Effects of neural stem cell transplantation on the motor function of rats with contusion spinal cord injuries:a meta-analysis

Objective:To judge the efficacies of neural stem cell(NSC)transplantation on functional recovery following contusion spinal cord injuries(SCIs).Data sources:Studies in which NSCs were transplanted into a clinically relevant,standardized rat model of contusion SCI were identified by searching the PubMed,Embase and Cochrane databases,and the extracted data were analyzed by Stata 14.0.Data selection:Inclusion criteria were that NSCs were used in in vivo animal studies to treat contusion SCIs and that behavioral assessment of locomotor functional recovery was performed using the Basso,Beattie,and Bresnahan lo-comotor rating scale.Exclusion criteria included a follow-up of less than 4 weeks and the lack of control groups.Outcome measures:The restoration of motor function was assessed by the Basso,Beattie,and Bresnahan locomotor rating scale.Results:We identified 1756 non-duplicated papers by searching the aforementioned electronic databases,and 30 full-text articles met the inclusion criteria.A total of 37 studies reported in the 30 articles were included in the meta-analysis.The meta-analysis results showed that transplanted NSCs could improve the motor function recovery of rats following contusion SCIs,to a moderate extent(pooled standardized mean difference(SMD)=0.73;95%confidence interval(CI):0.47–1.00;P<0.001).NSCs obtained from different donor species(rat:SMD=0.74;95%CI:0.36–1.13;human:SMD=0.78;95%CI:0.31–1.25),at different donor ages(fetal:SMD=0.67;95%CI:0.43–0.92;adult:SMD=0.86;95%CI:0.50–1.22)and from different origins(brain-derived:SMD=0.59;95%CI:0.27–0.91;spinal cord-derived:SMD=0.51;95%CI:0.22–0.79)had similar efficacies on improved functional recovery;however,adult induced pluripotent stem cell-derived NSCs showed no significant efficacies.Furthermore,the use of higher doses of transplanted NSCs or the administration of immunosuppressive agents did not promote better locomotor function recovery(SMD=0.45;95%CI:0.21–0.70).However,shorter periods between the contusion induction and the NSC transplantation showed slightly higher efficacies(acute:SMD=1.22;95%CI:0.81–1.63;subacute:SMD=0.75;95%CI:0.42–1.09).For chronic injuries,NSC implantation did not significantly improve functional recovery(SMD=0.25;95%CI:–0.16 to 0.65).Conclusion:NSC transplantation alone appears to be a positive yet limited method for the treatment of contusion SCIs.

针刺配合腰骶刺络放血治疗慢性前列腺炎

Objective:To observe the effect of acupuncture and bloodletting therapy at the lumbosacral region for chronic prostatitis.Methods:A total of 36 patients with chronic prostatitis were collected,and treated in the Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion and the External Treatment Center of Chinese Medicine,Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese medicine.The patients were treated with acupuncture,combined with bloodletting therapy at the lumbosacral region.The treatment for 4 weeks was as one course and 2 consecutive courses of treatment were required.The therapeutic effect,including the score of the National Institute of Health-Chronic prostatitis symptom index(NIH-CPSI),was assessed.Results:After 1 and 2 courses of treatment,the symptom scores and NIH-CPSI total score were all reduced as compared with that before treatment,respectively(all P<0.01).After 2 courses of treatment,the score of each symptom and NIH-CPSI total score were reduced as compared with that after 1 course of treatment,respectively(all P<0.01).Regrading the 3 syndromes/patterns of chronic prostatitis in the patients,i.e.downward invasion of damp heat,qi and blood stagnation and liver qi stagnation,after 1 and 2 courses of treatment,NIH-CPSI total scores were all reduced as compared with that before treatment(all P<0.01).Additionally,after 2 courses of treatment,NIH-CPSI total score of each syndrome/pattern was reduced as compared with that after 1 course of treatment(all P<0.01).For kidney yin deficiency,after 2 courses of treatment,NIH-CPSI total score was reduced as compared with that either before treatment or after 1 course of treatment(both P<0.01).The total effective rate was 91.67%after 1 course of treatment and 97.22%after 2 courses of treatment.No obvious adverse events occurred during the treatment.Conclusion:The combined treatment with acupuncture and bloodletting therapy at the lumbosacral region effectively relieves the symptoms of chronic prostatitis and improves the quality of life in the patients.

