Valproate-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy treated by L-ornithine-L-aspartate: a case report.

A 63-year-old man developed reduced consciousness and dysphagia progressively. Examination and parameters were normal, except for a Glasgow Coma Scale score of seven, and his grading on the swallow water test increased from grade 1 to grade 5. Brain imaging and blood tests were unexplainable except by high plasma ammonia.

miR‑497/MIR497HG inhibits glioma cell proliferation by targeting CCNE1 and the miR‑588/TUSC1 axis.

Emerging evidence has shown that microRNA (miR)‑497 serves pivotal roles in tumorigenesis, cancer progression, metastasis and chemotherapy resistance in several types of cancer. In the present study, the expression and biological functions of miR‑497 host gene (MIR497HG) were investigated in glioma tissue. The expression levels of miR‑497 and MIR497HG were measured in glioma, adjacent non‑cancerous and normal brain tissue and their association with the prognosis of patients with glioma were analyzed.

The Cannabinoid WIN 55,212-2 Reduces Delayed Neurologic Sequelae After Carbon Monoxide Poisoning by Promoting Microglial M2 Polarization Through ST2 Signaling.

Delayed neurologic sequelae (DNS) are among the most serious complications of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning caused partly by elevated neuroinflammation. WIN 55,212-2, a non-selective agonist of cannabinoid receptors, has been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory properties in various brain disorders. The anti-inflammatory action of WIN 55,212-2 is potentially associated with driving microglial M2 polarization.

Exendin-4, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist, protects against amyloid-β peptide-induced impairment of spatial learning and memory in rats.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) share specific molecular mechanisms, and agents with proven efficacy in one may be useful against the other. The glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist exendin-4 has similar properties to GLP-1 and is currently in clinical use for T2DM treatment. Thus, this study was designed to characterize the effects of exendin-4 on the impairment of learning and memory induced by amyloid protein (Aβ) and its probable molecular underlying mechanisms.

Increased Specific Labeling of INS-1 Pancreatic Beta-Cell by Using RIP-Driven Cre Mutants with Reduced Activity.

Ectopically expressed Cre recombinase in extrapancreatic tissues in RIP-Cre mice has been well documented. The objective of this study was to find a simple solution that allows for improved beta-cell specific targeting. To this end, the RIP-Cre and reporter CMV-loxP-DsRed-loxP-EGFP expression cassettes were configurated into a one-plasmid and two-plasmid systems, which labeled approximately 80% insulin-positive INS-1 cells after 48 h transfection.

Down-regulation of Homer1b/c protects against chemically induced seizures through inhibition of mTOR signaling.

Background: Homer is a family of post synaptic density proteins functionally and physically attached to target proteins at proline-rich sequences. Reducing Homer1b/c expression has been shown in previous studies to be protective against excitotoxic insults, implicating Homer1b/c in the physiological regulation of aberrant neuronal excitability.

Methods: To test the efficacy of a Homer1b/c reducing therapy for disorders with a detrimental hyperexcitability profile in mice, we used small interfere RNA (siRNA) to decrease endogenous Homer1b/c expression in mouse hippocampus.

Prospective, open, multicentre Phase I/II trial to assess safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy with docetaxel and cisplatin for esophageal carcinoma.

Objective: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is increasingly treated with trimodality therapy. The objective of this Phase I/II clinical study is to assess the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy with docetaxel and cisplatin and radiotherapy in patients with esophagectomy for locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

Methods: Patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma received radiochemotherapy (50 Gy/25 fractions during Weeks 1-5) using a three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy or intensity-modulated radiation therapy technique together with weekly docetaxel (20 mg/m(2) at dose levels 1 and 2, 25 mg/m(2) at dose level 3 on Weeks 1-5) and cisplatin (30 mg/m(2) at dose level 1, 40 mg/m(2) at dose levels 2 and 3 on Weeks 1-5) from January 2009 to December 2011.

Dynamin-related protein 1 inhibitors protect against ischemic toxicity through attenuating mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake from endoplasmic reticulum store in PC12 cells.

Intracellular calcium homeostasis disorder and mitochondrial dysfunction are involved in many acute and chronic brain diseases, including ischemic brain injury. An imbalance in mitochondrial fission and fusion is one of the most important structural abnormalities found in a large number of mitochondrial dysfunction related diseases. Here, we investigated the effects of mitochondrial division inhibitor A (mdivi A) and mdivi B, two small molecule inhibitors of mitochondrial fission protein dunamin-related protein 1 (Drp-1), in neuronal injury induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) in PC12 cells.

Apoptotic pathway induced by diallyl trisulfide in pancreatic cancer cells.

Aim: To investigate the effects of diallyl trisulfide (DATS), a garlic-derived organosulfur compound, in pancreatic cancer cells.

Methods: Human pancreatic cancer cells with wild-type p53 gene (Capan-2) and normal pancreatic epithelial cells (H6C7) were cultured in RPMI1640. DATS was prepared at a concentration of 100 μmol/L.

