Objective To study the ultra-structural features of interstitial cajal cells (ICC)in fetal enteron and then classify them.Methods Ultra-structural features of ICC in fetal enteron with spontaneous abortion or premature birth were detected under JEM-2000EX transmission electron microscope for the cause of fetal death, including two fetus specimens of a gestation 18 months and 28 months stained with lead nitrate and uranium acetate.Results ICC had a big oval karyon and a little of cytoplasm. ICC formed spindle or stellate cells with 2 to 5 long cell processes . From the esophagus to the terminal ileum ICC mostly had the same ultra-structural features, but with mitochondria and a well-developed endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex in the whole colon and the rectum , more than those of esophagus and small intestine. In the whole colon and rectum ICC had similar ultra-structural features. ICC also possessed an abundance of mitochondria and a well-developed endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex. ICC also possessed Caveloae lipid droplet with more electron dense and heterochromatin. Two types of ICC were identified under JEM-2000EX transmission electron microscope. One type was present from the esophagus to the terminal ileum and the other type was observed in the colon and rectum. The first type ICC in circular muscle layer was bipolar cells which extended to tapering processes in opposite directions. These processes rarely branched, and their appearance was similar to smooth muscle cells.Most of them ran parallel to the circular muscles . The second type of ICC in the myenteric plexus and longitudinal muscle layer was mostly multipolar and rarely bipolar cells with long processes. They showed an irregular appearance characterized by numerous short spike-like branches. Processes of multipolar cells extended in every direction and connected with each other. ICC nerve cells and smooth muscle cells were connected with gap-like junction, which was the main connection mode .Conclusions The ultra-structural features of ICC in fetal enteron varied with the diffe-rent locus and different tissue sheets in the enteron. The mitochondria and a well-developed endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex of the whole colon and rectum are more and more developed than that of esophagus and small intestine. Ultra-structural features of ICC will develop further with the gestational age. The gap- like junction among ICC nerve cell and smooth muscle cell are highly important for ICC to educe function.

Introduction: In Malaysia, late stage presentation of breast cancer (stage III or IV) has been a healthcare problem that varies geographically throughout the country. This study aims to understand the factors influencing late stage of breast cancer at presentation among Malaysian women in Segamat Hospital, Johor, which is a district hospital. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted on secondary data of all newly diagnosed breast cancer women from 1st August 2011 to 28th February 2014. Secondary data includes age, ethnicity, marital status, family history, education level, occupation, presenting symptom, duration of symptom, tumour size, tumour pathology, tumour grading, oestrogen, progesterone and HER-2 receptor status were collected and analysed using SPSS version 20.0.0. Result: In total, data from 52 women was analysed and two women were excluded for incompleteness as these women defaulted. Late stage at presentation was 59.6% of all new cases (17.3%, stage III and 42.3%, stage IV). The commonest age group of all women diagnosed with breast cancer was in the 5th decade. Majority of them were Malay, married and housewives with no family history of breast cancer. The statistically significant factors associated with late stage at presentation include Malay ethnicity (p=0.019), presenting symptoms other than breast lump (p=0.047), and duration of breast lump more than 3 months (p=0.009). Discussion/Conclusion: The study demonstrated presentation at late stage of breast cancer is a major health concern among Malaysian women in district hospital. This may be attributed to different sociocultural beliefs, strong belief in complementary and alternative medicine, lack of awareness, and difficult accessibility to healthcare services.
Breast Neoplasms

AIMTo determine whether activation of kappa-opioid receptor with U50,488H, a selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist, produces any changes in electrical uncoupling during prolonged ischemia and whether these changes in electrical uncoupling is associated with the cardioprotection induced by kappa-opioid receptor activation, and to explore the possible mechanism.

METHODS(1) To observe the effect of U50,488H (10(-7), 10(-6), 3 x10(-6) and 10(-5) mol/L), a selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist, or with a selective kappa-opioid receptor antagonist nor-BNI (5 x 10(-6) mol/L), or with a mitochondrial K(ATP) channel inhibitor 5-HD on myocardium during ischemia/reperfusion in isolated perfused rat heart. Parameters of measurements include hemodynamic data, formazan content, heart rate, coronary flow, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). (2) To examine the effect of U50,488H of different concentration on electrical coupling parameters (including onset of uncoupling, plateau time, slope, and fold increase in r1) during 70 min myocardial ischemia in isolated perfused rat heart.

RESULTS(1) Pretreatment with U50,488H concentration dependently increased formazan content and reduced LDH release induced by 30 min of ischemia and 120 min of reperfusion. (2) The onset of electrical uncoupling and plateau time during prolonged ischemia was delayed by kappa-opioid receptor activation with U50,488H. (3) Linear regression analysis shown that the increase in formazan content and decrease in LDH release produced by kappa-opioid receptor activation was associated with delayed electrical uncoupling during prolonged ischemia. (4) The effects of U50,488H on formazan content, LDH release and on electrical coupling were abolished by nor-BNI, or 5-HD.

CONCLUSIONThis results demonstrate that the onset of electrical uncoupling during prolonged ischemia is delayed by kappa-opioid receptor activation with a selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist U50,488H, and that delayed electrical uncoupling is associated with the cardioprotection induced by kappa-opioid receptor activation with U50,488H. These effects of kappa-opioid receptor activation with U50,488H are mediated by mitochondrial K(ATP) channels.

3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl)-benzeneacetamide, (trans)-Isomer ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Antihypertensive Agents ; Heart ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; In Vitro Techniques ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; physiopathology ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Naltrexone ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Potassium Channels ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Opioid, kappa ; agonists

OBJECTIVETo test the immunity of peritoneal monocytes against Plasmodium yoelii infected red blood cells (target cells).

METHODSSaponinized Plasmodium yoelii infected red blood cells (SPRBC, Ghost erythrocyte) were used to immunize mice i.p twice. Three weeks later, the infected red blood cells were injected i.p.; 90 min later, the total peritoneal cells were isolated and washed for scanning electromicroscopy to observe the effects of the peritoneal monocyte to the target cell.

RESULTSThe peritoneal cells of the immunized mice were activated after 90 min of the challenge of target cells. The size of the cell was not even and the pili on the cell surface turned to be long and densed. Cell interconnections were found among the cells. In some peritoneal monocytes, their cell plasma were scattered (omlette-like) or with the shape as "cellular bomb". The scattered or the sheeted pili and spredding cell plasma could adhere to the target cells which were perforated densely and damaged.

CONCLUSIONThe protective adaptive immunity exists in the peritoneal monocytes of immunized mice.

Animals ; Antibodies, Protozoan ; immunology ; Erythrocyte Membrane ; parasitology ; Female ; Malaria Vaccines ; immunology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Monocytes ; immunology ; ultrastructure ; Peritoneum ; cytology ; Plasmodium yoelii ; immunology ; ultrastructure

OBJECTIVETo explore the application value of morphology assessment of sperm from fresh semen in routine in vitro fertilization (IVF).

METHODSWe analyzed the morphology of the sperm from fresh or optimized semen samples and, based on the sperm morphology of the raw semen, allocated 908 IVF cycles due to the pure tubal factor to different groups: morphologically normal sperm (MNS) ≤ 4%, > 4% - ≤ 15%, and > 15% in Trial 1 and MNS ≤ 1%, > 1% - ≤ 2%, > 2% - ≤ 3%, and > 3%-- ≤ 4% in Trial 2. We compared the rates of fertilization, cleavage, high-quality embryo, -blastocyst formation, and pregnancy among different groups.

RESULTSThe total fertilization rate was significantly lower in the MNS ≤ 4% than in the MNS > 4% - ≤ 15% and >15% groups (74.40% vs 78.61% and 80.03%, P < 0.01). Compared with the MNS ≤ 1%, > 1% - ≤ 2%, and > 2% - ≤ 3% groups, the MNS > 3% - ≤ 4% group showed remarkably increased rates of 2PN normal fertilization (77.23%, 78.97% and 78.99% vs 85.47%, P < 0.01), cleavage (95.71%, 96.01% and 97.27% vs 98.73%, P < 0.05), and blastocyst formation (53.85%, 49.01% and 49.55% vs 63.41%, P < 0.01). No statistically significant differences were observed in the rates of clinical pregnancy, implantation, early abortion, live birth, or malformation at birth among different groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONMNS ≤ 4% affected the total rate of fertilization while MNS ≤ 3% reduced the rate of normal fertilization in IVF. However, even MNS ≤ 1% did not result in fertilization disorder or failure. Therefore, teratozoospermia alone was not an indicator of ICSI and sperm mor- phology assessment had no obvious value for predicting the rates of embryo quality, clinical pregnancy, and live birth in IVF.

Female ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Humans ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Spermatozoa ; cytology

Objective To investigate the feasibility of 18G trocar for central venous catheterization in adults.Methods Retrospective analyzed the clinical data of 60 patients with central venous catheterization under local anesthesia.These patients were randomly divided into the control group and the observation group.Selected the internal jugular vein as the site of the puncture catheter.The control group was punc-tured by conventional puncture needle while the observation group was punctured by the 18G trocar.Results There was no statistical differ-ence between the two groups in the success rate of final puncture and catheterization(P>0.05).Compared with the control group,the suc-cess rate of guidewire insert was higher,the puncture operation time was shorter,the pain score during puncture operation was lower,and post-operative patient satisfaction was higher in the observation group.The differences of the two groups were statistically significant(P<0.05). Conclusion 18G trocar can perform central venous catheterization successfully.This method has great advantages for awake patients,and it also worked in some cases with difficult wire insertion.

AIMTo determine whether the cardioprotection of ischemic postconditioning and heptanol in ischemic heart against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) is mediated by gap junction.

METHODSThe effect of ischemic postconditioning, heptanol at different doses (0.03, 0.06, 0.30, and 0.60 mg/kg) and AAP10 (10 mg/kg) on the intact rat heart during 30 min ischemia and 2 h of reperfusion was observed. Ischemic postconditioning was achieved by 3 cycles of 10 s reperfusion/10 s regional ischemia starting at the beginning of the reperfusion. The infarct size and the arrhythmia scores were measured. The effect of ischemic postconditioning, heptanol at different doses (0.05, 0.10, 0.50 and 1.00 mmol/L) and AAP10 (1 x 10(-7)mol/L) on the isolated heart during 30 min ischemia and 2 h of reperfusion was observed. Ischemic postconditioning was achieved by 6 cycles of 10 s reperfusion/10 s global ischemia starting at the beginning of the reperfusion. The arrhythmia scores and conduction velocity of ventricle muscle were measured.

RESULTSIn the intact rat heart model, ischemic postconditioning and heptanol reduced infarct size and arrhythmia scores. In the Langendorff perfused rat heart model, ischemic postconditioning and heptanol reduced arrhythmia scores and conduction velocity of ventricle muscle. Administration of AAP10, an opener of gap junction attenuated the cardioprotection of ischemic postconditioning and heptanol.

CONCLUSIONThe cardioprotection of ischemic postconditioning and heptanol may be related to the attenuation of gap junction communication on myocardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Animals ; Gap Junctions ; physiology ; Heptanol ; pharmacology ; Ischemic Postconditioning ; methods ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; physiopathology ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; physiopathology ; prevention & control ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo determine the effect of activation of lambda-opioid receptor with U50, 488H, a selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist, on the changes in electrical coupling during prolonged ischemia and to explore the possible mechanism.

