[Electroacupuncture at "Jiaji" (EX-B2) induced down-regulation of OX-42 and P2X4 in lumbar spinal cord contributes to its analgesic after-effect in rats with chronic constriction injury].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Jiaji" (EX-B2) at different time points on the expression of OX-42 (a monoclonal antibody with specific expression of complement receptor-3 in spinal microglial cells) and purinergic receptor P2X4 (P2X4) in rats with chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve, as well as the possible after-effect mechanism of EA analgesia in neuropathic pain. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into blank group, model group, immediately after EA group, 0.5-hour after EA group, 1-hour after EA group, 2-hour after EA group, 4-hour after EA group, 12-hour after EA group, and 24-hour after EA group, with 6 rats in each group. The rats in the model group and the EA groups were used to establish a model of CCI-induced neuropathic pain, and those in the immediately after EA group and the 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 12 and 24 hours after EA groups were treated with EA at bilateral L3 and L5 "Jiaji" points for 20 min after 7 d of modeling. Samples were collected immediately and at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 12, and 24 hours after EA, and for the rats in the blank group and the model group, samples were collected after fixation the rats for 20 min. Heat pain threshold was observed before and after intervention, and immunohistochemistry was used to measure the protein expression of OX-42 and P2X4 in the spinal cord lumbar enlargement. RESULTS: After 7 days of modeling (before intervention), compared with the blank group, the heat pain threshold had a significant reduction in the model group and the EA groups (P<0.01). Compared with the model group after intervention, the immediately after EA group and the 0.5, 1 and 2 hours after EA groups had a significant increase in heat pain threshold (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, immediately after EA, the 0.5, 1 and 2 hours after EA groups had a significant reduction in the protein expression of OX-42 (P<0.01), and immediately after EA, the 0.5 and 1 hour after EA groups had a significant reduction in the protein expression of P2X4 (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: EA at "Jiaji" points can significantly increase heat pain threshold and down-regulate the protein expression of OX-42 and P2X4 in the spinal cord of CCI rats. The analgesic effect can last for 2 h.

[Cluster analysis of Dendrobium officinale from different populations through agronomy characterization].

Through resources investigation and sample collection,a total number of 392 Dendrobium officinale from 38 different populations,9 provinces were processed for measuring and observing.Fourteen agronomy characterizations like stem height,stem diameter,number of node in stem were selected for further classification.The cluster analysis was performed using Ward and Euclidean method.The results showed that the threshold of genetic distance was 2.77.Thirtyeight populations were divided into 6 groups.The factor analysis showed that,the leaf shape,stem shape,pitch length and leaf color were very important factors for classification.This study establish the foundation for analyzing the genetic relationship of D.officinale from different populations.

Double-staining of E-cadherin and podoplanin offer help in the pathological diagnosis of indecisive early-invasive oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Diagnosis of the early-invasive oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) can be challenged in biopsies, and immunohistochemistry is commonly used in such settings. A double immunohistochemical staining (DIHC) containing both E-cadherin (E-cad) and podoplanin antibodies were developed and its use in the diagnosis of limited cancer in the early-invasive was evaluated. In this study, the expressions of E-cadherin and podoplanin were checked by the way of DIHC in 214 oral biopsy tissues including normal oral epithelial (NOE), oral epithelial dysplasia (OED), squamous carcinoma in situ (SCIS), and OSCC. Meanwhile, 17 indecisive cases whose original diagnoses were SCIS incidentally suspicious infiltration had been checked. Tumor specimens presented a significant loss of expression of E-cad when compared with normal epithelium. In all NOE and 62.5% ofOED tissues, the expression of E-cad showed positive clearly and strongly in cell membrane, while podoplanin was showed negative.The expression of E-cad was showed positive in 35.6% of SCIS as the expressions of podoplanin became stronger. The expression of E-cad declined obviously and the expression of podoplanin became stronger in the 54.8% of OSCC. The expression of podoplanin was easier to be observed in the same slice due to the decreased expression of E-cad in malignant cell. By the same way, early-invasions were showed clearly in 5 cases of 17 indecisive cases. The decrease of E-cad and the increase of podoplanin had closely relationship with OSCC (P<0.05). The cocktail double staining of E-cad and podoplanin may offer an objective index for the decision of the early-invasive oral squamous cell carcinoma.