[Long-term efficacy of balloon-assisted endplate augmentation combined with transforaminal pedicle screw fixation in the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures].

Objectives: To investigate the long-term efficacy of balloon assisted endplate reduction with vertebral augmentation combined with pedicle screw fixation in the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures, and to compare the clinical efficacy of calcium sulfate cement (CSC) and calcium phosphate cement(CPC). Methods: This study is a retrospective cohort study.The clinical data of 39 patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures admitted to Hefei Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University from November 2013 to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed.All patients were treated with pedicle screw reduction and fixation of the injured vertebra,balloon-assisted reduction of the collapsed endplate of the injured vertebra,and artificial bone vertebral body augmentation,and the follow-up time was >5 years.There were 24 males and 15 females,aged (42.9±13.3) years (range: 29 to 56 years).According to the Frankel spinal nerve dysfunction grading standard, there were 4 cases of grade C, 7 cases of grade D and 28 cases of grade E. There were 21 cases of CSC augmentation(CSC group) and 18 cases of CPC augmentation (CPC group). X-ray and CT were performed at 1 week, 1-, 2-, 5-year after surgery and at the last follow-up, and the imaging indicators were measured, including the injured vertebra anterior edge height ratio,the injured vertebra middle height ratio,the injured vertebra wedge angle,and the sagittal plane Cobb angle. The pain visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Oswestry disability index (ODI) was used for functional evaluation, nervous function was evaluated according to the Frankel spinal nerve dysfunction grading standard.Independent sample t test was used for inter-group comparison, and paired sample t test and repeated measure ANOVA were used for intra-group comparison. Results: All operative procedures were successfully completed, no spinal nerve function damage occurred. The postoperative imaging indexes of the patients were significantly improved compared with those before surgery (all P<0.01). The follow-up time of patients was (6.7±2.8)years (range: 5 to 9 years). Among the 11 patients with symptoms of neurological impairment before surgery, 9 patients completely recovered at the last follow-up, and 2 patients recovered from Frankel grade C to D. There were no significant differences in imaging indexes between the first week after surgery and the last follow-up in the CPC group (all P>0.05), while there were significant differences in imaging indexes between the CSC group and the last follow-up (all P<0.05). CPC group was superior to CSC group in frontal height ratio, middle height ratio, wedge angle variation and sagittal Cobb angle correction loss at 2 year, 5 year after surgery and the last follow-up, with statistical significance (all P<0.05). At the last follow-up, there were no differences in VAS and ODI between the two groups (all P>0.05). After absorption of CSC in the filling area, a hardened zone was formed around the area, and the central cavity remained without bone tissue filling. CPC absorption was very slow, and the CPC group was still filled satisfactorily at the last follow-up. Conclusions: Balloon assisted endplate reduction and vertebral augmentation combined with pedicle screw fixation through the injured vertebra have good long-term efficacy in the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures. Compared with CSC, CPC vertebral augmentation can better maintain the shape and spinal sequence of the injured vertebra in the long term, and can effectively reduce the collapse of the space above the injured vertebra.

-173G/C polymorphism in the promoter of MIF is associated with hepatitis B virus infection in a Chinese Han population.

In addition to the host immune response, genetic and environmental factors play crucial roles in the manifestation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) -173G/C polymorphism (rs755622), located in the promoter region of MIF, may play integral roles in diverse processes, including the immune response. Thus, the MIF -173G/C polymorphism may influence the immune response to HBV during natural infection. We investigated whether the MIF -173G/C polymorphism was associated with susceptibility to HBV infection in a Chinese Han population. A total of 596 HBV infection cases and 612 age-matched controls were recruited for the study. Genotyping of the MIF -173G/C polymorphism was performed using the allele-specific polymerase chain reaction method. The frequencies of the alleles and genotypes in patients and controls were compared using the χ(2) test. Carriers of the variant C allele in MIF -173 G/C were at significantly higher risk of HBV infection than carriers of the wild-type allele (P = 0.032, odds ratio = 0.799, 95% confidence interval = 0.651-0.981). However, there was no significant difference in the distribution of MIF -173G/C genotypes between case and control groups in either population (P = 0.096, degrees of freedom = 2). Our findings indicate that the G to C base change in MIF -173 G/C confers an increased risk of development of HBV infection by altering the expression of MIF in our Chinese Han population.

Bioinformatics analyses combined microarray identify the desregulated microRNAs in lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the regulation of cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and carcinogenesis. Deregulated miRNAs are found in blood cells of cancer patients recently. AIM: This study aims to screen the differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) which could discriminate lung cancers from non-cancerous lung tissues as well as molecular signatures that differ in tumor histology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: miRNA expression profiles of GSE17681 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus database. Three test methods were used to identify DE-miRNAs between lung cancer tissue and healthy controls. Target genes of DE-miRNAs were retrieved from three databases and mapped to KEGG to investigate their roles in lung cancer. Further, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed used STRING and Cytoscape. RESULTS: A total of 17 DE-miRNAs were identified. Among them, hsa-miR-339-5p draw specific attention. Pathway analysis revealed that target genes of RASSF1 and KRAS play roles as oncogene or tumor suppressor gene in the progression of lung cancer. Besides, Target genes of RASSF1 and ERBB4 formed a module in the PPI network. Functional analysis suggested biological process of response to hypoxia was significantly enriched. CONCLUSIONS: hsa-miR-339-5p play important role in the regulation of lung cancer and it may be potential to be used as biomarker to predict lung cancer progression.

Establishment of bee venom-induced contralateral heat hyperalgesia in the rat is dependent upon central temporal summation of afferent input from the site of injury.

The present investigation was designed to study whether central sensitization is determined by a time window of central summation of ongoing primary afferent input from a peripheral injury site. Sensitization was assessed behaviorally in the rat as contralateral heat hyperalgesia induced by injection of bee venom (BV) in the hind paw. The sciatic nerve was transected at various time points following intraplantar BV injection to analyze the time window for contralateral hyperalgesia. The results show that after a dose of 0.2 mg BV, axotomy at 5 min completely prevented contralateral heat hyperalgesia but was without effect at 10 min, whereas after a dose of 0.1 mg BV, axotomy at 10 min was able to prevent the contralateral heat hyperalgesia but remained without effect at 20 min. These findings suggest an important role of the amount of ipsilateral ongoing primary afferent in establishing the contralateral heat hyperalgesia. Moreover, by counting the total amount of paw flinches that is believed to be mediated by ongoing primary afferent input, it was shown that 87.35+/-5.36, 170.50+/-9.15 and 305.80+/-20.13 flinches were induced by 0.2 mg BV for a period of 5, 10 and 20 min, respectively. At the lower dose of 0.1 mg BV significant fewer flinches were elicited with 59.17+/-13.54, 133.00+/-22.33 and 234.00+/-36.42 within the three corresponding time windows before sciatic nerve transection. The results suggest that the amount of primary afferent input determines the time window required to establish central changes that are independent of further afferent input.