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Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease caused by bacterial infection directly, and the dysregulation of host immune-inflammatory response finally destroys periodontal tissues. Current treatment strategies for periodontitis mainly involve mechanical scaling/root planing (SRP), surgical procedures, and systemic or localized delivery of antimicrobial agents. However, SRP or surgical treatment alone has unsatisfactory long-term effects and is easy to relapse. In addition, the existing drugs for local periodontal therapy do not stay in the periodontal pocket long enough and have difficulties in maintaining a steady, effective concentration to obtain a therapeutic effect, and continuous administration always causes drug resistance. Many recent studies have shown that adding bio-functional materials and drug delivery systems upregulates the therapeutic effectiveness of periodontitis. This review focuses on the role of biomaterials in periodontitis treatment and presents an overview of antibacterial therapy, host modulatory therapy, periodontal regeneration, and multifunctional regulation of periodontitis therapy. Biomaterials provide advanced approaches for periodontal therapy, and it is foreseeable that further understanding and applications of biomaterials will promote the development of periodontal therapy.
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Objective:To investigate the difference in the radiation sensitivity of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) derived from fetal liver and bone marrow.Methods:HSPCs from fetal liver of 14.5 d embryo or bone marrow of 8 week-old mice were isolated to receive a single dose of 5 or 10 Gy irradiation in vitro using a 60Co irradiator. Twelve hours later, the cell apoptosis, mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, colony formation ability and DNA damage in HSPCs were detected. Freshly isolated HSPCs were injected into lethally irradiated CD45.1 + C57BL/6J mice (4.5 Gy+ 5 Gy with an interval of 30 min) Chimerism rate, lineage constitution, and cell cycle were analyzed 12 weeks after transplantation. Results:Compared with bone marrow HSPCs after irradiation, the percentage of apoptosis in fetal liver HSPCs was significantly higher ( t=16.21, 12.27, P<0.05), the level of ROS was dramatically elevated ( t=68.72, 18.89, P<0.05). At 10 Gy, fetal liver HSPCs could not form colonies at all ( t=12.41, 15.67, 9.46, P<0.05). γ-H2AX immunofluorescence staining showed that the DNA damage of fetal liver HSPCs was more severe after irradiation, and the number of Foci formed was significantly higher than that of bone marrow HSPCs ( t=2.27, 2.03, P< 0.05), which indicated that fetal liver HSPCs were more sensitive to radiation. The chimerism rate of transplanted fetal liver HSPCs was lower than that of bone marrow cells ( t=5.84, P<0.05) with a higher proportion of myeloid lineage, suggesting that fetal liver HSPCs had lower in vivo reconstitution capacity than bone marrow HSPCs and were more prone to myeloid differentiation. The cell cycle of bone marrow HSPCs from transplanted chimeric mice was examined, and the proportion of S-phase was significantly higher in the fetal liver group than that in the bone marrow group ( t=2.89, P<0.05). Mitochondrial stress results showed that fetal liver HSPCs had higher basal respiratory capacity ( t=39.19, P<0.05), proton leakage ( t=6.64, P<0.05), ATP production ( t=9.33, P<0.05), and coupling efficiency ( t=7.10, P<0.05) than bone marrow c-Kit + cells, while respiratory reserve capacity ( t=5.53, P< 0.05) was lower than that of bone marrow c-Kit + cells. Conclusions:HSPCs derived from fetal liver display higher radiosensitivty compared with bone marrow HSPCs, laying the foundation for an in-depth illustration of the effects of radiation on hematopoietic stem cells at different developmental stages.
