AIM: To explore the mechanism of neuronal injury and repair by investigating the expression of caspase-3 and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (APE/Ref-1) after focal cerebral ischemia. METHODS: A model of middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats was performed . The expression of caspase-3P 20 and APE/Ref-1 was examined by immunohistochemistry staining, TUNEL was applied to detected DNA damage, and double labeling with TUNEL and APE/Ref-1 was used to determine the relationship between APE/Ref-1 and DNA damage. RESULTS: The active subunit P 20 of caspase-3 was predominantly expressed within ischemic penumbra. The peak time of caspase-3P 20 positive cells preceded the appearance of TUNEL. With aggravation of cerebral ischemia, APE/Ref-1 immunoreactive cells in penumbra were significantly decreased. CONCLUSION: The activation of caspase enzymatic cascade following cerebral ischemia leads to degradation in DNA, meanwhile, decrease in DNA repair molecules or the failure of DNA repair may deteriorate the course.

Objective To explore the characteristic of the expression of Ref 1 protein in different intervals following permanent focal cerebral ischemia in rats. Methods The model of the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats was performed with the intraluminal filament occlusion The rat brains were cut in the coronal planes at the levels of the caudate putamen as the templates The immunohistochemistry staining was used to facilitate the observation of the distribution and quantities of Ref 1 protein expression in the brain tissues following the normal control group,sham operation group and the permanent MCAO group with intervals of 1, 6, 12, 24 h, and 48 h, respectively. Results Immunohistochemistry showed the nuclear expression of Ref 1 protein in the normal control group, sham operation group and left cerebral hemisphere. In the ischemic group, there was no immunoreactivity of Ref 1 protein in the core of infarction, and nuclear immunoreactivity of Ref 1 protein was decreased along with the extension of ischemic time in the penumbra. The difference among those groups was significant ( P

Objective To investigate the progression of idiopathic epiretinal macular membrane(IEMM) and compare the correlation factors of contrast sensitivity function (CSF) such as visual acuity(VA) and central macular thickness. Design Prospective, case-controlled study. Participants 80 normal people (80 eyes) were divided into three groups: old-aged group (60-80 years old, of 26 eyes), middle-aged group (40-59 years old, of 30 eyes) and young-aged group (

Objective To analyze the vascular architecture characteristics of the complex direct cavernous arteriovenous fistula (cd-CAVF) and to discuss its treatment and the curative effect of interventional embolization. Methods The hospitalization records, imaging features and operation records of 12 patients with cd-CAVF were retrospectively analyzed. Results In the 12 patients with cd-CAVF, the lesion’s blood supply arteries included internal carotid artery (ICA,n=8), primary trigeminal artery (PTA,n=1), middle cerebral artery (MMA,n=2) and basilar artery (BA,n=1). Different degrees of “arterial steal” phenomenon could be observed in all patients. The drainage routes included the superior ophthalmic vein and the inferior petrosal sinus (n=10), and cortical vein (n=2). Interventional embolization was carried out via ICA (n=4), through both ICA and BA (n=5), through MMA (n=2), or through BA (n=1). For the embolization of the lesion the balloons were used in 8 patients, steel coils were adopted in 2 patients, and balloons together with coils were employed in 2 patients. All the patients were followed up for 3-6 months. After the treatment the clinical symptoms and signs disappeared, and the lesions were completely cured in all patients with no complications. During the follow-up period of (60.2 ±26.8) months no recurrence of CAVF was observed. Conclusion The blood supply of cd-CAVF comes directly from the rupture of the blood vessels surrounding the cavernous sinus wall, the “arterial steal” phenomenon is prone to occur, and the drainage via the superior ophthalmic vein and the inferior petrosal sinus is more often seen. Transarterial balloon embolization is very effective for the treatment of cd-CAVF, and the use of coils together with multi-artery approaches is an effective supplementary method.

BackgroundThe effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) on public health have attracted wide attentions.The association of the thermal effect of ELF-EMFs with cancer and ocular tissue damage has been of concern.However,the pathological changes of scleral tissue after exposure to ELF-EMFs as well as the relationship between these changes and myopia are still poorly understood.ObjectiveThe present study was to investigate the molecular pathological changes of human fetal scleral fibroblasts (HFSFs) after exposure to ELF-EMFs in vitro and to explore the possible mechanism in the occurrence and development of myopia.MethodsHFSFs were cultured and passaged and then exposed to 50 Hz electromagnetic fields,and HFSFs that did not receive the irradiation of ELF-EMFs were used as the control group.The expression of collagen type Ⅰ (COL1A1 ) mRNA and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) mRNA in cultured HFSFs were detected by real-time qualitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) under different magnetic field intensites (0,0.1,0.2,0.5,1.0 mT) and different exposure time (0,6,12,24,36,48 hours).Cell proliferation assay of HFSFs was detected by the cell counting kit 8 ( CCK8 ) assay.The expression levels of COL1 A1 and MMP-2 proteins in HFSFs were further confirmed by immunofluorescence staining.Results The expression of COL1A1 mRNA was significantly down-regulated under the exposure of 0.2 mT ELF-EMFs for 6 hours,in comparison with the control group;moreover,it decreased in parallel with the increased of flux density (0.099±0.008 vs.0.050±0.004) (P =0.009 ).The expression of MMP-2mRNA was up-regulated conspicuously after exposure to 0.1 mT ELF-EMFs for 24 hours,and it increased with exposure time in comparison with the control group ( 0.009 ±0.001 vs.0.018±0.003 ) ( P =0.038 ).Proliferation of HFSFs (A450) was inhibited following the exposure to 0.2 mT ELF-EMFs for 24 hours in comparison with the control group (P =0.009 ).The expression of COL1 A1 in the experimental group was decreased,compared with the control group,but the expression of MMP-2 was increased.ConclusionsELF-EMFs inhibit the proliferation of HFSFs and expression of COL1 A1 in HFSFs,which might be one of the reasons for the development of myopia.

Vaccine immunization represents the most effective strategy against viral infections .Antiviral vaccine candi-dates currently include live attenuated vaccine , inactivated vaccine , DNA vaccine and genetic engineering vaccine .Live at-tenuated vaccines , eliciting efficient humoral and cellular immune response by simulating natural virus infection , are clini-cally widely used.Traditionally, live attenuated vaccine strains are obtained by serial passaging in vitro or in vivo, a costly procedure accumulating random mutations .microRNA( miRNA)-targeting host gene regulation exhibits high species and tis-sue specificity .Introducing certain miRNA target sequence into viral genome by reverse genetic technique can effectively attenuate virus strains, which has great potential in vaccine design and development .In this article,attenuation strategies and progress in its application in vaccine research are disscussed .

Medical curriculum integration mode is the development trend of medical education re-form. The Institute of Basic Science of Guangzhou Medical University has given full consideration to the present situation at home and abroad and its own conditions, modularized the traditional basic medicine ex-periment course according to the similar content, and formed medical human morphology (human anatomy and tissue embryology, pathology), immune and pathogenic biology (microorganisms, parasites, immunology), biological science (cell biology, genetics, biological sciences) three modules, and then gradually established and perfected a scientific and effective comprehensive morphology experiment teaching material, teaching method, examination and evaluation system based on the teaching content of integration. The establishment of this new basic medical morphology course system, which is based on the organs and systems, shows the less content redundancy, good structural and overall coordination of the new curriculum, so as to play its comprehensive advantages and conform to the trend of the development of the medical education.

