Triphasic dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography predictive model of benign and malignant risk of gallbladder occupying lesions.

Gallbladder occupying lesions are common diseases of biliary system. Among them, gallbladder cancer is difficult to diagnose due to the indistinguishable early symptoms, thus posing a great risk to the population. This study aims to establish a computed tomography (CT) prediction model for distinguishing benign and malignant lesions of gallbladder occupying lesions.

Risk and protective factors for chronic pain following inguinal hernia repair: a retrospective study.

Purpose: A large proportion of patients experience chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) following inguinal hernia repair surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive risk factors and protective factors for CPSP following inguinal hernia surgery.

Methods: After institutional ethics approval was obtained, we conducted a retrospective observational case-control study including a total of 236 adult patients undergoing elective inguinal hernia repair at a single tertiary medical center from 2014 to 2015.

Pioglitazone Attenuates Experimental Colitis-Associated Hyperalgesia through Improving the Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction.

Impaired intestinal mucosal integrity during colitis involves the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), an important anti-inflammatory factor in intestinal mucosa homoeostasis, which is a potential target in colitis. Recurrent chronic pain is a vital pathogenetic feature of colitis. Nevertheless, potential functions of PPARγ in the colitis-associated hyperalgesia remain unclear.

Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Contributes to Nociception via Neuroinflammation in a Murine Bone Cancer Pain Model.

Background: Prolonged endoplasmic reticulum stress has been identified in various diseases. Inflammatory mediators, which have been shown to induce endoplasmic reticulum stress in several studies, have been suggested to serve as the important modulators in pain development. In this study, the authors hypothesized that the endoplasmic reticulum stress triggered by inflammatory mediators contributed to pain development.

Conditional loss of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase alleviates acute obstructive cholestatic liver injury by regulating hepatic bile acid metabolism.

Previous studies have suggested that metabolites in the mevalonate pathway are involved in hepatic bile acid metabolism, yet the details of this relationship remain unknown. In this study, we found that the hepatic farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) level and the ratio of FPP to geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) were increased in mice with acute obstructive cholestasis compared with mice that underwent a sham operation. In addition, the livers of the mice with acute obstructive cholestasis showed lower expression of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (GGPPS), which synthesizes GGPP from FPP.

Cannabinoid receptor 2‑selective agonist JWH015 attenuates bone cancer pain through the amelioration of impaired autophagy flux induced by inflammatory mediators in the spinal cord.

Bone cancer pain (BCP) is a severe complication of advanced bone cancer. Although cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) agonists may have an analgesic effect, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. CB2 serves a protective role in various pathological states through the activation of autophagy.

Role of Pyroptosis in Cardiovascular Diseases and its Therapeutic Implications.

Pyroptotic cell death or pyroptosis is characterized by caspase-1-dependent formation of plasma membrane pores, leading to the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and cell lysis. Pyroptosis tightly controls the inflammatory responses and coordinates antimicrobial host defenses by releasing pro-inflammatory cellular contents, such as interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18, and consequently expands or sustains inflammation. It is recognized as an important innate immune effector mechanism against intracellular pathogens.

Preoperative anxiety-induced glucocorticoid signaling reduces GABAergic markers in spinal cord and promotes postoperative hyperalgesia by affecting neuronal PAS domain protein 4.

Preoperative anxiety is common in patients undergoing elective surgery and is closely related to postoperative hyperalgesia. In this study, a single prolonged stress model was used to induce preoperative anxiety-like behavior in rats 24 h before the surgery. We found that single prolonged stress exacerbated the postoperative pain and elevated the level of serum corticosterone.

TFE3 fusions escape from controlling of mTOR signaling pathway and accumulate in the nucleus promoting genes expression in Xp11.2 translocation renal cell carcinomas.

Background: Xp11.2 translocation renal cell carcinoma (tRCC) is mainly caused by translocation of the TFE3 gene located on chromosome Xp11.2 and is characterized by overexpression of the TFE3 fusion gene.

Crosstalk between NFκB-dependent astrocytic CXCL1 and neuron CXCR2 plays a role in descending pain facilitation.

Background: Despite accumulating evidence on the role of glial cells and their associated chemicals in mechanisms of pain, few studies have addressed the potential role of chemokines in the descending facilitation of chronic pain. We aimed to study the hypothesis that CXCL1/CXCR2 axis in the periaqueductal gray (PAG), a co-restructure of the descending nociceptive system, is involved in descending pain facilitation.

Methods: Intramedullary injection of Walker 256 mammary gland carcinoma cells of adult female Sprague Dawley rats was used to establish a bone cancer pain (BCP) model.

Berberine alleviates amyloid β-induced inflammatory response in human neuroblastoma cells by inhibiting proinflammatory factors.

The present study investigated the effect of berberine (BBR) on amyloid β 25-35 (Aβ)-induced inflammatory response in human neuroblastoma cells. To model the inflammatory response observed in the central nervous system of patients with Alzheimer's disease, SH-SY5Y and SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells were induced by Aβ (5 µM) for 24 h. Subsequently, cells were treated with BBR or indomethacin for 2 h.

[Visceral parasitic migration of liver: a clinicopathologic analysis of seven cases].

To investigate the clinical, radiological and pathological features of visceral parasitic migration of the liver. Seven cases of visceral parasitic migration of liver were identified at the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University from January 2008 to July 2017. Clinical data, enhanced CT image and pathological features were analyzed, combining with literature review.

The role of CaMKII in neuropathic pain and fear memory in chronic constriction injury in rats.

