BACKGROUND: Endothelin(ET) -1 is a peptide with potent actions on blood vessels and nerve system. Its expression increases in the central nervous system(CNS) in a variety of pathological conditions, inducing harmful effects on the nervous tissue. However it is not clearly elucidated whether the over-expressed ET-1 can directly induce neuronal apoptosis.OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether ET-1 can directly induce apoptosis in primarily cultured brain neurons of rat, and which ET receptor subtype(s) is involved in this action.DESIGN: Completely randomized and controlled experimental study based on cells.SETTING: Neurological department in a university hospital, pathological department of a university and laboratory center of tissue transplantation and immunology, life science and technology college.MATERIALS: This study was completed in the Pathology Department, the Institute of Tissue Transplantation and Immunology, the Life Science and Technology College of Jinan University. The subjects were primarily-cultured neurons obtained from cerebral cortex of newborn rats that were provided by the Experimental Animal Center of the Medical College, Sun Yat-sen University.INTERVENTIONS: After culturing for five days, the neurons were treated with ET-1 (0. 2 nmol/L and 20 nmol/L) for 24 hours. Apoptotic neurons were semi-quantitatively measured with Annexin V and Hoechst 33258 staining respectively. ET-1(20 nmol/L), with BQ123(a selective antagonist for ET receptor A, 1 mmol/L) or with BQ788(a selective antagonist for ET receptor B, 1 mmol/L), was added respectively into the cultures simultaneously. And the apoptotic neurons were quantitatively measured with flow cytometry 24 hours later. Equal amount of PBS, instead of ET-1, waw added into the control subjects.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The effect of ET-1 on apoptosis rate of cultured rat cortical neurons, and the ET receptor subtypes involved in this action.RESULTS: Twenty-four hours after treated with 0.2 nmol/L ET-1, the Annexin-V, and Hoechest 33258 positive stained cell rates[ (23.00 ± 9.96)%,(9.82 ±0.95)% ] were of no difference as compared with those of the controls[ (13.50 ± 3.35)%, (8.21 ± 2. 17)% ]. By contrast, after incubation with the higher dose of ET-1 (20 nmol/L), significant higher rate of apoptosis was measured in Annexin V staining[(50.50 ± 10.78)%, P=0.01, n=4] and Hoechest 33258 staining[(13.78±1.52)%, P= 0. 000, n = 8] . Analyzed with flow cytometry, the apoptosis rate was (0.20±0. 15)% in the control group, (26. 11 ±3.28)% in 20 nmol/LET-1 group, and(13.58 ±4. 92)% in BQ123 +ET-1 and(9.99 ±3.30)% in BQ788 +ET-1 respectively, indicating that BQ123 and BQ788 partially-blocked the apoptosis effect of ET-1 on. cultured neurons(BQ123 + ET-1 vs ET-1, P = 0. 005; BQ788 + ET-1 vs ET-1, P = 0. 001, n = 4, respectively).CONCLUSION: The higher dose of ET-1 (20 nmol/L) can directly induce apoptosis of primarily-cultured cerebral neurons of rats. The effect of ET-1 inducing neuronal apoptosis may be mediated via both ET receptors A and B.

BACKGROUND: Pedicle screw fixation is a common repair method for thoracolumbar fractures. Of them, pedicle screw placement into the injured vertebra is an important method. However, the long-term effects and the related biomechanical properties deserve further analysis. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the long-term effect and biomechanical characteristics of the internal fixation of thoracolumbar fractures by pedicle screw implantation. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed in 126 cases of thoracolumbar fractures. The patients were treated with pedicle screw implantation and the treatment was fol owed up regularly. Ten specimens of fresh calf chest and lumbar spines were obtained. Five specimens served as an experimental group to prepare models of anterior middle column fractures, and these specimens received pedicle screw fixation into the injured vertebra. The other five specimens served as the control group, and did not receive any treatment. In the two groups, along the sagittal axis, axial compression displacement, anterior flexion displacement, posterior extension displacement, torsion angle and pul -out strength were measured and recorded. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Clinical trial results: 126 patients were fol owed up for 10-36 months. Compared with pre-treatment, compression ratio of the injured vertebra, the height of intervertebral space, vertebral slip distance, visual analogue score and Cobb angle were significantly improved at 1 month after treatment and during final fol ow-up (al P < 0.05). No significant difference in above indexed was detected between 1 month and final fol ow-up (al P > 0.05). At the end of fol ow-up, Frankel spinal cord injury grade was significantly improved (Z=-4.127, P < 0.05). After operation, three patients suffered from pulmonary infection, four patients affected urinary tract infection, and one patient experienced delayed wound healing. (2) Biomechanical results: axial compression displacement, anterior flexion displacement, posterior extension displacement, torsion angle and pul -out strength were smal er in the experimental group than in the control group (al P > 0.05). (3) Above findings showed that pedicle screw fixation into the injured vertebra for thoracolumbar fractures obtained good long-term effects, and had good biomechanical properties.

