Objective Observed by ultrasound,this study investigated anatomical characters of median nerve affecting the minimal current intensity of percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PNS).Methods Forty healthy adult volunteers were enrolled in this prospective observational stud-y.PNS was performed with a stimulating pen in 2 Hz,0.2 ms,3 mA probe mode for cubits the me-dian nerve localization.Stimulation current was adjusted according to the motor response and the min-imal current intensity at which the motor response was obtained was recorded.There after,the medi-an nerve was observed with ultrasound imaging at the location point.Then,the depth,diameter,area and circumference of the nerve were determined.Results The minimal current intensity was (1.9 ± 0.6)mA and the depth of nerve was (6.1±1.7)mm.The linear regression equation between the mini-mal current intensity and the depth of nerve is:Y (nerve depth,cm)=0.359 +0.135X1 (minimum current intensity,mA),the determination coefficient R2 =0.25 1 (P <0.01).Conclusion The stimu-lation threshold of PNS localization the median nerve was correlated to the depth of nerve,which sug-gests that PNS not only can determine the position of the peripheral nerve,but also can help predict the depth of the peripheral nerve according to the minimum stimulus current.

SO rats.Alveolar septa in IHPH increased significantly than in PHPH,PCS and SO rats.Alveolar capacity in IHPH decreased more than those in PHPH, PCS and SO rats.There was no significant difference in lattice fibers,collagenous fibers and elastic fibers between the 4 groups.Conclusion CCL 4 induced IHPH rats have the alterations in blood gas and lung structural pathology characteristic of hepatopulmonary syndrome commonly seen clinically in cirrhotic portal hypertensive patients .

Objective To investigate the median effective dose (ED50) of cisatracurium priming accelerating the onset of neuromuscular block in patients of different genders. Methods Ninety ASA Ⅰ or Ⅱ patients aged 18-55 yr undergoing elective abdominal operation under general anesthesia were divided into 2 groups ( n = 45 each): male group (group M) and female group (group F). Neuromuscular block was monitored with accelerograph F (TOF-Watch SX). A single twitch stimulation of ulnar nerve was used to monitor neuromuscular function.Anesthesia was induced with midazolam 0.04 mg/kg and fentanyl 1 μg/kg. Accelerograph F was opened after the patients lost consciousness. The priming dose of cisatracurium was injected intravenously, then fentanyl 5 μg/kg and propofol 2 mg/kg were injected intravenously 3 min later and the left dose of cisatracurium for intubation was injected intravenously 4 min later. Tracheal intubation was performed when the ratio of the single twitch stimulation value to control value (T/Tc). decreased to 10%. Anesthesia was maintained with iv infusion of propofol and remifentanil and inhalation of isoflurane. The priming dose of cisatracurium was determined by up-and-down sequential trial. The initial priming dose was set at 5 μg/kg. The ratio of two successive doses was 1.2. T/Tc, time to 90% block, onset time, maximal neuromuscular block and clinical duration were recorded 4 min after the administration of the priming dose. The ED50 and 95% confidence interval (CI) of cisatracurium priming required to accelerate the onset were caculated. Results Time to 90% block was significantly longer-in group M than in group F (P ＜0.05). No significant difference was found in the other parameters among the groups. The ED50 and 95% CI of cisatracurium priming required to accelerate the onset were 21.36 μg/kg (95% CI 20.52-22.23 μg/kg)in group M and 14.53 μg/kg (95% CI 13.77-15.33 μg/kg) in group F. The ED50 was significantly higher in group M than in group F ( P ＜ 0.05). Conclusion The ED50 of cisatracurium priming accelerating thd onset is 21.36 and 14.53 μg/kg in male and female respectively and it is significantly higher in male than in female.

The envelope protein(Env) of lentiviruses such as HIV,SIV,FIV and EIAV is larger than that of other retroviruses.The Chinese EIAV attenuated vaccine is based on Env and has helped to successfully control this virus,demonstrating that envelope is crucial for vaccine.We compared Env variation of the four kinds of lentiviruses.Phylogenetic analysis showed that the evolutionary relationship of Env between HIV and SIV was the closest and they appeared to descend from a common ancestor,and the relationship of HIV and EIAV was the furthest.EIAV had the shortest Env length and the least number of potential N-linked glycosylation sites(PNGS) as well as glycosylation density compared to various immunodeficiency viruses.However,HIV had the longest Env length and the most PNGS.Moreover,the alignment of HIV and SIV showed that PNGS were primarily distributed within extracellular membrane protein gp120 rather than transmembrane gp41.It implies that the size difference among these viruses is associated with a lentivirus specific function and also the diversity of env.There are low levels of modification of glycosylation sites of Env and selection of optimal protective epitopes might be useful for development of an effective vaccine against HIV/AIDS.

Liver fibrosis is a wound healing response that occurs in the setting of chronic liver injury and is caused by imbalance in the synthesis and degradation of extracellular matrix （ECM）. If left untreated， it can progress to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The activation of hepatic stellate cell （HSC） is now well established as a central driver of liver fibrosis. The activated HSC will transform into myofibroblasts that produce ECM protein. Transforming growth factor-β₁ （TGF-β₁） can induce the activation of hepatic stellate cell （HSC）， and TGF-β₁/Smads signaling pathway is one of the important pathways to promote liver fibrosis. Non-coding RNA （ncRNA） does not encode proteins during the transcription but plays an important regulatory role in the post-transcriptional process of genes. Accumulating evidence shows that the occurrence of liver fibrosis is closely related to the abnormal expression of ncRNA which participates in the activation of HSC by regulating TGF-β₁ signal transduction and then affects the process of liver fibrosis. MiRNA-mediated TGF-β₁/Smads signaling pathway can not only promote liver fibrosis but also play a role in anti-fibrosis. Long non-coding RNA （lncRNA） not only promotes the development of liver fibrosis by binding to target genes but also enhances TGF-β₁ signal transduction by acting as competitive endogenous RNA. circular RNA （circRNA） acts as a ''sponge'' to regulate TGF-β₁/Smads pathway， thereby inhibiting HSC activation and exerting the anti-liver fibrosis effect. Chinese medicinal plays an essential part in the prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis， and the active components can inhibit TGF-β₁/Smads pathway by regulating the expression of miRNA， thus alleviating liver fibrosis. This article reviews the role and mechanism of miRNA-， lncRNA- and circRNA-mediated TGF-β₁/Smads signaling pathway in liver fibrosis and summarizes the anti-liver fibrosis effect of active components of Chinese medicinals by regulating miRNA-mediated TGF-β₁/Smads signaling pathway， which can serve as a reference for clinical treatment of liver fibrosis and the development of new drugs.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of Isodon ternifolius extract on Toll -like receptor 4（TLR4）/nuclear factor - κB（NF-κB）/NOD-like receptor protein 3（NLRP3）pathway in hepatic stellate cells and hepatocytes . METHODS Using primary hepatic stellate cells and primary hepatocytes of rats as subjects ，inflammatory injury model was induced by lipopolysaccharide （LPS，100 ng/mL）. Using colchicine （1 μmol/L）as positive control and TLR 4 inhibitor（TAK-242，1 μmol/L）as reference ，the contents of transforming growth factor -β1（TGF-β1），α-smooth muscle actin （α-SMA），type Ⅰ collagen（COL-Ⅰ），COL-Ⅲ in the supernatant of hepatic stellate cells ，and the contents of alanine aminotransferase （ALT），aspartate aminotransferase （AST），interleukin-1β （IL-1β） and IL -18 in the supernatant of hepatocytes were detected after intervention with I. ternifolius extract（1 mg/mL）. The mRNA expressions of TLR 4，inhibitor α of NF -κB（IκBα），NF-κB p 65，NLRP3，Gasdermin D （GSDMD），apoptosis-associated speck -like protein containing CARD （ASC） and protein expressions of TLR 4， phosphorylated I κBα（p-IκBα），NF-κB p 65，NLRP3，GSDMD，ASC in the above cells were determined . RESULTS Compared with LPS model group ，the contents of TGF -β1，α-SMA， COL-Ⅰ and COL -Ⅲ in the supernatant of hepatic stellate cells and the contents of ALT ，AST，IL-1β and IL -18 in the supernatant of hepatocytes were significantly decreased ；the mRNA expressions of TLR 4，NF-κB p 65，NLRP3，GSDMD，ASC and the protein expressions of TLR 4，p-IκBα，NF-κB p 65，NLRP3，GSDMD，ASC in the two kinds of cells were significantly down - regulated，and the mRNA expression of I κBα was significantly up -regulated in all administration groups （P＜0.05）. Compared with TLR 4 inhibitor group ，the improvement of most of above indexes was more significant in the TLR 4 inhibitor+I. ternifolius extract group （P＜0.05）. CONCLUTIONS I. ternifolius extract could inhibit the activation of TLR 4/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway， reduce the release of fibrosis factors and inflammatory factors ，alleviate the inflammatory injury of liver cells ，and inhibit the activation of hepatic stellate cells ，so as to protect liver cells and resist liver fibrosis .