Prognosis of traumatic spinal cord injury in children: Follow-up of 86 patients / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

PURPOSE@#The long-term situation of children with spinal cord injury (SCI) was investigated, and suggestions for helping them better return to the society were provided.@*METHODS@#SCI patients less than 18 years old hospitalized in Beijing Boai Hospital from January 2011 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Information including motor function, complications, characteristic changes, self-care abilities, school attendance and social participation were collected by telephone interview and electronic questionnaire. All the answers were statistically analyzed.@*RESULTS@#A total of 86 cases were enrolled, 77 girls and 9 boys, with a median injury age of 6 years and 2 months. The follow-up time was 3-130 months. The main cause of trauma in these children was sport injury (66.3%), the thoracic spinal cord was involved the most (91.9%), and complete SCIs accounted for the majority (76.7%). In terms of complications, children with complete SCIs were more likely to have urinary incontinence, constipation and characteristic changes (p < 0.05); whereas the incomplete SCIs often have spasticity (p < 0.05). As to the daily living abilities, children with incomplete lumbar SCIs were more capable to accomplish personal hygiene, transfer, and bathing independently than those with complete injuries, or cervical/thoracic SCIs, respectively (p < 0.05). Moreover, children older than 9 years care more able to dress and transfer independently than the youngers (p < 0.05). Wheelchair users accounted for 84.9% and more than half of them were able to propel wheelchair independently, and those who move passively in wheelchairs were mostly introverted kids (p < 0.05). Almost all (93.8%) children with incomplete injuries were able to walk independently. Most (79.1%) children continued to attending school, and 41.9% participated in interest classes. Unfortunately, 67.4% of the children spent less time playing with their peers than before the injury.@*CONCLUSION@#SCIs impair physical structures and function of children, affect their independence in daily living, and restrict school attendance and social interaction. Comprehensive rehabilitation after injury is a systematic work. Medical staff and caregivers should not only pay attention to neurological function, but also help them improve self-care abilities. It is also important to balance rehabilitation training and school work and social participation.

Motor Control Function of Brain in Subacute Complete Spinal Cord Injured Patients: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective:To study the changes of brain motor control function in patients with complete spinal cord injury within three to six months. Methods:From January, 2017 to January, 2019, eleven inpatients with complete spinal cord injury and twelve healthy controls were screened with functional magnetic resonance imaging during attempted/executive movement (MA/ME) and motor imagery (MI). The involved area and activation were compared between the groups under tasks. Results:More areas were activated in the patients than in the controls as MA/ME, such as bilateral primary sensorimotor cortex, supplementary motor area, lateral globus pallidus, cerebellum, contralateral thalamus and putamen. During MI, the activation was more in the patients in ipsilateral primary motor cortex, supplementary motor area, dorsal premotor area, contralateral supplementary motor area, insular and basal ganglia. The patients induced more activation as MA than as MI in ipsilateral primary motor cortex, bilateral supplementary motor area and cingulate motor area, and contralateral cerebellum. Conclusion:The activation remains normal in primary motor cortex and supplementary motor area for subacute complete spinal cord injury patients when undergoing motor tasks, but some reorganization may occur in parietal lobe and cerebellum that involve in sensorimotor integration.

Transferrin receptor imaging for tracing mesenchymal stem cells implanted in the spinal cord / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the feasibility of tracing mesenchymal stem cells in vivo with scintigraphy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Transferrin receptor expression of cultured mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) was quantified with radioligand-receptor binding assay before the cells were transplanted into the spinal cord of rabbits. (131)I-labeled transferrin was then administered into the subarachnoid space of the rabbits, and scintigraphic images were acquired with a gamma camera at different time points after the administration. In the control experiments, (131)I-labeled human serum albumin was used in stead of (131)I-transferrin as the tracer, or only PBS was injected without stem cell transplantation. The images were semi-quantitatively analyzed with region of interest (ROI) techniques, and the phosphor imaging on the spinal sections were performed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Radioligand-receptor binding assay showed 10 770 binding sites with high affinity (KD=0.982 nmol/L) for Fe saturated transferrin on each human mesenchymal cell. Visible accumulation of radioactivity at the cell transplantation sites was observed 16 h and 24 h after intrathecal injection of (131)I-transferrin tracer, but not in two control groups. ROI analysis showed that the difference between (131)I-transferrin and the control groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). Phosphor imaging further verified that it was the specific coupling of transferrin to the implanted cells that resulted in radioactivity accumulation at the transplantation sites.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Transferrin receptor imaging is capable of in vivo tracing of the implanted stem cells, and has the potential for use in non-invasive monitoring for stem cell transplantation therapy after further technical improvements.</p>

D2 receptor expression on immortalized human neural progenitor cell line hNPC-TERT in vitro and in vivo / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe D(2) receptor expression on human neural progenitor cell line hNPC-TERT before and after transplantation into rabbit central nervous system.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>D(2) receptor expression on cultured hNPC-TERT cells was verified and quantitatively analyzed with immunofluorescence assay and receptor radio ligand binding assay, respectively. 3 x 10(6) hNPC-TERT cells were implanted in the spinal cord of New Zealand rabbit with HeLa cells as the control. Two days after implantation, positron-emission tomography (PET) scan with (11)C-raclopride as the radiotracer was performed in the living animals or for the isolated spinal cords, and cryosections of the spinal cord containing the implanted cells were prepared for immunofluorescence assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Cultured hNPC-TERT cells showed high expression of D(2) receptor (Bmax=8 x 10(4)). PET scans of the rabbits identified visible radioactive accumulations at the site where hNPC-TERT cells were implanted but not at the site of HeLa cell implantation. Region of interest analysis showed a significant difference between the two cells in the maximal standard uptake value at the cell implantation sites. The results were further confirmed with ex vivo PET imaging of the spinal cord and tissue immunofluorescence assay.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Human neural progenitor cells hNPC-TERT highly express dopamine D(2) receptors and retain this capacity after implantation into the spinal cord, suggesting their potential for treatment of such nerve system disease as Parkinson syndrome.</p>

Effect of human neural progenitor cells on injured spinal cord / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study whether human neural progenitor cells can differentiate into neural cells in vivo and improve the recovery of injured spinal cord in rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Human neural progenitor cells were transplanted into the injured spinal cord and the functional recovery of the rats with spinal cord contusion injury was evaluated with Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor scale and motor evoked potentials. Additionally, the differentiation of human neural progenitor cells was shown by immunocytochemistry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Human neural progenitor cells developed into functional cells in the injured spinal cord and improved the recovery of injured spinal cord in both locomotor scores and electrophysiological parameters in rats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Human neural progenitor cells can treat injured spinal cord, which may provide a new cell source for research of clinical application.</p>

In vitro study of combination rhOPG-Fc and alendronate on inhibition osteoclast / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of combination rhOPG-Fc and alendronate on mature osteoclasts.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Recombinant human osteoprotegerin secretory expression in P. pastoris was performed. Osteoblasts were got from new born mouse skeletal bone and proved by ALP staining and incubated together with osteoclasts precursor cell line Raw 264.7 in 96 well plate. After 9 d, 10 micromol/L ALN, 10(-5) g/L rhOPG-Fc, 10 micromol/L ALN + 10(-5) g/L rhOPG-Fc, 5 micromol/L ALN + 5 x 10(-6) g/L rhOPG-Fc were added to these coculture systems. Osteoblasts cultured without the drugs mentioned above served as controls. TRAP stain positive cells counting and cortical bone pit formation counting were preformed in the following the 3rd and 7th d.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>SDS-PAGE and Western blot showed that molecular weight of the expressed protein was about 55 KD, and it could reach specifically with anti-IgG antibody. Many multi-nuclear TRAP stain positive cells were found in the coculture control group after 9 d incubation, and proved to be mature osteoclasts by TRAP stain. In the 3rd and 7th d after the addition of rhOPG-Fc, ALN or both, TRAP stain positive cells counting and cortical bone pit formation counting decreased significantly in the rhOPG-Fc, ALN or both groups than in the control group, and the combine group (10(-5) g/L rhOPG-Fc + 10 micromol/L ALN) decreased most significantly when compared with rhopG-FC or ALN single.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>rhOPG-Fc can decrease the number of osteoclasts and inhibit their function. The combination of both rhOPG-Fc and ALN shows the significant inhibition effect on mature osteoclasts.</p>