Otologic disorders and management strategies in Turner syndrome / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Objective: To analyze the incidence and risk factors of otologic disorders in patients with Turner syndrome (TS), so as to provide management strategies for ear health. Methods: This study is a prospective study based on questionnaires and a cross-sectional study. The TS patients who visited our hospital from 2010 January to 2021 March were included (A total of 71 patients with TS were included in this study. the age of TS diagnosed was 3- to 11-year-old, age of visiting ENT department was 4- to 27-year-old) and the incidence of otologic diseases in different age groups was investigated by questionnaires. The cross-sectional study included ear morphology and auditory function assessment, and further analysis of the risk factors that related to ear disease. Prism was used for data analysis. Results: The investigation found that the incidence of acute otitis media in patients aged 3-6 and 7-12 years was higher than that of patients over 12 years old, which was 33.8%(24/71), 42.9%(30/70)and 23.5%(8/34), respectively; 21.1% (15/71) of patients were recurrent acute otitis media in patients aged 3-6 years, and about 46.6% (7/15)of them persisted beyond 6-year. The prevalence of otitis media with effusion in the three groups was 32.4%(23/71), 34.3%(24/70)and 38.2%(13/34), respectively; the recurrence rate of tympanocentesis was 100%(7/7), 42.9%(3/7)and 50.0%(1/2), which was significantly higher than that of grommet insertion. For age groups of 3-6 and 7-12 years, the prevalence of acute otitis media and secretory otitis media was lower in the X chromosome structure abnormal patients; while for patients older than 12 years, otitis media with effusion was the highest prevalence in Y-chromosome-containing karyotypes. In addition, the prevalence of acute otitis media and otitis media with effusion in patients with other system diseases were increased significantly. A cross-sectional study found that 7.0% (5/71)of the lower auricular, 4.2% (3/71)of the external auditory canal narrow, and 38.0% (27/71)of the tympanic membrane abnormality. 35.2%(25/71) had abnormal hearing, including 17 cases of conductive deafness, 6 cases of sensorineural hearing loss, and 2 cases of mixed deafness. The rest of the patients had normal hearing, but 6 of them had abnormalities in otoacoustic emission. Eustachian tube function assessment found that the eustachian tube dysfunction accounted for 38%(27/71). Hearing loss and abnormal Eustachian tube function were not significantly related to karyotype(Chi-square 2.83 and 2.84,P value 0.418 and 0.417), but significantly related to other system diseases(Chi-square 13.43 and 7.53,P value<0.001). Conclusions: The incidence of TS-related otitis media and auditory dysfunction is significantly higher than that of the general population. It not only occurs in preschool girls, but also persists or develops after school age. Accompanied by other system diseases are risk factors for ear diseases. Clinicians should raise their awareness of TS-related ear diseases and incorporate ear health monitoring into routine diagnosis and treatment.

Post-disaster medical rescue strategy in tropical regions / 世界急诊医学杂志（英文）

BACKGROUND: Earthquakes, floods, droughts, storms, mudslides, landslides, and forest wild fires are serious threats to human lives and properties. The present study aimed to study the environmental characteristics and pathogenic traits, recapitulate experiences, and augment applications of medical reliefs in tropical regions. METHODS: Analysis was made on work and projects of emergency medical rescue, based on information and data collected from 3 emergency medical rescue missions of China International Search and Rescue Team to overseas earthquakes and tsunamis aftermaths in tropical disaster regions Indonesia-Aceh, Indonesia-Yogyakarta, and Haiti-Port au Prince. RESULTS: Shock, infection and heat stroke were frequently encountered in addition to outbreaks of infectious diseases, skin diseases, and diarrhea during post-disaster emergency medical rescue in tropical regions. CONCLUSIONS: High temperature, high humidity, and proliferation of microorganisms and parasites are the characteristics of tropical climate that impose strict requirements on the preparation of rescue work including selective team members suitable for a particular rescue mission and the provisioning of medical equipment and life support materials. The overseas rescue mission itself needs a scientific, efficient, simple workflow for providing efficient emergency medical assistance. Since shock and infection are major tasks in post-disaster treatment of severely injured victims in tropical regions, the prevention and diagnosis of hyperthermia, insect-borne infectious diseases, tropic skin diseases, infectious diarrhea, and pest harms of disaster victims and rescue team staff should be emphasized during the rescue operations.

