ObjectiveTo study the validity of Motor Status Score (MSS) and Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale (FMA).MethodsThe validity of MSS and FMA was studied in 22 patients with brain injury and stroke.ResultsIt showed a strong positive correlation between MSS and FMA, and the correlation coefficient was 0.961 ( P<0.01).ConclusionMSS has a highly valid to the motor function of upper limbs after brain injury and can be used as a index for evaluation of rehabilitation of upper limbs.

OBJECTIVETo explore the association of 8-hydroxyguanine glycosidase OGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism with semen quality and the risk of male infertility.

METHODSThis case-control study included 620 idiopathic infertile patients and 385 normal fertile controls. We determined their genotypes by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and analyzed their semen quality by computer-aided semen analysis (CASA).

RESULTSThe individuals with OGG1 326 Cys/Cys showed significantly lower sperm motility and concentration ([52.1 +/- 26.7]% and (3.75 +/- 0.91) x 10(6)/ml, ln transformed value) than the Ser/Ser carriers ([59.0 +/- 21.8] % and (4.12 +/- 0.88) x 10(6)/ml, ln transformed value) (P < 0.05). The risk of male infertility increased 69% in the OGG1 326Cys allele carriers as compared with the Ser carriers (OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.24 -2.31).

CONCLUSIONOGG1 326 Ser/Cys polymorphism might contribute to the risk of male infertility in the southern Chinese population.

Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; DNA Glycosylases ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Semen Analysis ; Young Adult

Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of the diameter of the esophageal hiatus on multislice spiral CT(MSCT)and to present the MSCT manifestations of esophageal hiatus hernia (EHH).Methods(1)The distance between diaphragmatic crura(DDC),which indicated the diameter of esophageal hiatus,was measured in 140 normal adult patients on their thoracic and/or abdomenal CT images.(2)The DDC of 56 patients with EHH diagnosed by barium examination was measured on MSCT, and the MSCT findings were analyzed retrospectively.Results(1)The DDC of 140 normal adult cases were(13.44?4.41)mm on average and increased with age.The mean DDCs of patients under the age of 59 year-old(80 cases)and over 60-year-old(60 cases)were 11.03?2.10 mm and 16.67?4.64 mm respective]y,there was a significant difference(t=8.762,P

OBJECTIVETo study the inhibitory effects of antisense focal adhesion kinase (FAK) oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) on the invasion of Bel 7402 cells, and investigate the mechanisms.

METHODSLipofecTAMINE-mediated antisense FAK ODN was transfected into Bel 7402 cells. Cell number and viability were evaluated every 24 hours by trypan blue dye exclusion. Cell attachment assay was carried out at intended time points in a microculture well pre-coated with fibronectin (FN). The invasive activity of tumor cells was assayed in a transwell cell culture chamber. Cell cycle and cell apoptosis analysis were performed with flow cytometry (FCM).

RESULTSThe expression of p125FAK in the group treated with antisense FAK ODN (6.49%+/-0.10%) significantly decreased, compared with those in the group treated with sense FAK ODN (14.33%+/-1.88%) and control group (16.68%+/-1.62%), F=7.66, P<0.01. Antisense FAK ODN significantly inhibited the growth of Bel 7402 cells by 30%-60%, the attachment by 25%-55%, and the invasion, 15%-25%. The decreased expression of FAK in Bel 7402 cells caused a G2/M cell cycle arrest, and the cells at S phase decreased significantly. The occurrence of apoptosis detected by FCM increased significantly in the group treated with antisense FAK ODN.

CONCLUSIONSInhibition of FAK expression significantly decreases the attachment between ECM and Bel 7402 cells, and the ability of Bel 7402 cells to invade the reconstituted basement membrane. In addition, FAK suppression significantly inhibits the proliferation of Bel 7402 cells in vitro, and increases their apoptosis.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Adhesion ; Cell Division ; genetics ; Focal Adhesion Kinase 1 ; Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; pharmacology ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; pharmacology ; Transfection

