To introduce the development of myelodysplastic syndrome network course.

ObjectiveTo compare the safety and efficacy of combined thrombolysis and systemic anticoagulation therapy for the treatment of cerebral venous and sinus thrombosis (CVST).MethodsA retrospective review of consecutive inpatients with CVST was undertaken. Patients were divided into two groups,combined thrombolysis group (CTG) and systemic anticoagulation group (SAG).CTG underwent improved thrombolysis scheme which included mechanical thrombus maceration and unremitting microdosis urokinase injection into the venous sinus besides low molecular weight heparin anticoagulation.Neurological deficits before and after treatment were graded with the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS).Functional outcomes at discharge were graded on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS).ResultsThere were 30 cases in CTG ( male =9) and 86 cases in SAG ( male =23 ).There was no significant difference of neurological deficits before treatment between two groups(0-19 vs 0-17,Z =-0.474,P =0.636).After treatment,NIHSS and mRS at discharge were significantly decreased in CTG compared to SAG.There was no significant difference on the incidence of intracerebral hemorrhage.Conclusions Combined thrombolysis is better than systemic anticoagulation in improving neurological function.Combined thrombolysis does not increase incidence of ICH compared to systemic anticoagulation.

Objective To evaluate the reliability and validity of informant questionnaire on cognitive decline in the elderly(IQCODE) in Chinese elderly patients and to estimate the efficacy of IQCODE in the screening of patients with cognitive impairment.Methods Ninety three patients with cognitive impairment and 128 community-dwelling healthy elderly over 60 years old were assessed.Informants were interviewed with the short version of the IQCODE.Results The internal consistency coefficient of IQCODE was 0.83.The correlation coefficient of test-retest reliability was 0.86.The validity coefficient of IQCODE with mini-mental state examination and activities of daily living were-0.78 and 0.71 respectively.The scores of IQCODE of the patients varied with the degree of cognitive deficits,and the differences had statistical significance.But there was no significant difference among different types of senile dementia.The scores of IQCODE of the patients with cognitive impairment were closely correlated with the degree of cognitive deficits.Conclusions IQCODE is a reliable and effective measurement for the patients with cognitive impairment.It could discriminate the cognitive impairment patients from the normal cognitive ones,and is practical in screening.But it can not distinguish different kinds of dementia.

Rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) is an acute, rapidly progressive, and lethal opportunistic fungal disease. Due to the atypical clinical manifestations, the disease is easily misdiagnosed in the early stage. The patients with ROCM associated cerebrovascular complications generally have a high mortality rate. This article reports a 47-year-old female patient with diabetic ketoacidosis and COVID-19 admitted to Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University. The results of radiological examinations and cerebrospinal fluid metagenomic next-generation sequencing confirmed as Rhizopus oryzae associated ROCM. In spite of receiving amphotericin B colloidal dispersion and isavuconazole treatments, the patient died of ROCM complicated with severe cerebral infarctions and pulmonary infection. The purpose of this case report is to summarize the clinical characteristics of ROCM with cerebrovascular ischemic events and the rare condition of bilateral anterior circulation involvements, and introduce recent diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for this disease.

This study is to investigate the protective effects of the SB203580 against radiation induced mortality and intestinal injury of mice. A total of 67 male C57BL/6 mice (20.0-22.0 g) were matched according to body weight and randomly assigned to one of three groups: control, total body irradiation exposure (IR, 7.2 Gy) only, and IR (7.2 Gy) + SB203580 (15 mg x kg(-1)). 30 days survival rate was observed in the experiment. In intestinal injury experiment, the expression levels of caspase-3, Ki67, p53 and p-p38 were assayed in the mice intestine crypts. The results showed that the 30 days survival rate was 100% (control), 0 (IR) and 40% (IR+ SB203580), separately. Compared to the IR groups, the positive cells of caspase-3, p53 and p-p38 in crypt cells decreased 33.00%, 21.78% and 34.63%, respectively. The rate of positive cells of Ki67 increased 37.96%. Significant difference was found between all of them (P < 0.01). SB203580 potently protected against radiation-induced lethal and intestinal injury in mice, and it may be a potential radio protector.

