Advances on mother and infant prognoses after early premature labor / 医学研究生学报

Prematurity is a common complication in the field of obstetrics. The incidence of prematurity increased yearly. Premature birth occurred in advance trend. Early preterm birth refers to the delivery occurred at 28-31+6 week of gestational age. For unavoidable early preterm birth, the prognoses of mothers and infants have become the focus of perinatal medicine. It is particularly significant to ameliorate the prognoses of mothers and infants. Therefore, this paper mainly reviewed mental and psychological problems, organic complications of mothers with early preterm deliveries，and physical growth, cognition，behaviors，quality of life in early preterm infants at home and abroad, in order to provide a reference for further optimization of their prognosis.

Study on effect of radix astragali on injury of cerebral cortex in neonatal rats after hypoxia/ischemia brain damage / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the mechanism of injury of cortical nerve cell in the newborn with hypoxia/ischemia brain damage (HIBD), and the neuroprotective effect of Radix Astragali (RA).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Neonatal HIBD model rats were established and divided into the sham group, the model group and the RA group. Brain of rats obtained at different time points after HIBD to conduct histopathological examination, neuron death rate count, as well as determination of caspase-3 (cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase-3) protein mRNA expression in cerebral cortex by immunohistochemistry, semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the model group, caspase-3 mRNA and protein showed an increase at 6 hrs, reached the peak at 24 hrs, and decreased at 48 hrs after HIBD, on the 5th and 7th day restored to baseline level. After being treated by RA, the neuron death rate of ligated side was obviously reduced, caspase-3 mRNA and protein expression peak value decreased by 45% (mRNA) and 40% - 43% (protein).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>RA shows markedly neuron protection in immature brain cortex after HIBD, which is related with the inhibition on caspase-3 expression.</p>

Neuroprotective effects of Astragulus membranaceus on hypoxia-ischemia brain damage in neonatal rat hippocampus / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study neuroprotective effects of astragulus membraneaceus on a neonatal rat hippocampus of hypoxia-ischemia brain damage (HIBD).</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The neonatal hypoxia-ischemia model was established with 7-day-old rat pups. Brain injury was examined by neuron death rate in the hippocampal CA1 area. Caspase-3 (cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase) mRNA expression in ipsilateral hippocampal was measured by half-quantitative reverse transcription and polymerization chain reaction (RT-PCR). 90-day-old rats were used in tri-equal-arm maze to observe discrimination learning ability. Sham, model and astragulus-membraneaceus treated groups were set up.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>In model group, caspase-3 mRNA showed an increase at 6h, with maximum arrivimg at 24 h - 48 h after HI. In astragulus-membraneaceus treated group, neurons death rate and caspase-3 mRNA were significantly reduced by astragulus membraneaceus, and discrimination learning ability of developed rats were improved obviously.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Astragulus membraneaceus has a strong protective effect on neuronal damage in the immature rat hippocampus, which is ralated reducing caspase-3 expression.</p>

Protein microarrays and their medical applications / 生物工程学报

The microarrays have revolutionised biomedical experimentation and diagnostics, enabling ordered high throughput analysis. During the past decade, classic solid phase substrates, such as microlitre plates, membrane filters and microscopic slides, were turn into high-density, chip-like structure. The concept of the arrayed library was central to this development which now extends from DNA to protein. The availability of such protein microarrays would facilitate the simultaneous analysis of thousands of interactions within a single experiment. They can be utilized for massively parallel testing of protein function or recognized their target polypeptide in complex biological solution. This article will focus on the current strategies used to generate protein microarray and their applications in biological research, medicine and diagnostics.