A case report of Cobb syndrome / 中华神经科杂志

Cobb syndrome, or cutaneomeningospinal angiomatosis, is a clinically rare manifestation of angiomatosis or arteriovenous malformations of the skin, spine, spinal cord, and viscera in the same spinal segment. A 48 years old female patient with Cobb syndrome treated ecently is reported as follow. The patient was admitted to hospital due to lower limbs weakness for three days. Left lumbar and abdominal pain occurred before onset without obvious causes, and then lower limbs weakness occurred. In this case, clinical manifestations were acute onset and development rapidly. Imaging showsed myeleterosis from C 1 to T 11, consistent with vertebral segments of hemangiomas in the left parotid gland, the left axillary, the left subclavian, the right femoribus internus, and the right lobe of the liver, etc. Her symptoms and imaging manifestations all meet the diagnostic criteria of Cobb syndrome. Cobb syndrome is easy to be missed diagnosis and misdiagnozed clinically with poor prognosis. This paper discussed and analyzed the rare case in combination with relevant literature, in order to improve clinicians′ understanding of Cobb syndrome, so as to achieve early diagnosis and treatment, thus to reduce permanent neurological complications.

Interaction between necroptosis and apoptosis in MC3T3-E1 cell death induced by dexamethasone / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the relationship between necroptosis and apoptosis in MCET3-E1 cell death induced by glucocorticoids.@*METHODS@#MC3T3-E1 cells were incubated with 10-6 mol/L dexamethasone followed by treatment with the apoptosis inhibitor z-VAD-fmk (40 μmol/L) or the necroptosis inhibitor necrostatin-1 (40 μmol/L) for 2 h. At 72 h after incubation with dexamethasone, the cells were harvested to determine the cell viability using WST-1 assay and the rate of necrotic cells using annexin V/PI double staining; the percentage of apoptotic cells was determined using Hoechst staining. The mitochondrial membrane potential and the level of ATP in the cells were also evaluated. Transmission electron microscopy was used to observe the microstructural changes of the cells. The expressions of RIP-1 and RIP-3 in the cells were detected by Western blotting.@*RESULTS@#At a concentration of 10-6 mol/L, dexamethasone induced both apoptosis and necroptosis in MC3T3- E1 cells. Annexin V/PI double staining showed that inhibition of cell apoptosis caused an increase in cell necrosis manifested by such changes as mitochondrial swelling and plasma membrane disruption, as shown by electron microscopy; Hoechst staining showed that the percentage of apoptotic cells was significantly reduced. When necroptosis was inhibited by necrostatin-1, MC3T3-E1 cells showed significantly increased apoptosis as shown by both AV/PI and Hoechst staining, and such changes were accompanied by changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP level in the cells.@*CONCLUSIONS@#In the process of dexamethasone-induced cell death, necroptosis and apoptosis can transform reciprocally accompanied by functional changes of the mitochondria.

Analysis of outcomes and prognostic factors in 307 stages Ⅱ-Ⅲ esophageal cancer patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To summarize the outcomes and prognostic factors in esophageal cancer (EC) patients.Methods A total of 307 EC patients of stages Ⅱ-Ⅲ were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy in our hospital from September 2006 to July 2014.There were 73 patients with stage Ⅱ and 234 with stage Ⅲ.The radiotherapy dose was 50-70 Gy (median 60 Gy).Concurrent chemoradiotherapy were used with fluorouracil plus platinum (PF,166),paclitaxel plus platinum (TP,82) or platinum only (P,59).The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates,the log-rank test was used for survival difference analysis and univariate prognostic analysis.The Cox regression model was used for multivariate prognostic analysis.Results The 1-,3-5-year OS and PFS rates were85.6％,53.8％,36.9％ and 74.6％,43.7％,33.1％,respectively.The median OS and PFS were 41.6 months and 29.8 months.The univariate analysis indicated that T stage,N stage,clinical stage,lesion location,lesion length and chemotherapy regimen were prognostic factors for OS and PFS (P=0.007 and 0.013,0.000 and 0.000,0.000 and 0.000,0.002 and 0.000,0.141 and 0.005,0.018 and 0.165).Multivariate analysis showed that T stage,N stage,lesion location and chemotherapy regimen were prognostic factors for OS (P =0.024,0.000,0.007 and 0.028),lesion location,lesion length and N stage were prognostic factors for PFS (P=0.004,0.033 and 0.035).The median OS and PFS for EC patients treated by total dose 50-60 Gy,＞60-70 Gy were 47.4 months,37.8 months (P=0.469) and34.1 months,25.1 months (P=0.0.233),therewere no statistic difference.Conclusions The outcome of EC patients treated with concurrent chemoratherapy could obtain a long-term survival,combination chemotherapy is superior to single drug,there are no statistical difference between high-dose and low-dose,and the acute toxic effects can be tolerated.

Effects of ginsenosides on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress / 中国中药杂志

Gingseng is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine community for the treatment of depression-like disorders. Ginsenosides is considered to be the major active components of ginseng. Previous studies have demonstrated that ginsenosides produced antidepressant-like action in various mouse models of behavioral despair. The present study aimed to examine whether ginsenosides could affect the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depression in rats. The mechanism(s) underlying the antidepressant-like action was investigated by measuring serum corticosterone level, glucocorticoid receptor (GR), mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA levels in brain tissues. CUMS, being lasted for 6 weeks, caused depression-like behavior in rats, as indicated by the significant decrease in sucrose consumption and increase in immobility time in the forced swim test. Whereas serum corticosterone level was significantly increased in rats exposed to CUMS, expressions of GR mRNA in hippocampus, and BDNF mRNA in hippocampus and frontal cortex, were decreased in CUMS-treated rats. Daily intragastric administration of ginsenosides (12.5, 25, 50 mg x kg(-1)) during the six weeks of CUMS significantly suppressed behavioral and biochemical changes induced by CUMS. However, there was no significant difference in MR mRNA level among groups. The results suggest that the antidepressant-like action of ginsenosides is likely mediated by modulating the function of hypothalamic- pituitary -adrenal axis and increasing the expression of BDNF in brain tissues.