Efficacy and Safety of Computed Tomography-Guided Percutaneous Balloon Compression under Local Anesthesia for Recurrent Trigeminal Neuralgia: A Prospective Study.

Purpose: There are several ways to treat trigeminal neuralgia (TN); however, TN may recur after treatment. This study investigated the efficacy and safety of computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) under local anesthesia for treatment of recurrent trigeminal neuralgia. Patients and Methods. This is a prospective and nonrandomized controlled clinical study. Forty-eight patients with classical TN were scheduled to undergo PBC surgery at the pain department of our institution between January 2021 and June 2021. The patients were prospectively divided into an initial onset group, A (21 cases), and a recurrence group, B (27 cases). All surgeries were performed with CT guidance and under local anesthesia. Postoperative complications were also observed. Pain was assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) and Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) scale. Efficacy indices were evaluated at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months after surgery. Results: All participants reported complete pain relief at discharge. After 18 months of follow-up, the total effective rate of pain control was 89.5% (group A, 90.5%; group B, 88.8%). There was no significant difference in the BNI scores between the two groups before and after treatment. All patients had hypoesthesia on the affected side, and no severe complications such as diplopia, blindness, intracranial hemorrhage, or intracranial infection occurred. Conclusions: CT-guided PBC under local anesthesia is safe and effective for the treatment of recurrent TN and thus acts as an effective alternative for geriatric patients and those with high-risk factors.

SIRT3-dependent delactylation of cyclin E2 prevents hepatocellular carcinoma growth.

Lysine lactylation (Kla) is a recently discovered histone mark derived from metabolic lactate. The NAD+ -dependent deacetylase SIRT3, which can also catalyze removal of the lactyl moiety from lysine, is expressed at low levels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and has been suggested to be an HCC tumor suppressor. Here we report that SIRT3 can delactylate non-histone proteins and suppress HCC development. Using SILAC-based quantitative proteomics, we identify cyclin E2 (CCNE2) as one of the lactylated substrates of SIRT3 in HCC cells. Furthermore, our crystallographic study elucidates the mechanism of CCNE2 K348la delactylation by SIRT3. Our results further suggest that lactylated CCNE2 promotes HCC cell growth, while SIRT3 activation by Honokiol induces HCC cell apoptosis and prevents HCC outgrowth in vivo by regulating Kla levels of CCNE2. Together, our results establish a physiological function of SIRT3 as a delactylase that is important for suppressing HCC, and our structural data could be useful for the future design of activators.

Comparative safety and efficacy of percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation and percutaneous balloon compression in CT-guided and local anesthesia for recurrent trigeminal neuralgia.

Background: There are several ways to treat trigeminal neuralgia (TN); however, TN may recur after treatment. Although microvascular decompression (MVD) is considered an effective treatment for trigeminal neuralgia, patients with recurrence may not be willing to undergo craniotomy. Objective: This study compared the safety and efficacy of percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation and percutaneous balloon compression for treating recurrent trigeminal neuralgia. Methods: This was a prospective non-randomized controlled study. A total of 52 with recurrent TN were scheduled to undergo surgery in our Hospital from January-June 2021. The patients were classified into percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation (PRT) and percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) groups based on the treatment. All surgeries were performed under computed tomography guidance and local anesthesia. Post-operative complications were also observed. Pain was assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) and Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) scale. Efficacy indices were evaluated at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months after surgery. Results: During follow-up, the efficacy rates of the two methods within 18 months were 76.0 and 88.9%, respectively. All patients had hypoesthesia on the affected side, and no severe complications. Notably, 5 patients (20%) in the PRT group with multiple-branch pain, including the first branch of the trigeminal nerve (V1) pain in the PRT group, received radiofrequency therapy for the supraorbital notch (foramen) after puncture of the foramen ovale. However, multiple pain episodes resolved with only one operation in the PBC group. Conclusion: CT-guided percutaneous radiofrequency thermocoagulation and percutaneous balloon compression under local anesthesia may be good options for treating recurrent trigeminal neuralgia. Percutaneous balloon compression may be recommended when multiple branches are involved, particularly in cases of V1 neuralgia.

