Animals ; DNA, Fungal ; Phosphorylation ; RNA Polymerase II ; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid ; T-Box Domain Proteins ; genetics

Background: Synaptic plasticity contributes to nociceptive signal transmission and modulation, with calcium/ calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMK II) playing a fundamental role in neural plasticity. This research was conducted to investigate the role of CaMK II in the transmission and regulation of nociceptive information within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of naïve and morphine-tolerant rats. Methods: Randall Selitto and hot-plate tests were utilized to measure the hindpaw withdrawal latencies (HWLs) in response to noxious mechanical and thermal stimuli. To induce chronic morphine tolerance, rats received intraperitoneal morphine injection twice per day for seven days. CaMK II expression and activity were assessed using western blotting. Results: Intra-NAc microinjection of autocamtide-2-related inhibitory peptide (AIP) induced an increase in HWLs in naïve rats in response to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli. Moreover, the expression of the phosphorylated CaMK II (p-CaMK II) was significantly decreased as determined by western blotting. Chronic intraperitoneal injection of morphine resulted in significant morphine tolerance in rats on Day 7, and an increase of p-CaMK II expression in NAc in morphine-tolerant rats was observed. Furthermore, intra-NAc administration of AIP elicited significant antinociceptive responses in morphine-tolerant rats. In addition, compared with naïve rats, AIP induced stronger thermal antinociceptive effects of the same dose in rats exhibiting morphine tolerance. Conclusions This study shows that CaMK II in the NAc is involved in the transmission and regulation of nociception in naïve and morphine-tolerant rats.

BACKGROUNDEchinococcosis is still endemic in many countries, including China, where it is especially prevalent in the northwest. The aim of this study was to enrich the international literature about the treatment of intracranial hydatid cysts.

METHODSWe retrospectively reviewed the clinical features, radiological manifestations, and surgical outcome of 97 patients with intracranial hydatid cysts, who received surgical treatment at the Neurosurgical Department of First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from 1985 to 2010 and followed up the patient via sending a questionnaire or telephone contact. Clinical outcome was evaluated using the Karnofsky Performance Scale Index.

RESULTSHeadache and vomiting were the most common initial symptoms in our patients. Neurological deficits caused by the mass effect of the cysts were seen in 82 cases. On the X-ray, significant bone erosion was seen in only two cases with epidural hydatid cysts. Round-shaped and thin-walled homogeneous low-density cystic lesions without surrounding edema and enhancement were the main findings on computerized tomography (CT) in 95 patients with intraparenchymal hydatid cysts, while two cases with epidural hydatid cysts presented as a heterodensity lesions. On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), hydatid cyst presented as a round-shaped low signal lesion in T1-weighted images and high signal lesion in T2-weighted images, without enhancement after contrast media injection, while the two cases with epidural cysts presented as mixed signal masses. Surgical removal of cyst was performed in all cases. Total removal was achieved in 93 cases without rupturing the cyst wall. Only two cysts ruptured during the dissection, resulting in two surgery-related mortalities. There was no other additional neurological deficit caused directly by surgery. In 97.2% of the patients, the Karnofsky Performance Scale score was 80 to 90 at the last follow-up.

CONCLUSIONSIntracranial hydatid cyst is still a main cause of increased intracranial pressure among the patients in endemic areas for echinococcosis. CT and MRI are the best diagnostic methods and surgery is the treatment of choice for intracranial hydatid cysts.

Adult ; Brain Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Child ; Echinococcosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the potential systemic antitumor effects of stereotactic ablativeradiotherapy (SABR) and apatinib (a novel vascular endothelial growth factor receptor2 inhibitor) via reversing the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment for lung carcinoma. Materials and Methods: Lewis lung cancer cells were injected into C57BL/6 mice in the left hindlimb (primary tumor;irradiated) and in the right flank (secondary tumor; nonirradiated). When both tumors grewto the touchable size, mice were randomly divided into eight treatment groups. These groupsreceived normal saline or three distinct doses of apatinib (50 mg/kg, 150 mg/kg, and 200mg/kg) daily for 7 days, in combination with a single dose of 15 Gy radiotherapy or not tothe primary tumor. The further tumor growth/regression of mice were followed andobserved. Results: For the single 15 Gy modality, tumor growth delay could only be observed at the primarytumor. When combining SABR and apatinib 200 mg/kg, significant retardation of both primaryand secondary tumor growth could be observed, indicated an abscopal effect wasinduced. Mechanism analysis suggested that programmed death-ligand 1 expressionincreased with SABR was counteract by additional apatinib therapy. Furthermore, whenapatinib was combined with SABR, the composition of immune cells could be changed.More importantly, this two-pronged approach evoked tumor antigen–specific immune responsesand the mice were resistant to another tumor rechallenge, finally, long-term survivalwas improved. Conclusion Our results suggested that the tumor microenvironment could be managed with apatinib,which was effective in eliciting an abscopal effect induced by SABR.

OBJECTIVEAn accurate clinical TNM staging of lung cancer is essential for the precise determination of the extent of the disease in order that an optimal therapeutic strategy can be planned. This is especially true in patients with marginally resectable tumors. Clinical over-staging of the disease may deny a patient the benefit of surgery, whereas under-staging may oblige a patient to accept a fruitless or even harmful surgery. We aimed to analyze preoperative clinical (c-TNM) and postoperative surgico-pathologic staging (p-TNM) of lung cancer patients in order to evaluate the accuracy of our clinical staging and its implications on the surgical strategy for lung cancer.

METHODSWe did a retrospective comparison of c-TNM and p-TNM staging of 2007 patients with lung cancer surgically treated from January 1999 to May 2003. Preoperative evaluation and c-TNM staging of all patients were based on physical examination, laboratory studies, routine chest X-ray and CT scan of the chest and upper abdomen. Other examinations included sputum cytology, bronchoscopy, abdominal ultrasonography, bone scintiscan, brain CT/MRI, and mediastinoscopy whenever indicated.

RESULTSIn the present study the comparison of c-TNM and p-TNM staging of 2007 patients with lung cancer revealed an overall concurrence rate of only 39.0%. In the entire series the extent of disease was clinically underestimated in 45.2% and overestimated in 15.8% of the patients. Among all c-TNM stages the c-IA/B stage of 1105 patients gave the highest rate (55.2%) of underestimating the extent of disease. Clinical staging of T subsets was relatively easy with an overall accuracy rate of 72.9%, while that of N subsets was relatively more difficult with an overall accuracy rate of 53.5%. Analysis also showed that c-IV stage may not be an absolute contraindication to surgery, because in half of the patients, c-M1 turned out to be p-M0, providing the possibility of resectional surgery depending on the status of T and N.

CONCLUSIONFor reasons to be further determined, the present preoperative clinical TNM staging of lung cancer remains a crude evaluation. Further efforts to improve its accuracy are needed.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Pneumonectomy ; Retrospective Studies

Empathy, a basic prosocial behavior, is referred to as an ability to understand and share others' emotional state. Generally, empathy is also a social-behavioral basis of altruism. In contrast, impairment of empathy development may be associated with autism, narcissism, alexithymia, personality disorder, schizophrenia and depression. Thus, study of the brain mechanisms of empathy has great importance to not only scientific and clinical advances but also social harmony. However, research on empathy has long been avoided due to the fact that it has been considered as a distinct feature of human beings from animals, leading to paucity of knowledge in the field. In 2006, a Canadian group from McGill University found that a mouse in pain could be shared by its paired cagemate, but not a paired stranger, showing decreased pain threshold and increased pain responses through emotional contagion while they were socially interacting. In 2014, we further found that a rat in pain could also be shared by its paired cagemate 30 min after social interaction, showing long-term decreased pain threshold and increased pain responses, suggesting persistence of empathy for pain (empathic memory). We also mapped out that the medial prefrontal cortex, including the anterior cingulate cortex, prelimbic cortex and infralimbic cortex, is involved in empathy for pain in rats, suggesting that a neural network may be associated with development of pain empathy in the CNS. In the present brief review, we give a brief outline of the advances and challenges in study of empathy for pain in humans and animals, and try to provide a novel bio-psychosocial-behavioral model for study of pain and its emotional comorbidity using laboratory animals.
Animals ; Cerebral Cortex ; physiology ; Emotions ; Empathy ; Gyrus Cinguli ; physiology ; Humans ; Mice ; Models, Animal ; Pain ; Pain Threshold ; Prefrontal Cortex ; physiology ; Rats

Objective: To understand the core knowledge level and influencing factors of chronic disease prevention and control in Adults in China, and to provide a scientific basis for formulating chronic disease prevention and control measures. Methods: In this study, cross-sectional survey and quota sampling were used to recruit 173 819 permanent residents aged 18 and above from 302 counties of adult chronic diseases and nutrition surveillance in China to conduct an online questionnaire survey, including basic information and core knowledge of chronic diseases. The scores of the core knowledge of chronic disease prevention and control were described by median and interquartile range, the Wilcoxon rank sum test or the Kruskal Wallis test was used for the inter-group comparison, and the correlation factors of the total score were analyzed by the multilinear regression model. Results: A total of 172 808 participants were surveyed in 302 counties and districts, of which 42.60%(73 623) were male and 57.40%(99 185) were female; The proportion of respondents aged 18-44, 45-59, and 60 years old and above was 54.74% (94 594), 30.91% (53 423) and 14.35% (24 791), respectively. The total score of the core knowledge of chronic prevention and control in the total population was 66(13), and the scores of different characteristic groups were different, and the differences were statistically significant: the eastern region had the highest score at 67(11) (H=840.66, P<0.01), the urban 66(12) was higher than the rural 65(14) (Z=-31.35, P<0.01), and the male 66(14) was lower than female 66(12) (Z=-11.66, P<0.01), 18-24 years old 64(13) was lower than other age groups(H=115.80, P<0.01), and undergraduate degree and above had the highest score compared to other academic qualifications, with 68(9) points(H=2 547.25, P<0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that eastern (t=27.42, P<0.01), central (t=17.33, P<0.01), urban (t=5.69, P<0.01), female (t=17.81, P<0.01), high age (t=46.04, P<0.01) and high education (t=57.77, P<0.01) had higher scores of core knowledge of chronic disease prevention and control than other groups, the scores of core knowledge of chronic disease prevention and control of professional and technical personnel (t=8.63, P<0.01), state enterprises and institutions (t=38.67, P<0.01), agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery and water conservancy production (t=5.30, P<0.01), production, transportation and commercial personnel (t=24.87, P<0.01), and other workers (t=8.89, P<0.01) were higher than those of non-employed people. Conclusion: There are differences in the total scores of the core knowledge of chronic disease prevention and control in different characteristics of people in China, and in the future, health education on the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases should be strengthened for specific groups to improve the knowledge level of residents.
Female ; Humans ; Male ; China/epidemiology* ; Chronic Disease ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; East Asian People ; Occupations ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice

Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) is becoming more and more popular among the world. Despite its dramatic efficacy, however, the mechanism of VSG remains largely undetermined. This study aimed to test interferon (IFN)-γ secretion n of mesenteric lymph nodes in obese mice (ob/ob mice), a model of VSG, and its relationship with farnesoid X receptor (FXR) expression in the liver and small intestine, and to investigate the weight loss mechanism of VSG. The wild type (WT) mice and ob/ob mice were divided into four groups: A (WT+Sham), B (WT+VSG), C (ob/ob+Sham), and D (ob/ob+VSG). Body weight values were monitored. The IFN-γ expression in mesenteric lymph nodes of ob/ob mice pre- and post-operation was detected by flow cytometry (FCM). The FXR expression in the liver and small intestine was detected by Western blotting. The mouse AML-12 liver cells were stimulated with IFN-γ at different concentrations in vitro. The changes of FXR expression were also examined. The results showed that the body weight of ob/ob mice was significantly declined from (40.6±2.7) g to (27.5±3.8) g on the 30th day after VSG (P<0.05). At the same time, VSG induced a higher level secretion of IFN-γ in mesenteric lymph nodes of ob/ob mice than that pre-operation (P<0.05). The FXR expression levels in the liver and small intestine after VSG were respectively 0.97±0.07 and 0.84±0.07 fold of GAPDH, which were significantly higher than pre-operative levels of 0.50±0.06 and 0.48±0.06 respectively (P<0.05). After the stimulation of AML-12 liver cells in vitro by different concentrations of IFN-γ (0, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 200 ng/mL), the relative FXR expression levels were 0.22±0.04, 0.31±0.04, 0.39±0.05, 0.38±0.05, 0.56±0.06, and 0.35±0.05, respectively, suggesting IFN-γ could distinctly promote the FXR expression in a dose-dependent manner in comparison to those cells without IFN-γ stimulation (P<0.05). It was concluded that VSG induces a weight loss in ob/ob mice by increasing IFN-γ secretion of mesenteric lymph nodes, which then increases the FXR expression of the liver and small intestine.
Animals ; Body Weight ; Cell Line ; Gastrectomy ; methods ; Gene Expression ; Hepatocytes ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Interferon-gamma ; biosynthesis ; pharmacology ; secretion ; Intestine, Small ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Lymph Nodes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Mesentery ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Obese ; Obesity ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear ; agonists ; genetics ; metabolism ; Weight Loss