Periprosthetic hip infections caused by Brucella: a rare case report and literature review.

Periprosthetic hip infection caused by Brucella abortus is rare and only a few cases have been reported. This current case report presents a case of a man in his early 50s who developed periprosthetic hip infection 2 years after right hip arthroplasty. There was no fever or pain, the usual cardinal signs of infection, except for a sinus tract at the previous surgical incision. Laboratory and arthrocentesis culture examinations (done twice) confirmed infection with B. abortus. Accordingly, a two-stage revision surgery was performed accompanied by antibiotic treatment with doxycycline and rifampicin after each stage. There was no recurrence at the 2-year follow-up, with good functional recovery of the hip joint. Clinically, this case serves to highlight the fact that periprosthetic hip infections caused by B. abortus might not present with the typical symptoms such as fever or hip pain. Furthermore, this current case involved a chronic sinus tract, so the diagnostic and therapeutic course of this case offers useful insights for managing similar cases in the future. In addition, a review of the literature on the diagnosis and treatment of Brucella-caused periprosthetic hip infection is presented.

Transcatheter Arterial Embolization Combined with Anti-vascular Agent Combretastatin A4 Phosphate Inhibits Growth and Vascularization of Liver Tumor in an Animal Model.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of combretastatin A4 phosphate (CA4P) on proliferation, migration, and capillary tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the efficacy of transcatheter arterial embolization combined with CA4P in the treatment of rabbit VX2 liver tumor. METHODS: The effects of different concentrations of CA4P on proliferation, migration and capillary tube formation of HUVECs were investigated by cell proliferation assay, wound healing assay and capillary tube formation assay, respectively. Thirty-two rabbits implanted with liver VX2 tumors were randomly divided into 4 groups. After catheterization of the left hepatic artery, the infusion was performed using normal saline (group A), CA4P aqueous solution (group B), lipiodol and polyvinyl alcohol particles (group C), and CA4P lipiodol emulsion and polyvinyl alcohol particles (group D), respectively. Half of the animals in each group were euthanized for immunohistochemical analysis to evaluate microvessel density (MVD) at 3 days post-treatment. The other half were examined by MRI and histology to evaluate tumor growth and necrosis at 7 days post-treatment. RESULTS: CA4P could inhibit the proliferation, migration, and tube formation of HUVECs in cell experiments. After interventional treatment, the level of MVD in group D was lower than that in group C (P<0.01). The tumor volume in group C or D was lower than that in group A or B (P<0.01). The tumor necrosis rate was higher in group D than in the other groups. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that CA4P could inhibit the proliferation, migration, and capillary tube formation of HUVECs, and transcatheter arterial embolization combined with CA4P could inhibit the growth of VX2 tumor and obviously induce tumor necrosis.

[Effect of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Mechanical Dynamics and BALP/CTX-1 Expression in Rats with Osteoporotic Vertebral Fracture].

Objective: To analyze the effects of bone marrow mesenchyml stem cells (BMSCs) on bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP)/C-terminal telopeptide of type-Ⅰ collagen (CTX-1) expression and mechanical dynamics in rats with osteoporotic (OP) vertebral fracture. Methods: A total of 60 female Sprague-Dawley rats were evenly divided into three groups, a control group that received sham operation (sham group), a group consisting of rats with OP vertebral fracture (OP group), and the last group consisting of OP vertebral fracture rats given BMSCs treatment (BMSCs group). Comparison of the three groups of animals was made in terms of bone dynamic change, bone quantitative broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) measurement, and bone mineral density (BMD). HE staining was done to examine the bone histological morphological parameters of the vertebral body. Serum CTX-1 and BALP levels were determined by ELISA. Results: Mechanical comparison showed that there were significant differences in mechanical changes of L 5 vertebra body and right femur among the three experimental groups ( P<0.05). The elastic modulus and maximum load of the OP group significantly decreased compared with those of the sham group ( P<0.05). After the intervention, the maximum load and elastic modulus of the BMSCs group were significantly higher than those of the OP group ( P<0.05). Compared with the sham group, BUA and BMD values in the OP group were significantly downregulated ( P<0.05). After intervention, BUA and BMD of the BMSCs group were significantly higher than those of the OP group and were comparable to those of the sham group ( P<0.05). Compared with the sham group, the number of trabeculae in the OP group was significantly fewer, and the distribution of trabeculae was disorderly and lacked regularity. Compared with the OP group, there were more trabeculae in the BMSCs group, and their distribution was more regular. Compared with sham group, bone histological morphological parameters of the vertebral body of rats in the OP group were significantly changed--mean trabecular plate thickness (MTPT) and trabecular bone volume (TBV) parameters were significantly decreased, while mineral apposition rate (MAR) and trabecula bone surface (TRS) parameters were significantly upregulated (all P<0.05). After the experimental intervention, bone histological morphological parameters of the vertebral body in the BMSCs group showed significant improvement compared with those of the OP group ( P<0.05). Compared with the sham group, serum BALP content in the OP group was greatly decreased, while the CTX-1 level was upregulated ( P<0.05). After the intervention, the BMSCs group had higher serum BALP content than that of the OP group and substantially lower CTX-1 content than that of the OP group ( P<0.05). Conclusion: BMSCs can improve the mechanical changes in rats with OP vertebral fracture, and can increase the maximum load and elastic modulus of bone tissue. In addition, BMSCs can upregulate the expression of BALP in serum and downregulate the expression of CTX-1, thus helping rats with OP vertebral fracture heal early.

Dehydrocostus lactone inhibits in vitro gastrinoma cancer cell growth through apoptosis induction, sub-G1 cell cycle arrest, DNA damage and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the antiproliferative activity of dehydrocostus lactone against human BON-1 cancer cell lines and to explore the possible underlying mechanism. MATERIAL AND METHODS: MTT cell viability assay was used to determine cytotoxic effects of dehydrocostus lactone in BON-1 cells. Fluorescence and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) techniques were used to study the effect of the compound on cellular morphology and apoptosis. Flow cytometry was used to assess the effect on cell cycle phase distribution. Effects of the drug on cell apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane potential were analyzed by flow cytometry using annexin v and rhodamine-123 as fluorescent probes. RESULTS: The results of the present study indicated that dehydrocostus lactone significantly (p < 0.01) inhibited the growth of BON-1 cancer cells. These growth inhibitory effects of dehydrocostus lactone on BON-1 were found to be time and concentration-dependent. The IC50 of dehydrocostus lactone were found to be 71.9 µM and 52.3 µM at 24 and 48 h time intervals respectively. The growth inhibitory effects of dehydrocostus lactone were found to be due to loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, the induction of apoptosis and sub-G1 cell cycle arrest. CONCLUSIONS: Dehydrocostus inhibits in vitro gastrinoma cancer cell growth and therefore may prove beneficial in the management of gastrinoma cancer.