0.05).The model group rats displayed high expression of VEGF.Compared with the model group,the expression of VEGF in Yiqi Huoxue medicine group decreased evidently(P

Butyric acid can be used to produce cellulose butyrate fiber and ester derivatives,and to be applied in foodstuffs and perfume industries.Recent researches have found that butyric acid is a preferred carbon source for colonic epithelial cells,and can inhibit histone deacetylase,showing great anticancer potentials.With more and more functions of butyric acid being found and applied in bio-related fields,and with consumer's growing preference to bioproducts,biotechnological production of butyric acid will receive more competence than petroleum-based chemical synthesis.Low product concentration and poor selectivity are presently the main restricting factors.Workers have made considerable progress on more cheep carbon sources,optimization of fermentation process,simplifying downstream processing,and genetic engineering of producing strains.Any achievement on these aspects in the future can contribute to put fermentation of butyric acid into industry.

OBJECTIVETo observe the analgesic effect of triptolide (TP) of high, middle and low doses on rats with adjuvant arthritis (AA), and the expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and substance P (SP) in spinal dorsal horn and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) of corresponding sections, in order to discuss the possible mechanism for the analgesic effect of TP on rats with adjuvant arthritis.

METHODFifty SD rats were selected and randomly divided into the normal group (group A), the model group (group B), and TP low (group C), middle (group D), high (group E) dose groups. Except for the group A, all of the remaining groups were injected with 0.1 mL of Freund's complete adjuvant through their right rear toes to establish the model. At 14 d after the model establishment, rats in C, D and E groups were intraperitoneally injected with different doses of TP (0.1 mg x kg(-1) for the group C, 0.2 mg x kg(-1) for the group D, 0.4 mg x kg(-1) for the group E) once a day for 9 days. Then the 50% mechanical withdraw threshold (MWT) was determined. And the expressions of iNOS and SP in lumbar5 (L5) spinal dorsal horn and DRG were detected with the immunohistochemical method.

RESULTThe 50% MWT of rats in the group B was significantly lower than that of the group A (P < 0.01). After being treated with TP, the Thermal withdrawal latencies of groups C, D and E were significantly higher than that of the group B (P < 0.01). TP could notably increase the MWT of AA rats, with a certain dose-effect relationship. The immunohistochemical results indicated that the iNOS and SP expressions significantly increased in the group B (P < 0.01), while the positive expression levels of iNOS and SP in groups C, D and E were significantly lower than that of the group B (P < 0.01), with a certain dose-effect relationship.

CONCLUSIONTP shows a good analgesic effect on AA, and could inhibit the iNOS and SP expressions in spinal dorsal horn and DRG in rats with adjuvant arthritis, which may be one of action mechanisms for the analgesic effect of TP.

Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; pharmacology ; Arthritis, Experimental ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Diterpenes ; pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Epoxy Compounds ; pharmacology ; Female ; Ganglia, Spinal ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; biosynthesis ; Pain Measurement ; methods ; Phenanthrenes ; pharmacology ; Phytotherapy ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Spinal Cord ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Substance P ; biosynthesis ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome ; Tripterygium ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Wenyang Yiqi Huoxue Recipe (WYHR) on the apoptosis of photoreceptor cells in retinal degeneration slow (RDS) mice, and to investigate its molecular mechanisms.

METHODSRDS mice were randomly divided into the model group and the Chinese medicine group,and C57BL/6J mice were selected as the normal control group. Each group consisted of 4 female mice and 2 male mice. Mice in the Chinese medicine group were administered with WYHR (10 mg/g) by gastrogavage since mating. Baby mice drunk WYHR decoction instead of drinking water once they were born. The offspring were administrated with low dose WYHR decoction by gastrogavage from the 7th postnatal day, and the dose was increased to that for adult mice from the 21st postnatal day. Physiological saline was administrated to mice in the model group and the normal control group by gastrogavage. At 18, 28 and 48 postnatal days, electroretinogram (ERG) was used to evaluate the retina functional variation, and the apoptotic rate of photoreceptor cells was determined by TUNEL staining. HE staining was performed. The number of photoreceptor cells of the outer nuclear layer was calculated. Furthermore, effect of WYHR on Rhodopsin and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) expression was examined using immunochemical assay.

RESULTSCompared with the model group, a- and b-wave latency and amplitude, as well as the bFGF expression sharply increased in the Max-ERG of the Chinese medicine group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) at 18 postnatal days. At 28 and 48 postnatal days, a- and b-wave latency and amplitude sharply increased, photoreceptor cell layer numbers of the outer nuclear layer obviously increased, the apoptosis rate of retinal photoreceptor cells obviously decreased, expressions of Rhodopsin and bFGF in the Chinese medicine group significantly increased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONWYHR could effectively inhibit the apoptosis of photoreceptor cells in RDS mice, which might be attributed to up-regulating bFGF expression.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Female ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate ; cytology ; drug effects ; Retinal Degeneration ; metabolism ; pathology

A high resolution Micro-CT system for small animal imaging is introduced in this paper. Micro-focus X-ray tube with focal diameter of 100 microm and flat panel detector with imaging area of 13cm x 13cm are adopted in this system. The data acquired in rotation scanning is reconstructed with cone beam algorithm. The resolving power of the detector is measured to be 31 lp/cm at 10% of the MTF. The resolution of the Micro-CT system could achieve 185 m when the magnification factor is 1.94. Thighbone of a rabbit is used as sample imaging with the system. The trabecular bone could be imaged clearly. And the ability of small animal imaging of the system has been demonstrated.
Animals ; Equipment Design ; Rabbits ; X-Ray Microtomography ; instrumentation

Objective To investigate the surgical safety and clinical efficacy of resection of deep brain lesions by using awake anesthesia and multiple positioning technology.Methods A retrospective analysis of clinical data and surgical treatments of 77 patients with deep brain lesions,admitted to our hospital from September 2013 and September 2014,was performed.Craniotomy was performed under general anesthesia,and then,awaking up of patient during surgery was achieved.Under awake state,the boundary of the lesions was mapped by neuroimage navigation technology,and language and movement functional areas were located using direct cortex evoked potential or cortical electrical stimulation.The deep brain lesions were removed according to anatomic-functional boundaries.Patients were followed up for 3 months.Results Intra-operative awaking up was successful in 74 patients.Language areas were identified in 8 patients,and movement functional areas were detected in 38 patients.Total resection was achieved in 51 patients,sub-total resection in 24 and 2 partial removals.Postoperative temporary movement barriers were noted in 10 patients and language barriers in 2 patients.Conclusion The deep brain lesions can be maximally removed by combined neuroimage navigation with cortical electrical stimulate under awake anesthesia,which can significantly protect the important brain functions and improve the quality of patients life after surgery.

Objective To evaluate the value of MSCT and MRI in diagnosis of early postoperative complications of inguinal hernia repair (IHR).Methods Imaging and clinical data in 1 6 patients with early complications of IHR were analyzed retrospectively.Re-sults Among the complications,postoperative infection in 2 was found including incision infection in 1 and groin cellulitis in other 1. CT showed swelling abdominal wall and heterogeneous enhancement for incision infection,and inguinal mass,deep inguinal ring thickening,edema of residual sac with fluid and air collections for groin cellulitis.Seroma was found in 8,and CT and MRI demon-strated residual sac effusion,spermatic cord thickening and spermatic vascular tortuosity.Residual sac edema was found in 4,and CT and MRI showed thickening spermatic cord without effusion in residual sac or scrotum.Effusions between patch and anterior abdom-inal wall were detected by MRI in 2,one of which was accompanied by patch shrinking.Conclusion With specific clinical background for early complications of IHR,MSCT and MRI provide more anatomical information of inguinal region,which may contribute to di-agnosis and treatment of early postoperative complications.

Objective To investigate the relationship between the composition of vaginal microbiota and the course of cervical precancerous lesion.Methods A total of 64 vaginal swabs were collected from 22 healthy women, 18 CINⅠ patients and 24 CINⅡ/Ⅲ patients who visited Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University during July 2014 and July 2015.The Bacterial genomic DNA was extracted and the V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of 16S rRNA were amplified and high-throughput sequenced.The abundance and composition of vaginal microbiota were analyzed by Uparse, Mothur and LefSe statistical software.Results There was no significant difference in Alpha diversity index between CINⅡ/Ⅲ group(Chao:63±32;ACE:72±38;Simpson:0.70±0.27;Shannon:0.70±0.63) and control group ( Chao:48±24;ACE:54±25;Simpson:0.71±0.27;Shannon:0.65±0.58)(W=192,P=0.11;W=189,P=0.10;W=281,P=0.72;W=241,P=0.62).The ACE(85±37) and Chao(66±25) values of CINⅠgroup were significantly different from those of the control group (ACE:54±25;Chao:48±24)(W=99,P=0.006;W=113,P=0.02).At the phylum level, 78.69%(309 020/392 722) of the vaginal microbiota in the control group was Firmicutes, 16%(62 846/392 722) was Actinobacteria.Firmicutes was reduced to 64.86%(208 422/321 318) and Actinobacteria increased to 27.71%(89 040/321 318) in CINⅠgroup.The composition of vaginal microbiotain in CINⅡ/Ⅲ group was similar to those of control group.At the genus level, the composition of vaginal microbiota were similar between CINⅡ/Ⅲ group and control group, with Lactobacillus as predominant genus[71.81%(307 658/418 424)], Gardnerella[12.91%(55 299/428 424)], others such as Prevotella, atopobium were less.In the CINⅠ group, the abundance of Lactobacillus was decreased to 56.26%(180 787/321 318), Gardnerella was increased to 19.62%(63 057/321 318), and Listeria was increased to 7.7%(24 746/321 318).The composition of vaginal microbiota in the most samples was classified as CSTⅢ and CSTⅠ, with Lactobacillus inersand and Lactobacillus crispatus were dominant respectively.There was no significant difference in the composition of vaginal microbiota between the three groups(χ2=2.72, P=0.949).LEfSe analysis showed that the abundance of bacteria in CIN group and control group were varied.At the genus level, there were significant differences in the abundance of Geobacter, Atopobium and Ureaplasma (P<0.05, P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively).At the species level, there was significant difference in the abundance of Ureaplasma urealyticum serotype 9 (P<0.01).Conclusion The diversity and the composition of vaginal microbiota were similar between CIN patients and healthy women, but the abundances of some bacteria were varied, with Ureaplasma increased in patients with CIN.

OBJECTIVETo develop a reliable assay for simultaneous sequence-based typing (SBT) of HLA-DPA1 and HLA-DPB1, and to apply it for the study of allelic polymorphisms in southern Chinese Han population.

METHODSBased on full-length HLA-DPA1 and HLA-DPB1 allelic sequences, locus-specific PCR primers were designed and applied to amplify the target sequence encompassing the entire exon 2 of HLA-DPA1 and HLA-DPB1. PCR products were purified with magnetic beads, and run through an ABI 3730 DNA sequencer. Genotypes were assigned with an Assign 3.5 SBT software.

RESULTSThe target sequences of HLA-DPA1 and HLA-DPB1 were both amplified with the PCR procedure. Little background and noise was observed in the derived sequences. Among 176 non-related healthy individuals, 4 HLA-DPA1 alleles with the frequencies of DPA1*02:02 (0.589) > DPA1*01:03 (0.284) > DPA1*02:01 (0.096) > DPA1*04:01 (0.031) were identified. In addition, 14 HLA-DPB1 alleles, including 4 common alleles (with a frequency of more than 5%, namely DPB1*05:01, DPB1*02:01, DPB1*04:01 and DPB1*02:02), 7 alleles with a frequency ranging from 1%-5% and 3 alleles with a frequency of less than 1% were identified. The results of HLA-DPB1 genotyping were all in accordance with the typing results derived from an Atria AlleleSEQR HLA-DPB1 kit.

CONCLUSIONA reliable technique has been established for simultaneous genotyping of HLA-DPA1 and HLA-DPB1, which may have a broad application in population and disease association studies.

Alleles ; Base Sequence ; DNA Fingerprinting ; methods ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; HLA-DP alpha-Chains ; genetics ; HLA-DP beta-Chains ; genetics ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; methods ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymorphism, Genetic

Objective To summarize the clinical characteristics and make genetic diagnosis in the patients with hereditary spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7).Methods Pedigree analysis and clinical examination were performed in one family with SCA7 by clinical findings,of which retinal morphology and visual electrophysiology were available on part numbers.The polymorphic cytosine adenine guanine (CAG) repeats in the encode region of SCA7 gene were detected by combining polymerase chain reaction with deoxyribonucleic acide (DNA) sequencing on 19 familial numbers and 12 controls.Results 6 patients were identified,who manifesting cerebellar ataxia,decreased visual acuity and colour vision defect,as was pigmentary retinopathy on fundoscopy;The 6 patients had not only extinction of the electroretinogram (ERG) but also remarkably reduced amplitudes of oscillatory potentials and flash-visual evoked potentials. On normal alleles CAG repeat size ranges from 8 to 25 repeats,wherease on mutated alleles of the 6 numbers it ranges from 50 to 97 repeats.The 6 numbers were diagnosised as SCA7 patients.One asymptomatic individual of this family,who displayed a normal allele with 18 CAG repeats and another containing abnormal expantion of 56 repeats,was diagnosised as a asymptomatic carrier whose age maybe still below the age of onset.Conclusion The clinical manifestations of SCA7 are heterogeneous,and the detection of CAG repeats can provide an effective way for the gene diagnosis and the prediction of asymptomatic patients.