Mechanisms of electroacupuncture relieves uterine smooth muscle spasm in dysmenorrhea rats based on Rho/ROCK signaling pathway. / 基于Rho/ROCKä¿¡å·é€šè·¯æŽ¢è®¨ç”µé’ˆä»»è„‰ã€ç£è„‰ç»ç©´ç¼“è§£ç±»ç—›ç»æ¨¡åž‹å¤§é¼ å­å®«å¹³æ»‘è‚Œç—‰æŒ›çš„æœºåˆ¶.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on Rho/Rho-associated coiled-coil-forming kinases (ROCK) signaling pathway of uterus tissue in rats with dysmenorrhea, so as to explore the underlying mechanism of EA treating primary dysmenorrhea (PD) and uterine smooth muscle spasm, and to observe whether there is a difference in the effect of meridian acupoints in Conception Vessel (CV) and Governer Vessel (GV). METHODS: Sixty female SD rats were randomly divided into saline, model, CV, GV, and non-acupoint groups, with 12 rats in each group. The dysmenorrhea model was established by subcutaneous injection of estradiol diphenhydrate combined with intraperitoneal injection of oxytocin (OT). EA (2 Hz) was applied to "Qihai" (CV6) and "Zhongji" (CV3) for CV group, "Mingmen" (GV4) and "Yaoshu" (GV2) for GV group, "non-acupoint 1" and "non-acupoint 3" on the left side for non-acupoint group, and manual acupuncture was applied to "Guanyuan" (CV4) for CV group, "Yaoyangguan" (GV3) for GV group, "non-acupoint 2" on the left side for non-acupoint group. The treatment was conducted for 20 min each time, once daily for 10 days. The writhing score was evaluated. The smooth myoelectric signals of rats' uterus in vivo were recorded by multi-channel physiological recorder. The uterine histopathological changes were observed by HE staining. The contents of prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), OT and calcium ion (Ca2+) in uterine tissue of rats were detected by ELISA. The protein and mRNA expression levels of smooth muscle 22-α (SM22-α), RhoA and ROCKⅡ in uterine tissue were detected by Western blot and fluorescence quantitative PCR, respectively. RESULTS: Compared with the saline group, the writhing score of rats in the model group was increased (P<0.01), the amplitude voltage of uterine smooth muscle in vivo was elevated (P<0.01), the contents of PGF2α, OT and Ca2+, the protein and mRNA expression of SM22-α, RhoA and ROCK Ⅱ in uterine tissue were all increased (P<0.01). Compared with the model and the non-acupoint groups, the writhing scores of the CV and the GV groups were decreased (P<0.01, P<0.05), the amplitude voltage of uterine smooth muscle was decreased (P<0.01), the contents of PGF2α, OT and Ca2+ in uterine tissue were decreased (P<0.01, P<0.05), and the protein expression and mRNA expression of SM22-α, RhoA and ROCKⅡ in uterine tissue were decreased (P<0.01, P<0.05). HE staining showed extensive exfoliation of uterine intima with severe edema and increased glandular secretion in the model group, which was alleviated in the CV and GV groups. CONCLUSIONS: EA at acupoints of CV and GV can significantly reduce the writhing score, uterine smooth muscle amplitude voltage, pathological injury degree of uterus, and relieve spasm of uterine smooth muscle in dysmenorrhea rats, which may be related to its effect in regulating PGF2α and OT contents, inhibiting the Rho/ROCK signaling pathway, and reducing the SM22-α, RhoA, ROCKⅡ protein and mRNA expression, and Ca2+ content in uterine tissue.

Macathioureas A-D, four new thiourea analogues from the roots of Lepidium meyenii.

Macathioureas A-D (1-4), four new thiourea derivatives with a carbamothioylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide framework, were isolated from the roots of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) collected from Qujing, Yunnan Province of China. Their structures were identified based on extensive spectroscopic data, including 1D NMR, 2D NMR, and HRESIMS techniques. Their absolute configurations were assigned as 7S by the comparison of the experimental and predicted electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. All the thiourea analogues were tested for their cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines. However, no significant activities were detected at concentrations up to 40 µM.

