Animals ; Conditioning (Psychology) ; drug effects ; Extinction, Psychological ; drug effects ; physiology ; Fear ; drug effects ; physiology ; Male ; Mifepristone ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Animals ; Extinction, Psychological ; physiology ; Fear ; physiology ; Male ; Mental Recall ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sleep Deprivation ; complications ; physiopathology ; Sleep, REM ; physiology

Background Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON)is a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)hereditary disease,so it is significant to understand the influence of DNA mutation on the occurrence of LHON.Objective This survey was to evaluate the role of mtDNA mutation in the development of LHON.Methods This survey study was approved by the Ethic Committee of Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command and written informed consent was obtained from each subject before the relative medial examination.Seventy-two matrilineal relatives from a family with LHON were collected for a pedigree analysis and mutation screening.Regular eye examination was performed on 11 patients,13 mutant gene carriers and 49 individuals with normal phenotype,and the degree of visual damage was graded as follows: ＞0.3 was normal,0.1-0.3 was mild damage,＜0.05-0.1 was moderate damage,＜0.02-0.05 was severe damage and ＜0.01 was very severe damage.Clinical characteristics of LHON was evaluated.The periphery blood sample of 2-4 ml was collected from individuals to separate the mononuclear cells,and the mtDNA was extracted by modified high salt method.MtDNA was amplified by PCR and the mutation loci was sequenced.Results PCR amplification product sequencing of mutant gene showed that both G11778A and T14502C mutations were detected in 24 of 72 matrilineal relatives,but only 11 of 24 carriers developed LHON.No abnormal clinical findings were seen in the 13 carriers,showing a less 50％ penetrance in this family.There was no G11778A or/and T14502C mutation in the normal phenotype individuals of this family.The onset age for vision impairment in 11 affected matrilineal relatives varied from 8 to 50 years old,with the mean age of 24.36 years old,showing a significantly lower age than that of the 13 carriers (5-72 years old,mean 40.38 years old) (t =2.102,P=0.049).Conclusions This study suggests that the Gl1778A and T14502C mutation in mitochondrial DNA is one of causes in the development of LHON.The primary G11778A mutation together with T14502C mutation in mtDNA is a factor for the occurrence of LHON,hut it is not sufficient to the development of LHON.An effective “second hit” process will play an inducing role for LHON.

Objective To investigate the intervention effects ofYinao Jieyu Prescription on the behaviors and damages in hippocampal CA1 area of the rats with post-stroke depression (PSD).Methods Totally 168 SPF male SD rats were randomly divided into normal group, sham-operation group, stroke group, PSD group, Western medicine group and TCM group. There were 24 rats in the normal group and sham-operation group, and 30 rats in the other groups. Rats in the normal group received no intervention. Rats in the sham-operation group received no suture. Rats in the stroke group were given middle cerebral artery occlusion operation and normally fed after operation. Rats in the PSD group, Western medicinal group and TCM group were made into PSD models by chronic immobilization stress for one week and individual battery to the end. At the inception of modeling, Western medicine group received fluoxetine hydrochloride for gavage; TCM group receivedYinao Jieyu Prescription for gavage; other groups received distilled water for gavage, once a day. At the end of week 2, 4, and 8, the morphology of the hippocampal CA1 area in each rat was observed by microscope after HE stained.Results Except for the week 2, at the same time point, the behavior scores of the rats in the TCM group were higher than those in the PSD group. At the same time point, the CA1 region of the hippocampus in the TCM group was more complete than the PSD group, and the cells were arranged neatly and in normal morphology.ConclusionYinao JieyuPrescription can improve the symptoms of PSD rats, and has protective effects on hippocampal CA1 area.

OBJECTIVETo search for the best therapy for simple obesity.

METHODSEighty cases were randomly divided into 3 groups. The body acupuncture group were treated based on the syndrome of heat of stomach and intestine, syndrome of spleen deficiency and stagnation of dampness, and syndrome of spleen and kidney yang-deficiency; the auricular and body acupuncture group were treated by the syndrome treatment of body acupuncture combined with auricular point sticking; the observation group were treated by the combined auricular and body acupuncture treatment plus moving cupping on back-shu points. Body weight, BMI, body fatd, blood lipids and clinically main symptoms before and after treatment were investigated.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 69.6% in the body acupuncture group, 76.0%. in the auricular and body acupuncture group, and 90.6% treated in the observation group, with significant differences in the therapeutic effect, clinically main symptoms, external indexes of obesity and kidney ang-blood lipid metabolism between the observation group and the body acupuncture group. The various indexes in the auricular and body acupuncture group were superior to those iwere tthe body acupuncture group, with no significant differences in most indexes.

CONCLUSIONAuricular and body acupuncture combined with moving cupping at back-shu points has obvious therapeutic effect on simple obesity and this is a better therapy for simple obesity.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Acupuncture, Ear ; methods ; Adult ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Obesity ; blood ; therapy

ObjectiveTo investigate the role of platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF) and its receptor in the development of hypertrophic scar. MethodsThe expression of PDGF and its receptor were detected in biopsy specimens of 9 pieces of normal skin, 7 pieces of granulation tissue of burn wound and 34 pieces of hypertrophic scar by immunohistochemical staining using specific polyclonal antibodies.ResultsPDGF and its receptor markedly increased in granulation tissue and hypertrophic scars, reaching the peak in the hypertrophic scars within 6 months and then decreased after the peak, whereas PDGF and its receptor expressed weakly in only a few normal skin specimens, and the differences were significant(P<0.05).ConclusionsThe increasing expression of PDGF and its receptor may be related to the development of hypertrophic scar.

