Objective To evaluate the structure and function of left ventricle in diabetes mellitus (DM) patients without complications by myocardial velocity gradient (MVG) measured by myocardial velocity profile (MVP). Methods Thirty type 2 DM patients without complications and 30 healthy volunteers as controls were enrolled. The heart structure, systolic function and diastolic function of left ventricle were measured by echocardiography and the left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was calculated. Mitral annular systolic movement (Sm) , early rapid filling phase movement ( Em) and atrial contraction movement(Am) were measured by tissue Doppler image and the left ventricular MVG at diastole and systole in subendocardium and subepicardium (MVGs,MVGd) were measured by MVP. Results The diameter of left atria and left ventricle, thickness of interventricular septum and LVMI were higher in DM group than those of control group ( P <0. 05 or P <0. 01) , MVGs, MVGd, and Em were lower in DM group than those of control group( P <0. 05 or P <0. 01). There were no significant differences on E/A, Em/Am and E/Em between two groups. In addition, there were also no significant differences on Sm,left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular fraction shortening between two groups. Conclusions Structure and function of left ventricle have changed in patients of DM without complications. MVG measured by MVP is an accurate and sensitive index to assess left ventricular systolic and diastolic function.

Objective To clone and express the outer surface protein C ( OspC) from a Chinese Borrelia afzelli FP1 strain and to evaluate the immune protectivity of the recombinant OspC protein ( rOspC) . Methods The gene encoding OspC protein of Borrelia afzelli FP1 strain was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and then inserted into pET-30a plasmid to construct the recombinant expression plasmid pET-30a-OspC. The transformed E. coli BL21 strains carrying pET-30a-OspC plasmid were induced by IPTG to express OspC protein. The expressed proteins were purified by Ni-IDA resin chromatography and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot assay. Indirect immunofluorescence assay ( IFA) was performed to detect anti-rOspC protein antibodies in serum samples from rabbits immunized with rOspC protein. In vitro neutral-ization test was performed for evaluation the immune protectivity of rOspC protein. Results The recombi-nant expression plasmid pET-30a-OspC was successfully constructed and highly expressed in E. coli BL21. A strong antigen-antibody reaction between the rOspC protein and polyclonal antibody against Borrelia afzelli FP1 strain was detected by Western blot assay. The titers of IgG in serum samples from rabbits immunized with rOspC protein were significantly elevated. The in vitro neutralization test indicated that 106/ml of Borre-lia afzelli FP1 strains were neutralized by every anti-OspC protein serum sample from the experiment group. Conclusion The rOspC protein showed a strong immune protectivity against Borrelia afzelli, which could be used in the development of polyvalent subunit vaccine against lyme disease.

AIM: To explore the role of PI3K/Akt/nNOS in Zhouluotong extract resisting diabetic peripheral neuropathy.METHODS:The Schwann cells were divided into normal group ( D-glucose 25 mmol/L) , model group ( D-glucose 100 mmol/L) , Zhouluotong extract Z-6 +high glucose group, Zhouluotong +high glucose group, mecobalamine+high glucose group.The viability, nitric oxide content and the Ca2+-ATPase activity in Schwann cells were determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 , nitric oxide assay kit and Ca2+-ATPase assay kit, respectively.The apoptosis of Schwann cells were analyzed by flow cytometry.The expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bax, Bak and caspase-3, and the phosphorylation levels of nNOS and Akt were determined by Western blotting.The signal pathway of PI3K/Akt was explored by dominant negative PI3K and Akt (δp85 and DN-Akt) transient transfection assay.RESULTS:Under high-glucose culture, the cell viability, nitric oxide content in culture supernatant, the expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, and the phosphorylation levels of Akt and nNOS in the Schwann cells were significantly increased.The cell apoptosis, the expression of Bax, Bak and caspase 3 in the Schwann cells were significantly decreased by Zhouluotong extract Z-6, compared with model group.In-creased nitric oxide content and the up-regulation of nNOS were observed.However, the effects of blocking PI3K/Akt, the upstream pathway of nNOS , by transfection with DN-δp85 on Akt phosphorylation in the Schwann cells was still unclear. CONCLUSION:Zhouluotong extract Z-6 changes the phosphorylation of nNOS, and the expression of anti-apoptotic fac-tors , caspase-3 and pro-apoptotic factors in Schwann cells under high-glucose culture, thus reducing apoptosis and elevating viability.The relationship to PI3K/Akt/nNOS pathway needs further investigation.

