Extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) are often located in the head and neck region, commonly affecting the nasal cavity, tonsillar fossa and oral cavity but rarely the retropharyngeal space. In this report, a 60-year-old woman with large EMP in the retropharyngeal space is presented, who was diagnosed by pathology, bone marrow aspirate and computed tomography scan. The patient received operation and postoperative radiotherapy with dose of 50 Gy. At sixteen months follow-up, the patient was doing well with no signs of recurrence.
Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Nasal Cavity ; pathology ; Plasmacytoma ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Objective To establish the reference databases for bone mineral density(BMD)in multiple skeletal regions,which would be useful for diagnosis of osteoporosis(OP)and prediction of fracture risk in adult women in Qingdao.Methods BMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at skeletal regions of lumbar spine,left hip(femoral neck,Ward's triangle and greater trochanter)in 868 healthy adult women aged 25- 83 years and 191 women with fractures.BMD of skeletal regions with age-related change was found to fit in 8 kinds of regression models.Best model equations of fitting were found and the reference database was established.BMD of women with fractures was compared with the reference databases to predict the risk of fracture.Results BMD in 6 skeletal regions changed with aging and a cubic regression model was better fitted with aged-related change as compared with other regression models.The coefficients of determination(R~2)of fitting curve were 0.21?0.09 (P＜0.01).The BMD reference databases of women in Qingdao were established by cubic regression equation, the peak BMD of lumbar spine and hip appeared at 25-29,and 40-44 years old groups respectively.Finally,the BMD in fracture group was significantly decreased by 1.6-2.5 s as compared with the peak BMD of health women. Conclusion The bone quantity is lost rapidly after 45 years old in women.If the BMD in women after 50 years old is decreased by 1.6-2.5 s compared with the peak BMD in the same area,the risk of fracture is increased.

Objective To make a preliminary investigation and summary of the technique and efficacy of the novel intracranial stent, Enterprise, together with hydro-detachable coils for the treatment of very small intracranial wide-necked aneurysms (diameter<3 nun and body-to-neck ratio<1.5). Methods Six cases with very small intracranial wide-necked aneurysms were treated with Enterprise stents and hydro-detachable coils. In 5 cases the Enterprise stent was implanted to cover the neck of the aneurysm, which was followed by the introduction of a microcatheter into the aneurysmal sac through the stent mesh to stuff hydro-detachable coils in order to fill the aneurysmal sac. In the remaining case, the microcatheter was placed into the aneurysmal sac before the Enterprise stent was inserted to embolize the aneurysm. Postoperative follow-up was conducted for 3-6 months. Results The operation was successfully completed in all 6 patients, with the implanted stents being in right place. The parent arteries remained patency in all patients. No complications occurred. Complete occlusion of aneurysmal cavity was obtained in four cases, and the occlusion degree of the aneurysmal cavity above 95% was seen in 2 cases. After the procedure, all the patients recovered well. Neither rebleeding nor symptoms related to thrombosis occurred during a clinic follow-up of 3-6 months. Conclusion Endovasculur embolization with Enterprise stent together with hydro-detachable coils is a safe and effective method for the treatment of very small intracranial wide-necked aneurysms. However, its long-term effect needs to be further observed.

Hide melting presents itself as one of the most critical processes in the production of donkey-hide gelatin. Here a NIR-based method was established for the rapid analysis of in-process hide melting solutions as well as for end-point determination of this process. Near infrared (NIR) spectra of hide melting solutions were collected in transflective mode. With the contents of total nitrogen determined by the Kjeldahl method as reference values, partial least squares regression (PLSR) was employed to build calibration models between NIR spectra and total nitrogen. Model parameters including wavelength range and PLS factors were optimized to achieve best model performance. Based on the contents of total nitrogen predicted by calibration model, end point of hide melting was determined. The constructed PLS model gave a high correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.991 3 and a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.807 g x L(-1). With the predicted total nitrogen and predefined limit, decisions concerning the proper times of melting were made. This research demonstrated that NIR transflectance spectroscopy could be used to expeditiously determine the contents of total nitrogen which was subsequently chosen as the indictor for determining the end-point of hide melting. The proposed procedure may help avoid unnecessary raw material or energy consumption.
Animals ; Calibration ; Endpoint Determination ; methods ; Equidae ; anatomy & histology ; Gelatin ; chemistry ; Least-Squares Analysis ; Nitrogen ; analysis ; chemistry ; Skin ; chemistry ; Spectrophotometry, Infrared ; Time Factors ; Transition Temperature

