Research progress on main disease-related factors of healthy life expectancy / 中华预防医学杂志

International research on healthy life expectancy (HALE) focuses on inequality of socioeconomic status and individual natural attributes. With the acceleration of population ageing and the increase in average life expectancy, the extension of unhealthy life expectancy and the increase of social and economic burden caused by diseases have gradually attracted the attention of countries around the world. Therefore, the evaluation of disease factors affecting HALE is a meaningful direction in the future. This study introduces the development process and commonly used measurement methods of HALE. According to the definition of health from the Global Burden of Disease Study and World Health Organization, physical and mental diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, malignant tumors and depression were selected to summarize the impact of these diseases and pre-disease states on HALE. It is expected to provide a theoretical basis for the formulation of relevant public health policies and the improvement of quality of life in China.

Association between serum lysophosphatidylcholine level and elderly health index in older people from longevity areas of Guangxi Province / 中华预防医学杂志

Objective: To investigate the relationship between serum lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) level and the health index of the elderly. Methods: A total of 251 subjects were selected from the 2016 baseline survey of the Yongfu Longevity Cohort in Guangxi Province among whom 66, 63 and 122 were in the young and middle-aged group (≤59 years old), the young group (60-89 years old) and the longevity group (≥90 years old), respectively. Demographic data were collected and related indicators of height, weight, blood pressure and lipid metabolism were measured. The cognitive and physical functions of the elderly were assessed by the results of the simple mental state scale and the daily living activity scale to construct the health index of the elderly. The serum levels of LPC16∶0, LPC18∶0, LPC18∶1 and LPC18∶2 were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and the differences among different ages and health status groups were compared. The logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between the serum LPC level and the health index of the elderly. Results: With the increase in age, the proportion of female subjects increased, and the rate of smoking and drinking decreased. BMI, TC, TG, LDL-C, diastolic blood pressure, and the four LPCs levels decreased with the increase of age, and systolic blood pressure levels increased with the increase of age (all P values<0.05). There was no significant difference in HDL-C levels among age groups (P>0.05). With the decline of health status in the elderly, serum levels of LPC16∶0, LPC18∶0, LPC18∶1 and LPC18∶2 showed a downward trend (all P values<0.001). After adjusting for age and gender, only LPC18∶0 was associated with the health status in old age [OR (95%CI): 0.48 (0.25-0.92)]. For every 1 standard deviation (16.87 nmol/L) increase in serum LPC18∶0 concentration, the risk of poor health status in old age decreased by 52%. Conclusion: Serum LPC18∶0 was associated with the health status in old age independent of age and sex.

Value of glycosylated hemoglobin A1c and apolipoprotein A-1 ratio on predicting outcome of patients with acute coronary syndrome / 中华心血管病杂志

Objective: To investigate the predictive value of glycosylated hemoglobin A1c/apolipoprotein A-1 (HbA1c/ApoA-1) ratio for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: The present study is a retrospective cohort study. ACS patients who were hospitalized and underwent coronary angiography at Beijing Hospital from March 2017 to March 2019 were enrolled. Baseline information such as sex, age, previous history, Gensini score, HbA1c and ApoA-1 were analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups according to presence or absence of MACEs and the difference on HbA1c/ApoA-1 ratio was compared between the two groups. According to the tertiles of HbA1c/ApoA-1 levels, patients were divided into high (5.87-16.12), medium (4.50-5.83) and low (2.11-4.48) HbA1c/ApoA-1 groups. Cox proportional risk model was used to evaluate the differences in MACEs and all-cause mortality among the three groups. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to compare the differences of MACEs between the various HbA1c/ApoA-1 groups. Results: A total of 366 ACS patients were included in this study. The mean age of the patients was (65.9±10.3) years. There were 59 MACEs and 10 all-cause deaths during the mean of (22.3±4.4) months follow-up. After adjusting for age, systolic blood pressure, history of diabetes and Gensini score, the incidence of MACEs was 2.45 times higher in the high HbA1c/ApoA-1 group than in the low HbA1c/ApoA-1 group (95%CI 1.16-5.18, P=0.019). There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality between the high and low HbA1c/ApoA-1 groups (P=1.000). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients in the high HbA1c/ApoA-1 group had the highest risk of MACEs, while patients in the low HbA1c/ApoA-1 group had the lowest risk of MACEs (P<0.01). Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that HbA1/ApoA-1 ratio was positively correlated with Gensini score in ACS patients (r=0.274, P<0.01). Conclusion: High HbA1c/ApoA-1 ratio was an independent risk factor for MACEs in ACS patients. Patients with high HbA1c/ApoA-1 ratio had more severe coronary artery disease lesions. HbA1c/ApoA-1 ratio may be used as a potential risk stratification biomarker for ACS patients, it might be useful for the early identification of high-risk population and for predicting the incidence of MACEs among ACS patients.

