Effects of Ligusticum Chuanxiong extract on MPP+-induced SH-SY5Y cells in Parkinson’s syndrome model via miR-23a-3p/SNCA axis / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

【Objective】 To explore the effects of Ligusticum Chuanxiong extract on MPP+-induced SH-SY5Y cell damage and Parkinson’s syndrome. 【Methods】 1-methyl-4phenylpyridine ion (MPP+) interfered with SH-SY5Y to establish a cell model of elderly Parkinson’s syndrome (SH-SY5Y-MPP+). After intervention with Ligusticum Chuanxiong extract, cell proliferation and apoptosis as well as miR-23a-3p and SNCA expressions were detected. In addition, the changes of SH-SY5Y-MPP+ after regulating the expression of miR-23a-3p and SNCA were observed, and the relationship between miR-23a-3p and SNCA was verified by dual luciferase reporter. 【Results】 The cell proliferation capacity of SH-SY5y-MPP+ was significantly lower than that of SH-SY5Y, while the apoptosis rate was higher than that of SH-SY5Y (P<0.05). Under the intervention of Ligusticum Chuanxiong extract, the proliferation ability of SH-SY5Y-MPP+, and Bcl-2 and SNCA protein increased, the apoptosis rate, miR-23a-3p, and Bax proteins decreased (P<0.05). Both silencing miR-23a-3p and increasing SNCA could promote the proliferation of SH-SY5Y-MPP+ and inhibit apoptosis, while increasing miR-23a-3p and silencing SNCA were the opposite (P<0.05). The online target gene prediction website found that miR-23a-3p and SNCA had complementary sites that could bind, and the dual luciferase reporter enzyme showed that the firefly activity of SNCA-wt was significantly inhibited after the miR-23a-3p mimic sequence was transfected (P<0.05). After increasing miR-23a-3p, the expression of SNCA protein in SH-SY5Y-MPP+ decreased, while silencing miR-23a-3p was the opposite (P<0.05). Rescue experiments showed that the intervention effect of Ligusticum Chuanxiong extract on SH-SY5Y-MPP+ was completely reversed by increasing miR-23a-3p or silent SNCA (P>0.05); the effect of increasing miR-23a-3p on SH-SY5Y-MPP+ increased SNCA reversion (P>0.05). 【Conclusion】 Ligusticum Chuanxiong extract can affect the biological behavior changes of SH-SY5Y induced by MPP+ by regulating the miR-23a-3p/SNCA axis, which may be a new direction for the treatment of elderly Parkinson’s syndrome in the future.

Assessment of pulmonary functions among the elderly in Hangzhou City / 预防医学

Objective@#To investigate the pulmonary functions among the elderly in Hangzhou City, so as to provide insights into the management of respiratory diseases among the elderly. @* Methods@#Permanent residents at ages of 60 to 75 years were sampled from Hangzhou City from November to December 2020. The pulmonary function was tested using a portable pulmonary function monitor, including large airway function parameters [forced expiratory volume (FVC), forced expiratory volume in a second (FEV1) and FEV1/FVC], and small airway function parameters [maximum expiratory flow rate at 75% vital capacity (MEF75%), the maximum expiratory flow rate at 25% of vital capacity (MEF25%) and the forced expiratory flow rate (FEF25%-75%) at 25% to 75% of vital capacity]. The pulmonary functions were compared among the elderly with different genders, ages and body mass index (BMI).@*Results @#Totally 314 participants were recruited, including 126 men (40.13%), with a mean age of (68.49±4.47) years and mean BMI of (23.51±2.79) kg/m2. The mean FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, MEF25%, MEF75% and FEF25%-75% were (1.97±0.53) L, (2.51±0.72) L, (79.79±11.47)%, (0.98±0.53) L/s, (3.84±1.65) L/s and (1.99±0.91) L/s among the participants, respectively. Higher FEV1 [(2.22±0.55) vs. (1.79±0.43) L, P<0.05], FVC [(2.92±0.75) vs. (2.24±0.55) L, P<0.05], MEF75% [(4.19±1.82) vs. (3.59±1.49) L/s, P<0.05] and FEF25%-75% [(2.14±1.07) vs. (1.90±0.77) L/s, P<0.05] were tested among men than among women, and lower FEV1 [(1.75±0.46) L], FVC [(2.27±0.64) L], MEF25% [(0.88±0.57) L/s], MEF75% [(3.39±1.45) L/s] and FEF25%-75% [(1.79±0.96) L/s] were tested among the elderly at ages of 70 to 74 years. The proportion of large and small airway dysfunctions was 40.45% among the participants. @* Conclusions@# The proportion of large and small airway dysfunctions was 40.45% among the elderly in Hangzhou City, and poor pulmonary functions were tested among the women and the advanced elderly.

