BACKGROUND: Transplantation of microencapsulated rabbit Schwann cells in the rat spinal cord can relieve inflammatory reaction, promote spinal cord regeneration, but the precise mechanisms remain unclear. OBJECTIVE:To observe basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)expression and movements recovery following transplantation of microencapsulated rabbit Schwann cells in rat spinal cord. METHODS: The sciatic nerves taken out from rabbits wore digested with mixed enzyme and were made into Schwann cells suspension. Then we used air-jet method to make Schwann cells microcapsule. Using the same method, empty microcapsule was made. Sprague Dawiey rats were randomly divided into cell group, empty microcapsule group and microcapsule group. Conducted by hemisection injury of spinal cord,the rats in cell group,empty microcapsule group and microcapsule group were implanted with gelatin sponge with 10μL Schwann cells suspension, gelatin sponge with 10 μL empty microcapsule and 10 μL microencapsulated Schwann cells. Normal group was left intact. After operation, we observed hindlimb movements recovery in rats with the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scale. Meanwhile,a set of sections were stained immunohistochemically for bFGF expression, another set of sections wore stained for hematoxylin-eosin and Nissal. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: After spinal cord injury, rat right hindlimb affected paralysis immediately. At 7, 14 and 28 daysfollowing transplantation,motor function in rat hindlimb was significantly recovered, and the BBB scores were significantly higher in microencapsulated schwenn cells than in cell and empty microcapsule group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). bFGF positive products were mainly distributed in cytoplasm of the spinal neuron and nucleus of neuroglical cell. The numbers of bFGF positive glial cells mainly appeared surrounding the spinal cord injured site on days 1, 3, 7 and rose to its peak on day 3 and began to appear in neuronal calls on day 14. The number of bFGF positiv cells in microcapsule group was significantly superior to that in cell group and empty microcapsule group. From then on, the bFGF expreSsion was significantly decreased in each group. These indicated that transplantation of microencapsulated Schwann cells can inhibit the immunological rejection after xenotransplantation, suppress inflammatory reaction, improve the expression of bFGF, increase hindlimb movements recovery and spinal cord regeneration after spinal cord injury.

Objective To assess whether dynamic arterial elastance (Eadyn)can be used to predict the reduction of arterial pressure after decreasing norepinephrine (NE) dosage in patients with septic shock.Methods A prospective observational cohort study was conducted.Thirty-two patients with septic shock and mechanical ventilationwere enrolledfrom January 2014 to December 2015 in ICU of Wuxi People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University.Hemodynamic parameters were recorded by pulse contour cardiac output(PiCCO) monitoring technology before and after decreasing norepinephrine dosage.Eadyn was defined as the ratio of pulse pressure variation (PPV) to stroke volume variation (SVV).Mean arterial pressure (MAP) variation was calculated after decreasing the dose of NE.Response was defined as a ≥ 15％decrease of MAP.AUC was plotted to assess the value of Eadyn in predicting MAP response.Results A total of 32 patients were enrolled in our study,with 13 responding to NE dose decrease where as the other 19 did not.Eadyn was lower in responders than in nonresponders (0.77 ± 0.13 vs 1.09 ± 0.31,P ＜ 0.05).Baseline Eadyn was positively correlated with systolic blood pressure variation,diastolic blood pressure variation,systemic vascular resistance variation and MAP variation (r =0.621,P =0.000;r =0.735,P =0.000;r =0.756,P =0.000;r =0.568,P =0.000 respectively).However,stoke volume variation,baseline level of systemic vascular resistance and NE baseline dose were not correlated with Eadyn baseline value (r =0.264,P =0.076;r =0.078,P =0.545;r =0.002,P =0.987 respectively).Eadyn ≤ 0.97 predicted a decrease of MAP when decreasing NE dose,with an area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.85.The sensitivity was 100.0％ and specificity was 73.7％.Conclusions In septic shock patients treated with NE,Eadyn is an index to predict the decrease of arterial pressure in response to NE dose reduction.

