Knockout fth1b affects early mineralization of zebrafish pharyngeal teeth / 华西口腔医学杂志

OBJECTIVES@#A study was conducted to explore the expression pattern and function of ferritin heavy polypeptide gene (fth1b) in zebrafish pharyngeal teeth development and lay the foundation for subsequent research on teeth development and mineralization.@*METHODS@#The zebrafish embryos were harvested at 56, 72, 96, and 120 h after fertilization. The expression of fth1b in zebrafish pharyngeal teeth development was detected by whole embryo @*RESULTS@#The expression pattern of fth1b gene was very similar to that of the known zebrafish pharyngeal teeth marker dlx2b and was specifically expressed in the zebrafish pharyngeal teeth during development. After the specific knockout of the gene fth1b, the earliest gene that can be detect in zebrafish pharyngeal teeth-pitx2 was expressed normally during early development. The dlx2b expression was not significantly different from that of wild type zebrafish, but the mineralization of pharyngeal teeth in the mutant was weaker than that of wild type zebrafish.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The gene fth1b is specifically expressed in zebrafish pharyngeal teeth and acts on their early mineralization.

Expression patterns of ectodysplasin and ectodysplasin receptor during early dental development in zebrafish / 华西口腔医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#This study aims to study the expression patterns of ectodysplasin (EDA) and ectodysplasin receptor (EDAR) during the early development of zebrafish and provide a foundation for further research of the Eda signaling pathway in tooth development.@*METHODS@#Total RNA was extracted from zebrafish embryos at 48 hours postfertilization (hpf) and then reverse transcribed for cDNA library generation. The corresponding RNA polymerase was selected for the synthesis of the digoxin-labeled antisense mRNA probe of zebrafish pharyngeal tooth specific marker dlx2b and Eda signaling-associated genes eda and edar in vitro. The three sequences were ligated into a pGEMT vector with a TA cloning kit, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to linearize the plasmid. The resultant PCR sequences were used as templates for synthesizing Dig-labeled mRNA probe dlx2b, eda, and edar. Zebrafish embryos were collected at 36, 48, 56, 60, 72, and 84 hpf, then whole mount in situ hybridization was performed for the detection of eda and edar expression patterns. Then, their expression patterns at 72 hpf were compared with the expression pattern of dlx2b.@*RESULTS@#The mRNA antisense probes of dlx2b, eda, and edar were successfully obtained. The positive signals of eda and edar were observed in zebrafish pharyngeal tooth region at 48-72 hpf and thus conform to the signals of dlx2b in the positive regions.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The ligand eda and edar, which are associated with the Eda signaling pathway, are strongly expressed only at the pharyngeal tooth region in zebrafish from tooth initiation to the morphogenesis stage. Thus, the Eda signaling pathway may be involved in the regulation of the early development of zebrafish pharyngeal teeth.

Preliminary study on the efficacy and safety of atorvastatin in northern Han patients with acute ischemic cerebrovascular disease / 解放军医学杂志

Objective Depending on the stratification of risk factors, to observe the efficacy and safety of different doses of atorvastatin in patients of northern Han population with acute ischemic cerebrovascular disease. Methods One hundred and sixty patients with acute ischemic cerebrovascular disease, admitted from Oct. 2013 to Jan. 2014, were involved in present study, and they were divided into three groups according to the etiology and pathogenesis. In addition to routine treatment, three groups of patients were given 20mg (n=50), 40mg (n=50) and 60mg (n=60) atorvastatin, respectively. Lipids contents, liver function, renal function, muscle enzymes, high sensitivity C reactive protein (hCRP) levels, and NIH Stroke scale (NIHSS) score were determined respectively before treatment and before discharge from the hospital. Results Blood lipid levels were reduced in all the 3 groups, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol-C (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol-C (LDL-C) lowered obviously with significant difference among the 3 groups (P0.05). The highest compliance rate of LDL-C was observed in 60mg group. Compared with those before treatment, the mean levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were elevated, and that of total bilirubin (TBil) and direct bilirubin (DBil) declined after treatment (P0.05). The average level of creatine kinase (CK) was lowered (P0.05). NIHSS scores were decreased in a dose-dependent manner after treatment with no significant difference among the 3 groups (P=0.157). Conclusions Atorvastatin can safely and effectively reduce the blood lipid levels, improve the neurological deficits, and reduce the hCRP level to certain extent. Administration of 60mg of atorvastatin may result in highest compliance rate of LDL-C and the greatest degree of improvement of NIHSS. However, further study should be untaken to demonstrate if the long-term and high-dose medication of atorvastatin is safe and effective for ischemic stroke.