Effect of cold stimulation on phenotype of alveolar macrophages in mice / 中国生物制品学杂志

@#Objective To investigate the effect of cold stimulation on the phenotype of alveolar macrophages(MH-S cells) in mice. Methods MH-S cells were cultured at 37 ℃ for 24 h,and cold stimulated at 36,34 and 32 ℃ for 0,0. 5,1,3,6,9 and 12 h respectively. The mRNA transcription levels of interleukin-1β(IL-1β) and interleukin-10(IL-10) genes in MH-S cells were detected by qRT-PCR. MH-S cells were cultured at 37 ℃ for 24 h,and cold stimulated at 34 ℃ for 0. 5 h,which were detected for the mRNA transcription levels of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS)and Arginase1(Arg1)genes by qRT-PCR(MH-S cells with 0 h cold stimulation as control),detected for the expression of iNOS and Arg1 by immunofluorescence assay(MH-S cells cultured at 37 ℃ for 0. 5 h as negative control)and detected for the expression levels of iNOS,TNF-α and nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB)by Western blot(MH-S cells cultured at 37 ℃ for 0. 5 h as negative control). Results The mRNA transcription levels of IL-1β and IL-10 genes in MH-S cells were the highest when the cells were cultured at 34 ℃ for 0. 5 h,therefore,the cold stimulation model of MH-S cells was established under this condition. Compared with the cells cultured for 0 h,the mRNA transcription levels of iNOS,TNF-α and Arg1genes in MH-S cells cultured at 34 ℃ for 0. 5 h increased significantly(t = 3. 733,12. 190 and 6. 793,respectively,each P < 0. 05). Compared with the negative control group,the fluorescence expression intensity of iNOS and Arg1 in MH-S cells in the stimulation group increased,especially iNOS,the expression levels of iNOS and TNF-α proteins increased with no significant difference(t = 0. 675 and 1. 514,respectively,each P > 0. 05),and the expression level of NF-κB increased significantly(t = 3. 092,P < 0. 05). Conclusion Cold stimulation at 34 ℃ for 0. 5 h can increase the expression of inflammatory factors such as IL-1β,IL-10,TNF-α,iNOS,Agr1 and NF-κB in MH-S cells,activate NF-κB signaling pathway in MH-S cells,induce the expression of inflammatory proteins and promote cell activation.

Time-sequential expression of lnc AK079912 during adipose tissue development and browning in mice / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the time-sequential expression of a novel long non-coding RNA, lnc AK079912, in metabolically related tissues and during adipose tissue development and browning in mice.@*METHODS@#The interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT), subcutaneous white adipose tissue (sWAT), epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT), liver tissues and muscular tissues were collected from 8-week-old C57BL/6J mice. The iBAT, sWAT and eWAT were also collected from the mice during development (0 day, 21 days, 8 weeks and 6 months after birth) and from 8- to 10-week- mice with cold exposure (4 ℃) and intraperitoneal injections of CL316, 243 (1 μg/g body weight) for 1 to 5 days. Trizol was used to extract the total RNA from the tissues, and RT-qPCR was performed to detect the expressions of lnc AK079912. Isolated mouse preadipocytes in primary culture were induced for adipogenic differentiation for 9 days and then treated with CL316, 243 (2 μmol/L) for different durations (no longer than 24 h); the expression of lnc AK079912 in the cells was detected using RT-qPCR at different time points of the treatment.@*RESULTS@#Lnc AK079912 was highly expressed in mouse adipose tissues, the highest in iBAT, followed by the muscular tissue, but was hardly detected in the liver tissue. The expression level of lnc AK079912 increased progressively in iBAT and sWAT during development of the mice, while its expression in eWAT showed an initial increase followed by a reduction at 8 weeks ( 0.05). The expression of lnc AK079912 was significantly decreased in iBAT and eWAT ( < 0.05) but increased in eWAT from mice with intraperitoneal injection of CL316, 243 for 1 to 5 days ( < 0.05). The expression level in the adipocytes in primary culture was significantly increased in response to treatment with CL316, 243 ( < 0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Lnc AK079912 is highly expressed in mouse adipose tissue, and its expression gradually increases with the development of adipose tissue but with a depot-specific difference. Lnc AK079912 is significantly elevated in the early stage of adipose tissue browning, indicating its important role in the development and browning of adipose tissue.