Objective To explore the clinical manifestation, imaging examination, treatment and prognosis of Alagille syndrome in a child combined with hepatocellular carcinoma. Method The clinical manifestation, assistant examination and diagnosis of Alagille syndrome combined with hepatocellular carcinoma were analyzed in the child, and the pertinent literature were reviewed. Results The 6-year-old girl was admitted to hospital for repeated jaundice, and had a history of cardiac surgery. After admission, the patient was found to have a typical face look such as frontal bossing, sunken eyes, pointed chin and hypertrophy of nasal tip. Blood biochemistry showed intrahepatic cholestasis and increased alpha-fetoprotein. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed diffuse multiple solid lesions in the liver. And magnetic resonance imaging of the liver indicated that the liver was enlarged and multiple solid space occupying masses. Jagged 1 gene detection showed heterozygosis mutation of c.1205delC. Conclusion Alagllie syndrome complicated with hepatocellular carcinoma in childhood is extremely rare, and early diagnosis and long-term follow-up are of positive significance for its treatment and prognosis.

Chondrosarcomas has low morbidity in China,but we should pay more attention to the results it contributed to.Patients usually have poor prognosis because of defect of surgical resection and resistance to con-ventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy.Chemotherapy is a significant method to the chondrosarcoma treatment. If we overcome the difficulty of chemoresistance,chemotherapy will kill the sarcoma cells efficiently and inhibit the capacity of metastasis and invasion.The patients will have better prognosis.Finding the mechanisms of che-moresistance in chondrosarcomas is the key, now we review sevaral recent mechanisms of chemoresistance in chondrosarcoma.

Objective To investigate changes in plasma levels of D-dimer in patients with prostate hyperplasia(BPH)complicat-ed with acute urinary retention(AUR),and to explore its clinical significance.Methods 102 cases of patients with prostate hyper-plasia complicated with acute urinary retention,treated in this hospital from July 2013 to December 2014,were selected and divided into the simple BPH group(56 cases)and BPH complicated with AUR(BPH+AUR)group.The plasma levels of D-dimer of these patients were detected and comparatively analysed.Results Compared with the simple BPH group,the plasma levels of D-dimer of patients in the BPH+AUR group was increased,had statistically significant difference.(P <0.01).Conclusion The plasma levels of D-dimer in patients with BPH complicated with AUR increase significantly,which indicates that patients are with secondary in-creased fibrinolytic activity.Measures should be taken to relieve urinary retention as soon as possible,so as to protect the vascular endothelial function of patients and reduce the incidence of complications.

Objective To evaluate the operative treatment of nonunion of humeral shaft fracture with in- ternal plate fixation and autogenous cancellous hone graft.Methods Forty-one cases of nonunion of humeral shaft fracture operatively treated from February 2002 to December 2004 were analyzed retrospectively.There were 32 males and nine females.Their average age was 37.5 years(range,17 to 67 years).Sixteen nonunions were defined as hypertrophic and 25 as atrophic.We followed all the patients and obtained their complete medical information. Results Our average follow-up was 22.6 months(range,8 to 42 months).Forty fractures(97.6%)were united within an average of 5.8 months(range,3 to 12 months).Complications included iatrogenic radial nerve injury in three patients,wound infection in one patient and fracture nonunion in one patient.At the final follow-up,shou]der and elbow functions were found to be satisfactory.Conclusion Open reduction and plate internal fixation sup- plemented with autogenous cancellous bone graft is an effective treatment for nonunion of humeral shaft fracture.

