Effect of moxibustion at "oppositely-located points" on neurogenic bladder after spinal cord injury and endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway in rats / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effect of moxibustion at oppositely-located points "Mingmen" (GV 4) and "Shenque" (CV 8) on the motor function of the hind limbs and bladder function in rats with neurogenic bladder after suprasacral spinal cord injury (SCI), so as to explore the effect of this therapy on bladder tissue apoptosis mediated by endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway.@*METHODS@#Twenty-eight female Wistar rats were randomly divided into a sham-operation group (8 rats) and a model establishment group (20 rats). Using the modified Allen's method, the spinal cord of T10 segment was injured to establish a neurogenic bladder model in the model establishment group. Sixteen rats were modeled successfully and then divided into a model group (8 rats) and a moxibustion group (8 rats). In the moxibustion group, 2 h after consciousness regaining from modeling anesthesia, moxibustion was exerted at "Shenque" (CV 8) and "Mingmen" (GV 4), 2 cones at each acupoint in one intervention. The intervention was administered once every two days and 5-time intervention was required totally. After intervention, Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan locomotor rating scale (BBB) score for the motor function of the hind limbs, and the urodynamics indexes (maximum bladder capacity, urine leakage pressure and bladder compliance) were compared among groups. HE staining method was adopted to observe the morphological changes of bladder tissue. With Western blot method and real-time PCR assay, the protein and mRNA expressions of the endoplasmic reticulum stress-related genes (glucose- regulated protein 78 [GRP78], activating transcription factor 4 [ATF4] and cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-12 [Caspase-12]) were determined.@*RESULTS@#The transitional epithelial cells were arranged irregularly, the bladder wall was getting thinner, and the cellular vacuolar degeneration and neutrophil infiltration were found in the model group. Whereas, compared with the model group, in the moxibustion group, the arrangement of transitional epithelial cells was clear and continuous in layers, the cellular vacuolar degeneration was mild and the infiltration presented in a small amount of neutrophil granulocytes. Compared with the sham-operation group, in the model group, the BBB score was reduced (P<0.01), the maximum bladder capacity and bladder compliance were increased (P<0.01), and the protein expression levels of GRP78, ATF4 and Caspase-12, as well as mRNA expressions were all increased (P<0.01). In comparison with the model group, in the moxibustion group, BBB score was increased (P<0.01), the maximum bladder capacity and bladder compliance were decreased (P<0.01), and the protein and mRNA expression levels of GRP78, ATF4 and Caspase-12 were all decreased (P<0.01).@*CONCLUSION@#Moxibustion at the "oppositely-located points" improves the urination function, alleviate urine retention in neurogenic bladder rats after spinal cord injury. The underlying mechanism may be related to the down-regulation of the expressions of GRP78, ATF4 and Caspase-12 in the endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway of the bladder tissues, and thus to alleviate the apoptosis of bladder tissue.

Limbal stem cell transplantation for primary pterygium / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

@#AIM: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of limbal conjunctival autograft transplantation for treating primary pterygium over a period of 3y.<p>METHODS: Prospective observational consecutive case series. In this study, 264 eyes of 264 patients(142 males and 122 females)with nasal primary pterygium were treated using the technique of limbal conjunctival autograft. The mean ages of the patients were 54.22±15.24a. After excision of the pterygium patients were followed up on 1, 3, 7d and at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 36mo. Recurrence of pterygium, complications, operation time and corneal epithelialization time were evaluated.<p>RESULTS: The average surgery time was 25.7±2.6min. With a minimum 3-year of follow-up, postoperative corneal epithelialization was completed in 3.85±0.72d. Complications were observed in 14 cases. Vision-threating complications such as iritis, scleral thinning symblepharon or ulceration were not detected in the study. 5 eyes with graft edema, 3 eyes with granuloma formation and 6 cases with a subconjunctival hematoma in the nasal conjunctiva. By the end of 3-year follow-up, recurrence was detected in 11 cases. The recurrence rate was 4.17%, and the onset of recurrence was 3mo, the average recurrence time was 8mo.<p>CONCLUSION: There were no severe complications and few recurrences when limbal conjunctival autograft transplantation was performed after long-term follow-up, we suggest that limbal conjunctival autograft transplantation is a safe and effective technique in primary pterygium. We also recommend that 12-month follow-up is optimal on primary pterygium surgery.

Impact to life quality from treatment with microvascular decompression in patients with hemifacial spasm / 基础医学与临床

Objective To investigate the impact of microvascular decompression surgery on quality of life in patients with hemifacial spasm. Methods A clinical data collection of 224 adult patients with hemifacial spasm treated by the surgery was conducted from 2012 to 2017. The degree of spasm and effect of the operation was evaluated by Co-hen grading standard before and after the surgery. The quality of life was evaluated by the HFS-8 scale. The results were statistically analyzed. Results According to Cohen grading standard, symptoms were improved significantly 6 months after the surgery. The effective remission rate and the total effective rate of the surgery were 92.7% and 97.6% respectively. The score of HFS-8 scale was significantly lower than before treatment (2.71±3.25 vs 18.01± 4.57, P＜0.05) ; The scores were significantly different before and after the surgery in patients with different de-grees of remission, except for the " invalid" group ( P=0.071) ; The scores of patients with different strengths of the spasm were significantly improved ( P＜0.05) , and the Pearson correlation coefficient suggested that the HFS-8 score was significantly correlated with the severity of the spasm. Conclusions Microvascular decompression is one of the preferred treatment of hemifacial spasm, which can effectively improve the the quality of life in patients with hemifacial spasm.

Preparation of mesoporous silica nanoparticles in different pore size and its use in the solidification of sirolimus loaded self-microemulsifying drug delivery system / 药学学报

The mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) in different pore size and sirolimus (SRL) loaded self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) were prepared. The results in morphology were collected by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, small-angle X-ray diffraction, and N2 adsorption-desorption. The results showed that the prepared MSN has ordered nanochannels with a pore size of 6.3, 8.1, 10.8 nm, respectively. The particle size of SRL-SMEDDS were measured by particle sizing system, which was 20.6±1.3 nm. The stirring method was developed to prepare SRL-SMEDDS-MSN. It was found that the optimal ratio of SRL-SMEDDS to MSN was 2:1, while the drug loading rate was near 0.83%, and the flow properties of SRL-SMEDDS-MSN were of good condition. The differential scanning calorimetry results proving a molecular or amorphous dispersed state of SRL in MSN while the suspension experiment has shown great reconstitution properties of SRL-SMEDDS-MSN. There is no significant influence on maximum drug release rate of different pore size of SRL-SMEDDS-MSN in 250 mL water within 2 h, while the results of the first 40 min have an obvious difference. Above all, MSN might provide a new strategy for the solidification of SMEDDS.