Construction of an epileptic seizure prediction model using a semi-supervised method of generative adversarial and long short term memory network combined with Stockwell transform / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To propose a semi-supervised epileptic seizure prediction model (ST-WGAN-GP-Bi-LSTM) to enhance the prediction performance by improving time-frequency analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, enhancing the stability of the unsupervised feature learning model and improving the design of back-end classifier.@*METHODS@#Stockwell transform (ST) of the epileptic EEG signals was performed to locate the time-frequency information by adaptive adjustment of the resolution and retaining the absolute phase to obtain the time-frequency inputs. When there was no overlap between the generated data distribution and the real EEG data distribution, to avoid failure of feature learning due to a constant JS divergence, Wasserstein GAN was used as a feature learning model, and the cost function based on EM distance and gradient penalty strategy was adopted to constrain the unsupervised training process to allow the generation of a high-order feature extractor. A temporal prediction model was finally constructed based on a bi-directional long short term memory network (Bi-LSTM), and the classification performance was improved by obtaining the temporal correlation between high-order time-frequency features. The CHB-MIT scalp EEG dataset was used to validate the proposed patient-specific seizure prediction method.@*RESULTS@#The AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of the proposed method reached 90.40%, 83.62%, and 86.69%, respectively. Compared with the existing semi-supervised methods, the propose method improved the original performance by 17.77%, 15.41%, and 53.66%. The performance of this method was comparable to that of a supervised prediction model based on CNN.@*CONCLUSION@#The utilization of ST, WGAN-GP, and Bi-LSTM effectively improves the prediction performance of the semi-supervised deep learning model, which can be used for optimization of unsupervised feature extraction in epileptic seizure prediction.

The dual mTORC1/2 inhibitor AZD2014 inhibits acute graft rejection in a rat liver transplantation model / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the inhibitory effect of AZD2014, a dual mTORC1/2 inhibitor, against acute graft rejection in a rat model of allogeneic liver transplantation.@*METHODS@#Liver transplantation from Lewis rat to recipient BN rat (a donor-recipient combination that was prone to induce acute graft rejection) was performed using Kamada's two-cuff technique. The recipient BN rats were randomized into 2 groups for treatment with daily intraperitoneal injection of AZD2014 (5 mg/kg, n=4) or vehicle (2.5 mL/kg, n=4) for 14 consecutive days, starting from the first day after the transplantation. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBIL) levels of the rats were measured 3 days before and at 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 days after the transplantation, and the survival time of the rats within 14 days were recorded. Immunohistochemical staining was used to examine the expressions of CD3 and Foxp3 in the liver graft, and acute graft rejection was assessed using HE staining based on the Banff schema.@*RESULTS@#Three rats in the control group died within 14 days after the surgery, while no death occurred in the AZD2014 group, demonstrating a significantly longer survival time of the rats in AZD2014 group (χ2=4.213, P=0.04). Serum ALT, AST and TBIL levels in the control group increased progressively after the surgery and were all significantly higher than those in AZD2014 group at the same time point (P < 0.05). Pathological examination revealed significantly worse liver graft rejection in the control group than in AZD2014 group based on assessment of the rejection index (P < 0.01); the rats in the control group showed more serious T lymphocyte infiltration and significantly fewer Treg cells in the liver graft than those in AZD2014 group (P < 0.01).@*CONCLUSIONS@#AZD2014 can effectively inhibit acute graft rejection in rats with allogeneic liver transplantation.

