OBJECTIVETo observe the changes in Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs in brains of 3 month-old APPswe/PS1dE9 double transgenic mice after six-month intervention with curcumin, in order to discuss the neuroprotective effect of curcumin.

METHODAPPswe/PS1dE9dtg mice were randomly divided into the model group, the Rosiglitazone group (10 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and curcumin high (400 mg x kg9-1) x d(-1)), medium (200 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and low (100 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) dosage groups, with C57/BL6J mice of the same age and the same background in the normal control group. After 6 months, the immunohistochemical staining (IHC) and the Western blot method were used to observe the changes in positive cell of Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs in hippocampal CA1 area, their distribution and protein expressions.

RESULTBoth of the immunohistochemical staining and the Western blot method showed more positive cell of Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs in hippocampal CA1 area and higher protein expressions in the model group than the normal group (P < 0.01). IHC showed a lower result in the Rosiglitazone group than the model group (P < 0.05), while Western blot showed a much lower result (P < 0.01). The number of Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs positive cells and the protein expressions decreased in the curcumin high group, the medium group showed a significant decrease (P < 0.01), and the low dose group also showed reductions in the protein expressions of Aβ40 and Aβ42.

CONCLUSIONThe six-month intervention with curcumin can significantly reduce the expressions of hippocampal Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs in brains of APPswe/PS1dE9 double transgenic mice. Whether curcumin can impact Aβ cascade reaction by down-regulating expressions of Aβ40, Aβ42 and ADDLs and show the neuroprotective effect needs further studies.

Alzheimer Disease ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; genetics ; metabolism ; Animals ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Curcumin ; administration & dosage ; Disease Models, Animal ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Mice, Transgenic ; Neuroprotective Agents ; administration & dosage ; Plant Extracts ; administration & dosage

OBJECTIVETo study modified ilioinguinal approach through the retrospective analysis on the surgical treatment of 63 patients with pelvic and acetabular fractures through anterior approach.

METHODSFrom January 2006 to January 2013, 63 patients with pelvic and acetabular fractures were treated with the ilioinguinal anterior approach, including 45 males and 18 females, ranging in age from 12 to 68 years old, with an average of (37.71 +/- 13.41) years old. All the patients were divided into two groups: standard ilioinguinal anterior approach group (group A) and modified ilioinguinal anterior approach group(group B). In group A, there were 26 males and 11 females, with an average age of (38.49 +/- 13.64) years old. In group B, there were 19 males and 7 females, with an average age of (36.62 +/- 13.29) years old. Intraoperative and postoperative indicators in group A and B were observed and compared, including operation incision exposure time (from skin incision to complete the ilioinguinal in front of three "windows"), the blood loss, incision close time and treatment effect of Majeed function score.

RESULTSCompared to group A, the incision exposure time of patients in group B was shorter, the blood loss (bleeding during exposure process) was less, and the close incision time was shorter, but the treatment effect of Majeed function score had no significant differences between two groups. All the patients were followed up, and the during ranged from 3 to 36 months, with an average of (18.6 +/- 9.2) months. According to Matta standard assessment reduction of pelvic and acetabular fracture, there were 28 patients got an excellent result, 8 good, and 1 fair in the group A; and 20 patients got an excellent result, 5 good, and 1 fair in the group B. According to Majeed function score for hip function, 20 patients got a satisfactory result, 12 good,4 fair and 1 poor in group A, and the mean score was 82.51 +/- 9.72; and 13 patients got an satisfactory result, 10 good, 3 fair and 0 poor in group B, and the mean score was 80.54 +/- 10.79.

CONCLUSIONThe modified approach has several advantages as follows: providing a good surgical exposure; preventing from the injury of femoral nerve, femoral artery and vein under the inguinal ligament; not needing to open the inguinal canal, which can avoid the occurrence of inguinal hernia, reduce operation prodedures and shorten operation time.

Acetabulum ; injuries ; surgery ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; Fractures, Bone ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo summarize the clinical features of cytopenia with bone marrow hypoplasia in 100 children and to investigate an effective treatment regimen for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in children.

