AIM:To investigate the serum antibody of aquaporin 4 ( AQP4 - Ab ) in positive expression rate and the significance in patients with neuritis.
●METHODS: A total of 98 cases ( 128 eyes ) of patients with optic neuritis were studied to detect the patient′s serum AQP4-Ab positive rate of antinuclear antibodies ( ANAs) from Jan. 2012 to Dec. 2015 in ophthalmology center of our hospital. According to the expression of AQP4 - Ab group, the best corrected visual acuity between the two groups, peripapillary nerve fiber layer thickness (pRNFL), the volume of the macula, macular RNFL ( mRNFL ) , macular core layer volume ( mlNL ) measurement were compared.
●RESULTS:Ninety-eight patients (128 eyes) with optic neuritis cases diagnosed through examination revealed AQP4-Ab positive in 22 patients ( 22%) , negative in 76 patients ( 78%) , ANAs positive in 21 patients ( 21%) , negative 77 patients ( 79%) . Optic neuritis patients with serum AQP4 - Ab positive rate and ANAs positive significant correlation ( r = 0. 707, P < 0. 05 ). After examination revealed AQP4-Ab patients and negative-positive patients with best corrected visual acuity difference was not statistically significance (P>0. 05). After inspection found pRNFL, macular volume measured value AQP4 - Ab positive patients were significantly less than the negative patients, the differences were statistically significant (P<0. 05). AQP4-Ab positive patients and negative patients the mRNFL, mlNL measured values were not significantly different (P>0. 05).
●CONCLUSION:AQP4-Ab and ANAs expression in optic neuritis patients is a significant correlation. AQP4-Ab positive patients with optic neuritis pRNFL thinning of macular volume are decreased compared with negative patients.

Objective To evaluate the safety and feasibility of ketamine-propofol mixture anesthesia for 85 children with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiac catheterization.Methods Eighty-five children with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiac cathete-rization were randomly divided into ketamine group(K group,n=44)and ketamin-propofol group(KP group,n=41).K group:1 mg?kg-1 ketamine was injected intravenously and then infused at 50 ?g?kg-1?min-1 for anesthesia maintenance.KP group:anesthesia was induced with ketamine 1 mg?kg-1 and propofol 1 mg?kg-1 intravenously,and maintained by continuous infusion of ketamine(16.7 ?g?kg-1?min-1)and propofol(33.3 ?g?kg-1?min-1).Electrocardiogram,blood pressure,pluse,respiratory frequency,saturation of blood oxygen were continously monitored.Results Hemodynamic and respiratory function were stable in both 2 groups.Ketamine consumption in K group was significantly more than that in KP group[(52.1?2.8)?g?kg-1?min-1 vs(25.3?7.3)?g?kg-1?min-1],eye opening time and recovery time were also longer in K group than those in KP group [(50.2?16.5)min vs(40.4?18.3)min].Conclusion The ketamine-propofol mixture was a safe,efficacy anesthesia with excellent recovery in children with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiac catheterization.

OBJECTIVETo develop a transparent, non-toxic, non-irritating anti-fogging agent with long-lasting effect for nasal endoscopy.

METHODSThe anti-fogging agent was prepared by mixing ethanol, propylene glycol, polyoxyethylene lauryl ether, sodium dodecyl sulfate, polyethylene glycol 400 and deionized water at different proportions based on an orthogonal test design. Twenty-seven test samples of the anti-fogging agents were obtained, which were colorless, transparent, and non-irritating, with a pH value of 7-8. Storz00 nasal endoscopy and its imaging system were used to test the anti-fogging time of the 27 samples, and each agent was tested for 3 times with medical Seoul iodine and 95% ethanol as control.

RESULTSThe optimal composition of the anti-fogging agent was 20% ethanol, 10% propylene glycol, 20% polyoxyethylene lauryl ether, 4% sodium dodecyl sulfate, 4% polyethylene glycol, 42% deionized water. The anti-fogging time of this agent reached 15 min, significantly longer than that of medical Seoul iodine (4 min) and 95% ethanol (18 s).

CONCLUSIONThis anti-fogging agent for nasal endoscopes is colorless and safe and has a long anti-fogging time by forming a homogenous transparent membrane over the endoscopic lens.

Endoscopes ; Endoscopy ; methods ; Ethanol ; Nose ; surgery ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate ; Solutions ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo investigate the dynamic changes of neurofilament contents in rat's spinal cord induced by 2, 5-hexanedione (2, 5-HD), and explore the molecular mechanism of n-hexane neuropathy.

METHODSMale Wistar rats were administered at a dosage of 400 mg/kg/day 2, 5-HD for 2, 4 and 8 weeks respectively. HD-induced neurological defects were detected and quantified using gait score, and the relative lev-els of NF-H, NF-M, and NF-L in spinal cords of rats were determined by Western Blotting.

RESULTSExposure to 2, 5-HD produced progressive gait abnormalities, which suggested that the rat model of 2, 5-HD-induced neurotoxicity was established successfully. Western-Blotting results showed that NFs content in spinal cord demonstrated a progressive decline as the intoxication continued. In the supernatant fraction, compared to the controls, NF-H con-tent decreased by 15.7%, 57.0%, and 58.0% respectively after 2, 4, and 8-week treatment with 2, 5-HD (P < 0.01); accordingly, NF-M decreased by 36.0%, 61.3%, and 65.2% respectively (P < 0.01); NF-L decreased by 20.8%, 43.9%, and 44.3% respectively (P < 0.01). In the pellet fraction, the contents of NF-H in groups of 4 and 8 weeks' exposure to HD decreased by 35.6% and 43.2%, respectively (P < 0.01), and those of NF-L decreased by 26.4% and 42.1%, respectively (P < 0.01) when compared to the control. Further-more, NF-M contents in groups of 2, 4 and 8 weeks' exposure decreased by 23.3%, 33.9%, and 63.7% respectively (P < 0.01). The NFs level in spinal cords was highly correlated with gait abnormality of treated rats as the intoxication went on. Multiple correlation coefficients of NF-H, NF-M, and NF-L content with gait score of HD-treated rat were 0.8912, 0.9282 and 0.8981 (P < 0.01) respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe declines of NFs are high-ly related to neurobehavioral abnormality of 2, 5-HD-treated animals, and involved in the development of n-hexane neuropathy.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Gait ; drug effects ; Hexanones ; toxicity ; Male ; Neurofilament Proteins ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Spinal Cord ; drug effects ; metabolism

Objective To investigate effects of different times and procedures of postoperative radiation and chemotherapy on treatment efficacy of high-grade gliomas.Methods A prospective clinical trial was conducted in 71 patients with high-grade gliomas (HGG); they were separated randomly into two groups:one group including 39 patients received chemo-radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy sequentially (RC+C) and the other group including 32 patients received neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and chemo-radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy sequentially (C+RC+C).The clinical benefit rate (CBP),progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were followed up after the treatment.Results No significant difference on CBP 5 months after treatment was noted between the two groups (P＞0.05),but the CBP in the C+RC+C group (87.5％) was significantly higher than that in the RC+C group (66.7％)8 months after treatment (P＜0.05).No significant difference on OS was noted between the two groups.The median PFS of patients in C+RC+C group was 11.5 months while that in the RC+C group was 8.6 months; the PFS of patients in C+RC+C group was significantly longer that in the RC+C group (P＜0.05).Conclusion Procedure of C+RC+C can prolong the PFS of patients with HGG.

Osteoarthritis (Osteoarthritis, OA) is a common clinical degenerative joint disease with increased incidence rate in recent years. Animal experiment is one of the important ways to explore pathogenesis and treatment of OA, while induced animal model is the most important part in animal experiment. Intra-articular injection of drugs is a classical method for establishing animal model of OA. Choose of animal should follows the principle of correlation, appropriateness and practicability, injections should perform in accordance with experimental purposes and subject, detections means and evaluation methods also should corresponding to experimental reality. The gold standard of OA animal model and intra-articular injections has not build, need further study.
Animals ; Cytokines ; analysis ; Disease Models, Animal ; Injections, Intra-Articular ; Mice ; Osteoarthritis ; diagnosis ; etiology ; immunology ; Rabbits ; Rats

OBJECTIVETo study soft tissue changes observed through musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis with needle-knife, so as to provide MSUS basis for needle-knife in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.

METHODSForty patients with knee osteoarthritis treated in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from December 2011 to December 2012 were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. All the patients were treated with needle-knife release method. The VAS scores and knee joint circumference were recorded before treatment and 2 weeks after treatment. The changes of knee joint hydrops articuli and joint synovial thickness were measured through MSUS.

RESULTSThe knee pain index was 6.850 +/- 1.417 before treatment and 2.790 +/- 1.299 after treatment;the index after treatment was lower than that of before treatment. The knee joint circumference was 407.320 +/- 45.151 mm before treatment and 391.240 +/- 41.129 mm after treatment; the knee joint circumference decreased after treatment. The amount of hydrops articuli observed by musculoskeletal ultrasound showed that 47 knees were cured, 19 knees improved and 2 knees failed. The synovial membrane thickness: 43 knees cured, 17 knees improved and 8 knees failed.

CONCLUSIONThe hydrops articuli and synovial thickness of knee joint of patients with knee osteoarthritis observed under the MSUS is consistent with the main symptoms and signs, which suggests that MSUS observation on soft tissue changes before and after needle knife in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis with high reliability.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Pain ; complications ; Synovial Membrane ; pathology ; Treatment Outcome ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVETo observe and compare the protective effect of garlic oil against carbon tetrachloride (CCL)-induced acute liver injury.

