Acupuncture Points ; Adult ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Ear ; anatomy & histology ; Female ; Humans ; Melanosis ; drug therapy ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

AIM:To study the human brain hemodynamics responses induced by acupuncturing foot shaoyang gallbladder meridian point GB37 and visual stimulation,and to analyze the effect of acupuncture to activate the cerebral functional area in visual stimulus. METHODS:Twenty five normal subjects were divided into two groups:15 subjects for electro -acupuncture GB37 in visual stimulus group and 10 subjects for electro-acupuncture GB37 groups. The blood oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI) was carried out under the condition of two dif-ferent stimulation patterns (including a vision stimulation task and point GB37 acupuncture under the vision stimulation condition). A scintillating chessboard grid was applied as the vision stimulation task and the frequency was 8 Hz. The activation of cerebral functional areas of tested people under the conditions of the vision stimulation task and acupuncture were analyzed,respectively. RESULTS:Out of 15 subjects of electro -acupuncture GB37 in visual stimulus groups,twelve health volunteers were enrolled. When the vision stimulation task was carried out,the alarge area of brainstem and posterior lobe of cerebellum was seen to be activated. The areas of limbic lobe,hippocampus,middle temporal gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus were also activated. Under the condition of acupuncture only,the areas of posterior central gyrus,inferior parietal lobule,parietal lobe precuneus and the middle frontal gyrus were activated. When doublesided points of gallbladder meridian of foot-shao-yang were electroacupunctured under the visual stimulus status,the areas of superior frontal gyrus,inferior frontal gyrus,parietal precuneus and occipital gyrus lingualis were activated. CONCLUSION:The functional MRI shows the activation of cerebral functional area after acupuncture. Visual stimulus causes significant changes of brain conduction path connection. Under the visual stimulus status,the acupuncture to the points of gallbladder meridian of foot -shao -yang,GB37 has an extent of influence to conduction path conformity of the vision system and with the treat-ment of ophthalmocace. Furthermore,the external stimulation has prominent influence to the acupuncture therapy possibly.

Animals ; Erythrocytes ; physiology ; Oncorhynchus mykiss ; physiology ; Oxygen ; Water ; chemistry

【Objective】To observe the effect of Ma Xing Shi Gan Decoction(MXSGD)on metabolism of oxygen free radicals in mice with bronchial asthma.【Methods】Forty BALB/c mice were randomized into 4 groups:normal group,model group,low-dose MXSGD group(20?g?kg~(-1)?d~(-1))and high-dose MXSGD group (80?g?kg~(-1)?d~(-1)).Except the normal group,the mice in other 3 groups received sensitization by intraperitoneal injection of ovalbumin(OVA)and challenge by inhalation of OVA to induce bronchial asthma.Meanwhile,MXSGD groups were given the corresponding doses according to the experimental design by gastric gavage,and normal group and model group received the same volume of normal saline for 27 days.Twelve-four hours after last challenge,blood sample was taken and homogenate of lung tissue was prepared for the detection of superoxide dismutase(SOD),malondialdehyde(MDA)and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)contents in the plasma and the lung tissue.【Results】High-and low-dose MXSGD increased SOD and GSH-Px contents and decrease MDA content in the lung tissue and plasma(P

In order to improve the surface properties of PLGA polymer for a better material/cell interface to modulate the cells behaviors, we prepared a novel three-block copolymer, PLGA-[ASP-PEG], and immobilized an RGD-containing peptide, Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser-Pro-Cys (GRGDSPC) on the surface of it. Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) was transfected into bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) employed as seeded cells. Cell adhesion, spreading, proliferation and differentiation on this material were investigated. The results showed that the cell adhesive ratio on RGD-modified materials was higher than on un-modified materials (P<0.05). The extent of cell spreading was also wider on RGD-modified materials than on un-modified materials. Cell proliferation indices of transfected MSCs were increased as compared with the un-transfected MSCs (P<0.05). The ALP activities in the MSCs cultured with RGD-modified materials were higher than on un-modified materials after 14 days (P<0.05), and those in transfected MSCs were higher than in un-transfected MSCs (P<0.05). It was suggested that the combined use of RGD-modification and TGF-beta gene transfection could improve the interaction of biomaterial and cells.

Objective To observe the effect of early intervention on the oligodendrocyte-myelin glycoprotein(OMgp) mRNA expression of brain injury neonatal rats caused by intrauterine infection.Methods 1.Twenty-eight Wistar pregnant rats were randomly divided into 2 groups:lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-treated group and saline control group.Pregnant rats were consecutively injected with LPS (450 ?g?kg-1) or saline on the 18th gestation age.After birth,the placentas were taken out and made HE staining to observe intrauterine infection.2.Thirty neonatal rats in the saline control group and 55 rats in the LPS-treated group were randomly selected which were divided into intervention group (n=25) and no-intervention group (n=25).The second post-natal day (P2) rats in intervention group were treated by early touch and enriched environment.The neonatal rats in the no-intervention group and saline control group were fed in a routine way.Five cases of P1 rats were selected respectively from the LPS-treated group and saline control group,and brain tissue pathological section was made to observe the condition of brain injury.3.Five cases of P1,P3,P7,P28 and P42 rats were selected from the saline control group,intervention group and no-intervention group to detect the OMgp mRNA expression levels by using the real time polymerase chain reaction me-thod.Results 1.There were a great number of neurophilic granulocytes in the placentas in the LPS-treated group.2.Brain tissue pathological of P1 in the saline control group had complete substantia alba structure,ordered disposition and lightly stained clear chromatospherite.While in the LPS-treated group, there existed brain tissue looseness,colloid cell aggregation and oligodendrocyte cytoreduction in the position of substantia alba,callositas and capsula interna.Intraventricular hemorrhage,substantia alba blood vessel dilatation and blood capillary angiorrhexis and hemorrhage could also be found.3.There was a higher increase in OMgp mRNA expressions of brain tissue in the LPS-treated group at P1,P3,P7,P28,P42 than those in the saline control group (Pa

Objective To evaluate the assistant diagnostic value of low dose CT in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) based on ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) SPECT imaging.Methods One hundred and two patients with clinical suspected PE had been enrolled for this retrospective study.The final diagnosis of PE was made according to the 2008 guidelines of European Society of Cardiology (ESC).All patients underwent V/Q SPECT/CT (Hawkeye 4,GE).The imaging findings from low dose CT lung window were used for differential diagnoses of abnormal regions in SPECT imaging.The diagnostic efficiency of V/Q SPECT alone was compared with that of V/Q SPECT combined with low dose CT scan.Crosstabsx2 test was performed using SPSS 13.0 software.Results Twenty-nine patients (28.43％,29/102) were finally diagnosed as PE.V/Q SPECT alone had a sensitivity of 93.10％ (27/29),a specificity of 90.41％ (66/73),and an accuracy of 91.18％ (93/102).With additional diagnostic information from low dose CT,the diagnostic specificity increased to 95.89％ (70/73,X2 =1.72,P ＞ 0.05 ),and the accuracy increased to 95.10％ (97/102,x2 =1.23,P ＞ 0.05) though the sensitivity remained the same.Conclusion Imaginginformation from low dose CT in hybrid SPECT/CT may enhance V/Q diagnostic accuracy for PE.

Objective To determine the contents of free ferulic acid and total ferulic acid in different processed products of Rhizoma Chuanxiong.Methods With methanol-formic acid(95∶5) as the extraction solvent for free ferulic acid and with methanol-2% NaHCO3 water solution(95∶5) as the extraction solvent for total ferulic acid,ultrasonic method was used for the extraction.The contents of free ferulic acid and total ferulic acid were determined by HPLC,and the chromatographic conditions were as follows: C18 column(250mm?4.6mm,5?m),the mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-1%acetic acid solution(20∶80),the detecting wavelength at 320nm,flow rate being 1.0 mL/min and detection at room temperature.Results The average contents of free ferulic acid and total ferulic acid in Rhizoma Chuanxiong roasted by wine were higher than those in raw and other processed Rhizoma Chuanxiong,and free ferulic acid content in raw and different processed Rhizoma Chuanxiong was lower than the total ferulic acid content.Conclusion The method is simple,accurate and can be used for the quality control standard for Rhizoma Chuanxiong,and the chemical assay of total ferulic acid content would be a better choice of assessing the herbal quality of Rhizoma Chuanxiong.

BackgroundThe effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) on public health have attracted wide attentions.The association of the thermal effect of ELF-EMFs with cancer and ocular tissue damage has been of concern.However,the pathological changes of scleral tissue after exposure to ELF-EMFs as well as the relationship between these changes and myopia are still poorly understood.ObjectiveThe present study was to investigate the molecular pathological changes of human fetal scleral fibroblasts (HFSFs) after exposure to ELF-EMFs in vitro and to explore the possible mechanism in the occurrence and development of myopia.MethodsHFSFs were cultured and passaged and then exposed to 50 Hz electromagnetic fields,and HFSFs that did not receive the irradiation of ELF-EMFs were used as the control group.The expression of collagen type Ⅰ (COL1A1 ) mRNA and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) mRNA in cultured HFSFs were detected by real-time qualitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) under different magnetic field intensites (0,0.1,0.2,0.5,1.0 mT) and different exposure time (0,6,12,24,36,48 hours).Cell proliferation assay of HFSFs was detected by the cell counting kit 8 ( CCK8 ) assay.The expression levels of COL1 A1 and MMP-2 proteins in HFSFs were further confirmed by immunofluorescence staining.Results The expression of COL1A1 mRNA was significantly down-regulated under the exposure of 0.2 mT ELF-EMFs for 6 hours,in comparison with the control group;moreover,it decreased in parallel with the increased of flux density (0.099±0.008 vs.0.050±0.004) (P =0.009 ).The expression of MMP-2mRNA was up-regulated conspicuously after exposure to 0.1 mT ELF-EMFs for 24 hours,and it increased with exposure time in comparison with the control group ( 0.009 ±0.001 vs.0.018±0.003 ) ( P =0.038 ).Proliferation of HFSFs (A450) was inhibited following the exposure to 0.2 mT ELF-EMFs for 24 hours in comparison with the control group (P =0.009 ).The expression of COL1 A1 in the experimental group was decreased,compared with the control group,but the expression of MMP-2 was increased.ConclusionsELF-EMFs inhibit the proliferation of HFSFs and expression of COL1 A1 in HFSFs,which might be one of the reasons for the development of myopia.

OBJECTIVETo research the clinical application of lower cervical pedicle screw fixation procedure.

METHODSFrom September 2011 to July 2013,32 patients underwent posterior pedicle screw-rod system fixation were retrospective analyzed includinig 20 males and 12 females with an average age of 56.4 years old ranging from 21 to 78 years. Among them, 10 patients were traumatic cervical spinal injury, 9 patients were cervical spinal canal tumors, 7 cases were posterior longitudinal ligament ossification of cervical vertebrae, 6 cases were multiple segmental cervical spondylopathy. Preoperatively, X-ray, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiography of the vertebral artery were performed in all patients. After the operation and during the follow-up,X-ray and computed tomography were performed to confirm the pedicle screw position. The accuracy of the pedicle screw placement was evaluated by 4 grades classification from Lee. The spinal cord function was assessed by ASIA impairment scale for traumatic patients and JOA score for non traumatic patients.

RESULTSTotally 144 pedicle screws performed on 32 patients from C3 to C7 involving 132 screws of grade 0,5 screws of grade 1,5 of screws grade 2 and 2 screws of grade 3 according to postoperative CT. There were 12 screws penetrating the pedicle cortex including 8 screws at lateral,2 screws at caudal, 1 screw at medial and 1 screw at cranial. The follow-up time was 12 to 33 months with an average of (21.0±1.5) months. The spinal cord function was not improved in 6 complete cervical spinal cord injury patients,but their paraplegic level descended 1 to 3 segments. Four incomplete cervical spinal cord injury patients' ASIA impairment scale was increased by 1 to 2 grades in average. The JOA score of 22 atraumatic patients increased from preoperative 11.5±0.8 to 15.9±0.6 of postoperative at 6 months (P<0.01). There were no screw loosening,screw pullout and screw-rod breakage.

CONCLUSIONThe lower cervical pedicle screw fixation can provide excellent 3D stability of the vertebral column. The operation risk and Complication could be minimized by adequate preoperative evaluation for appropriate cases and individual pedicle screw placement. It deserved the clinical expansion.

Adult ; Aged ; Cervical Vertebrae ; injuries ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pedicle Screws ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; physiopathology ; surgery