Traditionally, stem cells in adult tissues were believed to be restricted in their differentiation potential and limited to generate the types of cell present in the tissue in which the stem cell resides. Recently, however, many studies indicate that stem cells may display a broader differentiation potential, termed plasticity or transdifferentiation, than what was previously thought. But the validity of this understanding has been challenged by some investigators. In this review, the authors present some standpoints on stem cell plasticity and discuss some phenomena of stem cell plasticity observed on animal models those have been generally accepted currently.

Objective To investigate postoperative complications and proper treatment of craniopharyngioma after microsurgical resection. Methods The postoperative complications and treatments of 58 patients with craniopharyngioma who underwent microneurosurgical resection in our department were analyzed retrospectively. Results In the 58 cases ,45 cases received total resection, 11 cases received subtotal resection, and 2 cases received partial resection. Different levels of postoperative complications occurred in all of the cases, with diabetes insipidus in 55 cases , hypematremia and hyperchloraemia in 32 cases, hyponatremia in 25 cases, hyperpyrexia in 24 cases and hyperglycosemia acidosis in 2 cases. Forty-seven cases recovered clinically,9 cases improved,and 2 cases died. Conclusions Postoperative intensive monitor of water intake,and discharge,fluctuation of electrolyte, and actively correction of diabetes insipidus and electrolyte disturbances and maintaince of fluid balance may play an important role in postoperation treatment of craniopharyngiomas.

Animals ; Male ; Methyl Chloride ; therapeutic use ; Myocardium ; pathology ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; poisoning ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To evaluate retrospectively the role of 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT associated with MRI in the localization of epileptogenic foci. Methods Sixty-seven patients with medically resistant epilepsy were included from 2003 to 2008. All underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT and MRI for presurgical evaluation as well as post-surgical evaluation 12 to 65 months after operation. Based on postoperative seizure occurrence, patients were divided into two groups. One group was free of seizures ( Engel classification Ⅰ, Group 1) and the other was with postoperative seizure occurrence of any type ( Engel classification Ⅱ-Ⅳ, Group 2). X2-test or Fisher's exact test was used for the statistical analysis. Results About 71.6% (48/67) patients were defined as group 1, and 19 patients were group 2 ( 11 were Engel Ⅱ , 5 were Engel Ⅲ, and 3 were Engel Ⅳ ). In Group 1, no statistically significant difference was found between concordant (45/63) and discordant findings (3/4) with regard to 18F-FDG PET/CT and MRI images (Fisher's exact test, P ＞0.05). For 41 patients that showed focal abnormality both on MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT, 80.5% (33/41) were found in group 1. For 20 patients that showed focal lesions on MRI while with multi-focal or generalized abnormal metabolism on 18F-FDG PET/CT, 11 (55.0%) were in group 1 and9 (45.0%) were group 2. There was no significant difference (33/41 vs 11/20, X2 =4.34, P ＜0.05 ). Conclusion 18F-FDG PET/CT associated with MRI may offer more helpful information for pre-surgical evaluation and prediction of prognosis of epileptic patients.

The present study was aimed to investigate the role and relationship between N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor and neuropeptide Y (NPY) in depression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). CUMS-induced depression model was established in Sprague-Dawley rats. Intrahippocampal injections of NMDA, non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 and NPY-Y1 receptor antagonist GR231118 were respectively adopted by rat brain stereotaxic coordinates. The behavioral observations were conducted by sucrose consumption test, open field test and forced swimming test. The expression of NPY in hippocampus was detected by immunohistochemistry. The results showed that compared with the control group, rats receiving CUMS for 21 days or intrahippocampal injection of GR231118 or NMDA showed depression-like behavioral changes, including a reduction in sucrose preference, body weight, locomotor activity, rearing and grooming in open field test, and increased duration of immobility in forced swimming test. Intrahippocampal injection of NMDA decreased the expression of NPY in hippocampal CA3 region and dentate gyrus (DG) region. Intrahippocampal injection of MK-801 improved the depression-like behavioral changes induced by CUMS, and increased the expression of NPY in hippocampal CA3 region and DG region. Co-injection of GR231118 and MK-801showed that GR231118 suppressed the antidepressant effect of MK-801. These data suggest that CUMS might induce depression through excessive release of glutamate (Glu), over-activation of NMDA receptors, and downregulation of NPY. Antidepressant effect of NPY was mainly mediated via NPY-Y1 receptor.
Animals ; Depression ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Dizocilpine Maleate ; pharmacology ; Hippocampus ; metabolism ; physiology ; Male ; Neuropeptide Y ; antagonists & inhibitors ; physiology ; Peptides, Cyclic ; pharmacology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate ; antagonists & inhibitors ; physiology ; Stress, Physiological

Virtual experiment is the application of virtual reality technology in experiment sciences.In the physiology teaching, virtual reality modules are made up of experiment theory module,experiment process module,virtual reality module,review mod- ule and experiment report module.We set up a virtual physiology experiment system by author ware and other software.

