0.05)in the mild group compared with at the first day, but an obvious rise(P0.05), while continued to increase in the severe group(P

Objective To investigate the localization of Smad2, Smad3, Smad4, and Smad7 proteins and their expression changes in the 5/6 subtotally nephrectomized rat kidney. Methods The rat model of chronic renal failure was established by performing 5/6 subtotally nephrectomy (SNx) and rats in the control group underwent sham-operation. The rats were sacrificed at 4, 8, and 12 week after operation. The sites and levels of expressions of Smad2, Smad3, Smad4, and Smad7 proteins were examined by immunohistochemical staining. Renal fibrosis was assessed by measuring tissue hydroxyproline. Results Immunohistochemical staining indicated that Smad2, Smad3, and Smad4 proteins were mainly expressed in glomeruli and renal tubular cells, while Smad protein 7 was expressed in glomeruli, but rarely in proximal renal tubular cells. Expressions of Smad2, Smad3, and Smad4 proteins in glomeruli were significantly increased during 4-12 weeks after 5/6 nephrectomy, but the expression level of Smad protein 7 was significantly decreased, but accompanied increase of hydroxyproline content in the renal tissues. Conclusion These results indicate that TGF-?/Smad signaling is involved in the progress of chronic glomerulosclerosis. The high level expressions of Smad2, Smad3, and Smad4 proteins and the down-regulation of Smad7 protein may be the major cause of the glomerulosclerosis in this model.

Objective To investigate the expression change of P2X3 receptor in spinal dorsal horn and dorsal root ganglion(DRG) in rats with experimental inflammatory pain.Methods Totally 30 SD rats received a subcutaneous injection of carrageenan in the right paw to establish inflammatory pain model,and then divided randomly and equally into 5 groups,that is 6,12,24,72 and 168 h after injection.Another 6 rats undergoing a subcutaneous injection of normal saline in the right paw served as control.Pain threshold was assayed by thermal radiation and von Frey filament in 2,4,6,12,24,72 and 168 h after injection.Expression of P2X3 receptor in spinal dorsal horn and DRG of every group was measured by immunohistochemical staining(IHC).Results After injection of carrageenan,thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia appeared in the rats.The thermal withdrawl latency(TWL) and 50% paw withdrawl threshold(PWT) were decreased obviously from 2 h,descended to the lowest at 12 h,then returned to the normal level after 72 h.The expression of P2X3 receptor in spinal dorsal horn was increased obviously from 24 h,while that at DRG was increased obviously from 12 h.Both of the expressions lasted for 72 h,and returned to the normal level at 168 h after injection.Conclusion Thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia appear in the rats after carrageenan injection,and the P2X3 receptor is activated and up-regulated in the DRG and spinal cord,suggesting that P2X3 receptor may play an important role in the incidence and development of inflammatory pain.

ObjectiveTo evaluate nipple-areola complex sparing modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer.MethodsClinical data of 159 breast cancer cases undergoing NAC sparing modified radical mastectomy from Jan 1998 to Dec 2009 were retrospectively analyzed.ResultsNAC sparing modified radical mastectomy was successfully carried out in 141 out of the 159 cases ( 88.68％ ).In 14 cases (8. 81％ ) the original operative protocol was changed to modified radical mastectomy or radical mastectomy during the operations because NAC ischemia in 4 (2. 52％ )cases, NAC occult involvement or dysplasia in 5 cases (3. 14％ ), Ⅲ level lymph node metastasis was found in 3 cases (1.89％). Postoperative complete nipple necrosis occurred in 4 (2. 52％ ) cases. Other significant postoperative complications included nipple necrosis in 20 cases ( 12. 58％ ), skin flap necrosis and infection in 11 cases ( 6.92％ ), subcutaneous hydrops in 10 cases (6. 29％ ). All patients got follow-up ranging from 15 to 96 months,median follow-up was 51 months. Local region recurrences were observed in 5 cases (3. 14％ ), distant metastasis in 2 cases ( 1.26％ ). There was no recurrence in the region of NAC.ConclusionsNipple-areola complex sparing modified radical mastectomy is oncologically safe by strict preoperative selection criteria and strict operative procedure.

Optimization on sustained release preparation formulation is a multi-factor, multi-level complex optimiza-tion problem. Artificial neural network is very suitable for dealing with such complex multivariable nonlinear system. Based on analyzing the characteristics of sustained release preparation and the main influential factors of its quality, this paper focused on building a quality forecast model for sustained release preparation formulation by using BP neural network. The results showed that the BP neural network can effectively forecast the quality of sustained re-lease preparation formulation. It is a powerful optimization tool of sustained release preparation formulation.

Objective To investigate the effect of noggin on BrdU labeled cells in the adult rat hippocampus. Methods The expressions of noggin and bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) in rat hippocampus were detected using in situ hybridization histochemistry (ISHH) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR). By using antisense technique combined with bromodeoxyuridine!(BrdU) labeling, the effect of noggin on hippocampal neurogenesis in adult rats was explored. Results The number of noggin mRNA positive cells in the adult rat hippocampus decreased significantly after treatment with antisense noggin but no change was found in the number of BMP4 mRNA positive cells. In addition, the number of BrdU labeled cells decreased significantly in the adult rat hippocampus after treatment with antisense noggin, but the sense noggin had no such effect. Conclusion Noggin can promote proliferation of neural precursor cells in adult rat hippocampus.

Objective To observe the expression changes of noggin mRNA and BMP4 mRNA in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of rats at different stages. Methods The expressions of noggin mRNA and BMP4 mRNA were analyzed by the method of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR).Results It was revealed that the level of noggin mRNA in the frontal cortex decreased significantly in P1W rats but high level of BMP4 mRNA was detected in P1M and P3M rats. The expressions of noggin mRNA and BMP4 mRNA in the hippocampus showed the opposite expression pattern. The peak of noggin mRNA expression in the hippocampus was found in E13 and E16 rats. The expression of noggin mRNA decreased gradually but that of BMP4 mRNA in hippocampus increased gradually during the developmental stage. The peak of the expression of BMP4 mRNA was found in P1M rats. Conclusion There are expressions of noggin mRNA and BMP4 mRNA in the frontal cortex and hippocampus in rats at different developmental stages. The expression level is closely correlated with the developmental age. This indicates that noggin and BMP4 play important roles in the development of rat frontal cortex and hippocampus.

Objective To investigate the regulating effect of heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation on body energy metabolism enzymes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and preliminarily explain the mechanism of heat-producing action of heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation. Method Forty chinchilla rabbits were randomized into normal, model, equal reinforcement and reduction, twirling reinforcement, and heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation groups. A model of cold syndrome-type RA was made by ovalbumin induction and exposure to low temperature in the other four groups not including the normal group. From two days after successful model making, the normal and model groups were grabbed and fastened (bound) by the same way as for the acupuncture groups, 30 min once daily. The equal reinforcement and reduction group received even reinforcing-reducing method;the twirling reinforcement group, twirling reinforcement method;the heat reinforcing group, heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation. The needle was manipulated for 1 min and retained for 30 min once daily, for a total of seven days. The RA rabbit knee joint circumference was measured and the inflammation score was recorded according to synovial histopathological sections before and after treatment. After the completion of intervention, the rabbits were sacrificed and the articular synovium was rapidly separated for frozen sections. Articular synovium lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and cytochrome oxidase (CCO) activities were measured by histochemical staining. Result After acupuncture intervention, the RA rabbit knee joint circumference was shortened in all the equal reinforcement and reduction, twirling reinforcement, and heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation groups, but the shortening effect on the RA rabbit knee joint circumference was better in the heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation group than in the equal reinforcement and reduction and twirling reinforcement method groups (P<0.05);the inflammation score recorded according to the RA rabbit synovial histopathological sections was also decreased more in the heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation group than in the equal reinforcement and reduction and twirling reinforcement method groups (P<0.05). Synovial LDH integral optical density, total positive area and area percentage were significantly higher in the model group than in the normal group (P<0.05), and significantly lower in the equal reinforcement and reduction, twirling reinforcement, and heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation groups than in the model group(P<0.05) and also in the heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation group than in the equal reinforcement and reduction and twirling reinforcement method groups (P<0.05). Rabbit synovial SDH and CCO activities were significantly higher in the model group than in the normal group (P<0.05). Rabbit synovial SDH and CCO integral optical density, total positive area and area percentage were significantly higher in the equal reinforcement and reduction, twirling reinforcement, and heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation groups than in the model group (P<0.05) and also in the heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation group than in the equal reinforcement and reduction and twirling reinforcement method groups (P<0.05). Conclusion Heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation has a definite therapeutic effect on RA and can increase SDH and CCO activities to enhance aerobic metabolism and produce more local energy in a rabbit model of RA. That may be the mechanism by which heat reinforcing acupuncture manipulation produces heat.

OBJECTIVE:To study the effects of different drying methods on the quality of North Qinglongyi,thus optimize the best drying way of North Qinglongyi. METHODS:North Qinglongyi was processed using five kinds of drying methods includ-ing drying in the shade,drying in the sun,oven drying,microwave drying,freeze drying and oven drying under different tempera-ture (40,50,60 ℃). The indicators were investigated,such as drying time,recovery rate of water,water content,alcohol ex-tract,content of active ingredients walnut quinone and juglone,in vitro anti-tumor activity of methanol extract to human gastric ade-nocarcinoma BGC823 cells and human lung cancer A549 cells. The effects of different drying methods on the quality of North Qinglongyi were analyzed comparatively. RESULTS:Among 5 kinds of drying method,microwave drying time was the shortest, and the time of drying in the shade was the longest;water content of sample with freeze drying was the highest,and that with mi-crowave drying was the lowest;the content of alcohol extract has little difference;the content of walnut quinone of sample with freeze drying was the highest,and that with microwave drying was the lowest;the content of juglone of sample dried at 40 ℃ was the highest,and that of freeze drying was the lowest;anti-tumor experiment in vitro showed that inhibition rate of sample with dif-ferent drying methods on the growth of 2 kinds of cells was in descending order of freeze drying>40 ℃ drying>drying in the shade,and the inhibition rate decreased with the increase of drying temperature. CONCLUSIONS:Different drying methods have obvious influence on the quality of North Qinglongyi. 40 ℃ drying method is the best for North Qinglongyi drying from the com-prehensive analysis including cost,the contents of effective composition,anti-tumor activity and practice.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of pricking anti-Ashi points with fire needles in treating acute lumbar sprain.Method Seventy-six patients with acute lumbar sprain were randomized into a treatment group and a control group, 38 cases in each group. The treatment group was intervened by pricking anti-Ashi points with fire needles, while the control group was by warm needling. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Roland-Morris Dysfunction Questionnaire (RMDQ) were adopted to evaluate lumbar pain and dysfunction after 1-day and 5-day treatment, and the clinical efficacies were compared between the two groups.Result Respectively after the first treatment session and 5 treatment sessions, the VAS and RMDQ scores were significantly changed in both groups (P<0.01). Respectively after the first treatment session and 5 treatment sessions, the VAS and RMDQ scores in the treatment group were significantly different from that in the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate and recovery rate were respectively 94.7% and 63.2% in the treatment group, versus 86.8% and 42.1% in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01).Conclusion Pricking anti-Ashi points with fire needles is an effective method in treating acute lumbar sprain, and it can produce a significant real-time analgesic effect.