OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of stellate ganglion block (SGB) on blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHRs).

METHODSThirty-two 10-week-old male spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHRs) were assigned randomly into four groups: left stellate ganglion block group(Group LS), right stellate ganglion block group(Group RS), captopril group(Group D) and control group(Group C). Arterial systolic blood pressure(SBP) was measured, and endothelin (ET-1) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase(eNOS) in blood vessels were detected by radioimmunoassay.

RESULTSCompared with baseline value, the blood pressure of Group LS gradually increased significantly (P<0.05 or P <0.01); however, the blood pressure of Group RS was stable(P >0.05) and increased only at week 2(P <0.05).The blood pressure of Group D decreased significantly at week 2 and week 4, and it remained stable compared with baseline value (P<0.05). The blood pressure of Group C gradually increased at weeks 2-10, compared with baseline values (P <0.01). Compared with Group LS and Group C, the expression of eNOS in blood vessels of Group RS significantly increased (P <0.05), and ET-1 decreased (P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe right stellate ganglion block can significantly lower blood pressure, down-regulate ET-1 and up-regulate eNOS protein expression.

Animals ; Blood Pressure ; physiology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Hypertension ; physiopathology ; Male ; Nerve Block ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred SHR ; Stellate Ganglion

OBJECTIVETo investigate the ultrastructural variation of the facial nerve of rabbit with different dosage of (125)I seed brachytherapy.

METHODSFifty-four big ear rabbits were divided into 3 groups randomly and given 40 Gy, 80 Gy, 120 Gy respectively. Radioactive seeds were implanted in one side of parotid gland, the other side was implanted with vacant shell as a control group. The facial nerves were obtained 2, 4, 6 months respectively after operation and the histological ultrastructural changes observed by electromicroscope.

RESULTSIn the control group, epineurium was continuous, there was slight pitting edema under the epineurium, and axonal myelin was loose. In the test groups, there was slight pitting edema under the epineurium, and axonal myelin sheath was loose at 4th month. Macrophage and regenerated fibers were found in the 80 Gy group and myelin sheath lamellar separation, regeneration of nerve in the 120 Gy dosage. The myelin sheath lamellar was separated and axonal myelin loose in the test group at 6th month. Myelin sheath amellar separation and edema under the epineurium were found in the group of 80 Gy and 120 Gy.

CONCLUSIONSThe ultrastructure of the facial nerve is damaged by the dosage of 40 Gy, 80 Gy brachytherapy with (125)I seeds. The higher dosage the nerve receives, the more serious the damage will be. Both of the epineurium and axonal myelin sheath are integral and continuous 6 months after operation with dosage of 120 Gy.

Animals ; Brachytherapy ; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation ; Facial Nerve ; radiation effects ; ultrastructure ; Female ; Iodine Radioisotopes ; administration & dosage ; radiation effects ; Male ; Rabbits ; Radiation Injuries, Experimental ; pathology ; Random Allocation

Objective To construct an expression plasmid of human papillomavirus type 11 E7 (HPV11-E7)/hurnan IFN?-2b fusion gene, to express the fusion gene in E.coli BL21, and pave way for further immunological study. Methods The recombinant plasmid was introduced into E.coli BL21, then the expression product was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting after induction with isopropy-?-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG). Results The fusion gene of HPV11-E7 and human IFN?-2b was successfully cloned into pET-32a by a linker with the same sequence as we expected. The expressed fusion protein was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. Conclusions The successful construction of prokaryotic expression plasmid and expression of HPV11-E7/human IFN?-2b fusion gene enable further immunological study.

OBJECTIVETo observe the natural process of adenoid growth and degeneration as the age grows, to investigate the related clinical significance and pathologic characteristics of hypertrophied adenoid.

METHODSTotally 2650 (age 2 to 87) cases with nasal obstruction or/and other symptoms were included in the patients group, and 810 (age 3 to 85) subjects without symptoms were included as the control group. Morphological characteristics examined with nasal endoscope. Biopsy was performed for 39 cases. The adenoid was calcified as 4 degrees according to the size.

RESULTSIn the patient group, age 2 to 9, degree III and degree II adenoid were 81.1% (198/244) and 18.9% (46/244) respectively. And adenoid of children whose age 2 to 5 was 100.0% in degree III; In above 10 years old group, the adenoid was mostly degree II. In age 60 to 69 group, degree 0 was (66.5%), and in age 81 or above, degree 0 reaches 100%. And 19 years old was the youngest age at which adenoid of degree 0 started to be found and 21 was the oldest age at which there is no adenoid of degree III. In the control group, compared with the patient group, no statistical significant difference found in all other groups except in age 2 to 9 (degree III 57.9%, 22/38, degree II 42.1%, 16/38). Shapes of adenoids at degree II varied while degree I were almost like peeled orange. Pathologically, among children there are abundant of adenoidal lymph tissue, while in adults the lymph tissue getting less as age grows but with evident inflammation reaction. Among patients, the incidence of sinusitis and snoring was higher in degree III group compared with others, 47.4% and 18.7% respectively, and the differences is statistically significant (chi2 = 51.28, P < 0.01; chi2 = 40.26, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSAdenoid volume of children (age < 10) is the biggest, especially of children under 5 years old.

Adenoids ; pathology ; surgery ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasal Obstruction ; pathology ; surgery ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of human alpha-mannosidase Man2c1 transgene on tumor growth and metastasis in mice.

METHODSHepatoma cell H22 or squamous epithelial carcinoma cell S180 was subcutaneously inoculated into the right armpit of mice (wild type mice and 28#, 35#, and 54# transgenic mice). Tumor size was measured every week. Mice were sacrificed on day 9 or 10 and then the tumors were exercised and weighted. Tumors and lungs were fixed in formaldehyde and sectioned. The sections were stained with hematoxylin/eosin and examined under microscope. The red blood cells in spleen were destroyed by Tris-NH4Cl. Natural killer (NK) cell activity was detected with Yac-1 cell as target.

RESULTSH22 and S180 tumors grew faster in all the three transgenic mice (28#, 35#, and 54#) than in wild type mice. The average size and weight of tumors between the transgenic mice and wild type mice were significantly different (P<0.05). Most tumors in the transgenic mice invaded the surrounding tissues. In contrast, nearly all the tumors in wild type mice were capsulized. Three of 10 28# transgenic mice, 5 of 10 35# transgenic mice, 3 of 10 54# transgenic mice, and 1 of 10 wild type mice showed lung metastasis of H22 tumor. Two of 6 28# transgenic mice, 3 of 6 35# transgenic mice, 1 of 6 54# transgenic mice, and 0 of 6 wild type mice showed lung metastasis of S180 tumor. No difference of NK activity in spleen cells was observed between the transgenic mice and wild type mice.

CONCLUSIONShMan2c1 transgene promotes growth, invasion, and metastasis of transplanted H22 and S180 tumors in mice. hMan2cl transgene does not affect NK activity in splenocytes.

Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; Lung Neoplasms ; secondary ; Mannosidases ; genetics ; Mice ; Mice, Transgenic ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Neoplasms, Experimental ; immunology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Spleen ; immunology ; Transgenes

BACKGROUNDThe radiochemotherapy regimen concomitantly employing temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy and radiotherapy (RT) 4 weeks after surgery, followed by 6 cycles of TMZ is a common treatment for glioblastoma (GBM). However, its median overall survival (OS) is only 14.6 months. This study was to explore the effectiveness and safety of early TMZ chemotherapy between surgery and chemoradiotherapy plus the standard concomitant radiochemotherapy regimen.

METHODSA randomized, parallel group, open-label study of 99 newly diagnosed GBM patients was conducted at 10 independent Chinese neurosurgical departments from June 2008 to June 2012. Patients were treated with concomitant radiochemotherapy regimen plus early postsurgical temozolomide (early TMZ group) or standard concomitant radiochemotherapy regimen (control group). Overall response was assessed based on objective tumor assessments, administration of corticosteroid and neurological status test. Hematological, biochemical, laboratory, adverse event (AE), and neurological condition were measured for 24 months of follow-up. The primary efficacy endpoint of this study was overall survival (OS). The secondary endpoint was progression free survival (PFS).

RESULTSThe median OS time in the early TMZ group was 17.6 months, compared with 13.2 months in the control group (log-rank test P = 0.021). In addition, the OS rate in the early TMZ group was higher at 6, 12, and 18 months than in the control group, respectively (P < 0.05). The median PFS time was 8.7 months in the early TMZ group and 10.4 months in the control group (log-rank test P = 0.695). AEs occurred in 29 (55.8%) and 31(73.8%) patients respectively in early and control groups, including nausea (15.4% vs. 33.3%), vomiting (7.7% vs. 28.6%), fever (7.7% vs. 11.9%), and headache (3.8% vs. 23.8%). Only 30.8% and 33.3% were drug-related, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSAddition of TMZ chemotherapy in the early break of the standard concomitant radiochemotherapy regimen was well tolerated and significantly improved the OS of the GBM patients, compared with standard concomitant radiochemotherapy regimen. However, a larger randomized trial is warranted to verify these results.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating ; therapeutic use ; Chemoradiotherapy ; methods ; Dacarbazine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Glioblastoma ; drug therapy ; radiotherapy ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDThe tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) sunitinib, the first targeted agent for the first line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), targets the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of sunitinib in treating metastatic clear-cell RCC and to confirm if hypertension is an effective predictive factor.

METHODSA total of 36 patients with metastatic RCC were enrolled between June 2008 and December 2010. Among them 29 cases were first line therapy and 7 cases were in progression on first-line cytokine or sorafinib therapy. The pathology of all patients was confirmed predominant in clear cell type. Sunitinib mono-therapy was administered in repeated 6-week cycles of daily oral therapy for 4 weeks, followed by 2 weeks off in 34 patients; and 3 patients were administered with 37.5 mg/d continuously until disease progression or unacceptable toxicities occurred. Overall response rate and safety were evaluated. We divided patients into Group A and Group B according to the blood pressure level.

RESULTSThe median follow-up was 15 months (10 cycles, range 1.5 - 30.0 months (1 - 20 cycles)). Ten patients (29.4%) achieved partial responses (PR); 23 patients (67.6%) demonstrated stable disease (SD) lasting ≥ 2 cycles. Seventeen patients (50%) developed progressive disease (PD) during follow-up. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 15 months (range 3.0 - 28.5) months. A total of 9 patients died; the overall survival has not been reached; the median survival time of the deceased patients was 13 months (range 7 - 24) months. The most common adverse events were hand-foot syndrome (77.8%), thrombocytopenia (75.0%), hypertension (61.1%) and diarrhea (46.0%). Most adverse events were reversible by treatment interruption. Twenty-two patients (61.1%) developed hypertension; and hypertension was associated with a long time to disease progression and long overall survival (P = 0.004, 0.000, respectively).

CONCLUSIONSThe results of this study demonstrate the efficacy and manageable adverse event profile of sunitinib as a single agent in first- or second-line therapy for patients with metastatic clear cell RCC. Further, sunitinib-associated hypertension may be a strong predictive marker for treatment efficacy in metastatic RCC.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; drug therapy ; mortality ; Drug Administration Schedule ; Female ; Humans ; Indoles ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pyrroles ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult