showed signifi-cant differences between the two groups (P<0. 05). No severe adverse reaction was shown in the two groups. Conclusion:Tiankui an-tihypertension tablets combined with chemical drugs exhibits better curative effect and safety in the treatment of hypertension patients whose blood pressure can’ t reach the standard after the treatment only with chemical drugs.