METHODSA retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 100 children non-randomly selected from Japan and China who were diagnosed with cytopenia with bone marrow hypoplasia between 2006 and 2011. The data of patients from China were subjected to prognostic analysis.

RESULTSThere was no significant difference in the proportion of MDS cases and acquired aplastic anemia (AA) cases between the Japanese and Chinese children. Of the 100 patients, there were 29 cases of acquired AA, 58 cases of refractory cytopenia of childhood (RCC) and 13 cases of refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia (RCMD). There were significant differences in reticulocyte absolute value in peripheral blood and degree of bone marrow proliferation among the three patient groups (P<0.05). The patients from China were followed up for 16-70 months (median, 41 months). After being treated with cyclosporine (CsA) combined with stanozolol, the patients with AA had response rates of 25% and 75%, the patients with RCC had response rates of 47.1% and 82.4%, and the patients with RCMD had response rates of 60% and 60% respectively at 3 and 6 months after treatment.

CONCLUSIONSThere are significant differences in reticulocyte absolute value in peripheral blood and degree of bone marrow proliferation among patients with RCC, RCMD and acquired AA. CsA combined with stanozolol has a good therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of acquired AA and hypoplastic MDS in children, but studies of more cases and a longer follow-up duration are needed.

Adolescent ; Anemia, Aplastic ; blood ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Bone Marrow ; pathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cyclosporine ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; blood ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Pancytopenia ; blood ; drug therapy ; pathology

BACKGROUNDAssessment of perfusion in the early period of acute renal failure (ARF) is important, and can not be made by conventional ultrasound. The aim of this study was to prospectively test in a rabbit ARF model whether real-time contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can quantitatively evaluate the hemodynamic changes of renal cortex in the early period.

METHODSThe model of ARF was induced in 30 healthy New Zealand white rabbits (2.5 - 3.0 kg), by intramuscular injection of 50% glycerin solution (12 ml/kg). CEUS were performed on right kidneys before, 6 and 24 hours after glycerin injection. CEUS quantitative indexes were measured in renal cortex using QLAB software. Comparisons between different stages were performed using paired t test. The sensitivity of CEUS in diagnosing ARF was compared with blood serum urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (SCr) level and color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI).

RESULTSAmong quantitative indexes, time to peak (TTP) and area under curve (AUC) increased significantly from (5.86 ± 2.57) seconds and (124.4 ± 46.7) dB·s before glycerin injection to (7.66 ± 2.05) seconds and (288.1 ± 64.9) dB·s 6 hours after injection (P < 0.05). Slope rate of ascending curve (A) and descending curve (a) decreased slightly from (3.00 ± 1.22) dB/s and (0.19 ± 0.15) 1/s to (2.80 ± 1.45) dB·s and (0.09 ± 0.02) 1/s (P < 0.05). Twenty-four hours later, only AUC increased significantly from (124.4 ± 46.7) dB·s to (466.2 ± 52.2) dB·s (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONQuantitative indexes of CEUS might be useful in predicting the hemodynamic changes of renal cortex in the early six hours of ARF model.

Acute Kidney Injury ; diagnostic imaging ; Animals ; Contrast Media ; Rabbits ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the early diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in acute renal failure (ARF) of rabbit.

METHODSThe rabbit model of ARF was established by intramuscular injection of 50% glycerin (12 ml/kg) into the hind legs of 18 New Zealand rabbits. CEUS was performed for both kidneys before injection and 6 hours after the injection. The slope rate of ascending curve (A), the slope rate of descending curve (alpha), area under curve (AUC), derived peak intensity (DPI), and time to peak (TTP) were measured in renal cortex of rabbits using Q-lab software package. Blood serum urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (SCr) were measured.

RESULTSThe values of A and alpha before the injection of glycerin were (3.07 +/- 1.83) dB/s and (0.19 +/- 0.15)/s, respectively, which were significantly higher than the values after injection [ (2.76 +/- 1.31) dB/s and (0.09 +/- 0.02)/s, respectively] (P < 0.05). The values of AUC and TTP before the injection of glycerin were (137.4 +/- 68.4) dB s and (6.33 +/- 3.71) s, which were significantly lower than the values after injection [(309.5 +/- 88.9) dB s and (8.61 +/- 3.97) s, respectively] (P < 0.01). No significant change of DPI, BUN or SCr was found.

