Krüpple-like factors in cardiomyopathy: emerging player and therapeutic opportunities.

Cardiomyopathy, a heterogeneous pathological condition characterized by changes in cardiac structure or function, represents a significant risk factor for the prevalence and mortality of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Research conducted over the years has led to the modification of definition and classification of cardiomyopathy. Herein, we reviewed seven of the most common types of cardiomyopathies, including Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC), diabetic cardiomyopathy, Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM), desmin-associated cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), Ischemic Cardiomyopathy (ICM), and obesity cardiomyopathy, focusing on their definitions, epidemiology, and influencing factors. Cardiomyopathies manifest in various ways ranging from microscopic alterations in cardiomyocytes, to tissue hypoperfusion, cardiac failure, and arrhythmias caused by electrical conduction abnormalities. As pleiotropic Transcription Factors (TFs), the Krüppel-Like Factors (KLFs), a family of zinc finger proteins, are involved in regulating the setting and development of cardiomyopathies, and play critical roles in associated biological processes, including Oxidative Stress (OS), inflammatory reactions, myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis, and cellular autophagy and apoptosis, particularly in diabetic cardiomyopathy. However, research into KLFs in cardiomyopathy is still in its early stages, and the pathophysiologic mechanisms of some KLF members in various types of cardiomyopathies remain unclear. This article reviews the roles and recent research advances in KLFs, specifically those targeting and regulating several cardiomyopathy-associated processes.

Monotropein Induced Apoptosis and Suppressed Cell Cycle Progression in Colorectal Cancer Cells.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether monotropein has an anticancer effect and explore its potential mechanisms against colorectal cancer (CRC) through network pharmacology and molecular docking combined with experimental verification. METHODS: Network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to predict potential targets of monotropein against CRC. Cell counting kit assay, plate monoclonal assay and microscopic observation were used to investigate the antiproliferative effects of monotropein on CRC cells HCT116, HT29 and LoVo. Flow cytometry and scratch assay were used to analyze apoptosis and cell cycle, as well as cell migration, respectively in HCT116, HT29, and LoVo cells. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of proteins related to apoptosis, cell cycle, and cell migration, and the expression of proteins key to the Akt pathway. RESULTS: The Gene Ontology and Reactome enrichment analyses indicated that the anticancer potential of monotropein against CRC might be involved in multiple cancer-related signaling pathways. Among these pathways, RAC-beta serine/threonine-protein kinase (Akt1, Akt2), cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), cell division control protein 42 homolog (CDC42) were shown as the potential anticancer targets of monotropein against CRC. Molecular docking suggested that monotropein may interact with the 6 targets (Akt1, Akt2, CDK6, MMP9, EGFR, CDC42). Subsequently, cell activity of HCT116, HT29 and LoVo cell lines were significantly suppressed by monotropein (P<0.05). Furthermore, our research revealed that monotropein induced cell apoptosis by inhibiting Bcl-2 and increasing Bax, induced G1-S cycle arrest in colorectal cancer by decreasing the expressions of CyclinD1, CDK4 and CDK6, inhibited cell migration by suppressing the expressions of CDC42 and MMP9 (P<0.05), and might play an anticancer role through Akt signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: Monotropein exerts its antitumor effects primarily by arresting the cell cycle, causing cell apoptosis, and inhibiting cell migration. This indicates a high potential for developing novel medication for treating CRC.

[Modern research on Chinese medicine based on single-cell omics: technologies and strategies].

As one of the most advanced technologies, single-cell omics technology develops rapidly in recent years. Based on different technical strategies, it enables unbiased and high-throughput access to multiple omics information at single-cell resolution. So far, single-cell omics technology, by virtue of its great powder in resolving tissue heterogeneity, has become a revolutionary tool to deeply understand the functional structure of tissues, reveal complex disease processes, and elucidate drug mechanisms of action. In view of the technical challenges in deconstructing the complexity of Chinese medicine and clarifying the modern scientific connotation of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) theory, single-cell omics technology has huge application potential in the discovery of pharmacodynamic substances, construction of action networks, and elucidation of integrated regulatory mechanisms, which brings new opportunities for modern research in TCM. The present study briefly introduced three representative single-cell omics technologies, i.e., single-cell transcriptome sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and single-cell multimodal omics, and their main application patterns. On this basis, an outlook was proposed on the strategies and applications for modern research in TCM using single-cell omics technology.

Exosomal miRNA-205 promotes breast cancer chemoresistance and tumorigenesis through E2F1.

Breast cancer (BC) is a common malignant tumor in females. The challenge in treating BC is overcoming chemoresistance. Exosome-mediated transfer of miRNAs is a molecule-shuttle in intercellular communication. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether exosomal miRNA-205 could affect chemoresistance and tumorigenesis in recipient tumor cells and to elucidate the underlying mechanism in vivo and in vitro. Microarray and qRT-PCR assays demonstrated that miRNA-205 was upregulated in tamoxifen resistance MCF-7/TAMR-1 (M/T) cells and M/T cell-derived exosomes (M/T-Exo). The M/T-Exo was internalized by human BC cells (BCCs), causing increased expression of miRNA-205 in BCCs. Coculturing with M/T-Exo promoted tamoxifen resistance, proliferation, migration, and invasion while suppressed apoptosis in recipient BCCs, which were associated with activating the caspase pathway and phosphorylating Akt. Luciferase reporter assays showed that miRNA-205 directly targeted E2F Transcription Factor 1 (E2F1) in BCCs. Furthermore, knockdown of miRNA-205 or overexpression of E2F1 reversed the roles of M/T-Exo in BCCs. In vivo experiments showed that the intratumoral injection of M/T-Exo caused greater tamoxifen resistance and larger tumor size relative to mice treated with miRNA-205-knockdown or E2F1-overexpressing BCCs. Together, the results suggest that exosomal miRNA-205 may promote tamoxifen resistance and tumorigenesis in BC through targeting E2F1 in vivo and in vitro.

LncRNA-SNHG7 Enhances Chemotherapy Resistance and Cell Viability of Breast Cancer Cells by Regulating miR-186.

BACKGROUND: Clinical tolerance to trastuzumab greatly affects the therapeutic effect in breast cancer (BC). Long-chain non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays an important role in the development of trastuzumab resistance, in which SNHG7 can promote the epithelial mesenchymal transformation (EMT) of breast cancer cells into, while EMT is related to trastuzumab resistance of breast cancer cells. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether lncRNA-SNHG7 can enhance chemotherapy resistance and cell viability of BC cells by regulating miR-186. METHODS: SK-BR-3 and SNHG7 of HER2+BC cells were induced to enhance the resistance of BC cells to trastuzumab by regulating miR-186, and to regulate the expression levels of SNHG7 and miR-186. The sensitivity of drug-resistant cells to trastuzumab and the changes of cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and EMT were measured and verified by tumorigenesis in vivo. The effects of miR-186 on SNHG7 were investigated through rescue experiments; the regulatory relationship between the expression of SNHG7 and miR-186 was verified by the double luciferase reporter (DLR) and the mechanism of SNHG7 was explored. RESULTS: Down-regulation of SNHG7 or up-regulation of miR-186 could increase the sensitivity of BC cells to trastuzumab, inhibit the proliferation, migration and EMT, and promote apoptosis. Compared with the down-regulation of SNHG7 or miR-186 alone, simultaneous down-regulation of SNHG7 and miR-186 on drug-resistant cells brought notably lower sensitivity to trastuzumab and apoptosis rate, and higher proliferation and apoptosis ability. The DLR showed that miR-186 could specifically inhibit the expression of SNHG7. The results of tumorigenesis in vivo revealed that down-regulation of SNHG7 or up-regulation of miR-186 could improve the therapeutic effect of trastuzumab and reduce the tumor volume, and miR-186 could also antagonize the effect of SNHG7. CONCLUSION: Down-regulation of SNHG7-targeted miR-186 can reverse trastuzumab resistance of BC cells, inhibit the proliferation, migration, and EMT levels of BC cells, and promote apoptosis.

