BACKGROUND: Nestin is a specific antigen of neural stem cells which widely expressed in lesion of nervous system and brain regeneration.Thus,nestin expression is commonly used to assess whether lesion or damage of the nervous system can promote neural regeneration.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of erythropoietin(EPO)on nestin expression in neural stem cells after hypoxia-ischemia brain damage(HIBD)in neonatal rats from the angles of neural regeneration and activation of neural stem cells.METHODS: HIBD model was established by ligation of the right common carotid artery along with 2-hour 8% hypoxia exposure in neonatal rats.The control group was not subjected to hypoxia-ischemia,and the right common carotid artery was dissociated.The treatment group received an intraperitoneal injection of recombinant human erythropoietin(rh-Epo,5 000 IU/kg)once a day for three days after hypoxia/ischemia,while the two other groups intraperitoneally received normal saline at the same time.In each group,rats were randomly executed immediately,at 4,7,14 days after operation(n = 8).The nestin expression in hippocampal dentate gyrus region was examined by immunohistochemical staining and image quantitative analysis respectively.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The number of nestin-positive cells was significantly increased in HIBD group compared to control group at all time points(P < 0.05),and it was also significantly increased in treatment group than the other two groups at all time points(P < 0.05).The numbers of nestin-positive cells in hippocampal dentate gyrus region were significantly increased,and peaked on day 7 after operation in the three groups.The results showed that exogenous rh-Epo could enhance the expression of nestin in hippocampal dentate gyrus region of neonatal rats with HIBD,and promote the proliferation of neural stem cells,rh-Epo plays an important role in the regeneration and repair of neurocytes damaged by hypoxia-ischemia.

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effect of acupoint catgut embedding on gastrointestinal dysfunction after surgery in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.Methods Sixty-eight consecutively hospitalized patients with gastrointestinal dysfunction after surgery in patients with severe traumatic brain injury admitted to the Department of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University of Chinese Medicine from January 2015 to December 2015 were enrolled.Six of those patients were withdrawn from the course of observation,and actually only 62 patients entered the study.They were divided into an observation group (32 cases) and a control group (30 cases) by random number table.All the patients of two groups were given conventional treatment of western medicine for consecutive 7 days.The observation group was additionally treated with acupoint catgut embedding.The control group took mosapride tablets via a nasogastric tube 5 mg,3 times a day.Intra-abdominal pressure (IAP),gastric residual volume (GRV),time for reaching standard enteral nutrition,serum diamine oxidase(DAO),D-Lactate activity,incidence of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP),hospitalization days in ICU,28-day mortality and adverse reactions of acupoint catgut embedding were observed in the two groups.Results After treatment,the levels of IAP,DAO,D-lactic acid were lower than those before treatment,GRV was less than that before treatment in the two groups,and after treatment for 7 days the changes were more significant in the observation group [IAP (cmH2O,1 cmH2O =0.098 kPa):12.42±3.11 vs.17.70 ± 2.98,GRV (mL):129.54 ± 57.54 vs.242.91 ± 99.29,DAO (U/L):9.06± 2.84 vs.13.60 ± 7.16,D-Lactate (mg/L):16.47 ± 5.39 vs.26.29 ± 9.62,all P ＜ 0.01].Days of mechanical ventilation (days:6.97 ± 4.13 vs.9.23 ± 4.61),time for reaching standard enteral nutrition (days:4.25 ± 3.15 vs.5.50 ± 3.12) and hospitalization days in ICU (days:9.50± 4.03 vs.12.20 ± 6.38) in observation group were significantly shorter than those in control group (all P ＜ 0.05).The incidence of HAP [15.6％ (5/32) vs.40.0％ (12/30)] and 28-day mortality [3.1％ (1/32) vs.6.7％ (2/30)] in observation group were obviously lower than those in control group.The patients in observation group had no significant adverse reactions of acupoint catgut embedding.Conclusions Acupoint catgut embedding therapy is not only easy to operate,but also can effectively improve gastrointestinal motility and intestinal barrier function in patients with gastrointestinal dysfunction after surgery of severe head injury,thus it is beneficial to reaching the enteral nutritional goal in less time,reducing the incidence of HAP,shortening the hospitalization time in ICU and promoting the recovery of the patients.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the MEK and ERK expression and their relationship with clinicopathological parameters in human breast carcinoma, and the effect of preoperative chemotherapy on MEK and ERK protein expression.

METHODSSamples were obtained from 56 patients with breast carcinoma and 8 patients with benign tumors. Sixteen of the 56 patients received preoperative chemotherapy. Western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to measure the expression of MEK1, MEK2 and ERK1, ERK2 protein.

RESULTSMEK2 and ERK1, ERK2 protein levels were increased in breast carcinoma tissue compared with those in adjacent normal tissues (t = 7.244, 5.959, 3.735, P < 0.01) and benign tumors (t = 2.206, P < 0.05). The levels of MEK1 were decreased. The expression of MEK2 protein in ER negative patients was higher than that in ER positive ones. MEK2 protein levels were lower in patients who received preoperative chemotherapy than in those who did not.

CONCLUSIONOverexpression of MEK-ERK may play an important role in the development of human breast carcinoma. MEK and ERK protein expressions are inhibited by preoperative chemotherapy.

Adult ; Aged ; Blotting, Western ; Breast Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; MAP Kinase Kinase 1 ; MAP Kinase Kinase 2 ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; physiology ; Middle Aged ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 ; metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases ; metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; Prognosis ; Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; metabolism ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; metabolism

We constructed the AFP promotor, suicide gene and EGFP eukaryotic expression vector recombinant plasmid, and this plasmid DNA was encapsulated by biodegradable, biocompatible polymer PLGA to prepare nanoparticles. The results demonstrate that the mean diameter of DNA-PLGA-NP is 68 nm, the encapsulation ratio reaches to 80%, and the PLGA nanoparticles can protect plasmid DNA from digestion by deoxyribonuclease I (DNaseI) and sonication-induced shearing in vitro.
Biocompatible Materials ; Biodegradation, Environmental ; DNA ; administration & dosage ; Genetic Vectors ; In Vitro Techniques ; Lactic Acid ; Particle Size ; Plasmids ; genetics ; Polyglycolic Acid ; Polymers ; Recombination, Genetic

Objective:To analyze the long-term efficacy and safety of thalidomide on refractory Crohn′s disease (CD).Methods:A total of 79 patients with refractory CD in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University treated with thalidomide were enrolled in this retrospective study from September 2005 to July 2018. Clinical effects and adverse drug reactions were recorded and assessed.Results:In this cohort,69 patients were treated with thalidomide for ≥6 months. Sixty-eight patients among the 69 patients achieved complete clinical remission and were followed up for a median 33.5 months (range, 7-110 months). Seventeen cases relapsed during follow-up. The cumulative probabilities of remaining in remission at 12, 24, 60 months were 88.6% (95% CI 80.6%-96.6%), 80.7% (95% CI 70.3%-91.1%), 53.7% (95% CI 32.1%-75.3%) respectively. Disease activity was the only variable associated with relapse risk, with a hazard ratio ( HR) of 3.559 for Crohn′s disease activity index (CDAI) ≥220(95% CI 1.213-10.449, P<0.05). Adverse reactions were recorded in 42 (53.2%) patients including12 (15.2%) leading to discontinuation of thalidomide. No serious side effects were observed in all subjects. Conclusions:This study suggests a long-term benefit of maintenance treatment with thalidomide in refractory CD.Moderate to severe patients have an increased risk of relapse. The high incidence of drug adverse reactions may restrain the clinical application of thalidomide.

Cultivating salt-alkali tolerant rice varieties is one of the important ways to meet the increasing food demand of growing global population. In this study, twenty-one rice germplasms with different salt-alkali tolerance were treated with six salt-alkali concentrations at germination and seedling stages. The germination potential, germination rate, shoot length, root length, root number, fresh weight of shoot and seedlings were measured. The average value of salt damage rate was used to evaluate the salt-alkali tolerance. As the salt-alkali concentration increases, the inhibition on seed germination and growth became more obvious. Upon treatment with 1% NaCl plus 0.25% NaHCO₃, the salt damage rate of germination rate has the largest variation, ranging from 0% to 89.80%. The salt damage rate of each trait shows a similar trend at all concentrations. Four germplasm resources with strong salt-alkali tolerance (Dajiugu, Nippobare, Mowanggu and 02428) and 7 sensitive germplasms were screened. The salt-tolerant gene sequence of 4 salt-alkali tolerant varieties and 3 sensitive germplasms were analyzed. OSHAL3 and OsRR22 were identical among the 7 germplasms, but SKC1 and DST showed clear variations between the salt-alkali tolerant and sensitive germplasms. Besides the salt-alkali tolerant germplasm resources, this study can also serve as a reference for mining of genes involved in salt-alkali tolerance and breeding of salt-alkali tolerant rice varieties.
Alkalies ; Germination ; Oryza/genetics* ; Plant Breeding ; Seedlings/genetics*