Objective To investigate the optimum target plasma concentration of propofol in preventing the adverse effects of carboprost tromethamine in the patients undergoing caesarean section.Methods One hundred and twenty-eight nulliparous parturients who were at full term with a singleton fetus,of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅰ or Ⅱ,aged 24-37 yr,weighing 54-78kg,scheduled for elective caesarean section under combined spinal-epidural anesthesia,were randomly divided into 4 groups (n =32 each) using a random number table:control group (group C),and different concentrations of propofol groups (P1-3 groups).Carboprost tromethamine 250 μg was injected into the body of the uterus,and propofol with the target plasma concentrations of 0.8,1.2 and 1.6 μg/ml was simultaneously given by target-controlled infusion in P1,P2 and P3 groups,respectively,and normal saline was infused at a rate of 0.5 ml · kg-1 · h-1 in group C.The occurrence of cardiovascular events was recorded from the end of carboprost tromethamine administration until the end of surgery.The relatedadverse effects after carboprost tromethamine administration,and Ramsay sedation score at 15 mm after carboprost tromethamine administration were recorded,and satisfactory sedation was defined as Ramsay sedation score of 2.The occurrence of complications associated with combined spinal-epidural anesthesia was recorded during the postoperative follow-up.Results Compared with group C,the incidence of carboprost tromethamine-related adverse effects was significantly decreased in P2 and P3 groups,the rate of satisfactory sedation was significantly increased in P1 and P2 groups,the incidence of hypotension and tachycardia was significantly decreased in group P1 (P＜0.05),and no significant change was found in the incidence of carboprost tromethamine-related adv erse effects in group P1,and in the rate of satisfactory sedation in group P3 (P＞ 0.05).Compared with group P1,the incidence of carboprost tromethaminerelated adverse effects was significantly decreased in P2 and P3 groups,the rate of satisfactory sedation was significantly increased in group P2,and the rate of satisfactory sedation was significantly decreased in group P3 (P＜0.05).Compared with group P2,the rate of satisfactory sedation was significantly decreased (P＜0.05),and no significant change was found in the incidence of carboprost tromethamine-related adverse effects in group P3 (P＞0.05).No cardiovascular events were found in group P2,and the incidence of hypotension was 9％ in group P3.Conclusion The optimum target plasma concentration of propofol in preventing the adverse effects of carboprost tromethamine is 1.2 μg/ml in the patients undergoing caesarean section.

Objective To measure the number of peripheral blood CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSC/HPCs) and membrane expression of CD34 on these cells in patients with SLE. Methods Lymphocytes were isolated from peripheral blood of 30 patients with SLE and 14 normal human controls. Flow cytometry using FITC-labeled antibodies was performed to determine the percentage of CD34+ HSC/HPCs and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of CD34 on these cells. Their correlation with clinical data was analyzed.Results The percentage of CD34+ HSC/HPCs in peripheral lymphocytes was (0.15 ± 0.10)% and (0.09 ±0.07)% in active and stable SLE patients, respectively, significantly lower than that in normal controls [(0.37 +0.17)%, F = 17.18, P ＜ 0.01], however, there was no significant difference between active and stable SLE patients (t = 1.51, P＞ 0.05). The MFI of CD34 was higher in active SLE patients than in the normal controls (41.35 ± 19.24 vs. 27.43 ± 7.57, F= 3.13, P ＜ 0.05), but no difference was observed between stable SLE patients and normal controls (F= 3.13, P ＞ 0.05). In patients with SLE, the percentage of CD34+ HSC/HPCs was negatively correlated with serum IgG levels (r = -0.588, P ＜ 0.01 ), but uncorrelated with SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) or serum levels of complement, anti-dsDNA antibodies, anti-C1q antibodies, antinucleosome antibodies, etc. Conclusions The count of CD34+ HSC/HPCs is reduced while the MFI of CD34 antigen is elevated in SLE patients, hinting that there is a functional abnormality of HSC/HPCs in SLE patients, which may be involved in the pathogenesis of SLE.

Objective To measure the number of peripheral blood CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSC/HPC) expression of CD34 in the peripheral blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and exploreits relationship with clinical manifestations. Methods CD34+ HSC/HPCs in the peripheral blood of RA patients (n=32) and healthy controls (n=16) were detected using flow cytometry. The relationship between the frequency of HSC/HPCs, mean fluorescence intensities (MFI) of CD34 and clinical manifestations and rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies, disease activity score (DAS) 28,X rays stages and healthy assessment questionnaire (HAQ) were analyzed. Student's t-test and pearont test were used for statistical analysis. Results Frequency of CD34+ HSC/HPC in the peripheral blood of RA patients was decreased compared with normal controls [ (0.13±0.09)% vs (0.38±0.21)%, P＜0.05 ], CD34 MFIwere higher in RA patients than those in the normal controls (57±33 vs 3111, P＜0.05). The frequency was positively correlated with the number of (RBC red blood cell), (Hb hemoglobin), and was negatively correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP), and the MFI of RA patients was positively correlated with healthy assessment questionnaire (HAQ) and X ray stages, but negatively correlated with the number of platelets.Conclusion CD34+ HSC/HPC of the peripheral blood of RA patients are significantly abnormal, which is characterized by decreased CD34+ hematopoietic stem cell, and the decrease is positively correlated with RBC and Hb, but negatively correlated with CRP. CD34+ hematopoietic stem cell may play an important role in the pathogenesis of RA.