Objective To investigate the effects of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) on the chronic peripheral nerve compression injury and explore the function of CTGF in peripheral nerve compression injury and repair. Methods From July 2010 to September 2010, fifty aduh male SD rats were randomly divided into group A and B: group A (sham-operated group): only exposed the sciatic nerve; group B (compression group): undergone sciatic nerve entrapment operation on the right hind leg according to the method which Mackinnon adopted when he established the model of chronic sciatic nerve compression.Electron microscopy,immunohistochemistry,RT-PCR and Western-blot were performed to observe the morphological changes of the compressed nerve tissue and to determine the level of CTGF,collagen- Ⅰ,Ⅲ (COL- Ⅰ,Ⅲ),2,4,6,8,10 weeks after the surgery,respectively. Results After sciatic nerve compression,the collagen in nerve increased ; The expression of CTGF and COL- Ⅰ, Ⅲ in sciatic nerve of compressed group increased, which was statistically different compared with the sham-operation group (P ＜ 0.05); In the meanwhile,the contents of CTGF and COL- Ⅰ,Ⅲ were positively correlated in a certain period. Conclusion Peripheral nerve fibrosis can be caused by chronic nerve compression.The expression of COL- Ⅰ,Ⅲ in sciatic nerve increased and CTGF get involved in the pathophysiological process, which suggests that CTGF plays an important role in the process of neural injury and fibrosis.

Objective To evaluate the disease onset regions and spreading patterns in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)patients and related influencing factors.Methods We performed a prospective analysis of 1 58 ALS patients.The disease-onset was confirmed according to the patients’self-reports,neurological examination results and electromyogram study.We followed up 1 5 1 patients with the second or other affected body regions during the disease progression.Data were analyzed according to the different groups of onset regions.Results 1.In 94.3% (149/1 58)of the patients,the early motor manifestations were focally in the bulbar,upper or lower limbs.2.The region of onset was associated with signs of lower motor neuron (LMN)and upper motor neuron (UMN)involvement (P = 0.000 ).The LMN involvement was more distinctive in patients with bulbar onset (65.4%,1 7/26 )group.Patients with cervical onset more frequently showed pure LMN (47.9%,45/94 )or concomitant UMN (52.1%,49/94)signs in the affected limbs.The highest proportion of UMN and LMN signs in the affected lower limb was found in the lumbar onset (83.8%,31/37 )group.3.Spreading patterns:Rostral to caudal spreading pattern was more frequent in bulbar onset patients.For patients with limb onset,there were significant differences between spreading patterns and disease-onset regions (P =0.04).Circular (31.5%,28/89),horizontal (30.3%,31/89)and vertical (21.3%,1 9/89)spreading patterns were more frequent in cervical onset patients whereas circular (47.2%,1 7/36)spreading patterns were more frequent in lumbar onset patients.4.There was a strong association between the rate of progression and age of disease onset (P =0.01 1).Patients aged over 60 had a faster progression.Conclusion ALS is a focal process at motor axis along the spinal cord and cerebral cortex.Different disease-onset can cause different distribution of UMN and LMN signs.Therefore,special attention should be paid to the signs of disease-onset clinically.ALS does start focally and spreads to adjacent regions.Elder patients have a faster disease progression.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) antibody on peripheral neural fibrosis after chronic entrapment.MethodsA total of 75 rats were randomly divided into three groups, ie, Group A (sham operation, only the sciatic nerve exposed), Group B (compression only, treated with sciatic nerve entrapment) and Group C (compression plus antibody injection).Electron microscopy, immunohistoehemistry, RT-PCR and Western blot were performed to observe the morphological changes of the compressed nerve tissue and to determine the level of TGF-β1 , collagen Ⅰ and collagen Ⅲ at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 weeks after sciatic nerve compression, respectively.Results The levels of TGF-β1 , types Ⅰ and Ⅲ collagen protein were increased significantly in the Group B compared with that in the Group A, when the expression of TGF-β1 was increased in the early phase of the compression, reached the peak at the 4th week, and then decreased slowly.The expressions of collagenⅠand collagen Ⅲ were increased after compression, reached a peak at the 6th week and then maintained a relatively high level.The number of the fibrous tissues was decreased significantly and the content of types Ⅰ and Ⅲ collagen protein declined in the Group C, with statistical difference compared with the Group B (P ＜ 0.05).ConclusionsPeripheral nerve fibrosis can be caused by chronic nerve compression.TGF-β1 plays an important role in effectively inhibiting the collagen synthesis and ameliorating the nervous fibrosis of the protein following peripheral nervous entrapment.

The validity of (99m)Tc-YIGSR, a novel receptor radio-tracer, in imaging the Ehrlich ascites tumor was evaluated. YIGSR, a pentapeptide of laminin, was labeled with (99m)Tc by using a bifunctional chelator S-Acetly-NH(3)-MAG(3). The MIBI was labeled with (99m)Tc by following the kit instruction. The mice of tumor group were intravenously injected 1-2 mCi of (99m)Tc-YIGSR or (99m)Tc-MIBI via caudal vein, immobilized and imaged under a Gamma camera. The same procedure was performed in mice of blockade group, in which the unlabeled YIGSR was previously injected to block the receptor-recognition sites, and inflammation group serving as control. The reverse-phase Sep-Pak C(18) chromatogram was found to have an essentially complete conjugation between YIGSR and S-Acetly-NH(3)-MAG(3). The conjugated YIGSR could be radio-labeled successfully with (99m)Tc at room temperature and neutral pH, with a radio-labeling yield of 62%. Without the chelator S-Acetly-NH(3)-MAG(3), the YIGSR was labeled with (99m)Tc at an efficiency of 4%. The imagological study revealed obvious tumor accumulation of (99m)Tc-YIGSR 15 min after the injection, and the uptake peaked after 3 h with a tumor-to-muscle ratio (T/M) of 11.36. The radio-tracer was slowly cleared up and resulted in a T/M of 3.01 at the 8th h after the injection. As for blocked group, the tumor uptake of radiotracer was significantly lower, with the highest T/M being 4.61 after 3 h and 0.89 after 8 h. The T/M was 3.72 at the 3rd h and 1.29 at the 8th h after the (99m)Tc-YIGSR injection in the inflammatory group. The T/M was significantly higher in tumor group than in inflammatory group or control group (P<0.001). In the 99mTc-MIBI group, the T/M was 1.40 at the 3rd h and 0.55 at the 8th h after the injection, which showed a significant difference as compared with (99m)Tc-YIGSR (P<0.001). It is concluded that YIGSR can be successfully radiolabelled by using S-Acetly-NH(3)-MAG(3). (99m)Tc-YIGSR has many advantages in tumor imaging, such as quick and clear visualization, high sensitivity and specificity, and satisfactory target/non-target ratio (N/NT). It promises to be tumor radio-tracer.
Carcinoma, Ehrlich Tumor/*radionuclide imaging ; Radioactive Tracers ; Radiopharmaceuticals/*diagnostic use ; Receptors, Laminin/*metabolism ; Technetium Tc 99m Mertiatide/*diagnostic use ; Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi/*diagnostic use

At present, most clinical thrombolytic drugs are plasminogen activators, which are highly dependent on the plasminogen level of the patient. Therefore, the efficacy of those drugs is restricted. Unlike the conventional thrombolytic plasminogen activator drugs, fibrinolytic drugs have direct fibrinolytic activity. Thus, fibrinolytic drugs can directly dissolve the thrombus, and its thromlysis efficacy is not restricted by the patients' plasminogen. This is a new type of thrombolytic drug with higher thrombolytic efficiency and safety, and has become one of the research hotspots at present. Although more and more agents that can be used as fibrinolytic drugs have been discovered, only a few of them can successfully be applied in clinical practice. The mainly underlying reason is the risk of bleeding. In this paper, based on the latest research progress of fibrinolytic drugs, the bleeding mechanisms and coping strategies of fibrinolytic drugs were systematically reviewed, five types of bleeding mechanisms of fibrinolytic drugs were summarized, and three types of coping strategies were proposed. We hope our work can provide theoretical basis for the development of safer and more efficient fibrinolytic drugs.

As one of the species of soil-transmitted helminths (STH), hookworm infection is widely prevalent in tropical and subtropical developing countries. Hookworm is harmful to human health mainly including anemia, digestive tract symptoms, female infection can also cause menopause, abortion, infection in infants and young children can lead growth retardation. With the development of economy and implementation of mass drug administration strategies, the infection of hookworm in human body has decreased continuously, but there are still a large number of mild infection cases which clinical symptoms are not obvious, easy to cause missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis. Several zoonotic hookworm species can cause large-scale infections in cats, dogs and other animals, so as to increase the risk of human hookworm infection. Therefore, it is important to find a highly sensitive and rapid detection techniques to identify hookworm species. In this paper, the existing detection techniques of hookworm were reviewed and their application were prospected to provide ideas for hookworm detection at present situation.

ObjectiveTo investigate expression of TGF-β1,CTGF and collagen deposition in skeletal muscle during chronic entrapment of peripheral nerve. MethodsFifty rats were separated into two groups,control group and experimental group. At different time points after operation, the right gastrocnemius of 5rats from each group were collected for further analysis such as HE, Masson stain, immunohistochemical staining,RT-PCR and Western-blot. Results It was observed that axon degeneration occurred during chronic nerve entrapment,and which was in line with reports from other groups.Moreover,it had been demonstrated that after nerve entrapment,skeletal muscles may form fibrosis and degeneration consequently.Within this pathological procedure,expression of TGF-β1. CTGF and deposition of collagenⅠ changed rapidly when compared with control group.ConclusionOverall,these results indicated that these factors may be important during skeletal muscle degeneration after chronic nerve entrapment.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of low-dose exogenous estrogen nonylphenol (NP) on the proliferation of human prostate cancer cell lines DU-145 and the expression of the membrane estrogen receptor GPR30 in the DU-145 cells.

METHODSWe exposed DU-145 cells to different concentrations of NP for 24 hours, followed by measurement of the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the cells by cell proliferation assay and determination of the concentration of exposure to low-dose NP. We also observed the expressions of 3 estrogen receptors (ER), including ER-alpha, ER-beta and membrane estrogen receptor GPR30, in the DU-145 cells exposed to low-dose NP by RT-PCR.

RESULTSCell proliferation assay showed that within a certain range of doses, NP inhibited the proliferation of the DU-145 cells with an IC50 of 46 micromol/L, a much lower dose of NP than IC50, 0.01, 0.1.1 micromol/l NP, that can promote the proliferation of DU-145 cells. The results of RT-PCR indicated that the expressions of the three ERs in the DU-145 cells were similar to those in prostate epithelial cells, and that low-dose NP promoted the expression of GPR30.

CONCLUSIONMembrane estrogen receptor GPR30 may play a role in low-dose NP promoting the proliferation of DU-145 cells.

Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; physiology ; Estrogen Receptor alpha ; metabolism ; Estrogen Receptor beta ; metabolism ; Estrogens ; Humans ; Male ; Phenols ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Receptors, Estrogen ; metabolism ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Background Pupillary light reflex has been widely used in the diagnosis and evaluation of visual system and nervous system diseases.However,in animal experiments,functional evaluation of the visual system and nervous system needs more advanced technology and are affected by many factors.Objective This study was to explore the use of the dynamic pupillometer in evaluating pupillary light reflex and to discuss the influence of brightness of stimulate on relevant curve parameters in C57BL/6 mouse.Methods Ten healthy SPF male C57BL/6 mice were collected in this experiment.White light of five luminance levels (2,8,32,128,256 cd/m2) was used to stimulate the mice following a 2-hour dark adaptation.The stimulation was given at the 60-second intervals,for a duration of 100 ms at every stimulation.An infrared camera and video capture card were used to capture digital images during the measuring process in a scotopic environment,at a speed of 60 frames per second.Measuring outcome was saved in the*.AVI format.A software that was developed by our group was used to determine pupil diameter and output pupillary light reflex curve offline.Pupil initial diameter (R1),constriction amplitude (CA),constriction velocity (CV),latency (T1),time for maximum velocity (T2),time for maximum constriction (T3),time for maximun con-striction to 10.1％ R1 re-dilation (RT)and re-dilation velocity (RV)were assessed,and the correlations between luminosity and measuring parameters were analyzed using the Spearman rank correlation.The use of animals followed the Regulations for thd Administration of Affairs Concerning Experimental Animals by State Science and Technology Commission.Results R1 values showed no statistically significant difference among the 5 different luminosity groups(F=1.117,P=0.361).A positive linear correlation was found between stimulating luminosity and CA(r=0.508,P＜ 0.01),but negative correlations were seen between stimulating luminosity and CV or RV (r=-0.625,-0.609,P＜0.01).T1 and T2 values in the 5 different luminosity groups were not statistically significant (F =0.202,P =0.936 ; F =1.584,P =0.195).The different levels of stimulating luminosity showed positive linear correlations with T3 and RT values (r =0.791,0.609,P＜ 0.01).Conclusions The dynamic pupillometer can quantitatively measure the pupillary light reflex of C57BL/6 mice.The pupillary light reflex dynamic curve parameters of mouse were affected by stimulus luminosity levels.These outcomes offer a basis for the application of the dynamic pupillometer system for measuring pupillary light reflex in animal models.

ObjectiveTo explore the release of exogenous growth factors from small intestinal submucosa (SIS) in bladder regeneration. MethodsThe release of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) from SIS in vitro were evaluated by ELISA and MTT method. The defected bladder walls of rats in experimental group were repaired with porcine small intestinal submuscosa. Partial bladder mucosa and smooth muscle of the rats in control groups were destroyed. At regular intervals, the VEGF and bFGF expression were observed by histological and immunohistochemical methods. ResultsThe concentration of bFGF and VEGF released in vitro from SIS in PBS solution were (121.8±2.683) ng/L and (93.8±3.033) ng/L respectively, and showed proliferation of vascular endothelial cell. In the SIS framework, the capillary and smooth muscle were observed followed histological evaluation. The weak expression of VEGF and bFGF in both experimental and control groups were found in the first week. Since the second week the VEGF and bFGF expression in experimental group began to increase with a peak in the 6th week, and began to decrease after 8 weeks. In the control group, the weak VEGF and bFGF expression were shown during the observation. ConclusionSIS functions as a carrier for exogenous growth factors release in rat bladder regeneration.