Objective To improve the understanding of pulmonary mucormycosis by analyzing the clinical manifestations,imaging features,diagnosis,treatment and prognosis of this disease.Methods The clinical data of eight patients diagnosed as pulmonary mucormycosis by histopathologic examination were retrospectively analyzed.Results Eight patients included six males and two females with age from 36 days to 66 years.Underlying conditions covered diabetes (n =4),renal transplantation (n =3),premature (n =1) and long-term corticosteroid treatment in two cases.Imaging manifestations revealed multiple irregular lumps or nodules in three cases,multiple cavities with thick wall in three cases,diffuse lung infiltrate in one case and lung opacities in one case.The diagnoses of seven patients were confirmed by percutaneous needle lung biopsy and the remaining one was diagnosed with fiberoptic bronchoscopy biopsy.Surgery combined with amphotericin B liposome(60 mg/d for three weeks)was applied to one patient who was cured with no recurrence after a 22 month follow-up.Three cases were given amphotericin B liposome (a newborn with 7mg/d for 62 days,the other two 60 mg/d for 31 days and 70 mg/d for 71 days respectively).All had achieved marked response with follow up from 8 to 29 months,but one patient relapsed and died of recurrent lung mucormycosis.The other three patients were treated with itraconazole 400-200 mg/d from 21 days to 1 year with duration of follow up from 1 month to 20 months.One patient was not evaluable due to missing.Two patients relapsed and one died.Conclusion Pulmonary mucormycosis is difficult to diagnose and treat with a high mortality.Percutaneous tranthoracic lung biopsy is a useful diagnostic method.Amphotericin B liposome or itraconazole may be active against mucus.Early control of causes is essential to improve the prognosis and reduce the recurrence in patients with pulmonary mucormycosis.

To investigate the diagnosis and surgical treatment of inraspinal tumors.
The clinical data of 246 patients with inraspinal tumors who had undergone operations in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University Medical Col ege between January 2010 and January 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. The treatment and prognosis of inraspinal tumors were reviewed.
262 operations were performed, with posterior bilateral laminectomy approach in 202 cases, semi-laminectomy approach in 28 cases, laminoplasty approach in 10 cases, and lateral resection of extra-vertebral canal dumbbel shaped tumors in 22 cases. The short-term remission rate of the nerve root pain reached 95.0%(133/140), and the improvement rates of the sensory disability, motor disturbance, and sphincter dysfunction were 85.6%(125/146), 86.7%( 136/157), and 84.6(11/13) respectively. The ASIA nervous function scores and grades at the last fol ow-up were significantly superior to those before and 3 months after the operation in 236 patients.
Intraspinal tumors are mostly benign. The clinical appearance of them should be watched closely, and thorough physical check-up should be performed. MRI is the examination of choice at early diagnosis. The key to improve the treatment effects is to perform operations as soon as possible.

Objective To investigate the clinical features,radiology,diagnosis and treatment of postkidney-transplant pulmonary mucormycosis.Method Three cases of post-kidney-transplant pulmonary mucormycosis were successfully diagnosed by histopathologic examinations.The clinical features of the cases were analyzed.The patients consisted of 2 males and 1 female,aged 39 to 54 yearn All patients were subjected to renal transplantation due to uremia,one was complicated with with diabetes,and pulmonary mucormycosis occurred 6 months,2 years and 6 years after kidney transplant respectively.Fever,cough,bloody sputum and chest pain were the main clinical manifestations.Multiple irregular massive or diffuse infiltrates in the lungs were the early CT findings.In a shoot time,multiple thick-walled cavities occurred in the pulmonary lesions.Pleural effusion was found in one patient.The lung specimens of patients were obtained by CT-guided percutaneous biopsy.Result The first patiem was cured after one year therapy by hraconazole,but recurred after 8 months.The second patient had a marked effect after a 21-day therapy by Itraconazole,but died of disseminated mucor for excessive immunosuppressant against the renal transplantation rejection.The third patient also had a marked effect,and was still in follow up.Condusion The post-kidney-transplant pulmonary mucormycosis is difficult in diagnosis and treatment.CT-guided percutaneous biopsy is one of effective ways for diagnosis.Itraconazole appears to be effective in treatment of pulmonary mucormycosis.Early diagnosis and an appropriate immune ftmction are the keys to improve prognosis and reduce recurrence

