Objective To evaluate Tornwaldt′s cyst using MR imaging. Methods 1 452 cases with head MR imaging were reviewed. The signal intensity, shape, and size of the lesions were observed. Results Tornwaldt′s cyst were found in 18 of 1 452 cases (1 24%), all of the 18 cases were isointense to CSF on T 2WI and hyperintense to muscle on T 1WI.Tornwaldt′s cyst were round ( n =13)and ovoid ( n =5). The size of lesions were from 2 mm to 15 mm. There were 15 cases with adenoid hyperplasia. Conclusions Tornwaldt′s cysts occupied 1 24% in routine head MR imaging and were hyperintense to muscle on T 1WI and isointense to CSF ON T 2WI.

The important function of the gastrointestinal tract in monitoring and sealing the host intestine from intruders is called the gut barrier.A variety of specific and nonspecific mechanisms are in operation to establish the host barrier,including luminal mechanism,secretion of the digestive enzymes,the epithelial cells together with tight junctions between them and the gut immune system.The pathogenesis of gut barrier dysfuntion is multifactorial.They can lead to the translocation of the intestinal bacteria.Sometimes,even the multiple organ dysfunction syndrome can happen.Nitric oxide,one of the smallest products of the cell,is known to have a very large role in diverse physiologic and pathological processes.Recent study shows its toxic metabolite,peroxynitrite(ONOO~(-)),play a major role in the intestinal mucosal injury.The purpose of this literature review is to provide a better understanding of the mechanism of the protection and injury to the gut barrier function about nitric oxide and peroxynitrite.

College of Stomatology of Wuhan University was the first dental school who introduced the Kavo head-simulator for clinical teaching.In this study,students of stomatology were investigated before and after head-simulator training and questionares were made.The results have showed that head-simulator teaching system not only raises the activity of student,consolidates the basic knowledge,develops the clinical thinking ability,but also increases the ability of clinical operational skill before clinical training.

Objective: To express the protein of HPV18E6 based on pET-32a(+) at high level and study the expression and significance of HPV18E6 proteins in laryngeal carcinoma. Methods: The HPV18E6 gene was amplified by PCR and cloned into pET-32a(+). The amplified fragment was inserted into the plasmid pET32a (+) that was digested with BamHⅠand Hind Ⅲ. The recombinant plasmid pET32/E6 was transformed into E.coli JM109 which was selected with ampicillin. The recombinant plasmids were successfully introduced into E.coli BL21(DE 3) and were induced by IPTG. SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis were used to detect the confusion protein. Finally, the optimization of expression conditions, such as temperature, concentration of IPTG, was studied. Results: The recombinant plasmids were identified and confirmed with enzyme digestion and sequencing. The BL21(DE3) transformed recombinant plasmid pET32/E6 had expressed HPV18E6 recombinant protein effectively. The optimum conditions of expression were 37 ℃, 1 mmol/L IPTG. Conclusion:Prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a(+)-HPV18E6 was successfully constructed. The high-level expression of HPV18E6 was achieved in E.coli BL21(DE3).

Increasing the production and secretion of endogenous opioid peptide by immune cell can significantly induce myocardial protective effects against ischemia-reperfusion injury. Gene therapy is promising to increase endogenous enkephalin (ENK). However, classical viral and plasmid vectors for gene delivery are hampered by immunogenicity, gene recombination, oncogene activation, the production of antibacterial antibody and changes in physiological gene expression. Minimalistic immunologically defined gene expression (MIDGE) can overcome all the deficients of viral and plasmid vectors. The exon of rat's preproenkephalin (PPENK) gene was amplified by PCR and the fragments were cloned into pEGFP-N1 plasmids. The recombined plasmids were digested with enzymes to obtain a linear vector contained promoter, preproenkephalin gene, RNA stable sequences and oligodesoxy nucleotides (ODNs) added to both ends of the gene vector to protect gene vector from exonuclease degradation. A nuclear localization sequence (NLS) was attached to an ODN to ensure the effective transport to the nucleus and transgene expression. Flow cytometry, laser confocal microscopy and Western blotting demonstrated that PPENK-MIDGE-NLS can transfect leukocyte of rat in vivo, increase the expression of proenkephalin (PENK) in tissue, and the transfection efficiency depends on gene vector's dosage. These results indicate that PPENK-MIDGE-NLS could be an innovative method to protect and treatment of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Animals ; Cloning, Molecular ; Enkephalins ; genetics ; Gene Expression ; Genetic Therapy ; Genetic Vectors ; Leukocytes ; Plasmids ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Protein Precursors ; genetics ; Rats ; Transfection ; Transgenes

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the changes of expression of angiogenic factor mRNA in the spinal cord of rats with protruded intervertebral disc and the effects of electroacupuncture , and to analyze the role of electroacupuncture in the spinal microvascular angiogenesis .Method Eighteen healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into 3 groups:the electroacupuncture group , model group and sham-operated group .The protruded intervertebral disc models were generated by the left lateral and ventral spinal cord compression at T 13 using a self-made silicon sheet.Only the rats in the first group were treated by electroacupuncture once a day for consecutive 7 days.Spinal cord tissue samples were taken from the compression site at 7 days after operation .The mRNA levels of Ang-1, Tie-1, Ang-2, Tie-2, VEGF, Flt-1, caspase-3 and Tsp-1 were determined by RT-PCR, and the pathological changes of the spinal cord was examined using HE staining .Results The rats in the electroacupuncture treated group showed significantly im-proved hind leg function , a relatively complete spinal cord structure , and a clear boundary between grey and white matters . The expression levels of Ang-1, Ang-2, Tie-1, Tie-2, capase-3 and Tsp-1 in the spinal cord tissues of the model group were significantly higher than those of sham-operated group ( P<0.01 ) , but the levels of VEGF and Flt-1 between those two groups showed no significant difference (P>0.05).The expression levels of Ang-2, Tie-1, Tie-2, caspase-3 and Tsp-1 of the electroacupuncture group were significantly lower than those in the model group (P<0.01), while the expression levels of Ang-1, VEGF and Flt-1 were not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05).All the indexes be-tween electroacupuncture and sham-operated groups showed no significant difference ( P>0.05 ) .Conclusions Our re-sults demonstrate that mRNA expression of relevant angiogenic factors were abnormal after spinal cord compression , while electroacupuncture can down-regulate the expression of Ang-2, Tie-2,Tsp-1 and caspase-3, and modulate the promoting and inhibiting factors of angiogenesis to return towards normal , therefore , to create beneficial conditions for the repair of spinal cord injuries .

Objective To investigate cognitive functions in first-episode schizophrenia and unaffected first-degree relatives of different patients.Methods A total of 52 patients with first-episode schizophrenia (patient group),48 unaffected first-degree relatives of different patients (relatives group) and 50 healthy normal controls (control group) was recruited in the study.The attention,memory,and executive functions of all the subjects were assessed by a battery of neuropsychological tests,including cancellation test (CT),trail making test (TMT),digit span (DS),visual reproduction (VR),verbal fluency task (VFK),Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) and HANOI tower.Results There were statistically significant difference among three groups in net scores of CT,TMTA,TMT-B,backward and total scores of DS,scores of VR,VFK,total errors and perseverate errors of WCST and all indicators of HANOI Tower (P ＜0.05 or P ＜ 0.01).Post Hoc multiple comparisons showed that,compared with the control group,the patient group had worse scores in all tests above except TMT-A in the relatives group (P ＜0.05 orP ＜0.01).However,compared with the patient group,the relatives group had better scores in net scores of CT,TMT-A,TMT-B,scores of VR,VFK,total errors and perseverate errors of WCST (P ＜ 0.05 or P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Patients with first-episode schizophrenia have global cognitive functions deficits.Unaffected first-degree relatives of different patients also have cognitive deficits to a certain extent.Our study indicates that cognitive functions deficits may be viewed as a biomarker for candidates reflecting genetic liability for schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND:Experiments have shown that the col agen substrate has the capability of stimulating cartilage generation, but the stimulating role of different types of col agen substrates remains controversial. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of type I and type II col agen on the biological characteristics of human chondrocytes cultured in vitro. METHODS:Human chondrocytes at passage were cultured onto the ordinary culture plates (ordinary plate), type I col agen-coated culture plates (type I plate), and type II col agen-coated culture plates (type II plate). cellgrowth curves were determined by MTT method after cells were cultured for 10 days. By ELISA, PCR, and 1,9-dimethyl methyleneblue technology, type I and type II col agen and glycosaminoglycan contents were quantitatively detected in cartilage cells 28 days after culture. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The number of cartilage cells was the highest in type II plate, which was twice of that in type I plate and five times of that in ordinary plate. Cartilage cells in type II plate secreted the least amount of type I col agen, which showed significant differences compared with the ordinary plate (P<0.01) and had no statistical y significant difference with type I plate (P>0.01). Cartilage cells in type II plate secreted the most amount of type II col agen and glycosaminoglycan, showing significant differences compared with the other two plates (P<0.01). The cartilage cells cultured in col agen plates are better than that cultured in ordinary culture plate, type II col agen culture plate is better than type I col agen culture plate in maintaining cellshape, extending the dedifferentiation pattern, and promoting celldifferentiation.

Objective To investigate the clinical manifestation,pathological characteristics,neurological imaging,indications,operative approach and microsurgieal technique of surgery for brain stem tumor.Methods 17 cases of brain stem tumor treated by applying microsurgical skills were retrospectively analyzed from Jan.2002 to Dec.2007.Ten cases were operated via the suboccipito-retromastoid approach,among which 5 situated in pons,3 in medulla oblongata and 2 invoved both pens and medulla oblongata;4 cases were performed via the posteromedian-suboccipital approach,among which 2 located in pens,1 in medulla oblongata and 1 involved both midbrain and pens;3 lesions situated in varying sites of mesencephalon were operated by the suboceipito-supratentorial,infratemporal approach and pterional approach respectively.Results In the series of the patients,lesion was totally excised in 6 cases,subtotally in one,without surgical mortality.All patients were followed up for years ranging from 5 months to 4 years.During the follow-up period,seven patients resumed work and normal life;4 patients could perform physical labor;3 patients obtained self care capability;2 patients needed to be taken care of,1 patient died from pneumonia after discharge.Conclusion Fine therapeutic efficacy and low disability rate could be obtained while applying microsurgical techniques to resect brain stem tumors with correct indication,appropriate approach and elaborate microneurosurgical skills.

For obtaining new structural compounds with unique resistance profiles or novel mechanisms of action on HIV-1 from natural products, anti-HIV-1 drug screening models were used in vitro. Norcantharidin (NCTD), a derivative from cantharidin, was found to have inhibitory activities on HIV-1(IIIB) p24 antigen in lymphocyte lines MT-4, CEM and H9. It inhibited HIV-1 strain 018a (sensitive to zidovudine) from replicating with EC50 (50% effective concentration) of 14.9 micromol L(-1) and also inhibited HIV-1 strain 018c (resistant to zidovudine) from replicating with EC50 of 20.2 micromol L(-1) in primary lymphocytes peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Norcantharidin showed synergistic activity with zidovudine on HIV-1(IIIB) in MT-4 cells, the combination index was less than 0.3. But, it was not active on HIV-1 integrase, reverse transcriptase or protease in vitro. As the structure of norcantharidin is unique and different from that of all clinic drugs approved, it would be possible to obtain new and effective compounds against HIV-1 with low toxicities after modification of norcantharidin.