Objective To investigate the effect of 17β-estradiol on the proliferation of thyroid stem/ progenitor cells.Methods In thyroid stem/progenitor cells derived from nodular goiters,the effects of 17 β-estradiol on thyrosphere formation,estrogen receptor (ER) expression,cyclin D1 expression,and mitogen activated protein kinase (MPAK) pathway were analysed by BrdU ELISA,conventional and realtime PCR,immunofluorensence staining,and Western blot.Results 17β-estradiol induced thyrosphere formation and proliferation of thyroid stem/ progenitor cells.ER-α and ER-β were expressed in thyroid stem and progenitor cells with higher mRNA expression level of ER-α compared to differentiated thyrocytes (8.85-±0.81 vs 1.10 ±0.35,P＜0.01).Stimulation by 1 mmol/L 17β-estradiol increased cyclin D1 mRNA expression and ERK phosphorylation levels,which was blocked by an ER antagonist,ICI 182780.Conclusion Estrogen stimulated the growth of stem cells derived from thyroid nodules via estrogen receptor,suggesting the relevance of increased thyroid stem cell proliferation with higher prevalence of thyroid nodules in women.

PURPOSE: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the use of a radiopaque tissue fiducial marker (TFM) in the treatment of prostate cancer patients who undergo post-prostatectomy radiotherapy (PPRT). TFM safety, its role and benefit in quantifying the set-up uncertainties in patients undergoing PPRT image-guided radiotherapy were assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 45 consecutive PPRT patients underwent transperineal implantation of TFM at the level of vesicourethral anastomosis in the retrovesical tissue prior to intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Prostate bed motion was calculated by measuring the position of the TFM relative to the pelvic bony anatomy on daily cone-beam computed tomography. The stability and visibility of the TFM were assessed in the initial 10 patients. RESULTS: No postoperative complications were recorded. A total of 3,500 images were analysed. The calculated prostate bed motion for bony landmark matching relative to TFM were 2.25 mm in the left-right, 5.89 mm in the superior-inferior, and 6.59 mm in the anterior-posterior directions. A significant 36% reduction in the mean volume of rectum receiving 70 Gy (rV₇₀) was achieved for a uniform planning target volume (PTV) margin of 7 mm compared with the Australian and New Zealand Faculty of Radiation Oncology Genito-Urinary Group recommended PTV margin of 10 mm. CONCLUSION: The use of TFM was safe and can potentially eliminate set-up errors associated with bony landmark matching, thereby allowing for tighter PTV margins and a consequent favourable reduction in dose delivered to the bladder and rectum, with potential improvements in toxicities.
Clothing ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Fiducial Markers ; Humans ; New Zealand ; Postoperative Complications ; Prostate ; Prostatectomy ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Radiation Oncology ; Radiotherapy ; Radiotherapy, Image-Guided ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated ; Rectum ; Retrospective Studies ; Urinary Bladder

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) as assessed by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) is significantly correlated with body mass index (BMI) and Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) in patients suspected of OSAS and whether obesity as assessed by BMI is associated with AHI.
METHODS:
Design: Non-concurrent cohort study
Setting: Tertiary Private Hospital
Population: The charts of 389 patients suspected to have sleep disorders and referred for polysomnography (PSG) at the Center for Snoring and Sleep Disorders in year 2009 were reviewed. Inclusion criteria were patients aged 19 and above with complete data. A total of 238 patient charts were included in the study.
RESULTS: The study included a total of 238 patient charts. Results showed no significant association between ESS and AHI (p-value >0.05) even when correlated with the different severities of OSAS (p-value>0.05). Sensitivity and specificity of ESS was found to be 54% and 57%, respectively, indicating that ESS is not a sensitive and specific tool to predict the presence of OSAS. These findings suggest that ESS may not be able to significantly identify patients with OSAS. However, BMI showed a significant association with ESS (p-value<0.05) representing more patients with EDS belonging to the obese category. Conversely, obese patients were twice more likely to have EDS, represented by ESS scores of >=10. BMI was also significantly associated with AHI using one-way Anova test.
CONCLUSION: This report concludes that the ESS alone is insufficient to identify patients with OSAS. Nevertheless, questionnaires like the ESS supplement relevant history to help diagnose patients with sleep disorders particularly OSAS. On the other hand, the ESS showed a significant association with BMI representing more obese patients had excessive daytime sleepiness. The likelihood ratio of having excessive daytime sleepiness is two times more for obese patients. BMI was also significantly associated with AHI which confirms the well established relationship of obesity with OSAS, and shows that obese patients are at higher risk for severe OSAS.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Adolescent ; Child ; Child Preschool ; Sleep ; Apnea ; Body Mass Index ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; Syndrome ; Snoring ; Polysomnography ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; Obesity

