BACKGROUND: Establishment of lumbar disc degeneration in animal models can help doctors understand the development rules and pathophysiological changes of this disease, and can explore and research more rational treatment by creating animal models.OBJECTIVE: To review recent advances in vivo model of lumbar disc degeneration.METHODS: The first author used the computer to search related articles on PubMed database and Chinese Journal Full-text Database from inception to May 2016. The search key words were lumbar disc, degeneration, animal model,vivo model. A total of 161 related articles were retrieved and 49 of them met the inclusion criteria.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Building an intuitive and reliable animal model of lumbar disc degeneration will not only help the basic research of degenerative disc disease, but also provide a good experimental carrier for the repair treatment of degenerative lumbar disc. (2) After more than 80 years of development, the animal model of lumbar disc degeneration has formed a production mode of more species, more methods and newer ideas. Current models have their own advantages, cannot be replaced. However, problems such as poor controllability, low degree of safety or long observation period are still exiting more or less. All these need further research and exploration.

Objective To research the curative effect of the chronic refractory skin ulcer,which belong to yang deficiency of both spleen and kidney type with the treatment of Huiyang Shengji ointment,and discuss the mechanism at cell and molecular level.Methods According to the diagnostic criteria,102 patients were divided into the treatment group(treated with topical Huiyang Shengji ointment) and the control group(treated with topical chlorhexidine).The effects were summarized six weeks later.The marginal tissue of the patients with the chronic skin ulcer was taken to analyze collagen Ⅰ/Ⅲ with the software and the expression of cytokine FGF-2,VEGF,Fn were observed during the wound heal.Results The effective rate was 50% in the treatment group,the control group was 33.33%,with statistical differences.Huiyang Shengji ointment can change the status of the chronic wound,promote growth of new blood vessels and improve the collagen synthesis,especially collagenⅠ.The expression of the FGF-2 and VEGF in the marginal tissue of the chronic skin ulcer showed a rising trend.Conclusions Huiyang Shengji ointment can accelerate the wound heal of chronic refractory skin ulcer.One of the mechanisms is related to promoting growth of new blood vessels and improving the collagen synthesis.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of autophagy in acute lung injury (ALI) caused by multiple trauma in rats via pretreat with 3-methyladenine (3-MA).

METHODSForty-five Sprague-Dawley male rats, with age of 4 months and body weight of 250-300 g,were randomly divided into three groups. In the sham group, the rats received sphenotresia only;in the control group, the rats were made model of femur shaft fracture combined with brain injury, and treated with physiological saline by abdominal cavity at 1 hour before making model; in the 3-MA group, the rats were made model of femur shaft fracture combined with brain injury,and treated with 3-MA of 10 mg/kg by abdominal cavity at 1 hour before making model. Histologic changes and the concentration of related inflammatory factors in the damaged lung tissue were examined at 48 h after opteration, at the same time, the effect of 3-MA on the expression of LC-3 II and Beclin-1 was examined through reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction technique (RT-PCR).

RESULTSCompared with sham group, LC-3 II and Beclin-1 level in control group at 48 h after operation were obviously increased (P < 0.01). Compared with control group, LC-3 II and Beclin-1 level in 3-MA group at 48 h after operation were obviously decreased (P < 0.01). Compared with sham group, the level of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) in control group obviously enhanced (P < 0.01). Compared with control group, above items in 3-MA group was obviously lower (P < 0.01). Compared with control group,the histopathological damage of lung in 3-MA group obviously reduced (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAutophagy can aggravate the acute lung injury caused by fracture of shaft of femur combined with brain injuries,but 3-MA can reduce tissue damage by inhibiting the autophagy and inflammatory response.

Acute Lung Injury ; prevention & control ; Adenine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; analysis ; Beclin-1 ; Interleukin-6 ; analysis ; Lung ; chemistry ; immunology ; pathology ; Male ; Multiple Trauma ; complications ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; analysis

0.05).Conclusions The expression of PBMC IP-10 mRNA increases in KD.IP-10 may participate in the pathogenesis of KD and CAL in KD.Perhaps the inhibition to the expression of PBMC IP-10 mRNA is one of the mechanisms of IVIG.

Objective To explore the risk factors affecting prognosis of children with Tourette syndrome(TS).Methods The follow-up visits were conducted on the clinical data of 98 cases with TS(85 male,13 female;aged 4-16 years old)from 1997 to 2005 in Wuhan children's hospital.All cases were consistent with the diagnostic criteria of TS in the 4th edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-Ⅳ).The investigations were performed by the investigators who received special training using the unified questionnaire with the methods of direct inquiry or by telephone.The factors included sex,age,severity of TS,the primary symptoms,family history,coexisting diseases,basic diseases,perinatal abnormity and family-social relations.The prognosis of TS and these factors were analyzed by linear regression and stepwise regression with SPSS 12.0 software.Results About 16 cases lost follow-up and the other 82 cases with follow-up(72 male and 10 female)received retrospective review.They were 14 to 25 years old with complete data,and 50 cases healed,32 cases not healed.Results from non-conditional simple variant Logistic regression showed that such cases were associated with the following factors:age,family history of TS,severity of TS,coexisting diseases,basic diseases and perinatal abnormity(Pa0.05).Out of 6 suspicious factors,there were coexisting diseases(OR=84.088,95%CI 10.850-651.682),severity of TS(OR=13.956,95% CI 2.412-80.762),and family history of TS(OR=27.127,95% CI 1.047-702.831)of risk factors.Conclusion The long-term prognosis of children with TS may be related with coexisting disease,severity of TS and family history respectively.

