Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in elderly population. There are two hallmark pathological lesions: the intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and the extracellular amyloid deposits in the senile plaques (SP). The NFTs are aggregates of hyperphosphorylated microtubule Tau protein. The amyloid deposits in the SP are the beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptides-Abeta40 and Abeta42. The Abeta peptides are derived from the amyloid precursor protein (APP) which is considered very important for the AD pathogenesis. In recent years, studies have focused on understanding the generation of Abeta peptides by the alpha-, beta- and gamma- secretase activity on APP, as cause and progression of both familial and sporadic AD (FAD and SAD). This review covers the trafficking and processing of APP, the amyloid cascade hypothesis in AD pathogenesis, the mutations in the genes encoding APP, PS1 and PS2 of early-onset and late-onset AD. The risk factor apolipoprotein E (ApoE) for AD and therapeutic anti-beta-amyloid vaccination strategies for prevention of AD are also discussed.
Alzheimer Disease ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; therapy ; Alzheimer Vaccines ; immunology ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; antagonists & inhibitors ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor ; genetics ; metabolism ; Animals ; Apolipoproteins E ; genetics ; Humans ; Immunotherapy, Active ; Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; Peptide Fragments ; genetics ; Plaque, Amyloid ; pathology ; Presenilin-1 ; Presenilin-2

Objective To describe a new kind of Y-shaped metallic stent delivery system and evaluate its feasibility and preliminary effect for managing multiple airway stenoses involving the lower trachea and the tracheal carina.Methods The Y-shaped metallic stent delivery system consisted of three- tier structure.The inner-tier was composed of four parallel guiding tubes,which was used for two guidewires and two threads passing through,the middle-tier was delivery catheter,which contained the four guiding tubes,and the outer-tier was introducer sheath.Under the fluoroscopic guidance,15 patients with multiple stenoses involving the lower trachea and the tracheal carina were treated with the new covered self-expandable Y-shaped metallic stents.Results Stent placement in the tracheo-bronchial tree was technically successful in all patients with obliteration of the dyspnea immediately after stent placement,and SaO_2 was increased form preoperative 75%—89% to postoperative 96%—99%.During follow-up a period of 3—58 weeks (M 22 weeks),all stenosis were resolved without stent-related complications,and the general physical of all 15 patents was improved with no occurrence of obviously dyspnea and bleeding.Karnofsky performance status(KPS)was improved from preoperative 26%—45% to postoperative 72%—95%.Five patients died of the following causes unrelated to stent insertion:multiple organ failure(n=3),cachexia(n=1)and pulmonary infection caused by gastrobronchial fistula(n=1),and the remaining 10 patients were alive with no evidence.of dyspnea at the time of this report.Conclusion Deployment of the covered Y-shaped metallic stent with the use of Y metallic stent delivery system in the management of airway stenoses involving the lower trachea and the tracheal earina was a simple and safe procedure and with a good short-term clinical efficacy.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of Jin's three-needling therapy on children autism with different TCM syndrome types.Methods A total of 202 autism children was enrolled into the study.Autism children were divided into two groups:the treatment group(N=118)received Jin's three-needling therapy,the acupoints mainly consisted of Sishen needling,Dingshen needling,temporal triple needling,supertemporal triple needling,brain triple needling,mental triple needling,Xingshen needling,hand needling for improving mental,foot needling for improving mental and tongue triple needling,and some other acupoints were selected according to the syndrome patterns;the control group(N=84)received special training.The treatment was done one time per day,six times one week,and 4 months constituted one treatment course.After treatment,the therapeutic effect was evaluated by Children Autism Rating Scale(CARS).Results After one treatment course,the total curative effective rate was 88.1% in the treatment group and 65.5% in the control group(P

AIM To establish an HPLC method for the simultaneous content determination of four constituents in Xiaojie'an Capsules (Forsythiae Fructus,Leonuri Herba,Spatholobi Caulis,etc.).METHODS The analysis of chloroform extract of this drug was carried out on a 30 ℃ thermostatic Diamond C1scolumn(250 mm ×4.6 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile (A)-0.05 mol/L monosodium phosphate (B) flowing at 1.0 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelength was set at 278 nm.RESULTS Berberine hydrochloride,palmatine chloride,phillyrin and rutin showed good linear relationships within the ranges of 0.033 7-0.337 2 μg (r =0.999 1),0.054 8-0.548 3 μg (r =0.999 0),0.025 9-0.258 8 μg (r=0.999 2) and 0.008 4-0.084 2 μg (r =0.999 6),whose average recoveries were 98.8％ (RSD =1.3％),99.8％ (RSD =0.7％),98.8％ (RSD =1.3％) and 96.8％ (RSD =1.0％),respectively.CONCLUSION This sensitive and accurate method can be used for the quality control of Xiaojie'an Capsules.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the principle and treatment of rotational unstable nonunion of the femoral shaft fracture after interlocking nailing.

METHODSFrom April 2003 to June 2007, 18 cases of rotational unstable nonunion of femoral shaft fractures after interlocking nailing were treated with exchanged reamed nailing and/or LCP fixation and iliac bone graft. The average age was 40 years old (from 22 to 52).

RESULTSAll patients were followed up for an average time of 28 months (from 12 to 58). All the fractures were united in an average time of 7 months (from 6 to 8). There were no perioperative complications occurred and no wound infection were observed. No loosening was found around the implant till the last follow-up.

