Response of left ventricular structure and function to chronic intermittent hypoxia in New Zealand white rabbits by echocardiography / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective To observe the response of left ventricular (LV)function and structure to chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH)early stage in New Zealand white rabbits by echocardiography.Methods The New Zealand white rabbits were placed in the CIH chamber and exposed to hypoxia for 8 weeks (6 hours/day,6 days/week).The flow of nitrogen and oxygen were regulated into the customized chambers by the gas control delivery system.The fraction of inspired oxygen was changed from 21 % to 8% for 25 s of every 1 70 s.LV structure and function was assessed by echocardiography at CIH 0,1 ,2,4,6,8 weeks and histopathology was done by HE staining simultaneously.Results ①LV structural variables:compared with 0 week,LV posterior wall and interventricular septum thickness thickened at 6 week.LV end diastolic increased at 8 week (P 1 .Isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT)decreased at 1 week and 2 week,but increased at 8 week (P < 0.05 ).④ The myocardial pathology showed that myocardial fibers disordered slightly,cardiomyocytes swelled,nuclei increased and intracellular edema when exposed to CIH for 2 week and 4 week.Vacuolar degeneration,edema and congestion were found in intercellular substance at 6 week and 8 week.Conclusions ① LV systolic and diastolic function compensation started at CIH early stage then LV structure abnormality advent later.②IVCT and IVRT are sensitive indicators of LV systolic and diastolic function compensation.

Effects of Schisandra Chinensis Fruit Ethanol Extract on Nephrin and Desmin Expression in Adriamycin Induced Podocyte Injury / 天津医药

Objective To explore the effect of schisandra chinensis fruit ethanol extract on nephrin and desmin ex-pression in adriamycin(ADR) induced podocyte injury in vitro. Methods Conditionally immortalized mouse podocytes were treated with ADR for 24 h in vitro, then the medium was changed to medium with SE(250 mg/L)for 24 h. Podocytes were di-vided into four groups:control group,model group, SE intervention group and SE group. The expression of nephrin in podo-cytes was detected by immunofluorescence. Western Blot was employed to assess nephrin and desmin expression. Transcrip-tion level of nephrin and desmin were determined by qRT-PCR. Results Nephrin expression was distributed along the cell membrane in linear or granular pattern in control group and SE group. Fluorescence intensity in model group was lower than that of control group SE group and SE intervention group. There was no significant difference of nephrin and desmin protein and mRNA level between control group and SE group. Compared with the model group, protein and mRNA level of nephrin was lower than that of control group and SE intervention group. The protein expression and mRNA transcription of desmin in model group was higher than those in control group and SE intervention group (P＜0.05). Conclusion SE(250 mg/L)has no harmful effect on the podocytes in vitro. SE can protect the podocytes from damage by adriamycin in vitro. SE not only up-regulate the expression of nephrin, but also down-regulate of desmin expression.

Comprehensive analysis of genomic detection for a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was purposed to investigate the significance of genomic comprehensive analysis information in diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of MDS through comprehensive analysis of a patient with MDS. The bone marrow specimen from a patient with MDS was comprehensively analyzed by a combination of genomic approaches, including chromosomal karyotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), genome scanning using Affymetrix high density SNP microarray platform, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis using IonTorrent Cancer Gene Panel. The results showed that an abnormal clone was identified by standard G-banding karyotyping and confirmed by FISH, which contains interstitial deletions on the long arms of chromosome 5 and 11 respectively. SNP-array analysis defined the two genomic deletions to be an 81 Mb interstitial deletion on the long are of chromosome 5 and a 24 Mb interstitial deletion on the long are of chromosome 11. Meanwhile, SNP-array detected two genomic regions with acquired loss of heterozygosity (LOH), a 58 Mb region on the short arm of chromosome 1 and a 39 Mb region on the distal end of the long arm of chromosome 14. In addition, SNP-array identified multiple genomic regions with long stretch of absence of heterozygosity, representing about 5.3% of autosomal genome, indication a certain level of consanguinity between the parents. No clinically significant gene mutation was identified using IonTorrent 50 Cancer Gene Panel while 6 polymorphisms within 6 genes were observed including APC, FGFR3, KDR, KIT, PDGFRA, and RET. It is concluded that the combined genomic techniques are necessary to provide a full picture of the patient's genomic alterations. Some of the acquired genomic findings are important for the diagnosis and therapy selection. Germline genomic alterations warrant genetic counseling and are useful for further studies to explore the mechanisms leading to tumorigenesis of MDS patient.

Effect of hepatocyte growth factor and angiotensin II on rat cardiomyocyte hypertrophy

Angiotensin II (Ang II) plays an important role in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. The combined effect of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and Ang II on cardiomyocytes is unknown. The present study was designed to determine the effect of HGF on cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and to explore the combined effect of HGF and Ang II on cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Primary cardiomyocytes were isolated from neonatal rat hearts and cultured in vitro. Cells were treated with Ang II (1 µM) alone, HGF (10 ng/mL) alone, and Ang II (1 µM) plus HGF (10 ng/mL) for 24, 48, and 72 h. The amount of [³H]-leucine incorporation was then measured to evaluate protein synthesis. The mRNA levels of β-myosin heavy chain and atrial natriuretic factor were determined by real-time PCR to evaluate the presence of fetal phenotypes of gene expression. The cell size of cardiomyocytes was also studied. Ang II (1 µM) increased cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Similar to Ang II, treatment with 1 µM HGF promoted cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Moreover, the combination of 1 µM Ang II and 10 ng/mL HGF clearly induced a combined pro-hypertrophy effect on cardiomyocytes. The present study demonstrates for the first time a novel, combined effect of HGF and Ang II in promoting cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.

Comparison of visual acuity estimates using three different letter charts under two ambient room illuminations.

Background: Visual acuity is an essential estimate to assess ability of the visual system and is used as an indicator of ocular health status. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the consistency of acuity estimates from three different clinical visual acuity charts under two levels of ambient room illumination. Materials and Methods: This study involved thirty Malay university students aged between 19 and 23 years old (7 males, 23 females), with their spherical refractive error ranging between plano and –7.75D, astigmatism ranging from plano to –1.75D, anisometropia less than 1.00D and with no history of ocular injury or pathology. Right eye visual acuity (recorded in logMAR unit) was measured with Snellen letter chart (Snellen), wall mounted letter chart (WM) and projected letter chart (PC) under two ambient room illuminations, room light on and room light off. Results: Visual acuity estimates showed no statistically significant difference when measured with the room light on and with the room light off (F1,372 = 0.26, P = 0.61). Post-hoc analysis with Tukey showed that visual acuity estimates were significantly different between the Snellen and PC (P = 0.009) and between Snellen and WM (P = 0.002). Conclusions: Different levels of ambient room illumination had no significant effect on visual acuity estimates. However, the discrepancies in estimates of visual acuity noted in this study were purely due to the type of letter chart used.