[SUN's abdominal acupuncture for depression after methamphetamine withdrawal: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical effect of SUN 's abdominal acupuncture and conventional acupuncture in the treatment of depression after methamphetamine withdrawal. METHODS: A total of 80 female patients with depression after methamphetamine withdrawal were randomly divided into an observation group (40 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a control group (40 cases, 2 cases dropped off). The control group was treated with conventional acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), Yintang (GV 29), Taichong (LR 3), Shenmen (HT 7), Neiguan (PC 6), Danzhong (GV 17), and the observation group was treated with SUN 's abdominal acupuncture at area 1 of the abdomen and area 8 of the abdomen. Both groups were treated once a day, 30 min each time, 6 days as a course of treatment, 1 day rest between treatment courses, a total of 4 courses of treatment. The scores of withdrawal symptoms, Hamilton depression scale (HAMD), Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) scale and serum serotonin (5-HT) level were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS: After treatment, the scores of withdrawal symptoms, HAMD and the various scores and total score of PSQI scale in the two groups were all lower than before treatment (P<0.01), and the scores of withdrawal symptoms, HAMD and the sleep quality, time to fall asleep, sleep time scores and total score of PSQI in the observation group were lower than the control group (P<0.05, P<0.01). After treatment, the serum 5-HT level of the two groups was increased (P<0.01), and that in the observation group was higher than the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: SUN 's abdominal acupuncture can improve withdrawal symptom, depression and sleep quality, increase serum 5-HT content in treatment of depression after methamphetamine withdrawal, and has better effect than conventional acupuncture.

Localization of subcentimeter pulmonary nodules using an indocyanine green near-infrared imaging system during uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the feasibility of indocyanine green (ICG) use in localizing subcentimeter pulmonary nodules during uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis of 32 patients who underwent surgery due to pulmonary nodules using ICG localization from September 2019 to March 2020 in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. Laser positioning and large-aperture spiral CT simulation were performed preoperatively. ICG was injected into the lung (2.5 mg/ml). The clinical characteristics and postoperative indicators were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 33 subcentimeter pulmonary nodules were successfully localized in 32 patients. Twenty-three patients underwent lobectomy, with an average surgical time of 45.3 min and an average tube retention time of 2 days. Non-small cell lung cancer was confirmed intraoperatively in 9 patients, among whom the longest surgical time was 120 min, and the shortest hospital stay was 7 days. No patient was converted to thoracotomy or developed serious complications. CONCLUSIONS: ICG imaging is a safe and effective technique for localization of pulmonary nodules. Due to the widespread application of near-infrared devices, fluorescent localization and imaging technology will be more widely used in thoracic surgery.

Computed Tomography Features and Clinicopathological Characteristics of Gastric Sarcomatoid Carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Gastric sarcomatoid carcinoma (GSC) is a very rare malignant tumor. The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical, computed tomography (CT), and pathologic features of GSC to increase awareness of this entity. METHODS: The CT features and clinical data of five patients with pathologically documented GSC were retrospectively analyzed and compared with the corresponding data of gastric adenocarcinoma and lymphoma. RESULTS: Among the 5 patients, 4 were male, and 1 was female. The median age was 59 years. Of the 5 cases of GSC, 3 were in the gastric fundus and cardia, 1 was in the gastric body, and 1 was in the gastric fundus. The gastric wall had local thickening in 4 cases and mass formation in 1 case, with stenosis and deformation of the adjacent gastric cavity. The long-axis diameter of the lesions ranged from 1.4 to 10.2 cm (mean, 4.97 cm) and was <10 cm in 4 cases and >10 cm in 1 case. The tumor showed predominantly inhomogeneous density, with radiodensity values ranging from 30 to 53 HU. In addition, ulcers with an irregular base and slightly raised borders were observed in 4 of 5 cases. After an injection of contrast material, heterogeneous (n = 4) or homogeneous (n = 1) enhancement was observed. After contrast medium injection, obvious enhancement was seen in 2 cases, and moderate enhancement was seen in 3 cases; the peak tumor signal was observed in the portal phase. Two of the patients demonstrated evidence of lymph node involvement, and in one patient, the boundary between the lesion and the left lobe of the liver was unclear, with low attenuation in the right lobe of the liver with circular enhancement. The remaining two patients showed no evidence of metastasis. CONCLUSION: Although GSC is extremely rare, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma and lymphoma. CT findings, combined with patient age and sex, can provide support for the diagnosis of GSC. However, the final diagnosis must be confirmed with histopathology.