METHODSThe isolated rat heart was perfused in a Langendorff apparatus. The effect of U50, 488H on electrical coupling parameters including onset of uncoupling, plateau time, slope and fold increase in r(t) was observed in isolated perfused rat heart subjected to global no-flow ischemia. The effect of U50, 488H on connexin 43 (Cx43) expression of ventricular muscle during ischemia was determined by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSIn the prolonged ischemia model, U50, 488H concentration dependently delayed the onset of uncoupling, increased time to plateau, and decreased the maximal rate of uncoupling during ischemia. The effect of U50, 488H on electrical uncoupling parameters during ischemia was abolished by a selective kappa-opioid receptor antagonist nor-BNI or a PKC inhibitor chelerythrine. The amount of Cx43 immunoreactive signal in ventricular muscle was greatly reduced after ischemia. U50, 488H markedly increased Cx43 expression during ischemia and its effect was also attenuated by nor-BNI or chelerythrine.

CONCLUSIONThese results demonstrated that U50, 488H delayed the onset of uncoupling and plateau time, decreased the maximal rate of uncoupling and increased Cx43 expression of ventricular muscle during ischemia, and these effects of U50, 488H were mediated by kappa-opioid receptor, in which activation of PKC was involved. The effect of U50, 488H on electrical coupling during ischemia was probably correlated with preservation of Cx43 in cardiac muscle.

3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl)-benzeneacetamide, (trans)-Isomer ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Benzophenanthridines ; pharmacology ; Connexin 43 ; metabolism ; Female ; Heart ; drug effects ; In Vitro Techniques ; Myocardial Ischemia ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Naltrexone ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Opioid, kappa ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo observe the morphological characteristics of Plasmodium yoelii schizogony in their ghost erythrocytes.

METHODSSaponify, hypotonic shock, and electron microscopy were used to observe the different fashions of erythrocytic parasites and their characteristic organellae in ghost erythrocytes.

RESULTSThe malarial parasites and their fine structures were dramatically well preserved in the ghost erythrocytes, such as the ring-like early trophozoites, the brassiere-like early schizonts, the emerging buds on the surface of late schizonts, and the grape-cluster like late schizonts. The cytostome, food vacuole, and crystallized malarial pigments were found in the early trophozoites. The proliferations of nucleoplasma and nuclear membrane as well as and the clot-like nuclear division were followed by the budding during the schizogony.

CONCLUSIONThe saponify technique that makes the erythrocytic malaria parasites and their fine organellae to be dramatically revealed in their ghost erythrocytes, may be a useful method in the Plasmodium biological research and anti-malaria immunological researches.

Animals ; Erythrocyte Membrane ; parasitology ; ultrastructure ; Female ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Microscopy, Electron ; Plasmodium yoelii ; ultrastructure

OBJECTIVETo study the response of specific antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV in patients infected with SARS.

METHODSIgM-capture, indirect and antigen-sandwiched enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to detect the SARS-CoV specific IgM, IgG and total antibodies in sera of clinical SARS patients or non-SARS individuals.

RESULTSThe positive rates of IgM, IgG and total antibodies to SARS-CoV in 146 sera of SARS patients collected in different phases of the disease were 61.64%, 53.43% and 69.86%, respectively. The earliest detectable days after onset of the disease for IgM and IgG to SRAS-CoV were 7 and 12 days, respectively. The specific IgM disappeared as early as 42 days after the onset of SARS. Of 70 sera from hepatitis A patients, 2 showed false positive results, while 127 sera from other patients were all negative, detected by the 3 methods. Serum from one medical worker who had been close contact to SARS patients was positive for anti-SARS-CoV IgG and total antibodies. These 3 methods used for detection were all not influenced by rheumatoid factor (RF).

CONCLUSIONAll of the three methods were specific and sensitive for the detection of specific antibodies to SARS-CoV, and useful for epidemiological research and clinical diagnosis, but not for early diagnosis of SARS.

Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Immunoglobulin M ; blood ; Male ; SARS Virus ; immunology ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; immunology ; virology