Primary cilia support cartilage regeneration after injury / 国际口腔科学杂志·英文版

In growing children, growth plate cartilage has limited self-repair ability upon fracture injury always leading to limb growth arrest. Interestingly, one type of fracture injuries within the growth plate achieve amazing self-healing, however, the mechanism is unclear. Using this type of fracture mouse model, we discovered the activation of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling in the injured growth plate, which could activate chondrocytes in growth plate and promote cartilage repair. Primary cilia are the central transduction mediator of Hh signaling. Notably, ciliary Hh-Smo-Gli signaling pathways were enriched in the growth plate during development. Moreover, chondrocytes in resting and proliferating zone were dynamically ciliated during growth plate repair. Furthermore, conditional deletion of the ciliary core gene Ift140 in cartilage disrupted cilia-mediated Hh signaling in growth plate. More importantly, activating ciliary Hh signaling by Smoothened agonist (SAG) significantly accelerated growth plate repair after injury. In sum, primary cilia mediate Hh signaling induced the activation of stem/progenitor chondrocytes and growth plate repair after fracture injury.

Plasm trimethylamine-N-oxide level and association with lesion severity in coronary heart disease patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus / 中华心血管病杂志

Objective: To investigate the association between trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) and the degree of coronary atherosclerosis in coronary heart diseases (CHD) patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: Consecutive patients, who underwent coronary angiography due to suspected CHD in Beijing Hospital from November 2016 to January 2018, were screened in this cross-sectional study. According to blood glucose level, previous medical history and coronary angiography results, they were divided into CHD without type2 diabetes mellitus(CHD-nDM) group and CHD with type2 diabetes mellitus(CHD-DM) group. Plasma TMAO levels in each group were measured by LC-MS/MS. Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between TMAO and the number of diseased vessels and Gensini scores. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the correlation between TMAO and high Gensini scores. Results: A total of 590 patients were enrolled in the study, including 238 patients in CHD-DM group and 352 patients in CHD-nDM group. Patients were older, body mass index, blood pressure level, prevalence of history of hypertension and statins use were higher in CHD-DM group than in CHD-nDM group (all P<0.05). The proportion of patients with multivessel disease (2 or more vessels) was also higher in CHD-DM group than in CHD-nDM group (P<0.001). Gensini score was higher in CHD-DM group than in CHD-nDM group (P<0.05). Fasting blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin and urea were significantly higher, while low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and hemoglobin were significantly lower in CHD-DM group than in CHD-nDM group (all P<0.05). The levels of TMAO was significantly higher in CHD-DM group than in CHD-nDM group (P<0.001). Spearman correlation analysis showed that TMAO was positively correlated with the number of diseased vessels, Gensini score, age and blood glucose level (r=0.178, 0.189, 0.260, 0.111, respectively, all P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that, TMAO level was still positively correlated with high Gensini score in CHD-DM group (OR=2.25, 95%CI 1.16-4.38, P=0.017), but not in CHD-nDM group (OR=1.29, 95%CI 0.72-2.31, P=0.386) after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglyceride, history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking and statin use. Conclusions: In CHD patients with tupe 2 diabetes mellitus, the plasma TMAO level is significantly increased and is independent and positively correlated with the degree of coronary artery disease.

