BACKGROUND: Traditional solid bone can not receive satisfied effects in repairing irregular bone defects in oral maxillofacial surgery due to uneven distribution of cells and growth factors. Therefore, it is a research direction to prepare injectable tissue engineering bone.OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of chitosan/β-tricalcium phosphate/recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2(CS/β-TCP/rhBMP-2) composite on mandibular defect repair.DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: A randomized controlled animal experiment. The experiment was performed atthe animal laboratory, Medical College of Jinnan University from May 2008 to March 2009.MATERIALS: The injectable tissue engineering bone was prepared by using complex of liquid CS and solid β-TCP as scaffold materials, and combined with freeze-dried rhBMP-2.METHODS: Twenty-four New Zealand white rabbits were prepared for double sides mandibular defect models, and randomized into 4 groups: ①CS/p-TCP/rhBMP-2 group: 1 mL CS/β-TCP/rhBMP-2 complex was injected into the defects.②CS/β-TCP group:0.5 mL CS/β-TCP complex was injected into defects. ③Autograft bone group: repairing the defects with sclerotin of the iliac crest.④Blank control group: no implantation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: At weeks 2, 4 and 8 after surgery, the material degradation and new bone formation were evaluated with, haematoxylin-eosin staining, and electron microscope; the bone mineral density was detected by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to determine bone formation rate and quality.RESULTS: ①Gross observation demonstrated that the size and thickness of osteotylus in CS/β-TCP/rhBMP-2 group was equivalent with the autograft group, which were greater than that of the other groups.②Histologicalobservation demonstrated that there were more bone matrixes in the CS/β-TCP/rhBMP-2 group and autograft group than that in the CS/β-TCP group and blank control group at each time points. ③Scanning electron microscope image suggested that at 8 weeks after operation, the bone bed and the materials in CS/β-TCP/rhBMP-2 group were connected with bone, and the gap was diminished. The degradation of the materials was so obvious that the complete structure of materials could not be found. ⑤DXA detection appealed that the bone density of each group was gradually increased with time prolonged. The quantities of bone density in CS/β-TCP/rhBMP-2 group in weeks 2, 4 and 8 were significantly higher than CS/β-TCP group and blankcontrol group (P < 0.05).CONCLUSION: ①CS/β-TCP/rhBMP-2 has good biocompatibility, degradability and the capacity of bone guidance and bone induction. ②CS/β-TCP can be served as a promising carrier for BMP-2, which is a potential degradable biological material for repairing bone defects.

AIM:To investigate the clinical significance of microRNA-26a-5p (miR-26a-5p)-regulated mye-loid cell leukemia-1 (MCL-1) expression in the development of maternal preeclampsia.METHODS:Plasma and placen-tal tissues were collected from 21 cases of normal pregnancy, 13 cases of maternal gestational hypertension, 15 cases of mild preeclampsia and 26 cases of severe preeclampsia.The levels of plasma and placental miR-26a-5p and placental MCL-1 mRNA were detected by real-time PCR.Western blotting analysis was used to determine the protein expression of placen-tal MCL-1.The clinical significance of the above parameters was also analyzed.RESULTS:miR-26a-5p expression gradu-ally increased(P<0.01) in the 4 groups of maternal plasma and placentas with the disease development, and the mRNA expression of MCL-1 was significantly reduced in the placentas (P<0.01), both showing a significant negative correlation (P<0.01).Meanwhile, the expression of miR-26a-5p and MCL-1 protein in the placental tissues was negatively correla-ted (P<0.01).The miR-26a-5p up-regulation in maternal plasma and placental tissues was negatively correlated with ges-tational age, maternal plasma albumin levels and fetal weight, while it was positively correlated with maternal blood pres-sure and urinary protein level (P<0.01), which was in contrary to the down-regulation of placental MCL-1.CONCLU-SION:Up-regulation of miR-26a-5p is involved in the occurrence and development of preeclampsia by down-regulation of MCL-1.

