Effects of short-term use of atropine with different concentrations and frequencies on eye safety in children / 中华实验眼科杂志

Objective:To evaluate the effect of short-term topical administration of atropine eye drops with various concentrations and frequencies on eye safety in children.Methods:A double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted.Sevevty-two children with ametropia or pre-myopia (72 eyes) were enrolled in Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital from December 2020 to January 2022.The subjects were randomly divided into 0.01% atropine group, 0.02% atropine group and 0.04% atropine group according to a random number table, with 24 cases (24 eyes) in each group.Automatic refraction with an automatic computer optometry device, subjective refraction with a phoropter, intraocular pressure with a non-contact tonometer, axial length by optical biometrics, the amplitude of accommodation (AMP) by the push-up method, pupil diameter with pupilometer, near visual acuity at 33 cm with a standard logarithmic visual acuity chart, tear evaluation with Keratograph 5M and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire survey were performed among all subjects.One drop of 0.01%, 0.02%, and 0.04% atropine was administrated to the study eye according to grouping, and the pupil diameter was measured every 10 minutes until the pupil did not enlarge three times, then the data after a single treatment of the three groups were recorded.After one-week application of the corresponding concentration of atropine eye drops once at night, the data after one-week treatment were recorded.For the next week, the application frequency of 0.01% and 0.02% atropine groups changed to once daily in the morning and evening, and 0.04% atropine group maintained once at night, then the data after two-week treatment were recorded.Data of the right eyes were analyzed.The changes in pupil diameter, AMP and other eye parameters before and after atropine eye drops of the three groups were compared.This study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki and the study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital (No.2020KY[L]-51). All subjects and their guardians were fully informed of the method and purpose of this study before entering the cohort.Written informed consent was obtained from guardians.Results:Pupil diameters of 0.01%, 0.02% and 0.04% atropine groups were (5.59±0.48), (5.35±0.76) and (5.65±0.43)mm before treatment respectively, (7.00±0.68), (7.17±0.58) and (8.40±1.71)mm after a single treatment, (6.67±0.62), (6.56±0.65) and (7.60±0.69)mm after one-week treatment, (6.96±0.49), (7.04±0.53) and (7.60±0.36)mm after two-week treatment.There were significant differences in pupil diameter at different time points after treatment among the three groups ( Fgroup=9.430, P<0.001; Ftime=156.620, P<0.001). The AMP of 0.01%, 0.02% and 0.04% atropine groups were (12.94±3.02), (13.25±2.81) and (13.42±2.60)D before treatment respectively, (11.62±2.61), (11.53±2.06) and (9.64±1.93)D after a single treatment, (11.14±2.61), (11.33±2.33) and (8.30±1.18)D after one-week treatment, (9.99±1.81), (8.72±1.25) and (8.76±2.12)D after two-week treatment.There was no significant difference in the AMP among the three groups ( Fgroup=2.800, P=0.063). In the three groups, the AMP at different time points after treatment were significantly lower than that before treatment ( Ftime=61.400, P<0.001). There was no difference in spherical equivalent refraction, intraocular pressure, near visual acuity, axial length, first none-invasive tear break-up time, average none-invasive tear break-up time, tear meniscus height and OSDI score among the three groups ( Fgroup=0.030, 0.630, 1.420, 0.580, 0.140, 0.120, 0.340, 0.142; all at P>0.05). There were significant differences in spherical equivalent refraction, intraocular pressure, first none-invasive tear break-up time, average none-invasive tear break-up time, tear meniscus height and OSDI score at different time points between before and after medication among the three groups ( Ftime=12.560, 4.730, 4.720, 5.220, 3.720; all at P<0.05). Conclusions:Varying pupil dilation and AMP reduction occur after the use of different concentrations of atropine and are more severe at higher concentrations.Increased administration frequency of atropine is associated with more pupil dilation and AMP reduction, but there is no intolerable adverse effect.

Gene expression and immunolocalization of chitin deacetylase BmCDA2 in silkworm / 生物工程学报

Deacetylation of chitin is closely related to insect development and metamorphosis. Chitin deacetylase (CDA) is a key enzyme in the process. However, to date, the CDAs of Bombyx mori (BmCDAs), which is a model Lepidopteran insect, were not well studied. In order to better understand the role of BmCDAs in the metamorphosis and development of silkworm, the BmCDA2 which is highly expressed in epidermis was selected to study by bioinformatics methods, protein expression purification and immunofluorescence localization. The results showed that the two mRNA splicing forms of BmCDA2, namely BmCDA2a and BmCDA2b, were highly expressed in the larval and pupal epidermis, respectively. Both genes had chitin deacetylase catalytic domain, chitin binding domain and low density lipoprotein receptor domain. Western blot showed that the BmCDA2 protein was mainly expressed in the epidermis. Moreover, fluorescence immunolocalization showed that BmCDA2 protein gradually increased and accumulated with the formation of larval new epidermis, suggesting that BmCDA2 may be involved in the formation or assembly of larval new epidermis. The results increased our understandings to the biological functions of BmCDAs, and may facilitate the CDA study of other insects.

Reason of postprandial low-density lipoprotein cholesterol reduction measured by enzymatic assays: based on nuclear magnetic resonance method / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective:To explore the postprandial plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) changes by various detection methods.Methods:A total of 85 subjects admitted to the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from November 2017 to May 2019 were included. Serum samples were collected from fasting and the 2 nd hour and the 4 th hour after breakfast. Serum lipid levels were measured with enzymatic assays and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMRS), and proprotein invertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) levels were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The differences of blood lipid components at different time points were compared by Friedman two-way rank analysis of variance and Wilcoxon signed rank test, and the correlation between PCSK9 level and lipoprotein particles was analyzed by Spearman correlation. Results:Measured by enzymatic assays, compared with the fasting state, LDL-C decreased at the 2 nd hour and the 4 th hour after the meal (2.58[2.09, 3.12], 2.47[1.92, 3.02], 2.37[1.82, 2.80] mmol/L, P<0.001). Measured by NMRS, the concentration of LDL particles (1 086[830, 1 239], 1 083[848, 1 213], 1 061[814, 1 213] nmol/L, P=0.417) did not change significantly, and cholesterol in LDL particles were 2.13 (1.56, 2.54), 2.16 (1.68, 2.50), 2.06 (1.58, 2.50) mmol/L, respectively ( P=0.047)，and postprandial cholesterol in LDL particles in the 2 nd hour and in the 4 th hour did not change significantly compared with fasting ( P>0.05). while the concentration of large LDL particles (185.2[150.6,221.6], 173.0[144.8,220.3], 178.1[144.0,233.6] nmol/L, P=0.001), and the cholesterol level in large LDL particles (0.49[0.39, 0.57], 0.47[0.38, 0.57], 0.46[0.37, 0.58]mmol/L, P<0.001) decreased after the meal. The PCSK9 level also decreased significantly after the meal (299[233, 397], 257[208, 342], 251[215, 340] ng/ml, P<0.001). There was an independent positive correlation between the decrease of PCSK9 levels and the increase of remnant cholesterol detected by MNRS after the meal ( r=0.232, P=0.035). Conclusions:The postprandial LDL-C level measured by NMRS and enzymatic assays is not consistent. The decrease of LDL-C measured by enzymatic assays is not caused by the clearance of LDL particles, but by the redistribution of cholesterol in each LDL subfraction.

Herbalogical Study on Common Selfheal(Prunella vulgaris) / 中草药

Herbalogical study shows that Xiakucao used in ancient times came from Prunella vulgaris and P. asiotica. The Portion used for medical purpose in ancient times was its stem and leaf, collected during the period of blooming. The portion used today was the spike, collected approach withering. Modern analytical determination showed that the aerial parts of three Prunella specics can also be used as medicine when collected in june and july.