CONCLUSIONSCEUS can precisely display the hemodynamic change of ARF model of rabbit in the early stage, with superior sensitivity than BUN and SCr. It may be a promising imaging method for the early diagnosis of ARF.

Acute Kidney Injury ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Animals ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Contrast Media ; Creatinine ; blood ; Early Diagnosis ; Rabbits ; Ultrasonography

This paper aimed to study the effect nitrogen supplying on biomass accumulation and root respiration dynamic change of Glycyrrhiza uralensis and reveal the metabolic pathway of root respiration impact the biomass accumulating of G. uralensis. Six groups of one-year-old G. uralensis were fertilized with total nutrition containing various nitrogen concentration (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8 mmol x L(-1)) every week. At the end of every month, from June to October, the volume respiration rate and biomass of different classes of root samples were determined, and the correlation between root respiration and biomass was analyzed. The results indicated a negative correlation between volume respiration rate and biomass, nitrogen supply significantly affected both root respiration and biomass of G. uralensis by reducing root respiration and increasing root biomass. Under 8 mmol x L(-1) nitrogen supplying, there existed the optimal inhibition of root respiration, which has increased biomass of G. uralensis.
Biomass ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Glycyrrhiza uralensis ; drug effects ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Kinetics ; Nitrogen ; pharmacology ; Oxygen Consumption ; drug effects ; Plant Roots ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Seasons ; Time Factors

Objective To investigate the effect of microRNA-223-3p (miR-223-3p) on megakaryocytic differentiation and maturation, and explore the potential mechanism .Methods The endogenous expression of miR-223-3p during megakaryocyte ( MK) differentiation was detected by real-time PCR.Flow cytometry further indicated that alteration of miR-223-3p in human cell lines exerted effects on MK differentiation and maturation .By performing integrative bioinformatic analysis, the potential miR-223-3p target gene, MYH10,was identified.Real-time PCR, luciferase reporter assay and flow cytometry revealed that MYH10 was a direct target of miR-223-3p.Results Endogenous expression of miR-223-3p was in-creased with the differentiation and maturation of MK .The expression of megakaryocytic surface markers CD41 and CD61 and the ploidy were significantly increased in K562 and Meg-01 cells after transfection with miR-223-3p mimics.The expression of MYH10 decreased with the increase in miR-223-3p.Using a luciferase reporter assay ,we demonstrated that MYH10 was a direct target of MiR-223-3p.Furthermore, direct downregulation of MYH10 promoted MK polyploidization . Conclusion MiR-223-3p might regulate the polyploidization of MK by targeting MYH10.

