[Lateral mini plate and Kirschner wire assisted fixation for the treatment of distal humeral metaphyseal junction fracture in children].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the operative method and clinical effect of lateral mini plate and Kirschner wire in the treatment of distal humeral metaphysis junction fracture in children. METHODS: From January 2015 to December 2018, 21 cases of distal humeral diaphyseal metaphyseal junction fracture were analyzed retrospectively, including 12 males and 9 females, aged 2 to 10 years with an average age of 4.5 years, and the time from injury to operation was 6 hours to 7 days. The imaging data showed that the fracture line was located at the junction of the distal humerus and metaphysis. There were 10 oblique fractures, 8 transverse fractures and 3 comminuted fractures. The operation methods were open reduction, lateral mini plate and Kirschner wire assisted internal fixation, and the improved Flynn elbow joint scoring standard was used to evaluate the clinical effect. RESULTS: All the 21 children were followed up for 8 to 24 months, with an average of 13 months. The healing time was 6 to 8 weeks, with an average of 7.2 weeks. There were no complications such as fracture displacement, cubitus varus and ulnar nerve injury. According to the improved Flynn elbow joint scoring standard, 19 cases were excellent and 2 cases were good. CONCLUSION: The treatment of distal humeral metaphyseal junction fracture in children is different from that of supracondylar fracture of humerus.

Plumbagin exhibits an anti-proliferative effect in human osteosarcoma cells by downregulating FHL2 and interfering with Wnt/ß-catenin signalling.

Plumbagin, a naphthoquinone constituent of Plumbago zeylanica L. (Plumbaginaceae) is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine as an antifungal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agent. Plumbagin is known to exhibit proapoptotic, antiangiogenic and antimetastatic effects in cancer cells. The transcriptional co-factor four and a half LIM domains 2 (FHL2) is a multifunctional adaptor protein that is involved in the regulation of gene expression, signal transduction and cell proliferation and differentiation, and also acts as a tumor suppressor or oncoprotein depending on the tissue microenvironment. The present study investigated the effect of plumbagin on FHL2 expression, Wnt/ß-catenin signalling and its anti-proliferative activity in various human osteosarcoma cell lines, including SaOS2, MG63, HOS and U2OS. The cells were exposed to plumbagin and the expression of FHL2 was evaluated using western blot analysis. Furthermore, the anti-proliferative effect of plumbagin was evaluated using a 3-(4,5 dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. In addition, since FHL2 is involved in Wnt/ß-catenin signaling, the effect of plumbagin on ß-catenin and its primary target genes, including v-myc avian myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog (c-Myc) and WNT1 inducible signaling pathway protein-1 (WISP-1), was evaluated using western blot analysis. It was observed that plumbagin suppressed the expression of FHL2 and exhibited significant anti-proliferative activity in osteosarcoma cells. It also attenuated Wnt/ß-catenin signalling by downregulating ß-catenin and its target genes, including c-Myc and WISP-1. In conclusion, plumbagin demonstrated anti-proliferative activity in osteosarcoma cells by downregulating FHL2 and interfering with Wnt/ß-catenin signalling.