Oxidized sodium alginate hydrogel-mouse nerve growth factor sustained release system promotes repair of peripheral nerve injury.

In recent years, mouse nerve growth factor (mNGF) has emerged as an important biological regulator to repair peripheral nerve injury, but its systemic application is restricted by low efficiency and large dosage requirement. These limitations prompted us to search for biomaterials that can be locally loaded. Oxidized sodium alginate hydrogel (OSA) exhibits good biocompatibility and physicochemical properties, and can be loaded with drugs to construct a sustained-release system that can act locally on nerve injury. Here, we constructed a sustained-release system of OSA-mouse nerve growth factor (mNGF), and investigated the loading and release of the drug through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and drug release curves. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that OSA-mNGF significantly promoted the biological activities of RSC-96 cells and facilitated the recovery from sciatic nerve crush injury in rats. This observation may be attributed to the additive effect of OSA on promoting Schwann cell biological activities or its synergistic effect of cross-activating phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) through extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) signaling. Although the specific mechanism of OSA action needs to be explored in the future, the current results provide a valuable preliminary research basis for the clinical application of the OSA-mNGF sustained-release system for nerve repair.

Periodic acid-Schiff-positive loops and networks as a prognostic factor in oral mucosal melanoma.

The prognostic factors of oral mucosal melanoma (OMM), a rare and aggressive neoplasm, remain to be determined. The aim of this study is to investigate the prognostic significance of vasculogenic mimicry in OMM. The clinical data of 62 patients with primary OMM treated in Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital from April 2007 to April 2012 were retrieved and analyzed retrospectively. Staining of periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) and CD31 immunohistochemistry were performed to evaluate the prognostic value of PAS-positive patterns, blood lakes, and microvascular density. PAS-positive loops and networks (P<0.001) as well as blood lakes (P=0.040) were found to be predictors of overall survival (OS). The presence of PAS-positive loops and networks was an independent prognostic factor of poor OS in multivariate analysis (P=0.002). Although the presence of PAS-positive loops and networks was associated with hematogenous metastasis (P=0.041) and lymphogenous metastasis (P=0.041), it was not an independent predictor of both types of metastasis in multivariate analysis. Microvascular density was not associated with OS (P=0.627) and metastasis of OMM patients. PAS-positive loops and networks have a significant prognostic value in OMM. Detection of PAS-positive patterns may lead to better staging and serve as a prognostic parameter of OMM.

Primary Malignant Melanoma of the Lip: A Report of 48 Cases.

PURPOSE: Lip melanoma (LM) is a rare malignant tumor and well-established treatment protocols for it are in short supply. The objective of this study was to evaluate the outcome of treatment modalities and explore the prognostic factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on 48 patients with primary LM treated in the authors' hospital from January 1992 to November 2013. The clinical characteristics and treatment modalities were identified and correlated with the outcomes. RESULTS: The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 56.1%, and the rate of cervical lymph node (CLN) metastasis was 46% (22 of 48). A tumor of at least 4 cm (P = .001), nodular types (P = .003), and CLN (P < .0001) were independent prognostic factors for OS. Twenty-five patients died during follow-up, mainly from to neck recurrence (14 of 25). Chemotherapy significantly improved the 5-year OS rate in patients with stage IV LM (P = .03), but not in those with stage III (P = .8). CONCLUSIONS: LM has a lower CLN and distant metastasis rate and a better prognosis than other oral mucosal melanomas. A long history of melanin pigmentation is a dangerous sign for all patients, and smoking seems to be associated with LM in male patients. Tumor size (≥4 cm), nodular type, and CLN positivity are poor prognostic factors. A wide excision with close observation is advocated as the primary treatment for stage III LM. Adjuvant chemotherapy is useful for patients with stage IV cancer, but not for those with stage III.

The p53 codon 72 polymorphism and the risk of oral cancer in a Chinese Han population.

BACKGROUND: The p53 codon 72 polymorphism has been investigated extensively for its association with various cancers around the world. It is still unclear whether the p53 codon 72 polymorphism is associated with oral cancer risk. AIM: The aim of our study was to evaluate the association between the p53 codon 72 polymorphism and the oral cancer risk in Chinese Han patients. METHODS: A hospital-based case-control study with 200 patients with oral cancer and 200 matched controls was conducted. Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood, and gene polymorphisms were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. RESULTS: The arginine (Arg)/Arg genotype conferred 0.57 times reduced risk to oral cancer (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.36, 0.89; p=0.01). The Arg allele frequency was significantly lower (odds ratios [OR]=0.74, 95% CI=0.56, 0.98; p=0.03) in comparison with controls in patients with oral cancer. The proline allele frequency was significantly higher (OR=1.35, 95% CI=1.02, 1.79; p=0.03) in comparison with controls in patients with oral cancer. When stratified by the clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and histological differentiation of oral cancer, no statistically significant results were observed. CONCLUSION: Our results thus suggest that the p53 codon 72 polymorphism modulates susceptibility to oral cancer in Chinese Han patients.

Evaluation of impact of Herba Erigerontis injection, a Chinese herbal prescription, on rat hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes by cocktail probe drugs.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Herba Erigerontis injection (HEI), one of the most popular herbal prescription in China, is made from the aqueous extracts of Erigeron breviscapus whole plant. Now HEI is widely used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and cerebrovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease, anginapectoris and paralysis. AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vivo effect of HEI on rat cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP1A2, CYP2C11, CYP2D4, CYP2E1 and CYP3A2) to assess its safety through its potential to interact with co-administered drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats were randomly divided into five groups. Rats were intravenous administrated with HEI via the caudal vein at the dosage of 1.8ml/kg or 7.2ml/kg once daily for consecutive 3 days or 14 days. On the fourth or the fifteenth day, a cocktail solution at a dose of 5ml/kg, which contained caffeine (2.5mg/kg), tolbutamide (2.5mg/kg), chlorzoxazone (5mg/kg), midazolam (5mg/kg) and metoprolol (10mg/kg), was injected via the lingual vein to all rats. Then 0.8ml blood samples were collected at a set of time-points. The plasma concentrations of probe drugs were simultaneously determined by HPLC. Pharmacokinetic parameters simulated by DAS software were used for the evaluation of HEI on the activities of rat CYP1A2, CYP2C11, CYP2D4, CYP2E1 and CYP3A2 enzymes. ANOVA and Dunnett's test was used for data analysis. RESULTS: There were no significant influence of pharmacokinetic parameters of caffeine, tolbutamide and chlorzoxazone in HEI pretreated rats. But many pharmacokinetic parameters of metoprolol and midazolam in HEI pretreated rats were affected significantly (P<0.05), which indicated that metabolism of metoprolol and midazolam in these treatment groups was evidently slowed down. CONCLUSIONS: The results from the present in vivo study suggested that HEI showed no effects on rat CYP1A2, CYP2C11 and CYP2E1, however, it demonstrated potential inhibitory effects on rat CYP2D4 and CYP3A2. Therefore, caution is needed when HEI is co-administered with drugs metabolized by human CYP2D6 or CYP3A4 in clinic, which may result in increased concentrations of these drugs and relevant herb-drug interactions.

Aggressive fibromatosis in the maxilla.

We present a rare case of recurrent aggressive fibromatosis of the maxilla in a 61-year-old woman, who was treated by resection of the left maxilla. Adjuvant treatments, particularly radiotherapy, are valuable if the tumour recurs.

SUMO1 polymorphisms are associated with non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate.

Small ubiquitin-like modifier 1 (SUMO1) haploinsufficiency results in cleft lip and palate in animal models. However, no studies have linked SUMO1 to non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCLP) in humans. In the present study, we investigated the potential association between SUMO1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and risk for human NSCLP. From 181 patients and 162 healthy controls, we found statistically significant correlations between a 4-SNP SUMO1 haplotype and NSCLP. These data are the first to suggest a role for SUMO1 gene variation in human NSCLP development.