Transient receptor potential cation channel 6 (TRPC6) is a member of the transient receptor superfamily encoded by the TRPC6 gene and is widely expressed in tissues and organs of the human body, especially in the glomerular podocytes. TRPC6 interacts with various slit diaphragm (SD) proteins including podocin, nephrin, ACTN4, and CD2AP to maintain the normal structure and function of glomerular podocytes. Foot process fusion caused by podocyte damage due to various factors is the most important morphological change in kidney disease. This article reviews the biological function of TRPC6 and its effect on kidney disease.

BACKGROUNDAs a traditional Chinese medicine, Cordyceps sinensis (CS) possesses a variety of immunoregulatory properties. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic potential of CS in a mice model of multiple sclerosis (MS)-experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

METHODSFemale C57BL/6 mice were immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein35-55to induce EAE, followed by an instant intragastric feeding with a low dosage of CS (low-CS group, n = 5), high dosage of CS (high-CS group, n = 5), or the same volume of normal saline (control group, n = 5). All the mice were observed for clinical assessment. Over the 30 days of CS treatment, flow cytometry was used to detect the frequency of helper T-cell (Th) subsets, Th1 and Th17, and CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells in the spleen and lymph nodes. Meanwhile, pathological changes in brain were determined using both hematoxylin-eosin and luxol fast blue staining. Data were analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

RESULTSOver the 15 and 30 days of CS treatment, the clinical assessment for EAE demonstrated that both high-CS group (2.51 ± 0.31 and 2.26 ± 0.39 scores, respectively) and low-CS group (2.99 ± 0.40 and 2.69 ± 0.46, respectively) had lower disease severity scores than those of control group (3.57 ± 0.53 and 3.29 ± 0.53, all P < 0.01, respectively). Meanwhile, after 15 and 30 days, the high-CS group (19.18 ± 1.34 g and 20.41 ± 1.56 g, respectively) and low-CS group (18.07 ± 1.18 g and 19.48 ± 1.69 g, respectively) had a lower body weight, as compared with control group (16.85 ± 1.15 g and 18.22 ± 1.63 g, all P < 0.01, respectively). At 30 days post-CS treatment, there was a lower Th1 frequency in the lymph nodes (2.85 ± 1.54% and 2.77 ± 1.07% vs. 5.35 ± 1.34%, respectively; P < 0.05) and spleens (3.96 ± 1.09% and 3.09 ± 0.84% vs. 5.07 ± 1.50%, respectively; P < 0.05) and less inflammatory infiltration and demyelination in the brain of CS-treated mice than that of control group.

CONCLUSIONSOur preliminary study demonstrated that CS efficiently alleviated EAE severity and EAE-related pathology damage and decreased the number of Th1s in the periphery, indicating its effectiveness in the treatment of murine EAE. Thus, our findings strongly support the therapeutic potential of this agent as a new traditional Chinese medicine approach in MS treatment.

In order to reveal the properties of polar metabolome in inflammatory cells, we selected LPS-induced RAW264.7 inflammatory cell models as the carrier for the research of metabolic fingerprint analysis. In this study, an ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS)-based metabolomics protocol was optimized for the extraction of polar metabolites from RAW264.7 cell line. Then orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was used to process the metabolic data, and finally, a total of 17 metabolites were selected and identified. The results showed that MeOH-CHCl3-H2O (8∶1∶1) was chosen as the optimal extraction solvent to achieve higher number of chromatographic peaks, with the best relative extraction efficiency and stability. Comparing with the normal cells, the inflammatory cells presented an abnormal metabolism in protein, carbohydrate, nucleotide and phospholipids. In this study, a UPLC-Q-TOF/MS-based metabolomics protocol for the polar metabolites from RAW264.7 cell line was developed, which may provide important information for the study of mechanism of inflammation and the anti-inflammatory drugs.

OBJECTIVETo discuss the causes of unsatisfied cervical posterior decompression surgery and describe the overhauling strategies and precaution.

METHODSThe clinical data of 14 patients required revision surgery were retrospectively analyzed, and these patients with unsatisfied effects were due to cervical posterior decompression surgery from January 2012 to December 2014. Overhauling reasons were analyzed and then different revision procedures were performed. The functions of cervical cord and ambulation were evaluated respectively by modified Japanese Orthopedic Association(mJOA) score and Nurick grade according to the course order:preoperative for the first time, pre-revision and at final follow-up. Improvement rate of nerves function were calculated before and after operation for the first time, before and after revision. Above data were statistically analyzed by SPSS16.0 software.

