BACKGROUND: So far it has not achieved satisfactory effects to use synthetic blood vessels (diameter＜ 6 mm) as the substitutes for human small arteries or veins when clinical reconstructive vascular operations are performed. So, study on the substitutes for small arteries and veins has been a problem demanding prompt solution at present.OBJECTIVE: To observe the pressure-volume (P-V) relationship of umbilical cord vein of different gestational ages so as to provide theoretical basis of biomechanical properties for the clinical application of human umbilical cord vein as material for vascular grafting.DESIGN: Non-randomized controlled experiment.PARTICIPANTS: The experiment was completed in the Laboratory of Medical Biomechanics, Yunyang Medical College in June 2004. Umbilical cord veins of 50 normal fetuses were collected on spontaneous miscarriage or labor with the pregnant women's permission by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shiyan Taihe Hospital. The gestational age of the fetuses ranged from 24 to 42 weeks and the pregnant women aged 20to 30 years. Among them, 8 cases with gestational age of 24-27 weeks,7cases 28-32 weeks,8 cases 33-36 weeks,4 cases 37 weeks,5 cases 38weeks, 5 cases 39 weeks , 5 cases 40 weeks , 4 cases 41 weeks and 4cases 42 weeks.INTERVENTIONS:Umbilical cord veins of 50 normal fetuses were collected. A 2-cm long segment of each umbilical cord was measured and labeled at both ends. Then they were cut off and put into normal saline (NS). The umbilical veins were carefully stripped from the cord; its two ends were fixed on the biomechanical experiment stand of soft tissues. The P-V relationship of fetal umbilical cord vein was measured, and then the compliance calculated.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pressure, volume and compliance of different umbilical cord veincurve of pressure-volume relationship of the umbilical cord vein was similar at week 37 to 40 but decreased significantly at week 28 and week 42. After regression analysis twice, it was found that the absolute value of regression vein increased with the increasing of gestational age[24-27 weeks (2.22±0.34)cord vein collected at 37 to 40 weeks of gestational age was similar. When the umbilical cord veins older than 42 weeks or under 28 weeks were compared, there was significant difference in their compliance (F=65.84-86.52, P＜ 0.01).CONCLUSION: Human umbilical cord veins are good substitutes for The relationship between compliance and gestational age. Our studies suggest that the umbilical cord vein, whose gestational ages range from 37to 40 weeks, is a material of choice for the transplantation.

The evaluation system of PBL teaching was constructed to develop PBL teaching in combination with the characteristics of medical courses. It covered students evaluation system, teacher's evaluation, and teaching pattern system in all aspects of teaching. The present study was carried out through repeated verification in many clinical medicine curriculum and many grades of students, and standardized assessment model, a more mature evaluation system, has been fully applied. All the indices of the evaluation system were comprehensive in contents, scientific, objective, manipulated easily and with good results, which is worth promoting the application of PBL teaching in the future.

Aim To explore the effect of exogenous nerve growth factor(NGF) on tau hyperphosphorylation in rat hippocampus during focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion(I/R).Methods Focal cerebral ischemi-a/reperfusion model was induced by occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery using the intraluminal suture method.The level of tau hyperphosphorylation at Ser199/202 site and total tau in rat ispolateral hippocampal CA1 regions during focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion were detected by SABC immunohistochemical method and Western blot,and the positive products were analyzed by image analysis system.Results The level of tau hyperphosphorylation at Ser199/202 site and total tau in rat hippocampal CA1 regions were significantly higher in I/R group than that in sham group(P

In order to provide morphological data and theoretical basis for pig-to-human hepatic xenotransplantation, the difference in morphological parameters and vessel wall structural factors between human and porcine hepatic portal vein was studied. From human subjects and pigs of varying ages, hepatic portal veins were collected, paraffin-embedded and cut into sections. The histological structures were stained with HE, and elastin, collagen and smooth muscles were stained with Weigert, Aniline blue and orange G, respectively. Morphological parameters and relative contents of structural components were determined under microscopy and by computer image analysis system, respectively. The results showed that histological structures of human and porcine hepatic portal vein wall were similar. Caliber, wall thickness, lumen and wall area in pigs increased with age, all in linear correlation to months. Morphological parameters of 6- month-old pigs were similar to those of human. In pigs, collagen content increased gradually with months, elastin content remained relatively stable, smooth muscle content reached the peak at the 3rd month, and collagen/elastin (C/E) rose gradually. The contents of collagen and elastin in porcine hepatic portal vein wall were lower, while the content of smooth muscle was higher than in human, and C/E at the 5th and 6th month was similar to that in human. It is concluded that morphological parameters and contents of structural components of porcine hepatic portal vein vary with age. At the 6 month, its caliber, wall thickness, lumen and wall area are similar to those of human. There are differences in contents of structural components between human and pigs. However, in terms of C/E, mechanic properties of pigs at the 5th and 6th month mimic those of human, hence inosculation is viable in xenotrans-plantation between pigs and human.
Collagen/*analysis ; Elastin/*analysis ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Liver Transplantation ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular/cytology ; Portal Vein/*anatomy & histology ; Portal Vein/chemistry ; Swine ; Transplantation, Heterologous

Objective To evaluate whether immunization with △A146 Ply could confer protections against pneumococcal infections in murine models and to reveal the possible role of △A146 Ply-specific IgG in the protection elicited.MethodsBALB/c mice were immunized intraperitoneally with △A146 Ply or PBS plus alum.Fourteen days after the third immunization,mice were intranasally challenged with serotype 14 and 19F Streptococcus pneumoniae.Three days after inoculation,lungs were removed from mice and homogenized in PBS,followed by plated on red cell plates.Viable bacteria were counted after overnight incubation.As to the sepsis models,vaccinated mice were challenged intraperitoneally with different dosage bacteria of D39 and serotype 3 strain.The numbers of CFU log10 were compared by Mann Whitney U test and survival rates were analyzed using log-rank test.Passive protection was used to evaluate the role of △A146 Ply-specific IgG in the protection against otherwise lethal infection resulted from D39.Results ELISA analysis demonstrated higher titer specific antibody responses to △A146 Ply was produced after 3 times immunization.Mice boosted twice with △A146 Ply survived significantly longer than that for mice boosted once with △A146 Ply in Alum adjuvant,which were significantly longer than that of control group.Immunization with △A146 Ply was effective in reducing the numbers of pneumococcal strain 31614(serotype 14) and 31693(serotype 19F),which resulted in 50-and 20-fold decreases in bacterial load in the lungs respectively when compared to control protein-immunized mice.60% of vaccinated mice survived the infection with pneumococcal D39 of 1200 CFU.60% protection was achieved when mice intraperitoneally infected with D39 and received △A146 Ply-specific IgG,whereas no mice survived the infection when they were passively administered with △A146 Ply-specific IgG depleted antisera.Conclusion Immunization with △A146 Ply could confer protection against pneumococcal infections,and protection elicited was mediated by △A146 Ply-specific IgG.

To make sure the role of flagellin as mucosal adjuvants and the protective effect of streptococcus pneumonia infection when combined with DnaJ protein.Methods:Recombinant plasmid pET-28 ( a)/flagella was transferred to E.coli BL21(DE3).Over-expression of flagella was induced by IPTG and purification for animal study.All the C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups ,then respectively intranasally given the mixture of flagellin and DnaJ protein ( experimental group ) , DnaJ protein( control group 1 ) and the mixture of GST and DnaJ protein ( control group 2 ).The serum IgG and its subtype , cytokines secreted by mice spleen cells were detected by ELISA.At last all the C57BL/6 mice were intranasally immunized with Streptococcus pneumoniaD39.The protective effect by survival times were evaluated.Results: The mice of experimental group could secrete high level of serum IgG and cytokines IFN-γ,IL-4 and IL-17A.What more,the survival rate of mice in experimental group was 60%,a significant statistical difference with the control group.Conclusion:The flagellin as an adjuvant can reinforce the immune response of DnaJ protein and have better protection of resistance D 39 infection.We suggest that flagellin can be used as protein vaccine adjuvants.

BACKGROUND:Intensity-time (I/T) curve examination is a monitoring technology used for diagnosis of nerve damage,muscle disease and prognostic evaluation using current stimulation and qualitative or quantitative analysis.It also has significance to the diagnosis of lumbar disc herniation (LDH).Whether it can be used in LDH prognostic evaluation is poorly understood.OBJECTIVE:To explore the effectiveness of I/T curve in diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of LDH.METHODS:I/T curves of 113 LDH patients were measured by CX-3 electrodiagnostic equipment,and the results were compared with their unaffected sides and analyzed after physiotherapy.A total of 253 curves were measured,including 107 biceps femoris,101 gastrocnemius and 45 tibialis anterior muscle curves.All patients were sequential treated by traction,medium frequency,ultrashort wave,electric acupuncture as well as infrared radiation following I/T diagnosis,once a day,10 days for a course,with 10 days interval in 3 courses,I/T curves were performed after 3 courses.The therapeutic effect was evaluated by using I/T results combined with clinical symptom and physical signs.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The first estimated percentage by I/T curved line were 36.36% (controlled by normal nerve),62.85% (controlled by part of the denervated),0.79% (controlled by the completely denervated) and 63.64% (controlled by total abnormal nerve).After the physiotherapy,the effectiveness of the complete recovery was 92.86% by the normal nerve as well as 58.82% by the abnormal nerve.Above all,the practical value could be concluded from the diagnosis,evaluation and effectiveness of LDH used by I/T curve line.The therapeutic effectiveness controlled by the normal nerve is much better than that controlled by the abnormal.

Objective To lay the foundation for further exploration on parasitifer's defence reaction to pneumolysin through constructing ply gene-deletion strain of Streptococcus pneumoniae and researching on its virulence change. Methods A linker fragment with erm gene in middle and homologous upstream and downstream fragment of ply gene at both sides was prepared by long flanking homology-polymerase chain reaction(LFH-PCR). The linker fragment was transformed into Streptococcus pneumoniae. ply-deficient strain was then screened out from blood plate which contains erythromycin and identified by PCR. ply-deficient strain growth in vitro was observed and virulence change was observed through infecting mouse model. Results PCR results showed that ply gene was replaced completely by erm gene. The ply deficient strain was successfully constructed. The growth of single strain culture medium showed that ply genetic defect made no influence on bacterial's external growth. While in the mice nasal cavity infecting experiment, deficient strain enter into blood after 6 h from infecting which obviously slower than that did wild-type(2 h). And the number of bacteria at each point was much smaller than that of wild-type(P ＜0. 01 ). The mice peritonaeum infecting experiment showed that median lethal time of wild-type was 3 d, while that of deficient strain was 18 d(P＜0. 01). Conclusion It is a good way to completely substitute ply gene using LFH-PCR. ply deletion made no influence on baterial's growth in vitro, but it resulting in reduction of bacterial virulence in vivo.

The aim of this study was to detect the relationship between age and biomechanical properties in porcine common bile duct (CBD). The CBDs of 50 Hubei white pigs aged 3-12 months were obtained. The experiment of pressure-diameter was conducted on the biomechanical experiment stand for soft tissues, and then the elastic modulus and compliance were calculated. The materials were transversely extracted, refrigerated, and sliced up before HE staining. The diameter and wall thickness of the CBD were measured by a computer image analysis system. The results showed that there was statistically significant difference in regard to the compliance of the porcine CBDs of different months (F = 59.69, P = 0.00). The compliance of the porcine CBD increased gradually with monthly age. However, after the pigs being aged 10 months, the compliance decreased gradually with monthly age. The compliance of the CBD of pigs aged 7-10 months was not significantly different (P > 0.05), but the compliance of the CBDs of pigs' aged 3-6 months and 11-12 months was significantly lower than that of pigs aged 7-10 months (P < 0.01). The changes in elastic modulus of porcine CBD with age were opposed to the changes in compliance. The results of the present study suggests that the in biomechanical properties of pigs' CBDs change with their ages, and the CBDs of pigs aged 7-10 months have good compliance. Thus, for the pig-to-human liver xenotransplantation, the livers of pigs aged 7-10 months, being chosen as donators, may be more conducive to matching.
Age Factors ; Aging ; physiology ; Animals ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Biophysical Phenomena ; Common Bile Duct ; anatomy & histology ; physiology ; Compliance ; physiology ; Elastic Modulus ; physiology ; Swine ; Transplantation, Heterologous

In order to provide morphological data and theoretical basis for pig-to-human hepatic xenotransplantation, the difference in morphological parameters and vessel wall structural factors between human and porcine hepatic portal vein was studied. From human subjects and pigs of varying ages, hepatic portal veins were collected, paraffin-embedded and cut into sections. The histological structures were stained with HE, and elastin, collagen and smooth muscles were stained with Weigert, Aniline blue and orange G, respectively. Morphological parameters and relative contents of structural components were determined under microscopy and by computer image analysis system, respectively. The results showed that histological structures of human and porcine hepatic portal vein wall were similar. Caliber, wall thickness, lumen and wall area in pigs increased with age, all in linear correlation to months. Morphological parameters of 6- month-old pigs were similar to those of human. In pigs, collagen content increased gradually with months, elastin content remained relatively stable, smooth muscle content reached the peak at the 3rd month, and collagen/elastin (C/E) rose gradually. The contents of collagen and elastin in porcine hepatic portal vein wall were lower, while the content of smooth muscle was higher than in human, and C/E at the 5th and 6th month was similar to that in human. It is concluded that morphological parameters and contents of structural components of porcine hepatic portal vein vary with age. At the 6 month, its caliber, wall thickness, lumen and wall area are similar to those of human. There are differences in contents of structural components between human and pigs. However, in terms of C/E, mechanic properties of pigs at the 5th and 6th month mimic those of human, hence inosculation is viable in xenotransplantation between pigs and human.