Objective To study the subchronic toxicity of sodium fluoride on mRNA expression of estrogen receptor(ER) in female mice.Methods Forty female mice were randomly divided into 4 groups according to body mass,10 in each group,and exposed to sodium fluoride solution(0,1,5,25 mg/L) through drinking water in control,low-dose,medium-dose and high-dose groups for 12 weeks.The expression levels of ERα,ER3 mRNA in ovarian tissues were determined by RT-PCR method.Results The relative expression levels of ERα,ERβ mRNA in control,low-,medium-and high-dose groups were 0.7028 + 0.0474,0.7195 ± 0.0552,0.6479 ± 0.0590,0.5684 ± 0.0513 and 0.8418 ± 0.0131,0.7729 ± 0.0974,0.7610 ± 0.0984,0.8026 ± 0.0234,respectively.The difference between high-dose and control groups of the expression level of ERα was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The subchronic toxicity of fluoride can decrease the expression of estrogen receptor in ovarian tissue,which may have a certain effect on reproductive development of female mice.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male

Hair follicle stem cells located bulge region of hair follicle,had characteristics of all adult stem cells,including slow-cycling,undifferentiated.They also had the abilities of self-renew and proliferation in vitro.CD34,K15,K19 and Nestin might be the makers of the hair follicle stem cells.They could be induced to differentiate to neurons,glial cells,keratinocytes,smooth muscle cells,melanocytes In vitro and neurons,melanocytes in vivo.There were many signals in regulating the hair follicle stem cells involved Wnt signal,BM Psignal and NFATc1 etc.

Objective To introduce the donor heart preservation techniques and study the clini- cal results in 26 patients undergoing orthotopic heart transplantations with long donor ischemia time (DIT) in our center.Methods From Sept.2004 to Aug.2006,26 patients underwent orthotopic heart transplantation at our center with DIT longer than 360 min.Crystalloid cardioplegia was infused through aortic root after aorta was cross clamped.UW solution was used when donor heart was removed.All patients underwent bicaval anastomotic cardiac transplantation.NO was inhaled through ventilator during and after operation in patients with pulmonary hypertension.Results DIT was 360- 560 (mean 401?43) min.There was no operative death in this group.Echocardiography and X-ray examinations in one month were normal.One case of abnormal coronary orifice was subjected to re- anastomosis of aorta.One case of renal failure post-operation was subjected to blood dialysis.Conclu- sion With proper donor heart procurement and preservation,recipient selection,anastomotic technique,efficient postoperative surveillance and pulmonary hypertension treatment,transplanted patients with long DIT can obtain the satisfactory short-term outcome.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of procalcitonin(PCT)as an early indicator for sepsis.Methods Serum levels of PCT and C-creative protein(CRP)and white blood cell (WBC)count were measured in 30 patients in critical condition hospitalized at an intensive care unit(ICU) with diagnosis of systemic inflammatory response syndrome(SIRS).They were divided into two groups, sepsis and non-sepsis,based on their clinical manifestations and results of lab tests.Blood specimen was collected from each patient for measurement of PCT,CRP and WBC count on the 1~(st),3~(rd)and 7~(th)day after hospitalization and bacteriological culture for blood and sputum,and chest X-ray was performed,as well. Acute physiology,age and chronic health evaluation(APACHE Ⅱ)was made on the 1~(st),3~(rd)and 7~(th)day after hospitalization to assess their ill condition.Their prognosis were judged on the 28~(th)day of the follow-up. Results Serum level of PCT increased significantly in the sepsis group(with the highest of 10.13 ng/ml), as compared with that in the non-sepsis group.Sensitivity,specificity and predictive value of a positive test for a cut-off value of serum level of PCT at 0.5 ng/ml were 97.0%,91.7% and 82.1%,respectively, which were all better than those of serum level of CRP and WBC count.Serum level of PCT in the patients was significantly associated with their prognosis,and PCT in those died was significantly higher than that in those survived.Whereas,serum level of CRP and WBC count elevated in both groups,but the difference between the two groups did not reach a level of statistical significance.Conclusion Serum level of PCT can be used as an early indicator for judgment of sepsis for a patient with infection and reflection of severity of illness.

Objective To study the advantage and disadvantage of two types of rat heart trans- plantation models.Methods Twenty Wistar rats served as donors and 20 SD rats as recipients ran- domly in two groups.Abdominal working and nonworking cardiac transplantation models from Wistar to SD rats were established.In the working model,the donors pulmonary artery was anastomosed to the left atrial appendage.The left ventricle ejected volume through an end to side anastomosis of the donor's aorta to the recipient's abdominal aorta.In the nonworking cardiac transplantation model,the donor's pulmonary artery was anastomosed to the recipient's inferior vena cava and the donor aorta was anastomosed to the recipient aorta.Results Working model and nonworking model were successfully established.The survival rate of both models was 90 %.Total operating time of the working model was 10 min shorter than the nonworking model.Postoperative UCG demonstrated the working trans- planted hearts had ejection.Conclusions Rat abdominal working cardiac transplantation model was used perfectly with high rate of survival and shorter total operating time.The working model approached cardiac physiological functions more than the nonworking model.

Adult ; Aged ; Botulinum Toxins, Type A ; therapeutic use ; Dysphonia ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Laryngoscopy ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To study the prospective memory and the severity of the impairment of event- based prospective memory(EBPM)and time-based prospective memory(TBPM)in normally aging adults. Methods We set a neuropsychological battery to measure the education-matched 40 adults and 40 normally aging adults who were given EBPM and TBPM tasks.Results Compared with the young controls(EBPM, 6.25?1.60;TBPM,5.38?0.87),both EBPM(2.50?0.85)and TBPM(4.93?1.07)in the elderly had been impaired,especially EBPM(t = 13.117,P

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of paclitaxel on rat graft arteriosclero- sis and the mechanism.Methods The rat abdominal aortic allograft model was used.All rats were divided into three groups:isograft control group (Wistar to Wistar),allograft group (Wistar to SD) and allograft paclitaxel-treated group (Wistar to SD).Rats in allograft paclitaxel-treated group re- ceived paclitaxel (2 mg?kg~(-1)?d~(-1)) from the operation day to post-operative day 14 and others received same dosage of vehicle (0.9% normal saline).Animals were sacrificed and the grafts were harvested at 30th day after operation.Intimal proliferation was studied by light microscopy.The apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) was detected by transmission electronic microscopy and termi- nal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method.Results Morphological analysis showed that grafts had no change after operation in isograft control group,but in allograft group intimal proliferation,inflammatory cells infiltration in neointima and adventitia and stenosis of allografts were obvious.After treatment with paclitaxel,there was a significant decrease in intimal proliferation,inflammatory cells infiltration and stenosis.Apoptosis index of VSMCs was higher in the allograft paclitaxel-treated group than other groups.Conclusion Paclitaxel can inhibit intimal pro- liferation in aortic allografts and prevent the graft from arteriosclerosis possibly by inducing the apoptosis of VSMCs.