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Objective:To investigate the effect and underlying mechanism of BRCC3 knockout on acute GVHD(aGVHD) of mice.Methods:A total of 12 recipient C57BL/6J mice were divided into two groups, including 6 wild type(WT) and BRCC3 -/-(KO). The recipients were exposed to 4.5 Gy + 4.5 Gy 60Co γ-rays in total body irradiation (TBI) at 30 min intervals. At 6 h post-irradiation, 1×10 7bone marrow cells and 8×10 6 splenocytes from BALB/c mice were infused into C57BL/6J mouse via tail vein to develop aGVHD mouse model. BRCC3 was specifically knocked out in aGVHD mouse model. The organ damage was examined through histopathology. The levels of serum cytokines were measured by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) and cytometric bead array (CBA), respectively. Spleen, liver and small intestine lymphocytes were isolated at 9 d post-transplantation, and the infiltration and activation of T cells in the target organs were assayed using flow cytometry. Results:The absence of BRCC3 in recipient mice significantly shortened survival ( P<0.05) with increased liver injury of aGVHD mice. In BRCC3 -/-recipient mice, the proportions of CD8+ T cells and CD8+ CD25+ T cells were significantly higher than those in the spleen( t=6.53, 5.52, P<0.05), and the proportions of CD8+ T cells and CD8+ CD25+ T cells were significantly increased in the liver ( t=3.74, 3.19, P<0.05). Similarly, the proportions of CD8+ T cells, CD8+ CD25+ T cells and CD8+ CD69+ T cells were significantly elevated in the small intestine ( t=3.52, 4.06, 3.29, P<0.05). Conclusions:BRCC3 deletion increased the proliferation and activation of donor CD8+ T cells and aggravated aGVHD, which might provide a new prevention and treatment target for aGVHD.
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Objective:To study the effect of different doses of 60Co γ-ray ionizing radiation on mitochondrial function in mouse hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Methods:C57BL/6 mice were divided into control group, 1 Gy irradiation group and 4.5 Gy irradiation group. The mitochondrial functions were detected at 12 h and 24 h after irradiation, including ROS level, membrane potential, mitochondrial structure, and mitochondrial stress. Bone marrow c-Kit + cells received a single 15 Gy irradiation in vitro, after 24 h, mitochondrial function was detected. Results:It was found that mice leukocytes ( t=12.41, 18.31, 16.48, 14.16, 19.08, 20.25, P<0.05), red blood cells ( t=4.81, 6.62, P<0.05) and platelets ( t=4.33, 6.68, P<0.05) were significantly reduced. The numbers of bone marrow colony formation unit ( t=16.27, 55.66, 17.06, 43.75, P<0.05), and HSPCs ( t=5.16, 11.55, P<0.05) were decreased dose-dependently post-irradiation. Under 1 Gy irradiation, the mitochondrial function and mitochondrial basal metabolic index of HSPCs ( t= 7.36, 3.68, 4.58, 3.15, 3.15, P<0.05) were enhanced at 24 h post-irradiation. Under 4.5 Gy irradiation, mitochondrial number, mitochondrial membrane potential ( t=12.29, 10.46, P<0.05), maximal respiration and spare respiratory capacity were decreased ( t=7.81, 5.78, 6.70, 5.83, P<0.05), ROS level was increased ( t=4.63, 4.12, P<0.05). The basal respiration and oxidative phosphorylated ATP production were reduced at 12 h after irradiation ( t=8.48, 3.80, P<0.05); and the proton leakage was increased ( t=6.57, P<0.05) and coupling efficiency was reduced ( t=11.43, P<0.05) at 24 h after irradiation. In cultured c-Kit + cells, the level of ROS ( t=11.30, P<0.05) and the maximum respiration and spare respiratory capacity were increased ( t=4.25, 3.44, P<0.05) while the mitochondrial membrane potential was decreased ( t=34.92, P<0.05) significantly. Conclusions:A method for systematically assessing mitochondrial function in HSPCs was established, and the effect of ionizing radiation on mitochondrial function of HSPCs was clarified, laying a foundation for further revealing the mechanism of ionizing radiation-induced mitochondrial damage in HSPCs.
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Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a typical necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungus that distributes worldwide and causes severe diseases on a broad-range of plant species. Studies on S. sclerotiorum have been mainly focused on biology and pathology. The development of high-throughput technologies enabled multi-omics approaches for systems biology. This review summarizes current researches on S. sclerotiorum and proposes systemic strategies for understanding its biology and pathology, to provide novel insights and references for further investigation on molecular biology and pathogenesis of the pathogenic fungi and the pathosystems.
