ABSTRACT
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting both upper and lower motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. One important aspect of ALS pathogenesis is superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) mutant-mediated mitochondrial toxicity, leading to apoptosis in neurons. This study aimed to evaluate the neural protective synergistic effects of ginsenosides Rg1 (G-Rg1) and conditioned medium (CM) on a mutational SOD1 cell model, and to explore the underlying mechanisms. We found that the contents of nerve growth factor, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor significantly increased in CM after human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) were exposed to neuron differentiation reagents for seven days. CM or G-Rg1 decreased the apoptotic rate of SOD1G93A-NSC34 cells to a certain extent, but their combination brought about the least apoptosis, compared with CM or G-Rg1 alone. Further research showed that the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was upregulated in all the treatment groups. Proteins associated with mitochondrial apoptotic pathways, such as Bax, caspase 9 (Cas-9), and cytochrome c (Cyt c), were downregulated. Furthermore, CM or G-Rg1 also inhibited the activation of the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway by reducing the phosphorylation of p65 and IκBα. CM/G-Rg1 or their combination also reduced the apoptotic rate induced by betulinic acid (BetA), an agonist of the NF-κB signaling pathway. In summary, the combination of CM and G-Rg1 effectively reduced the apoptosis of SOD1G93A-NSC34 cells through suppressing the NF-κB/Bcl-2 signaling pathway (Fig. 1 is a graphical representation of the abstract).
Subject(s)
Humans , NF-kappa B/metabolism , Ginsenosides/pharmacology , Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/genetics , Culture Media, Conditioned/pharmacology , Superoxide Dismutase-1 , Neurodegenerative Diseases , Neurons/metabolism , ApoptosisABSTRACT
Objective To explore the association between diabetes mellitus type Ⅱ (DM) and deglutition function of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients.Methods Seventy-five ALS patients older than 45 years and admitted to our hospital from August 2008 to November 2015 were selected into this study;67 of them were without DM and 8 were with DM.Water swallow test,amyotrophic lateral sclerosis severity scale-swallow (s-ALSSS),amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale (ALSFR-R) and videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFS) were performed to evaluate the deglutition functions of these ALS patients with or without DM,and the results of the two groups were compared.Results (1) Patients with DM had significantly higher s-ALSSS scores,ingurgitation part in ALSFRS-R scores and in parts of VFS scores,such as transportation to pharyngeal,pharyngeal transit,flow into pharyngeal before reflexion,epiglottic vallecula residue,and piriform sinus residue than patients without DM (8.88±1.34 vs.7.54±1.47,3.50±0.54 vs.2.96±0.77,2.88±0.35 vs.2.16±0.69,2.75±0.46 vs.2.09±0.69,2.88±0.35 vs.2.42±0.56,2.88±0.35 vs.2.39±0.58,P＜0.05).(2) Scores of Kubota drinking test,ALSFRS-R,VGF (including oral phase,pharyngeal phase and aspiration degree) in patients without DM were 2.15±1.12,7.18±1.41(1.78±0.69,1.69±0.60 and 3.72±0.65),and those in patients with DM were 1.88±1.34,8.00±0.93(2.13±0.64,2.00±0.53 and 4.00±0.00);no significant differences were noted between the two groups (P＞0.05),but there was a trend showing that DM patients had higher scores in these evaluations.Conclusion As compared with ALS patients without DM,ALS patients with DM get more mildly impaired deglutition function.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the clinical and electrophysiological features and pulmonary function of 8 Chinese patients with Kennedy's disease (KD) and to enhance the understanding for the disease.Methods Eight patients with KD,admitted to out hospital from July 2010 to December 2013 and confirmed by gene examination,were chosen in our study; their clinical and electrophysiological features,and laboratory characteristics and pulmonary function were compared with those in the healthy volunteers.Results The average age of onset in the 8 patients was (45.13±17.47) years,and the average age of diagnosis was (55.63±12.11) years.The most common complaint was leg weakness.All patients presented hemifacial spasm,tongue muscle atrophy and fibrillation,amyotrophy and gynaecomastia; creatine kinase level was elevated and endocrine disorder appeared in different degrees.The electromyogram characteristics included widespread neurogenic changes accompanied with/without sensory or motor conduction abnormalities.The forced vital capacity,forced expiratory volume in first second,maximal voluntary ventilation and peak expiratory flow rate were significantly lower,and the residual volume in the KD patients was statistically higher than that in the healthy volunteers (P＜0.05).Respiratory muscle strength (maximum inspiratory pressure and maximum expiratory pressure) decreased in the KD patients.Conclusion KD is a degenerative disease with slow clinical progression which has its own characteristics of inheritance pattern and natural course; the age of onset,repeat number of CAG sequences,pulmonary function and respiratory muscle strength may be valuable for illness evaluation.
ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the influence of a clinical pathway on mean length of hospital stay of ischemic stroke patients. Methods The study performed retrospective cohort study of stroke patients which were hospitalized in the Guangdong provincial hospital of TCM corresponding to the periods immediately before and after the implementation of the clinical pathway. The outcome measure was mean length of hospital stay. Results Mean length of hospital stay was significantly shortened after implementing clinical pathway. Conclusions The implementation of the ischemic stroke clinical pathway can shorten mean length of hospital stay of ischemic stroke patients and improve the utilization of medical source.