HIF-2α regulates CD44 to promote cancer stem cell activation in triple-negative breast cancer via PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a common malignant tumor that seriously threatens women's health. Breast cancer stem cell (CSC)-like cell population may be the main factor for breast cancer metastasis. Therefore, targeted therapy for CSCs has great potential significance. Hypoxia-inducible factor is a transcription factor widely expressed in tumors. Studies have shown that down-regulation of the hypoxia signaling pathway inhibits tumor stem cell self-renewal and increases the sensitivity of stem cells to radiotherapy and chemotherapy mediated by hypoxia-inducible factor-2α (HIF-2α). However, the specific mechanism remains unclear and further research is necessary. AIM: To investigate the effect of HIF-2α down-regulation on stem cell markers, microsphere formation, and apoptosis in breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 under hypoxia and its possible mechanism. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of HIF-2α and CD44 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and non-TNBC tissues. Double-labeling immunofluorescence was applied to detect the co-expression of HIF-2α and CD44 in MDA-MB-231 cells and MCF-7 cells. HIF-2α was silenced by RNA interference, and the expression of CD44 and transfection efficiency were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. Further, flow cytometry, TdT-mediated X-dUTP nick end labeling, and mammosphere formation assays were used to evaluate the effect of HIF-2α on CSCs and apoptosis. The possible mechanisms were analyzed by Western blot. RESULTS: The results of immunohistochemistry showed that HIF-2α was highly expressed in both TNBC and non-TNBC, while the expression of CD44 in different molecular types of breast cancer cells was different. In in vitro experiments, it was found that HIF-2α and CD44 were expressed almost in the same cell. Compared with hypoxia + negative-sequence control, HIF-2α small interfering ribonucleic acid transfection can lower the expression of HIF-2α and CD44 mRNA(P < 0.05), increase the percentage of apoptotic cells (P < 0.05), and resulted in a reduction of CD44+/CD24- population (P < 0.05) and mammosphere formation (P < 0.05) in hypoxic MDA-MB-231 cells. Western blot analysis revealed that phosphorylated protein-serine-threonine kinase (p-AKT) and phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) levels in MDA-MB-231 decreased significantly after HIF-2α silencing (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Down-regulation of HIF-2α expression can inhibit the stemness of human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells and promote apoptosis, and its mechanism may be related to the CD44/phosphoinosmde-3-kinase/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

Analysis of factors potentially predicting prognosis of colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Accurate assessment of the prognosis after colorectal cancer surgery is of great significance in patients with colorectal cancer. However, there is no systematic analysis of factors affecting the prognosis of colorectal cancer currently. AIM: To systematically analyze the influence of clinical data and serological and histological indicators on the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer, and to explore the indicators that can accurately assess the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer. METHODS: A total of 374 patients with colorectal cancer were enrolled. The clinical data, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, and Dukes stage were recorded. All patients received examinations including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 199, C-reactive protein, albumin, D-dimer, and fibrinogen as well as routine blood tests one week before surgery. The tumor location, size, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis were recorded during surgery. The pathological tissue typing and expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and p53 were observed. All patients were followed for 3 years, and patients with endpoint events were defined as a poor prognosis group, and the remaining patients were defined as a good prognosis group. The differences in clinical data, serology, and histology were analyzed between the two groups. Multivariate COX regression was used to analyze the independent influencing factors for the prognosis of colorectal cancer. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of each of the independent influencing factors and their combination for the prognosis of colorectal cancer. RESULTS: The follow-up outcomes showed that 81 patients were in the good prognosis group and 274 patients in the poor prognosis group. The TNM stage, PCNA, Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR), D-dimer, and CEA were independent influencing factors for the prognosis of colorectal cancer (P = 0.000). NLR had the highest predictive power for colorectal cancer prognosis [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) = 0.925], followed by D-dimer (AUC = 0.879) and GPS (AUC = 0.872). The accuracy of the combination of all indicators in predicting the prognosis of colorectal cancer was the highest (AUC = 0.973), which was significantly higher than that of any of the indicators alone (P < 0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of the combination were 92.59% and 90.51%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The independent influence factors for the prognosis of colorectal cancer include TNM stage, PCNA, GPS, NLR, CAR, D-dimer, and CEA. The combined assessment of the independent factors is the most accurate predictor of the prognosis after colorectal cancer surgery.

Evolutionary trajectories of snake genes and genomes revealed by comparative analyses of five-pacer viper.

Snakes have numerous features distinctive from other tetrapods and a rich history of genome evolution that is still obscure. Here, we report the high-quality genome of the five-pacer viper, Deinagkistrodon acutus, and comparative analyses with other representative snake and lizard genomes. We map the evolutionary trajectories of transposable elements (TEs), developmental genes and sex chromosomes onto the snake phylogeny. TEs exhibit dynamic lineage-specific expansion, and many viper TEs show brain-specific gene expression along with their nearby genes. We detect signatures of adaptive evolution in olfactory, venom and thermal-sensing genes and also functional degeneration of genes associated with vision and hearing. Lineage-specific relaxation of functional constraints on respective Hox and Tbx limb-patterning genes supports fossil evidence for a successive loss of forelimbs then hindlimbs during snake evolution. Finally, we infer that the ZW sex chromosome pair had undergone at least three recombination suppression events in the ancestor of advanced snakes. These results altogether forge a framework for our deep understanding into snakes' history of molecular evolution.

Clinical Prediction Score for Successful Retrograde Procedure in Chronic Total Occlusion Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a prediction score for a successful retrograde procedure in chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: A total of 228 CTO lesions in 223 patients who underwent PCI by retrograde approach were analyzed. All subjects were randomly grouped to a derivation set and a validation set at a ratio of 2:1. A successful retrograde procedure was set as the end point. Each of the identified predictors for the end point by logistic regression was assigned 1 point and summed. RESULTS: Independent predictors of a successful retrograde procedure were Werner's score [odds ratio (OR) 4.841, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.952-12.005, p = 0.001], diameter of distal CTO segment (OR 5.263, 95% CI 2.067-13.398, p < 0.001) and tortuous collateral (type b; OR 0.119, 95% CI 0.032-0.444, p = 0.002). The predictive model developed in the derivation set stratified the difficulty of achieving a successful retrograde procedure into 4 grades - very difficult (10.5%), difficult (23.7%), intermediate (50.7%) and easy (15.1%) - and was demonstrated significantly in the validation set: very difficult (15.8%), difficult (18.4%), intermediate (47.4%) and easy (18.4%). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was 0.832 ± 0.042 for the derivation set and 0.912 ± 0.041 for the validation set with an almost equal performance. CONCLUSIONS: According to the experience of our center, this model performed excellently in predicting the difficulty in achieving a successful retrograde procedure.

[Acute coronary syndrome in women below 50 years of age: risk factors and clinical and angiographic features].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk factors and angiographic features of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in women below 50 years of age. METHODS: A total of 131 women with ACS aged 50 years or younger were enrolled in this study as the case group, with another 425 women aged below 50 years with normal coronary angiographic findings as the control group. The risk factors and clinical and coronary angiographic features of ACS were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, significantly higher frequencies of dyslipidemia, hypertension (especially diastolic hypertension), diabetes, or a positive family history for coronary artery disease (CAD) were found in ACS group (P<0.05) . The proportion of post-menopausal women and the menopausal ages were similar between the two groups (P>0.05), but the mean diastolic pressure was significantly higher in ACS group than in the control group (P<0.05). Among the menopausal women, the conventional risk factors for ACS were similar between the two groups with the exception of family history CAD, which was more frequent in ACS group. Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly higher in ACS group than in the control group (P<0.05), but the levels of high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were comparable between them. Positive findings of urine protein were more frequent in ACS group. In ACS group, 54.2% of the patients had a single diseased artery, 29.6% had more than one diseased artery, and 16.0% had slightly diseased or even normal coronary arteries; the lesion was found most commonly in the left anterior descending artery. CONCLUSION: In women with ACS below 50 years of age, the risk factors of ACS included the conventional risk factors of CAD and a positive finding of urine protein. Menopause is not associated with an increased incidence of ACS. A substantial portion of these ACS patients can have slightly diseased and even normal coronary arteries.

Differentially expressed microRNAs and affected signaling pathways in placentae of transgenic cloned cattle.

