Background
Acupuncture is a potential therapy for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but its clinical effects and underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Emerging evidence suggests autophagy is ...involved in β-amyloid (Aβ) clearance. We hypothesised that electroacupuncture (EA) treatment of AD involves the autophagy pathway in rats.
Methods
We injected 2μl Aβ1–40 bilaterally into the hippocampi of 42 rats to establish AD. Rats remained untreated (AD group, n=14) or received 24 EA treatments at GV20+BL23 over 28 days from day 7 post-injection with/without co-treatment with 3-methyladenine (3-MA), an autophagy inhibitor (AD+EA+3-MA and AD+EA groups, respectively, n=14 each). Cognitive function was evaluated by Morris water maze (MWM) testing. Hippocampi were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and stained with haematoxylin and eosin/transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) to assess neuronal morphology/apoptosis, respectively. Protein expression of Beclin-1, LC3 and Aβ1-40 was examined.
Results
In the MWM test, the AD+EA group showed an improvement in parameters consistent with improved learning/memory compared to untreated AD rats, and 3-MA attenuated these effects. EA mitigated cellular apoptosis resulting from Aβ infusion in the CA1 region and enhanced LC3II/LC3I ratios and Beclin-1 expression. Numerous autophagosome precursors and enlarged autophagosomes were observed by TEM in the hippocampi of EA-treated rats. Reduced Aβ levels, and co-localisation of Aβ and LC3II, were observed following EA treatment by immunofluorescence staining. EA+3-MA treated rats had much higher TUNEL-positive neurons, lower LC3II/LC3I ratios and Beclin-1 expression, and elevated Aβ levels compared with EA alone.
Conclusions
EA reduces neuronal apoptosis, enhances degradation of Aβ, and improves learning/memory in AD rats by upregulating the autophagy pathway.
Objective: A population-based survey was conducted to analyze the association of under-weight, blood pressure, glucose and lipid metabolism with cognitive impairment in people, 60 years and over, ...living in 2 towns of Shanghai.Methods: Face-to-face interviews were carried out to collect relevant information with questionnaires. Anthropometric indices of height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference were measured. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association of weight status with cognitive impairment.Results: Cognitive impairment were diagnosed in 198 (7.0%) of the 2 809 participants. Compared to the normal BMI category, the under-weight category was significantly associated with the risk of cognitive impairment (OR= 2.47, 95%CI: 1.46-5.23). Subjects with a high WC were 1.5 times (OR= 1.42, 95%CI: 1.10-2.67) more likely and subjects with a high WHR were 1.7 times (OR= 1.68, 95%CI: 1.05-2.84) more likely to be associated with cognitive impairment than the subjects in the reference group. This study demonstrates a significant interaction between hypertension, lipid disorder and WC or WHR on the risk of cognitive impairment in a rural population in Shanghai.Conclusions: Central obesity was significantly associated with the risk of cognitive impairment. A low BMI may be a risk factor for cognitive impairment. A significant interaction between hypertension, lipid disorder and WC or WHR on the risk of cognitive impairment in Shanghai rural population was found.
To study the impacts of exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) on liver function in rats.
Twenty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal group and radiated group. The ...rats in normal group were not radiated, those in radiated group were exposed to EMR 4 h/ d for 18 consecutive days. Rats were sacrificed immediately after the end of the experiment. The serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and those of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) in liver tissue were evaluated by colorimetric method. The liver histopathological changes were observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining and the protein expression of bax and bcl- 2 in liver tissue were detected by immunohistochemical method. Terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick and labelling (TUNEL) method was used for analysis of apoptosis in liver.
Compared with the normal rats, the serum levels of ALT and AST in the radiated group had no obvious changes (P>0.05), while the contents of MDA increased (P < 0.01) and those of GSH decreased (P < 0.01) in liver tissues. The histopathology examination showed diffuse hepatocyte swelling and vacuolation, small pieces and focal necrosis. The immunohistochemical results displayed that the expression of the bax protein was higher and that of bcl-2 protein was lower in radiated group. The hepatocyte apoptosis rates in radiated group was higher than that in normal group (all P < 0.01).
The exposure to 900 MHz mobile phone 4 h/d for 18 days could induce the liver histological changes, which may be partly due to the apoptosis and oxidative stress induced in liver tissue by electromagnetic radiation.
Large-scale dynamic relational data visualization has attracted considerable research attention recently. We introduce dynamic data visualization into the multimedia domain, and present an ...interactive and scalable system, VideoMap, for exploring large-scale video content. A long video or movie has much content; the associations between the content are complicated. VideoMap uses new visual representations to extract meaningful information from video content. Map-based visualization naturally and easily summarizes and reveals important features and events in video. Multi-scale descriptions are used to describe the layout and distribution of temporal information, spatial information, and associations between video content. Firstly, semantic associations are used in which map elements correspond to video contents. Secondly, video contents are visualized hierarchically from a large scale to a fine-detailed scale. VideoMap uses a small set of sketch gestures to invoke analysis, and automatically completes charts by synthesizing visual representations from the map and binding them to the underlying data. Furthermore, VideoMap allows users to use gestures to move and resize the view, as when using a map, facilitating interactive exploration. Our experimental evaluation of VideoMap demonstrates how the system can assist in exploring video content as well as significantly reducing browsing time when trying to understand and find events of interest.
Objective To investigate the effect of simulated microgravity and carbon ion irradiation （CIR） on spermatogenic cell apoptosis and sperm DNA damage to the testis of male Swiss Webster mice, and ...assess the risk associated with space environment. Methods Sperm DNA damage indicated by DNA fragmentation index （DFI） and high DNA stainability （HDS） was measured by sperm chromatin structure assay （SCSA）. Apoptosis of spermatogenic cells was detected by annexin V-propidium iodide assay. Bax （the expression levels of p53） and proliferating cell nuclear antigen （PCNAI were measured by immunoblotting; p53 and PCNA were located by immunohistology. Results HDS, DFI, apoptosis index, and the expression levels of p53 and Bax were detected to be significantly higher in the experimental groups （P〈0.05） compared with those in the control group, however, the PCNA expression varied to a certain degree, p53- and PCNA- positive expression were detected in each group, mainly in relation to the spermatogonic cells and spermatocytes. Conclusion The findings of the present study demonstrated that simulated microgravity and CIR can induce spermatogenic cell apoptosis and sperm DNA damage. Sperm DNA damage may be one of the underlying mechanisms behind male fertility decline under space environment. These findings may provide a scientific basis for protectint~ astronauts and space traveler＇s health and safety.
A total of 26 leptospirosis cases occurred in the outbreak, of whom six died after hospitalization. All 26 patients were clinically diagnosed as leptospirosis Microscopic agglutination test （MAT） ...revealed that 13 of 26 patients were affected with laboratory confirmed leptospirosis. Furthermore, MAT data suggested that serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae were the main pathogens responsible for this outbreak. And the rainfall data suggested that the increased rainfall might be responsible for the leptospirosis outbreak in Lezhi County. This outbreak has reminded us that leptospirosis should not be neglected, especially during flood season, although its incidence rate is low.
Background Glucocorticoid signaling exerts major roles in inflammation, metabolism and depression, which are three crucial factors accompanying or underlying coronary heart disease. Although ...accumulating evidence indicates the influence of glucocorticoids on the pathology and treatment of coronary heart disease, there is still a dearth of pharmaceutical mechanisms for this relationship. This study aimed to investigate the influence of drug treatment on glucocorticoid receptor levels in coronary heart disease. Methods Eighty hospitalized patients （average age （59.0＋7.5） years, 46 male and 34 female） with coronary heart disease were categorized into four groups with 20 members in each according to one of the four drugs they were treated with. The four drugs were： nitrated derivative isosorbide dinitrate, the beta-adrenergic receptor blocker metoprolol, the calcium antagonist nifedipine, and the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor Iovastatin. Glucocorticoid receptor protein levels of peripheral blood lymphocytes were tested using immunoblotting analysis before and after one month of treatment. Results Immunoblotting analysis showed increased glucocorticoid receptor levels after treatment with metoprolol and nifedipine. There were no statistically significant changes of glucocorticoid receptor levels after treatment with isosorbide dinitrate or Iovastatin, although there were trends of up-regulation of glucocorticoid receptor expression after both treatments. Conclusions Both the beta-blocker and the calcium blocker can increase glucocorticoid receptor levels after chronic administration. This effect suggests a mechanism for their anti-inflammatory and other therapeutic roles for coronary heart disease and comorbid disorders.
A novel octupolar chromophore with 1,3,5-triazine as core,2,7-divinylene-9,9-dimethylfluorene as extendedπ-conjugated bridge,triarylamine as the electron-donating end-groups was successfully ...synthesized and characterized.Their linear photophysical and two-photon absorption（TPA） properties were investigated by UV absorption,excited fluorescence（SPEF） spectra and nonlinear transmission method,respectively.The absorption cut-off of the chromophore is below 520 nm and it has stronger fluorescence emission in a nonpolar solvent.In addition,the chromophore exhibits larger TPA cross-section（226.0 GM） in the femtosecond regime at 800 nm.
Plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs) are a subfamily of aquaporins that enable fast and controlled translocation of water across the membrane. In this study, we systematically identified and ...cloned ten PIP genes from rice. Based on the similarity of the amino acid sequences they encoded, these rice PIP genes were classified into two groups and designated as OsPIP1-1 to OsPIP1-3 and OsPIP2-1 to OsPIP2-7 following the nomenclature of PIP genes in maize. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis identified three root-specific and one leaf-specific OsPIP genes. Furthermore, the expression profile of each OsPIP gene in response to salt, drought and ABA treatment was examined in detail. Analysis on transgenic plants over-expressing of either OsPIP1 (OsPIP1-1) or OsPIP2 (OsPIP2-2) in wild-type Arabidopsis, showed enhanced tolerance to salt (100 mM of NaCl) and drought (200 mM of mannitol), but not to salt treatment of higher concentration (150 mM of NaCl). Taken together, these data suggest a distinct role of each OsPIP gene in response to different stresses, and should add a new layer to the understanding of the physiological function of rice PIP genes.
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