Association between cesarean section and sensory integration dysfunction in preschool children: a prospective cohort study / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To study the association between cesarean section and sensory integration dysfunction (SID) in preschool children through a prospective cohort study.@*METHODS@#Based on the multicenter mother-infant cohort established by the Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in 2012, the sensory integration functions (three dimensions: vestibular balance, tactile defensiveness, and proprioception) of 392 preschool children were evaluated by the Chinese Children Sensory Integration Capacity Development Rating Scale in 2017. Births by cesarean section were the exposure factors, and the children born by vaginal delivery were enrolled as controls. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association of cesarean section with each dimension of SID.@*RESULTS@#The prevalence rate of SID was 21.9% (86/392) among the preschool children, and the prevalence rates of vestibular balance disorder, tactile over-responsivity, and proprioceptive disorder were 5.9% (23/392), 5.4% (21/392), and 15.1% (59/392) respectively. After adjustment for the confounding factors including maternal age at delivery and maternal educational level and child birth situation, the cesarean section group had a significant increase in the risk of proprioceptive disorder (@*CONCLUSIONS@#Cesarean section can significantly increase the risk of proprioceptive disorder in preschool children, especially in boys.

Role of caspase-3, -8, and -9 in apoptosis of copper induced primary cortical neurons / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of primary cortical neuron injury induced by high concentrations of copper by observing the effect of aceticum culture medium on apoptosis of rat primary cortical neurons and expression of cleaved caspase 3, caspase 8 and caspase 9.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Primary cortical neurons were cultured for 72 hrs and then exposed to different concentrations of aceticum culture medium (20, 40 and 80 microM). The viability of neurons was detected by the MTT method. Apoptosis was observed by Hoechst33258 and flow cytometry Annexin V/PI. Expression of caspase 3, caspase 8 and caspase 9 was measured by Western blot.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Following incubation with aceticum culture medium, apoptosis of neurons was induced. Theviability of neurons was remarkably reduced and the rate of apoptosis was tremendously increased in a concentration dependent manner. Caspase 8 and caspase 9 were activated in 20 microM of copper aceticum culture medium 4 hrs after incubation and peaked at 48 hrs in various concentrations of copper aceticum culture medium, presenting with a time and concentration dependent manner. The activated caspase 3 was observed in 20 microM of copper aceticum culture medium 24 hrs after incubation, which was later than the activated caspase 8 and caspase 9. Caspase 3 expression reached a peak 48 hrs in various concentrations of copper aceticum culture medium, presenting with a time and concentration dependent manner.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The apoptosis of primary cortical neurons can be induced by copper. Caspase 3, caspase 8 and caspase 9 cascade reaction may involve in the apoptosis of copper induced rat primary cortical neurons.</p>

Signal transduction pathway in copper-induced apoptosis of primary cultured rat cortical neuron / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective To investigate copper-induced apoptosis of primary cultured rat cortical neurons and the protective effect of thioredoxin,an apoptosis signal regulated kinase-1(ASK1)inhibitor,and explore the role of ASK1-mediated c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK)/caspase-3 signaling pathway in the neurotoxicity of copper.Methods The changes in the viability and apoptosis of primary cultured rat neurons following exposure to cupric acetate and thoredoxin were assessed using MTT assay and flow cytometry.Western blotting was used to detect the expressions of phosphorylated ASK1(p-ASK1),p-JNKand caspase-3 in the exposed cells.Results Administration of cupric acetate in the cell culture resulted in a concentration-dependent increase of cell apoptosis and a reduction of the viability of the neurons,and the effect was antagonized by thoredoxin.The expression of p-ASK1 and p-JNK began to increase in the neurons at 4h after cupric acetate exposure,and reached the peak level at 48h,showing a time-and concentration-dependent pattern of the changes.Activated caspase-3 was expressed at 24h after the exposure,and the peak expression occurred at 48h.The application of thoredoxin significantly lowered the expressions of p-ASK1,p-JNK and caspase-3,and increased the viability and reduced the apoptotic rate in the exposed neurons(P＜0.05).Conclusions Copper can induce apoptosis of primary cultured rat cortical neurons,in which process ASK1-mediated JNK/caspase-3 signaling pathway may play a critical role.Thoredoxin can protect the cortical neurons from injuries induced by the copper.

Effect of phenylalanine on the Nogo-66 receptor expression in the cortical neurons of rats / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study examined the effect of high concentration of phenylalanine (Phe) on Nogo-66 receptor (NgR) expression in the cortical neurons of rats in vitro in order to investigate whether NgR is involved in the etiology of Phe-induced brain damage.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Neurons from the cerebral cortex of embryonic rats were cultured for 3 days and then were treated with 0.9 mM Phe. After 12, 24 and 48 hrs of Phe treatment, mRNA and protein expression of NgR was detected by real-time PCR and Western blot respectively. Growth cones and growth axons of neurons were detected by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry respectively after 12 and 24 hrs of Phe treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The length of growth axons of neurons was significantly shorter after 12 and 24 hrs of Phe treatment compared with the control group without Phe treatment (P<0.05). Growth cones collapse occurred in 12.5+/-9.7% and 24.1+/-4.5% of neurons respectively after 12 and 24 hrs of Phe treatment but only in 3.5+/-1.5% in the control group (P<0.01). The protein level of NgR after 12, 24 and 48 hrs of Phe treatment was up-regulated, with 9.0, 9.4 and 12.6 times as the control. mRNA level of NgR in the Phe treatment group did not differ from control.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>High concentration of Phe can induce an increased NgR protein expression in cortical neurons, and the increased NgR expression may contribute to the growth cones collapse and the inhibitory activities of axon regeneration after injury.</p>

Molecular Characterization of the Promoter of ATP7B in Wilson Disease / 实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To detect molecular characterization of the promoter and 5′UTR region of ATP7B gene in Chinese children with Wilson disease (WD) and explore the distribution of polymorphisms and mutations in different ethnicity.Methods One hundred and ten patients with WD and 90 healthy children were enrolled into the study and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-single strand configuration polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and DNA sequence analysis.Results 1.Five polymorphisms were identified as follows, -1294T→G,-105C→G,-116C→T ,-132delGCCGC and -75A→C(transcription start site as +1). The former three ones had never been reported before. The fourth one had not been reported either in China. 2.The polymorphism -132delGCCGC and -75A→C both exhibited with allelic frequency at above 70%, which was much higher than other races. The -132delGCCGC polymorphism shared almost complete linkage disequilibrium with the -75A→C polymorphism (in 98% patients) and their regularity was 96.9%.3. Almost all the polymorphisms distributed in flanking sequence of EXON 1 in Chinese. Race and geological distribution may be dominant factors of the variability of promoter and 5′UTR region of ATP7B gene.Conclusions Three novel polymorphisms and a linkage disequilibrium with the -132delGCCGC and -75A→C were identified in Chinese with WD. It also suggests that the mutation in the promoter of ATP7B is uncommon in Chinese patients.