Muse cells decrease the neuroinflammatory response by modulating the proportion of M1 and M2 microglia in vitro.

Neuroinflammation hinders repair of the central nervous system (CNS). Stem cell transplantation is a very promising approach for treatment of CNS injuries. However, it is difficult to select seed cells that can both facilitate nerve regeneration and improve the microenvironment in the CNS. In this study, we isolated multilineage-differentiating stress-enduring (Muse) cells from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. We explored the anti-inflammatory effect and mechanism of Muse cells in vitro by coculture of Muse cells with lipopolysaccharide-stimulated microglia. Our results showed that Muse cells effectively reduced the transcription and secretion of tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin-1ß and increased the expression of transforming growth factor-ß and interleukin-10 in microglia. In addition, Muse cells decreased the number of M1 microglia and increased the proportion of M2 microglia in an inflammatory environment more effectively than bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. We also show that Muse cells inhibited the protein expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and myeloid differentiation primary response protein (MyD88) and inhibited the expression of the phosphorylated forms of transcription factor p65, nuclear factor (NF)-κB inhibitor alpha, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in microglia. Therefore, we suggest Muse cells cause antineuroinflammatory effects by inhibition of the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB and p38 MAPK signaling pathways in microglia. Our results shed light on the function of Muse cells in relation to CNS diseases and provide insight into the selection of seed cells.

[Effects of elevated CO2 concentration, warming, and winter wheat planting on soil enzyme activities.] / CO2æµ“åº¦å‡é«˜ã€å¢žæ¸©å’Œå†¬å°éº¦ç§æ¤å¯¹åœŸå£¤é ¶æ´»æ€§çš„å½±å“.

Understanding the responses of soil enzyme activities to elevated CO2 concentration and warming can provide a scientific basis for nutrient management of croplands under global climate change. We conducted a pot expe-riment with climate chamber to examine the effects of elevated CO2 concentration and warming and winter wheat growth on soil enzyme activities. There were four climate scenarios: control (CK, 400 µmol·mol-1 CO2 concentration+normal ambient temperature), and CO2 concentration elevation (ECO2, 800 µmol·mol-1 CO2 concentration+normal ambient temperature), elevated temperature (ET, 400 µmol·mol-1 + temperature increased 4 ℃), and elevated CO2 concentration and temperature (ECO2+T, 800 µmol·mol-1 CO2 concentration + temperature increased 4 ℃). We measured the activities of soil ß-glucosidase (ßG), ß-N-acetyl glucosidase (NAG), alkaline phosphate (ALP) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) at four growth stages (JS, jointing stage; AS, anthesis stage; FS, filling stage and MS, maturity stage), with and without winter wheat planting. Without winter wheat planting, there was no significant difference in four kinds of soil enzyme activities between ECO2 and CK, while ET and ECO2+T treatments had significant negative effect on soil enzyme activities. With winter wheat planting, compared with CK, ECO2 and ECO2+T treatments did not affect the activities of those four soil enzyme; but the ET treatment had great impact on soil ALP and PPO activities. The activities of four kinds of soil enzyme were significantly diffe-rent between the ET and ECO2+T treatments. Compared with ET treatment, ECO2+T treatment increased soil ßG activity at the JS, decreased NAG activity at the JS, increased ALP activity at both AS and FS, decreased PPO activity in the JS and increased in the AS. The interaction of elevated CO2 concentration and warming had significant effect on soil NAG and ALP activities with and without winter wheat planting. The interaction of warming and expe-rimental stage had significant effect on four kinds of soil enzyme activities without winter wheat planting, but the interaction of warming and crop growth stage had significant effect on ALP and PPO activities with winter wheat planting. The interaction of elevated CO2 concentration, warming and experimental period had significant effect on soil ßG, ALP and PPO activities without winter wheat growth, while with winter wheat growth, it had significant impact on NAG, ALP and PPO activities. The winter wheat growth had significantly inhibitory effect on ßG, NAG and ALP activities in the two early growth periods (JS+AS), significant promoting effect in the later growth periods (FS+MS), and significantly inhibitory effect on PPO activity during whole growth period. Overall, elevated CO2 concentration did not affect soil enzyme activities, while the elevation of CO2 concentration and temperature on soil enzyme activities differed among the soil enzymes at different growth stages. In addition, the responses of four soil enzyme activities to the interaction of elevated CO2 concentration and warming varied with and without winter wheat planting.

