Analysis of the compliance and effectiveness of the allergen specific immunotherapy in patients with allergic rhinitis / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the effectiveness and compliance of the 2 year specific immunotherapy in patients with allergic rhinitis. Method:Two hundred and sixty-two patients of allergic rhinitis were treated with SLIT for 2 years. The symptom questionnaire about effectiveness and compliance were obtained 2 years after SLIT. The patient satisfaction was also investigated. Result:Sixty patients had complete compliance and 202 patients had poor compliance. Of the 142 children, 40 (28%) cases had complete compliance, and of the 118 adult patients, 20 cases (17%) had complete compliance. There was obvious difference between the two (P<0.05). Comparing of before and after treatment, total medication score, total nasal symptom score and every symptom score decreased obviously (P<0.05). Two years after treatment, the total effective rate was 63%,there was significant difference between the children group and the adult group (P<0.05). Conclusion:There are a lot of factors affecting the treatment compliance of sublingual immunotherapy, such as patients, family, health care workers and social support, etc. In the course of treatment, a series of strategies can be adopted to improve the treatment compliance. SLIT is an effective method for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, and the treatment effect of children is better.

Transfusion of necrotic cells redresses regulatory T cell and Th17 cell imbalance in septic mice / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of transfusion of necrotic cells on regulatory T (Treg) and Th17 cell balance in septic mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-four C57BL/6 mice were randomized into PBS group (n=5), sham-operated group (n=5), sepsis group (n=12), and necrotic cell transfusion group (n=12) and subjected to intraperitoneal PBS injection, sham operation by separating the cecum only, cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), and injection of 2 × 10⁷ necrotic cells 5 days before CLP, respectively. All the mice were sacrificed 2 weeks after CLP for analyzing the proportion of CD4⁺Foxp3⁺Treg cells and CD4⁺IL17A⁺Th17 cells in the peripheral blood, spleen and thymus by flow cytometry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The percentage of Th17 cells and Treg/Th17 ratio in the spleen was significantly higher in CLP group than in the sham-operated group and PBS group (P<0.01). The percentage of Treg cells in the thymus was significantly lower in CLP group than in the sham-operated group (P<0.01). Pre-infusion of necrotic cells redressed the abnormality of Treg and Th17 cell percentages and Treg/Th17 imbalance in mice following CLP (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Pre-infusion of necrotic cells can reverse Treg/Th17 imbalance in septic mice.</p>

Comparison of application of several psychophysical olfactory test methods in clinic / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the consistency of four olfactory psychophysical test methods.@*METHOD@#Twenty out-patients were done with olfactory psychophysical test and the results were analyzed. The four olfactory psychophysical test methods include simple test method, UPSIT, Sniffin Sticks test and the T&T olfactometer test.@*RESULT@#The consistency of four test methods reached 85%, and UPSIT test can identify pseudo smell obstacles.@*CONCLUSION@#There is reliable and stable outcome of the four psychophysical olfactory test methods.

Analysis of inhaled and food allergen spectrum of patient with allergic rhinitis in north of Zhejiang / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the inhaled and food allergen distribution of patient with allergic rhinitis in north of Zhejiang and to analyze the difference of allergen distribution among different age groups.@*METHOD@#One thousand and forty eight patients in north of Zhejiang diagnosed with allergic rhinitis in our outpatient department were tested with skin prick test (SPT). The positive rate of inhaled and food allergens were calculated. To analysis the difference of positive rate between children and adult.@*RESULT@#Nine hundred and eighty-eight cases (94.3%) had the positive reaction. Dermato phagoides farinae and Dermatophagodies pteronyssinus had the highest positive ratio (72.1%, 71.8%) in inhalation group, followed cockroach (14.1%). In food group, Shrimp and peanuts had the highest positive ratio (18.3%,14.2%). Between children group and adults group, positive rate of food allergen was significantly different (P < 0.05), but of inhaled allergen was not significantly different.@*CONCLUSION@#The distribution of some allergens in children group and adults group was variable. The study shows that Dust mite was the mostly responsible common allergen in north of Zhejiang.

