An unexpected complication of prophylactic esophageal stenting: esophageal stent impaction after thread dislocation

A 47-year-old woman was referred to our department with opportunistic endoscopic findings of two submucosal esophageal bulges, approximately half the circumference of the esophagus, both nearly 2.0 cm in size, and 24-27 cm from the incisors. Ultrasound endoscopy diagnosed smooth muscle tumors originating from the muscularis propria layer and she next underwent submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection. Intraoperatively, part of the tumor could not be separated from the muscularis propria layer and a U-shaped tumor was finally resected. A fully covered self-expanding esophageal nitinol stent was then inserted, covering the full circumference esophageal mucosa. The stent was fixed by ears with knotted thread and proton pump inhibitors were given for 1 week. (AU)

An unexpected complication of prophylactic esophageal stenting: esophageal stent impaction after thread dislocation.

A 47-year-old woman was referred to our department with opportunistic endoscopic findings of two submucosal esophageal bulges, approximately half the circumference of the esophagus, both nearly 2.0 cm in size, and 24-27 cm from the incisors. Ultrasound endoscopy diagnosed smooth muscle tumors originating from the muscularis propria layer and she next underwent submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection. Intraoperatively, part of the tumor could not be separated from the muscularis propria layer and a U-shaped tumor was finally resected. A fully covered self-expanding esophageal nitinol stent was then inserted, covering the full circumference esophageal mucosa. The stent was fixed by ears with knotted thread and proton pump inhibitors were given for 1 week.

TGFß1-transfected tendon stem cells promote tendon fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: In aged people, tendon injuries frequently occur during sporting and daily activities. In clinical practice, typical physiotherapeutic, pharmacotherapeutic, and surgical techniques do not result in the full recovery of injured tendons, which may lead to chronic degenerative disease. METHODS: We first isolated tendon stem cells (TSCs) from rats and transfected them with the TGFß1 gene, resulting in TGFß1-TSCs. The proliferation of TSCs was detected using the Cell Counting Kit 8, and TSCs were identified by immunofluorescence analysis and differentiation capacity analysis. Aggrecan, COL2A1, alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and p-Smad2 expression levels were detected using western blotting and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, a tendon injury model was generated to explore the effect of TGFß1 on the repair of the tendon by TSCs. RESULTS: Compared with fibrinogen treatment, TSC + fibrinogen or TGFß1-TSC + fibrinogen treatment significantly promoted the fibrosis of injured tendons, as evidenced by histological analyses, with TGFß1-TSC + fibrinogen having a greater effect than TSC + fibrinogen. In TGFß1-TSCs, increased expression levels of aggrecan and COL2A1 indicated that TGFß1 signaling induced chondrogenic differentiation. Meanwhile, the increased collagen and α-SMA protein levels indicated that TGFß1 promoted fibrogenesis. Additionally, TGFß1 stimulated the production of phosphorylated Smad2 in TSCs, which suggested that the chondrogenic and fibrogenic differentiation of TSCs, as well as tissue regeneration, may be associated with the TGFß1/Smad2 pathway. CONCLUSION: TGFß1-TSC therapy may be a candidate for effective tendon fibrosis.

Three new categories of hypoglycaemic agents and various cardiovascular diseases: A meta-analysis.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: New hypoglycaemic agents consist of dipeptidyl peptidase four inhibitors (DPP4is), glucagon-like peptide one receptor agonists (GLP1RAs) and sodium-glucose cotransporter two inhibitors (SGLT2is). We aimed to define the association between each category of these new hypoglycaemic drugs and various cardiovascular diseases. METHODS: Large randomized trials comparing DPP4is, GLP1RAs or SGLT2is with placebo were included. Outcomes of interest were 95 kinds of cardiovascular diseases. Meta-analysis was conducted to generate pooled risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Twenty-one large randomized trials were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with placebo, SGLT2is were associated with the lower risks of hypertension (RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.49-0.93), atrial fibrillation (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.67-0.91), bradycardia (RR 0.60, 95% CI 0.40-0.89) and heart failure (RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.68-0.80); GLP1RAs were associated with the lower risk of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.56-0.97) and with the higher risk of deep vein thrombosis (RR 2.12, 95% CI 1.32-3.4), while DPP4is were associated with the lower risk of peripheral ischaemia (RR 0.57, 95% CI 0.37-0.89). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis revealed that SGLT2is were associated with the lower risks of hypertension, atrial fibrillation, bradycardia and heart failure; GLP1RAs were associated with the lower risk of peripheral arterial occlusive disease and with the higher risk of deep vein thrombosis, while DPP4is were associated with the lower risk of peripheral ischaemia. These findings propose that each category of these new hypoglycaemic agents should be avoided or preferred in patients at high risks of specific cardiovascular diseases.

