Objective To explore the clinical characteristics, treatment and prevention of radiation encephalopathy induced by radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods The clinical materials of 16 patients with radiation encephalopathy after radiotherapy were analyzed retrospectively. After these definite diagnoses, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and such medications as neurotrophic agent, vasodilator and vitamin were given to the patients, and hormone and dehydration therapy were also employed at the early stage. Results Eleven patients showed the symptoms after the first time radiotherapy and 5 showed the symptoms after the second time radiotherapy; these symptoms included headache, dizzy, poor memory, hypophrenia and psychologic changes. Temporal lobe lesions were found, including 5 with bilateral temporal lesions. All 16 patients were followed up, among which 15 were still alive and 1 died of pulmonary infections; 7 had poor living quality with severe symptoms. Conclusion No good treatment can be given to patients with radiation encephalopathy after radiotherapy with poor prognosis. Setting effective preventive measures according to various related factors is the key to the prevention and treatment of radiation encephalopathy induced by radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

In recent years, the incidence and mortality rate of invasive fungal infection have increased dramatically, and it is of great significance to develop novel antifungal agents with new chemical structure and new mode of action. In this review, novel antifungal lead compounds reported from 2007 to 2009 are reviewed. Moreover, their chemical structures, antifungal activities and structure-activity relationships have been summarized, which can provide useful information for future study of antifungal agents.
Antifungal Agents ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Fungi ; drug effects ; Heterocyclic Compounds ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Lipopeptides ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Molecular Structure ; Mycoses ; drug therapy ; Nitriles ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Plant Extracts ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Pyridines ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Quinazolines ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Quinones ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Thiazoles ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Triazoles ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on cavernous nerve (CN) regeneration and functional status in a nerve-crush rat model. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into three equal groups: eight had a sham operation, eight underwent bilateral nerve crushing with no further intervention and eight underwent bilateral nerve crushing with an immediate application of PRP on the site of injury. Erectile function was assessed by CN electrostimulation at 3 months and nerve regeneration was assessed by toluidine blue staining of CN and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase staining of penile tissue. Three months after surgery, in the group that underwent bilateral nerve crushing with no further intervention, the functional evaluation showed a lower mean maximal intracavernous pressure (ICP) and maximal ICP per mean arterial pressure (MAP) with CN stimulation than those in the sham group. In the group with an immediate application of PRP, the mean maximal ICP and maximal ICP/MAP were significantly higher than those in the injured control group. Histologically, the group with the application of PRP had more myelinated axons of CNs and more NADPH-diaphorase-positive nerve fibres than the injured control group but fewer than the sham group. These results show that the application of PRP to the site of CN-crush injury facilitates nerve regeneration and recovery of erectile function. Our research indicates that clinical application of PRP has potential repairing effect on CN and peripheral nerves.
Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Electric Stimulation ; Erectile Dysfunction ; pathology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Male ; NADPH Dehydrogenase ; metabolism ; Nerve Regeneration ; physiology ; Penile Erection ; physiology ; Penis ; innervation ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries ; Peripheral Nerves ; metabolism ; pathology ; Platelet Transfusion ; Platelet-Rich Plasma ; Radiculopathy ; etiology ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

To compare the difference in action sites between mecamylamine (MEC) and hexamethonium (HEX) on nicotinic receptors of sympathetic neurons, we investigated the effects of MEC and HEX on the nicotine-induced currents in cultured superior cervical ganglion neurons by whole-cell patch clamp technique. The IC(50) of MEC and HEX for antagonizing the effect of 0.08 mmol/L nicotine was 0.0012 and 0.0095 mmol/L, respectively. Both MEC and HEX accelerated the desensitization of nicotinic receptors. Furthermore, by comparing their effects at holding potentials 30, 70 and 110 mV, it was indicated that their suppressing effect on the nicotine-induced currents was voltage-dependent. However, different from that of HEX, the inhibitory effect of MEC increased with administering the mixture of MEC and nicotine at intervals of 3 min, indicating a use-dependent effect of MEC. It is concluded that the action site of MEC on nicotinic receptors of sympathetic neurons is different from that of HEX.
Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Cells, Cultured ; Hexamethonium ; pharmacology ; Mecamylamine ; pharmacology ; Neurons ; drug effects ; physiology ; Nicotinic Antagonists ; pharmacology ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptors, Nicotinic ; drug effects ; physiology ; Superior Cervical Ganglion ; cytology ; physiology

