Objective To investigate the effect of bilateral cervical vagotomy on microglial activation in spinal cord in a rat model of persistent postoperative pain evoked by skin/muscle incision and retraction (SMIR).Methods Thirty six male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups (n =12 each group):group sham operation,group SMIR,and group SMIR + bilateral cervical vagotomy (SV).The rat model of persistent postoperative pain evoked by SMIR was established according to the method described by Flatter.Pain behavior was assessed by paw mechanical withdrawalthreshold (MWT) to yon Frey filament stimulation at 1,3,and 5 days after operation.Four animals were sacrificed at each time point in each group to detect the expression of Iba-I (a specific marker of microglia) in the spinal dorsal horn with immunofluorescence and the microglia was counted.Results MWT was significantly decreased atT1-5 in SMIR and SV (10.3 ±0.6,9.7 ±0.8,9.6 ±0.5; 8.0 ±0.7,7.7 ±0.4,7.6 ± 0.3),while the expression of Iba-1 and microglia counts in the spinal dorsal horn were significantly in-creased at T1-5 in SMIR and SV (1428 ± 134,1245 ± 129,and 1001 ± 117 ;8.0 ± 0.7,7.7 ± 0.4,and 7.6 ±0.3; 187 ± 13,164 ± 11,and 142 ± 14;and 241 ±21,230 ±21,and 202 ± 19).In group SV as compared to group SMIR,MWT was significantly decreased at T1-5,while the expression of Iba-1 and microglia counts in the spinal dorsal horn were significantly increased at T1-5.Conclusions Vagus nerve plays an important role in microglial activation in spinal cord in a rat model of persistent postoperative pain evoked by skin/muscle incision and retraction.

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of low-dose remifentanil(RF)on systemic artery tension of baby rabbit with septic shock.Methods Thirty-six systemic artery strips were prepared from 12 baby rabbits and randomly divided into 6 groups:control group,lipopoly-saccharide(LPS)group,RF group,LPS + RF group,NG-nitro-L-arginine(L-NNA)pretreated group,LPS + L-NNA pretreated group.Each group had six rings(n =6).The effect of low-dose RF on the systemic artery tension of baby rabbit with septic shock was observed with isolated vascular ring technique.The change was also obversed after L-NNA pretreatment.Results In control group:the relaxant rates after low-dose RF at the time point of 5 min,10 min,20 min were(18.48±3.96)％,(23.63±4.42)％,(28.33±3.73)％(P＜0.05),compared with NS group.After pretreatment with L-NNA,RF-related relaxant rates of systemic arteries decreased significantly to(8.15 ± 1.01)％,(13.08 ± 1.46)％,(18.54 ±2.94)％(P ＜ 0.05).In LPS group,low dose RF(4 μg/L)did not bring out any response to systemic arteries(P ＞0.05).The tension was not affected with pretreatment of L-NNA(P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion These results suggest that low dose RF has relaxant effect on systemic arteries of baby rabbits,and NO may be involved.Low dose RF has no relaxant effect on LPS-pretreated systemic arteries of baby rabbits,and it has no association with NO.

A retrospective analysis was carried out in 36 patients with blunt diaphragmatic rupture during March 1991 and March 2006. Twenty-two diagnoses were confirmed preoperatively, and the rest 14were confirmed perioperatively. Three patients underwent surgical treatment after no response to conservative therapy. Thoracotomy was performed in 21 patients, laparotomy in 9, thoracotomy plus laparotomy in 5 and combined thoraco-laparotomy in 1. Most diaphragmatic rupture may be caused by blunt collision and could lead to thoracoabdominal injury. In spite of high mortality rate, the condition is usually under diagnosed. Definite diagnosis and timely operation are important to increase survival rate and reduce mortality.

Objective To explore the regulatory roles of butorphanol on isolated rabbit pulmonary arteries by lipopolysaccharide(LPS)pre-incubation and assay the protective effect of ketamine on clinic sep tic shock patients.Methods Vascular ring tension detection technique was applied to observe the effect of butorphanol on the normal or lipopolysaccharide incubated pulmonaryvascular.Results In normal group, the final concentration of butorphanol(0.1 μmol,1μmol,10μmol,100μmol)were used to make pretreat ment- phenylephrine(PE)pulmonary artery relaxation.In LPS group,the effect of vasodilation of butor phanol was enhanced.Conclusions LPS can enhance the effect of butorphanol on pulmonary artery relaxa tion reaction.And the direct effect of butorphanol on pulmonary arteries was vasodilation.

