Role of regulatory T cell in clinical outcome of traumatic brain injury / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a life-threatening disease worldwide. Regulatory T cells (Treg cells) were involved in the immunological system in central nervous system. It is defined as a subpopulation of CD4 + cells that express CD25 and transcription factor forkhead box P3. The level of circulating Treg cells increases in a variety of pathologic conditions. The purpose of this study was to uncover the role of circulating Treg cells in TBI.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A clinical study was conducted in two neurosurgical intensive care units of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University (Tianjin, China). Forty patients and 30 healthy controls were recruited from August 2013 to November 2013. Circulating Treg cells was detected on the follow-up period of 1, 4, 7, 14, and 21 days after TBI. Blood sample (1 ml) was withdrawn in the morning and processed within 2 h.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was no significant difference in the level of circulating Treg cells between TBI patients and normal controls during follow-up. TBI patients exhibited higher circulating Treg level than normal controls on the 1 st day after TBI. Treg level was decreased on the 4 th day, climbed up on the 7 th day and peaked on 14 th day after TBI. Treg cells declined to the normal level on 21 th day after TBI. The level of circulating Treg cells was significantly higher in survival TBI patients when compared to nonsurvival TBI patients. TBI patients with improved conditions exhibited significantly higher circulating Treg level when compared to those with deteriorated conditions. The circulating Treg level was correlated with neurologic recovery after TBI. A better neural recovery and lower hospital mortality were found in TBI patients with circulating Treg cells more than 4.91% in total CD4 + mononuclear cells as compared to those with circulating Treg cells less than 4.91% in total CD4 + mononuclear cells in the first 14 days.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The level of circulating Treg cells is positively correlated with clinical outcome of TBI. The level of Treg cells predicts the progress for TBI patients and may be a target in TBI treatment.</p>

Traumatic brain injury impairs synaptic plasticity in hippocampus in rats / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often causes cognitive deficits and remote symptomatic epilepsy. Hippocampal regional excitability is associated with the cognitive function. However, little is known about injury-induced neuronal loss and subsequent alterations of hippocampal regional excitability. The present study was designed to determine whether TBI may impair the cellular circuit in the hippocampus.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty male Wistar rats were randomized into control (n = 20) and TBI groups (n = 20). Long-term potentiation, extracellular input/output curves, and hippocampal parvalbumin-immunoreactive and cholecystokinin-immunoreactive interneurons were compared between the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>TBI resulted in a significantly increased excitability in the dentate gyrus (DG), but a significantly decreased excitability in the cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) area. Using design-based stereological injury procedures, we induced interneuronal loss in the DG and CA3 subregions in the hippocampus, but not in the CA1 area.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>TBI leads to the impairment of hippocampus synaptic plasticity due to the changing of interneuronal interaction. The injury-induced disruption of synaptic efficacy within the hippocampal circuit may underlie the observed cognitive deficits and symptomatic epilepsy.</p>

Circulating endothelial progenitor cells in traumatic brain injury: an emerging therapeutic target? / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the world. Recent clinical investigations and basic researches suggest that strategies to improve angiogenesis following TBI may provide promising opportunities to improve clinical outcomes and brain functional recovery. More and more evidences show that circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which have been identified in the peripheral blood, may play an important role in the pathologic and physiological angiogenesis in adults. Moreover, impressive data demonstrate that EPCs are mobilized from bone marrow to blood circulation in response to traumatic or inflammatory stimulations. In this review, we discussed the role of EPCs in the repair of brain injury and the possible therapeutic implication for functional recovery of TBI in the future.

Preliminary analysis on the gene expression profiles of medulloblastomas by use of cDNA array / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the molecular genesis of medulloblastomas with cDNA array.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Four samples of medulloblastomas and 1 sample of normal brain tissue were collected freshly. After total RNA extraction, the (32)P targeted cDNA probes were converted and then hybridized with Atlas Human Cancer Array 1.2. The gene expression profiles were acquired through autoradiography. The discrepancy between the tumor and the normal brain tissue was analyzed with Atlas Image 1.01a.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In comparison with the genes in the normal brain tissue, 6 down-regulated and 35 up-regulated genes in the medulloblastomas were revealed by means of the microarrays and autoradiography, and were verified by reverse transcriptase-PCR. The regulatory trends of most differential expression genes were in compliance with the biological features of this tumor.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Medulloblastomas are diseases involving multiple genes with some molecular pathological mechanisms different from the astrocytic gliomas. There are complex interrelationships between these genes, which need to be further researched.</p>

Preliminary study on the gene expression profiles of ependymomas with cDNA array / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the differential gene expression of ependymomas.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Four fresh samples of ependymomas and 1 of normal brain tissue were collected during operation. The extracted total RNAs were converted as (32)P tagged cDNA probes, which were then hybridized with the Atlas Human Cancer Array, producing the array based hybridization maps following the protocol provided with the kit. A set of special software was applied to the analysis and RT-PCR was performed to test the result.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>In comparison with the normal brain tissue, there were 31 upregulated gene and 1 downregulated gene in ependymomas, most of which were firstly found to be differentially expressed in this kind of tumor.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The discrepancy of gene expression profiles between ependymomas and normal brain tissues is highly put through and effectively detected with cDNA array, which provides new information for the further research on the molecular mechanisms of this lesion.</p>