Objective To investigate the correlation between body mass index ( BMI) , type Ⅱ diabetes and colorectal neoplastic lesions including adenoma and adenocarcinoma. Methods A total of 971 subjects, aged 20-86, who underwent colonoscopy from July 2008 to July 2009 were included. The body height and weight were measured, and history of type Ⅱ diabetes was recorded. Based on the results of colonoscopy and pathology, the subjects were divided into study group (with confirmed adenoma or adenocarcinoma; n =471) and normal control group (n = 500). All data were analyzed by using logistic multi-factors regression. Results With adjustment for some potential mixed factors, obesity group run 2. 55 times of risk of colorectal adenoma or adencarcinoma compared with the normal weight group (OR = 2.55, 95% CI: 1.26-3.05, P =0.027), among which obese male's risk was 3. 32 (OR =3.32, 95% CI: 1. 50-6. 86, P = 0.007) times of that in normal weight males. There was no correlation between female's BMI and incidence of colorectal adenoma & adencarcinoma. Patients with type Ⅱ diabetes ran 2. 10 times of risk of developing colorectal neoplastic lesions compared with those without ( OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1. 25 - 3. 57, P = 0.010). Incidence of colorectal adenoma & adencarcinoma was 3 times higher in those with type II diabetes less than 6 years, compared with those with history more than 6 years ( OR = 3.00, 95% CI: 1.05 - 10. 86, P =0. 040), which was not correlated with gender of diabetic patients. Those with both type Ⅱ diabetes and obesity had 3.05 times of risk of colorectal adenoma & adencarcinoma, compared with non-obese diabetic patients (OR = 3.05,95% CI: 1.08 - 18.41, P - 0.041). Conclusion Obesity is positively correlated with colorectal adenoma and adencarcinoma, and obese males run higher risk than females. Type Ⅱ diabetes also leads to a higher incidence of colorectal neoplastic lesions, which will run even higher when combined with o-besity.

OBJECTIVE: To introduce the research progression of fMRI in brain functional localization in China or abroad in the recent 15 years, so as to further comprehend the effect and value of fMRI.DATA SOURCES: A computer-based online search of Medline database was undertaken to identify English articles about fMRI published from 1990 to 2005 with the keywords "functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), brain".STUDY SELECTION: The articles about experimental studies of fMRI articles irrelative to motor function, sensory function, hearing function, visuEnglish title.DATA EXTRACTION: Totally 6 144 relevant articles were collected, 18 articles were involved according to the inclusive criteria, and the others were excluded. cles about sensory function, including 1 about simple tactile stimulation,ry function, including 2 about simple visual stimulation, and 1 about binoction, including about hearing stimulation by various methods, and 1 about comparison between normal and abnormal subjects by the same stimulation.language function, 1 about visual language function, and 1 about listening basic principle.CONCLUSION: fMRI was more accurate, convenient and direct than other methods. It can not only show localization, size and dimension of the activated areas in different cerebral regions, but also show accurate anatomical position. Many aspects still need to be consummated, for example, exploration of the stimulating method, design of advanced hardware, post processing of the image and the effect of visualization. With the development of hardware, software and the endless endeavor of scientists, fMRI dooms to play an important role in illustrating the function of human brain.

This study is to establish the characteristic HPLC chromatogram of phenols in Ephedrae Herba, from which to pick out the marker peaks, followed by the analysis of the regularity of their distribution and content in the herbaceous stems of Ephedra sinica, E. intermedia and E. equisetina. The HPLC-DAD method for the characteristic chromatogram as well as quantitative analysis was established. The separation was carried out on a YMC-Pack ODS-A column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 µm), eluted with the mobile phases as 0.01% formic acid aqueous solution (A) and acetonitrile (B) in a linear gradient (0-10 min, 17% B; 10-25 min, 17%-19% B; 25- 33 min, 19%-48% B; 33-35 min, 48%-51% B; 35-44 min, 51% B). The flow rate was kept at 1.0 mL · min⁻¹. The column tem- perature was 40 °C, and the detection wavelength was set at 350 nm (0-16 min) and 330 nm (16-44 min). Forty-six batches of collected samples from three official origins of Ephedrae Herba were detected, whose liquid chromatograms proven to be helpful to the differentiation of different origins. With principal component analysis and the analysis of distribution of peak area, twelve key peaks from the chromatogram were discussed in details on their contributions to the characteristics and differences of three official origins of the herb: peak area of peak 10, 11, 12 were found out to be significantly higher in E. equisetina than in other two origins, whose sum (higher than 146 mAU in E. equisetina) was useful for the discrimination between E. equisetina and the other two origins; peak area of 1 and 4 were respectively higher in E. sinica and E. intermedia than in other official origins, indicating their important effect on the differen- tiation of corresponding origins; peak 8 and 9 were picked out as two characteristic common peaks in three official origins of the herb, whose peak area showed little difference among different origins; further, peak area of other key peaks in the chromatogram also showed some difference among three origins, which make contributions to the differentiation of origins as well. Then, four phenols as 2"-O-α- L-rhamnosyl-isovitexin (1), vitexin (2), pollenitin B (5) and herbacetin-7-O-β-D-glucoside (6) were quantitative analyzed with the above-mentioned method, with good linear relationship and accuracy (recoveries in a range of 97.8%-102.5%). The content of the four phenols were firstly reported in Ephedrae Herba from official origins, which were respectively trace-1.55 (1), trace-0.160 (2), trace-0.284 (5) and trace-0.620 (6) mg · g⁻¹ in all of the tested samples. In addition, the content of these phenols showed differences in three official origins, especially 1, whose content in E. sinica [(0.670 ± 0.88) mg ± g⁻¹] were significantly higher than in other two origins (lower than 0.16 mg ± g⁻¹ besides sample Ei-060630-2-2), and 6, whose average content in E. equisetina [(0.260 ± 0.039 2) mg · g⁻¹] were twice as high as in E. sinica [(0.120 ± 0.270) mg · g⁻¹] and E. intermedia [(0.136 ± 0.485) mg g⁻¹], indicating the important effects of the two constituents on the differentiation among three official origins of the herb. The method established for the characteristic HPLC chromatogram and quantitative analysis of phenols was simple and accurate, and the marker constituents selected may provide new guides for the discrimination of official origins as well as the improvement of quality criteria of EphedraeHerba.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Ephedra ; chemistry ; Phenols ; analysis

BACKGROUNDEvidence shows that ezrin plays an important role in the development of some human malignancies. But the mechanism by which ezrin may affect tumor cell invasion and metastasis remains unclear.

METHODSIn this study, the expression of ezrin was verified in osteosarcoma (OS) cells and tissues by comparison with normal bone cells and tissues using Western blotting. OS-MG63 were transfected with pcDNA3.1-ezrin or pGenesil-1/shRNA-ezrin and the stably transfected cells were selected with G418 to yield the ezrin cell line. The OS-MG63 tumor cells were delivered by tail vein to female BALB/c to develop pulmonary metastasis model in vivo. Ezrin was identified as a direct target of miR-183 via a luciferase reporter carrying the 3'-untranslated region of ezrin. Migration assays and invasion assays were done with the transwells. Signaling pathway was studied by Western blotting and/or inhibitor.

RESULTSEctopic overexpression of ezrin in OS cell line MG63 promoted tumor cell invasion and migration. Consistent with this, knockdown of ezrin inhibited tumor cell invasion and migration. Similar results were obtained in the experimental metastasis model in vivo. We identified ezrin as a direct target of miR-183. What is more, ectopic expression of ezrin could induce the expression of N-cadherin and enhance the activity of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling.

CONCLUSIONCollectively, these results suggest that ezrin as a direct target of miR-183 promotes the aggressiveness of OS via increased N-cadherin and activating ERK signaling.

Animals ; Bone Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cadherins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Movement ; drug effects ; genetics ; Cytoskeletal Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Mice ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; genetics ; Osteosarcoma ; metabolism ; pathology

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of human oligodendrocyte precursor cell (hOPC) transplantation in the treatment of white matter injury (WMI). METHODS: Neonatal rats were randomly divided into a sham-operation group, a model group, and a transplantation group ( RESULTS: The place navigation test using the Morris water maze showed that the model group had a significantly longer escape latency than the sham-operation group, and compared with the model group, the transplantation group had a significant reduction in escape latency ( CONCLUSIONS Intrathecal hOPC transplantation may alleviate neurological injury and promote remyelination in a rat model of WMI.
Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Humans ; Myelin Sheath ; Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells ; Oligodendroglia ; Rats ; White Matter