Clinical and inflammatory phenotypic features of asthmatic patients sensitive to cold stimulation / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the clinical symptoms, lung function and airway inflammation phenotype characteristics of asthmatic patients who are sensitive to cold stimulation.@*METHODS@#Eighty patients with newly diagnosed bronchial asthma or with mild to moderate acute exacerbation of previously diagnosed bronchial asthma but without regular treatment were selected. According to whether cold air stimulation could induce respiratory symptoms such as cough and wheeze, the patients were divided into cold-insensitive group (45 cases) and cold-sensitive group (35 cases). All the patients were treated with inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), long-acting β2 receptor agonist (LABA; salmeterol xinafoate and fluticasone propionate powder for inhalation, 50 μg/250 μg, twice daily) and montelukast sodium tablets (10 mg, once daily); short-acting β2 receptor agonist (SABA) and/or systemic glucocorticoid (prednisone acetate tablets, 10 mg, once daily; or injection of methylprednisolone sodium succinate, 40 mg) were given if necessary. Asthma Control Test (ACT) score before treatment and at 3 months of treatment was used to assess the clinical symptoms such as cough and wheeze; spirometry was performed to determine lung function impairment and recovery. Blood and induced sputum cell counts were examined to determine the characteristics of airway inflammation.@*RESULTS@#The two groups were comparable for age, gender, BMI, proportion of smokers and allergic rhinitis before treatment. The cold-sensitive patients experienced significantly more frequent acute exacerbations than the cold-insensitive patient within 1 year before the visit ( < 0.05), but the use of SABA and glucocorticoid for symptom control during the treatment did not differ significantly between the two groups ( > 0.05). The ACT scores of the cold-sensitive group were significantly lower than those of the cold-insensitive group both before and after the treatment ( < 0.01). Compared with the cold-insensitive patients, the cold-sensitive patients had more obvious impairment of FEV1/FVC% and FEV1%pred before treatment ( < 0.01), and also showed poorer recovery after treatment ( < 0.05). The percentages of eosinophils in blood and induced sputum samples did not differ significantly between the two groups either before and after the treatment, but the percentage of neutrophils was significantly higher in the cold-sensitive group ( < 0.01). In the induced sputum samples collected before treatment, the cell populations consisted mainly of eosinophilic subtype (60%) and neutrophilic subtype (20%) in the cold-insensitive group; in the cold-sensitive patients, the sputum neutrophilic subtype cells increased significantly to 42.86% (=0.03) and the eosinophilic subtype cells were lowered to 31.43% (=0.01).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The cold-sensitive asthmatic patients experience frequent recurrent and/or aggravated symptoms and have obvious lung function impairment. Different from that in patients with classic asthma, the airway inflammatory phenotype in these patients is characterized by the domination by neutrophilic subtype.

Acupuncture plus cold stimulation and neuromuscular electrical stimulation for the treatment of swallowing disorders after infantile viral encephalitis / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

