Objective To explore the relation between endothelial function and Alzheimer′s disease(AD).Methods The concentration of asymmetric dimethylarginine(ADMA)and L-arginine were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC),the concentration of nitric oxide(NO) detected by the method of nitrate reductase,and the activity of nitric oxide synthase(NOS)examined using NOS assay kits,in the plasma of 45 mild/moderate AD patients and 48 controls.Results Compared with controls,the concentration of ADMA(0.95?0.09?mol/L,P=0.00)was significantly increased,however the activity of NOS((13.9?3.9)U/L,P=0.00),inducible NOS(iNOS)((5.1?1.8)U/L,P= 0.00)and concentration of NO((41.7?5.0)?mol/L,P=0.00)were significantly decreased.In addition,Logistic regression analysis found significant positive correlations between the plasma concentration of NO and the score of the CDR(y=36.64?0.398_x;r=0.398,P

Objective To summarize the clinical features,treatment and prognosis of bullous systemic lupus erythematosus (BSLE).Methods Clinical data were collected from 6 cases of BSLE between May 2009 and September 2015,and were analyzed retrospectively.Results Among the 6 patients,2 were male and 4 were female.The mean age of onset was 34 years.All the 6 patients presented with tense blisters and bullae arising on an erythematous base or normal skin,which were arranged in an annular pattern in 3 patients.The SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) score was ＞ 4 in all the 6 patients.Histopathological examination showed subepidermal blisters or fissures in all the patients.Direct immunofluorescence (DIF) revealed continuous linear deposition of immunoglobulin G (IgG),IgM and IgA in all the patients,linear deposition of C3 in 4 patients,and linear deposition of Clq in 2 patients at the basement membrane zone (BMZ).All the 6 patients were treated with oral glucocorticoids and hydroxychloroquine,and 2 patients were additionally treated with cyclophosphamide.During the follow-up period,adverse reactions to different extents were observed in the 6 patients.Conclusions BSLE mainly occurs in young and middle-aged people.Histopathologically,subepidermal blisters or fissures can be observed with linear deposition of IgG,IgM,IgA,or C3 along the basement membrane zone on DIF.

Objective To study the effect of group rehabilitation therapy on upper limb and hand function in hemiplegic patients after stroke.Methods Sixty-four stroke survivors with hemiplegia were randomly divided into a group rehabilitation group (GG) (32 cases) and a control group (CG) (32 cases).All patients in both groups were given basic medication and conventional rehabilitation treatment.In addition,the patients in CG were given routine upper limb function training,while the patients in GG were provided with the group rehabilitation therapy.Before and after eight weeks of training,the upper limb function and hand function of both groups were measured using the up-per-extremity portion of the Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment (FMA-UE) and upper extremities functional test (UEFT).Abilities of daily living were measured using the modified Barthel index (MBI).Anxiety and depression were evaluated using the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS).Results Before intervention there was no significant difference between the two groups in any of the assessments (P ＞ 0.05).At the end of training,all measurements in both groups were significantly better than those before training (P ＜ 0.05),and the UEFT,MBI,SAS and SDS scores were significantly better in GG than in the CG (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The group rehabilitation therapy,in addition to routine training,can improve the upper extremity function,hand function and abilities of daily living,and alleviate anxiety and depression in patients with post-stroke hemiplegia.

Objective To investigate the association between HLA-DRB1 alleles and pemphigus vulgaris (PV) in a Han population in Sichuan.Methods Polymerase chain reaction with sequencespecific primer (PCR-SSP) method was used for low-resolution and high-resolution typing of HLA-DRB1 alleles in 19 patients of Han nationality with PV and 25 healthy controls in Sichuan.Allele frequencies were calculated,and differences in the allele frequency between the above two groups were compared by using chisquare test.Results Totally,9 kinds of DRB 1 low-resolution alleles and 19 kinds of DRB 1 high-resolution alleles were identified in the PV patients and healthy controls.Frequencies of the DRB1* 14 allele (39.47％[15/38] vs.8.00％[4/50],x2 =17.43,P ＜ 0.05) and DRB1*1405 allele (15.79％[6/38] vs.2.00％[1/50],x2 =4.25,P ＜ 0.05) were significantly higher in the PV patients than in the healthy controls.Conclusion The HLA-DRB1*14 allele may be a common susceptibility gene for PV in the Han population in Sichuan,and the HLA-DRB1* 1405 allele may be most closely associated with PV.

