Objective:To investigate the changing characteristics of neural stem cells(NSC) in the temporal lobe of cortex from human fetal brain at different age.Methods:Ninety embryos delivered by induction labor with water bag at gestational age 16-36 w were collected,distribution,Shapes,growth modes and the number of NSC in the temporal lobe of cortex were determined with immunohistochemical method under light microscope. Results:NSC existed in the temporal lobe of cortex from human fetal brain and were round,elliptic or polygonal in shape,especially small round,NSC distributed mainly in cone cell and inner granule cell layers.NSC had enations from 0 to 2,nucleoli from 1 to 2 and rarefactive chromatin,nucli were large.Most NSC distributed in clones with a few NSC existed in a single mode among other nerve cells.There were no differences between groups in the distribution,shapes,species and growth modes of NSC in the temporal lobe of cortex,but the numbers of NSC gradually decreased with increase of age.Conclusion:There were no differences on the distribution,shapes,species and growth modes of NSCs in the temporal lobe of cortex from different gestational age,the number of NSC decreased with increase of age.

BACKGROUND: Pleiotropia and indeterminateness of the differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) cause great difficulties for clinical application.Therefore,it is the key to solving the problem to investigate the proliferation and differentiation condition of NSCs.OBJECTIVE:To observe the effects of epidermal growth factor(EGF)and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells of human embryonic brain.DESIGN: A randomised and controlled experiment taking cultured human embryonic stem cells as subjects.SETTING: Department of Pediatrics of Zhujiang Hospital, the First Military Medical University of Chinese PLA.MATERIALS:This experiment was conducted at the Central Laboratory of the Department of Pediatrics of Chinese PLA from January to May 2004.Two 16-week embryos from induced labor by water bags voluntarily were chosen at random from the Department of Obstetrics in a tertiary hospital in Guangzhou(Informed consent was obtained from the parents of the fetuses).Then,cells in the subventricular zone were cultured in serum-free medium and serum medium, respectively.METHODS:Primary cells of subventricular zone of human embryonic brain were cultured with serum-free nedium containing EGF,bFGF and EGF + bFGF.The concentration of two growth factors was both 20 μg/L;experiment of differentiation was performed on the cell neurospheres cultured from the primary generation with serum culture medium;differentia tive cells were detected with immonohistochemical technique.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:The number of neurospheres and the change of neurons and gliocytes from neurospheres in each group.RESULTS:① There was no significant difference in the number of primary neurospheres between bFGF group and EGF+bFGF group [(150.3±14.9) /well vs (173.6±26.4)/we11, P ＞ 0.05] , but the number in the two groups was both more than that in EGF group [(99.5±14.9)/we11, P ＜ 0.01].② The neurons differentiated from neurospheres in bFGF group and EGF+bFGF group outnumbered those in EGF group, but gliocytes in EGF group outnumbered those in EGF + bFGF group.CONCLUSION:① bFGF can promote the proliferation of neural stem cells of subventricular zone of human embryonic brain,and the formed neurospheres can differentiate more neurons.② Combination of EGF and bFGF is not superior to single bFGF in effect,suggesting that there is no synergistic effect.