Background Previous study showed that both hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) and etoposide (VP-16) can induce the apoptosis of human Tenon capsule fibroblasts (HTFs).However,whether the combination of HCPT with VP-16 enhance the efficacy of drugs is unknown.Olbjeetive This study was to investigate the synergistic effect and its mechanism of HCPT combined with VP-16 on apoptosis of HTFs.Methods Human Tenon capsule tissue was obtained from the eye bank of Jiangsu Province People's Hospital.HTFs were cultured in vitro using explant method and identified by immunofluorescence with vimentin.The fourth generation of cells were incubated in 96-well plate,and different concentrations of HCPT (1,5,10,50,100 mg/L),VP-16 (0.6,2.5,5.0,25.0,50.0 mg/L) and HCPT+VP-16 (2:1,final concentrations 0.80,3.75,7.50,37.50,75.00 mg/L) were added for 24 hours.The inhibiting rate of drugs to HTFs growth was detected using CCK-8 kit.The HTFs were divided into blank control group,HCPT (50 ng/L) treated group,VP-16 (25 mg/L) treated group and HCPT+ VP-16 (37.5 mg/L) treated group,and the apoptosis rates of HTFs in various groups were assayed by flow cytometry.The expressions of caspase-3,cleaved caspase-3,bax,bcl-2,JNK,p-JNK,Akt,p-Akt in the cells were detected by Western blot assay.Results Cultured cells grew well with the polygon shape and positive response for vimentin.The inhibiting rate was elevated with the increase of drug dosage 24 hours after addition of drugs (HCPT:F=41.34,P=0.00 ; VP-16:F =62.60,P =0.00 ; HCPT+VP-16:F =46.77,P =0.00).The half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of HCPT,VP-16,HCPT+VP-16 were 80.99,27.93,19.81 mg/L,respectively,and the combined index (CI) of HCPT with VP-16 was 0.399,showing a stronger synergistic action.The apoptotic rates of HTFs were (4.87±0.78) ％,(11.20± 1.94)％,(12.67±1.51)％ and (19.77±2.01)％ in the blank control group,HCPT treated group,VP-16 treated group and HCPT+VP-16 treated group,respectively,with a significant difference among them (F=18.23,P ＜ 0.01),and the apoptotic rate was significantly raised in the HCPT + VP-16 treated group,HCPT treated group and VP-16 treated group compared with the blank control group (q'=15.67,16.32,26.88,all at P＜0.01).Compared with the blank control group,the grey scale values of cleaved caspase-3,bax,p-JNK in the cells of HCPT+VP-16 treated group,HCPT treated group and VP-16 treated group were significantly increased (all at P＜0.01),and those in the HCPT+VP-16 treated group significant ascent in comparison with the HCPT treated group and VP-16 treated group (all at P＜0.01).However,the changes of caspase-3,JNK and Akt expression were insignificant.The grey scale values of bcl-2 and p-Akt in the HTFs of the HCPT,VP-16 and HCPT+VP-16 treated groups were significantly lower than those of the blank control group,with a dominant reducing in the HCPT+VP-16 treated group (all at P＜0.01).Conclusions HCPT and VP-16 induce the apoptosis of HTFs in vitro at a dose-dependent manner.The combination of HCPT with VP-16 has a stronger synergistic efficacy.The up-regulation of p-JNK and bax as well as the down-regulation of p-Akt and bcl-2 in HTFs are involved in the coaction of HCPT and VP-16.

Objective To compare the efficacy of the conventional PPD skin test and a new enzymelinked immunospot assay(TSPOT-TB)for diagnosing latent tuberculosis infection(LTBI)in patients with rheumatic diseases.Methods Two hundred and sixty rheumatic patients were enrolled,and all were screened for LTBI based on clinical history,chest X-ray,PPD skin test or TSPOT.Results The positive rate of TSPOT assay was 24.1%and that of PPD skin test was 39.4%.The overall concordance rate between the 2tests was 61.0%.Among PPD negative patients (n=149).29 were TSPOT(+)(19.5%).Among PPD(+)patients(n=98),69 were TSPOT(-)(70.0%).The patients who got BCG vaccination or had history of tuberculosis infection showed a significantly higher rate of positive result of PPD skin test than those who did not (P<0.05 or P<0.01).While in TSPOT assay,the BCG vaccination or history of tuberculosis infection did not show influence on TSPOT results(P>0.05).Of the 127 patients who received biological agents after screening for LTBI,9 patients were pretreated with isoniazide.Twenty-seven patients stopped biological agent treatment because of the positive results of PPD or TSPOT.Twenty three patients who had positive PPD but negative TSPOT results received biological agent treatment without isoniazide,and none of them developed active tubereulosis after 6 to 18 months of follow-up.Conclusion BCG vaccination affects the result of PPD test in rheumatic patients,but has no influence on TSPOT results.The infection rate of latent tuberculosis of rheumatic patients in our research is 23.8%detected by TSPOT.

