Objective To explore the evaluation for apraxia of speech (AOS) with Chinese. Methods 20 Chinese cases with AOS were assessed with Chinese material referred from Motor Speech Evaluation (MSE) using. Results The subtest of multiple repetitions of multisyllabic words was the most difficult and single repetitions of monosyllabic words was the easiest for AOS patients (P<0.05). The score of the short sentences negatively correlated with both the scores of repetition ability (r=-0.865) and the fluency of speech (r=-0.614) (P<0.001).Conclusion Chinese material referred from MSE can be used for evaluation of AOS with Chinese.

This article reviewed the language characteristics of Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and hearing impairment, including the relevant factors and early manifestations.

Objective To explore the changes of nitric oxide (NO) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) of the aged rat brain, and the relationship between this change and neuronal apoptosis. Methods Five month old and 30 month old rats were used in the study. NO level and NOS activity were measured by Griess reaction and high presssure liquid chromatography. Neuronal NOS(nNOS) gene and bcl 2 gene were examined by in situ hybradization; nNOS protein level and free calcium level in synaptosome were determined by immunohistochemical method and Fura 2 fluorescence probe respectively. Apoptosis was observed using terminal transferase marking method. Results NO level and nNOS activity in the brain tissue of aged rats was (2 61?0 10) ?mol/L and (398 22?21 62) fmol?mg -1 ?min -1 , respectively,being significantly higher than that of the young rats(1 54?0 15) ?mol/L and (234 38?16 24)fmol?mg -1 ?min -1 respectively. Also both the nNOS gene transcription and protein expression increased in aged rats while bcl 2 gene expression reduced with aging. Free calcium level in synaptosome of aged and young rats was (485 26?28 48) nmol/L and (372 99?19 20) nmol/L respectively. Apoptosis in brain tissue was observed in aged rats, but not in young ones. Conclusions The increase of NO level in the aged rat brain is due to the increase of nNOS activity which is at least partially determined by the increased gene expression. Abnormal enhancement of NO in the aged rats may cause damage, even death of the brain. As an anti oxidant, bcl 2 gene expression reduced with aging and resulted in the brain tissue more vulnerable to oxidative stress and thus produced more lesions. Therefore, it is a promising method to screen and develop drugs that can be anti apoptotic and anti oxidative, and reduce the formation of pathologic NO to prevent and retard brain aging.

AIM: To study the effects of neuregulin-1β (NRG-1β) on the nervous behavioral function, cerebral infarction volume, brain water content (BWC), neuroal apoptosis and aquaporin-4 (AQP-4) expression in astrocytes after cerebral ischemic reperfusion in mice. METHODS: Intraluminal thread methods were applied to establish the middle cerebral artery occlusion reperfusion (MCAO/R) model in mice. Neuregulin-1β (2 μg/kg) was injected into the internal carotid artery for treatment. The nervous behavioral function was evaluated by Bedersons test. The cerebral infarction volume was observed with tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. The BWC was measured by calculating the dry-wet weight ratio. The apoptotic positive cells were counted by immunofluorescence assay. The expression of AQP-4 was determined by immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: Nervous behavioral malfunction appeared in all the mice with left middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and/or reperfusion. The infarction focus showed in the ischemic hemisphere following the injury. The BWC, the numbers of neuroal apoptotic cells and AQP-4 expression in astrocytes were higher than those in sham control group. In MCAO/R+NRG-1β treatment group, the nervous behavioral function at ischemia 24 h significantly improved, the numbers of apoptotic positive cells reduced and the infarction volume decreased significantly than those in MCAO/R group (P<0.05). The BWC and AQP-4 expression in astrocytes showed no significant difference compared with MCAO/R group (P>0.05). In the reperfusion 22 h, 46 h and 70 h groups, the five indexes mentioned above were significantly different from those in the corresponding MCAO/R groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: NRG-1β might reduce cerebral edema and infarction volume, and improve the nervous behavioral function via down-regulating the expression of AQP-4 in astrocytes and inhibiting the neuronal apoptosis induced by ischemia reperfusion injury.