RESULTSReoperation reasons including 2 patients with the insufficiency width of laminectomy, 2 patients with the inadequate length of decompression, 2 patients with nerve root and spinal cord compression caused by fractured collapse, 4 patients with closed the door of vertebral lamina, 1 patient with less open-door angle, 2 patiens with ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (1 case complicated with close the door), 2 patients with cervical spine kyphotic deformity aggravating (1 case complicated with close the door), 1 patient with nerve root canal stenosis caused by uncovertebral joint hyperplasia. Preoperative for the first time, pre-revision and at final follow-up, mJOA scores were 11.89±1.67, 13.11±1.09, 15.61±0.59, and Nurick grades were 4.21±0.58, 3.57±0.51, 1.71±0.47, respectively. There was significant difference between final follow-up and preoperative for the first time, pre-revision(<0.05). Improvement rate of nerve function was (22.33±9.49)% with bad before and after operation for the first time, and (64.60±9.88)% with good before and after revision, with statistical significance(<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSIndividualized revision surgery based on different causes for unsatisfied cervical posterior decompression can improve the function of spinal cord. Preoperative carefully analyzing the etiological factors, thoroughly decompression can reduce the revision rate.

This study investigated the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the development of the palatal tissues. Cleft palates in mice were induced by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Expression levels of long non-coding RNA H19 (lncRNA H19) and insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) gene were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The rate of occurrence of cleft palate was found to be 100% by TCDD exposure, and TCDD could cause short upper limb, cerebral fissure, webbed neck, and short neck. The expression levels of lncRNA H19 and IGF2 gene specifically showed embryo age-related differences on E13, E14, and E15 in the palatal tissues. The expression levels of lncRNA H19 and IGF2 gene showed an inverse relationship on E13, E14, and E15. These findings demonstrated that lncRNA H19 and IGF2 can mediate the development of mouse cleft palate.
Animals ; Cleft Palate ; chemically induced ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; drug effects ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Palate ; metabolism ; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins ; toxicity ; RNA, Long Noncoding ; genetics ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

BACKGROUNDRoot avulsion to all 5 roots of the brachial plexus is a common presentation and keeps a major reconstructive challenge. The contralateral C7 (CC7) nerve transfer has been used in treating brachial plexus avulsion injury (BPAI) since 1986. However, the effectiveness of the procedure remains a subject of controversy. The aim of this meta-analysis was to study surgical outcomes regarding motor and sensory recovery after CC7 nerve transfer.

METHODSChinese or English (i.e., "contralateral c-7", "contralateral c7", "c7 nerve root", and "seventh cervical nerve root") keywords were used for a literature search for articles related to CC7 nerve transfer in several databases (i.e., PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, CNKI, CQVIP, and Wanfang Data). Clinical research articles were screened, and animal studies as well as duplicate publications were excluded. Muscle strength and sensory recovery were considered to be effective only when the scores on the United Kingdom Medical Research Council scale were equal to or higher than M3 and S3, respectively.

RESULTSThe overall ipsilateral recipient nerve recovery rates were as follows: the efficiency rate for muscle strength recovery after CC7 nerve transfer was 0.57 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.48-0.66) and for sensory recovery was 0.52 (95% CI: 0.46-0.58). When the recipient nerve was the median nerve, the efficiency rate for muscle strength recovery was 0.50 (95% CI: 0.39-0.61) and for sensory was 0.56 (95% CI: 0.50-0.63). When the recipient nerve was the musculocutaneous nerve and the radial nerve, the efficiency rate for muscle strength recovery was 0.74 (95% CI: 0.65-0.82) and 0.50 (95% CI: 0.31-0.70), respectively.

CONCLUSIONSTransfer of CC7 nerves to musculocutaneous nerves leads to the best results. CC7 is a reliable donor nerve, which can be safely used for upper limb function reconstruction, especially for entirely BPAI. When modifying procedures, musculocutaneous nerves and median nerve can be combined as recipient nerves.

BACKGROUNDSurfactant protein-A (SP-A) contributes to the regulation of sepsis-induced acute kidney injury. In a previous study, we demonstrated that the expression of SP-A in the human renal tubular epithelial (HK-2) cells can be stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The present study evaluated the possible signal-transducing mechanisms of LPS-induced SP-A biosynthesis in the HK-2 cells.

METHODSTetrazolium salt colorimetry (MTT) assay was used to detect cell viability of HK-2 cells after LPS stimulation on different time points. HK-2 cells were stimulated with 100 ng/ml of LPS for different durations to determine the effects of LPS on SP-A and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) messenger RNA (mRNA) expression, as well as phosphorylation of mitogen-activated/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK) 1, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK), and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) inhibitor-alpha (IkB-α). Then, HK-2 cells were pretreated with CLI-095, a TLR4 inhibitor, to analyze mRNA and protein levels of SP-A and TLR4 and expression of NF-κB in the cytoplasm and nucleus of HK-2 before LPS exposure.

