Effect of Wei's triple nine needling on eye regulation in patients with presbyopia complicated with visual fatigue of liver depression and spleen deficiency / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the clinical efficacy between Wei's triple nine needling combined with esculin and digitalis glycosides eye drops and esculin and digitalis glycosides eye drops alone for presbyopia complicated with visual fatigue of liver depression and spleen deficiency.@*METHODS@#Forty-six cases (92 eyes) with presbyopia complicated with visual fatigue of liver depression and spleen deficiency were randomly divided into an observation group (23 cases) and a control group (23 cases, 2 cases dropped off). The cases in the observation group were treated with Wei's triple nine needling and esculin and digitalis glycosides eye drops. The acupoints included Shangming (Extra), Chengqi (ST 1), Cuanzhu (BL 2) to Jingming (BL 1), Sizhukong (TE 23) to Taiyang (EX-HN 5), etc; the needling was given once every other day, three times a week, and the eye drops were given one drop each time, three times a day. The cases in the control group were only treated with the eye drops. Both groups were treated for 7 days as one course of treatment, and 2 courses of treatment were given. The visual fatigue core symptoms score, adjustment amplitude, adjustment lag and best average corrected visual acuity were observed in the two groups before treatment, 1 week and 2 weeks into treatment, respectively.@*RESULTS@#Compared before treatment, the visual fatigue core symptoms scores in the two groups were decreased after 1-week and 2-week treatment (P<0.05); in the observation group, the adjustment amplitude was increased after 2-week treatment (P<0.05), while in the control group, the adjustment amplitude was increased after 1-week and 2-week treatment (P<0.05); in the observation group, the adjustment lag was decreased after 1-week and 2-week treatment (P<0.05). After 2-week treatment, the visual fatigue core symptoms score in the observation group was lower than that in the control group, and the adjustment amplitude was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in adjustment lag and best average corrected visual acuity between the two groups after 1-week and 2-week treatment (P>0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Wei's triple nine needling combined with esculin and digitalis glycosides eye drops could improve the visual fatigue and eye regulation ability in patients with presbyopia complicated with visual fatigue of liver depression and spleen deficiency, and the effect is better than esculin and digitalis glycosides eye drops alone.

Expression of vascular smooth muscle cell markers during early stage of embryonic stem cell-derived embryoid bodies differentiation / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>AIM</b>To observe expression regularity of SMalpha-actin, SM22alpha, myocardin and SMMHC during early embryonic vascular development, and to initially investigate the differentiation effect of platelet derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) during that period.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Murine embryonic stem cell line expressing the enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the transcriptional control of the smooth-muscle-specific SM22alpha promoter was used to make embryoid bodies,and to analyze the expression regularity of SMalpha-actin, SM22alpha, myocardin and SMMHC by immunofluorescence stainings, RT-PCR and Western blot. Then AG1296 (PDGF receptor inhibitor) 0 micro-mol/L(control group), 10 micromol/L and 50 micromol/L were used to treat EBs respectively in order to analyze the differences of SMa-actin, SM22alpha, myocardin and SMMHC at gene and protein levels among the three groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>SMalpha-actin, myocardin, SM22alpha and SMMHC expression in EBs were found to begin at day 0 (ESCs), 8, 11, 13 respectively during early embryonic vascular development. There were no clear differences in SMa-actin, SM22alpha, myocardin and SMMHC protein expression and SM22alpha, myocardin and SMMHC mRNA level among the three groups of different concentrations of AG1296.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A spontaneous VSMCs differentiation occurs during EBs development, SMalpha-actin is the first to be detected,the following are myocardin, SM22a and SMMHC. PDGF-BB may not be indispensable for the regulation of expression of VSMCs markers during early EBs differentiation.</p>

A parental case control study on the association between reduced folate carrier gene polymorphism and neural tube defects / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the association between reduced folate carrier gene (RFC1 A80G) polymorphism and the risk for child with neural tube defects (NTDs), and to provide epidemiological evidence for the existence of NTDs genetic marker.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RFC1 (A80G) genotypes were detected using RFLP-PCR for blood DNA of 104 families with NTDs-affected children and 100 control families with no history of child-affected birth defects. Case-control study and transmission/disequilibrium test(TDT) for the RFC1 genotype of NTDs pedigree were carried out.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The G allele frequency of children with NTDs was higher than that of controls when compared to A allele( OR = 1. 64, 95% CI :1.08-2.49). The offspring of the GG genotype were associated with a 2.56-fold increased risk of NTDs when compared to the AA genotype (OR = 2.56, 95% CI: 1.04-6.36) in our study population. There was evidence of association between G allele and the risk of parent having a child with NTDs (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.07-2.28) in the TDT analysis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Our findings indicated that there was potential association between offspring RFC1 GG genotype and the risk of NTDs, and the G allele was a possible susceptible gene marker for an increased NTDs risk in the Chinese population.</p>

