Serum concentration of S100-B protein in patients during CABG with or without cardiopulmonary bypass

AIM: To investigate the mutative law of the serum S100-B protein in patients undergone coronary artery bypass grafting with or without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB-CABG or non-CPB CABG), and to compare the degree of cerebral injury in patients during CABG between the two different surgical manipulations.METHODS: 30 patients were divided into two groups: CPB-CABG group (group A) and non-CPB CABG group (group B). Every group included 15 patients. Blood from jugular vein was phlebotomized in every patients at the following 8 time points: before operation (OP), after anaesthesia, end of grafting, end of OP, 2 h after OP, 6 h after OP, 12 h after OP and 24 h after OP. The serum concentrations of S100-B protein in the samples were measured.RESULTS: The level of serum S100-B protein increased markedly at the beginning of CABG, and the peak value of group A (2.32 μg/L±0.26 μg/L) was treble higher than that in the patients in group B (0.71 μg/L±0.14 μg/L). The levels of S100-B protein tend to normal level in both groups 24 h after OP. The level of S100-B protein had notable relation with the time of CABG in group A and the manipulative time on the heart in group B.CONCLUSION: The degree of cerebral damage can be valued by investigating the mutative law of the serum S100-B protein in patients undergone CPB-CABG and non-CPB CABG. The non-CPB CABG reduces the degree of cerebral damage and avoids the functional disorder of central nerve.     

Surgical repair of radial carpal bone fractures in two racehorses

A 3-year-old Standardbred gelding (Case 1) and a 2-year-old Thoroughbred gelding (Case 2) were referred for surgical evaluation of a left radial carpal bone (RCB) fracture, sustained during training. Clinical findings at the time of initial examination included a palpable effusion within the left middle carpal joint in both horses and marked signs of pain and reduced range of motion on flexion of the affected carpus. In both horses, the RCB fracture was evident on the following radiographic views of the carpus: dorsolateral–palmaromedial oblique (30° off lateromedial) and flexed lateromedial. An additional loose wedge-shaped osteochondral fragment at the proximal articular surface of the RCB could be seen in Case 2. Both horses underwent surgical reduction and repair of the fracture between 1 and 2 days following the initial injury, which consisted of arthroscopic removal of any intra-articular osteochondral fragments, and arthroscopic assisted-interfragmentary compression via a standard dorsomedial and dorsolateral approach to the antebrachiocarpal joint (ACJ) and middle carpal joints (MCJ). The two horses returned to function as racehorses, 6 months (Case 1) and 16 months (Case 2) after surgery. The RCB is a relatively uncommon site for large carpal fractures in horses. The clinical presentation and findings from this report were similar to that of third carpal bone (C3) slab fractures, confirming that surgical repair is indicated in selected cases of RCB fractures.     

Cortical gene expression pattern in rat focal cerebral ischemia

AIM: To investigate the genes differential expression in cortex during rat focal cerebral ischemia.METHODS: cDNA microarray chips containing numerous cDNAs were used to investigate the gene expression pattern between samples of focal cerebral ischemia and sham-control operation rats. RESULTS: Two hundred and eleven genes differentially expressed were screened out, among these genes, up-and down-regulated genes were 199 and 12, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of gene expression pattern of focal cerebral ischemia based on cDNA microarray can realize high-throughput screening of the genes associated with the focal cerebral ischemia. The differential expression of genes may be related to the pathogenesis of focal cerebral ischemic diseases.