[Growth and reproduction dynamics of different-aged artificial Caragana korshinskii in sandy-hilly region of northwest Shanxi Province, China]. / æ™‹è¥¿åŒ—ä¸˜é™µé£Žæ²™åŒºä¸åŒæž—é¾„äººå·¥æŸ æ¡ç”Ÿé•¿ä¸Žç¹æ®–åŠ¨æ€ç‰¹å¾.

The sandy-hilly region of northwest Shanxi is a typical fragile agro-pastoral ecotone in north China. With the artificial Caragana korshinskii at 0 (the uncultivated land), 6, 12, 18, 40 and 50 years-old in the typical sandy-hilly region of northwest Shanxi as the subjects, we investigated soil moisture, aboveground and belowground biomass, individual morphological characteristics, growth, reproduction, and photosynthetic physiological characteristics of different-aged C. korshinskii, with the aim to evaluate the long-term growth and reproductive dynamic characteristics of artificial C. korshinskii. The results showed that soil moisture was significantly affected by stand ages. Soil moisture was low under the 6-year-old C. korshinskii plantation. During 6-18 years-old, soil moisture increased due to the increased crown width and reduced the near-surface wind speed, solar radiation, and soil water evaporation. During 18-50 years-old, soil moisture decreased sharply due to higher biomass and plant transpiration of C. korshinskii, and soil moisture was reduced to the lowest level of 11.1%. C. korshinskii mainly developed underground root system during 6-18 years-old, and changed to the aboveground biomass accumulation in 18-40 years-old. At the 40-year-old stand, biomass reached to the highest level with the greatest crown width and plant height. During 40-50 years-old, crown width and plant height decreased significantly, while the growth began to degrade. Photosynthetic capacity (chlorophyll a, b, carotenoid and total chlorophyll content) gra-dually decreased with the increases of planting ages, especially after 18 years-old. The quantity and quality of C. korshinskii seeds increased from 6 to 40 years-old, reached the maximum at 40 years-old stand, and began to decrease after 50 years-old. In the later growth period (30-40 years-old), more seeds with small individual weight were produced compared with early period (6-12 years-old). The germination test showed that small seeds had higher germination rate than the large ones under the same stand age, suggesting a shift of reproduction strategy. After 50 years-old, both of the growth and reproduction of C. korshinskii degenerated, and the plantation began to degrade.

Highly efficient photocatalytic removal of multiple refractory organic pollutants by BiVO4/CH3COO(BiO) heterostructured nanocomposite.

Highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of refractory organic contaminants in wastewater remains a great challenge due to low quantum efficiency and poor solar energy utilization of the currently employed photocatalysts. Herein, a novel BiVO4/CH3COO(BiO) heterojunction photocatalyst is designed and prepared by a simple one-pot solvothermal method, and characterized by various techniques. By using this photocatalyst, degradation efficiency of four kinds of emerging refractory organic pollutants (sulfamethoxazole, bisphenol A, 4­aminoantipyrine and ibuprofen) in water is investigated under simulated solar irradiation. Then, total organic carbon is measured to determine the mineralization degree, and degradation intermediates of the pollutants are identified to propose their degradation pathway. It is found that under the given conditions, complete degradation of the pollutants is observed within the irradiation of 5-24 h, and 81-96% mineralization degree is achieved in 24 h. Furthermore, it is shown that the degradation kinetics can be described by pseudo-first order model. Based on the detected intermediates during the degradation process of 4­aminoantipyrine and ibuprofen, the degradation pathways of these two pollutants are suggested to involve cleavage of side chain, heterocyclic ring opening and hydroxylation of aromatic ring. In addition, the application of the BiVO4/CH3COO(BiO) heterojunction photocatalyst in the purification of the spiked real wastewater is also investigated.