Placental deficiencies are related to the developmental abnormalities of transgenic cattle produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer, but the concrete molecular mechanism is not very clear. Studies have shown that placental development can be regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs) in normal pregnancy. Thus, this study screened differentially expressed miRNAs by the next-generation sequencing technology to reveal the relationship between miRNAs expression and aberrant development of placentae produced by the transgenic-clone technology. Expressions of miRNAs and mRNAs in different placentae were compared, the placentae derived from one natural pregnancy counterpart (PNC), one natural pregnancy of a cloned offspring as a mother (PCM), and two transgenic (human beta-defensin-3) cloned pregnancy: one offspring was alive after birth (POL) and the other offspring was dead in 2 days after birth (POD). Further, signaling pathway analysis was conducted. The results indicated that 694 miRNAs were differentially expressed in four placental samples, such as miR-210, miR-155, miR-21, miR-128, miR-183, and miR-145. Signaling pathway analysis revealed that compared with PNC, significantly upregulated pathways in POL, POD, and PCM mainly included focal adhesion, extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, pathways in cancer, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, endosytosis, and adherens junction, and significantly downregulated pathways mainly included malaria, nucleotide binding oligomerization domain-like receptor signaling, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, Jak-STAT signaling pathway. In conclusion, this study confirmed alterations of the expression profile of miRNAs and signaling pathways in placentae from transgenic (hBD-3) cloned cattle (PTCC), which could lead to the morphologic and histologic deficiencies of PTCC. This information would be useful for the relative research in future.

Dual effects of molybdenum on mouse oocyte quality and ovarian oxidative stress.

A sub-acute toxicity test was performed to investigate the effects of molybdenum (Mo) on ovarian function. ICR adult female mice were exposed to Mo by free access to distilled water containing the Mo at 5, 10, 20, and 40 mg/L for 14 days. Compared to the control group, M II oocyte morphology, ovary index, and ovulation improved within the 5 mg/L Mo group, but were negatively affected by Mo at 40 mg/L. Morphologically abnormal ovarian mitochondria were observed at ≥ 20 mg/L. These alterations accompanied the changes in superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidise (GPx), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in ovaries. In conclusion, Mo affects oocyte quality possibly through regulating ovarian oxidative stress in a dose-dependent manner. It appears that Mo may improve ovarian function at a suitable concentration, which might be a candidate for the treatment of female infertility.

Effects of molybdenum on sperm quality and testis oxidative stress.

In order to investigate the effects of molybdenum (Mo) on sperm parameters and testicular oxidative stress, the ICR strain of adult mice were exposed to different doses of molybdenum for a sub-acute toxicity test. Compared to the control, our results showed that the sperm parameters, including the epididymis index, sperm motility, sperm count, and morphology, increased by a moderate dose of Mo (25 mg/L), but were negatively affected at high doses (≥ 100 mg/L). In addition, the changes of sperm parameters were accompanied with changes of the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, the glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities, and the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in testes. In conclusion, Mo affects the sperm quality through regulating the testicular oxidative stress in a complex manner.

[A new technique for bilateral angiography in a single radial access].

OBJECTIVE: To develop a new technique of bilateral angiography in a single radial access (BASiRalA) which can reduce a puncture site. METHODS: From March 2011 to February 2012, 13 cases of coronary heart disease patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) were treated (6 CTOs in right coronary artery and 7 in left anterior descending artery). All patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) via the right radial artery access and 6 F guiding catheters were delivered to the diseased artery. Once the wires crossed the CTO lesions and were uncertain if the wires were in true lumen or not, BASiRalA was performed. The Finecross microcatheters were advanced out of the 6 F guiding catheter, then withdraw 6F guiding catheter to the opening of diseased artery, the soft wires were manipulated into the middle portion of opposite coronary artery. After that, the microcatheters were advanced to this segment or the branches relative to the collateral vessels connected with CTOs. After pulling out the wires, microcatheter injections can be performed for contralateral angiography. BASiRalA related complications were observed after the procedure. RESULTS: BASiRalA technique was applied to 13 CTOs and 10 procedures succeeded (76.92%). BASiRalA failed in 3 cases and the wires and microcatheters could not be advanced to the opposite coronary arteries within 20 minutes. Alternatively, contralateral angiography via femoral arteries was performed in these 3 patients. The average time of BASiRalA technique was 7 (5 - 13) minutes and the shortest time of wires crossing to the opposite coronary artery was 5 seconds. There was no procedure induced complication during procedure or post procedure. CONCLUSION: BASiRalA technique is feasible in treating CTO patients by PCI.

The effect of molybdenum on the in vitro development of mouse preimplantation embryos.

The object of this study was to investigate the effect of molybdenum on the development of mouse preimplantation embryos cultured in vitro. Zygotes were flushed from one outbred mouse strain (Kunming), and then were cultured in potassium simplex optimized medium (KSOM) containing 0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 120, and 160 µg/ml of molybdenum for 5 days until the mid-blastocyst stage. The addition of ≤ 20 µg/ml molybdenum did not affect the blastocyst and birth rates. Molybdenum at doses of 40 µg/ml and higher significantly decreased the cleavage, blastocyst and birth rates, the average cell number, and significantly increased the proportion of degenerative blastocysts. At 120 µg/ml molybdenum inhibited the blastocysts development to birth. At 160 µg/ml molybdenum caused overall developmental arrest (up to 16-cells) of embryos and their massive degeneration. In conclusion, molybdenum negatively affected the development of embryos in a dose-dependent manner. With lower doses (≤ 20 µg/ml), mouse embryos were not apparently damaged. With very high doses (≥ 40 µg/ml), embryo quality significantly decreased. This assessment of the effect of molybdenum on the preimplantation embryo is an initial survey of toxicological risk.

[Retrograde percutaneous recanalization of chronic total occlusion of the coronary arteries via epicardial coronary collateral artery in 5 patients].

OBJECTIVE: to explore the feasibility of percutaneous recanalization by retrograde approach via epicardial collaterals. METHODS: retrograde percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) via epicardial collaterals was performed in 5 patients with previously failed antegrade PCI from April 2009 to November 2009. 7 F guiding catheters were engaged in donor artery. Hydrophilic wires and microcatheters were crossed to the distal ends of chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesions via epicardial collaterals. Four retrograde wires were exchanged into stiffer wires and further crossed the CTO, eventually went into the 6 F antegrade guiding catheters and were jailed by a 2.5 mm balloon. After dilatations of retrograde balloons, the lesions were crossed by antegrade wires, and finalized by conventional PCI method. One case was recanalized with retrograde wire trapping technique and another case was recanalized by reverse CART technique. RESULTS: the epicardial collaterals were reached from left anterior descending branch (LAD) to distal right coronary artery (RCA) via apex in 3 patients, from left circumflex branch via left atrium branch to posterior descending artery and RCA in 1 patient and from obtuse marginal artery to diagonal artery and LAD in 1 patient. CTO was successfully recanalized and stents were implanted in 4 patients and failed in 1 patient despite successful wire positioning to the distal end of CTO. There was no procedure-induced cardiovascular event in all cases. CONCLUSIONS: epicardial collaterals may not be used as a routine route in retrograde approach PCI due to the potential risk of myocardial rupture and pericardial tamponade. In some cases with unavailable or unsuitable septal collaterals, epicardial collaterals may be used as an alternative route for CTO recanalization.

[Effect of CS(2) occupational exposure on personality and intelligence].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of CS(2) occupational exposure on thumbprint and intelligence. METHODS: According to the monitoring results of CS(2) concentration, which were got at various workplace in chymic fiber factory, the workers were divided into three groups including the low-concentration group (TWA < 5 mg/m(3)), the high-concentration group (TWA >or= 5 mg/m(3)) and the control group. The method of cluster sampling was used respectively. 139, 129 and 327 people were taken at random from three groups and they were given thumbprint and intelligence examinations through following three methods, including MMPI, SCL-90 and SPM. RESULTS: MMPI test showed that Hy, Pa, Pt, Sc positive rates in the low-concentration group were 7.19%, 2.16%, 26.62% and 10.07%, Hs, D, Hy, Pa, Pt, Sc, Ma, Si positive rates in the high-concentration group were 32.56%, 8.53%, 9.30%, 24.81%, 2.33%, 42.64%, 15.50%, 5.43% and 6.20%. There was a significant difference with the control group (Hs, D, Hy, Pd, Pa, Pt, Sc, Ma, Si was 14.07%, 2.14%, 2.14%, 14.07%, 0.00%, 17.74%, 3.67%, 1.22%, 1.22% respectively). The differences of Hs, Pt positive rates between high-concentration and low-concentration group were significantly. SCL-90 showed that the total positive rate in the low concentration and the high concentration groups was 15.8% and 20.2%. The positive rate of the basic factors were significantly different among the low-concentration group, the high concentration group and the control group while there was no significant difference in the positive rate between the high concentration and low concentration group. SPM test found that the positive rates of the intelligence in the low concentration group and the high concentration group were 35.1% and 35.7% respectively and the control group (15.1%) was significantly different from low-concentration and high concentration group. Moreover, there was no obvious difference between high-concentration and the low-concentration group. The intelligence damage was associated with the length of CS(2) occupational exposure and the correlation coefficient had statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The low-concentration CS(2) occupational exposure could affect personality and intelligence, and the degree of this influence is associated with the length of CS(2) occupational exposure.

[Study of medical instrument sterilization based on plasma].

In this paper, the generation of the plasma, its principle and its application in the sterilization of medical instruments are described. The relation between discharge voltage and air pressure, frequency, electrode distance is analysed and discussed in glow discharge so as to get a new formula of discharge voltage in the whole frequency range and a design has been made to produce a plasma RF power. The result of the study has a great significance to the application of plasma sterilization of medical instruments.

[Mechanism of salvianolate in preventing postoperative intestinal adhesion in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of salvianolate on rats with postoperative intestinal adhesion and to explore the prevention mechanism. METHODS: Forty SD male rats with intestinal adhesion were randomly divided into four groups: untreated group, low-dose salvianolate-treated group (12 mg/kg), medium-dose salvianolate-treated group (24 mg/kg) and high-dose salvianolate-treated group (48 mg/kg), with another ten SD male rats as normal control. Intraperitoneal injection of glucose was administered to the rats in the normal control group and the untreated group, and intraperitoneal injection of salvianolate was administered to the rats in the low-, medium- and high-dose salvianolate-treated groups. They were all treated for 8 days and once a day. On the eighth day after surgery the blood samples of each group were collected. Grades of intestinal adhesion were ranked by macroscopic observation. The adhesive tissues between viscera and belly wall were taken for pathological observation. The levels of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Salvianolate can significantly reduce the extent of postoperative intestinal adhesion, obviously decrease the levels of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and inhibit the hyperplasy of fibrous connective tissue. However, there was no significant impact on the level of IL-4. CONCLUSION: Salvianolate can reduce the extent of postoperative intestinal adhesion, decrease the expression of IL-1beta and TNF-alpha and inhibit the hyperplasy of fibrous connective tissue. This may be the mechanism of salvianolate in preventing intestinal adhesion.

[Electrophysiology of cardiocytes in ligament of Marshall of canine].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate electrophysiology of cardiocytes in ligament of Marshall. METHODS: The single cardiocytes obtained from ligament of Marshall were direct observed under inverted microscope. The cardiocyte action potential and current density of I(Na), I(Ca), L, I(to), I(K) and I(K1) were researched by whole-cell patch-clamp techniques. RESULTS: There were two different cardiomyocytes in ligament of Marshall, one was rod shape, the other was short-rectangle shape. The short-rectangle myocyte was short and thick; the rod myocyte was long and thin. The short-rectangle myocyte was more than rod myocyte. The length/width rate of short-rectangle myocyte was less than that of rod myocyte (2.99 +/- 0.95 vs 12.05 +/- 2.41, P < 0.01). The action potential of ligament myocytes was similar to fast responsive cells. The action potential amplitude (APA) and duration (APD) of short-rectangle cells were less than those in rod cells. APA (mV), APD(50) (ms) and APD(90) (ms) were respectively 80.02 +/- 3.68 vs 91.72 +/- 7.56, 69.62 +/- 6.33 vs 83.14 +/- 3.66 and 107.55 +/- 4.25 vs 144.00 +/- 5.15, P < 0.05. The ion current density of I(Na), I(Ca), L, I(to), I(K1) was different between the two kind cells. CONCLUSIONS: There are two different cardiocytes in ligament of Marshall. The action potential and ion current density of I(Na), I(Ca), L, I(to), I(K1) are different between the two kind cardiocytes.