A case of Kounis syndrome characterized by cardiac arrest / 中国综合临床

Kounis syndrome is an acute coronary syndrome associated with mast cell and platelet activation in the case of allergy or allergic injury. This case of Kounis syndrome type Ⅱ patients with myocardial infarction and cardiac arrest is rare. The patient came to the clinic because of wasp sting. During the treatment, he had cardiac arrest. After cardiopulmonary resuscitation, anti allergy, antithrombotic and coronary revascularization, his condition improved. After discharge, he was followed up regularly. After 1 month and 1 year follow-up, the patient had no chest pain, chest tightness, discomfort and allergic reaction.

Construction of a competing risk model for disease-free survival of patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer / 现代泌尿外科杂志

【Objective】 To construct an easy-to-use individual survival prognostic tool based on competing risk analyses to predict the risk of 1-, 2- and 3- year recurrence for patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). 【Methods】 The follow-up data of 419 NMIBC patients were obtained. The patients were randomly divided into training cohort (n=293) and validation cohort (n=126). The variables included age at diagnosis, sex, history of smoking, tumor number, tumor size, histolo-gic grade, pathological stage, and bladder perfusion drug. The cumulative incidence function (CIF) of recurrence was estimated using all variables in the training cohort and potential prognostic variables were determined with Gray’s test. The Fine-Gray subdistribution proportional hazard approach was used as a multivariate competitive risk analysis to identify independent pro-gnostic variables. A competing risk nomogram was developed to predict the recurrence. The performance of the competing risk model was evaluated with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), calibration curve, and Brier score. 【Results】 Five independent prognostic factors including age, number of tumors, tumor size, histologic grade and pathological stage were used to construct the competing risk model. In the validation cohort, the AUC of 1-, 2- and 3- year recurrence were 0.895 (95%CI: 0.831-0.959), 0.861(95%CI: 0.774-0.948) and 0.827(95%CI: 0.721-0.934), respectively, indicating that the model had a high predictive performance. 【Conclusion】 We successfully constructed a competing risk model to predict the risk of 1-, 2- and 3-year recurrence for NMIBC patients. It may help clinicians to improve the postoperative management of patients.

Effects of combined acupuncture and medication on hyperarousal state and serum copeptin in patients with chronic insomnia / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Objective:To observe the effect of combined acupuncture and medication on hyperarousal state and serum copeptin(CPT)in patients with chronic insomnia(CI),and to explore its possible mechanism of action.Methods:A total of 70 CI patients meeting the inclusion criteria were divided into an observation group and a control group by the random number table method,with 35 cases in each group.The control group was given estazolam tablets before bedtime,1 mg/time,once a day.The observation group was treated with additional Yi Nao An Shen acupuncture therapy(acupuncture for benefiting the brain and tranquillization)on the basis of the medication treatment,4 times a week.After 4 weeks of treatment,the Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI)score,insomnia severity index(ISI)score,pre-sleep arousal scale(PSAS)score,hyperarousal scale(HAS)score,and the change in serum CPT level were compared between the two groups.Results:During the study,there were 2 dropout cases in the observation group and 1 dropout case in the control group.After treatment,the PSQI,ISI,PSAS,and HAS scores and the serum CPT level in both groups decreased compared with the same group before treatment,and the intra-group differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).After treatment,changes in each above scale score and the serum CPT level in the observation group were much more significant and were statistically different from those in the control group(P<0.05).Conclusion:Acupuncture plus medication can improve sleep quality,reduce the degree of insomnia,and regulate hyperarousal state in patients with CI,and its mechanism of action may be related to the down-regulation of serum CPT level.