LncRNA Nron regulates osteoclastogenesis during orthodontic bone resorption / 国际口腔科学杂志·英文版

Activation of osteoclasts during orthodontic tooth treatment is a prerequisite for alveolar bone resorption and tooth movement. However, the key regulatory molecules involved in osteoclastogenesis during this process remain unclear. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a newly identified class of functional RNAs that regulate cellular processes, such as gene expression and translation regulation. Recently, lncRNAs have been reported to be involved in osteogenesis and bone formation. However, as the most abundant noncoding RNAs in vivo, the potential regulatory role of lncRNAs in osteoclast formation and bone resorption urgently needs to be clarified. We recently found that the lncRNA Nron (long noncoding RNA repressor of the nuclear factor of activated T cells) is highly expressed in osteoclast precursors. Nron is downregulated during osteoclastogenesis and bone ageing. To further determine whether Nron regulates osteoclast activity during orthodontic treatment, osteoclastic Nron transgenic (Nron cTG) and osteoclastic knockout (Nron CKO) mouse models were generated. When Nron was overexpressed, the orthodontic tooth movement rate was reduced. In addition, the number of osteoclasts decreased, and the activity of osteoclasts was inhibited. Mechanistically, Nron controlled the maturation of osteoclasts by regulating NFATc1 nuclear translocation. In contrast, by deleting Nron specifically in osteoclasts, tooth movement speed increased in Nron CKO mice. These results indicate that lncRNAs could be potential targets to regulate osteoclastogenesis and orthodontic tooth movement speed in the clinic in the future.

Molecular simulation and spectroscopic studies on the interaction between perfluorohexadecanoic acid and human serum albumin

In the present study, the interaction between Perfluorohexadecanoic acid (PFHxDA) and human serum albumin (HAS) was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy, molecular docking, dynamic simulation and circular dichroism (CD). The interaction character and the effect on human serum albumin conformation were measured by simulating the physiological condition (pH= 7.4). Experiments and simulation results revealed that PFHxDA molecules and HSA have regular fluorescence quenching, and the quenching mechanism is static quenching and non-radiative energy transfer. Thermodynamic analysis revealed the binding behavior was mainly governed by hydrophobic forces. Specific binding site experiments showed that the binding site of PFHxDA was a site I of HSA. The results from the CD spectrum demonstrated that PFHxDA changed the molecular conformation of HSA, which is consistent with the results obtained by molecular docking and dynamic simulation.

Glycosylation of dentin matrix protein 1 is critical for fracture healing via promoting chondrogenesis / 医学前沿

Fractures are frequently occurring diseases that endanger human health. Crucial to fracture healing is cartilage formation, which provides a bone-regeneration environment. Cartilage consists of both chondrocytes and extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM of cartilage includes collagens and various types of proteoglycans (PGs), which play important roles in maintaining primary stability in fracture healing. The PG form of dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1-PG) is involved in maintaining the health of articular cartilage and bone. Our previous data have shown that DMP1-PG is richly expressed in the cartilaginous calluses of fracture sites. However, the possible significant role of DMP1-PG in chondrogenesis and fracture healing is unknown. To further detect the potential role of DMP1-PG in fracture repair, we established a mouse fracture model by using a glycosylation site mutant DMP1 mouse (S89G-DMP1 mouse). Upon inspection, fewer cartilaginous calluses and down-regulated expression levels of chondrogenesis genes were observed in the fracture sites of S89G-DMP1 mice. Given the deficiency of DMP1-PG, the impaired IL-6/JAK/STAT signaling pathway was observed to affect the chondrogenesis of fracture healing. Overall, these results suggest that DMP1-PG is an indispensable proteoglycan in chondrogenesis during fracture healing.

Analysis of clinical characteristics and risk factors for pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective@#To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors for pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture after the treatment through a model of orthopedic-geriatric co-care, in order to provide prevention and control strategies.@*Methods@#Clinical data and laboratory results of elderly patients with hip fractures admitted into our hospital from January 2016 to May 2016 were collected.The differences in treatment outcome and adverse reactions were retrospectively compared between the two groups of patients with versus without pulmonary infection, and univariate and multivariate analysis of lung infection were performed.@*Results@#Of 207 patients, 43 were infected with pneumonia and 164 were not.The proportion of patients with the time interval<48 h from admission to surgery was 48.6%(86/177), and the time interval<1 week from admission to surgery was 98.9%(175/177). The average length of hospital stay was(7.9±3.5)days.There was no significant difference in the time interval from admission to surgery, the time spent on surgery, length of hospital stay, surgical procedure and inflammatory indicators between the pneumonia and non-pneumonia groups.Univariate analysis showed that advanced age, multiple primary diseases, primary lung diseases, chronic respiratory failure, cerebrovascular disease, sequelae of cerebrovascular disease, immune system disease or long-term oral hormone therapy and preoperative anemia were risk factors for pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture(P<0.05 or<0.01). Multivariate regression analysis showed that advanced age(OR=1.239, 95%CI: 1.016~1.595, P=0.051), preoperative anemia(OR=2.491, 95%CI: 1.148~5.403, P=0.021), sequelae of cerebrovascular disease(OR=3.987, 95%CI: 1.354~11.741, P=0.012), primary lung diseases(OR=4.404, 95%CI: 1.800~11.078, P=0.001)and immune system diseases(OR=17.166, 95%CI: 1.750~168.409, P=0.015)were independent risk factors for pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture.@*Conclusions@#The orthopedic-geriatric co-care model seems to be in favour of controlling the progress of pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture, and to shorten waiting time before surgery and length of hospital stay.However, advanced age and chronic diseases are unpreventable risk factors for pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fractures.Clinicians should pay attention to the high-risk population and take prevention and control strategies to prevent the occurrence and development of lung infections.

