[Role of the system of orexin/receptors in neurological diseases].

The neuropeptide orexin is widely distributed in the nervous system. Previous studies showed that orexin is involved in the feeding behavior regulation by binding to its receptor 1 (OX1R) and receptor 2 (OX2R) to activate the downstream signaling pathway. Recent studies have demonstrated that the system of orexin and its receptors are also involved in important physiological processes such as sleep-wake, learning and memory, and pathological processes of various neurological diseases. In this review, we summarized the research progress on the function of the orexin and its receptor system in physiological and pathological processes, and revealed the correlation between orexin and nervous system diseases, in order to provide the theoretical guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of the related diseases in the future.

A meta-analysis of surgical decompression in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

BACKGROUND: Over the last decade, surgical decompression procedures have been commonly used in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). However, the effectiveness of them remains to be proved. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search of databases including PubMed-Medline, Ovid-Embase, and Cochrane Library was performed to collect the related literatures. The Medical Subject Headings used were "diabetic neuropathy," "surgical decompression," and "outcomes." The methodological index for nonrandomized studies was adopted for assessing the studies included in this review. Analyses were performed with Review Manager (Version 5.3, The Nordic Cochrane Centre, the Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, 2014). RESULTS: A total of 12 literatures (including 8 prospective and 4 retrospective) encompassing 1825 patients with DPN were included in the final analysis. Only 1 literature was identified as a randomized-controlled trial. The remaining 11 literatures were observational studies; 7 of them were classified as upper-extremity nerve decompression group and 4 of them were classified as lower-extremity nerve decompression group. Meta-analysis shows that Boston questionnaire symptom severity and functional status of upper extremities, and distal motor latency and sensory conduction velocity of median nerve of DPN patients are significantly improved after carpal tunnel release. Besides, visual analog scale and 2-point discrimination are considered clinically and statistically significant in lower extremities after operation. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from our review have shown the efficacy of surgical decompression procedures in relieving the neurologic symptoms and restoring the sensory deficits in DPN patients. As there are few high-quality randomized-controlled trials or well-designed prospective studies, more data are needed to elucidate the role of surgical procedures for DPN treatment in the future.

Identification of metastasis-related microRNAs of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines by quantitative real time PCR / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To identify the metastasis-related miRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A qRT-PCR method was established and optimized.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All candidate metastasis associated miRNAs except miR-124a were expressed in high metastasis cell line MHCC97H and low metastasis cell line MHCC97L, while some miRNAs were differentially expressed between liver cancer cell line (HepG2) and hepatic cell line (L02) (P less than 0.05), these miRNAs include: miR-148b (1.96+/-0.51 vs 3.76+/-0.28), miR-9 (-4.38+/-0.86 vs -1.10+/-0.53), miR-30c (8.41+/-0.40 vs 6.82+/-0.29), miR-338 (3.14+/-0.29 vs -2.36+/-0.32), miR-34a (0.71+/-0.40 vs -2.95+/-0.26), Let-7g (-4.07+/-0.55 vs -6.98+/-0.56). miR-148b expression was about 4 times higher than miR-148a [5.46 (IQR 4.25-6.67) vs 1.29 (IQR 0.94-1.64)] in all cell line tested (Z=-5.097, P=3x10(-7)).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This study may help to understand the biological significance of miRNAs in HCC metastasis.</p>

Association of the apolipoprotein B gene polymorphisms with essential hypertension in Northern Chinese Han population.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association of the apolipoprotein B gene polymorphisms with essential hypertension in Northern Chinese Han population. METHODS: XbaI and EcoRI polymorphisms of the apolipoprotein B (APOB) gene were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) method in 503 unrelated hypertensive patients and 490 healthy controls recruited from international collaborative study of cardiovascular disease in Asia (InterAsia). RESULTS: The difference in the genotypic distributions could be neglected across the groups. The prevalence of X+ allele in healthy controls (4.8%) was less frequent in Chinese, and there was no significant difference in the frequency of the X+ allele between cases (5.7%) and controls (P = 0.38). The observed E- allele frequencies were closely similar among groups (5.9% in cases vs 5.0% in controls, P = 0.39). Logitstic regression analyses revealed that the lack of association still persisted after adjustment of other environmental factors. Haplotype analysis showed that X-E+ was most frequent and no haplotype could significantly contribute to essential hypertension. CONCLUSION: The APOB gene XbaI and EcoRI polymorphisms are not associated with essential hypertension in the Northern Chinese Han population. Future studies on single nucleotide polymorphisms in larger samples are needed to further investigate the possible contribution of the APOB gene to essential hypertension.

Linkage analysis of chromosome 14 and essential hypertension in Chinese population.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a complex biological trait that influenced by multiple factors. The encouraging results for hypertension research showed that the linkage analysis can be used to replicate other studies and discover new genetic risk factors. Previous studies linked human chromosome 14 to essential hypertension or blood pressure traits. With a Chinese population, we tried to replicate these findings. METHODS: A linkage scan was performed on chromosome 14 with 14-microsatellite markers with a density of about 10 centi Morgen (cM) in 147 Chinese hypertensive nuclear families. Multipoint non-parametric linkage analysis and exclusion mapping were performed with the GENEHUNTER software, whereas quantitative analysis was performed with the variance component method integrated in the SOLAR package. RESULTS: In the qualitative analysis, the highest non-parametric linkage score is 1.0 (P = 0.14) at D14S261 in the single point analysis, and no loci achieved non-parametric linkage score more than 1.0 in the multipoint analysis. Maximum-likelihood mapping showed no significant results, either. Subsequently the traditional exclusion criteria of the log-of-the-odds score-2 were adopted, and the chromosome 14 with lambda s > or = 2.4 was excluded. In the quantitative analysis of blood pressure with the SOLAR software, two-point analysis and multipoint analysis suggested no evidence for linkage occurred on chromosome 14 for systolic and diastolic blood pressure. CONCLUSION: There was no substantial evidence to support the linkage of chromosome 14 and essential hypertension or blood pressure trait in Chinese hypertensive subjects in this study.