OBJECTIVETo evaluate the impact of neoadjuvant chemoradiation on perineal wound healing following abdominoperineal resection(APR) for lower rectal cancer.

METHODSData of 93 patients who underwent APR for low rectal cancer between January 2005 and January 2009 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were reviewed, including patients who received neoadjuvant chemoradiation (n=29) and those undergoing surgery alone(n=64). Perineal wound healing was the primary outcome measurement. Condition of wound healing was classified as good, moderate, and poor and was compared between the two groups.

RESULTSTwenty nine patients in the neoadjuvant group received preoperative regional radiation(50 Gy, 25 fractions/5 weeks) with synchronous FOLFOX4 chemotherapy(fluorouracil and oxaliplatin). In the neoadjuvant group, wound healing after APR was good in 18 patients(62.1%), moderate in 6(20.7%), and poor in 5(17.2%). In patients who had surgery alone, wound healing after APR was good in 41 patients(64.1%), moderate in 15(23.4%), and poor in 8(12.5%). There was no significant difference in the incidence of wound infection(poor wound healing)between the two groups(P=0.773).

CONCLUSIONNeoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy is not associated with increased perineal wound infection following abdominoperineal resection for low rectal cancer.

Aged ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Perineum ; surgery ; Rectal Neoplasms ; surgery ; therapy ; Rectum ; surgery ; Wound Healing

OBJECTIVETo explore the diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) characteristics of normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) and normal-appearing gray matter (NAGM) on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD) and examine the relation of such features with the general cognitive function of the patients.

METHODSDTI was performed in 46 SIVD patients and 34 age-matched control subjects with normal MRI findings. The apprarent diffusion coeeficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were measured within the regions of white matter lesions (WMLs), NAWM and NAGM. All the subjects were examined by neurologists with MMSE and clinical neurologic examination.

RESULTSCompared with normal controls, SIVD subjects showed increased ADC values in the subcortical NAGM and NAWM in anterior periventricular and centrum semiovale, with decreased FA values in the caudate nucleus, thalamus and centrum semiovale. An increased severity of the WMLs was associated with increased ADC and decreased FA in the NAWM of SIVD patients. After controlling for age, the ADC in the NAWM of the posterior periventricular, NAWM and WMLs in the centrum semiovale, caudate nucleus and thalamus showed significant inverse correlations to MMSE; FA values in NAWM of the anterior periventricular and WMLs of the centrum semiovale were positively correlated to MMSE.

CONCLUSIONIn SIVD patients, the NAWM and NAGM regions shown by MRI contain diffusion abnormalities, and these abnormalities shown by DTI are significantly correlated to the general cognitive function of the patients.

Aged ; Anisotropy ; Brain Ischemia ; physiopathology ; psychology ; Case-Control Studies ; Cerebral Cortex ; pathology ; Cognition ; physiology ; Cognition Disorders ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Dementia, Vascular ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To investigate the effect of CYP46A1 on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.Methods Recombinant lentiviral vectors which including anthropogenic CYP46A1 were injected into bilateral hippocampus of 3-monthold male 5XFAD transgenic mice,while empty vectors were injected into the corresponding position of the control group.After two months,the ability of learning and memory were tested by Morris water maze and T maze experiments,and amyloid plaque and inflammatory infiltration in the brain were detected by immunohistochemical staining and ELISA respectively.Results Compared with the control group,CYP46A1 virus injection significantly increased the CYP46A1 mRNA and protein expression in hippocampus.In addition,CYP46A1 overexpression significantly decreased the latency to find the platform in Morris water maze test and increased the correct rate to choose in T maze test.Aβ immunohistochemical staining and plaques area statistics demonstrated that the amyloid plaque area of hippocampus in CYP46A1 overexpression mice was significantly reduced,and there was a significantly decrease of hippocampal astrocytes expression by means of GFAP staining.Furthermore,hippocampal CYP46A1 overexpression significantly decreased the expression level of Aβ40,Aβ42,IL-1β and TNF-α,while compare with the control group.Conclusion CYP46A1 overexpression in hippocampus can promote the cognitive impairment,as well as ameliorate the brain inflammatory infiltration in 5XFAD transgenic mice,suggesting that CYP46A1 has anti-Alzheimer's disease like effects.

Objective To evaluate the prevalence of depression,anxiety and suicide behavior in patients suffering from tuberculosis in Hangzhou and to explore their relationship with medication adherence. Methods Demographic characteristics,self-rating anxiety scale (SAS),the center for epidemiological studies -depression (CESD),social support rating scale (SSRS),suicide behavior information and the morisky medication adherence scale (MMAS)were investigated in 973 tuberculosis patients who were selected by systematic random sampling.Results The means of SAS and CESD were 39.71 ±8.30 and 14.16 ±10.77 respectively,which were both higher than the norms(P<0.01).Totally 102 (10.48%)patients had anxiety and 333 (34.22%)were depressed.Out of 973 patients,60 (6.17%)reported suicide ideation after tuberculosis diagnosis.The prevalence of non -adherence was 20.55%,which was defined with MMAS score above one and more.The non -adherence group had higher anxiety,depression and suicide ideation prevalence than the adherence group (15.50%vs.9.18%,46.50%vs.30.66%,11.00%vs.4.92%respectively,P<0.01).The mean score of SSRS,subjective support,objective support and utilization of support in the non-adherence group were 30.71 ±5.15,4.61 ±2.07,19.74 ±4.55 and 6.34 ±1.93 respectively,which were 34.06 ±7.39,6.62 ± 2.27,20.67 ±5.27 and 6.77 ±2.23 in the adherence group respectively.SSRS and its three dimension scores were significantly lower in the non-adherence group than that in the adherence group (P<0.01).Conclusion These findings show a quite serious situation of psychological problems of tuberculosis patients in Hangzhou and suggest psychological intervention should be included in adherence intervention.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the mRNA and protein expression of nucleostemin (NS) in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

METHODSThe mRNA and protein expression of NS were detected in 31 mucosal atypical hyperplasia specimens, 62 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma specimens and the matched normal esophageal mucosa samples by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry method, respectively.

RESULTSThe positive expression rate of NS protein in normal esophageal mucosa, atypical hyperplasia and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was 17.7% (11/62), 41.9% (13/31) and 69.4% (43/62), respectively. There was a significant difference among the above three groups (chi2 = 33.676, P < 0.01). The expression levels of NS mRNA in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (0.971 +/- 0.121) was significantly higher than that in the atypical hyperplasia (0.913 +/- 0.085) and also in the normal esophageal mucosa (0.866 +/- 0.103; F = 14.829, P < 0.01). The expression level of both NS protein and mRNA was positively correlated with histological grade, infiltration depth, and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05), but not with age, gender or pathological type (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONOur results indicate that nucleostemin mRNA and protein are over-expressed in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and it may be related with its oncogenesis.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carrier Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Esophagus ; pathology ; Female ; GTP-Binding Proteins ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucous Membrane ; metabolism ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Staging ; Nuclear Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Precancerous Conditions ; metabolism ; pathology ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism

Fanconi-Bickel syndrome (FBS, OMIM 227810), a rare autosomal recessive disorder of carbohydrate metabolism, is caused by SLC2A2 (GLUT2) mutations. The study reported 3 cases of FBS who were confirmly diagnosed by SLC2A2 gene analysis. The three patients showed typical features like glycogen storage disease and proximal renal tubular nephropathy. Homozygous splice-site mutation IVS8+5G>C (c.1068+5 G>C) was found in patient A and homozygous nonsense mutation c.1194T>A (p.Tyr398X) in patient B. Patient C harboured a missense mutation c.380C>A (p.Ala127Asp) and a de novo insertion c.970dupT (p.324TyrfsX392) which was not inherited from her parents. Four mutations were identified in the 3 Chinese FBS patients. Except IVS8+5G>C mutation, the other 3 mutations were novel in Chinese population. To the best of our knowledge, patient C may be the first FBS case worldwide with de novo mutation.
Fanconi Syndrome ; genetics ; Female ; Glucose Transporter Type 2 ; genetics ; Humans ; Mutation

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the major histological subtype of primary liver cancer, with a high degree of invasiveness and metastatic potential. HOXB7 is a transcriptional regulator in the homeobox genes (HOX) family, which plays a significant role in the process of DNA synthesis and transcription. HOXB7 can promote the proliferation and invasion of liver cancer cells and other biological processes through a variety of mechanisms. HOXB7 expresses highly in HCC tissues and is closely related to disease progression and poor prognosis. HOXB7 is highly expressed in HCC tissues, and its high expression is closely related to disease progression and poor prognosis. This paper reviews the structure and function of HOXB7 gene, its role in the development of HCC and its prognostic value.

Caloric diet, such as fat and sugar intake, has rewarding effects, and has been indicated to affect the responses to addictive substances in animal experiments. However, the possible association between sucrose reward and the motivation for addictive drugs remains to be elucidated. Thus, we carried out behavioral tests after sucrose self-administration training to determine the effects of sucrose experience on rats' motivation for cocaine, locomotor sensitivity to cocaine, basal locomotor activity, anxiety level, and associative learning ability. The sucrose-experienced (sucrose) group exhibited higher lever press, cocaine infusion and break point, as well as upshift of cocaine dose-response curve in cocaine self-administration test, as compared with the control (chow) group. Additionally, despite similar locomotor activity in open field test and comparable score in cocaine-induced conditioned place preference, the sucrose group showed higher cocaine-induced locomotor sensitivity as compared with the chow group. The anxiety level and the performance in vocal-cue induced fear memory were similar between these two groups in elevated plus maze and fear conditioning tests, respectively. Taken together, our work indicates that sucrose experience promotes the rats' motivation for cocaine.
Animals ; Cocaine ; Conditioning, Classical ; Conditioning, Operant ; Memory ; Motivation ; Rats ; Reward ; Self Administration ; Sucrose

Objective: To investigate the influence of single-port laparoscopic percutaneous extraperitoneal closure (LPEC) on the orientation of the vas deferens and the volume and perfusion of the testis in pediatric patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair. METHODS: A total of 92 consecutively enrolled boys diagnosed with unilateral inguinal hernia underwent single-port LPEC between June 2013 and June 2014. The orientation of the vas deferens and the testicular volume and perfusion of the patients were ultrasonographically assessed preoperatively and at 1 and 6 months after surgery. RESULTS: All the surgical procedures were performed successfully without conversion or serious perioperative complications. Ultrasonography showed no angulation or distortion of the vas deferens on the surgical side during a six-month follow-up period. Similarly, no obvious changes were observed in the testicular volume or perfusion. CONCLUSIONS Single-port LPEC is safe and effective in the treatment of pediatric inguinal hernia and does not affect the orientation of the vas deferens or testicular volume and perfusion.
Child ; Hernia, Inguinal ; surgery ; Herniorrhaphy ; methods ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; methods ; Male ; Organ Size ; Testis ; anatomy & histology ; diagnostic imaging ; Treatment Outcome ; Ultrasonography ; Vas Deferens ; anatomy & histology ; diagnostic imaging