Aim To investigate the protective effect and the underline mechanisms of total flavonoids from Sorbus Tianschanica L leaf (TFST) against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.Methods The I/R injury model of rat isolated heart was prepared by improved Langendorff retrograde perfusion method.Following the treatment,the coronary blood flow levels (CF),left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and maximal rise/fall rate of left ventricular pressure (±dp/dt_(max)) were monitored as the myocardial function.The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in myocardial tissue were measured by the commercial kits. The in vitro anti-oxidative capacity of TFST was detected by the DPPH and lipid peroxidation reaction system.Results Compared with I/R injury group, pre-incubation with TFST (6.0 mg·L~(-1)) significantly improved the LVDP,±dp/dt_(max) and CF during reperfusion. TFST (6.0 mg·L~(-1)) treatment significantly increased the SOD activities and reduced the MDA levels in myocardium tissue.Moreover,TFST (from 6.25 to 100.0 mg·L~(-1)) scavenged the DPPH, hydroxyl radical and superoxide anion free radicals, and inhibited the lipid peroxidation reaction in a concentration-dependent way.Conclusions All the results demonstrate that TFST possesses the cardioprotective effect on ischemia/reperfusion injury.This efficacy may be due to its antioxidative activity.

Objective To investigate the advantage of detaining peripherally inserted central catheter through the veins of lower extremity in neonatal intensive care unit.Methods 165 cases of infants were randomized into veins of lower extremity group (first saphenous veins,then popliteal vein) and veins of upper extremity group (first basilic vein,then median cubital vein,cephalic veins) from January to December 2012.We observed the success rate of detaining,catheter tip location,and complications such as phlebitis in the two groups.Results The success rate of detaining of lower extremity group was higher than that of upper extremity group,and ectopic rate of lower extremity group was lower than that of upper extremity group.There was no significant difference in complications such as phlebitis between two groups.Conclusions Peripherally inserted central catheter through the veins of lower extremity has more advantage over through the veins of upper extremity group.

Lanosterol synthase is encoded by the erg7 gene and catalyzes the cyclization of 2, 3-oxidosqualene, which is a rate-limiting step of the inherent mevalonate (MVA)/ergosterol metabolic pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The intermediate 2, 3-oxidosqualene is also the precursor of triterpenoids. Therefore, the cyclization of 2, 3-oxidosqualene is the key branch point of ergosterol and triterpenoids biosynthesis. Down-regulation of 2, 3-oxidosqualene metabolic flux to ergosterol in S. cerevisiae may redirect the metabolic flux toward the triterpenoid synthetic pathway reconstructed by the synthetic biology approach. To construct erg7 knockout cassette harboring the loxP-Marker-loxP element, long primers were designed, which were homologous to the sequences of both erg7 ORF and plasmid pUG66. The cassette was transformed into diploid wild strain INVSc1 by LiAc/SS Carrier DNA/PEG method and then erg7 gene haploid deficient mutant was obtained by homologous recombination. The results of semiquantitative PCR and real-time quantitative PCR revealed that erg7 expression level in erg7 gene haploid deficient mutant is one time lower than that in wild strain. The results of TLC and HPLC showed that the ergosterol content in deficient mutant decreased to 42% of that in wild strain.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; DNA Primers ; Down-Regulation ; Ergosterol ; metabolism ; Haploidy ; Intramolecular Transferases ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; genetics ; Squalene ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism

Traditional herbal medicines, Panax ginseng, Panax quinquefolium and Panax notoginseng, attract our attention for their extensive and powerful pharmacological activities. Ginsenosides are the main active constituents of these medicinal herbs. The related glycosyltransferases involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis are the key enzymes which catalyze the last important step. Modification of ginsenoside aglycones by glycosyltransferases produces the complexity and diversity of ginsenosides, which have more extensive pharmacological activity. At present, ginsenoside aglycones and compound K have been obtained by synthetic biology. As the last step of ginsenoside biosynthesis, glycosylation of ginsenoside aglycones has been studied intensively in recent years. This review summarizes the basic strategies and research advances in studies on glycosyltransferases involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis, which is expected to lay the theoretical foundation for the in-depth research of biosynthetic pathway of ginsenosides and their production by synthetic biology.
Biosynthetic Pathways ; Ginsenosides ; biosynthesis ; Glycosyltransferases ; metabolism ; Panax ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Synthetic Biology