Sparganosis of a thoracic vertebra misdiagnosed as bone metastasis from lung cancer.

Sparganosis is a rare parasitic infection caused by plerocercoid tapeworm larvae. We described a case of a 27-year-old man presenting with numbness in both legs and masses in the right lung and spine, initially thought to have spinal metastasis from lung cancer. However, after pathological and parasitological examinations, the patient was found to have spinal sparganosis, likely due to a history of consuming raw frogs. The patient was successfully treated with praziquantel, resulting in the recovery of muscle strength in his legs. This case highlights the importance of considering spinal sparganosis as a differential diagnosis in patients with spinal masses, especially those with a history of consuming raw or undercooked frogs. Accurate diagnosis and early treatment are crucial for managing this infection.

HMGB1 Inhibits HNF1A to Modulate Liver Fibrogenesis via p65/miR-146b Signaling.

High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is essential for the pathogenesis of liver injury and liver fibrosis. We previously revealed that miR-146b promotes hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) activation and proliferation. Nevertheless, the potential mechanisms are still unknown. Herein, HMGB1 increased HSCs proliferation and COL1A1 and α-SMA protein levels. However, the knockdown of miR-146b inhibited HSCs proliferation and COL1A1 and α-SMA protein levels induced via HMGB1 treatment. miR-146b was upregulated by HMGB1 and miR-146b targeted hepatocyte nuclear factor 1A (HNF1A) 3'-untranslated region (3'UTR) to modulate its expression negatively. Further, we confirmed that HMGB1 might elicit miR-146b expression via p65 within HSCs. Knockdown or block of HMGB1 relieved the CCl4-induced liver fibrosis. In fibrotic liver tissues, miR-146b expression was positively correlated with p65 mRNA, but HNF1A mRNA was inversely correlated with p65, and miR-146b expression. In summary, our findings suggest that HMGB1/p65/miR-146b/HNF1A signaling exerts a crucial effect on liver fibrogenesis via the regulation of HSC function.

Strong Electrochemiluminescence from MOF Accelerator Enriched Quantum Dots for Enhanced Sensing of Trace cTnI.

The development of a sensitive and practical electrochemiluminescence (ECL) bioassay relies on the use of ECL signal tags whose signal intensity is high and stable. In this work, strong ECL emission was achieved from metal organic framework (MOF) accelerator enriched quantum dots (CdTe), which were applied as an efficient ECL signal tag for trace biomarker detection. It is particularly noteworthy that a novel mechanism to drastically enhance the ECL intensity of CdTe is established because isoreticular metal organic framework-3 (IRMOF-3) with 2-amino terephthalic acid (2-NH2-BDC) as the organic ligand not only allows for loading a large amount of CdTe via the encapsulating effect and internal/external decoration but also functions as a novel coreactant accelerator for promoting the conversion of coreactant S2O82- into the sulfate radical anion (SO4•-), further boosting the ECL emission of CdTe. On the basis of the simple sandwich immunoreaction approach, cardiac troponin-I antigen (cTnI), a kind of biomarker related with myocardial infarction, was chosen as a detection model using an IRMOF-3-enriched CdTe labeled antibody as the signal probe. This immunosensor demonstrated desirable assay performance for cTnI with a wide response range from 1.1 fg mL-1 to 11 ng mL-1 and a very low detection limit (0.46 fg mL-1). This suggested that the IRMOF-3-enriched CdTe nanocomposite strategy can integrate the coreactant accelerator and luminophore to significantly enhance the ECL intensity and stability, providing a direction for promising ECL tag preparation with broad applications.

A sensitive electrochemiluminescent aptasensor based on perylene derivatives as a novel co-reaction accelerator for signal amplification.

Herein, a novel signal amplification strategy was designed using the perylene derivative as the co-reaction accelerator toward graphene-CdTe quantum dots (G-CdTe)/S2O8(2-) system to construct a highly sensitive electrochemiluminescent (ECL) aptasensor for thrombin (TB) detection. Firstly, the G-CdTe nanocomposites were prepared by one-step method of in situ generating CdTe quantum dots onto the surface of the graphene oxide by using 3-mercaptopropionic acid as the CdTe QDs stabilizer. Then, a kind of perylene derivative (PTC-Lys), was synthesized by covalently binding L-lysine to 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid, which was further immobilized onto the G-CdTe by the π-π* stacking and cross-linked the detection thrombin aptamer (TBA II) to obtain the TBA II/PTC-Lys/G-CdTe signal probes. It is worth pointing out that PTC-Lys acting as an efficient co-reaction accelerator interacted with the co-reactant of S2O8(2-) rather than G-CdTe to promote the more oxidant mediators of SO4(•-), which could further react with G-CdTe to produce excited state species G-CdTe* for emitting light. Compared with the G-CdTe/S2O8(2-) ECL system, our proposed strategy with the introduction of co-reaction accelerator of PTC-Lys exhibited ultra-high sensitivity to quantify the concentration of TB from 1.0×10(-7)nM to 10nM with a detection limit of 34aM.

Electrochemiluminescence of Supramolecular Nanorods and Their Application in the "On-Off-On" Detection of Copper Ions.

In this work, an "on-off-on" switch system has been successfully applied through the construction of an electrochemiluminscent biosensor for copper ion (Cu(2+) ) detection based on a new electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emitter of supramolecular nanorods, which was achieved through supramolecular interactions between 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid (PTCA) and aniline. The initial "signal-on" state with strong and stable ECL emission was obtained by use of the supramolecular nanorods with a new signal amplification strategy involving a co-reaction accelerator. In addition, ECL quencher probes (Fc-NH2 /Cu-Sub/nano-Au) were fabricated by immobilizing aminoferrocene (Fc-NH2 ) on Cu-substrate strand modified Au nanoparticles. The quencher probes were hybridized with the immobilized Cu-enzyme strand to form Cu(2+) -specific DNAzyme. Similarly, the "signal-off" state was obtained by the high quenching effect of Fc-NH2 on the ECL of the excited-state PTCA ((1) PTCA*). As expected, the second "switch-on" state could achieved by incubating with the target Cu(2+) , owing to the Cu(2+) -specific DNAzyme, which was irreversibly cleaved, resulting in the release of the quencher probes from the sensor interface. Herein, on the basis of the ECL intensity changes (ΔIECL ) before and after incubating with the target Cu(2+) , the prepared Cu(2+) -specific DNAzyme-based biosensor was used for the determination of Cu(2+) concentrations with high sensitivity, excellent selectivity, and good regeneration.

Target-catalyzed hairpin assembly and intramolecular/intermolecular co-reaction for signal amplified electrochemiluminescent detection of microRNA.

Herein, a new electrochemiluminescence (ECL) strategy for enzyme-free microRNA-21 (miR-21) amplified detection was designed based on target-catalyzed hairpin assembly by combining the signal-amplification capability of both intramolecular and intermolecular ECL co-reaction. In this strategy, two hairpin DNA probes of H1 and H2 were designed as capture probes and detection probes, respectively. To be specific, the capture probes of H1 were immobilized on the multilayer interface of AuNPs and thiosemicarbazide (TSC) assembly on the single-walled carbon nanohorns decorated electrode, while the detection probes of H2 was anchored on the nanocarriers of gold nanoparticals functionalized reduced graphene oxide (Au-rGO) which were tagged with the self-enhanced ruthenium complex (PEI-Ru(ΙΙ)) in advance. Based on the target-catalyzed hairpin assembly, target miR-21 could trigger the hybridization of H1 and H2 to further be released for initiating the next hybridization process to capture a large number of H2 bioconjugates on the sensing surface. Herein, the TSC was used not only as a coupling reagent to attach the AuNPs via Au-S and Au-N bonds but also as a novel intermolecular coreactant to enhance the ECL intensity, and the PEI-Ru(ΙΙ) as emitters exhibited enhanced ECL efficiency. Therefore, a strong ECL signal was achieved by the dual amplification strategies of target recycle and the intramolecular/intermolecular co-reaction of PEI-Ru(ΙΙ) and TSC. The designed protocol provided an ultrasensitive ECL detection of miR-21 down to the sub-femtomolar level with a linear response about 6 orders of magnitude (from 1.0 × 10(-16)M to 1.0 × 10(-11)M) with a relatively low detection limit of 0.03 fM (S/N=3).

Hybrid Decompression Technique Versus Anterior Cervical Corpectomy and Fusion for Treating Multilevel Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: Which One Is Better?

BACKGROUND: The hybrid decompression technique (corpectomy combined with discectomy) and anterior cervical corpectomy with fusion (ACCF) both provide good neurological recovery and disease stabilization for the treatment of multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). However, no single study has been large enough to determine definitively which one is superior for this condition. OBJECTIVE: A meta-analysis was conducted to compare the clinical efficacy and safety of the hybrid decompression technique versus ACCF for the treatment of multilevel CSM. METHODS: Electronic databases such as PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Library were selected to search for potentially relevant trials up to April 2015 that compared the outcomes of the hybrid technique with ACCF for the treatment of multilevel CSM. Data extraction and quality assessment were performed according to Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. The outcome assessments were duration of surgery, blood loss, Cobb angle of C2-C7, segment angle, fusion rate, Japanese Orthopedics Association score, Neck Disability Index, and complications. The results were expressed as the odds ratio (OR) for dichotomous outcomes and the mean difference (MD) for continuous outcomes with a 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: Five controlled clinical trials published between 2009 and 2013, involving 356 patients (hybrid, 196; ACCF, 160) with 3- or 4-level CSM were retrieved in this study. Overall, there were significant differences between the 2 treatment groups for blood loss (MD = -38.69, 95% CI = -54.62 to -22.76, P < 0.01), fusion rate (OR = 2.56, 95% CI = 1.11 to 5.93, P = 0.03), and complications (OR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.15 to 0.43, P < 0.01). However, no significant differences were found for duration of surgery (MD = -4.50, 95% CI = -22.902 to 13.91, P = 0.63), Cobb angle of C2-C7 after surgery (MD = 3.32, 95% CI = -3.72 to 10.37, P = 0.35), segment angle after surgery (MD = 2.87, 95% CI = -2.47 to 8.21, P = 0.29), Japanese Orthopedics Association score (MD = -0.07, 95% CI = -0.36 to 0.22, P = 0.62), or Neck Disability Index (MD = -0.86, 95% CI = -3.26 to 1.54, P = 0.48). CONCLUSION: Based on this meta-analysis, both the hybrid technique and ACCF can achieve good results for CSM. However, the hybrid technique is associated with significantly less blood loss, complications, and a higher fusion rate than ACCF.

[Diagnostic implications of atypical squamous cells of unknown significance with abnormal DNA ploidy for early cervical lesions].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical significance of atypical squamous cells of unknown significance (ASCUS) with abnormal DNA ploidy in the early diagnosis of cervical lesions. METHODS: Eight thousand four hundred and forty-eight patients were included in this study and all had DNA quantitative analysis and cervical liquid-based cytology. Among 1041 cases with DNA aneuploidy and/or abnormal cervical liquid-based cytology and additional cervical biopsy, histological review was performed in 247 ASCUS cases with abnormal DNA ploidy. RESULTS: (1) Among 8448 cases, 7877 were normal or benign, 426 were ASCUS, 45 were ASC-H, 55 were LSIL and 22 were HSIL by TBS diagnosis. The presence of 1-2 abnormal DNA ploidy cells was detected in 15.3% (65/426) of ASCUS, 11.1% (5/45) of ASC-H, 9.1% (5/55) of LSIL, and 0 (0/22) of HSIL. The presence of ≥ 3 abnormal DNA ploidy cells was detected in 39.0% (166/426) of ASCUS, 75.6% (34/45) of ASC-H, 76.4% (42/55) of LSIL, and 95.5% (21/22) of HSIL. (2) A total of 67 cases of CIN 2, CIN 3 or cancers were found in 247 patients with ASCUS by colposcopy biopsies, of which 13.9% (5/36) had 1-2 abnormal DNA ploidy cells, 45.5% (56/123) had ≥ 3 abnormal DNA ploidy cells and 6.8% (6/88) had normal DNA polidy. ASCUS with 1-2 abnormal DNA ploidy cells and with ≥ 3 abnormal DNA ploidy cells were compared. The difference was statistically significant (χ(2) = 11.79, P < 0.01). But the difference between ASCUS with 1-2 abnormal DNA ploidy cells and normal DNA ploidy had no statistical significance (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ASCUS with ≥ 3 abnormal DNA ploidy cells has higher risk for developing CIN 2, CIN 3 or invasive carcinoma. The application of DNA quantitative analysis and cervical liquid-based cytology test can help in guiding clinical follow-up and treatment options in patients with ASCUS.