Objective To observe the expressions of transforming growth factor-?1(TGF-?1) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1(PAI-1) mRNA in tubulointerstitial fibrosis( TIF ) rats,and explore the effects of TGF-?1 and PAI-1 on TIF and the interaction between TGF-?1 and PAI-1.Methods Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group (SOR group,n=30) and unilateral urethral obstruction group(UUO group,n=30).TIF model was established via UUO.At d 7,d 14,d 21 after operation,10 rats of every group were killed to obtain renal samples.Histological changes were observed in tubulointerstitium injury under microscope;mRNA and proteins of TGF-?1 and PAI-1 were detected by real-time PCR assays and Western blotting respectively at d 7,d 14,d 21 after experiment onset.SPSS 10.0 software was used to analyze data.Results 1.HE,Masson staining of renal tissues of all groups indicated that there were no fibrosis in SOR rats,there were vacuole degeneration in tubular epithelial cells and inflammatory cell infiltration in tubulointerstitial in UUO rats at d 7,fibrosis aggravated gradually and became severe fibrosis at d 21.2.The expression locations of TGF-?1 and PAI-1 were renal sites of fibrosis by immunohistochemical staining.The mRNA and proteins of TGF-?1 in rats from SOR groups were lower than those of UUO groups at d 7,d 14,d 21(P

AIM To investigate the action of rosiglitazone on blood glucose,blood lipid,and the vascular remodeling in rats fed with high-fructose diet. METHODS After fed with high-fructose diet for one month,rats were randomly divided into two groups:High-fructose diet group that continued feeding with high-fructose diet for another month; High-fructose diet+rosiglitazone group fed with high-fructose diet and rosiglitazone (5 mg?kg -1?d -1, dissolved in water) for one month. At last,one half of each group were anesthetized,and the fasting blood, obtained from heart,was used to detect blood glucose,blood lipid,blood insulin. The aorta and mesenteric artery were gotten from the other half of each group, fixed in formalin,sliced and HE dyed. Pathology analysis system was used to measure the remodeling indexes of aorta and mesenteric artery:Lumen ,media,media/lumen,media cross-section area. RESULTS Comparing high-fructose diet+rosiglitazone group with high-fructose diet group, rosiglitazone decreased blood pressure(16.0 kPa vs 18.0 kPa, P

AIM: To evaluate the effects of 23G vs 20G pars plana vitrectomy ( PPV ) combined with internal limiting membrane peeling, phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation for macular epiretinal membrane with cataract. ·METHODS: Totally 45 eyes of 45 patients with macular epiretinal membrane and cataract were enrolled in this retrospective non-randomized controlled clinical study. All eyes were treated with PPV combined with internal limiting membrane peeling, phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation. There were 20 eyes in 23G PPV group, and 25 eyes in 20G PPV group. The best corrected visual acuity ( BCVA ) , intraocular pressure (IOP), counting of corneal endothelial cells ( CEC) and central retinal thickness ( CRT ) were examined before surgery. BCVA results were converted to the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution ( LogMAR ) visual acuity. All operations were performed by the same doctor. Operation time for vitrectomy and membrane peeling, average ultrasound energy ( AVE) and effective phacoemulsification time ( EPT ) were recorded. BCVA and CRT were observed postoperatively at 30d and 90d, counting of CEC was observed postoperatively at 90d. IOP was observed postoperatively at 1d and 7d. ·RESULTS:The mean operation time for vitrectomy were 12. 57± 1. 35min in 23G group and 17. 30 ± 1. 19min in 20G group. The difference was statistically significant ( t =-12. 488, P<0. 01). There were no statistical significances in operation time for membrane peeling, AVE and EPT between 23G and 20G groups ( t=-0. 68,-1. 186,-0. 737, P=0. 500, 0. 242,0. 465). On 1d after surgery, IOP in 23G group was lower than that in 20G group, the difference was statistically significant (t= -2. 345, P=0. 024). The BCVA and CRT of the two groups both improved after operations. There were no statistically significant differences between two groups in terms of IOP, BCVA, and CRT ( F = 0. 465, 1. 895, 0. 689; P = 0. 499, 0. 176, 0. 411). IOP, BCVA and CRT were significant statistical different in different time-point within each group ( F=291. 245, 103. 06, 665. 402, P<0. 01 ). Different surgical methods of 23G and 20G had interactive effects on IOP with different time points ( F = 13. 245, P<0. 01 ), but different surgeries had no interactive effects on BCVA and CRT with different time points (F=1. 212, 2. 293;P=0. 283, 0. 129). The counting CEC in 23G group was more than that in 20G group postoperatively at 90d, the difference was statistically significant (t=2. 049, P=0. 048). ·CONCLUSION: The 23G PPV combined with internal limiting membrane peeling, phacoemulsification, intraocular lens implantation for macular epiretinal membrane with cataract is effective. Compared with 20G PPV, 23G PPV has advantages in operation time for vitrectomy and counting CEC. But lower IOP is likely in 23G PPV on 1d after surgery