Objective To determine if in vivo detection of choline by1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy(1H-MRS) could differentiate between benign and malignant bone and soft tissue tumors.Methods MR spectroscopy was performed in 28 cases, including 5 healthy subjects and 23 cases of extremital tumors. Examination was performed by using a point-resolved spectroscopic sequence with echo times of 35,144 and 288 ms.Results 1H-MRS spectrum was different among normal tissue, benign and malignant tumor.Conclusion Choline can be reliable detected in malignant tumor of bone and soft tissue by using1H-MRS.1H-MRS can help differentiate malignant tumor from benign tumor.

AIM: To detect the expression of cytoplasmic inhibitor of apoptosis protein 2 (c-IAP2) and growth arrest-specific gene 1 (GAS1) in Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) and anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) and to investigate the role of two genes in the pathogenesis of HL and ALCL.METHODS: HE staining,the antibodies CD30,CD15,CD45RO and CD20 were used to screen the cases of HL and ALCL from 288 cases of lymphoma. The clarified HL and ALCL were subjected for immunohistochemical staining by SP and ABC methods to analyze the expression of c-IAP2 and GAS1. RESULTS: ①The positive rate of c-IAP2 in HL was 25/26(96.1%) while that in ALCL was 6/19(31.6%),there presented statistic significance between HL and ALCL groups( P

AIM: This study is based on the result of the study in HL and ALCL employing gene chip technique, in which writer found that there was distinctly different expression of caspase-4 between HL and ALCL cell lines at the level of mRNA. From the point of view, we try to identify at the level of protein whether there is different expression of this gene in HL and ALCL tissues as well. METHODS: HE staining, the monoclonal antibodies CD30 (BerH2), CD15 (C3D-1), CD20 (L26) and CD45RO (UCHL1) were used for selecting the cases of HL and ALCL. Specific high affinitive anti-caspase-4 polyclonal antibody was used by immunohistochemical staining to analyze the expression of caspase-4 in 18 cases of HL and 15 cases of ALCL. RESULTS: The expression of caspase-4 demonstrated a strong positive staining in all ALCL cases (15/15,100%), whereas negative in 16 HL cases (88 8%), while other two cases were weakly stained (11 2%), showing a distinct difference (P

To propose the architectural layout for the big general hospital in the face of public health emergencies, we analyzed the conditions, methods, problems and countermeasures for the reconstruction of the isolation ward from the existing medical building layout of a general hospital. The affected areas met the requirements of isolation ward in the reconstruction, and realized the corresponding partition and separation of people. But the cost of occupying the medical room should be concerned. General hospital should be alerted to potential risks of public health emergencies. The characteristics of different construction types, defects, and the function of the hospital should be considered in the construction, rebuilding, and expansion of the hospital, which shouldnot only meet the needs of the development of the hospital daily usage but also consider dealing with emergent public health events. We can adopt the reasonable layout, including setting up a firewall-like device between the channel and the floor, an ordinary ward at ordinary times, and an independent space for emergency by pulling down the gate. This strategy can not only avoid the problem of low utilization rate of the space occupied by the corresponding area in the ward for diseases spread by air and droplets, maximizing the efficiency of the medical site, but also avoid the problem of emergency response to the temporary reconstruction.
Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Facility Design and Construction ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Public Health