Short-segmental fixation combined with vertebroplasty via bone cement-augmented screws for treatment of old osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral fracture nonunion accompanied by spinal nerve injury / 中华创伤杂志

Objective:To evaluate the clinical outcomes of short-segmental fixation combined with vertebroplasty via bone cement-augmented screws in treating old osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral fracture nonunion (OOVFN) accompanied by spinal cord injury.Methods:A retrospective case series study was made on 32 patients with OOVFN accompanied by spinal cord injury admitted to Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology between October 2012 and November 2019, including 10 males and 22 females. The age ranged from 50 to 76 years [(62.4±8.0)years]. Level of injury was T 11 in patients, T 12 in 7, L 1 in 7, L 2 in 6, L 3 in 5, L 4 in 3. Frankel classification for spinal nerve injury was grade B in 7 patients, grade C in 13 and grade D in 12. All underwent short-segmental fixation combined with vertebroplasty via bone cement-augmented screws. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and volume of bone cement injected in the fracture vertebra were documented. The anterior and posterior vertebral height, Cobb angle for local kyphosis and spinal canal volume at the fracture level were measured to evaluate the reduction, and the visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI) and Frankel classification were used to evaluate clinical outcomes pre-, post-operatively and at the last follow-up. The post-operative complications were recorded. Results:All patients completed the follow-up, with the follow-up duration of 12-85 months [(44.8±17.5)months]. The operation time was 90-135 minutes[(109.5±14.1)minutes] and intraoperative blood loss was 80-220 ml[(157.2±38.5)ml]. The volume of bone cement injected in the fracture vertebra was 3.5-6.5 ml[(5.0±1.1)ml]. The anterior vertebral height was restored from (9.8±2.2)mm preoperatively to (19.8±2.7)mm at one week postoperatively and to (19.7±2.5)mm at the last follow-up ( P<0.01). The Cobb angle was corrected from (21.8±4.7)° preoperatively to (5.4±2.7)° at one week postoperatively and to (5.5±2.7)°at the last follow-up ( P<0.01). The cross-sectional area of spinal canal was enlarged from (595.8±102.3)mm 2 preoperatively to (1, 093.6±144.9)mm 2 at one week postoperatively and to (1, 103.9±147.9)mm 2 at the last follow-up ( P<0.01). The posterior vertebral height was maintained during the perioperative period ( P>0.05). The VAS and NDI decreased from (7.7±1.3)points and 79.1±14.7 preoperatively to (2.5±0.8)points, 31.8±9.8 at one week postoperatively and to (2.3±0.6)points and 31.8±9.8 at the final follow-up ( P<0.01). The spinal nerve injury showed improvement at the final follow-up, with Frankel grade B in 1 patients, grade C in 6, grade D in 15 and grade E in 10 ( P<0.01). Two patients with bone cement leakage into spinal canal were observed intraoperatively, which was cleared during decompression. Five patients with local bone cement leakage and no leakage into spinal canal were recorded during the follow-up. There was no neurological symptom deterioration, wound infection or internal fixation loosening or failure during the follow-up. Conclusion:For patients with OOVFN accompanied by spinal cord injury, short-segmental fixation combined with vertebroplasty via bone cement-augmented screws can restore and maintain vertebral alignment, relieve pain and promote neurological function recovery.

Rac1 Signaling in Amygdala Astrocytes Regulates Fear Memory Acquisition and Retrieval / 神经科学通报·英文版

The importance of astrocytes in behavior control is increasingly appreciated, but little is known about the effects of their dynamic activity in regulating learning and memory. In the present study, we constructed AAVs of photoactivatable and photoinactivatable Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (Rac1) under the mGFAP promoter, which enabled the manipulation of Rac1 activity in astrocytes by optical stimulation in free-moving mice. We found that both up-regulation and down-regulation of astrocytic Rac1 activity in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) attenuated memory acquisition in a fear conditioning mouse model. Meanwhile, neuronal activation in the BLA induced by memory acquisition was inhibited under both the up- and down-regulation of astrocytic Rac1 activity during training. In terms of the impact on fear memory retrieval, we found both up- and down-regulation of BLA astrocytic Rac1 activity impaired memory retrieval of fear conditioning and memory retrieval-induced neuronal activation. Notably, the effect of astrocytic Rac1 on memory retrieval was reversible. Our results demonstrate that the normal activity of astrocytic Rac1 is necessary for the activation of neurons and memory formation. Both activation and inactivation of astrocytic Rac1 activity in the BLA reduced the excitability of neurons, and thereby impaired fear memory acquisition and retrieval.

Distribution of the COVID-19 epidemic and correlation with population emigration from Wuhan, China / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#The ongoing new coronavirus pneumonia (Corona Virus Disease 2019, COVID-19) outbreak is spreading in China, but it has not yet reached its peak. Five million people emigrated from Wuhan before lockdown, potentially representing a source of virus infection. Determining case distribution and its correlation with population emigration from Wuhan in the early stage of the epidemic is of great importance for early warning and for the prevention of future outbreaks.@*METHODS@#The official case report on the COVID-19 epidemic was collected as of January 30, 2020. Time and location information on COVID-19 cases was extracted and analyzed using ArcGIS and WinBUGS software. Data on population migration from Wuhan city and Hubei province were extracted from Baidu Qianxi, and their correlation with the number of cases was analyzed.@*RESULTS@#The COVID-19 confirmed and death cases in Hubei province accounted for 59.91% (5806/9692) and 95.77% (204/213) of the total cases in China, respectively. Hot spot provinces included Sichuan and Yunnan, which are adjacent to Hubei. The time risk of Hubei province on the following day was 1.960 times that on the previous day. The number of cases in some cities was relatively low, but the time risk appeared to be continuously rising. The correlation coefficient between the provincial number of cases and emigration from Wuhan was up to 0.943. The lockdown of 17 cities in Hubei province and the implementation of nationwide control measures efficiently prevented an exponential growth in the number of cases.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The population that emigrated from Wuhan was the main infection source in other cities and provinces. Some cities with a low number of cases showed a rapid increase in case load. Owing to the upcoming Spring Festival return wave, understanding the risk trends in different regions is crucial to ensure preparedness at both the individual and organization levels and to prevent new outbreaks.

On the self-efficacy of medical students in independent learning based on a survey of six medical institutions of higher learning / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Objective:To analyze the self-efficacy of medical students in independent learning and its influencing factors, and to explore the ways to improve their self-learning ability.Methods:A questionnaire survey was conducted among medical students in 6 medical institutions of higher learning in Guangdong Province. A total of 2 480 questionnaires were issued, and 2 282 were recovered. SPSS 19.0 was used to conduct statistical analysis including Kruskal-Wall test and multiple comparisons.Results:There were 47.72% of the medical students who had a strong autonomous learning drive, and more than half of the medical students had strong autonomous learning ability with strong self-efficacy of independent learning. The influence of family location, family guidance degree and different grades on self-efficacy of medical students was different, and there was no significant difference between 5-year and 8-year clinical medical students in self-efficacy of independent learning.Conclusion:Family factors have a great influence on self-efficacy, and senior medical students have the strong ability of self-learning compared with junior medical students. Therefore, we should give full play to the positive impacts of family and school factors to further improve the independent learning ability and efficiency of medical students.

Medication versus health education for patients with type Ⅲ prostatitis-like symptoms: A prospective randomized control study / 中华男科学杂志

Objective@#To investigate the necessity of medication for patients with type Ⅲ prostatitis-like symptoms for less than 3 months.@*METHODS@#We enrolled in this study 171 outpatients with type Ⅲ prostatitis-like symptoms for less than 3 months in our hospital from November 2016 to October 2017, and randomly divided them into groups A (n = 57), B (n = 57) and C (n = 57). The patients of group A received tamsulosin, levofloxacin and health education, those of group B tamsulosin and health education, and those of group C health education only. Three months later, we evaluated the therapeutic effects according to the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) scores of the patients, 4-point reduction in the total score indicating effectiveness.@*RESULTS@#After 3 months of treatment, the total NIH-CPSI scores of the patients in groups A, B and C were decreased by (9.0 ± 2.9), (8.2 ± 3.4) and (8.6 ± 3.2) points respectively, all indicating effectiveness, the pain scores (4.2 ± 1.8), (4.0 ± 1.9) and (4.2 ± 1.6) points, the urinary symptom scores decreased by decreased by (2.4 ± 1.2), (2.4 ± 1.4) and (2.2 ± 1.2) points, and quality of life scores decreased by (2.4 ± 1.4), (1.9 ± 1.4) and (2.2 ± 1.3) points, none with statistically significant difference among the three groups (P > 0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Health education is proved to have a therapeutic effect on type Ⅲ prostatitis-like symptoms similar to that of alpha receptor blockers.

A non-coated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for screening zika virus envelope protein / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To establish a non-coated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on zika virus envelope (E) protein for detecting the expression of E protein in infected cells.@*METHODS@#Adherent Vero-143 cells infected with zika virus in a 96-well plate were fixed, and the antibodies against zika virus E protein were added at an optimized concentration to establish the non-coated ELISA method for E protein. The antiviral activities of lignans compound C1 was evaluated using this method. The accuracy of this non-coated ELISA was verified by RT-PCR, and the cross reaction with dengue virus was assessed.@*RESULTS@#After optimization, the background absorbance at 450 nm of uninfected cells was reduced to about 0.20. The antiviral activities of lignans compound C1 detected by this method were basically consistent with the results of RT-PCR. No cross reaction with dengue virus was found in this assay.@*CONCLUSIONS@#A non- coated ELISA method based on zika virus E protein was established, which can be used for screening antiviral agents against zika virus.

Expressions of OCT-4 and CD44 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and the clinicopathological significance of OCT-4 and CD44 double positive / 肿瘤研究与临床

Objective@#To detect the expression of nuclear transcription factor OCT-4 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and its relationship with CD44, and to explore the relationship between OCT-4 and the cancer stem cells and its significance in tumors.@*Methods@#Sixty-nine specimens of laryngeal surgical resection were selected from LSCC patients from January 2008 to December 2012 in Lanzhou General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Region. Another 18 cases of normal laryngeal mucosa tissues were selected as control. OCT-4, CD44 and OCT-4+ CD44+ cells were observed by using tissue microarray, immunohistochemistry staining and immunohistochemical double staining techniques, and the relationship between their pathological features, such as expression intensity, distribution, cell morphology and clinical parameters were analyzed to explore the clinicopathological significance of CD44+ OCT-4+ cells.@*Results@#The percentage of CD44-positive cells in LSCC was significantly higher than that in normal laryngeal mucosa tissues [(63.62±8.76)% vs. (13.61±5.81)%, P < 0.001]. The percentage of OCT-4-positive cells in LSCC was (50.44±10.84)%, while it was not expressed in normal laryngeal mucosa tissues (P < 0.001). In LSCC, the expression of OCT-4 was significantly lower than that of CD44 (P < 0.001); the coexpression rate of these two molecules was (5.07±2.90)%. The percentage of CD44-positive cells in poorly differentiated LSCC was significantly higher than that in the well-differentiated group [62.78% (8.22%) vs. 28.62% (30.45%), P < 0.05]. The percentage of OCT-4-positive cells in poorly differentiated LSCC was significantly higher than that in the well-differentiated group [49.89% (13.12%) vs. 33.00% (20.00%), P < 0.05]. In the cancer stem cells, the percentage of OCT-4+ CD44+ cells in poorly differentiated carcinoma group was also significantly higher than that in the well-differentiated carcinoma group (P < 0.01), the lower the degree of differentiation, the higher the expression level of OCT-4. In LSCC poorly differentiated group, the expressions of OCT-4 and CD44 showed no significant difference between different T stages, but the percentage of OCT-4+ CD44+ cells elevated with T stage increasing (P < 0.05). The expression of OCT-4 in patients with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than that in patients without lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01).@*Conclusions@#The expressions of OCT-4 and CD44 are associated with the malignant biological behaviors of LSCC closely. OCT-4 may be a valuable marker of tumor stem cells of LSCC.

Analysis of 221 Chinese Patent Medicine Instructions Based on the Patient's Concern Survey of Oral Medication / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To provide reference for the improvement of Chinese patent medicine instruction.METHODS:The outpatients were selected randomly from a Third Grade Class A hospital.A questionnaire survey was conducted on the attention degree of the outpatients to Chinese patent medicine instructions when taking medicine orally.The concern content label of patients in 221 Chinese patent medicine instructions were counted,analyzed and graded according to survey results.RESULTS:A total of 515 questionnaires were distributed,and 498 effective questionnaires were collected with effective recovery rate of 96.7％.The results of questionnaire survey showed that the highest concern from the patients was usage and dosage (92.4％),followed by attentions and taboos (88.0％,70.3％).The following items were drug interaction,pregnant and lactating women medication,children medication and the elderly medication (56.2％,46.4％,45.2％,42.4％).Among the description of medication methods (usage and dosage) in 221 Chinese patent medicine instructions,203 prescriptions clearly marked medication times (91.9％),160 clearly marked drug dosage (72.4％) and 36 clearly marked medication course (16.3％).In matters of taboos (attentions,taboos,pregnant and lactating women medication,children medication and the elderly medication),124 prescriptions clearly marked population taboos (56.1％),82 clearly marked symptom taboos (37.1％) and 71 clearly marked diet taboos (32.1％).According to the scoring statistics of 221 Chinese patent medicine instructions,there were 52 instructions with score of 6,followed by 47 instructions with score of 8;there were only 4 instructions with full score (12).CONCLUSIONS:At present,related contents of medication methods highly concerned by the patients are well marked in Chinese patent medicine instructions,especially its guidance is basically able to meet the requirements in respect of medication times.The related contents of medication taboos,which is next only to attention degree of medication methods by patients,is poorly marked.Its guidance remains to be improved.

