Objective To explore the value of prenatal diagnosis and sonographic features of lenticulostriate vasculopathy (LSV). Methods Prenatal ultrasonographic features of three cases of fetal lenticulostriate vasculopathy were retrospectively analysed associated with maternal TORCH screen, fetal magnetic resonance imaging, neonatal physical examination and TORCH screen. Results Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of case 1 demonstrated fetal LSV as well as fetal growth restriction (FGR), periventricular hemorrhage, mitral and tricuspid regurgitation, hydropericardium and catatact. Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of case 2 demonstrated fetal LSV, FGR, periventricular hemorrhage, mitral and tricuspid regurgitation. Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of case 3 showed fetal LSV and intraventricular hemorrhage. Maternal TORCH screens of case 1 and case 3 was negative, while in case 2 was positive. Neonatal examinations of case 1 showed cataract, hearing impairment and congenital infection. Case 3 showed prompted retinal hemorrhage, sinus bradycardia, hyperbilirubinemia and congenital infection. In case 2, maternal teratogenic pathogen screen was positive and the baby did not survive because the mother decided to stop pregnancy in 34 weeks. Conclusions Fetal LSV could be imaged by prenatal ultrasonography. Fetal LSV might indicate intrauterine infection when other abnormalities were accompanied. Ultrasound might be useful for the cases with negative maternal TORCH screen results.

Objective To analyze mutations in the GJB2 gene in a Chinese patient with keratitis-ichthyosis-deafness (KID)syndrome complicated by cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Methods Clinical data were collected from a patient with KID syndrome complicated by cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Peripheral blood samples were obtained from the patient and her parents, and DNA was extracted from these blood samples. PCR was performed to amplify the exon 2 of the GJB2 gene followed by direct DNA sequencing. Results A mutation (c.148G > A)was identified at position 148 in exon 2 of the GJB2 gene, which caused a codon change from GAC to AAC and resulted in the substitution of aspartate by asparagine at position 50 in the connexin26 (Cx26)protein (p.Asp50Asn). Inaddition,anothermutation(c. 79G > A), which led to the substitution of valine by isoleucine at codon 27 in Cx26 (p.Val27Ile), was found at position 79 in exon 2 of the GJB2 gene. Neither of the two mutations was detected in the patient′s parents. Literature review revealed that 13 cases of KID syndrome complicated by cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma had been reported in abroad, and the mutation c.148G > A was detected in the GJB2 gene in all the 7 cases finally diagnosed by gene sequencing. Conclusion GJB2 gene mutations may be responsible for the clinical phenotype of KID syndrome in this Chinese patient, and the mutation c.148G > A may be related to the development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

The standardization of acupuncture and moxibustion in Canada is increasingly flouring nowadays:on one hand,acupuncture industry in legislated provinces is in the charge of direct administrative departments and associations of acu-moxi; on the other hand,according to the local situations,relevant regulations have been made,which are concentrated on two aspects-technical and administrative standards.Undoubtedly,Canadian Alliance of Regulatory Bodies for TCM Practitioners and Acupuncturist (CARB),united by each provincial TCM/Acupuncture Administration,is the first step to issue federal standards and establish federal level management institution.However,now the releasing of a fundamental regulatory file is in need of active corporation and publicity from each province and association.Therefore,it shows that the body of standardization in Canada is still not relatively perfect.Through introducing and analyzing the relevant information,the author expects that the readers can know the current development of acupuncture and moxibustion standardization in Canada.

