Analysis of domestic and overseas literature on the relationship between Alzheimer disease (AD) and neural stem cells (NSC) shows that inducing the proliferation and differentiation of hippocampal endogenous NSC in-situ by acupuncture is probably the mechanism of acupuncture therapy in treating AD, and that it may further improve the method for the research on AD.

[Objective] Based on the resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the abnormal features of the functional connectivity of resting brain neural network in the patients with primary insomnia,by using voxel-wise whole-brain finctional networks analysis of degree centrality (DC) for imaging evidence of neural mechanisms underlying primary insomnia.[Methods] The resting state fMRI were performed in 59 PI patients and 47 age,education,and sex-matched normal healthy subjects.Analysis of DC map changes between the two patient groups and the control group were performed by two sample t test.(threshold at P ＜ 0.05).[Results] Compared with the control group,the patients with PI showed significantly reduced DC value in bilateral medial frontal gyrus (MFG),bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG),and right insula;and increased DC value in right middle temporal gyrus (MTG),and left cuneus,(CUN),P ＜ 0.05.[Conclusion]Changes of DC value occurred in some region of brain in the P[patient groups when compared with the control group.It was indicated that DC,as a novel resting-state fMRI parameter in the voxel-wise whole-brain functional networks,might be an appealing alternative approach for further study on pathologic and neuropsychological states of PI.

Objective To investigate the influence of acupuncture therapy on neural stem cell (NCS) proliferation and differentiation in the hippocampus of the senescence-accelerated prone-8 (SAP8) mouse. Methods Twenty-four SAP8 mice were randomly and equally divided into a model group and an acupuncture group. Twelve senescence-accelerated resistant ( SAR1 ) mice served as the control group. Acupuncture was administered at the Baihui (DU20) point to mice in the acupuncture group once daily for 21 consecutive days. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was used to detect the proliferation and differentiation of NCSs in the hippocampus through double-labeled immunofluoresSAR1 group, the positive cells in the SAP8 group were significantly fewer Compared to the SAP8 group, positive cells markers of neuron or glia cell positive cells appeared. Compared to the SAR1 group, the expression of BrdU/GFAP increased in the SAP8 group, and decreased after acupuncture but not significantly. BrdU/S-100 β cells decreased significantly in the SAP8 group, and increased after acupuncture, but again not significantly. Compared to the SAR1 group BrdU/GalC positive cells increased significantly in the SAP8 group and decreased significantly after acupuncture.Conclusions After acupuncture treatment for 21 days, the differentiation of hippocampal NSCs into oligodendrocytes was inhibited, but there was little effect on their differentiating into neurons and immature astrocytes.

Objective To detect the positive rate of anti-endothelial cell antibody (AECA) in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) associated with connective tissue diseases(CTD)and to investigate the specific target antigen.Methods Sera of 68 patients with CTD associated PAH were collected to detect AECA by Western blotting with extracted membrane protein of the endothelial cell line EA.hy926.Sera of 61 CTD patients without PAH,20 with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension(IPAH),20 with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and pulmonary arterial hypertension (COPD-PAH) and 20 healthy donors were collected as controls.The correlation between PAH and specific bands of AECA was studied by X2 test.Liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrography was used to detect the target antigens related to PAH associated with CTD.Results The specific molecular size of antigen was 78 000.The AECA-78 000positive rate of CTD patients with PAH was 79% (54/68).not significantly ditierent from that of CTD with glomerulonephritis(71%,15/21),but significantly higher than those of CTD with interstitial lung disease (ILD)(15%,3/20)and CTD without systemic involvement(P<0.01 and P<0.05 respectively).also higher than those of IPAH(8%,1/12).The AECA-78 000 was negative in COPD-PAH and healthy controls.The target antigen of AECA-78 000 was identified by proteomic techniques as moesin.Conclusion CTD patients with different target organ involvement have different AECA-78 000 positive rates,which could be frequently detected in CTD associated PAH and those with glomerulonephritis.The common antigen is moesin.

Objective To explore the effect of ACE-inhibitor perindopril on the expression of scavenger receptor A (SR-A) gene in the kidney of diabetic rats.Methods Diabetes were induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by peritoneal injection with streptozotocin (60mg/kg).The rats were then random di vided into normal control group, diabetes group and ACEI treatment group [4mg/(kg·d) for 24 weeks].Blood glucose concentration and 24h urinary albumin excretion were determined.The renal morphological change was observed.Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze CD68 positive macrophages,and the Mrna of SR-A in renal tissue was detected by quantitative real-time PCR.Results Compared with normal control group,blood glucose concentration,24h urinary albumin excretion and the number of CD68 positive macrophages were significantly increased [(5.3 ± 0.6) mmol/L vs (26.7 ± 3.3) mmol/L;(2.7 ± 1.3) mg/24h vs (26.7 ± 1.8)mg/24h;(0.77 ±0.24)/gcs vs (2.55 ±0.46)/gcs;(6.13 ±0.50)/HPF vs (11.9 ±2.12)/HPF;P ＜0.05],and the expression of SR-A Mrna were significantly up-regulated in diabetes group [ (5.6 ± 1.2 vs 1.5 ±0.2),P ＜0.05].After intervention with ACE-inhibitor,the up-regulations of the above mentioned parameters,except blood glucose concentration,were all significantly inhibited [ (3.6 ±1.4)mg/24h;(1.03±0.37)/gcs;(8.28±1.19)/HPF;3.4±0.7;P ＜0.05].Conclusion ACE-inhibitor might have renoprotective effects of diabetic nephropathy,it probably was associated with inhibiting the expression of SR-A gene.

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on cytochrome c oxidase (COX)activity of hippocampal mitochondria in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice, and to explore the EA mechanism on Alzheimer disease (AD) in improving energy metabolic disorder.
Methods: Twelve SAMP8 mice were randomly divided into a model group and an EA group, with six in each group. Six senescence-accelerated mouse resistance 1 (SAMR1) mice were prepared as blank group. Mice in the EA group received EA on Baihui (GV 20) and Yongquan (KI 1), once a day for 7 d as a course, altogether 3 courses with one day intervalbetween two courses. Mice in the model group and the blank group were manipulated and fixed as those in the EA group. After interventions, Morris water maze was employed to test spatial learning and memory ability to evaluate EA effect; spectrophotometry was used to detect the activity of hippocampal mitochondria COX.
Results: Compared with the blank group, mean escape latenciesof the EA group and model group were prolonged significantly in Morris water maze tests (P<0.01), the residue duration in the former platform quadrant significantly decreased (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, mean escape latencies on 1 d, 2 d and 3 d of the EA group were significantly reduced (P<0.05), and those on 4 d and 5 d continued the decreasing tendency (P<0.01), the residue duration on the former platform quadrant was significantly prolonged (P<0.05). The COX activity tests showed that, compared with the blank group, COX activities of the model group and the EA group were significantly decreased (P<0.01); compared with the model group, COX activity of the EA group was significantly elevated (P<0.01).
Conclusion: It’s plausible that EA improves AD learning and memory ability by increasing mitochondria COX activity, protecting the structure and function, and improving energy metabolism.

Tumor suppressor gene O⁶-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation has been reported in melanoma. However, the clinical and prognostic significance of MGMT promoter methylation in patients with melanoma remained to be determined. A systematic search was performed to identify eligible papers published. The overall odds ratios (ORs) or hazard ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Final 12 eligible publications involving Caucasian population were performed in this study, including 1,071 metastatic melanoma patients, 154 primary melanoma patients, and 211 normal controls. MGMT promoter methylation was significantly higher in primary or metastatic melanoma than in normal controls (p < 0.05). No difference of MGMT promoter methylation was found in primary and metastatic melanoma (p=0.432). When metastatic melanoma was compared to normal controls, subgroup analysis showed the correlation between MGMT promoter methylation and different sample materials (tissue: OR=7.01, p < 0.001 and blood: OR=12.04, p=0.005). MGMT promoter methylation was not associated with response to drug therapy and the prognosis in overall survival and progression-free survival for multivariate analysis. Our results show that MGMT promoter methylation may be correlated with the increased risk of primary or metastatic melanoma. Based on blood samples, MGMT promoter methylation may become a noninvasive biomarker for the detection of metastatic melanoma. Further additional clinical studies are necessary.
Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans ; Melanoma* ; Methylation* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Odds Ratio ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the value of procalcitonin (PCT) detection in the diagnosis of local infection and sepsis.

