OBJECTIVETo test whether folic acid offers protection of the brain tissue against acute cerebral infarction in rats.

METHODSSprague-Dawley rats were divided into control (n=8), pre-treatment (n=12) and treatment (n=16) groups, all having routine feed for 7 days. The rats in the control and treatment groups were given normal saline daily, and those in the pre-treatment group received folic acid suspension daily. All the rats were then subject to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 24 h followed by reperfusion. On and after the operation day, the rats in the control group were given normal saline and those in the other two groups were given folic acid suspension daily. Neural function deficiency was evaluated on a daily basis after the operation, and on day 6 after the operation, brain biopsy was performed for examination with TTC staining. Monocyte chemokine -1 (MCP-1) in both normal and infarct tissues was measured by ELISA.

RESULTSOn day 6 after the operation, the neural function deficiency scores of the control, pre-treatment and treatment groups were 4.56∓3.63, 2.94∓2.94 and 1.00∓1.00, and the percentages of the infarct area (to the whole brain area) were (44.23∓10.06)%, (20.64∓6.78)% and (14.61∓13.51)%, respectively. The contents of MCP-1 in the infarct area of the brain tissues were 168.58∓107.21 ng/L, 152.91∓64.78 ng/L, and 97.74∓46.19 ng/L in the 3 groups, respectively.

CONCLUSIONFolic acid can protect brain tissue against acute cerebral infarction in rats.

Animals ; Cerebral Infarction ; drug therapy ; Female ; Folic Acid ; therapeutic use ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; drug therapy ; Neuroprotective Agents ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Thrombolytic Therapy

Objective To study the correlation between the clinical characteristics of HCC patients with different phenotype circulating tumor cells in the peripheral blood.Methods 77 patients with HCC and 21 patients with benign liver diseases treated at Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University from April 2015 to December 2016 were retrospectively studied.The CanPatrolTM System was adoptedto detect epithelial-mesenchymal phenotype CTCs in the peripheral blood.This study aimed to clarify whether the epithelial-mesenchymal phenotype CTCs were specifically originated from the tumorand to investigate the correlation between CTCs and the clinical features of the patients.Results Using epithelial and mesenchymal markers,the CTCs were divided into three subtypes:epithelial,mesenchymal and mixed CTCs.No epithelial-mesenchymal phenotype CTCs were detected in patients with benign liver diseases.The positivity rates of epithelial,mixed and mesenchymal CTCs in the peripheral blood of 77 patients with HCC were 37.7％ (29/77),74.0％ (57/77) and 50.6％ (39/77),respectively.The positivity rates of epithelial-mesenchymal phenotype CTCs in patients with HCC were significantly higher than the group of patients with benign liver diseases (P ＜ 0.05).The positivity rates of epithelial CTCs were significantly correlated with AFP,number of tumor and portal vein tumor thrombus (P ＜ 0.05).The positivity rates of mixed CTCs were significantly correlated with portal vein tumor thrombus,tumor differentiation and BCLC stage (P ＜ 0.05).The positivity rates of mesenchymal CTCs were significantly correlated with tumor size,portal vein tumor thrombus,tumor differentiation and BCLC stage (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The positivity rates of epithelial,mixed and mesenchymal CTCs were closely related to different aspects of clinical characteristics of patients with HCC.These CTCs may serve as indicatorsto evaluatethe progress of HCC.