OBJECTIVETo study the role of the basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

METHODSThe human stromal cells of BPH were isolated and cultured. The proliferation of the stromal cells cultured in serum-free medium was detected by MTT method, the phenotype changes of smooth muscle cells detected by immunohistochemical method, and the effect of different concentrations of bFGF and TGF-beta1 on the cultured stromal cells of BPH observed.

RESULTSbFGF stimulated the cultured BPH stromal cell proliferation (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) and decreased the expression of smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotype in higher concentration (10 microg/L). TGF-beta1 (> 1 microg/L) inhibited stromal cell proliferation and increased the expression of SMC phenotype (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). 5 microg/ml bFGF and TGF-beta1 (0.001 microg/L, 0.01 microg/L) promoted stromal cell proliferation (P < 0.01), while 5 microg/L bFGF and TGF-beta1 (0.1 microg/L, 1 microg/L, 10 microg/L) inhibited it, slightly in 0.1 microg/L (P > 0.05) and significantly in 1 microg/L and 10 microg/L (P < 0.01), and increased the expression of SMC phenotype in higher concentration (> 1 microg/L, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONbFGF stimulates the proliferation of the prostatic stromal cells of BPH in a time- and dose-dependent fashion and decreases the expression of SMC phenotype, TGF-beta1 inhibits the growth of stromal cells and induces the differentiation of stromal cells to SMC, both playing an important role in the mechanism of BPH.

Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Smooth ; cytology ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; pathology ; Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; physiology

The purpose of this study was to explore the differences in megakaryocyte progenitor ex vivo expansion between CD34+ cells derived from human umbilical cord blood (CB) and bone marrow (BM). Mononuclear cells (MNCs) were obtained from CB or BM by Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient separation. CD34+ cells were purified by magnetic cell sorting (MACS). The selected CD34+ cells were seeded in serum-free conditions stimulated with thrombopoietin (TPO), TPO+interleukin 11 (IL-11), or TPO+IL11+heparin for 14 days. Amplification product (CD34+, CD41a+, and CD34+ CD41a+ cells) immunophenotypes, megakaryocyte apoptosis rates and the DNA content were measured by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). The colony-forming units of granulocytes and monocytes (CFU-GM), burst-forming units of erythrocytes (BFU-E), and colony-forming units of megakaryocytes (CFU-Mk) were also evaluated by the colony-forming units (CFU) assay. The results indicated that CD34+ cells derived from CB showed higher expansion ability of total cell counts, CD41a+ and CD34+ CD41a+ cells than those derived from BM for all days 14 of culture (p<0.05, respectively). There were no significant differences in CFU-GM, BFU-E, and total CFU-Mk counts between CB and BM-derived CD34+ cells on day 0 (p>0.05, respectively), but CB-derived CFU-Mk seemed mainly large colonies, and the number of large colonies was higher than that from BM (p<0.05) on day 0. There were no significant differences in expansion ability of CFU-GM between CB and BM-derived cells on days 7, 10, and 14 of culture (p > 0.05, respectively), but the expansion ability of BFU-E and CFU-Mk derived from CB cells was higher than that from BM (p<0.05, respectively). There were no significant differences in apoptosis rates of megakaryocyte from two source cells for days 14 of culture. Megakaryocytes derived from CB mostly showed the 2N DNA content (>90%) for days 14 of culture, while those cells derived from BM showed the increased DNA content, and 4N, 8N or more ploidy cells gradually increased with prolonging of culture time. It is concluded that CB-derived CD34+ cells have a greater proliferation potential than that derived from BM, which is therefore proven to be a better cell source for megakaryocyte progenitor expansion in vitro.
Antigens, CD34 ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; Cell Culture Techniques ; methods ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Division ; Cell Separation ; Cells, Cultured ; Erythroid Precursor Cells ; cytology ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; immunology ; Humans ; Megakaryocyte Progenitor Cells ; cytology ; immunology

BACKGROUNDNon-cement femoral stems are recognized in clinical use, but there are still some problems. The aim of this research was to make non-cement femoral stems to be press-fit with the medullary cavity.