In order to explore the scientific connotation of "Fangzhengduiying (formula corresponding to pattern types)", "Qiyinliangxuzheng (Qi and Yin deficiency pattern)" of myocardial ischemia rat model and GC-TOF/MS based metabonomic method were used for comparing the effects of Sheng-mai injection, Salvia injection and propranolol in the present study. After data processing and pattern recognition, Sheng-mai injection showed better efficacy than the other two drugs in accordance with not only visual observation from PLS-DA scores plots but also the number of abnormal endogenous compounds restored to the normal level. Further studies showed that Sheng-mai injection could normalize the level of plasma endothelin-1, the index related to cardiovascular diseases and sleep disorders, which verified the results of metabonomics. Finally, the regulated metabolites and related metabolic pathways were analyzed, and it was supposed that the effects of Sheng-mai injection involved in the alternation of energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, amino acids metabolism, and so on. These findings provided scientific evidence to Shengmai "Fang" used for "Qi and Yin deficiency pattern" correspondingly, indicating that metabonomics has great potential in traditional Chinese medical research, which provides a novel approach and way to modernization of traditional Chinese medicine.
Animals ; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents ; pharmacology ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Endothelin-1 ; blood ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Injections ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Metabolomics ; methods ; Myocardial Ischemia ; blood ; metabolism ; pathology ; Panax ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Propranolol ; pharmacology ; Qi ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Salvia ; chemistry ; Schisandraceae ; chemistry ; Yin Deficiency ; metabolism

Isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial ischemia animal model has been widely applied to the study of myocardial ischemia and evaluation of drug efficacy. Metabolic profiling of endogenous compounds can make a deep insight into biochemical process of the ISO-induced myocardial ischemia rats. Herein, rats were treated with ISO (2 mg x kg(-1)) for 10 days. After the model was established by measuring myocardial histopathology and plasma creatine kinase, GC/TOF-MS was used to determine endogenous metabolites in plasma and cardiac muscle of rats, and pattern recognition was used to process the data. Results showed that the plasma metabolic profiling of ISO-induced myocardial ischemia rats was significantly different from that of the control, and it had the tendency to the normal state after the discontinue of ISO injection. Besides, the cardiac muscle of rats treated with ISO for 10 days and the normal cardiac muscle could also be separated clearly. The potential biomarkers in plasma and cardiac muscle of model rats had homogeneity and their own specialty. Biochemical metabolic pathway analysis indicated that this myocardial ischemia model was involved in the alternation of energy metabolism, saccharometabolism, lipid metabolism, nucleoside metabolism and amino acid metabolism, and in relationship with oxidative stress. These findings revealed that metabonomics may be a promising tool to evaluate myocardial ischemia rat model induced by ISO and could further extend the study of pharmacodynamic action of drugs at the molecular level.
Animals ; Creatine Kinase ; blood ; Energy Metabolism ; Isoproterenol ; Lipid Metabolism ; Male ; Metabolome ; Metabolomics ; methods ; Myocardial Ischemia ; blood ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Oxidative Stress ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVESProgrammed death-1 (PD-1) up-regulation impairs virus-specific CD8+ T-cell responses during chronic viral infection. Whether PD-1 expression influences the virus-specific CD8+ T cells in humans with acute viral infection remains largely undefined. This study aims to characterize the PD-1 expression during acute hepatitis B (AHB), and further addresses the association between the PD-1 dynamics and memory T-cell formation during acute HBV infection.

METHODSPeripheral HBV-specific CD8+ T cells from 11 HLA-A2-positive AHB patients were longitudinally quantitatively analyzed, and PD-1, memory markers CCR7, CD45RA and CD127 and activation marker CD38 on HBV-specific CD8+ T cells were measured using flow cytometric assay. Serum ALT, HBsAg, HBsAb and HBV-DNA levels were evaluated for each subject.

RESULTSAll 11 AHB patients examined had multiple pentamer-positive CD8+ T-cell responses in their early phase of HBV infection. Specifically, their PD-1 on pentamer-positive CD8+ T-cells was significantly up-regulated at the onset of their disease. Following their disease resolution, the dynamic decrease in PD-1 expression was found to correlate with the phenotypic development of memory CD8+ T cells, indicated by the increases in CCR7, CD45RA and CD127 and decrease in CD38.

CONCLUSIONPD-1-mediated negative signaling may be closely associated with memory T-cell formation during acute self-limited hepatitis B.

Acute Disease ; Adult ; Antigens, CD ; metabolism ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; metabolism ; Female ; Hepatitis B ; immunology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immunologic Memory ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; immunology ; metabolism ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of curcumin on the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the expression level of c-fos protein following hypoxia ischemia brain damage (HIBD) in rats. METHODS: Sprague-Dauley (SD) rats were randomly divided into four groups as the following: sham group, hypoxia ischemia brain damage group, curcumin group and solvent control group. The content of MDA in the brain was measured by colorimetry. The expression level of c-fos protein in the cortex tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. Morphologic and structural changes of neuron cells of the cortex were observed by electron microscopy. RESULTS: The content of MDA was clearly lower in curcumin group than that in the other groups at the same time after HIBD. The expression level of c-fos protein was higher in the curcumin group than that in the other groups (P<0.05). Electron microscopy showed that the morphologic and structural changes of neuron cells of cortex in the curcumin group were reduced. CONCLUSION Curcumin could significantly decrease the content of MDA, increase the expression level of c-fos protein and reduce the damage of the neuron cells.
Animals ; Curcumin/pharmacology* ; Forensic Pathology ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain/pathology* ; Male ; Malondialdehyde/metabolism* ; Neurons/pathology* ; Neuroprotective Agents/pharmacology* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos/metabolism* ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the significance of forensic autopsy in medical tangle. METHODS: Ninety autopsy cases of medical legal dispute were retrospectively analyzed from the database of our department from 2001 to 2008. All cases were analyzed and classified based on age, sex, cause of death, clinic diagnosis and forensic diagnosis. RESULTS: The age ranged from 1 day to 72 years, and the ratios of male to female is 1:1. The most common healthcare facilities involved were county hospitals (30 cases, 33.33%). The coincidence rate between clinical diagnoses and pathological diagnoses was 33.33%. CONCLUSION The forensic autopsy is valuable to solve or even avoid the occurrence of medical legal dispute.
Adult ; Aged ; Autopsy ; Cardiovascular Diseases/pathology* ; Cause of Death ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Forensic Pathology ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Malpractice/legislation & jurisprudence* ; Middle Aged ; Respiratory Tract Diseases/pathology* ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo determine the effects of diazoxide on oxygen free radicals and cell apoptosis in brain tissue after deep hypothermia cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury in young rats.

METHODSFifty-four 3-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly and equitably divided into sham-operated group, model group and diazoxide group respectively (n = 18). The model of hypothermia cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury was made. After 24 hours of operation, the brains of rats were removed and preserved. The content of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malonaldehyde (MDA) in brain tissue were detected. Cytosolic C release of cytochrome was confirmed by Western Blot. The protein expression of Caspase-3 was determined by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSIn the model group, the content of SOD was (198 +/- 41) U/mg, lower than the sham-operated group's (321 +/- 36) U/mg (P < 0.01). The content of MDA was (212 +/- 21) nmol/mg, was higher than the sham-operated group's (100 +/- 23) nmol/mg (P < 0.01), and the expressions of cytochrome C (0.72 +/- 0.09) and Caspase-3 (83 +/- 10) were all significantly higher than those in the sham-operated group (0.17 +/- 0.02 and 115 +/- 9) (P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, the content of SOD in the diazoxide group [(264 +/- 34) U/mg] was markedly increased (P < 0.05). In addition, diazoxide provided significant reductions in the content of MDA [(174 +/- 19) nmol/mg] and the expressions of cytochrome C (0.41 +/- 0.05) and Caspase-3 (99 +/- 11) (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe neuroprotective effects of diazoxide against brain injury induced by deep hypothermia cerebral ischemia reperfusion through inhibiting oxygen free radicals and cell apoptosis. Diazoxide may become a new neuroprotective drug after infant complicated congenital cardiac operation.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Brain ; metabolism ; pathology ; Brain Ischemia ; etiology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Circulatory Arrest, Deep Hypothermia Induced ; adverse effects ; Cytochromes c ; metabolism ; Diazoxide ; pharmacology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Male ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Reperfusion ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism