[Effect of electroacupuncture on learning-memory ability and expression of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α in hippocampus and spleen in mice with Alzheimer's disease].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the ability of spatial learning-memory and the expression of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α in the hippocampus and spleen tissues and the number of hippocampal neurons and spleen lymphocytes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) mice, so as to study its mechanisms underlying improvement of AD. METHODS: Twenty-four SAMP8 mice were randomly and equally divided into AD model, EA and medication groups, and 8 SAMR1 mice were used as the control group. EA (2 Hz, 0.1 mA) was applied to "Baihui"(GV20) and "Yintang"(EX-HN3) for 20 min in the EA group, and intragastric administration of donepezil hydrochloride (0.92 mg/kg) was applied in the medication group, once daily for 15 d. The learning-memory ability was determined by Morris water maze task, and the histopathological changes of hippocampus were observed after H.E. staining, followed by determining neurons and the number of splenic lymphocytes. The expression levels of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α in the hippocampus and spleen were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: After mode-ling, the escape latency of place navigation test in the Morris water maze, the spleen index, immunoactivity and expression levels of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α proteins in the hippocampus and spleen tissues were significantly increased (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the escape latency, spleen index, immunoactivity and expression levels of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α proteins in both hippocampus and spleen were significantly down-regulated in the medication (except the escape latency) and EA groups (P<0.01, P<0.05). The effect of EA was evidently superior to that of medication in shortening the escape latency, lowering the spleen index, and immunoactivity of hippocampal IL-6 and splenic TNF-α immunoactivity (P<0.01, P<0.05). Outcomes of H.E. staining showed disordered arrangement of neurons with nuclear pyknosis or apoptosis in partial neurons in the hippocampus, and thickened and swollen spleen capsule tissue with loose structure and an increased number of lymphocytes in the model group, which was relatively milder in the EA and medication groups. CONCLUSION: EA can improve the learning-memory ability of AD mice, which may be associated with its effect in relieving the inflammation reaction in the hippocampus and spleen tissues.

Development of polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers in Huperzia serrata (Lycopodiaceae).

PREMISE: The natural population size of Huperzia serrata (Lycopodiaceae) has dramatically decreased and the species has become endangered due to overexploitation. Here, we developed simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for H. serrata to survey both its genetic diversity and population structure. METHODS AND RESULTS: Based on 177 individuals, 120 SSR primer pairs were developed and optimized from five regions of the H. serrata transcriptomic data. Of these primer pairs, 20 were successfully amplified and 10 showed obvious polymorphism. These polymorphic loci were investigated to study the genetic diversity of H. serrata. Two to 11 alleles per locus were identified, the level of observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.00 to 1.00, and the level of expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.19 to 0.79. All loci were successfully amplified in H. crispata, H. sutchueniana, and H. selago. CONCLUSIONS: The 10 polymorphic primer pairs developed here will be valuable for studies of the endangered H. serrata and other related species.

[Dynamic change of Pinus tabuliformis forest productivity and its response to future climate change in Shaanxi Province, China.] / 陕西省油松林生产力动态及对未来气候变化的响应.

This study analyzed the dynamics of net primary productivity (NPP) of Pinus tabuliformis forest under future climate scenarios in Shaanxi Province during 2015-2100, using a dynamic vegetation model (LPJ-GUESS). The results showed that in the 2015-2100 period, annual mean temperature of this region would significantly increase by 0.12, 0.23 and 0.54 ℃·10 a-1 under RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively, while the annual precipitation would have no significant change under climate scenarios except RCP4.5, under which it would significantly increase by 14.36 mm·10 a-1. Compared with the NPP of P. tabuliformis forest in the historical period (1961-1990), it would increase by 1.6%-29.6% in the future period, and the enhancement could reach 45.4% at the end of this century (2071-2100) under RCP8.5 scenario. The NPP under the RCP8.5 scenario was the highest, followed by the RCP4.5 and RCP2.6 scenarios. During 2015-2100, the NPP in the northern Shaanxi region would significantly decrease with the rate of 41.00 and 21.00 g C·m-2·10 a-1 under the RCP2.6 and RCP4.5 scenarios, respectively, implying that this area has the potentiality to be carbon source.

Advances in in vitro production of sheep embryos.

Sheep is an important livestock in the world providing meat, milk and wool for human beings. With increasing human population, the worldwide needs of production of sheep have elevated. To meet the needs, the assistant reproductive technology including ovine in vitro embryo production (ovine IVP) is urgently required to enhance the effective production of sheep in the world. To learn the status of ovine IVP, we collected some publications related to ovine IVP through PubMed and analyzed the progress in ovine IVP made in the last five years (2012-2017). We made comparisons of these data and found that the recent advances in ovine IVP has been made slowly comparable to that of ovine IVP two decades ago. Therefore, we suggested two strategies or approaches to tackle the main problems in ovine IVP and expect that the efficiency of ovine IVP could be improved significantly when the approaches would be implemented.