ObjectiveTo study the effects of astaxanthin on the apoptosis after spinal cord injury in rats.MethodsOne hundred and forty-four healthy adult Sprague Dawley rats were divided into experimental group, control group, and sham group according to the random number table (n=48). In the control group and the experimental group, the modified Allen’s method was used to make the spinal cord injury model; in the sham group, only the lamina was cut without damaging the spinal cord. At immediate after operation, the rats in the experimental group were given intragastric administration of astaxanthin (75 mg/kg) twice a day; and the rats in the control group and the sham group were given equal amount of olive oil by gavage twice a day. BBB score was used to assess the motor function at 1 day and 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks after operation. The malondialdehyde (MDA) content was determined by the thiobarbituric acid method at 24 hours after operation; and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was determined by the xanthine oxidase method. Apoptosis index (AI) was determined by TUNEL method at 6, 24, and 48 hours after operation. At 48 hours after operation, the water content of spinal cord was measured by dry-wet weight method, the lesion ratio of spinal cord was calculated, the ultrastructure of the spinal cord was observed by transmission electron microscopy, and ultrastructure scoring was performed using the Kaptanoglu score method.ResultsThe BBB score in the control group and the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the sham group at each postoperative time point (P<0.05); and the BBB score in the experimental group were significantly higher than that in the control group at 1-4 weeks postoperatively (P<0.05). The MDA content in the control group and the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the sham group at 24 hours after operation, and in the experimental group was significantly lower than in the control group (P<0.05). The SOD activity in the control group and the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the sham group, and in the experimental group was significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.05). At each time point postoperatively, the AI in the control group and the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the sham group, and in the experimental group was significantly lower than in the control group (P<0.05). At 48 hours after operation, the water content of spinal cord, the lesion ratio of spinal cord, and the ultrastructure score in the control group and the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the sham group, and in the experimental group were significantly lower than in the control group (P<0.05).ConclusionAstaxanthin can inhibit the lipid peroxidation, reduce the apoptosis, reduce the spinal cord edema, reduce the spinal cord lesion, reduce the histopathological damage after spinal cord injury, and improve the motor function of rats with spinal cord injury, and protect the spinal cord tissue, showing an obvious neuroprotective effect.
Objective To investigate the effect of porcine small intestinal submucosa extracellular matrix (PSISM) on the vitality and gene regulation of hepatocyte so as to lay the experimental foundation for the application of PSISM in liver tissue engineering. Methods The experiment was divided into two parts: ① BRL cells were cultured with 50, 100, and 200 μg/mL PSISM-medium which were prepared by adding PSISM into the H-DMEM-medium containing 10%FBS in groups A1, B1, and C1, and simple H-DMEM-medium served as a control (group D1); ② BRL cells were seeded on 1%, 2%, and 3% PSISM hydrogel which were prepared by dissolving PSISM in sterile PBS solution containing 0.1 mol/L NaOH in groups A2, B2, and C2, and collagen type I gel served as a control (group D2). At 1, 3, and 5 days after culture, the morphology and survival of liver cells were detected by the Live/Dead fluorescent staining. The cell vitality was tested by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. And the relative expressions of albumin (ALB), cytokeratin 18 (CK18), and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in hepatocytes were determined by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Results The Live/Dead fluorescent staining showed the cells survived well in all groups. CCK-8 results displayed that the absorbance (A) value of group C1 was significantly higher than that of group D1 at 5 days after culture with PSISM-medium, and there was no significant difference between groups at other time points (P>0.05). After cultured with PSISM hydrogels, theA values of groups A2, B2, and C2 were significantly higher than those of group D2 at 3 and 5 days (P<0.05), theA value of group A2 was significantly higher than that of groups B2 and C2 at 5 days (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between groups at other time points (P>0.05). RT-qPCR showed that the relative expressions of ALB and CK18 mRNA significantly increased and the relative expression of AFP mRNA significantly decreased in groups A1, B1, and C1 when compared with group D1 (P<0.05). The relative expression of CK18 mRNA in group C1 was significantly lower than that in groups A1 and B1 (P<0.05). The relative expressions of ALB and CK18 mRNA were significantly higher and the relative expression of AFP mRNA was significantly lower in groups A2, B2, and C2 than group D2 (P<0.05); the relative expression of CK18 mRNA in group A2 was significantly higher than that in group B2 (P<0.05), and the relative expression of AFP mRNA in group A2 was significantly lower than that in group C2 (P<0.05), but no significant difference was found between other groups (P>0.05). Conclusion PSISM has good compatibility with hepatocyte and can promote the vitality and functional gene expression of hepatocyte. PSISM is expected to be used as culture medium supplement or cell carrier for liver tissue engineering.
