OBJECTIVE: To study the expressions of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and phospho-FAK( p-FAK) during skin incised wound healing and the applicability of time-dependent expressions of FAK and p-FAK. METHODS: The expression of FAK and p-FAK in cutaneous incised wound in mouse were investigated by immunohistochmeistry and Western blotting. RESULTS: FAK and p-FAK expression were detected in polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) in the wound and adjacent regions 3 hours post-injury. The expressions of FAK and p-FAK were detected in a large number of infiltrating PMNs and some of mononuclear cells (MNCs) from 6 to 24 hours after injury. The MNCs and fibroblastic cells (FBCs) accounted for most part of the FAK and p-FAK positive cells from 3 to 14 days after injury. The numbers of FAK-positive cells increased continuously, reaching a peak at post-injury day 3, and then started to decrease from post-injury day 5 to 14. The changes of p-FAK-positive cells were similar to that of the FAKs, and reached a peak at 12 hours after injury. CONCLUSION Both FAK and p-FAK displayed a time-dependent expression during skin incised wound healing in mouse, with p-FAK being superior to FAK. Both FAK and p-FAK may potentially be used as new markers for determination of the wound interval.
Animals ; Focal Adhesion Kinase 1/metabolism* ; Mice ; Phosphorylation ; Skin/injuries* ; Time Factors ; Wound Healing

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of unilateral pedicle screw fixation in treating thoracolumbar fractures through paraspinal approach.

METHODSFrom January 2006 to January 2009,21 patients with single level thoracolumbar fracture without neurological symptoms were treated with unilateral pedicle screw fixation through paraspinal approach. There were 14 males and 7 females,aged from 21 to 65 years old with a mean of 36.4 years. The duration from injury to operation ranged from 6 h to 5 d with an average of 3 d. According to the classification of Denis fracture, compression fractures happedned in 12 cases and burst fractures happened in 9 cases,including 1 case with T5 fracture, 2 cases with T7 fracture, 2 cases with T10 fracture, 3 cases with T11 fracture, 8 cases with T12 fracture, and 5 cases with L1 fracture. Based on the Flankel grade, all patients were classified as grade E. Anterior vertebral body height ratio, sagittal Cobb angle, condition of internal fixation failure, visual analogue score (VAS) were evaluated.

RESULTSAll patients were followed up from 12 to 36 months with an average of 20.5 months. No internal fixation failure was found. Anterior vertebral body height ratios at preoperative 3 days after operation and last follow-up were 54.3 +/- 2.8, 92.9 +/- 1.5, 93.8 +/- 1.7, respectively;sagittal Cobb angle at the three timepoints were (27.8 +/- 2.5) degrees, (5.3 +/- 0.8) degrees, (6.3 +/- 1.4) degrees, respectively; the difference was statistical significant (P < 0.05). VAS was (1.2 +/- 0.4) points at last follow-up and had obviously improved (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONTreatment of thoracolumbar fractures with unilateral pedicle screw fixation through paraspinal approach is safe with the advantages of micro-trauma and less blood loss,which can not only completely retain the posterior spinal complex structure, reinforce the spinal stability, raise the reductional quality, but also improve the strength of fixation and the distribution of stress force.

Adult ; Bone Screws ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; instrumentation ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Spinal Fractures ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; diagnostic imaging ; injuries ; surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

