A Human Case of Lumbosacral Canal Sparganosis in China.

In this study, we intended to describe a human case of lumbosacral canal sparganosis in People's Republic of China (China). A 56-year-old man was admitted to Xiangya Hospital Central South University in Changsha, Hunan province, China after having an experience of perianal pain for a week. An enhancing mass, a tumor clinically suggested, was showed at the S1-S2 level of the lumbosacral spine by the examination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with gadolinium contrast. The patient was received the laminectomy from S1 to S2, and an ivory-white living worm was detected in inferior margin of L5. In ELISA-test with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples, anti-sparganum antibodies were detected. He had a ingesting history of undercooked frog meat in his youth. By the present study, a human case of spinal sparganosis invaded in lumbosacral canal at the S1-S2 level was diagnosed in China. Although the surgical removal of larvae is known to be the best way of treatment for sparganosis, we administered the high-dosage of praziquantel, albendazole and dexamethasone to prevent the occurrence of another remain worms in this study.

Effect of TNF-α Inhibition on Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Neurological Function Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury via the Wnt Signaling Pathway in a Rat Model.

AIM: The present study aimed to examine the effect of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibition on bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in neurological function recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) via the Wnt signaling pathway in a rat model. METHODS: The rat model of SCI was established using Allen's method. Seventy-two adult male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly assigned into 4 groups (18 rats in each group): the sham control group, saline control group, BMSCs group (injection with BMSCs at the injured site) and BMSCs + TNF-α group (injection with BMSCs under TNF-α treatment at the injured site). Immunochemistry was performed to characterize the culture media after TNF-α-induced differentiation. qRT-PCR and Western blotting analyses were performed to detect the mRNA and protein expression of ß-catenin, Wnt3a, GSK-3ß and Axin. The Basso Beattie Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor score, neurological deficit score (NDS), and balance beam test (BBT) score were used to assess neurological functional recovery of SCI rats. RESULTS: In the BMSC group, numerous spherical cell clusters grew in suspension, and the cells were nestin-, NF200- and GFAP-positive. Compared with the sham control and BMSC groups, the ß-catenin and Wnt3a mRNA and protein expression was increased, but the GSK-3ß and Axin mRNA and protein expression was decreased in the BMSCs + TNF-α group. The SCI rats in the BMSCs + TNF-α group exhibited lower BBB scores, and higher NDSs and BBT scores compared to the BMSCs group. CONCLUSION: Our study provides evidence that TNF-α inhibition may weaken the ability of BMSCs in neurological functional recovery after SCI by activating the Wnt signaling pathway.

Succinate ester derivative of δ-tocopherol enhances the protective effects against 60Co γ-ray-induced hematopoietic injury through granulocyte colony-stimulating factor induction in mice.

α-tocopherol succinate (α-TOS), γ-tocotrienol (GT3) and δ-tocotrienol (DT3) have drawn large attention due to their efficacy as radioprotective agents. α-TOS has been shown to act superior to α-tocopherol (α-TOH) in mice by reducing lethality following total body irradiation (TBI). Because α-TOS has been shown to act superior to α-tocopherol (α-TOH) in mice by reducing lethality following total body irradiation (TBI), we hypothesized succinate may be contribute to the radioprotection of α-TOS. To study the contributions of succinate and to identify stronger radioprotective agents, we synthesized α-, γ- and δ-TOS. Then, we evaluated their radioprotective effects and researched further mechanism of δ-TOS on hematological recovery post-irradiation. Our results demonstrated that the chemical group of succinate enhanced the effects of α-, γ- and δ-TOS upon radioprotection and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) induction, and found δ-TOS a higher radioprotective efficacy at a lower dosage. We further found that treatment with δ-TOS ameliorated radiation-induced pancytopenia, augmenting cellular recovery in bone marrow and the colony forming ability of bone marrow cells in sublethal irradiated mice, thus promoting hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell recovery following irradiation exposure. δ-TOS appears to be an attractive radiation countermeasure without known toxicity, but further exploratory efficacy studies are still required.