The Effects of Recombinant Human Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor Gel on Third-Degree Frostbite Wounds in Northeastern China: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of the rhGM-CSF gel on third-degree frostbite wounds. Sixty-two patients who had suffered third-degree frostbite on their hand or foot (91 wounds in total) were selected using a convenience sampling method and randomly allocated to two groups: the rhGM-CSF group(31patients,45 frostbite wounds) received the rhGM-CSF gel when wound dressing change daily; however, the control group (31patients, 46 frostbite wounds) received aloe glue. The wound healing time, the score of inflammation about the wound and the positive bacterial culture of wound secretions were used to measure outcomes, respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS (25.0), Student's t test or Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square test or Fisher exact test were selected, as appropriate. The healing time of the rhGM-CSF group was (12.2 ± 5.0) days, which was significantly shorter than that of the control group (15.5 ± 4.7) days (P < .0001). The rhGM-CSF group's wound inflammation scores on the 7th and 14th day of treatment were (0.96 ± 0.21) and (1.88 ± 0.29), respectively, which were better than those of the control group (1.12 ± 0.24) and (1.38 ± 0.15) (both P < .0001). The positive bacterial culture of wound secretions in the rhGM-CSF group was also better than that in the control group on the 3rd, 7th, and 14th day after treatment (P = .027, .004, .030, respectively). According to the results, using rhGM-CSF gel considerably increases the speed of frostbite wounds healing, and have an effect on protecting third-degree frostbite wounds regarding the positive effects. Trial Registration: This trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Register, ChiCTR1900021299.

[Retracted] lncRNA XIST promotes the progression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by sponging miR­144 to regulate IRS1 expression.

The authors wish to retract their research article entitled 'lncRNA XIST promotes the progression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by sponging miR­144 to regulate IRS1 expression', published in Oncology Reports 43: 525­535, 2020. They have found that, having repeated several of the experiments, XIST expression does not appear to affect LSCC cell apoptosis. In addition, some of their original data had been lost due to computer damage. Therefore, all authors are in agreement that this paper published in Oncology Reports should be retracted to maintain the integrity of the scientific record. All the named authors on the paper agree to this retraction, and they sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that might result from the retraction of this article. [the original article was published in Oncology Reports 43: 525­535, 2020; DOI: 10.3892/or.2019.7438].

A specially designed medical screen for children suffering from burns: A randomized trial of a distraction-type therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the specially designed medical dressing screen during wound dressing changes of children who suffered burns to their hand or foot. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Burns and Plastic Reconstruction Unit. PARTICIPANTS: Children (N=120) with burns on up to 1-5% of the total body surface area. INTERVENTIONS: The patients were selected and randomly allocated to 3 equal-sized groups as follows: control group (N=40): the children received only regular dressing changes; computer group (N=40): a touch-screen computer was used for children during dressing changes; medical screen group (N=40): a medical screen combined with the touch-screen computer were used for children during dressing changes. All patients underwent a dressing change once per day for four days. Data were distributed four times: immediately after the initial dressing change (T1); and immediately after each times at next three consecutive days (T2-T4). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Pain level of the children evaluated by medical staffs was the primary outcome, the Pain level of the children evaluated by children's parents and the satisfaction of wound therapist were used as second outcomes. RESULTS: The mean scores related to pain level at the medical screen group displayed significantly better results than those of control group and those of the computer group. Additionally, the results of the pain evaluated by parents and satisfaction score of the wound therapist at the medical screen group was also better than other groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated "that the" application of the medical screen for burns can relieve the pain of 1-3 years old children suffering from a burns during dressing changes. Additionally, the application of the medical screen also increased the satisfaction of the parents and the wound therapist performing the dressing changes.

The complete chloroplast genome of Aloe vera from China as a Chinese herb.

Aloe vera has been used as a Chinese herb and an ingredient in many cosmetic products in China. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of A. vera was determined for more genetic data information. The chloroplast genome was 152,875 bp length as a typical quadripartite structure that contained a large single-copy region (LSC) of 83,505 bp, a small single-copy region (SSC) of 16,178 bp and a pair of inverted-repeat regions (IRs) of 26,596 bp. The overall nucleotide composition of chloroplast genome is: 47,185 bp A (30.8%), 48,123 bp T (31.5%), 29,326 bp C (19.2%), 28,241 bp G (18.5%) and the total G + C content of 37.7%. Then, 131 genes were found that included 85 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 38 transfer RNA (tRNAs) and 8 ribosome RNA (rRNAs). The phylogenetic analysis showed that A. vera closely related to A. maculata in the phylogenetic relationship of the family Asphodelaceae by the Maximum-Likelihood (ML) method.

