Brachial plexus avulsion often results in massive motor neuron death and severe functional deficits of target muscles. However, no satisfactory treatment is currently available. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α is a critical molecule targeting several genes associated with ischemia-hypoxia damage and angiogenesis. In this study, a rat model of brachial plexus avulsion-reimplantation was established, in which C5–7 ventral nerve roots were avulsed and only the C6 root reimplanted. Different implants were immediately injected using a microsyringe into the avulsion-reimplantation site of the C6 root post-brachial plexus avulsion. Rats were randomly divided into five groups: phosphate-buffered saline, negative control of lentivirus, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α(hypoxia-inducible factor 1α overexpression lentivirus), gel(pluronic F-127 hydrogel), and gel + hypoxia-inducible factor 1α(pluronic F-127 hydrogel + hypoxia-inducible factor 1α overexpression lentivirus). The Terzis grooming test was performed to assess recovery of motor function. Scores were higher in the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α and gel +hypoxia-inducible factor 1α groups(in particular the gel + hypoxia-inducible factor 1α group) compared with the phosphate-buffered saline group. Electrophysiology, fluorogold retrograde tracing, and immunofluorescent staining were further performed to investigate neural pathway reconstruction and changes of neurons, motor endplates, and angiogenesis. Compared with the phosphate-buffered saline group, action potential latency of musculocutaneous nerves was markedly shortened in the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α and gel + hypoxia-inducible factor1α groups. Meanwhile, the number of fluorogold-positive cells and ChAT-positive neurons, neovascular area(labeled by CD31 around av ulsed sites in ipsilateral spinal cord segments), and the number of motor endplates in biceps brachii(identified by α-bungarotoxin) were all visibly increased, as well as the morphology of motor endplate in biceps brachil was clear in the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α and gel + hypoxia-inducible factor 1α groups. Taken together, delivery of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α overexpression lentiviral vectors mediated by pluronic F-127 effectively promotes spinal root regeneration and functional recovery post-brachial plexus avulsion. All animal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Guangdong Medical University, China. 相似文献
Aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency (OMIM #608643) is a rare and severe disorder of biogenic amine synthesis caused by mutations in the DDC gene. The phenomenology of the movement disorder includes intermittent oculogyric crises and limb dystonia, generalized athetosis, and impaired voluntary movement.
Objective
To identify clinical manifestations and DDC gene mutations in two Chinese mainland children who are siblings with AADC deficiency.
Methods
We used targeted next-generation sequencing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to reveal DDC mutations in these children.
Results
Two DDC gene mutations were found: one missense mutation, c.1040G?>?A (p.Arg347Gln), is a reported mutation derived from the mother; the other mutation, a whole-exon 11 and 12 deletion, is a novel mutation derived from the father. The index patient and her brother both had poor sucking power and feeding difficulty at birth and episodes of oculogyric crises, truncal hypotonia, limb hypertonia, sleep disturbances, irritability, and motor delay. The siblings both died at 1?year and 10?months due to asphyxia and pneumonia during gaze and hypertonia episodes.
Conclusion
This study identified a novel DDC gene deletion mutation in two siblings with AADC deficiency disease in the Chinese mainland population. 相似文献
In a biological microenvironment, free fatty acids (FFA) as ubiquitous biological molecules might interact with nanoparticles (NPs) and consequently change the toxicological responses. However, whether the chemical structures of FFA could influence their interactions with NPs remain unknown. This study investigated the interactions between ZnO NPs and saturated or unsaturated FFA (complexed to BSA), namely stearic acid (SA, C18:0), oleic acid (OA, C18:1), and α-linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3). It was shown that BSA, SA, OA, and ALA increased the atomic force microscope (AFM) heights as well the polydispersity index (PDI) of ZnO NPs. BSA modestly protected THP-1 macrophages from ZnO NP exposure, whereas OA and ALA led to relatively less cyto-protective effects of BSA. Moreover, only co-exposure to ZnO NPs and SA significantly promoted the release of interleukin-8. BSA, SA, OA, and ALA equally changed intracellular ROS and Zn ions associated with ZnO exposure, but co-exposure to ZnO NPs and OA/ALA particularly activated the expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress-apoptosis genes. In combination, these results showed that FFA could influence the colloidal aspects and toxicological signaling pathway of ZnO NPs, which is dependent on the number of unsaturated bonds of FFA. 相似文献
Cadmium (Cd) exposure is harmful to amphibians in natural environments and the Cd concentration is a key parameter in water monitoring. Cd pollution has been a severe issue in the Yangtze River and its southern reaches in recent years. Acute toxicity assays were employed to determine the tolerance limits of Cd for Microhyla fissipes tadpoles and five different concentrations of Cd (0, 50, 100, 200 and 300 μg/L) were involved to detect its chronic effects on metamorphosis, growth, locomotion, genotoxicity and enzymatic activities of M. fissipes tadpoles. The results showed that the 24-h and 48-h LC50 values of Cd on M. fissipes tadpoles were 2591.3 μg/L and 1567.9 μg/L, respectively, and the presumable non-lethal concentration obtained was 172.2 μg/L. During the 70-day chronic toxicity assays, Cd showed negative impacts on survival, growth, metamorphosis and the frequency of erythrocytes nuclear abnormality of M. fissipes tadpoles. However, the Cd exposure caused the increased body size and condition of tadpoles at complete metamorphosis (GS46). The tadpoles exposed to 200 μg/L of Cd exhibited degraded locomotor performance at GS46. Weight increments of tadpoles were inhibited at Day 14 and massive deaths were observed over the next 14 days. The enzymatic activities of tadpoles experienced a shock response stage (GS30-GS35) and a complete recovery stage (GS36-GS41) in all treatments. However, the enzymatic activities (except alkaline phosphatase) of tadpoles at GS46 increased after Cd exposure, especially at high concentrations. In summary, Cd is a threat to M. fissipes tadpoles as that causes reduced fitness.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a modified behavioral activation treatment (MBAT) intervention on reducing depressive symptoms in rural left-behind elderly.
Method: This is a randomized study registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR-IOR-17011289). Eighty rural left-behind elderly people who had a Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score between 11 and 25 were randomly assigned to the intervention (n?=?40) and control group (n?=?40). The intervention group received both MBAT and regular treatment for 8 weeks while the control group received regular treatment. Both groups were assessed with the GDS, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) at baseline, immediately post-intervention, and at 3 months post-intervention.
Results: There were a total of 73 participants that completed the intervention. The scores of GDS and BAI decreased significantly, but the scores of OHQ increased significantly in the intervention group after 8 sessions of MBAT (P?<?.01). The reduction in depression symptoms after the intervention was maintained at the 3-month follow-up. Significant differences in GDS, BAI, and OHQ scores were observed between the intervention group and the control group (P?<?.01).
Conclusion: MBAT produced a significantly greater reduction in depressive symptoms than regular care in rural left-behind elderly.
