Objective:To investigate the correlation between white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and stroke etiology classification in patients with acute isolated penetrating artery territory infarction.Methods:Patients with first-ever acute isolated penetrating artery territory infarction admitted to the Department of Neurology, the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from January 2017 to May 2020 were enrolled retrospectively. According to the Chinese Ischemic Stroke Subclassification (CISS) system, they were divided into large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) and perforating artery disease (PAD). According to the distribution of infarcts, they were divided into lenticulostriate artery (LSA) territory infarction and paramedian pontine artery (PPA) territory infarction. The demographics, vascular risk factors, baseline clinical data, WMHs location, and Fazekas Scale scores were documented. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the independent influencing factors of stroke etiology classification. Results:A total of 440 patients with acute isolated penetrating artery territory infarction were enrolled, including 120 (27.3%) in the LAA group, and 320 (72.7%) in the PAD group; 213 (48.4%) with LSA territory infarction, and 227 (51.6%) with PPA territory infarction. The proportion of patients with total Fazekas score 3-6 and periventricular WMHs (PWMHs) score 2-3 in the PAD group was significantly higher than those in the LAA group (all P<0.05). In patients with LSA territory infarction, the proportion of the patients with hypertension, WMHs total Fazekas score 3-6 and PWMHs score 2-3 in PAD subgroup was significantly higher than those in the LAA subgroup, while the proportion of the patients with hyperlipidemia was significantly lower than that in LAA subgroup (all P<0.05). In patients with PPA territory infarction, the levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and homocysteine in the PAD subgroup were significantly lower than those in the LAA subgroup. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that PWMHs score 2-3 was an independent correlation factor of PAD (odds ratio [ OR] 2.220, 95% confidence interval [ CI] 1.085-4.541; P=0.029). In patients with LSA territory infarction, hyperlipidemia was independently correlated with LAA ( OR 0.432, 95% CI 0.192-0.972; P=0.042), and PWMHs score 2-3 was independently correlated with PAD ( OR 3.846, 95% CI 1.193-12.397; P=0.024). In patients with PPA territory infarction, higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( OR 0.660, 95% CI 0.494-0.883; P=0.005), homocysteine ( OR 0.958, 95% CI 0.930-0.987; P=0.005) and C-reactive protein ( OR 0.987, 95% CI 0.977-0.997; P=0.008) were independently correlated with LAA. Conclusions:WMHs are common in patients with acute isolated perforating territory infarction caused by LAA and PAD, and more severe PWMHs suggest that PAD is more likely to be the cause of the acute isolated perforating territory infarction, especially in patients with LSA territory infarction.

Objective To evaluate the role of orexin in the sleep disorder after isoflurane anesthesia in rats.Methods Sixty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats,aged 10-12 weeks,weighing 280-320 g,were randomly divided into 2 groups (n =32 each) using a random number table:control group (C) and isoflurane group (Ⅰ).Group Ⅰ inhaled 1.2％ isoflurane from 8:00 to 13:30 to induce anesthesia,followed by 0.5 h of recovery.Group C received no anesthesia and the other procedures were similar to those previously described in group Ⅰ.The induction time and awakening time were recorded.Eight rats were randomly chosen to record the movement condition (locomotor time and activity) from 14:00 to 8:00 the next morning.Before beginning of anesthesia,at 4 h after beginning of anesthesia,and at 4 and 10 h after the end of anesthesia,6 rats were randomly chosen in each group to count the orexin/c-fos double-labeled neurons in hypothalamus.The ratio of activated orexin neurons (orexin/c-fos double-labeled neurons to orexin positive neurons) was calculated and plasma orexin-A concentration was detected.Results The induction time was (2.14 ± 0.17) min,awakening time was (8.7 ± 0.5) min,and EEG showed that there was no typical burst and suppression patterns in group Ⅰ.There was no significant difference in the number of orexin positive neurons between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).Compared with group C,the time for locomotor activity was significantly prolonged,and the activity was increased during the night (P ＜ 0.01),the number of activated neurons,ratio of activated orexin neurons and plasma orexin-A concentration were decreased at 4 h after beginning of anesthesia in group Ⅰ (P ＜ 0.01).The plasma orexin-A concentration was lower at 4 h after beginning of anesthesia,while higher at 10 h after the end of anesthesia than before beginning of anesthesia in group Ⅰ (P ＜ 0.05).The number of activated neurons was significantly larger and ratio of activated orexin neurons was higher before beginning of anesthesia and at 10 h after the end of anesthesia and the plasma orexin-A concentration was higher at 4 and 10 h after the end of anesthesia than at 4 h after beginning of anesthesia in group Ⅰ (P ＜ 0.05 or 0.01).Conclusion The development of sleep disorder after isoflurane anesthesia during the day time in rats is related to the regulatory role of orexin in it.

Objective To investigate the antitumor effect and its mechanism of microbubble contrast combined with Mitoxantrone exposed to low-frequency ultrasound on human breast cancer cell MCF-7. Methods MTT method was applied to examine the growth inhibition of MCF-7 treated with Mitoxantrone. MCF-7 cells were randomly divided into 4 groups:Mitoxantrone group (group D), ultrasound+Mitoxantrone group (group U+D), ultrasound+microbuble +Mitoxantrone group (group U+M+D) and control group (group C). The cytoactive of each group was examined with MTT. The intracellular drug content in each group was measured with high performance liquid chromatography. The morphology of MCF-7 cells apoptosis was observed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results The IC_(50) of Mitoxantrone was 2.87 μg/ml. The differences of cytoactive among all groups were significant (P<0.05). The intracellular drug content of group U+M+D was higher than that of group U+D, and the latter was higher than that of group D. The morphological changes of apoptosis were observed with TEM. Conclusion Low-frequency ultrasound can promote intracellular drug content as to enhance the sensitivity of chemotherapy drugs on tumor cells, and this effect can be enhanced by microbubble contrast exposure to low-frequency ultrasound.

Acanthoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Adenoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Keratin-14 ; metabolism ; Keratin-5 ; metabolism ; Keratin-6 ; metabolism ; Keratosis ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Poroma ; classification ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Sweat Gland Neoplasms ; classification ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery

OBJECTIVE: To study the objectivity and reliability of needle electromyography and nerve conduction for detection of musculus extensor digitorum brevis strength, which may provide a basis for establishing a quantitative detection of muscle strength in forensic clinical study. METHODS: Forty-four healthy people were enrolled as the subjects, and during toe dorsiflexion, the following items including needle electromyography indexes, motor unit potential (MUP) amplitude, MUP count, recruitment reaction type, and nerve conduction detection indexes, compound muscle action potential (CMAP) amplitude, CMAP latent period and motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV), were simultaneously detected under the cooperation and disguise condition. RESULTS: Under the cooperation condition, regardless of the same operator or different operators, there were good test-retest reliabilities in MUP amplitude, CMAP amplitude, CMAP latent period and MNCV, while there were normal test-retest reliabilities in MUP count and recruitment reaction type and the repeatability of the same operator was slightly better than the repeatability between different operators. Under the disguise condition, test-retest reliabilities of MUP amplitude, CMAP amplitude, CMAP latent period and MNCV were relatively high, while test-retest reliabilities of MUP count and recruitment reaction type were relatively low. CONCLUSION There are good test-retest reliabilities in MUP amplitude, CMAP amplitude, CMAP latent period and MNCV, which can be conducive to comparison between different operators and results at various times; MUP count and recruitment reaction type, which can be easily affected by subjectivity of operators and examinees, can be used to differentiate whether an examinee disguises or not. The indexes used to objectively judge muscle strength remain to be further investigated.
Electrodes, Implanted ; Electromyography ; Humans ; Muscle Strength/physiology* ; Muscle, Skeletal/innervation* ; Neural Conduction/physiology* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Toes

BACKGROUND:The traditional method of preparing tissue-engineered conduit has the defects of complex shape manufacturing and uncontrolable inner space structure, which cannot meet the requirements of some micro-catheters.
OBJECTIVE:To prepare a bionic spinal catheter and analyze its performance.
METHODS:The data model of the conduit was established using Solid Works software, and platform scan path was generated onthree-dimensionalprinter to produce the bionic spinal catheter with fibroin and colagen as raw materials. Then the water absorption, porosity, mechanical properties and celular compatibility of the conduits were detected. Next, the conduits were implanted into the subcutaneous tissue of rats and taken out at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks after surgery, respectively, to observe the degradation.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The porosity of the conduit was (53.6±1.0)%, the water absorption was (1347±19.4)%, and the compression modulus was (0.60±0.12) MPa. The micropores distributed uniformly with different size ranging from 10 to 240 μm. Spherical or fusiform stem cels survived in the pores and densely adhered to the conduit with pseudopodia. The degradation rate ofthe conduit was 20%, 59%, 74%and 100% at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks after surgery, respectively. These findings indicate that the artificial bionic spinal catheter has good biocompatibility and degradability.

Akebia trifoliate has been reported to have many pharmacological activities and the roots, petioles and seeds are used to different symptoms. However, the structure and anatomy of its seeds was almost not reported until now. In the present study, we investigated the morphological characters of the fruit and seed, and the anatomical characters of the testa, micropyle, embryo and endosperm, which could provide evidences for the study on classification, identification and application of A. trifoliate. Our results showed that the testa of A. trifoliate consisted of an epidermic cell layer, the sclerenchyma cells layer, the parenchyma cells layer and an innermost pigment layer. At the micropylar region, the outermost epidermal cells were specialized the white caruncle-like structure and the testa included a lot of lignified tissues. Endosperm comprises two layer cells. Outermost yellowish-brown layer cells contains lots of fat droplets, and innermost white layer cells contains lots of aleurone grains and crystalloids.
Germination ; Magnoliopsida ; anatomy & histology ; growth & development ; Seeds ; anatomy & histology ; growth & development

BackgroundDry eye is a multi-factorial-induced tear film and ocular surface disorder.Immunoinflammation plays a key role in the pathogenesis of dry eye.As inhibitor of the cyclo-oxygenase pathway,nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs play an anti-inflammatory and anti-hypersensitivity role,and it can be a potential treatment for dry eyes.ObjectiveThis study was to investigate the effectiveness of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (0.1％topical pranoprofen) on moderate to severe dry eyes and its mechanism.MethodsThis was a small sample of randomized controlled clinical trial.Thirty right eyes of 30 patients with moderate to severe dry eyes were included in the study according to the diagnosis criteria and randomized into two groups.The patients of the trial group received topical administration of 0.1％ pranoprofen plus 0.1％ sodium hyaluronate,and those of the control group received the topical 0.1％ sodium hyaluronate only.Ocular surface inflammation index scores (OSDI) and ocular surface fluorescine staining (OSS) scores were measured under the slit lamp,and tear film break-up time (BUT),Schirmer Ⅰ test values were evaluated.The expression of human leucocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR) and CD11b in conjunctiva epithelial cells were detected by impression cytology and flow cytometry (FCM).All the indexes were compared between the two groups before and after treatment.Informed consent was obtained from all patients.ResultsThere were no significant differences in terms of age and gender and their baseline values between the trial group and control group (t=0.412,P=0.684;x2=0.240,P=0.624),and so were all the indexes (P＞0.05).Compared with the control group,the OSDI,OSS scores and cells positive for HLA-DR were lowered but the BUT was delayed in the trial group on day 15 ( t=2.43,P=0.03;t=2.83,P=0.01;t=3.29,P=0.00;t=3.23,P=0.00 ).No significant differences were found in the Schirmer Ⅰ test value and CD11b expression between these two groups (t=0.17,P=0.87;t=0.28,P=0.79).The OSDI,OSS scores and BUT were significantly improved,and the number of cells positive for HLA-DR were reduced 15 days after administration of drugs in comparison with before treatment in the trial group ( t =12.30,10.70,6.10,7.92,P =0.00 ).However,there were no comparable alteration seen in these indexes before and after the usage of drugs in the control group ( P＞0.05).Positive correlations were found in HLADR expression with OSDI and OSS ( r =0.601,P =0.018 ; r =0.586,P =0.022 ) and a negative correlation in HLADR expression with BUT (r=-0.697,P=0.004) on day 15 in the trial group.ConclusionsTopical usage of 0.1％ pranoprofen is beneficial for remitting the ocular signs and symptoms in moderate to severe dry eyes.This study illustrates that topical usage of 0.1％ pranoprofen can down-regulate the expression of inflammatory markers in conjunctival epithelial cells.

The most effective sequence of small interfering RNA (siRNA) silencing STAT3 of psoriatic keratinocytes (KCs) was screened out,and the effects of the most effective siRNA combined with ultrasonic irradiation and SonoVue microbubbles on the expression of STAT3 of KCs and the dose-and time-response were investigated.Three chemically-synthetic siRNAs targeting STAT3 carried by Lipofectamine 3000 were transfected into KCs,and the effects on STAT3 expression were detected,then the most effective siRNA was selected for the subsequent experiments.The negative controls of siRNA (siRNA-NC) labeled with Cy3 carried by Lipofectamine 3000 combined with ultrasonic irradiation and SonoVue microbubbles were transfected into KCs,then the optimal parameters of ultrasonic irradiation were determined.The most effective siRNA carried by Lipofectamine 3000 combined with ultrasonic irradiation at the optimal parameters and SonoVue microbubbles was transfected into KCs,and the dose-and time-response of RNA interference was determined.The effect of RNA interference by the most effective siRNA at the optimal time and dose carried by Lipofectamine 3000 combined with ultrasonic irradiation and SonoVue microbubbles (LUS group) was compared with that only carried by Lipofectamine 3000 (L group).The results showed that siRNA-3 achieved the highest silencing efficacy.0.5 W/cm2 and 30 s were selected as the parameters of ultrasonic irradiation.The siRNA-3 carried by Lipofectamine 3000 combined with ultrasonic irradiation and SonoVue mierobubbles could effectively knock down the STAT3 expression at mRNA and protein levels in dose-and time-dependent manners determined at 100 nmol/L with maximum downregulation on mRNA at 48 h,and on protein at 72 h after transfection.The LUS group achieved the highest silencing efficacy.It was concluded that siRNA-3 carried by Lipofectamine 3000 combined with ultrasonic irradiation and SonoVue microbubbles could effectively knock down the STAT3 expression in psoriatic KCs,and the optimized transfection condition and the sequence of siRNA-3 could serve for further research on gene therapy of psoriasis.

In this study, the anti-HBV effects of tea polyphenols (TP) were examined. After cells were exposed to TP for 3, 6, 9 days, amounts of HBsAg, HBeAg and HBV-DNA released into the supernatant of the cultured HepG2 2.2.15 cells were detected. TP, to some extent, inhibited the secretion of HBsAg and strongly suppressed the secretion of HBeAg in a dose-dependent (P<0.01) and time-dependent manner, with 50% maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value being 7.34 microg/mL on the 9th day, but the time-dependence was not significant (P=0.051). Expression of HBV-DNA in the supernatant of the cell culture also was significantly decreased in a dose-dependent fashion (P<0.01). The IC50 of TP in inhibiting HBV DNA was 2.54 microg/mL. It concluded that TP possessed potential anti-HBV effects and may be used as a treatment alternative for HBV infection.
Antiviral Agents/*pharmacology ; DNA, Viral/analysis ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Flavonoids/*pharmacology ; Hep G2 Cells ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/analysis ; Hepatitis B e Antigens/analysis ; Hepatitis B virus/*drug effects ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Phenols/*pharmacology ; Tea/*chemistry