Pre-hospital mild therapeutic hypothermia for patients with severe traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the effects of pre-hospital mild therapeutic hypothermia (MTH) on patients with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI). METHODS: Eighty-six patients with sTBI were prospectively enrolled into the pre-hospital MTH group and the late MTH group (initiated in hospital). Patients in the pre-hospital MTH group were maintained at a tympanic temperature of 33°C-35°C before admission and continued to be treated with a therapeutic hypothermia device for 4 days. Patients in the late MTH group were treated with the same MTH parameters. Intracranial pressure (ICP), complications and Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) scores were monitored. RESULTS: ICP was significantly lower for patients in the pre-hospital MTH group 24, 48, and 72 h after treatment (17.38 ± 4.88 mmHg, 18.40 ± 4.50 mmHg, and 16.40 ± 4.13 mmHg, respectively) than that in the late MTH group (20.63 ± 3.00 mmHg, 21.80 ± 6.00 mmHg, and 18.81 ± 4.50 mmHg) (P < .05). The favorable prognosis (GOS scores 4-5) rate in the pre-hospital MTH group was higher tha n the late MTH group (65.1% vs. 37.2%, respectively; P < .05) without complications . CONCLUSION: Pre-hospital MTH for patients with STBI can reduce ICP and improve neurological outcomes.

Association between the resistin gene-420 C>G polymorphism and obesity: an updated meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of the resistin gene (RETN)-420 C>G polymorphism and obesity susceptibility by conducting an updated meta-analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The electronic databases including PubMed, Medline, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Wanfang Database, and Chinese VIP database were searched for relevant studies published before December 2013. The fixed effect model or random effects model was used based on the heterogeneity test results. The sensitivity analysis was performed in the allelic model and the dominant genetic model, respectively. Publication bias was assessed via funnel plot. The meta-analysis was performed using the software of RevMan 5.2. RESULTS: Data were obtained from 10 included studies, involving 5,069 cases and 6,673 controls. The overall odds ratios (ORs) with its 95% confidence interval (CI) showed no association between RETN-420 C>G polymorphism and obesity in the allelic model (p = 0.09; OR = 1.10; 95% CI = 0.991.24), the dominant model (p = 0.09; OR = 1.16; 95% CI = 0.98-1.36), and the recessive model (p = 0.71; OR = 1.02; 95% CI = 0.90-1.16). Sensitivity analysis showed statistical differences of association analysis within the allelic model (p = 0.04; OR = 1.14; 95% CI = 1.01-1.28) and the dominant genetic model (p = 0.04; OR = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.01-1.45), when 1 study was omitted. No publication bias was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The RETN-420 C>G polymorphism may be related to obesity with G allele as a risk factor.

Therapeutic mechanism of treating SMMC-7721 liver cancer cells with magnetic fluid hyperthermia using Fe2O3 nanoparticles

This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic mechanism of treating SMMC-7721 liver cancer cells with magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) using Fe2O3 nanoparticles. Hepatocarcinoma SMMC-7721 cells cultured in vitro were treated with ferrofluid containing Fe2O3 nanoparticles and irradiated with an alternating radio frequency magnetic field. The influence of the treatment on the cells was examined by inverted microscopy, MTT and flow cytometry. To study the therapeutic mechanism of the Fe2O3 MFH, Hsp70, Bax, Bcl-2 and p53 were detected by immunocytochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). It was shown that Fe2O3 MFH could cause cellular necrosis, induce cellular apoptosis, and significantly inhibit cellular growth, all of which appeared to be dependent on the concentration of the Fe2O3 nanoparticles. Immunocytochemistry results showed that MFH could induce high expression of Hsp70 and Bax, decrease the expression of mutant p53, and had little effect on Bcl-2. RT-PCR indicated that Hsp70 expression was high in the early stage of MFH (<24 h) and became low or absent after 24 h of MFH treatment. It can be concluded that Fe2O3 MFH significantly inhibited the proliferation of in vitro cultured liver cancer cells (SMMC-7721), induced cell apoptosis and arrested the cell cycle at the G2/M phase. Fe2O3 MFH can induce high Hsp70 expression at an early stage, enhance the expression of Bax, and decrease the expression of mutant p53, which promotes the apoptosis of tumor cells.

Clinicopathological characteristics and computed tomography features of mucinous gastric carcinoma.

This study investigated the clinicopathological characteristics of mucinous gastric carcinoma (MGC) and assessed whether multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) could differentiate MGC from non-mucinous gastric carcinoma (NGC). Clinicopathological data from 542 patients with gastric carcinoma (23 MGC, 519 NGC), who underwent pre-operative MDCT examination and curative or palliative gastrectomy, were analysed. Only seven of the 23 patients with MGC were correctly diagnosed pre-operatively by endoscopic biopsy. The MGC patients had larger tumours, a higher frequency of lymph node metastases, were more likely to have tumours of tumour, node, metastasis stages III and IV, and were less likely to have a curative resection than NGC patients. In addition, five MGC patients had calcifications in the thickened gastric wall. In conclusion, MGC is rare and is detected mostly at an advanced stage. The diagnostic sensitivity of MGC by endoscopic biopsy was relatively low, whereas MDCT was helpful in distinguishing MGC from NGC.

Size of the largest lymph node visualized on multi-detector-row computed tomography (MDCT) is useful in predicting metastatic lymph node status of gastric cancer.

This study was designed to investigate whether the size of the largest lymph node (long-axis diameter [LAD] and short-axis diameter [SAD]) visualized using multi-detector-row computed tomography (MDCT) was useful for predicting the metastatic lymph node (MLN) status of gastric cancer. A retrospective analysis of 305 gastric cancer patients who underwent pre-operative MDCT was performed, followed by a prospective study in 61 gastric cancer patients to determine the diagnostic effectiveness of LAD and SAD. In the retrospective study, the accuracy of LAD and SAD for predicting the MLN status of gastric cancer was 51.1% and 45.9%, respectively. In the prospective study, the accuracy of LAD and SAD measurement and the traditional MDCT method of counting MLNs was 52.5%, 49.2% and 57.4%, respectively; the differences were not significant. In conclusion, the size of the largest lymph node in terms of LAD and SAD visualized on MDCT was useful for predicting the MLN status of gastric cancer, with accuracy comparable to the traditional MDCT method of counting the total number of MLNs detected.