Cortical plasticity: effect of high and low intensity conditioning electrical stimulations (100 Hz) on SEPs to painful finger stimulation.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of high-frequency (100 Hz) repetitive conditioning electrical stimulation (CES, 10 min) on human somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) to evaluate if short-term cortical plasticity could be induced. METHODS: Painful electrical stimulations were applied to thumb (D1) and little finger (D5) fingertips, respectively. The 124-channel EEG was recorded from 10 healthy male volunteers. Peak stages around 34, 45, 212, 331 ms were analyzed with focal maximum amplitude (FA) and area magnitude (AM) of scalp field potential, topography, and equivalent current dipole source localisation, comparing before and after two-level CES (high- vs. low-level) applied to the He-Gu acupoint. RESULTS: After a high-level CES, the positive FA and AM of the current efflux showed a significant increase at the early phase 34 ms, and significantly decreased at 45 ms in D1 SEPs. The negative FA and AM of the current influx were significantly increased at late phase 350 ms of the D5 SEPs. Only 36 ms, the z-axis position of dipole was significantly changed from (x: -15.9 mm, y: 29.6 mm, z: 43.9 mm) to (x: -12.9 mm, y: 29.4mm, z: 51.5mm) for the D5 SEPs. CONCLUSIONS: The high-level CES significantly attenuated the subsequent cortical activation (45 ms peak for D1 stimulation). Both low- and high-level CES significantly enhanced the late activities (226, 350 ms) in D5 stimulation. This may be explained by pain sensation change at the level of subcortical cingulate cortex induced by the site-dependent post-effect of CES. SIGNIFICANCE: This study showed cortical plasticity induced by conditioning somatosensory stimulation.     

隐身南新仓的低调奢华

置身RAIN CLUB的超凡境地中，美食、美酒和美妙的音乐是智灵的洗净，像干燥的北京城迎来第一场春天的“润”——稍显奢华。[编者按]     

人Uroplakin Ⅱ启动子用于靶向性基因治疗膀胱癌的实验研究

目的探讨利用人UroplakinⅡ(hUPⅡ)启动子进行靶向性基因治疗膀胱癌的可能性。方法将hUPⅡ启动子和肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)克隆到腺病毒载体Ad5中,构建重组体pAd-hUPⅡ-TNF。转染细胞293后产生复制缺陷型的重组腺病毒,感染膀胱癌细胞系BIU-87,检测TNF-α对BIU-87细胞体外生物学行为及体内成瘤性的影响。结果成功构建pAd-hUPⅡ-TNF重组腺病毒载体,转染细胞293获得复制缺陷型重组腺病毒。BIU-87细胞经重组腺病毒感染后可产生高浓度的TNF-α,并降低BIU-87的生长速度。感染腺病毒的BIU-87培养液可抑制L929细胞的生长。裸鼠原位膀胱肿瘤动物模型实验结果表明膀胱灌注重组腺病毒48h后,裸鼠尿液含高浓度的TNF-α,4周后腺病毒组膀胱重量和体积明显低于对照组(P<0.01)。结论hUPⅡ启动子TNF-α为治疗基因的重组腺病毒可特异性使膀胱癌细胞系BIU-87产生高浓度的TNF-α,并降低BIU-87和L929细胞的生长速度。重组腺病毒可使裸鼠尿内含高浓度的TNF-α,并可抑制裸鼠原位膀胱肿瘤动物模型膀胱癌细胞的成瘤性。     

Genetic linkage analysis of pulmonary fibrotic response to silica in mice.

Inter-individual variations in the development of silicosis, even within the same environments, have been reported, which suggest the contribution of genetic factors in silicosis aetiology. The aim of the present study was to determine whether there is any significant genetic influence on the development of silicosis. Furthermore, which genetic loci are responsible for the pulmonary response to silica exposure? Eight strains of inbred mice were used to examine the genetic influence on the lung fibrotic response to silica exposure. After intercross-breeding between the most susceptible and most resistant strains, a genome-wide linkage analysis of quantitative trait loci (QTL) was performed. Hydroxyproline was applied as an index, and genotypes of 167 marker genes were analysed by fragment analysis using a capillary-type sequencer. There was significant inter-strain difference in the mean concentration of hydroxyproline contents among the eight strains of mice. Breeding studies were conducted between the most susceptible, C57BL/6J, and the most resistant strain, CBA/J. A genome-wide linkage analysis of silica-exposed intercrossed cohorts identified significant QTL on chromosome 4 and suggestive QTL on chromosomes 3 and 18. The present study demonstrates that genetic factors may play a significant role in fibrotic-lung responses to silica; one significant and two suggestive quantitative trait loci were identified.     

经皮激光椎间盘减压术治疗椎间盘源性腰痛

目的探讨经皮激光椎间盘减压术（percutaneous laser disc decompression，PLDD）治疗椎间盘源性腰痛的疗效。方法2002年6月～2004年12月我院对36例椎间盘源性腰痛，采用英国DIOMED公司半导体激光仪，激光功率15W，每个激光脉冲持续1s，间隔1s，照射能量800～1200J。VAS评分评价治疗效果。结果手术时间15～60min，平均30min。32例出现“疼痛复制效应”。36例随访6～36个月，平均11个月，32例有效（术后VAS评分改善≥3分18例，≥分14例），4例无效，有效率88．9％（32／36）。结论PLDD治疗椎间盘源性腰痛安全、有效、微创。     

匹格列酮激活过氧化物酶体增生物激活受体(PPAR-γ)提高伴有主要心血管危险因素的非糖尿病病人内皮依赖舒张功能

研究背景:伴有心血管危险因素的患者有内皮功能障碍,是导致动脉粥样硬化发病机制的关键因素之一, 在糖尿病患者中应用四氢噻唑产生了多种抗动脉粥样硬化的作用,本研究证实匹格列酮在伴有心血管危险因素的非糖尿病病人中提高内皮功能的假设。方法和结果:研究采用随机,双盲,安慰剂对照,交叉设计。入选80 名同时伴有高血压和高胆固醇血症的患者。胰岛素敏感性用定量胰岛素敏感检测指数(QUICK)评价。进一步将患者分为胰岛素敏感和胰岛素抵抗,在每个治疗阶段,患者每天服用匹格列酮45 mg或安慰剂共八周,在每8 周末,进行实验室检查。应用匹格列酮组血浆胰岛素水平显著下降,QUICK胰岛素敏感指数升高,HDL升高,甘油三酯、自由脂肪酸,和C-反应蛋白水平降低。匹格列酮治疗显著提高缓激肽的内皮依赖性舒张功能而不影响对硝普钠的反应。多变量分析显示:只有总胆固醇的变化预示匹格列酮提高内皮活性。结论:伴有心血管危险因素的非糖尿病病人中,匹格列酮治疗提高胰岛素敏感性,降低C-反应蛋白,提高内皮血管扩张功能。这些结果并不密切相关,提示匹格列酮对血管的有益作用独立于其对胰岛素敏感性和炎性的作用。     

Non-invasive Assessment of Coronary Flow Velocity Reserve: A New Method Using Transthoracic Doppler Echocardiography

Coronary flow reserve (CFR) has been used toassess coronary microcirculation and epicardial coro-nary stenoses[1— 3 ] . CFR is defined as the ratio ofcoronary flow under maximal coronary vasodilatationto coronary flow under resting conditions[4 ] .Whenthe cross- sectional area of epicardial coronary arteriesis constant,coronary flow velocity (CFV) ratios areequal to volume flow ratios.The most common method used clinically formeasuring CFVR is intracoronary Doppler flow(ICD) analysis re…