The effects of phorbol-12,13-dibuterate (PDBu) on total sodium current (I(Na)-total), tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium current (I(Na)-TTXr), 4-AP-sensitive potassium current (I(A)) and TEA-sensitive potassium current (I(K)) in trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons were investigated. Whole-cell patch clamp techniques were used to record ion currents in cultured TG neurons of rats. Results revealed that 0.5 micromol/L PDBu reduced the amplitude of I(Na)-total by (38.3+/-4.5)% (n=6, P<0.05), but neither the G-V curve (control: V (0.5)=-17.1+/-4.3 mV, k=7.4+/-1.3; PDBu: V (0.5)=-15.9+/-5.9 mV, k=5.9+/-1.4; n=6, P>0.05) nor the inactivation rate constant (control: 3.6+/-0.9 ms; PDBu: 3.6+/-0.8 ms; n=6, P>0.05) was altered. 0.5 micromol/L PDBu could significantly increase the amplitude of I(Na)-TTXr by (37.2+/-3.2)% (n=9, P<0.05) without affecting the G-V curve (control: V (0.5)=-14.7+/-6.0 mV, k=6.9+/- 1.4; PDBu: V (0.5)=-11.1+/-5.3 mV, k=8.1+/-1.5; n=5, P>0.05) or the inactivation rate constant (control: 4.6+/-0.6 ms; PDBu: 4.2+/-0.5 ms; n=5, P>0.05). 0.5 mumol/L PDBu inhibited I(K) by (15.6+/-5.0) % (n=16, P<0.05), and V (0.5) was significantly altered from - 4.7+/-1.4 mV to -7.9 +/-1.8 mV (n=16, P<0.05). I(A) was not significantly affected by PDBu, 0.5 mumol/L PDBu decreased I(A) by only (0.3+/-3.2)% (n=5, P>0.05). It was concluded that PDBu inhibited I(Na)-total but enhanced I(Na)-TTXr, and inhibited I(K) without affecting I(A). These data suggested that the activation of PKC pathway could exert the actions.

Objective To investigate the effect of sufentanil preconditioning on the expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in myocardium during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in rats.Methods Thirty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats,weighing 250-300 g,were randomly divided into 3 groups (n =12 each):sham operation group (group S),I/R group and sufentanil preconditioning group (group SPC).Myocardial ischemia was induced by occlusion of anterior descending branch of left coronary artery for 30 min followed by 2 h of reperfusion.In group SPC,the rats were subjected to 3 consecutive cycles of 5 min sufentanil infusion at 0.2 μg· kg-1 ·min-1 via the femoral vein at 5 min interval before ischemia.In groups S and I/R,the rats were subjected to the equal volume of normal saline instead.HR and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were recorded at 30 min before ischemia (T0),immediately before ischemia (T1),at 30 min of ischemia (T2),and at 30 and 120 min of reperfusion (T3-4).At the end of reperfusion,blood samples were obtained to determine the serum concentration of TNF-α.The rats were then sacrificed and hearts were removed for measurement of myocardial infarct size and expression of TLR4 and NF-κB p65 in myocardium (using Western blot).Results There was no significant difference in HR among the three groups (P ＞ 0.05).Compared with group S,MAP was significantly decreased at T2-4,the serum concentration of TNF-α was increased,and the expression of TLR4 and NF-kB p65 protein in myocardium was upregulated in groups I/R and SPC (P ＜ 0.01).Compared with group I/R,no significant difference was found in MAP at all time points (P ＞ 0.05),and myocardial infarct size was significantly decreased,serum concentrations of TNF-α were decreased,and the expression of TLR4 and NF-κB p65 protein in myocardium was down-regulated in group SPC (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion The mechanism by which sufentanil preconditioning alleviates myocardial I/R injury may be related to down-regulation of TLR4 expression in rat myocardium.

Objective To explore the effects of electro-acupuncture combined with surface gastric pacing on gastrointestinal dysfunction for patients with spinal cord injury (SCI).Methods Seventy-five SCI patients with gastrointestinal dysfunction were divided randomly into an electro-acupuncture group (group A),a gastric pacing treatment group (group B) and a group for which electro-acupuncture was combined with gastric pacing (group C).There were 25 cases in each group.Members of group A were given 30 minutes of electro-acupuncture per day ; those of group B had 30 minutes of gastric pacing treatment twice per day ; group C was provided with both 30 minutes of electro-acupuncture and one 30-minute gastric pacing treatment per day.All of the interventions lasted ten days.Before and after the treatment,all patients were assessed using a clinical symptoms score and with electrogastrograms,and any adverse effects were observed.Results There was a significant improvement in upper abdominal pain and epigastric discomfort,bloating and early satiety,nausea,vomiting,as well as belching and loss of appetite in each group after treatment.Before treatment there was no significant difference in the average clinical symptom scores of the three groups.After treatment the values had decreased,and those of group C were significantly lower than group A or B.The average scores of groups B and A were not significantly different.The electrogastrogram results showed than after treatment there was significant improvement in N％ and T％ in groups A and B,and also significant improvement in N％,B％ and T％ in group C compared to before treatment.Group C's improvements were all significantly greater than those observed in groups A and B.Conclusion Electro-acupuncture or gastric pacing alone can give some improvement in gastrointestinal function and its electrophysiological indicators,but their combined effects are better than when either is used alone.

BACKGROUND: Herbal wines are an important part of the traditional Chinese medicine. The traditional medicated wine, lishizhen herbal wine,which can strengthen the immune function, has long been used for some chronic diseases. But,its mechanism remains unclear.OBJECTIVE: To explore the immune pharmacodynamics of lishizhen herbal wine and to observe its effect on the immune organs (spleen,pancreas) and lymphocyte transformation rate in mice.DESIGN: A randomized controlled experiment based on the observation of the experimental animals.SETTING: Department of integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine and the department of pharmacology of a university hospital MATERIALS: The experiment was completed at the Central Laboratory of Zhongnain Hospital of Wuhan University from September 2000 to December 2000. A total of 90 healthy Kuming mice were involved in the study.METHODS: Different doses of the herbal wine,cartinellin and the same volume of distilled water were given to the experimental animals. The drug administration was orally injected directly to the stomach of the animals once a day and 10 days consecutively. One hour after the last administration,the animals were put to death. Then,the thymus gland and the spleen were taken out and weighed to calculate the indexes of the thymus gland and the spleen. In the last three days of the administration phytohemagglutinin(PHA)was injected intramuscularly at a dose of 10 mg/kg once per day. Two hours after the last administration, the tails of the mice were cut out, the blood samples were taken to perform the Wright' s staining,and 100 lymphocytes were counted under immersion and the transformation rate was calculated.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary results: ① The effect on the immune organs of normal mice; ② The effect of PHA on stimulating the lymphocyte transformation in mice. Secondary results: ③ The death condition of the experimental animalsRESULTS: Different doses of the herbal wine increased the spleen index in different degrees. The effect of medium dose group was obvious[(3.71± 0.78) g/kg] (P <0.05),and the thymus gland index increased a little (P>0.05). The cartinellin in the positive control group increased the spleen index[(3.79±0.91 ) g/kg] and there was no impact on thymus gland index. The transformation rates of the lymphocytes of different groups were increased to a different degree and presented a good quantity-effect relationship,especially the group administered a large dose[(45±14)%] (P<0. 01).CONCLUSION: Lishizhen herbal wine has an effect of increasing cellular immune function.