Construction of an allogenic chimeric mouse model for the study of the behaviors of donor stem cells in vivo / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>It is essential to establish an animal model for the elucidation of the biological behaviors of stem cells in vivo. We constructed a chimeric animal model by in utero transplantation for investigation of stem cell transplantation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This chimerism was achieved by injecting the stem cells derived from the bone marrow of green fluorescence protein (GFP)-transgenic mice into fetal mice at 13.5 days of gestation. Several methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR, fluorescence-assisted cell sorting (FACS) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were used for the observation of donor cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Under a fluorescence microscope, we observed the GFP cells of donor-origin in a recipient. PCR, FACS analysis and FISH indicated chimerism at various intervals. Real-time PCR indicated that some donor cells existed in chimera for more than 6 months.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Allogenic stem cells may exist in recipients for a long time and this allogenic animal model provides a useful tool for studying the behavior of hematopoietic stem cells and also offers an effective model system for the study of stem cells.</p>

Prevalence of major external birth defects in high and low risk areas in China, 2003 / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the prevalence rates of birth defects in high and low risk areas in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A population-based surveillance system on birth defects was used to obtain the prevalence rates of 24 kinds of major external birth defects from > or = 20 weeks of gestation to 7 days of life in selected areas in Shanxi and Jiangsu provinces.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The birth prevalence of birth defects (232.4 per 10,000 births) and neural tube defects (NTDs) (138.7 per 10,000 births) in four counties of Shanxi province were significantly higher than that in Taiyuan city (75.3 and 28.2 per 10,000 births, respectively). There was no significant difference for all selected birth defects between Wuxi city and Xishan counties in low risk areas. There was a 6.1-fold of higher prevalence for NTDs in Taiyuan city compared with that in Wuxi areas (4.6 per 10,000 births). In four counties of Shanxi province, the prevalence rates of anencephaly, spina bifida, hydrocephaly, cleft palate alone and polydactyly were significantly higher than in Wuxi areas. The NTDs prevalence rate in four counties of Shanxi was 30.2 times higher than in Wuxi areas. When compared with previous surveillance data, the NTDs prevalence rate did not present obvious declining trend in high risk areas. The birth prevalence rate had a 31.8% decrease when births were calculated after 28 gestational weeks and compared with those from 20 gestational weeks.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>NTDs remained to be the most common birth defect seen in Shanxi province. The birth prevalence rate of NTDs in some areas of Shanxi province was among the highest that ever reported in the world in comparison with data from other countries and regions. The current prevalence rate in high risk areas in Shanxi province did not clearly show a declining trend. Programs on surveillance and prenatal diagnosis were proved to have made big impact on the rates of major external birth defects.</p>

Analysis of human cells in transplanted goats using fluorescence in situ hybridization / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the existence and the dynamic cell frequencies of human cells in goats transplanted in utero with human hematopoietic stem cell (hHSC) by using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Interphase FISH (IFISH) with human-specific 17-chromosome satellite DNA and/or human-specific Y-chromosome satellite DNA as probes was performed to analyze the presence and proportions of human cells in 13 transplanted goats. Samples were peripheral blood cells, bone marrow smears and liver touch imprint preparations.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 13 transplanted goats, eleven were identified to present human cells. Among them, two goats transplanted with human male HSC were found to have human male cells. The results demonstrated that these transplanted goats were human/goat HSC xenogeneic chimeras. Human cell frequencies decreased with the goat age (months), but the longest survival reached 21 months. During the detected life periods of goats, human cell frequencies in peripheral blood, bone marrow and liver tissues were less than 1@1000, but local human cell frequencies of 207.92@1000 and 392.41@1000 were detected in the liver tissues of 2 transplanted goats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The existence and long-term survival of human cells in transplanted goats detected by FISH indicated that goats were appropriate recipients for hHSC in utero transplantation. The lower human cell frequencies in blood and bone marrow, and the higher local human cell frequencies in liver tissues suggested that the microenvironment of goat liver tissues might favor the survival, proliferation and differentiation of human cells.</p>

The study on the stable inheritance and expression of foreign gene in transgenic mice / 生物工程学报

Two transgenic mouse strains, in which the expression of human factor IX (hFIX) in the milk were different significantly, were bred, and the foreign gene integration as well as the content of hFIX in the milk were detected by PCR, Southern blot, FISH and ELISA, respectively. The results showed that approximately 50% offsprings were transgenic positive. Foreign gene integrated in mouse chromosomes was intact. The hFIX expression of each mouse in the same strain was different, the content of hFIX in the milk was (43.32 +/- 5.41) microgram/mL in FIX-33 transgenic strain and (1.16 +/- 0.45) microgram/mL in FIX-124 transgenic strain. Meanwhile, the hFIX gene expression between the two strains was different remarkably (P < 0.01). We conclude that the characteristics of inheritance and expression in the founder were able to be transferred to their offsprings stably.