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Ascomycota , Plant Diseases , PlantsABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the system measurement procedure effects on the analytic precision of clinical chemistry analytes.Methods In June 2009, June 2010 and September 2010 respectively,the National Center for Clinical Laboratories of China and the Organization of Five Hospitals in Fukuoka Japan organized comparison activities of 26 clinical chemistry analytes which were ALT,AST,GGT, ALP,CK,LDH,AMY,ChE,TG,TC,HDL-C,LDL-C,Glu,Cr,BUN,UA,K,Na,Cl,Ca,TP,Alb,TBil,DBil, P,Fe.In this paper, we investigated 26 analytes of three sets in Beijing Aerospace General Hospital as follows.(1)The precision of different reconstitution methods was observed by using three kinds of pipetting tools, such as measuring pipette, pipette and dispenser.(2)The experiments were carried out in three stages by testing the dried powder control samples of two concentration levels(101-Ⅰ,101-Ⅱ)provided by Hitachi Japan.They were measured on 28 consecutive days at each stage in order to observe the precision of 26 clinical chemistry analytes.In the first stage,we used the former measurement procedure to measure the control samples;in the second stage we added three conditions of the measurement procedure.The first was two calibration modes,which were once-a--day calibration and twice-a--day calibration.The second was the calibration standard and the last was the conditions of the freeze-thaw samples.In the third stage, we used the twice-a-day calibration only for GGT,ALP,ChE,TG,Cr,Na,K,CL,ALB.(3)JSCC and Health Industry Standard quality objectives were implemented to evaluate whether the precision of the improved measurement procedure met the requirements.(4)Paired T test were used to compare the precision of measurement between the second stage and the first stage, and between the third stage and the second stage of the measurement procedure.Results (1)The precision of three kinds of pipetting tools were 0.56%,0.10%, 0.01%.(2)The ranges of precision of ALT,AST,GGT,ALP,CK,LDH,AMY,ChE,TG,TC,HDL-C,LDL-C,Glu,Cr,BUN,UA,K,Na,Cl,Ca,TP,Alb,TBil,DBil,P,Fe were 0.99%-10.5% about 101-Ⅰ and 0.91%-7.03%about 101-Ⅱin the first stage.The ranges of precision were 0.66%-8.81%of 101-Ⅰand 0.66%-4.28%of 101-Ⅱin the second stage.The ranges of precisions were 0.60%-3.91%of 101-Ⅰand 0.73%-3.39%of 101-Ⅱin the third stage.(3)73%/80%of the samples met the standard of JSCC about 101-Ⅰand 101-Ⅱand 80%/88%of the samples met the standard of Health Industry Standard in the first stage.88%/100% of the samples met the standard of JSCC about 101-Ⅰand 101-Ⅱ and 100%/100%samples met the standard of Health Industry Standard in the second stage.The ratio of samples meeting the standard of JSCC about 101-Ⅰand 101-Ⅱwere 96%/100% and that of Health Industry Standard were 100%/100%in the third stage.(4)Precision of 101-Ⅰand 101-Ⅱwas statistically significant between the measurement procedures of second stage and the first stage,and there was no significant difference between the third stage and the second stage.Conclusion (1)The precision of samples using dispenser to reconstitute is higher than that of the other two pipetting methods.(2)Improving the calibration mode and reconstitution of samples increase the precision of 26 clinical chemistry analytes by over 50%.
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Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics of the patients suffering from sudden senserineural hearing loss (SSNHL) with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV),and to investigate the possible pathogenesis.Methods:The clinical materials of thirsty-five patients with SSNHL complicated with vertigo were retrospectively analyzed.The clinical information,including the traits of vertigo and prognosis of hearing loss of the patients in SSNHL with BPPV group (n=9),and SSNHL with non-BPPV group (n=26) were compared.Results:All patients had profound hearing loss and unsatisfied prognosis of hearing loss,and the response rate was 17.1％,the effective rate was 11.4％,and the curative rate was 5.7％.25.7％ of all cases were diagnosed of BPPV by medical history and postural tests,who had heavier hearing loss than the others.And BPPV comlicated with SSNHL was often found within 1 week after the hearing loss (average value:4.1 d),and all on the same side with the hearing loss ear.BPPV tended to happen in total deafness (6 cases,66.7％) and flat type (3 cases,33.3％),and were often involved in horizontal semicircular canal (6 cases,66.7％) and posterior semicircular canal (3 cases,33.3％).The patients with SSNHL complicated with BPPV needed more times of reduction maneuver (average value:2.3 times),with a satisfied therapeutic effect for reducing the vertigo of the patients.Conclusion:SSNHL complicated with BPPV has a high morbidity in the patients with heavy hearing loss,and often affect the horizontal semicircular canal,which needs the repeated reduction maneuver.