Forgetting is a critical component of the memory system.On the one hand, under physiological conditions, normal forgetting helps maintain the homeostasis of the brain memory system; on the other hand, abnormal forgetting is closely related to the occurrence and development of memory- related disorders under various neural pathological conditions.In another word, forgetting is for better memory.Forgetting of unpleasant or unnecessary memories is beneficial to update new information to adapt organisms to changing environment.Abnormal forgetting is usually associated with memory-related disorders.For example, patients with Alzheimer' s disease (AD) and epilepsy have symptoms of accelerated forgetting, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and autistic patients cannot forget unpleasant memories.Currently, the essential relation and distinction between normal forgetting under physiological conditions and abnormal forgetting under pathological conditions are still unclear, and how to improve the memory impairment of patients by regulating the forgetting proeess remains to be further studied.This review mainly foeuses on the involvement of Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (Racl) , eell division cyele 42 (Cde42) , neurogenesis, microglia, dopamine and a-amino-3-hydroxy-5- methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic aeid receptors (AM PA receptors) in the regulation of forgetting under physiological conditions, and abnormal forgetting in various central pathological conditions such as AD, epilepsy, PTSD and autism, which will provide insight to the neuromolecular mechanism of forgetting and new ideas for the prevention and treatment of memory-related diseases.

The genome of CK/CH/SD09/005, an isolate of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), was characterized to enable the further understanding of the epidemiology and evolution of IBV in China. Twenty-five pairs of primers were designed to amplify the full-length genome of CK/CH/SD09/005. The nucleotide sequence of CK/CH/SD09/005 was compared with reference IBV strains retrieved from GenBank. The phylogenic relationship between CK/CH/SD09/005 and the reference strains was analyzed based on S1 gene sequences. The complete genome of CK/CH/SD09/005 consisted of 27691 nucleotides (nt), excluding the 5' cap and 3' poly A tail. The whole-genome of CK/CH/SD09/005 shared 97 - 99% nucleotide sequence homology with the GX-NN09032 strain, which was the only complete genome that was closely related to CK/CH/SD09/005. When compared with all reference strains except GX-NN09032, CK/CH/SD09/005 showed the highest similarity to ck/CH/LDL/091022 and SDIB821/2012 (QX-like) in the replicase gene (Gene 1) and 3'UTR, with a sequence identity rate of 97% and 98%, respectively. However, CK/CH/SD09/005 exhibited lower levels of similarity with ck/CH/LDL/091022 and SDIB821/2012 in S-3a-3b-3c/ E-M-5a-5b-N with a sequence identity of 72% - 90%. CK/CH/SD09/005 showed the highest level of nucleotide identity with Korean strain 1011, and Chinese strains CK/CH/LXJ/02I, DK/CH/HN/ZZ2004 and YX10, in ORF 3c/E (97%), 5a (96%), 5b (99%) and N (96%), respectively. ORFs 3a, 3b and M of CK/CH/SD09/005 exhibited no more than 90% homology with the reference strains, excluding GX-NN09032. The phylogenic analysis based on the S1 gene revealed that CK/CH/SD09/005 and 39 published strains were classified into seven clades (genotypes). CK/CH/SD09/005 was distributed in clade IV with several isolates collected between 2007 and 2012. CK/CH/SD09/005 showed 66% - 69% and 72% - 81% nucleotide identities with the IBV strains of other six clades in the S1 and S2 subunits, respectively. More over, multiple substitutions were found throughout the entire S gene of CK/CH/SD09/005, while insertions and deletions were located within the S1 gene. These results indicated that CK/CH/SD09/005 is a novel variant that may be derived from the QX-like strains that are prevalent in China. Multiple genetic mechanisms, including recombinations, mutations, insertions and deletions, are likely to have contributed to the emergence of this IBV strain.
Animals ; Chickens ; China ; Coronavirus Infections ; veterinary ; virology ; Genome, Viral ; Genomics ; Infectious bronchitis virus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Poultry Diseases ; virology ; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid ; Viral Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo examine the antigenicity of hepatitis C virus (HCV) F protein and investigate serum prevalence of anti-F in HCV-infected patients.

METHODSEleven pairs of overlapping primers were used to synthesize the full-length HCV f gene, from which the truncated HCV f65 gene fragment was amplified by PCR. HCV f65 gene was then cloned into pET32a(+), and transformed into E. coli strain Plyss (DE3). This recombinant E.coli was induced by IPTG for the production of HCV F65 protein. The expressed HCV F65 protein, purified by Ni-NTA agarose, was further used in ELISA to detect serum anti-F, and to immunize rabbits for making polyclonal anti-F. The rabbit polyclonal anti-F was purified by Staphylococcus aureus protein A agarose.

RESULTSAfter recombinant pET32a(+)-f65 was constructed successfully, HCV F65 protein was expressed and purified. The purified HCV F65 protein was used as a capture antigen in ELISA to detect serum anti-F in HCV infected patients (n = 30). The result showed that the mean A450 value and the positive rate of serum anti-F were 0.125+/-0.061 and 63.3%, respectively. The rabbit-derived polyclonal anti-F reacted specifically with HCV F65 protein, of which the titer was 1:30,000.

CONCLUSIONOur expressed HCV F65 protein is of antigenicity, and can be used to determine serum anti-F. Anti-F IgG does exist in the sera of the HCV-infected patients. Moreover, the rabbit-derived polyclonal anti-F can be used to detect HCV F protein.

Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Hepacivirus ; genetics ; immunology ; Hepatitis C ; blood ; epidemiology ; immunology ; Hepatitis C Antigens ; blood ; immunology ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Rabbits ; Viral Core Proteins ; blood ; immunology ; Viral Envelope Proteins ; immunology