Humans ; Occupational Exposure ; statistics & numerical data ; Occupational Health ; Physical Examination ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical features of tumors primarily in the pterygopalatine fossa, and the efficiency of surgical management for these lesions. METHODS The clinical data of 7 cases with tumors primarily in the pterygopalatine fossa were retrospectively studied. Three of them were primary diseases, i.e. fibrous histiocytoma, neurofibroma and cholesteatoma. The other 4 cases were secondary tumors mainly located in pterygopalatine fossa. There were 1 case with epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma, 1 case with adenoid cystic carcinoma , 1 case with recurrent inverted nasal papilloma, 1 case with recurrent malignant fibrous histiocytoma. Approaches to tumors in pterygopalatine fossa lesions included lateral rhinotomy, and transnasal or transantrum approaches under the nasal endoscope. RESULTS The patient suffered from adenoid cystic carcinoma developed local recurrence 4 months after operation, and extended resection of the recurrent tumor with laser was performed again. No further recurrence was found after following-up for 3 years. Neither local recurrence nor regional metastasis was found in the remaining 6 cases with a follow-up period of 2 to 4 years. The main complication was oronasal fistula. CONCLUSION CT scan or MRI is the main method to the early diagnosis of pterygopalatine fossa tumors. Lateral rhinotomy, endoscopic trasnnasal or transantrum approaches are feasible procedures to resect the tumors.

Objective: To elucidate the differences in manual acupuncture effectiveness at sensitized points by investigating the mechanisms of local skin action at different sensitization points in rats with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods: Forty Sprague–Dawley rats were equally divided into control, model (1 mg of monoiodoacetate into the right knee joint cavity), sham operation, manual acupuncture at right Tianjing acupoint (MAR-SJ 10), and left SJ 10 groups. Safranine-O and fast green staining were used to assess the modeling. The morphological and functional changes in mast cells (MCs) were assessed during acupoint sensitization using toluidine blue and immunofluorescence staining. The levels of serotonin, histamine, substance P (SP), and tryptase at skin acupoints and serum levels of IL-β, IL-6, and TNF-α were detected using ELISA. Results: After 14 days of treatment, the number of MCs and their degranulation rates were statistically higher in the model group than in the control group (both P < .001). After applying acupuncture, the levels of 5-HT, HA, and SP at skin acupoints were lower than those in the model group (all P < .05), and tryptase level was higher (both P < .05). Tryptase level was higher on the skin at the MAL-SJ 10 acupoint than that on the MAR-SJ 10 acupoint (P = .004). Compared with the model group, the serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the MAR-SJ 10 and MAL-SJ 10 groups were lower (all P < .05). Conclusion Acupuncture at KOA-sensitized acupoints mitigates joint injury in KOA rats and may bidirectionally regulate local MCs of these acupoints. This finding not only enhances the reference value of sensitizing points in clinical diagnosis and treatment, but also contributes to the understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying acupuncture intervention at sensitizing points.

The rapid and accurate authentication of traditional Chinese medicines(TCMs)has always been a key scientific and technical problem in the field of pharmaceutical analysis.Herein,a novel heating online extraction electrospray ionization mass spectrometry(H-oEESI-MS)was developed for the rapid and direct analysis of extremely complex substances without the requirement for any sample pretreatment or pre-separation steps.The overall molecular profile and fragment structure features of various herbal medicines could be completely captured within 10-15 s,with minimal sample(＜0.5 mg)and solvent consumption(＜20 μL for one sample).Furthermore,a rapid differentiation and authentication strategy for TCMs based on H-oEESI-MS was proposed,including metabolic profile characterization,characteristic marker screening and identification,and multivariate statistical analysis model validation.In an analysis of 52 batches of seven types of Aconitum medicinal materials,20 and 21 key compounds were screened out as the characteristic markers of raw and processed Aconitum herbal medicines,respectively,and the possible structures of all the characteristic markers were comprehensively identified based on Com-pound Discoverer databases.Finally,multivariate statistical analysis showed that all the different types of herbal medicines were well differentiated and identified(R2X＞0.87,R2Y＞0.91,and Q2＞0.72),which further verified the feasibility and reliability of this comprehensive strategy for the rapid authentication of different TCMs based on H-oEESI-MS.In summary,this rapid authentication strategy realized the ultra-high-throughput,low-cost,and standardized detection of various complex TCMs for the first time,thereby demonstrating wide applicability and value for the development of quality standards for TCMs.