Arsenic trioxide up-regulates Fas expression in human osteosarcoma cells / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Osteosarcoma is a common primary malignant tumor of bone with a poor prognosis due to its propensity for metastasis. The prognosis of patients is highly dependent on the presence or absence of lung metastasis and on the effectiveness of treatment against it. It has been reported that low level expression of Fas protein in human osteosarcoma cell is closely associated with lung metastasis. A large number of studies have shown that arsenic trioxide (ATO) can inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of many cancer cell lines; however, its effects on human osteosarcoma cells (Saos-2 cell line) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ATO on Saos-2 cells and to characterize its mechanism of Fas-expressing.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A group of Saos-2 cells was treated with or without 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 micromol/L ATO for three successive days, and the cytotoxicity of ATO was determined by an 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Morphological changes in cells were studied by acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) double staining. Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to assay cell DNA distribution. Another group of cells was pretreated with 10 nmol/L matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP-7) for 3 hours. They were then incubated with or without 2 micromol/L ATO for 24, 48 and 72 hours. Cytotoxicity, Fas protein and mRNA levels were systematically studied using MTT, Western blotting and real-time PCR, respectively. Cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis were examined in this study.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Proliferation of Saos-2 cells was inhibited by ATO in both a dose- and time-dependent manner. The IC(50) values at 24, 48 and 72 hours were 9.30, 5.54 and 3.49 micromol/L, respectively. The survival rate of Saos-2 cells in the MMP-7 and ATO co-treated group was significantly higher than the ATO group, but it was lower than the control group. ATO induced G(1) phase arrest of the cell cycle and very efficiently stimulated apoptosis in Saos-2 cells, as evidenced by flow cytometric detection of sub-G(1) DNA content and AO/EB staining. Western blotting results indicated that Fas (FasL) protein expression in osteosarcoma cultures markedly increases in a time dependent manner after exposure to ATO. Compared with control, treatment with ATO 2 micromol/L and 4 micromol/L for 48 hours, resulted in increase of Fas gene expression to 28.31% and 56.74%, respectively. Our results indicated that ATO induced-apoptosis of Saos-2 cells may be mediated through the Fas pathway.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>ATO suppressed cell proliferation of Saos-2 cell in a dose- and time-dependent manner and increased Fas protein expression. However, Fas-mediated apoptosis was incompletely interrupted by MMP-7, which suggested that other molecular mechanisms may mediate this process.</p>

Effect of 15-HETE on potassium channels of rabbit pulmonary arterial smooth muscles during hypoxia / 生理学报

This study investigated the role of 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE) in rabbit pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) under hypoxia by using organ bath and whole cell patch-clamp techniques. Neonatal rabbits born into normoxic environment were transferred after first feeding into normal and hypoxic environments with respectively 0.21 and 0.12 fractional inspired oxygen (FiO2). Pulmonary arteries were extracted after 9 d and cut into rings 1.0 approximately 1.5 mm in length for organ bath experiments. Whole cell patch-clamp technique was used to measure the potassium current in the freshly dispersed rabbit PASMCs. The results showed that 15-HETE-induced vasoconstriction was blocked by 4-aminopyridine (5 mmol/L), a Kv channel blocker. The K(ATP) channel blocker glyburide (1 micromol/L) and the BKCa channel blocker tetraethylammonium (10 mmol/L) did not abolish this vasoconstriction. 15-HETE decreased the whole-cell voltage-gated K+ current in the PASMCs. These findings demonstrate that hypoxia blocks Kv channels through a 15-HETE mediated mechanism, leading to PA vasoconstriction.