Objective To study the relationship of levels of acetylcholine receptor antibody (AChRAb) and thyroid antibodies in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) and thyroidism. Methods Thyroid function of FT3, FT4 and TSH, and thyroid antibodies including TSH receptor antibody ( TRAb), thyroid globulin antibody (TGAb) and thyroid microsome antibody (TMAb) were detected in 100 patients with MG and 100 healthy controls. Among them, 32 patients were further tested for AChRAb. The relationship between AChRAb and each of TRAb, TGAb and TMAb was analyzed along with their relevant clinical characteristics. Results Of 100 patients with MG, 12 cases ( 12% ) were hyperthyroidism and 4 cases (4%) were hypothyroidism, and 71 cases (71%) were thyroid antibodies positive. The percent of thyroid antibodies positive cases was significantly higher than that of thyroidism cases (χ2=4. 788, P < 0. 05 ). Analysis on AChRAb and TRAb in 32 AChRAb tested cases demonstrated a linear correlation (r= 0. 609, P = 0. 0002). Conclusions The incidence of thyroid antibody positive in MG cases is significantly higher than incidence of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism in MG. AChRAb and TRAb has a linear correlation.

Autophagy plays an important role in the regulation of activation and inflammation of microglia after ischemic stroke. The interaction between autophagy of microglia and the inflammation mediated by microglia after ischemic stroke was complex and a large num-ber of molecules were involved. The receptors of microglia activation and related substances may be possible mechanism in the regulation of microglia autophagy. Autophagy inhibitors and microglia receptor targeting therapy may provide new strategies for the clinical treatment of ischemic stroke. This paper summarized the progress of microglia autophagy after ischemic stroke.

Microglial cells are the resident immune cells of brain. The activated microglia produces a range of deleterious substances, which plays an important role in the inflammation of post-stroke, such as superoxide, nitric oxide, matrix metalloproteinases, etc. The activa-tion of microglia may involve triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1, Toll-like receptors 4, peroxisome proliferator-activated re-ceptors, purinergic receptors, etc. Intervention targeted to microglial receptor is becoming a new strategy for ischemic stroke.

Objective To investigate the surgery method for early spontaneous posterior interosseous nerve entrapment,to observe the postoperative efficacy in treatment,to evaluate the surgical outcomes,and to provide a foundation for clinical choice of reasonable operation scheme.Methods 21 cases of early spontaneous posterior interosseous nerve entrapment received operation. 1 3 cases (1 8 arms) were treated by neurolysis, and 8 cases (8 arms )were treated by nerve grafts with small vessels wrapping operation;all the patients were followed up for 10 to 20 months;the finger extensor muscle strength and metacarpophalangeal joint activity were evaluated. Results The lesion extensor muscles were part of the denervation changes.Neurolysis muscle strength:14 arms were excellent(82.35%),2 arms were good,1 arm was fair,1 case was lost;extensor function:15 arms were excellent(88.24%),1 arm was good,1 arm was fair,1 case was lost.Nerve graft muscle strength:6 arms were excellent(75.00%),1 arm was good,1 arm was fair;extensor function:7 arms were excellent(87.50%),0 arm was good,1 arm was fair.Conclusion Neurolysis can have a good efficacy in treatment of early spontaneous posterior interosseous nerve entrapment without obvious degeneration.When the severe degeneration of entrapment nerve happens,a nerve graft surgical treatment is needed.

