BACKGROUND:Peripheral nerve injury is a common disease in clinic, which severely affects the patients' quality of life. How to promote peripheral nerve regeneration is an issue of concern.OBJECTIVE:To study the effect of modified rabbit defensin 1 on peripheral nerve regeneration and functional recovery. METHODS: Eighteen Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups. The rat sciatic nerves were transected and bridged by biodegenerated chitin conduits, followed by the injection of neurotrophic factor (group 1), modified rabbit defensin 1 (group 2) and normal saline (control group) into the gluteus, respectively, for consecutive 7 days. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The sciatic nerve function index in the groups 1 and 2 was higher than that in the control group at 4 weeks postoperatively. The order of motor nerve conductive velocity was as follows: group 1 > group 2 > control group. The diameter regenerated fibers and axons, and the myelin thickness in the group 2 were less than those in the group 1, but were more than those in the control group. These results indicate that the modified rabbit defensin 1 can promote peripheral nerve regeneration, which may be related with the clearance of residual myelin by macrophages and the improvement in nerve regeneration environment.

Objective:To investigate the application of combined distractor in the treatment of refractory distal radius fractures.Methods:From March 2018 to February 2020, the data of 32 patients with refractory distal radius fractures treated with combined distractor-assisted reduction were retrospectively analyzed. The propensity score matching method was used to establish a non-distractor group according to 1∶1 matching, with a total of 32 patients. In the distractor group, there were 15 males and 17 females, age 54.9 ±15.8 years (range, 18-77). According to AO classification, 3 cases were A3, 3 cases were B3, 16 cases were C2, 10 cases were C3. In the non-distractor group, there were 12 males and 20 females, age 59.7±14.8 years, 4 cases were A3, 5 cases were B3, 12 cases were C2 and 11 cases were C3. Main measures: surgical time, radial height, palm inclination, ulnar deviation, range of motion of the wrist, visual analogue scale (VAS), and functional assessment using disability of arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) and modified Mayo wrist score (MMWS).Results:A total of 64 patients were included in this study, and all patients successfully completed the operation and were followed up for 12-54 months, with an average of 17.8 months. The operative time of the distractor group was 91.2±14.6 min, which was significantly lower than that of the non-distractor group 137.6±27.3 min, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=8.48, P<0.001); the radial height in the distractor group 11.5±1.4 mm was significantly higher than that in the non-distractor group 10.6±1.3 mm, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=2.59, P=0.012). At the last follow-up, there were no statistically significant differences in the palm inclination 7.9°±4.4° vs. 7.5°±3.5°, ulnar deviation 23.3°±5.7° vs. 22.3°±4.5°, wrist flexion 63.2°±15.3° vs. 62.6°±11.1°, dorsiflexion 63.5°±10.7° vs. 62.4°±15.2°, pronation 69.2°±11.8° vs. 67.0°±11.0°, supination 73.1°±10.4° vs. 72.0°±8.7°, VAS 0.8±0.5 points vs. 0.9±0.7 points, DASH score 12.9±6.6 points vs. 13.4±7.0 points amd MMWS 84.1±5.8 points vs. 83.5±6.2 points ( P>0.05). One patient in the distractor group had symptoms of extensor muscle irritation, and the symptoms disappeared after the internal fixation was removed; 2 patients in the non-spreader group developed carpal tunnel syndrome, which improved after incision and decompression treatment. Conclusion:For refractory distal radius fractures, the use of combined distractor can achieve better radius height recovery and shorten the operation time, and has a satisfactory postoperative effect.

Echinomycin is a small-molecule inhibitor of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 DNA-binding activity, which plays a crucial role in ovarian ovulation in mammalians. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha-mediated endothelin (ET)-2 expressions contributed to ovarian ovulation in response to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) during gonadotropin-induced superuvulation. By real-time RT-PCR analysis, ET-2 mRNA level was found to significantly decrease in the ovaries after echinomycin treatment, while HIF-1alpha mRNA and protein expression was not obviously changed. Further analysis also showed that these changes of ET-2 mRNA were consistent with HIF-1 activity in the ovaires, which is similar with HIF-1alpha and ET-2 expression in the granulosa cells with gonadotropin and echinomycin treatments. The results of HIF-1alpha and ET-2 expression in the granulosa cells transfected with cis-element oligodeoxynucleotide (dsODN) under gonadotropin treatment further indicated HIF-1alpha directly mediated the transcriptional activation of ET-2 during gonadotropin-induced superuvulation. Taken together, these results demonstrated that HIF-1alpha-mediated ET-2 transcriptional activation is one of the important mechanisms regulating gonadotropin-induced mammalian ovulatory precess in vivo.
Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Chorionic Gonadotropin/*pharmacology ; Echinomycin/*pharmacology ; Endothelin-2/genetics/*metabolism ; Female ; Gonadotropins, Equine/*pharmacology ; Granulosa Cells/drug effects/metabolism ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/*antagonists & inhibitors/genetics/metabolism/physiology ; Oligonucleotides/genetics ; Ovary/cytology/drug effects/physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superovulation/*drug effects ; Transcriptional Activation

Objective To propose a concept of irreducible tibial shaft fractures and to discuss their imaging characteristics and clinical significance.Methods A retrospective study was performed in 21 patients with tibial shaft fracture who had received intraoperative intramedullary nailing after limited open reduction at Department of Orthopaedics,The Second Affiliated Hospital to Anhui Medical University from November 2013 to June 2018.They were 14 males and 7 females,aged from 21 to 66 years (average,34.9 years).There were 15 left and 6 right sides.Firstly,closed reduction was performed followed by traction,folding and rotation,but repeated attempts failed to achieve smooth reduction or insertion of guide wire.Next,local limited open reduction had to be performed for intramedullary nailing.The X-ray and CT images of the tibial fractures were collected to analyze their imaging characteristics.The imaging manifestations were characterized into 4 types:single-segment type with intact fibula,multiple-segment type,interlocking type where the distal and proximal ends interlock commonly seen in short spiral and short oblique fractures,and incarceration type where the fracture interspace is blocked by a bone fragment.The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated at the final follow-up by knee scores of The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and Kofoed ankle scores.Results Of the 21 patients,2 were single-segment type,4 multiple-segment type,13 interlocking type and 2 incarceration type.They were followed up for 7 to 50 months (average,22.7 months).The fractures united after 5 to 16 months (average,7.3 months).Postoperative knee pain was observed in 3 cases and delayed fracture union in 2.Osteomyelitis,superficial wound infection,implant breakage or malunion occurred in none of the patients.The therapeutic efficacy evaluated at the final follow-up by HSS knee scores and Kofoed ankle scores revealed 15 excellent,4 good and 2 fair cases,yielding an excellent to good rate of 90.5％.Conclusion The concept of irreducible tibial shaft fractures may lead to preoperative awareness on the part of the surgeons so that ineffective repeated reductions can be spared and the damage to the blood supply to the fracture ends and the operation time can be reduced.