Lipoxin A4 methyl ester protects PC12 cells from ketamine-induced neurotoxicity via the miR-22/BAG5 pathway.

OBJECTIVE: Ketamine is an anesthetic that induces neurotoxicity when administered at high doses. In this work, we explored the protective effects of lipoxin A4 methyl ester (LXA4 ME) against ketamine-induced neurotoxicity and the underlying protective mechanism in pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. METHODS: PC12 cells were treated with 50 µM of ketamine and different LXA4 ME concentrations of LXA4 ME (5-50 nM) for 24 h, and their viability, apoptosis, and oxidative status were assessed. RESULTS: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction experiments showed that ketamine downregulated miR-22 expression and upregulated Bcl-2-associated athanogene 5 (BAG5) in PC12 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. LXA4 ME induced the opposite effects, thus attenuating ketamine-induced neurotoxicity. Further in vitro assays showed that miR-22 directly targeted BAG5, thus promoting cell viability by suppressing cell apoptosis and oxidative stress. Under expression miR-22 or upregulation of BAG5 antagonized the effects of LXA4 ME. CONCLUSION: LXA4 ME can protect PC12 cells from ketamine-induced neurotoxicity by activating the miR-22/BAG5 signaling pathway. Thus, LXA4 ME can be used as a protective drug against ketamine-induced neural damage.

Longitudinal Capsulotomy in Hip Arthroscopy: A Safe and Feasible Procedure for Cam-Type Femoracetabular Impingement.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the surgical security, feasibility, and clinical efficacy of the longitudinal outside-in capsulotomy in hip arthroscopic treatment for cam-type femoracetabular impingement (FAI). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients with cam-type FAI who underwent hip arthroscopy in our institute from January 2018 to June 2019. All hip arthroscopic procedures were performed by one experienced surgeon in the same manner, except the fashions of capsulotomy. Fifty six patients with mean age of 39.1 and mean body mass index (BMI) of 24.5 were categorized into two groups according to the fashions of capsulotomy. Twenty six cases with longitudinal outside-in capsulotomy were categorized into Group L, and 30 cases with transversal interportal capsulotomy were categorized into Group T as the control group. The demographic parameters were retrieved from medical documents and compared between the two groups. Surgical outcome including overall surgical time, traction time, complications, visual analogue score (VAS), and intraoperative radiation exposure were compared to investigate the security and feasibility. Radiographic assessment, and functional outcome were compared between the two groups to determine the clinical efficacy of the longitudinal capsulotomy. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the demography and duration of follow-up between the two groups. The overall surgical time demonstrated no significant difference between Group L and Group T (130.8 ± 16.6 min and 134.0 ± 14.7 min, P = 0.490). Significantly decreased traction time was found in Group L (43.2 ± 8.4 min and 62.2 ± 8.6 min, P < 0.001) compared to Group T. The Median of the fluoroscopic shot was 1 and 3 (P < 0.001). No major complications and reoperation were reported in both groups. The case of intraoperative iatrogenic injure was 0 (0%) and 6 (20%) in Group L and Group T respectively (P = 0.035), and the case of postoperative neurapraxia was 0 (0%) and 8 (26.6%) in Group L and Group T respectively (P = 0.017). The Median of postoperative VAS was 2 and 3 in Group L Group T (P = 0.002). The postoperative α angle was 42.3° ± 3.4° and 44.4° ± 3.5° in group L and group T respectively (P = 0.001). The postoperative iHOT-12 score at final follow-up was 79.3 ± 6.7 and 77.0 ± 7.9 respectively (P = 0.141). CONCLUSION: Longitudinal outside-in capsulotomy with less radiation exposure, reduced traction time, and reduced complications could be a safe and feasible procedure in arthroscopic treatment for cam FAI. Its clinical efficacy was not worse compared with traditional interportal capsulotomy in short-term follow-up.

