Thiopental sodium attenuates hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced injury in osteoblasts by modulating AKT signaling.

Thiopental sodium (TPTS) is a barbiturate general anesthetic, while its effects on hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-induced injury are still unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether TPTS exerts protective effects against the H/R-induced osteoblast cell injury and explore the underlying mechanisms. Osteoblast cell injury model was induced by the H/R condition, which was treated with or without TPTS. Cell viability and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release were determined by the corresponding commercial kits. The levels of oxidative stress were determined in the experimental groups. Cell apoptosis and Caspase-3 activities were determined by propidium iodide staining and substrate-based assay, respectively. Western blotting and qRT-PCR were performed to measure the mRNA and protein levels, respectively. Treatment with TPTS was able to increase cell viability and reduce LDH release in H/R-induced osteoblasts. Additionally, TPTS regulated oxidative stress in H/R-induced osteoblasts by suppressing malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as boosting superoxide dismutase (SOD). TPTS was able to suppress cell apoptosis by suppressing Caspase-3 activity and cleavage. TPTS exerted protective effects against cell injury and apoptosis induced by the H/R conditions, which were associated with its regulation of Akt signaling. Moreover, TPTS induced osteoblast differentiation under the H/R condition. In summary, TPTS attenuates H/R-induced injury in osteoblasts by regulating AKT signaling.

Quantitative Evaluation of Biceps Brachii Muscle by Shear Wave Elastography in Stroke Patients.

Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate the differences in muscle size and shear wave speed (SWS) values of biceps brachii muscle (BBM) between stroke survivors and healthy controls. Methods: This study comprised 61 stroke survivors and 24 healthy subjects, examined at Guangzhou First People's Hospital within one year. Each participant underwent ultrasonic examinations for recording some specific measurement indicators, including muscle thickness, cross-sectional area (CSA), and shear wave speed (SWS) of BBM. The muscular tension of the paretic arm was scored using the modified Ashworth scale (MAS). These above-mentioned indexes were compared between stroke survivors and healthy controls. Also, the correlations among SWS and MAS scores were assessed. Results: When the lifting arm angle was set for 45°, the CSA and muscle thickness of BBM were obviously decreased in the paretic arms of stroke subjects compared to the non-paretic arms as well as the arms of healthy controls. Moreover, the paretic arms had obviously higher SWS than the non-paretic arms and the healthy arms at 45° or 90°. When the angles of paretic arms were lifted at 90° and 45°, respectively, a positive correlation was established between MAS and SWS. Conclusion: Ultrasonic examination assessing muscle thickness, CSA, and SWS of the BBM could be used as a means of assessment of the paretic arms of stroke survivors.

Status of linusorbs in cold-pressed flaxseed oil during oxidation and their response toward antioxidants.

Linusorbs (LOs, cyclolinopeptides) are a class of naturally occurring cyclic hydrophobic peptides found in flaxseed oil, whose oxidation states indicate the oxidative stability and bitterness of flaxseed oil. Subjected to 63 °C accelerated oxidation, most Met-containing LOs in cold-pressed flaxseed oil entirely depleted by the 6th day except CLP, and MetO2-containing LOs became the dominant ones. However, no MetO2 form of Trp-containing LOs, such as CLD, CLF and CLG, were detected. Given their oxidative kinetics, methionine sulfoxide (MetO) residue in some LOs was less sensitive toward oxidation in the presence of Trp (Tryptophan) group, and the oxidative stability of Met-containing LOs was CLP < CLB < CLL ≈ CLM < CLO, as compared to MetO-containing LOs: CLD < CLE < CLC < CLF ≈ CLG. When antioxidant was added into cold-pressed flaxseed oil to assess the additives' antioxidant effect, no significant difference was observed on oil oxidative indices in early stage except α-tocopherol, where they vary dramatically in suppressing Met oxidation of LOs: L-AP (L-ascorbyl palmitate) > TBHQ (tert-butyl hydroquinone) > Î³-tocopherol > carnosic acid > α-tocopherol. Besides its ability to suppress oxidation of Trp-containing LOs, L-AP also exhibits superior antioxidant effect on non-Trp-containing LOs due to its amphiphilic property. Due to the prooxidative effects of both α- and γ-tocopherol on LOs that contain Trp, it has been suggested that tocopherols may repair Trp residue on LOs, leading to increased tendency of MetO residues to oxidize. The findings of this research are critical for elucidating the antioxidative mechanism of LOs, which can further lead to the establishment of strategies in suppressing bitter after taste to produce high-quality flaxseed oil.

Genetic variations in GABA metabolism and epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a paroxysmal brain disorder that results from an imbalance between neuronal excitation and inhibition. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the most important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and plays an important role in the occurrence and development of epilepsy. Abnormalities in all aspects of GABA metabolism, including GABA synthesis, transport, genes encoding GABA receptors, and GABA inactivation, may lead to epilepsy. GABRA1, GABRA2, GABRA5, GABRB1, GABRB2, GABRB3, GABRG2 and GABBR2 are genes that encode GABA receptors and are commonly associated with epilepsy. Mutations of these genes lead to a variety of epilepsy syndromes with different clinical phenotypes, primarily by down regulating receptor expression and reducing the amplitude of GABA-evoked potentials. GABA is metabolized by GABA transaminase and succinate semi aldehyde dehydrogenase, which are encoded by the ABAT and ALDH5A1 genes, respectively. Mutations of these genes result in symptoms related to deficiency of GABA transaminase and succinate semi aldehyde dehydrogenase, such as epilepsy and cognitive impairment. Most of the variation in genes associated with GABA metabolism are accompanied by developmental disorders. This review focuses on advances in understanding the relationship between genetic variation in GABA metabolism and epilepsy to establish a basis for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy.

LY395756 promotes NR2B expression via activation of AKT/CREB signaling in the juvenile methylazoxymethanol mice model of schizophrenia.

INTRODUCTION: Synaptic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor subtype 2B(NR2B) is significantly reduced in prefrontal cortex (PFC) in the neurodevelopmental methylazoxymethanol (MAM) model of schizophrenia (SCZ). Recent research has shown that LY395756 can effectively restore NR2B levels and improve cognitive performance in juvenile MAM mice model. However, the underlying mechanisms of these beneficial effects remain unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Juvenile MAM mice model of SCZ is used in our study. Synaptic membrane protein levels were examined by western blotting under different treatment conditions. Interaction of cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) and the promoter of NR2B was detected by the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. Further examination of signaling pathway that mediates NR2B expression was also investigated by western blotting. RESULTS: In the PFC of the juvenile MAM mice schizophrenia model, CREB was found to directly bind with the promoter of NR2B. LY395756 activated the phosphorylation of AKT. Phosphorylated AKT subsequently induced the phosphorylation of CREB, and the activated CREB promoted the expression of NR2B. Subsequent experiments showed that the dephosphorylation of CREB induced by protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) can inhibit NR2B levels. Taken together, these findings support that the AKT/CREB signaling pathway is essential for the promoting effect of LY395756 on synaptic NR2B in PFC in juvenile MAM mice SCZ model. CONCLUSIONS: Our investigation has identified a novel mechanism by which LY395756 increases NR2B expression in juvenile MAM mice SCZ model. The AKT/CREB signaling pathway warrants further research as a potential direction for clinical treatment of SCZ.

Use of glycated albumin for the identification of diabetes in subjects from northeast China.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic memory is important for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes in the early stage, and in maintaining blood glucose concentrations within the normal range. The clinical diagnosis of diabetes mellitus is currently made using fasting plasma glucose, 2 h-plasma glucose (2h-PG) during a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level. However, the fasting plasma glucose test requires fasting, which is a barrier to screening, and reproducibility of the 2h-PG level is poor. HbA1c is affected by a shortened red blood cell lifespan. In patients with anemia and hemoglobinopathies, the measured HbA1c levels may be inaccurate. Compared with HbA1c, glycated albumin (GA) is characterized by more rapid and greater changes, and can be used to diagnose new-onset diabetes especially if urgent early treatment is required, for example in gestational diabetes. In this study, we provided cutoff values for GA and evaluated its utility as a screening and diagnostic tool for diabetes in a large high-risk group study. AIM: To evaluate the utility of GA in identifying subjects with diabetes in northeast China, and to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the proposed GA cutoff in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 1935 subjects, with suspected diabetes or in high-risk groups, from 2014 to 2015 in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University (Harbin, China). The use of GA to identify diabetes was investigated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The GA cutoffs were derived from different 2h-PG values with hemoglobin A1c cutoffs used as a calibration curve. RESULTS: The GA cutoff for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus was 15.15% from the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. ROC analysis demonstrated that GA was an efficient marker for detecting diabetes, with an AUC of 90.3%. CONCLUSION: Our study supports the use of GA as a biomarker for the diagnosis of diabetes.

Identification of key candidate genes and pathways revealing the protective effect of liraglutide on diabetic cardiac muscle by integrated bioinformatics analysis.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is becoming a significant health problem with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) expecting a startling 642 million diabetes patients by 2040. Liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analog, is reported to protect against diabetic cardiomyopathy by binding to the receptor, GLP-1R. However, the underlying mechanism has yet to be clarified. This study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms and the effects of liraglutide on diabetic patient's cardiac muscles. METHODS: GSE102194 genetic expression profiles were extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG) enrichment analyses were carried out. Next, Cytoscape software was used to construct the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). DEGs were mapped onto a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network that comprised 249 nodes and 776 edges. RESULTS: A total of 520 DEGs were discovered, including 159 down-regulated genes and 361 up-regulated genes. DEGs that were upregulated were notably enriched in biological processes (BP) such as muscle system process, muscle system process, muscle structure development and anatomical structure morphogenesis while DEGs that were downregulated were rich in detection of chemical stimulus and neurological system process. KEGG pathway analysis showed the up-regulated DEGs were enriched in adrenergic signaling for cardiomyocytes, dopaminergic synapse, and circadian entrainment, while the down-regulated DEGs were enriched for factory transduction in 249 of the 520 tested samples. The modular analysis identified 4 modules that participated in some pathways associated with cardiac muscle contraction, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and MAPK signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that Glp-1 could decrease the protein expression of p38, JNK, ERK1/2, and MARS proteins induced by high glucose (22 mM, 72 h). This study highlights the potential physiological processes that take place in diabetic cardiac muscles exposed to liraglutide. Our findings elucidated the regulatory network in diabetic cardiomyopathy and might provide a novel diagnostic and therapeutic target for diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Application of ARIMA model in predicting monthly incidence of syphilis / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

Objective To explore the value of the autoregressive integrated moving average model (ARIMA) applied to predict monthly incidence of syphilis so as to provide basis for prevention and control of syphilis . Methods Eviews 8 .0 was used to establish the ARIMA model based on the data of monthly incidence of syphilis in China from January 2009 to December 2015 .Then the data of the first half of 2016 were used to verify the predicted results .The predictions were evaluated by RMSE ,MAE ,MAPE and MRE models .Then the monthly incidence of syphilis in the second half of 2016 was predicted .Results The optimal model for the monthly incidence of syphilis from January 2009 to June 2016 was the model of ARIMA (2 ,1 ,1) × (0 ,1 ,1)12 ,its equation was (1 - B)(1 - B12 ) (1+0 .820 B)(1+0 .566 B2 ) x2t = (1+0 .365 B) (1+0 .897 B12 )εt ,its parameters are as follows :R2 =0 .832 ,RMSE=0 .181 ,MAE=0 .118 ,MAPE=5 .088 .The predicted monthly incidence values (10-5 ) of the second half of 2016 were 3 .124 ,3 .008 ,2 .906 ,2 .691 ,2 .714 ,and 2 .717 .Conclusion ARIMA model has a relatively good prediction precision .Therefore , it can make short-term prediction based on the evolution trend of monthly incidence of syphilis in China .

Differential expression of connexin 43 in human autoimmune thyroid disease.

Gap junctions provide a pathway for cell-to-cell communication. Reduced thyroid epithelial cell-cell communication has been reported in some animal models of autoimmune thyroid disease. In order to assess whether this change was similar to human autoimmune thyroid disease, we identified some connexin proteins and their corresponding mRNA in human thyroid gland. The aim of our study was to explore the expression of connexin 43 (Cx43) in the thyroid gland from normal and diseased human thyroid tissue by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expression levels of Cx43 in Grave's disease were significantly increased in comparison with those of normal thyroid tissue. There was a significant decrease in expression of Cx43 in Hashimoto's thyroiditis, compared with normal thyroid tissue. These data indicate that changes of Cx43 expression in human autoimmune thyroid disease were associated with variations in thyroid function and hormone secretion.

[Preparation and spectral analysis of coordination compounds of chitosan with Ce(III), Zr(IV), Pb(II) and Cd(II)].

Coordination compounds of chistosan (CTS) with Ce(III), Zr(IV), Pb(II) and Cd(II) (M-CTS) were prepared, which were synthesized by the reaction of CTS with cerium nitrate, zirconium nitrate, cadmium sulfate, and lead nitrate in acid systems. The coordination compounds were characterized by infrared spectrum (IR), X-ray diffraction spectrum (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS). The results showed that the N atom in amidogen of CTS coordinates with Cd in the coordination compounds of Cd-CTS, while in the coordination compounds of Ce-CTS, Zr-CTS and Pb-CTS, the N atom in amidogen and O atom in hydroxyl of CTS participate in the coordination reaction. It is suggested that the coordination bonds are different with the change of heavy metal ions.

[Analgesic actions after local peripheral administration of Lornoxicam in a model of formalin test in the rat].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate analgesic actions after local peripheral administration of Lornoxicam in an animal model of formalin test. METHODS: Male Spague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, namely the control, the ipsilateral and the contralateral groups. Each group consisted of 8 rats. Thirty minutes prior to subcutaneous injections of 20 g/L formalin 50 microl into the plantar surface of the right hind-paw, the rats of ipsilateral group received Lornoxicam in the plantar surface of the right hind-paw, and the rats of contralateral group received Lornoxicam in the contralateral plantar surface of the hindpaw. Pain response was recorded for a period of 60 minutes. The summation of time (in seconds) spent in licking and biting responses to the injected paw during each 5 minutes block was analyzed for comparison. RESULTS: The pain response in the first phase (from 0 to 10 minutes) was not inhibited (P > 0.05). The pain response in the second phase (from 10 to 60 minutes) was inhibited in the ipsilateral group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Local peripheral administration of Lornoxicam has analgesic effect on the rat's planta in the second phase of a formalin test model; the mechanism involved is mainly local, but not systemic.