Heavy Hymenolepis nana Infection Possibly Through Organic Foods: Report of a Case

We encountered a patient with heavy Hymenolepis nana infection. The patient was a 44-year-old Korean man who had suffered from chronic hepatitis (type B) for 15 years. A large number of H. nana adult worms were found during colonoscopy that was performed as a part of routine health screening. The parasites were scattered throughout the colon, as well as in the terminal ileum, although the patient was immunocompetent. Based on this study, colonoscopy may be helpful for diagnosis of asymptomatic H. nana infections.     

非小细胞肺癌术后并发乳糜胸对患者生活质量影响的研究

目的:探讨非小细胞肺癌术后并发乳糜胸对患者生活质量的影响。方法:采用生活质量测定量表(QLQ-C30)回顾性分析第四军医大学唐都医院胸外科自2013年至2016年中收治的1015例肺癌手术患者的生活质量,发生乳糜胸组记为A组,未发生乳糜胸组记为B组。对比术前和术后1、3、6和12个月的生活质量有无统计学差异。结果:(1)术后1月时,除了社会功能、便秘、腹泻以外,两组生活质量指标评分均显著低于术前,且B组均显著低于A组,有统计学差异(表3,P0.05)。在手术后3月及以后逐渐恢复,至12月时,各组指标与术前基本相同(表3,P0.05);(2)两组术后生活质量相比较,术后1、3月,除社会功能、便秘、腹泻以外,其余生活质量功能指标B组均显著优于A组,有统计学差异(表3,P0.05)。在手术后6月及以后,B组所有指标与A组无统计学差异(表3,P0.05)。结论:肺癌根治术后发生乳糜胸患者生活质量显著低于未发生乳糜胸患者,因此应合理选择手术方式,注意术中操作,降低乳糜胸发生率,提高肺癌患者术后的生活质量。     

Immunopathological Changes in the Brain of Immunosuppressed Mice Experimentally Infected with Toxocara canis

Toxocariasis is a soil-transmitted helminthozoonosis due to infection of humans by larvae of Toxocara canis. The disease could produce cognitive and behavioral disturbances especially in children. Meanwhile, in our modern era, the incidence of immunosuppression has been progressively increasing due to increased incidence of malignancy as well as increased use of immunosuppressive agents. The present study aimed at comparing some of the pathological and immunological alterations in the brain of normal and immunosuppressed mice experimentally infected with T. canis. Therefore, 180 Swiss albino mice were divided into 4 groups including normal (control) group, immunocompetent T. canis-infected group, immunosuppressed group (control), and immunosuppressed infected group. Infected mice were subjected to larval counts in the brain, and the brains from all mice were assessed for histopathological changes, astrogliosis, and IL-5 mRNA expression levels in brain tissues. The results showed that under immunosuppression, there were significant increase in brain larval counts, significant enhancement of reactive gliosis, and significant reduction in IL-5 mRNA expression. All these changes were maximal in the chronic stage of infection. In conclusion, the immunopathological alterations in the brains of infected animals were progressive over time, and were exaggerated under the effect of immunosuppression as did the intensity of cerebral infection.     

不同麻醉方法对食管癌手术患者免疫及认知功能的影响

目的:探讨全麻或全麻复合硬膜外麻醉对食管癌手术患者的T细胞水平及术后认知功能的影响。方法:选择2014年1月至2015年12月于我院择期行开胸手术的食管癌患者100例为研究对象,根据手术时间顺序分为观察组(全麻复合硬膜外麻醉)和对照组(全麻),每组50例,观察记录两组患者诱导前、插管时、术中1 h、拔管后的平均动脉压(MAP)、血氧饱和度(Sp O2)和心率(HR);两组患者术前30 min、术后2 h、术后2 d和术后7 d的T细胞亚群水平,包括CD3~+、CD4~+、CD8~+、CD4~+/CD8~+;两组患者术前1 d,术后6 h,术后1 d,术后3 d的认知功能;术后认知功能障碍(POCD)发生率。结果:诱导前观察组和对照组患者的MAP、Sp O2和HR比较,差异均不显著(P0.05),插管时、术中1h和拔管后观察组患者的MAP和HR水平均明显低于对照组(P0.05),而Sp O2明显高于对照组(P0.05)。术后2 h,观察组和对照组的CD3~+、CD4~+、CD8~+、CD4~+/CD8~+值均较术前30 min明显降低(P0.05),但两组间各指标值无显著性差异(P0.05);术后2 d,观察组的CD3~+、CD4~+、CD8~+、CD4~+/CD8~+值均明显高于对照组(P0.05)。术后7 d,两组的T细胞亚群水平均较术前30 min无显著性差异(P0.05)。术后6 h和术后1 d,两组的MMSE评分均较术前1 d明显下降(P0.05),观察组术后1 d、3 d和7 d的MMSE评分均明显高于对照组(P0.05)。术后6 h,观察组的POCD发生率明显低于对照组(P0.05),术后1 d和3 d观察组的POCD发生率低于对照组,但无统计学差异(P0.05)。结论:与单凭全麻比较,全麻复合硬膜外麻醉对食管癌手术患者的T细胞水平及术后认知功能的影响较小,术后恢复快。     

腹腔镜与传统开腹手术对胃癌临床疗效、术后并发症及免疫功能的影响比较

目的:探讨腹腔镜与传统开腹手术治疗胃癌的临床疗效、安全性及对患者免疫功能的影响。方法:选择2012年3月至2014年3月在我院行胃癌D2根治术的胃癌患者92例并随机分为两组,开腹组(A组)44例接受传统开腹手术,腹腔镜组(B组)48例接受腹腔镜辅助胃癌根治术,观察和比较两组患者的手术情况以及手术前后患者免疫功能的变化,比较两组患者围术期不良反应的发生情况及临床疗效。结果:B组患者术中切口长度、出血量明显优于A组患者(P0.05),且B组患者较A组患者术后排气时间以及疼痛缓解情况明显较好(P0.05);两组患者接受手术前后,机体的免疫功能有所变化,B组患者术后24hCD3~+、CD4~+、CD8~+、CD4~+/CD8~+以及NK细胞相对活性等细胞免疫指标明显高于A组(P0.05),体液免疫指标IgM、IgG以及IgA等免疫球蛋白明显高于A组;两组患者术中并发症的发生率差异无统计学意义(P0.05),B组患者术后并发症的发生率与A组比较明显降低,且差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:腹腔镜辅助胃癌D2根治术对胃癌患者术中临床疗效有显著改善作用,可降低对机体免疫功能的影响并提高治疗的安全性。     

Resistance to pathogens in terpene down-regulated orange fruits inversely correlates with the accumulation of D-limonene in peel oil glands

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are secondary metabolites acting as a language for the communication of plants with the environment. In orange fruits, the monoterpene D-limonene accumulates at very high levels in oil glands from the peel. Drastic down-regulation of D-limonene synthase gene expression in the peel of transgenic oranges harboring a D-limonene synthase transgene in antisense (AS) configuration altered the monoterpene profile in oil glands, mainly resulting in reduced accumulation of D-limonene. This led to fruit resistance against Penicillium digitatum (Pd), Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) and other specialized pathogens. Here, we analyze resistance to pathogens in independent AS and empty vector (EV) lines, which have low, medium or high D-limonene concentrations and show that the level of resistance is inversely related to the accumulation of D-limonene in orange peels, thus explaining the need of high D-limonene accumulation in mature oranges in nature for the efficient attraction of specialized microorganism frugivores.     

Dynamic Lung Tumor Tracking for Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiation Therapy

Physicians considering stereotactic ablative body radiation therapy (SBRT) for the treatment of extracranial cancer targets must be aware of the sizeable risks for normal tissue injury and the hazards of physical tumor miss. A first-of-its-kind SBRT platform achieves high-precision ablative radiation treatment through a combination of versatile real-time imaging solutions and sophisticated tumor tracking capabilities. It uses dual-diagnostic kV x-ray units for stereoscopic open-loop feedback of cancer target intrafraction movement occurring as a consequence of respiratory motions and heartbeat. Image-guided feedback drives a gimbaled radiation accelerator (maximum 15 x 15 cm field size) capable of real-time ±4 cm pan-and-tilt action. Robot-driven ±60° pivots of an integrated ±185° rotational gantry allow for coplanar and non-coplanar accelerator beam set-up angles, ultimately permitting unique treatment degrees of freedom. State-of-the-art software aids real-time six dimensional positioning, ensuring irradiation of cancer targets with sub-millimeter accuracy (0.4 mm at isocenter). Use of these features enables treating physicians to steer radiation dose to cancer tumor targets while simultaneously reducing radiation dose to normal tissues. By adding respiration correlated computed tomography (CT) and 2-[¹⁸F] fluoro-2-deoxy-ᴅ-glucose (¹⁸F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) images into the planning system for enhanced tumor target contouring, the likelihood of physical tumor miss becomes substantially less¹. In this article, we describe new radiation plans for the treatment of moving lung tumors.     

In Situ Analysis of Na,K-ATPase α1- and α3-Isoform mRNAs in Aging Rat Hippocampus

Abstract: Age-related changes in the expression of Na,K-ATPase α1- and α3-isoform mRNAs were analyzed by in situ hybridization in the Fischer-344 rat hippocampus. Quantification of signal density with cRNA probes in rat hippocampus at 3 months of age showed (a) α1 content is 1.5 times higher in granule than in pyramidal cell layers, whereas α3 content shows the opposite ratio and (b) α3 label is found in large clusters related to mossy cells and basket cells and in medium clusters corresponding to interneurons within the dendritic fields of CA1–3. In the 24-month-old rats as compared with the young animals, the α1 signal is increased more than sevenfold in the dendritic fields and is not significantly changed in perikaryal layers. The α3 signal is reduced about threefold ( p < 0.0001, ANOVA, n = 6) in perikaryal layers, is almost completely absent over the interneurons, basket cells, and mossy cells, and is not significantly changed in dendritic fields. These data indicate age-related, cell- and isoform-specific alterations in pretranslational regulation of Na,K-ATPase α isoforms. The striking changes in the dendritic fields, mossy cells, and GABAergic basket cells and interneurons may constitute early and sensitive markers for age-related alterations in hippocampal function, before cell loss.     

Effects of prepubertal castration on the spinal motor nucleus of the ischiocavernosus muscle of the rat

Summary The location, number and size of the motoneurons innervating the ischiocavernosus muscle, identified by means of horseradish-peroxidase (HRP) retrograde transport, were studied (1) in adult untreated male rats, (2) in adult male rats castrated before puberty, and (3) in adult male rats castrated before puberty and injected with testosterone from the day of castration. After injection of HRP into the ischiocavernosus muscle, labeled motoneurons were found in the dorsolateral and dorsomedial columns of the lamina IX, at the level of L6 and S1 segments of the spinal cord. Morphometric analysis demonstrated that prepubertal castration induces a statistically significant reduction in the somatic and nuclear areas (40% and 35%, respectively, if compared to those of the control rats) of both the dorsolateral and dorsomedial motoneurons, but does not affect their number. The effects of castration are prevented by exogenous testosterone.Preliminary results were presented at the International Conference on Hormones, Brain and Behaviour, Liège, Belgium, August, 1989