Structure Design and Optimization of the C5-C6 Cervical Intervertebral Fusion Cage Using the Anterior Cervical Plate and Cage Fixation System.

BACKGROUND The fifth and sixth cervical vertebra (C5-C6) is the most easily injured segment encountered in clinical practice. The anterior cervical plate and cage (ACPC) fixation system is always used to reconstruct the intervertebral height and maintain the segmental stability. The postoperative effect, such as subsidence, neck pain, and non-fusion, is greatly affected by the cervical cage structure design. This study determined reasonable structure size parameters that present optimized biomechanical properties related to the postoperative subsidence often accompanied with ACPC. MATERIAL AND METHODS Twenty bionic cages with different structural sizes (distance between the center of the cage and groove, groove depth, and groove width) were designed and analyzed based on the regression optimization design and analysis method combined with FE analysis. Because a previous study showed that greater stresses on the endplate are associated with higher risk of subsidence, the optimization object was selected as the stresses on endplate to lower it. RESULTS The postoperative stresses on the endplate of all cages with bionic structure design were proved to be lower than with the original one. The optimal structure size was the distance between the center of the cage and groove=0 mm, groove depth=3 mm, and groove width=4 mm. Regression analysis found the cage with optimized bionic structural parameters resulted in a 22.58% reduction of endplate stress response compared with the original one. CONCLUSIONS The bionic cage with optimized structural sizes can reduce the subsidence risk, suggesting that the optimization method has great potential applications in the biomechanical engineering field.

The underlying changes and predicting role of peripheral blood inflammatory cells in severe COVID-19 patients: A sentinel?

BACKGROUND: The underlying changes of peripheral blood inflammatory cells (PBICs) in COVID-19 patients are little known. Moreover, the risk factors for the underlying changes of PBICs and their predicting role in severe COVID-19 patients remain uncertain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective study including two cohorts: the main cohort enrolling 45 patients of severe type serving as study group, and the secondary cohort enrolling 12 patients of no-severe type serving as control group. The PBICs analysis was based on blood routine and lymphocyte subsets. The inflammatory cell levels were compared among patients according to clinical classifications, disease-associated phases, as well as one-month outcomes. RESULTS: Compared with patients of non-severe type, the patients of severe type suffered from significantly decreased counts of lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils, but increased counts of neutrophils. These PBICs alterations got improved in recovery phase, but persisted or got worse in aggravated phase. Compared with patients in discharged group, the patients in un-discharged/died group suffered from decreased counts of total T lymphocytes, CD4 + T lymphocytes, CD8 + T lymphocytes, as well as NK cells at 2 weeks after treatment. Clinical classification-critically severe was the independently risk factor for lymphopenia (OR = 7.701, 95%CI:1.265-46.893, P = 0.027), eosinopenia (OR = 5.595, 95%CI:1.008-31.054, P = 0.049), and worse one-month outcome (OR = 8.984; 95%CI:1.021-79.061, P = 0.048). CONCLUSION: Lymphopenia and eosinopenia may serve as predictors of disease severity and disease progression in COVID-19 patients, and enhancing the cellular immunity may contribute to COVID-19 treatment. Thus, PBICs might become a sentinel of COVID-19, and it deserves attention during COVID-19 treatment.

lncRNA XIST promotes the progression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by sponging miR­144 to regulate IRS1 expression.