Effect of basic fibroblast growth factor antibody combined with irinotecan on proliferation and apoptosis of small cell lung cancer H223 cells in vitro / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the synergistic inhibitory effects of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) monoclonal antibody (bFGF mAb) and irinotecan on the proliferation of small cell lung cancer H223 cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry were used to assess the effects of bFGF mAb combined with irinotecan on the proliferation and apoptosis of H223 cells, respectively. Western blotting was performed to analyze the effect of bFGF-mAb combined with irinotecan on AKT and ERK1/2 phosphorylation in the cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Both bFGF mAb and irinotecan alone inhibited H223 cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). The inhibitory rate was significantly higher in H223 cells treated with bFGF mAb + irinotecan (54.30%) than in cell treated with bFGF mAb (18.73%) or irinotecan (21.96%) alone (P<0.05). Both bFGF mAb and irinotecan induced H223 cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05), and the combined treatment resulted in a significantly higher early apoptosis rates (6.5%) than treatment with bFGF mAb (2.7%) or irinotecan (4.3%) alone (P<0.05). bFGF mAb and irinotecan, either alone or in combination, significantly inhibited the levels of p-AKT protein and p-ERK1/2 protein without obviously affecting AKT and ERK1/2 protein levels.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>bFGF mAb and irinotecan produce synergistic inhibitory effects on small cell lung cancer H223 cells by suppressing proliferation and promoting apoptosis of the cells, and can effectively block the MAPK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways associated with bFGF.</p>

Optogenetic activation of dorsal hippocampal astrocytic Rac1 blocks the learning of associative memory / 生理学报

Rac1 belongs to the family of Rho GTPases, and plays important roles in the brain function. It affects the cell migration and axon guidance via regulating the cytoskeleton and cellular morphology. However, the effect of its dynamic activation in regulating physiological function remains unclear. Recently, a photoactivatable analogue of Rac1 (PA-Rac1) has been developed, allowing the activation of Rac1 by the specific wavelength of light in living cells. Thus, we constructed recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) of PA-Rac1 and its light-insensitive mutant PA-Rac1-C450A under the control of the mouse glial fibrillary acidic protein (mGFAP) promoter to manipulate Rac1 activity in astrocytes by optical stimulation. Primary culture of hippocampal astrocytes was infected with the recombinant AAV-PA-Rac1 or AAV-PA-Rac1-C450A. Real-time fluorescence imaging showed that the cell membrane of the astrocyte expressing PA-Rac1 protruded near the light spot, while the astrocyte expressing PA-Rac1-C450A did not. We injected AAV-PA-Rac1 and AAV-PA-Rac1-C450A into dorsal hippocampus to investigate the role of the activation of Rac1 in regulating the associative learning. With optical stimulation, the PA-Rac1 group, rather than the PA-Rac1-C450A group, showed slower learning curve during the fear conditioning compared with the control group, indicating that activating astrocytic Rac1 blocks the formation of contextual memory. Our data suggest that the activation of Rac1 in dorsal hippocampal astrocyte plays an important role in the associative learning.

Preparation and characterization of quercetin molecularly imprinted polymer microspheres / 中草药

Objective: To prepare quercetin molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) by molecular imprinting technique. Methods: This experiment used quercetin as template molecule, acrylamide (AM) as functional monomers, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as cross linking agent, and azodiisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. Using anhydrous ethanol and tetrahydrofuran as pore forming agent, quercetin MIPs were prepared by precipitation polymerization and mass polymerization methods; The optimal proportion between template and functional monomer was chosen by UV and IR; The microstructure of MIPs was investigated by SEM. The adsorption equilibrium time and maximum adsorption of MIPs prepared with two methods were investigated by balance and isothermal adsorption experiment, and the specific adsorption capacity was studied. Results: The experimental research showed that precipitation polymerization method of quercetin MIPs had uniform rules of globular structures. The adsorption kinetics and isothermal adsorption experiment found faster adsorption rate and larger adsorption capacity. Polymer on quercetin had high specificity recognition ability in rutin and quercetin adsorption selective process. Conclusion: Precipitation polymerization of MIPs, with strong selective adsorption, separation and enrichment of chemical components in Chinese medicine flavonoids complex, is a new method of research. At the same time, it also provides reference for chemical composition research of other Chinese materia medica.

Discussion on the Ethical Problems and Countermeasures of Scientific Research Management in Maternal and Child Health——Taking Sichuan Provincial Hospital for Women and Children as An Example / 中国医学伦理学

Some managers and medical personnel in the institutions of maternal and child health were lack of ethical awareness.Their awareness about the protection of rights and interests of the subjects,informed consent,and research medical safety were not enough.There arised some ethical problems in reproductive medicine,prenatal diagnosis,new technology and new project review,and scientific research project application.Based on cause analysis,this paper put forward the corresponding countermeasures.Researchers should recognize the importance of medical research management and ethics review.It should strengthen the training of research ethics for hospital managers and researchers,meanwhile,strengthen the construction of ethics committee,strengthen the tracking and governance,and make good use of education and assessment measures,in order to promote the healthy development of maternal and child health medical research.

Clinical and radiographic evaluation of oblique lumbar interbody fusion combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation on computer navigation for lumbar spondylolisthesis / 中华骨科杂志

Objective To assess the clinical effect of oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation on computer navigation for lumbar spondylolisthesis.Methods Total 20 patients (8 males and 12 females with average age of 54.1± 12.3 years) with lumbar spondylolisthesis were enrolled in our study during Oct.2014 and May.2016.All patients were treated with OLIF combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation on computer navigation.Operation time,blood loss and complications were all recorded.Clinical and Radiographic evaluation were investigated on 1 week,3 months,6 months,12 months postoperatively and final follow-up.Visual analogue scale (VAS) for low back pain and leg pain,Oswestry disability index (ODI) for low back pain and the MOS item short form health survey (SF-36) were used to evaluate the clinical efficacy of surgery.Disc height,disc angle,lumbar lordosis and degree of upper vertebral slip of patients were investigated with X-ray.Cross-sectional area of intervertebral foramina was measured with three-dimensional CT and MRI.The cross-sectional area and sagittal diameter of the thecal sac were measured on T2-weighted axial and sagittal magnetic resonance images.Accuracy of pedicle screw placement was investigated with three-dimensional CT.Fusion rate was investigated with three-dimensional CT and Xray.Results All patients were followed for 12-30 months (22.9±4.8 months).The mean operation time was (119.0±23.8) min,the mean blood loss was (57.8±20.6) ml.VAS for low back pain,VAS for leg pain,and ODI were significantly improved from (6.7± 2.6),(6.3±2.7) and 50.5％±18.2％ preoperatively to (1.3±1.0),(0.8±1.0) and 14.0％±9.6％ at the latest follow-up.The SF-36 PCS and MCS scores were improved from (27.1 ± 13.9) and (51.0±22.7) preoperatively to (67.3± 18.9) and (81.2±14.1) at the latest follow-up.Disc height,disc angle,lumbar lordosis were significantly increased from (6.0±3.6) mm,1.8°±6.2° and 39.2°±8.4° preoperatively to (10.8± 1.7) mm,6.2°±3.5° and 45.0°±7.8° at the latest follow-up.Degree of upper vertebral slip of patients was reduced from 23.5％±7.4％ preoperatively to 4.2％±3.1％ at the latest follow-up.Cross-sectional area of intervertebral foramina in CT and MRI were significantly increased from (140.6±36.0) mm2 and (78.1±31.2) mm2 before surgery to (179.8±35.6) mm2 and (141.7±29.5) mm2 at 6 months after surgery.Cross-sectional area and sagittal diameter of thecal sac were significantly increased from (73.4±29.3) mm2 and (5.2±3.2) mm before surgery to (124.5±26.6) mm2 and (9.5±2.0) mm at 6 months after surgery.Accuracy of pedicle screw placement was 95％,and fusion rate was 100％ at 6 months after surgery.There were no severe vascular and nerve injuries.Conclusion OLIF combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation on computer navigation has good indirect decompression effect on lumbar spondylolisthesis,and was associated with high fusion rate.It can also effectively decrease the surgical trauma,improve the accuracy of pedicle screw placement,and increase disc height,disc angle and lumbar lordosis.

Biliverdin protects against cisplatin-induced apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

Biliverdin (BV) has long been thought to be a cytotoxic metabolic waste product. It has also been demonstrated to have important cytoprotective functions during oxidative stress. The present study aimed to examine the cytoprotective effect of BV on NRK-52E cells, a proximal tubular cell line derived from rat kidney. Cells were treated with 50 µmol/L cisplatin for 24 h (cisplatin group) or pre-treated with BV for 30 min, then with 50 µmol/L cisplatin for 24 h (cisplatin+BV group). Those given no treatment served as a control. Cell apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry and cell viability by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). The protein expressions of cleaved caspase3, Bax and Bcl-2 were assessed by Western blotting. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured using carboxydichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCF). The results showed that cisplatin induced the apoptosis of NRK-52E cells, decreased cell viability, and increased the formation of ROS by upregulating the expression of cleaved caspase3 and Bax and decreasing Bcl-2 protein expression. These effects could be significantly reversed by pretreatment with BV. It was concluded that BV can protect against cisplatin-induced cell apoptosis through the anti-oxidative effects.

Application of Speckle Tracking Imaging in the Evaluation of Chronic Heart Failure / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:Taking metoprolol succinate sustained-release tablets as an example,to explore the value of speckle tracking imaging in therapeutic efficacy evaluation of CHF drugs. METHODS:68 CHF patients who had never underwent regular treatment were given Metoprolol succinate sustained-release tablets and anti-heart failure agents for 3 months. NYHA classification, resting heart rate(RHR),6 min walk distance(6MWD)and conventional echocardiographic measurements were tested before and 1 and 3 months after treatment. Dynamic image were collected in the apical 2-chamber view,apical 4-chamber view and left ven-tricular long axis plane for speckle tracking imaging offline analysis. The left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) were measured. After 3 months of treatment,CHF patients were divided into standard group(group A,RHR 55-60 times/min)and non-standard group (group B,RHR>60 times/min) according to resting heart rate. The improvement of above indicators were com-pared between 2 groups,and that of LVGLS was also compared. RESULTS:After 1 month of treatment,RHR,LVEDd,LVEF and LVGLS of group A were improved significantly,compared with group B,with statistical significance (P<0.05). After 3 months of treatment,there was statistical significance in above indicators between 2 groups(P<0.05). In group A,RHR,6MWD and LVGLS improved significantly after 1 month of treatment,there was statistical significance,compared with before treatment (P<0.05);there was statistical significance in above indicators after 3 months of treatment,compared with before treatment and after 1 month of treatment (P<0.05). In group B,RHR and 6MWD improved significantly after one month of treatment;there was statistical significance,compared with before treatment(P<0.05);there was statistical significance in significant improvement of each indicator between after 3 months of treatment and before treatment (P<0.05);only there were statistical significance in RHR and NYHA grading,compared with after one month of treatment(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Speckle tracking imaging can early reflect the left ventricular function improvement of CHF patients after anti-heart failure treatment,especially in patients with RHR control standard earlier and more significant. Speckle tracking had good clinical application value in the follow-up treatment of heart failure as routine evaluation index.

Biliverdin protects against cisplatin-induced apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

Biliverdin (BV) has long been thought to be a cytotoxic metabolic waste product. It has also been demonstrated to have important cytoprotective functions during oxidative stress. The present study aimed to examine the cytoprotective effect of BV on NRK-52E cells, a proximal tubular cell line derived from rat kidney. Cells were treated with 50 µmol/L cisplatin for 24 h (cisplatin group) or pre-treated with BV for 30 min, then with 50 µmol/L cisplatin for 24 h (cisplatin+BV group). Those given no treatment served as a control. Cell apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry and cell viability by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). The protein expressions of cleaved caspase3, Bax and Bcl-2 were assessed by Western blotting. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured using carboxydichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCF). The results showed that cisplatin induced the apoptosis of NRK-52E cells, decreased cell viability, and increased the formation of ROS by upregulating the expression of cleaved caspase3 and Bax and decreasing Bcl-2 protein expression. These effects could be significantly reversed by pretreatment with BV. It was concluded that BV can protect against cisplatin-induced cell apoptosis through the anti-oxidative effects.