BACKGROUND: Liver inflammation is the main cause of severe liver diseases, including liver fibrosis, steatohepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Cell therapy topics are receiving increasingly more attention. The therapeutic applications of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have become one of the most discussed issues. While other stem cells have therapeutic effects, they have only one or two clinical applications. MSCs are responsible for repairing a variety of tissue injuries. Moreover, MSCs could be derived from several sources, including adipose tissue. MSCs are usually more abundant and easier to obtain compared to other stem cells. METHODS: To prove the concept that MSCs have homing ability to the injured tissue and assist in tissue repair, we examined the effects of intravenous injected adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) in a N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN)-induced liver injury rat model. RESULTS: The significant repairing ability of ADSCs was observed. The levels of fibrosis, apoptosis, and tumorigenesis in the DEN-injured liver tissues all decreased after ADSC treatment. Furthermore, to enhance the therapeutic effects of ADSCs, we pretreated them with L-theanine, which promotes the hepatocyte growth factor secretion of ADSC, and therefore improved the healing effects on injured liver tissue. CONCLUSION ADSCs, especially L-theanine-pretreated ADSCs, have anti-inflammation, anti-apoptosis, and anti-tumorigenesis effects on the N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced liver injury rat model.

Chemoembolization, Therapeutic ; adverse effects ; methods ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant ; Kidney Neoplasms ; therapy ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Wilms Tumor ; therapy

INTRODUCTIONWe aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of myopia in suburban schoolchildren. The refractive error, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and other ocular indices of 6069 schoolchildren (aged 6 to 15 years) from elementary and junior high schools in Chiayi County, Taiwan were examined in 2013-2015.

MATERIALS AND METHODSSpherical equivalent (SE) was stratified into 4 categories: emmetropia, mild myopia, moderate myopia, and high myopia for underlying analysis. Chi-squared (χ2) tests were used to determine significant associations between myopia and BCVA and age levels. To compare statistical significance among different age levels, values of Bonferroni tests were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and correlation coefficient were calculated to assess the correlation between myopia and each ocular index.

RESULTSThe youngest subject diagnosed with myopia was a 7-year-old. Myopia had significant associations with both BCVA and age levels (95% confidence intervals [CI] = 2.553, 2.713 and -0.284, -0.248, respectively), under <0.05. Among the calculated ROC values, BCVA had the highest area of 0.676 with myopia. This further confirmed that BCVA was highly correlated with myopia in schoolchildren. Other ocular indices like intraocular pressure (IOP), pupil distance, ocular alignments, or ocular height had ROC curves below 0.5 to myopia.

CONCLUSIONThis study concluded that the onset of myopia started earlier and progressively worsened with years of investigation among the suburban schoolchildren. Myopia had significant associations with BCVA and age levels. To effectively reduce the prevalence and severity of myopia, it is time to take actions on eye care education for suburban schoolchildren.

Adolescent ; Age of Onset ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Myopia ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Needs Assessment ; Population ; Prevalence ; Severity of Illness Index ; Taiwan ; epidemiology ; Visual Acuity

Objective To evaluate the endoscopic and pathologic characteristics and etiological ex-amination of viral esophagitis. Methods The data of 16 patients with viral esophagitis, including endoscop-ic, pathological and immunohistochemical findings were retrospectively studied. Results Endoscopic find-ings of viral esophagitis were characterized by single or multiple round and oval ulcers, located at the upper and middle esophagus. The surface of the ulcer was clean, and the boundary was distinct. Pathologic findings included degeneration and necrosis in squamons epithelium, accompanied by ulcer, infiltration of neutrophils and lymphocytes, hyperplasia of capillaries and basal cells and formation of granulation tissues, Immunocyto-chemical examination showed HSV-1 was positive in biopses, while CMV, EBV, HHV8 were negetive. Con-dusion Viral esophagtitis exhibited distinctive endosoopic and pathological features, and etiology can be confirmed by immunohistochemical examinations.

