Objective To compared the electrophysiological features in peripheral vertigo and central vertigo. Methods The electronystagmograph ( ENG ) and brainstem auditory evoked potentials ( BAEP ) were applied in peripheral vertigo group(85 cases) and central vertigo group(61 cases).Result ENG abnomal was in 67 cases (78.8%) in peripheral vertigo group.Overshoot or undershoot of dysmetria test was in 6 cases ( 7.1%);spontaneous nystagmus was in 5 cases(5.9%);abnormal of gaze test was in 16 cases(18.8%); eye tracking test typeⅠwas in 42 case(49.4%), typeⅡwas in 17 cases(20.0%), and typeⅢwas in 8 cases(9.4%); bilateral asymmetry of optokinetic nystagmus test was in 19 cases(22.4%);positioning nystagmus was in 51 cases(60.0%);abnormal of cold and hot test was in 31 cases(36.5%).ENG abnomal was 42 cases(49.4%) in central vertigo group.Overshoot or undershoot of dysmetria test was in 19 case(31.1%);spontaneous nystagmus was in 13 cases (21.3%);abnormal of gaze test was in 23 cases(37.7%);eye tracking test typeⅠwas in 35 cases(57.4%), typeⅡwas in 13 cases(21.3%), and typeⅢwas in 8 cases(13.1%);bilateral asymmetry of optokinetic nystagmus test was in 33 cases(54.1%); positioning nystagmus was in 2 cases(3.3%); abnormal of cold and hot test was in 6 cases(9.8%).Compared with peripheral vertigo group, the abnormal rates of optokinetic nystagmus test, gaze test, eye tracking test, optokinetic nystagmus test in central vertigo group were significantly increased, and the abnormal rates of positioning nystagmus, cold and hot test in central vertigo group were significantly decreased (all P<0.05). There were 32 cases(37.6%) in peripheral vertigo group with BAEP abnormal, and 31 cases(50.8%) were in central vertigo group with BAED abnormal.Compared with central vertigo group, the latency ofⅠwave andⅠ-Ⅲwave latency delayed in peripheral vertigo group were significantly increased, the latency ofⅤwave andⅠ-Ⅴwave latency delayed were significantly decreased ( all P<0.05 ) .Conclusions There are high sensitivity of optokinetic nystagmus test, gaze test, eye tracking test, optokinetic nystagmus test of ENG to the diagnosis of central vertigo. There are high sensitivity of positioning nystagmus, cold and hot test to the diagnosis of peripheral vertigo.The positive rate of BAEP is relatively lower, but it can provide objective foundation for location of vertigo patients.

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is a flavonoid compound isolated from licorice. It possesses excellent antioxidant and anti-diabetic activities. This study aims to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the alleviatory effect of ISL on energy metabolism imbalance caused by type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). 8-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were used in in vivo experiments. The high-fat-high-glucose diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin was applied to establish T2DM animal model. All animal experiments were performed in accordance with the Institutional Guidelines of Laboratory Animal Administration issued by the Committee of Ethics at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. HepG2 cells were used in in vitro experiments. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to examine the protein and mRNA levels of mitochondrial function-related targets. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in HepG2 cells were measured by the flow cytometry. Additionally, the molecular docking of ISL and key target proteins was analyzed. It was found that ISL significantly inhibited the activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I and increased the protein levels of uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) in the livers of mice and HepG2 cells. It also obviously decreased the ROS levels and increased the MMP levels in cultured HepG2 cells. In addition, ISL promoted mitochondrial biogenesis by activating proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1α (PGC-1α) and enhanced mitophagy by upregulating Parkin. It also improved mitochondrial fusion by increasing the mRNA and protein levels of mitofusin 2 (MFN2). In conclusion, ISL alleviates energy metabolism imbalance caused by T2DM through suppression of excessive mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and promotion of mitochondrial biogenesis, mitophagy, and fusion.