Objective To investigate the protective effects of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) on caecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced acute kidney injury (AKI).Methods A total of 260 healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-300 g) were randomly divided into 6 groups:normal control group,sham group,CLP model group,the large dose rHuEPO (5000 U/kg)group,the middle dose rHuEPO (1000 U/kg) group,and the small dose rHuEPO (500 U/kg) group.The rat models of sepsis were established by CLP.In treatment groups,rats were treated with rHuEPO through caudalis injection after CLP surgery.Each group was divided into 2-,6-,12-,24-,36-hour subgroups with 10 rats.Rats were sacrificed and the tissue samples including kidney and blood samples were collected.The kidney function,plasma cytokines [interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)],kidney injury moleclue 1 (KIM-1) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)were measured.Cytokines were determined by ELISA method.The expression of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) protein in kidneys were detected by immnunohistochemistry method.Pathological changes of kidney tissues were observed by light and transmission electron microscopy for cytokine content and apoptosis.Results Compared with CLP model group,renal function,the levels of TNF-α,IL-6,KIM-1 and iNOS in serum,the expression of NF-κB,significantly decresed in large dose rHuEPO group (all P ＜ 0.05).rHuEPO also lessened the histological changes in large dose group.rHuEPO did not lessen the histological changes in others.Conclusion rHuEPO can inhibit the levels of TNF-α,IL-6 and iNOS in serum,thus modify the inflammatory response and provide protective effects against acute kidney injury induced by sepsis.

Objectives To investigate the rational treatment strategy of hepatoblastoma (HB) in children. Methods Clinical data and follow-up of 25 children with HB admitted from February 2009 to March 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Results Twenty-five children with newly diagnosed HB (14 males and 11 females) were enrolled. The median age on diagnosis was 25 months (3-92 months);In 18 of 25 cases with complete resection of the primary tumor, 17 cases survived. Only 1 of 7 cases with incomplete resection survived. The survival rate in children with complete resection of primary tumor is significantly higher than those without complete resection (P<0.05). The survival rate in children of stage I or II is significantly higher than the children of stage III or IV (P<0.05). Conclusions Complete tumor resection is the cornerstone of therapy for long-term disease-free survival in HB patients. Treatment strategy remains to be further improved for children with recurrent and metastatic HB.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of Ru'ai Shuhou Recipe (RSR), a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, on 5-year recurrence rate after mastectomy in breast cancer. METHODS: A total of 300 patients with breast cancer were divided into two groups: treatment group and control group. The patients in the treatment group were treated with Western medicine and RSR, and the patients in the control group were treated only with Western medicine (the same as the treatment group). In the two groups, the 5-year recurrence rates after mastectomy in breast cancer were investigated. RESULTS: Thirty-four breast cancer patients were lost to five-year follow-up during the course of investigation, and 266 breast cancer patients went through the evaluation. The 5-year recurrence rate after mastectomy in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The recurrence rate after mastectomy was influenced by positive lymph node, primary breast tumor size, clinical stage, and patients' health status. There was significant difference in the 5-year recurrence rates between the two groups (P<0.05) under the following conditions, such as the positive lymph nodes more than four, the primary breast tumor larger than two centimeters, and in the clinical stage II and III, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive/progesterone receptor (PR)-positive and ER-negative/PR-negative. The recurrence rate was not associated with the operation method and age distribution. CONCLUSION: RSR can reduce the 5-year recurrence rate after mastectomy in breast cancer.

Objective To investigate the effect of angiotensinⅡ(AngⅡ) type 1 receptor blocker losartan on the cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) expression in metabolic syndrome (MS)kidney. Methods Seven-week-old male obese Zucker rats,a model of MS,were randomly divided into losartan treated and untreated group,and lean Zucker rats were used as controls.The obese Zucker rata of treated group received losartan for 4 months continuously.COX-2 expression was examined for all rats after 4 months.AngⅡ-stimulated mesangial cells and cortical tissue from AngⅡ-infused C57BL/6 mouse kidney by osmotic minipumps were used in this study.RNA and protein were obtained from renal cortical tissue or mesangial cells for RT-PCR and Western blot.Results Compared to the lean controls,obese Zucker rats showed a significant increase of COX-2 expression in the renal cortical tissue and these abnormalities were prevented by administration of losartan. Furthermore,the direct stimulation of AngⅡincreased COX-2 expression in mesangial cells in vitro and renal cortical tissue in vivo.Conclusions MS-induced COX-2 expression in the kidney is regulated by AngⅡ.Losartan as a non COX-2 inhibitor can protect MS kidney,at least in part,by inhibition of COX-2 activation.

As a basic amino acid, histidine has a pK_a close to the acidity of the tumor microenvironment, thus the charge and solubility of histidine are able to vary as the pH changes. Under a neutral environment, histidine is not charged and exhibits hydrophobic properties, while it can be protonated and becomes hydrophilic when exposed to mildly acidic pH, such as tumor microenvironment. Therefore, histidine is widely used in the design of drug delivery systems to target the mildly acidic pH of tumor microenvironment. This article reviews the recent progresses of histidine-based tumor-targeting drug delivery systems, and summarizes the principles on promoting internalization and tuning drug release by taking advantage of histidine. Finally, we point out the common issues on histidine application and illustrate its future prospects.