OBJECTIVE: To compare pattern-pulse multifocal visual evoked potential (PPmfVEP) with pattern-reversal multifocal visual evoked potential (PRmfVEP), and to investigate the symmetry of mfVEP between both eyes in normal individuals. METHODS: The multifocal Vision Monitor was used to observe the mfVEP. T-test and ANOVA were used to analyze P1 wave, amplitude and signal noise ratios (SNR) of two mfVEPs. RESULTS: The SNR and the P1 amplitude reached the maximum at the central visual field and decreased with the increase of eccentricity, and then decreased slowly. The amplitude of the PPmfVEP was significantly smaller than the PRmfVEP in the central retina, while in the peripheral retina the result was exactly the opposite. SNR and amplitude of the PRmfVEP showed no statistical difference in both eyes (P > 0.05). The variance of the amplitude at the same side of visual field was larger than that at the symmetrical visual quadrant. CONCLUSION mfVEP can reflect the visual function in different parts of retina objectively and exactly. PPmfVEP reflect the vision function of the central retina better than PRmfVEP. The stability of PPmfVEP is better than PRmfVEP in the central retina, while the result is opposite in the peripheral retina. The mfVEP is symmetrical in both eyes of the same individual.
Evoked Potentials, Visual/physiology* ; Humans ; Neurologic Examination ; Reference Values ; Retina ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Visual Fields/physiology*

OBJECTIVE: To find an objective and accurate examination for evaluation of spinal cord injury (SCI) in forensic clinical medicine. METHODS: The onset latency of cortex, peak latency of N1, central motor conduction time (CMCT) and wave width of the abductor pollicis brevis and the anterior tibialis were calculated by transcranial magnetic stimulation-motor evoked potential (TMS-MEP). The data of 68 patients suffered from SCI including 23 cervical levels and 45 thoracolumbar levels were collected and compared with that of 30 normal controls. RESULTS: In experimental group, when the muscle strength of the abductor pollicis brevis or the anterior tibialis decreased or disappeared, the onset latency of cortex, the peak latency of N1, and CMCT prolonged and the wave width broadened. And these indexes of grade 2 and 3 muscle strength in experimental group were higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The TMS-MEP can determine directly and objectively the motor functional status of pyramidal tract of spinal cord in order to provide more accurate and objective evidences in forensic medicine.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Evoked Potentials, Motor/physiology* ; Female ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; Motor Cortex/physiology* ; Muscle, Skeletal/physiology* ; Neural Conduction/physiology* ; Reaction Time/physiology* ; Spinal Cord Injuries/physiopathology* ; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the clinical manifestations and MRI features in patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) leading to intractable hiccup and nausea (IHN). Methods We collected the data of 17 patients with NMO and analyzed the clinical profiles and MRI features in patients that also complicated with IHN. Results IHN was a common clinical manifestation in patients with NMO: of 17 with NMO, 8 were complicated with IHN (47.5%), having IHN and diplopia and nystagmus symptoms; 6 appeared MRI-detected linear medullary lesion (LML) and linear medullespinal lesion (LMSL) in the spinal cord. The cord lesions extended over three vertebral segments and centered on central canal of spinal cord; most cord lesions preferentially involved the posterior or lateral horn of spinal cord on axial T2. Conclusion NMO leading to IHN is clinically manifested by IHN, and diplopia, and a linear medullary or medullospinal lesion often appears in the spinal cord and medulla. The cord lesions are centered on the central canal of the spinal cord and mainly involve in the posterior or lateral horn of the spinal cord. All these manifestations and MRI features are the distinctive characteristics of NMO, which can be differentiated from multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the killing effect of ZD6474 combined with adriamycin (ADM) on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.

METHODSThe inhibitory effects of ZD6474 and ADM alone and in combination on the proliferation of MCF-7 cells were assessed by MTT assay. The cell cycle and cell apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry.

RESULTSZD6474 and ADM both significantly inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells, showing a synergistic effect of their reactions in combined use (P<0.05). ZD6474 or ADM alone caused cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 and S phases, respectively. Combined use of the two drugs resulted in significant reduction of the M-phase cell percentage and cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 and S phases. The coadministration of the drugs significantly increased the apoptosis rate of the cells as compared with ZD6474 or ADM treatment alone (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSZD6474 and ADM show a synergistic effect in inhibiting the proliferation and inducing apoptosis of MCF-7 cells.