Purpose/Aim of the study In this study, we sought to observe the effects of Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) on neuropathic pain and fear memory in a rat model of chronic constriction injury (CCI). Materials and methods Rats were randomly divided into the Sham, Control, CCI and m-AIP groups. In the m-AIP group, an intrathecal injection of m-AIP, the specific antagonist of CaMKII, was given either pretreatment or posttreatment in rats.

The GCs-SGK1-ATP Signaling Pathway in Spinal Astrocytes Underlied Presurgical Anxiety-Induced Postsurgical Hyperalgesia.

Background: Patients undergoing surgery often feel anxious. Accumulating evidence indicated that presurgical anxiety was related to the more severe postsurgical pain. An animal model was established that exposed Sprague-Dawley rats to a single-prolonged stress (SPS) procedure to induce presurgical anxiety-like behaviors.

MiR-125a-5p functions as a tumour suppressor in breast cancer by downregulating BAP1.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the regulation of human cancers, including breast cancer (BC). In the current study, we examined the expression pattern of the miRNA miR-125a-5p in human BC tissues, tumorigenesis of BC progression. We found that miR-125a-5p was significantly downregulated in human BC tissues.

[Curative effect analysis of bile reinfusion combined with enteral nutrition support before surgery of hilar cholangiocarcinoma].

To investigate the clinical effect of bile reinfusion combined with enteral nutrition support before surgery for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. A retrospective analysis of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma who underwent surgical treatment at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Hepato-biliary-pancreatic Surgery Department from July 2010 to August 2017 was completed.A total of 52 cases were finally enrolled in our study.

Anti-nociceptive effects of caloric restriction on neuropathic pain in rats involves silent information regulator 1.

Background: Caloric restriction (CR) increases both average and maximum lifespan, retards physiological signs of ageing, and delays the onset of several diseases and may mediate neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain seriously affects the quality of life of patients. In this study, we investigated whether CR exerts anti-nociceptive effects on neuropathic pain, and probed its potential mechanisms.

Spinal PKC activation - Induced neuronal HMGB1 translocation contributes to hyperalgesia in a bone cancer pain model in rats.

Bone cancer pain (BCP) remains a serious complication of malignancy, which is an intractable clinical problem due to the gap in knowledge of its underlying mechanisms. Recent studies have demonstrated that the major involvement of neuroinflammation, particularly high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), which was identified as a late mediator of inflammation, in a number of pain conditions. However, the underlying mechanisms and functions of HMGB1 release in spinal cord, and its contributions to the development of BCP as well, are poorly understood.

Misaligned Feeding May Aggravate Pain by Disruption of Sleep-Awake Rhythm.

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that patients with eating disorders are more likely to develop chronic pain. A misaligned diet has been reported to disrupt the sleep-awake rhythms. Combined with our previous investigation on circadian pain, we aimed to investigate the role of misaligned diet in the pain sensitivity and the underlying mechanisms.

Strategies for Bispecific Single Chain Antibody in Cancer Immunotherapy.

Genetic engineering has resulted in more than 50 recombinant bispecific antibody formats over the past two decades. Bispecific scFv antibodies represent a successful and promising immunotherapy platform that retargets cytotoxic T cells to tumor cells, with one scFv directed to tumor-associated antigens and the other to T cells. Based on this antibody construct, strategies for both specific tumor targeting and T cell activation are reviewed here.

Zoledronic acid, an FPPS inhibitor, ameliorates liver steatosis through inhibiting hepatic de novo lipogenesis.

Currently, there is no standard therapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and statins have been developed as a first-line pharmaceutical therapeutic option for NAFLD-associated dyslipidemia. However, prolonged statins therapy has side effects, as statins inhibit HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme at the very beginning of the mevalonate pathway. Here, we found that zoledronic acid (ZA), an inhibitor of farnesyl diphosphate synthase in the downstream mevalonate pathway, could attenuate hepatic lipid accumulation and improve liver injury in both high-fat diet-induced C57BL/6J mice and ob/ob mice.

Perturbing NR2B-PSD-95 interaction relieves neuropathic pain by inactivating CaMKII-CREB signaling.

Neuropathic pain is characterized by central sensitization. The interaction between N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) and postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD-95) plays a major role in central sensitization. Here, we aimed to investigate the analgesic effect of disruption of the interaction between NMDAR and PSD-95.

Histological classification of microvascular invasion to predict prognosis in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Similar to hepatocellular carcinoma, microvascular invasion (MVI) is also one of the most significant prognostic factors of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). However, there has not been any literature that had mentioned the histologic classification of microvascular invasion in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. We evaluated the significance of MVI classification in this study and analyzed the prognosis based on MVI classification.

Further Standardization in the Aneurysm Clip: The Effects of Occlusal Depth on the Outcome of Spinal Cord Injury in Rats.

Study Design: Experimental study.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between clip occlusal depth and functional and histological outcome measures in a rat model of thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI).

Summary Of Background Data: Aneurysm clip compression is a proven model of contusion-compression SCI, but the relationship between clip depth and outcomes in thoracic SCI is unknown.

Saturated fatty acids recognition by the CD14-TLR4-MD2 complex may engage in the presurgical anxiety-induced persistent postsurgical pain.

It has been proved that presurgical anxiety can induce the development and progression of persistent postsurgical pain through elevating circulating corticosterone levels and activating the glucocorticoids receptor. Under stressful circumstances, the concentration of blood saturated fatty acids (SFAs) increases rapidly to provide enough ATP for individuals' survival owing to stress hormones such as glucocorticoid, catecholamine and glucagon. It is reported that SFAs can trigger an inflammatory response through CD14-TLR4-MD2 complex.