Sympathectomy aggravates subchondral bone changes during osteoarthritis progression in mice without affecting cartilage degeneration or synovial inflammation.

OBJECTIVE: Osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis involves the interaction of articular cartilage with surrounding tissues, which are innervated by tyrosine hydroxylase-positive (TH+) sympathetic nerve fibers suggesting a role of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) during OA progression. We analyzed the effects of sympathectomy (Syx) in a murine OA model. METHODS: Peripheral Syx was generated by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) injections in male C57BL/6 mice. OA was induced in wild-type (WT) and Syx mice by destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM). TH+ fibers and splenic NE were analyzed to evaluate Syx efficiency. OA progression was examined by OARSI and synovitis scores and micro-CT. Expression of TH, α2A- and ß2-adrenergic receptors (AR), and activity of osteoblasts (ALP) and osteoclasts (TRAP) was investigated by stainings. RESULTS: Syx resulted in synovial TH+ fiber elimination and splenic NE decrease. Cartilage degradation and synovitis after DMM were comparably progressive in both WT and Syx mice. Calcified cartilage (CC) and subchondral bone plate (SCBP) thickness and bone volume fraction (BV/TV) increased in Syx mice due to increased ALP and decreased TRAP activities compared to WT 8 weeks after DMMWT and Syx mice developed osteophytes and meniscal ossicles without any differences between the groups. AR numbers decreased in cartilage but increased in synovium and osteophyte regions after DMM in both WT and Syx mice. CONCLUSION: Peripheral dampening of SNS activity aggravated OA-specific cartilage calcification and subchondral bone thickening but did not influence cartilage degradation and synovitis. Therefore, SNS might be an attractive target for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for pathologies of the subchondral bone.

[Prevalence of abnormal mucosal findings in patients in HNO practices]. / Prävalenz auffälliger Schleimhautbefunde bei Patienten in HNO-Praxen.

OBJECTIVE: To date, no secondary prevention program is in place for patients carrying an increased risk for developing head and neck cancer (HNSCC). In terms of successful, long-term curative therapy and increased quality of life, it would be useful to detect such diseases at an early stage. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 370 patients with at least one risk factor such as "smoking", "alcohol", or "reflux disease" and without any symptoms were examined during a 1-year period using standard HNO methods (e. g. endoscopy) for suspicious alterations of the mucosa of the upper aerodigestive tract. RESULTS: In 13 (3.5%) of all 370 cases a biopsy was taken for further diagnosis. Squamous cell carcinoma was found in eight cases, while one further patient was suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. CONCLUSIONS: It is simple and safe to examine patients at risk of developing HNSCC by standard HNO methods. The rate of detected carcinomas is much higher than in former investigations, likely because our survey focused only on patients with specific risk factors.

Defective sexual development in an infant with 46, XY, der(9)t(8;9)(q23.1;p23)mat.

UNLABELLED: We report on a male infant with ambiguous genitalia (scrotal hypospadias, sinus urogenitalis) trisomic for 8q23-ter and monosomic for 9p23-ter, who shared craniofacial and other abnormalities with either phenotype. Gonadal histology was nearly normal for age. Normal endocrinological findings and exclusion of mutations in SRY, androgen receptor and alpha-reductase genes point to supplementary gene(s) located in 9p2305-ter, haplo-insufficiency (by deletion) of which is expected to cause defective male morphogenesis. CONCLUSION: This observation lends further support to the hypothesis that genetic factors are located at 9p23-ter which are involved in normal sex determination.