ABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the protective effect of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on the prognosis of rats suffering from cardiac arrest/cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CA/CPR) under different treatment timings.Methods:The method of percutaneous epicardial electrical stimulation was used to establish CA model of rat. Fifty-three male SD rats were randomly (random number) divided into the sham group ( n=5), CPR group ( n=12), PRE group ( n=12), POST5 group ( n=12) and POST30 group ( n=12). The sham group did not experience CA/CPR. VNS treatment was started at 30 min before CA (PRE group, n=12), 5 min after recovery of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) (POST5 group, n=12), and 30 min after ROSC (POST30 group, n=12) in different VNS-treated group, respectively. The electrical stimulation was applied to the vagus nerve for 30 min with a unified parameter. The neurological deficit scores at 24, 48, and 72 h after ROSC were recorded, and the survival rate in each group was observed. TUNEL staining was used to detect the apoptosis of cortical area and the expression of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) in brain tissue was measured by immunofluorescence at 72 h after ROSC. Variables were compared with one-way analysis of variance, and survival for Kaplan-Meier curves were tested with the log-rank test. A P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:Compared with the CPR group (survival rate 33.33%), both pre-treatment (survival rate 75%) and post-treatment of VNS (POST5 group survival rate 75% and POST30 group survival rate 83.33%) significantly improved the 72 h survival rate after CPR ( P<0.05), mitigated neurological deficits after ROSC, reduced the positive rate of apoptosis neurons, and up-regulated the expression of α7nAChR in cerebral cortex. There was no significant difference among the VNS-treated groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions:Both pre-treatment and post-treatment of VNS can play a protective role in rats after CA/CPR, which may be related to the activation of α7nAChR-mediated anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptosis effects.
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Objective:To test the reliability and validity of the Early Symptom Measurement of Post-Stroke Depression-Short Form (ESMPSD-SF).Methods:Totally 325 patients with early stage stroke were investigated by the demographic questionnaire and the Early Symptom Measurement of Post-Stroke Depression-Short Form. Exploratory factors, confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis were used to establish the reliability and validity of the scale.Results:Exploratory factor analysis extracted four factors: "low", "guilt", "emotional" and "wakefulness", which explained 74.228% of the total variation of depression. All the model fit indexes of confirmatory factor analysis and the standardized factor loadings of each item were up to standard, and the variances explained by each item were within acceptable range. The internal consistency reliability of the total scale was 0.866, the internal consistency of the domains ranged from 0.649 to 0.882, the corrected item-total correlation coefficient ranged from 0.401 to 0.676, and the item-subscale correlation coefficient ranged from 0.647 to 0.923.Conclusions:ESMPSD-SF demonstrated good reliability and validity and can be used to screen depressive symptoms in patients with early stage stroke.
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Objective To establish the cardiac arrest (CA) model in rats by modified transcutaneous electrical stimulation on epicardium. Methods This study was performed in the Emergency Medicine laboratory in Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. After 10 Sprague-Dawley male rats weighing 330-380 g were anesthetized, two acupuncture needles connected to the anode and cathode of a stimulator were transcutaneously inserted into the epicardium as electrodes. The puncture points were located quantitatively according to the anatomical structure of the rat chest. The electrical stimulation was maintained for 3 minutes to induce ventricular fibrillation(VF). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) included chest compressions, intravenous adrenaline and defi brillation operated at 6 min after a period of nonintervention. Results CA was induced after the implement of the effective electrical stimulation in all ten rats in this experiment. The average current intensity to induce VF was (1.80 ± 0.59) mA, the average time to induce CA was (5.07 ± 2.37)s,the average time of the total electrical stimulation was(187.50 ± 12.75)s and the total time of CA was 6 min. At the end of the electrical stimulation, 9 rats presented VF and 1 rat showed pulseless electrical activity. The restoration of spontaneous circulation was achieved in all 10 rats. The average time of CPR was(190.90±68.60) s, the mean numbers of defi brillation were(1.20 ± 0.63) , and he average number of adrenaline application were (1.20 ± 0.42) times. Neither visible hemorrhage on epicardium nor gross pulmonary congestion was observed. Conclusions The modified transcutaneous electrical stimulation on epicardium to produce CA model in rats is an easily applicable and effective technique. This model may provide an alternative for experimental research of CPR.
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Objective To explore the value of hepcidin measurement in differential diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia(IDA) and anemia of chronic diseases(ACD) .Methods Serum hepcidin was measured by using ELISA .Serum iron(SI) and total iron binding capacity(TIBC) were determined by using Ferro zine colorimetric method .Results Hepcidin expression increased in ACD group (P<0 .05) ,but decreased in IDA group(P<0 .05) .The area under the curve of ROC for hepcidin ,SI and TIBC were 0 .97 ,0 .66 and 0 .85 respectively .Conclusion Hepcidin is a simple and safe indicator in differential diagnosis of IDA and ACD ,and its diagnos-tic accuracy is better than SI and TIBC .