Preventive effects of sodium hyaluronate combined with pelvic floor neuromuscular electrical stimulation on the intrauterine adhesions in women after abortion.

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical efficacy of combining pelvic floor neuromuscular stimulation treatment (NMES) with sodium hyaluronate in preventing intrauterine adhesions (IUA) following abortion. A total of 140 women who underwent artificial abortion were enrolled. The control group received only an intrauterine injection of sodium hyaluronate post-surgery, while the observation group received both the injection and daily pelvic floor NMES treatments, beginning on the day after the abortion. Monthly follow-ups on menstrual conditions were conducted for six months post-surgery. Fasting venous blood samples from both groups were collected on the second day post-abortion and the day after treatment. Transvaginal color Doppler ultrasound was used on the second day post-abortion and the 15th day post the first menstrual cycle to measure endometrial thickness, and the pulsatility and resistance indices of the endometrial spiral arteries. Over the six-month follow-up, the combination therapy group exhibited a notably lower IUA incidence compared to the control group (2.8% vs. 15.7%). Furthermore, combined treatment significantly expedited post-abortion menstrual recovery, reduced vaginal bleeding volume and duration (P < 0.001). It also increased endometrial thickness and reduced the endometrial spiral artery's pulsatility and resistance indices (P < 0.05). In addition, lower serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and higher interleukin-10 (IL-10) were found in the observation group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The combination therapy offers significant advantages in preventing and reducing IUA after abortion, resulting in a substantial reduction in IUA occurrence.

TBX3 promotes the epithelial mesenchymal transition of cervical cancer by upregulating ID1.

In this study, we aim to investigate the role and mechanism of T-box transcription factor 3 (TBX3) in cervical cancer. The mRNA and protein expression of TBX3, inhibitor of DNA binding 1 (ID1), and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers (E-Cadherin, N-Cadherin, and vimentin) were measured using qRT-PCR and Western blot. shTBX3 and shID1 were transfected into SiHa cells to knockdown TBX3 and ID1. The metastasis and invasion abilities of cervical cancer cells were determined using a wound healing assay and an invasive assay. The shTBX3- and shID1-transfected SiHa cells were injected into nude mice using a xenograft tumor growth model. We found that TBX3 and ID1 were highly expressed in cervical cancer cells. Importantly, silencing TBX3 and ID1 significantly reduced the migration and metastasis of cervical cancer cells. In addition, silencing TBX3 and ID1 significantly inhibited the EMT, evidenced by the increased E-cadherin, and decreased N-cadherin and vimentin. The size and weight of the xenograft tumor were significantly reduced by shTBX3 and shID1. We demonstrate that TBX3 or ID1 knockdown can effectively inhibit cervical cancer cells migration and invasion. These findings indicate that TBX3 and ID1 can act as potential therapeutic targets for the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer.

Functional annotation map of natural compounds in traditional Chinese medicines library: TCMs with myocardial protection as a case.

The chemical complexity of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) makes the active and functional annotation of natural compounds challenging. Herein, we developed the TCMs-Compounds Functional Annotation platform (TCMs-CFA) for large-scale predicting active compounds with potential mechanisms from TCM complex system, without isolating and activity testing every single compound one by one. The platform was established based on the integration of TCMs knowledge base, chemome profiling, and high-content imaging. It mainly included: (1) selection of herbal drugs of target based on TCMs knowledge base; (2) chemome profiling of TCMs extract library by LC‒MS; (3) cytological profiling of TCMs extract library by high-content cell-based imaging; (4) active compounds discovery by combining each mass signal and multi-parametric cell phenotypes; (5) construction of functional annotation map for predicting the potential mechanisms of lead compounds. In this stud TCMs with myocardial protection were applied as a case study, and validated for the feasibility and utility of the platform. Seven frequently used herbal drugs (Ginseng, etc.) were screened from 100,000 TCMs formulas for myocardial protection and subsequently prepared as a library of 700 extracts. By using TCMs-CFA platform, 81 lead compounds, including 10 novel bioactive ones, were quickly identified by correlating 8089 mass signals with 170,100 cytological parameters from an extract library. The TCMs-CFA platform described a new evidence-led tool for the rapid discovery process by data mining strategies, which is valuable for novel lead compounds from TCMs. All computations are done through Python and are publicly available on GitHub.

Effects of high-intensity focused ultrasound combined with levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system on patients with adenomyosis.

It is very important to treat adenomyosis which may cause infertility, menorrhagia, and dysmenorrhea for women at the reproductive age. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is effective in destroying target tumor tissues without damaging the path of the ultrasound beam and surrounding normal tissues. The levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LN-IUS) is a medical system which is inserted into the uterine to provide medicinal treatment for temporary control of the symptoms caused by adenomyosis. This study was to investigate the effect of HIFU combined with the LN-IUS on adenomyosis. In the HIFU treatment, the parameters of the ultrasound were transmission frequency 0.8 MHz and input power 50-400 W (350 ± 30), and the temperature in the target tissue under these conditions would reach 60-100 °C (85 °C ± 6.3 °C). Size reduction and blood flow signal decrease were used to assess the effect of combined treatment. In this study, 131 patients with adenomyosis treated with HIFU combined with LN-IUS were retrospectively enrolled. The clinical and follow-up data were analyzed. After treatment, the volume of the uterine lesion was significantly decreased with an effective rate of 72.1%, and the adenomyosis blood flow signals were significantly reduced, with an effective rate of 71.3%. At six months, the menstrual cycle was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased from 31.4 ± 3.5 days before treatment to 28.6 ± 1.9 days, the menstrual period was significantly shortened from 7.9 ± 1.2 days before HIFU to 6.5 ± 1.3 days, and the menstrual volume was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased from 100 to 49% ± 13%. The serum hemoglobin significantly (P < 0.05) increased from 90.8 ± 6.2 g/L before treatment to 121.6 ± 10.8 g/L at six months for patients with anemia. Among seventy-two (92.3%) patients who finished the six-month follow-up, sixty-five (90.3%) patients had the dysmenorrhea completely relieved, and the other seven (9.7%) patients had only slight dysmenorrhea which did not affect their daily life. Adverse events occurred in 24 (18.3%) patients without causing severe consequences, including skin burns in two (1.5%) patients, skin swelling in four (3.1%), mild lower abdominal pain and low fever in 15 (11.5%), and subcutaneous induration in three (2.3%). Six months after treatment, no other serious side effects occurred in any patients with follow-up. In conclusions, the use of high-intensity focused ultrasound combined with the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system for the treatment of adenomyosis is safe and effective even though the long-term effect remains to be confirmed.

The polymethoxylated flavone hexamethylquercetagetin suppresses NF-κB signaling and inhibits cell survival in cervical carcinoma.

Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) contributes to the development and progression of cervical carcinoma. To construct a xenograft model, Ca Ski cells were subcutaneously inoculated into BALB/c nude mice. The relative protein expression of NF-κB p65, p-p65, IκBα, and p-IκBα were detected in hexamethylquercetagetin (HTQC) treated cervical carcinoma cells with or without tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α stimulation, or representative tumors tissues in xenograft mice. HTQC could prohibit NF-κB-derived luciferase activity in Ca Ski and C-33 A cells and inhibit the relative NF-κB p-p65 and p-IκBα expression with or without TNFα stimulation. At the same time, HTQC inhibited in vitro cell survival in a concentration-dependent manner and suppressed the tumor volume and weight in xenograft models. In summary, HTQC functions as an NF-κB inhibitor to prohibit the survival and proliferation of cervical carcinoma, which can be considered as an NF-κB target remedy in future clinical practice.

Clinical effects of laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of endometriosis and endometriosis-fertility: A retrospective study of 226 cases.

Introduction: To determine the clinical effects of laparoscopic surgery (LS) in the treatment of endometriosis and endometriosis-fertility. Methods: Two hundred twenty-six patients with endometriosis who underwent LS (LS group, n = 176) or laparotomy (LT group, n = 50) at the Third Hospital of Shijiazhuang City from June 2011 to June 2013 were included in this study, and their clinical outcomes for endometriosis and infertility were compared. All patients were followed up for 1 year after surgery to determine postoperative pregnancies in patients with endometriosis. Results: The operative times between the LS and LT groups were not significantly different (P > 0.05); however, the length of stay in the hospital and blood loss in the LS group were significantly different from the LT group (P < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative symptoms were lower in the LS group than the LT group (P < 0.05). The postoperative pregnancy rates in the two groups were significantly different, including the infertility patients (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Compared with LT, LS significantly reduced pain and improved the quality of life in women with endometriosis. These results can provide a reference for the clinical treatment of endometriosis.

Uterine Leiomyomas: Safety and Efficacy of US-guided Suprapubic Transvaginal Radiofrequency Ablation at 1-year Follow-up.

Purpose To assess the safety and efficacy of ultrasonography (US)-guided suprapubic transvaginal (ST) radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the treatment of symptomatic uterine leiomyomas at 1-year follow-up. Materials and Methods The institutional review board approved this prospective study, and all patients provided informed consent. ST RFA was performed as an outpatient procedure 3 days after menstruation in 51 women (age range, 32-52 years; mean age, 42.2 years) with 62 leiomyomas. The leiomyomas were assessed with conventional and contrast material-enhanced US before and after ST RFA for leiomyoma size, location, and blood flow. All patients were evaluated for postoperative complications, including abdominal pain, injury to surrounding tissues and organs, vaginal bleeding, increased vaginal discharge, fever, dyspnea, and menorrhagia, after ST RFA and at follow-up visits. The leiomyoma volumes, improvement in leiomyoma-related symptoms, effect on quality of life (QOL), and patient satisfaction were assessed and compared before and after ST RFA and at follow-up visits by using statistical analyses. Results Sixty-two leiomyomas were successfully treated with ST RFA until 90% of the leiomyoma was echogenic. At 1-month follow-up, 46 (74%) leiomyomas had no contrast enhancement, five (8%) had peripheral enhancement, eight (13%) had focal enhancement, and three (5%) had scattered enhancement at contrast-enhanced US. At 6-month follow-up, the number of leiomyomas that had no enhancement, peripheral enhancement, focal enhancement, or scattered enhancement was 43 (69%), seven (11%), nine (15%), and three (5%), respectively. The leiomyoma volumes were significantly (P < .05) reduced at 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up (from 33.0 cm(3) ± 25.1 [standard deviation] before treatment to 6.8 cm(3) ± 7.7 at 12-month follow-up). The mean percentage volume reduction at 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up was 28%, 57%, 63%, and 78%, respectively. The scores for symptoms and QOL were all significantly improved (P < .05) at follow-up, going from 45 ± 14 and 65 ± 41, respectively, before treatment to 0 and 100, respectively, at 12-month follow-up. No complications were reported during the periprocedural period or throughout follow-up. Most patients (41 of 45) were satisfied. Conclusion ST RFA may be an effective and safe alternative in the treatment of uterine leiomyomas. (©) RSNA, 2015 Online supplemental material is available for this article.