Electroanalytical method for determination of shikonin based on the enhancement effect of cyclodextrin functionalized carbon nanotubes

A simple and sensitive electroanalytical method for determination of shikonin, a widely used antitumoral agent, using β-cyclodextrin-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite modified glassy carbon electrodes （MWCNTs/β-CD/GCE） was presented. CDs are water-soluble and environmentally friendly and can improve the dispersibility of MWCNTs/βCD functional materials, which was confirmed by SEM. The electrochemical behaviors of shikonin on different electrodes were investigated by cyclic voltammetry （CV） and differential pulse voltammograms （DPVs）. The results demonstrated that the redox peak currents of shikonin obtained at MWCNTs/fl-CD/GCE were much higher than those at the βCD/GCE and MWCNTs/GCE, which can be attributed to the combination of the excellent electrocatalytic properties of MWCNTs and the molecular recognition ability of βCD. At MWCNTs/ βCD/GCE, the response current exhibits a linear range from 5.0 nmol/L to 10.0 μmol/L with a detection limit of 1.0nmol/L （S/N=3）. As a practical application, the proposed method was applied to quantitatively determine shikoninin urine samples with satisfying results.

Synthesis and Characterization of D-/L-methionine Grafted PEDOTs for Selective Recognition of 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine Enantiomers

Two pairs of amino-acid functionalized poly（3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene）（PEDOT） derivatives, namely, poly（N-（tert-butoxycarbonyl）-L-methionyl（3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene-2＇-yl）methylamide）（L-PEDOT-Boc-Met） and poly（N-（tertbutoxycarbonyl）-D-methionyl（3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene-2＇-yl）methylamide）（D-PEDOT-Boc-Met）; poly（L-methionyl（3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene-2＇-yl）methylamide）（L-PEDOT-Met） and poly（D-methionyl（3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene-2＇-yl）methylamide）（D-PEDOT-Met） were synthesized via chemical oxidative polymerization of corresponding monomers. The structural characterization, spectroscopic properties and thermal stability of these monomers and polymers were systematically explored by FTIR spectra, Raman spectra, XRD spectra, UV-Vis spectra and thermogravimetric analysis. As chiral electrode materials, these polymers were employed to successfully recognize 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine（DOPA） enantiomers by cyclic voltammetry（CV） in sulphuric acid solution. The measurement results reveal that the tendency was hetero-chiral interaction between L-PEDOT-Met/PVA/GCE and D-DOPA, D-PEDOT-Met/PVA/GCE and L-DOPA, respectively. Also, the mechanism of chiral discrimination was discussed. All the results implied that the combination of electrochemical molecular recognition technology and chiral PEDOT materials can be a promising approach for chiral recognition and may open new opportunities for facile, biocompatible, sensitive and robust chiral assays in biochemical applications.

Electrosynthesis and Characterization of Aminomethyl Functionalized PEDOT with Electrochromic Property

We herein report the electrosynthesis of an aminomethyl functionalized poly（3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene）（PEDOT） derivative, poly（2＇-aminomethyl-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene）（PEDOT-Me NH2）, in CH2Cl2-Bu4NPF6（0.1 mol·L^-1） system containing 2% boron trifluoride diethyl etherate（BFEE）. The electrochemical behavior, structure characterization, thermal properties and surface morphology of this novel polymer were systematically investigated by cyclic voltammetry（CV）, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR）, thermogravimetry（TG） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, respectively. Electrochemistry results demonstrated that PEDOT-Me NH2 film displayed good redox properties and high electrochemical stability. Besides, PEDOT-Me NH2 films exhibited the electrochromic nature with obvious color changing from purple in the reduced form to blue upon oxidation. By further investigation, kinetic studies revealed that PEDOT-Me NH2 film had decent contrast ratio（41.8%）, favorable coloration efficiency（152.1 cm^2·C^-1）, low switching voltages and moderate response time（2.4 s）. Satisfactory results implied that the obtained PEDOT-Me NH2 film is a promising optoelectronic material and holds promise for electrochromic devices and display applications.