Objective To assess the feasibility of adenoviral vectors mediate cochlear gene transfer by postau-ricular microinjection through the round window membrane in mouse. Methods Twelve 5-week old C57BL/6J mice were selected for the study: 8 were implanted with Ad-EGFP by postauricular microinjection through the round window membrane, and 4 with artificial perilymphatic fluid. On postoperative days 5 and 14, the animals were sac-rificed and the surface preparation of cochleae was observed. Results Two animals died after operation. Bright green fluorescence in the cochleae was observed in Ad- EGFP groups. Gene expression on day 14 after operation was higher than that on day 5. However, the control group was free of fluorescence. Oonclusion The postauricular route of the cochlear gene transfer in mice is simple to operate with little side-effect. The technique of transgenic delivery into the inner ear through RWM by mieroinjection is feasible and effective.

OBJECTIVETo assess the value of combined chromosome karyotype analysis and multiplex ligation probe amplification (MLPA) assay for the prenatal diagnosis of fetuses with abnormalities detected by ultrasonography.

METHODSWith informed consent obtained, 72 pregnant women with ultrasound detected fetal structural abnormalities underwent percutaneous umbilical cord blood sampling. Routine karyotype analysis and MLPA assay were used to detect potential chromosomal deletions and duplications.

RESULTSFive cases were found with an abnormal karyotype. In addition, the MLPA has detected 2 chromosomal microdeletions and 1 microduplication. Together the two methods have yielded a detection rate of 11.11%.

CONCLUSIONFor fetal abnormalities revealed by ultrasonography, combined karyotype analysis and MLPA assay can provide a better option for its efficiency and simplicity.

Adult ; Chromosomes ; genetics ; Female ; Fetus ; abnormalities ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; methods ; Ligation ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; methods ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for the detection of fetal copy number variations (CNVs) in addition to trisomies 21, 18, and 13. METHODS: A total of 37 306 pregnant women underwent the NIPT test. For those with fetal CNVs indicated by NIPT and accepted invasive prenatal diagnosis, amniotic fluid samples were obtained for chromosomal karyotyping analysis and chromosome microarray analysis (CMA). All cases were followed up. RESULTS: Among the 37 306 cases, 78 (0.209%) were predicted to have fetal CNVs. Among these, 52 pregnant women accepted invasive prenatal diagnosis, and 15 of them (28.85%) obtained a consistent result. Follow up of 26 women who refused invasive prenatal diagnosis have found 2 cases with spontaneous abortion, 2 with induced labor for fetal malformation indicated by ultrasonography, and 1 had multiple malformations and a consistent result by CMA, which yielded an abnormal rate of 19.23%. CONCLUSION NIPT can signal fetal chromosomal abnormalities through detection of gain and/or loss of fetal DNA copies. Combined chromosomal karyotyping and CMA can increase the detection rate for common chromosomal aneuploidies and CNVs, thereby provide a basis for genetic counseling for the affected families.

OBJECTIVE: To analysis the characteristics of audiology and clinical genetics of a Chinese family with the DFNA5 genetic hearing loss in detail. METHOD: A detailed family history and clinical data were collected. The Chinese pedigree is an autosomal-dominant inherited hearing loss. The data of audiological examination about genetic characteristics was analysed. The relationship between the hearing-impaired of this family and age was contrasted. RESULT: This Chinese family spanned five generations and comprised 42 members. The mode of inheritance of the families should be autosomal dominant according to the pedigree. Pure-tone audiograms showed a so-called Z shape curve. The hearing loss is sensorineural, progressive and beginning at the high frequencies. The audiograms were fairly symmetric. Whole frequencies became involved with increasing age. CONCLUSION The Chinese family with the DFNA5 mutation was an autosomal dominant pedigree. In this family, non-syndromic symmetric hearing impairment was severest at the high frequencies early, and gradually accumulated all frequencies of hearing. A mutation in DFNA5 leads to a type of hearing loss that closely resembles the frequently observed age-related hearing impairment. It should take into account DFNA5 mutation which the audiogram of a genetic hearing impaired has the same feature.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Audiology ; Child ; Chromosome Disorders ; genetics ; Female ; Hearing Loss ; genetics ; physiopathology ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pedigree ; Receptors, Estrogen ; genetics ; Young Adult