Objective To evaluate the techniques and effects of arthroscopic resection of cystic lesions of soft tissue. Methods Twenty-six patients with soft tissue cysts underwent arthroscopic shaving of cyst wall from February 1998 to February 2001. Results Follow-up observation ranged from 6 months to 12 months, with a mean of 8.6 months. The total effective rate reached 96.2% (25 of 26), and no postoperative complications occurred. Recurrence was only seen in 1 patient with thecal cyst on the right dorsal wrist. Conclusions Arthroscopic resection of cystic lesions of soft tissue can be a less invasive method, with fewer complications, a high effective rate and a rapid recovery.

Objective:To detect anti-LKM-1 antibody with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a recombinant fusion peptide which comprises 257-351 amino acid fragment of CYP2D6 as antigen.Methods:We obtained CYP2D6 cDNA fragment by means of PCR,using total liver cDNA library as the template.The PCR products were ligated into pEGH expressing vector to construct the recombinant expressing vector with high efficiency in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Y258.The positive clones were identified by PCR reaction and then induced by galactose.Glutathione-Sepharose 4B was used for purification of recombinant CYP2D6 protein.After affinity purification,the antigenicity was identified with Western blot.Serum samples from 26 patients who were positive for anti-LKM-1 antibody,20 patients with other connective tissue disorder(CTD) and 30 normal controls were retrospectively tested with ELISA.Results:A fusion peptide was expressed and purified.The antigenicity was confirmed with Western blot using standard of anti-LKM-1 antibody-positive serum.Of the 26 serum samples which are positive for anti-LKM-1 antibody,5 of 6 samples positive for anti-HCV antibody also recognized the recombinant fusion peptide with ELISA,only one serum sample which was showed positive anti-HCV antibody displayed a negative result in ELISA assay.All other 20 patients with positiv anti-LKM-1 antibody were shown positive in ELISA assay using this recombinant peptide.All the serum samples from patients with other CTD were negative in ELISA assay.Conclusion:The recombinant antigen fragment contains major epitope regions in natural CYP2D6 antigen.Detection of anti-LKM-1 antibody with ELISA using the recombinant peptide can improve the sensitivity and has a potential role in determining its clinical association.

Objective To determine the changes of serum glycosylphosphatidylinositol specific phospholipase D(GPI-PLD) activity in patients of several liver disease.Method Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchored placental alkaline phosphatase(PLAP) prepared by ourselves was used as a substrate.After partitioning by triton-X-114,the serum GPI-PLD activity was determined quantitatively and the data was treated by microware of SPSS 10.0.Results On the basis of the percentage of GPI-anchored PLAP conversion,the sera GPI-PLD activities of total 172 patients,included 26 severe acute viral hepatitis as group A,29 liver cirrhosis as group B,32 chronic viral hepatitis as group C,55 mild acute viral hepatitis as group D,30 primary hepatocellular carcinoma as group E,were measured.As compared with 182 healthy presons as control group,the sera GPI-PLD activities of group A and B were significantly reduced;By contraries,the activities of group D and E were significantly raised.The sera GPI-PLD activities of group C compared with healthy control group were not significantly altered.However,when paired Q-test,the changes of serum GPI-PLD activity between all paired groups among this five groups were remarkable.Conclusions The determination of sera GPI-PLD activities in patients can act as a biochemistry index for diagnosis of acute viral hepatitis,liver cirrhosis and primary hepatocellular carcinoma,as well as an auxiliary index for judgment of the curative effect and prognosis of liver diseases.

Objective To study the ratios between several pairs of endogenous androgens in morning urine samples from male and female athletes, so as to define their reference ranges.Also to study the effects of large loading and strengthening exercises on these ratios,which may give a halp to eliminating the misjudgement caused by stimulant misuses.Methods The steroid hormones were detected by GC-MS method through the American made HP5890 and HP5971 GC-MS,with methyl testosterone as an internal standard.The hormone concentrations were calculated by means of integral analysis to each specific ionic peak.Results The ratios An-Etio,5?/5? and T/ET in male athletes were all significantly higher than those in females(P

Objective To investigate the effect of calcitonin gene-related peptide ( CGRP ) in inducing os-teogenic differentiation of rat precartilaginous stem cells in vitro and the underlying mechanisms. Methods Rat pre-cartilaginous stem cells ( PSCs) were cultured in complete osteogenesis medium containing DMEM/F-12 medium and different concentrations (0, 10-8,10-9,10-10mol/L) of CGRP, the morphology changes of PSCs were observed. The proliferation of PSCs was examined at different time points by CCK-8. All the PSCs were then randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The PSCs in the experimental group were cultured in complete osteogenesis medium with 10-10 mol/L CGRP , while the control group cultured merely in complete osteogenesis medium was re-ceived no special intervention. Both groups were stained by Alizarin Red and the expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was detected. The osteogenic genes (RUNX2,OPN and BGP) were measured by use of RT-PCR. The activa-tion of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway was tested by using Western blotting to evaluate the effect of CGRP . Results Compared to the control group ( the concentration of CGRP was 0 mol/L) , the concentration of ALP was significantly higher in the experimental group, calcium deposition was significantly more obvious, and the expression of the osteogenic genes such as RUNX2,OPN and BGP as well as theβ-catenin protein expression were up-regulated significantly. However, CGRP had no effect on cell proliferation. Conclusion CGRP activated Wnt/β-catenin sig-nal pathway and induced osteogenic differentiation of precartilaginous stem cells.

Mounting evidence supports that a newly identified regulatory T cell (Treg), CD4(+)LAP(+) Treg, is associated with oral tolerance induction and following inhibition of atherosclerosis, but little is described about whether nasal tolerance to antigen likewise induces the novel Tregs production and the relevant antiatherosclerotic benefit. We investigated the effect of nasal administration of heat shock protein-60 (HSP60) on atherogenesis. HSP60 or phosphate buffer solution (PBS) was nasally administered to six-week-old male ApoE(-/-) mice. At the 10th week after the nasal administration, there was a significant decrease in atherosclerotic plaque areas of aortic roots in the HSP60-treated mice as compared with those in the PBS-treated mice. Atherosclerosis suppression was accompanied with a significant increase in CD4(+)LAP(+) and CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) Tregs and a concurrently increased production of TGF-β in the HSP60-treated mice. The protective effect of HSP60 was offset by injection of anti-TGF-β antibody. It is concluded that nasal administration of HSP60 can inhibit atherosclerotic formation through immune tolerance which is established by Tregs depending on the induction of anti-inflammatory cytokine TGF-β. Immune tolerance induced by nasal administration of HSP60 may provide an alternative therapeutic method for atherosclerosis.

BACKGROUND:Impaired balance between osteogenesis and adipogenesis of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels is a crucial pathological mechanism of osteoporosis. Mechanical loads applied to bone tissue can increase bone formation and improve bone strength, and meanwhile lead to the release of extracelular nucleotides, such as adenosine triphosphate.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of adenosine triphosphate on the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels and to investigate the underlying mechanisms.
METHODS:The effect of adenosine triphosphate (10, 50, 250 μmol/L) on differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels were measured by osteogenic and adipogenic related genes expression, alizarin red staining and oil red O staining. The activation of ERK1/2 signaling pathway by adenosine triphosphate was tested using western blot assay.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Incubation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels with adenosine triphosphate resulted in the dose-dependent increase of osteogenic genes expression and calcium deposition, and inhibition of adipogenic genes expression and lipid droplet formation, but had no effects on cel proliferation. Adenosine triphosphate activated ERK1/2 signaling pathway, and U0126 as an ERK1/2 inhibitor restrained the effect of adenosine triphosphate on the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels.

BACKGROUND:Exendin can regulate blood glucose, blood lipid and blood pressure, exert anti-inflammation and anti-oxidative stress effects, improve myocardial infarction and heart failure, and protect heart vessels. However, the effect on the apoptosis of cardiac muscle cels after ischemia/reperfusion injury remains unclear. OBJECTIVE:To observe the effects of Exendin-4 pretreatment on the cardiomyocyte apoptosis and the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in rats with myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. METHODS:The myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury model was established in rats and then received Exendin-4 pretreatment. Ischemia/reperfusion group and sham operation group were set. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Immunohistochemical staining, TUNEL and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction results showed that Bcl-2 protein and mRNA expression levels in the Exendin-4 group were significantly increased (P < 0.05), while Bax protein and mRNA expression levels were significantly decreased compared with ischemia/reperfusion group (P < 0.05). In addition, apoptosis index was more significantly decreased in the Exendin-4 group than in the ischemia/reperfusion group (P < 0.05). Exendin-4 can protect rat heart muscle against ischemia/reperfusion injury and effectively inhibit the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes, and the underlying mechanism is mediated by up-regulating Bcl-2 expression and down-regulating Bax expression.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of ginsenoside Rg1 on the expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the brain of rats after the experimental brain contusion. METHODS: A total of twenty-six Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control group (n=2), untreated group (n=8) and ginsenoside Rg1 group (n=16). Brain injuries were induced in rats by a mechanical striking device. The brain tissues were extracted at different times after brain injury (6th hour, 12th hour, 2nd day, 6th day), then the expression of IGF-1 in brain tissue was examined by immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: In comparison with the normal control group, the expression of IGF-1 in the brain tissues was increased in the untreated group after the brain contusion (P<0.05). The expression of IGF-1 in brain tissues in ginsenoside Rg1 group was significantly increased as compared with the untreated group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Ginsenoside Rg1 enhances the recovery of the contused brain through increasing the expression of IGF-1.