AIM: To explore the frequency of drug injection of alloxan diabetes on the established model of rabbit.METHODS: Thirty-six healthy rabbits, weighing 2-2.5kg, were randomly divided into one time drug injection group (group A, n=12), two times drug injection group (group B, n=12) and three times drug injection group (group C, n=12). Each rabbit was injected with a total amount of 150mg/kg of alloxan. Fasting blood glucose was measured. The success rate and death rate of each group were also calculated.RESULTS: The success rate of diabetic rabbit model in group B was higher than that in group A (P<0.01) and its death rate was lower than that of group A (P<0.01); the success rate of diabetic rabbit model in group C was highest and the death rate was the lowest in three groups(P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Multiple administration of alloxan can improve success rate in establishing diabetic rabbit model with decreased death rate and increased stability.

With its abilities of trans-synaptic tracing and self-replication and wide host range, pseudorabies virus (PRV) has been applied in the field of neuroanatomy since the 1970s. Four decades of PRV application have made many advances in researches on neuronal tracing with PRV. Mechanism studies focused on investigating infection of primary neurons and tracing direction in secondary neurons, while application studies focused on development of new pathological strains and innovation of tracing techniques. To date, the mechanism and application of viral tracing are not completely figured out yet. Integration of molecular biology technology will improve the efficiency in related researches.
Animals ; Cell Tracking ; Herpesvirus 1, Suid ; genetics ; physiology ; Humans ; Neurons ; virology ; Pseudorabies ; virology

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy of needling thirteen ghost acupoints for children with autism spectrum disorder. Methods:A total of 90 cases with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged between 2 and 6 years were randomly allocated into 2 groups by random number table. The control group (n=45) received routine rehabilitative training, and the treatment group (n=45) received acupuncture at thirteen ghost acupoints plus routine rehabilitative training. The Beijing Gesell developmental (Gesell) scale and autism behavior checklist (ABC) were used to assess the intellectual, language and behavior development before and 3 months after the treatment. Results:After the treatment, the total effective rate in the treatment group was 82.2%, versus 55.6% in the control group, showing a statistical significance (P<0.05). As for the scores of social, emotional and language in Gesell scale, there were significant intra-group differences in the treatment group (allP<0.05), and all the five subscales in the Gesell scale in the treatment group were significantly better than those in the control group (allP<0.05). As for the scores of ABC, there were significant intra-group differences in the treatment group (P<0.05), and the scores in the treatment group were significantly better than those in the control group (allP<0.05). Conclusion: Rehabilitation training plus acupuncture at thirteen ghost acupoints can significantly improve the intellectual, language and abnormal behavior in autism spectrum disorder children.

Objective To investigate the effects of different standard cross sections and angles on the measurement accuracy of induced postnatal fetal long bones. Methods Fetal long bones (femori and humeri) in 30 cases with induced abortion were measured utilizing ultrasound from different angles and /or at different directions. The values measured from different sections and angles with vernier calipers were compared prenatally and postnatally. Results There was no apparent difference between the pre-induced abortion and those of the post-induced abortion. The results in the 30 cases showed that: (1) the values measured from anterior 90 degree, the long bone length would best match with the bare long bone length up to 96.7%, the match rate of other angles and/or directions was up to 80%; (2) no apparent statistical difference was between the length of left and right bone and no difference was found using 4 different directions and 3 different angles; (3)there was no difference between the left and right femuri and humeri.Conclusions Though the measured value from anterior 90 degree direction was the most accurate one, the statistical analtical results showed no difference among 12 values measured from 3 different angles and/or 4 different directions.

OBJECTIVEThe purpose of this study was to explore the clinical significance of expression of Fas, CTLA-4 and RhoBTB2 genes in breast carcinoma.

METHODSSemi-quantitative reverse transcriptive polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to analyze the mRNA expression levels of the three genes in tumor tissues from 60 patients with primary breast cancer and normal breast tissues of 30 cases. The relationship between gene expression and clinicopathological factors were analyzed and determined.

