An extranodal Richter's syndrome presenting with cardiac diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Richter's syndrome (RS) defines the transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia into high-grade lymphoma, which usually involves lymph nodes and bone marrow. Extranodal involvement of the heart is an extremely rare condition. Patients with heart involvement tended to have a low response to chemotherapy and relative poor prognosis. The transformation process of RS is often insidious and nonspecific making it challenging to diagnose. CASE PRESENTATION: A 64-year-old woman wih a history of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) presented with intermittent chest pain and was diagnosed with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). However, the contrast enhanced echocardiography revealed a large irregular mass, measuring about 75.4 mm × 37.5 mm, located on the lateral and posterior wall of the right ventricle. Biopsy of the cardiac mass and the results revealed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. CONCLUSIONS: We present a case of a 64-year-old woman with aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma involving the heart. This case could provide some insights in the diagnosis of cardiac lymphoma.

[Research Progress of microRNA-7/124/155 in Parkinson's Disease].

Parkinson's disease(PD)is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease,with high morbidity and high disability rate.Since the early symptoms of PD are not typical and often similar to those of normal aging or other diseases.It is easy to missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis,which seriously affects the diagnosis and treatment of this disease and aggravetes the burden on the patients' life.MicroRNAs(miRNA)are a class of endogenous non-coding RNAs that are involved in post-transcriptional regulation by binding to target messenger RNAs(mRNA).They are highly conserved,short,easy to obtain,and can stably exist in peripheral body fluids.They have been used as biomarkers for a variety of diseases.Recent studies have demonstrated that miRNA play an important role in the development of PD.This paper reviews the recent research progress of miR-7/124/155,three mature miRNA in PD,aiming to provide reference for clarifying the pathogenesis and guiding the diagnosis and treatment of PD.

Platelet CD36 links overweight and a prothrombotic phenotype in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: The pathophysiological mechanisms linking the overweight and prothrombotic state of non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) are incompletely understood. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of platelet CD36 on the risk of stroke associated with overweight in NVAF patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study enrolled 182 subjects with NVAF in two groups: normal weight (18.5 < body mass index(BMI) < 25.0 kg/m2) and overweight (BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2). Clinical data, medical history, vital signs, transthoracic echocardiography parameters, and medication were recorded. Biochemical characteristics including blood glucose and serum lipid were analyzed in the Laboratory. Results: The expression of platelet CD36 and integrin αIIbß3 was detected by flow cytometry. Among the 182 patients with NVAF, 68 (37.36%) were classified as normal weight, 114 (62.64%) as overweight. With an increase in BMI, waist-hip ratio, cholesterol, triglycerides, left atrium diameters, and the ratio of mitral inflow E velocity to myocardial e' velocity in the mitral annulus (E/e') increased significantly (P < 0.05). The mean fluorescent intensity of platelet CD36 increased significantly in overweight patients (P < 0.01), in line with platelet activation biomarkers (platelet integrin αIIbß3). Platelet CD36 was positively correlated with BMI and platelet integrin αIIbß3, respectively (P < 0.05). Additionally, platelet CD36 and BMI were independent risk factors for platelet activation in patients with NVAF. Conclusions: Platelet CD36 is speculated to mediate the complex crosstalk between overweight and platelet hyperactivity, leading to the prothrombotic state in overweight patients with NVAF. Platelet CD36 could be a potential target for preventing the prothrombotic state in overweight patients with NVAF.

[Prostatic arterial embolization for benign prostatic hyperplasia in high-risk aged males].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the efficacy and safety of prostatic arterial embolization (PAE) in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia ( BPH) in high-risk aged males. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data about 21 high-risk BPH patients aged 77-91 (mean 80) years treated by PAE. RESULTS: PAE was successfully performed in all the 21 patients, with the operation time of 90-120 min. At 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after surgery, the International Prostate Symptom Scores (IPSS) were 18.3 ± 3.1, 9.8 ± 2.7, 9.4 ± 2.5, and 10.1 ± 2.2, the quality of life scores ( QOL) were 4.6 ± 1.4, 4.3 ± 1.2, 4.6 ± 1.1, and 4.9 ± 0.6, the maximum urinary flow rates ( Qmax) were (12.5 ± 2.5), (15.8 ± 2.4), (16.6 ± 2.2), and (16.3 ± 1.8) ml/s, and the postvoid residual urine volumes (PVR) were (35.0 ± 3.4), (13.0 ± 3.3), (10.0 ± 3.0), and (8.0 ± 2.5) ml, respectively, markedly improved as compared with the baseline (IPSS: 24.5 ± 3.7, QOL: 5.7 ± 1.6, Qmax: [8.3 ± 2.1] ml/s, and PVR: [98.0 ± 11.0] ml), with statistically significant differences in IPSS, QOL, Qmax, and PVR (all P < 0.05). The maximal velocity of blood flow in the prostate was obviously decreased and the prostate volumes were (74.4 ± 4.8), (42.5 ± 4.4), (38.3 ± 4.0), and (36.7 ± 3.5) cm3 at 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months, respectively, also significantly reduced in comparison with (84.3 ± 5.4) cm3 preoperatively (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: PAE is a safe and effective option for the treatment of BPH in high-risk aged males.

Co(II) and Ni(II) complexes based on anthraquinone-1,4,5,8-tetracarboxylic acid (H4AQTC): canted antiferromagnetism and slow magnetization relaxation in {[Co2(AQTC)(H2O)6]·6H2O}.

Three coordination polymers {[Co2(AQTC)(H2O)6]·6H2O}n (1), {[M2(AQTC)(bpym)(H2O)6]·6H2O}n (M = Co(2), Ni(3)) have been synthesized and structurally characterized, where H4AQTC is anthraquinone-1,4,5,8-tetracarboxylic acid and bpym is 2,2'-bipyrimidine. Complex 1 features a 3-D structure, where layers of Co2(AQTC) are cross-linked by Co-H2O chains. Complexes 2 and 3 are isostructural and display 1-D chain structures. The chains are connected through hydrogen-bonding interactions to form 3-D supramolecular structures. Magnetic properties of these complexes are investigated. Compound 1 shows canted antiferromagnetism and slow relaxation below 4.0 K. For complexes 2 and 3, dominant antiferromagnetic interactions are observed. The luminescent properties of the three complexes are investigated as well.

Treatment of acute and closed Achilles tendon ruptures by minimally invasive tenocutaneous suturing.

Achilles tendon rupture is a common injury, and its complications can impair function. Numerous operations have been described for reconstructing the ruptured tendon, but these methods can compromise the microcirculation in the tendon and can seriously damage healing of the tendon. Suturing with a minimally invasive tenocutaneous technique soon after the rupture and systematic functional exercise can greatly reduce the possibility of complications. From June 1996 to February 2007, we treated 20 patients (14 males), who ranged in age from 21 to 66 years old, with this method. After follow-up period of 1 to 7 years, the mean American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society Ankle Hindfoot score was 95 (range 90 to 98), and the maximum length of postoperative scarring was 3 cm. One patient again ruptured his Achilles tendon 1 year after surgery in an accident; however, after 10 months, the repaired tendon was still intact. In another patient, the nervus suralis was damaged during surgery by piercing the tension suture at the near end, causing postoperative numbness and swelling. The tension suture was quickly removed, and the patient recovered well with conservative treatment. No large irregular scars, such as those sustained during immobilization, were present over the Achilles tendon. Minimally invasive percutaneous suturing can restore the original length and continuity of the Achilles tendon, is minimally invasive, and results in fewer postoperative complications than other methods.

Difference in intraosseous blood vessel volume and number in osteoporotic model mice induced by spinal cord injury and sciatic nerve resection.

In the present study, we examined intraosseous blood vessel parameters of the tibial metaphysis in mice using microcomputed tomography (µCT) to investigate the relationship between post-nerve-injury osteoporosis and local intraosseous blood vessel volume and number. Mice were randomly divided into groups receiving spinal cord injury (SCI), sciatic nerve resection group (NX), or intact controls (30 mice/group). Four weeks after surgery, mice were perfused with silicone and the distribution of intraosseous blood vessels analyzed by µCT. The bone density, µCT microstructure, biomechanical properties, and the immunohistochemical and biochemical indicators of angiogenesis were also measured. The SCI group showed significantly reduced tibial metaphysis bone density, µCT bone microstructure, tibial biomechanical properties, indicators of angiogenesis, and intraosseous blood vessel parameters compared to the NX group. Furthermore, the spinal cord-injured mice exhibited significantly decreased intraosseous blood vessel volume and number during the development of osteoporosis. In conclusion, these data suggest that decreased intraosseous blood vessel volume and number may play an important role in the development of post-nerve-injury osteoporosis.

[Long term depression of the recurrent inhibition of monosynaptic spinal reflexes after sciatic nerve crush in adult rats].

Sciatic nerve injury is a common disease of peripheral nerve in clinic. After nerve injury, there are many dysfunctions in motoneurons and muscles following regeneration. Previous studies mostly investigated the aspects related to the injured nerve, and the effect on the recurrent inhibition (RI) pathway of spine following regeneration was not fully understood. Following reinnervation after temporary sciatic nerve crush, the functional alteration of RI was studied. In adult rats, RI between lateral gastrocnemius-soleus (LG-S) and medial gastrocnemius (MG) motor pools was assessed by conditioning monosynaptic reflexes (MSRs) elicited from the cut dorsal roots and recorded from either the LG-S or MG nerves by antidromic stimulation of the synergist muscle nerve. The following results were obtained. (1) The RI of MSRs in rats was almost lost (<5 weeks) after sciatic nerve crush. Although the RI partially recovered following reinnervation (6 weeks), it remained permanently depressed (up to 14 weeks). (2) Sciatic nerve crush on one side did not affect the contralateral RI. (3) Sciatic nerve crush did not induce any motoneuron loss revealed by immunohistochemistry. Peripheral nerve temporary disconnection causes long term alterations in RI pathway which make up motoneuron's function enhance for the alteration of muscle power and suggests that peripheral nerve injury induces long term plastic changes in the spinal motoneuron circuitry.

[Analysis of long-time construct failure of spinal surgery in patients with Parkinson's disease].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the rate of complications of spine surgery and the therapeutic efficacy in the patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and characterize the special needs of this unique population. METHODS: The data of 25 PD patients undergoing the spinal surgery from January 1998 to December 2006 were analyzed. The patients not followed on a regular basis by their spine surgeons were invited for a follow-up review. The points of analysis were complications, revisions and reasons of surgery failure. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 56.3 months. Of 25 patients, 20 (80%) required additional surgery for a total of 25 reoperations. Three patients in need of additional surgery underwent another operation at a remote spinal segment. And 17 patients had the reoperations because of segmental instability at the operated or adjacent levels. CONCLUSION: The PD patients undergoing spine surgery have a high reoperation rate associated with technical complications. They should be appropriately counseled regarding an increased risk of operative complications. A closely follow-up is essential.

Three-dimensional metal azide coordination polymers with amino carboxylate coligands: synthesis, structure, and magnetic properties.

The reaction of M(II) ions with azido ligands in the presence of different amino carboxylic acids gave four three-dimensional metal-azido coordination polymers, [Mn(3,5-daba)(N(3))](n) (1), [Cd(3,5-daba)(N(3))](n) (2; 3,5-daba = 3,5-diaminobenzoate), [Mn(4-aba)(N(3))](n) (3; 4-aba = 4-aminobenzoate), and [Cu(2)(gly)(2)(N(3))(2)](n) (4; gly = glycinate), which display different topological structures. Polymers 1 and 2 present 4,6-connected 3D networks with different Schlafli symbols. However, 3 and 4 feature an unprecedented trinodal 3,6-connected network with the Schlafli symbol (4(2).6)(4.6(2))(4(3).6(6).8(6)) and an unusual 4-connected 3D net with the Lonsdaleite (hexagonal diamond) topology, respectively. Magnetic susceptibility measurements revealed dominant antiferromagnetic couplings for 1 and 3 and an overall dominant ferromagnetic coupling for 4, which presents metamagnetic behavior with a magnetic phase transition at a critical temperature of 6 K and a transition field of ca. 6030 Oe. The results demonstrate that the EE azido and syn-anti carboxylato bridges in our cases induce an antiferomagnetic interaction, and the anti-anti carboxylato bridge in 4 mediates a ferromagnetic interaction. The magnetic interaction through the EO azido bridge in 3 and 4 has a dependence on the value of the M-N-M bond angle.

Inhibitory effect of aloe-emodin on metastasis potential in HO-8910PM cell line.

Aloe-emodin (AE) has been demonstrated to have antitumor activity in several tumor cells. However, no information is available on the effect of AE on metastasis in human carcinoma cells. This study was designed to investigate the inhibitory effect of AE on the metastasis potential of HO-8910PM cell line in vitro, and the role of AE in focal adhesion kinase (FAK) expression. Transwell chamber assay was performed to determine the effect of AE on the invasion and migration capacities of the cells. The effect of AE on the adhesion potential of HO-8910PM cells was determined by cell-Matrigel adhesion assay. We found that AE significantly inhibited invasion, migration, and adhesion capacities of HO-8910PM cells, and, furthermore, reduced the protein and mRNA expression of FAK. These findings suggest that the possible mechanistic explanation for the inhibitory effect of AE on metastasis potential in vitro is involved in FAK expression.

[Study on the relationship between smoking behavior and other unhealthy behaviors among middle school students in 4 cities of China].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the situation of smoking behavior among the students of middle school in Beijing, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Urumchi and to analyze the relationship between smoking behavior and several unhealthy behaviors together with psychological troubles to provide evidence in developing an early intervention plan. METHODS: The National Health Education Institute (NHEI) of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided relevant data on all middle schools in the 4 cities and then U.S. CDC randomly sampled 100 common middle schools from them with a special sampling process. The core questionnaire developed by the experts from WHO and other countries was used in the survey among 9015 sampled students. RESULTS: Among all the sampled students, 29.4% of them had ever attempted cigarettes smoking while 6.6% of them tried tobacco in the 30 days before survey, 27.0% of the students with smoking behavior began smoking at the age of 9 or younger, 31.8% had learned how to refuse smoking from school education. The students with smoking behavior were more likely to drink alcohol, use drugs, bully others, be injured, miss classes, and have some psychological troubles than those without smoking behavior. CONCLUSION: There were increasing trends noticed on the incidence of attempt and smoking cigarettes. Smoking was closely related to other unhealthy behaviors and psychological troubles. Comprehensive education activities on "no-smoking" should be implemented as early as possible among adolescents, as well as to promote training on life skills.

[Study on health related behaviors and its protective factors of junior middle school students in 4 cities of China].

OBJECTIVE: To provide accurate data on health related behaviors and protective factors among students in middle schools in China, for developing priorities, programs and policies on health education. METHODS: We used a standard scientific sample selection process developed by American Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct the questionnaire survey among middle schools from four cities--Beijing, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Urumchi. RESULTS: Data were found as: 3.2% of students are overweight; 25.3% of students rarely washing hands before eating at school, 20.5% of the students had seriously injured in the past 12 months, 30.4% of male students having had physical fighting, 17.1% of the students having serious attempted suicide, 29.7% of the students ever tried or experimented cigarette smoking, 13.0% having drunk from alcohol and 14.5% having been offered or selling drugs during the past 30 days, 78.9% were in an insufficient amount of physical activity and only 14.3% often used seat belt when riding in a car. CONCLUSIONS: There were many problems on health related behaviors among middle school students in these four cities, especially on hygiene, physical activities, psychological situation, smoking and drinking etc. It is absolutely necessary to develop health education for children and adolescence to promote their healthy behaviors and lifestyle.

[Study on a bacterial strain Bt8 for biocontrol against citrus bacterial canker].

Citrus bacterial canker is an important disease of Citrus species in China. The disease severely occurs especially in the coastal area. Integrated control system has been used for the control of the disease, in which chemotherapy plays an important role at present. The chemotherapy-dominant control system brought many problems to the environment, such as chemical residua in the products and induction of resistance to fungicide(s) by the pathogen. To solve these problems, an intensive study on biocontrol of citrus bacterial canker is needed. Isolations and characterizations of biocontrol agents are the basis for biocontrol of the disease. A bacterial strain Bt8 with strong inhibiting ability against Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Hasse) Vauterin, was isolated from citrus orchard soil in Nanning, China. The isolated bacterial strain was identified and characterized as Acinetobacter baumannii Bouvet et Grimont on the base of its morphology and 16S rDNA sequence analysis as well as physiological and biochemical characters. The inhibiting activity of the bacterium suspension against the pathogen was significantly influenced by environmental factors, such as temperatures, pHs and media. At temperatures of 18 degrees C to 33 degrees C, both the inhibiting activity of the bacterium suspension and the biomass of the bacterium increased with the increases of temperatures, suggesting that the influence of temperature on inhibiting activity of the bacterium suspension was in dependence on the bacterial biomass. In NA liquid medium of pH 10, the bacterium suspension showed the highest inhibiting activity against Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri, which was not in dependence on biomass of the bacterium. The bacterium suspension provided 55.2% inhibition against bacterial canker under greenhouse conditions. The results showed that Acinetobacter baumannii has potential as biocontrol agent against bacterial canker disease. Acinetobacter baumannii was reported as the pathogens infecting human and animals. The present study enriched the understanding on biological diversity in Acinetobacter baumannii to sciences. This is the first report on the isolation of Acinetobacter baumannii with strong inhibiting ability against plant pathogen.