The application of acoustic pharyngometry in diagnosis and treatment of OSAHS / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a common clinical disease that seriously threatens human health and life. Accurate location of the upper airway obstruction is the key to the diagnosis and treatment of OSAHS. Acoustic pharyngometry uses sound reflection to quickly assess the cross-sectional area and volume of the upper airway. Acoustic pharyngometry represents a simple, quick, non-invasive method for measuring upper airway dimensions which could predict sleep apnea risk. In this article we sought to introduce the application of acoustic pharyngometry in the diagnosis and treatment of OSAHS.

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Fascioliasis in Yaks, Bos grunniens, from Three Counties of Gansu Province, China

The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors of fascioliasis in yaks, Bos grunniens, from 3 counties of Gansu Province in China. A total of 1,584 serum samples, including 974 samples from white yaks from Tianzhu, 464 from black yaks from Maqu, and 146 from black yaks from Luqu County, were collected and analyzed using ELISA to detect IgG antibodies against Fasciola hepatica. The overall F. hepatica seroprevalence was 28.7% (454/1,584), with 29.2% in white yaks (284/974) and 27.9% in black yaks (170/610). The seroprevalence of F. hepatica in yaks from Tianzhu, Luqu, and Maqu was 29.2%, 22.6%, and 29.5%, respectively. Female yaks (30.9%) had higher F. hepatica seroprevalence than male yaks (23.4%). Also, F. hepatica seroprevalence varied by different age group from 24.1% to 33.8%. Further, the seroprevalence ranged from 21.8% to 39.1% over different seasons. Interestingly, the season and age of yaks were associated with F. hepatica infection in yaks in the investigated areas. These findings provided a basis for further studies on this disease in yaks from 3 counties of Gansu Province in northwestern China, which may ultimately support the development of effective control strategies of fascioliasis in these areas.

Expression of heparanase on the squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck and its clinical significance / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relationship among expression of heparanase (HPSE), the clinical and pathologic characteristics of squamous carcinoma on head and neck and the patients' prognosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty-two cases of postoperative tumor specimens were verified by immunohistochemistry S-P method and computer-assisted image analysis method was used.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of HPSE in normal epithelium mucosae of head and neck was negative or very weak; in tumor tissue was positive, mainly in cytoplasm and the positive rate was 69.3%. The expression of HPSE hadn't significant difference with the age of patients and pathologic grades of tumors (chi2 = 0.05, chi2 = 3.84, P > 0.05), but had it with clinical stages and metastatic lymph node lesions (chi2 = 3.96, chi2 = 8.06, P < 0.05). The relationship between expression of HPSE in primary tumors and that in metastatic lymph node lesions showed significantly positive correlation (r = 0.9162, P = 0.001). Both HPSE and TNM clinical stage of tumor had significant correlation with the prognosis of patients respectively (P < 0.05). Calculated by Kaplan-Meier method, the accumulative survival rate of 3 years in positive HPSE expression group (25.9%) was much lower than that in negative group (72.7%), there was a significant difference between them by Log-Rank test (chi2 = 11.607, P < 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The expression of HPSE is significantly increased in squamous carcinomas of head and neck, mainly expressed in cytoplasm. The expression of HPSE has a close relationship with clinical stages and lymph node metastasis of squamous carcinoma on head and neck. The higher the clinical stage, the more manifest the expression of HPSE. The expression of HPSE and TNM clinical stage of tumor are independent factors affecting prognosis.</p>

Effects of hypoxia on the expression of heparanase and invasiveness of Hep-2 laryngeal carcinoma cell / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effects of hypoxia on the expression of heparanase and the invasiveness of Hep-2 laryngeal carcinoma cell line.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Hep-2 cells were incubated at either normoxia (37 degrees C, 5% CO2, 20% O2) or hypoxia (37 degrees C, 5% CO2, 2% O2) condition for 6 h,12 h,24 h,36 h. Flow cytometry was used to detect the protein expression of heparanase under different hypoxia conditions. Fluorescence Index represents the relative content of heparanase protein. Cell invasiveness was measured by matrigel invasion assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with normoxia group, the heparanase protein expression level in 6 h hypoxia group was increased (P <0.05) and the heparanase protein expression levels in other hypoxia groups were significantly increased (P < 0.01). The heparanase protein expression level was increased (P < 0.05) among 6 h, 12 h, 24 h hypoxia groups; Compared with normoxia group, there was no significant change in the invasion cells at 6 h (P > 0.05) in hypoxia group; whereas the level of cell invasion was significantly increased in 12 h(P < 0.05), 24 h and 36 h groups (P < 0.01). During 6 to approximately 36 h hypoxia period, the increase of hypoxia-induced invasiveness in Hep-2 cell line show time-dependent manner. Meanwhile, there was a positive correlation between the expression of HPSE and the invasiveness of Hep-2 cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Invasion of Hep-2 cells in hypoxia condition correlates with heparanase level. Hypoxia plays an important role in the augmentation of the heparanase expression and the invasiveness of human laryngeal carcinomas.</p>

Expression of CD44 and nm23-H1 protein in the primary and metastatic lymph node lesions in supraglottic and hypopharyngeal cancer / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the metastasis feature of the primary and metastatic lymph node lesions in supraglottic or hypopharyngeal cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of CD44 and nm23-H1 in specimens from the primary and metastatic lymph node lesions of the 41 cases with supraglottic or hypopharyngeal cancer were studied with immunohistochemistry method and flow cytometry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No correlation was found between the expression of CD44, nm23-H1 and the tumor differentiation of the supraglottic or hypopharyngeal cancer, but their expression related with the clinical staging. The CD44 and nm23-H1 positive expression rates in the primary and metastatic lymph node lesions were 75.6% (31/41), 85.4% (35/41) and 34.1% (14/41), 26.8% (11/41) respectively (P >0.05). The average fluorescence index of CD44 and nm23-H1 in the primary and metastatic lymph node lesions were 1.27 +/- 0.18, 1.33 +/- 0.16 and 1.11 +/- 0.19, 1.08 +/- 0.15 (x +/- s) respectively (P >0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The expressions of CD44 and nm23-H1 in the metastatic lymph node tumor had no difference compared with that in primary tumor of the supraglottic or hypopharyngeal cancer. The difference of metastasis potentials between the primary and metastatic lymph node lesions in the same patient was not proved in this study and should be further investigated from multiple oncogens markers.</p>