Decision support for tendon tissue engineering

The aim of this study is to provide decision support with artificial intelligence for tendon tissue engineering strategies. The experimental data of tissue-engineered tendons were integrated and standardized with a centralized database, and a decision support system was developed using both artificial neural networks and decision trees. The decision support system was trained with existing cases in the database, and then was used to generate tissue engineering schemes for new experimental animals. Following the schemes generated by the artificial intelligent system, we cured 28 of the 30 experimental animals. In conclusion, artificial intelligence is a powerful method for decision support in the tendon tissue engineering realm.     

Green Tea Consumption and the Risk of Liver Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Green tea is a commonly consumed beverage in Asia and has been suggested to have anticarcinogenic properties. To date, epidemiological evidence of the effect of green tea consumption on liver cancer risk remains ambiguous. The aim of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the association between green tea consumption and the risk of liver cancer. The summary relative risk for the highest consumption (≥5 cups/day) of green tea on liver cancer incidence compared with nondrinkers was 0.62 (95% confidence interval: 0.49–0.79). We also found a trend that the incidence of liver cancer was reduced with the increasing years of green tea intake (significance at >20 yr). A significant dose–response association was found between green tea drinking and liver cancer risk. The downward trend was most obvious when the consumption of green tea increased up to about 4 cups/day. The results showed that the increasing green tea intake may have a preventive effect against liver cancer.     

肠道微生态与炎症性肠病

炎症性肠病(inflammatory bowel disease,IBD)是一组病因未明、发病机制亦不明确的慢性肠道炎症性疾病,主要包括克罗恩病(Crohn's disease,CD)和溃疡性结肠炎(ulcerative colitis,UC)。近几十年的研究结果认为,其发病是环境、易感基因和肠道微生态3个要素相互作用的结果,且这些要素使IBD成为一种适合研究宿主与肠道微生物相互作用的高优先平台。最近,肠道菌群的图谱分析将IBD的发病机制与菌群各组成部分特征的改变相联系,进一步支持"肠道微生物和宿主相互作用的改变能形成IBD"这一观点。该文回顾性分析有关IBD患者体内微生物的研究文献,综述肠道微生态失衡对IBD的多方面影响,以动物模型和临床验证资料阐述不同的治疗方法改善肠道微生态变化的最新进展。     

显微镜辅助下颈前路椎间盘切除植骨融合术治疗多节段脊髓型颈椎病

目的探讨显微镜辅助下颈前路椎间盘切除植骨融合术(anterior cervical discectomy with fusion,ACDF)治疗多节段脊髓型颈椎病的疗效。方法回顾性分析2011年1月~2012年8月本院行颈前路手术治疗的60例脊髓型颈椎病患者的临床资料,根据手术方式分为常规ACDF组(A组,30例)和显微镜辅助ACDF组(B组,30例)。比较2组的手术时间、术中出血量、住院天数及并发症,以日本骨科学会(Japanese Orthopaedic Association,JOA)评分(17分法)及其改善率评价术后神经功能改善情况。结果 A组手术时间为(132.5±8.9)min,B组为(137.0±9.1)min,差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。A组术中出血量为(113.6±8.0)m L,B组为(93.7±5.3)m L,差异有统计学意义(P0.01)。A组住院(7.37±1.73)d,B组(6.63±1.13)d,差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。A组术前JOA评分为6.60±1.21,术后12个月为13.83±0.91,改善率为(69.72±7.66)%;B组术前JOA评分为6.87±1.46,术后12个月为14.23±1.17,改善率为(72.51±11.26)%。A组和B组改善率差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论显微镜辅助ACDF和常规ACDF是治疗多节段脊髓型颈椎病有效的方法,但显微镜辅助ACDF可减少术中出血量,是治疗多节段脊髓型颈椎病优先选择的手术方案。     

AMPK-ULK1 mediated autophagy contributed to myocardial injury by BCAA with a ROS independent pathway

OBJECTIVE Leucine, isoleucin and valine,which are derived from the diet, are essential amino acids termed branched-chain amino acids(BCAA). BCAA promotes protein synthesis and has an anti-decomposition effect, which can prevent protein decomposition and muscle loss, and are important nutrients that are essential for normal growth and function of the cell and organism.However, researchers discovered that higher concentrations of BCAA were associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and could promote oxidative stress. This work was designed to demonstrate that BCAA resulted in myocardial injury, and the role of autophagy and oxidative stress in BCAA inducing myocardial injury and possible mechanisms. METHODS Mice were randomly divided into two groups: the control(fed with the solvent, water); the BCAA group(fed with 2% BCAA solved in water), for successive 12 weeks. RESULTS BCAA feeding did not change body weight, diet consumption with significantly increased water uptake. For the mice fed with BCAA mixture water, the content of BCAA in the cardiac tissues was remarkably increased. The myocardial injury markers, including CK, CK-MB and LDH in serum or CRP and CTn-T in cardiac tissues,were obviously increased in the BCAA group. Severe myocardial fibrosis was observed in the BCAA group by Masson staining, accompanied with increased ROS and decreased SOD activity in the cardiac tissues, indicating that elevated BCAA levels cause severe myocardial fibrosis and oxidative stress in mice. Expression of both p-AMPK and p-ULK1 were significantly increased together with enhanced autophagy by detecting the autophagy markers(LC3) using Western blotting and LC3 immunofluorescence staining. Transmission electron microscopy displayed increased number of autophagosomes in the BCAA group. In vitro, BCAA 20 mmol · L~(-1) strikingly increased the ROS production and decreased cel viability in cultured H9C2 cells, which were reversed by the ROS scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine(NAC). In addition, BCAA 20 mmol·L~(-1) decreased cel viability in cultured H9C2 cel s also reversed either by the AMPK blockers(Compound C and STO-609) or the ULK1 inhibitor(SBI-0206965, siRNA-ULK1).Furthermore, blocking AMPK or ULK1 decreased the enhanced expression of p-AMPK/AMPK, p-ULK1/ULK1,and LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ induced by BCAA. CONCLUSION BCAA could induce myocardial injury by excessive ROS production and enhancement of autophagy via an AMPK-ULK1 pathway; inhibiting either ROS or autophagy could alleviate myocardial cell injury induced by BCAA.