Analysis of clinical characteristics and risk factors for pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors for pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture after the treatment through a model of orthopedic-geriatric co-care,in order to provide prevention and control strategies.Methods Clinical data and laboratory results of elderly patients with hip fractures admitted into our hospital from January 2016 to May 2016 were collected.The differences in treatment outcome and adverse reactions were retrospectively compared between the two groups of patients with versus without pulmonary infection,and univariate and multivariate analysis of lung infection were performed.Results Of 207 patients,43 were infected with pneumonia and 164 were not.The proportion of patients with the time interval＜48 h from admission to surgery was 48.6％ (86/177),and the time interval＜ 1 week from admission to surgery was 98.9％ (175/177).The average length of hospital stay was(7.9±3.5)days.There was no significant difference in the time interval from admission to surgery,the time spent on surgery,length of hospital stay,surgical procedure and inflammatory indicators between the pneumonia and non-pneumonia groups.Univariate analysis showed that advanced age,multiple primary diseases,primary lung diseases,chronic respiratory failure,cerebrovascular disease,sequelae of cerebrovascular disease,immune system disease or long-term oral hormone therapy and preoperative anemia were risk factors for pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture (P ＜ 0.05 or＜ 0.01).Multivariate regression analysis showed that advanced age(OR =1.239,95％ CI:1.016 ～ 1.595,P =0.051),preoperative anemia(OR =2.491,95％ CI:1.148～ 5.403,P =0.021),sequelae of cerebrovascular disease (OR =3.987,95％ CI:1.354 ～11.741,P=0.012),primary lung diseases(OR =4.404,95％ CI:1.800 ～ 11.078,P =0.001) and immune system diseases (OR =17.166,95 ％ CI:1.750 ～ 168.409,P =0.015) were independent risk factors for pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture.Conclusions The orthopedic-geriatric co-care model seems to be in favour of controlling the progress of pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fracture,and to shorten waiting time before surgery and length of hospital stay.However,advanced age and chronic diseases are unpreventable risk factors for pulmonary infection in elderly patients with hip fractures.Clinicians should pay attention to the high-risk population and take prevention and control strategies to prevent the occurrence and development of lung infections.

Interaction of amoxicillin and nifedipine mediated by intestinal flora / 药学学报

In this study, the change of intestinal microflora in rat fecal samples after amoxicillin administration was observed. In vitro incubation experiments combined with LC-MS/MS assay were used to test the role of intestinal flora in the metabolism of nifedipine. The effect of changes of intestinal flora was determined after amoxicillin administration on the metabolism of nifedipine. We found that the number and types of intestinal flora decreased after taking amoxicillin. After incubation for 12 h, the results showed that the remaining amounts of nifedipine in the N1 group (nifedipine) and N2 group (amoxicillin + nifedipine) were 0.057 6 and 0.064 8 μmol·L-1, respectively, while the remaining amounts of nifedipine after 24 h of incubation were 0.039 6 and 0.050 4 μmol·L-1, respectively. These results show that the intestinal flora is involved in the metabolism of nifedipine. After administration of amoxicillin, the metabolism of nifedipine was slowed down, the AUC0-t was increased by 39.10%, tmax was advanced by 0.45 h, and the CL was reduced 34.71%. The data suggest that the combination may enhance the therapeutic effect of nifedipine. Therefore, drug-drug interactions mediated by gut microbiota cannot be ignored when combined with antibiotics and nifedipine, one of the important factors affecting drug efficacy.