The initiation and development of several types of cancer have been linked to long non­coding RNA (lncRNA) X inactive­specific transcript (XIST). Yet, the pattern of expression, function, as well as the molecular mechanism underlying XIST in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) lack characterization. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the function and putative mechanism of XIST in the development of LSCC. It was revealed that the level of XIST was significantly higher in LSCC tissues that were associated with advanced Tumor­Node­Metastasis (TNM) stage and the presence of lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, the ability of human LSCC TU212 cells to proliferate, form colonies, migrate and invade was significantly suppressed, while cell apoptosis was significantly increased following knockdown of XIST. Further investigation revealed that XIST knockdown increased the expression of microRNA­144 (miR­144) by acting as an endogenous sponge of miR­144. Inhibition of miR­144 caused a partial reversal of the inhibitory effects mediated following depletion of XIST in LSCC cells. Moreover, an miR­144 target called insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) was significantly decreased by XIST depletion in LSCC cells. IRS1 expression was positively correlated with XIST expression in LSCC tissues. In addition, knockdown of XIST impaired tumor growth in vivo by regulating the miR­144/IRS1 axis. The present study demonstrated that the progression of LSCC is promoted by XIST sponging miR­144 to regulate IRS1 expression, suggesting that XIST can serve as a putative target in the therapy of LSCC.

A randomized trial of a distraction-type intervention to assist in managing dressing changes for children experienced burns.

AIM: To evaluate the impact of the specially designed medical dressing screen during wound dressing changes for children aged 1-3 who experienced a burn on their hand or foot. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. METHODS: The study was performed, between January 2019 - April 2019, at a Burn Outpatient Ward. A total of 52 outpatient children who had suffered burns were included in the clinical trial. The burn area of these participants accounted for 1-5% of the total body surface area. The children were randomly divided into two equal-sized groups, each receiving a different treatment. In the medical screen group (N = 26), a medical screen was used for children during the dressing changes. In the control group (N = 26), the children received only regular dressing changes. Pain level of the children during dressing change was the primary outcome, the satisfaction of children's parents and wound therapist were used as second outcomes. The Bonferroni method was used to perform pairwise comparisons of repeatedly measured data at different measurement times in two groups. RESULTS: The results showed that the medical screen group had better outcomes with respect to pain management during dressing changes; in addition, the satisfaction score of the wound therapist and children's parents presented also better outcomes compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated application of the medical screen for burns can relieve the pain of 1 - 3-year old children experienced a burn during dressing changes. In addition, the application of the medical screen also increased the satisfaction of the child's parents and wound therapist. Registration NO: 1,900,020,953. IMPACT: Compared with conventional dressing methods, the medical screen can be used as a novel way to decrease the negative experience of burn patients ages 1-3 who require dressing changes.

Effects of Anesthetics on Barrier Tissue Function.

Anesthetics have long been proven to have additional effects other than anesthesia on different organs and tissues of the human body. Barrier tissues play critical roles in human health and diseases, yet the impacts of anesthetics on barrier tissues are still not clear. This review article is aimed at summarizing different effects of anesthetics on the skin, the respiratory, and intestinal membranes from two aspects: inflammation/immunity and ischemia-reperfusion. Among volatile, intravenous, and local anesthetics, volatile anesthetics are less influential on barrier ischemia-perfusion function. Although direct comparisons between volatile and the other two types of anesthetics are still lacking, volatile anesthetics appear to have stronger anti-inflammatory effects on different barrier tissues through various mechanisms. These results suggested that when treating patients with barrier tissue complications, volatile anesthetics can provide better therapeutic outcomes.

Downregulation of miR-145-5p elevates retinal ganglion cell survival to delay diabetic retinopathy progress by targeting FGF5.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of new-onset blindness. Recent studies showed that protecting retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) from high glucose-induced injury is a promising strategy for delaying DR. This study is to investigate the role of miR-145-5p in high glucose-induced RGC injury. Here, RGCs were randomly divided into low glucose and high glucose groups. PCR assay showed miR-145-5p was significantly upregulated in high glucose group. Transfection of miR-145-5p inhibitor decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, elevated cell viability and proliferation, as well as suppressed cell apoptosis by ELISA, MTT, EdU proliferation, colony formation and flow cytometry assays, respectively. Moreover, dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed FGF5 as a target gene of miR-145-5p. FGF5 knockdown could partially reverse the protective effects of miR-145-5p on RGC-5 cells. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that inhibition of miR-145-5p might be a neuroprotective target for diabetes mellitus-related DR. Abbreviations: DR: diabetic retinopathy; RGCs: retinal ganglion cells; miR-145-5p: microRNA-145-5p; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α; IL-6: interleukin-6; FGF: fibroblast growth factor; ATCC: American Type Culture Collection; WT: wild type; MUT: mutant type.

Inhibition of GSK-3beta Signaling Pathway Rescues Ketamine-Induced Neurotoxicity in Neural Stem Cell-Derived Neurons.

Clinical application of anesthetic reagent, ketamine (Keta), may induce irreversible neurotoxicity in central nervous system. In this work, we utilized an in vitro model of neural stem cells-derived neurons (nSCNs) to evaluate the role of GSK-3 signaling pathway in Keta-induced neurotoxicity. Embryonic mouse-brain neural stem cells were differentiated into neurons in vitro. Keta (50 µM)-induced neurotoxicity in cultured nSCNs was monitored by apoptosis, immunohistochemical and western blot assays, respectively. GSK-3 signaling pathways, including GSK-3α and GSK-3ß, were inhibited by siRNA in the culture. The subsequent effects of GSK-3α or GSK-3ß downregulation on Keta-induced neurotoxicity, including apoptosis and neurite loss, were then evaluated in nSCNs. Finally, caspase and Akt/ERK signal pathways were further examined by western blot to evaluate the regulatory effect of GSK-3 signaling pathways on Keta-induced neural injury. Keta (50 µM) caused markedly nSCN apoptosis and neurite degeneration in vitro. Keta decreased GSK-3ß phosphorylation, but had no effect on GSK-3α phosphorylation. SiRNA-induced GSK-3ß downregulation rescued Keta-induced neurotoxicity in nSCNs by reducing neuronal apoptosis and preventing neurite degeneration. On the other hand, GSK-3α downregulation had no effect on Keta-induced neurotoxicity. Western blot showed that, in Keta-injured nSCNs, GSK-3ß downregulation reduced Caspase-1/3 proteins, but left phosphorylated Akt/ERK unchanged. GSK-3ß, not GSK-3α, was specifically involved in the process of Keta-induced neurotoxicity in nSCNs. Inhibiting GSK-3ß may be an effective approach to counter toxic effect of ketamine on central neurons in clinical and experimental applications.

miR-144 suppresses the growth and metastasis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by targeting IRS1.

Increasing evidence has been suggested that microRNA-144 (miR-144) involved in tumor initiation, development and metastasis in various cancers. However, the biological roles and potential mechanisms of miR-144 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remain unclear. In the present study, we discovered that miR-144 expression levels in LSCC tissues were significantly lower than those of adjacent normal tissues. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-144 in LSCC cells inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion in vitro. Consistently, stable overexpression of miR-144 suppressed the growth of LSCC cell xenografts in vivo. Bioinformatic algorithms and luciferase reporter assays confirmed that insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) is a direct target of miR-144. Overexpreesion of miR-144 obviously decreased IRS1 expression thereby suppressing phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway activation. Further functional studies suggested that downregulation of IRS1 had similar effects as that of miR-144 overexpression, and upregulation of IRS1 partially reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-144. These findings suggested that miR-144 functioned as a tumor suppressor in LSCC by targeting IRS1, and that miR-144 might serve as a potential target for LSCC treatment.

Up-regulation of miR-26a promotes neurite outgrowth and ameliorates apoptosis by inhibiting PTEN in bupivacaine injured mouse dorsal root ganglia.

Local anesthetic of bupivacaine may inhibit neurite outgrowth and induce apoptosis in mouse dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. In this work, we intended to investigate the functional role of microRNA 26a (miR-26a) in regulating bupivacaine-induced nerve injury in DRG neurons. DRG neurons were extracted from C57BL/6 mice and cultured in vitro. Bupivacaine was applied in vitro and it induced apoptosis, inhibited neurite growth, and significantly down-regulated miR-26a gene in DRG neurons. MiR-26a mimic was then used to up-regulate miR-26a expression in DRG neurons. We found that miR-26a up-regulation promoted neurite outgrowth and reduced apoptosis in bupivacaine-injured DRG neurons. Luciferase assay and Western blot confirmed that Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) was down-stream target of miR-26a in DRG neurons. Ectopic PTEN up-regulation was then able to reverse the protective effect of miR-26a overexpression on bupivacaine-induced nerve injury in DRG neurons. Overall, this work demonstrated that miR-26a had a functional role in regulating bupivacaine-induced nerve injury in DRG neurons. Up-regulating miR-26a to suppress PTEN signaling pathway may be an effective method to protect local anesthetic-induced nerve injury in spinal cord.