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is an active chalcone compound isolated from licorice. It possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activities. In our previous study, we uncovered a great potential of ISL in treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, this study aims to reveal the mechanism underlying the alleviatory effects of ISL on T2DM-induced glycolipid metabolism disorder. High-fat-high-sugar diet (HFD) combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) were used to establish T2DM mice model. All animal experiments were carried out with approval of the Committee of Ethics at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. HepG2 cells were used in in vitro experiments, and sodium palmitate (SP) was applied to establish insulin resistance (IR) model cells. The effects of ISL on body weight, fasting blood glucose levels, and pathological changes in the livers of mice were examined. Enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) were applied to detect the regulatory effects of ISL on key targets involved in glucolipid metabolism. Additionally, molecular docking and analytical dynamics simulation methods were used to analyze the interaction between ISL and key target protein. The results indicate that ISL significantly downregulates the transcriptional levels and inhibits the activities of key enzymes involved in gluconeogenesis, including pyruvate carboxylase (PC), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase (FBP). It also downregulates the transcriptional and protein levels of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) and cAMP response element binding protein (CREB), the two transcriptional factors involved in gluconeogenesis. Thus, ISL inhibits hepatic gluconeogenesis in T2DM mice. In addition, ISL reduces total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels in the livers of T2DM mice. Moreover, ISL downregulates the mRNA levels of lipogenesis genes and upregulates those of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, lipid uptake, and lipid export. In conclusion, ISL suppresses hepatic gluconeogenesis, promotes lipolysis, and restrains lipogenesis in T2DM mice, thereby improving the abnormal glycolipid metabolism caused by T2DM.

The aim was to construct and identify the mammalian expression vector of pCAG-IRES-SHIP-GFP and to detect whether it could express in human acute leukemia cell line K562.The cDNA fragment of SHIP obtained by RT-PCR was inserted into pCAG-IRES-GFP.The recombinant plasmid was confirmed by restriction enzyme digesiton,PCR and DNA sequecing.pCAG-IRES-SHIP-GFP was transfected into K562 cells with lipofectamine 2000.The expression of SHIP was determined by GFP fluorescence and Western blot analysis.FQ-PCR was used to quantitate SHIP mRNA.The expression of p-Akt,Akt were determined by Western blot.PI were tested by flow cytometry and MTT to verify whether exogenous SHIP could inhibit proliferation of K562 cells.The results showed that the correct constrution of the recombinant plasmid pCAG-IRES-SHIP-GFP has been shown by restriction enzyme digestion,PCR and DNA sequencing.pCAG-IRES-SHIP-GFP could express SHIP protein in K562 cells.The K562 cells viability after transfected with SHIP gene droped down.Western blot analysis showed that phospha-Akt308 and Akt473 were reduced to 38.7% and 68% respectively.It was concluded that the vector of pCAG-IRES-SHIP-GFP has been successfully constructed and it can be expressed in K562 cells.The expression of exogenous SHIP gene can lead to apoptosis of K562 cells by down-regulating the p-Akt expression.What found here might be one of the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of leukemia.

Ascoviruses, iridoviruses, asfarviruses and poxviruses are all cytoplasmic DNA viruses. The evolutionary origins of cytoplasmic DNA viruses have never been fully addressed. Morphological, genetic and molecular data were used to test if all four cytoplasmic virus families (Ascoviridae, Iridoviridae, Asfarviridae, and Poxvirirdae) evolved from nuclear replicating baculoviruses and how the four virus groups are related. Molecular phylogenetic analyses using DNA polymerase predicted that cytoplasmic DNA viruses might have evolved from nuclear replicating baculoviruses, and that poxviruses and asfarviruses share a common ancestor with iridoviruses. These three cytoplasmic viruses again shared a common ancestor with ascoviruses. Morphological and genetic data predicted the same evolutionary trend as molecular data predicted. A genome sequence comparison showed that ascoviruses have more baculovirus protein homologues than do iridoviruses, which suggested that ascoviruses have evolved from baculoviruses and iridoviruses evolved from ascoviruses. Poxviruses showed genetic and morphological similarity to other cytoplamic viruses, such as ascoviruses, suggesting it has undergone reticulate evolution via hybridization, recombination and lateral gene transfer with other viruses. Within the ascovirus family, we tested if molecular phylogenetic analyses agree with biological inference; that is, ascovirus had an evolutionary trend of increasing genome size, expanding host range and widening tissue tropism for these viruses. Both molecular and biological data predicted this evolutionary trend. The phylogenetic relationship among the four species of ascovirus was predicted to be that TnAV-2 and HvAV-3 shared a common ancestor with SfAV-1 and the three virus species again shared a common ancestor with DpAV-4.