Effect of electroacupuncture on proprioception in cynomolgus monkeys after unilateral anterior cruciate ligament injury / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of electroacupuncture on proprioception in cynomolgus monkeys after unilateral anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-seven cynomolgus monkeys were randomized equally into 3 groups, namely unilateral ACL injury with electroacupuncture group, unilateral ACL injury model group and blank control group. One week after modeling, the monkeys in electroacupuncture group were treated daily for 12 weeks with electroacupuncture at the acupoints Wei Yang, Yin Gu, Xi Yangguan and Qu Quan. At 4, 8, and 12 weeks during the treatment, the changes in the somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) and motor nerve conduction velocity (MCV) of the nerves of the ACL were examined with neural electrophysiological method; the changes in the morphology and the total and variable number of the proprioceptors in the ACL were observed with gold chloride staining. RESULTS; In the mokeys in the model group, the incubation period of the SEPs and MCV on the injured side of the knee were significantly extended and the amplitudes were decreased with the passage of time (P<0.05). Intervention with electroacupuncture significantly reduced the incubation period and increased the amplitudes of the SEPs and MCV (P<0.05). The total number of the proprioceptors in the ACL was significantly decreased and the variable number of the proprioceptors in ACL was increased with time in the monkeys in the model group (P<0.05); electroacupuncture intervention obviously slowed the reduction rate of total number of the proprioceptors (P<0.05) but without affecting the variable number of the proprioceptors (P>0.05). CoONCLUSION: ACL injury causes attenuation of the proprioception on the injury side, and electroacupuncture intervention can produce a positive effect on the proprioception in cynomolgus monkeys.</p>

Effects of marine collagen peptide on delaying the skin aging / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the protective effect of marine collagen peptides (MCPs) on the skin of aged mice induced by D-galactose.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Subchronic toxicity study was conducted while D-galactose induced subacute aging model was established. D-galactose dose of 0.125 g/kg body weight was intraperitoneally injected daily for 90 days. Marine collagen peptide 0.225, 0.450, 1.350 g/kg body weight were administered by oral gavage. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in blood serum were measured, along with cutaneous histopathology examination.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Epidermal thickness was significantly higher in MCPs treated group. Number and activity of fibroblast in MCPs treated dermis was increased prominently. The activity of SOD in 0.225, 0.450, 1.350 g/kgbw MCPs treated groups were 455.52 +/- 11.39, 460.15 +/- 18.09, 468.59 +/- 27.25 U/ml respectively, each of which was significantly higher than that in model control group; the activity of serum CAT in 0.225, 1.350 g/kgbw MCPs treated groups (21.33 +/- 4.82, 21.69 +/- 1.68 U/ml) were obviously increased compared with that in model control group (17.14 +/- 2.81 U/ml); MDA level in 0.450, 1.350 g/kgbw MCPs treated groups were 5.67 +/- 0.93, 5.76 +/- 1.02 nmol/ml respectively, each of which was significantly lower than that in model control group (7.63 +/- 1.37 nmol/ml).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The results showed that MCPs might play a protective role on skin aging by improving the activity of antioxidant.</p>

