The temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is characterized by the neurodegeneration, abnormal reorganization of
circuitry, and the loss of functional inhibition in hippocampus regions. Particularly, the declined neurogenesis in
hippocampus has emerged as a significant hallmark of TLE. RbAp48, which is initially recognized as a retinoblastoma
binding protein, is also identified as a positive regulator of human neurogenesis owing to its ability to regulate the
expression of the pluripotency, differentiation, and cell cycle genes in human PSCs. The deficiency of RbAp48
critically contributes to the dentate gyrus (DG) dysfunction and is closely related to age-related memory deficits.
Nevertheless, the roles of RbAp48 in the neurogenesis deterioration and memory loss of TLE patients remain to
be determined. In view of the linkage between the deficiency of RbAp48 and the TLE-related memory loss, it is
reasonable to hypothesize that the expression level of RbAp48 in the hippocampus of the TLE patients might be
down regulated in accordance with the reduced neurogenesis. As the neurogenesis exhibits a close relationship with
the hippocampal functions like learning and memory, the RbAp48 would possibly act as a candidate biology predictor
for the cognition impairments of the TLE patients. This notion might cast insights into the etiology of hippocampusbased
memory loss in TLE patients with the potentials of opening up new therapeutic avenues.
We have recently reported that neutrophils play a pivotal role in innate defense against Streptococcus pneumoniae ( Spn) during mouse acute otitis media (AOM). However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. By constructing models of pneumococcal AOM in C57BL/6 mice and using a specific inhibitor in vivo, we investigated the role of myeloperoxidase (MPO), one of the most important protein components of neutrophils. Experiment results showed a significant increase in MPO production of the recruited neutrophils in Spn-infected mice. Neutrophils killed Spn in a MPO-dependent manner. MPO facilitated the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and consequently promoted Spn clearance at an early stage and exacerbated tissue damage. Moreover, MPO induced neutrophil apoptosis and necrosis, which, in turn, worsened tissue damage. In summary, our study demonstrates that neutrophil MPO plays a paradoxical role in bacterial clearance and tissue damage in pneumococcal AOM.
To identify a clinical and genetic form of a large Chinese family with an autosomal-dominant lattice corneal dystrophy type I (LCD I).The patients' eyes were examined on the basis of slit-lamp microscopy, and other clinical records were also collected. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral leukocytes of the affected patients and their unaffected family members. Each previous reported mutation of the transforming growth factor β-induced gene (TGFBI) gene was amplified by touch-down polymerase chain reaction and directly sequenced to verify the disease-causing mutation.Typical clinical features of LCD I were found by slit-lamp photography in these affected Chinese pedigrees. A heterozygous single base-pair transition from C to T (c.418 C > T), leading to amino acid substitution Arg124Cys (R124C) in the encoded TGFBI protein, was detected in all of the eighteen affected patients. The same mutation was not found in unaffected family members.The R124C mutation hot spot, which was relatively rare in China, was responsible for LCD I in the large family. Molecular genetic analysis of TGFBI gene can offer an accurate diagnosis of patients with lattice corneal dystrophies in the clinical treatment.
To observe the effects of recombinant bovine basic fibroblast growth factor (r-bFGF) on the LASIK-induced neurotrophic epitheliopathy (LINE) and the recovery of corneal sensation after LASIK.Prospective clinical study. LINE was found in 60 patients out of 1154 cases of LASIK (5.2%). The 60 cases were randomly divided into three groups, each group including 20 cases. Group A was treated with r-bFGF eye drops (fusion protein), four times a day. Group B was treated with r-bFGF eye-gel, four times a day. Group C was treated with 0.1% sodium hyaluronate eye drops as a control. The treatment started since LINE was diagnosed. The typical clinical finding of LINE was punctate corneal erosion, which could be evaluated by slit-lamp examination and fluorescein staining. Masked Cochet-Bonnet esthesiometer was performed in the central cornea one week preoperatively and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively.(1) The average times of corneal erosion occurrence were (28.57 ± 37.48) d, (30.82 ± 35.08) d and (16.84 ± 23.70) d in group A, group B and group C respectively. No significant differences were observed among the three groups (F = 1.456, P = 0.238), and the average times of corneal erosion disappearance were (7.19 ± 8.23) d, (2.86 ± 1.73) d and (7.00 ± 6.40) d in group A, group B and group C, respectively. The punctate corneal erosion cured significantly faster in r-bFGF eye-gel treated group (P(1) = 0.007, P(2) = 0.014). (2)The loss of corneal sensation was greatest at 1 week after LASIK in all the three groups and improved at all subsequent examination time points. The corneal sensation gradually recovered through 12 months observation, but the r-bFGF eye-gel treated group showed faster recovery in comparison with the other two groups, had no statistic different at 6 month compared with pre-operation values (F = 0.55, P = 0.064).The r-bFGF eye-gel is effective for both punctate corneal erosion (especially for severe LINE) and recovery of corneal sensation following LASIK surgery.
