Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of the orbit: report of a case and review of the literature / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

· AIM: To report a rare case of mesenchymalchondrosarcoma in the orbit and to explore its clinicmanifestations, pathologic characters, management andprognosis. · METHODS: We report a case of mesenchymalchondrosarcoma of the orbit. The clinical materials,including ophthalmological examination, computed tomo-graphy scan of the orbit, histopathology and immunohis-tochemistry of the biopsy specimen was reported, and itspertinent literatures were reviewed.· RESULTS: A 36-year-old female was seen with proptosisand decreased vision. Histopathology demonstrated anadmixture of undifferentiated mesenchymal cells andislands of mature hyaline cartilage. Immunohistochemicalstudies revealed positivity for vimentin and S-100, whichwas consistent with the diagnosis of mesenchymalchondrosarcoma.· CONCLUSION: Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma in theorbit is extremely rare malignant tumor. Multi-modalitytreatments (surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy)may lead to long-term survival.

Effect of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound on the enchondral bone formation in posterolateral lumbar fusion in rabbits / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effect of daily low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUs) therapy on improving the enchondral bone formation in lumbar fusion in rabbit models, and to explore its possible mechanism.@*METHODS@#Posterolateral noninstrumented bilateral fusions were performed at the L5 approximately L6 levels in 20 New Zealand rabbits. The autograft iliac bone was implanted on the left side, and the hydroxyapatite bioceramic artificial bone on the right. The rabbits were divided into a treatment group and a control group randomly. One week after the surgery, LIUPs was administered for 20 minutes per day for 4 weeks over the fusion site in the treatment group and false treatment was used in the control group. Post-anterior X-ray photographs were taken to determine the conditions of fusion area, and then, rabbits were killed and the fusion tissues were obtained. Chondrocytes were detected by histological and cytological methods.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the control group, the fusion rate of the treatment group was significantly up-regulated (P0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound therapy improves the endochondral bone formation in the lumbar spine fusion in rabbit models.

Tetramethylpyrazine accelerated spinal cord repair through regulation of caspase-3 and neurofilament protein expression: an acute spinal cord injury model in rats / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effect of tetramethylpyrazine on spinal cord repair through hypothesized pathways including regulation of caspase-3, neurofilament protein NF-L, NF-H, and NF-M expression.@*METHODS@#Allenos weight drop method was used to establish acute spinal cord injury (SCI) rat model at T10 section and was conducted in 80 adult Sprague Dawley rats that were subsequently divided into pseudo-therapy group (sodium chloride group, n=40) and tetramethylpyrazine group (treatment group, n=40). Eight normal rats were included into the pseudo-surgery normal group (n=1 for each time point). The function of spinal cord was evaluated with animal behavioral scores by measuring modified Rivilin loxotic plate degree and counting BBB score at 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 d postoperatively. The injured spinal cord tissue samples were harvested at 1 h, 3 h, 6 h, 1 d, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d, and 21 d postoperatively (n=5 for each time point) for the preparation of continuous histological sections that were analyzed the expression of caspase-3,NF-L,NF-H, and NF-M by immunohistochemistry method.@*RESULTS@#At postoperative Day 7, 14, and 21, animal behavioral scores revealed higher modified Rivlin loxotic plate degree and BBB scores in the treatment group when compared with those of the control group (P<0.05). The cells in the injured spinal cord tissue expressed significantly less caspase-3 and significantly more NF (NF-L, NF-H and NF-M) in the treatment group than those in the control group at Day 3, 7, and 14 (P<0.05). There was positive correlation between modified Rivlin loxotic plate degree and NF expression, BBB score and NF expression; and negative correlations between BBB score and caspase-3 expression, caspase-3 expression and NF expression.@*CONCLUSION@#Tetramethylpyrazine improves spinal cord healing through regulation of caspase-3 and neurofilament protein expression.

Induction of heat shock protein in retinal ganglion cells and its role in a rat glaucoma model / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

· AIM: To investigate whether heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) is induced in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in experimental rat glaucoma and whether the induction of HSP27 by intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation can increase serum autoantibody to HSP27 in the model.IOP elevation、Sham and normal groups by SPSS12.0. IOP was raised by electrocoagulating at least 3 episcleral veins and limbal veins on the right eye of each rat in IOP elevation group and its contralateral eye was used as controls. Immunohistochemical staining for HSP27 was performed in RGCs and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and serum immunoreactivity against HSP27 was detected by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in three groups.RNFL of the eyes with IOP elevation, while it was expressed weakly in untreated control eyes. Compared with sham and normal groups, serum autoantibody to HSP27 was slightly high at 1wk (P ＞0.05) and significantly increased at 2, 3, 4 and 8wk (P＜0.05) in IOP elevation group.enhanced expression of the endogenous HSP27 might play an important role in glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