Objective:To explore the short-term therapeutic outcomes of femoral neck fractures fixated by Femoral Neck System (FNS).Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted of the 16 patients with femoral neck fracture who had been admitted to the Department of Traumatology & Orthopedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital to Anhui Medical University from January to December 2019. They were 6 males and 10 females, aged from 24 to 69 years (average, 47.5 years). According to the Garden Classification, there were 3 cases of type Ⅱ, 7 cases of type Ⅲ, and 6 cases of type Ⅳ. All the 16 patients were fixated with FNS. Recorded were operation time, frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy, intraoperative blood loss, quality of postoperative fracture reduction, hospital stay, fracture healing time, and efficacy and complications at the last follow-up.Results:The 16 patients were followed up for 5 to 16 months after operation (average, 9.3 months). According to the Garden indexes, fracture reduction was evaluated as satisfactory in all the 16 patients. The operation time in this group ranged from 25 to 115 min with an average of 41.5 min, the frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy from 14 to 47 times with an average of 26 times, the intraoperative blood loss from 35 to 210 mL with an average of 76 mL, the hospital stay from 3 to 9 days with an average of 4.6 days, and the fracture healing time from 3 to 6 months with an average of 4.5 months. By the Harris hip scores at the last follow-up, the function of the affected hip was rated as excellent in 10 cases, good in 5 and fair in one. Follow-ups revealed no complications like infection or implant loosening.Conclusions:The FNS is a new type of simple, reliable, safe and minimally invasive internal fixation for the treatment of femoral neck fractures. The plate, bolt, anti-rotation screws and locking screws in FNS can be inserted through a single minimally invasive incision, leading to reliable fixation, limited irritation to the lateral muscular soft tissues, and fine short-term outcomes.

Objective:To compare of the efficacy of Steinman pin-assisted and manual reduction for the treatment of distal femoral fracture with anterograde intramedullary nail.Methods:From January 2014 to August 2018, data of 54 patients with distal femoral fracture were retrospectively analyzed. According to the fracture reduction methods, patients were divided into two groups: bare-handed reduction group and Steinman pin-assisted reduction group (referred to Steinman pin group). There were 16 males and 10 females in bare-handed reduction group, with age of 37.5±9.2 years (range, 21-59 years). According to AO/OTA classification, 16 cases were type 32-A, 7 type 32-B, 3 type 32-C. There were 19 males and 9 females in Steinman pin reduction group, with age of 36.4±9.8 years (range, 18-55 years). According to AO/OTA classification, 19 cases were type 32-A, 7 type 32-B, 2 type 32-C. The reduction time, fluoroscopy times, intraoperative blood loss, fracture healing time, and knee joint function score of American hospital for special surgery (HSS) were compared between the two groups.Results:The amount of blood loss during operation was 142.78±29.76 ml in the bare-handed group, and 94.81±17.71 ml in the Steinman pin group. The reduction time of fracture was 14.19±2.50 min in the bare-handed group and 5.02±1.69 min in the Steinman pin group. The times of fluoroscopy during reduction was 12.56 ±2.01 in the bare-handed group and 5.01±1.51 in the Steinman pin group. There were significant differences in the above indexes ( t=12.19, 4.02, 5.47; all P < 0.05). All 54 patients were followed up for 12-51 months, with an average of 23.4 months. All the fractures healed, and there was no delayed union or nonunion. The healing time was 7.01±1.15 months in the bare-handed group and 5.99±0.97 months in the Steinman pin group. There were no significant difference. The HSS score of knee joint function was 23.7±4.1 before operation, 61.3±4.5 at 1 month after operation, 70.2±4.2 at 2 months after operation, 78.9±5.9 at 3 months after operation, 87.9±4.6 at 6 months after operation, and 93.1±5.8 at 12 months after operation, in the bare-handed group. Meanwhile, in the Steinman pin group, 22.5±3.8 before operation, 62.2±5.1 at 1 month after operation, 69.1±4.7 at 2 months after operation, 79.2±4.3 at 3 months after operation, 88.6±5.3 at 6 months after operation, and 92.3±6.1 at 12 months after operation. There were no significant difference between the two groups ( t=1.113, 0.689, 0.908, 0.212, 0.519, 0.494, P > 0.05). There were significant differences between the two groups at each time point before and after operation ( F=716.42, 815.52, P < 0.001). There were no complications such as injection point infection, vascular and nerve injury, failure of internal fixation and so on. Conclusion:Both groups had good functional recovery after operation. However, compared with bare-handed reduction, Steinman pin groupreduction has less intraoperative blood loss, shorter reduction time and less fluoroscopy times, which is a safer reduction method.