Objective To analyze the trend of incidence and mortality on thyroid cancer in China.Methods Data from 32 cancer registry sites in China was collected and Jionpoint model was used to obtain the crude,age-specified incidence and mortality,both Chinese national and world age-standardized rates of incidence and mortality and their trends.Results The crude incidence of thyroid cancer was 4.44/105,and the Chinese national and world age-standardized rates were 2.89/105 and 3.31/105 respectively.The crude mortality of thyroid cancer was 0.44/105,with the Chinese national and world age-standardized rates as 0.21/105 and 0.29/105 during 2003-2007 in the country.Thyroid cancer accounted for 1.67％ and 0.26％ of the Chinese national and world age-standardized proportions,for total cancers.Both incidence and mortality of thyroid cancer were higher in females than in males,3.38 and 1.75 times higher in urban areas than those in rural areas.The incidence of thyroid cancer showed annually increase of 14.51％ while the mortality had an increase of 1.42％.Conclusion The incidence and mortality of thyroid cancer increased rapidly in China,calling for more control efforts on this disease.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the frequency of JAK2V617F mutation in Chinese patients with chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and to study the relationship between JAK2V617F mutation and clinical characteristics.

METHODSJAK2V617F mutation was screened by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (AS-PCR).

RESULTSJAK2V617F mutation was detected in 277 of the 412 patients with MPN. The frequency of JAK2V617F mutation was similar among essential thrombocythemia (ET), idiopathic myelofibrosis (IMF) and chronic myeloproliferative disorders-unclassified (MPD-U) (P > 0.05), but it was significantly lower than that in polycythemia vera (PV) (P < 0.05). The presence of JAK2V617F was found to be significantly correlative with advanced age at diagnosis (P < 0.01) and with higher hemoglobin levels and higher leukocyte counts (P < 0.05). Significant difference was found in complication of vascular events between JAK2V617 positive and negative patients (P < 0.05). JAK2V617F positive MPD-U patients were more prone to progress into typical MPN compared with JAK2V617F negative MPD-U patients. The association between abnormal karyotype and JAK2V617F was not found in cytogenetical analysis of 301 patients.

CONCLUSIONThe presence of JAK2V617F in MPD-U is associated with the disease development. There is a correlation between JAK2V617F mutation in MPN and advanced age, higher leukocyte counts, hemoglobin level and vascular events.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemoglobins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Janus Kinase 2 ; genetics ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Myeloproliferative Disorders ; blood ; complications ; genetics ; Polycythemia Vera ; blood ; complications ; genetics ; Primary Myelofibrosis ; blood ; complications ; genetics ; Thrombocythemia, Essential ; blood ; complications ; genetics ; Thrombosis ; etiology ; Young Adult

AIMTo investigate alterations of smooth muscle cells and collagen fibers in corpus cavernosum following cavernous neurectomy and its relation to the expression of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1).

METHODSTen adult male SD rats (neurectomy group) were subject to a bilateral cavernous nerve (CN) resection aseptically under an operating microscope, with 6 sham-operated rats as the control. Fifteen weeks after the operation, the penile specimens were collected and prepared for quantitative-analyzing of ratio of smooth muscle to collagen fibers in corpus cavernosum with confocal microscopy, and for detecting the expression of TGF-beta1 by RT-PCR and western-blot.

RESULTSSmooth muscle cells that show red color after fluorescent-labeling with tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate-phalloidin and collagen fibers that produce green autofluorescence after paraformaldehyde fixation were clearly identified under the confocal microscope. Quantification of fluorescent intensity showed that the ratio of smooth muscle to collagen fibers in corpus cavernosum in neurectomy group was 0.265 +/- 0.125, which was significantly lower than that in sham-operated group (0.760 +/- 0.196, P<0.01). RT-PCR and western-blot analyses revealed a significantly higher expression of TGF-beta1 in the penile tissues of the neurectomy animals than that in sham-operated group.

CONCLUSIONBilateral ablation of CN can lead to fibrosis of corpus cavernosum, which may be related to an increased expression of TGF-beta1 induced by hypoxia in cavernous tissue after denervation.

Actins ; metabolism ; Animals ; Apomorphine ; Blotting, Western ; Collagen ; metabolism ; DNA Primers ; Dopamine Agonists ; Fibrosis ; Fluorescent Dyes ; Male ; Muscle Denervation ; Muscle, Smooth ; pathology ; Penile Erection ; drug effects ; Penis ; innervation ; pathology ; Prostatectomy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1