METHODSPCT, C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell count (WBC), neutrophil ratio (neu%) and lymphocyte ratio (lym%) were measured in patients with negative or positive blood culture test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed for PCT CRP, WBC, neu%, lym%, and the diagnostic model using SPSS software. Based on the binary logistic regression model, the predictors or probabilities were obtained and applied to establish the empirical and binormal model of the ROC curves to compare the area under the curve (AUC).

RESULTSA highly significant difference in PCT concentrations was noted between the two groups (chi(2)=52.52, P<0.001), and the diagnostic criteria at <2 of the ROC curves resulted in the greatest Youden index with a sensitivity of 63.3% and specificity of 86.8%. The AUC of PCT, CRP, WBC, neu% and lym% were 0.700, 0.765, 0.636, 0.618 and 0.648, respectively; the combined predicted ROC AUC was 0.776. The maximum Youden index was acquired at the optimal cutoff point of 0.566 with a diagnosis sensitivity and specificity of 63.8% and 84.7%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSThe PCT level is a valuable predictor for a rapid and reliable early diagnosis of sepsis. The diagnostic model based on the laboratory parameters, using the combined predictors of PCT, CRP and lym%, can be a useful means for predicting early-onset sepsis.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Calcitonin ; blood ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Infection ; blood ; complications ; diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Protein Precursors ; blood ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sepsis ; blood ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the relationship between the right-to-left shunt(RLS)detected with contrast-enhanced transcranial Doppler (c-TCD) and recurrent stroke in patients with cryptogenic stroke.Methods The consecutive patients w ith ischemic stroke w ere enrol ed. The patients w ith cryptogenic stroke w ere screened according to the TOAST criteria. They w ere divided into either a RLS positive group or a RLS negative group according to the c-TCD findings, and then they w ere fol ow ed up for a period of one year. They w ere also divided into a recurrent group and a non-recurrent group according to w hether they had recurrence or not. Results A total of 118 patients w ith cryptogenic ischemic stroke w ere enrol ed, including 46 in the RLS positive group, 72 in the RLS negative group, 10 in the recurrent group, and 108 in the non-recurrent group. There w ere no significant differences in demographic and baseline data betw een the RLS negative group and the RLS positive group. There w ere significant differences in RLS positive rate (7/10 vs.39/108; P=0.046) and proportion of patients with server RLS (2/10 vs.1/108; P=0.019) betw een the recurrent group and the non-recurrent group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis show ed that the positive RLS w as an independent predictor of recurrent stroke (odds ratio 4.896, 95% confidence interval 1.135-21.120;P=0.033). Conclusions The positive RLS may be an independent risk factor for the recurrence in patients w ith cryptogenic ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVETo estimate the reliability of heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) for identifying acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the early stage of chest pain onset.

METHODSThis investigation was conducted based on a small population consisting of 40 healthy individuals, 19 established AMI patients and 20 unstable angina pectoris (UAP) patients. Serum H-FABP concentrations were measured in these subjects by sandwich ELISA, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves for H-FABP for diagnosing AMI and UAP against normal subjects were then generated respectively. The areas under curve (AUCs) were calculated, and 0.5 was defined as the critical value of AUC to evaluate the diagnostic ability.

RESULTSThe concentrations of H-FABP in healthy individuals, AMI patients and UAP patients were 1.29+/-0.64, 24.45+/-32.40 and 1.95+/-3.11 ng/ml, respectively; AUC (AMI) and AUC UAP were 0.978 (95%CI: 0.948-1.000) and 0.503 (95% CI: 0.334-0.671) respectively, and the former was significantly greater than 0.5.

CONCLUSIONSIn the early stage of chest pain onset H-FABP detection is sufficient in distinguishing AMI patients from healthy individuals, but not capable of distinguishing UAP patients from healthy individuals. H-FABP may be used as a diagnostic biochemical marker in the early stage of AMI.

Acute Coronary Syndrome ; blood ; diagnosis ; Adult ; Area Under Curve ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Early Diagnosis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity