Objective To investigate the association between chlamydia pneumoniae(Cpn)and atherosclerosis obliterans(ASO). Methods Sixty ASO patients and 40 healthy persons were selected,and their Cpn DNA expressions in venous blood determined by polymerase chain reaction(PCR). Results The ASO patients had significantly higher positive expression rate of Cpn DNA than that of healthy persons(78. 33% vs. 47.50% ,P ＜0.05). In all 60 cases the Cpn DNA expressions were positively correlated with the severity of ASO. Conclusions Cpn DNA expression closely relates with ASO severity,and it plays an important role in the ASO pathogenesis.

Objective To explore the impact of puerarin treatment on autophagy in rats with traumatic brain injury (TBⅠ) and the underlying mechanism.Methods Seventy five Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomized into 5 groups:sham group (S group,n =15),traumatic brain injury group (TBⅠ group,n =15),TBⅠ + puerarin treatment group (TBⅠ + Pue group,n =15),TBⅠ + JNK inhibitor group (TBⅠ + SP group,n =15),and TBⅠ + JNK activator + Pue (TBⅠ + An + Pue group,n =15).Feeney method was applied to make rats with TBⅠ model.Mter that,head water content and neurological deficit score (NDS) were measured and recorded at day 1,3 and 7 in each group.Western blot was used to measure the JNK activity and autophagic marker proteins,including LC3B and Beclin1.Results Compared to S group,the head water content and NDS were decreased significantly among the others (P ＜ 0.05).The head water content and NDS in TBⅠ + Pue and TBⅠ + SP groups was decreased remarkably compared with TBⅠ group.Combined with puerarin and animycin treatments failed to reduce head water content and NDS compared to the TBⅠ + Pue group.Activated autophagy could be observed in TBⅠ group compared to S group.Compared to group S,LC3Ⅱ,Beclin1 and P-JNK1 were increased significantly.Pue and SP could reduce their expressions,respectively.Combined with puerarin and animycin treatments failed to reduce LC3Ⅱ,Beclin1 and P-JNK1 compared to TBⅠ + Pue group.Conclusions Puerarin could protect rats with TBⅠ via inhibiting autophagy,JNK signal pathway could involve the process of puerarin regulating autophagy.

Granger causality model is an analysis method that requires no priori knowledge and emphasizes time sequence. Such model applied to brain effective connectivity network can reflect the directional connectivity among brain regions or neurons. This paper reviews the principle of Granger causality model, basic test steps and improved models, analyzes and discusses applications and existing problems of Granger causality model in brain effective connectivity network.
Brain ; physiology ; Brain Mapping ; Computer Simulation ; Humans ; Models, Neurological ; Neurons ; physiology

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) technique is a kind of perfusion functional magnetic resonance imaging method that is based on endogenous contrast, and it can measure cerebral blood flow (CBF) noninvasively. The ASL technique has advantages of noninvasiveness, simplicity and relatively lower costs so that it is more suitable for longitudinal studies compared with previous perfusion methods, such as positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), CT and the contrast agent based magnetic resonance perfusion imaging. This paper mainly discusses the current clinical applications of ASL in brain diseases as cerebrovascular diseases, brain tumors, Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy, etc.
Animals ; Brain Diseases ; diagnosis ; Brain Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Cerebrovascular Circulation ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Perfusion ; Spin Labels

We constructed a recombinant plasmid encoding VP1 gene of O type foot-and-mouth disease virus fused to a molecular adjuvant, goat complement C3d gene. The goat C3d gene was cloned and three copies were tandem-linked with the linker (G4S)2 sequence. VP1 gene of O type foot-and-mouth disease virus was linked to three tandem repeats of C3d through the linker sequence and cloned into pUC19 to obtain the recombinant plasmid pUC19-VP1-C3d3. The VP1-C3d3 fusion gene was then subcloned into the eukaryotic vector pcDNA3.1(+) that had been modified to contain the tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) leader sequence to obtain pcDNA3.1-tPA-VP1-C3d3. HeLa cells were transfected with pcDNA3.1-tPA-VP1-C3d3 by Lipofectamine 2000. Indirect immunofluorescent assay and Western blot assay showed that VP1-C3d3 fusion gene was successfully expressed in HeLa cells. The fusion protein with the expected size 133 kD could be secreted outside the cells. This study laid a good foundation to further research on the novel vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease virus by using goat C3d as a molecular adjuvant to enhance the immunogenicity of VP1.
Animals ; Capsid Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; Complement C3d ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology ; Female ; Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus ; genetics ; Goats ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Immunologic Factors ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology ; Plasmids ; genetics ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology ; Transfection

The occurrence of thyroid gland is easily affected by iodine deficiency, the enzyme defect, drugs, autoimmune and other factors. The increased incidence of thyroid cancer year by year has threatened the health of the human, which requires to study thyroid gland cancer invasion and metastasis, investigate the molecular mechanism of cancer metastasis, search the differential molecular expression gene, predict the metastatic biomarkers and the intervening treatment target molecule, in order to improve the cure rate and the survival rate. This paper reviews the possible role of long chain non-coding RP11-23J9.4-miRNA-15a-axis inhibiting factor 2-Wnt pathway in the occurrence, development and dedifferentiation of thyroid cancer.

Objective:To investigate the optimal monochromatic level for evaluation of in-stent lumen after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) by dual-layer detector CT.Methods:Twenty-nine patients after TIPS were retrospectively enrolled who underwent abdomen enhanced examinations with portal venous phases by a dual-layer detector CT between December 2019 and July 2021. The mixed iterative image (conventional group) and monochromatic images (40 keV group, 50 keV group, 60 keV group and 70 keV group) were obtained by reconstruction. Circular regions of interest were placed in the in-stent of the cross-sectional reconstructed image and in the vertical spinal muscle on the same plane to obtain the corresponding average CT value and noise. The contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and signal to noise ratio (SNR) were calculated. Then 4-point scale was performed to evaluate image quality subjectively by 2 physicians blindly and separately. One-way ANOVA or Kruskal Wallis H rank-sum test was used for the overall analysis between groups, and LSD test or Dunn′s Bonforoni test was used for pairwise comparison within groups. Results:There was no significant difference in noise values among the 5 groups ( P>0.05). The difference of CNR and SNR between the 5 groups was statistically significant ( F=72.28, 56.45, P<0.001). The CNR and SNR in the 40 keV group were the highest, which were 50.4±15.7 and 59.3±18.4 respectively, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.001). Subjective scores showed statistically significant differences among the 5 groups (χ2=101.61, P<0.001). The score of the 40 keV group was higher than that of the 60 keV group, 70 keV group, and conventional group ( P<0.001), and there was no significant difference when compared with the subjective score of the 50 keV group ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The 40 keV monochromatic image of dual detector spectral CT is the best image to observe the lumen of the stent after TIPS.