[Effect of nerve growth factor on elderly degenerative knee osteoarthritis pain].

OBJECTIVE: To explore effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) antibody on knee osteoarthritis (KOA) pain model was evaluated by in vitro model. METHODS: Thirty male SPF rats aged 28-week-old were divided into blank group (10 rats with anesthesia only). The other 20 rats were with monoiodoacetate (MIA) on the right knee joint to establish pain model of OA, and were randomly divided into control group (injected intraperitoneal injection of normal saline) and treatment group (injected anti-NGF) intraperitoneal after successful modeling, and 10 rats in each group. All rats were received retrograde injection of fluorogold (FG) into the right knee joint. Gait was assessed using catwalk gait analysis system before treatment, 1 and 2 weeks after treatment. Three weeks after treatment, right dorsal root ganglia (DRG) were excised on L4-L6 level, immunostained for calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), and the number of DRGS was counted. RESULTS: In terms of gait analysis using cat track system, duty cycle, swing speed and print area ratio in control and treatment group were significantly reduced compared with blank group (P<0.05). Compared with control group, duty cycle and swing speed of treatment group were significantly improved (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in print area ratio between treatment group and blank group (P>0.05). The number of FG-labeled DRG neurons in control group was significantly higher than that in treatment group and blank group (P<0.05). The expression of CGRP in control group was up-regulated, and differences were statistically significant compared with treatment group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Intraperitoneal injection of anti-NGF antibody inhibited gait injury and upregulation of CGRP in DRG neurons. The results suggest that anti-nerve growth factor therapy may be of value in treating knee pain. NGF may be an important target for the treatment of knee OA pain.

circRNA_0006393 promotes osteogenesis in glucocorticoid­induced osteoporosis by sponging miR­145­5p and upregulating FOXO1.

Glucocorticoids are the most common cause of glucocorticoid­induced osteoporosis (GIOP). Moreover, the role of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the regulation of bone metabolism remains unclear. Therefore, in the present study, it was hypothesized that hsa_circ_0006393 may play an important role in GIOP. To investigate the role of circRNAs in GIOP, treatment with dexamethasone or transfection with a vector overexpressing hsa_circ_0006393 were performed using in vitro cell and in vivo mouse models. Reverse transcription­quantitative PCR, fluorescence in situ hybridization and western blotting were performed to investigate the function of hsa_circ_0006393 in vitro. In addition, the effects of hsa_circ_0006393 on osteogenesis were investigated. Dual­energy X­ray absorptiometry analysis was performed to examine the osteogenic potential of hsa_circ_0006393 in vivo. Moreover, the mechanism underlying hsa_circ_0006393­mediated bone metabolism regulation via the microRNA (miR)­145­5p/forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) pathway was investigated. The present results suggested that the expression level of hsa_circ_0006393 was decreased in patients with GIOP. Furthermore, the overexpression of hsa_circ_0006393 increased the expression level of genes associated with osteogenesis. Moreover, hsa_circ_0006393 was identified to be localized mainly in the cytoplasm and nucleus of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. miR­145­5p was found to be directly targeted by hsa_circ_0006393. Collectively, hsa_circ_0006393 increases the expression levels of osteogenic genes during bone remodeling by sponging miR­145­5p and upregulating FOXO1.

Efficacy of intravenous acetaminophen in multimodal management for pain relief following total knee arthroplasty: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of intravenous acetaminophen in multimodal pain management in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is controversial. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy of intravenous acetaminophen versus placebo in TKA. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or retrospective cohort studies (RCSs) concerning related topics were retrieved from PubMed (1996-June 2018), Embase (1980-June 2018), and the Cochrane Library (CENTRAL June 2018). Any studies comparing intravenous acetaminophen with a placebo were included in this meta-analysis. Meta-analysis results were collected and analyzed by Stata 12.0. Subgroup analysis was performed according to the general characteristics of the patients. RESULTS: In total, the patients from six studies met the inclusion criteria. Our meta-analysis results indicated that compared with a control group, intravenous acetaminophen was associated with reductions in total morphine consumption and visual analogue scale (VAS) score at postoperative day (POD) 3. However, there was no significant difference in morphine consumption at POD 1 or in VAS at POD 1 or POD 2. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the length of hospital stay. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, intravenous acetaminophen in multimodal management has shown better efficacy in pain relief at POD 3 and has morphine-sparing effects. High-quality studies with more patients are needed in the future.

The Role of MicroRNA-143-5p in the Differentiation of Dental Pulp Stem Cells into Odontoblasts by Targeting Runx2 via the OPG/RANKL Signaling Pathway.

This study aims to elucidate the mechanisms by which microRNA-143-5p (miR-143-5p) targets runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) in the differentiation of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) into odontoblasts, through regulating the osteoprotegerin receptor activator of the nuclear factor-κB ligand (OPG/RANKL) signaling pathway. Following transfection, DPSCs were divided into blank, control, miR-143-5p mimics, miR-143-5p inhibitors, miR-143-5p inhibitors + siRunx2 and siRunx2 groups. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and mineralized nodules were detected using ALP kit and alizarin red staining. Quantitative reverse transcriptase real time PCR (qRT-PCR) was conducted to measure mRNA expressions of miR-143-5p, Runx2, OPG, and RANKL. Western blotting was used to assess protein expression of odontoblast differentiation-related proteins. Transwell assay and an extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion cell assay were employed to examine cell migration and cell adhesion. Compared with the blank group, the miR-143-5p mimics and siRunx2 groups showed decreased ALP activity, decreased mineralized nodules and displays of calcium. Fewer migrated cells, weakened cell adhesion, decreased protein expression of dentin phosphoprotein (DPP), dentin sialoprotein (DSP), dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1), osteopontin (OPN), bone sialoprotein (BSP), osteocalcin (OCN), OPG and Runx2, and increased RANKL protein expressions were observed. Additionally, opposite results were observed in the miR-143-5p inhibitors group, demonstrating that down-regulated miR-143-5p promotes the differentiation of DPSCs into odontoblasts by enhancing Runx2 expression via the OPG/RANKL signaling pathway. Based on findings in this study, it is postulated that the enhancement of Runx2 expression via the regulation of the OPG/RANKL signaling pathway could be a beneficial approach for dental pulp regeneration. J. Cell. Biochem. 119: 536-546, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Enteral refeeding syndrome after long-term total parenteral nutrition.

BACKGROUND: Early enteral feeding (EF) may result in fever, elevated white blood cell count, increased serum levels of liver enzymes, and diarrhea. We name the complications "enteral refeeding syndrome", as a subtype of refeeding syndrome, because they are likely to result from long-term lack of lumen nutrition. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of enteral refeeding syndrome after long-term total parenteral nutrition (TPN), and the solution for the disease. METHODS: We collected the clinical data of 100 patients with gastrointestinal fistula, who were cured from Apirl 2001 to July 2002. Their fasting time, daily stool frequency, body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, levels of transaminases, alkaline phosphatase (AKP), and gamma-glutamylcyclotransferase (gamma-GT), white blood cell count, and systemic inflammatory reaction syndrome (SIRS) score were recorded before and 1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 days after EF. Student's t test and analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Of the 100 patients, 56 were cured after selective resection of intestinal fistula, 15 were cured by emergency operation, and 29 recovered spontaneously. The levels of AKP and gamma-GT increased significantly on the 3rd day after EF [On the 3rd day after EF, (243.0 +/- 121.6) U/L and (177.2 +/- 109.9) U/L vs. before EF (181.5 +/- 127.5) U/L and (118.4 +/- 94.2) U/L, P < 0.05], and decreased gradually afterwards. The SIRS scores on the 1st day (1.05 +/- 1.08) and 3rd day (0.96 +/- 1.11) after EF were significantly higher than that before EF (0.72 +/- 0.84), then decreased to 0.83 +/- 0.91, 0.49 +/- 0.73 and 0.32 +/- 0.60 on the 5th, 10th and 15th days after EF. The number of patients with diarrhea at 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 days post-EF were 31, 26, 12, 13, and 7, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The longer the TPN lasts, the more severe the enteral refeeding syndrome becomes. Continuous EF is effective for the syndrome. Early enteral nutrition is useful in preventing it.