A spinal cord neuroprosthesis for locomotor deficits due to Parkinson's disease.

People with late-stage Parkinson's disease (PD) often suffer from debilitating locomotor deficits that are resistant to currently available therapies. To alleviate these deficits, we developed a neuroprosthesis operating in closed loop that targets the dorsal root entry zones innervating lumbosacral segments to reproduce the natural spatiotemporal activation of the lumbosacral spinal cord during walking. We first developed this neuroprosthesis in a non-human primate model that replicates locomotor deficits due to PD. This neuroprosthesis not only alleviated locomotor deficits but also restored skilled walking in this model. We then implanted the neuroprosthesis in a 62-year-old male with a 30-year history of PD who presented with severe gait impairments and frequent falls that were medically refractory to currently available therapies. We found that the neuroprosthesis interacted synergistically with deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus and dopaminergic replacement therapies to alleviate asymmetry and promote longer steps, improve balance and reduce freezing of gait. This neuroprosthesis opens new perspectives to reduce the severity of locomotor deficits in people with PD.

Two considerations about the current National Standard of Laboratory Animals / 中国比较医学杂志

According the current National standard for laboratory animal, herpes B virus antibody must be tested and negative for all the breed/tested macaques,howere,in fact the positive rate is around 60-70% in breeding colony. Being the National Standard, if it is too far from the reality of the filed, weighing and changing should be made.Hardness/crispness degree of laboratory animal diet never been considered as a listed value in the National Standard for Laboratory Animal to identify the quality of diet.In fact, this index affects a lot about daily diet intake and physiological status of laboratory animals.Hereby, the authors suggest to take the index into the National Standard, to assess the quality of laboratory animal diet in a more comprehensive way.

Effects of Ehanol Extract of Rhizoma Phragmitis on Liver Glycogen Content and Glycogen Synthetase in Diabetic Mice / 天津医药

Objective To study the effects of ethanol extract of rhizoma phragmitis on liver glycogen content and glycogen synthetase (GS) in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic mice. Methods The diabetic model mice were divided in-to model control group, high-dose group and low-dose group, 10 mice for each group. Another 10 normal mice were used as control group. The liver glycogen content was detected by histochemical staining of glycogen (PAS) method. The expression of GS mRNA was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot assays. Results After PAS staining the hepatic glycogen content decreased significantly in model control group, and which was significantly increased in low-dose group and high-dose group compared with that of model control group (P＜0.01). The hepatic glyco-gen content was the highest in high-dose group compared with that of other three groups. The levels of GS mRNA and GS protein were significantly lower in model control group than those of other three groups, which were significantly lower in low-dose group than those of high-dose group (P＜0.05). Conclusion There is a dose-dependent effect of ethanol extract of rhizoma phragmitis on liver glycogen in STZ induced diabetic mice, which may be related with the increased expression of liver glycogen synthetase.