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Objective:To investigate the ultrasonographic features of internal jugular venous vein pseudo-aneurysm.Methods:The ultrasonographic and clinical features of a patient with internal jugular venous vein pseudo-aneurysm in Union Hospital Affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology were retrospectively analyzed. These characteristics of this patient combined with cases from literatures were summarized.Results:Ultrasound showed that the 38.6 mm×14.0 mm×29.9 mm anechoic area in the soft tissue layer of the left neck communicated with the left internal jugular vein through the 3.8 mm wide breach, and a 12.9 mm×6.6 mm slightly hyperechoic mass was found in the anechoic area. Color Doppler flow imaging showed that the internal jugular vein communicated with the anechoic area through the crevasse. There was no obvious blood flow signal in slightly hyperechoic mass. The bidirectional burr-like blood flow signal could be detected by pulse-wave Doppler. Contrast enhanced ultrasound showed that the contrast agent flowed into the mass from the internal jugular vein through the breach, and the slightly hyperechoic mass appeared the contrast filling defect, and contrast agent was well filled in the rest of the anechoic area. Ultrasound diagnosis: left internal jugular vein pseudoaneurysm with thrombosis. 35 cases of cervical vein pseudo-aneurysm patients were finally included in 23 documents, including 12 males, 23 females, 15 cases on the left side, 20 cases on the right side, 6 cases of the internal jugular vein, 27 cases of the external jugular vein; one case only describes the neck veins and supraclavicular vein in another one case. Among them, 34 cases showed subcutaneous anechoic masses on ultrasound, 1 case showed slightly hyperechoic masses, and 35 cases showed venous wall breaches.Conclusions:Ultrasound examination has high diagnostic value for vein pseudo-aneurysm owing to its convenience, fast and serial observation. Therefore, it is the preferred method and can be widely used in clinical practice. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound can clearly show the blood perfusion, and help to improve the diagnostic confidence of the operator.
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Objective To analyze the clinical features,methods of treatment and prognosis of primary neurogenic tumors of mediastinum in patients taking surgical intervention.Methods A database was maintained retrospectively of all patients undergoing surgery for tumor and pathologically diagnosed with primary neurogenic tumors of mediastinum,managed in the Department of Thoracic Surgery,Zhongshan Hospital,Fudan University,Shanghai between Jan.,2008 and Dec.,2014.This work analyzed retrospectively the information about clinical and imaging features,surgical techniques and outcome extracted from medical records.Results Among the 131 cases,78 cases (59.5％) were males,53 cases (40.5％) were females;72 cases were diagnosed incidentally (55.0％),while the other 59 cases (45.0 ％) suffered from different symptoms.The posterior mediastinum was the most principal location with 61 cases in the left and 69 cases in the right,and 1 case remained in the anterior mediastinum.Total 98 cases (74.8％) underwent surgeries via video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS),5 cases (3.8％) took VATS surgery with small incision,and 28 cases (21.4％) experienced open thoracotomy,with no mortality during perioperative period.Gross total resection was obtained in 130 patients (99.2％).The remaining patient underwent a palliative resection for malignant schwannomas.Of the patients,98 cases had benign schwannomas (74.8％),24 cases had gangliocytomas (18.3％),2 cases had malignant schwannomas (1.5％),2 cases had neurofibromas (1.5％),2 cases had paragangliomas (1.5％),2 cases hadprimitive neurotodermal tumor (PNET) (1.5％) and 1 case had neuroblastomas (0.8％).All patients were followed up from 12 to 95 months with an average of 53 months.A patient with PNET died of tumor metastasis,a patient with malignant schwannomas died after palliative ectomy,and 2 cases died of other reasons.The rest survived until Jan.,2016 with tumor free.Conclusions Nearly no specific clinical symptoms occur in neurogenic tumors of mediastinum.Most of neurogenic tumors of mediastinum are benign with optimistic prognosis after surgical treatment.While malignant neurogenic tumorsusually come with poor prognosis,which places special emphasis on early diagnose together with surgical treatment.
