For a long period of time, silk fibroin has been applied in biomedical areas. Along with the development of biotechnology, new functions of silk fibroin are being found and developed. From the suture of surgery to the therapeutic drug and the ordinary tissue engineering frame to high grade frame with drug buffer system, exploitation of silk fibroin is constantly introduced with something new from the old ones. In our review, we summarize the applications of silk fibroin in tissue engineering, drug buffer system and medical care.
Fibroins ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Tissue Engineering

Adult ; Frontal Lobe ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Male ; Radiography ; Tuberculoma ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sputum ; chemistry ; Vertigo ; therapy

Administration, Rectal ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Endometriosis ; drug therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy

Objective To observe the numerical characteristics of dendritic cells (DC),the DC subsets(myeloid dendritic cell,MDC; plasmacytoid dendritic cell,PDC) and CD4+ CD25 + CD127low/-Tr cells in peripheral blood of Graves disease (GD) patients.Methods According to the clinical manifestations and serum FT3,FT4 and TSH,the GD patients were divided into the untreated-group,the clinical remission group and the clinical stable group,and set normal control group as well.The flow cytometry was used to detect DC and CD4+CD25+CD127low/-Tr cells of the percentage of CD4+ T cells in subjects peripheral blood(EDTA-K2 anticoagulated).The indicators were compared among various groups,and the correlation between the indicators with serum FT3,FT4 and TSH were observed.Results (1) In the untreated-group,the clinical remission group,the clinical stable group,and normal control group,total DCs,MDCs and MDC/PDC gradually declined,untreated-group has a significant difference from the other three groups also the significant difference was found among other three groups; (2) In the untreated-group,the clinical remission group,the clinical stable group,and normal control group,PDCs declined successively,but only the difference was found between untreated-group and normal control group; (3)In the untreated-group,the clinical remission group,the clinical stable group,and normal control group,CD4+CD25+CD127low/-Tr cells gradually raised,but only the difference between untreated-group and normal control group make sense; (4)In the untreated-group,PDCs and CD4+CD25+CD127low/-Tr cells have a certain relevance; (5)There was good correlation between DCs and serum FT3,FT4 and TSH,but CD4+CD25+CD127low/-Tr cells only have correlation with FT3 and FT4.Conclusion DC,MDC,MDC/PDC increased in the untreated-GD patients,and decreased after the therapy of anti-thyroid.Therefore,DCs and the DC subsets are expected to be used to monitor GD in the course of disease.CD4+CD25+CD127low/-Tr cells can be used as a new indicator of the onset of GD.

Background Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic model is an acceptable model and is often used to the study of diabetic retinopathy (DR).However,the model is often established using retinal digest preparation in vitro in albino rats,and therefore it is difficult to evaluate the change of retinal vessels by fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) in vivo.Recently,pigmented rats are being used as the DR model.But the study on the comparison between albino rat model and pigmented rat model is seldom.Objective This study was to observe and compare the manifestations of FFA and retinal digest preparation in early diabetic pigmented diabetic rat and albino diabetic rat,and to select the right model of DR using FFA.Methods Type 1 diabetic models were induced in 15 six-week-old health male BN rats and 15 six-week-old health male SD rats by the injection of STZ (55 mg/kg) via tail vein.The models were thought to be successful in the rats with the blood glucose level ≥ 16.7 mmol/L.The right eyes of the rats were extracted 6 weeks after injection of STZ.Lens were examined by slit lamp microscope.Retinal vascular changes were examined by fundus photography,FFA and periodic acid Schiff staining of retinal digest preparation.The manifestations of FFA and retinal digest preparation were contrasted between BN rats and SD rats.The number of eyes with lens opacification was compared by Chi-square test and the ratio of vascular endothelial cells and perithelial cells (E/P) was compared between BN rats and SD rats.The use and care of experimental animals complied the Statement of Ethic Committee of Tianjin Medicine University.Results Six weeks after injection of STZ,11 BN rats and 10SD rats were included in this study.The blood levels were (24.73±2.98) mmol/L and (22.36±3.65) mmol/L in BN rats and SD rats,respectively,without significant difference between the 2 types of rats (t =7.873,P＞0.05).Lens opacification occurred in 6 BN rats and in 5 SD rats (P=0.717).FFA showed the clear retinal vascular under the brown background.Evident vessel disorder and fluorescence leakage like background stage of DR were seen in 9 eyes.However,in the SD rats,retinal vessel abnormality could not exhibited owing to the interference of choroid fluorescent light from choroidal vessels and vortex vein.Retinal digest preparation exhibited that unevenness of vessel diameter,decrease of perithelial cells and increase of endothelial cells in both types of rats.The E/P values were 11.50±3.68in the BN rats and 12.86±3.94 in the SD rats,without significant difference between them (t=9.785,P＞0.05).Conclusions The abnormality of fundus vascular morphology can be better displayed in pigmented diabetic rats than albino rats by FFA in vivo.

Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be involved in multiple biological pathways that can influence tumor progression and metastasis and they can serve as prognostic biomarkers in many cancers. The present study examined the prognostic significance of miR-215 in cervical cancer. The paraffin-embedded paired cervical scrape samples and tumor tissue samples from 302 patients with stage II cervical cancer were detected for the expression of miR-215 by using qRT-PCR. A miR-215-based classifier was established by using the Cox regression model. The prognostic and predictive accuracy of this classifier was determined in both the internal testing group of 138 patients, and the external independent group of 280 patients. Moreover, cervical cancer HeLa cells overexpressing miR-215 (HeLa-miR-215) were constructed and subcutaneously injected into the nude mice to examine the effect of miR-215 on tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. The results showed that the expression level of miR-215 was significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues than in paired normal tissues (P<0.0001). When patients were classified into high- and low-risk cancer progression groups according to miR-215 level, the 5-year disease-free survival in high- and low-risk groups were 43% (95% CI: 32.1-51.6) and 67% (95% CI: 48.6-77.3) (hazard ratio [HR] 2.02, 95% CI: 1.16-3.52; P=0.013) respectively. Moreover, the expression level of miR-215 was negatively associated with survival rate in patients at TNM stage T3 (HR: 3.317; 95% CI: 1.18-5.14, P=0.017) and TNM stage T4 (HR: 3.48; 95% CI: 1.49-4.45, P=0.008). Tumor volume in nude mice injected with HeLa-miR-215 cells was significantly larger than that in mice injected with control HeLa cells. It was concluded that the expression level of miR-215 is associated with cervical tumor progression and worse survival rate, suggesting that it may serve as a potential prognostic marker to identify patients at higher risk of recurrence.

Objective: To observe the effect of DSP on three models of memory dysfunction,so as to provide evidence for its potential therapeuticaction for senile dementia.Methods: Three kinds of memory dysfunction are induced by scopolamine,reserpine and ovariectomy respectively,and memory ability is measured through step through and water maze tests.Meanwhile AchE activity in front cortex, hippocampus,striatum and limlic lobe of rats injected scopalamine is determined.Results: DSP can significantly prolong the step through latency,and decrease AchE activity in different parts of rats injeted scopalamine.And DSP can remarkably prolong latency,and increase uterus index of mice after ovariectomy.On the other hand,DSP can shorten water maze latency,enhance the correction percentage of mice injected reserpine.Conclusions:DSP can improve the memory dysfunction possibly through below pathways:(1)enhance the cholinergic system;(2)antagonize the decrease of monoamino transmitter;(3)has the possible estrogen like action.

Objective: To investigate the application of the calculated electrophysiological parameters in early diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Methods: 44 patients (60 hands) with a diagnosis of CTS and 31 healthy volunteers (44 hands) were enrolled. Acquired indicators include median nerve distal motor latency (DML), complex muscle action potential (CMAP) amplitude, conduction velocity (MCV), median nerve sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) amplitude, and conduction velocity (SCV). Then the terminal latency index (TLI), the residual latency (RL), and the difference in peak sensory latencies between the median and ulnar nerves (ΔPSL) were calculated. Results: The two groups were matched in age and gender distribution. The CTS group showed significant difference in SCV, DML, SNAP, and CMAP compared with the control group. The sensitivity, specificity, cutoff value, Youden index, and area under the curve of each indicator are respectively as follows: TLI (0.733, 0.932, 0.622, 0.629, and 0.877), RL (0.750, 0.977, 1.334, 0.727, and 0.907), ΔPSL (0.950, 0.841, 0.150, 0.791, and 0.942), SCV (0.950, 0.796, 56.5, 0.746, and 0.946), DML (0.867, 0.932, 3.55, 0.799, and 0.930), SNAP (0.683, 0.932, 21.68, 0.615, and 0.844), and CMAP (0.683, 0.773, 8.76, 0.456, and 0.758). Conclusion: The calculated electrophysiological parameters have higher sensitivities and specificities relative to a single electrophysiological parameter, which could greatly improve the accuracy of early diagnosis of CTS.

Aflatoxins produced primarily by two closely related fungi, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, are mutagenic and carcinogenic in animals and humans. Of many approaches investigated to manage aflatoxin contamination, biological control method has shown great promise. Numerous organisms, including bacteria, yeasts and nontoxigenic fungal strains of A. flavus and A. parasiticus, have been tested for their ability in controlling aflatoxin contamination. Great successes in reducing aflatoxin contamination have been achieved by application of nontoxigenic strains of A. flavus and A. parasiticus in fields of cotton, peanut, maize and pistachio. The nontoxigenic strains applied to soil occupy the same niches as the natural occurring toxigenic strains. They, therefore, are capable of competing and displacing toxigenic strains. In this paper, we review recent development in biological control of aflatoxin contamination.
Aflatoxins ; biosynthesis ; toxicity ; Animals ; Aspergillus ; growth & development ; pathogenicity ; physiology ; Aspergillus flavus ; growth & development ; pathogenicity ; physiology ; Food Contamination ; prevention & control ; Herbicides ; Humans ; Pest Control, Biological ; methods ; Soil Microbiology ; Species Specificity