Objective To observe the polysomnographic manifestation of sleep disorder and the characteristics of sleep architecture in patients with PD.Methods 42 patients with PD and 40 normal controls underwent night polysomnography.The parameters of sleep architecture and progress in two groups and video-monitoring features were analyzed.Results According to PSG recordings,the incidence of difficulties in the initiation of sleep(73.8%),fragmented sleep(59.5%),excessive daytime sleepiness (46.1%)were respectively increased in PD patients group than that in controls(all P5)、 ESS were increased(P=0.022,0.000,0.007, 0.001,0.000,respectively).SOREMPs occurred in 6 patients(14.3%)in PD group,but didn't oecure in controls.In PD group REM without atonia(RWA)was demonstrated in 36 patients(85.7%),RBD in 19 patients;in control group,however,REM in 6 and RBD in 2 separately.The statistics analysis showed the incidence of RWA(85.7%)and RBD(45.2%)in PD group was significantly higher than that in control group(P

Objective To detect the relationship between CAG repeat in IT15 gene and clinical manifestations of Huntington's disease (HD).Methods Non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electro- phoresis method was used to detect CAG repeat.Clinical manifestations were scored by UHDRS and MMSE. Results Genotypes of IT15 were heterozygous in all 29 HD patients.CAG repeat in the HD chromosome, being 42—62,13—28 in normal chromosome,was inversely correlated with age of onset (r=-0.539,P

Sugarcane stem is an ideal organ for producing foreign pharmaceutical proteins and chemicals by genetic engineering.A perfect promoter driving foreign gene to express strongly and specifically in sugarcane stem is necessary for this purpose.In order to isolate a Sugarcane stem-specific promoter,a fragment of 1968bp nucleotide sequence(Ppst2a)upstream 5' of sugarcane pst2a gene,which was demonstrated to express specifically in sugarcane stem previously was isolated by using chromosomal walking.Bioinformatical analysis of this sequence shows that the sequence contains some typical elements of a promoter.To identify the stem-specific of this promoter,a construct was derived from pCAMBIA1301,which original CaMV 35S promoter was replaced by the 1968bp nucleotide sequence,and named as pCAMBIA1900.Transformations of pCAMBIA1900 and pCAMBIA1301 to leaves and stem pieces of sugarcane were carried out by using particle bombardment.The transient expression of gus showed that the gus expressed specifically in sugarcane with a little higher level compared with CaMV 35S.It is the first report that pst2a promoter is a potential stem-specific promoter which can further be used in transgenes into sugarcane.

Objective To observe dopamine transporter (DAT) binding capacity using 99Tcm-TRODAT-1 in drug-naive patients with Tourette's syndrome (TS) on SPECT imaging, and explore possible correlations between 99Tcm-TRODAT-1 uptake ratio and TS patient's age, disease duration, and tic severity.Methods Eighteen drug-naive TS patients, male 14, female 4, as well as 8 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects were recruited. Brain SPECT imaging was performed 2. 5 h after intravenous injection of 11.1 - 14.8 MBq/kg 99Tcm-TRODAT-1. ROI was drawn on the striatum including its sub-regions of caudate and putamen, with cerebellum as the background. Striatum/cerebellum ratio was calculated. Comparisons of the ratios between TS patients and controls were carried out by independent-sample t-test. Pearson correlation analysis was performed between DAT uptake ratios of striatum and patients' age, disease duration, tic severity. Results Compared with the control, higher symmetrically striatum uptake of 99Tcm-TRODAT-1 in TS patients was observed (2.17±0.23 vs 1.87±0.24, t =2.957, P＜0.05). Age (r= -0.320, P＞0.05)and tic severity(r = 0. 345, P ＞ 0.05) scores were not significantly correlated with specific uptake ratios measured in the striatum. But there was significant negative correlation between disease duration and the specific uptake ratios (r = - 0. 483, P ＜ 0. 05). Conclusions 99 Tcm-TRODAT-1 SPECT imaging may play an adjuvant role for initial evaluation of untreated TS.

OBJECTIVETo study the association of two polymorphisms of alpha-2 macroglobulin gene (A2M), a 1000G/A in exon 24 and a pentanucleotide insertion/deletion (I/D) in the 5'splice site in exon 18, with Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET) in North China.

METHODSUsing polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method to investigate 87 cases of Parkinson's disease (PD),73 cases of ET and 100 randomly selected healthy control subjects.

RESULTS(1) The allelic and genotypic distributions of A2M G/A were significantly different among the PD, ET patients and controls (P<0.05). The allele G and genotype GA in PD patients were significantly higher than those in ET patients or controls (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between ET patients and controls in allelic and genotypic distribution (P>0.05). (2) The differences in allelic and genotypic distributions of A2M I/D among PD, ET patients and selected controls were found to be of no statistical significance (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION(1) The polymorphism at the site of G/A might be associated with PD, but there might be no genetic association of polymorphism at this site with ET. (2) There might be no association of polymorphism at the site of I/D with PD and ET in North China.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Essential Tremor ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parkinson Disease ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; alpha-Macroglobulins ; genetics

The continuous cultivation of Rehmannia glutinosa causes the accumulation of phenolic acids in soil. It is supposed to be the reason of the so called "continuously cropping obstacle". In this study, phenolic acids (hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, eugenol, vanillin and ferulic acid) were degraded by the extracta of all the tested spent mushroom substrate (SMS) and the maximal degradation rate was 75.3%, contributed by extraction of SMS of Pleurotus eryngii. Pot experiment indicated that hydroxybenzoic acid and vanillin in soil were also degraded effectively by SMS of P. eryngii. The employment of SMS enhanced ecophysiology index to near the normal levels, such as crown width, leaves number, leaf length, leaf width and height. At the same time, the fresh and dry weight and total catalpol concentration of tuberous root weight of R. glutinosa was increased to 2.70, 3.66, 2.25 times by employment of SMS, respectively. The increase of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes numbers in rhizosphere soil were observed after the employment of SMS by microbial counts. The employment of SMS also enhanced the enzyme activity in soils, such as sucrase, cellulase, phosphalase, urease and catelase. These results indicated that the employment of SMS alleviated the continuously cropping obstacle of R. glutinosa in some extent.
Agaricales ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Agriculture ; methods ; Biodegradation, Environmental ; Hydroxybenzoates ; analysis ; metabolism ; Rehmannia ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Soil ; chemistry ; Soil Microbiology

Objective To explore the expression level and possible reasons of Tau protein in Beagle dog model of ischemic cerebral white matter(WM) demylination.Methods Sixteen adult Beagle dogs were divided into the sham operation group(A) and observation group B,C and D according to the completely random mumber table method,4 cases in each group.Different.degrees of cerebral ischemia animal models were established by 4-vessel occlusion(4-VO) method.The bilateral ventricle edge white matter (WM) was selected.The oligodendrocyte precursors(OPCs) were labeled by NG2.The mature oligodendrocytes(Ols) were labeled by CNPase.Tau,NG2 and CNPase were detected by using the immunohistochemical method.The expression level was quantified by the mean optical value.The correlation among Tau,NG2 and CNGase was analyzed by adopting the Pearson linear correlation analysis.Results The HE staining showed obvious changes of WM demylination after chronic cerebral ischemic.The scores after LFB staining in the group A,B,C and D were(0.75 ± 0.71) points,(1.38 ± 0.06) points,(1.63 ± 0.52) points and (1.88 ± 0.64)points.Compared with the group A,the scores in the group B,C and D were much higher(P＜0.05).Compared with the group A,the expression levels of Tau protein and NG2 were significantly increased(P＜0.05),while the CNPase expression level was significantly decreased(P＜0.05).The Pearson correlation analysis showed that Tau expression level was positively correlated with the NG2 expression level(r=0.277,P=0.006);Tau and NG2 were negatively correlated with the CNPase level(r=-0.303,-0.402,P=0.003,0.001).Conclusion The increase of Tau expression in Beagle dog model of ischemic cerebral WM demylination may be related to the differentiation dysmaturity of OPCs.

