Paraquat (PQ) is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. Although available evidence indicates that people exposed to PQ have a higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease, adverse effects of PQ on neural progenitor cells have not been investigated yet. In this study, we investigated the in vitro effect of PQ on immortalized human embryonic neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) by treating them with various concentrations of PQ (0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 μM) for 24h. We show that PQ treatment reduces the cell viability and proliferation and induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, apoptosis induced by PQ was significantly increased at a concentration of as low as 1 μM. To illustrate the underlying molecular mechanisms, we examined the caspase-3 activity, intracellular calcium level, the NF-κB activity, as well as expression of p21, p53 and metallothionein-III mRNA. PQ significantly increased caspase-3 activity at the concentration of 100 μM. Similarly, PQ triggered intracellular Ca(2+) releases and activation of NF-κB was observed after exposure of hNPCs at low concentrations of PQ (1 μM). Meanwhile, p53 and p21 mRNA transcripts were significantly up-regulated at 10 μM and 1 μM of PQ, respectively. MT-III mRNA and protein expression was significantly up-regulated at 1 μM of PQ and reached peak at 10 μM. These results suggest that PQ could reduce viability of hNPCs by inducing oxidative stress and apoptosis.

Objective:To investigate the effects of tracheal cuff pressure on tracheal mucosal damage in patients with intubation.Methods: We obtained informed consent from 80 American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) class I or II,body mass index(BMI) 18-23 kg/m2,18-65 year-old patients,who were scheduled for radical treatment of gynaecological cancer.They were randomly allocated to either Group A or Group B.Patients in both groups were placed an epidural catheter at vertebral interspace between T11 and T12.General anesthesia was induced with propofol 1.5-2.0 mg/kg,fentanyl 3-4 μg/kg and rocuronium 0.6-0.8 mg/kg.Anaesthesia was maintained with porpofol and intermittent epidually administration of 0.375% ropovacaine.In Group A,the intracuff pressure was kept at 25 mmHg during the operation.In Group B,the intracuff pressure was kept at 25 mmHg,with intermittent lowered to 10 mmHg for 10 minutes every 60 minutes.Patients were questioned postoperatively about sore throat,dysphonia,and about whether they were satisfied with their anesthetic.Complications after tracheal tube removal,including coughing,bronchospasm,laryngospasm and the presence of blood on the tracheal tube,were recorded.Results: There was no difference in the incidence of complications of tracheal tube removal between two groups(P0.05).Conclusions: The method of maintaining the intracuff pressure for 1 h with intermitted deflation can not reduce the mucosal damage.

<正>患者,男,60岁,因"中上腹部闷胀不适1月"入院。诊断为胃癌,拟于硬膜外复合全麻下行胃癌根治术。患者既往有糖尿病、银屑病史,目前血糖控制良好。否认食物及药物过敏史。无术前用药。入室BP 87/62 mm Hg,HR 92次/分,SpO294%。血气分析提示:pH 7.44,PaCO236