Exercise protects against spinal cord injury through miR-21-mediated suppression of PDCD4.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to different levels of paraplegia. Studies have shown that exercise exerts wide protective effects against various diseases, and microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in its beneficial effects. However, the specific role of miRNAs in the protective effects of exercise against SCI remains unclear. Here, we showed that exercise exerted protective effects against SCI as evidenced by increased locomotor activity and spinal cord cell survival in rats with SCI. Exercise upregulated circulating miR-21, detected by miRNA microarray, in rats with SCI. Treating SCI rats with agomiR-21 upregulated circulating miR-21 and exerted protective effects against SCI. Additionally, downregulating miR-21 using antagomir-21 abolished the protective effects of exercise on SCI. Programmed cell death protein 4 (PDCD4) was found to be the target of miR-21. These results suggested that exercise protects against SCI, at least partly, through miR-21-mediated suppression of PDCD4.

Protective effect of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3 overexpression by adipose-derived stem cells combined with silk fibroin/chitosan scaffold in spinal cord injury.

Objectives: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a most debilitating traumatic injury, and cytotherapy is a promising alternative treatment strategy. Here we investigated the effect and mechanism of adipose-derived stem/stromal cells (ASCs) with overexpressing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT3) (BDNF-NT3) in combination with silk fibroin/chitosan scaffold (SFCS) in SCI.Methods: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were used as an SCI model. SFCS,SFCS and ASCs, or ASCs overexpressing NT3, BDNF, and BDNF-NT3 were implanted into SCI rats. Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan score, pathological changes, and spinal cord tissue and nerve fiber morphology were observed and assayed. GAP-43, GFAP, and caspase-3 expression was determined using immunohistochemistry and western blotting.Results: Smoother spinal cords, less scar tissue, and lower inflammatory activity were found in the SFCS, SFCS and ASCs, ASCs with NT3, BDNF, and BDNF-NT3 overexpression treatment than in the untreated SCI rat groups. Increasing formation of nerve fibers was observed in the above groups in order. GAP-43 expression significantly increased, while GFAP and caspase-3 expression significantly decreased. These results indicated obvious alleviation in pathological changes and BDNF-NT3 overexpression in ASCs combined with SFCS treatment in SCI rats.Conclusion: Thus, BDNF-NT3 overexpression from ASCs with SFCS had synergistic neuroprotective effects on SCI and may be a treatment option for SCI.

Statistical Analysis of Relation of Manganese Sulfide Inclusion Area to Signal Intensity by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy / 分析化学

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was used for analysis of the distribution of S,Mn,Fe,Cr,Mo,Si,Al in a 34CrNiMo6 steel sample cut from a main shaft of wind driven generator.The MnS inclusion area in each ablation craters cover zone was extracted in the way of comparing the metallograph captured by optical microscopy before and after LIBS scanning ablation.The statistic relation between MnS inclusion area and signal intensity of S and Mn was analyzed.The result showed that the abnormal signal of S and Mn occurred at the same position with the existence of MnS inclusion,and their signal intensity showed linear relationship.The abnormal signal of S and Mn were triggered mainly by MnS inclusion.The statistic result also showed linear relationship between signal intensity and MnS inclusion area both for S and Mn.It was possible to determine the inclusion type,size and distribution by analyzing abnormal signal.A simplified ablation model was established to calculate the relation of S and Mn content to MnS inclusion area.The arithmetic result showed a linear relation between the content and MnS inclusion area both for S and Mn.The calculation confirmed the linear relationship between signal intensity and inclusion area observed in experiment.The linear relationship could be interfered by macro-segregation,micro-segregation,deviation in measuring inclusion area,and inclusion spatter in pre-ablation.

Selected suitable seed cell, scaffold and growth factor could maximize the repair effect using tissue engineering method in spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury usually leads to permanent disability, which could cause a huge financial problem to the patient. Up to now there is no effective method to treat this disease. The key of the treatment is to enable the damage zone axonal regeneration and luckily it could go through the damage zone; last a connection can be established with the target neurons. This study attempts to combine stem cell, material science and genetic modification technology together, by preparing two genes modified adipose-derived stem cells and inducing them into neuron direction; then by compositing them on the silk fibroin/chitosan scaffold and implanting them into the spinal cord injury model, seed cells can have features of neuron cells. At the same time, it could stably express the brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3, both of which could produce synergistic effects, which have a positive effect on the recovery of spinal cord. The spinal cord scaffold bridges the broken end of the spinal cord and isolates with the surrounding environment, which could avoid a scar effect on the nerve regeneration and provide three-dimensional space for the seed cell growth, and at last we hope to provide a new treatment for spinal cord injury with the tissue engineering technique.

Quantity of released nickel ion from Ni-Cr alloy of compound galvano-ceramic bridge / 中华口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the biological safety of compound galvano-ceramic bridge by measuring the consistency of released nickel ion of the galvano-form slices cohered with Ni-Cr alloy slice specimens which were immersed in artificial saliva.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Specimens were divided into five groups with four tests and one control. Test specimens were made into the structure like rectangle sandwich that one side of Ni-Cr alloy was cohered to the center surface of galvano golden base of 0.2 mm and another side was fused porcelain with the thickness of 0.3 mm (group A), 0.5 mm (group B), 1.0 mm (group C), and 0.3 mm (group D). And the Ni-Cr alloys were totally embedded in galvano golden base and firing porcelain. Naked Ni-Cr alloy was taken as control. Group D was immersed into acid artificial saliva (AS) with high fluoride, while others were in acid AS at 37 degrees C for 120 h. Then the consistency of released nickel ion in the solution was measured with inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Nickel ions detected in the artificial saliva for the groups A, B, C, and D in acid AS with or without high fluoride were all under 0.005 mg/L Significant differences were found between each test group and the control [(0.65 +/- 0.45) mg/L].</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Galvano-ceramic bridge, Ni-Cr alloy bridge with fused porcelain and golden base, shows biological safety responsible for the consistency of released nickel ion.</p>

Role of female partners in the diagnosis and treatment of erectile dysfunction / 中华男科学杂志

The role of female partners in the diagnosis and treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) is being paid more and more attention now. ED has serious adverse effects on the sexual experience of female partners, while the attitudes of female partners to ED will have a direct effect on seeking and continuing treatment behavior of ED patients. So it's necessary for clinicians to consider female partners in the clinical practice of ED. The evidence from a recently published clinical trial has demonstrated that vardenafil not only improved ED men's erectile function, but also improved the sexual quality of life for female partners, which was the ideal solution of ED couples.