Clinical or methodological significance of this article: A modified behavioral activation (BA) psychotherapy can significantly reduce the recurrence and seriousness of depression symptoms in the left-behind elderly with mild to moderate depression. This study also suggests that further study of the MBAT as an intervention will provide a direction for the management of mental health in rural left-behind elders. 相似文献
Vegetation water content (VWC) is the key input parameter for a soil moisture retrieval algorithm based on microwave remote sensing, and VWC uncertainty can limit the estimated accuracy of soil moisture. There has been little research on VWC algorithm development and validation in China, and the uncertainty of the VWC estimation method has not been well evaluated. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the uncertainty of the VWC estimation method used in the SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) algorithm on three spatial scales (the point-scale, 30 m scale, and 1 km scale) for maize in northeast China. Results from three ground experimental datasets showed that the SMAP VWC estimation method was strongly biased with an average overestimation of 1.16 kg m?2,1.04 kg m?2, and 1.13 kg m?2 for the point-scale, 30 m scale, and 1 km scale respectively, and maximum bias occurred in the mid-stage of maize. Also, a new power relationship between NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and VWC was proposed for the 30 m scale based on Sentinel 2 NDVI and field VWC values from 2017 experiment, with respective R2 (coefficient of determination) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) values of 0.80 and 0.67 kg m?2. The results confirmed that this power relationship was still suitable for VWC estimation at the 1 km scale, and it has smaller bias than the original SMAP VWC method. Future work will be carried out to evaluate the applicability of this VWC estimation method over a lager region. It is expected that it can improve the accuracy of soil moisture by providing high precision VWC input parameters. 相似文献
Pure mucinous breast cancer (PMBC) is a rare pathologic type of breast cancer, the prognostic factors of which have not been clearly defined. This study aimed to analyze the prognostic markers and distribution of 21-gene recurrence score (RS) in patients with PMBC.
Patients and Methods
Utilizing the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, a retrospective analysis of PMBC cases was conducted. Multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the indicators for prognosis and the correlations between RS and traditional clinicopathologic characteristics. Disease was subdivided into 4 molecular phenotypes using estrogen receptor (ER) status and tumor grade.
Results
Of the 8048 patients, most had ER-positive and node-negative tumors. Multivariate analysis revealed that molecular phenotype as well as age, race, tumor size, and lymph node status was an independent prognostic factor for patients with PMBC (P < .05). The 5-year breast cancer–specific survival of patients among different phenotypes was significantly different (97.9% for ER-positive and grade I tumor, 96.9% for ER-positive and grade II-III tumor, 96% for ER-negative and grade I tumor, 90.1% for ER-negative and grade II-III tumors, P < .001). The proportions of patients categorized into low, intermediate, and high RS risk group were 64.9%, 31.9%, and 3.2%, respectively. Grade, progesterone receptor status, and age were identified as independent variables associated with RS.
Conclusion
PMBC had favorable biological features and relatively good prognosis. Molecular phenotype as well as age, race, tumor size, and lymph node status were independent prognostic markers. Furthermore, age, progesterone receptor status, and grade could independently predict RS. 相似文献
Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) and tufted angioma (TA) primarily occurring in infants are difficult to distinguish. This study evaluated ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of KHE and TA. Pathologically proven TA (n = 21) and KHE (n = 40 [11 KHE + Kasabach–Merritt phenomenon [KMP]]) occurring between January 2015 and December 2017 were reviewed. US (n = 61) and MRI (n = 50) findings were retrospectively evaluated. On US, KHE and TA lesions were subcutaneous, while 40% of KHE exhibited an infiltrative pattern extending into adjacent muscles. Of TA lesions, 42.9% were hyperechoic and 96.15% of KHE lesions exhibited mixed echogenicity. Of TA lesions, 76.2% exhibited well‐defined margins and all KHE lesions exhibited ill‐defined margins. The depth and vascular density of KHE and KHE + KMP were significantly increased compared with TA. The arterial peak systolic blood flow velocity of KHE + KMP was significantly higher than that in TA and KHE. KHE and KHE + KMP were significantly harder than TA on elastography. 3‐D color Doppler revealed branch‐shape blood flow for KHE and KHE + KMP lesions; for TA, it revealed a dot‐like and striped pattern. Considering MRI findings, KHE and KHE + KMP were more likely to exhibit diffuse heterogeneous enhancement after contrast than TA. KHE was infiltrative and more likely to be thick, hypoechoic, ill‐defined, richly vascular and hard than TA on US. KHE lesions were subcutaneous and reticular, with heterogeneous enhancement on MRI. Awareness of these features should prompt radiologists in the differential diagnosis of pediatric masses. 相似文献