Objective To study the value of heart-type fatty acid-binding protein(H-FABP)for the early diagnosis of blunt cardiac injury(BCI).Method A prospective stuay was carried out in 42 patients,who suffered from blunt thoracic injury and were admitted from January 2007 to June 2008,and another42 heathy individuals in the health center of the Shanghai Fifth Hospital were recruited as control.Serum H-FABP,cTn Ⅰ and Myo levels of both healthy individuals and petients at 3,6 and 12 hours after trauma were measured by using ELLSA.Serum cTn Ⅰ levels was taken as a golden standard for the diagnosis of BCI.Accroding to serum cTn Ⅰ levels.42 patients with blunt thoracic injury were divided into group of patient with myocardial damage(13 patients)and group of patients without(29 patients).The receiver operating characteristic curves(ROC)of H-FABP and cTn Ⅰ in the diagnosis of BCI drawed at 3,6 and 12 hours after trauma,respectively,and the areas under curve(AUC)of ROC were compared.The values of H-FABP and cTn Ⅰ for diagnosing at 3,6 and 12 hours after trauma were analyzed Differences in serum H-FABP,cTn Ⅰ and Myo concentrations between groups were compared by Kruskal Wallis tegt.The delong.clarkepearson test was used to compare the areas under the ROC curves.Results AUCH-FABP and AUCcTn Ⅰfor diagnosing BCI at 3 hours after trauma were 0.9257 and0.6844,respectively,and AUCH-FABF was significantly more than AUCcTn Ⅰ(P=0.0125).AUCH-FABP,was significantly less than AUCcTnⅠ(0.9841 vs0.8276,P=0.0278)for diagnosing BCI at 12 hours after trauma.There was no significant difference in diagnosing BCI between AUCH-FABp and AUCcTn Ⅰat 12 hours after trauma(0.9655 vs.0.9125,P=0.2609).Conclusions H-FABP is valuabe in the early diagnosis of BCI,and its sensitivity is higherthanthat of cTnⅠ in diagnosing BCI at 3 hours after trauma.

BACKGROUND:There are numerous studies on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs)from small animals such as rats and rabbits,but no few reports addressing BMSCs from big animals.OBJECTIVE:To observe in vitro cultured goat BMSCs,and to understand its biological properties.METHODS:A healthy Chinese goat aged ten months was obtained to extract 5 mL fresh bone marrow from the posterior superior iliac spine by puncture following anesthesia.Using the whole bone marrow method,the samples were incubated in a sterile plastic culture flask and added with DMEM/F12 containing 10% fetal bovine serum.Following 80% 90% confluence,cells were digested by trypsin.Cells at passage 3 in logarithmic phase were collected and frozen,and then recovered.Changes in cell morphology were observed using an inverted microscope.Cell growth curve was measured using MTT assay.The potential of osteogenic differentiation was examined utilizing Von Kossa's staining.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The primary cultured BMSCs were cultured with adherent growth.The cells were spindle form.Cell morphology following passage 3 was similar,showing long spindle shape.Following freezing and recovery,cell adherence was slower compared with subculture cells,and no significant difference was detected in cell morphology and viability compared with subculture cells.Growth cycle was similar in passage 3-passage 5 cells.BMSCs entered lag phase at days 2 and 3,logarithmic phase at day 3,and platform phase at days 6 and 7,and then growth speed was slow.Goat BMSCs were positive for Von Kossa's stain at 3 weeks following osteogenic induction.Results verified that cultured goat BMSCs showed strong genetic stability and proliferation ability,and differentiated into osteoblasts.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Diplopia ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged

Objective T o evaluate the application value for the prognosis of m echanical ocular injury cases using ocular traum a score (O TS). Methods Four hundred and eleven cases of m echanical ocular traum a w ere retrospectively review ed. O f the 449 eyes, there w ere 317 closed globe injury and 132 open globe injury. O T S variables included num erical values as initial visual acuity, rupture, endophthalm itis, perforat-ing or penetrating injury, retinal detachm ent and relative afferent pupillary block. T he differences be-tw een the distribution of the final visual acuity and the probability of standard final visual acuity w ere com pared to analyze the correlation betw een O T S category and final visual acuity. T he different types of ocular traum a w ere com pared. Results C om pared w ith the distribution of final visual acuity in standard O T S score, the ratio in O T S-3 category w as statistically different in present study, and no differences w ere found in other categories. Final visual acuity show ed a great linear correlation w ith O T S category (r=0.71) and total score (r=0.73). C om pared w ith closed globe injury, open globe injury w as generally associated w ith low er total score and poorer prognosis. R upture injury had poorer prognosis com pared w ith penetrating injury. Conclusion T he use of O T S for the patients w ith ocular traum a can provide re-liable inform ation for the evaluation of prognosis in forensic m edicine.

Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Polycystic Kidney Diseases ; diagnosis

Adult ; Arteries ; anatomy & histology ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Humans ; Larynx ; anatomy & histology ; blood supply ; Male ; Microsurgery