The ventral anterior (VA) nucleus of the thalamus is a major target of the basal ganglia and is closely associated with the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Notably, the VA receives direct innervation from the hypothalamic histaminergic system. However, its role in PD remains unknown. Here, we assessed the contribution of histamine to VA neuronal activity and PD motor deficits. Functional magnetic resonance imaging showed reduced VA activity in PD patients. Optogenetic activation of VA neurons or histaminergic afferents significantly alleviated motor deficits in 6-OHDA-induced PD rats. Furthermore, histamine excited VA neurons via H1 and H2 receptors and their coupled hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels, inward-rectifier K⁺ channels, or Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ channels. These results demonstrate that histaminergic afferents actively compensate for Parkinsonian motor deficits by biasing VA activity. These findings suggest that targeting VA histamine receptors and downstream ion channels may be a potential therapeutic strategy for PD motor dysfunction.
Animals ; Histamine/metabolism* ; Male ; Oxidopamine/toxicity* ; Rats ; Ventral Thalamic Nuclei/physiopathology* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Disease Models, Animal ; Parkinson Disease/metabolism* ; Neurons/physiology* ; Humans ; Optogenetics

OBJECTIVETo observe the curative effect of integrative medicine for treatment of systematic lupu erythematosus (SLE).

METHODSTotally 110 cases of SLE were randomized into two groups, 50 in the control group and 60 in the treated group, both were treated with prednisone, but to the treated group, integrative medica treatment was given additionally according to syndrome differentiation. The course for both groups was 6 months. Clinical symptoms, immunological indexes, peripheral blood figure, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and creatinine (Cr) in blood, and 24 h urinary total protein (u-TP/24 h) were observed before and after treatment.

RESULTSOf the 60 patients in the treated group, the treatment on 29 was evaluated as clinical remission, 18 as remarkably effective, 9 as effective, and 4 as ineffective, the total effective rate being 93.33% (56/60), while that in the control group was clinical remission in 11, remarkably effective in 10, effective in 19, ineffective in 10 respectively, and the total effective rate 80% (40/50), the difference on total ef fective rate between the two groups was significant (chi2 = 4.36, P <0.05). Besides, the improvement in the treated group was superior to that in the control group in terms of clinical symptoms such as fever, arthralgia and baldness (P <0.05, P <0.01); the negative reversion rate of anti-nuclear antibody (ANA, 51.3% vs 28.1%), antidouble-stranded DNA (ds-DNA, 53.6% vs 26.1%), anti- ribonucleoprotein (RNP, 63.2% vs 29.4%) and circulating immnue complexes (CIC, 63.2% vs 29.4%, all P <0.05); lowering of immunoglobulin (for IgG, P < 0.05; IgA, P <0.01; IgM, P <0.01); as well as bettering in peripheral blood figure, ESR, CRP, Cr and u-TP/24 h (P <0.05 or P <0.01).

CONCLUSIONIntegrative medical treatment is obviously effective for SLE patients.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Autoantibodies ; blood ; Blood Sedimentation ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; blood ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo determine the clinical results of selected CD34(+) cell autologous transplantation in advanced malignant tumors.

METHODSAfter pretreatment, fifteen patients aged 12 - 70 (49.5) years with various Stage III or IV malignant tumors were given the sorted CD34(+) cells collected by magnetic-activated cell sorting (Clini MACS, Milteny Biotech, Germany).

RESULTSPeripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) from the patients were mobilized by chemotherapy and G-CSF 5 micro g/kg per day. CD34(+) cells gave 2.0 - 5 log depletion after cell sorting, with a median yield of CD34(+) selected cells of 2.4 (0.15 - 12.03) x 10(6)/kg. It gave a median recovery of 64 (52 - 81.4)% and median purity of 98.2 (83.2 - 99.7)%. The median time of neutrophil recovery > 1.0 x 10(9)/L and platelet recovery > 20 x 10(9)/L post-transplantation were 14 (8 - 26) days and 13 (11 - 35) days, respectively. On follow-up of 2 - 33 (11) months, the event-free survival rate was 53.3% (8/15) and the overall survival rate was 66.7% (10/15).

CONCLUSIONTransplantation of autologous selected PBPC CD34(+) cells gives prompt and stable engraftment. Selected CD34(+) cell transplantation, being a safe approach, may improve the clinical outcome even in patients with advanced malignant tumors.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, CD34 ; analysis ; Child ; Female ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms ; mortality ; therapy ; Survival Rate ; Transplantation, Autologous

OBJECTIVETo investigate the epidemic state of arboviruses in the downstream area of Lancang river in Yunnan province.

METHODSMosquitoes were collected from Lancang river downstream area (including Lancang county and Simao city) during summer in 1998 and stored in liquid nitrogen after classification. The mosquito pools were homogenized and centrifuged, then the supernatant was inoculated into C6/36 cells for virus isolation. New isolates were identified by neutralization test(NT), ELISA, immunofluorescence assay(IFA) and polyacrylamid gel electrophoresis(PAGE).

RESULTSTotally 22 isolates of arbovirus were obtained from 233 mosquito pools by inoculation of C6/36 cells and positive rate of the isolation was 9.4%. Ten strains were resistant to both ether and 5 prime-IDU. So they were non-enveloped double-stranded (ds) RNA virus. Twelve segmented RNAs were shown by PAGE and PAGE profiles from the ten strains were 6-6 with minor variation. The isolates can be neutralized by immunized mouse ascites fluid of BJ95-75 strains of coltivirus by NT, and reacted with monoclonal antibody against BJ95-75 by ELISA. These viruses were identified as coltivirus. Nine isolates were sensitive to ether and resistant to 5 prime-IDU. So they were non-enveloped RNA viruses. PAGE showed 10 segmented RNA, and they were identified to be orbiviruses. Three isolations were sensitive to ether. One of them can be neutralized with JEV A2 strain antibody by NT and was positive to the homologous antibody by IFA. It was identified being strain of JE virus. One strain(YN92-4) can be reacted with anti-bunyavirus group specific immune ascites fluid by both IFA and ElISA, but reacted neither with anti-alpha virus group, nor with anti-flavivirus group JE virus ascites fluid. The virions are spherical and about 87 nm in diameter with surface projections by negative staining. Conclusion Twenty-two isolates have been obtained from wild caught-mosquitoes of Lancang river down-stream area in Yunnan province. Among them ten, nine, one and one were identified as coltivirus, orbivirus, JE virus and bunyavirus, respectively. One is under identification. This is the first report on bunyavirus isolated from mosquitoes in China.

Animals ; Arboviruses ; classification ; isolation & purification ; China ; Coltivirus ; isolation & purification ; Culicidae ; virology ; Encephalitis Virus, Japanese ; isolation & purification ; Insect Vectors ; virology ; Orbivirus ; isolation & purification ; Orthobunyavirus ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo investigate polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 in Chinese Lahu population in Yunnan.

METHODSPolymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP) were used to determine HLA-DRB1 genotypes of 110 unrelated healthy Lahu minority people of Yunnan Province.

RESULTSSixteen alleles of DRB1 were detected in this study. The results of test showed that the genotype distributions observed were corresponded with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

CONCLUSIONThis study has obtained a more comprehensive and accurate data set of the normal allele frequencies of HLA-DRB1 in Chinese Lahu population in Yunnan Province, which may be of significance in the studies on population genetics and disease association.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; DNA Primers ; Ethnic Groups ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; HLA-DR Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-DRB1 Chains ; Humans ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods

To determine the role of vagi in heart rate variability, conscious rabbits were employed and electrocardiogram was recorded under conditions of bilateral vagi intact, unilateral vagotomy, and bilateral vagotomy. The variability of RR intervals (RRI) was analyzed using power spectrum and approximate entropy (ApEn). The results showed that the values of high frequency power (HF) component, low frequency power (LF) component and ApEn in animals with bilateral vagi intact were the highest, but the LF/HF ratio was the lowest; unilateral vagotomy decreased ApEn, right vagotomy increased LF/HF ratio but left vagotomy did not; the LF/HF ratio increased while ApEn decreased significantly in animals with bilateral vagotomy. It is suggested that the variability of RRI is mainly regulated by the vagi and the role of right vagi is more important than that of the left. When measuring heart rate variability, the results obtained with conventional method are consistent with those with nonlinear method.
Animals ; Entropy ; Heart Rate ; physiology ; Male ; Rabbits ; Vagus Nerve ; physiology