RESULTSHK-2 cells exposed to 100 ng/ml of LPS for 1, 6, and 24 h did not affect cell viability which showed no toxic effect of 100 ng/ml LPS on cells (P = 0.16); however, the biosynthesis of SP-A mRNA and protein in HK-2 cells was significantly increased (P = 0.02). As to the mechanism, LPS enhanced transmembrane receptor TLR4 protein expression. Sequentially, LPS time dependently augmented phosphorylation of MEK1, ERK1/2, and p38MAPK. In addition, levels of phosphorylated IκB-α and nuclear NF-κB were augmented with LPS exposure for 2 h. LPS-induced SP-A and TLR4 mRNA as well as NF-κB expression were significantly inhibited by pretreatment with CLI-095.

CONCLUSIONSThe present study exhibited that LPS can increase SP-A synthesis in human renal epithelial cells through sequentially activating the TLR4-related MEK1-ERK1/2-NF-κB-dependent pathway.

Cell Line ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; physiology ; Colorimetry ; Humans ; Kidney ; cytology ; metabolism ; Lipopolysaccharides ; toxicity ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 ; metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; metabolism ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A ; metabolism ; Sulfonamides ; pharmacology ; Tetrazolium Salts ; chemistry ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism

Seven compounds(deacetylasperulasidic acid methyl ester, gardenoside, chlorogenic acid, geniposide, crocin-Ⅰ, crocin-Ⅱ, chikusetsu saponin Ⅳa)were determined simultaneously by multiple wavelength HPLC with diode array detector(DAD) in different parts of Gardenia jasminoides. The results showed that these components in different parts of G. jasminoides had a different distribution, and there was a large difference in content of each component. Geniposide was mainly distributed in fruits and leaves; chikusetsu saponin Ⅳa was mainly distributed in roots and stems; crocus glycosides existed mainly in fruits; chlorogenic acid had a higher distribution in leaves and stems; gardenoside had a higher distribution in leaves and roots, while ceacetylasperulasidic acid methyl ester had a higher distribution in roots and stems. Based on the analysis of the chemical composition and content difference in different parts of G. jasminoides, the basis for the comprehensive utilization and quality evaluation of resources of G. jasminoides was provided.

Wheat dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA) is a rare but potentially severe food allergy caused by the combination of wheat ingestion and physical exercise. The impact of WDEIA on quality of life (QOL) is unclear. This study characterized the clinical and laboratory features and investigated the QOL in WDEIA patients from Central China. Twenty-eight WDEIA patients were analyzed, and QOL was measured by validated Chinese version Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire-Adult Form (FAQLQ-AF) and Food Allergy Independent Measure (FAIM) after obtaining the diagnosis. The results showed that half of the patients were females. The median onset age was 37 years old. The symptoms occurred within 1 h after wheat ingestion (26/28). Symptoms of anaphylaxis included cutaneous (26/28), respiratory (11/28), gastro-intestinal (5/28) and cardiovascular manifestations (27/28). Skin prick tests were positive to salt soluble (89.3%) and salt insoluble wheat allergen extracts (100%). Positive rate to wheat, gluten and omega-5 gliadin specific IgE was 64.3%, 92.9% and 92.9% respectively. Specific IgE to omega-5 gliadin with a cut-off value 0.83 KU/L offered highly efficient diagnostic criterion for WDEIA (sensitivity: 89.3%; and specificity: 88.9%). The mean scores of FAQLQ-AF and FAIM were 4.70 and 4.98 respectively and level of anti-omega-5 gliadin IgE had positive correlations with FAQLQ scores. Thereby, WDEIA is commonly found in mid-age adults. In most cases, multi-organs especially skin and cardiovascular systems are involved. Salt insoluble wheat allergen skin test and serum specific IgE to gluten and omega-5 gliadin help to diagnose WDEIA. QOL in WDEIA patients is severely impaired.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Allergens ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; immunology ; Anaphylaxis ; diagnosis ; immunology ; physiopathology ; psychology ; China ; Exercise ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; immunology ; physiopathology ; Gliadin ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; immunology ; Heart ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; blood ; Lung ; immunology ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Skin ; immunology ; physiopathology ; Skin Tests ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Triticum ; chemistry ; immunology ; Wheat Hypersensitivity ; diagnosis ; immunology ; physiopathology ; psychology