Effects of propofol on cardiac function and miR-494 expression in rats with hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the effects of propofol on cardiac function and miR-494 expression in rats with hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.MethodsForty healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated to the sham operation group and three hepatic I/R injury groups. The I/R injury groups included I/R injury only (I/R group), treatment with propofol (propofol group), and treatment with propofol + overexpressed miR-494 (propofol+miR-494 group). Apoptosis of myocardial cells and changes in cardiac function indices, including left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left ventricular end-systolic diameter, and left ventricular posterior wall thickness, as well as changes in miR-494, were monitored.ResultsThe apoptotic rate of myocardial cells in the I/R group was higher, cardiac function was deteriorated, and miR-494 levels were elevated compared with the sham group. The apoptotic rate was lower, cardiac function was improved, and miR-494 levels were suppressed in the propofol group compared with the I/R group. The apoptotic rate was higher, cardiac function was deteriorated, and miR-494 levels were elevated in the propofol+miR-494 group compared with the propofol group.ConclusionPropofol plays a vital role in preventing myocardial cell apoptosis and improvement of cardiac function by suppressing miR-494 in a hepatic I/R injury rat model.     

慢性脑低灌注大鼠海马Arc低表达与其认知功能障碍的相关性研究

目的 探讨慢性脑低灌注大鼠海马活性调节的细胞骨架相关蛋白(activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein,Arc)的低表达与其认知功能障碍的相关性。方法 大鼠慢性脑低灌注模型使用持久性双颈总动脉结扎术(2-vessel occlusion,2-VO); 大鼠随机分成假手术组和2-VO组,每组各6只。术后第8周行Morris水迷宫评价其认知功能; 实时定量聚合酶链式反应(Real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction,RT-qPCR)及蛋白免疫印迹法检测大鼠海马Arc mRNA及蛋白表达水平。结果(1)2-VO组大鼠第2～5 d的逃逸潜伏期比假手术组明显延长(P<0.01)及其在原平台区域游泳时间明显比假手术组短(P<0.01);(2)2-VO组大鼠海马Arc mRNA水平及免疫反应条带相对灰度值分别比假手术组明显降低(P均<0.01);(3)空间探索实验中2-VO大鼠在原平台区域游泳时间与海马Arc免疫反应条带相对灰度值呈正相关(r=0.7085,P<0.05)。结论 慢性脑低灌注大鼠的认知功能障碍可能与海马Arc的低表达相关。     

Combination of Radiological and Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix Textural Features Used to Distinguish Solitary Pulmonary Nodules by Computed Tomography

The objective of this study was to investigate the method of the combination of radiological and textural features for the differentiation of malignant from benign solitary pulmonary nodules by computed tomography. Features including 13 gray level co-occurrence matrix textural features and 12 radiological features were extracted from 2,117 CT slices, which came from 202 (116 malignant and 86 benign) patients. Lasso-type regularization to a nonlinear regression model was applied to select predictive features and a BP artificial neural network was used to build the diagnostic model. Eight radiological and two textural features were obtained after the Lasso-type regularization procedure. Twelve radiological features alone could reach an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.84 in differentiating between malignant and benign lesions. The 10 selected characters improved the AUC to 0.91. The evaluation results showed that the method of selecting radiological and textural features appears to yield more effective in the distinction of malignant from benign solitary pulmonary nodules by computed tomography.     

Comparison of outcomes using radiotherapy or brachytherapy after resection of primary adenoid cystic carcinoma in oral and maxillofacial regions

We wished to investigate the outcome of surgery combined with external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) or brachytherapy (¹²⁵I seeds) for the treatment of primary adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the oral and maxillofacial region. Data of patients with primary ACC were reviewed retrospectively. Patients were divided into EBRT and brachytherapy groups. Wide tumor excision was done to achieve negative margins. Standard radiotherapy in the EBRT group was 60 Gy. A treatment-planning system was used to create implantation plans with a prescribed dose of 60–120 Gy and ¹²⁵I seeds were implanted postoperatively. Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank tests were used to analyze local control and survival. The median duration of followup was 66.1 and 46.8 months for the EBRT group and brachytherapy group, respectively. There was no significant difference in local control, control of metastasis to regional lymph nodes, or control of distant metastasis between the two groups. There was no significant difference in overall survival, disease-specific survival, or disease-free survival in the two groups at 3 years and 5 years. The prevalence of complications in the brachytherapy group was lower than that in the EBRT group. Both methods elicited good treatment effects, but the prevalence of adverse events was lower in the brachytherapy group.     

A novel therapeutic strategy for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis based on osteoporotic concept

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a complex three dimensional spinal deformity which occurs mostly in prepubertal and pubertal girls. Although bracing and surgery have been the mainstays of treatment for AIS, because of the complications and poor compliance, many patients with this disorder continue to experience significant residual symptoms. The etiology and pathogenesis of AIS is unclear, but recent studies show the association between osteopenia and AIS and imply that osteopenia play a causative role in the development of AIS. Anti-osteoporosis treatment can improve bone strength, prevent osteoporosis and rebalance the OPG–RANK–RANKL system, which may help to prevent curve progression in AIS. This report proposes that anti-osteoporosis treatment may be an effective treatment for AIS.     

Clinical manifestations and polysomnography-based analysis in nine cases of probable sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Neurological Sciences - To summarize the clinical characteristics of patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), analyze its sleep disorder characteristics using polysomnography (PSG),...     

Characterization of the vaginal fungal flora in pregnant diabetic women by 18S rRNA sequencing

Pregnancy and diabetes are regarded as individual risk factors for vaginal candidiasis. The high prevalence of vaginal candidiasis in pregnant diabetic women can be explained by disruption of the balance of the vaginal normal flora. However, little is known about the overall structure and composition of the vaginal fungal flora in pregnant diabetic women. In the present study, the diversity and richness of the vaginal fungal flora in healthy non-pregnant women (group HN), healthy pregnant women (group HP), women with gestational diabetes mellitus (group GDM), and pregnant women with diabetes mellitus type I (group T1DM) were investigated using an 18S rRNA gene clone library method. Our data demonstrated that the composition of the vaginal fungal flora in the four groups could be divided into two phyla (Ascomycetes, 20/26, and Basidiomycetes, 6/26). The most predominant vaginal fungal species belonged to the Candida and Saccharomyces genera, uncultured fungi, and a large number of low-abundance taxa that were unrecorded or underrepresented in previous studies using cultivation-dependent methods. Variation in operational taxonomic units (OTUs) between the study cohorts was generally high in the clone libraries, as 9, 13, 17, and 20 phylotypes were identified in groups HN, HP, GDM, and T1DM, respectively. The Shannon indices of groups GDM and T1DM (with poorer glycemic control) were significantly higher compared to groups HN and HP (p?<?0.05). The data presented here revealed an increased diversity and varied composition of the vaginal fungal flora in pregnant diabetic women and demonstrated that poor glycemic control might be associated with disturbances in the vaginal fungal flora.