AIM:To explore the expression and possible function of histamine H3 receptor (H3R) in striated myogenesis and the differentiated C2C12 cells.METHODS: H3R and myogenesis late marker myosin heavy chain (MHC) were detected at mRNA and protein levels during C2C12 myogenesis.H3R antagonist ciproxifan was added and the expression of the myogenesis early marker desmin, intermediate markers myogenin and MHC was detected.Differentia-ted myoblasts were loaded with Fluo-4 calcium indicator dye and the effect of R-( a)-methylhistamine ( RMeHA) on the cy-toplasmic calcium concentration was determined under the 200 mA electrical stimulation.RESULTS: The expression of H3R and MHC was increased during myogenesis.Ciproxifan incubation had no influence on the 3 striated myogenesis mar-kers (P>0.05).In C2C12 myoblasts, RMeHA (10 nmol/L~100 μmol/L) effectively diminished cytoplasmic calcium peak when the cells were electrically paced (P<0.05).The best inhibitory effect of RMeHA was observed at dose of 100 nM for 10 min and 20 min, which was higher than that for 5 min (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: H3R might have little effect on the myogenic differentiation, but diminishes cytoplasmic calcium peak of the differentiated myoblasts under electri-cal stimulation.

Animals ; China ; Hantavirus Infections ; veterinary ; Rodent Diseases ; virology

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Complement System Proteins ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; analysis ; Infant ; Male ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma ; immunology

Adolescent ; Adult ; Dermatitis, Occupational ; etiology ; therapy ; Drug Eruptions ; etiology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Methylprednisolone ; therapeutic use ; Trichloroethylene ; adverse effects

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually takes many years from preclinical phase to prodromal phase characterized by mild symptoms before the onset of dementia. Once diagnosed with AD, the brain is already severely damaged and the disease will process quickly to the most severe stages since there is no medications that reverse the neuronal injuries in the brain. Thus, simple, inexpensive, and widely available methods for detecting potential AD patients during their preclinical phases are urgently needed. In such case, olfactory testing may offer a chance for early diagnosis of AD. However, there are limitations in these olfactory tests due to the complexity of the brain areas it extends to and the frequently olfactory fatigue occurred in the behavioral olfactory tests. Great efforts have been done epidemiologically to investigate the correlation between olfactory functions and possibility of developing AD. Different patterns of olfactory dysfunction have been found in AD at early stages and even mild cognitive impairment (MIC), but the cause of the dysfunction remained unclear. Various kinds of AD animal models have been used in the field to clarify the existence of olfactory dysfunctions and thus study the underling mechanism of the dysfunction. In this review we discuss (1) the function of Tau physiologically and pathologically; (2) the genetic background and biological characteristics of the most commonly used Tau transgenic mice; (3) the structural and molecule basis of olfaction; (4) the possible relationship between Tau pathology and olfactory dysfunction. Finally, we suggest that the tau transgenic mouse models may be helpful in studying the possible mechanisms of the dysfunction.
Alzheimer Disease ; physiopathology ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice ; Mice, Transgenic ; Olfaction Disorders ; physiopathology ; tau Proteins