Influence of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion on lumbar functions and inflammatory factors in patients with lumbar disc herniation due to kidney deficiency and blood stasis / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Objective: To observe the efficacy of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion for lumbar disc herniation (LDH) due to kidney deficiency and blood stasis and observe the influence of this method on lumbar functions and inflammatory factors in patients with this condition. Methods: A total of 120 LDH patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into three groups, including a herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group, a flour cake-partitioned moxibustion group, and a Western medication group, with 40 patients in each group. The patients in the Western medication group were treated with diflunisal tablets, 0.5 g per dose, 2 doses a day. Those in the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group were treated with additional herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group at Back-Shu Points and Jiaji (EX-B2) Points once a day. Those in the flour cake-partitioned moxibustion group were treated with the same methods as in the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group, except that the herbal cake was replaced by a flour cake. All the patients were treated for 10 d. After treatment, the scores of the visual analog scale (VAS) and Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) and the changes of the interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and substance P (SP) levels were observed, and the efficacy was evaluated. Results: After treatment, the VAS score and the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and SP were lower than those before treatment, and the JOA score was higher than that before treatment in the three groups, indicating intra-group statistical significance (P<0.05). The VAS score and the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and SP of the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group were lower than those of the flour cake-partitioned moxibustion group and the Western medication group, while the JOA score of the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group was higher than that of the other two groups, indicating inter-group statistical significance (P<0.05). The total effective rate of the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group was 92.5％, higher than that of the flour cake-partitioned moxibustion group (80.0％) and the Western medication group (72.5％), indicating inter-group statistical significance (P<0.05). Conclusion: On the basis of Western oral medication, additional herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion can alleviate the pain and improve the lumbar functions in patients with LDH due to kidney deficiency and blood stasis. The efficacy of the integrated method is better than that of either flour cake-partitioned moxibustion or Western medication alone, which may be related to the reduction of serum inflammatory factors.

A physical restraint device to facilitate rehabilitation in critically ill patients / 中华危重病急救医学

Physical restraints are widely used in hospitalized and critically ill patients, especially in intensive care unit (ICU), to prevent adverse events such as the accidental removal of various monitoring leads, therapeutic tubes, and self-injury or injury to others due to delirium and irritation. The existing restraint measures directly bind the upper limbs of the patients to the hospital bed, which often brings psychological harm to the patients and leads to disuse muscular atrophy. Early rehabilitation therapy can help improve the prognosis of patients, but it is difficult to be widely used in ICU due to being heavily dependent on nursing and rehabilitation physicians. A novel restraint device to facilitate rehabilitation training for critically ill patients was designed by the medical staff from the department of critical care medicine of Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University and obtained the National Utility Model Patent of China (ZL 2020 2 2492749.6). The device is mainly composed of a cross beam and a locking device whose two ends are connected by a rocker arm, an upper limb stopper and an upper body stopper. The upper limb and body restraint provide restrictions on the movement of the head, the upper limb, and the upper body. The angle limiter prevents the patient from pulling out the treatment tube by himself, and at the same time retains the ability to grasp the crossbar and rotate it, and the sliding block further increases the activity space, to meet the exercise of the patient's upper limb muscle strength. Carrying out physical rehabilitation training as early as possible during ICU treatment can relieve the patient's resistance to passive restraint, reduce the incidence of disuse muscle atrophy, eliminate the potential hidden dangers of medical disputes, and ultimately improve the prognosis of patients.

Gait characteristics and effects of the cerebrospinal fluid tap test in probable idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate gait characteristics and investigate changes pre- and post- cerebrospinal fluid tap test (CSF TT) in gait parameters in patients with probable idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). METHODS: Sixty patients were sequential circuited and diagnosed with possible iNPH according to Japanese second iNPH guidelines at our hospital from December 2016 to March 2021. All patients underwent the CSF TT. Gait parameters, cognitive and urinary function were assessed pre- and post-CSF TT. Patients who were unable to ambulate to take the tests or could not walk independently or walked normally were excluded. RESULTS: Twenty-six patients were diagnosed with probable iNPH using the CSF TT. After CSF TT, the Boon sum score improved from 20.0 ± 7.7-16.6 ± 8.0 (p < 0.001), the Boon walking score improved from 8.9 ± 3.5-7.8 ± 4.4 (p = 0.008), the Boon step score improved from 6.3 ± 2.3-5.2 ± 2.1 (p < 0.001), the Boon time score improved from 4.9 ± 2.4-3.7 ± 2.3 (p < 0.001), tandem walking disturbance improved from 1.7 ± 0.7-1.4 ± 0.9 (p = 0.043), tendency toward falling improved from 1.7 ± 0.7-1.3 ± 1(p = 0.022), 3-meter timed up and go test (3-mTUG) improved from 21.9 ± 7.1-17.6 ± 5.1( p < 0.001), 10-meter walking (10-MWT) step improved from 31.1 ± 13.1-24.6 ± 7.5 (p < 0.001), velocity improved from 0.7 ± 0.2-0.8 ± 0.3 (p < 0.001) and stride length improved from 0.4 ± 0.1-0.46 ± 0.1(p < 0.001), compared with before the CSF TT. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that many parameters in the Boon gait test were responsive to the CSF TT, and the Boon gait test may help objectify response to the CSF TT by combining the 10-MWT and 3-mTUG gait assessments.

Design and application of a push-pull adjustable artificial dead space / 中华危重病急救医学

Using artificial dead space to correct hypocapnia or induce hypercapnia is of particular significance for diagnosing and treating specific neurocritical diseases. At present, the above purpose is mainly achieved by adding an extension tube between the Y-type connector of the ventilator and the artificial airway in clinical practice. However, its volume is often fixed and cannot adapt to the individualized diagnosis and treatment in different clinical scenarios. The research group led by Professor Zhou Jianxin from the department of critical care medicine of Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, has designed an artificial dead cavity with adjustable volume based on years of research in the respiratory field and has been granted a national utility model patent (patent number: ZL 2020 2 0496413.4). The artificial dead chamber is simple in structure, composed of a barrel body, a piston head, and a push-pull rod. By freely adjusting the size of the artificial dead chamber volume, it can accurately regulate the target carbon dioxide, correct the spontaneous hyperventilation, terminate intractable hiccup, and shorten the operation time of asphyxia test in clinical diagnosis of brain death while correcting hypocapnia or inducing hypercapnia. It has the advantages of solid reliability, convenient operation, and low production cost, which significantly facilitates scientific research and clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Research advance of Nrf2 on atherosclerosis by regulating vascular smooth muscle cell / 浙江大学学报·医学版

Atherosclerosis is a common pathological change in cardiovascular disease. Vascular smooth muscle cell is the main source of plaque cell and extracellular matrix, and nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a key transcription factor regulating the function of vascular smooth muscle cell. In the process of atherosclerosis, Nrf2 signaling pathway has the following regulatory effects on vascular smooth muscle cell: regulating the phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cell to change to the direction conducive to the alleviation of disease progression; inhibiting the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cell; mitigating the level of blood lipid; alleviating vascular smooth muscle cell calcification, aging and apoptosis process. This article reviews the specific mechanisms of Nrf2 regulating atherosclerosis, such as phenotypic transformation, proliferation and migration, lipid metabolism, calcification, aging and apoptosis in atherosclerosis, in order to provide a basis for understanding the molecular mechanism of atherosclerosis development and finding therapeutic targets.

Correlation of short diameter of residual lymph nodes with efficacy and prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy and establishment of a Nomogram model / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective:To analyze the correlation of the short diameter of residual lymph nodes with the efficacy and prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) undergoing chemoradiotherapy (CRT), and establish a Nomogram prediction model to predict the prognosis of ESCC patients.Methods:Clinical data of 143 ESCC patients who underwent CRT in Second People′s Hospital of Huai′an from August 2018 to September 2020 were collected. The survival analysis was conducted with Kaplan- Meier method, log-rank test and univariate prognostic analysis. Multivariate prognostic analysis was performed with Cox models. Finally, a Nomogram prediction model was established to predict the 1-year and 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) of patients, and the C-index, AUC, and calibration curve were used to evaluate the performance of the model. Results:Logistic regression analysis results showed that differentiation, TNM staging, PG-SGA scores before and after radiotherapy (RT) and short diameter of residual lymph nodes were the independent predictors of clinical efficacy of ESCC patients treated with CRT. Cox regression analysis demonstrated that differentiation, TNM staging, PG-SGA scores before and after RT and short diameter of residual lymph nodes were the independent prognostic predictors of ESCC patients undergoing CRT. Conclusions:The short diameter of residual lymph nodes is significantly correlated with the efficacy and prognosis of ESCC patients undergoing CRT. The Nomogram prediction model established after comprehensive clinical baseline characteristics is a practical and reliable tool for predicting clinical prognosis of ESCC patients.

Dynamic simulation and experimental verification of human body turning over in supine position / 生物医学工程学杂志

The tilted supine position has been evaluated to be one of the significantly effective approaches to prevent bedsore of the patients in the bedridden state. Thus, it has deeply positive influences that in view of dynamics this study explores how the position works. Based on the anatomical theories, this study formulates the human dynamic model. Furthermore, the dynamic simulation of three usual postures in tilted supine position including lying on back, lying with one knee bent and lying with the upper and lower limb on one side lifted is carried out. Therefore, the changes of the three driving forces named as chest force, waist force and thigh force in the tilted supine position can be observed. In order to verify the validity of this simulation, this study obtains the electromyogram measurements of ectopectoralis, external obliques and thigh muscles which are respectively close to the chest, waist and thigh by conducting the human force measurements experiment. The result revealed that in terms of range and trend, the experimental data and simulation's data were consistent. In conclusion, the changes of these muscles in the supine position movements are researched efficiently by both this experiment and the dynamic simulation. Besides, the result is crucially key to find the mechanism of human's tilted supine position movements.

Evaluation of tumor heterogeneity in prostate cancer with Gleason score 7 points by MRI texture analysis:a preliminary study / 实用放射学杂志

Objective To explore the feasibility of differential diagnosis of Gleason score (GS)(3+4)and (4+3)in prostate cancer (PCa) based on texture parameters of T2 WI and ADC maps.Methods A total of 77 patients with GS 7 points in PCa confirmed by pathology were enrolled in this retrospective study,including 45 GS(3+4)cases and 32 GS(4+3)cases.ROI was manually drew on the largest section of tumor on the axial T2 WI and ADC maps,and five texture parameters were extracted,namely,angular second moment (ASM),contrast, correlation,inverse difference moment and entropy,and the texture parameters between groups were analyzed statistically,then ROC curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of texture parameters with statistical differences.Results There was no significant difference in age and prostate specific antigen (PSA)between GS (3 + 4)and GS (4 + 3)groups (P＞0.05).There were significant differences in ASM and entropy between T2 WI and ADC (P＜0.05),but there was no statistical difference in contrast,correlation and inverse difference moment (P＞0.05).Except for the AUC of T2 WIASM,there were statistical differences among T2 WIentropy ,ADCASM and ADCentropy.The AUC of ADCASM and ADCentropy were larger than that of T2 WIASM and T2 WIentropy.The AUC of ADCentropy had the largest AUC (0.732),the cut off value was 5.71 ,with the sensitivity was 97.6% and specificity was 5 9.5%.Conclusion MRI texture analysis can be used to differentiate GS (3 + 4)from GS (4 + 3)in PCa,and the ADCentropy have the best diagnostic efficacy.