This study was aimed to investigate the effects of different stimulatory factors on proliferation and function of cytokine induced killer (CIK) cells. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) were separated by Ficoll-Hypacue gradient. According to supplement of different stimulatory factors (CD28 mAb, IL-15 and IL-21), the experiment was divided into five groups:control group (CIK), CB28+IL-15+IL-21 group, IL-15+IL-21 group, CD28+IL-15 group and CD28+IL-21 group. Effects of different stimulatory factors on the proliferation of CIK cells were assayed by an automated hematology analyzer. Changes of granzyme B,perforin and CD107a were detected by flow cytometry. IL-10, IL-12, INF-γ and TNF-α were quantified by ELISA. Cytotoxicities on lung cancer cell line A549, breast adenocarcinoma cell line MFC-7 and human melanoma cell line HME1 were examined by lactate dehydrogenase release method. The results showed that there were significant differences among different groups. The highest proliferation index on days 10 was observed in group CD28mAb, IL-15 and IL-21(255.3 ± 6.3), which was higher than control group, IL-21+IL-15 group and CD28 mAb+IL-21 group (166.6 ± 13.5, 199.4 ± 15.0 and 228.8 ± 16.6) (P < 0.05). The expression of perforin in CD28 mAb+IL-15 group was higher than the other groups. The expression of perforin,GranB and CD107a of costimulatory groups was higher than control group. The cytotoxicities of CD28 mAb+IL-15 group on A549, MFC-7 and HME1 cells (82.2%, 59.3% and 70.6%) were much higher than that of control group (60.9%, 49.6% and 48.4%) (P < 0.05). The highest IFN-γsecretion was found in CD28 mAb, IL-15 and IL-21 groups. It is concluded that there are significant difference of proliferative capacity, cytokine secretion and cytotoxicity after being activated by different stimulatory factors. Adding corresponding stimulatory factors into the culture system displays a great value for target cells culture.
Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; metabolism ; Interleukin-10 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-12 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-15 ; pharmacology ; Interleukins ; pharmacology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the status of c-kit and PDGFRA mutations of GIST in a the large sample of Chinese patients.

METHODOne hundred and sixty-five cases were evaluated for the presence of c-kit and PDGFRA mutations. Exon 9, 11, 13, 17 of c-kit and exon 12, 18 of PDGFRA were analyzed by PCR amplification and direct sequencing.

RESULTSImmunohistochemical demonstrations of KIT (CD117) were seen in 94% of the cases (155/165). Overall, c-kit mutations were identified in 76.1% (118/155) of CD117 positive cases: 67.1% (104/155) involving exon 11, 7.1% (11/155) involving exon 9, 1.3% (2/155) involving exon 13 and 0.6% (1/155) involving exon 17. The c-kit exon 11 mutations were mostly heterogeneous and clustered in the classic "hot spot" at the 5' end of the exon, including in-frame deletion and point mutation. The second "hot spots" were internal tandem duplications (ITD) at the 3' end of the exon, which were associated with female patient, older age, stomach location and low mitotic counts. The exon 9 mutations correlated with a distinct subset of GISTs involving the small bowel of young male patients. A new point mutation of L641P was identified in exon 13. PDGFRA mutations were present in 50% (5/10) of CD117-negative GISTs, all involving exon 18 with the majority of mutations being D842V. One novel in-frame deletion of IMHD mutation at codon 843 - 846 with S847T was identified. GISTs with PDGFRA mutations were often larger tumors arising from the omentum/mesentery of young male patients with high risk of aggressive behavior.

CONCLUSIONSThe vast majority of GISTs in this study harbored c-kit and PDGFRA mutations, there were non-random relations between the gene mutation patterns and the locations of GISTs. It appears that Chinese GIST patients have some unique mutation patterns. It is necessary to evaluate the gene mutations status of GISTs to guide target therapy.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Child ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA, Neoplasm ; chemistry ; genetics ; Exons ; genetics ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit ; genetics ; metabolism ; Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid

BACKGROUNDNeural tube defects are the most common human birth defects. The causes are multifactorial with complex genetic and environmental factors, although the exact genetic causes are unknown. This research was conducted to study the frequency of Msx2 gene polymorphisms in 59 women with a history of pregnancy with a neural tube defect and in 73 healthy controls. We aimed to determine the effect of this genetic polymorphism on the incidence of neural tube defects in the Han Chinese population.

METHODSWe studied 59 mothers with at least one previous child with a neural tube defect (the case group) and 73 case-control subjects during the same period, from Shanxi Province, China. We analyzed the genotypic distributions and allele frequencies of Msx2 C386T polymorphisms in DNA samples from the case and control groups. A three-dimensional protein model was predicted using Swiss-Pdb Viewer software version 4.0. Disease association was analyzed using chi-square tests.

RESULTSSignificant differences were observed in the genotypes and allele frequencies of the Msx2 C386T allele between the case and control groups (CT: 32% vs. 15%, P = 0.0073 and TT 15% vs. 4%, P = 0.013, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that the C386T mutation is a potential risk factor for neural tube defects (P < 0.05; OR: 3.466; 95%CI: 1.831 - 6.560). Three-dimensional structure prediction revealed that the Msx2 C386T mutation results in a threonine substitution for methionine at position 129 of exon 2, which might lead to structural mutations or dysfunctions in the protein encoded by Msx2.

CONCLUSIONMaternal Msx2 C386T gene polymorphisms were associated with fetal neural tube defects in Han Chinese women in Shanxi Province.

Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; China ; Female ; Homeodomain Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Neural Tube Defects ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; Pregnancy ; Protein Structure, Secondary ; Young Adult