Melatonin protects against methotrexate hepatotoxicity in young rats: Impact of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling.

With the improvement in children's acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) care, the survival rate in children ALL has improved much. Methotrexate (MTX) plays an essential role in the success of children's ALL treatment. Since hepatotoxicity is commonly reported in individuals treated with intravenous or oral MTX, our study further examined the hepatic effect following intrathecal MTX treatment, which is an essential treatment for leukemia patients. Specifically, we examined the pathogenesis of MTX hepatotoxicity in young rats and explored the impact of melatonin treatment in protection against MTX hepatotoxicity. Successfully, we found that melatonin was able to protect against MTX hepatotoxicity.

The Application of Focused Medium-Energy Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy in Hemophilic A Arthropathy.

Hemophilic arthropathy causes the damage of synovium, cartilage, and subchondral bone. The present study evaluated the safety and the effect of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT), a safe treatment widely used in musculoskeletal conditions in patients with hemophilic arthropathy. Between 1 August 2019 and 31 July 2020, seven hemophilia A patients were enrolled and treated with medium-energy ESWT on the knee joint in the first two months after prophylactic coagulation factor administration. At the beginning of the study and at 1-, 2-, 3-, and 6-month follow-ups, the Hemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS), visual analog scale score (VAS), and Hemophilia Early Arthropathy Detection with Ultrasound score (HEAD-US) were evaluated for therapeutic effectiveness and safety, while serum bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) and von Willebrand factor (vWF) levels were analyzed for assessing chondroprotection and bone healing. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the knee was performed at the beginning of the study and the 6-month follow-ups. As a result, a non-significant decrease in VAS scores (p = 0.151) but not HJHS after treatment was noticed. At the 3-month follow-up, there was a non-significant increase in BMP2 levels (p = 0.171) but not vWF. Ultrasonography showed no disease activity score elevation in five patients and no further disease damage in all patients. Repeated MRI examinations in three patients showed no structural progression during the 6-month follow-up. As to adverse events, redness, local heat, and mild swelling were noted in five patients without breakthrough bleeding. We concluded that medium-energy ESWT might be safe for hemophilic arthropathy once prophylactic coagulation factors are administered.

Desquamation in Kawasaki Disease.

(1) Background: Desquamation is a common characteristic of Kawasaki disease (KD). In this study, we analyzed patients' varying desquamation levels in their hands or feet, in correlation with clinical presentation, to assess the relationship. (2) Methods: We retrospectively reviewed children with KD. We analyzed their age, laboratory data before intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment and coronary artery abnormalities (CAA) based on the desquamation level of their hands and feet. We classified the desquamation level from 0 to 3 and defined high-grade desquamation as grade 2 and 3. (3) Results: We enrolled a total 112 patients in the study. We found the hands' high-grade desquamation was positively associated with age and segmented neutrophil percentage (p = 0.047 and 0.029, respectively) but negatively associated with lymphocyte and monocyte percentage (p = 0.03 and 0.006, respectively). Meanwhile, the feet's high-grade desquamation was positively associated with total white blood cell counts (p = 0.033). Furthermore, we found that high-grade hand desquamation had less probability of CAA formation compared with that of a low grade (7.1% vs. 40.8%, p = 0.016). (4) Conclusions: This report is the first to demonstrate that the desquamation level of hands or feet in KD is associated with different coronary artery abnormalities and laboratory findings.