Reliability and validity of the sideways step test and its correlation with motor function after stroke

[Purpose] This study investigated the intra-rater, inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the sideways step test (SST), its correlation with other indicators of stroke-specific impairment, and the cut-off count best discriminating subjects with stroke from their healthy counterparts. [Subjects and Methods] Forty-three subjects with chronic stroke and 41 healthy subjects older than 50 years participated in this study. The SST was administered along with the Fugl-Meyer motor assessment for the lower extremities (FMA-LE), the five-times sit to stand (5TSTS) test, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the movement velocity (MVL) by the limits of stability (LOS) test, the ten-metre walk (10mW) test, the timed “Up and Go” (TUG) test and the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale. [Results] The SST showed good to excellent intra-rater, inter-rater and test-retest reliability. The SST counts correlated with 5TSTS times, 10mW times, TUG times, and the FMA-LE and BBS scores. SST counts of 11 for the paretic leg and 14 for the non-paretic leg were found to distinguish the healthy adults from subjects with stroke. [Conclusion] The sideways step test is a reliable clinical test, which correlates with the functional strength, gait speed, and functional balance of people with chronic stroke.Key words: Balance, Stroke, Rehabilitation     

Osteoimmunology in orthodontic tooth movement

The skeletal and immune systems share a multitude of regulatory molecules, including cytokines, receptors, signaling molecules, and signaling transducers, thereby mutually influencing each other. In recent years, several novel insights have been attained that have enhanced our current understanding of the detailed mechanisms of osteoimmunology. In orthodontic tooth movement, immune responses mediated by periodontal tissue under mechanical force induce the generation of inflammatory responses with consequent alveolar bone resorption, and many regulators are involved in this process. In this review, we take a closer look at the cellular/molecular mechanisms and signaling involved in osteoimmunology and at relevant research progress in the context of the field of orthodontic tooth movement.     

肝硬化患者外周血单核细胞表面TLR4和TLR2表达的临床意义

目的:探讨肝硬化患者外周血中单个核细胞(PBMC)表面Toll样受体4(Toll-likereceptor4,TLR4)、TLR2表达与肝硬化患者细菌感染的关系,观察抗生素治疗对TLR4与TLR2表达的影响.方法:采用三色荧光染色法,荧光素标记的抗TLR2/抗TLR4/抗CD14mAb对42例肝硬化患者及正常人的血液单核细胞表面TLR2、TLR4及CD14分子进行免疫荧光染色,应用流式细胞仪检测.结果:肝硬化腹水组TLR2和TLR4表达(n=30,TLR2,47.65±0.75;TLR4,22.28±0.80)与正常对照组(n=15,TLR2,24.40±2.77;TLR4,14.45±3.23)比较有显著性差异(P<0.05),肝硬化腹水患者治疗前(n=20,TLR2,47.79±0.76;TLR4,28.58±0.79)和治疗后(n=20,TLR2,17.22±2.48;TLR4,12.37±0.35)比较有显著性差异(P<0.05);肝硬化腹水患者与肝硬化无腹水患者组(n=12,TLR2,25.37±1.62;TLR4,14.81±0.29)比较有显著性差异(P<0.05);肝硬化无腹水患者组与正常对照组比较无显著性差异(P>0.05).结论:肝硬化腹水患者TLR4与TLR2的表达显著上调,抗生素治疗后显著下调.     

Assessment of aldehyde dehydrogenase in viable cells

Cytosolic aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), an enzyme responsible for oxidizing intracellular aldehydes, has an important role in ethanol, vitamin A, and cyclophosphamide metabolism. High expression of this enzyme in primitive stem cells from multiple tissues, including bone marrow and intestine, appears to be an important mechanism by which these cells are resistant to cyclophosphamide. However, although hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) express high levels of cytosolic ALDH, isolating viable HSC by their ALDH expression has not been possible because ALDH is an intracellular protein. We found that a fluorescent aldehyde, dansyl aminoacetaldehyde (DAAA), could be used in flow cytometry experiments to isolate viable mouse and human cells based on their ALDH content. The level of dansyl fluorescence exhibited by cells after incubation with DAAA paralleled cytosolic ALDH levels determined by Western blotting and the sensitivity of the cells to cyclophosphamide. Moreover, DAAA appeared to be a more sensitive means of assessing cytosolic ALDH levels than Western blotting. Bone marrow progenitors treated with DAAA proliferated normally. Furthermore, marrow cells expressing high levels of dansyl fluorescence after incubation with DAAA were enriched for hematopoietic progenitors. The ability to isolate viable cells that express high levels of cytosolic ALDH could be an important component of methodology for identifying and purifying HSC and for studying cyclophosphamide-resistant tumor cell populations.     

Protection of murine bone marrow by dexamethasone during cytotoxic chemotherapy

Corticosteroids have the ability to suppress the production of growth factors and cytokines and are thus implicated in the negative regulation of hematopoiesis. We have shown that the corticosteroids, prednisolone and dexamethasone, were able to effectively protect progenitor cells in four strains of mice against cell-cycle-specific antimetabolic chemotherapy agents. The highest levels of protection against 5-fluorouracil (FU; 200 mg/kg) were achieved when two or three intraperitoneal injections of dexamethasone were administered between - 7 and +3 hours at a dose of 7.5 mg/kg/injection (optimal dose) or by continuous infusion between -4 and +20 hours. This protective effect is manifested as an increase in the number of high proliferative potential colony-forming cells that survive in the bone marrow 3 days after treatment with FU from between 0.5% and 11% to between 10% and 34% of normal. The bone marrow progenitors and blood cell numbers return to normal from 3 to 5 days and 1 to 2 days earlier, respectively. Less dexamethasone than prednisolone is required to give an equivalent protective effect, which is consistent with their anti-inflammatory potency. These findings are further evidence of the negative regulatory role played by corticosteroids, and indicate that the treatment schedules of corticosteroids during cancer therapy need to be reexamined to obtain the maximum benefit from their use.