Protective effect of succinic acid on cerebellar Purkinje cells of neonatal rats with convulsion / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the protective effect of succinic acid (SA) on the cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs) of neonatal rats with convulsion.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 120 healthy neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats aged 7 days were randomly divided into a neonatal period group and a developmental period group. Each of the two groups were further divided into 6 sub-groups: normal control, convulsion model, low-dose phenobarbital (PB) (30 mg/kg), high-dose PB (120 mg/kg), low-dose SA (30 mg/kg), and high-dose SA (120 mg/kg). Intraperitoneal injection of pentylenetetrazole was performed to establish the convulsion model. The normal control group was treated with normal saline instead. The rats in the neonatal group were sacrificed at 30 minutes after the injection of PB, SA, or normal saline, and the cerebellum was obtained. Those in the developmental group were sacrificed 30 days after the injection of PB, SA, or normal saline, and the cerebellum was obtained. Whole cell patch clamp technique was used to record the action potential (AP) of PCs in the cerebellar slices of neonatal rats; the parallel fibers (PF) were stimulated at a low frequency to induce excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC). The effect of SA on long-term depression (LTD) of PCs was observed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the normal control groups, the neonatal and developmental rats with convulsion had a significantly higher AP frequency of PCs (P<0.05), and the developmental rats with convulsion had a significantly decreased threshold stimulus (P<0.01) and a significantly greater inhibition of the amplitude of EPSC in PCs (P<0.05). Compared with the normal control groups, the neonatal and developmental rats with convulsion in the high-dose PB groups had a significantly decreased threshold stimulus (P<0.01), a significantly higher AP frequency of PCs (P<0.05), and a significantly greater inhibition of EPSC in PCs (P<0.05). Compared with the neonatal and developmental rats in the convulsion model groups, those in the high-dose SA groups had a significantly decreased AP frequency of PCs (P<0.05). The developmental rats in the low- and high-dose SA groups had a significantly higher AP threshold than those in the convulsion model group (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The high excitability of PCs and the abnormal PF-PC synaptic plasticity caused by convulsion in neonatal rats may last to the developmental period, which can be aggravated by PB, while SA can reduce the excitability of PCs in neonatal rats with convulsion and repair the short- and long-term abnormalities of LTD of PCs caused by convulsion.</p>

Influence of cefuroxime sodium on synaptic plasticity of parallel fiber-Purkinje cells in young rats / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the influence of cefuroxime sodium (CS) on the electrophysiological function of cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs) in Sprague-Dawley rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Postnatal day 7 (P7) Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into early administration I and II groups (administered from P7 to P14) and late administration group (administered from P14 to P21), and all the groups received intraperitoneally injected CS. The control groups for early and late administration groups were also established and treated with intraperitoneally injected normal saline of the same volume. There were 10 rats in each group. The rats in the early administration I group and early administration control group were sacrificed on P15, and those in the early administration II group, late administration group, and late administration control group were sacrificed on P22. The whole-cell patch-clamp technique was used to record inward current and action potential of PCs on cerebellar slices, as well as the long-term depression (LTD) of excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) in PCs induced by low-frequency stimulation of parallel fiber (PF).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the control groups, the early and late administration groups had a slightly higher magnitude of inward current and a slightly higher amplitude of action potential of PCs (P>0.05). All administration groups had a significantly higher degree of EPSC inhibition than the control groups (P<0.01), and the early administration II group had a significantly greater degree of EPSC inhibition than the late administration group (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Early CS exposure after birth affects the synaptic plasticity of PF-PCs in the cerebellum of young rats, which persists after drug withdrawal.</p>

Clinical outcomes of twin pregnancies conceived by in vitro fertilization compared with spontaneous twin pregnancies / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the maternal and perinatal outcomes of twin pregnancies conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) with outcomes of spontaneous twin pregnancies.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective analysis was conducted between January 2010 and April 2014 to investigate the maternal age, gestation length, modes of delivery, pregnancy complications and neonatal physical development, birth defects and perinatal diseases in 106 IVF-assisted twin pregnancies (IVF group) and 256 spontaneous twin pregnancies (control group).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mothers in the IVF group were significantly older than those in the control group (32±4 years vs 28±4 years, P<0.05). The incidence rates of gestational hypertension and gestational diabetes in the IVF group were significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.05). No significant differences were observed for neonatal physical development, the incidence of birth defects, and the incidence and mortality of perinatal diseases (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Twins conceived by IVF have similar outcomes as spontaneously conceived twins in the perinatal period. However, special attention is needed to monitor the levels of blood pressure and blood glucose for pregnant women with twins conceived by IVF during prenatal checkups.</p>

