BACKGROUND:As the main component of articular cartilage, type II col agen can induce bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s to differentiate into the cartilage. However, there is no uniform standard for the preparation of type II col agen hydrogel and its usage in the repair of sports-induced cartilage injury. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of type II col agen hydrogel-cel complexes in the repair of cartilage injury. METHODS:After modeling, 30 New Zealand rabbits with cartilage injury were randomized into two groups (n=15 per group):type II col agen hydrogel-bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel complexes were implanted into the injured site of rabbits in experimental group, while only type II col agen hydrogel implanted in control group. Histomorphology observation was performed by hematoxylin-eosin and toluidine blue staining after 4 and 8 weeks after implantation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In the experimental group, there were inflammatory cel s infiltrated at the injured site, most of which were macrophages and only a smal amount of which were neutrophils under hematoxylin-eosin staining, at 4 weeks after implantation, while toluidine blue staining showed no positive. At 8 weeks after implantation, a large amount of chondrocytes proliferated at the injured site that was repaired by chondroblasts and myotubes as wel as new vessels under hematoxylin-eosin staining, and toluidine blue staining showed the injured tissues were similar to normal tissues. In the control group, at 4 weeks after implantation, obvious interstitial edema existed, whereas skeletal muscle cel s disappeared around the injured site, and a lot of inflammatory cel s infiltrated. Several chondroblasts formed at 8 weeks, accompanied by increased fibrous tissues. Moreover, toluidine blue staining always showed no positive in the control group. To conclude, the type II col agen hydrogel-cel complex has better chondrogenic ability that can be used for cartilage repair.

Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a noninvasive angiography technique developed in recent years.Without using contrast medium,this technology can quickly and safely get retinal vascular images with relatively high-resolution.It has been widely used in the diagnosis and management of eye diseases,especially in the vascular diseases,such as diabetic retinopathy (DR),age-related macular degeneration (AMD),retinal central/branch venous obstruction (CRVO/BRVO),choroidal neovascularization(CNV),etc.This article reviews the clinical application of OCTA in diabetic retinopathy.

Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phytotherapy

Objective:To construct recombinant retrovirus expressing human bone morphogenetic protein-7 gene BMP7 and to discuss its apoptosis-inducing activities and the mechanism in liver cancer cell line HepG2. Methods:BMP7 gene was amplified and reconstructed with retroviral plasmid pLP-LNCX by loxP homologous recombination,and then the plasmid pLP-LNCX-BMP7 (pLLBMP7) was transferred into packing cell line PT67 and the supernatant was collected to assay viral titer. MTT assay was adopted to observe HepG2 cells amplification. 48h after pLLBMP7 infection agarose electrophoresis and flow cytometry were used to verify apoptosis of tumor cells,and then the expression of BMP7,caspase-3 and bcl-2 proteins were detected by Western blotting. Results:Recombinant retrovirus pLLBMP7 was justified and transformed into PT67 package cell with supernatant viral titer amounted to 5?109 pfu/ml. In MTT assay retrovirus group had no evident difference from controls in cellular inhibition 72h later (35.1% vs. 5.3%,68.5% vs.18.3%,p

Objective: To investigate the killing activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) stimulated by dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with C 6 glioma antigen eluted by mild acid after photodynamic therapy(PDT) and test the direct influence of PDT on the immunogenicity of C6 glioma cells. Methods: Progenitors of DCs were isolated from rat bone marrow and cultured with rat recombinant interleukin-4 and rat recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor to differentiate mature DC. After PDT, the surface antigen peptides were eluted by mild acid from the still adherent C 6 cells and the whole cell antigens were extracted from the supernatant. For the PDT-untreated C 6 cells, tumor antigens were made by freeze/thaw or mild acid elution method. Then the four types of antigens were used to pulse DCs to generate DC vaccines. SD rats were inoculated with the four DC vaccines to prepare antigen-specific CTLs. The killing activities of spleen CTLs were determined in vitro. Results: The mild acid-eluted surface antigens from PDT-treated C6 cells promoted the maturation of DCs most efficiently. CTLs stimulated by the DC vaccine had highest cell-killing activity in vitro (95.5 ± 1.6)%. The cell-killing rate was (90.2 ± 2.4) % for the CTLs pulsed by whole cell antigens from supernatant of PDT-treated C 6 glioma cells, (73.3 ± 2.7)% for the CTLs pulsed by acid-eluted antigen from PDF-untreated C 6 glioma cells, (63.6 ± 4.9)% for the CTLs pulsed by antigen from PDF-untreated and frozen-thawed C 6 glioma cells, and 0 for PBS control group. Conclusion: PDT directly enhancs immunogenicity of tumor cells. The DC vaccine generated by the antigen peptides eluted by mild acid from PDT-treated tumor cells has a wide prospect of application and research values.

AIM: Using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) to observe the changes and clinical significance of macular blood flow density in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR).METHODS: Totally 47 eyes (28 patients) with diabetic retinopathy (DR) were enrolled in the DR group.According to the international clinical grading criteria of diabetic retinopathy, 30 eyes (19 patients) with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy were classified as the NPDR group, and 17 eyes (11 patients) with proliferative diabetic retinopathy were classified as PDR group.A total of 46 (27 subjects) healthy eyes with matched age were enrolled in the control group.All the subjects underwent the 3mm×3mm scanning of macular retina by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), obtaining 4 levels of macular blood flow density map.The macular blood flow density at 3 levels, including superficial retinal layer, deep retinal layer and choroidal capillaries layer, were measured.RESULTS: The macular blood flow density of superfical retinal layer, deep retinal layer and choroidal capillaries layer in DR group were 0.4963±0.0840, 0.4798±0.0801 and 0.5290±0.0528, respectively.Among them, the blood flow density of each layer were 0.5064±0.0843,0.4983±0.0766,0.5345±0.0529, respectively, for the NPDR group, and were 0.4786±0.0830, 0.4473±0.0778,0.5192±0.0526, respectively, for the PDR group.For the control group, the density of each layers were 0.5919±0.0704, 0.6301±0.0527, 0.5691±0.0169, respectively.The macular blood flow density was significantly different in the superficial retinal layer, deep retinal layer and choroidal capillary layer between the control group and the NPDR group, as well as the PDR group and the DR group (total P<0.001).Statistically significant difference was found between the NPDR group and the PDR group in the deep retina layer (P=0.029), but not in the superficial retina layer and choroid capillary layer (P=0.236, 0.268).CONCLUSION: Compared with the control group, the macular blood flow density of superficial retinal layer, deep retinal layer and choroidal capillary layer in the patients with diabetic retinopathy decreased significantly.It indicated that the macular ischemia existed in both retina and choroid.By quantitatively measurement of the macular blood flow, OCTA may be used for monitoring the progression of diabetes, and early detection of diabetic retinopathy.

China ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phytotherapy ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; therapy

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of thymosin alpha 1 on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Methods 60 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were divided into two groups at random.The two groups were given conventional treatment,and the treatment group was received thymosin alpha 11.6 mg hypodermic injection,1 every other day for 4 weeks,since then 2 times/week for 5 months.All patients were followed for 6 months,clinic every 2 weeks,1 follow-up,evaluation of clinical condition.In two groups,before treatment and 6 months after treatment the blood samples were collected for the measurement of the blood CD3,CD,and CD8 levels.Results In the treatment group,the number and days of patients with acute exacerbation were significantly lower in comparison with those of the control group(all P＜0.01).After treatment with thymosin alpha 1,blood CD4 and CD4/CD8 levels were significantly increased(all P＜0.01).Conclusion Thymosin alpha 1 had a good protection effect for the acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by incresing body cellular immune activity.

Emergencies ; Food Services ; organization & administration ; Foodborne Diseases ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Risk Assessment

Objective To investigate the effects on the renal function and the clinical symptoms of patients with aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN) treated with the Chinese herbal medicine, Jiaweifuzilizhongtang. Method Twenty-seven patients with AAN were treated with Jiaweifuzilizhongtang. The indexes, such as blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (SCr), endogenous creatinine clearance rate (CCr), twenty-four-hour proteinuria quantitate (24 h Upo), ?-N-acetyglocosamidase (NAG), Urine Osmol (Uosm), erythrocyte (RBC), hemoglobin (HB) and so on, were observed before and after treatment, and the score of patients’ symptoms including aversion to cold and cold limbs, lassitude and weakness, poor appetite and anorexia, nausea and vomiting, pale complexion, was also calculated. Result Compared with that of treatment bebore, the renal function of patients after treatment was significantly improved (P