Humans ; Stomach Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; therapy

Objective To investigate the effects of antioxidant response element (ARE) activator- 5,6-dihydrocyclopenta[ C ]-1,2-dithiole-3-thione (CPDT) on organotypic spinal cord cultures and to study whether this activation can protect motor neurons from oxidative stress.Methods Organotypic spinal cord cultures were prepared using lumbar spinal cord slices from 8-day-old rat.Threo-hydroxyaspartate (THA) was continuously added into the culture medium for 3 weeks,which caused selective motor neuron death. Thus,the in vitro model of amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis (ALS) was established.15,30 ?mol/L of CPDT were added into the culture medium respectively.Ventral motor neurons survival was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal antibody SMI-32,a nonphosphorylated neurofilament marker. Ultrastructure was observed with electronic microscope.Results The pretreatment of organotypic spinal cord cultures with different concentrations of CPDT significantly increase the total number of ventral motor neurons (15?mol/L:(15.81?6.97) perexplant;30?mol/L:(16.25?6.74) perexplant respectively) compared with THA group ((5.31?5.76) perexplant) and the former had plentiful neurite extensions (n= 15,P

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of cross electro-nape-acupuncture on reflex remodeling of airway protective reflex cough in patients with tracheotomy after cerebral hemorrhage.

METHODSWith the method of completely random design, according to treatment order, 60 patients who received tracheotomy after cerebral hemorrhage accompanied with cough reflex difficulty were randomly divided into a cross electro-nape-acupuncture group and an acupuncture group, 30 cases in each group. Both groups were treated with basic treatment, including anti-inflammation, eliminating phlegm, improving cerebral metabolism and so on. The acupuncture group was treated with acupuncture at Yifeng (TE 17), Fengchi (GB 20), Lianquan (CV 23), Baihui (GV 20), Touwei (ST 8), Dicang (ST 4) through Jiache (ST 6), Hegu (LI 4), Quchi (LI 11), and motor area on the affected side, and the needles were retained for 30 min. Based on the treatment of acupuncture group, the cross electro-nape-acupuncture group was additionally treated with cross electro-nape-acupuncture (continuous wave) for 30 min per treatment. The treatment was both given twice a day from Monday to Friday and once a day on Saturday and Sun day for 4 weeks. Tracheostomy cough reflex grading score (TCRGS) and clinical pulmonary infection score (CPIS) were observed before and after treatment in the two groups, and the clinical efficacy of two groups was evaluated.

RESULTSCompared before the treatment, TCRGS and CPIS were both reduced in two groups (both P < 0.01); after treatment, there were significant differences of TCRGS and CPIS between two groups (both P < 0.01), indicating cross electro-nape-acupuncture group was superior to acupuncture group. Regarding the effects of cough reflex remodeling, the cured and markedly effective rate was 96.7% (29/30) in the cross electro-nape-acupuncture group, which was significantly different from 55.2% (16/29) in the acupuncture group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONCross electro-nape-acupuncture could effectively improve the remodeling of cough reflex and promote the recovery of lung infection in patients with tracheotomy after cerebral hemorrhage, leading to an increased quality of life.

Acupuncture Points ; Aged ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; physiopathology ; surgery ; therapy ; Cough ; physiopathology ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reflex ; Tracheotomy

BACKGROUNDMicrocalcifications play a very important role in detection of breast cancer, especially early stage breast cancer. However, ambiguity still exists in understanding the relationship between radiological and pathological characteristics of microcalcifications. The definitive indication of a biopsy has not been established. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship of classification of breast microcalcifications using full-field digital mammography to the pathological characteristics.

METHODSFor all the women an open biopsy had been conducted. One hundred and three mammographs showing clustered microcalcifications from 98 consecutive patients were reviewed along with their pathological records. To investigate the value of each criterion for the detection of cancer, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed on the entire sample and then on morphological subgroups.

RESULTSPathological examination showed 67 malignant lesions (65.05%) and 36 benign lesions (34.95%). In the univariate analysis, four radiological variables were significant: morphological type (P = 0.001), complicated by a mass (P = 0.002), number of microcalcifications per cluster (P = 0.02) and linear or triangular distribution of clusters (P = 0.009). In the multivariate analysis, two criteria remained significant: morphological type (P < 0.001) and complicated by a mass (P = 0.001). The percentage of malignancy was 37.0%, 60.0%, 78.8%, and 88.9%, respectively, for type 2 (regularly punctiform), type 3 (dusty), type 4 (irregularly punctiform) and type 5 (vermicular) microcalcifications (Le Gal's classification). The malignancy was 78.6% for microcalcifications complicated by a mass and 48.9% without a mass. The difference was significant (P < 0.05). The relationship between morphological types of microcalcifications and the pathological characteristics was also studied. In subgroups, type 3 (dusty) microcalcifications complicated by a mass (P = 0.001) or with the number of microcalcifications more than 10 (P = 0.024); and type 2 (regularly punctiform) with a diameter of the area over 20 mm (P = 0.024) or complicated by a mass (P = 0.025) were statistically significant as criteria for malignant tumour.

CONCLUSIONSMost cases of microcalcifications of type 4 or 5; type 3 complicated by a mass or with the number of microcalcifications more than 10; type 2 complicated by a mass or with a diameter of the area over 20 mm; are indicative of cancer. Open biopsy is recommended to acquire definitive pathological diagnosis for these cases. For the remainder of the morphological types, stereotaxic biopsy or followup should be considered.

Adult ; Aged ; Breast ; pathology ; Breast Diseases ; classification ; Breast Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Calcinosis ; classification ; Female ; Humans ; Mammography ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of stage III gastric cancer.

METHODSA retrospectively study of 1007 patients with Stage III gastric cancer in a single institute in China was performed. The patients underwent surgical resection from January 1991 to December 2005. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards model to access the prognostic factors in stage III gastric cancer patients who received curative (R0) gastric resection.

RESULTSThe mean age of the 1007 patients was 58.7 years and the male-to-female ratio was 2.6:1.0. There were 242 patients with stage IIIA disease, 403 patients with stage IIIB, and 362 patients with stage IIIC. R0, R1, and R2 resection were performed in 754 patients (74.9%), 56 patients (5.5%), and 197 patients (19.6%), respectively. The 5-year survival rate (37.8%) of patients who received R0 resection was significant higher than that of patients who received R1(21.2%) and R2(8.9%) resection (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that pN stage, pT stage, and Borrmann type were independent prognostic factors (all P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSStage III gastric cancer patients have certain clinicopathological characteristics and R0 resection should be performed if possible. Lymph node count, depth of tumor invasion, and Borrmann type are independent prognostic factors in stage III gastric cancer patients undergoing R0 resection.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the expression and prognostic significance of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(EGFR 2,also called HER2 or c-ErbB2)in elderly intracranial meningio-mas.Methods A total of 52 elderly patients with intracranial meningioma who underwent surgi-cal resection in our department from February 2021 to January 2023 were consecutively recruited in this study.According to the World Health Organization(WHO)classification,40 cases were as-signed into WHO grade Ⅰ and 12 cases into WHO grade Ⅱ/Ⅲ.Based on the phosphorylation level of HER2(p-HER2),there were 39 cases with low p-HER2 expression and 13 cases with high expression.The expression of HER2 extracellular domain(ECD),intracellular domain(ICD)and phosphorylated receptor(6B12)were detected by immunohistochemistry.Double probe fluores-cence in situ hybridization(FISH)was used to detect the amplification of HER2.Time to recur-rence(TTR)and overall survival(OS)were recorded during follow-up.Cox proportional hazards regression model and Kaplan-Meier survival curve were employed to analyze the relationship of HER2 expression and recurrence and death risk in these patients.Results The positive rate of ICD-CB11 and ICD-3B5 was both 100％,while that of ECD-SP3 and 6B12(p-HER2)was 61.54％(32/52)and 25.00％(13/52),respectively in the elderly patients.In normal meningeal tissues,negative results were observed in all above four antibody immune responses.In addition,there was no significant difference in HER2 expression between WHO group 1 and WHO group Ⅱ/Ⅲ(P＞0.05).HER2 gene amplification was not detected in all elderly patients with meningioma,and the ratio of HER2 to CEP17 signals was 1.09±0.11,ranging from 0.84 to 1.35.Univariate and multivariate COX proportional hazard regression analysis showed that high expression of p-HER2 was an independent risk factor for recurrence and death in elderly patients with meningioma(P＜0.05).During follow-up,the patients with low p-HER2 expression had higher relapse-free survival rate and longer median recurrence-free survival(RFS)when compared with the patients with high p-HER2 expression(74.36％vs 30.77％,1.66 year vs 0.56 year,P log rank＜0.01).Survival analysis indicated that higher total survival rate and longer median OS were observed in the patients with low p-HER2 expression than those with high p-HER2 expression(82.05％vs 46.15％,2.27 year vs 0.58 year,Plogrank＜0.01).Conclusion HER2 is overexpressed in elderly patients with intracra-nial meningioma,and p-HER2 overexpression is associated with an increased risk of recurrence and death.HER2 may be used as a prognostic tool in elderly patients with meningioma,and is ex-pected to be a potential therapeutic target.

OBJECTIVEIn this study, the authors investigated inhibition of coxsackievirus B (CVB) gene expression using antisense oligonucleotides complementary to the 5' NCR, translation initiation codon and structural protein coding sequences and also observed the dose-response of the sequence specific inhibition of CVB plaque formation by antisense oligonucleotides.

METHODSAntiviral activities of these oligonucleotides were evaluated by using plaque reduction assay, yield reduction assay, cytopathic effect (CPE) and Western blot analysis. The cells were treated with random oligonucleotides as a specificity control.