Objective To explore the effects of different degrees of intermittent hypoxia (IH) on the activation and the secretion of extracellular matrix in MLg lung fibroblast cell line. Methods MLg lung fibroblast cells in logarithmic growth phase were exposed for 5%O2 for 100 seconds and 21%O2 for 120 seconds in 1 h, 4 h and 8 h groups (IH1, IH4 and IH8) and normoxia group (21%O2 for 8 h, N group). The cells in each group were collected at the end of experiment. Real-time PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression levels ofα-SMA and typeⅠcollagen (COL1) A1, and Western blot assay was used to detect the protein expression levels ofα-SMA and COL1. Results The mRNA and protein expression levels ofα-SMA and COL1 were significantly increased in IH1, IH4 and IH8 groups than those in N group (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, expression levels of α-SMA and COL1 showed a time-dependent increase with IH exposure time. Conclusion The intermittent hypoxia can promote the cell activation and the extracellular matrix secretion of mouse lung fibroblast cells, which may be related with the oxidative stress.

Objective To establish and evaluate animal model of adult rats with vitamin D deficient and assess the association of vitamin D deficiency and hypertension .Methods Adult SD rats were divided into 3 groups :normal controls group(feed with ordina-ry forage) ,vitamin D deficient groups(feed without vitamin D)and vitamin D control group(feed with vitamin D) ,which were fed with different diets under 12 h:12 h without ultraviolet light bulb(UV-B) .After treatment for 6 weeks ,Retinal blood was collect-ed ,and Serum vitamin D levels was tested by EIA every 2 weeks .Results After treatment for 10 weeks ,Serum level of vitamin D in vitamin D deficient group were reduced to 2 .07 nmol/L ,while vitamin D group and normal control group were measured as 56 .74 nmol/L and 57 .61 nmol/L ,there was no statistically significant difference between vitamin D group and normal control group (P>0 .05) .hypertension of vitamin D deficient group was significantly higher than other two groups .Conclusion It is feasible to estab-lish model of adult rats with vitamin D by UV-B free light and diets control ,hypertension of rats vitamin D deficiency has a signifi-cant rise compared with the control group .

Objective To explore the anatomical characteristic of the third palmar interosseous mus- cle as well its dominate nerve,and to investigate the anatomical basis of difficult recovery of digitus minimus adduction.Methods Twenty aduh fresh hands without deformity and trauma were obtained.Dissect and observe the third palmar interosseous muscle and its dominate nerve and adjacent structure under surgical mi- croseope,measure the size of the third pahnar interosseous muscle and its dominate nerve,the data were pro- cessed by stastistics method.Results Among palmar interosseous muscles and its dominate nerves,the third palmar interosseous muscle and its dominate nerve is the smallest.There are conspicuous tendon bundle on the surface of the third palmar interosseous muscle partly,which have a potential compression on the third palmar interosseous muscle dominting nerve.Conclusion The third palmar interosseous muscle is the smal- lest among palmar interusseous muscles and it is the only digitus minimus adduction muscle.The sominating nerve of the third palmar interosseous muscle is small anti the tendon bundle of the third palmar interosseous muscle have a potential compression.All these can cast light on diffcult recovery of digitus minimus adduction.

96%).There are 14 nucleotide mutations between yak and cattle and 3 of that were predicted to alter the protein sequence,both of which occurred in the domain III.Construction of molecular phylogenetic tree shows:The cluster results coincided with the traditional taxonomy.

