Research progress of corneal collagen cross-linking in the treatment of keratoconus / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

@#Corneal collagen cross-linking(CXL)is a new treatment for corneal diseases such as primary or secondary keratoconus, infectious keratitis and bullous keratopathy. CXL is used to increase the biomechanical stability of the stromal tissue and prevent the progression of keratopathy based on Laws of Photochemistry, which is widely used in clinical practice at present. Currently, commonly used method in clinical practice is the traditional “epithelium-off” corneal cross-linking method(dresden protocol), but the classical method takes a long time, and there may be postoperative complications such as poor healing of the corneal epithelium and infection. In recent years, a number of studies have improved the classical method, such as the choice of riboflavin solution immersed in the cornea, increasing the energy of ultraviolet light to shorten the accelerated cross-linking time of irradiation and cross-epithelial CXL. Thus, this paper reviews clinical and basic researches of the current use of non-classical CXL in the treatment of keratoconus.

Effect of Modified Erchentang on VEGF,VEGFR2,IL-4,ET-1 in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Rats / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To observe the effects of Erchen on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor R2 (VEGFR2), interleukin (IL)-4 and endothelin-1 (ET-1) in rats with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Method: The 50 SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, 10 rats in each group, which were normal group, model group, Erchentang low, medium and high dose group (10, 20, 40 g · kg-1 · d-1). COPD rat model was established by smoking combined with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) intratracheal drip. After successful modeling, the treatment group was given intragastric administration, and the normal group and the model group were given intragastric distilled water of equal volume. The pathological changes of pulmonary vessels in rats were observed by light microscopy, and the thickness of pulmonary vascular wall was measured. The concentration of IL-4 in rat serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung homogenate was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) was used to detect the expression of ET-1 and immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of VEGF,VEGFR2 and ET-1 in lung tissue. Result: Compared with normal group, the concentration of IL-4 in serum, BALF and lung homogenate of model group rats decreased significantly (PPPPPPConclusion: Modified Erchentang can alleviate the process of pulmonary inflammation and pulmonary vascular remodeling in COPD rats, and slow down the progress of COPD and its complications by increasing the content of IL-4, inhibiting the expression of VEGF, VEGFR2, ET-1.

Identification of a Novel Homozygous Splice-Site Mutation in that Causes Progressive Myoclonus Epilepsy with or without Renal Failure / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>Background</b>Progressive myoclonus epilepsies (PMEs) comprise a group of rare genetic disorders characterized by action myoclonus, epileptic seizures, and ataxia with progressive neurologic decline. Due to clinical and genetic heterogeneity of PMEs, it is difficult to decide which genes are affected. The aim of this study was to report an action myoclonus with or without renal failure syndrome (EPM4) family and summarize the clinical and genetic characteristics of all reported EPM4 patients.</p><p><b>Methods</b>In the present study, targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) was applied to screen causative genes in a Chinese PME family. The candidate variant was further confirmed by cosegregation analysis and further functional analysis, including the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot of the proband's muscle. Moreover, literature data on the clinical and mutational features of all reported EPM4 patients were reviewed.</p><p><b>Results</b>The gene analysis revealed a novel homozygous splicing mutation (c.995-1G>A) of the SCARB2 gene in two brothers. Further functional analysis revealed that this mutation led to loss function of the SCARB2 protein. The classification of the candidate variant, according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics standards and guidelines and functional analysis, was pathogenic. Therefore, these two brothers were finally diagnostically confirmed as EPM4.</p><p><b>Conclusions</b>These present results suggest the potential for targeted NGS to conduct a more rapid and precise diagnosis for PME patients. A literature review revealed that mutations in the different functional domains of SCARB2 appear to be associated with the phenotype of EPM4.</p>