Linear relationship between the maintenance of hippocampal long-term potentiation and retention of an associative memory.

The hypothesis that the maintenance or decay of an associative memory trace after an extended retention interval is a function of the residual strength of the synapses originally strengthened during learning was examined in a classical conditioning paradigm in which high-frequency stimulation of a hippocampal input--the medial perforant path--served as a conditioned stimulus. Rats received perforant path stimulus-foot shock pairings while engaged in a previously acquired food-motivated lever-pressing task. Conditioned suppression of lever pressing was the behavioral measure of learning and retention of the association. Stimulus trains to the perforant path at an intensity above the threshold for eliciting a population spike induced long-term potentiation of synaptic transmission in the dentate gyrus. Synaptic potentials recorded extracellularly in the dentate gyrus were subsequently monitored for 31 days to examine quantitatively the decay of synaptic potentiation, a period after which retention of the learned association was assessed. All rats learned the association to a similar extent and displayed equivalent amounts of long-term potentiation by the end of conditioning. A slowly decaying function of synaptic potentiation was observed in remembering rats, i.e., rats with high retention performance after the 31-day learning-to-retention interval, while forgetting was associated with a rapid decay of long-term potentiation. Behavioral performance at the long-term memory test was linearly correlated with the amplitude of long-term potentiation maintained just prior to the retention test. The results favor the hypothesis that long-term associative memory depends, at least in part, on the maintenance of elevated synaptic strengths in the pathway activated during learning and suggest a role for the lasting component of long-term potentiation in the maintenance of memory.     

运用中国古典音乐应对胃癌病人的术前焦虑

[目的 ]探讨中国古典音乐治疗胃癌病人术前焦虑的作用。 [方法 ]随机将 60例早期胃癌病人分成实验组和对照组。两组均给予解释、指导、鼓励、安慰等支持性治疗 ,实验组再给予音乐治疗。应用Zung氏焦虑自评量表 (SAS)对两组病人进行评估。 [结果 ]两组病人在支持性治疗前焦虑评分比较无统计学意义 ,而实验组病人在给予音乐治疗后焦虑分值比对照组有统计学意义(P <0 .0 5 )。 [结论 ]中国古典音乐影响人的情绪行为 ,从而引起愉快、舒适的情绪 ,有改善和调整人的大脑皮层的功能     

Identification of 16 novel mutations in the argininosuccinate synthetase gene and genotype-phenotype correlation in 38 classical citrullinemia patients

Classical citrullinemia (CTLN1), a rare autosomal recessive disorder, is caused by mutations of the argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS) gene, localized on chromosome 9q34.1. ASS functions as a rate-limiting enzyme in the urea cycle. Previously, we identified 32 mutations in the ASS gene of CTLN1 patients mainly in Japan and the United States, and to date 34 different mutations have been described in 50 families worldwide. In the present study, we report ASS mutations detected in 35 additional CTLN1 families from 11 countries. By analyzing the entire coding sequence and the intron-exon boundaries of the ASS gene using RT-PCR and/or genomic DNA-PCR, we have identified 16 novel mutations (two different 1-bp deletions, a 67-bp insertion, and 13 missense) and have detected 12 known mutations. Altogether, 50 different mutations (seven deletion, three splice site, one duplication, two nonsense, and 37 missense) in 85 CTLN1 families were identified. On the basis of primary sequence comparisons with the crystal structure of E. coli ASS protein, it may be concluded that any of the 37 missense mutations found at 30 different positions led to structural and functional impairments of the human ASS protein. It has been found that three mutations are particularly frequent: IVS6-2A>G in 23 families (Japan: 20 and Korea: three), G390R in 18 families (Turkey: six, U.S.: five, Spain: three, Israel: one, Austria: one, Canada: one, and Bolivia: one), and R304W in 10 families (Japan: nine and Turkey: one). Most mutations of the ASS gene are "private" and are distributed throughout the gene, except for exons 5 and 12-14. It seems that the clinical course of the patients with truncated mutations or the G390R mutation is early-onset/severe. The phenotype of the patients with certain missense mutations (G362V or W179R) is more late-onset/mild. Eight patients with R86H, A118T, R265H, or K310R mutations were adult/late-onset and four of them showed severe symptoms during pregnancy or postpartum. However, it is still difficult to prove the genotype-phenotype correlation, because many patients were compound heterozygotes (with two different mutations), lived in different environments at the time of diagnosis, and/or had several treatment regimes or various knowledge of the disease.     