BACKGROUND: Neural stem cells(NSCs) have been used to treat brain injury or some degenerating diseases of nervous system. Since in vitro culture conditions for NSCs differ from normal physiological conditions, whether the properties of the cultured cells are consistent with those of cells under physiological conditions? Therefore, inducing endogenous NSCs to proliferate and differentiate may be more promising for practise of NSCs.OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate the developmental properties of NSCs in frontal cortex of embryonic human brain at various ages.DESIGN: It was a randomized experimental study.SETTING: This study was conducted at Department of Pediatrics, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University.PARTICIPANTS: Totally 90 16-to-36-week-old fetuses underwent inducing abortion by water bag were selected at the Obstetrics & Gynecology Department of Zhujiang Hospital Affiliated to Southern Medical University from October 2003 to March 2004. Brain tissue was taken from the frontal cortex of the aborted fetuses. All the mothers had normal physical examination findings. The informed consents on inducing abortion by water bag had been obtained from relatives and the mothers. The study was conducted with a prior permission from the competent department of the First Military Medical University. According to their ages, the fetuses were divided into 6 groups,16-week group, 20-week group, 24-week group, 28-week group and 36-week group, each group containing 15 cases.METHODS: After inducing abortion by water bag, under axenic conditions, the aborted fetus was dissected, with the scalp excisd, the skull opened and the membrane covering brain pull apart. Then the frontal cerebral cortex was taken out, fixed and sliced. Employing immunohistochemical staining and light microscope, distribution, morphological features, phenotypes, growth patterns and quantity of NSCs in the frontal cortex were observed. Morphological features of the cells and expressions of markers in the cells were examined under light microscope. Negative control was set according to the substitution method. Under a × 400 field of microscope, some nestin-positive cells with speckled brown cytoplasmic staining were defined as NSCs. Two slides of each sample were detected and 10 fields of each slide were observed. Based on these observations, in each group, the total number of cells and the number of positive-stained cells in 300 fields were counted. The rates of nestin-positive cells were calculated.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Morphological features, quantitative assessment and developmental features of the nestin-positive NSCs in frontal cortex of embryonic human brain at various ages were main outcome measurements in this study.RESULTS: NSCs were found in frontal cortex of embryonic human brain. They mainly were distributed in the pyramidal layer and the internal granular layer. They were small round-or oval-shaped, most were small round-shaped. These cells had a relatively large vacuolar nucleus with 1 - 3 nucleoli, loose chromatin and marked cytoplasmic staining. Some of the round-shaped cells were mitral cells with short neurites. The oval-shaped cells had 2 neurites. A distinct territorial distribution of NSCs could be observed. Some colonies, consisting of a few NSCs and looked like the neurospheres in in vitro culture, could be seen. Occasionally, symmetrical division of NSCs could be observed. In all the groups, 16-week, 20-week, 24-week,28-week, 32-week and 36-week group, the rates of nestin-positive NSCs in frontal cortex of embryonic human brain decreased with the increase of age (15.59%, 13.48%, 11.62%, 10.52% ,9.87% ,6.68% ,X2 = 1 265. 152, P＜ 0.01).CONCLUSION: The distribution, morphological features, phenotypes, growth pattern and quantity of the NSCs in frontal cortex of embryonic human brain at various ages are different and auto-developmental features exist. The number of these cells decreases with the increase of age.

Objective　To study the role of α1-antichymotrypsin(α1-ACT)in the pathogenesis of childhood asthma for providing a theoretical base for prevention and treatment of childhood asthma. Methods　Levels of plasma α1-ACT in 30 asthmatic children and 30 healthy children were determined by rocket immunoelectrophoresis. Results　Plasma α1-ACT levels were higher in acute phase than in paroxysmal phase ［（0.4178±0.0815）vs(0.2865±0.0799), t=6.301,P<0.001］ and also higher in asthma group than in control group ［（0.4178±0.0815）vs(0.2876±0.0496),t=7.474,P<0.001］. The plasma α1-ACT levels in asthma group and control of paroxysmal phase were similor ［(0.2865±0.0799) vs (0.2876±0.0496),t=0.064, P>0.05］. The levels of plasma α1-ACT were higher in moderate and heavily attacked patients than that in mild attacked patients ［(0.4553±0.0758) vs (0.3249±0.0926),t=4.187,P<0.001］ and those in control group ［(0.4553±0.0758) vs (0.2865±0.0799),t=9.38,P<0.001］. Conclusion　α1-ACT is involved in pathophysiological course of childhood asthma. Measurement of plasma α1-ACT levels may be helpful in determining the state of the illness and to evaluate the severity and treatment of childhood asthma.

Acute kidney injury( AKI) is a variety of causes leading to rapid impaired renal function, causing glomerular filtration rate reduced,blood urea nitrogen elevated,serum creatinine increased,urine out-put decreased,resulting in the disorder of the human body environment,so the body can not maintain homeo-stasis. AKI increases the risk of mortality and chronic kidney disease in neonate. To understand the progress of AKI on diagnostic criteria,pathogenesis,early biomarker,treatment and prognosis,it is extremely important to guide clinical diagnosis and treatment,improve the outcome and reduce the mortality of AKI in neonate.

Objective Vascular endothelial growth factor( VEGF) is the key to regulat vascularization, and plays an important role in the development of acute myeloid leukemia. With the understanding of anti?tumor angiopoiesis, researchers take VEGF and its receptors as targets, continuously exploring the new drug. We summarized the biological characteristics of VEGF, vascular?targeted therapy and the clinical application of drugs.