Elevation of the Chemokine Pair CXCL10/CXCR3 Initiates Sequential Glial Activation and Crosstalk During the Development of Bimodal Inflammatory Pain after Spinal Cord Ischemia Reperfusion.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Spinal microglia and astrocytes are the main responders to the inflammatory cascade and process pain through various neural interactions. CXCL10 is a late-phase protein that accelerates arteriogenesis during reperfusion through CXCR3. However, the early-phase expression (within 72 h postoperatively) of CXCL10 and CXCR3 during the development of ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-induced inflammatory pain remains unclear. We investigated whether this chemokine pair participates in glial interactions during early-phase IR injury. METHODS: A rat model was induced by an 8-min occlusion of the aortic arch. Temporal assessments of mechanical and thermal allodynia and the protein levels of CXCL10 and CXCR3 were determined through measurements of paw withdrawal thresholds (PWTs) and paw withdrawal latencies (PWLs) and Western blotting assays. The co-localization of various cells with glial cells was detected by double immunofluorescence. The effects of CXCL10/CXCR3 on glial interactions were explored by intrathecal treatment with specific inhibitors (AMD487, minocycline and fluorocitrate) and recombinant CXCL10, and subsequent release of cytokines was assessed by ELISAs. RESULTS: The IR injury initiated bimodal allodynia within 72 h of reperfusion, as illustrated by two W-shape trends in the PWTs and PWLs with two minima at 12 and 48 h post-IR. Allodynia was highly correlated with overexpression of CXCL10 and CXCR3, which were expressed in microglia at the early stage and in both microglia and astrocytes at the late stage, as shown by increased CXCL10 and CXCR3 immunoreactivities and double-labeled cells. AMD487 and minocycline injections exerted comparable inhibitory effects on CXCR3 and Iba-1 and on GFAP immunoreactivity at 12 and 48 h post-IR, and these inhibitory effects were only observed at 48 h following fluorocitrate injection. The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 showed variations in concert with the changes in Iba-1 and GFAP immunoreactivities. Recombinant CXCL10 injection reversed the abovementioned effects. CONCLUSION: The results showed that CXCL10/CXCR3 are involved in bimodal inflammatory pain during early-phase IR injury. The sequential activation of and crosstalk between microglia and astrocytes mediated through CXCR3 upregulation suggested that treatments targeting specific cell types are important in post-IR allodynia.

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) signal intensity and distribution represent the amount of cancer cells and their distribution in primary lung cancer.

The aim of this study was to interpret diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) signals in lung cancers. They were converted into several three-dimensional DWI signals patterns, which represent the degree of DWI signal intensity by height and the degree of distribution by area: flat, low elevation, irregular elevation, single-peak elevation, multiple-peak elevation, and nodular elevation. There were 39 adenocarcinomas and 21 squamous cell carcinomas. Three-dimensional DWI signals decreased significantly in order of cell differentiation. Tumor cellular densities were increased according to the increase in three-dimensional DWI signals. DWI signal intensity and distribution can represent the amount of cancer cells and their distribution in the carcinoma.

Diffusion-weighted imaging is superior to positron emission tomography in the detection and nodal assessment of lung cancers.

BACKGROUND: Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) makes it possible to detect malignant tumors based on the difference in the diffusion of water molecules among tissues. The aims of this study are to examine the usefulness of DWI compared with positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) in the assessment of lung cancer, and the relationships between the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value and several pathologic factors. METHODS: Sixty-three patients with primary non-small cell lung cancer were enrolled in this study. The DWI and PET-CT were performed before surgery. There were 42 adenocarcinomas, 19 squamous cell carcinomas, and 2 other cell types. RESULTS: Sixty-one lung cancers (97%) were detected visually with DWI. This was significantly higher than 54 lung cancers (86%) with PET-CT. The accuracy for N staging by DWI was 0.81 (51 of 63), which was not significantly higher than 0.71 (45 of 63) by PET-CT. The sensitivity (0.75) for individual metastatic lymph node stations by DWI was significantly higher than that (0.48) by PET-CT. The specificity for individual nonmetastatic lymph node stations was 0.99 by DWI and 0.97 by PET-CT, respectively. The accuracy (0.95) for the diagnosis of lymph node stations by DWI was significantly higher than that (0.90) by PET-CT. There was a weak reverse relationship (correlation coefficient: 0.286) between the ADC value and the maximum standardized uptake value, but no relationship between ADC value and tumor size. The ADC values increased while the cell differentiation increased. CONCLUSIONS: Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging is superior to PET-CT in the detection of primary lesions and nodal assessment of non-small cell lung cancers.

Correlation between glucose transporter-1 expression and 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography in lung cancer.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine if glucose transporter-1 (Glut1) expression correlates with (18)F-FDG ((18)F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose) uptake on positron emission tomography (PET) in lung cancer and to examine the similarities and differences between them. METHODS: A total of 34 patients with resected primary lung cancers were investigated in this study. There were 17 adenocarcinomas, 12 squamous cell carcinomas, and 5 cancers of other cell types. Immunohistochemical Glut1 intensity was categorized into three groups: negative, positive, and strongly positive. Glut1 frequency was defined by the proportion of positive cells among all cancer cells, and it was graded on a semiquantitative scale as 0-100% in 10% increments. The data are expressed as the mean +/- SD. RESULTS: Maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) were 4.8 +/- 6.3 in "negative" Glut1 intensity cases, 4.7 +/- 3.1 in "positive" Glut1 intensity cases, and 11.2 +/- 5.2 in "strongly positive" Glut1 intensity cases. Although SUVmax correlated significantly with tumor size (correlation coefficient 0.58, P = 0.00033), Glut1 frequency did not correlate significantly with tumor size (correlation coefficient 0.18, P = 0.301). Cell type and cell differentiation correlated significantly with Glut1 expression and (18)F-FDG uptake. CONCLUSION: Glut1 expression correlates significantly with (18)F-FDG uptake. There are similarities in cell differentiation and cell type between Glut1 expression and (18)F-FDG uptake. (18)F-FDG uptake correlates significantly with tumor size, but Glut1 expression does not.