Crossed idiopathic hemihypertrophy diagnosed incidentally in an adolescent with voice disorders: A case report.

Background: Hemihypertrophy (HH) is a rare congenital malformation usually recognized at birth. It is often diagnosed due to impaired aesthetics and mobility caused by asymmetry of the face, body, or limbs. Some patients are diagnosed due to the presence of tumors and mental abnormalities. Case presentation: A 14-year-old boy with hoarseness since infancy and progressively increasing with age. Laryngoscopy and CT of the larynx suggested bilateral asymmetry of the laryngeal structures, and voice analysis suggested severe voice disorders. The boy had no history of trauma or other medical conditions, but had physical asymmetry since birth, which coincided with the laryngeal asymmetry. After a detailed examination and evaluation, we considered that his voice disorders were unexpectedly caused by crossed idiopathic HH. Since the boy in his growth spurts is not a candidate for surgery, we implemented individualized voice correction therapy. After practicing, the boy's voice disorders were significantly relieved. Conclusion: Congenital HH can cause asymmetrical development of the larynx, which leads to voice disorders. Voice correction therapy is an effective treatment for patients unsuitable for surgery.

Evaluating hypopharyngeal carcinoma using narrow band imaging and oxygen-injected laryngoscope: New technique.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic value of narrow band imaging (NBI) endoscopic classification for hypopharyngeal lesions and to lay the groundwork for practical applications of oxygen-injected laryngoscope for hypopharyngeal carcinoma (HC). METHODS: A total of 140 subjects with suspected 146 hypopharyngeal lesions were selected for pathological examination. Subsequently, NBI and white light imaging (WLI) endoscopy were performed to observe and classify lesions into 7 types according to our modified NBI classification. Pathological results were used as the gold standard to assess the diagnostic value of the NBI classification. The value of oxygen-injected laryngoscope for accurate assessment of lesion extension was evaluated based on the exposure of hypopharyngeal lesions before and after use. RESULTS: The accuracy, sensitivity, and negative predictive value of NBI endoscopy in diagnosing hypopharyngeal lesions were 95.9 %, 96.7 %, and 84.6 %, respectively, which were higher than those of WLI mode (p < 0.05). NBI endoscopy was more accurate than WLI in diagnosing malignant lesions (p < 0.05), especially for high-grade dysplasia (HGD) (p < 0.05). There was remarkable consistency between NBI classification and pathological results (Kappa = 0.855). Type Va and type Vb-c accounted for 72.7 % and 92.8 % of HGD and invasive carcinoma, respectively. Moreover, the oxygen-injected laryngoscope was found to provide a more accurate assessment of HC extension (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: We propose a more appropriate NBI endoscopic classification for hypopharyngeal lesions, which can effectively improve diagnostic accuracy, especially for the early diagnosis of hypopharyngeal cancer. Moreover, the application of oxygen-injected laryngoscope is essential for the accurate assessment of HC and has a high clinical utility.

Jolkinolide B attenuates laryngeal cancer cell growth and induces apoptosis via PTEN/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Jolkinolide B (JB) is a bioactive diterpenoid, isolated from the root of Euphorbia fischeriana Steud, and has been reported to have anti-tumor and anti-inflammation function by regulation of cell migration, invasion, apoptosis, and cell cycle. We aimed to evaluate the effect of JB on laryngeal cancer cells. Human normal larynx epithelial (HBE) cells and cancer cell lines TU212, TU177, and Hep-2 were cultured; MTT assay was used to assess cell proliferation. LY294002 (a PI3K/Akt inhibitor) and IGF-1 (a PI3K/Akt activator) were employed to investigate the expression of PI3K/Akt pathway. Cell migration and invasion activities were detected by scratch wound healing and transwell assay, respectively. Flow cytometry assay was used to assess cell apoptosis. The expression levels of proteins were assessed by immunofluorescence and Western blotting assay. JB inhibited TU212, TU177, and Hep-2 cell viability with an IC50 value of 54.57 ± 0.53 µg/mL, 44.82 ± 0.32 µg/mL, and 49.63 ± 0.47 µg/mL, respectively. Compared with control group, the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cells significantly decreased after JB and LY294002 treatment, while cell apoptosis increased. In IGF-1 group, the results were opposite compared to the JB and LY294002 groups. Western blotting results showed that JB and LY294002 treatment significantly inhibited the levels of Bcl-2, p-PI3K, and p-Akt while the levels of Bax, cleaved caspase-3, and PTEN protein significantly increased. Our study suggested that JB exhibits an inhibition effect on laryngeal cancer cell growth in vitro.

MiR-202-5p/MATN2 are associated with regulatory T-cells differentiation and function in allergic rhinitis.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a crucial role in allergic rhinitis (AR). However, the mechanism of how Tregs are regulated in AR is poorly understood. Here, we aimed to explore the role of Tregs in AR and how Tregs were regulated by miR-202-5P, which was demonstrated to be important in AR. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from collected blood samples. Tregs were purified using Regulatory T Cell Isolation Kit, and differentiated from isolated CD4 T cells using recombinant human interleukin-2 (rhIL-2) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß). mRNA expression levels of miR-202-5p, matrilin-2 (MATN2), TGF-ß1 and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were detected by real-time PCR. The concentrations of IL-4, interleukin-17 (IL-17), IL-10, interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and TGF-ß1 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). MATN2 protein level was detected by Western blot. MiR-202-5p expression dramatically elevated in PBMCs, CD4+ T cells and Tregs of AR patients. In vitro, miR-202-5p promoted Tregs differentiation via targeting MATN2. MiR-202-5p/MATN2 axis mediated Tregs proliferation and functions. MiR-202-5p/MATN2 are associated with regulatory T-cells differentiation and function in allergic rhinitis.

Polysaccharides from Citrus grandis L. Osbeck suppress inflammation and relieve chronic pharyngitis.

Chronic pharyngitis, a common inflammation of the pharyngeal mucosa, is often caused by bacteria, viruses, alcohol abuse, overuse of the voice and cigarettes. This study aimed to explore the effects of polysaccharides of Citrus grandis L. Osbeck (PCG) in relieving chronic pharyngitis and illustrate the underlying mechanisms. Polysaccharides were obtained from PCG by column chromatographic extraction. Six clinical symptom scores, such as the severity of itchy throat, hoarseness, pain, odynophagia, cough and otalgia were evaluated in chronic pharyngitis patients after the oral intake of PCG. The effects of polysaccharides on chronic pharyngitis were investigated in ammonia-stimulated rabbits through pathology analysis. The levels of inflammatory markers in the peripheral blood T cells were analyzed by ELISA. The total and phosphorylated levels of ERK1/2, JNK and p38 were assessed by Western blot. Protein amount of IKKα and p65, IKKα/ß activity and p65 activity were evaluated by Western blot and luciferase assay. The clinical studies presented that PCG significantly relieved the six symptoms of chronic pharyngitis patients. Pathology analysis of chronic pharyngitis animals showed that the PCG treatment groups showed a significant decrease in the number of pathologic cells and the reduction of pathologic cells was dose-dependent (p < 0.01). ELISA analysis showed that PCG significantly inhibited the αCD3-induced increase of IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-4 expression in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, Western blot and luciferase assay suggested that the phosphorylation of IKKα/ß in peripheral blood T cells was inhibited by the administration of PCG. These results indicate that polysaccharides exhibit anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the phosphorylation of IKKs, subsequently suppressing the NF-κB pathway activation and decreasing the expression of inflammatory mediators.

[Three-class Motor Imagery Classification Based on Optimal Sub-band Features of Independent Components].

In the study of the scalp electroencephalogram(EEG)-based brain-computer interface(BCI),individual differences and complex background noise are two main factors which affect the stability of BCI system.For different subjects,therefore,optimization of BCI system parameters is necessary,including the optimal designing of temporal and spatial filters parameters as well as the classifier parameters.In order to improve the accuracy of BCI system,this paper proposes a new BCI information processing method,which combines the optimization design of independent component analysis spatial filter(ICA-SF)with the multiple sub-band features of EEG signals.The four subjects' three-class motor imagery EEG(MI-EEG)data collected in different periods were analyzed with the proposed method.Experimental results revealed that,during the inner and outer cross-validation of single subject as well as the subject-to-subject validation,the proposed multiple sub-band method always had higher average classification accuracy compared to those with single-band method,and the maximum difference could achieve 6.08% and5.15%,respectively.