The main manefestation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is cognitive decline. An important reason for this decline lies in the defects of vision and hearing. Stimuli information from vision and hearing are transmitted in different modes, resulting in a time difference between the receiving and encoding of these different types of information. Normal aging individuals are well capable of integrating information from different sensory modalities and respond to it, whereas AD patients cannot integrate such visual and auditory information very well due to pathological aging and impaired audiovisual integration ability. A series of studies have investigated the impaired audiovisual integration in AD patients, focusing on their behavioral performance and the underlying neurophysiological mechanism. Their findings indicate that the impaired audiovisual integration in AD patients could be caused by pathological changes in the superior temporal sulcus, as well as anomaly in brain connectivity and brain activity pattern and so on, which provide insights into potential intervention and prevention methods. This paper reviews the physiological, pathological, and behavioral manifestations of impaired audiovisual integration in AD patients, summarizes some intervention and prevention methods, and provides prospect for future research.

Objective To predict the potential geographic distribution of Lyme disease in Qinghai by using Maximum Entropy model (MaxEnt).Methods The sero-diagnosis data of Lyme disease in 6 counties (Huzhu,Zeku,Tongde,Datong,Qilian and Xunhua) and the environmental and anthropogenic data including altitude,human footprint,normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and temperature in Qinghai province since 1990 were collected.By using the data of Huzhu Zeku and Tongde,the prediction of potential distribution of Lyme disease in Qinghai was conducted with MaxEnt.The prediction results were compared with the human sero-prevalence of Lyme disease in Datong,Qilian and Xunhua counties in Qinghai.Results Three hot spots of Lyme disease were predicted in Qinghai,which were all in the east forest areas.Furthermore,the NDVI showed the most important role in the model prediction,followed by human footprint.Datong,Qilian and Xunhua counties were all in eastern Qinghai.Xunhua was in hot spot area Ⅱ,Datong was close to the north of hot spot area Ⅲ,while Qilian with lowest sero-prevalence of Lyme disease was not in the hot spot areas.The data were well modeled in MaxEnt (Area Under Curve=0.980).Conclusions The actual distribution of Lyme disease in Qinghai was in consistent with the results of the model prediction.MaxEnt could be used in predicting the potential distribution patterns of Lyme disease.The distribution of vegetation and the range and intensity of human activity might be related with Lyme disease distribution.

Objective A competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network associated with long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) specific for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) was constructed based on bioinformatics methods, and the functional mechanism of actinfilament-associated protein 1-antisense RNA1 (AFAP1-AS1) in LUAD was analyzed, in order to provide a new direction for the study of LUAD therapeutic targets. Methods The gene chip of LUAD was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), and lncRNA and mRNA with differential expression between LUAD and normal tissues were screened using GEO2R online software, and their target genes were predicted by online databases to construct ceRNA networks and perform enrichment analysis. In cell experiments, AFAP1-AS1 was genetically knocked down and siRNA was constructed and transfected into LUAD cells A549 by cell transfection. CCK8, transwell, scratch assay and flow cytometry were used to detect the ability of cells to proliferate, invade, migrate and apoptosis. Results A total of 6 differentially expressed lncRNA and 494 differentially expressed mRNA were identified in the microarray of LUAD. The ceRNA network involved a total of 6 lncRNA, 22 miRNA, and 55 mRNA. Enrichment analysis revealed that mRNA was associated with cancer-related pathways. In cell assays, knockdown of AFAP1-AS1 inhibited cell proliferation, invasion, and migration, and AFAP1-AS1 promoted apoptosis. Conclusion In this study, we construct a lncRNA-mediated ceRNA network, which may help to further investigate the mechanism of action of LUAD. In addition, through cellular experiments, AFAP1-AS1 is found to have potential as a therapeutic target for LUAD.