OBJECTIVE: To determine the genetic modification on neonatal porcine islet cell clusters (NICC) by small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated tissue factor (TF) knockdown in vitro. METHODS: Porcine NICC were transfected with 5 pairs of designed siRNA respectively or in different combinations with lipofectamine 2000. Transfected NICC were analyzed for TF gene by real-time PCR to select the siRNA which worked best. Meanwhile, the viability of NICC after the TF siRNA transfection was examined by FACS. The efficiency of TF gene and protein suppression was measured by real-time PCR and and FACS respectively. RESULTS: Real-time PCR and FACS showed that a 60% reduction in the TF gene expression and a 50% reduction in the protien level of TF on NICC were achieved by transfecting 3 pairs of selected siRNA. The siRNA transfection had no significant effect on the viability of NICC which was analyzed by FACS. CONCLUSION The expression of TF on porcine NICC is efficiently suppressed by 3 pairs of designed siRNA in vitro.
Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Cells, Cultured ; Female ; Gene Knockdown Techniques ; Gene Silencing ; Islets of Langerhans ; cytology ; metabolism ; Male ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Swine ; Thromboplastin ; genetics ; metabolism ; Transfection

Objective:To predict potential target genes in dexamethasone-induced open-angle glaucoma via bioinformatics technology.Methods:The GEO datasets GSE16643, GSE37474, and GSE124114 were used to analyze the differentially expressed genes by GEO2R.Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed on the differentially expressed genes between GSE37474 and GSE124114.Intersection of the three datasets were displayed by Venn diagram.The annotation and enrichment analysis of the intersection genes were performed through Gene Ontology (GO)/Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis and then were compared with normal tissue in GTEx Portal database.The corresponding protein interaction network was obtained by STRING.Finally, the candidate genes were searched for their transcription factors in UCSC and JASPAR.Primary human trabecular cells were divided into dexamethasone group and control group, treated with 2 ml 500 nmol/L dexamethasone and the same amount of ethanol, respectively.The expression of BDKRB1 and TAGLN in trabecular cells was detected by Western blot.Results:Differential genes between GSE37474 and GSE124114 datasets enriched in complement and coagulation cascade by GSEA.There were 89 intersecting genes of the three datasets.These genes mainly regulated the formation of extracellular matrix by GO analysis.The gene with the highest enrichment score and collagen-containing extracellular matrix was found to be associated with fibroblasts in GTEx Portal database.ACTA2, MYL9, TAGLN, and LMOD1 were closely related in STRING protein-protein interaction network.Transcription factor SP1 in UCSC and JASPAR according to related genes, BDKRB1, NID1, MFGE8 and TAGLN.The relative expression levels of BDKRB1 and TAGLN proteins were 1.32±0.14 and 0.44±0.09 in dexamethasone group, respectively, which were significantly higher than 1.00±0.00 and 0.20±0.10 in the control group, respectively ( t=-3.61, 2.89; both at P<0.05). Conclusions:Bioinformatics analysis showed that transcription factor SP1 may play a role in human trabecular meshwork cells to myofibroblasts transition after dexamethasone treatment.

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is the main cause of brain tumor-related death among children. Until now, there is still a lack of effective therapy with prolonged overall survival for this disease. A typical strategy for preclinical cancer research is to find out the molecular differences between tumor tissue and para-tumor normal tissue, in order to identify potential therapeutic targets. Unfortunately, it is impossible to obtain normal tissue for DIPG because of the vital functions of the pons. Here we report the human fetal hindbrain-derived neural progenitor cells (pontine progenitor cells, PPCs) as normal control cells for DIPG. The PPCs not only harbored similar cell biological and molecular signatures as DIPG glioma stem cells, but also had the potential to be immortalized by the DIPG-specific mutation H3K27M in vitro. These findings provide researchers with a candidate normal control and a potential medicine carrier for preclinical research on DIPG.
Animals ; Brain Stem Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cellular Senescence ; Female ; Glioma ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Histones ; genetics ; Humans ; Mice, Inbred NOD ; Mice, SCID ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neural Stem Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Pons ; embryology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Primary Cell Culture