Objective To study the development of neural stem cells from human fetal brains at different developmental stages. Methods A total of 100 cases of embryos at 16-32 gestational weeks by induction of labor with water bag were collected for the determination of the distribution, forms, existing modes, and the number of neural stem cells in the hippocampus by SABC immunohistochemical method and light microscopy. Results Neural stem cells were found in the hippocampus at different fetal ages and located in the polymorphic layer, pyramidal, granular and molecular layers of hippocampus, mainly in polymorphic layer, pyramidal layer, and granular layer. Neural stem cells in hippocampus were round, ellipse, triangle, and stellate, particularly round and ellipse. No obvious enation was found. Neural stem cells had plenty of cytoplasm. The nuclei were round and ellipse with rare chromatin and nucleoli from 2 to 6. Most of neural stem cells were distributed among other neurons, and symmetric cleavage was found in some of them, but some neural stem cells were distributed in cluster and nest. The number of neural stem cells in hippocampus were different between groups and gradually decreased with the increasing gestational age. Conclusion Neural stem cells exist widely in the hippocampus at different gestational ages. There are differences in distribution, forms, existing modes, and number of neural stem cells in hippocampus at different gestational ages. Hippocampus may be the new originating region of neural stem cells.

Objective To investigate the values of echocardiogram for evaluating the changes of left ventricular structure and cardiovascular function of the acute mountain sickness (AMS) patient before and after returning the plain.Methods A total of 33 light AMS patients returning to the plain in time underwent echocardiogram examinations on some cardiovascular indexes before and after returning the plain,including stroke volume (SV),cardiac output (CO),left atrial volume index (LAVI),left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV),early diastolic mitral flow velocity (E),late diastolic mitral flow velocity (A) and so on.Results The values of heart rate (HR),systolic blood pressure (SBP),diastolic blood pressure (DBP),CO,A and LAVI after going to the plateau were all significantly higher than those before going to the plateau (P＜0.05),while the values of SV,E,E/A and LVEDV were obviously lower (P＜0.05).The values of HR,SBP,DBP,CO,A,E and E/A recovered respectively 1 month after going to the plateau when compared with those before going to the plateau (P＜0.05),while did not restore to the ones before going to the plateau (P＜0.05),and the values of LVEDV,LAVI and SV reached the level before going to the plateau (P＜0.05).The values of LVEDV,SV,SBP,LAVI and E 1 week after returning to the plain came to the level before going to the plateau (P＜0.05),and the values of CO,HR,DBP and A were significantly higher (P＜0.05) while the value of E/A was statistically lower (P＜0.05).Conclusion Echocardiogram can be used to evaluate the left ventricular structure and cardiovascular function of the AMS patient,especially for those light AMS patients in acclimatization period or before and after returning to the plain.

Objective To assess the impact of different number of diffusion gradient directions (NDGD) of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on dispersion degree of fractional anisotropy (FA) values and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for adult brain tissues. Methods Eight healthy volunteers underwent DTI with 7 NDGD respectively, and the associated FA maps were obtained. Four region of interest (ROI) (genu and splenial of corpus callosum, genu and posterior limb of internal capsule) were chosen in white matter of FA maps, FA values and the corresponding SNRs of the ROIs were computed and analyzed with NDGD increasing. Results FA values within all ROIs did not change remarkably with NDGD increasing. Variance of FA value within two ROIs with high gray value (genu and splenial of corpus callosum) fluctuated randomly and SNR increased slightly, while variance of FA value within the ROIs with low gray value (genu and posterior limb of internal capsule) diminished significantly with NDGD increasing. Conclusion In clinical applications of DTI, an optimum NDGD for DTI data acquisition should be selected according to the ROIs in human brain to be inspected.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differential gene expression profiles in patients with blood stasis syndrome by oligonucleotide microarray technique. METHODS: Sixteen patients with blood stasis syndrome were divided into patients with coronary heart disease (CAD) (n=8) and non-CAD patients (n=8) by using coronary angiography. The sex- and age-matched eight healthy persons were enrolled as control group. Venous bloods were collected for extracting RNA. Test-3 chip was first employed to examine the quality of samples. Then the samples were hybridized with Affymetrix U133 Plus 2.0 array to compare the gene expression profiles among the three groups. Gene-array scanner and gene chip operating software were applied to screen hybridization signals and analyze gene expression respectively. Based on the comparison of the three groups of samples, the differential genes related with blood stasis syndrome were analyzed by Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway, and confirmed by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: Forty-eight differential genes were found being associated with blood stasis syndrome, including 26 up-regulated genes and 22 down-regulated genes. Five of the forty-eight genes (10.4%) were related to inflammatory reaction and immune response through the GO analysis. In the pathway analysis, five of ten significant pathways were referred to inflammation and immune response. The results of real-time RT-PCR proved the accuracy of the gene chip. CONCLUSION: Inflammatory- and immune-related genes have a remarkable predominance in blood stasis syndrome gene expression profiles, which may explain the function of inflammation and immune response in the occurrence and development of blood stasis syndrome.