Background Hypertension is a multigenetic inheritable disease.Gene therapy with long-term effects and less side effects by regulating gene expression has been shown to be a potential and exciting prospect. Objective To investigate the effects of RNA interference(RNAi)targeting angiotensin-converting enzyme(ACE)on the blood pressure and ACE expression in kidney of spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHR).Methods SHR were randomly to receive placebo(n=12)or control adenovirus Ad5-EGFP)or a single injection of recombinant adenovi- ral vectors,Ad5-EGFP-ACE-shRNA(n=12,iv).Normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats(WKY)were served as normal control group.SBP was measured before and after the intervention.Aorta,lung,myocardium and kidney were studied using fluorescence microscope to identify the sites of Ad5-EGFP-ACE-shRNA.Expressions of ACE mRNA and protein in kidney were evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blot.Results SBP of the treat group was effectively reduced by 19.0?3.2 mmHg at the 3rd day,and 22.1?3.3 mmHg at the 13th day of the experiment.The anti- hypertensive effect significant remained at least for 14 days.On the contrary,increase in BP was shown in placebo and the adenovirus control group.Compared with placebo or adenovirus control rats,ACE mRNA expression level in kidney of the treated rats was lower by 61.1% and 62.3% respectively,with ACE protein expression level lower- ing by 56.2% and 53.30% as well(ail P0.05). Conclusion RNA interference targeting ACE gene inhibits the expressions of ACE mRNA and protein.A single dose injection resulted in a prolonged decrease in BP.The evidence of strong antihypertensive effect by genetic therapy justifies efforts for further investigation.

Background Congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles (CFEOM) affects patient' s appearance and quality of life,and no effective treatment for this disease is available.Imaging study is helpful for exploring the pathogenesis of CFEOM.Objective This study was to describe the characteristics of CFEOM associated with limb movement disorder using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Methods A family with CFEOM associated with limb movement disorder was investigated in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University.Disease history was collected and the pedigree was investigated.Ophthalmologic examinations,including corrected visual acuity,refractive error,slitlamp examination,ophthalmoscopic examination,force of levator palpebrae superioris,ocular movement,eye position,forced duction test,and bell phenomenon examination,were performed.Ocular orbital and cranial MRI was performed in 4 CFEOM patients and 10 normal subjects to compare the structures of the extraocular muscles,motor nerve and cranium.Oral informed consent was obtained from each patient prior to any medical examination.Results A total of 1 1 members from 3 generations were investigated in this study,presenting with 4 cases of disease.The mode of inheritance of this family complied with the Mendelian autosomal dominant inheritance law.Clinical signs included disturbance of eye movement,deviation of eye position,ptosis,lack of Bell sign and positive reaction of passive pull test.In addition,unstable gait,improper body limb alignment,dysphasia and mental retardation were ohserved in 1 patient,which coincided with the diagnostic criteria of type 3 CFEOM.MRI results demonstrated that the levator palpebrae superioris,superior rectus and superior oblique muscle were clearly thinner,and the medial rectus,lateral rectus,inferior rectus muscle were thinning in the patients,showing significant differences in comparison with the normal controls(P＜O.05).The oculomotor and abducens nerves became thinner and even absent in the patients.Cranial MRI showed that Ⅲ-3 in the pedigree with callosum was shorter than that of the normal controls,suggesting that patient suffered from corpus callosum hypoplasia.Meanwhile,cranial MRI indicated the presence of cerebellar hypoplasia and the expansion of the fourth ventricle.Conclusions MRI demonstrates consistent abnormalities of the oculomotor nerves and abducens nerves in the affected individuals in this CFEOM 3 family,and some affected members exhibit two types of central nervous system abnormalities-corpus callosum and cerebellar hypoplasia.These findings suggest that CFEOM 3 is primarily a neuronal disease.