METHODSThe experiments include 4 preventive groups and 2 therapeutic groups. In every preventive and therapeutic group, the mice were randomized into 6 groups with 15 each, including one negative control group, one solvent control group, one CCl4 model group and 3 garlic oil groups (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg body weight). Before given a single gavage of CCl4 (80 mg/kg), the mice were pretreated with garlic oil by gavage in preventive group 1 (30 days, once daily), preventive group 2 (5 days, once daily), preventive group 3 (ahead of 2 h, once), preventive group 4 (immediately, once) or the vehicle (corn oil, 10 ml/kg) in solvent control group. In therapeutic groups, the mice were gavaged garlic oil 2 h (once, in therapeutic 1) or for 5 days (once daily, in therapeutic 2) after administration CCl. After 24 h of the last administration, blood was collected and centrifuged at 2500 r/min at 4 degrees C for 10 min, and serum was removed to measure ALT and AST activities. The liver was dissected, weighed to calculate the liver coefficient (relative liver weight). At the same time, the liver samples were studied by histological examinations.

RESULTSCompared with negative group, the liver coefficient and the activities of ALT and AST in serum of model group were increased remarkably (P < 0.01). Compared with CCl model group, the liver coefficient and the activities of ALT and AST in serum were decreased significantly (P < 0.01) by garlic oil dose-dependently in each preventive group. Simultaneously, histological assessment showed that garlic oil effectively alleviated hepatocyte injuries induced by CCl4. Comparing the preventive effects of garlic oil in every group, it was better in preventive group 3 than others. However, all indexes and histological examinations in therapeutic group 1 did not show the difference with those of CCl4 model group. In therapeutic group 2, all indexes recovered after 5 d of CCl4 administration.

CONCLUSIONSGarlic oil can prevent acute liver injury induced by CCl4 and the effect is better in ahead of 2 h group than others.

Alanine Transaminase ; metabolism ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; metabolism ; Carbon Tetrachloride Poisoning ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; Garlic ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Plant Oils ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo create a stable and reliable model of skin avulsion in rats.

METHODS30 male, SD rats were randomly divided into axial pattern skin flap (9 cm x 3 cm) group and random pattern skin flap group (6 cm x 4 cm), each having the control groups and avulsion groups. Flaps were subjected to avulsion force of 6 kg in axial pattern skin flaps or 8 kg in random pattern skin flaps, and the lasting time was 8 s or 12 s, respectively. Retraction of wounds and necrosis of skin flaps were observed.

RESULTSThere was more significant wound retraction in avulsion groups than that in control groups on post-operation day 7 (P < 0.05). The proportion of the wound retraction increased by 1 fold in avulsion groups on post-operation day 14 as compared to post-operation day 7 (P < 0.01). Interestingly, necrosis of partial or most of skin flaps was observed in all animals of avulsion groups, while slight necrosis happened in one of six in control animals. The necrosis area of flaps was 38% - 77% when avulsed for 8 s, and was 40% - 80% when avulsed for 12 s in axial pattern skin flaps. However, the necrosis area in random pattern skin flaps was smaller than that in axial pattern skin flaps, from 17% - 40% when avulsed for 8 s to 24% - 43% when avulsed for 12 s.

CONCLUSIONSIt might be possible to create animal model of skin avulsion injuries with rats.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Lacerations ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Skin Transplantation ; Surgical Flaps

OBJECTIVETo study the mechanism of interleukin 7/interleukin 7 receptor (IL-7/IL-7R) in promoting cell proliferation and inducing lymphangiogenesis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in vivo and in vitro.

METHODSImmunohistochemical study for IL-7, IL-7R, cyclin D1 and vascular endothelial growth factor-D (VEGF-D) was carried out in NSCLC tissues from 95 patients. The relationship between IL-7/IL-7R expression and various parameters was analyzed. The mechanism of IL-7/IL-7R in promoting cell proliferation and inducing lymphangiogenesis was studied by methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, reverse transcriptase-PCR, Western blot, co-immunoprecipitation, chromatin immunoprecipitation and nude mice experiments with xenograft tumors.

RESULTSIL-7 (63.2%, 60/95), IL-7R (61.1%, 58/95), cyclin D1 (52.6%, 50/95) and VEGF-D (58.9%, 56/95) showed that high level of expression in NSCLC. IL-7/IL-7R over-expression correlated with cyclin D1 expression (P < 0.01, P < 0.01), VEGF-D expression (P < 0.01, P < 0.01), increased lymphovascular density (P = 0.005, P = 0.013), advanced clinical stage (P = 0.008, P = 0.005) and presence of lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01, P < 0.01). IL-7/IL-7R could promote proliferation of A549 cell, increase cyclin D1 and VEGF-D expression, and enhance c-Fos/c-Jun expression and phosphorylation, resulting in formation of heterodimer. Furthermore, IL-7/IL-7R could induce binding of c-Fos/c-Jun to cyclin D1/VEGF-D promoters and regulate their transcription. IL-7/IL-7R could also promote proliferation and lymphangiogenesis of lung cancer xenograft tumors.

CONCLUSIONSIL-7/IL-7R promotes c-Fos/c-Jun expression and activity in NSCLC. This further facilitates cyclin D1 expression and accelerates proliferation of cells and VEGF-D-induced lymphovascular formation.

Animals ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Cyclin D1 ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-7 ; metabolism ; physiology ; Lung Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lymphangiogenesis ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun ; metabolism ; Receptors, Interleukin-7 ; metabolism ; physiology ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D ; metabolism