Inhibition of voltage-dependent K⁺ current in rabbit coronary arterial smooth muscle cells by the class Ic antiarrhythmic drug propafenone

In this study, we demonstrated the inhibitory effect of the Class Ic antiarrhythmic agent propafenone on voltage-dependent K⁺ (Kv) channels using freshly isolated coronary artery smooth muscle cells from rabbits. The Kv current amplitude was progressively inhibited by propafenone in a dose-dependent manner, with an apparent IC₅₀ value of 5.04±1.05 µM and a Hill coefficient of 0.78±0.06. The application of propafenone had no significant effect on the steady-state activation and inactivation curves, indicating that propafenone did not affect the voltage-sensitivity of Kv channels. The application of train pulses at frequencies of 1 or 2 Hz progressively increased the propafenone-induced inhibition of the Kv current. Furthermore, the inactivation recovery time constant was increased after the application of propafenone, suggesting that the inhibitory action of propafenone on Kv current is partially use-dependent. Pretreatment with Kv1.5, Kv2.1 or Kv7 inhibitor did not change the inhibitory effect of propafenone on the Kv current. Together, these results suggest that propafenone inhibits the vascular Kv channels in a dose- and use-dependent manner, regardless of Na⁺ channel inhibition.

Objective Quality Assessment of Image Retargeting by Incorporating Fidelity Measures and Inconsistency Detection.

The tremendous growth in mobile devices has resulted in huge generation and usage of digital images. Image quality assessment is thus an important issue for mobile media applications. In this paper, we focus on the quality evaluation of images generated by content-aware image retargeting, in which the reference and the distorted images are of different sizes. Through retargeting, many types of deformation inconsistency lead to shape distortion, deformation artifacts, and content information loss, worsening its perceptual quality. The deformation inconsistency occurs on different levels of the retargeted images. Limited by the accuracy of the alignment between the original and retargeted images, previous methods only focus on pixel-level and patch-level fidelity analyses and fail to detect deformation inconsistency. In this paper, we improve the alignment algorithm and propose a three-level representation of the retargeting process. Based on the analysis of this three-level representation, both fidelity measures and inconsistency detection are combined to determine the final retargeting quality. The proposed algorithm is validated on the public data sets RetargetMe and CUHK. Experimental results demonstrate that inconsistency detection contributes to accurately assessing the image retargeting perceptual quality. This inspires us to investigate more about deformation inconsistency to formulate the objective quality of image retargeting.

Weakly Supervised Part Proposal Segmentation From Multiple Images.

Weakly supervised local part segmentation is challenging, due to the difficulty of modeling multiple local parts from image level prior. In this paper, we propose a new weakly supervised local part proposal segmentation method based on the observation that local parts will keep fixed along the object pose variations. Hence, the local part can be segmented by capturing object pose variations. Based on such observation, a new local part proposal segmentation model is proposed. Three aspects, such as shape similarity-based cosegmentation, shape matching-based part detection and segmentation, and graph matching-based part assignment are considered. A part segmentation energy function is first proposed. Four terms, such as MRF-based single image segmentation term, shape feature-based foreground consistency term, NCuts-based part segmentation term, and two-order graphs matching based part consistency term, are contained. Then, a three sub-minimization-based energy minimization method is proposed to accomplish approximation solution. Finally, we verify our method based on three image data sets (PASCAL VOC 2008 Part data set, UCB Bird data set, and Cat-Dog data set), and one video data set (UCF Sports) data set. The experimental results demonstrate a better segmentation performance compared with the existing object cosegmentation and part proposal generation methods.

Waterloo Exploration Database: New Challenges for Image Quality Assessment Models.

The great content diversity of real-world digital images poses a grand challenge to image quality assessment (IQA) models, which are traditionally designed and validated on a handful of commonly used IQA databases with very limited content variation. To test the generalization capability and to facilitate the wide usage of IQA techniques in real-world applications, we establish a large-scale database named the Waterloo Exploration Database, which in its current state contains 4744 pristine natural images and 94 880 distorted images created from them. Instead of collecting the mean opinion score for each image via subjective testing, which is extremely difficult if not impossible, we present three alternative test criteria to evaluate the performance of IQA models, namely, the pristine/distorted image discriminability test, the listwise ranking consistency test, and the pairwise preference consistency test (P-test). We compare 20 well-known IQA models using the proposed criteria, which not only provide a stronger test in a more challenging testing environment for existing models, but also demonstrate the additional benefits of using the proposed database. For example, in the P-test, even for the best performing no-reference IQA model, more than 6 million failure cases against the model are "discovered" automatically out of over 1 billion test pairs. Furthermore, we discuss how the new database may be exploited using innovative approaches in the future, to reveal the weaknesses of existing IQA models, to provide insights on how to improve the models, and to shed light on how the next-generation IQA models may be developed. The database and codes are made publicly available at: https://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~k29ma/exploration/.