The lipid-lowering and antioxidative effects of marine collagen peptides / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine the relative molecular mass of marine collagen peptides (MCPs) and investigate the effects of MCPs on serum lipids, anti-oxidative enzymes and malondialdehyde (MDA) in hyperlipidemic rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sephadex G-25, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) methods were used to determine the relative molecular mass of MCPs. Then 50 healthy male SD rats were divided into 5 groups, which were normal control (NC) group, hyperlipidemic model control (HC) group and 1.0, 3.0, 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs groups, MCPs were orally administered by gavage to rats in MCPs group for 45 consecutive days (2 ml/100 kgbw per day), and the control rats were given vehicle only, all animals (except NC rats) were fed with a high fat diet composed of 79% basic diet, 10% lard, 10% yolk powder and 1% cholesterol. The levels of serum lipids, the content of MDA and activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in serum were measured.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The levels of serum total cholesterol (TC) in 1.0, 3.0, 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs groups were 1.89 +/- 0.29, 2.07 +/- 0.39 and 1.99 +/- 0.29 mmol/L respectively, each of which was significantly lower than that in HC group (3.37 +/- 0.24 mmol/L); low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in 1.0, 3.0, 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs groups were 0.83 +/- 0.16, 1.01 +/- 0.35 and 0.91 +/- 0.26 mmol/L respectively, each of which was significantly lower than that in HC group(2.20 +/- 0.34 mmol/L); triglyceride (TG) levels in 3.0 and 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs groups (0.90 +/- 0.15 and 0.86 +/- 0.12 mmol/L) were reduced significantly compared with that in HC group (1.18 +/- 0.18 mmol/L); MDA level in 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs group was 7.1 +/- 4.1 nmol/ml, which was significantly lower than that in HC group ( 15.9 +/- 9.9 nmol/ml); and atherogenic index (AI) in hyperlipidemic rats fed with 1.0, 3.0, 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs were 1.14 +/- 0.22, 1.16 +/- 0.27 and 0.99 +/- 0.31 respectively, each of which was significantly lower than that in HC group (2.27 +/- 0.55). The activities of SOD in 1.0, 3.0, 9.0 g/kgbw MCPs groups (218.6 +/- 33.2, 242.7 +/- 21.4 and 242.1 +/- 44.8 U/ml) were obviously increased compared with that in HC group (119.7 +/- 47.8 U/ml), and anti-atherogenic index (AAI) were also increased significantly (0.47 +/- 0.04, 0.47 +/- 0.06, 0.51 +/- 0.09 vs 0.31 +/- 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MCPs should have antioxidative and lipid-lowering effects, and might play a preventive role in hyperlipidemia and atherogenesis.</p>

Experimental study of the dental follicle's function in tooth root development / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study role of dental follicle in tooth root development.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixteen mandibular first molar dental germs from eight five-day postnatal Balb/c mice were divided into two groups randomly. Dental follicle of germs in one group was undetached and that of another group was removed. Subsequently, each of the germs was separately transplanted to back-muscles of adult nude mice. At seventh and fourteenth day after transplanting, the germs were collected, fixed, demineralized, dehydrated, and embedded in wax in sequence. Serial sections of 5 microm thick were made following the routine methods, stained with haematoxylin-eosin dying solution, and observed under a light microscope.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All implantations were located in the back-muscles with abundant capillary vasculature. Under microscope, although all tooth germs could further develop after grafting, tooth germs without dental follicle developed slowly with small size and low calcification compared to those with dental follicle. Although position of Hertwig's epithelial root sheath of all germs seemed no changing, roots of the group with dental follicle could further develop and the roots develop toward the apical direction; this tendency couldn't be seen in the germs of another group. Inflammatory cells could be seen in and out of the pulp cavity of the two groups at 7th day after grafting, while no obvious inflammatory cell was observed at 14th day after grafting.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Dental follicle play an important role in tooth root development. It probably can lead tooth root to develop in normal direction.</p>

Immunohistochemical localization of leucine-rich proteoglycans in the developing periodontal tissues of mice / 中华口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the distribution and expression of fibromodulin, decorin and biglycan in developing normal periodontal tissues, so as to understand its role in periodontal tissue formation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty six BALB/c mice in different developing stages were killed and their bilateral mandibular first molars with surrounding alveolar bones and gingival tissues were taken out, Power Vision two steps immunohistochemical method with anti-fibromodulin, anti-decorin and anti-biglycan was used to detect the tissue distribution and cellular localization of fibromodulin and related proteoglycans, decorin and biglycan.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Fibromodulin was strongly expressed in the subcutaneous gingival connective tissue, periodontal ligament, mainly in gingival and periodontal fibroblasts as well as their matrices. Strong expression was also noted in the area close to the interfaces of periodontal ligament-alveolar bone and periodontal ligament-cementum. Decorin was strongly expressed in the area of gingival connective tissue, periodontal ligament and the surface of alveolar bone, while biglycan was stained evidently in gingival connective tissue throughout the period of investigation, but negative in the surface of alveolar bone and osteoblasts.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Fibromodulin may interact with decorin and biglycan to regulate the network formation of gingival connective tissues and periodontal collagen fibers, and may be involved in mineralization of the alveolar bone and cementum.</p>