Expression of classical protein kinase C subspecies in non-neoplastic lymphocytes and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas: an immunohistochemical study

It is generally accepted that phosphorylation plays a pivotal role in the cellular response of cell differentiation and proliferation. Immunohistochemical expression of classical protein kinase C (cPKC) subspecies (alpha, beta and gamma) in eight reactive lymphoid tissues, three normal spleens and 149 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas was examined. cPKC beta was observed primarily in the mantle zone B cells, but appeared as very faint staining in Ki-67 positive proliferated B cells in the germinal centers of secondary lymph follicles. In contrast to the reactive state, high levels of cPKC subspecies were recognized in the majority of 149 cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, including those thought to have arisen from germinal center cells such as follicular lymphoma. The expression of cPKC alpha was found in higher frequency in T cell lymphomas than B cell lymphomas (P < 0.01) by the Chi-squared test. High levels of cPKC alpha were present only in high grade or highly aggressive lymphomas, showing the highest incidence in the small non-cleaved cell type, according to the International Working Formulation and National Cancer Institute (P < 0.01). cPKC gamma was not detected in normal lymphoid cells and was expressed in only four cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. It is presumed that cPKC alpha and beta have a relationship to cell activation and proliferation of lymphoid cells of reactive and neoplastic states. It might be considered that the expression of cPKC alpha may have a relationship with aggressiveness in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.     

Early coping experience and later aversive conditioning in cats

Kittens were given differential early experience in order to compare an objective coping behavior with the result of an inescapable aversive experience. Separate groups of kittens were treated in a shock motivated runway task at either 4 or 12 weeks of age, by allowing one member of a weight matched sibling pair to acquire an escape behavior, while the other member was confined; a third subject served as a handled control. Escape behavior was significantly different for 4 and 12 week old subjects, since the older kittens reached a running asymptote within the first few shock trials. At 6 months of age, the subjects were tested for effects of differential early treatment; heart rate, respiration rate and amplitude, and somatic activity were measured during classical conditioning. While all groups gave evidence of acquisition in one or more response measures, only a potentiated heart rate response in 4 week kittens could be related to early experience. Heart rate did not differentiate escaping kittens from confined ones. Rather, heart rate was related to early treatment with shock, perhaps reflecting an increased tendency to react with a passive defensive response.     

中药类保健食品中地黄生熟异用的配方规律分析

目的:分析地黄在中药类保健食品中生熟异用下的配方规律。方法:收集国家市场监督管理总局(SAMR)特殊食品信息查询平台公布的生、熟地黄保健食品数据,对其保健功能及中药组方等进行统计,运用Apriori算法和Kulc、不平衡比参数对地黄生熟异用的保健食品配方规律进行分析。结果:保健食品中,生地黄主要用于辅助降血糖,熟地黄主要用于增强免疫力、缓解体力疲劳、改善营养性贫血。在辅助降血糖类生地黄保健食品中,生地黄主要与补气药、补阴药、解表药、解热药配伍,代表性组合为生地黄-黄芪-苦瓜;在增强免疫力类熟地黄保健食品中,熟地黄主要与补气药、补血药、补阴药配伍,代表性组合为熟地黄-党参-阿胶;在缓解体力疲劳类熟地黄保健食品中,熟地黄主要与补气药、补阳药、补阴药配伍,代表性组合为熟地黄-人参-淫羊藿、熟地黄-人参-枸杞子;在改善营养性贫血类熟地黄保健食品中,熟地黄主要与补气药、补血药配伍,代表性组合为熟地黄-黄芪-阿胶、熟地黄-黄芪-当归。结论:地黄在保健食品中的使用遵循生熟异用的规律,在不同保健功能中,组方配伍基本符合中医理论和现代医学理论,可为生、熟地黄保健食品研发提供借鉴和依据。     