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BACKGROUND:MicroRNAs are widely involved in the regulation of protein expression, and play a critical role in many physiological and pathological processes in the body. But microRNA expression profile in degenerative lumbar scoliosis is rarely reported and understood. OBJECTIVE:To compare the microRNA expression profile in the normal intervertebral disc and degenerative lumbar scoliosis and to identify degenerative lumbar scoliosis-specific microRNAs, folowed by functional validation. METHODS: Total RNA samples were extracted from the nucleus pulposus tissues of 57 patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis as experimental groups and the normal nucleus pulposus tissues of 42 patients with lumbar fractures as control group. An initial screening of differentialy expressed microRNAs in the nucleus pulposus tissues by microRNA microarray was performed in 10 samples from each group. Subsequently, differentialy expressed microRNAs were validated using real-time quantitative RCR. The level of differentialy expressed microRNAs in the degenerative nucleus pulposus tissues was investigated. Then, the functional analysis of microRNAs in regulating colagen II expression was carried out. Western blot and luciferase reporter assay were also used to detect target genes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:We identified 22 microRNAs that were differentialy expressed (17 upregulated and 5 downregulated) in degenerative lumbar scoliosis patients compared with the controls. Folowing real-time quantitative RCR confirmation, miR-491-5p was significantly down-regulated in degenerative nucleus pulposus tissues in comparison with the controls. Moreover, its level was closely correlated with the pathological grading of disc degeneration. Overexpression of miR-491-5p promoted type II colagen expression in nucleus pulposus cels. Bioinformatics target prediction identified matrix metaloproteinase-9 as a putative target of miR-491-5p. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that miR-491-5p directly targeted matrix metaloproteinase-9 and affected its protein expression in nucleus pulposus cels. These results show that the downregulation of miR-491-5p induces type II colagen loss by directly targeting matrix metaloproteinase-9, thereby resulting in degeneration of the intervertebral disc and degenerative lumbar scoliosis. This study also underscores the potential of miR-491-5p as a novel therapeutic target in degenerative lumbar scoliosis.
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BACKGROUND:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in a variety of diseases. Investigation of miRNA expression profile in degenerative lumbar scoliosis is beneficial for understanding its pathogenesis, providing a novel therapeutic target. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that miRNAs promote intervertebral disc degeneration through the interleukin-10/STAT3 signaling pathway, a potential regulator of intervertebral disc degeneration. OBJECTIVE:To compare the differentialy expressed miRNAs in the intervertebral disc tissues from patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis and normal controls and to identify specific miRNAs in degenerative lumbar scoliosis folowed by functional validation. METHODS: An initial screening of miRNA expression in nucleus pulposus tissues by miRNA Solexa Sequencing was performed in samples from 10 patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis and 10 controls, respectively. Subsequently, differentialy expressed miRNAs were validated using qRT-PCR. The level of differentialy expressed miRNAs in degenerative nucleus pulposus tissues was investigated. Then, functional analysis of the miRNAs in regulating type II colagen expression was carried out. Western blot and luciferase reporter assay were used to further confirm the target gene. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: We identified 30 miRNAs that were differentialy expressed (16 upregulated and 14 downregulated) in patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis compared with controls. Folowing qRT-PCR confirmation, Has-let-7f was significantly down-regulated in degenerative nucleus pulposus tissues as compared with controls. Moreover, its level was correlated with the severity of disc degeneration. Overexpression of Has-let-7f promoted type II colagen expression in nucleus pulposus cels. Knockout of interleukin-10 induced effects on nucleus pulposus cels similar to Has-let-7f. Bioinformatics target prediction identified interleukin-10 as a putative target of Has-let-7f. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that Has-let-7f altered the expression of STAT3 and matrix metaloproteinase-2. These findings indicate that the downregulation of Has-let-7f induces type II colagen loss by directly targeting inleukin-10, thereby resulting in intervertebral disc degeneration and degenerative lumbar scoliosis. Has-let-7f is likely to be a novel therapeutic target for degenerative lumbar scoliosis.
