Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of periradicular compound betamethasone injections into the periganglionic space in the treatment of radicular pain.Methods Periganglionic compound betamethasone infiltrations were performed in 76 patients with lumbar radicular pain under MSCT guidance.All patients were divided into two groups including group 1(31 cases of lumbar disc herniation)and group 2(45 cases of lumbar degenerative disorders).The total and two groups scores of VAS were compared after the therapeutic procedure with evaluation of the efficacy.Results 88%(69/76)of patients showed significant pain reduction,with the score of VAS 6.5?2.0(before therapy)dropping to 3.4?1.8(after 1 week)and 3.8?1.9(after 3 month).Differences in improvements before and after the therapy were statistically significant.Differences between one-week and three-month follow-up were not statistically significant.Differences between the two groups demonstrated no statistical significance.Conclusion Periradicular compound betamethasone injection under CT guidance is safe and useful in the treatment of lumbar radicular pain.

Betulinic acid is a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenoid, which has antiretroviral, antimalarial, and anti-inflammatory properties. The purpose of this study is to investigate the HBV DNA replication inhibition in the mouse model with betulinic acid. Hydrodynamic injection method via the tail vein with the Paywl. 3 plasmid was used to establish the animal mode (n = 15), and the mice were randomly divided into the PBS control group (n = 5), Betulinic acid treatment group (n = 5) and lamivudine control group (n = 5). The day after successful modeling , the mice would have taken Betulinic acid (100 mg x kg(-1)), lamivudine (50 mg x kg(-1)), PBS drugs orally, once daily for 7 days, blood samples were acquired from the orbital venous blood at 3, 5, 7 days after the administering, HBsAg and HBeAg in serum concentration were measured by ELISA and the mice were sacrificed after 7 days, HBV DNA southern detections were used with part of mice livers. The results showed that betulinic acid significantly inhibited the expression of HbsAg in the mice model at the fifth day compared with the control group, and there was no significant differences between the effects of lamivudine and the PBS control group; both the betulinic acid and lamivudine groups had no significant inhibition for the HBeAg expression; the HBV DNA expressions of the liver tissue from the betulinic acid and lamivudine groups were inhibited compared with the control group. Taken together, these results reveal betulinic acid can inhibit the HBsAg expression and replication of the liver HBV DNA in the mouse model.
Acute Disease ; Animals ; Antiviral Agents ; pharmacology ; DNA Replication ; drug effects ; DNA, Viral ; biosynthesis ; Hepatitis B ; blood ; virology ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; blood ; Hepatitis B virus ; drug effects ; genetics ; immunology ; physiology ; Male ; Mice ; Plasmids ; genetics ; Triterpenes ; pharmacology ; Virus Replication ; drug effects

Percutaneous sacroplasty is a safe and effective procedure for sacral insufficient fractures under CT or fluoroscopic guidance; although, few reports exist about sacral metastatic tumors. We designed a pilot study to treat intractable pain caused by a sacral metastatic tumor with sacroplasty. A 62-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman with medically intractable pain due to metastatic tumors of S1 from lymphoma and lung cancer, respectively, underwent percutaneous sacroplasty. Over the course of the follow-up period, the two patients experienced substantial and immediate pain relief that persisted over a 3-month and beyond. The woman had deposition of PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) in the needle track, but did not experience significant symptoms. No other peri-procedural complications were observed for either patient.
Adult ; Bone Cements/*therapeutic use ; Female ; *Fluoroscopy ; Humans ; Injections, Intralesional ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pain, Intractable/etiology/*therapy ; Polymethyl Methacrylate/administration & dosage ; *Radiography, Interventional ; *Sacrum ; Spinal Neoplasms/complications/radiography/*secondary ; *Vertebroplasty/methods

