BACKGROUND:It remains controversial about the clinical outcomes of bone fil ing mesh containers (BFMCs) and percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in pain relief, kyphosis correction, vertebral height restoration and reduction of cement leakage. OBJECTIVE:To compare the clinical outcomes of BFMCs and PKP for osteoporotic vertebral compressive fracture. METHODS:A total of 90 patients with osteoporotic vertebral compressive fracture were equivalently randomized into two groups, fol owed by treated with BFMCs or PKP, respectively. During a more than 3-month fol ow-up, pain relief, kyphotic angle, the vertebral height and cement leakage were observed in the two groups to assess the therapeutic effects. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Pain in al patients was relieved at 24 hours after operation. There was no significant difference in pain relief between two groups (P>0.05). PKP was more effective to restore the vertebral height (P<0.05), while BMCFs significantly reduced the leakage rate of bone cement (P<0.05). These results suggest that BFMCs and PKP have their own advantages in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compressive fracture, but both exert analgesic effects.

Objective To explore the effectiveness and safety of temporary immunosuppressant withdrawal for the management of severe infection after liver transplantation.Methods Fifty-one patients with severe infection after liver transplantation were divided into control group (24 cases) and withdrawal group (27 cases ) according to the immunosuppression protocol.In the withdrawal group, the immunosuppressive drugs were temporarily suspended according to ATP values of CD4 + T cell and CD4 + T lymphocyte subsets counting until infection was controlled.The liver function,the incidence of acute rejection and the graft survival rate were monitored during the process.The side effects were observed.Result Severe infection was cured in 39 patients.There were 9 deaths in the control group in which the immunosuppressant was continued during the course of infection and 3 in the withdrawal group,respectively.The median suspension of immunosuppressant in trial group was ( 15.5 ± 4.8 ) d ( 6 ～ 22 d) ; CD4 + T lymphocyte subsets counting rose from (65.60 ± 32.58)/μl to (103.04 ± 12.39)/μl,ATP values of CD4 + T cell rose from (79 ±23) μg/L to ( 112 ± 11 ) μg/L; meanwhile,the temperature dropped from (38.3 ± 1.2) ℃ to (36.4 ± 1.1) ℃,WBC dropped from (15.7 ± 4.4) × 109/L to (6.3 ± 3.8) × 109/L,CRP dropped from ( 153.4 ± 37.1 ) mg/L to ( 16.5 ± 4.8) mg/L.During the course of treatment and follow-up,liver function of patients in the trial group remained normal and no acute rejection occurred.Compared with the control group,the temperature recovery time in the trial group was shorter ( respectively F =5.32,8.37,9.12,all P ＜ 0.05) and the therapeutic outcome was better.Conclusions The cellular immune function test could be evaluated according to the ATP values of CD4 + T cell and CD4 + T lymphocyte subsets counting.For severe infection after liver transplantation, anti-infection treatment and simultaneously withdrawing immunosuppressants help to control the infection.

OBJECTIVETo screen for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC)-associated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) and identify oncogenic lncRNA contributing to ESCC pathogenesis.

METHODSA lncRNA array containing 7419 lncRNA was used to detect the transcriptional profiles of lncRNA of four pairs of ESCC and matched normal esophageal tissue. Bioinformatic analysis was employed to identify differentially expressed ESCC associated lncRNA (ESCCAL). Quantitative real-time PCR was used to verify selected dysregulated lncRNA on independent ESCC samples.

RESULTSGenome-wide transcriptome profiling (coding and or noncoding RNA transcripts) was able to distinguish ESCC from normal tissue. Among these, bioinformatic analysis has identified 154 differentially expressed ESCC associated lncRNA (ESCCALs), which included 111 downregulated and 43 upregulated lncRNA in ESCC relative to the normal tissue (P< 0.01). The highest upregulated lncRNA (ESCCAL_1) and known onco-lncRNA HOTAIR was further verified in 26 paired ESCC samples. ESCCAL_1 and HOTAIR were found to be highly expressed in 17 ESCC and 18 ESCC compared with normal esophageal tissues.

CONCLUSIONThis investigation has revealed large scale aberrant expression of lncRNA in ESCC. About 70% of novel lncRNA-ESCCAL_1, together with a known lncRNA-HOTAIR, are highly expressed in ESSC, suggesting that ESCCAL_1 and HOTAIR may participate in the pathological process of ESCC. Furthermore, lncRNA could be potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for ESCC.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; methods ; Humans ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Prognosis ; RNA, Long Noncoding ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction