Application of local anaesthesia and cryosurgery for eyelid masses in dogs.

BACKGROUND: Eyelid mass removal and cryotherapy application using only local anaesthesia and restraint may benefit patients with high anaesthesia risks. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and validate cryosurgery application using the CryoPen XL® on palpebral masses under local anaesthesia for patients not suitable for general anaesthesia. METHODS: Thirty patients underwent the procedure between November 2015 and April 2020. The procedure steps were as follows: skin preparation and local anaesthesia of the affected eyelid; debulking by resection and/or squeezing out the inspissated material; cryosurgery and post-operative care using topical medication, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory ointment. The medical records of the patients who underwent the operation were evaluated. Moreover, a telephonic survey with the pet owners was performed to determine recurrence, time to recurrence, survivability and side effects. RESULTS: Among the 30 owners, 29 responded to the survey. Ten (10/38, 26.3%) masses recurred with an average time to recurrence of 6.0 months. The estimated average depths for all, non-recurred, and recurred masses were 1.89, 1.88 and 1.90 mm, respectively. The average recurrence rate and time to recurrence were higher and earlier, respectively, than previously reported values. However, no patient presented intra- or post-operative complications. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that local anaesthesia and cryosurgery using the CryoPen XL® can be used in patients with eyelid masses who are not suitable for general anaesthesia. Compared with the surgical eyelid mass removal and blepharoplasty procedure, the reported procedure is time- and cost-effective, with the additional benefit of not requiring general anaesthesia.

Effect of gintonin on matrix metalloproteinase-9 concentration in tears during corneal wound healing in rabbits.

It has been shown that gintonin, isolated from Panax ginseng, can promote rapid corneal wound healing. We aimed to elucidate the underlying mechanism and investigated whether gintonin affects the concentration of the extracellular matrix remodelling factor matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in tears during rabbit corneal wound healing in vivo. Twelve eyes (six rabbits) were divided equally into three groups. All eyes underwent corneal de-epithelialisation. The control group received Tearin Free sodium hyaluronate 0.1%, the solcoseryl group received solcoseryl-120 concentrate, and the gintonin group received 2.5 mg gintonin in sodium hyaluronate 0.1%. All preparations were administered for 5 days and the concentration of MMP-9 was measured in tears via ELISA on days 0, 1, and 5. MMP-9 concentrations in all groups were increased at day 1 and reduced at day 5. Of note, we found a significant change over the time frame for the gintonin group (P < 0.05) but not for the control or solcoseryl groups (P > 0.05) Moreover, increased MMP-9 levels between days 0 and 1, and their reduction between days 1 and 5, were significant in the gintonin group compared to those in the other groups (P < 0.05); however, and once more, these changes were not significant between the control and solcoseryl groups (P > 0.05). In conclusion, gintonin increases the concentration of MMP-9 rapidly within a day of injury, and decreasing it thereafter.

Gintonin, an exogenous ginseng-derived LPA receptor ligand, promotes corneal wound healing.

Ginseng gintonin is an exogenous ligand of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptors. Accumulating evidence shows LPA helps in rapid recovery of corneal damage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of gintonin in a rabbit model of corneal damage. We investigated the signal transduction pathway of gintonin in human corneal epithelium (HCE) cells to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanism. We next evaluated the therapeutic effects of gintonin, using a rabbit model of corneal damage, by undertaking histochemical analysis. Treatment of gintonin to HCE cells induced transient increases of [Ca2+]i in concentration-dependent and reversible manners. Gintonin-mediated mobilization of [Ca2+]i was attenuated by LPA1/3 receptor antagonist Ki16425, phospholipase C inhibitor U73122, inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor antagonist 2-APB, and intracellular Ca2+ chelator BAPTA-AM. Gintonin facilitated in vitro wound healing in a concentration-dependent manner. When applied as an eye-drop to rabbits with corneal damage, gintonin rapidly promoted recovery. Histochemical analysis showed gintonin decreased corneal apoptosis and increased corneal cell proliferation. We demonstrated that LPA receptor activation by gintonin is linked to in vitro and in vivo therapeutic effects against corneal damage. Gintonin can be applied as a clinical agent for the rapid healing of corneal damage.

Scoparone exerts anti-tumor activity against DU145 prostate cancer cells via inhibition of STAT3 activity.

Scoparone, a natural compound isolated from Artemisia capillaris, has been used in Chinese herbal medicine to treat neonatal jaundice. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) contributes to the growth and survival of many human tumors. This study was undertaken to investigate the anti-tumor activity of scoparone against DU145 prostate cancer cells and to determine whether its effects are mediated by inhibition of STAT3 activity. Scoparone inhibited proliferation of DU145 cells via cell cycle arrest in G1 phase. Transient transfection assays showed that scoparone repressed both constitutive and IL-6-induced transcriptional activity of STAT3. Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR analyses demonstrated that scoparone suppressed the transcription of STAT3 target genes such as cyclin D1, c-Myc, survivin, Bcl-2, and Socs3. Consistent with this, scoparone decreased phosphorylation and nuclear accumulation of STAT3, but did not reduce phosphorylation of janus kinase 2 (JAK2) or Src, the major upstream kinases responsible for STAT3 activation. Moreover, transcriptional activity of a constitutively active mutant of STAT3 (STAT3C) was inhibited by scoparone, but not by AG490, a JAK2 inhibitor. Furthermore, scoparone treatment suppressed anchorage-independent growth in soft agar and tumor growth of DU145 xenografts in nude mice, concomitant with a reduction in STAT3 phosphorylation. Computational modeling suggested that scoparone might bind the SH2 domain of STAT3. Our findings suggest that scoparone elicits an anti-tumor effect against DU145 prostate cancer cells in part through inhibition of STAT3 activity.

Clinical effect of additional electroacupuncture on thoracolumbar intervertebral disc herniation in 80 paraplegic dogs.

The clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture and acupuncture in combination with medication for the treatment of thoracolumbar intervertebral disc herniation was investigated in paraplegic dogs with intact deep pain perception. To evaluate the additional effect of electroacupuncture, dogs treated with conventional medicines alone were compared to dogs treated with electroacupuncture and acupuncture and conventional medicine. Medical records of 80 dogs were reviewed for this investigation and classified into two groups undergoing different treatment methods: (1) treatment with conventional medicine alone (Group C, n = 37) and (2) treatment with conventional medicine combined with electroacupuncture and acupuncture (Group CE, n = 43). Prednisone was the conventional medicine and electroacupuncture was applied at GV07 and GV02-1 at 0.5-2.5 mV, mixed Hz of 2 and 15 Hz for 25-30 min. Acupuncture was performed locally at urinary bladder meridian points near the lesion, and bilaterally distantly at GB30, GB34, and ST36. Treatment efficacy was evaluated by post-operative neurologic function, ambulation, relapse, complication, and urinary function. Ambulation recovery was more prevalent in Group CE than Group C (p = 0.01) and recovery of ambulation and back pain relief time was shorter in Group CE compared to Group C (p = 0.011 and 0.001, respectively). Relapse rate was significantly lower in Group CE (p = 0.031). The results suggest that a combination of electroacupuncture and acupuncture with conventional medicine is more effective than conventional medicine alone in recovering ambulation, relieving back pain, and decreasing relapse. Electroacupuncture and acupuncture is thus a reasonable option for the treatment of intervertebral disc herniation in paraplegic dogs with intact deep pain perception.

Optimal combination of minimum degrees of freedom to be actuated in the lower limbs to facilitate arm-free paraplegic standing.

Arm-free paraplegic standing via functional electrical stimulation (FES) has drawn much attention in the biomechanical field as it might allow a paraplegic to stand and simultaneously use both arms to perform daily activities. However, current FES systems for standing require that the individual actively regulates balance using one or both arms, thus limiting the practical use of these systems. The purpose of the present study was to show that actuating only six out of 12 degrees of freedom (12-DOFs) in the lower limbs to allow paraplegics to stand freely is theoretically feasible with respect to multibody stability and physiological torque limitations of the lower limb DOF. Specifically, the goal was to determine the optimal combination of the minimum DOF that can be realistically actuated using FES while ensuring stability and able-bodied kinematics during perturbed arm-free standing. The human body was represented by a three-dimensional dynamics model with 12-DOFs in the lower limbs. Nakamura's method (Nakamura, Y., and Ghodoussi, U., 1989, "Dynamics Computation of Closed-Link Robot Mechanisms With Nonredundant and Redundant Actuators," IEEE Trans. Rob. Autom., 5(3), pp. 294-302) was applied to estimate the joint torques of the system using experimental motion data from four healthy subjects. The torques were estimated by applying our previous finding that only 6 (6-DOFs) out of 12-DOFs in the lower limbs need to be actuated to facilitate stable standing. Furthermore, it was shown that six cases of 6-DOFs exist, which facilitate stable standing. In order to characterize each of these cases in terms of the torque generation patterns and to identify a potential optimal 6-DOF combination, the joint torques during perturbations in eight different directions were estimated for all six cases of 6-DOFs. The results suggest that the actuation of both ankle flexionextension, both knee flexionextension, one hip flexionextension, and one hip abductionadduction DOF will result in the minimum torque requirements to regulate balance during perturbed standing. To facilitate unsupported FES-assisted standing, it is sufficient to actuate only 6-DOFs. An optimal combination of 6-DOFs exists, for which this system can generate able-bodied kinematics while requiring lower limb joint torques that are producible using contemporary FES technology. These findings suggest that FES-assisted arm-free standing of paraplegics is theoretically feasible, even when limited by the fact that muscles actuating specific DOFs are often denervated or difficult to access.