The compatibility of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) formulae containing enormous information, is a complex component system. Applications of mathematical statistics methods on the compatibility researches of traditional Chinese medicines formulae have great significance for promoting the modernization of traditional Chinese medicines and improving clinical efficacies and optimizations of formulae. As a tool for quantitative analysis, data inference and exploring inherent rules of substances, the mathematical statistics method can be used to reveal the working mechanisms of the compatibility of traditional Chinese medicines formulae in qualitatively and quantitatively. By reviewing studies based on the applications of mathematical statistics methods, this paper were summarized from perspective of dosages optimization, efficacies and changes of chemical components as well as the rules of incompatibility and contraindication of formulae, will provide the references for further studying and revealing the working mechanisms and the connotations of traditional Chinese medicines.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; statistics & numerical data ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Drug Incompatibility ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic and progressive lung disease that poses a threat to human health. Current treatment options are limited, highlighting the urgent need for more effective therapeutic strategies. Tetrandrine (TET), a bis-benzylisoquinoline alkaloid extracted from Stephania tetrandra, has been known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects, but its specific mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated the anti-fibrotic effects of TET in a chronic model of pulmonary fibrosis, aiming to delineate the molecular mechanisms underlying TET-mediated inhibition of fibroblast activation. The results showed that TET significantly alleviated the pathological changes in a murine model of multiple bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis and effectively inhibited TGF-β1-induced fibroblast activation. Mechanistically, TET predominantly inhibited the TGF-β/SMAD signaling pathway and diminished intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Utilizing CRISPR-Cas9 library screening, we identified that angiotensin II type 1 receptor associated protein (AGTRAP) and membrane palmitoylated protein 6 (MPP6) played important roles in TET's suppressive impact of ROS levels, with the knockout of two genes attenuating TET's antifibrotic activity. All animal treatment procedures were approved according to the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments of the Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (IMB-20230406D507). This research not only elucidates the pharmacological mechanism of TET but also provides a novel therapeutic avenue for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

Objecitve To study the inhibitory effect of pioglitazone on inflammation factors in patients with bladder cancer. Methods A total of 100 consecutives diagnosed as bladder cancer from Februray 2013 to Februray 2014 were individed ran-domly into experiment and control groups and each of 50 cases.All patients received the appropriate operation or chemother-apeutic regimens,and the patients in experiment group received pioglitazone (15 mg/d×12 weeks)at the same time.Then to compare expression differences of high-sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP),tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha),in-terleukin (IL-6)and HOMA-IR,MCP-1,MIP-1 levels.Results The levels of hs-CRP,TNF-αand IL-6 in the two groups af-ter treatment were all lower (P <0.05),and in experiment groups they were significantly lower than control group (P <0.05).The levels of HOMA-IR,MCP-1 and MIP-1 in the two groups after treatment were all lower (P <0.05),and in ex-periment groups they were significantly lower than control group(P <0.05).The complication rate in the two groups were no statistical difference (P >0.05).Conclusion Pioglitazone could improve clinical effect and prognosis by lowing inflam-mation factors including hs-CRP,TNF-α,IL-6,HOMA-IR,MCP-1 and MIP-1 in patients with bladder cancer.

Objective To observe and analyze the role of different subfields of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the expression course of startle reflex.Methods 24 healthy male British kind of albino guinea pigs were randomly divided into 4 groups:anterior cingulated cortex lesion ( n =6) and sham-lesion ( n =6) ( Experiment 1 ) ; prelimbic cortex lesion/joint lesion of prelimbic cortex and anterior cingulated cortex(n=6) and sham-lesion ( n =6) ( Experiment 2 ).The animals were injected lidocaine ( lesion ) or physiological saline ( sham-lesion ).Each group received paired training of conditioned stimulus( CS,a tone) and unconditioned stimulus (US,a air puff),to observe the acoustic startle reflex(ASR) change of these groups.Results As the results of experiment 1 suggested,SR rate did not change significantly after anterior cingulated cortex lesion ( time effect:F =15.421,P =0.098 ; group effect:F =14.753,P =0.084).As the results of experiment 2 suggested,SR rate did not change significantly after prelimbic cortex lesion ( time effect:F =14.975,P =0.178 ; group effect:F =18.643,P =0.089).When prelimbic cortex and anterior cingulated cortex were lesioned at the same time,SR rate declined significantly and didn ' t recover with the following training ( group effect:F =67.743,P =0.009 ).ConclusionLesions of the prelimbic cortex and anterior cingulated cortex in mPFC cause the significantly decline of acoustic startle reflex( ASR),which don' t recover with the following training.This study indicates that mPFC involves in the regulation of ASR,but the regulation mechanism needs to be discussed.

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Zhibai Dihuang Pill (ZBDHP) on urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and sperm quality in ureaplasma urealyticum (Uu) infection infertile patients.

METHODSRecruited were 80 infertility patients with Uu infection at Andriatrics Clinics and Department of Reproduction, including 130 cases of positive Uu semen and 50 cases of negative Uu semen. Patients with positive Uu semen were randomly assigned to the observation group (72 cases) and the control group (58 cases) according to the visit sequence. All patients took antibiotics for 2 weeks. Patients in the observation group additionally took ZBDHP, 6 g each time, twice daily. Those in the control group additionally took Vit E (100 mg each time, twice per day) and ATP (40 mg each time, twice per day). The therapeutic course for all was 90 days. Semen parameters and uPA contents of the sperm membrane were detected and comparatively analyzed.

RESULTSThe sperm membrane uPA content, the sperm motility, the sperm viability, and the percentage of normal morphology sperm in Uu positive infected patients were lower than those in Uu negative infected patients with statistical difference (P < 0.05), but with no significant difference in the sperm density between the two groups (P > 0.05). There was no statistical difference in pre-treatment sperm membrane uPA contents and sperm parameters between the two groups (P > 0.05). Compared with before treatment in the same group, the sperm membrane uPA content, the sperm motility, the sperm viability, and the percentage of normal morphology sperm obviously increased in the two groups with statistical difference (P < 0.05). After treatment, the sperm membrane uPA content increased more obviously in the observation group, with statistical difference when compared with the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSInfection with Uu leads to decreased uPA content of sperm membrance and the sperm motility. ZBDHP could effectively treat Uu infected infertility possibly through fighting against Uu damaged sperm membrane and make the sperm membrane uPA content return to normal, and elevate the fertilizability of sperms.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Communicable Diseases ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Infertility ; Infertility, Male ; Male ; Semen ; Semen Analysis ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; Ureaplasma Infections ; drug therapy ; Ureaplasma urealyticum ; drug effects ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator ; metabolism

Over the past three decades, more and more antisense drugs have been approved for marketing or clinical trails. Antisense technology has become the focus of pharmaceutical research due to its unique advantages in treating diseases and strong clinical development potential. There is a big difference from traditional small molecule chemical drugs, and macromolecular protein biological drugs. Antisense drugs are a very independent drug form. Antisense drugs were initially used to treat diseases with single gene mutations, but recently they have gradually begun to be used for the treatment of common diseases. Rational antisense drug design is crucial for disease treatment based on genetics. This paper reviews the latest progress in the field of action mechanism, chemical modification and delivery strategy of antisense drugs, and analyzes the current intractable problems. It is believed that with the resolution of these problems, the research of antisense drugs can reach a new level.

Objective:To explore the semantic priming processing characteristics of children with Chinese developmental dyslexia(DD).Methods:According to scores of the dyslexia checklist for Chinese children, character recognition test and Raven's standard progressive matrices (RSPM), 19 primary school students from a school in Wuqia County of Xinjiang were selected as DD group.Meanwhile, 19 children were selected as chronological-age control(CA) group matching in age and RSPM scores, and 20 children were selected as reading-level control(RL) group according to the character recognition test and RSPM scores.The amplitude of N400 of children in three groups were tested by semantic priming paradigm under the conditions of semantic related, unrelated and pseudo words.Results:The accuracy of the DD group under the conditions of irrelevant semantics((0.55±0.25) vs (0.81±0.16), P<0.05), and pseudo characters((0.43±0.27) vs (0.68±0.26), P<0.05) were significantly lower than those of CA group.There was no difference between DD group and RL group, as well as between RL group and CA group(both P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the response time among the three groups of children under semantic related and unrelated conditions( F=1.23, 2.03, both P>0.05). In terms of ERP data, in semantic related condition, there was no significant difference in N400 amplitude among the three groups ( F=0.55, P>0.05). In semantic unrelated condition, the amplitude of N400 in DD group was smaller than that in CA Group((-5.92±3.70)μV vs (-9.76±3.45)μV, P<0.05), and there was no statistically significant difference between DD group and RL Group((-5.92±3.70)μV vs (-7.41±4.02)μV, P>0.05), as well as between CA gorup and RL group.As to pseudo words condition, children in DD group had a lower amplitude of N400 than those in CA and RL groups ((-6.03±2.92)μV vs (-9.98±3.40)μV, (-8.91±3.40)μV, both P<0.05). While no significant differences were found between CA group and RL group. Conclusion:Children with Chinese DD have cognitive defects in semantic and orthographic processing.The semantic cognitive defects may caused by their low reading level, rather than their inherent defect, while the defect in orthographic processing may be their inherent defect.