Percutaneous osteoplasty (POP) as a technical extension of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) has been used to treat malignant disease that affects the skeletal system. POP has demonstrated good outcome for pain relief and functional improvement. Few studies have reported on the efficiency of POP to treat malignancies located in the femoral head. We designed a pilot study with the use of POP to treat intractable pain caused by a femoral head metastatic tumor in a 43-year-old man. During the follow-up period, the patient experienced sustained pain relief and improvement of quality of life that persisted for more than three months.
Adult ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Femoral Neoplasms/*diagnosis/secondary/*therapy ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Tomography, Emission-Computed ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Antiviral Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; drug therapy ; psychology ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Mental Disorders ; complications ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo report the operative technique and clinical application of the neurocutaneous flap with anterior cutaneous branch of the femoral nerve supplied by the perforator of saphenous artery.

METHODSThe reverse neurocutaneous flap with anterior cutaneous branch of the femoral nerve supplied by the perforator of saphenous artery was used for repairing the defect around knee or at the upper pad of leg. Since Oct. 2005, 16 cases were treated. The flap size ranged from 15 cm x 7 cm to 30 cm x 15 cm. Flap rotation angle ranged from l00 degrees to 180 degrees.

RESULTS13 flaps survived completely. Flap necrosis happened at the 1/7 - 1/5 distal end of the 3 flaps, which healed with dressing or local flap advancement. The patients were followed up for 6 to 24 months with satisfactory functional and cosmetic results. There was no morbidity at the donor site.

CONCLUSIONThe flap has the advantages of both the perforator flap and the neurocutaneous flap. The size of the neurocutaneous flap with the anterior cutaneous branch of the femoral nerve can be enlarged for the large defect at lower extremity.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Arteries ; surgery ; Female ; Femoral Nerve ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Skin Transplantation ; methods ; Surgical Flaps ; blood supply ; innervation ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDTissue-engineered heart valves have the potential to overcome the limitations of present heart valve replacements. This study was designed to develop a tissue engineering heart valve by using human umbilical cord blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and decellularized valve scaffolds.

METHODSDecellularized valve scaffolds were prepared from fresh porcine heart valves. EPCs were isolated from fresh human umbilical cord blood by density gradient centrifugation, cultured for 3 weeks in EGM-2-MV medium, by which time the resultant cell population became endothelial in nature, as assessed by immunofluorescent staining. EPC-derived endothelial cells were seeded onto the decellularized scaffold at 3 x 10(6) cells/cm(2) and cultured under static conditions for 7 days. Proliferation of the seeded cells on the scaffolds was detected using the MTT assay. Tissue-engineered heart valves were analyzed by HE staining, immunofluorescent staining and scanning electron microscopy. The anti-thrombogenic function of the endothelium on the engineered heart valves was evaluated by platelet adhesion experiments and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis for the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA).

RESULTSEPC-derived endothelial cells showed a histolytic cobblestone morphology, expressed specific markers of the endothelial cell lineage including von Willebrand factor (vWF) and CD31, bound a human endothelial cell-specific lectin, Ulex Europaeus agglutinin-1 (UEA-1), and took up Dil-labeled low density lipoprotein (Dil-Ac-LDL). After seeding on the decellularized scaffold, the cells showed excellent metabolic activity and proliferation. The cells formed confluent endothelial monolayers atop the decellularized matrix, as assessed by HE staining and immunostaining for vWF and CD31. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated the occurrence of tight junctions between cells forming the confluent monolayer. Platelets adhesion experiments suggested that the neo-endothelium was non-thrombogenic. The expression levels of eNOS and t-PA genes in the neo-endothelium were quite similar to those in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

CONCLUSIONSEPCs isolated from the human umbilical cord blood can differentiate into endothelial cells in vitro and form a functional endothelium atop decellularized heart valve scaffolds. Thus, EPCs may be a promising cell source for constructing tissue-engineered heart valves.

Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Heart Valve Prosthesis ; Heart Valves ; cytology ; metabolism ; ultrastructure ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; genetics ; metabolism ; Platelet Aggregation ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Swine ; Tissue Engineering ; methods ; Tissue Plasminogen Activator ; genetics ; metabolism ; Umbilical Cord ; cytology

OBJECTIVETo screen the radiosensitivity-related genes of colorectal cancer cells.

METHODSGene expression profiles of two different radiosensitivity cells(colorectal cancer cell line Lovo and SW480) were obtained by cDNA array and the differences of gene expression profiles between the two cells were analyzed.

RESULTSGenes of more than 2-fold expressive differentiation were screened. In Lovo cells, 908 up-regulated genes were found, including higher expression genes CEACAM5, THBS1, SERPINE2, ARL7, HPGD, while 1312 genes were down-regulated. In SW480 cells, higher expression genes were SCD, NQ01, LYZ, KRT20 and ATP1B1.

CONCLUSIONGene profiles can reflect the radiosensitivity of colorectal cancer cells, which will provide the choice for the further study of radiosensitivity in colorectal cancer.

Cell Line, Tumor ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; Gene Expression ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genome, Human ; Humans ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Radiation Tolerance ; genetics

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of herceptin(trastuzumab) plus adjuvant chemotherapy on the prognosis of patients with human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive early-stage breast cancer by Meta-analysis. METHODS: Search all of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on herceptin plus adjuvant chemotherapy for HER2 positive early-stage breast cancer in MEDLINE, EMBase, Cochrane library, Clinical Trails, ASCO Conference data, CHKD, Wanfang Database, VIP information, scholar.google.com and SIGLE. A Meta-analysis was carried out by collecting information based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria from all papers available. RESULTS: The Meta-analysis included 4 trials. A total of 9116 patients were included in the analysis(4555 in the study group and 4561 in the control group). There were statistical differences between the study group(herceptin plus adjuvant chemotherapy) and the control group(adjuvant chemotherapy) in the disease-free survival rate [relative risk(RR)=1.08, 95% CI, 1.06-1.09, P<0.001], the overall survival rate(RR=1.01, 95% CI, 1.01-1.02, P=0.0003), the distant recurrence rate(RR=0.49, 95% CI, 0.42-0.57, P<0.001), and the cardiac events rate (RR=3.93,95% CI, 1.03-15.06, P=0.05). CONCLUSION Herceptin plus adjuvant chemotherapy can improve the disease-free survival rate and the overall survival rate, decrease distant recurrence rate of patients with HER2 positive early-stage breast cancer, but may cause heart toxicity, especially when combined with anthracycline (doxorubicin).
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; therapeutic use ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Female ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; genetics ; Trastuzumab

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of damage-regulated autophagy modulator (DRAM) on radiosensitivity and the related mechanisms of implanted tumors of SGC7901 human gastric carcinoma cells in nude mice.

METHODSNude mice were randomly divided into model control group, radiotherapy group, and DRAM treatment group and radiotherapy combined with DRAM treatment group. When volume of transplantation tumor were 1.0 cm(3), radiotherapy, DRAM treatment was given. On days 3, 6 and 9 after treatment, the inhibition rate of tumor growth, pathological changes in tumor specimens, expression levels of P53, proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA), C-myc, Fas-L, as well as apoptosis indexes in tumor samples were observed.

RESULTSInhibition rates of tumor in DRAM combined with radiotherapy were 9.3%, 14.1%, 16.7% on day 3, 6 and 9, respectively, all significantly higher than those in the radiotherapy group(5.0%, 8.8%, 6.5%, P<0.05). The expressions of PCNA and C-myc protein were down-regulated, while the expressions of P53 and Fas-L were upregulated.

CONCLUSIONDamage-regulated autophagy modulator gene may promote cell apoptosis and inhibit cell growth to enhance the radiosensitivity of transplanted gastric tumor in vivo in nude mice.

Animals ; Autophagy ; genetics ; Cell Proliferation ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Radiation Tolerance ; Stomach Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; Tumor Cells, Cultured