Studies on Optimal Conditions of Two Freezing Methods for Preservation of Rabbit Embryos

Since the first report on the successful deep cryopreservation of mam-malian embryos in 1972,slow progressing cooling rate has been employ-ed in conventional embryos-freezing techniques;while more recent studieson freezing preimplantation embryos have focussed on the simplificationof cooling and thawing procedures and improvement of viability of embr-yos.Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)has been used as an effective cryoprotec-tant for freezing human and other mammalian embryos.It has been foundthat glycerol and other alcohols are effective to protect embryos fromcryoinjury during     

Choroideremia:Further Evidence for Assignment of the Locus to Xq13-Xq21

Choroideremia is an X-linked hereditary retinal dystrophy leading to blindness inearly adulthood。RFLP analyses in three Danish femilies were consistent with closolinkage between choroideremia and the locus DXYS1,located at Xq13-Xq21。Measu-rable linkage was found between choroideremia and DXS17,at Xq22。Furthermore,     

Topoisomerase II α Gene as a Marker for Prognostic Prediction of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Bioinformatics Analysis

ObjectiveTo investigate the expression of topoisomerase II α (TOP2α) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its role in predicting prognosis of HCC patients.MethodsWe used HCC-related datasets in UALCAN, HCCDB, and cBioPortal databases to analyze the expression and mutation of TOP2α and its co-expressed genes in HCC tissues. GO function and KEGG pathway enrichment of TOP2α and its co-expressed genes were identified. The TIMER database was used to analyze infiltration levels of immune cells in HCC. The impacts of TOP2α and its co-expression genes and the infiltrated immune cells on the survival of HCC patients were assayed by Kaplan-Meier plotter analysis.ResultsTOP2α and its co-expression genes were highly expressed in HCC (P < 0.001) and detrimental to overall survival of HCC patients (P < 0.001). TOP2α and its co-expression genes were mainly involved in cell mitosis and proliferation, and cell cycle pathway (ID: hsa04110, P = 0.00194S). TOP2α and its co-expression genes were mutated in HCC and the mutations were significantly detrimental to overall survival (P = 0.0247) and disease-free survival (P = 0.026S) of HCC patients. High TOP2α expression was positively correlated with the infiltration of B cell (r = 0.4S9, P < 0.01), CD8⁺T cell (r = 0.312, P < 0.01), CD4⁺T cell (r = 0.370, P < 0.01), macrophage (r = 0.459, P < 0.01), neutrophil (r = 0.405, P < 0.01), and dendritic cell (r = 0.473, P < 0.01) in HCC. The CD8⁺T cell infiltration significantly prolonged the 3- and 5-year survival of HCC patients (all P < 0.05), and CD4⁺T cell infiltration significantly shortened the 3-, 5-, and 10-year survival of HCC patients (all P < 0.05)ConclusionTOP2α may be an oncogene, which was associated with poor prognosis of HCC patients and could be used as a biomarker for the prognostic prediction of HCC.     

Prediction of thrombolytic therapy for acute venous thromboembolic disease by CT pulmonary angiography and indirect CT venography

Thrombolytic therapy is a quick, simple and effective method for the treatment of acute venous thromboembolic disease.^1 Currently, it is being used to treat patients with thromboembolism which appeared within two weeks.^2 However, the pathophysiologic of process of the disease shows great differences in individuals.^3 If imaging techniques could be used to evaluate pathophysiologic stage of the thrombus, physicians would be able to choose the therapeutic window more reasonably. Four cases of venous thromboembolic disease are discussed attempting to find diagnostic evidence of acute thrombosis on CT images and establish thrombolytic therapy by using CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and indirect CT venography (CTV).     

Optimal low dosage of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) for the prevention and treatment of ischemic cerebrovascular disease in geriatric patients.

A series of 108 geriatric patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease were treated with low dose aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid, ASA). Daily doses of 100 mg, 50 mg and 25 mg were administered to three groups of 36 patients. Changes in platelet aggregation responses were dynamically observed in 64 (22 normal subjects, 42 patients). Monitoring of 22 normal subjects revealed inhibition of platelet aggregation at a dose of 300 mg or 100 mg which could last as long as 7 days. This suggests that 100 mg or less could be clinically effective. Satisfactory inhibitory effects on platelet aggregation were observed in all three groups, with 14 patients in each group given daily doses of 100 mg, 50 mg and 25 mg during four weeks' observation. The most effective inhibition was obtained in the 50 mg group. Therefore, the authors recommend 50 mg/d as the optimal dosage for low dose aspirin therapy in geriatric patients.

     

Is there a place for intra-umbilical oxytocin for the management of retained placenta?

Intra-umbilical injection of oxytocin has been used to hasten placental separation in retained placenta. A randomised controlled trial was done on 35 consequent women who fulfilled the criteria for retained placenta at the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Ipoh Hospital. Nineteen patients who were recruited into the study group received intraumbilical injection of 301U oxytocin in 27mls saline. Another 16 patients who were in the control group received 30mls of 0.9% sodium chloride (placebo). The primary outcome measured was the need for manual removal of placenta (MRP). Nine out of the 19 patients in the oxytocin group required MRP while 10/16 in the control group required MRP. There was a 24% reduction (95% C.I. 0.41 to 1.39) in the need for MRP in the study group compared to the saline group. our results indicate that intra-umbilical vein injection of oxytocin is not clinically useful for the removal of a retained placenta.     

Is Regular Probiotic Practice Safe for Management of Sepsis?

For decades,the gut has been thought to play an important role in sepsis pathogenesis.Sepsis is a serious life-threatening,chronic condition of an infection caused by dysregulated host immune response in most of the intensive care unit patients.Probiotics have dual roles in polymicrobial sepsis i.e.probiotics may induce sepsis in many cases and may prevent its prognosis in many cases.Experimental evidence from both pre-clinical and clinical studies have demonstrated that probiotic therapy ameliorates various inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor,interleukin-10(IL-10),IL-6,etc.,in septicemia.In addition,probiotic use was also found to reduce the severity of pathological conditions associated with irritable bowel disorder and prevent development of endocarditis in septicemia.On contrary,probiotic therapy in neonatal and athymic adult mice fail to provide any beneficial effects on mortality and sepsis-induced inflammation.Importantly,in few clinical trials probiotic use was found to aggravate sepsis by promoting inflammatory cascade rather than suppressing it.This review discusses various studies regarding the beneficial or harmful effects associated with probiotic therapy in sepsis.     

Auto-versus allo-transplantation of the liver for end-stage alveolar echinococcosis?

"We dreamt of it; they did it!" Reading the paper by WEN et al in this issue of the Chinese Medical Journal,1 we can not help but remember when our colleague Prof.Jean-Philippe Miguet, a hepatologist who was the first at the beginning of the 1970s to review the clinical cases of alveolar echinococcosis (AE)observed in our region of Eastern France and to renew our interest in that disease, used to tell Prof.Michel Gillet,his colleague hepatic surgeon who was the first in 1986 to succeed in transplanting a liver in a patient with AE:2 "You should rather resect the parasitic lesions from the diseased liver of the patient after removing it from the patient's body and re-transplant it!" We were at the beginning of the 1980s; it sounded like a joke, and for the first time, 30 years later, it has become true.In addition to a technical performance, this success in doing ex vivo resection of AE lesions and auto-transplanting the remaining liver is likely to become a demonstration of the best indication of that technique.     

An Experimental Study on the Optimal Timing for the Repair of Incomplete Facial Paralysis by Hypoglossal-facial ‘Side'-to-side Neurorrhaphy in Rats

Objective To investigate the optimal timing for the repair of persistent incomplete facial paralysis by hypoglossal-facial ‘side'-to-side neurorrhaphy in rats. Methods A total of 30 adult rats with crushed and bulldog-clamped facial nerve injury were randomly divided into 5 groups(n = 6 each) that were subjected to injury without nerve repair or with immediate repair, 2-week-delayed repair, 4-week-delayed repair, or 8-week-delayed repair. Three months later, the effects of repair in each rat were evaluated by facial symmetry assessment, electrophysiological examination, retrograde labeling, and axon regeneration measurement. Results At 3 months after injury, the alpha angle significantly increased in the group of rats with 4-week-delayed repair compared with the other four groups. Upon stimulation of the facial nerve or Pre degenerated nerve, the muscle action potentials MAPs were recorded in the whisker pad muscle, and the MAP amplitude and area under the curve in the 4-week-delayed repair group were significantly augmented at 3 months post-injury. Similarly, the number of retrograde-labeled motor neurons in the facial and hypoglossal nuclei was quantified to be significantly greater in the 4-week-delayed repair group than in the other groups, and a large number of regenerated axons was also observed. Conclusion The results of this study demonstrated that hemi HN-FN neurorrhaphy performed 4 weeks after facial nerve injury was most effective in terms of the functional recovery of axonal regeneration and activation of facial muscles.     

Effect of Body Mass Index on All-cause Mortality and Incidence of Cardiovascular Diseases─Report for Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies on Optimal Cut-off Points of Body Mass Index in Chinese Adults

INTRODUCTION The first international recommendation for cut-off point of normal body weight was based on the range of lower all-cause mortality as an indicator, and the data used to derive this criterion were from studies in Western Caucasian. Hereafter, …     

Time for the new approach in management of early phase of severe acute pancreatitis?

To the Editor： We read with a great interest the recent article by Dr. Yang et al, in which they summarized the surgical treatment of patients with fulminant acute pancreatitis in their hospital. This is a very interesting paper on treating severe acute panceratitis （SAP） since the management of acute pancreatitis has been controversial over the past decades, varying between a conservative medical approach on the one hand and aggressive surgical approach on the other.