RESULTSThe relative expression levels (gray scale ratio between target gene and internal reference gene) of Fas, CTLA-4 and RhoBTB2 genes in breast carcinoma tissues were 0.699 +/- 0.285, 1.045 +/- 0.302 and 0.625 +/- 0.160, respectively. In the normal breast tissues, they were 0.502 +/- 0.178, 0.418 +/- 0.140 and 0.843 +/- 0.218, respectively. There were statistically significant differences of the expression of those three genes between carcinoma tissues and normal breast tissues (P < 0.01). The expression level of Fas in carcinoma tissues was significantly higher in lymph node matastasis positive patients (0.782 +/- 0.313) than that in node-negative patients (0.557 +/- 0.146, P < 0.01). The expression level of CTLA-4 gene in carcinoma tissues was lower in II stage patients (0.978 +/- 0.330) than that in III stage patients (1.134 +/- 0.240, P < 0.05). The expression level of RhoBTB2 gene was lower in invasive ductal carcinoma (0.597 +/- 0.157) than that in invasive lobular carcinoma (0.717 +/- 0.145, P < 0.05). There were no correlations of expression of the three genes at mRNA level and age, ER, PR, HER2 status and survival time. Furthermore, no correlation was seen among the three genes expression (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe expression of all the three genes at mRNA level is involved in genesis and progression of breast cancer. There exist correlations between Fas expression and axillary lymph node matastasis, CTLA-4 expression and disease stage, and RhoBTB2 expression and pathological type of breast cancer.

Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, CD ; genetics ; metabolism ; Breast ; metabolism ; Breast Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; CTLA-4 Antigen ; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Lobular ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; GTP-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; fas Receptor ; genetics ; metabolism

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of 17beta-estradiol (17beta-E(2)) on the structure and relaxation and contraction activity of thoracic aortas in ovariectomized rats with insulin resistance induced by fructose. Ovariectomized mature female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with high fructose diet for 8 weeks to induce insulin resistance. Physiological dose of 17beta-E(2) (30 mug/kg) was injected subcutaneously every day for 8 weeks. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured by use of tail-cuff. Serum nitric oxide (NO), estradiol (E(2)), fasting blood sugar (FBS) and fasting serum insulin (FSI) were measured respectively in each group. The insulin sensitive index (ISI) was calculated. The thoracic aortas were fixed in formalin, sliced and HE dyed. The structure of thoracic aortas, lumen breadth, media thickness, media thickness/lumen breadth ratio and media cross-section area were measured. The contraction response of thoracic aorta rings induced by L-phenylephrine (PE) and the relaxation response of thoracic aorta rings induced by ACh and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were measured. To explore the mechanism, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) was used. The results obtained are as follows: (1) 17beta-E(2) protected against the effect of high fructose diet, which caused an increase in SBP, hyperinsulinemia and a decrease in ISI in ovariectomized rats. (2) The structure of thoracic aortas had no significant difference among the groups. (3) Compared with the ovariectomized group (OVX) or fructose fed group (F), serum nitric oxide was significantly reduced, the contraction response of thoracic aorta rings to PE was enhanced and the relaxation response to ACh was depressed significantly in ovariectomized+fructose fed group (OVX+F). The effect of high fructose was reversed by 17beta-E(2). After pretreatment with L-NAME, the effect of 17beta-E(2), which enhanced the relaxation response of thoracic aorta rings to ACh in ovariectomized+fructose+17beta-E(2) group (OVX+F+E(2)), was partly blocked. (4) The relaxation response of thoracic aorta rings to SNP had no significant difference among the groups. (5) The contraction response of thoracic aorta rings without endothelium to PE had no significant difference among the groups. These findings suggest that 17beta-E(2) may provide protection against the effect of high fructose diet, which causes hypertension, dysfunction of endothelial cells and insulin resistance. The mechanism of this effect of 17beta-E(2) could be partly associated with the increase of NO by NOS pathway, or associated with the decrease in the level of systolic blood pressure and serum insulin, and the improvement of insulin resistance.
Animals ; Aorta ; physiology ; Estradiol ; pharmacology ; Female ; Fructose ; Insulin Resistance ; physiology ; Ovariectomy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vasoconstriction ; drug effects ; Vasodilation ; drug effects ; Vasomotor System ; drug effects

To investigate the changes in bcl-2, bax expression and neuron apoptosis in the hippocampus after the blockade of cervical lymphatics, the model of lymphostatic encephalopathy was established by occluding and removing both the superficial and deep cervical lymph nodes in rats. The animals were sacrificed at 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 14 d after operation. H and E staining was used to observe the structure of brain tissues and TUNEL staining was used to detect in situ cell apoptosis in the hippocampus. The expression of bcl-2 and bax in the hippocampus were examined by RT-PCR. The results showed that cerebroedema appeared at day 2 and was most serious at day 5 after the blockade of cervical lymphatics. The number of TUNEL positive cells began to increase at day 2 and reached the maximum at day 5. The expression of bax began to increase at day 1 and reached the maximum at day 2. The expression of bcl-2 began to decrease at day 1 and dropped to the minimum at day 5. The items mentioned above recovered to control level at day 14. These results suggest that lymphostatic encephalopathy following the blockade of cervical lymphatics result in changes in bcl-2 and bax expression in the hippocampus and that apoptosis is the main form of neuron death.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; physiology ; Female ; Hippocampus ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymphatic System ; physiology ; Male ; Neck ; Neurons ; cytology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; genetics ; metabolism