The enantiomer-selective metabolism of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) by human HepG2 cells.

Although hepatic metabolism of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) played critical roles in the selective bioaccumulation of HBCDs in humans, the hepatic metabolism patterns of its enantiomers remained ambiguous. Aiming to elucidate the mechanism on hepatic metabolism of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) enantiomers, the enantiomers ((+)-α-HBCD, (-)-α-HBCD, (+)-γ-HBCD, and (-)-γ-HBCD), the diastereoisomers (α-, ß-, and γ-HBCDs) and the mixed of α- and γ-HBCDs were incubated with human HepG2 cell under different exposure levels in the present study. The clearance percentages ranked as γ-HBCD enantiomers >ß-HBCD enantiomers >α-HBCD enantiomers at the same exposure levels. The clearance percentages of (+)- and (-)-α-HBCDs increased when cells were exposed to racemic α-HBCD and the mixture of racemic α- and γ-HBCDs (p < 0.05). (-)-γ-HBCD was more resistant to human hepatic metabolism than (+)-γ-HBCD, leading to the enantiomer fractions (EFs) of γ-HBCD lower than 0.50. (-)-α-HBCD was slightly more metabolized when independently exposed to α-HBCD, while (+)-α-HBCD was more preferentially metabolized after exposure to α- and γ-HBCD mixtures. Hydroxylation and debromination HBCD metabolites were identified. In addition, the different EFs of HBCDs in cells and mediums suggested the selective transfer of chiral HBCDs and HBCD metabolites through the cell membrane. This study provided new insight into the enantiomer-selective metabolism of HBCDs.

Screening of the proteins related to the cultivar-dependent cadmium accumulation of Brassica parachinensis L.

Cultivar-dependent cadmium (Cd) accumulation was principal in developing Cd-pollution safe cultivars (PSCs). Proteins related to different Cd accumulations of the low-Cd-accumulating (SJ19) and high-Cd-accumulating (CX4) cultivars were investigated by iTRAQ analysis. Higher Cd bioaccumulation factors and translocation factor in CX4 than in SJ19 were consistent with the cultivar-dependent Cd accumulations. The Cd uptake was promoted in CX4 due to its higher expression of Cd-binding proteins and the lower expression of Cd-efflux proteins in roots. What's more, significantly elevated thiol groups (PC2 and PC3) in CX4 under Cd stress might contribute to the high Cd accumulation in roots and the root-to-shoot translocation of Cd-PC complex. Up-regulated proteins involved in cellulose biosynthesis and pectin de-esterification in SJ19 enhanced the Cd sequestration of root cell walls, which was considered as the predominant strategy for reducing Cd accumulation in shoots. The present study provided novel insights in the cultivar-dependent Cd accumulation in shoots of B. parachinensis.

Selective Photoinactivation of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus by Highly Positively Charged RuII Complexes.

Ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes featuring peripheral quaternary ammonium structures were found to be able to selectively inactivate Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) upon visible light irradiation, but have low phototoxicity toward 293T cells, L02 cells and lack hemolysis toward rabbit red blood cells (RBC), exhibiting promising potential as a novel type of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) agents.

Midterm Clinical Outcome of Combined Posterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction and Posterolateral Corner Surgery Using Second-Look Arthroscopic "Lateral Gutter Drive-Through" Test as an Adjunctive Evaluation.

OBJECTIVES: The arthroscopic "lateral gutter drive-through" (LGDT) sign is reported to diagnose popliteus tendon (PT) injury with high sensitivity and specificity. However, no study has provided a postoperative evaluation of combined posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and posterolateral corner (PLC) injuries using the LGDT test. METHODS: From January 2012 to January 2015, a total of 80 consecutive patients who underwent combined PCL reconstruction and PLC surgeries were identified. Fifty eligible patients were included in this study for evaluation with subjective scoring systems, physical examinations, posterior and varus stress radiographs, and second-look arthroscopic surgeries during hardware removal operation. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients were available for a mean of 31.5 ± 9.3 months follow-up (range, 24.0-81.0 months). In terms of PLC injury pattern, there were 27 type A, 10 type B, and 12 type C patients, with 21 acute cases and 28 chronic cases. At the final follow-up, subjective scores were all significantly improved. The side-to-side difference (SSD) of posterior tibial translation (PTT) improved from 18.4 ± 9.2 mm (range, 12.9-25.6 mm) to 5.2 ± 5.0 mm (range, -5.0-18.5 mm, P < 0.001), and the SSD of tibial external rotation by dial test (ER) decreased from 18.0° ± 14.4° (range, 13.0°-22.0°) to 1.2° ± 7.5° (range, -9.0°-22.0°, P < 0.001). In patients with type C injury, the SSD of the lateral opening decreased from 14.2 ± 6.6 mm (range, 22-10.2 mm) to 0.9 ± 3.1 mm (range, -4.4-6 mm, P < 0.001). In a comparison between patients with positive and negative LGDT signs, the LGDT-negative patients had significant superiority in subjective scores, SSD of PTT, and SSD of ER. The sensitivity and specificity of the LGDT test in detecting postoperative posterolateral rotational instability (PLRI) were calculated as 100% and 88.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In the series of surgically treated patients with PCL and PLC injury: (i) patients had improved subjective and objective clinical outcome after combined PCL reconstruction and PLC surgery at a minimum of 24-months follow-up; and (ii) second arthroscopic LGDT sign testing had high sensitivity and specificity in detecting postoperative PLRI, and a positive LGDT sign was related with inferior subjective and objective results.

Cadmium and lead accumulations and agronomic quality of a newly bred pollution-safe cultivar (PSC) of water spinach.

Breeding for pollution-safe cultivars (PSCs) can reduce pollutant accumulation in crops. However, the PSC breeding would face the risk of nutritional quality reduction, which is usually ignored in conventional breeding programs targeting to increase crop yield or nutritional quality. Thus, the doubt whether the risk would exist has to be clarified for supporting the PSC breeding. In the present study, a newly bred Cd/Pb-PSC of water spinach (Ipomoea aquatic Forsk.) and its parents (QLQ with low-Cd/Pb accumulation ability and T308 with high yield) of water spinach were employed to clarify the above-mentioned issue. Yields, and concentrations of Cd, Pb, nitrite, and organic and inorganic nutrients in shoots of the three experimental lines were determined. There were no significant differences in Cd/Pb concentration between the new PSC and QLQ, in nitrite content between the new PSC and its two parents and in yield between the new PSC and T308. It is decisively significant that shoot concentrations of organic and inorganic nutrients in the Cd/Pb-PSC were as high as those in one of its parents. It is affirmed that the breeding operations (crossing and consequently continuous selfing) for lowering Cd/Pb accumulation capacity of water spinach would not lower the nutritional values of the obtained Cd/Pb-PSCs from the breeding, which should be a pillar that supports the feasibility to minimize Cd/Pb pollution in vegetables using PSC-breeding method.

Theoretical research in structure characteristics of different inhibitors and differences of binding modes with CBP bromodomain.

The CBP (CREB (cAMP responsive element binding protein) binding protein) bromodomain (BRD) could recognize and bind with acetyl K382 of human tumor suppressor protein p53 which the mutation of encoding gene might cause human cancers. CBP-BRD serves as a promising drug target for several disease pathways and a series of effective drug have been discovered. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and molecular mechanics generalized born surface area (MM-GB/SA) approaches were performed to investigate the different binding modes between five inhibitors with CBP-BRD. Based on the energy and conformation analyses, a potent core fragment is chosen to act as the starting point for new inhibitor design by means of LUDI and rational drug design approaches. Then, T.E.S.T and molinspirition were applied to evaluate oral bioavailability and drug promiscuity of the new molecules. These results shed light on the idea for further inhibitor design.

Different Proteomic Processes Related to the Cultivar-Dependent Cadmium Accumulation of Amaranthus gangeticus.