To investigate the association between ocular sensory dominance and interocular refractive error difference (IRED).A total of 219 subjects were recruited. The refractive errors were determined by objective refraction with a fixation target located 6 meters away. 176 subjects were myopic, with 83 being anisometropic (IRED ≥ 0.75 D). 43 subjects were hyperopic, with 22 being anisometropic. Sensory dominance was measured with a continuous flashing technique with the tested eye viewing a Gabor increasing in contrast and the fellow eye viewing a Mondrian noise decreasing in contrast. The log ratio of Mondrian to Gabor's contrasts was recorded when a subject just detected the tilting direction of the Gabor during each trial. T-test was used to compare the 50 values collected from each eye, and the t-value was used as a subject's ocular dominance index (ODI) to quantify the degree of ocular dominance. A subject with ODI ≥ 2 (p < 0.05) had clear dominance and the eye with larger mean ratio was the dominant one. Otherwise, a subject had an unclear dominance.The anisometropic subjects had stronger ocular dominance in comparison to non-anisometropic subjects (rank-sum test, p < 0.01 for both myopic and hyperopic subjects). In anisometropic subjects with clear dominance, the amplitude of the anisometropia was correlated with ODI values (R = 0.42, p < 0.01 in myopic anisometropic subjects; R = 0.62, p < 0.01 in hyperopic anisometropic subjects). Moreover, the dominant eyes were more myopic in myopic anisometropic subjects (sign-test, p < 0.05) and less hyperopic in hyperopic anisometropic subjects (sign-test, p < 0.05).The degree of ocular sensory dominance is associated with interocular refractive error difference.
To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of the immersion high-frequency B-scan ultrasonography, a noninvasive preoperative diagnosis method, in observing the anterior segment in chemical injured eyes.It was a retrospective study. Sixty-three ocular chemical injury patients (63 eyes), who accepted the keratoplasty or the artificial cornea transplant in PLA General Hospital from May 2011 to May 2013, were included in this study. All the injured eyes were examined by ultrasound bio-microscopy (UBM) and immersion high-frequency B-scan ultrasonography, respectively. The images were analyzed and the results were compared with the intraoperative findings. The observation of lens was the main parameter.All the 63 patients were examined with the UBM and the immersion high-frequency B-scan ultrasonography before the surgery. The findings of the cornea, anterior chamber angle, iris from UBM were consistent with those from the immersion high-frequency B-scan ultrasonography. As for the lens observation, in 32 eyes in which the lens were not detected by UBM, the lens were not detected in only 16 eyes, while 3 eyes with normal lens and 13 eyes with lens pacifications (1 eye with pyknotic lens) by immersion high-frequency B-scan ultrasonography. In 17 eyes in which the lens were found normal by UBM, there were only 14 eyes with normal lens and the rest 3 eyes' lens were found intumescent by immersion high-frequency B-scan ultrasonography. In 6 eyes in which lens were detected with suspicious by UBM, 2 eyes' lens were pyknotic and 4 eyes' lens were intumescent or clouded by immersion high-frequency B-scan ultrasonography. The findings of immersion high-frequency B-scan ultrasonography were highly consistent with the intraoperative findings.The lens could be observed accurately by immersion high-frequency B-scan ultrasonography in chemical injured eyes.
Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, but its underlying mechanism has remained obscure, and the role of immune-related genes (IRGs) in epilepsy have not yet been investigated. Therefore, in this study, we explored the association between IRGs and epilepsy.
The treatment of organic dye contaminants in wastewaters has now becoming more imperative. Fenton-like degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) in aqueous solution was investigated by using a nanostructure that a layer of CuCl2 nanoflake film grown on the top surface of nanoporus anodic alumina substrate (nano-PAA-CuCl2) as catalyst. The new nano-PAA-CuCl2 composite was fabricated with self-assembly approach, that is, a network porous structure film composed of CuCl2 nanoflake grown on the upper surface of nanoporous anodic alumina substrate, and the physical and chemical properties are characterized systematically with the X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The experimental results showed that the nano-PAA-CuCl2 catalyst presented excellent properties for the degradation of two typical organic pollutants such as MB and MO, which were almost completely degraded with 8 × 10−4mol/L nano-PAA-CuCl2 catalyst after 46 min and 60 min at reaction conditions of H2O2 18 mM and 23 mM, respectively. The effects of different reaction parameters such as initial pH, H2O2 concentration, catalyst morphology and temperature were attentively studied. And more, the stability and reusability of nano-PAA-CuCl2 were examined. Finally, the mechanism of MB and MO degradation by the nano-PAA-CuCl2/H2O2 system was proposed, based on the experimental data of the BCA and the temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR) and theoretical analysis, the reaction kinetics belonged to the pseudo-first-order equation. This new nanoporous composite material and preparation technology, as well as its application in Fenton-like reaction, provide an effective alternative method with practical application significance for wastewater treatment.
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