Bacillus anthracis collagen-like protein(BclA) is a structural component of the exosporium filaments,as well as the immunodominant antigen on the spore surface.The genes encoding BclA proteins were cloned and sequenced from three Bacillus anthracis strains separated from China.It was founded that the BclA proteins of strain A16R and 40048,containing 388 and 322 amino acids,72 and 50 copies of GXX repeat,5 and 3 copies of 21-amino-acid sequence(GPT)_(5)GDTGTT(BclA repeat) respectively,are different from those reported by foreign scholars;while the BclA protein of strain 40022,containing 370 amino acids,66 copies of GXX repeat,and 5 copies of BclA repeat,is identical with that of strain 53169 reported by others.The results are helpful for the molecular typing of B.anthracis strains,and provide a basis for the elucidation of the pathogenesis and immunogenicity of B.anthracis spore.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of caspase-6 in rat skin contusion and its surrounding areas during repairment. METHODS: Immunohistochemical SP method and Western blot technique were used to study the expression and activation of caspase-6 in rat skin contusion and its surrounding areas. RESULTS: Weak expression of caspase-6 was detected in cytoplasms of polymorphonuchear cells (PMNs) infiltrated in the injured area at 3 hours post-contusion. The ratio of the caspase-6 positive cells was low (25.78 +/- 1.38)%. The expression of caspase-6 was increased prominently (47.70 +/- 5.14)% at 12 hours post-contusion. Almost all of the PMNs, mononuclear cells (MNCs) and fibroblastic cells (FBCs) were caspase-6 positive with both cytoplasm and nucleus staining (54.58 +/- 5.64)% on post-contusion day 3. The expression of caspase-6 decreased gradually thereafter. The expression of the 34-kDa pro-caspase-6 was detected by Western blot in both control and the post-contusion groups with time dependent dynamics. CONCLUSION These results suggest that caspase-6 may play a major role in trauma-induced inflammatory response. Since caspase-6 shows a timely dependent expression in PMNs, MNCs and FBCs during skin injury repair in rat, it may be used as a marker for the contusion age determination,
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Blotting, Western ; Caspase 6/metabolism* ; Contusions/pathology* ; Fibroblasts/metabolism* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Monocytes/metabolism* ; Neutrophils/metabolism* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Skin/pathology* ; Time Factors ; Wound Healing

OBJECTIVE: To study the percentages of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), mononuclear cells (MNC) and fibroblastic cells (FBC) in different post-traumatic intervals after skeletal muscle mechanical injury in rats. METHODS: The rat model of skeletal muscle mechanical injury was established. The rats were divided into injured groups (6 h, 12 h, 1 d, 3 d, 7 d, 10 d and 14 d after injury) and control group. The percentages of PMN, MNC and FBC in different post-traumatic intervals after skeletal muscle mechanical injury were assessed with HE staining and image analysis. RESULTS: At post-injury 6-12h, the percentages of PMN and MNC infiltration appeared in injured sites and that of PMN reached peak. At 1 d, the percentage of MNC infiltration appeared and reached peak, while that of PMN decreased. At 3-7 d, the percentage of FBC gradually increased, while that of PMN and MNC decreased. At 10-14d, the percentage of FBC reached peak. CONCLUSION The percentages of PMN, MNC and FBC in injured zones showed time-dependent changes, which might be used as reference index for determination of age of skeletal muscle injury.
Animals ; Fibroblasts ; Muscle, Skeletal/injuries* ; Neutrophils ; Rats ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of caspase-3 during skin wound healing and explore the applicability of caspase-3 to determination of wound age. METHODS: The expression of caspase-3 were performed on 33 mice skin incised wounds at different posttraumatic intervals and 3 mice as control by immunohistochemical technique. RESULTS: Expression of caspase-3 was detectable in polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) in the wound specimens aged 6 h. In the wound specimens aged from 12 h to 24 h after injury, caspase-3 was identified in a large number of infiltrating PMNs and part of mononuclear cells (MNCs). Afterwards, the MNCs and fibroblastic cells (FBCs) accounted in the most part of the caspase-3 positive cells. Morphometrically, the ratio of the number of the caspase-3 stained PMNs, MNCs and FBCs to total number of the cells in the wounds was evaluated and calculated. The ratio of the caspase-3 positive cells was low in the wound specimens aged from 0 h to 3 h (4.53 +/- 6.53)%, and maximized in the wound specimens aged 3 day (62.66 +/- 4.84)%. Thereafter, the ratio decreased and minimized in the specimens aged 14 day (21.56 +/- 4.54)%. CONCLUSION The results suggest that caspase-3 may play an important role in inducing neutrophil, macrophage and fibroblast apoptosis during skin wound healing. Furthermore, caspase-3 may be used as a marker for the wound age determination.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Caspase 3 ; Caspases/biosynthesis* ; Female ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Mice ; Skin/metabolism* ; Staining and Labeling ; Time Factors ; Wound Healing ; Wounds and Injuries/physiopathology*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expressions of phospho-p38MAPK(p-p38MAPK) during the incised wound healing of the skin in mice and to explore the applicability of the time-dependent expressions of p-p38MAPK in the determination of wound age. METHODS: The expression of p-p38MAPK in incised skin wound was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. RESULTS: There was a minimal baseline expression of p-p38MAPK in control mouse skin. Expression of p-p38MAPK was mainly detectable in neutrophils in the wound specimens from 3hours to 12 hours after injury. Afterwards, the p-p38MAPK positive cells were mostly mononuclear cells and fibroblasts between post-injury day 1 and day 5, whereas the p-p38MAPK positive cells were mostly fibroblasts between post-injury day 7 and day 14. Morphometrically, the ratio of the p-p38MAPK positive cells to total number of the cells increased gradually in the wound specimens aged from 3 hours to 12 hours, and maximized in the wound specimens aged 12 hours with a slight decrease at 24 hours after injury. The ratio maintained at high level from post-injury day 3 to day 5, and then decreased gradually from post-injury day 7 to day 14. The expression of p-p38MAPK was observed throughout the wound healing stages by Western blot as well with a peak expression occurring between 12hour and day 3 after injury. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that p-p38MAPK may play an important role in inducing apoptosis of neutrophils, mononuclear cells, and fibroblasts during skin wound healing and meanwhile, p-p38MAPK may be a potentially useful marker for wound age determination.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Blotting, Western ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Fibroblasts/metabolism* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Mice ; Monocytes/metabolism* ; Neutrophils/metabolism* ; Phosphorylation ; Random Allocation ; Skin/metabolism* ; Time Factors ; Wound Healing ; Wounds and Injuries/physiopathology* ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of caspase-3 during contused skeletal muscle wound healing in rats and to explore the applicability of caspase-3 in wound age estimation. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats undergone anesthesia with 2% pentobarbital sodium (45 mg/kg) were struck by a single strike at the skeletal muscle of the right leg, then were sacrificed by cervical dislocation at different post-traumatic intervals. The changes of caspase-3 activity were assessed by imunohistochemistry, Western blot and caspase-3 colorimetric assay. The skeletal muscle of non-contusion rat's were used as controls. RESULTS: No caspase-3 was detected in skeletal muscle in the control group. The expression level of caspase-3 in the peripheral area of contused rat skeletal muscle increased gradually and maximized on the fifth day after injury, and then decreased gradually. Caspase-3 was also detected in the regenerated skeletal muscle within 7-14 days after injury. CONCLUSION The expression of capase-3 in the peripheral area of contused rat skeletal muscle indicated that it may play a pivotal role in apoptosis of the wounded skeletal muscle and may be used as a marker for wound age estimation. The expression of capase-3 in regenerating skeletal muscle suggests that caspase-3 activity may be used for skeletal muscle differentiation.
Animals ; Caspase 3/metabolism* ; Contusions/enzymology* ; Forensic Pathology ; Male ; Muscle, Skeletal/injuries* ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Time Factors ; Wound Healing

