Computed tomography-guided radiofrequency ablation of cervical intervertebral discs for the treatment of refractory cervicogenic headache: A retrospective chart review.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of computed tomography (CT)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of cervical intervertebral discs for the treatment of discogenic cervicogenic headache (CEH). BACKGROUND: Some patients with CEH experience no obvious therapeutic effect after conventional therapy, particularly patients with refractory CEH originating from abnormal cervical intervertebral discs. Treatment for this type of CEH remains poorly characterized. METHODS: Using a single intervention arm, pretest/posttest design, we retrospectively analyzed the data of patients who underwent CT-guided RFA of cervical intervertebral discs for CEH at the Pain Medicine Center of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital from January 2017 to April 2021. If conservative treatment failed in patients with discogenic CEH, we classified the patients as having refractory CEH and performed RFA of cervical intervertebral discs. We used a numeric rating scale (NRS) to assess pain intensity for 6 months. We also compared therapeutic outcome of patients with different characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 44 patients who underwent CT-guided RFA of cervical intervertebral discs were enrolled and 41 of them were analyzed in the present study. The preoperative median (25th, 75th) NRS score was 4 (4, 5), and it was significantly reduced to 1 (0, 4) 6 months after RFA (p < 0.001). The number of patients with ≥50% of their pain relieved after 6 months was 28 of 41 (68%). No serious treatment-related complications occurred in this study. Compared with single-level RFA, multi-level RFA shows greater effects on pain intensity reduction (p = 0.032) and pain relief rate (p = 0.047) of patients. CONCLUSION: In patients who have discogenic CEH, CT-guided RFA of the cervical intervertebral discs appears to be a promising treatment with no serious complications.

[Comparison between peel and pulp of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus by UPLC fingerprint and multicomponent quantitative analysis].

Twenty batches of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus(AFI) were collected, with their peel and pulp taken as research objects. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography(UPLC) fingerprints of peel and pulp of AFI were established with 17 common peaks in peel and 10 in pulp. Six kinds of flavonoids were identified, i.e., narirutin, naringin, rhoifolin, hesperidin, neohesperidin and nobiletin. The Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine was employed for similarity analysis, which showed that the chromatographic peaks of peel and pulp were basically similar to their respective reference fingerprints, with all similarities greater than 0.90. The similarity between peel and pulp of the same batch of AFI ranged from 0.850 to 0.983. Cluster analysis(CA), principal component analysis(PCA), and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) were conducted on the common peaks of peel and pulp of AFI with SPSS 17.0 and SIMCA 14.1. Combined with the reference fingerprints, these analyses revealed 12 differential components regarding peel and pulp. Further, the content of the 6 flavonoids and synephrine was determined. The proposed method integrating UPLC fingerprint and multicomponent quantitative analysis is applicable to the quality evaluation of AFI. The results provide a certain basis for the scientific connotation about the appearance characteristic of AFI.

Anthraquinones Extract from Morinda angustifolia Roxb. Root Alleviates Hepatic Injury Induced by Carbon Tetrachloride through Inhibition of Hepatic Oxidative Stress.

In Southwestern China, the root of Morinda angustifolia Roxb. has been employed as a folk medicine for treating various types of hepatitis and jaundice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hepatoprotective effects of anthraquinones extract from M. angustifolia root (AEMA) in carbon tetrachloride- (CCl4-) induced liver injury in mice and identify the main bioactive components. Results indicated that AEMA pretreatment could significantly, in a dose-dependent manner, attenuate the increased levels of ALT and AST in mice serum induced by CCl4. At doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg, AEMA exhibited significant suppression of the elevated hepatic levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), as well as marked upregulatory effects on the activities of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in mice exposed to CCl4. However, AEMA treatment had no effect on the antioxidant enzyme catalase (CAT) or the nonenzymatic antioxidant glutathione (GSH). Furthermore, two anthraquinone constituents were isolated from AEMA and identified as soranjidiol and rubiadin-3-methyl ether. Soranjidiol exhibited similar protective effects to those of AEMA on liver damage induced by CCl4. Overall, our research clearly demonstrated the hepatoprotective effects of the AEMA, and anthraquinones, particularly soranjidiol, should be considered as the main hepatoprotective principles of M. angustifolia. In addition, the underlying mechanism may be, at least in part, related to its antioxidant properties.

Label-free 3D computational imaging of spermatozoon locomotion, head spin and flagellum beating over a large volume.

We report a high-throughput and label-free computational imaging technique that simultaneously measures in three-dimensional (3D) space the locomotion and angular spin of the freely moving heads of microswimmers and the beating patterns of their flagella over a sample volume more than two orders-of-magnitude larger compared to existing optical modalities. Using this platform, we quantified the 3D locomotion of 2133 bovine sperms and determined the spin axis and the angular velocity of the sperm head, providing the perspective of an observer seated at the moving and spinning sperm head. In this constantly transforming perspective, flagellum-beating patterns are decoupled from both the 3D translation and spin of the head, which provides the opportunity to truly investigate the 3D spatio-temporal kinematics of the flagellum. In addition to providing unprecedented information on the 3D locomotion of microswimmers, this computational imaging technique could also be instrumental for micro-robotics and sensing research, enabling the high-throughput quantification of the impact of various stimuli and chemicals on the 3D swimming patterns of sperms, motile bacteria and other micro-organisms, generating new insights into taxis behaviors and the underlying biophysics.

Experimental study of local inner ear gene therapy for controlling autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss.

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of gene therapy for treating autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss (ASHL) via local administration of a recombinant adenovirus vector containing the Fas ligand or interleukin IL-10 gene. Guinea pigs were divided into four groups, with different microinjections in the scala tympani. Group A were injected with FasL-EGFP, B with IL-10-EGFP, C with EGFP, and D with artificial perilymph. Seven days later, auditory brain-stem response (ABR) was tested, and the temporal bone was stained and observed by light microscopy. The spiral ligament and basement membrane were observed using transmission electron microscopy. FasL and IL-10 expression were examined using immunofluorescence histochemistry. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the recombinant adenovirus vector in Groups A, B, and C can transfect the stria vascularis, the spiral ligament, the organ of Corti, the spiral ganglion, the region surrounding the small blood vessel in the modiolus, and the cochlear bone wall. Compared with those in Groups C and D, the ABR wave III mean thresholds were significantly lower and the inner ear immunoinflammatory responses in Groups A and B were significantly alleviated. Inhibition of immunoinflammatory response alleviated immunoinflammatory injury and auditory dysfunction. This technique shows potential as a novel therapy for ASHL.

[Analysis of the main components of inner ear antigens inducing autoimmune Meniere's disease in guinea pigs].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the main components of inner ear antigens inducing autoimmune Meniere's disease (AIMD) in guinea pigs. METHODS: The guinea pigs were immunized with isologous crude inner ear antigens (ICIEAg). Then, the hearing function was measured with auditory brainstem response (ABR), the vestibular function was measured with electronystagmography (including spontaneous nystagmus and caloric test), and inner ear histopathological changes were observed by inner ear celloidin section with haematoxylin-eosin staining and observed under light microscope. According to these results, the AIMD-model animals from non-AIMD-model ones were distinguished. The special antibodies against ICIEAg in sera were measured with ELISA. The antigen-antibody reactions against different components of ICIEAg were detected by Western blotting with sera of AIMD and non-AIMD guinea pigs respectively. Then, we analysed the contrast between them and found the main components of the ICIEAg that were positive reaction in AIMD guinea pigs and negative reaction in non-AIMD guinea pigs. RESULTS: The result of ELISA demonstrated that the sera of both the AIMD and non-AIMD guniea pigs contained the special antibodies against ICIEAg after immunized with ICIEAg. The difference of the amount of antibody against ICIEAg between AIMD guinea pig group and non-AIMD guinea pig group was not significant. Western blotting assay showed only the sera of AIMD guinea pig contained the antibodies against the specific antigens with the molecular of 68 000, 58 000, 42 000 and 28 000. CONCLUSIONS: ICIEAg contain many different components, the AIMD might only happen in the guinea pigs in which the special immunization against the main components that could induce this kind of disorder appeared. The inner ear antigens with molecular of 68 000, 58 000, 42 000 and 28 000 might be the main components inducing AIMD in guinea pigs.