Brain ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Exons ; Galactosylceramidase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Infant ; Leukodystrophy, Globoid Cell ; diagnosis ; enzymology ; genetics ; pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Mutation ; Radiography

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Astragalus Plant ; Doxorubicin ; adverse effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Myocardium ; pathology ; ultrastructure

To clarify the prognostic contribution of peripheral blood cell and bone marrow megakaryocyte counts in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a series of data of 299 ITP patients including the counts of peripheral white blood cells and platelets, their increase potentials after treatment and the megakaryocytic counts on the bone marrow smears at diagnosis as well were collected and retrospectively analyzed to correlate with the disease development. The results showed that peripheral white blood cell and platelet counts at diagnosis were not associated with the prognosis, but positively associated with the increment of platelet counts after treatment. The cure rate reached up to 94.9% in the group with the platelet level restored to 100 x 10(9)/L in two weeks of therapy. The numerous megakaryocyte counts in bone marrow at diagnosis indicated good prognosis that the cure rate was up to 86.1% when the counts were more than 100 per 1.5 x 3 cm of smear. In conclusion, bone marrow examination on the quantity and quality of megakaryocyte would be critical for diagnosis and evaluation of the prognosis. Consecutive platelet counts during therapy is useful to estimate the disease development.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Megakaryocytes ; cytology ; Middle Aged ; Platelet Count ; Prognosis ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; blood ; therapy

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the main point of long backbone fracture caused by blunt force in forensic clinical identification and to provide a reference for the inspection and appraisal practices of such injury. METHODS: Ninety-nine cases of adult long backbone fractures were collected from January 2006 to December 2013 in Gutian County of Fujian Province. According to the terms of fracture location, mode of injury, type, the data were summarized. RESULTS: In the 99 cases, there were 36 cases caused by hitting, kicking, and falling and 63 cases caused by vehicle collision. The majority of the former was ulna, and those of the latter were tibia and fibula. The types of fracture were transverse one, short oblique one, long oblique one, and spiral one. CONCLUSION Different types of long backbone fracture, not only causing stress load of fractures as well as structural differences related to each segment.
Fibula/pathology* ; Forensic Pathology ; Fractures, Bone/pathology* ; Humans ; Tibial Fractures/pathology*

OBJECTIVETo sum up the clinical experience in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with the prostate weighing over 80 ml by transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) combined with 2 μm continuous-wave laser vaporesection (LVR).

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical effects of TURP combined with 2 μm LVR in the treatment of 46 cases of BPH with the prostate volume > 80 ml.

RESULTSAll the operations were successfully accomplished. The operation time and intraoperative blood loss were (112.0 ± 20.0) min (range 86-176 min) and (77.9 ± 25.9) ml (range 50-200 ml), respectively. The catheters were withdrawn at 7 days after surgery. Transient urinary incontinence occurred in 6 cases and secondary hemorrhage was found in 2 postoperatively. Six-month follow-up revealed no urethral stricture or other complications. Compared with the baseline, the international prostate symptom score (IPSS) was significantly decreased at 6 months after operation (26.3 ± 1.8 vs 11.6 ± 1.7, P <0.05), and so were the quality of life (QOL) score (5.3 ± 0.7 vs 1.3 ± 1.1, P <0.05) and post-void residual urine (PVR) ([115.5 ± 55.6] ml vs [19.9 ± 11.6] ml, P <0.05). However, the maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) was remarkably increased from (4.1 ± 2.6) ml/s to (16.2 ± 1.7) ml/s (P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONTURP combined with 2 μm LVR is safe and effective for the treatment of BPH with the prostate volume >80 ml.

Aged ; Blood Loss, Surgical ; Humans ; Laser Therapy ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Organ Size ; Prostate ; pathology ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; pathology ; surgery ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Transurethral Resection of Prostate ; methods ; Treatment Outcome ; Urethral Stricture ; Urinary Incontinence ; etiology ; Urinary Retention

Repeated exposure to morphine leads to the addiction, which influences its clinical application seriously. The glutamatergic projection from prefrontal cortex (PFC) to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) plays an important role in rewarding effects. It is still unknown whether morphine exposure changes PFC-NAc synaptic transmission. To address this question, in vivo field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) induced by electric stimulating PFC-NAc projection fibers were recorded to evaluate the effect of acute morphine exposure (10 mg/kg, s.c.) on glutamatergic synaptic transmission in NAc shell of repeated saline/morphine pretreated rats. It was showed that acute morphine exposure enhanced fEPSP amplitude and reduced paired-pulse ratio (PPR) in saline pretreated rats, which could be reversed by following naloxone injection (1 mg/kg, i.p.), an opiate receptor antagonist. However, repeated morphine pretreatment significantly inhibited both the enhancement of fEPSP amplitude and reduction of PPR induced by acute morphine exposure. Those results indicate that the initial morphine exposure enhances PFC-NAc synaptic transmission by pre-synaptic mechanisms, whereas morphine pretreatment occludes this effect.
Animals ; Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials ; drug effects ; physiology ; Female ; Glutamate Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins ; metabolism ; Glutamates ; metabolism ; Morphine ; administration & dosage ; Morphine Dependence ; physiopathology ; Nucleus Accumbens ; physiopathology ; Prefrontal Cortex ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