CONCLUSIONSRotational instability is one of the reasons of nonunion of femoral shaft fracture after interlocking nailing. Reaming and nail exchanging or LCP fixation with iliac bone graft are the appropriate methods which can achieve a great clinic results.

Adult ; Female ; Femoral Fractures ; surgery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary ; methods ; Fractures, Ununited ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To establish a method which processes RHCE genotyping with PCR. METHODS: Using PCR-SSP to detect RHCE genotype in 200 cases of Han population in north of China and Li population in south of China and detecting 5 samples of parentage testing at the same time. RESULTS: The results of RHCE genotyping in individuals of two populations are completely accorded with the results of serology typing. And the distribution of RH genotypic frequency in Han population in north China is: RHCCEE 1, RHCCEe 3, RHCCee 88, RHCcEE 4, RHCcEe 20, RHCcee 54, RHccEE 1, RHccEe 22, RHccee; The distribution of RH genotypic frequency in Li populatin in south China is RHCCEE 2, RHCCEe 2, RHCCee 106, RHCcEE 7, RHCcEe 62, RHCcee 10, RHccEE 3, RHccEe 8. The results of RHCE genotype detecting of parentage testing samples are accorded with the results of associated identification of 13 STR loci. CONCLUSION PCR-SSP technology can exactly detect RHCE genotype in individuals of Han population in north China and Li population in south China.
Alleles ; Asian People/genetics* ; China/ethnology* ; DNA/blood* ; DNA Primers ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods* ; Rh-Hr Blood-Group System/genetics*

The cry gene family, produced during the late exponential phase of growth in Bacillus thuringiensis, is a large, still-growing family of homologous genes, in which each gene encodes a protein with strong specific activity against only one or a few insect species. Extensive studies are mostly focusing on the structural and functional relationships of Cry proteins, and have revealed several residues or domains that are important for the target recognition and receptor attachment. In this study,we have employed a maximum likelihood method to detect evidence of adaptive evolution in Cry proteins, and have identified 24 positively selected residues, which are all located in Domain Ⅱ or Ⅲ. Combined with known data from mutagenesis studies, the majority of these residues, at the molecular level, contribute much to the insect specificity determination. We postulate that the potential pressures driving the diversification of Cry proteins may be in an attempt to adapt for the "arm race" between δ-endotoxins and the targeted insects, or to enlarge their target spectra, hence result in the functional divergence. The sites identified to be under positive selection would provide targets for further structural and functional analyses on Cry proteins.

To review the application,acceptance,evaluation and funding of the General,Youth and Regional Science Fund supported by Chinese National Natural Science Foundation in traditional Chinese medicine in 2017.There were 4 472 applications in the subject,114 of which failed in the formal examination,4 358 applications were accepted in the next assessment step;1 403 applications got more than 2 recommendations after peer assessment and 637 applications were funded in the end.The major problems in every step of Science Fund were analyzed in this paper.The author hopes all applicants should pay attention to the problems,and then improve the quality of applications in the field.

AIMThe anti-gastric ulcer constituents from the roots of Crepis napifera (Franch) Babc (Compositae) were studied.

METHODSSolvent partition, Si gel and Rp-18 column chromatography, crystallization and spectral methods were used to extract, isolate and identify two compounds. The activity of compound 1 was tested on the rat stomach by determining the effect on aspirin-induced gastric lesions and on histamine-stimulated gastric acid secretion.

RESULTSTwo sesquiterpene lactone glycosides, taraxinic acid-1'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1) and 11,13-dihydro-taraxinic acid-1'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2) were obtained. Compound 1 at the dose of 80 mg.kg-1 p.o. inhibited significantly the development of aspirin-induced gastric lesions in the rat and at an i.v. dose of 70 mg.kg-1 did not affect histamine-stimulated gastric acid secretion in the lumen-perfused rat stomach.

CONCLUSIONCompound 1 is the active component of the plant which protects gastric mucosa and exhibits anti-gastric ulcer action.

Animals ; Anti-Ulcer Agents ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Aspirin ; Crepis ; chemistry ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Gastric Acid ; secretion ; Gastric Mucosa ; secretion ; Male ; Molecular Conformation ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rats, Wistar ; Sesquiterpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Stomach Ulcer ; chemically induced ; drug therapy

AIMIn order to seek the marks of the genes, the relation between the influence of endurance training on aerobic ability and ACE Gene I/D Polymorphisms were studied.

METHODS102 army recruits of Han nationality from North China for an 18 week en durance training of 5000m distance. Their VO2(max), VT and the left ventricular structure and function were measured before and after the training. We also tested their ACE Gene I/D Polymorphisms with PCR-AFLP method.

RESULTSThe compliance of VO2(max), VT and left ventricular structure and function had improved after the training; the deltaVO2(max) of ID and II type was obviously higher than that of DD type (P < 0.05); there was obviously diference of deltaVO2(VT) in different ACE genotype (P < 0.05), the deltaVO2(VT) of type II was obviously higher than that of DD type (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONI allele has obviously hereditary advantage on the sensitivity to aerobic training in VO2(max) and VT, and type II has relation on the sensitivity to aerobic training in VT; there is no relation between I/D polymorphism and the sensitivity to aerobic training on the structure and function of left ventricle.

Adolescent ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; China ; Humans ; Male ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; genetics ; Physical Endurance ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics ; Ventricular Function, Left ; physiology ; Young Adult