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Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics of the patients suffering from sudden senserineural hearing loss (SSNHL) with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV),and to investigate the possible pathogenesis.Methods:The clinical materials of thirsty-five patients with SSNHL complicated with vertigo were retrospectively analyzed.The clinical information,including the traits of vertigo and prognosis of hearing loss of the patients in SSNHL with BPPV group (n=9),and SSNHL with non-BPPV group (n=26) were compared.Results:All patients had profound hearing loss and unsatisfied prognosis of hearing loss,and the response rate was 17.1％,the effective rate was 11.4％,and the curative rate was 5.7％.25.7％ of all cases were diagnosed of BPPV by medical history and postural tests,who had heavier hearing loss than the others.And BPPV comlicated with SSNHL was often found within 1 week after the hearing loss (average value:4.1 d),and all on the same side with the hearing loss ear.BPPV tended to happen in total deafness (6 cases,66.7％) and flat type (3 cases,33.3％),and were often involved in horizontal semicircular canal (6 cases,66.7％) and posterior semicircular canal (3 cases,33.3％).The patients with SSNHL complicated with BPPV needed more times of reduction maneuver (average value:2.3 times),with a satisfied therapeutic effect for reducing the vertigo of the patients.Conclusion:SSNHL complicated with BPPV has a high morbidity in the patients with heavy hearing loss,and often affect the horizontal semicircular canal,which needs the repeated reduction maneuver.
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Objective To investigate the effect of measuring value transfer for human serum samples assigned by the reference laboratory network on improving the trueness of seven enzyme activities in clinical laboratories,such as ALT,AST,GGT,LDH,CK,AMY and ALP.Methods Depending on the medical imtitutions at all levels contacted by 5 reference laboratories in North China,South China,East China and Southwest China,the corresponding clinical laboratory measuring value transfer/traceability network was established.The frozen human serum samples with good interehangeability and standard material characteristics,including calibrator,sample 1 and sample 2,were provided by Beijing Aerospace General Hospital,and were assigned by 5 reference labotatories in four regiom.These samples were sent to 48 clinical laboratories.These clinical laboratories measured sample 1 and sample 2 according to their standard operating procedures,and then measured.the two samples again after adjusting their measurement system by using the supplied calibrator.The changes of trueness of detection results in these laboratories were evaluated according to the WS/T 403-2012 standard,and the changes of consistency for ALT and AST before and after measuring value tramfer were investigated.Results The results of AMY,ALP,GGT,CK and LDH calibrator,sample 1 and sample 2 assigned by the established network were 138.7 U/L,278.5 U/L and 68.3 U/L,265.3 U/L,94.5 U/L and 134.4 U/L,195.8 U/L,89.0 U/L and 158.9 U/L,393.7 U/L,260.0 U/L and 645.3 U/L,and 302.0 U/L,250.0 U/L and 452.7 U/L,respectively.The percentages of sample 1 and sample 2 which met the bias requirements of the WS/T 403-2012 standard before measuring value transfer for AMY,ALP and GGT were 65.9％ and 61.0％,76.6％ and 78.7％,and 66.7％ and 70.8％,respectively,while after measuring value transfer,they were 89.2％ and 83.8％,86.7％ and 80.0％,and 85.4％ and 91.7％,respectively.The percentages of sample 2 which met the bias requirements of the WS/T 403-2012 standard before measuring value transfer for CK and LDH were 64.6％ and 58.3％,respectively,while after measuring value trander,they were 93.5％ and 84.8％,respectively.The coefficients of variation (consistency) of sample 1 and sample 2 for ALT and AST before measuring value tramfer were 12.9％ and 11.3％,and 10.2％ and 8.9％,respectively,while after measuring value transfer,they were 9.3％ and 8.2％,and 5.6％ and 5.9％,respectively.Conclusion The calibration of routine measurement systems based on the measuring value transfer for human serum samples assigned by the reference laboratory network may improve the comparability of 7 enzyme actvities measurement results in chnical laboratories at all levels obviously,which deserves to be further spread.
