Skills to Perform Vessel Eversion in Mouse Cervical Cardiac Transplantation with Cuff Technique

Abstract Introduction: The mouse heterotopic cardiac transplant model has been extensively used to explore transplant immunity. Although the cuff technique facilitates the operation, the procedure remains difficult, and vessel eversion is the most difficult step. Cuff movement and everted vessel wall slippage are the main adverse factors in vessel eversion. Traditional strategies to prevent these factors focus on cuff fixation, while more steps or surgical instruments would be required. Methods: According to the reported protocols and our experience, the vessel eversion skills were modified and used for transplantation. Cardiac grafts from C57BL/6(H-2b) or BALB/c(H-2d) mice were transplanted into C57BL/6(H-2b) mice. The operating times of recent 90 operations, which were divided into 9 groups according to their sequence, were summarized and analyzed. Results: The mouse cervical cardiac transplantation was successfully performed by using the modified vessel eversion skills. The cuff movement, which is the most important adverse factor to prevent vessel eversion, was effectively prevented. In the recent 90 operations, the total operating time was 47.3±7.9 min and the success rate was 98%. Conclusions: The modified surgical skills simplify the vessel eversion in mouse cervical cardiac transplantation with cuff technique, characterized by less cuff movement, fewer steps, and surgical instruments. Using these surgical skills, the transplant can be performed in a short time.

Research progress of cells and molecules in corneal neovascularization / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

@#Various ocular injuries can induce corneal neovascularization, which promote the development of diseases, causing corneal edema, impaired vision and even blindness. Therefore, with very important clinical significance, inhibiting corneal neovascularization can help to delay the progression of diseases and reduce corneal damage. This article will make the latest systematic discussion on the cells and molecules involved in corneal neovascularization, and analyze the possible inhibitory targets, hoping to provide references for scientific research and clinical practice.

An analysis of vascular factors of Alzheimer′s disease and an experimental intervention of tanshinone Ⅱ A on mouse models of AD / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective To evaluate the relationship between Alzheimer′s disease(AD)and its partial vascular risk factors,and investigate the effect of tanshinone ⅡA(Tan ⅡA)on experimental models of AD combined with chronic cerebral ischemia and its potential mechanism.Methods Eight hundred and forty-nine patients with dementia(549 having diagnosis of AD and 300 without AD),admitted to our hospital from 1975 to 2009,were collected in our study; univariate analysis was performed on the relation between AD and vascular risk factors.Besides that,Tg+ mice were employed in our study and randomly divided into 5 groups,namely,sham-operated group,vehicle group,low Tan ⅡA treatment group,medium Tan ⅡA treatment group and high Tan ⅡA treatment group; or these mice were randomly divided into sham-operated group,vehicle group,Tan ⅡA treatment group(treated with 10 mg/kg daily).Mouse models of AD and chronic cerebral ischemia were established,and Tan ⅡA treatment was given to the Tan ⅡA treatment group.The relationship between AD and vascular factors was assessed by means of analyzing the clinicopathological data of AD cohort.The changes of learning and memory abilities in the mouse models were detected by Morris water maze test.Enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay(ELISA)was employed to detect the level of VEGF; the protein expressions of betaA4-amyloid precursor protein (APP),VEGF and VEGFR-1 were determined by Western blotting,and the mRNA expressions of APP,VEGF and VEGFR-1 were observed by quantitative RT PCR.The effect of Tan ⅡA on canaliculization of human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs)was also investigated fiom cellular level.Results AD was significantly positively correlated with such vascular risk factors as hypertension,diabetes mellitus,coronary disease,cerebrovascular disease and hyperlipemia(P＜0.05),while no correlation was noted between AD and pneumonia.The mice of the medium Tan ⅡA treatment group and high Tan ⅡA treatment group had obviously shortened times of searching the platform and swimming distance,prolonged latency of avoiding darkness,decreased frequency of wrong behaviors,and decreased level of VEGF as compared with the vehicle group(P＜0.05).The life span in mice of the Tan ⅡA treatment group (treated with 10 mg/kg daily)was prolonged for approximately 24 d as compared with that in the vehicle group; the expressions of APP and VEGF were down-regulated and that of VEGFR-1 in mice of the Tan ⅡA treatment group(treated with 10 mg/kg daily)was up-regulated as compared with those in the vehicle group(P＜0.05).The canaliculization of HUVECs was enhanced after incubation with Tan ⅡA for 48 h,followed by increase of VEGFR-1 expression.Conclusion AD is significantly correlated with its vascular factors.Tan ⅡA could improve the learning and memory abilities of dementia mouse through up-regnlation of VEGFR-1 expression and promotion of vascular integrity,indicating the crucial role of vascular factors in treatment of AD.

Vascular Risk Factors in Normal Tension Glaucoma

To evaluate the implication of vascular factor in normal tension glaucoma, authors performed color doppler imaging[CDI] for ophthalmic artery, central retinal artery and posterior ciliary artery in 21 eyes of 12 patients in normal tension glaucoma and 16 eyes of 11 patients in normal control group. We compared peak-systolic velocity[PSV], end-diastolic velocity[EDV], mean velocity[MV], resistance index[RI] and pulsatile index[PI] between the two groups. We evaluate the difference in parameters according to age, sex, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, past history of diabetes and hypertension, cup-disc ratio and visual field change. In normal tension glaucoma group, PSV, EDV and MV of ophthalmic artery and central retinal artery were significantly decreased and pulsatile index was significantly increased compared to those of normal group. Resistance index was also increased in normal tension glaucoma group, but statistically not significant. All parameters of posterior ciliary artery had no significant difference between the two groups. Age was related positively to pulsatile index and resistance index of central retianl artery and diastolic blood pressure was related positively to resistance index of ophthalmic artery. Cup-disc ratio was related negatively to PSV and EDV of ophthalmic artery. Above results imply that blood flow velocity decreased by increasing resistance factor in normal tension glaucoma, therefore local vascular factor might be related to the development of the normal tension glaucoma and affected by age, blood pressure and cup-disc ratio change.