Objective To explore the effect of acupuncture plus neuromuscular electrical stimulation and cold stimulation on children with swallowing disorders caused by viral encephalitis.Methods A total of 322 chil dren with dysphagia subsequent to viral encephalitis were randomly divided into an acupuncture + cold stimulation group (group A,n=107),an electrical stimulation + cold stimulation group (group E,n=107) and an acupuncture + electric stimulation + cold stimulation group (group C,n=108) using a random number table.The treatments were applied in two courses each of 14 days with an interval of two days between the courses.Before and after the treatment,the total effectiveness rates and the incidence of aspiration pneumonia and malnutrition were ana lyzed.The children's swallowing function was evaluated using a standardized swallowing assessment (SSA),while the severity of dysphagia was assessed using dysphagia outcome and severity scale (DOSS) based on videofluorescopic imaging.Results There were no significant differences in any of the outcome measures before the treatment.Afterward the total effectiveness rate in group A was 76％,significantly higher than in group E (62％) but significantly lower than in group C (91％).There was significant improvement in the average SSA and DOSS scores of all 3 groups.Compared with group A,the average SSA score of group E was higher while the average DOSS score was lower.For group C the relationship was the opposite,with the average SSA score significantly higher and the average DOSS score significantly lower.After the treatment there were no significant differences between groups A and E in the incidence of aspiration pneumonia or malnutrition,but the incidence of both in group C was significantly lower than in groups A and E.Conclusion Acupuncture administered together with electrical and cold stimulation can significantly improve dysphagia and lower the incidence of aspiration pneumonia and malnutrition for children with viral encephalitis.

Acquired Cold Urticaria: An Under-reported Entity.

Acquired cold urticaria (ACU) is a subtype of physical urticaria which may be primary (idiopathic) or secondary to underlying infections or cryoproteins. In addition to complete history and thorough physical examination, the diagnosis is dependent on a positive cold stimulation time test (CSTT) which is the minimum time of cold contact stimulation required to induce an immediate coalescent wheal. Although idiopathic type is seen in 96% of the cases, it is important to rule out cryoprotein by an intricate yet simple test for cryoprecipitate. The identification of cold exposure as the likely trigger for urticaria is vital because systemic anaphylactic reactions are common in patients with cold urticaria, occurring in roughly 1 in 3 patients. In addition to preventive counseling and avoidance of critical cold exposure, H1-receptor antagonists form the first line of treatment. However resistant cases may require cyclosporine, danazol or omalizumab. No individual case reports of ACU appear in Indian literature. Therefore, the authors attempt to highlight the diagnostic work-up and therapeutic options for this not so uncommon cause of chronic urticaria.

Kinematics and dynamics characteristics of index finger after cold stimulation / 医用生物力学

Objective To investigate effects of cold water stimulation on kinematic and dynamic characteristics of index finger. Method In order to reduce the influence on its flexion and extension, the index finger movement was recorded by a high speed camera. Then a self developed MATLAB program was developed to obtain the trajectory with the help of the black speckles on index finger joints. Finally, a dynamic calculating model with FDS and FDP was set up to describe the relationship between the trajectory and muscle forces changed along with the time. Results After the cold water stimulation, the average angular velocity of the second joint in the index finger decreased in the process of fisting and stretching. Before and after the cold water stimulation, the force of FDP muscle changed little while the force of FDS muscle approximately doubled at the end of the fisting. Conclusions An optical method for obtaining the trajectory of index finger was applied, and a dynamic calculating model was developed to calculate the muscle forces during the finger movement. Therefore, the characteristics of the index finger before and after the cold stimulation could be further discussed.

Observation about using cold stimulation in the rehabilitative training for elder patients with swallowing obstacle / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective To study the effects of cold stimulation on the swallowing obstacle among elder patients. Methods Divided 55 elder patients with swallowing obstacle into the A (31 cases) and B (24 cases) group. The traditional nursing cares were used in the B group, while the cold stimulation was used in the A group additionally. Results The effective radio in the A and B group was 83.87% and 58.33% respectively, there was significant difference between them,P

Changes of Coronary Blood Flow in Vasospastic Angina under Cold Stimulation by Transthoracic Doppler Echocardiography

This study was done to evaluate changes of microvascular function under cold stimulation by measuring coronary flow velocities (CFVs) in vasospastic angina (VA) patients using transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTDE). 14 patients with VA and 15 healthy controls were included. CFVs were measured at the distal left anterior descending coronary artery by TTDE at baseline and under cold stimulation. Hyperemia was induced by intravenous adenosine infusion (140 microgram/kg/min). At baseline, CFVs and coronary flow reserve (CFR) were not different between controls and VA patients. Under cold stimulation, the degree of increment of CFV with adenosine was lower in VA patients than in controls. Comparing baseline with cold stimulation, coronary flow reserve (CFR) increased (3.1 +/-0.7 to 3.8 +/-1.0, p=0.06) in controls. In contrast, in VA patients, CFR was decreased (2.8 +/-0.9 to 2.6 +/-0.7, p=0.05) and coronary vascular resistance index markedly increased (0.35 to 0.43, p=0.01). Throughout the study, no patient experienced chest pain or ECG changes. In VA patients, CFR was preserved at baseline, but coronary blood flow increase in response to cold stimulation was blunted and CFR was decreased. These findings suggest that endothelial dependent vasodilation is impaired at the coronary microvascular and the epicardial artery level in VA under cold stimulation.

EFFECTS OF THE TURNING POINTS OF DECREASING SKIN TEMPERATURE ON THE THRESHOLD FORCE OF MOTOR UNITS DURING SLOW RAMP CONTRACTION / 体力科学

The present study examined the recruitment threshold of motor units (MUs) and the cold reflex activation of the cutaneous receptors at the first turning point (TP1) and the second turning point (TP2) of decreasing skin temperature. The skin temperatures of the biceps brachii were continuously reduced using a cooling chamber fixed at -10°C. TP1 and TP2 appeared at 25.5±0.5°C and 18.5±2.21°C, respectively. The data were collected at±1°C of TP1 and TP2 (TP1-B, TP1-A, TP2-B and TP2-A) . The MUs was collected during a slow ramp contraction for 3 sec to 20% maximal voluntary contraction (20%MVC) at the each measure points (TE) . The rates of decrease in skin temperature were 1.242±0.349°C min at slope-1 (TP1-B), 0.627±0.284°C rain at slope-2 (TP1-A and TP2-B), and 0.201±0.045°C/min at slope-3 (TP2-A) . The difference of the threshold force value (ΔTF= TE-control value) of LT-MUs were positive value, on the other hand, ΔF of HT-MUs were negative value at TP1-B, TP1-A, TP2-B and TP2-A. The changes of ΔTF of LT-MUs were a little at TP1-B, TP1-A, TP2-B, and increased markedly more at TP2-A than at TP1-B (p<0.05) . On the other hand, the ΔTF of HT-MUs decreased significantly more at TP1-B than at TP1-A and TP2-B (p<0.05), however, it did not significantly differ at TP2-A. These results suggested that the threshold force of HT-MUs depend on skin temperature and LT-MUs depend on decrease speed of skin temperature.

Brain activation in cold induced toothache:Evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) / 实用口腔医学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility of fMRI on the location of brain regions related to cold stimulated toothache. Methods: 8 patients with cold induced dentinalgia of the right maxillary bicuspid and 8 healthy volunteers with full and healthy dentition were selected to perform the fMRI study, all of which are right handed. Block designed blood oxygen level dependent(BOLD) functional MRI scan covering the whole brain was carried out. SPM2 software was adopted to generate the activation map. Results: The patient group showed significant bilateral activations in insula/SII, basal ganglion, cingulate gyrus, midbrain red nucleus. BOLD signals were also found unilaterally in right thalamus, inferior parietal lobule(BA7) and left inferior frontal gyrus(BA44), MII/PMC. In contrast, the normal group showed increased signals in bilateral PMC and inferior parietal lobule BA40. Left lentiform nucleus, SI/MI and right inferior parietal lobule(BA7) were also excited in none painful cold sensation. Conclusions: Motor related cortex including PMC, SMA and BA44 have strong signals during dental pain. Compared with limb pain, tooth pulp stimulation evoked a more pronounced activation in the ipsilateral hemisphere in some brain regions.