BACKGROUND: It is significant to establish a kind of effective, conve nient and reliable animal model of hypertension. At present, dogs, rats and rabbits are usually used to establish hypertensive models at home and abroad, and the renal artery stenosis induced hypertensive models are ex tensively used to research hypertension and its complication for human be ings because they are convenient and reliable, and there are many methods to establish them, but the effects are to be evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To establish convenient and reliable animal models of ex perimental renal artery stenosis induced hypertension. DESIGN: A randomized grouping design and animal experiment. SETTING: Institute of Cerebrovascular diseases, Medical College Hospital of Qingdao University. MATERIALS: The experiments were carried out in Shandong Key Labora tory for Prevention and treatment of Brain Disease from September 2005 to February 2006. Eighty-one healthy Wistar rats divided into 7 groups accord ing to the method of random number table: unilateral renal artery stenosis group (n=18), bilateral renal artery stenosis group (n=17), unilateral renal artery ligation group (n=15), bilateral renal artery ligation group (n=15), uni lateral renal artery stenosis sham-operated group (n=6), bilateral renal artery stenosis sham-operated group (n=4) and normal control group (n=6). METHODS: Unilateral renal artery stenosis group: Right renal artery was clamped with miniature silver clip, and left kidney was resected after 12 days. Bilateral renal artery stenosis group: Right renal artery was clamped with miniature silver clip, and the same treatment was given to the left side after 12 days. Unilateral renal artery ligation group: Right renal artery was ligated with filament, and left kidney was resected after 12 days. Bilateral renal artery ligation group: Right renal artery was ligated with filament, and the same treatment was given to the left side after 12 days. Unilateral renal artery stenosis sham-operated group: Right kidney was exposed, and returned to the original place without any treatment, and left kidney was resected af ter 12 days. Bilateral renal artery stenosis sham-operated group: Right kid ney was exposed, and returned to the original place without any treatment, and the same treatment was given to the left side after 12 days. Normal con trol group: The rats were not given any treatment. The blood pressure and heart rate were determined with RBP-2 hemomanometer for rats. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The successful rate of model estab lishment, blood pressure and heart rate were observed. RESULTS: Totally 81 rats were used, and 61 of them died, all were in volved in the analysis of results without deletion. ① Blood pressures in the unilateral and bilateral renal artery stenosis groups and bilateral renal artery ligation group were obviously higher than those in the normal control group and bilateral renal artery stenosis sham-operated group [(138.0 ±36.5), (154.2±11.6), (160.5±0.7), (101.3±17.6), (108.3±5.7) mm Hg]. ② The changes of heart rate in the renal artery stenosis group were unstable, and the heart rates in the unilateral and bilateral renal artery stenosis groups, bilateral renal artery ligation group, normal control group and bilat eral renal artery stenosis sham-operated group were (367.5±47.2), (420.2 ±47.8), (386.0±4.2), (390.3±42.4), (417.3±27.5) beats per minute, respec tively. ③ The survival rates in the renal artery stenosis groups (22%, 29%) were significantly higher than those in the renal artery ligation groups (0,12%), and it was the highest in the unilateral renal artery stenosis group.CONCLUSION: The method of clamping bilateral renal arteries can establish stable rat models of hypertension induced by renal artery stenosis.

Objective To investigate the association between postprandial triglyceride and the severity of coronary artery disease in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS). Methods AlI of 91 patients with MS were recruited for this study. Thirty-one patients with normal fasting and postprandial triglyceride was in MS1 group, 29 patients with normal fasting triglyceride and postprandial hypertrigtyceridemia was in MS2 group, and 31 patients with fasting hypertriglyeeridemia was in MS3 group. Blood triglyceride at the time of postprandial 4 hours was measured and the quantity of coronary artery branch disease was determined by coronary angiography. The relationship between them was analyzed. Result There was significant positive correlation between the quantity of coronary artery branch disease and the level of blood triglyceride at the time of postprandial 4 hours (r = 0.42, P < 0.01 ). Conclusions It is important to detect the level of blood triglyceride at the time of postprandial 4 hours. Prompt intervention maybe decrease the incidence and mortality rate of cardiovascular disease in patients with MS.

Objective To evaluate the relationship of peripheral blood Th17 and regulatory T (Treg) cells with disease activity in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).Methods This study recruited 21 patients with active SSc,24 patients with inactive SSc and 24 normal human controls with informed consent.Peripheral blood samples were obtained from these subjects.Flow cytometry was used to detect the percentages of Th17 and Treg cells in peripheral blood CD4+ cells,a fluorescence-based quantitative PCR to determine the levels of interleukin (IL)-17A,retinoid-related orphan receptor gamma t (RoRγt),forkhead box P3 (FoxP3) mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBCs),and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay to measure the serum level of IL-17.Results Increased percentage of Th17 cells in peripheral blood CD4+ cells was observed in patients with active SSc compared with those with inactive SSc and normal human controls (2.34％ ± 1.19％vs.0.68％ ± 0.39％ and 0.57％ ± 0.49％,respectively,both P ＜ 0.05).No statistical difference was noted in the percentage of Treg cells in CD4+ cells or the mRNA expression levels of FoxP3 between the patients with active SSc,inactive SSc and normal human controls (all P ＞ 0.05).There was a significant increase in the mRNA expression of IL-17A,RoRγt in PBMCs and serum levels of IL-17 in patients with active SSc compared with patients with inactive SSc and normal human controls ( 11.73 ± 0.80 vs.9.77 ± 1.30 and 10.79 ± 0.74,respectively,both P ＜ 0.05; 18.48 ± 1.09 vs.15.89 ± 1.48 and 17.77 ± 1.64,respectively,both P ＜ 0.05; 53.60± 9.90 pg/ml vs.15.18 ± 3.24 pg/ml and 15.53 ± 4.12 pg/ml,respectively,both P ＜ 0.05).The percentage of Th17 cells in CD4+ cells and serum IL-17 levels were both positively correlated with disease activity in patients with active SSc (r =0.675,0.644,respectively,both P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Th17 cells are highly proliferative in patients with active SSc,which may be closely correlated with the activity of SSc.

The Hazardous effect of Hippophae Rhamnoides L. juice was studied biologically. The results showed that the Hippophae rhamnoides L. juice has no teratogenic and mutagenic effect on the rat and mice germ cells.

OBJECTIVE Toinvestigatetheantidepressantandantianxietyeffectofproanthocyani-dins(OPC)inchronicallystressedratsanditsunderlyingmechanism.METHODS Onemethodwas selected from 8 different stress methods each day,and the rats were treated with OPC (25,50 and 1 00 mg·kg -1 )1 h before the stress method.The chronically stressed model was established.After 21 d stress experi ment,the i mmobility ti me in force swi mming test,sucrose consu mption and the nu mber of marbles buried in the marble burying test were observed respectively each day.OPC (25,50 and 1 00 mg·kg -1 )was given 1 h before each test.In addition,Western blotting was used to analyze the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and phosphorylated cyclic AMP response element-bindingprotein(p-CREB)inthehippocampusandfrontalcortex.RESULTS Comparedwith the control group,the chronically stressed group showed obvious depressive-like and anxiety-like behav-ior,while the immobility time decreased from (90.57 ±4.27)s in chronically stressed group to (78.25 ± 2.53)s (P<0.05),(72.12 ±3.21 )s(P<0.05)and (60.77 ±3.41 )s (P<0.05)when ig given OPC 25,50 and 100 mg·kg -1 respectively,the ratio of sucrose preference increased from (42.80 ±4.92)%to (67.54 ±4.32)%(P<0.05)and (72.21 ±7.99)%(P<0.05)when ig given OPC 50 and 1 00 mg· kg -1 respectively,the number of buried marbles decreased from 1 .57 ±0.21 in chronically stressed group to 0.63 ±0.26 (P<0.05)and 0.44 ±0.1 8 (P<0.05)when ig given OPC 50 and 1 00 mg·kg -1 respectively.The expression of p-CREB in the hippocampus and frontal cortex distinctively increased in OPC group (25,50 and 100 mg·kg -1 )(P<0.05),so did the expression of BDNF in the hippocampus andfrontalcortexinOPCgroup(50and100mg·kg-1)(P<0.05).CONCLUSION OPCcanreverse the depressive-like and anxiety-like behavior in chronically stressed rats,which may be related to the cAMP-CREB-BDNF signal transduction cascades.

Objective To assess the enhancement feature of intracranial atherosclerotic plaque in the vessel supplying the territory of infarction by using high-resolution MR imaging.To analyze the correlation between the degree of plaque enhancement , time elapsed and the concentration of hypersensitive C-reactive protein ( hs-CRP ).Methods The characteristics of vessel walls and intracranial vascular stenoses were retrospectively analyzed in 81 patients with ischemic strokes.All subjects were imaged with a traditional stroke MR protocol and HR-MRI scanning for plaque on a 3.0 T MRI scanner.According to the elapsed time between infarct and MR examination , all cases were classified into early stage (<4 weeks from acute stroke, n=58), middle stage (4-12 weeks, n=13) and late stage ( >12 weeks, n=10).The characteristics of vessel walls and degrees of enhancement of atherosclerotic plaques were assessed and the concentrations of hs-CRP in all patients were determined.The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to compare the degree of enhancement and hs-CRP concentration among the early , middle and late stage.The concentration of hs-CRP was presented as median ( interquartile range ).The Spearman correlation was used to analyze the correlation between elapsed time , hs-CRP concentration and degree of enhancement.Results Fifty-five (55/81) plaques were located at the M1 segments, and the other 26 (26/81) plaques were at the basilar artery.The degree and presence of enhancement from strong to none were 29, 25 and 4 in the early stage;4, 6 and 3 in the middle stage and 0, 4, 6 in the late stage, respectively.The degree and presence of enhancement were significantly different among them (H=16.934,P<0.01).There was a remarkable trend of decreasing degree and presence of enhancement of the atherosclerotic plaque relative to increasing time after the ischemic event(r=-0.792,P<0.01).The serum hs-CRP concentration for early, middle and late stage were 7.0(3.0, 13.0), 2.27(1.0, 3.03) and 1.88(0.50, 4.0)mg/L (H=14.345,P<0.01) , respectively.There was a trend of decreasing hs-CRP concentration relative to the time elapsed ( r =-0.357,P<0.01).The degrees of enhancement of the plaques were parallel to the levels of hs -CRP( r=0.526,P<0.01).Conclusions Enhanced HR-MRI scanning may clearly demonstrate the enhancement characteristics of intracranial atherosclerotic plaques as an indicator of inflammation.It might play an important role to detect risk factors for intracranial plaque rupture and subsequent acute ischemic stroke .