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Objective To evaluate the effects of gestational exposure to mobile phone radiation on astrocytes in parietal cortex of rat offspring.Methods Nine male Sprague Dawley rats were mated with nine female rats at the age of 12 weeks.Pregnant rats were randomly divided into three groups including control group,short-term gestational exposure group (STE group) and long-term gestational exposure group (LTE group) with three in each group.From day 2 to day 18 of pregnancy,rats in STE and LTE groups were exposed to a mobile phone in talking mode for 6 h and 24 h per day,respectively.Meanwhile,the mobile phone used in control group was kept in standby mode.Morphology and ultrastructure of cells in parietal cortex of 1 month-old offspring rat were studied by Nissle staining and electron microscope,respectively.Cells positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and expression of GFAP in parietal cortex were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western bloting.One-way ANOVA,followed by SNK post hoc tests,were used for statistical analysis.Results (1) No significant difference in the morphology of cells in parietal cortex of rat offspring was observed among the three groups by Nissle staining.These cells were regularly arranged with intact cell membrane,clear nuclear membrane,evenly distributed chromatin and distinct nucleoli.(2) Neurons with normal morphology and intact synapse were observed in rat offspring in both control and STE groups.But condensation and migration of nuclear chromatin in neurons and blurred and widened synaptic clefts were observed in LTE group.(3) In offspring of control and STE groups,there were few GFAP-positive cells with small cell body and short processes in parietal cortex.But in LTE group,more GFAP-positive cells with large body and long processes were found.Moreover,long-term exposure to mobile phone during pregnancy resulted in enhanced GFAP expression in parietal cortex (0.79±0.04) as compared with control group (0.37±0.03) and STE group (0.41 ±0.04) (F=147.059,P<0.001).Conclusions Long-term gestational exposure to mobile phone radiation might lead to activation of astrocytes,increased expression of GFAP and changes in the ultrastructure of neurons in parietal cortex of rat offspring.
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Objective To evaluate whether the timing of maternal hypoxia during pregnancy could myocardial remodeling in adult offspring.Methods Twenty-four pregnant rats were assigned to the maternal hypoxia group starting from the early period of pregnancy (G1,day 3 to 21 of pregnancy),the group starting from the middle period of pregnancy (G2,day 9 to 21 of pregnancy),the group starting from the late period of pregnancy (G3,day 15 to 21 of pregnancy),or the control group (G0).Six rats were included in each group.Rats in the maternal hypoxia groups (G1,G2 and G3) were subjected to hypoxia for 3 hours in a low pressure cabin with an oxygen concentration of (10± 1) %.Systolic blood pressure,wet weight of the left ventricle normalized for body weight (left ventricular weight/body weight,LVW/BW),diameter of cardiomyocytes,and the expression levels of collagen Ⅰ and collagen Ⅲ were measured in adult male offspring at the age of 3 and 5 months.One-way ANOVA and SNK test were used for statistical analysis.Results Maternal hypoxia from day 3 to 21 of pregnancy induced higher systolic blood pressure in male offspring at the age of 3 months and 5 months [3 months:G1 (122.0± 11.7) mmHg,G0 (108.3±9.5) mmHg,F=2.97; 5 months:G1 (128.5±7.9) mmHg,G0 (114.6±-10.0) mmHg,F=3.17,both P<0.05].Maternal hypoxia also led to a higher LVW/BW ratio (G1 1.99±0.03,G0 1.80±0.02,P<0.05),and increased collagen Ⅰ and collagen Ⅲ expression (collagen Ⅰ /β-actin:G1 1.76±0.07,G0 0.48±0.04,P<0.01; collagen Ⅲ /β-actin:G1 0.68±0.05,G0 0.34±0.03,P<0.01) in adult male offspring at the age of 5 months.Maternal hypoxia from day 9 to 21 of pregnancy induced a higher LVW/BW ratio (3 months:G2 2.15 ± 0.05,G0 1.98 ± 0.02,P<0.05; 5 months:G2 1.96±±0.05,G0 1.80±0.02,P<0.05),and increased collagen Ⅰ and collagen Ⅲ expression (3 months:collagen Ⅰ /β-actin G2 0.98±±0.02,G0 0.87±0.02,P<0.05; collagen Ⅲ /β-actin:G2 0.87±±0.01,G0 0.82±0.01,P<0.05; 5 months; collagen Ⅰ /β-actin G2 1.61±0.05,G0 0.48±0.04,P<0.01; collagen Ⅲ / β-actin:G2 0.61 ±0.04,G0 0.34±0.03,P<0.01) in male offspring at the age of 3 months and 5 months,but did not affect systolic blood pressure.Maternal hypoxia from day 15 to 2l did not have any effect.The diameter of cardiomyocytes in male offspring was not significantly different between the groups.Conclusions Maternal hypoxia during different periods of pregnancy has different effects on cardiac structure in adult rat offspring.Maternal hypoxia started in early or mid-pregnancy leads to cardiac collagen deposition without an increase in myocyte size in adult offspring,which may be independent of the change in blood pressure.
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Objective To investigate the effects of constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) on the function of hemiplegic upper extremity in the early subacute stroke patients.Methods A prospective,single-blinded,randomized controlled study was conducted.Forty-seven stroke patients with hemiplegic upper limb dysfunction were randomly divided into 2 groups:a CIMT group and a control group.The CIMT group received constraintinduced movement therapy and the control group was treated with conventional rehabilitation therapy.Both groups were treated 3 h daily,5 d a week for 2 weeks.The Wolf motor function test (WMFT) and Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) were used to evaluate upper extremity motor function,and motor activity log (MAL) was used to assess upper extremity ability in activities.WMFT,FMA and MAL were measured before and after 1 day and 6 months of treatment.Results After 1 day of treatment,FMA,WMFT,MAL-AU and MAL-HW were 53.81 ± 2.59,66.68 ± 3.54,1.89 ± 0.88 and 3.26 ± 0.65,respectively,in the CIMT group,and 48.61 ± 4.48,62.10 ± 7.97,1.25 ± 0.64 and 2.65 ± 0.93,respectively,in the control group.After 6 months of treatment,FMA,WMFT,MAL-AU and MAL-HW were 57.53 ±2.01,69.57 ± 3.00,3.00 ±0.82 and 3.84 ±0.69,respectively,in the CIMT group,and 53.30 ± 2.88,66.20 ±3.59,2.20 ± 1.06 and 3.25 ±0.64,respectively,in the control group.The scores of FMA,WMFT,MAL in the CIMT group were all higher than those in the control group at 1 day and 6 months post-treatment,and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusion Constraint-induced movement therapy can significantly improve the patients' hand function in the early stage of subacute stroke,which maintain up to 6 months of follow-up.