AIM: To investigate the relationship among MCP-1 and monocyte chemoattract protein activity (MCA) and pathogenesis of lung cancer. METHODS: 173 patients were involved in the study and divided into three groups: group A: lung cancer group (60 patients); group B: benign lung disease group (55 patients) and group C: healthy control group (58 patients). MCP-1 level and MCA in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were measured. RESULTS: The concentration of MCP-1 and MCA in BALF in group A were much higher than those in group B and group C (P

Objective To investigate the relationship between watching television time and impaired glucose regulation (IGR) , type 2 diabetes mellitus in Chongqing City .Methods Population-based cross-sectional study was conducted to investigated the local permanent staff(lived in Chongqing more than 5 years) who were 40 years old or elder in Chongqing City .Results The overall prevalence rate of IGR and T 2DM was 6 .3% ,5 .6% respectively .The average weekly watching TV time of the samples was (12 .3 ± 10 .1) h .After adjusting for possible confounding factors ,the prevalence rate of IGR and T2DM in patients watching TV time >14 h per week was significantly higher than those watching TV time ≤ 7 h per week(Adjust .OR = 1 .528 ,95% CI = 1 .034 - 2 .121 ;OR = 1 .482 ,95% CI = 1 .133 - 2 .047 ,respectively ) .Conclusion Siting and watching TV time were positively correlated with the risk of IGR ,T2DM .So ,we should actively encourage and promote healthy lifestyles to reduce siting and watching TV time .

Objective: To observe the changes in numbers and degranulation status of local mast cells (MCs) of the complementary acupionts, as well as the concentrations of serum histamine and bradykinin after acupuncture at rat's complementary acupionts of Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Yinlingquan (SP 10), for exploring the mechanisms of the synergistic effect of complementary acupionts. Methods: Using random number table method, 40 Wistar rats were randomly divided into a blank control group (group K), an acupuncture at Yanglingquan (GB 34) group (group A), an acupuncture at Yinlingquan (SP 9) group (group B), an acupuncture at Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Yinlingquan (SP 9) group (group AB), and an acupuncture at points near Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Yinlingquan (SP 9) group (group CD), 8 rats in each group. Group A received acupuncture at Yanglingquan (GB 34); group B received acupuncture at Yinlingquan (SP 9); group AB received acupuncture at Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Yinlingquan (SP 9); group CD received acupuncture at the control points [points 3 mm away from Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Yinlingquan (SP 9) respectively]. Acupuncture was performed at bilateral points in each group. Rats in group K were fixed using the same method as rats in the other 4 groups without acupuncture stimulation. Needles of 0.35 mm in diameter and 40 mm in length were used for acupuncture. Needle handle was connected to the G6805-Ⅱ mode electroacupuncture (EA) device after needling qi was obtained, with sparse-dense wave, frequency of 2 Hz/100 Hz and current of 1 mA to keep the needle handles slightly tremulous while the rats kept quiet. Rats were continuously stimulated by EA for 20 min each time. Experimental interventions were conducted on the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th days when the experiment started, for 4 times in total. Specimens from rats in each group were collected 2 h after the 7th day. The levels of histamine and bradykinin in serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Local tissues of the points were used to prepare cryosections. The changes of MCs were observed after toluidine blue staining. Results: Compared with group K, the numbers and degranulation rates of MCs in group A, group B, group AB and group CD were significantly increased (all P<0.05). The number and degranulation rate of MCs in group AB were significantly higher than those in group A, group B and group CD (all P<0.05). The order of histamine levels from high to low was: group AB >group B > group A > group CD > group K, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05); the levels of bradykinin in group AB, group A and group B were significantly higher than those in group K and group CD (all P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the bradykinin level between group A and group B, nor between group CD and group K (all P>0.05). Conclusion: The number and degranulation rate of MCs of the complementary acupionts are significantly increased after acupuncture at complementary acupionts of Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Yinlingquan (SP 9) of rats, and the serum levels of histamine and bradykinin are increased, which may be one of the mechanisms of the synergism produced by the combination of complementary acupionts.

To investigate the improving effect of inter-chain disulfide formation on protein trans-splicing, we introduce a Cys point mutation at Tyr(664) in heavy chain and at Thr(1826) in light chain of B-domain-deleted FVIII (BDD-FVIII). By co-transfection of COS-7 cell with the two Cys mutated chain genes, the intracellular protein splicing, inter-chain disulfide formation, secreted BDD-FVIII and bioactivity in culture supernatant were observed. The data showed that a strengthened spliced BDD-FVIII with an inter-chain disulfide detected by Western blotting and an elevated secretion of spliced BDD-FVIII (128 +/- 24 ng mL(-1)) compared to control (89 +/- 15 ng mL(-1)), assayed by a sandwich ELISA. A Coatest was performed to assay the secretion of bioactivity in culture supernatant and shown a much higher value (0.94 +/- 0.08 u mL(-1)) compared to that of control (0.62 +/- 0.15 u mL(-1)). It suggests that inter-chain disulfide formation could improve protein trans-splicing based dual-vector delivery of BDD-FVIII gene providing experimental evidence for ongoing in vivo study.
Animals ; COS Cells ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; Cysteine ; genetics ; metabolism ; Disulfides ; metabolism ; Factor VIII ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Transfer Techniques ; Genetic Vectors ; Mutation ; Peptide Fragments ; genetics ; metabolism ; Protein Splicing ; Transfection

The mutation of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene leads to an autosomal recessive genetic disorder cystic fibrosis (CF). The gene therapy for CF using adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors delivering CFTR gene is restricted by the contents limitation of AAV vectors. In this study the split CFTR genes severed at its regulatory domain were delivered by a dual-vector system with an intein-mediated protein trans-splicing as a technique to investigate the post-translational ligation of CFTR half proteins and its function as a chloride ion channel. A pair of eukaryotic expression vectors was constructed by breaking the human CFTR cDNA before Ser712 codon and fusing with Ssp DnaB intein coding sequences. After co-transfection into baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells followed by transient expression, patch clamps were carried out to record the chloride current of whole-cell and the activity of a single channel, and the ligation of two halves of CFTR was observed by Western blotting. The results showed that the intein-fused half genes co-transfected cells displayed a high whole cell chloride current and activity of a single channel indicating the functional recovery of chloride channel, and an intact CFTR protein band was figured out by CFTR-specific antibodies indicating that intein can efficiently ligate the separately expressed half CFTR proteins. The data demonstrated that protein splicing strategy could be used as a strategy in delivering CFTR gene by two vectors, encouraging our ongoing research program on dual AAV vector system based gene transfer in gene therapy for cystic fibrosis.
Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Chlorides ; metabolism ; Codon ; genetics ; Cricetinae ; Cystic Fibrosis ; therapy ; Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator ; genetics ; metabolism ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; Dependovirus ; genetics ; Genetic Therapy ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Inteins ; physiology ; Kidney ; cytology ; Protein Processing, Post-Translational ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Trans-Splicing ; Transfection

We recently demonstrated that an intein-mediated protein splicing can be used to transfer B-domain-deleted FVIII (BDD-FVIII) gene by a dual-vector. In this study, we observed the effect of a variant heavy chain with six potential glycosylation sites of B domain and L303E/F309S mutations in its A1 domain, which were proven to be beneficial for FVIII secretion, on secretion of spliced BDD-FVIII. By transient co-transfection of cultured 293 cells with intein-fused variant heavy chain (DMN6HCIntN) and light chain (IntCLC) genes, the culture supernatant was analyzed quantitatively by ELISA for secreted spliced BDD-FVIII antigen and by a chromogenic assay for bioactivity. The data showed that the amount of spliced BDD-FVIII protein and coagulation activity in culture supernatant from DMN6HCIntN plus IntCLC co-transfected cells were up to (149 +/- 23) ng x mL(-1) and (1.12 +/- 0.14) u x mL(-1) respectively greater than that of intein-fused wild type heavy (HCIntN) and light chain (IntCLC) co-transfected cells [(99 +/- 14) ng x mL(-1) and (0.77 +/- 0.13) u x mL(-1)] indicating that the variant heavy chain is able to improve the secretion of spliced BDD-FVIII and activity. A cellular mechanism-independent BDD-FVIII splicing was also observed. It provided evidence for ongoing animal experiment using intein-mediated dual-AAV vector technology for delivery of the BDD-FVIII genes.
Factor VIII ; genetics ; metabolism ; secretion ; Glycosylation ; HEK293 Cells ; Humans ; Inteins ; Mutation ; Peptide Fragments ; genetics ; metabolism ; secretion ; Protein Splicing ; Trans-Splicing ; Transfection