Preparation of CeO2-Quantum Dots/Cu2O Nanocomposites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Properties.

To improve the efficiency of photocatalysts, a composite of CeO2-quantum dots/Cu2O (CeO2-QDs/Cu2O) was prepared through a one-step hydrothermal procedure in alkaline carbonate solution with Cu2(OH)2CO3 and Ce(NO3)3. 6H2O as precursors and glucose as reducing agent. The morphologies and structures of the prepared photocatalysts were well characterized utilizing Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Diffractometry (XRD), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-Vis Diffuse Reflectance Spectrophotometer (DRS). The results indicated that the CeO2-QDs with 5 to 10 nm diameters were well dispersed and had a good contact with Cu2O. As observed in the photocatalytic experiments, Rhodamine B could be degraded more effectively under simulated sunlight using CeO2-QDs/Cu2O as the photocatalysts. Also, the obtained photocatalytic kinetics constant was higher than that in the experiments using CeO2 or Cu2O nano particles as photocatalysts. The enhanced photocatalytic activities might be attributed to the efficient separation of photo-generated charge carriers with the help of the p-n heterojunction and the morphology of quantum dots.

[Study of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand-induced apoptotic and inflammatory gene expressions in colon cancer cell line].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of recombinant tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand(TRAIL) on the expression of apoptosis and inflammatory related genes in human colon cancer cell line HCT-116. METHODS: After 24-hour treatment with recombinant human TRAIL protein, the expressions of apoptosis-related genes(Bcl-2, Bad, caspase-3, and caspase-8) and inflammation-related genes(TNF-α, IL-1ß, and COX-2) were measured by real-time PCR and appropriate kits in HCT-116. RESULTS: After treatments of 10 µg/L and 100 µg/L recombinant human TRAIL proteins, the apoptotic rates of HCT-116 cells were 27.4% and 45.9%, respectively. Expressions of anti-apoptosis gene Bcl-2, pro-apoptosis gene Bad and apoptotic markers caspase-3 and caspase-8 were significantly up-regulated, which was more significant in the group of 100 µg/L treatment(P<0.05). Moreover, after TRAIL treatments, expressions of inflammation-related genes TNF-α, IL-1ß, COX-2 were also dramatically increased, and 100 µg/L treatment group showed higher up-regulation(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Recombinant TRAIL protein induces both apoptosis and inflammation of human colon cancer cells.

[Routine blood test and bone marrow examination in visceral leishmaniasis patients in Kashi Prefecture].

The examinations of blood and bone marrow in 125 patients with visceral leishmaniasis revealed that seven routine parameters of the blood samples were below the lower limit of normal in most cases and 64.8% of the cases showed complications with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and cell maturation disorders. Therefore, iron deficiency anemia and significant reduction of blood components can be used as indicators on the severity of Leishmania infection.

Macromolecular effect: synthesis of a ferrocenylmethylphosphine-containing polymer as highly efficient ligands for room-temperature palladium(0)-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reactions of aryl chlorides.

The design and synthesis of a ferrocenylmethylphosphine-containing polymer and its application as efficient ligands for the room-temperature Pd(0)-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of aryl chlorides with arylboronic acids, for which corresponding monomeric monophosphines are totally inactive, are described. Our work demonstrated that rather small monophosphine moieties such as RPPh2 can be used as highly efficient ligands when appropriately incorporated into a rigid and sterically regular polymer network and using monophosphine-containing polymers as ligands is a feasible approach to access highly active (monophosphine)-palladium(0) complexes. The macromolecular approach described here may open a new avenue to other coordinatively unsaturated (monoligand)-transition metal complexes which are potentially useful in organic synthesis.

Asymmetric Epoxidation of alpha,beta-Unsaturated Ketones Catalyzed by Chiral Polybinaphthyl Zinc Complexes: Greatly Enhanced Enantioselectivity by a Cooperation of the Catalytic Sites in a Polymer Chain.

Polybinaphthyl zinc catalysts have been developed for the asymmetric epoxidation of alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones in the presence of tert-butyl hydroperoxide. Up to 81% ee has been achieved for the epoxidation of alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones containing beta-aliphatic substituents by using a binaphthyl polymer combined with diethylzinc. A very interesting positive cooperative effect of the catalytic sites in the polymer chain is observed which leads to greatly increased enantioselectivity over the corresponding monomer ligands.