Antibiotics, Antineoplastic ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Breast Neoplasms ; pathology ; Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Doxorubicin ; pharmacology ; Drug Synergism ; Female ; Humans ; Piperidines ; pharmacology ; Quinazolines ; pharmacology

BACKGROUNDRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation at the synovial membrane. Although great progress has been made recently in exploring the etiology and pathogenesis of RA, its molecular pathological mechanism remains to be further defined and it is still a great challenge in determining the diagnosis and in choosing the appropriate therapy in early patients. This study was performed to screen candidate RA-associated serum proteins by comparative proteomics to provide research clues to early diagnosis and treatment of RA.

METHODSSera isolated from 6 RA patients and 6 healthy volunteers were pooled respectively and high-abundance proteins were depleted by Plasma 7 Multiple Affinity Removal System. The protein expression profiles between the two groups were then compared by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and the proteins over/under-expressed by more than 3-fold were identified by mass spectrometry analysis. To validate the differential expression levels of the identified proteins between the two groups, ELISA was performed in two of the identified proteins in individual sera from 32 RA patients and 32 volunteers.

RESULTSEight proteins which over/under-expressed in sera of RA patients were identified. Among them, chain A of transthyretin (TTR) was under-expressed, while serum amyloid A protein, apolipoprotein A (ApoA)-IV, ApoA-IV precursor, haptoglobin 2, ceruloplasmin (Cp), immunoglobulin superfamily 22 and HT016 were over-expressed. ELISA test confirmed that Cp expressed remarkably higher while TTR obviously lower in RA group compared with volunteer group.

CONCLUSIONThere were 8 identified proteins differentially expressed between RA group and volunteer group, which might be candidate RA-associated proteins and might be promising diagnostic indicators or therapeutic targets for RA.

Adult ; Apolipoproteins A ; blood ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; blood ; Blood Proteins ; analysis ; Ceruloplasmin ; analysis ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prealbumin ; analysis ; Proteomics ; Serum Amyloid A Protein ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo study the radiosensitizing effect of gefitinib on nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE2 in vitro.

METHODSNasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE2 was cultured in RP2MI 1640. MTT assay was performed to evaluate the cell proliferation changes in response to gefitinib treatment and the radiosensitizing effect of gefitinib. The cell survival curves and sensitive enhancement ratio (SERs) were obtained with a clonogenic assay. Flow cytometry analysis was applied to detect the cell cycle changes and cell apoptosis.

RESULTSMTT assay showed that cells exposed to gefitinib and radiation had a significantly lower survival ratio compared to the cells with radiation exposure only (0.582∓0.012 vs 0.398∓0.016, P=0.002), with a SER of 1.535∓0.134. The S phase cell percentage was significantly decreased and G(2)-M phase cells increased in gefitinib plus radiation group (P=0.000), suggesting a synergistic effect of gefitinib and radiation.

CONCLUSIONGefitinib can enhance the radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE2 cells in vitro possibly by inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing cell apoptosis, and causing changes in the cell cycle distribution.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Carcinoma ; Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; pathology ; Quinazolines ; pharmacology ; Radiation Tolerance ; drug effects

ObjectiveTo study the possible correlation between serum osteoprotegerin （OPG）/soluble receptor activator of the nuclear factor κB ligand （sRANKL） levels and the left ventricular diastolic dysfunction （LADD） in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM）. MethodsTotally 68 T2DM patients and 37 healthy controls were selected. Serum OPG and sRANKL were determined by solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The left ventricular diastolic function of T2DM patients was measured by transthoracic echocardiography， where E/A < 1 were regarded as LVDD. T2DM patients were further divided into two subgroups according to E/A ratio （E/A≥1.0 and E/A<1）. Spearman correlation analysis， logistic regression and ROC curves were used to assess the possible correlation between serum OPG/sRANKL and LADD in T2DM patients. ResultsCompared with the healthy controls， serum OPG level in T2DM patients was higher with statistically significant difference （P <0.01）， while serum sRANKL level was lower without statistically significant difference （P =0.32）. T2DM patients with E/A<1 had significantly higher OPG level and lower sRANKL level than those with E/A≥1（P <0.01） in subgroup analysis. Spearman correlation analysis showed serum OPG level was negatively correlated with E/A ratio， while sRANKL was positively related with E/A ratio. In single factor logistic regression analyses， serum OPG ［OR （95% CI）=1.068 （1.031， 1.106）， P<0.001］ and sRANKL ［OR （95% CI）=0.976 （0.959， 0.992）， P=0.003］ were significant correlation with LVDD in T2DM patients. ROC curve analysis showed that the sensitivity and specificity of combined OPG and sRANKL in diagnosing T2DM patients LADD were 78.13% and 88.3%， respectively （area under the curve： 0.857； 95% CI=（0.768， 0.946）； P<0.001）. ConclusionsThe elevated OPG and decreased sRANKL levels may be associated with LADD in T2DM patients.

ObjectiveTo reveal the differences of the related pathogenicity gene mutations between sebaceous adenocarcinoma （SC） of scalp and sebaceous adenoma （SA） of scalp on whole exome level. MethodsWhole exome sequencing was performed on a SC sample and a SA sample by Illumina Hiseq 2500 platform. Suspicious single nucleotide variation sites were selected for mutation conservation and functional analysis. SciClone was used to track subclone evolution and clonal map information was obtained for each tumor sample. The high-frequency significant gene mutations in the tumor sample were screened by MutSigCV software， and compared with the known driver genes. ResultsTwo driver genes TFDP1 and ACVR1B harboring mutations in scalp SC compared to SA were found. ConclusionsThe finding of mutation in driver genes TFDP1 and ACVR1B should be confirmed in a large cohort， which might reveal the mechanism of scalp SC development and find a therapeutic target for SC.

Senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) is often a concomitant result of cell senescence, embodied by the enhanced function of secretion. The SASP factors secreted by senescent cells include cytokines, proteases and chemokines, etc, which can exert great influence on local as well as systemic environment and participate in the process of cell senescence, immunoregulation, angiogenesis, cell proliferation and tumor invasion, etc. Relative to the abundance of SASP models in human cells, the in vitro SASP model derived from mouse cells is scarce at present. Therefore, the study aimed to establish a mouse SASP model to facilitate the research in the field. With this objective, we treated the INK4a-deficient mouse NIH-3T3 cells and the wildtype mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) respectively with mitomycin C (MMC), an anticarcinoma drug which could induce DNA damage. The occurring of cell senescence was evaluated by cell morphology, β-gal staining, integration ratio of EdU and Western blot. Quantitative RT-PCR and ELISA were used to detect the expression and secretion of SASP factors, respectively. The results showed that, 8 days after the treatment of NIH-3T3 cells with MMC (1 μg/mL) for 12 h or 24 h, the cells became enlarged and the ratios of β-gal-positive (blue-stained) cells significantly increased, up to 77.4% and 90.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, the expression of P21 protein increased and the integration ratios of EdU significantly decreased (P < 0.01). Quantitative RT-PCR detection showed that the mRNA levels of several SASP genes, including IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1α and IL-1β increased evidently. ELISA detection further observed an enhanced secretion of IL-6 (P < 0.01). On the contrary, although wildtype MEF could also be induced into senescence by MMC treatment for 12 h or 24 h, embodied by the enlarged cell volume, increased ratios of β-gal-positive cells (up to 71.7% and 80.2%, respectively) and enhanced expression of P21 protein, the secretion of IL-6 displayed no significant change. Our study indicated that, although MMC could induce senescence in both mouse NIH-3T3 cells and wildtype MEF, only senescent NIH-3T3 cells displayed the canonical SASP phenomena. Current study suggested that senescent NIH-3T3 cells might be an appropriate in vitro SASP model of mouse cells.
Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; Cellular Senescence ; drug effects ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Cytokines ; genetics ; metabolism ; DNA Damage ; Fibroblasts ; drug effects ; Interleukin-6 ; secretion ; Mice ; Mitomycin ; pharmacology ; NIH 3T3 Cells ; Phenotype