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Translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP)is a small protein highly conserved in a variety of eukaryotic species.TCTP is overexpressed in various tumor cells and has been implicated in the regu-lation of cellular processes including apoptosis,DNA repair and drug resistance.By reviewing the recent pro-gress of TCTP research,TCTP is becoming an important regulator of DNA repair and a new molecular target for tumor therapy.
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AIK is a novel cationic peptide with potential antitumor activity. In order to construct the AIK expression vector by Gateway technology, and establish an optimal expression and purification method for recombinant AIK, a set of primers containing AttB sites were designed and used to create the AttB-TEV-FLAG-AIR fusion gene by overlapping PCR. The resulting fusion gene was cloned into the donor vector pDONR223 by attB and attP mediated recombination (BP reaction), then, transferred into the destination vector pDESTl 5 by attL and attR mediated recombination (LR reaction). All the cloning was verified by both colony PCR and DNA sequencing. The BL21 F. coli transformed by the GST-AIR expression plasmid was used to express the GST-AIK fusion protein with IPTG induction and the induction conditions were optimized. GST-AIR fusion protein was purified by glutathione magnetic beads, followed by rTEV cleavage to remove GST tag and MTS assay to test the growth inhibition activity of the recombinant AIR on human leukemia HL-60 cells. We found that a high level of soluble expression of GST-AIK protein (more than 30% out of the total bacterial proteins) was achieved upon 0.1 mmol/L ITPG induction for 4 h at 37 °C in the transformed BL21 F. coli with starting OD₆₀₀ at 1.0. Through GST affinity purification and rTEV cleavage, the purity of the resulting recombinant AIK was greater than 95%. And the MTS assays on HL-60 cells confirmed that the recombinant AIK retains an antitumor activity at a level similar to the chemically synthesized AIK. Taken together, we have established a method for expression and purification of recombinant AIK with a potent activity against tumor cells, which will be beneficial for the large-scale production and application of recombinant AIK in the future.
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Humans , Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides , Antineoplastic Agents , Metabolism , Escherichia coli , Metabolism , Genetic Vectors , HL-60 Cells , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Recombinant Proteins , Sequence Analysis, DNAABSTRACT
Objective To realize the current situation of glove perforation during surgical operation process,and provide basis for preventing surgical glove perforation.Methods In January 2014,an investigation on glove perfo-ration was conducted among operation personnel in 9 operating rooms in a hospital,glove perforation rates,sites, causes and noticed ways were analyzed.Results A total of 2 909 person-time was investigated,147 person-time oc-curred glove perforation,person-time rate of glove perforation was 5.05%;153 of 5 818 gloves (2.63%)were per-forated,6 person-time occurred perforation of double gloves;gloves perforation rates of each specialized surgery were significantly different (χ2=87.945,P<0.001),cardiac surgery(11.84%)and plastic surgery(10.78%)had the hight perforation rates.The common sites of perforation were index finger,thumb,and middle finger,the main cause of perforation was sharp damage by stitches and devices.Most perforations were noticed intraoperatively,and seldom found postoperatively by naked eyes;gloves of different brands had different perforation rates(χ2=33.845, P<0.001).Conclusion In order to reduce and prevent the perforation during operation process,glove brands with good quality should be chosen,and measures for the prevention of glove perforation should be formulated according to the types of surgery.
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Objective To understand health seeking behaviors and influencing factors among freshmen before enrollment in Kunming Medical University in Yunnan Province and to find out the existing medical problems and provide advice to guarantee undergraduates' seeking proper treatment. Methods We used cluster sampling method to select 1044 freshmen whose last digit of student number was singular and questionnaire was used to do the survey which was conducted within 3 months of admission. Statistical methods were descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results The main reasons for students to see the doctor were acute diseases (29.4%) and common disease dominated by cold and fever (34.9%), most of the students went to the medical institutions because of mild medication which can be treated by taking pills. Family location for rural areas had small number of students to see the doctors, the number of students seek medical services with low income families were larger than the high counterparts;students had poor perceived health status tended to seek medical services. Conclusions Family location, incomes and perceived health status are important factors influencing health seeking behavior. The current medical insurance system for college students could be further improved, and colleges and universities should take appropriate measures to provide the conditions for students to seek proper treatment.
