Objective: To explore the role of corticosterone in morphine-induced acute psychomotor activity and behavioral sensitization.Methods: 32 male SD rats were divided into four groups. Rats were intraperitoneally given saline, morphine, corticosterone and corticosterone/morphine separately. The horizontal locomotor activity was recorded for 60min by the computer trace system automatically. The locomotor activity was measured in every two days for total seven times. Results:The corticosterone/morphine group showed significant morphine-induced acute psychomotor effect comparing with the saline group(saline group 7175?676, corticosterone/morphine group 10365?503,P

0 05) Conclusions Cervical epidural for postoperative analgesia can effectively inhibit the stress response in patient after the replantation of amputated fingers but dose not affect respiratory function Fentanyl provides best analgesia with less adverse effects and is suitable for postoperative analgesia in these patients

Objective To investigate the expression of CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and its relationship with the clinical pathological parameters of ccRCC.Methods The expression of CXCR4 was detected by immuno-histochemistry method in 63 cases of ccRCCs,20 cases of para-carcinoma tissues and 20 cases of normal renal tissues.The correlation between expression level of CXCR4 and clinical pathological parameters of ccRCC patients were analyzed,and the clinical significance of its expression in ccRCC was evaluated.Results The positive expression rate of CXCR4(49.2％) in ccRCCs was significantly higher than that in para-carcinoma tissues (15％) and normal renal tissue (10％),and the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).The expression level of CXCR4 and the clinical stage and pathological grade of ccRCC were correlated (P ＜ 0.05),and was associated with lymph node transfer (P ＜ 0.05).The CXCR4 negative group overall survival rate [55.2％ (16/29)] and the average survival time(46 months) was significantly better than the positive group [38.5％ (10/26),32 months;P ＜ 0.05].Conclusions The expression level of CXCR4 in ccRCC is correlated with the clinicopathological parameters and prognosis.CXCR4 is expected to be an important marker for diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of renal cell carcinoma.

Objective To investigate the correlation of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protien (CRP) lev?els with left atrial thrombus and severe spontaneous echocontrast (SEC) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods A case-control study of patients with atrial fibrillation (n=76) was carried out. All patients were divided into control group (n=45) and study group (n=31) according to their conventional echocardiography performance. Serum IL-6 and CRP were exam?ined in both groups. Results The levels of serum IL-6 in patients with thrombus and severe SEC were (324.13±42.86) ng/L and (332.29±53.17) ng/L, respectivly which is higher than that in patient without thrombus or without severe SEC (108.75± 25.43) ng/L and (93.59 ± 27.82) ng/L respectively. In parallel, CRP levels in patients of thrombus and severe SEC were (66.97 ± 17.65) mg/L and (71.81 ± 20.19) mg/L respectively which is higher than that in patients without thrombus or without severe SEC (17.28±6.52) mg/L and (16.76±8.73) mg/L respectively. All differences were of statistically significant(P<0.05). Conclusion Increase of serum IL-6 and CRP as well as high systemic inflammatory state correlate with left atrial thombus and severe SEC in patients with AF.