Effects of Modified Danggui Beimu Kushen Pills on Toll-like Receptor Pathway Markers on MFC Gastric Cancer Mice / 中国中医药信息杂志

Objective To study the effects of modified Danggui Beimu Kushen Pills on the expressions of TLR2, TLR4, TLR6, TRAF6 and MyD88 in tumor tissues on MFC gastric cancer bearing mice; To discuss relevant mechanism of action. Methods MFC gastric cancer bearing mice were employed to perform anti-tumor experiment in vivo in this study. A total of eligible 48 mice were randomly divided into model group, DDP positive control group, modified Danggui Beimu Kushen Pills high-dose and low-dose groups, modified Danggui Beimu Kushen Pills high-dose and low-dose combined with DDP groups. The treatment was conducted once a day, and lasted for 14 continuous days. After the last administration of gavage orally treatment, all mice were anaesthetized and killed by cervical dislocation method to obtain tumor tissue completely for further HE staining measure and detection of TLR2, TLR4, TLR6, TRAF6 and MyD88 in tumor tissue with the method of RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry. Meanwhile, the tumor growth was observed and the general conditions of mice were recorded. Results The model group was rich in tumor cells; the sizes of cells were different; the volume was large; the nucleus was deeply stained and the heterotypic shape was obvious, and the small focal necrosis was seen. The number of tumor cells in each administration group was reduced; the arrangement was loose; the cell volume was significantly reduced, and the nuclear pyknosis was reduced. Cell necrosis significantly increased; the number of interstitial blood vessels decreased; collagen fibers increased, especially in modified Danggui Beimu Kushen Pills high-dose and low-dose combined with DDP groups. Compared with the model group, the expressions of TLR2, TLR4, TLR6, TRAF6 and MyD88 mRNA and protein decreased in each administration group. TLR2, TLR4, TLR6, TRAF6 and MyD88 were lighter and weakly positive expressed in modified Danggui Beimu Kushen Pillshigh-dose and low-dose combined with DDP groups, the protein changes were more obvious Compared with DDP positive control group, modified Danggui Beimu Kushen Pills high-dose and low-dose groups. Conclusion Modified Danggui Beimu Kushen Pills can down-regulate TLR2, TLR4, TLR6, TRAF6 and MyD88 expression of tumor tissue in MFC gastric cancer bearing mice at both mRNA and protein levels to play anti-tumor pharmacology action.

Effects of Medicinal Serum of Shenqi Yiliu Formula on Proliferation of Gastric Cancer MGC-803 Cells / 中国中医药信息杂志

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effects of medicinal serum of Shenqi Yiliu Formula on cell proliferation of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells;To discuss relevant mechanism. Methods After treated with different concentrations of medicinal serum of Shenqi Yiliu Formula, gastric cancer MGC-803 cells were tested by the following methods: MTT was employed to test the proliferation of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells; Flow cytometry was used to detect cell cycle; qRT-PCR was used to detect the genetic expressions of CDKN1B and CDKN1C;Western blot was employed to test the protein expressions of p27 and p57. Results When 3%, 5%and 10%medicinal serum of Shenqi Yiliu Formula was treated to MGC-803 cells for 24 h, 48 h and 72 h, proliferation of cells decreased significantly (P<0.01), with time- and dosage-dependent relationship. When 3%, 5% and 10% medicinal serum of Shenqi Yiliu Formula was treated to MGC-803 cells for 24 h, cells in G0/G1 increased, decreased in S. qRT-PCR results showed that compared with the blank control group and the negative control group, mRNA expressions of CDKN1B and CDKN1C of MGC-803 cells in medicinal serum all dose group increased significantly (P<0.01). Western blot results showed that compared with the blank control group, protein expressions of p27 and p57 of MGC-803 cells in medicinal serum all dose group increased significantly (P<0.01). Conclusion Medicinal serum of Shenqi Yiliu Formula can inhibit MGC-803 cells proliferation and the mechanism may be through adjusting CDKN1B, CDKN1C mRNA and proteins expression to intervene in the cell cycle.

Effect of electroacupuncture at Ganshu (BL 18) and Shenshu (BL 23) on the expression of EphB2 protein in cortex around cerebral infracted area of rat / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Objective:To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the expression of erythropoie-tin-producing hepatocyte receptor B2 (EphB2) in the cortex around the infracted area of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rats at different timing, and to reveal the possible mechanism of acupuncture in the treatment of cerebral ischemia. Methods:A total of 180 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a sham operation group, a model group, an acupoint group and a non-acupoint group, with 45 rats in each group. Rats in each group were further divided into three subgroups: postoperative 3 d, postoperative 14 d and postoperative 21 d groups, with 15 rats in each subgroup. The MCAO model was made by the modified occlusion method. The neurological function score, 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, immunohistochemistry assay, immunofluorescence double labeling method and Western blot were used to detect the corresponding indicators. Results:The neurological impairment of rats was most obvious at postoperative 3 d, and then gradually improved with time, which was more significant in the acupoint group (P Conclusion:Electroacupuncture at Ganshu (BL 18) and Shenshu (BL 23) can significantly improve the neurological function and cerebral infarcted volume ratio of MCAO rats, which may be related to the activation of EphB2 expression in cortex around the infracted area and the promotion of synaptic remodeling.

Nortriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, inhibits voltage-dependent K+ channels in coronary arterial smooth muscle cells

We demonstrated the effect of nortriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant drug and serotonin reuptake inhibitor, on voltage-dependent K⁺ (Kv) channels in freshly isolated rabbit coronary arterial smooth muscle cells using a whole-cell patch clamp technique. Nortriptyline inhibited Kv currents in a concentration-dependent manner, with an apparent IC₅₀ value of 2.86±0.52 µM and a Hill coefficient of 0.77±0.1. Although application of nortriptyline did not change the activation curve, nortriptyline shifted the inactivation current toward a more negative potential. Application of train pulses (1 or 2 Hz) did not change the nortriptyline-induced Kv channel inhibition, suggesting that the effects of nortiprtyline were not use-dependent. Preincubation with the Kv1.5 and Kv2.1/2.2 inhibitors, DPO-1 and guangxitoxin did not affect nortriptyline inhibition of Kv channels. From these results, we concluded that nortriptyline inhibited Kv channels in a concentration-dependent and state-independent manner independently of serotonin reuptake.

Escitalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, inhibits voltage-dependent K⁻ channels in coronary arterial smooth muscle cells

We investigated the inhibitory effect of escitalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), on voltage-dependent K⁺ (Kv) channels in freshly separated from rabbit coronary arterial smooth muscle cells. The application of escitalopram rapidly inhibited vascular Kv channels. Kv currents were progressively inhibited by an increase in the concentrations of escitalopram, suggesting that escitalopram inhibited vascular Kv currents in a concentration-dependent manner. The IC₅₀ value and Hill coefficient for escitalopram-induced inhibition of Kv channels were 9.54±1.33 µM and 0.75±0.10, respectively. Addition of escitalopram did not alter the steady-state activation and inactivation curves, suggesting that the voltage sensors of the channels were not affected. Pretreatment with inhibitors of Kv1.5 and/or Kv2.1 did not affect the inhibitory action of escitalopram on vascular Kv channels. From these results, we concluded that escitalopram decreased the vascular Kv current in a concentration-dependent manner, independent of serotonin reuptake inhibition.