Dissociation of spinal microglia morphological activation and peripheral inflammation in inflammatory pain models

We compared the effects of peripheral Freund's Complete Adjuvant (CFA) and formalin injection on spinal microglia activation. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses showed signs of microglia activation on the ipsilateral side of the lumbar dorsal horn on day 3, day 7 and day 14 after formalin injection. However, significant microglia morphological alteration was not found in the CFA model. At the injection site in the paw, CFA injection induced considerably more inflammation than formalin injection. Although spinal microglia might be activated in inflammatory pain models, morphologically, spinal microglia activation was not closely correlated with peripheral inflammation.     

北京市朝阳区慢性疼痛疾病流行病学调查报告

目的:了解北京市朝阳区慢性疼痛疾病的流行病学特点.方法:2008年12月-2009年3月间对北京市朝阳区常住人口进行整群多级抽样,随机取样.采用调查员入户问卷调查的方法收集资料4220份.结果:患病率为52.99%,其中男性患病率48.06%,女性患病率57.60%,女性多于男性.慢性疼痛患者常见的三个疼痛区域分别是腰、颈和膝关节.口服西药、中药是疼痛患者的常用治疗方法.有9.5%的患者求助于疼痛门诊,女性比例高于男性.经过治疗的患者中完全缓解的比例较低.结论:北京市朝阳区慢性疼痛疾病患病率高,治疗手段单一,缓解率低,应引起有关部门高度重视.     

Three-Dimensional Measurement and Cluster Analysis for Determining the Size Ranges of Chinese Temporomandibular Joint Replacement Prosthesis

The aim of this study was to investigate the osseous characteristics of Chinese temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and detect the size clusters for total joint prostheses design.Computer tomography (CT) data from 448 Chinese adults (226 male and 222 female, aged from 20 to 83 years, mean age 39.3 years) with 896 normal TMJs were chosen from the Department of Radiology in the Shanghai 9th People''s Hospital. Proplan CMF 1.4 software was used to reconstruct the skulls. Three-dimensional (3D) measurements of the TMJ fossa and condyle-ramus units with 13 parameters were performed. Size clusters for prostheses design were determined by hierarchical cluster analyses, nonhierarchical (K-means) cluster analysis, and discriminant analysis.The glenoid fossa was grouped into 3 clusters, and the condyle-ramus units were grouped into 4 clusters. Discriminant analyses were capable of correctly classifying 97.24% of the glenoid fossa and 94.98% of the condyle-ramus units. The means and standard deviations for the parameter values in each cluster were determined.Fossa depth and angles between the condyle and ramus were important parameters for Chinese TMJ prostheses design. 3D measurements and cluster analysis of the osseous morphology of the TMJ provided an anatomical reference and identified the dimensions of the minimum numbers of prosthesis sizes required for Chinese TMJ replacement.     

Xrcc3 induces cisplatin resistance by stimulation of Rad51-related recombinational repair, S-phase checkpoint activation, and reduced apoptosis

Eukaryotic cells respond to DNA damage by activation of DNA repair, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis. Several reports suggest that such responses may be coordinated by communication between damage repair proteins and proteins signaling other cellular responses. The Rad51-guided homologous recombination repair system plays an important role in the recognition and repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs), and cells deficient in this repair pathway become hypersensitive to ICL-inducing agents such as cisplatin and melphalan. We investigated the possible role of the Rad51-paralog protein Xrcc3 in drug resistance. Xrcc3 overexpression in MCF-7 cells resulted in 1) a 2- to 6-fold resistance to cisplatin/melphalan, 2) a 2-fold increase in drug-induced Rad51 foci, 3) an increased cisplatin-induced S-phase arrest, 4) decreased cisplatin-induced apoptosis, and 5) increased cisplatin-induced DNA synthesis arrest. Interestingly, Xrcc3 overexpression did not alter the doubling time or cell cycle progression in the absence of DNA damage. Furthermore, Xrcc3 overexpression is associated with increased Rad51C protein levels consistent with the known interaction of these two proteins. Our results demonstrate that Xrcc3 is an important factor in DNA cross-linking drug resistance in human tumor cells and suggest that the response of the homologous recombinational repair machinery and cell cycle checkpoints to DNA cross-linking agents is intertwined.     

Gut microbiota and diabetic kidney diseases: Pathogenesis and therapeutic perspectives

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the major chronic complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), as well as a main cause of end-stage renal disease. Over the last few years, substantial research studies have revealed a contributory role of gut microbiota in the process of DM and DKD. Metabolites of gut microbiota like lipopolysaccharide, short-chain fatty acids, and trimethylamine N-oxide are key mediators of microbial–host crosstalk. However, the underlying mechanisms of how gut microbiota influences the onset and progression of DKD are relatively unknown. Besides, strategies to remodel the composition of gut microbiota or to reduce the metabolites of microbiota have been found recently, representing a new potential remedial target for DKD. In this mini-review, we will address the possible contribution of the gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of DKD and its role as a therapeutic target.     

The apoptosis effect of hispolon from Phellinus linteus (Berkeley & Curtis) Teng on human epidermoid KB cells

Phellinus linteus (Berkeley & Curtis) Teng, a well-known fungus of the genus Phellinus in the family of Hymenochaetaceae, is being increasingly used to treat a wide variety of disease processes such as oral ulcer, gastroenteric disorder, inflammation, lymphatic disease, and various cancers. However, the mechanism underlying its anti-oral cancer effect is poorly understood. In the present study, we prepared the ethanol extract of Phellinus linteus as a crude drug, and then obtained the active component hispolon by bioassay-guided isolation. Hispolon showed a dose-dependent inhibition of human epidermoid KB cell proliferation with IC50 of 4.62+/-0.16 microg/ml. Furthermore, it was revealed that hispolon could induce human epidermoid KB cell apoptosis with the characteristic of a DNA ladder, and with a significant increase of sub-G1. This process was accompanied by the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential, the release of cytochrome c and the activation of Caspase-3. These results demonstrated that hispolon induced the death of KB cells through a mitochondria mediated apoptotic pathway. We propose that Phellinus linteus and its effective components could be used as an anti-oral cancer drug for future studies.     

通州市肠道寄生虫感染防治效果分析

１９８９年和１９９９年两次肠道寄生虫的分布调查显示感染分别为６８．４９％、１２．５１％,由高于全省平均水平转变为低于全省水平,主要感染虫种的感染率明显下降,多重感染显著减少,中度以上感染已很少见,表明１９９４年以来我市开展大规模的驱虫眼药工作是卓有成效的,肠道寄生虫感染已得到了有效控制。     

计算女性青年人体环节体积的二元回归方程

目的：直接测算女性青年人体各环节体积。方法：采用CT-图像分析法，对50例女性样本(18—23岁)进行全身CT-横断层扫描、影像分析和测算。结果：获得了样本各环节的长度和体积等惯性数据并建立了以身高、体重为自变量的直接计算青年人体各环节体积的二元回归方程。结论：为直接确定女性青年人体的体积分布提供了可靠的手段。