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BACKGROUND:Stem cel therapy has been used for prevention and treatment of degenerative disc disease. Considering the special microenvironment in the intervertebral disc, the survival rate and differentiation ability of transplanted cels are decreased, which may lead to the poor efficacy of stem cel therapy. How to improve the survival ability and therapeutic effect of the transplanted cels is the focus of stem cel therapy for degenerative disc disease. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of cobalt chloride combined with hypertonic solution pretreatment on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels that wil be transplanted for treatment of degenerative disc disease. METHODS:(1)In vitro cel experiment: bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels were divided into three groups and subjected to normal culture medium (normal control group), 1% hypertonic mother solution (hypertonic group), 100 μmol/L cobalt chloride (hypoxia group), or 1% hypertonic mother solution plus 100 μmol/L cobalt chloride (combined group) for 1 week. Then, 2% hypertonic solution and 200 μmol/L cobalt chloride cobalt chloride were used to simulate the anaerobic and hypertonic environment intervenes in pretreated and untreated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels for 24 hours. After that, RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of caspase-3 for apoptosis evaluation. (2)In vivo animal experiment: Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into model, cel transplantation and hypertonic plus hypoxic groups. Rat models of intervertebral disc degeneration were made in these three groups. After modeling, rats in these three groups were given no treatment, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel transplantation or transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels which were subjected to hypertonic and hypoxia pretreatments into the intervertebral disc. Two weeks later, immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR methods were used to detect cel distribution and related gene expression, respectively, thereby to evaluate the therapeutic effect of stem cels. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1)In vitro cel experiment: caspase-3 mRNA expression was significantly reduced in pretreated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels compared with the untreated cels (P < 0.05). (2)In vivo animal experiment: compared with the control group, the caspase-3 and interleukin-1β in the intervertebral disc and a number of degenerative indexes were decreased in the cel transplantation. Compared with the cel transplantation group, these indicators had better outcomes in the hypertonic plus hypoxic group (P < 0.05). These findings indicate that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels have therapeutic potential for degenerative disc disease, and have better adaptability and transplantation effects by hypertonic and hypoxia pretreatments.
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BACKGROUND:The development of tissue engineering techniques provides new methods and ideas for the repair and functional reconstruction of articular cartilage defects. OBJECTIVE:To summarize the research progress in the application of mesenchymal stem cel s, as seed cel s, in articular cartilage tissue engineering. METHODS:A computer-based retrieval was performed to search articles describing articular cartilage tissue engineering and mesenchymal stem cel s published between January 1st, 2000 and September 30th, 2014 in PubMed database with the key words of“articular cartilage defects;cartilage tissue engineering;mesenchymal stem cel s”in English. Seventy articles were retrieved initial y, and only 49 were included in further analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The ability of the articular cartilage for defect self-repair is limited, and current clinical treatments cannot be satisfactory. Development of tissue engineering provides a new idea for problem-solving. In the selection of seed cel s, chondrocyte is limited to dedifferentiate, and embryonic stem cel is restricted by ethical, legal and other aspects. Autologous mesenchymal stem cel s, which are easy to be amplified and exhibit excel ent cartilage differentiation potential, have gained widespread attention. But there is stil some controversy on the current application of tissue engineering techniques for repair of articular cartilage defects, including a certain gap between the long-term effects and the clinical applications. So the effect of mesenchymal stem cel s on biological structure and mechanical function stil needs further studies.
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Objective: To study the expression and significance of VEGF-C, D2-40, and E-Cad in Human breast carcinoma. Methods: S-P immunohistochemical method was used to assess the expression of VEGF-C in 88 cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast (with intact clinicopathologic and follow-up in-formation) and 54 cases of different intraductal hyperplastic lesions. The relationship of VEGF-C expression with D2-40 and E-Cadherin in infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast was analyzed. Results: VEGF-C ex-pression was higher in the invasive group than that in the dysplasia group and benign lesions. VEGF-C ex-pression in the metastatic group was significantly higher than that in the group without lymph node metasta-sis, indicating that VEGF-C plays an important role in the growth and metastasis of breast cancer. VEGF ex-pression in breast cancer group was higher than that in the dysplasia group and benign lesions. LVD count in the group with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than that in the group without lymph node me-tastasis. The positive rate of E-Cad expression in the invasive group was significantly lower than that in the dysplasia group and benign lesions. VEGF-C expression was positively correlated with D2-40 expression. VEGF-C expression was negatively correlated with E-Cad expression. Conclusion: VEGF-C and D2-40 could be used for the detection of early lymphatic metastasis of breast cancer. VEGF-C and E-Cad can be used as important indices for the evaluation of the prognosis of breast cancer.
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<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>So-called pulmonary sclerosing hemangioma (PSH) is an uncommon tumor of the lung and its histogenesis and origin are uncertain to date. A general consensus appears to have been reached that PSH is a benign neoplasm, but a few PSHs are found to invade and metastasize. The expression of p53 protein and mutation of p53 gene are significant parameters which can reflect biological behavior of tumor cells. The aim of this study is to investigate the p53 protein expression and p53 gene mutation in PSH, and explore their significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of p53 protein and mutation of p53 gene were examined in polygonal cells and cuboidal cells of PSH by immunohistochemical method, laser capture microdissection (LCM), single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and DNA sequencing.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rate of p53 protein was 21.1% (4/19) and the mutation rate of p53 gene was 26.3% (5/19) by SSCP and 42.1% (8/19) by DNA sequencing respectively. In 4 cases of immunopositive PSH tissues, 2 were missense mutations, and 1 was both missense and frameshift mutation. Out of 15 cases of immunonegative PSH tissues, 4 were frameshift mutations and 1 was missense mutation. Of 8 PSH tissues with p53 gene mutation, 5 were identified in only polygonal cells, and 2 in only cuboidal cells and 1 in both polygonal and cuboidal cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The expression of p53 protein may not be indicative of p53 gene mutation in PSH. The alteration of p53 gene and the expression of p53 protein are identified in both polygonal and cuboidal cells. The high mutation rate of p53 gene may indicate that PSH has potentially malignant biological behavior.</p>
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<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Connexin (Cx), a transmembranous protein, makes up of gap junction, which induces the communication of cells and plays an important role in proliferation and differentiation of cells. The directly or indirectly reduced expression of connexin protein may induce a malignant tendency of cells. E-cadherin is a transmembranous glycoprotein and induces the adhesion of epitheliums and extracellular matrix. The reduced expression or dysfunction of E-cadherin will impair the ability of adhesion and make cells easy to be isolated. The aim of this study is to examine the expressions of Connexin 43 (Cx43) and E-cadherin in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to analyze their correlation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expressions of Cx43 and E-cadherin proteins were detected in 85 primary NSCLC samples by immunohistochemistry S-P method, and their correlation was then analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expressions of Cx43 and E-cadherin were remarkably decreased in NSCLC tissues. Cx43 and E-cadherin expressions were related to cell differentiation, pTNM stage and lymphatic metastasis of NSCLC. The expression of Cx43 significantly correlated with the expression of E-cadherin.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The expressions of Cx43 and E-cadherin significantly decrease in NSCLC and they correlate with each other. It might be common affairs in carcinogenesis and development of NSCLC.</p>
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The expression of multidrug resistant proteins in bladder cancer and clinical implication was studied. Expression of multidrug-associated protein (MRP), P-glycoprotein (P-gp), P53 and Bcl-2 proteins were detected by using immunohistochemical method in 40 specimens of bladder transitional cell carcinoma. The results showed that the positive rate of MRP, P-gp, P53 and Bcl-2 was 52.5 %, 57.5 %, 47.5 % and 62.5 % respectively. The positive rate of MRP, P-gp, P53 and Bcl-2 in the grade Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ of tumors was 46.3 %, 38.5 %, 38.5 %, 23.1 %； 52.9 %, 39.8 %, 47.1 %, 76.4 %； 60.0 %, 80.0 %, 60.0 %, 90.0 % respectively. The positive rate of MRP, P-gp, P53 and Bcl-2 in 24 primary tumor specimens was 37.5 %, 41.7 %, 33.3 %, 45.8 % and that in 16 cases in recurrent specimens receiving chemotherapy 75.0 %, 81.3 %, 68.8 %, 87.5 % respectively. It was suggested the positive rate of MRP, P-gp, P53 and Bcl-2 was increased with the advance of tumor grade. The positive rate of four proteins in all recurrent cases was significantly increased (P<0.05). The expression of MRP, P-gp, P53 and Bcl-2 proteins might be the important factors for chemotherapy failure.
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The expression of multidrug resistant proteins in bladder cancer and clinical implication was studied. Expression of multidrug-associated protein (MRP), P-glycoprotein (P-gp), P53 and Bcl-2 proteins were detected by using immunohistochemical method in 40 specimens of bladder transitional cell carcinoma. The results showed that the positive rate of MRP, P-gp, P53 and Bcl-2 was 52.5 %, 57.5 %, 47.5 % and 62.5 % respectively. The positive rate of MRP, P-gp, P53 and Bcl-2 in the grade Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ of tumors was 46.3 %, 38.5 %, 38.5 %, 23.1 %； 52.9 %, 39.8 %, 47.1 %, 76.4 %； 60.0 %, 80.0 %, 60.0 %, 90.0 % respectively. The positive rate of MRP, P-gp, P53 and Bcl-2 in 24 primary tumor specimens was 37.5 %, 41.7 %, 33.3 %, 45.8 % and that in 16 cases in recurrent specimens receiving chemotherapy 75.0 %, 81.3 %, 68.8 %, 87.5 % respectively. It was suggested the positive rate of MRP, P-gp, P53 and Bcl-2 was increased with the advance of tumor grade. The positive rate of four proteins in all recurrent cases was significantly increased (P<0.05). The expression of MRP, P-gp, P53 and Bcl-2 proteins might be the important factors for chemotherapy failure.