Experimental Rat Model of Bony Defects in the Facet Joint Maintained with Bone Wax for the Study of Spinal Pain.

Purpose: Studies using experimental rat models for low back pain due to facet-joint defects are scarce. This study used a novel experimental rat model to determine whether bony defects induced by facetectomy could be maintained by bone wax, thus mimicking spondylolysis, and to analyze the effect of the facetectomy on rat behavior.

Patients And Methods: Twelve 10-week-old male Wistar rats weighing 300-350 g were divided into group A (n = 6) that underwent unilateral facetectomy of the right L5-6 facet joint and group B (n = 6) that additionally applied water-soluble bone wax at the facetectomy site.

Expression profile of microRNAs following bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell treatment in lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury.

Immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive properties of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) facilitate the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute lung injury (ALI). Dysregulated miRNA (miRNA or miR) expression associated with the effects of BM-MSCs was assessed in a rat model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI. The present study performed biochemical tests to assess five analytes, including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine (CREA).

Expression profiling of microRNAs in lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury after hypothermia treatment.

We investigated the expression profiles of miRNAs in acute lung injury (ALI) rats after hypothermia treatment. ALI rats were induced with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and maintained with hypothermia (HT) or normothermia (NT) for 6 hours. HT attenuated inflammatory cell infiltration in the lung and improved biochemical indicators of multi-organ dysfunction.

Dysregulated Expression Profiles of MicroRNAs of Experimentally Induced Cerebral Aneurysms in Rats.

Objective: Cerebral aneurysm (CA) is an important acquired cerebrovascular disease that can cause catastrophic results. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs, playing essential roles in modulating basic physiologic and pathological processes. Currently, evidences have been established about biologic relationship between miRNAs and abdominal aortic aneurysms.

The effect of recombinant human growth hormone therapy in patients with completed stroke: a pilot trial.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and potential efficacy of "recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH)" on the functional recovery of completed stroke patients.

Method: Completed stroke patients were recruited. All participants were randomly assigned to the GH group (rhGH injection and rehabilitative therapy) or the control group (only rehabilitative therapy).

Orphan nuclear receptor small heterodimer partner, a novel corepressor for a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor BETA2/neuroD.

Small heterodimer partner (SHP; NR0B2) is an atypical orphan nuclear receptor that lacks a conventional DNA binding domain (DBD) and represses the transcriptional activity of various nuclear receptors. In this study, we examined the novel cross talk between SHP and BETA2/NeuroD, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor. In vitro and in vivo protein interaction studies showed that SHP physically interacts with BETA2/NeuroD, but not its heterodimer partner E47.