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Objective To investigate the routine methods of α-amylase (AMY) test in scrum which meets the requirements of ISO 15189.Methods Fifty human serum samples with different concentrations of AMY (40- 750 U/L) were collected from March to December in 2008,to form the patients' frozen serum group.Four AMY measurement systems including Roche,Wako,MINDRAY and MAKER were used.The frozen standard materials with concentrations of ( 70.1 ± 3.7 ) U/L and ( 418.3 ± 22.1 ) U/L and the patients' frozen serum group were measured simultaneously by using IFCC reference method and 4 AMY measurement systcms based on 7170A automatic biochemistry analyzer.Thc linear regression analysis was made between the measurement results of each system and IFCC reference method.The equivalence,agreement and trueness were also evaluated by using the file EP9-A2 method.Bland-Altman GraphicalAnalysis and the improved Bland-Altman Graphical-Analysis of MVS1.80 software.Results Judging by the standards of IFCC reference method,the measurement results of 4 measurement systems were obviously different. ( 1 ) When measuring standard materials the results were 66.4,70.6,69.4 and 49.2 U/L respectively and 394.0,456.4,406.7,302.4 U/L respectively.The measurement results of MINDRAY were in agreement with that of IFCC reference method.( 2 ) When mcasuring the patients' scrum group by 4 measurement systems and IFCC reference method,the slopes of the linear regression equations were 0.934,1.070,0.930 and 0.731.respectively.And the intercepts were 0.886,6.249,5.388 and 3.574,respectively.According to the EP9-A2 method,the measurement results of Roche Wako,MINDRAY were equivalent to that of IFCC reference method.According to Bland-Altman Graphical-Analysis, the measurement results of Roche and MINDRAY were in agreement with that of IFCC reference method.The average biases of each measurement system were - 6.11％ ( Average bias ± 2s were 2.81％ and -9.40％ ),1.99％ ( Average bias ± 2s were 10.35％ and - 6.36％ ),- 2.70％ (Average bias ± 2s were 2.37％ and -7.77％ ) and -34.72％ ( Average hias ±2s were -24.20％ and -45.24％ ),respectively.According to the improved Bland-Altman Graphical-Analysis, the measurement results of MINDRAY are correct.The average biases of each measurement system were - 5.92％ (Average bias ± 2s were -2.81％ and -9.03％),2.10％ (Average bias ±2s were 10.74％ and -6.53％),-2.64％ ( Average bias ± 2s were2.24％ and -7.51％ ) and - 29.51％ ( Average bias ± 2s were 21.82％ and - 37.21％ ),respectively.Conclusions ( 1 ) The measurement results of different measurement systems do not necessarily have crreet results though they have claimed to have traceability.(2) The trueness of measurement results using the same system may not come to the same conclusion when evaluated by different methods.So laboratories should select and establish a procedure to evaluate trueness of routine methods and adopt those meeting the trueness requirements of ISO 15189.
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Aim To observe whether DHEA has enhancing effect on DbcAMP -induced differentiation of NG108-15 cells, including neurite outgrowth, and study its possible mechanisms. Methods NG108-15 cells (a h ybrid cell line of mouse neuroblastoma and rat glioma) were used as a substitute for primary culture neuron in vitro. The morphology of NG108-15 cells was o bserved and neurite outgrowth was determined in an inversed microscope after treatme nt with various drugs. Gelatin-substrate gel electrophoresis was used to detect gelatinases (MMP-9 and MMP-2). Results ① DHEA and DbcAMP inhibited NG108-15 proliferation.②DHEA had enhancing effect on the promoting activity of neuronal differentiation and neurite outgrowth by DbcAMP. DbcAMP could increase neurite elongation of NG108-15 cells. Compared with this, the combined treatment with DHEA and DbcAMP significantly enhanced the neurite outgrowth of NG108-15 cells, including neurite length and numbers of cells with neurite, in a DHEA dose-dependent manner. ③ MMPs were involved in neuronal differentiation. DbcAMP induced the increase in MMP-9 and MMP-2 activities and such elevation was enhanced by DHEA in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion DHEA enhances the effect of DbcAMP in promoting the neurite outgrowth of NG108-15 cells, which might be related to the increase in MMP-9 and MMP-2 activities.