Promising application of a new ulnar nerve compound muscle action potential measurement montage in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a prospective cross-sectional study.

Previous studies have shown that ulnar nerve compound muscle action potential recorded by the conventional "belly-tendon" montage does not accurately and completely reflect the action potential of the ulnar nerve dominating the abductor digiti minimi muscle due to the effects of far-field potentials of intrinsic hand muscles. A new method of ulnar nerve compound muscle action potential measurement was developed in 2020, which adjusts the E2 electrode from the distal tendon of the abductor digitorum to the middle of the back of the proximal wrist. This new method may reduce the influence of the reference electrode and better reflect the actual ulnar nerve compound muscle action potential. In this prospective cross-sectional study, we included 64 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 64 age- and sex-matched controls who underwent conventional and novel ulnar nerve compound muscle action potential measurement between April 2020 and May 2021 in Peking University Third Hospital. The compound muscle action potential waveforms recorded by the new montage were unimodal and more uniform than those recorded by traditional montage. In the controls, no significant difference in the compound muscle action potential waveforms was found between the traditional montage and new montage recordings. In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients presenting with abductor digiti minimi spontaneous activity and muscular atrophy, the amplitude of compound muscle action potential-pE2 was significantly lower than that of compound muscle action potential-dE2 (P < 0.01). Using the new method, damaged axons were more likely to exhibit more severe amplitude decreases than those measured with the traditional method, in particular for patients in early stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In addition, the decline in compound muscle action potential amplitude measured by the new method was correlated with a decrease in Revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale scores. These findings suggest that the new ulnar nerve compound muscle action potential measurement montage reduces the effects of the reference electrode through altering the E2 electrode position, and that this method is more suitable for monitoring disease progression than the traditional montage. This method may be useful as a biomarker for longitudinal follow-up and clinical trials in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Ultra-early amplitude decrement after repetitive nerve stimulation supports early neuromuscular junction injury in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a prospective cross-sectional study.

The dying-back hypothesis holds that the damage to neuromuscular junctions and distal axons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis occurs at the earliest stage of the disease. Previous basic studies have confirmed early damage to neuromuscular junctions, but it is difficult to obtain such evidence directly in clinical practice. In this prospective cross-sectional study, we recruited 22 patients with early amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with disease duration < 12 months and with clinical symptoms limited to the upper limbs. We also recruited 32 healthy controls. Repetitive nerve stimulation was performed, and patients were followed for 12 months. We found a significant change in the response to repetitive nerve stimulation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients without spontaneous electromyographic activity. Patients that were prone to denervation had an increased decrement response of target muscles after repetitive nerve stimulation. These results suggest that changes in response to repetitive nerve stimulation may occur before denervation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. The damage to lower motor neurons is more obvious in patients with a higher percentage of repetitive never stimulation-related amplitude decrements. This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Peking University Third Hospital (approval No. M2017198) on August 24, 2017.

[A review of the relationship between gut microbiome and necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants].

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a common severe gastrointestinal disease in preterm infants. The morbidity and mortality of NEC are negatively correlated with the gestational age and birth weight. In addition to causing a variety of gastrointestinal complications, NEC can also cause neurodevelopmental impairment. Recently, many studies have found that gut microbiome dysbiosis plays an important part in the pathogenesis of NEC. It is helpful to explore the relationship between gut microbiome and NEC for the early diagnosis and severity prediction of NEC. Researchers have paid much attention to the role of probiotics in reducing the morbidity and mortality of NEC in preterm infants. It's controversial as to whether probiotics is effective and safe in clinical application. This article will review the relationship between the development of gut microbiome and NEC in preterm infants, as well as the preventive effect of probiotics on NEC.

Semaphoring mAb: a new guide in RIT in inhibiting the proliferation of human skin carcinoma.

Semaphoring is a transmembrane receptor which participates in many cytokine-mediated signal pathways that are closely related to the angiogenesis, occurrence and development of carcinoma. The present study was designed to access the effect of mono-antibody (mAb) guided radioimmunotherapy (RIT) on skin carcinoma and investigate the potential mechanisms. Semaphoring mAb was acquired from mice (Balb/c), purified with rProtein A column; purity, concentration and activity were tested with SDS-PAGE and indirect ELISA; specificity and expression on the cutanuem carcinoma line and tissue were tested by Western blotting; morphology change was assessed by microscopy. MTT assay and colony inhibition tests were carried out to test the influence on the proliferation of tumor cells; Western blotting was also carried out for expression of apoptosis-associated (caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2) and proliferation-related (PI3K, p-Akt, Akt, p-ERK1/2, ERK1/2) proteins and analyse the change in signal pathways (PI3K/Akt and MEK/ERK). The purity of purified semaphorin mAb was 96.5% and the titer is about 1?106. Western blotting showed semaphoring mAb to have specifically binding stripes with semaphoring b1b2 protein, B16F10, and A431 cells at 39KDa, 100KDa and 130KDa, respectively. Positive expression was detected both in cutanuem carcinoma line and tissue and it mostly located in cell membranes. MMT assay revealed dose-relate and time-relate inhibitory effect of semaphorin mAb on A431 and B16F10. Colony inhibition tests also showed dose-relate inhibitory effects. Western blotting demonstrated the expression of apoptosis and proliferation-related protein and changes in signal pathway. In conclusion, we demonstrated that semaphorin is highly expressed on the tumor cell-surfaces and RIT with semaphorin mAb has effect in inhibiting proliferation and accelerating apoptosis of tumor cells.