AIM　To study the effect of lidamycin on the expression of genes involved in invasion regulation in HCT-8 human colon cancer cells. METHODS　HCT-8 human colon cancer cells were treated with lidamycin (10 nmol*L-1) for 8 h. The effect of lidamycin on the expression of genes were detected by cDNA arrays, Northern blot and RT-PCR. RESULTS　Hybridization of the entire cDNA populations to Atlas Arrays showed that lidamycin down-regulated the expression level of MMP-9 and up-regulated the expression level of TIMP-1. These changes were confirmed by Northern blot and RT-PCR. CONCLUSION　The results indicate that lidamycin may exhibit its anti-invasive activity by inhibitting the production of type IV collagenase whilst enhancing the production of tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase.

Objective To observe the effect of blood-cooling and blood-stasis-removing Decoction on anti-double-strain DNA ( anti-dsDNA) antibody, anti-nucleosome antibody ( AnuA) and serum levels of interleukin ( IL) -6, 17, 21 in spontaneous systemic lupus erythematosus ( SLE) MRL/lpr experimental rats. Methods The experimental rats were divided into blank control group, model group, and high- and low- dose Chinese medicine groups ( 25.2, 12.6 g/kg respectively) , the treatment lasting 8 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the blood taken from the orbital veins was separated for obtaining serum, and then the serum anti-dsDNA antibody, AnuA, IL-6,17,21 levels were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA). Results The serum autoantibody and IL-6, 17, 21 levels of rats in the model group were increased significantly as compared with the blank control group ( P<0.01). The serum antibody and cytokine levels of Chinese medicine groups were reduced as compared with the model group, the difference between high-dose Chinese medicine group and model group being significant ( P<0.01). Conclusion Blood-cooling and blood-stasis-removing Decoction has certain effect on reducing the serum levels of anti-dsDNA antibody, AnuA, and IL-6,17,21, which may coniribute to one of its therapeutic mechanisms for SLE.

Animals ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Ascorbic Acid ; pharmacology ; Cumulative Trauma Disorders ; metabolism ; Lipid Peroxidation ; drug effects ; Male ; Muscle, Skeletal ; injuries ; pathology ; Oxidation-Reduction ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Rats

Background and purpose:Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly human malignant neoplasms. Resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs is a major reason responsible for poor prognosis in the treatment of pancreatic cancer patients. MicroRNA (miRNA, miR) is a family of small non-coding RNA molecules, dysregulated miRNA is associated with various tumor biological function. miR-33a has been widely reported as a metabolism-related miRNA, while its relationship with drug resistance has little understand. This study was focused on the effect of miR-33a on gemcitabine chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer to bring the novel theoretical basis to chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.Methods:In situ hybridization and Real-time PCR were used to analyze the miR-33a expressions in pancreatic cancer tissue sample and cell lines, respectively. Cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8) assay was used to calculate the IC50 value of different pancreatic cancer cells.Results:miR-33a was down-regulated in pancreatic cancer tissue and cell lines compared with para-cancerous tissues and normal HEK293T cells. Moreover, miR-33a over expression not only could enhance the chemosensitivity to gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer cells, but also rescue the gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic cancer cells.Conclusion:Down regulation of miR-33a in pancreatic cancer decreases the chemosensitivity to gemcitabine, resulting in development of acquired gemcitabine chemoresistance. It provides the theoretical basis to develop a new molecular targeted drug to combine with chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.

Objective To establish a mathematical model for describing and predicting the effectiveness of physical therapy on lumbar disc hernation(LDH).Methods Daily comprehensive physical therapy interventions including lumbar traction,mobilization and physical agents were administered to 31 LDH patients for 10 sessions.A visual analogue scale was used to measure the pain intensity before each session.The logistic curve model was used in the regression analysis.The first 2 to 9 pain measurements were involved in different predictive models,and the predictive results were compared among different models.Results In regression analysis,the global R2 was 0.719.In predicting analysis,the more measurements involved in the predictive model,the more effective the prediction.The predictive power was low when the model included less than 4 measurements.the prediction power was high when more than 5 measurements were used in the model.Conclusion The logistic model can describe and predict the effectiveness of multiple physical therapy on LDH patients.