Sleep benefit in patients with Parkinson's disease is associated with the dopamine transporter expression in putamen.

PURPOSE: Sleep benefit (SB) is a well-known phenomenon in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD); however, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate whether the SB phenomenon in PD patients is associated with dopamine transporter (DAT) expression levels in the striatum. METHODS: The data of 125 PD patients were collected and divided into SB (n = 61) and non-SB (nSB) groups (n = 54) depending on whether they had SB or not. DAT expression on both sides of the striatum in PD patients was measured using 2b-carbomethoxy-3b-(4-trimethylstannylphenyl) tropane (11C-CFT) positron emission tomography imaging. The clinical variables, sleep scores, and striatum 11C-CFT uptake index of PD patients between the SB and nSB groups were compared. The associations of clinical variables, sleep scores, and striatum 11C-CFT uptake index with the SB variable were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of the striatum 11C-CFT uptake index in distinguishing SB patients from nSB patients. RESULTS: The tremor subtype ratio (P = 0.011), levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD) (P < 0.001), sleep efficiency score (P = 0.025), habitual sleep efficiency (P = 0.012), and night sleep duration (P = 0.005) in the SB group were significantly different from those in the nSB group. The 11C-CFT uptake index in both the contralateral and ipsilateral striata in the SB group was significantly higher than that in the nSB group (P < 0.05). The binary logistic regression showed that SB variables were significantly and independently associated with tremor subtype (P = 0.048), LEDD (P = 0.021), sleep duration at night (P = 0.035), 11C-CFT uptake index in the contralateral (P = 0.013) and ipsilateral (P = 0.019) putamen in PD patients after correction for important clinical confounders. ROC analysis showed that the 11C-CFT uptake index on the onset side of the putamen had a high capacity (AUC: 0.916) to distinguish SB patients from nSB patients with high sensitivity (83.33 %) and specificity (88.89 %). CONCLUSION: DAT expression in the putamen was associated with the SB phenomenon in PD patients, and the putamen DAT expression level could predict the SB phenomenon in PD patients.

miRNA-101 inhibits ovarian cancer cells proliferation and invasion by down-regulating expression of SOCS-2.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of miRNA-101 in normal and malignant ovarian tissues and cells as well as its impact on the proliferation and invasion of human ovarian cancer H08910 and SKOV3 cell lines. METHODS: Real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was employed to detect the miR-101 and SOCS-2 expression in 20 separate ovarian cancer tissues and para-carcinoma tissues, human ovarian cancer cells (H08910 and SKOV3) and normal human ovarian epithelial cells (HUM-CELL-0088). After H08910 and SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells were respectively transfected with miR-NC (H08910/NC and SKOV3/NC) and miR-101 (H08910/miR-101 and SKOV3/miR-101), Western Blot was employed to detect the SOCS-2 expression in transfected cells. CCK-8 and clone formation and Transwell assays were employed to determine the proliferation and invasion ability of wild type and transfected ovarian cancer cells. RESULTS: The expression of miR-101 in ovarian cancer tissues and cells was significantly lower than that in para-carcinoma tissues (t=19.12, P=0.002) and normal human ovarian epithelial cells (HUM-CELL-0088) (F=14.37, P=0.000), respectively. In contrast, the SOCS-2 expression in ovarian cancer tissues and cells was significantly higher than that in para-carcinoma tissues (t=25.03, P=0.000) and HUM-CELL-0088 cells (F=14.9, P=0.000) by Western Blotting analysis, respectively. Compared with wild type and empty vector transfected cells, the expression of SOCS-2 was significantly decreased in miR-101 transfected H08910 (t=10.9, P=0.001) and SKOV3 cells (t=21.03, P=0.000). The results of CCK-8, clone formation and Transwell assays revealed that the proliferation and invasion ability of ovarian cancer cells was markedly inhibited by the transfection of miR-101. CONCLUSION: MiR-101 was validated to be reduced and SOCS-2 expression increased in ovarian cancer tissues and cells. The over expression of miR-101 can remarkably reduce the in vitro proliferation and invasion ability of ovarian cancer cells through the down-regulation of SOCS-2.

Gastric wall implantation metastasis of retroperitoneal extraskeletal osteosarcoma: A case report and review of the literature.

Retroperitoneal extraskeletal osteosarcoma (ESOS) is a rare and highly invasive tumor that is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage due to the insidious onset. The present study analyses a case of retroperitoneal ESOS and its clinical, radiological and therapeutic conditions, and also provides a review of the literature. A 52-year-old male was diagnosed with retroperitoneal ESOS. The patient succumbed to the condition one year after the initial surgery. During treatment, the patient underwent two additional surgeries and two courses of chemotherapy. In the present case, a peritoneal metastatic lesion of ESOS was shed from the peritoneum and implanted into the outer membrane of the stomach and metastasis was identified, this has rarely been reported in the literature. Retroperitoneal ESOS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a retroperitoneal mass in order to facilitate the management of surgery and help determine the appropriate treatment of the disease.

Study on the treatment of acute thallium poisoning.

BACKGROUND: Acute thallium poisoning rarely occurs but is a serious and even fatal medical condition. Currently, patients with acute thallium poisoning are usually treated with Prussian blue and blood purification therapy. However, there are few studies about these treatments for acute thallium poisoning. METHODS: Nine patients with acute thallium poisoning from 1 family were treated successfully with Prussian blue and different types of blood purification therapies and analyzed. RESULTS: Prussian blue combined with sequential hemodialysis, hemoperfusion and/or continuous veno-venous hemofiltration were effective for the treatment of patients with acute thallium poisoning, even after delayed diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Blood purification therapies help in the clearance of thallium in those with acute thallium poisoning. Prussian blue treatment may do the benefit during this process.