Objective To observe the changes of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in cultured mesangial cells by serum from 3/4 nephrectomized rats feeding with low protein diet and α-keto acid. Methods Thirty male SD rats received 3/4 nephrectomy (Nx) were placed on 18%normal protein diet (NPD,n=10),6% low protein diet(LPD,n=10) or 5% low protein plus 1%α-keto acid diet (LK,n=10) flor 12 weeks.Ten male SD sham-operated rats fed with 18% normal protein diet were used as control (sham group).In addition,mesangial cells were cultured in sera (10%) collected from above animals treated with or without losartan (0.02 mmol/L)for 48 hours.ELISA was applied to detect the level of Ang II,TGF-β1 and fibronectin (FN) in cell medium.Westem blotting was used to determine the protein level of ATI receptor (AT1R)and real-time PCR was used to detect the mRNA level of AT1R,TGF-β1 and FN. Results (1) Nutritional indices including body weight,total protein and albumin had no significant difference in each group. (2) Serum creatinine and 24 h pruteinuria were significantly inceased in nephrectomized groups compared to sham group(P<0.05,respectively).24 h proteinuria was greatly lower in LK group than that in NPD and LPD groups(P<0.05,respectively).(3)LK greatly decteased the level of Ang II[NPD(12.70±0.12)mg/g protein;sham(8.04±0.62)mg/g protein]in supernatant as well as the protein and mRNA expression of AT1R in cultured mesangial cells (P<0.05).(4)NPD serum directly induced higher secretion[FN:sham(20.58±0.46)g/g protein,NPD (39.84±0.06)g/g protein;TGF-β1:sham(10.12±O.56)mg/g protein,NPD(83.85±3.58)mg/g protein] and mRNA expression of FN and TGF-β1 compared with sham group (P<0.05).LPD decreased these increment (P<0.05) and LK showed stronger inhibitory effect (P<0.05). (5)Losartan application sharply reduced FN and TGF-β1 production both in supematant and in mRNA expression in NPD serum treated cells (P<0.05,respectively). Conclusion Low protein diet with α-keto acids supplement directly inhibits the RAS in mesangial cells which may contribute to its beneficial effect on the kidney.

Objective To analyze patterns of functional bundles in anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments during knee joint movement, so as to provide important references for studying injury mechanism of cruciate ligaments and implant reconstruction. Methods Five healthy knee cadavers were elaborately dissected to expose insertions of functional bundles in anterior and posterior ligaments on both the femur and tibia. CT scans and 3D finite element reconstruction with Mimics and ANSYS were conducted at 0°, 30°,60°, 90°, and 120° flexion angle of the knee joint. The center points of insertions and parallel sections of functional bundles defined by the software ANSYS and CATIA were connected to the centerlines, and at five different knee flexion angles, the lengths of centerlines, defined as the bundle lengths, were measured. Results The length of anterior medial bundle (AMB) of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) increased gradually as the flexion angle grew from 0° to 90°, but slightly decreased at 120° flexion angle; whereas the length of posterior lateral bundle (PLB) of ACL decreased as flexion angle went from 0° to 90° and slightly increased at 120° flexion angle. In posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), both anterior lateral bundle (ALB) and posterior medial bundle (PMB) extended in length as the flexion angle went from 0° to 120°. The change of ACL and PCL bundle’s length was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions ACL bundles functioned in a reciprocal manner and PCL bundles functioned in a complementary manner during knee flexion. Through establishing the finite element model of functional bundles in cruciate ligaments, the actual length of cruciate ligaments could be reflected, which provided a reasonable method for studying the changes of actual length of functional bundles in cruciate ligaments during knee flexion.

OBJECTIVE: Quantitative assessment of white blood flow in semi-oval center of patients with delayed neuropathological sequelae (DNS) after carbon monoxide poisoning treated with acupuncture combined with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) based on magnetic resonance multi-inversion time arterial spin labeling imaging (mTI-ASL), and to evaluate its efficacy indirectly. METHODS: Twenty-six patients with clinically diagnosed DNS were randomly divided into an observation group (13 cases) and a control group (13 cases). The conventional therapy combined with HBO were given in the control group. In the observation group,on the base of the treatment, acupuncture was applied, the main acupoints were Shuigou (GV 26), Neiguan (PC 6), Baihui (GV 20), Shangxing (GV 23), Yintang (GV 29), Sanyinjiao (SP 6) on the affected side, Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Fenglong (ST 40), Lianquan (CV 23) and Jinjin (EX-HN12) for slurred speech, Jianyu (LI 15), Waiguan (TE 5) and Shousanli (LI 10) for upper limb pain, Huantiao (GB 30), Yanglingquan (GB 34), Yinlingquan (SP 9) for lower limb pain, the treatment was given once every day, 5 days as one course, with an interval of 2 days between the course. The treatment for 6 courses was required. The conventional head MR scan, mTI-ASL and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans before and 1 week after treatment were adopted, Matlab (R2014b), Mricron and Syngo.via software were adopted to measure the cerebral blood flow (CBF) and anisotropy (FA) values of the semi-oval center. The correlation between the parameters was evaluated by Pearson method. And the simple intelligent mental state examination scale (MMSE) was uesd to assess cognitive function. RESULTS: After treatment, the CBF, MMSE scores in both groups and FA values in the observation group were higher than those before treatment (<0.05). After treatment, the CBF, FA and MMSE scores in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (<0.05). There was a positive correlation between CBF, FA and MMSE scores (<0.05), and the correlation between CBF and MMSE was the best ( =0.822). CONCLUSION Acupuncture combined with hyperbaric oxygen can significantly improved early white matter hypoperfusion and improved cognitive function score in patients with DNS. The curative effect is better than that of hyperbaric oxygen therapy alone. The mTI-ASL imaging can quantitatively evaluate its curative effect.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging ; Humans ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation