Gap junction(GJ),also known as gap junction,is widely found between neurons and glial cells,and can connect neighboring cells and mediate the transmission of electrical sig-nals between neighboring cells.The GJ channel,which exists between neurons and mediates intercellular electrical signaling,is also known as an electrical synapse.Connexins(Cxs)are the molecular basis of GJ,and are expressed to different degrees in different neurons and glial cells.The presence of GJ mediates different functions among neurons and glial cells,which further influences the establishment of various mature neural circuits,re-flecting the importance of GJ in the maintenance of neural cir-cuits.This review summarizes the relationship between GJ and neural circuits in relation to the effects of GJ and different Cxs on neurons and glial cells,providing new research ideas for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Neurovascular coupling is the function of regulating blood flow of the central nervous system at the level of neurovascular units. The central nervous system diseases related to neurovascular coupling mainly include cerebrovascular diseases such as chronic cerebral ischemia and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease,Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia. The main mechanism of neurovascular coupling dysfunction leading to the above diseases is cerebrovascular dysfunction or loss,which leads to serious damage to neuronal ischemia and affects its function. Therefore,this paper reviews the research status of neurovascular coupling and its related central nervous system diseases,in order to guide the follow-up research. The purpose of this paper is to provide a basis for the prevention,relief and treatment of central nervous system diseases related to neurovascular coupling through the mechanism of neurovascular coupling.

This study aims to investigate the effect of modified Danggui Shaoyao Powder on the suppressor of cytokine signaling 3(SOCS3)/Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4) signaling pathway in gastric tissue of rats with chronic atrophic gastritis(CAG).Sixty SPF-grade SD rats were randomly assigned into the normal group, model group, Moluo Pills group, and high-, medium-, and low-dose groups of modified Danggui Shaoyao Powder.The rats in other groups except the normal group were treated with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine(MNNG) to establish the CAG model.After 12 weeks of modeling, the rats in each group were administrated with corresponding drugs by gavage for 8 weeks.After the last administration, the histopathological changes of rat gastric mucosa were observed via hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining.The serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The mRNA levels of SOCS3 and TLR4 were determined by real-time PCR.The protein levels of SOCS3, TLR4, JAK2, p-JAK2, STAT3, and p-STAT3 in rat gastric tissue were measured by Western blot.Immunohistochemical method was employed to determine the protein levels of NF-κB, MyD88, NLRP3, Bcl-2, Bax, and Bad in rat gastric tissue.The results showed that modified Danggui Shaoyao Powder alleviated gastric mucosal atrophy of rats, significantly lowered the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP in rat serum, up-regulated the mRNA level of SOCS3, and down-regulated the mRNA level of TLR4 in rat gastric tissue.Furthermore, modified Danggui Shaoyao Powder up-regulated the protein level of SOCS3, down-regulated the protein levels of TLR4, p-JAK2, p-STAT3, NF-κB, MyD88, NLRP3, Bax, and Bad, and promoted the expression of Bcl-2 protein.Therefore, modified Danggui Shaoyao Powder may mitigate the gastric mucosal atrophy of rats by regulating the SOCS3/TLR4 signaling pathway.
Animals ; Atrophy ; Gastritis, Atrophic/genetics* ; Interleukin-6/metabolism* ; Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88/metabolism* ; NF-kappa B/metabolism* ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Powders ; RNA, Messenger ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Signal Transduction ; Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Toll-Like Receptor 4/metabolism* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism* ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein/metabolism*

Aim To study whether ginsenoside Rg1 could improve white matter injury caused by chronic cerebral ischemia.Methods C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into Sham group,Model group,Donepezil group,and ginsenoside Rg1(10,5 mg·kg-1)group.BCAS was established by using bilateral common carotid artery stenosis.Drug treatment was started one day after the operation,and the stomach was given continuously for 30 days.During this period,the body weight and CBF changes were observed,and observed by climbing rods,new object recognition and Y maze experiments.The movement coordination and cognitive abilities of each group of animals were improved.The improvement of the myelin sheath of the corpus callosum was detected by LFB staining,the damage of corpus callosum neurons was observed by Nissl staining,and the expression level of MBP in the corpus callosum was detected by immunofluorescence and Western blot.Results The test results of body weight and CBF showed that compared with model group,ginsenoside Rg1 group did not significantly improve the animal's body weight and CBF values; the results of climbing rod,new object recognition,and Y maze experiment showed that ginsenoside Rg1 group significantly shortened the time it took animals to climb rods,and improved the animal's new object recognition index and the number of autonomous alternations; LFB and Nissl staining results showed that ginsenoside Rg1 group significantly improved the myelin and neuron damage of the animal corpus callosum.The results of immunofluorescence and Western blot showed that ginsenoside Rg1 group significantly increased the expression level of animal myelin basic protein MBP.Conclusion Ginsenoside Rg1 can significantly improve white matter injury caused by chronic cerebral ischemia.

BACKGROUND: Stent failure is more likely in the lipid rich and thrombus laden culprit lesions underlying ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This study assessed the effectiveness of post-dilatation in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) for acute STEMI. METHODS: The multi-center POST-STEMI trial enrolled 41 consecutive STEMI patients with symptom onset <12 hours undergoing manual thrombus aspiration and Promus Element stent implantation. Patients were randomly assigned to control group (n=20) or post-dilatation group (n=21) in which a non-compliant balloon was inflated to >16 atm pressure. Strut apposition and coverage were evaluated by optical coherence tomography (OCT) after intracoronary verapamil administration via thrombus aspiration catheter, post pPCI and at 7-month follow-up. The primary endpoint was rate of incomplete strut apposition (ISA) at 7 months after pPCI. RESULTS: There were similar baseline characteristics except for stent length (21.9 [SD 6.5] mm vs. 26.0 [SD 5.8] mm, respectively, P=0.03). In post-dilatation vs. control group, ISA rate was lower (2.5% vs. 4.5%, P=0.04) immediately after pPCI without affecting final TIMI flow 3 rate (95.2% vs. 95.0%, P>0.05) or corrected TIMI frame counts (22.6±9.4 vs. 22.0±9.7, P>0.05); and at 7-month follow-up (0.7% vs. 1.8%, P<0.0001), the primary study endpoint, with similar strut coverage (98.5% vs. 98.4%, P=0.63) and 1-year rate of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). CONCLUSION In STEMI patients, post-dilatation after stent implantation and thrombus aspiration improved strut apposition up to 7 months without affecting coronary blood flow or 1-year MACE rate. Larger and longer term studies are warranted to further assess safety (ClinicalTrials.gov identifi er: NCT02121223).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the survival and toxicities in cervical esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (CESCC) treated by concurrent chemoradiothrapy with either three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) or intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) techniques. Materials and Methods: A total of 112 consecutive CESCC patients were retrospectively reviewed. 3D-CRT and IMRT groups had been analyzed by propensity score matching method, with sex, age, Karnofsky performance status, induction chemotherapy, and tumor stage well matched. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model were used for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Toxicities were compared between two groups by Fisher exact test. Results: With a median follow-up time of 34.9 months, the 3-year OS (p=0.927) and PFS (p=0.859) rate was 49.6% and 45.8% in 3D-CRT group, compared with 54.4% and 42.8% in IMRT group. The rates of grade ≥ 3 esophagitis, grade ≥ 2 pneumonitis, esophageal stricture, and hemorrhage were comparable between two groups, while the rate of tracheostomy dependence was much higher in IMRT group than 3D-CRT group (14.3% vs.1.8%, p=0.032). Radiotherapy technique (hazard ratio [HR], 0.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01 to 0.79) and pretreatment hoarseness (HR, 0.12; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.70) were independently prognostic of tracheostomy dependence. Conclusion No survival benefits had been observed while comparing IMRT versus 3D-CRT in CESCC patients. IMRT with fraction dose escalation and pretreatment hoarseness were considered to be associated with a higher risk for tracheostomy dependence. Radiation dose escalation beyond 60 Gy should be taken into account carefully when using IMRT with hypofractionated regimen.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a type of common neurodegenerative disease. The main clinical symptom of the disease is progressive cognitive dysfunction, which has no effective therapy yet. With the in-depth immunology study in the central nervous system, studies in different fields such as preclinical phase, genetics and bioinformatics have shown that immune dysfunction contribute to the pathogenesis of AD, including the beginning, maintenance and deterioration stage in AD. China has a wealth of natural medicine resources and clinical experiences. A large number of natural drugs and effective components both can regulate the immune function and ameliorate the symptoms in AD. This review summarizes the researches of ameliorating the symptoms in AD through immunization regulation in recent years with an aim to provide new ideas and clues in the study of new anti-AD drugs using natural medicines.

OBJECTIVETo explore the ratio of lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of patients with aplastic anemia (AA) and patients with hypoplastic myelodysplastic syndrome (hypo-MDS) patients and to evaluate their significance.

METHODSThe clinical data of 181 cases of AA and 111 cases of hypo-MDS from January 2008 to December 2014 were collected from Blood Diseases Hospital of Chinese academy of medical sciences, and then the differences of lymphocyte subsets and its effect in 2 groups were analyzed.

RESULTSCD4/CD8ratio, proportion of CD3cells and its subsets CD3CD4/CD3CD8cells in hypo-MDS group were not significant different from AA group (P>0.05). the proportion of CD3CD16/CD56NK cells and CD3CD57T-LGL cells in hypo-MDS group was significantly higher than that in AA group (P<0.05, P<0.01), but CD19B lymphocyte percentage in hypo-MDS patients was lower than that in AA patients (P<0.05). After dividing group according to CD4/CD8ratio, the ratios of CD3CD16/CD56NK cells and CD3/CD57T-LGL cells were higher only in normal CD4/CD8ratio group of hypo-MDS patients than those in AA patients, while the ratio of B lymphocytes was significant different in inverted CD4/CD8ratio group between hypo-MDS and AA patients. The CD19B lymphocyte ratio in hypo-MDS patients was significantly lower than that in AA patients (P<0.05). As well, the levels of erythrocytes and platelets in peripheral blood between hypo-MDS and AA patients only in normal CD4/CD8ratio group were significantly different, while the significant difference of WBC count and reticulocyte ratio were observed in high CD4/CD8ratio and non-inverted CD4/CD8ratio groups, respectively; the significant difference of bone marrow blast ratio and muture monocyte ratio was found in high CD4/CD8ratio group.

CONCLUSIONThe changes of lymphocyte subsets can be used as an reference indicator for differential diagnosis of hypo-MDS and AA. The comparative analysis of patients with these 2 kinds of diseases after dividing into subgroups according to ratio of CD4/CD8cells is beneficial to differentiat diagnosis.

BACKGROUNDA recent genome-wide association study in Caucasians revealed that three loci (rs174547 in fatty acid desaturase 1 (FADS1), rs2338104 near mevalonate kinase/methylmalonic aciduria, cobalamin deficiency, cblB type (MVK/MMAB) and rs10468017 near hepatic lipase (LIPC)) influence the plasma concentrations of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG). However, there are few reports on the associations between these polymorphisms and plasma lipid concentrations in Chinese individuals. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between these three polymorphisms with HDL-C and TG concentrations, as well as coronary heart disease (CHD) susceptibility in Chinese individuals.

METHODSWe conducted a population-based case-control study in Chinese individuals to evaluate the associations between these three polymorphisms and HDL-C and TG concentrations, and also evaluated their associations with susceptibility to CHD. Genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assays and TaqMan genotyping assays.

RESULTSWe found significant differences in TG and HDL-C concentrations among the TT, TC and CC genotypes of FADS1 rs174547 (P=0.017 and 0.003, respectively, multiple linear regression). The CC variant of rs174547 was significantly associated with hyperlipidemia compared with the TT variant (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.71, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.16-2.54). The FADS1 rs174547 CC variant was also associated with significantly increased CHD risk compared with the TT and TC variant (adjusted OR=1.53, 95%CI: 1.01-2.31), and the effect was more evident among nonsmokers and females. The polymorphisms rs2338104 and rs10468017 did not significantly influence HDL-C or TG concentrations in this Chinese population.

CONCLUSIONrs174547 in FADS1 may contribute to the susceptibility of CHD by altering HDL-C and TG levels in Chinese individuals.

Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Cholesterol, HDL ; blood ; Coronary Disease ; blood ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Fatty Acid Desaturases ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; Triglycerides ; blood

Objective To analyze the infection of human papillomavirus in lip squamous cell carcinoma patients.Methods The pathological samples of 9 clinical diagnosed lip cancer patients were collected.Lunimex and PCR techniques were used to detect the HPV gene infection and immunohistochemistry method was used to analyze the HPV protein expression in the samples.Results In the 9 cases,1 was positive for HPV16 gene and 7 were positive for HPV16/18 E6 protein expression.The total positive rate was about 8/9.Conclusion The high HPV infection rate in lip cancer patients in the study indicated indirectly that the importance of the direct contact to the infection of HPV what was the basis for pathogenesis of the lip squamous cell carcinoma.