经典名方中藿香类药材的本草考证

通过查阅古代相关本草、医籍、经史及近现代文献资料,笔者对藿香类药材的名称、基原、产地、品质评价、栽培、采收加工及炮制方法等进行了系统梳理与考证,可为含藿香类药材的经典名方开发利用提供依据。通过本草考证分析可知,历代本草多以“藿香”为正名,所用主流基原均为Pogostemon cablin,为区别于明代以来我国民间习用的同科另一种植物土藿香Agastache rugosa及推崇道地产区而有“广藿香”之名;广藿香原产于越南等东南亚国家,早期因作香料经广东等地传入我国,宋代以来便已在我国南方引种成功;药用部位多为其干燥地上部分,亦有将其叶、梗分开单独使用;历代推崇的道地产区为广东,现广东广州、肇庆、湛江和海南省多有栽培,以石牌所产最为知名;广藿香主要为扦插繁殖,二月生苗,六月采收;产地加工方法主要为闷晒法,放置阳光下反复闷晒至有芳香气味、颜色转黄;炮制方法多以净选后生品入药。基于考证结果,建议养胃汤中所用藿香以P. cablin为基原,取叶片生品入药,而藿朴夏苓汤则建议选择土藿香A. rugosa除去根及老茎的生品入药。     

基于经方解构新说“石膏配伍解肌法”

石膏解肌之说由来已久,但限于矿物药的溶出及研究手段有限等现实问题,其临床推广及应用不足,深入探讨亦不足。该文通过梳理解肌法的脉络,总结出解肌法所针对的病机为“津液不足,兼表不和”,而石膏解肌的核心内涵为“清火存液,兼透表邪”;通过梳理解肌法的古今运用,结合配位化学的现代研究,从配伍角度入手,主以《伤寒论》和《金匮要略》中的经方为例,拓展了石膏解肌之内涵,总结出石膏的解肌作用不仅可以治疗外感后的肌肉不适症状,还可能影响脏腑功能,进而治疗内伤杂病,并由此提出“石膏配伍解肌法”,认为石膏与麻黄、葛根、防己、知母、人参、芍药、竹茹、生地黄、麦冬和葳蕤等药物配伍后,通过调整透散和清热的力度来更好地发挥解肌作用。该文附临床验案一则予以阐发,以期为石膏的临床运用提供参考,为其配伍使用的药物机制研究提供方向。     

经典名方中石决明的本草考证

通过查阅历代本草、医籍、方书及现代文献资料,笔者对经典名方中所用石决明药材进行系统本草考证,涉及名称、基原、产地、品质评价、采收加工及炮制等方面内容,以期为含石决明的经典名方开发提供依据。经考证可知,历代皆以石决明为正名,亦有以其功效、性状及近音字而命名的“千里光”“九孔螺”“珍珠母”等异名。唐代以前石决明药材动物基原因形态描述过于简练,仅能考订为鲍科鲍属动物;宋元明清时期主流基原为杂色鲍Haliotis diversicolor与皱纹盘鲍H. discus hannai;民国时期开始将鲍属多种动物作为石决明基原使用,品种繁杂并延续至今。古今我国国内主要产区为海南、广东及山东地区,国外产地主要为日本及越南。古籍中对石决明品质评价大致以呼水孔的开孔数量为准,以七孔和九孔的鲍壳为佳;近现代则以性状个大整齐、无破碎、内外洁净并有光彩、壳厚者为佳。基于考证结果,结合石决明散的记载年代,建议开发该经典名方时石决明药材使用杂色鲍H. diversicolor或皱纹盘鲍H. discus hannai的贝壳,且以生品入药。