Autophagy is an important homeostatic cellular recycling mechanism responsible for degrading injured or dysfunctional subcellular organelles and proteins in all living cells. The process of autophagy can be divided into three relatively independent steps: the initiation of phagophore, the formation of autophagosome and the maturation/degradation stage. Different morphological characteristics and molecular marker changes can be observed at these stages. Morphological approaches are useful to produce novel knowledge that would not be achieved through other experimental methods. Here we summarize the morphological methods in monitoring autophagy, the principles in data interpretation and the cautions that should be considered in the study of autophagy.
Autophagy ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Organelles ; Phagosomes

Objective To study the effect of esomeprazole,clarithromycin,metronidazole triple therapy for helicobactor pylori(Hp) infection in children.Methods Ninty-eight cases of children,identified by ~ 13 C-urea breath test(~ 13 C-UBT) Hp infection,deparded into therapy group(66 cases) and control group(32 cases).Therapy group were given Esomeprazole[0.8 mg/(kg?d),1 time/d],clarithromycin[15 mg/(kg?d),2 times/d],metronidazole[30 mg/(kg?d),3 times/d]triple therapy.Control group were given the same treatment except ameprazole.The course was 1 week.They were followed up 4 weeks later after the course and re-tested by ~ 13 C-UBT.Results The recurrent abdominal pain of the two groups recovered in different degrees,and the efficacy rate was 100%.The eradication rate of Hp in therapy group and control group were separately 90.9%(60/66) and 87.5%(28/32).There was no significance difference of the eradication of Hp.Conclusions The trearment of esomeprazole,clarithromycin,metronidazole triple therapy on Hp infection in children is quite effective and safe.The side effect is moderate.

Objective To study the function of immunocytes in synovial fluid and the mechanisms of immune function disorder in patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA).Methods The synovial fluid of 20 patients with RA and 10 healthy amputees because of traumatism in the affiliated hospital of Zhejiang university were collected in this syudy.Monoclonal antibodies against CD28,CD154(CD40L),CD80,CD86,CD40,CD69,CD25,HLA-DR,CD71 were used for flow cytometry and the expressions of costimulatory molecule CD28,CD154,CD80,CD86,CD40 on immunocytes and lymphocyte activation markers CD69,CD25,HLA-DR,CD71 in synovial fliud were studied in these patients.We also used enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) to detect the cytokines level of Th1 cell including interleukine 2(IL-2),interferon-gamma(IFN-?) and those of Th2 cell including interleukine 6(IL-6),interleukine 10(IL-10) in the synovial fliud.Results Compared with control group,the expressions of CD80[(2.09?0.59)%vs(0.67?0.57)%,P

Objective To study the influence of Dahuang granule on the level of motilin in plasma and gastrin in serum of patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Methods Sixty-four patients with SAP were divided into Dahuang granule group (32 cases) and control group (32 cases), treated with Dahuang granule and routine therapy respectively. The level of motilin in plasma and gastrin in serum of the two groups were detected by radioimmunoassay method. Results After treated for one week, the level of motilin in Dahuang granule group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P

Autophagy is an important homeostatic cellular recycling mechanism responsible for degrading injured or dysfunctional cellular organelles and proteins in all living cells. Aging is a universal phenomenon characterized by progressive deterioration of cells and organs due to accumulation of macromolecular and organelle damage. Growing evidences indicate that the rate of autophagosome formation and maturation and the efficiency of autophagosome/lysosome fusion decline with age. Dysfunctional autophagy has also been observed in age-related diseases. Autophagy disruption resulted accumulation of mutated or misfolded proteins is the essential feature of neurodegenerative disorders. However, in cancers, fibroproliferative diseases or cardiovascular diseases, autophagy can play either a protective or destructive role in different types of disease, and even in different stages of the same disease. The review will discuss the cellular and molecular mechanisms of autophagy and its important role in the pathogenesis of aging and age-related diseases, and the ongoing drug discovery strategies for therapeutic intervention.
Aging ; Autophagy ; Drug Discovery ; Humans ; Lysosomes ; metabolism ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Phagosomes ; metabolism ; Protein Folding

Objective To study a correlativity of amplitude of low frequency fluctuation change of restingstate brain activity and aphasia quotient in aphasia patients after stroke and investigate recovery and mechanism of the aphasia.Methods Adopting amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) in blood oxygenation level dependent functional MRI(BOLD-fMRI) and Siemens version 3.0T MR Scanner was used to obtain 12 aphasia patients and 20 normal volunteers of fMRI data.The fMRI data were processed with the software of DPARSF and analyzed by ALFF,and group analysis was performed with two sample t-test by REST software to obtain increased and decreased ALFF map.Brain regions,in which,ALFF of aphasia group was lower than that of normal control group,were done correlation analysis with aphasia quotient.Results As compared with those in normal subjects,the regions showing decreased ALFF in aphasia patients were distributed in left middle temporal gyrus,left medial prefrontal gyrus,right cerebellum,which were positively correlated with aphasia quotient (r Roi1 =0.48,r Roi2 =0.36,r Roi3 =0.28,respectively);while the regions showing increased ALFF covered left occipital lobe,precentral gyrus,insula,right precuneus.Conclusion As compared with those in normal subjects,the regions positively correlated with aphasia quotient show decreased ALFF in aphasia patients,which are one of the mechanisms of aphasia.The regions increased ALFF in aphasia patients may participate in language function of recovery.

