Aged ; Cardiac Pacing, Artificial ; adverse effects ; Echocardiography ; methods ; Heart Failure ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; Humans ; Male

Aim To study the protective effects of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) postconditioning on rat myocardial cells injured by hypoxia/reoxygenation in reperfusion injury salvage kinase ( RISK ) signal path-way. Methods The cultured rat H9c2 cells were ran-domly divided into seven groups: ( 1 ) control group;(2) hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) group; (3) S1P group;(4) S1P+LY294002 group(S1P+LY); (5) LY group; ( 6 ) S1 P +PD98059 group ( S1 P +PD );(7) PD group. The viability of H9c2 cells was detec-ted using MTT method. The content of MDA in the cultured medium and the activity of T-SOD and Mn-SOD were measured with colorimetry. The concentra-tion of intracellular free calcium ion was detected by confocal microscopy. The rate of cell apoptosis was de-termined by flow cytometric analysis. Western blot was used to assess phosphorylation of Akt and ERK1/2 in H9c2 cells. Results Compared with the H/R group, S1P significantly increased vaibility of cells, lowered the rate of apoptosis, decreased the content of MDA in the culture medium, increased the activity of T-SOD and Mn-SOD, reduced concentration of intracellular calcium and increased the phosphorylation of Akt and ERK1/2 . When added LY294002 or PD98059 , the effects of S1P above were inhibited. Conclusion S1P protects H9 c2 cells against hypoxia/reoxygenation inju-ry. The protection of S1P was inhibited by LY294002, the inhibitor of PI3 K/Akt and PD98059 , the inhibitor of ERK1/2 . S1 P protects H9 c2 cells against hypoxia/reoxygenation injury via RISK pathway.

BACKGROUND:Previous studies have found that estrogen deficiency causes a reduction in the activity of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s (BMSCs). OBJECTIVE:To explore the effect of endothelial progenitor cel s (EPCs) on the BMSCs proliferation and apoptosis ability of osteoporosis rats. METHODS:Healthy female Sprague-Dawley rats, 6 weeks old, were enrol ed and subjected to bilateral ovariectomy to make osteoporosis models. BMSCs and EPCs were isolated using density gradient centrifugation combined with adhesion method, and identified with surface markers, cel proliferation and immunocytochemistry in vitro. We used Transwel inserts to establish EPCs and OVX-BMSCs indirect co-culture system. Control groups were OVX-BMSCs group and sham-BMSCs group in which rats were only subjected to remove the equal amount of fat tissues around the ovary. Flow cytometry was applied to detect BMSCs proliferation and apoptosis ability. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the control groups, the results of flow cytometry test showed that the proportion of OVX-BMSCs at S phase was significantly increased at 3 days of indirect co-culture with EPCs and the apoptosis rate was significanty reduced at 10 days of indirect co-culture with EPCs (both P<0.05). These results suggest that EPCs can promote the proliferation but inhibit the apoptosis of OVX-BMSCs.

Objective To evaluate the short and long term efficacy of self-expandable metallic stent implantation through bronchoscope in the management of the patients with malignant airway stenosis.Methods Seventy-four hospitalized patients with malignant airway stenosis during a 10-year period were selected as our subjects from Dec.2002 to Nov.2012 in the Respiratory Department of the Central Hospital of Wuhan.All these patients underwent bronchoscope for nitinol self-expandable metallic stent implantation.Clinical improvement,6min walking distance (6MWT),mMRC index,arterial blood gas,as well as early and late postoperative complications were investigated.Results A total of 77 stents were implanted,including 34 covered metallic stents and 43 uncovered metallic stents.All patients showed the obvious relief of dyspnea after the operation.6MWT at pre-operation was (172 ± 45)m and (288 ± 36)m at 28 week post-operation.Arterial blood gas was (61.34 ±6.44)mmHg at pre-opemtion and (72.12 ±6.87) mmHg at 28 week post-operation.mMRC was 3.56 ± 0.44 at pre-operation and 1.96 ± 0.37 at 28 week post-operation.All these differences were significant(P ＜ 0.01).The operation succeeded in releasing bucking of patients with esophago-tracheal fistula.Symptoms such as fever,cough,pharyngodynia,foreign body sensation and hemoptysis were observed,and all the above side effect could be solved while no serious complications arose.Conclusion Bronchoscopic insertion of metallic airway stents for malignant airway stenosis is a safe and effective procedure that could obviously relieve respiratory distress and improve the quality of life.

Objective To provide a practical device and protocol to hold conscious rats for subsequent operations which can overcome the disadvantages of existing methods .Users can complete the experiment more efficiently , with or without prior experience .Methods Using transparent plastic film , plastic sealing machine and sponge to make a simple device for holding rats , by taking advantage of their escaping nature .To compare the performance of the new method and existing methods for holding and injecting rats .Results Compared with existing methods , the new device and method can reduce the time-consuming to hold rats by 44.7%, from 18.13 seconds to 10.03 seconds.For holding and injecting , the new method can reduce the time-consuming by 55.3%, from 139.33 seconds to 52.26 seconds .Conclusions The new device and method is good for holding and injecting rats or drawing blood from the caudal veins .It can shorten the time of operation and reduce the stress reaction in the animals .It’ s especially helpful for inexperienced experimenters such as students in teaching and research tasks .

BACKGROUND:Numerous studies have demonstrated that estrogen can regulate the proliferation and migration of endothelial progenitor cel s (EPCs), while EPCs can also promote the function and activity of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s (BMSCs) in vitro. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the ability of the BMSCs and EPCs which construct the composite cel sheet in the repair of alveolar bone defect in ovariectomized rats. METHODS:BMSCs/EPCs composite sheet, EPCs sheet and BMSCs sheet were respectively implanted into the defects of the alveolar bone in ovariectomized rats. Rats with no implantation served as control group. Repaired alveolar bone was assessed by gross examination, histological observation and micro-CT scan at 2, 4, 8 weeks after operation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:BMSCs/EPCs composite sheet has greater osteogensis activity and bone repair capacity than BMSCs or EPCs sheet alone.

OBJECTIVETo explore the therapeutic effect of acupuncture for hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage at the early stage.

METHODSFifty-four cases of small-amount cerebral hemorrhage were randomized into an acupuncture group and a conventional treatment group, 27 cases in each one. In the conventional treatment group, special care, oxygen therapy, nerve nutrition and symptomatic support were applied. In necessary, dehydrant and hypotensive drugs were prescribed for antihypertension, or surgery was given. In the acupuncture group, on the basis of the treatment as the control group, acupuncture was applied at Quchi (LI 11), Neiguan (PC 6), Zusanli (ST 36), Sanyinjiao (SP 6) and Taichong (LR 3). Acupuncture was given at the admission, 4 h, 6 h and 12 h after disease onset respectively. Blood pressure was monitored in the whole procedure. 6 h and 24 h after disease onset, the cranial CT was re-examined. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), hematoma volume and neurological deficit score were compared at different time points between the two groups.

RESULTS(1) Blood pressure: from the admission to 12 h after disease onset, SBP, DBP and MAP were increased apparently in the conventional treatment group and increased slightly in the acupuncture group. The differences in SBP [(164.3 +/- 21.6) mmHg vs (158.6 +/- 21.5) mmHg] and MAP [(113.4 +/- 4.9) mmHg vs (106.7 +/- 6.1) mmHg] were significant between the two groups (both P < 0.05). From 12 h to 24 h after disease onset, compared with the conventional treatment group, SBP and MAP were decreased apparently in the acupuncture group [(147.3 +/- 21.6) mmHg vs (158.4 +/- 23.5) mmHg, (97.2 +/- 5.3) mmHg vs (106.6 +/- 5.1) mmHg, both P < 0.05)]. (2) Hematoma volume: from the admission to 6 h after disease onset, the volume was increased by (4.15 +/- 0.73) mL in the convertional treatment group and (2.67 +/- 0.33) mL in the acupuncture group, indicating the significant difference in comparison (P < 0.05). From the admission to 24 h after disease onset, it was increased by (5.57 +/- 1.26) mL in the convertional treatment group and (3.14 +/- 1.18) mL in the acupuncture group, indicating the significant difference in comparison (P < 0.05). (3) Neurological deficit score: the score was increasing gradually in first 3 days after disease onset in the two groups. The score (38.39 +/- 6.84) in the acupuncture group on the first day was different significantly as compared with that (42.37 +/- 7.46) in the conventional treatment group (P < 0.05). On the 10th days, the score (24.68 +/- 5.42) in the acupuncture group was different significantly from that (29.74 +/- 7.36) in the convertional treatment group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThere is no peak of blood pressure rising, and the continuous hemorrhagic volume is less in 24 h and neurological deficit score is improved in the acupuncture group. Acupuncture brings the positive significance in the treatment of cerebral hemorrhage at the early stage.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Blood Pressure ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Female ; Hematoma ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Plants in Ainsliaea genus, belongs to Compositae family, are traditional Chinese medicine and widely used in folk. These plants contain various types of chemical components, and main components are sesquiterpene lactone and its glycosides. In addition, there are triterpenoids, flavonoids, steroids, phenolic acid, long chain fatty acid and volatile oils. Recently, much attention has been payed to varlous research of A. fragrans. This paper reviewed and summarized the chemical components to provide the theoretical basis for the use of Ainsliaea.
Asteraceae ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Molecular Structure

Background and Objectives The relationship between left atrial (LA) size and congestive heart failure (CHF) is well recognized;however, there is little information on the association of pulmonary vein (PV) diameter and CHF.The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of PV and LA sizes in CHF patients by multislice computed tomography (MSCT) angiography using a new 64-slice scanner. Methods and Results We assessed diameters of PVs ostium and LA by 64-slice MSCT with three-dimensional reconstruction in 25 CHF patients and in 26 age- and sex-matched non-CHF controls. Compared with controls, CHF patients showed significant greater diameters of left superior pulmonary vein (LSPV) and right inferior pulmonary vein (RIPV) in both anteriorposterior(AP) and superior-inferior (SI) directions (P＜0.01), significant dilation of right superior pulmonary vein (RSPV) in AP direction (P＜0.05), as well as significant increase of LA transverse, AP, and SI diameters (P＜0.01). Conclusion Significant dilation of PVs with simultaneous LA enlargement was demonstrated in CHF patients. This anatomic and geometric changes may participate in the perpetuation of AF.

The important progress of the relationship between genomics and cardiovascular diseases has elucidated several abnormalities of genes leading to familial cardiomyopathy and ion channel diseases.Investigations of genomics show that the difference including resistance and susceptivity to diseases among human is determined by over 3 million base pairs of all 3,000 million.Single nucleotide polymorphism plays an essential role in elucidating hereditary cardiovascular diseases.