Therapeutic effects of intraarticular injection of ligustrazine on knee osteoarthritis / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the therapeutic effects of intraarticular injection of ligustrazine on knee osteoarthritis (OA).@*METHODS@#Seventy-one cases of knee osteoarthritis (82 knees) were randomly divided into ligustrazine (LI) group and sodium hyaluronate (SH) group. The patients were intraarticularly injected ligustrazine or sodium hyaluronate once a week for 5 consecutive weeks, and were followed-up for 3 months. Lequesneos protocol for the evaluation of OA severity and activity was used. The therapeutic effects and changes of Lequesneos index were observed after the treatment.@*RESULTS@#There was significant decrease in Lequesneos index in SH group after the treatment (P0.05). Three weeks later, there was significant decrease in Lequesneos index in both groups after the treatment (P0.05). After the 5-week treatment, the efficacy rate of the LI group was 82.1%, and that of the SH group was 87.2%. No serious toxic or side effect was observed during the treatment and the follow-up.@*CONCLUSION@#Intraarticular injection of ligustrazine has a therapeutic effect on knee OA. No adverse effect is observed, but it needs long time to take effect.

Mitochondrial DNA deletion mutations in articular chondrocytes of cartilage affected by osteoarthritis / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To detect the changes of mitochondrion DNA (mtDNA) sequence in articular chondrocytes of cartilage affected by osteoarthritis and to clarified the pathogenetic mechanism of osteoarthritis.@*METHODS@#We analyzed the mtDNA 4,977 bp deletion mutations of articular chondrocytes in 10 patients with osteoarthritis and 3 normal cartilages using the gap-PCR amplification method. We designed a two round PCR detection method, in which total DNA was isolated from articular chondrocytes as the template of the first round PCR reaction and products from the first round were the template in the second round reaction.@*RESULTS@#The results of the first rounds of PCR reaction showed the mtDNA 524 bp amplified products in the osteoarthritis group and in the corresponding peripheral blood samples were not detected, but the 533 bp products were detected. However,the results of the second round reaction revealed that the 524 bp zones were detected in 2 of the 10 osteoarthritis patients and the corresponding peripheral blood samples were not detected. The 533 bp products were detected in all specimens. The mtDNA 524 bp amplified products in all the normal articular chondrocytes and the corresponding peripheral white blood cells contrast were not detected in both rounds PCR.@*CONCLUSION@#This was the first study to evaluate the mtDNA 4799 bp large fragment deletion mutational accumulation between nt8,470 - nt13,447 of articular chondrocytes in osteoarthritic cartilage. Osteoarthritis may be related to mtDNA mutation of articular chondrocytes.

A new method of duplication of the chronic intraocular hypertension model: underwater electrocoagulation / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM: To study the experimental method of inducing the chronic intraocular hypertension in rat eyes.METHODS: Twenty Wistar rats were randomly divided into ocular hypertension and Sham control groups. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was raised by electrocoagulating at least 3 episcleral and limbal veins on the right eye of each rat in ocular hypertension group and its contralateral eye was used as control. At 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8wk after the electrocoagulation of the veins, IOP were measured. RESULTS: The treatment of electrocoagulation caused a significant IOP increase of the right eyes over the baseline, over the contralateral eyes, and over the sham control eyes (repeated measures ANOVA, P＜0.001). At 1wk,IOP was (30.12± 5.L8 ) mmHg (1kPa=7.5mmHg), and maintained the high IOP up to 8wk.CONCLUSION: The chronic intraocular hypertension model could be successfully created by electrocoagulating three or more episcleral and limbal veins.

Polymorphism of two novel SNPs, which locate on chromosome 9p21-22, in Han Chinese of Hunan / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To search novel SNPs in exons and regulatory regions of CDKN2A and two novel putative tumor suppressor genes NGX6 and UBAP1, which all reside on chromosome 9p21-22.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The exons and regulatory regions of those genes were amplified and sequenced in 96 subjects.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Two novel SNPs were found, one resides on the sixth exon of UBAP1 gene and the other on the fourth exon of CDKN2A gene. Two novel SNPs were submitted to the dbSNP database, and their access ID are rs3135929 and rs3088440. The polymorphic information contents of them are 0.102 and 0.213 respectively. There is linkage equilibrium between them, and the polymorphic information content of their haplotype is 0.302, higher than any of them individually.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The polymorphic information content can be improved by using haplotype analysis of several SNPs.</p>