[A cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy pedigree: clinical pathology, neuroimaging and molecular genetics studies].

Objective: To explore the clinical presentations, pathological features, imaging manifestation and genetic mutation of cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL).

Methods: A systematic study on the clinical manifestations, neuroimaging characteristics, pathology and molecular genetics was performed in the proband and 16 members of the family. An investigation on the hereditary pattern of the family tree of the proband was also conducted.

Nicotinic acid inhibits glucose-stimulated insulin secretion via the G protein-coupled receptor PUMA-G in murine islet β cells.

Objectives: Chronic administration of nicotinic acid (NA), a potent antilipidemic compound, aggravates glycemic control in diabetic patients. It is not known if NA has direct effects on islet β cells.

Methods: Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization, and immunofluorescence techniques were used to examine the expression of NA receptor PUMA-G, a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (G-PCR) family, in murine islet β cells.

Intra-arterial targeted islet-specific expression of Sirt1 protects β cells from streptozotocin-induced apoptosis in mice.

Gene therapy provides a promising approach to curing diabetes. However, an effective route for islet-specific targeting has yet to be established. Toward this end, the pancreatic blood circulation system in Balb/c mice was determined by the injection of rhodamine-containing beads.

[Effect of Shuanghuanglian injection on cerebral nuclear factor-kappaB expression in mice with viral encephalitis].

Objective: To observe the effect of Shuanghuanglian injection on cerebral expression of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) in mice with viral encephalitis.

Methods: The mice with experimental viral encephalitis received treatment with Shuanghuanglian injection at the dose of 0.2, 1.

Heterogeneity in mitotic activity and telomere length implies an important role of young islets in the maintenance of islet mass in the adult pancreas.

Understanding the mechanisms of beta-cell dynamics in postnatal animals is central to cure diabetes. A major obstacle in evaluating the status of pancreatic cells is the lack of surface markers. Here we performed quantitative measurements of two internal markers to follow the developmental history of islets.

Construction of targeted plasmid vector pcDNA3.1-Egr.1p-p16 and its expression in pancreatic cancer JF305 cells induced by radiation in vitro.

Aim: To construct pcDNA3.1-Egr.1p-p16 recombinant plasmid and investigate the expression of p16 in pancreatic cancer JF305 cells induced by radiation and the feasibility of gene radiotherapy for pancreatic carcinoma.

[Expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors Y changes with age in vascular smooth muscle cells of spontaneously hypertensive rat].

Objective: In order to elucidate the relationship between PPAR-gamma and the development of hypertension, we detected the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors gamma (PPAR-gamma) in the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and the VSMC proliferation of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) at different ages.

Methods: The expression of PPAR-gamma in the intact vascular tissues of rats at different ages were detected by immunohistochemistry. Aortic VSMCs were cultured.

[Effect of endothelin-1 stimulation on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma expression in vascular smooth muscle cells].

Objective: To investigate the effect of endothelin-1 (ET-1) on the expression of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor-gamma in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Methods: The first to the third passages of aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) isolated from 16-week-old Wistar rats were cultured in vitro and stimulated by ET-1 for 12, 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively, and at different concentrations of ET-1 for 48 h. PPAR-gamma mRNA expression of the cells was detected by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and PPAR-gamma protein by Western blotting after the stimulations, and the proliferation of VSMCs was evaluated by MTT assay.

[Anti-tumor effect of pcDNA3. 1-Egr. 1p-p16 gene combined with radiotherapy in tumor-bearing nude mice].

Objective: To investigate the optimal doses of X-ray irradiation and plasmid injection in the anti-tumor effect of the pcDNA3. 1-Egr. 1p-p16 gene combined with radiotherapy in vivo.

Association of cyclin D1, p16 and retinoblastoma protein expressions with prognosis and metastasis of gallbladder carcinoma.

Aim: To investigate the role of cyclin D1, p16 and retinoblastoma in cancerous process of gallbladder carcinomas and to assess the relation between cyclin D1, p16, Rb and the biological characteristics of gallbladder carcinoma.

Methods: Forty-one gallbladder carcinoma, 7 gallbladder adenoma and 14 chronic cholecystitis specimens were immunohistochemically and histopathologically investigated for the relation of cyclin D1, p16 and Rb with Nevin staging and pathologic grading.

Results: The expression rates of abnormal cyclin D1 in gallbladder carcinoma (68.

Effect of intraoperative radiotherapy combined with external beam radiotherapy following internal drainage for advanced pancreatic carcinoma.

Aim: To determine the survival of advanced pancreatic cancer patients treated with intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) combined with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) following internal drainage (cholecystojejunostomy or choledochojejunostomy).

Methods: Eighty-one patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who received IORT combined with EBRT following internal drainage (ID) between 1996 and 2001 were retrospectively analyzed. Among the 81 patients, 18 underwent ID+IORT, 25 ID+IORT+EBRT (meanwhile, given 5-Fu 300 mg/m(2) i.