Prospero Homeobox 1 and Doublecortin Correlate with Neural Damage after Ischemic Stroke

Objective@#: Markers of neuroinflammation during ischemic stroke are well characterized, but additional markers of neural damage are lacking. The study identified associations of behavioral disorders after stroke with histologic neural damage and molecular biological change. @*Methods@#: Eight-week-old, 25 g male mice of the C57BL/6J strain were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) to induce ischemic stroke. The control group was a healthy wild type (WT), and the experimental group were designed as a low severity MCAO1 and a high severity MCAO2 based on post-stroke neurological scoring. All groups underwent behavioral tests, realtime polymerase chain reaction, triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. One-way analysis of variance was used to analyze statistical significance between groups. @*Results@#: In TTC staining, MCAO1 showed 29.02% and MCAO2 showed 38.94% infarct volume (p<0.0001). The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-1β was most highly expressed in MCAO2 (WT 0.44 vs. MCAO1 2.69 vs. MCAO2 5.02, p<0.0001). From the distance to target in the Barnes maze test, WT had a distance of 178 cm, MCAO1 had a distance of 276 cm, and MCAO2 had a distance of 1051 (p=0.0015). The latency to target was 13.3 seconds for WT, 27.9 seconds for MCAO1, and 87.9 seconds for MCAO2 (p=0.0007). Prospero homeobox 1 (Prox1) was most highly expressed in MCAO2 (p=0.0004). Doublecortin (Dcx) was most highly expressed in MCAO2 (p<0.0001). @*Conclusion@#: The study demonstrated that histological damage to neural cells and changes in brain mRNA expression were associated with behavioral impairment after ischemic stroke. Prox1 and Dcx may be biomarkers of neural damage associated with long-term cognitive decline, and increased expression at the mRNA level was consistent with neural damage and long-term cognitive dysfunction.

Comorbid Risk Factors of Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn in Infants with Meconium Aspiration Syndrome

PURPOSE: Persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) is considered an important prognostic factor in meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS). The aim of this study was to determine the comorbid risk factors for PPHN in infants with MAS. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 60 infants diagnosed with MAS and admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of the Sanggye Paik Hospital from January 2007 to April 2013. There were 28 infants (47%) with PPHN and 32 infants (53%) without PPHN. Clinical characteristics, laboratory findings within 24 hours after birth, and initial capillary blood gas analysis results were compared between infants with and without PPHN. RESULTS: Incidence of PPHN was associated with the severity of MAS (P<0.001). The PPHN group had a greater incidence of hypotension and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy within 24 hours of birth compared to the non-PPHN group. The PPHN group also had a lower initial pH. However, there was no significant difference for laboratory findings within 24 hours of birth and initial capillary blood gas analysis. In the multivariate analysis, hypotension within 24 hours of birth (P=0.046, odds ratio 11.494, 95% confidence interval 1.048-125.00) was found to be a significant comorbid factor for PPHN in infants with MAS. CONCLUSION: Infants with MAS who develop hypotension within 24 hours of birth should be closely monitored for development of PPHN.

Toxic epidermal necrolysis associated with deflazacort therapy with nephrotic syndrome

Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a drug-related fatal disease. Extensive necrosis of the epidermis can lead to serious complications. This report describes two cases of TEN, associated with deflazacort (DFZ), in two boys, aged 4 years and 14 years, with nephrotic syndrome (NS). The 14-year-old male teenager received DFZ following NS relapse. After 17 days, pruritic papules appeared on the lower extremities. Another case involved a 4-year-old boy receiving DFZ and enalapril. After a 41-day DFZ treatment period, erythematous papules appeared on the palms and soles. Within 3 days, both boys developed widespread skin lesions (>50%) and were admitted to the intensive care unit for resuscitative and supportive treatment. The patients showed improvement after intravenous immunoglobulin-G therapy. Owing to the rapid, fatal course of TEN, clinicians need to be aware of the adverse effects of this drug when treating cases of NS.