Clinical study on tuina for acute cervical radiculopathy / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy of Ba-pulling and Qian-traction manipulation with neck suspension and movement for acute cervical radiculopathy. Methods: A total of 85 patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomized into an observation group and a control group by random numbers, with 43 cases in the observation group and 42 cases in the control group. The observation group was treated with Ba-pulling and Qian-traction manipulation with neck suspension and movement;while the control group was treated with Bashen-pulling and stretching manipulation in a supine position. The treatment was performed once a day, 10 times as a treatment course. The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated after 1 treatment course, and the changes in the scores of visual analog scale (VAS) and neck disability index (NDI) were observed. Results: The total effective rate was 97.7% in the observation group, and 83.3% in the control group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P＜0.05). After treatment, the VAS and NDI scores of both groups were significantly decreased (both P＜0.01), and the differences in the VAS and NDI scores between the two groups were statistically significant (both P＜0.01). Conclusion: Both Ba-pulling and Qian-traction manipulation with neck suspension and movement and Bashen-pulling and stretching manipulation in a supine position can relieve pain and improve cervical function in patients with acute cervical radiculopathy, and Ba-pulling and Qian-traction manipulation with neck suspension and movement can produce more significant efficacy than Bashen-pulling and stretching manipulation in a supine position.

C/EBP homologous protein-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress-related apoptosis pathway is involved in abdominal aortic constriction-induced myocardium hypertrophy in rats / 生理学报

Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is an adaptive process in response to circumstantial changes, but excessive and/or prolonged ERS can induce cell apoptosis. C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) is a very important marker participating in ERS-associated cell apoptosis, while the role of the myocyte apoptosis induced by CHOP remains unclear in the development of hypertrophy. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of CHOP-mediated ERS-associated apoptosis on myocardial hypertrophy induced by abdominal aortic constriction in rats. Healthy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into model group (n=45) and control group (n=40). The rats in model group received abdominal aortic constriction. Hemodynamic changes, whole heart weight/body weight (HW/BW) and left ventricular weight/body weight (LVW/BW) were measured on 1 d, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d and 28 d after surgery, respectively. The mRNA expression of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), calreticulin (CRT) and CHOP, which are important markers of ERS, were detected by RT-PCR, and Western blot was used to assess the protein level of GRP78, CRT, CHOP, and apoptosis-associated proteins, Bax and Bcl-2. The results obtained were as follows. Compared with control group, the blood pressure, LVW/BW, and HW/BW of rats in model group increased significantly and cardiac function enhanced compensatively on 7 d after surgery, and increased progressively during the experiment. As early as 1 d after surgery, the mRNA level of CRT in model group increased by 136% (P< 0.01) compared with control, while the protein expression increased by 69.2% on 7 d after surgery (P<0.01). Both mRNA and protein expression of GRP78 increased by 20% and 186% (P<0.01) respectively on 7 d after surgery, and the expression sustained high level during the experiment afterwards. Correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between +dp/dt(max) and CRT protein expression (r=0.780, P<0.01) as well as GRP78 protein expression (r=0.694, P<0.01). Prolonged ERS triggered myocyte apoptosis, as both the mRNA and protein level of CHOP in model group increased by 22.2% (P<0.01) and 76.0% (P<0.01) respectively compared with control on 7 d after hypertrophy (14 d after surgery), and meanwhile, the protein expression of pro-apoptotic Bax increased by 41.1% (P<0.01) and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein expression decreased by 25.5% (P<0.01). Correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between CHOP and Bax expression (r=0.654, P<0.01), and a negative correlation between CHOP and Bcl-2 expression (r=-0.671, P<0.01). These results suggest that abdominal aortic constriction induces a significant up-regulation in ER molecular chaperones at early stage of post-surgery, indicating that ERS response is activated in the rat heart; while prolonged ERS could lead to myocyte apoptosis, and CHOP-mediated ERS-associated apoptosis may contribute to myocardial hypertrophy. We speculate that cell apoptosis may take part in the regulation of myocardial hypertrophy and heart failure, and determine the progression of decompensated hypertrophy.

Mutagenesis Screening of Astaxanthin-producing Phaffia rhodozyma and Fermentation Condition Optimization / 中国生物工程杂志

The original strain was treated with UV combining LiCl. The total carotenoid yield of the strain UL-61 was 7.62mg/L, the maximal yield of astaxanthin had reached 616.8?g/g under 25℃. 8 variables including fermentation temperature, initial pH were optimized by Plackett-Burman design and Response Surface Analysis of SAS software. The temperature, initial pH and corn steep liquor were the major factors. The optimal conditions were predictted to be 16.78℃, pH4.73 and 7.06 mg/L, respectively. Under these conditions, the theroretical maximal yield of carotenoid was 3.9407 mg/L and the practical maximal yield was about 3.9261mg/L. The carotenoid production was increased by 20.4% when Phaffia rhodozyma was cultivated under the optimal conditions as compared with the control.