Increased tau phosphorylation and beta amyloid in the hipocampus of mouse pups by early life lead exposure.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of maternal lead exposure on the learning and memory ability and expression of tau protein phosphorylation (P-tau) and beta amyloid protein (Abeta) in hippocampus of mice offspring. Pb exposure initiated from beginning of gestation to weaning. Pb acetate administered in drinking solutions was dissolved in distilled deionized water at the concentrations of 0.1%, 0.5% and 1% groups. On the 21 th of postnatal day, the learning and memory ability of the mouse pups was tested by Water Maze test and the Pb levels in blood and hippocampus of the offspring were also determined. The expression of P-tau and Abeta in hippocampus was measured by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. The Pb levels in blood and hippocampus of all exposure groups were significantly higher than that of the control group ( P < 0.05). In Water Maze test, the performances of 0.5% and 1% groups were worse than that of the control group ( P < 0.05). The expression of P-tau and Abeta was increased in Pb exposed groups than that of the control group ( P < 0.05). Tau hyper-phosphorylation and Abeta increase in the hippocampus of pups may contribute to the impairment of learning and memory associated with maternal Pb exposure.

[Minor salivary duct carcinoma of the larynx: a case report].

Salivary duct carcinoma SDC is a rare disease, especially in the larynx. From the pathology point of view, SDC histomorphology is very similar to breast ductal carcinoma. From the immunohistochemistry, epithelial antibodies are positive, but the SMA is negative. From the review of papers, total resection is the first choice for the treatment, but the local recurrence and distant metastasis are the main influence factors for survival rate. Now we still lack the clinical experience for such disease.

[Transoral radiofrequency coblation surgery for the treatment of hypopharyngeal carcinoma].

Objective: To explore the feasibility and effectiveness of transoral surgery (TOS) for the treatment of hypopharyngeal carcinoma by means of the radiofrequency coblation(RFC). Methods: Twenty-two patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma who were treated with TOS using RFC during the years of 2010-2016 were enrolled. Among these patients, 15 suffered from pyriform sinus carcinoma, 4 suffered from postcricoid carcinoma, and 3 suffered from posterior hypopharyngeal wall carcinoma. According to the AJCC 2002 guideline, the tumor stages were T1N0M0 for 3 patients, T2N0M0 for 9 patients, T1N1M0 for 1 patient, T1N2M0 for 1 patient, T2N1M0 for 4 patients, and T2N2M0 for 4 patients respectively. All patients with N+ underwent concurrent neck dissection; 2 patients underwent concurrent prophylactic tracheotomy; 17 underwent post-operative radiotherapy for 50-66 Gy. The follow-up time was 6-72 months with a median 35 months.Two patients were lost to follow-up. Results: All patients except 2 underwent the TOS successfully, while the two patients were treated with open approach surgery due to unsure safe margin. Most patients returned to oral feeding within one week. Among the 18 patients with complete follow up data, 3 had the local recurrence of the tumor (16.7%) and one died due to local recurrence, multiple primary esophageal carcinoma, and distant metastasis 4 years after surgery (5.6%). According to the Kaplan-Meier method, the 5-years local control rate and survival rate were 57.8% and 67.5% respectively. All patients had no disorders in speech, swallowing and respiration during the follow up. Conclusions: The RFC can be applied in TOS for the treatments of hypopharyngeal carcinoma with high cutting efficiency and better control of intraoperative hemorrhage, which is useful in lowering the operation difficulty. The oncologic results are comparable to the open surgery with satisfactory postoperative organ function preservation.

[Observation on the infectivity of Leishmania donovani from different areas to Phlebotomus alexandri from Xinjiang].

Hamsters or cotton rats were infected with 3 stocks of L. donovani, one of which had been isolated from an infected Ph. major wui in Xinjiang desert area and 2 from kala azar patients in a mountain area of Gansu and in a plain area of Henan respectively. The purpose of the study was to compare the infectivity of the parasites from different geographic areas through artificial infection of Ph. alexandri. Sandflies were dissected in 4, 6, 8 and 10 days after feeding on the infected animals to observe the growth and development of promastigotes of different isolates in their alimentary tracts. Evaluation was made on 3 aspects, i.e. infection rates, infectiosity and migration of promastigotes in sandflies. It was demonstrated that Xinjian isolate of L. donovani appeared to be particularly adapted to Ph. alexandri followed by Gansu isolate, the Henan isolate did not show good adaptation to this sandfly, because the number of promastigotes declined and the infection rate dropped after the digestion of the blood meal in the stomach of the sandflies. It seems that the phenomenon was related to the biological characteristics of L. donovani isolates. These results coincided with those of McAb dot ELISA (Qu,1987) and K-DNA dot hybridization (Lü & Hu 1988) for identification of L. donovani from different areas in China, and were also in parallel to the diverse epidemiological characteristics of different kala azar endemic areas (Guan, 1976). It is reasonable to infer that there may exist different geographical strains of L. donovani in China.

[Studies on the efficacy of five repellents against Phlebotomus alexandri].

The efficacy of five repellents were tested against Phlebotomus alexandri both in the laboratory and in the field in Meiyaogou, Turfan City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region during 1986-1987. A total of 3,301 female Ph. alexandri were used in the laboratory and 306 man-times of volunteers were tested in the field. At a dose of 0.25 microliters/cm2, the protective durations of mosquito repellent perfume (MRP), N, N-diethyl-mtaluamide (DETA), mosquito repellent liquid (MRL), dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) were 7.50 h, 5.00 h, 3.75 h, 1.25 h and 1.00 h, respectively. At a dose of 0.75 mg/cm2, the protective durations of the essential balms of DETA, DMP and DBP were 5.50 h, 3.50 h and 3.00 h, respectively. The repelling effect on volunteers in the field was the same as that tested in the laboratory. The relative efficacy of the five repellents was in the order of MRP greater than DETA greater than MRL greater than DMP greater than DBP. The above-mentioned repellents may be of practical use for individual protection against kala-azar transmission in the field.

Early-life lead exposure affects the activity of TNF-alpha and expression of SNARE complex in hippocampus of mouse pups.

This study aims to investigate the effects of maternal lead exposure on learning and memory ability and the protein expression of TNF-alpha and SNARE complex (SNAP-25, VAMP-2, and Syntaxin 1A) in hippocampus of mice offspring. Pb exposure was initiated from beginning of gestation to weaning. Pb acetate administered in drinking solutions was dissolved in distilled deionized water at 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% groups, respectively. On the PND21, the learning and memory ability of mouse pups was tested by water maze test, and the Pb levels in their blood and hippocampus were also determined. The protein expression of TNF-alpha and SNARE complex in hippocampus was measured by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. The Pb levels in blood and hippocampus of all exposure groups were significantly higher than control group (P < 0.05). In the water maze test, the performances of 0.5% and 1% groups were worse than that of control group (P < 0.05). The expression of TNF-alpha, Syntaxin 1A, and VAMP-2 was increased in Pb-exposed groups comparing control group (P < 0.05), but the expression of SNAP-25 was decreased (P < 0.05). Up-regulation of TNF-alpha and disturbance of SNARE expression in the hippocampus of pups may contribute to impairment of learning and memory ability associated with maternal Pb exposure.