Objective To determine the clinical characteristics and its effect on the clinical efficacy of residual bony impingement lesion after hip arthroscopic osteoplasty for pincer-type femoroacetabular impingement.Methods There were 30 patients who underwent hip arthroscopic osteoplasty for isolated pincer-type femoroacetabular impingement from December 2010 to January 2012 and had a minimum follow-up period of 2 years,including 21 males and 9 females.The average age at surgery was 34.5 years (range from 28-42 years).All of the patients had no advanced hip arthritis and the T(o)nnis grade was 0-2.Radiological evaluation was performed by 3-dimensional CT.According to residual rate,these patients were divided into 3 groups:residual rate ＜10％ group,residual rate of 10％-20％ groups and residual rate ＞20％ group.Results The average follow-up period was 26.3 months (range,22-34 months) and nineteen cases had residual bony impingement lesion after surgery.Among them,84.2％ of the residual bony impingement lesion was posterior to the acetabular actual resection zone.The preoperative and postoperative bony impingement angle were 77.47°±21.31° and 12.94°±18.04°,respectively.The residual rate was 16.7％± 8.83％.The modified Harris hip score got significantly improved from 55.18±7.96 preoperatively to 94.71±4.39 postoperatively.The overall satisfactory rate was 76.7％,and the postoperative modified Harris hip score for these three groups was 95.86±1.71,95.23±1.99 and 85.52±6.41,respectively.The postoperative modified Harris hip score in residual rate ＞20％ group was significantly worse than those in other two groups.The satisfactory rate was 92.9％,80.0％ and 33.3％,respectively.The satisfactory rate in residual rate ＞20％ group was significantly worse than those in other two groups.There was a significant negative linear relationship between the residual rate and postoperative modified Harris hip score (R2=0.516,P=0.001).Conclusion The incidence of residual bony impingement lesion after hip arthroscopic osteoplasty for pincer-type femoroacetabular impingement was 63.3％.The residual rate was 16.7％.The residual impingement lesion was mainly at the posterior part of the acetabulum.The patients with residual rate ＞20％ got significantly worse clinical score and satisfactory rate.

Objective To understand well this disease,8 children with familial periodic paralysis(FPP) were reported and the(rela)-ted literatures were reviewed.Methods The hereditary characters,clinical manifestations,auxiliary examination and managements were summarized retrospectively in 8 cases of FPP patients hospitalized from January 1996 to December 2005,and etiopathogenis and diagnosis were also analyzed.Results Six cases of FPP were diagnosed as hypokalemic periodic paralysis,and all occured as an autosomal dominant condition.During paralytic episodes,the patients showed obviously low serum potassium levels [1.9-2.8 mmol/L,(2.4?0.38) mmol/L)] and hypokalemic electrocardiogram findings,such as U-wave.The level of blood glucose was lower than normal range.Other 2 cases with normal serum potassium ion level at attack were diagnosed as normokalemic periodic paralysis with autosomal dominant pattern.One of the two cases,the level of blood glucose was lower.Thyroid functions,renal functions and electromyograms were all normal in 8 cases.Conclusions FPP is a group of relatively uncommon inherited disorders known as the skeletal muscle channelophathies.It can be diagnosed by hereditary characters,clinical manifestataions,auxiliary examinations.

Objective To evaluate the effect of vacuum sealing drainage(VSD)ON the destroyed hand injuries.Methods From January 2006 to December 2008,forty pafients with destroyed hand injuries (surface of wound)were randomly divided into VSD group(20 cases)and control group(chlorhexidine wet compress)(20 cases)after debridement. The outcomes were retrospectively analysed by pain score,swelling score,bacterial positive rate and necrotic tissue.Results Three days after treatment,the pain score of VSD group was(2.62±1.54)degree,and that of control group was(3.39±1.64)degree.There wag significant difference between the two groups(P＜0.01).The swelling score of VSD group was(1.51±0.25)degree which was different from control group(2.29±1.26)degree(P＜0.05).The bacterial positive rate of control group was 20%(4/20),but that of VSD group was 5%(1/20).There was significant difference between the two groups(P＜0.05).The VSD group had no necrotic tissue occurrence,but the control group had 2 cases,one of which had serious necrosis and had escapology.Conclusion VSD Can inhibit bacterial infection,ease pain,exempt changing dressings and stimulate growing of granulation tissue also can maintain a good environment for tissue transplantation later.So VSD combining with tissue transplantation is an ideal therapy in destroyed hand injuries.

Autophagy is an active research area in the biomedical field as its role has been identified in many physiological and pathological processes. Accordingly, there is a growing demand to identify, quantify and manipulate the process accurately. Meanwhile, there is great interest in identifying compounds that modulate autophagy because they may have applications in the treatment of a variety of autophagy-related diseases. In this review, we summarize the current status of autophagy screening systems to facilitate identification of autophagy modulators.
Autophagy ; Humans