To deal with the Cd contaminant of agricultural soil, pollution-safe cultivar (PSC) is developed to minimize the Cd accumulation risk in crops. The present study aimed to investigate the different proteomic responses related to Cd accumulation in different tissues between two Amaranthus gangeticus cultivars, Pen and Nan. A significantly higher Cd accumulation in Pen than in Nan was unraveled, especially in shoot. The proportions of soluble Cd in root and stem of Nan were significantly lower than those of Pen, implying lower Cd transportation from root to shoot in Nan. Higher contents of NaCl-extracted Cd in Pen than in Nan were probably attributed to the enhancement of GSH related metabolism in Pen, which activated the transportation of Cd from root to shoot. Alteration of other proteins involved in Cd detoxification and energy production also demonstrated that Pen had exhibited a stronger tolerance than Nan in dealing with Cd stress. Thus, differences in the proteomic processes associated with biochemical differences between the two typical cultivars suggested a cultivar-dependent capacity of Cd tolerance and accumulation in amaranth for the first time.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban street dust: sources and health risk assessment.

Urban street dust samples from 49 sampling sites in Xuzhou (China) were collected and analyzed for 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The organic matter and total carbon contents were also determined. The results showed that total PAHs concentrations varied from 2174 to 24,499 ng/g with a mean value of 6616 ng/g, organic matter content varied from 3.1 to 8.7% with a mean value of 5.8%, total carbon content varied from 13.2 to 24.2%, with a mean value of 19.9%. Total carbon content was found to show a significant correlation with total PAHs concentration, but such a relationship with total PAHs concentration was only weakly identified for organic matter content. Source Apportionment Techniques indicated pyrogenic sources were the main source of PAHs in urban street dust. The total incremental lifetime cancer risk, including dermal contact, ingestion and inhalation exposure pathways, was estimated to be 4.12 × 10-6 and 3.98 × 10-6 for children and adults, respectively.

Oct-4 is associated with gastric cancer progression and prognosis.

AIM: To investigate the clinical significance of Oct-4 in the development and progression of gastric cancer. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze Oct-4 expression in 412 gastric cancer cases. Oct-4 protein levels were upregulated in gastric cancer tissues compared with adjacent noncancerous tissues. RESULTS: Positive expression of Oct-4 correlated with age, depth of invasion, Lauren classification, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and TNM stage. In stages I, II, and III, the 5-year survival rate of patients with high expression of Oct-4 was significantly lower than that in patients with low expression of Oct-4. In stage IV, Oct-4 expression did not correlate with the 5-year survival rate. Furthermore, multivariate analysis suggested that the depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, TNM stage, and upregulation of Oct-4 were independent prognostic factors of gastric cancer. CONCLUSION: Oct-4 protein is a useful marker in predicting tumor progression and prognosis.

Substituent effect and wavelength dependence of the photoinduced Ru-O homolysis in the [Ru(bpy)2(py-SO3)](+)-type complexes.

[Ru(bpy)2(py-SO3)](+) (3, bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, py-SO3 = pyridine-2-sulfonate) was recently found to undergo py-SO3 ligand dissociation and py-SO3˙ radical generation under hypoxic conditions upon irradiation (Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 428). To explore the substituent effect on the Ru-O homolysis by which the py-SO3˙ radical may be produced, [Ru(4,4'-(R)2-bpy)(py-SO3)](+), where R = OCH3 (1), CH3 (2), COOCH3 (4), were synthesized and their photochemical properties were investigated. The py-SO3˙ radical generation efficiencies followed the order of 4 > 3 > 2 > 1, and the radical generation efficiencies are wavelength dependent. As a result, 3 and 4 may lead to DNA covalent binding and DNA cleavage upon 355 nm irradiation, but merely DNA covalent binding upon 470 nm irradiation. In contrast, 1 and 2 can serve as DNA photo-binding agents only due to their less efficient Ru-O homolysis. The Ru-O homolysis via the (3)σ(Ru-O)π*(R-bpy) state is proposed to rationalize the substituent effect and the wavelength dependence, which is supported by TD-DFT calculations. This work gave insights into the mechanism of the Ru-O homolysis and provided guidelines for developing new [Ru(bpy)2(py-SO3)](+)-type complexes with higher Ru-O homolysis efficiency. Such complexes have dual activities of photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) under hypoxic conditions and are therefore promising as a new class of antitumor drugs.

A novel azopyridine-based Ru(II) complex with GSH-responsive DNA photobinding ability.

A novel azopyridine-based Ru(II) complex [Ru(bpy)2(L1)2](2+) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, L1 = 4,4'-azopyridine) was designed and synthesized as a potential glutathione (GSH)-responsive photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT) agent, the DNA covalent binding capability of which can only be activated after GSH reduction and visible light irradiation.

A bivalent cationic dye enabling selective photo-inactivation against Gram-negative bacteria.

A piperazine-modified Crystal Violet was found to be able to selectively inactivate Gram-negative bacteria upon visible light irradiation but left Gram-positive bacteria less damaged, which can serve as a blueprint for the development of novel narrow-spectrum agents to replenish the current arsenal of photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT).

A meta-analysis of interlaminar minimally invasive discectomy compared to conventional microdiscectomy for lumbar disk herniation.

A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the evidence that compared the safety and efficacy of interlaminar minimally invasive discectomy (ILMI) and conventional microdiscectomy (MD) for treating lumbar disk herniation (LDH) patients and to develop GRADE based recommendations for using the procedures to treat LDH. Eleven studies, encompassing 1012 patients, met the inclusion criteria. Overall, the results of the meta-analysis indicated that there were significant differences between the two groups in blood loss (SMD=-0.93, 95% CI -1.84, -0.02; p=0.05), and the number of days stays in hospital (SMD=-0.79, 95% CI -1.55, -0.04; p=0.04). However, there were no significant differences in the short-term back visual analog scale (VAS) scores (SMD=-0.34, 95% CI -0.81, 0.14; p=0.16), the long-term back VAS scores (SMD=0.13, 95% CI -0.04, 0.30; p=0.14), the short-term leg VAS scores (SMD=0.14, 95% CI -0.01, 0.29; p=0.07), the long-term leg VAS scores (SMD=0.12, 95% CI -0.05, 0.30; p=0.17), the short-term Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores (SMD=0.01, 95% CI -0.14, 0.15; p=0.92), the long-term ODI scores (SMD=0.11, 95% CI -0.03, 0.25; p=0.14), and the incidence of complications (RR=1.22, 95% CI 0.88, 1.69; p=0.24). The results of this meta-analysis demonstrate that ILMI and MD are both safe and effective surgical procedures for treating LDH. Compared with MD, ILMI can shorten days in hospital, decrease the mounts of blood loss during surgery. However, the overall GRADE evidence quality was very low. Therefore, further validation is required, and medical institutions should conduct high-quality studies.

Application of controlled hypotension combined with autotransfusion in spinal orthomorphia.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic scoliosis is a common spinal deformity in teenagers, which is managed mainly by orthomorphia. However, due to great trauma, long operative duration and large blood loss, a great amount of blood transfusion is needed during the surgery. Allogeneic blood transfusion should be reduced in order to release blood insufficient, decline blood transfusion expense, as well as avoid transfusion diseases. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the following study is to investigate the value of controlled hypotension combined with autotransfusion in idiopathic scoliosis orthomorphia and in order to reduce surgical bleeding and reduction in blood transfusion. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Intra-operative controlled hypotension was performed during posterior orthomorphia surgery on all the 46 cases of idiopathic scoliosis, 17 cases in which were served as the control group, who underwent allogeneic blood transfusion without autotransfusion, whereas the other 29 cases were served as the experimental group, who underwent autotransfusion that including reinfusion of pre-operative deposited autologous blood and intra-operative salvaged autologous blood. The blood loss volume and transfusion status in two groups were observed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Blood loss volume in the control group was 400-1000 (835.3 ± 167.5) mL and that in the experimental group was 350-1400 (812.1 ± 152.7) mL, there was no marked difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). The volume of allogeneic blood transfusion in the control group was 500-1800 (855.9 ± 321.1) mL, which was greater than that in the experimental group ((0-1300 (337.9 ± 258.3) mL) (P < 0.01). The results suggested that controlled hypotension reduces intraoperative bleeding and post-operative autotransfusion minimizes the need of allogeneic blood transfusion.