RESULTSAt a screening concentration of 5 micromole, 6 of the phosphorothioate oligonucleotide demonstrated some reduction of virus replication relative to untreated cells. 70%-90% inhibition of virus at 0.1 MOI (multiplicity of infection), 50% inhibition of virus infection at 10 MOI. The levels of the VP1 were reduced in CVB-infected cells treated with Scb561 and Scb733. VP1 was significantly reduced after treatment with 0.625 micromole Scb561 and almost undetectable in cells treated with 2.5 micromole Scb561. Dose response experiments implied that sequence specific oligonucleotide doses were related to effect on inhibition of CVB3 infection. When oligonucleotide doses were increased from 1.25 to 5 micromole, 75% to 90% inhibition were observed with Scb561 and 65% to 80% inhibition with Scb733, whereas random control failed to inhibit CVB replication (8% inhibition for each). CONCLUSION The present studies showed that antisense oligonucleotides against internal ribosome entry site (IRES) and translation initiation codon were capable of specifically inhibiting the synthesis of viral protein and subsequent productive CVB replication.The selective inhibition using antisense oligonucleotide might lead to development of an effective antiviral agent for future clinical evaluation.

5' Untranslated Regions ; genetics ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Enterovirus B, Human ; drug effects ; genetics ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; pharmacology ; Ribosomes ; metabolism ; Viral Structural Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Virus Replication ; drug effects

McCune-Albright syndrome is a rare G proteins alpha disorder. The disorder is characterized by polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, sexual precocity and hyperpigmented macules. It is caused due to mutations in the gene Gsalpha that incodes the alpha subunit of the trimeric guanosine triphate-binding protein. There is no specific treatment for this syndrome. Treatment is generally symptomatic. This paper reported three cases of McCune-Albright syndrome and reviewed the relevant literatures regarding to the pathogenesis, pathological features, diagnosis and treatment. All three cases presented with a characteristic triad: polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, sexual precocity and hyperpigmented macules and were thus definitely diagnosed with McCune-Albright syndrome.
Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Fibrous Dysplasia, Polyostotic ; diagnosis ; etiology ; pathology ; therapy ; Humans ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVETo analyze the clinicopathologic features and prognosis of young patients with gastric cancer by comparing with older patients.

METHODThe clinicopathologic data of 157 younger adults (age, 40 years) was analyzed and compared retrospectively. All of the 1918 patients were surgically treated between January 1980 and December 2000.

RESULTSThe rates of poorly differentiation, diffusive growth, Borrmann 4 type, whole-stomach invasion were significantly higher in younger cases than those in the elder counterparts (P < 0.05), especially in young female patients. The rate of early gastric cancer was significantly higher in young patients than that in older patients (P < 0.05), especially in young male patients. There was significant difference between the survival rate of younger male cases (median survival, 35 months) and younger female cases (median survival, 19 months) (P = 0.0219), but no significant difference was found between elder male and elder female (median survival, 26 vs. 30 months). TNM stage, operative curability, gross type were independent predictive factors of survival for younger patients.

CONCLUSIONSYounger female gastric cancer patients tends to have worse prognosis than older patients, while younger male patients have better prognosis due to higher percentage of early gastric cancer when diagnosed. Pathologic staging and operative curability are the independent predictive factors of survival for younger patients.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Stomach Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; Survival Analysis

BACKGROUND: Although the porcine small intestinal submucosa is very similar to the skin in the structure, its pore size and porosity are not beneficial to the growth of seed cells as the skin does. OBJECTIVE: To observe the morphological and cytocompatibility of porcine small intestinal submucosa after chemical modification using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbod imide (EDC). METHODS: A porcine small intestinal submucosa sample was immersed in 3% acetic acid solution containing 0.2% pepsin to make 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% small intestine submucosa solutions. After magnetic stirring and freeze-drying, small intestinal submucosa sponge was obtained and modified by cross-linking with 50, 100, 150 mmol/L EDC. Based on the detection of pore size and water absorption, we selected the best concentrations of small intestinal submucosa and EDC, which were further used for cell culture. Passage 2 bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were cocultured with the small intestinal submucosa sponge, and observed under scanning electron microscope at 1, 2, 3 weeks after co-culture. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: When cross-linked with 100 mmol/L EDC, the small intestinal submucosa sponge at a mass concentration of 1% showed a reasonable structure and good elasticity with no appearance of voids, and the pore size ranged 100-150 μm. Moreover, the small intestinal submucosa sponge at a mass concentration of 1% showed a 0.35-fold increase in the compared with that at a mass concentration of 2%, and its structure was more conducive to water flows and changes. The small intestinal submucosa sponges at a mass concentration of 3% and 4% showed no difference in the water absorbing capacity. After cross-linked with 100 mmol/L EDC, the small intestinal submucosa sponge at a mass concentration of 1% showed the best structure, pore size and water absorption, which were used for cell culture. At 3 weeks after cell culture, cell deformation was relatively intact and fast; there were many cells in the pores that were relatively large and approximately spindle-shaped, while there were less cells around the pores that were relatively small and disk-shaped. A paving stone-like alteration was observed in cells that covered the most of the scaffold surface with a large number of particle-like substances, especially in the site of cell concentration. All these findings indicate that EDC-modified small intestinal submucosa sponge has good cytocompatibility.