Objective To study the results of functional hemispherectomy for pediatric intractable epilepsy with hemisphere lesions , and to explore the indications of functional hemispherectomy , as well as the prognosis. Methods Twenty-four children with intractable epilepsy caused by hemisphere lesions were included , who underwent functional hemispherectomy. All patients were followed up for 3 ~ 48 months. Results All 24 cases obtained improvement of abnormal behavior , and no significant exacerbation of neurological deficits was observed. During the follow-up, 18 cases were in EngelⅠ(75%), 5 in Engel Ⅱ(21%), and 1 in Engel Ⅰ(4%) respectively. No long-term complication was observed. Conclusion Comprehensive presurgical evaluation is a prerequisite for the surgical treatment of pediatric intractable epilepsy caused by hemisphere lesions. Functional hemispherectomy can effectively control seizures and obviously improve the prognosis.

OBJECTIVETo validate the efficiency and accuracy of an improved Demons deformable registration algorithm and evaluate its application in contour recontouring in 4D-CT.

METHODSTo increase the additional Demons force and reallocate the bilateral forces to accelerate convergent speed, we propose a novel energy function as the similarity measure, and utilize a BFGS method for optimization to avoid specifying the numbers of iteration. Mathematical transformed deformable CT images and home-made deformable phantom were used to validate the accuracy of the improved algorithm, and its effectiveness for contour recontouring was tested.

RESULTSThe improved algorithm showed a relatively high registration accuracy and speed when compared with the classic Demons algorithm and optical flow based method. Visual inspection of the positions and shapes of the deformed contours agreed well with the physician-drawn contours.

CONCLUSIONDeformable registration is a key technique in 4D-CT, and this improved Demons algorithm for contour recontouring can significantly reduce the workload of the physicians. The registration accuracy of this method proves to be sufficient for clinical needs.

Objective To study the clinical features and to improve the treatment on the elderly patients with brain tumor.Methods Retrospective analysis of 163 cases with brain tumor which had been confirmed by CT,MRA or pathology.Results Of all the 163 cases,121 were located in supratentorium,most of which were meningiomas and gliomas.Most patients(129 cases)had comorbidity.After operation,symptoms disappeared or obviously improved in 126 cases,moderately improved in 19 cases,and did not changed in 6 patients.Twelve cases died after operation in a month, in which 9 patients were over 75 years old.The death rate of operation was 6.1%.Conclusions It is important to know the atypical manifestation of brain tumor in the elderly,which may prevent clinical misdiagnosis and mistherapy.The perioperative management is indispensable to the prognosis of the patients.The choice of operation and medication should be in individualized.

Objective To investigate the effects of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) inhibitor minocyclin hydrochloride in Lewis rats with experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM). Methods EAM was induced by injection of cardiac C protein emulsified in completed Freund adjuvant in double footpad and intra peritoneal injection of pertussis toxin on 6- to 8-week old Lewis rats. Sixty EAM Lewis rats were dividedinto 3 groups (early, middle and late intervention groups, n =20 each: 10 minocyclin treated and 10 control rats). In early intervention group, rats in treatment group received intraperitoneal injection of minocyclin hydrochloride from 1st to 21st day after immunization; in middle intervention group, rats were treated from 8th to 28th day after immunization and in late intervention group, rats were treated from 15th to 35th day after immunization (50 mg/kg body weight, once daily). Control rats received intraperitoneal injection of same volumetric physiological saline at corresponding time periods. At the end of intervention, rats were euthanatized and hearts were harvested. Paraffin sections were used for hematoxylin and eosin stain to determine the inflammatory score, for picrosirius stain to determine fibrosis score and collagen content, and for immunohistological stain to determine macrophages and T lymphocytes. Real time PCR was used to detect mRNA expression of myocardial MMP-2 and MMP-9. Cryostat sections were used for in situ zymography to detect protein activity of gelatinase. Results Inflammatory score in cardiac paraffin slides, number of cardiac macrophages and T lymphocytes, cardiac interstitial fibrosis score and content, expression of MMP-2, 9 mRNA and activity of gelatinase in treatment group were all significantly lower than in control group for early and middle intervention groups ( inflammatory score: early control group vs. treatment group: 3.03 ± 1.35 vs. 1.51 ±0. 36,P ＜0. 05, middle control group vs. treatment group: 3.75 ±0. 29 vs. 2. 11 ±0. 82,P ＜0. 01; cardiac interstitial fibrosis score, early control group vs. treatment group: 2. 75 ±0. 29 vs. 1.51 ± 0.35, P＜0.01, middle control group vs. treatment group: 2.50 ±0.41 vs. 1.61 ±0.42, P＜0.05;gelatinase, early control group vs. treatment group: 162 367 ±5095 vs. 62 366 ±2131, P ＜0. 01, middle control group vs. treatment group: 184 256 ±5427 vs. 113 197 ±4809, P ＜0. 01 ) while these parameters were similar between minocyclin-treated and control rats in late intervention group ( all P ＞ 0. 05 ).Conclusions MMP-9 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune myocarditis. Inhibition of MMP-9 in early and middle stage could significantly attenuate inflammatory responses and myocardial fibrosis in this experimental EAM model.