Objective To investigate the imaging characteristics of both intra- and extrathoracic sarcoidosis on 18F-FDG PET/CT.Methods From 2007 Aug.to 2009 Nov.,22 patients( 10 males,12 females) with sarcoidosis,confirmed by pathological study and clinical follow-up,underwent 18 F-FDG PET/CT imaging.The imaging patterns of intrathoracic and extrathoracic lesions were analyzed.The patterns were classified as the typical or atypical ( symmetrical or asymmetrical FDG accumulation and enlargement of hilar lymph nodes) based on PET and CT separately.Nonparametric McNemar test,independent t-test and Fisher exact test were applied for statistical analysis.Results For typical pattern vs atypical pattem identification,PET was significantly different from CT ( 18 and 4 vs 12 and 10,P =0.031 ).In those with atypical pattern demonstrated by CT alone at hilar region,PET showed either symmetrical or asymmetrical accumulation of FDG.Except for mediastinal lymph nodes involvement,lung parenchyma was the second common site ( 19/22,86.4％ ),followed by lymph nodes at abdomen and (or) pelvis ( 12/22,54.5％ ).Conclusion The imaging characteristics of both intra- and extrathoracic sarcoidosis on 18F-FDG PET/CT may be helpful for the diagnosis of atypical sarcoidosis on CT image alone.

Objective To investigate the mRNA level of glucose-6-phosphate isomerase(GPI)ex- pression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA).Method Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)was applied to semiquantitatively analyze GPI mRNA expression in the peripheral blood mononu- clear cells(PBMCs)of 30 active RA patients,30 stable RA patients,30 patients with other rheumatic disease and 30 healthy subjects.Results There was statistically significant differences between patients with RA and other rheumatic diseases(P