Objective To explore the clinical and imaging features of Parkinson plus syndromes and its differentiation points. Methods Seventy-three patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD),68 patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA),10 patients with dementia of Lewy bodies (DLB),15 patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and 6 patients with corticobasal degegnration (CBD) were recruited between January,2004 and April,2009 from our hospitals.All patients were given detailed investigation, physical examination, mini-mental status examination and brain CT/MRI examination.Part of patients were performed 18F-FDG PE.Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 11.0 software. Results Except for postural abnormity, all the other main clinical features differed significantly between each 2 groups (P＜0.05).Brain MRI examination showed that Olivopontocerebellar atrophy was seen in 48 MSA patients (48/59,81.4％),putaminal hypointensities on T2-weighted images were seen in 4 MSA patients (4/59,6.8％) and the "hot cross bun" signal in pons was seen in 30 MSA patients (30/59, 50.8％); hummingbird-like changes were noted in midsagittal view of MRI in 3 PSP patients (3/15, 20.0％); all 6 CBD patients presented asymmetric cortical atrophy, especially in the frontoparietal areas,and 1 also presented putaminal hypointensities on T2-weighted image.Brain 18F-FDG PET indicated that 18F-FDG intake presented different distribution among groups. Conclusion Each atypical Parkinsonian syndrome has its specific clinical features which attribute to rule it out from either IPD or other Parkinson plus syndromes; brain MRI examination and 18F-PET scan can help to diagnose and differentiate Parkinson plus syndromes.

This study was purposed to explore the relationship between asparagine synthetase (AsnS) mRNA expression level and the sensitivity of leukemic cell lines to L-asparaginase. The AsnS mRNA expression level in 8 cell lines (Jurkat, HL-60, U937, NB4, THP-1, Namalwa, Karpas299 and K562) was determined by real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR) based on fluorescence dye Eva Green before and after treatment with L-Asp, and the cell proliferation rates were analyzed by CCK-8 assay. The results showed that there was a significant disparity of AsnS expression level in 8 cell lines, and there were significant increases of AsnS expression level in cells co-cultured with L-Asp (p < 0.05). Of all these eight cell lines, cells sensitive to L-asparaginase had lower AsnS expression level and cells resistant to L-asparaginase had higher AsnS expression. U937 which was the most sensitive to L-asparaginase had the lowest AsnS expression level, while K562 was natural resistant to L-asparaginase and possessed of the highest AsnS level. It is concluded that the AsnS plays a critical role in regulating cellular biological behavior after depletion of asparagine, the AsnS mRNA expression level in cells reflects the sensitivity of cells to L-Asp. The results may imply the possibility for the use of L-asparaginase in leukemia with lower AsnS expression level.
Asparaginase ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Aspartate-Ammonia Ligase ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Leukemia ; enzymology

OBJECTIVETo detect the disease-causing point mutations in the dystrophin gene of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients.

METHODSThe approach of denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) coupling with sequencing was used to screen the point mutations of 79 exons and the untranslated regions of dystrophin gene without large deletions/duplications, which was in 6 unrelated DMD probands from 6 DMD families.

RESULTSFive disease-causing mutations, 697-698insGT, C616T, G1255T, C4279T, and C2302T, were ides created the new stop codons in downstream sites of mutations, respectively. In addition to the disease-causing point mutations, a point mutation T5586+61A in intron 39 was also found at patient 3, and a missense mutation A694T in exon 8 was detected at patient 5. Four point mutations, C2168+13T, 5740-13dupG, G5234A and C5280T, were also detected at patient 6 whose causative point mutation was unavailable. Seven point mutations have not been reported previously. Bi-directional PCR amplification of specific alleles (Bi-PASA) method was established to distinguish the haplotypes of heterozygote or homozygote in a single PCR reaction.

CONCLUSIONVia automated DHPLC screening or detecting the subexonic mutations in dystrophin gene is feasible to clinical laboratories, and also is a superior method in terms of sensitivity and efficiency.

Base Sequence ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Dystrophin ; genetics ; Gene Duplication ; Humans ; Male ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne ; genetics ; Point Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Deletion