To investigate contribution of soluble interleukin-2 receptor (SIL-2R) to the clinical progress of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), SIL-2R levels were measured in the plasma of 34 patients and 34 normal controls with double antibody sandwich ELISA. The cohort consisted of 12 patients with chronic ITP, 15 with acute ITP and 7 with ITP in remission. The results showed that the mean SIL-2R level of chronic ITP group was significantly higher than those of both the control and acute ITP group (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01, respectively). The SIL-2R level of 7 cases in remission, however, was not significantly different from that of normal controls. Furthermore, the plasma levels were dramatically lowered in patients responsive to VLAP regimen (vincristine, L-imidazole, antaisu and prednisone), and those were not evidently decreased in unresponsive patients. It was concluded that T cell activation may play a role in the development of ITP, and further, the level of plasma SIL-2R might predict the prognosis of ITP.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Receptors, Interleukin-2 ; blood

Burst firing of dopaminergic neurons in ventral tegmental area (VTA) induces a large transient increase in synaptic dopamine (DA) release and thus is considered the reward-related signal. But the mechanisms of burst generation of dopaminergic neuron still remain unclear. This experiment investigated the burst firing of VTA dopaminergic neurons in rat midbrain slices perfused with carbachol and L-glutamate individually or simultaneously to understand the neurotransmitter mechanism underlying burst generation. The results showed that bath application of carbachol (10 μmol/L) and pulse application of L-glutamate (3 mmol/L) both induced burst firing in dopaminergic neuron. Co-application of carbachol and L-glutamate induced burst firing in VTA dopaminergic cells which couldn't be induced to burst by the two chemicals separately. The result indicates that carbachol and L-glutamate co-regulate burst firing of dopaminergic neuron.
Action Potentials ; drug effects ; Animals ; Carbachol ; pharmacology ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; physiology ; Drug Synergism ; Female ; Glutamic Acid ; pharmacology ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Ventral Tegmental Area ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of transforming growth factor beta (TGF ) on c-fos gene expression in hepatic stellate cells.

METHODSHepatic stellate cells (HSC-T6) were cultured in the medium containing different concentrations of TGF (0.2, 1, and 5 ng/ml), and cells were collected at different time points of incubation (8, 24, 48, and 72 h). The total RNA of the HSCs was isolated and c-fos gene expression level were measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTSc-fos gene expression levels of HSCs cultured in the presence of low (0.2 ng/ml), moderate (1 ng/ml) and high (5 ng/ml) concentrations of TGF for 8, 24, 48 and 72 h were significantly greater than those of control group. The c-fos gene expression levels of HSCs increased gradually with the increment of TGF concentration, and significant differences in c-fos gene expression were found between the 3TGF groups.

CONCLUSIONTGF strongly up-regulates c-fos gene expression in hepatic stellate cells.

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Genes, fos ; Hepatic Stellate Cells ; drug effects ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; pharmacology

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is characterized by hyperglycemia and disturbances of carbohydrate and fat metabolism resulted from an absolute or relative deficiency of insulin and insulin resistance. Recent studies indicate that oxidative stress may have a central role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. Currently, the diagnosis of body oxidative stress level mainly depends on the detection of oxidative stress markers including reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and lipid peroxide in clinical and experimental studies with methods combining physical and chemical means. The mechanism underlying oxidative stress-induced diabetes mainly may be through two ways. Firstly oxidative stress damages the normal function of islet β cells, through the destruction of mitochondrial structure and inducing apoptosis, activation of nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway, causing cell inflammatory response, and reducing insulin synthesis and secretion by inhibiting pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 (PDX-1) nuclear cytoplasm translocation as well as inhibiting energy metabolism; Secondly, oxidative stress induces insulin resistance by interfering physiological activities related to insulin signaling including phosphorylation of insulin receptor (InsR) and insulin receptor substrate (IRS), the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and the translocation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), as well as injuring the cytoskeleton. Studying the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of diabetes not only helps to reveal the pathogenesis of diabetes, but also provides a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of diabetes.
Apoptosis ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Insulin ; physiology ; Insulin Resistance ; Mitochondria ; pathology ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Oxidative Stress ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; metabolism ; Phosphorylation ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction