Role of sterol regulatory element-binding proteins in lipid metabolism-related diseases / 基础医学与临床

Sterol regulatory element-binding proteins(SREBPs),as a major regulator of liposome in vivo,plays an important role in controlling liver lipid synthesis and inducing expression of genes involved in fatty acid,triglyceride and cholesterol synthesis.Part of the traditional Chinese medicine and its derivatives through the SREBP can be tar-get treatment of lipid metabolism related diseases.

Effect of Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb. Leaf ethanol extract on anti-oxidative capability of brain stem in sleep-deprived rats / 第二军医大学学报

Objective: To investigate the effects of Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb. Leaf ethanol extract (VEE) and its different extracts on the anti-oxidative capability of brain stem in sleep-deprived rats. Methods: Rats were intragastrically administered with low, middle, and high dose of VEE (1.2 g/ml, 2.4 g/ml, and 7.2 g/ml) and different extracts daily for 10 days. The rat mental fatigue models were established by sleep deprivation through flower-pot on the 7th day. Rats treated with salidroside (200 mg/ml) were taken as positive controls. After 72 h sleep deprivation, the concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) , superoxide dismutase (SOD) , and total antioxidative capacity(T-AOC) in the brain stem were determined in each group. Results: The concentrations of the MDA, SOD, and T-AOC in the normal control group were (16.4±0.42) nmol/mg protein, (2.9±0.62) U/mg protein, and (154.3±14.47) U/ml, respectively. Compared with the normal control group, the sleep-deprived group had significantly higher concentrations of MDA, SOD and T-AOC(P<0.05), and the groups of salidroside, high dose ethanol, and aqua extract of VEE had significantly lower MDA (P< 0.05), and lower SOD and T-AOC. Conclusion: The high dose VEE can greatly decrease the oxidative stress level of the brain stem, and it also has remarkable anti-oxidative ability, with the active part mainly in the aqua extract of VEE.

Arthroscopic investigation of the status of temporomandibular joint in patients with temporomandibular joint pain / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the status of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in patients with complaints of joint pain for improving clinical therapy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty three joints in twenty patients who complained of TMJ pain were examined radiographically and arthroscopically.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were at least one and more to six pathological changes could be found arthroscopically in the 23 temporomandibular joints, which were different in some respects with radiographic findings.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>TMJ related pain may be associated with pathological alterations in the TMJ, and synovitis may be one of the causes of TMJ pain.</p>

Somatic and visceral nociceptive inputs from the orofacial area and the upper alimentary tract converge onto CB-containing neurons in interstitial nucleus of the spinal trigeminal tract in rats / 生理学报

The interstitial nucleus of the spinal trigeminal tract (INV) contains many calbindin-D28k-containing neurons (CB-neurons) receiving convergence information from the somatic and visceral structures. The purpose of the present study was to confirm whether the primary afferent terminals from the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) make close contact and synaptic connections with the same CB-neurons receiving visceral nociceptive signals in INV. Biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) tracing combined with CB and Fos proteins immunohistochemistry were used. After injections of BDA and formalin into unilateral IAN and upper alimentary tract, respectively, the transganglionic labeled afferent fibers and terminals from IAN were observed in the ipsilateral INV, especially in its enlarged part. A large number of CB- and Fos-like immunoreactive (LI) neurons were found in bilateral INV. These CB- and Fos-LI neurons mostly overlapped with BDA-labeled terminals in the enlarged part of INV. About one half of the CB-LI neurons were double labeled with Fos-LI nuclei (74/153). The terminals from IAN were to made close contacts with many CB/Fos-double labeled or CB-single labeled neurons. After injection of HRP into IAN, HRP-labeled fibers and terminals in INV were similar to that labeled with BDA. Under the electron microscope, a large number of CB-LI dendrites and a few soma in the enlarged part of INV were found to form asymmetrical axo-dendritic and axo-somal synapses with the HRP-labeled axon terminals. These results indicate that the orofacial somatic inputs from IAN and the visceral nociceptive inputs from the upper alimentary tract converge onto the same CB-containing neurons in INV. These CB-containing neurons in INV probably play an important role in information integration as well as visceral and cardiovascular activity.

Calbindin D-28k-containing neurons receiving visceral and somatic nociceptive information in interstitial nucleus of the spinal trigeminal tract project to the parabrachial nuclei in the rat / 生理学报

The calbindin D-28k (CB)-containing neurons in the interstitial nucleus of the spinal trigeminal tract (INV) that receive visceral and orofacial somatic nociceptive information and emanate projections to the parabrachial nuclei (PB) were investigated by the triple-labeled methods of fluorogold (FG) retrograde tracing combined with Fos and CB proteins immunofluorescence histochemistry in the rat. The results showed (1) in the perioral stimulation group, a large number of FG-retrograde labeled and Fos-immunoreactive neurons were found in the paratrigeminal nucleus (PaV) and the dorsal paramarginal nucleus (PaMd) of the INV ipsilateral to FG and formalin injection made to the PB and lips, respectively, while a lot of CB-immunoreactive neurons were distributed in the INV bilaterally; (2) a majority of the FG-retrograde labeled neurons (77.3%) were double-labeled with CB, and 40.7% of them were double-labeled with Fos; about 38.5% of FG/CB double-labeled neurons were FG/CB/Fos triple-labeled in the INV; and (3) in the upper alimentary tract stimulation group, the distribution and the numbers of FG-retrograde labeled, CB-immunoreactive neurons and FG/CB double-labeled neurons in the INV were similar to those of the perioral stimulation group as described above, except that the Fos immunoreactive neurons were distributed in the INV bilaterally, approximately 41.9% of the FG-retrograde labeled neurons were FG/Fos double-labeled, and over half (52.0%) of those double-labeled neurons were FG/CB/Fos triple-labeled. The results indicate that a part of CB-containing neurons in the INV receive orofacial somatic and visceral nociceptive information and that these neurons sent projections directly to the PB. The CB-containing neurons might play an important role in the transmission of the peripheral nociceptive information from INV to PB.