OBJECTIVE:To study the protective effects of total flavone from Prunus cerasifera fruits(PCE)on alcoholic liver disease(ALD)in rats,and provide experimental basis for developing new medicines for anti-ALD. METHODS:40 rats were ran-domly divided into normal group(distilled water),model group(distilled water),silibinin group [positive control,30 mg/(kg·d)] and PCE high-dose,low-dose groups [80,40 mg/(kg·d)],8 in each group. All rats were intragastrically administrated(10 mL/kg) every morning,once,for 6 weeks;meanwhile,except for normal group,rats in other groups received 50% alcohol(10 mL/kg) once intragastrically every afternoon to induce ALD model. After administration,heart,liver,spleen and other organ indexes,sub-cutaneous fat,brown fat,abdominal fat indexes were determined,as well as serum biochemical indexes [glutamate transaminase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),total bilirubin(TBIL),direct bilirubin(DBIL),indirect bilirubin(IBIL),gamma-glu-tamyl transpeptidase(GGT),and total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG),high-density lipoprotein(HDL),low-density lipopro-tein (LDL)] level and liver biochemical indexes [superoxide dismutase (SOD),malondialdehyde (MDA),glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px),TC,TG] and TC,TG levels in feces;pathological changes of liver and kidney tissues were observed. RESULTS:Compared with normal group,heart,liver,spleen indexes,subcutaneous fat,abdominal fat indexes in model group were in-creased(P<0.05 or P<0.01),brain index and brown fat index were decreased(P<0.05);HDL level and HDL/TC ratio in serum were decreased,other serum indexes were increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01);SOD,GSH-Px levels in liver tissue were decreased, other above-mentioned liver biochemical indexes were increased(P<0.01);TC,TG levels in feces were increased(P<0.01);liv-er and kidney showed obvious lesions. Compared with model group,the above-mentioned indexes in silibinin group and PCE high-dose group were significantly improved (P<0.05 or P<0.01);ALT,AST in serum and MDA level in liver tissue in PCE low-dose group were significantly decreased(P<0.01),and SOD,GSH-Px levels in liver tissue were significantly increased(P<0.05);lesion degree of liver and kidney and lipid accumulation in liver were reduced in administration groups. CONCLUSIONS:PCE may play a role in anti-ALD by anti-oxidation,promoting liver cell regeneration and regulating lipid metabolism.

Objective To investigate the protective effect of allopurinol in kainic acid-induced epileptic rats and to explore new ideas and methods for the clinical treatment of epilepsy. Methods 120 Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham group, KA epilepsy group and allopurinol groups. Six rats of each group were randomly selected and were given electrodes into their left frontal and hippocampal regions. After injection, behavior changes were observed in all rates without electrodes. 24 h later, MDA level and SOD enzymatic activity of the left hippocampi were measured. One week later, the EEGs were recorded in rates with electrode, as well as total time of seizures /30 min and numbers of seizures / 30 min. Results Compared with the KA model group, latency period of the epilepsy in the allopurinol group was longer (P < 0.05) and the extent was lighter (P < 0.05); the MDA level was significantly lower (P < 0.01), the SOD enzymatic activity was significantly higher (P < 0.01). The total time of seizures / 30min and numbers of seizures / 30 min in allopurinol group reduced significantly (P < 0.01). Conclusion Allopurinol has potential antiepileptic and antioxidative activities in kainic acid-induced epileptic rats.

BACKGROUND: Ephedra, a Chinese medicine, is often used to treat obesity with relatively satisfying results recently. However, the effects of Ephedra on the perimenopausal and postmenopausal obese women remain unclear.OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of oral Ephedra decoction on body mass and the levels of blood lipids, blood glucose and hormone in ovarietomized obese rats.DESIGN: A completely randomized and controlled experiment.SETTING: Institute of Physiology and Psychology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University.MATERIALS: The experiment was performed in the Key Laboratory of Pre-clinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province and the Laboratory of Institute of Physiology and Psychology, School of Basic Medical Sciences,Lanzhou University from February 2006 to June 2006. Forty-four healthy female SD rats were randomly divided into four groups with 11 rats in each group, namely sham-operated group, ovariectomized group, estrogen replacement therapy group and Ephedra group.METHODS: ① After having been narcotized by cloraminone (110 mg/kg),rats were underwent a bilateral ovariectomy except those in the sham-operated group, which were also operated, but their ovaries were not cut off. ②Rats in the sham-operated group and ovariectomized group were subcutaneously injected with sesame oil (0.2 mL/each rat) every day postoperatively till the end of the experiment. ③ The rats in the estrogen replacement therapy group were given estradiol (1 mg/kg) by subcutaneous injection every day postoperatively till the end of the experiment. ④ The rats in the Ephedra group freely drank 1% water extracts from Ephedra postoperatively, later the concentration of Ephedra gradually increased to 8% on the sixth day, which lasted until the end of the experiment. ⑤ The food intake was monitored daily, and body mass was measured every ten days. ⑥ At the end of the experiment, all the rats were fasted for 12 hours and collected blood samples for the measurement of serum indexes. The body mass and body length were measured to calculate the Lee's index [(g)×103/body length (cm)] at the same time.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Body mass and Lee's index at different time points in each group. ② Food intake at different time points in each group. ③ Levels of blood lipids and blood glucose in each group. ④Levels of estrogen, progesterone and insulin in each group.RESULTS: Forty-four rats all entered the analysis of results. ① Result of body mass and Lee's index at different time points: The body masses on the 20th, 30th, 40th and 50th days in the ovariectomized group were (256.4±14.3),(271.3±16.1), (276.4±12.7), (285.7±24.2) g, which were significantly higher than those in the sham-operated group [(226.5±11.5), (241.8±12.6),(243.1±13.5), (251.1±22.4) g, P ＜ 0.05-0.01], and the Lee's index in the ovariectomized group was greater than that in the sham-operated group(317.2±13.5, 280.4±11.2, P ＜ 0.01). The body masses on the 40th and 50th days in the estrogen replacement therapy group were (243.7±14.8) and(246.2±11.9) g, which were significantly lower than those in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.05-0.01), and the Lee's index (289.9±13.5) was lower than that in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.01). The body masses on the 40th and 50th days in the Ephedra group were (245.4 ±14.1) and(252.4±14.9) g, and the Lee's index was 294.4±11.0, which were all lower than those in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.05). ② Result of Food in take at different time points: The food intakes on the 30th, 40th and 50th days in the Ephedra group were (17.8±2.4), (22.3±3.9), (26.1±3.5) g per day,which were decreased as compared with those in the ovariectomized group[(25.9±4.7), (28.5±5.3), (32.8±5.5) g per day, P ＜ 0.05]. ③ Levels of blood lipids and blood glucose: The levels of triglyceride, cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the ovariectomized group were (1.73±0.32), (1.45±0.50), (0.78±0.19) mmol/L, which were higher than those in the sham-operated group [(0.94±0.29), (1.05±0.30), (0.08±0.11) mmol/L, P ＜ 0.01]. After the estrogen replacement therapy, the levels of triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL-C and blood glucose were (1.10±0.34),(1.14±0.30), (0.17±0.05), (5.88±1.21) mmol/L, which were lower than those in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.05-0.01), but the level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was higher than that in the ovariectomized group [(1.11±0.31), (0.88±0.21) mmol/L, P ＜ 0.05]. The levels of triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL-C and HDL-C in the Ephedra group were (0.97±0.16), (1.11±0.20), (0.59±0.07) and (0.45±0.061) mmol/L, which were lower than those in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.05-0.01). ④ The serum levels of estrogen, progesterone and insulin in each group: The serum levels of estrogen and progesterone in the ovariectomized group were lower than those in the sham-operated group [(17.09±9.00), (28.51 ±7.99) μg/L;(58.69±12.11), (62.73±10.93) μg/L, P ＜ 0.01], the serum level of insulin was higher than that in the sham-operated group [(31.74±6.69),(23.75±6.66) mU/L, P ＜ 0.01]. The serum levels of estrogen in the estro gen replacement therapy and Ephedra group were (36.03±8.83) and (30.18±8.61) ng/L, which were higher than those in the ovariectomized group(P ＜ 0.05-0.01), the level of insulin were (21.34±4.57), (24.86±6.20) mU/L,which were lower than those in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.05-0.01).The serum level of progesterone in the Ephedra group [(17.68±6.19) μg/L]was lower than that in the ovariectomized group (P ＜ 0.01).CONCLUSION: Ephedra can promote loss of body mass, reduce levels of the blood lipids and insulin, and increase the serum levels of hormones in ovariectomized obese rats.

