Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in central nervous system caused by the loss of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. At present, dopaminergic neurons differentiated both in vivo and in vitro from neural stem cells act as an important cell source for the cell-replacement therapy of Parkinson's disease. This paper reviewed the major molecular mechanism, signaling pathway and important environment factors involved in differentiation of dopaminergic neurons from neural stem cells, based on the research findings in recent 10 years.

Oxidative stress and mitochondria disorder are the common mechanism of neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease. Melatonin (MT) level decreases with aging may be one of the reasons of the increased oxidative stress in aging people. So the neuroprotective effect of MT becomes more attractive in recent years. This paper summarized recent studies on the mechanism of melatonin on degenerative disease, including free radical scavenge, anti-apoptosis, neuroprotective effect, neurotrophic effect, anti-amyloid neurotoxicity, regulation of inflammatory reaction and cytoskeletal protein etc.

Aldose reductase ( AR ) belonging to nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate ( NADPH ) -dependent aldehyde-keto reductase superfamily, is the key rate-limiting enzyme in the polyol pathway which plays an important role in the body’s high-sugar metabolism. AR is widely present in the kidneys, blood vessels, lens, retina, heart, skeletal muscle and other tissues and organs, converts glucose to sorbitol which easy permeability of cell membranes, cause cell swelling, degeneration, necrosis, and have a close relationship with the development of chronic complications of diabetes mellitus. Diabetic retinopathy ( DR ) is a multifactorial disease, the exact cause is currently unknown, but polyol pathway has been demonstrated to play an important role in the pathogenesis of DR. Clinical risk factors such as blood sugar control, blood pressure and other treatments for DR only play a part effect of remission or invalid, if we can find out DR genes associated with the disease, this will contribute to a better understanding of the pathological mechanisms and contribute to the development of new treatments and drugs. The current research progress of AR, AR gene polymorphism, Aldose reductase inhibitors to DR was reviewed in this article.

Objective To evaluate the value of three-dimensional ultrasound volume contrast imaging (VCI) and tomo graphy ultrasound imaging (TUI) techniques in observing fetal spinal conus medullaris (CM) position and lumbar enlargement of spinal cord morphologic changes,for assessment of tethered cord (TC).Methods Totally 17 abnormal fetuses of spinal diseases combined with TC (abnormal group) were examined by three dimensional ultrasound VCI and TUI techniques.The position of CM was recorded,and the transverse and anteroposterior diameters of lumbar enlargement of spinal cord were measured and compared with 300 cases of normal fetuses (normal group).Results As the growth of the gestational age (CA),CM terminal position increased.All the ends of CM located at L3 or L3 above level in normal.The transverse and anteroposterior diameters of lumbar enlargement in normal group showed good linear relationship with GA.Transverse diameter (mm) =0.677+0.147 ×GA (R2 =0.836,P＜0.05),anteroposterior diameter (mm)-0.994+ 0.152× GA (R2=0.894,P＜0.05).Compared with the corresponding GA fetuses in normal group,the anteroposterior diameter of lumbar enlargement decreased in abnormal group (P=0.002),while no statistical difference of the transverse diameter was found between the two groups (P=0.082).Conclusion Position of CM and lumbar enlargement measure ment can provide valuable reference information for clinical prenatal diagnosis of fetal spinal TC.

Objection To observe the change rules of quantity and species of diatom sin Hunhe River in Shenyang and to provide technology and scientific evidence for drow ning identification and the location of drow ning in forensic investigation. Methods In 2011, different locations for collecting water sam pleswere chosen in Hunhe River in Shenyang. Water sam pleswere collected and variation of quantity and species of diatom swere observed every month. And variation of dom inant species of diatom swas ob-served every week. Results The quantity, speciesand dom inant species of diatom sin Hunhe River in Shenyang varied with different tim eand locations. The quantity and species of diatom swere lowest from Decem ber to February and gradually increased, reaching peak in May and second peak in October, and then gradually decreased. The dom inant species of diatom s varied significantly adjacent two weeksat same location from April to N ovem ber, but had little changesat different locationsin same week from July to August. Conclusion The change rules of quantity and species of diatom sare com plicated and affected by various factors such as environm ent and hydrology. The change rules of speciesand quantity of diatom s should be considered in forensic investigation of drow ning identification and the lo-cation of drow ning.

0.05),and losantan was not harmful to the livers and kidneys.Con- clusion There were not only good effect of losantan on curing hyperuricemia,but also it had no bad reactions.

Studies have shown that women's menopause caused by permanent cessation of ovarian function is closely related to lipid metabolism disorders. Er-xian Decoction has been used in the clinical treatment for gynecological diseases and has a good effect on diseases related to reduced sex hormone function. In this study, metabolomics was performed on bilateral ovariectomized model rats within 12 weeks after modeling to mimic the physiological state of menopausal women in different menopausal stages and Er-xian Decoction dosed model rats. The results of liver oil red O staining sections showed lipid metabolic disorder of bilateral ovariectomized model rats and the regulating effects of Er-xian Decoction. 46 potential biomarkers (6 steroid hormones, 3 sphingolipids, 11 phospholipids and 26 glycerides) in plasma and 32 potential biomarkers (1 steroid hormones, 20 phospholipids and 11 glycerides) in liver were obtained based on lipidomics analysis. Then, we analyzed the differential metabolic pathways and construct the lipid metabolism network significantly regulated by Er-xian Decoction. The results provided valuable information for in-depth understanding of the gradual changes on lipid metabolism disorders under menopausal conditions and the characteristics and mechanisms of compound Er-xian Decoction's regulatory effects. The study complied with the procedures established by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and passed the animal experiment ethics examine (No. 00000918).

ObjectiveTo evaluate the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MS) and benign prostatic hyperplasia ( BPH ) in men over 50 years old.Methods Male participants over 50 years old form a community in Beijing were randomly selected.Age,blood pressure,past history,and the international prostate symptom score (IPSS) were recorded.Plasma glucose,triglyceride,high density lipoprotein,prostate specific antigen (PSA),prostatic volume,and Qmax were measured.The morbidity and severity of BPH were compared with statistical analysis.ResultsFour hundred and forty men were enrolled,and were divided into 2 groups:MS group (n =105) and non-MS group (n =335).Compared to the non-MS,non-obesity,and non-hyperlipidemia group respectively,the morbidity of BPH was higher in MS,obesity and hyperlipidemia group (33.3％ vs.11.9％,P ＜ 0.05 ; 20.4％ vs.11.8％,P ＜ 0.05 ; 25.0％ vs.14.1％,P =0.007).The morbidity of moderate and severe LUTS in MS group was higher than non-MS group (61.9％ vs.31.3％,P ＜ 0.05).Significant differences were found in IPSS,prostate volume and PSA between the MS and non-MS groups ( P ＜ 0.05 ),but not found in Qmax ( P =0.069).Obesity,hyperlipemia and diabetes mellitus were risk factors of BPH (OR 1.75,95％ CI 1.40 -21.82,P =0.041 ; OR 3.36,95％ CI 2.34-48.13,P=0.037; OR 2.08,95％ CI 1.32-13.67,P=0.045). Conclusions There is higher morbidity of BPH in MS patient.MS could increase IPSS and prostate volume,and reduce PSA in BPH patient.Obesity,hyperlipemia and diabetes mellitus are risk factors of BPH.MS should be considered when treating BPH.