Objective: To discuss the application principle in tuina manipulation for lumbar intervertebral disc herniation (LIDH) in Chinese literatures published in recent 30 years. Methods: The three major Chinese databases, Wanfang Academic Journal Full-text Database (Wanfang), Chongqing VIP Database (CQVIP) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), were searched to collect the studies of tuina manipulations in treatment of LIDH published in recent 30 years. Clustering analysis was applied to analyze the top 20 tuina manipulations for LIDH. Results: The top 20 most frequently used manipulations for LIDH were Gun-rolling, Rou-kneading, Dian-digital pressing, oblique Ban-pulling, An-pressing, Tanbo-plucking, Bashen-pulling and extending, horizontal Tui-pushing, Na-grasping, Anrou-pressing and kneading, Dou-shaking, Yao-rocking, Ca-scrubbing, Pai-patting, post-extension Ban-pulling, Mo-rubbing, Zhen-vibrating, Nie-pinching, fist-back Ji-tapping, and dorsal Shen-extending methods. The involved manipulations can be divided into two categories by the treated body areas. One category is applied to the soft tissues, including Gun-rolling, Rou-kneading, Dian-digital pressing, An-pressing, Tanbo-plucking, horizontal Tui-pushing, Na-grasping, Anrou-pressing and kneading, Ca-scrubbing, Pai-patting, Mo-rubbing, Zhen-vibrating, Nie-pinching, and fist-back Ji-tapping methods. The other category is applied to bones and joints, including oblique Ban-pulling, Bashen-pulling and extending, Dou-shaking, Yao-rocking, post-extension Ban-pulling, and dorsal Shen-extending methods. Conclusion: Based on the treated body area, the tuina manipulations applied to treat LIDH are predominated by the ones performed on soft tissues, assisted by those on bones and joints. From the way of force exertion, the involved manipulations are majorly the swinging methods, followed by squeezing and pressing ones. The manipulations applied to bones and joints are predominated by the Ban-pulling ones, followed by the Bashen-pulling and extending ones.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Circoviridae Infections ; epidemiology ; virology ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepatitis, Viral, Human ; virology ; Humans ; Male ; Substance Abuse, Intravenous ; virology ; Torque teno virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinicopathological significance of positive CK7 expression in human colorectal carcinoma (HCC).

METHODSImmunohistochemistry was used to detect CK7 and CK20 protein expressions in 68 cases of HCC, 20 cases of canalicular adenoma (CA), 5 cases of serrated adenoma (SA) and 20 cases of hyperplastic polyps (HP).

RESULTSThe positivity rate of CK20 expression was 89.7% in HCC, and 100% in CA, SA and HP. In HCC, the expression rate of CK7 (39.7%) was not correlated with Dukes' classification, differentiation and tumor location. CK7 positivity rate in colon cancer was 35.7% (15/52) and 42.3% (11/26) in rectal cancer. CK7 expression was negative in CA. CK7 positivity rate in SA was 49% and 30% in HP.

CONCLUSIONCK7 is a possible marker for colorectal carcinogenesis from HP to SA, and ultimately to HCC, and examination of the colorectal polypoid lesions for CK7 expression can be significant for estimating the colorectal polypous cancerization.

Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cytoplasm ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Intestinal Mucosa ; metabolism ; pathology ; Keratin-7 ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To assess the clinical value of endoscopic uhrasonography(EUS)combined with the mini-probe endoscopic uhrasonography(MPUS)in determing tumor invasion depth and lymph node metastases of early superficial esophageal cancer.Methods One hundred and twenty-four superficial esophageal cancer lesions of 121 patients were staged by EUS combined with MPUS,and the results were finally compared with pathological findings of surgical specimens or samples obtained by mucosal resection.Results The diagnostic accuracy of EUS in T staging of superficial esophageal cancer was 82.3%(102/124).The total ratio of lymph node metastases was 5.0%(6/121),with no node metastases in carcinoma in situ,1.3%(1/28)in mucosal carcinoma,11.6%(5/43)in submucosal carcinoma.Conclusion EUS combined with MPUS is accurate in staging of the superficial carcinoma,which can help the choice of therapeutic strategies.