Sodium tanshinone IIA sulfate protects myocardium against paraquat-induced toxicity through activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway in rats.

OBJECTIVE:: To investigate the therapeutic effect and mechanism of sodium tanshinone IIA sulfate (STS) on paraquat (PQ)-induced myocardial injuries in a rat model. METHODS:: Healthy adult Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal control, PQ, and PQ + STS groups. PQ group was given a single intragastric administration of PQ (80 mg/kg). PQ + STS group was intraperitoneally injected with STS (1 ml/kg) at 30 min following PQ exposure. Rats in control and PQ groups were injected with equal amount of saline. After 12, 24, 48, and 72 h, rats were killed, and the apoptosis of myocardial cells was detected. Myocardial expression of Bax and Bcl-2 was measured. The activity of the nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway was assessed by Western blot. RESULTS:: The apoptotic cells in PQ group were significantly increased in a time-dependent manner compared with the control group ( p < 0.01). The rats in PQ group exhibited significantly lower Bcl-2 expression, but notably higher Bax expression at 12, 24, 48, and 72 h after PQ exposure ( p < 0.05 or 0.01). STS intervention markedly reduced the proportion of apoptotic myocardial cells, increased Bcl-2 expression, and decreased Bax expression at 24, 48, and 72 h after treatment ( p < 0.05 or 0.01). The expression of phosphorylated Nrf2 and heme oxygenase 1 in PQ + STS group was significantly increased compared with PQ and control groups ( p < 0.05 or 0.01). CONCLUSION:: STS effectively inhibits PQ-induced myocardial cell apoptosis in rats via modulating the Nrf2 pathway, suggesting its potential as a promising therapeutic agent for PQ-induced myocardium damage.

Patient-driven loop control for ambulation function restoration in a non-invasive functional electrical stimulation system.

PURPOSE: In this study, a patient-driven loop control in a non-invasive functional electrical stimulation (FES) system was designed to restore ambulation function of patients with stroke with their residual capabilities. METHOD: With this patient-driven loop control, patients use the electromyographic (EMG) signals from their voluntary controlled muscles in affected extremity to adjust stimulus parameters of the system. A special designed FES system generated electrical stimuli to excite the paralysed muscles through surface electrodes on the basis of the control command from the residual myoelectric signals. The EMG signals were also served as the trigger and the adjustment of stimulus parameters and thereby adding versatility of the FES system. One patient with hemiplegia was recruited to conduct clinical evaluation and treated by using the new closed-loop FES system. RESULTS: The experimental results showed that hemiplegic could successfully control the system to restore their lost ambulation functions with the strategy of patient-driven loop control. It is revealed that the mean velocity, cadence, stride length, active ankle motion range and functional ambulation category have improved significantly from 0.22 + or - 0.17 m/s, 37.3 + or - 15.5 steps/min, 0.32 + or - 0.11 m, 10 degrees , level 2 to 0.46 + or - 0.23 m/s, 58.2 + or - 19.1 steps/min, 0.73 + or - 0.22 m, 35 degrees , level 4 respectively for the patient. A paired t-test indicated that differences in the EMG of the tibialis anterior and the gastrocnemius muscles between patient's disabled (affected-side) foot and normal (unaffected-side) foot are not significant (p > 0.05) after 12 weeks of training. CONCLUSIONS: According to the experiment results, this patient-driven loop control can be beneficial for patient with hemiplegia to restore their ambulation functions such as dorsi-flexion and plantar-flexion. The control strategy of this study has the potential to be employed not only in the FES system but also in other assistive devices.

Vertebral artery dissection and cerebellar infarction following chiropractic manipulation.

Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) associated with chiropractic cervical manipulation is a rare but potentially disabling condition. In this report, we present a young patient manifesting with repeated vertigo. Owing to the initial misdiagnosis, the patient later developed cerebellar stroke with inability to stand or walk. Vertigo and disequilibrium are the usual presenting symptoms of this condition, which can result from inner ear or vestibular nerve dysfunction, vertebrobasilar insufficiency, and even lethal cerebellar infarction or haemorrhage; these last two, although rarely seen in young adults, can be caused by traumatic or spontaneous arterial injury, including injury secondary to chiropractic cervical manipulation. A number of cases of VAD associated with chiropractic cervical manipulation have been reported, but rarely in the emergency medicine literature. We present a case of this rare occurrence, and discuss the diagnostic pitfalls.

Effects of surface electrical stimulation on the muscle-tendon junction of spastic gastrocnemius in stroke patients.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of spasticity suppression by surface electrical stimulation (ES) o the muscle-tendon junction of spastic gastrocnemius muscles in stroke. METHODS: Twenty-four neurologically stable stroke patients (aged 41-69 years, 12-35 months post-stroke), with spasticity graded 2 or 3 on the modified Ashworth scale, were recruited and divided into two groups. In the ES group, each patient received 20 min of surface ES once daily, 6 days per week for 1 month. In the control groups, ES was used with stimulation intensity kept at zero. To evaluate the therapeutic effect, the modified Ashworth scale, Fmax/Mmax ratio, H-reflex latency, H-reflex recovery curve, and the 10-m walking time were tested before and after the 1-month of treatment. RESULTS: In the ES group, the modified Ashworth scale showed a trend toward reduced spasticity after 1 month of treatment. The Fmax/Mmax ratio decreased from 8.10% +/- 4.84% to 4.00% +/- 1.36%; the H-reflex latency increased from 28.87 +/- 2.45 ms to 29.40 +/- 2.57 ms; the H-reflex recovery curves indicated a downward shift; and the 10-metre walking time significantly decreased after ES. In the control group, none of the measures showed a statistically significant change. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we demonstrated a way to suppress spasticity at a metameric site and to increase walking speed effectively by applying surface ES on the muscle-tendon junction of spastic gastrocnemius muscles.

[Studies on longevity tea].

This paper reports the preparation, physical and chemical identification and content determination of Longevity Tea. The preparation process is advanced, the content determination is simple and accurate and thus can be taken as standards for the quality control of Longevity Tea.