Objective To systematically review the efficacy and safety of totally laparoscopic total gastrectomy (TLTG) versus laparoscopic-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) for patients with gastric cancer. Methods Databases including PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CBM, WanFang Data and CNKI were searched to collect cohort studies about TLTG vs. LATG for gastric cancer from inception to February 28th 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results A total of six cohort studies were included, of which 407 cases were in the TLTG group, and 315 cases were in the LATG group. The results of meta-analysis showed that compared with LATG group, patients in TLTG group had shorter operation time (MD=–8.97, 95%CI –16.21 to –1.73, P=0.02), and initial postoperative feeding time (MD=–0.30, 95%CI –0.57 to –0.03, P=0.03). However, the anastomic time, bleeding volume, the number of dissected lymph nodes, proximal resection margin, initial flatus time, postoperative hospital stay, overall postoperative complications, anastomotic fistula, and anastomotic stenosis were similar between two groups (all P values>0.05)． Conclusions Compared with LATG, TLTG has shorter operation and recovery time for patients with gastric cancer. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are required to verify above conclusions.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the safety and efficacy of microwave ablation (MWA) in the treatment of lung tumors.MethodsThe clinical data of 31 patients with lung neoplasms treated with MWA from January 2019 to August 2020 in a single center were retrospectively analyzed. There were 17 males and 14 females at an age of 63.4±10.4 years. The characteristics of the lesions, technical success rate, technical efficiency, local progression rate, adverse reactions and complications were recorded in detail.ResultsThere were 39 target lesions with an average diameter of 20.2±10.6 mm. A total of 36 MWA procedures were completed. The initial technical success rate was 84.6% (33/39), and the technical efficiency was 92.3% (36/39). The median postprocedure hospital stay was 2.0 (2.0, 3.0) d. A total of 12.9% (4/31) of the patients had local progression, and the local control rate was 87.1%. The main adverse reactions were pain (12/36, 33.3%), cough (6/36, 16.7%), post-ablation syndrome (6/36, 16.7%) and pleural effusion (3/36, 8.3%). The main complications were pneumothorax (11/36, 30.6%), hemorrhage (8/36, 22.2%), cavitation (2/36, 5.6%) and pulmonary infection (1/36, 2.8%). The median follow-up time was 13.0 (8.0, 18.0) months. No patient died during the follow-up.ConclusionMWA is safe and effective in the treatment of lung tumors with controllable complications. Successive researches with large sample, and medium and long-term follow-ups are needed to explore the significance of combined therapies.
ObjectiveTo investigate the feasibility and safety of DynaCT microwave ablation (MWA) guided by 3D iGuide puncture technology for lung cancer.MethodsThe clinical data of 19 patients with primary or metastatic lung cancer who underwent DynaCT MWA from June 2019 to December 2020 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed, including 15 males and 4 females with an average age of 64.9±11.7 years. The technical success rates, adverse reactions and complications, postoperative hospital stay, and local therapeutic efficacy were recorded.ResultsTechnical success rate was 100.0%. The mean time required to target and place the needle was 15.7±3.7 min and the mean ablation time was 5.7±1.6 min. Thirteen patients underwent biopsy synchronously before the ablation, and 10 (76.9%) patients had positive pathological results. The main adverse reactions were pain (7/19, 36.8%), post-ablation syndrome (4/19, 21.1%) and cough (2/19, 10.5%). The minor complications were pneumothorax (6/19, 31.6%), hemorrhage (5/19, 26.3%), pleural effusion (2/19, 10.5%) and cavity (1/19, 5.3%). Three patients had moderate pneumothorax and received closed thoracic drainage. The median hospitalization time after ablation was 2.0 (2.0, 3.0) d, and no patient died during the perioperative period. The initial complete ablation rate was 89.5% (17 patients) and the incomplete ablation rate was 10.5% (2 patients) at 1-month follow-up, and no local progression was observed.ConclusionDynaCT MWA of lung cancer under the guidance of 3D iGuide system is safe and feasible with a high short-term local control rate, but the long-term efficacy remains to be further observed.