METHODSTwenty-four healthy adult mongrel dogs were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. In the right hip joint, an artificial femoral bone replacement surgery was conducted. For the experimental group, the replacement surgery of hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated femoral stems was done, while autogeneous morselized bone was implanted into the medullary cavity. For the control group, morselized bone was not implanted. At postoperative 1, 3, 6 months, a test for interfacial shear characteristics was conducted in the MTS810 Tester. The comparison between the two groups' bone-prostheses in shear strength for their interface from shearing destruction was made. A histological observation to check prosthesis-bone interface contact ratios and bone growth was carried out.

RESULTSFor the experimental group, shear strength was 0.317 MPa in 1 month, 1.447 MPa in 3 months, and 1.621 MPa in 6 months. For the control group, shear strength was 0.195 MPa in 1 month, 1.023 MPa in 3 months, and 1.483 MPa in 6 months. The difference was statistically significant. Stereomicroscope-based observation showed that the number of trabecular bones in the experimental group was larger than that of the control group, and bone growth of the former group was better than that of the latter group. Inverted microscopic observation showed that the binding degree between the prosthesis and trabecular bone of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group. Comparatively, the experimental group's trabecular bone had more stromal cells.

CONCLUSIONSThe morselized bones can effectively improve the biological bonding strength and bone-contact ratios in the short term for the HA-coated femoral stem and accelerate the bonding process. The use of morselized autogenous bones played a good role in bone in-growth of the femoral bone stem surface.

Animals ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Coated Materials, Biocompatible ; chemistry ; Dogs ; Durapatite ; chemistry ; Female ; Femur ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Osseointegration ; Random Allocation ; Shear Strength

OBJECTIVETo study the feasibility of using tetracysteine (TC) reporter in gene therapy.

METHODSEffects of TC reporter and conventional reporter genes encoding green fluorescence protein (GFP) and luciferase (Luc) on expression and function of the therapeutic gene MGMT(P140K) were compared. Cytotoxicity and drug resistance were studied by Western blot. TC reporter used in therapy was analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM).

RESULTSThe TC reporter had no toxicity to cells and neither affected the expression or activity of therapeutic gene as compared to GFP and Luc. TC could be used in blood sample detection.

CONCLUSIONTC is a new kind of reporter gene for lentiviral vector in future gene therapy.

Animals ; CHO Cells ; Cricetinae ; Cricetulus ; Cysteine ; analogs & derivatives ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Genes, Reporter ; Genetic Therapy ; Humans ; Lentivirus ; genetics ; Lymphocytes ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the enhancing effect of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on the bystander effect of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase(HSV-TK)/ganciclovir (GCV) against androgen unresponsive prostate cancer.

METHODSThe bystander effect of the HSV-TK/GCV system was measured by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay on PC-3 cells before and after ATRA treatment. The growth and the histopathology of transplant tumors were observed in 4 groups of nude mice with prostate cancer.

RESULTSATRA augmented significantly the bystander effect of the HSV-TK/GCV system by reducing TK positive PC-3 cells from 50% to 30% (P < 0.05). HSV-TK showed an inhibiting effect, while ATRA with the HSV-TK/GCV system produced significant effect on prostate cancer 1 week earlier than the former (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONATRA can argument the in vivo and in vitro bystander effect of the HSV-TK/GCV system in the treatment of androgen unresponsive prostate cancer.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Bystander Effect ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Ganciclovir ; pharmacology ; Genes, Transgenic, Suicide ; genetics ; Genetic Therapy ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; therapy ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Simplexvirus ; enzymology ; Thymidine Kinase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Tretinoin ; pharmacology ; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays ; methods