Primary benign paroxysmal positional vertigo vestibular detection of evoked myogenic potential significance / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the clinical significance of ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMP) and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP) in primary unilateral benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).@*METHOD@#Fifty-two patients with unilateral primary BPPV (BPPV group) and 38 normal subjects (control group) received ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential (oVEMP) and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) test using tone burst stimuli. The response rate, latency and amplitude were analyzed.@*RESULT@#In BPPV group, the response rate of oVEMP was 46.15% in lesioned side and 48.08% in healthy side, respectively. The response rate of cVEMP was 67.31% in lesioned side and 65.38% in healthy side, respectively. In control group, the response rate on the left ear was 84.21% for oVEMP and 92.11% for cVEMP. On the right ear, was 81.58% for oVEMP and 94.74% for cVEMP in control group, there was no significant difference in cVEMP and oVEMP P1, N1 N1-P1 latency and amplitude between left and right ear. The interaural amplitude ratio and asymmetry of cVEMP and oVEMP was significantly different between BPPV group and control group (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Unilateral primary BPPV with bilateral impaired vestibular otolith pathways function can be objectively evaluated by oVEMP and cVEMP detection. Abnormal oVEMP responses were more frequently detected than cVEMP.

A case of epiglottic pleomorphic adenoma / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

The pleomorphic adenoma of epiglottis is rare. When the tumor grows larger, some patients may have symptoms of pharyngeal foreign body sensation, but other patients have no obvious symptom. The tumor is mainly found through indirect laryngoscopy or electronic laryngoscopy. This disease can be confirmed by pathological diagnosis after tumor resection.

Tumor shrinkage by cyclopamine tartrate through inhibiting hedgehog signaling / 癌症

The link of hedgehog (Hh) signaling activation to human cancer and synthesis of a variety of Hh signaling inhibitors raise great expectation that inhibiting Hh signaling may be effective in human cancer treatment. Cyclopamine (Cyc), an alkaloid from the Veratrum plant, is a specific natural product inhibitor of the Hh pathway that acts by targeting smoothened (SMO) protein. However, its poor solubility, acid sensitivity, and weak potency relative to other Hh antagonists prevent the clinical development of Cyc as a therapeutic agent. Here, we report properties of cyclopamine tartrate salt (CycT) and its activities in Hh signaling-mediated cancer in vitro and in vivo. Unlike Cyc, CycT is water soluble (5-10 mg/mL). The median lethal dose (LD50) of CycT was 62.5 mg/kg body weight compared to 43.5 mg/kg for Cyc, and the plasma half-life (T1/2) of CycT was not significantly different from that of Cyc. We showed that CycT had a higher inhibitory activity for Hh signaling-dependent motor neuron differentiation than did Cyc (IC50 = 50 nmol/L for CycT vs. 300 nmol/L for Cyc). We also tested the antitumor effectiveness of these Hh inhibitors using two mouse models of basal cell carcinomas (K14cre:Ptch1(neo/neo) and K14cre:SmoM2(YFP)). After topical application of CycT or Cyc daily for 21 days, we found that all CycT-treated mice had tumor shrinkage and decreased expression of Hh target genes. Taken together, we found that CycT is an effective inhibitor of Hh signaling-mediated carcinogenesis.

Clinical implications of hedgehog signaling pathway inhibitors / 癌症

Hedgehog was first described in Drosophila melanogaster by the Nobel laureates Eric Wieschaus and Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard. The hedgehog (Hh) pathway is a major regulator of cell differentiation, proliferation, tissue polarity, stem cell maintenance, and carcinogenesis. The first link of Hh signaling to cancer was established through studies of a rare familial disease, Gorlin syndrome, in 1996. Follow-up studies revealed activation of this pathway in basal cell carcinoma, medulloblastoma and, leukemia as well as in gastrointestinal, lung, ovarian, breast, and prostate cancer. Targeted inhibition of Hh signaling is now believed to be effective in the treatment and prevention of human cancer. The discovery and synthesis of specific inhibitors for this pathway are even more exciting. In this review, we summarize major advances in the understanding of Hh signaling pathway activation in human cancer, mouse models for studying Hh-mediated carcinogenesis, the roles of Hh signaling in tumor development and metastasis, antagonists for Hh signaling and their clinical implications.