Efficiency of multi-round fluorescence in situ hybridization and its influencing factors in preimplantation genetic diagnosis / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the efficiency of multi-round fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and its influencing factors in preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 48 couples accepted PGD because of various reasons: 24 with Robertsonian translocations, 16 with reciprocal translocations, 2 with pericentric inversions, one with advanced maternal age who had a previous liveborn of Down syndrome, 3 suffered from sex chromosome abnormalities and 2 repeated spontaneous miscarriages. After 72 retrieval cycles, 432 cleavage stage embryos with more than six cells were biopsied on day three. Only intact nuclei (396) were hybridized in order to verify the chromosomal status of the individual embryos. If previous FISH has failed to give conclusive results while the nuclei remained undamaged, the nuclei were hybridized once again. A total of 870 times of hybridization were conducted to 396 nuclei. Signal identification rates of each round as well as the influence of different probes to the hybridization efficiency were compared. Factors leading to inconclusive FISH results were analyzed as well.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Five hundred and thirty five out of 870 hybridizations gave identifiable signals (61.5%). The second and third round FISH showed the best signals with an identification rate of 71.8% and 77.4%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the first round (52.8%, P < 0.01), the fourth round (55.8%, P < 0.05, P < 0.01), the fifth round (54.5%, P < 0.05) and the sixth round (27.3%, P < 0.01). The identification rate of centromere specific probe signals (CEP group) was 80.3% and the former three rounds in this group got the best quality of signals with an identification rate of 85.7%, 85.1% and 88.0%, respectively, which was significantly higher than that of the latter three rounds. The identification rate of other probe was much lower than with the CEP probe (55.2% vs. 80.3%, P < 0.01) and the best quality of signal in this group was achieved in the fifth round (72.7%), followed by the second round (66.1%) and the third round (63.8%). The identification rate of the first round (50.3%) and the sixth round (22.2%) were significantly lower compared with the second round (P < 0.01). During the 6 rounds of FISH, 335 hybridizations did not give conclusion results (38.5%, 335/870). The main cause of unidentification was weak signals (20.9%, 182/870). Other common factors included background interference (7.6%, 66/870) and failed hybridization (6.1%, 53/870). Rare causes included nucleus damage (1.8%, 16/870), nucleus loss (1.1%, 10/870) and signal split/overlap (0.9%, 8/870).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Multi-round FISH can improve the utility of single nucleus in PGD and the former three rounds have the highest efficiency. The hybridization effect of CEP is better than other probe. Poor signal quality is the common cause of unidentification results.</p>

Primary stromal cells isolated from human various histological/pathological prostate have different phenotypes and tumor promotion role / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Prostate stromal cells are known to regulate epithelial growth as well as support and maintain epithelial function. However, how stromal cells regulate epithelial cells and what differences among various histological/pathological prostate stromal cells in prostate cancer progression still remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the different phenotypes of human various histological/pathological prostate stromal cells, and their role in tumor promotion.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The different phenotypes of the human normal prostatic peripheral zonal primary stromal cells (NPPF), transitional zonal primary stromal cells (NPTF), and prostate cancer associated primary stromal cells (CAF) were examined with growth curves and Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) assay. The different effects on prostate cancer cell line C4-2B by NPPF, NPTF, and CAF were examined with MTT assay and Annexin V-FITC assay. The gene expression of different histological/pathological prostate stromal cells was profiled by microarray and hierarchical cluster analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The growth rate of NPPF, NPTF and CAF gradually increased, followed by decreasing apoptosis. In vitro stromal-C4-2B cell line co-culture models, the proliferation and apoptosis of C4-2B cell line were differently affected by human various histological/pathological prostate stromal cells. CAF showed the most powerful effect to C4-2B cell line, as opposed to a weakest effect of NPTF. Microarray and hierarchical cluster analysis showed that the differentially expressed genes of CAF and NPPF were less than NPPF and NPTF, or CAF and NPTF. This was consistent with clinical observations that prostate cancer mostly derived from the peripheral zone and does not usually occur in the transitional zone.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>NPPF, NPTF and CAF possess extremely different biological characteristics and gene expression, which may play an important role in genesis and development of prostate cancer.</p>

Analysis of clinical features, biochemical analysis and gene mutations in one Chinese pedigree with neonatal-onset ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study aimed at understanding clinical features, biochemistry and gene mutation in one Chinese pedigree which had a neonatal-onset ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD) boy, and exploring the significance of ornithine transcarbamylase analysis in prenatal diagnosis.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The clinical and biochemical data of one case were analyzed. The amino acids in blood and organic acids in urine were analyzed by mass spectrum technology. The OTC gene mutation was detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA direct sequencing for the case, his parents and the fetus amniocyte and her blood after birth.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The age of onset was 3 days after birth, he began to have poor reaction, difficulty to feed, high blood ammonia, infection, slight metabolic acidosis, which were consistent with the clinical diagnosis of urea cycle disorders. The boy died at the age of 9 days. Citrulline of blood was detected twice, and were 0.86 µm and 1.06 µm, respectively. The orotic acid was elevated (124 µm/M Creatinine), and urine lactic acid was significantly elevated. The citrulline and orotic acid in his parents and their second baby were normal in DBS and urine. One nonsense mutation in the OTC gene was found at the exon 9 (C. 958 C > T) and his mother was the heterozygote, which caused an arginine to terminate the code at position 320 of the protein (R320X). Two other mutations were also detected at intron 9 (C.1005 + 132 InsT) and intron 5 (C.542 + 134 G > G/A). But the analysis of his father's DNA, the fetus amniocyte and her blood was normal.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The mutation of C. 958 C > T in OTC gene may occur during neonatal period. This mutation would result in a very severe symptom, even die suddenly several days after birth, if it was a boy. It needs more researches to discuss whether the C.1005 + 132 InsT in intron 9 and C.542 + 134 G > G/A in intron 5 were associated with the neonatal-onset OTCD. The DNA analysis of OTC gene could be utilized for the prenatal diagnosis.</p>

Technique of radiologic measurements for the inner ear structures using computed tomography / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The aim of this study was to find an accurate and feasible measurement technique for the inner ear structures using computed tomography and to check the inter-observer agreement</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty patients without abnormal structure of temporal bones confirmed by means of high-resolution computed tomography were included in this study. The multi-planar reformations (MPR) were performed to show the maximum profile of cochlear, and to measure the height and width of cochlear. Areas of bony island encircled by three semicircular canals were measured on the MPR images that could show the whole canal. The data measured by two readers independently was compared to check the inter-observer agreement.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The application of MPR yielded satisfactory anatomic presentation of inner ear for radiologic measurements. There was good inter-observer agreement revealed by the paired t-test and correlation analysis (P>0.05, r>0.9). The height of cochlear (x+/-s) was (4.26+/-0.28) mm while the width of cochlear was (7.03+/-0.39) mm. The areas of bony islands encircled by the anterior, posterior and lateral semicircular canals were (25.49+/-3.84) mm2, (20.07+/-2.93) mm2 and (11.50+/-1.94) mm2, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>MPR can display structures of cochlear and semicircular canals on planes along their central axis. Normative measurements on these MPR images derive excellent repeatability and provide reliable morphologic parameters of inner ear structures.</p>

The clinical application of spectral karyotyping in the analysis of chromosomal abnormalities / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate value of spectral karyotyping (SKY) in the detection of chromosomal abnormalities.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 17 metaphase chromosome samples were investigated by SKY, including 10 normal and 5 balanced translocation samples of peripheral blood lymphocytes, one der(Y) sample of peripheral blood lymphocytes and one marker chromosome sample of amniotic fluid cells. The results were compared with those of G-banding diagnosis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Ten normal and 5 balanced translocation samples were diagnosed successfully by SKY in accordance with the results of G-banding; furthermore, SKY analysis revealed that the der(Y) fragment originated from p-arm of chromosome 21 while the marker chromosome originated from chromosome 5.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SKY is a very sensitive and specific whole genome analysis tool for chromosomal abnormality diagnosis, and exceedingly valuable in the diagnosis on complex chromosomal abnormalities that can not be determined by G-banding.</p>

Effect of er'bao granule on integration of ingestion behavior-related information by neurons in lateral hypothalamic area of anorexia rats / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To confirm the effect of Er'bao granule (EBG) on the sensitivity to peripheral afferent signal of neurons in lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) to illustrate the central mechanism of EBG in promoting ingestion behavior.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The anorexia rat model was established by feeding special prepared forage for one week, and all the model rats were administrated with EBG by gavage for 3 weeks. The spontaneous discharge of LHA neurons was recorded using electro-physiological extracellular recording method, and its response to electrical stimulus on gastric vagus nerve and intravenous injection of glucose were observed and compared among the normal, model and treated groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>As compared with the normal group, among the LHA neurons responding to afferent gastric vagal impulse, the proportion of glycemia-sensitive neurons in the model group was significantly decreased (P <0.01), but insignificant difference was shown in comparison between the treated group and the normal group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>EBG play a role in regulating the sensitivity of LHA neurons to peripheral afferent signal and thus to influence the multi-afferent information integration of ingestion central neurons.</p>

Pregnancy outcomes of 194 couples with balanced translocations / 中华妇产科杂志

Objective To investigate the pregnancy outcomes of couples with either maternal or paternal balanced translocations.Methods One hundred and ninety-four couples were divided into three groups based on the kind of translocations:135 with reciprocal translocation,52 with nonhomologous Robertsonian translocations,and 7 with homologous Robertsonian translocations.Past reproductive histories were surveyed.For those who wanted to have their own babies by natural conceptions after knowing their karyotypes as well as the risks of abnormal offsprings,subsequent pregnancy outcomes were recorded.Total pregnancy outcomes were compared between three groups.Results(1)503 previous and subsequent pregnancies were recorded in detail.The pregnancy outcomes are as follows:spontaneous abortions 81.7% (411/503);induced terminations because of fetal abnormalities 3.2%(16/503);birth defects 7.2% (36/503);normal/balanced offsprings 8.0%(40/503).In reciprocal translocations,nonhomologous Robertsonian translocations and homologous Robertsonian translocations,the birth defects rates were 5.7% (20/350),10.9%(14/128)and 8.0%(2/25),respectively(P