Objective:To investigate the effects of the β-casomorphin-7 on in vitro and in vivo mice splenic lymphocyte and macrophage nitric oxide production.Methods:Splenocytes proliferation assay and nitrite determination were employed for the studies of effects of β-casomorphin-7 on mice splenic lymphocyte and macrophage following in vitro stimulation of β-casomorphin-7 and in vivo intrapetitoneal administration and drinking β-casomorphin-7 solution administration.Results:In vitro study, β-casomorphin-7 showed a stimulation as well as a suppression of lymphocyte proliferation and significantly(P＜0.01) suppressed the production of nitric oxide. In vivo study, β-casomorphin-7 actions on lymphocytes and macrophages were accordant in intraperitoneal administration and drinking β-casomorphin-7 solution administration. β-casomorphin-7 significantly(P＜0.01) increased in splenic lymphocyte proliferative response and suppressed nitric oxide production in peritoneal macrophages.Conclusion:The present study indicates that the β-casomorphin-7 has the immunomodulatory effects and β-casomorphin-7 may be permeable into peripheral blood intact in mice of 2-3 weeks of age.

Objective To evaluate the lung protection of remote limb ischemic preconditioning during one-lung ventilation (OLV) in the patients undergoing esophageal cancer resection.Methods Seventyone patients of both sexes,aged 30-64 yr,with body mass index of 15-28 kg/m2,of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅰ or Ⅱ,scheduled for elective esophageal cancer resection,were randomly divided into control group (group C,n =34) and remote limb ischemic preconditioning group (group RLIP,n =37) using a random number table.Patients in group RLIP received three cycles of 5-min ischemia/5-min reperfusion induced by a blood pressure cuff placed on one upper arm before OLV.Before OLV (T0),at 1 and 2 h of OLV (T1,2),at 20 min after re-expansion of the collapsed lung (T3),and at 2 h after operation (T4),blood samples were drawn from the radial artery for blood gas analysis,oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2) and alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient (A-aDO2) were calculated.At T0,T2,T3 and T4,blood samples were collected from the radial artery for determination of plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α),interleukin-6 (IL-6),and IL-10 concentrations.Results Compared with group C,PaO2/FiO2 was significantly increased,and A-aDO2was decreased at T1,2,the plasma TNF-α concentrations were decreased at T2-4 (P＜0.05),and no significant change was found in the plasma IL-6 and IL-10 concentrations and rate of abnormal pulmonary function at T1-4 in group RLIP (P＞O.05).Conclusion Although remote limb ischemic preconditioning can produce lung protection during OLV in the patients undergoing esophageal cancer resection,it provides no clinical significance.

Objective To construct a recombinant fusion protein with pneumococcal surface pro-tein A (PspA) of Stretococcus pneumonia (SPN) familyⅠclade 1 and 2, and to analyze the immunogenici-ty of the fusion protein.Methods The gene fragments encoding theα-helix of PspA of the two clades were amplified by PCR and then inserted into the expression vector pET-27b(+) to construct the recombinant ex-pression plasmid.The transformed Escherichia coli BL21 strains carrying expression plasmid were induced by IPTG to express the recombinant protein.The titers and affinity of antibodies against PspA protein were measured by ELISA.An opsonophagocytic assay and an animal experiment were performed to evaluate the immunogenicity of the recombinant protein.Results Double enzyme cutting and gene sequencing confirmed the two purpose gene fragments were correctly expressed in the expression vector pET-27b(+).The titers of anti-PspA antibody in the serum of Kunming ( KM) mice immunized with the fusion protein were 1 ×104 . The affinity of anti-PspA antibody reached to 2×105 .The rates of recombinant PspA6B-PspA05 protein me-diated phagocytosis for SPN6B, SPN05 and SPN01 strains were 20%, 15% and 8.8%, respectively.No SPN23F strain was engulfed by macrophages upon the stimulation with PspA6B-PspA05 protein.The survival rates of mice injected with SPN05, SPN6B, SPN01 and SPN23F strains were respectively 75%, 92%, 75%and 33%upon the immunization of PspA6B-PspA05 protein.Conclusion The recombinant fusion protein PspA6B-PspA05, constructed with the PspA proteins of Stretococcus pneumonia familyⅠclade 1 and 2, was successfully expressed in the E.coli prokaryotic system with the advantage of high immunogenicity.High ti-ters of anti-PspA antibodies with high specificity were induced in KM mice upon the stimulation with Ps-pA6B-PspA05 protein.Moreover, a cross-protective immunity was induced in KM mice upon the immuniza-tion with PspA6B-PspA05 protein.