Objective: To describe a rare case of Kimura’s disease initially misdiagnosed as malignancy then tuberculosis. Methods: Design: Case report Setting: Tertiary Private Hospital Patient: One Results: A 30-year-old male with a 6-year history of gradually-enlarging right infra-auricular mass revealed an enlarged mass in the right infraauricular area and multiple cervical lymphadenopathies on physical examination. Initial fine-needle aspiration biopsy was interpreted as pleomorphic adenocarcinoma but succeeding work-ups and imaging studies led to treatment for tuberculosis. Subsequent biopsies finally led to the proper histopathologic diagnosis of Kimura’s disease and the patient was shifted to appropriate treatment with oral prednisone. Conclusion Kimura’s disease is rare and may be confused with other diseases such as malignancy or tuberculosis. Histopathologic diagnosis is necessary as its treatment differs from tuberculosis and other diseases.
Human ; Male ; Adult ; ANGIOLYMPHOID HYPERPLASIA WITH EOSINOPHILIA ; TUBERCULOSIS ; PHYSICAL EXAMINATION ; DIAGNOSIS ; DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES BIOPSY, FINE-NEEDLE ; BIOPSY ; PREDNISONE ; Diagnostic Errors ; history ; diagnosis

OBJECTIVE: To provide useful information for selecting the most appropriate peripheral nerve injury model for different research purposes in nerve injury and repair studies, and to compare nerve regeneration capacity and characteristics between them. METHODS: Sixty adult SD rats were randomly divided into two groups and underwent crush injury alone (group A, n = 30) or transection injury followed by surgical repair (group B, n = 30) of the right hind paw. Each group was subjected to the CatWalk test, gastrocnemius muscle evaluation, pain threshold measurement, electrophysiological examination, retrograde neuronal labeling, and quantification of nerve regeneration before and 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after injury. RESULTS: Gait analysis showed that the recovery speed in group A was significantly faster than that in group B at 14 days. At 21 days, the compound muscle action potential of the gastrocnemius muscle in group A was significantly higher than that in group B, and the number of labeled motor neurons in group B was lower than that in group A. The number of new myelin sheaths and the g-ratio were higher in group A than in group B. There was a 7-day time difference in the regeneration rate between the two injury groups. CONCLUSION The regeneration of nerve fibers was rapid after crush nerve injury, whereas the transection injury was relatively slow, which provides some ideas for the selection of clinical research models.
Animals ; Rats ; Nerve Fibers ; Nerve Regeneration ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sciatic Nerve/injuries*

Objective To identify the pathogenic variant responsible for restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) in a Chinese family.Methods Next generation sequencing was used for detecting the mutation and Results verified by sequencing. We used restriction enzyme digestion to test the mutation in the family members and 200 unrelated normal subjects without any cardiac inherited diseases when the mutation was identified.Results Five individuals died from cardiac diseases, two of whom suffered from sudden cardiac death. Two individuals have suffered from chronic cardiac disorders. Mutation analysis revealed a novel missense mutation in exon 7 of troponin I type 3 (TNNI3), resulting in substitution of serine (S) with proline (P) at amino acid position 150, which cosegregated with the disease in the family, which is predicted to be probably damaging using PolyPhen-2. The mutation was not detected in the 200 unrelated subjects we tested.Conclusion Using next generation sequencing, which has very recently been shown to be successful in identifying novel causative mutations of rare Mendelian disorders, we found a novel mutation of TNNI3 in a Chinese family with RCM.