Background Statins has prominent roles in regulating lipids,anti-inflammation,autoxidation and protecting vascular endothelial cells.Sartans can promote cell growth and the expression of cytokines.Since the pleiotropic effects of statins and sartans on a variety of cell types,it is inferred that the two medicines can delay retinal aging.Objective This study was to explore the anti-aging effect of simvastatin and telmisartan on the physiological aging of retina.Methods Sixty-six three-month-old healthy SD rats were selected in this study,and 6 of them served as the youth group and the right eyeballs were immediately enucleated.The other rats were raised until 9-month-old in the same conditions and then randomly divided into the simvastatin group,telmisartan group and the control group with 20 rats for each group.The simvastatin of 5 mg/kg and telmisartan of 8 mg/kg were given by intragastric administration once a day in the simvastatin group and the telmisartan group until 17-month-old,and the equal amount of normal saline was used in the control group in the same way.The number of survival rats was 12 in the simvastatin group,10 in the telmisartan group and 8 in the control group.The right eyes were enucleated after heart perfusion of 4％ paraformaldehyde solution for the preparation of retinal paraffin sections.Retinal thickness was measured by pathological examination,and the expressions of the retinal neuron markers,including Thy-1,protein kinase C-α (PKC-ot),opsin and rhodopsin,were detected by immunofluorescence technique to evaluate the morphology of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs),bipolar cells as well as the thickness of the outer segment of photoreceptors.Results The retinal structure was clear in the rats of the youth group.However,the RGCs arrangement and inner segment (IS) and outer segment (OS) structure were abnormal in the simvastatin group,the telmisartan group and the control group.Compared with the rats of the youth group,the thickness of outer nuclear layer (ONL),outer plexiform layer (OPL),inner nuclear layer (INL),inner plexiform layer (IPL) and the total thickness of the aging rats were decreased,and the IS/OS thickness was increased in the simvastatin group and the telmisartan group (all at P＜ 0.01).Thy-1 stain showed that the number of RGCs was reduced in the simvastatin group,telmisartan group and the control group compared with the youth group,and that in the simvastatin group was increased in comparison with the control group (all at P＜0.01).PKC-αt stain exhibited that the density of bipolar cells was increased but the axon terminal bouton was declined in the simvastatin group,telmisartan group and the control group compared with the youth group,and the axon terminal bouton was declined in the simvastatin group compared with the youth group and the control group (all at P=0.000).Opsin and rhodopsin stains displayed that the OS thickness was increased in the simvastatin group,telmisartan group and the control group compared with the youth group,and that in the telmisartan group was reduced in comparison with the control group (all at P＜0.01).Conclusions As SD rat aging,retinal thickness is gradually attenuated and the number of RGCs is gradually declined.Although the density of bipolar cells seem to be unchanged,their synaptic connections are decreased and the OS is thicken.Simvastatin and telmisartan can delay retinal senescence by protecting retinal neurons against aging and thinning thickened OS.

BACKGROUND:Skin-derived mesenchymal stem cels may reflect the onset of psoriasis.
OBJECTIVE:To analyze the biological characteristics of skin-derived mesenchymal stem cels in psoriasis patients.
METHODS:Skin-derived mesenchymal stem cels from 30 patients with psoriasis and 20 healthy controls were isolated and cultured by trypsin. Flow cytometry was used to detect the celular immune phenotypes CD34, CD44, CD29, CD45, CD90, CD105, CD73 and HLA-DR. The mesenchymal stem cels were induced by the corresponding cartilage, osteogenic and osteogenic inducing agents, to identify the multi-directional differentiation ability. The cel proliferation curve was plotted at passage 3, and the levels of transforming growth factor-β1 and epidermal growth factor in culture supernatant were detected by ELISA assay.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Under an inverted phase contrast microscope, primary skin-derived mesenchymal stem cels isolated from patients with psoriasis and normal controls both exhibited heterogeneity. In the two groups, CD29, CD90, CD44, CD73 and CD105 were highly expressed, and CD45, CD34, and HLA-DR were lowly expressed. Under certain conditions, skin-derived mesenchymal stem cels were induced to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts or chondrocytes. Proliferation of skin-derived mesenchymal stem cels in the psoriasis group was significantly faster than that in control group, but the final number of cels in the two groups tended to be consistent. The levels of transforming growth factor-β1 and epidermal growth factor in the psoriatic skinhad no correlation with the severity of the disease (P > 0.05). Compared with the control group, the epidermal growth factor level in the cel supernatant was significantly higher in the psoriasis group (P < 0.01), while the level of transforming growth factor-β1 was significantly lower (P < 0.01). These results showed that there is heterogeneity in the morphology of skin-derived mesenchymal stem cels from psoriasis patients, and the biological activity of mesenchymal stem cels is abnormal.

Objective To study the effect of catgut implantation at acupoint on insulin resistance of simple obesity.Methods All patients were separated into the treatment group(catgut implantation group)and the control group(acupuncture group)with 30 cases in each group.Acupoints of zhongwan,tianshu,qihai,shangjuxu,were selected and needled for 3 months.Such indexes as body weight,waistline,hip circumference,body mass index(BMI),fasting blood glucose(FBG),insulin and insulin resistance(IR) before and after treatment were observed.Results Both groups showed obvious anti-obesity effect to simple obesity,manifested by significant differences(P＜0.05)at the indexes of body weight,waistline BMI and appetite before and after treatment.Self-comparison in each group showed such indexes as BFS,insulin and IR were significantly decreased after treatment than those before treatment (P＜0.05)There was no significant difference at the above-mentioned indexes between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusions Catgut implantation at acupoint can reduce fat for simple obesity patients by controlling the level of fasting blood sugar,fasting blood insulin and IR in patients.

OBJECTlVE To establish a real-time cell analysis system ( RTCA) for early drug car-diotoxicity evaluation. METHODS An in vitro drug cardiotoxicity evaluation method was established using RTCA Cardio system and primary cultured cardiomyocytes of neonatal rats. The beating rate, am-plitude and beating rhythm irregularity ( BRl ) of cardiomyocytes were observered after antiarrhythmic drugs, such as quinidine and lidocaine were added, to assess the effect of the above method on cardio-toxicity evaluation. RESULTS RTCA Cardo E-Plate 96 was inoculated with primary cultured cardiomyo-cytes that began to beat after 24 h and beat regularly after 48 h. The stable beating was maintained for a minimum of three days. The beating of cardiomyocytes decreased rapidly from 155±5 to 0 after incuba-tion with quinidine. The beating recovered gradually after 6 h. Quinidine at 3.1μmol·L-1 caused the beat-ing rate to return to 124±16. Quinidine allowed the beating rate to return to normal when the concentra-tion was less than 100.0μmol·L-1 . The beating rate, amplitude and BRl of cardiomyocytes changed in a concentration-dependent manner when incubating with lidocaine. The higher the concentration, the more significant the inhibition of lidocaine on cardiomyocytes. CONCLUSlON The cardiotoxicity of quinidine and lidocaine can be detected accurately using RTCA Cardio system, suggesting that this system can be used in early evaluation of drug cardiotoxicity.

Based on the kidney controlling bones of traditional Chinese medicine theory,this article researched the effects of treating osteoporosis with the method of kidney-tonifying and bone-strengthening massage therapy.Commonly used method of modeling included ovariectomized rat model of osteoporosis (OVX),senile rat model of osteoporosis and glucocorticoid induced rat model of osteoporosis (GIOP),kidney-tonifying and bone-strengthening massage therapy were applied on these models,and the rat bone mineral density (BMD) and biochemical marker of bone metabolism changes were observed.Confirmed by animals experiment,it was effective to repair a bone in all rat osteoporosis models with kidney-tonifying and bone-strengthening massage,which provided theoretical basis and methodological guidance for the use of kidney-tonifying and bone-strengthening massage therapy in the clinical treatment of osteoporosis.

Objective:To explore the effect of tectorigenin on myocardial fibrosis(MF) in the rats and clarify the related mechanism,and to provide reference for its clinical application. Methods:Sixty Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control group,model group,positive drug (capropril) control group, and low,middle,high doses of tectorigenin groups(n=10).Except normal control group, the rats in other groups were used to construct MF models by subcutaneous injection of 5 mg·kg -1·d -1 isoproterenol (Iso) for 7 d.The rats in tectorigenin groups and captopril group were intragastricly administrated with different doses of tectorigenin (25,50,100 mg·kg-1·d-1)and captopril(10 mg·kg -1·d -1) from the second day after modeling for consecutive 28 d.Bl-420E+ biological function experiment system was used to detect the heart function;Heart mass index (HMI) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were measured after experiment.UV detection was used to measure the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in myocardial tissue.Microplate reader was used to measure the activities of lactic dehydrogenase(LDH) and creatine kinase(CK) and the levels of nitric oxide (NO)in serum.ELISA were used to detect the levels of collagen typeⅠ(ColⅠ) and collagen type Ⅲ (Col Ⅲ) in myocardium tissue of the rats.The pathological changes of myocardium tissue of the rats in various groups were observed by HE staining.Results:Compared with normal control group,the HR of rats in model groups was increased,and the left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP) was decreased(P<0.01);the HMI and LVMI were increased(P<0.05),the levels of MDA in left ventricular myocardial tissue was increased(P<0.01),and the activity of SOD was decreased,the levels of serum ColⅠ,Col Ⅲ and the activities of LDH , CK were also increased(P<0.01);the level of NO in serum was decreased(P<0.01).Compared with model groups, the HR were decreased,LVSP were increased, and HMI and LVMI of the rats in different doses of tectorigenin groups were decreased in a dose-dependent manner;the levels of MDA were reduced;the activities of SOD were increased in myocardium tissue,and the CK activities and the ColⅠ and ColⅢ levels were decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01);the LDH activities in middle and high doses of tectorgenin groups were decreased(P<0.01);and the levels of NO in serum in different doses of tectorigenin groups were significantly increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01) .Conclusion:Tectorigenin could inhibit the MF induced by Iso in the rats, and its mechanism may be related to antioxidation,scavenging free radical and inhibition of collagen synthesis.

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Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics and CT manifestations of pediatric testicular yolk sac tumor,to im-prove the CT diagnostic level of the disease.Methods Five pediatirc patients with testicular yolk sac tumor was retrospectively en-rolled in this study.All cases underwent spiral CT scan and enhancement scan prior to operation.Furthermore,the clinical and ima-ging data of these 5 cases were analyzed.Results Image features were unilateral testicular mass with uneven density,including patchy necrosis area,no obvious calcification and fatty density on CT scan.Obvious uneven reinforcement was revealed in the sub-stantial part of the masses after enhancement scan,no obvious reinforcement was revealed in necrotic area.Homogeneous enlarge-ment of the spermatic cords was demonstrated in all 5 cases,and the density was uniform.Obvious reinforcement was revealed in all affected spermatic cords,and the degree of the reinforcement was more obvious than those normal sides.The preoperative diagnosis of 5 cases was stage I malignant germ cell tumor Yolk sac tumor.The diagnosis of all 5 cases was basically in the line with surgical and pathological results.Conclusion CT scan is not only valuable in determining the nature of the tumor,but also helps to tumor management.

Cerenkov luminescence imaging ( CLI) , as an emerging molecular imaging method, has been extensively studied in tumor imaging, therapy monitoring and some other aspects. However, because of the weak penetration of Cerenkov radiation, CLI can not image the deep tissues. This review summarizes the modalities to overcome this problem.

Objective To evaluate the role of O-GlcNAc protein modification in attenuation of brain damage by glutamine in septic rats.Methods Sixty male SD rata weighing 180-240 g were randomly divided into 4 groups:sham operation group(group S,n =12),sepsis group(group CLP,n =16),glutamine group(group G,n =16),an inhibitor of O-linked-N-acetyl glucosamine transferase Alloxan + glutamine group(group G + A,n =16).Rats were submitted to sepsis by cecal ligation and perforation(CLP).Glutamine(Gln)0.75 g/kg was injected iv after CLP in group G.Gln 0.75 g/kg was injected iv and Alloxan 90 mg/kg was injected ip after CLP in group G + A.Equal volume of normal saline was given in group S and group CLP.A1 24 h afler CLP,the neural reflex score was evaluated,then rat was sacrificed.The brain was removed for measurement of brain water content,observation of histopathology and determination of O-GlcNAc-modified protein expression.Results Compared with group S,neural reflex score and brain water content were significantly increased in groups CLP,G and G + A(P ＜ 0.05).Compared with group CLP,neural reflex score and brain water content were significantly decreased in groups G and G + A(P ＜ 0.05),and the expression of O-GlcNAc-modified protein was upregulated in group G(P ＜ 0.05),Compared with groups G,neural reflex score and brain water content were significantly increased,and the expression of O-GlcNAc-modified protein downregulated in group G + A(P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in O-GlcNAc-modified protein expression among groups S,CLP and G + A.Conclusion Glutamine attenuates brain damage through O-GlcNAc protein modification in septic rats.