Objective To investigate the effect of Xingnao Jieyu Decoction on the function of Notch/Hes signaling pathway in hippocampus of rats with post-stroke depression (PSD).Methods A total of 80 healthy male specific pathogen-free Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,prozac group and Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group;20 rats in each group.The rats in the model group,prozac group and Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group were used to prepare the cerebral ischemia model by middle cerebral artery occlusion method,and then the rats were used to prepare the depressive model by a variety of chronic unpredictable stimuli.The rats in the control group did not have any intervention.After the preparation of PSD model,the rats in the control group and model group were given saline 2.5 mL by intragastric administration,the rats in prozac group were given prozac 2.5 mL (1.8 mg · kg-1) by intragastric administration,the rats in Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group were given Xingnao Jieyu Decoction 2.5 mL (150.0 mg · kg-1) by intragastric administration;one times daily for 28 days.Ten rats in each group were sacrificed immediately on the nineteenth and twenty-eighth day of drug intervention,and the hippocampus tissues were isolated.The expression of Notch and Hes mRNA and protein in hippocampus were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot method.The open probability,current amplitude,opening time and closing time of Notch signaling pathway were detected by patch clamp technique.Results On the nineteenth and twenty-eighth day of drug intervention,the expression of Notch and Hes protein and mRNA in hippocampus of rats in the model group,prozac group and Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P ＜ 0.05);the expression of Notch and Hes protein and mRNA in hippocampus of rats in the prozac group and Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group was significantly higher than that in the model group (P ＜ 0.05);the expressions of Notch and Hes protein and mRNA in hippocampus of rats in the Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group was significantly higher than that in the prozac group (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in Notch and Hes protein and mRNA expression in hippocampus of rats between the nineteenth and twenty-eighth day of drug intervention (P ＞ 0.05).The expression of Notch and Hes protein and mRNA in hippocampus of rats on the twenty-eighth day was significantly higher than that on the nineteenth day in the model group,prozac group and Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the control group,the open probability and current amplitude of Notch signaling pathway in hippocampus of rats increased significantly,the opening time prolonged significantly,and the closing time shortened significantly in the model group,prozac group and Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group on the nineteenth and twenty-eighth day of drug intervention (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the model group,the open probability and current amplitude of Notch signaling pathway in hippocampus of rats increased significantly,the opening time prolonged significantly,and the closing time shortened significantly in the prozac group and Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group on the nineteenth and twenty-eighth day of drug intervention (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the prozac group,the open probability and current amplitude of Notch signaling pathway in hippocampus of rats increased significantly,the opening time prolonged significantly,and the closing time shortened significantly in the Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group on the nineteenth and twenty-eighth day of drug intervention (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the open probability,current amplitude,opening time and closing time of Notch signaling pathway between the nineteenth and twenty-eighth day of drug intervention in the control group(P ＞ 0.05).Compared with the nineteenth day of drug intervention,the open probability and current amplitude of Notch signaling pathway in hippocampus of rats increased significantly,the opening time prolonged significantly,and the closing time shortened significantly on the twenty-eighth day of drug intervention in the model group,prozac group and Xingnao Jieyu Decoction group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Xingnao Jieyu Decoction can mediate the activation of Notch / Hes signaling pathway in hippocanpus of PSD rats,thus effectively promote the recovery of neurological function.Notch/Hes signaling pathway is expected to be an important target for drug action.

Purpose: Nowadays most children with congenital heart disease (CHD) are expected to survive to adulthood. The healthcare focus needs to pay close attention to the important developmental tasks during their growth process. The women with CHD face some challenges in their critically developmental stages during pregnancy, delivery, and even motherhood. The lived experience of being a mother needs to be further concerned. This study aimed to explore the lived experience of first-time mothers with CHD. Methods: Descriptive phenomenological design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from April to August 2018 with 11 primiparous women with CHD, who were recruited from the pediatric and adult cardiology outpatient departments at a medical center and who had a child aged between 6 months and 3 years. Giorgi's phenomenological analysis method was employed. Results: Six main themes arose from the analysis: (1) recognizing pregnancy risks, (2) performing self-care for health, (3) building self-worth from my baby, (4) adapting to postpartum life and adjusting priorities, (5) enjoying being a first-time mother, and (6) the factors contributing to success in high-risk childbirth. Conclusions The experiences that occurred prior to and after labor that were identified in this study can assist women with CHD to more capably prepare for and understand the process of becoming a mother, including recognition of the importance of a prepregnancy evaluation. The findings of this study can help women with CHD to better understand the path to becoming a mother and prepare themselves for the challenges that lie ahead.

Mutations in the synaptic nuclear envelope protein 1 (SYNE1) gene are associated with substantial clinical heterogeneity. Here, we report the first case of SYNE1 ataxia in Taiwan due to two novel truncating mutations. Our patient, a 53-year-old female, exhibited pure cerebellar ataxia with c.1922del in exon 18 and c. C3883T mutations in exon 31. Previous studies have indicated that the prevalence of SYNE1 ataxia among East Asian populations is low. In this study, we identified 27 cases of SYNE1 ataxia from 22 families in East Asia. Of the 28 patients recruited in this study (including our patient), 10 exhibited pure cerebellar ataxia, and 18 exhibited ataxia plus syndromes. We could not find an exact correlation between genotypes and phenotypes. Additionally, we established a precise molecular diagnosis in our patient’s family and extended the findings on the ethnic, phenotypic, and genotypic diversity of the SYNE1 mutational spectrum.