Abstract Cryptotanshinone (CPT), a terpenoid isolated from the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, was reported to have neuroprotective effects against cerebral ischemic stroke. However, the exact molecular mechanism underlying its neuroprotective ability remains unclear. The present study aimed to explore the regulatory effects of CPT on oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R)-induced cell injury in a model of hippocampal neurons. Our results demonstrated that CPT improved cell viability and reduced the lactate dehydrogenase leakage in OGD/R-stimulated hippocampal neurons. In addition, CPT significantly inhibited oxidative stress and apoptosis in hippocampal neurons after OGD/R stimulation. Furthermore, CPT significantly enhanced the nuclear translocation of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression in hippocampal neurons exposed to OGD/R. Moreover, Nrf2 knockdown reversed the anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidant activities of CPT in primary hippocampal neurons exposed to OGD/R. In conclusion, these findings demonstrated that CPT attenuated oxidative stress and neuronal apoptosis after OGD/R injury through the activation of Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway in hippocampal neurons. Thus, CPT may be a novel therapeutic agent for cerebral I/R injury.

Although metastasis is the major cause of death in cervical cancer, the mechanism of metastasis is still unclear. The mRNA expression and protein level of latent transforming growth factor beta binding protein 1 (LTBP1) were detected in tumor tissues and paracancerous tissues from in-house samples. Cell proliferation, cell cycle, migration, and in vivo metastasis were determined after LTBP1 was knocked down. Then, 13 drugs were screened, and the changes in cell apoptosis and proliferation and tumor metastasis were detected after drug treatment in shRNA cells. In our in-house samples, LTBP1 was lowly expressed in cervical cancer tissues. After LTBP1 knockdown, cell proliferation was increased, and the ability of in vitro migration and in vivo metastasis was enhanced. At the same time, the proportion of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC) in situ increased, the proportion of T cells decreased, and transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFβ1) signaling was activated. After carboplatin treatment, LTBP1 shRNA cell line apoptosis increased, metastasis in vivo was limited, and the proportion of MDSC in situ decreased. LTBP1 was lowly expressed in cervical cancer, and the inhibition of LTBP1 can improve the malignant degree of the tumor, and this process can be blocked by carboplatin.

Naringenin (NAR) is a major flavanone in citrus fruits that has multiple pharmacological attributes such as anticancer and antiatherogenic. This study aims to investigate the mechanism of NAR in high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced atherosclerosis (AS) in apolipoprotein E-knockout (ApoE-/-) mice. A HFD-induced AS ApoE-/- mouse model was established. The mice were treated with HFD, different doses of NAR and simvastatin (Simv). After drug treatment, the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were determined. The expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) was detected using qRT-PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The plaque area of the aorta of AS mice was determined using oil red O staining. Western blot analysis was applied to measure the levels of autophagy-related proteins [protein 1 light chain 3B (LC3B), beclin 1, and p62]. The TC, TG, LDL-C, TNF-α, ALT, and MDA levels were significantly increased while the HDL-C, SOD, and GSH-Px levels were decreased in the HFD-induced AS ApoE-/- mice. NAR treatment reversed the expression of the above indicators in mice. After they were treated with different doses of NAR, the LC3B and beclin 1 levels were improved while the p62 protein level was decreased. This study suggested that NAR could promote cell autophagy to improve HFD-induced AS in ApoE-/- mice.

SUMMARY: Thoracic disc herniation (TDH) has high technical difficulty and serious complications, and the clinical anatomy of thoracic intervertebral foramen is less. Collecting 10 adult male cadavers, measuring the longitudinal diameter of the dorsal root ganglion (D1), the transverse diameter of the dorsal root ganglion (D2), horizontal sagittal diameter of the upper edge of the intervertebral disc (S1), the high of intervertebral foramen (H1), the height of articulationes costovertebrales (H2), the height of intervertebral disk (H3), the angel of the dorsal root ganglion (a). The aim of this study is to explore the safe area of middle and lower thoracic section and provide anatomical basis for the selection of operative cannula. Mastering the certain rules of the anatomical structure of the middle and lower thoracic segments, and referring to the above parameters in clinical, is conducive to the selection of the working casing during surgery.

RESUMEN: La hernia de disco torácico (TDH) tiene una alta dificultad técnica y complicaciones graves, y la anatomía clínica del agujero intervertebral torácico es menor. Recolectando 10 cadáveres machos adultos, midiendo el diámetro longitudinal del ganglio de la raíz dorsal (D1), el diámetro transversal del ganglio de la raíz dorsal (D2), el diámetro sagital horizontal del borde superior del disco intervertebral (S1), el colmo del intervertebral agujero (H1), la altura de las articulaciones costovertebrales (H2), la altura del disco intervertebral (H3), el ángel del ganglio de la raíz dorsal (α). El objetivo de este estudio es explorar el área segura de la sección torácica media y baja y proporcionar una base anatómica para la selección de la cánula operatoria. Dominar ciertas reglas de la estructura anatómica de los segmentos torácicos medio e inferior, y referirse a los parámetros anteriores en clínica, es propicio para la selección de la carcasa de trabajo durante la cirugía.

SUMMARY: This study aimed to investigate the sagittal spinal-pelvic morphological changes, as well as the relationship between pelvic anatomical changes and the spinal-pelvic plane in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), in order to provide guidelines for orthopedic surgery in AIS. X-ray data were collected for retrospective analysis from 30 patients diagnosed as AIS in the Departments of Radiology at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University and the Inner Mongolia International Mongolian Medical Hospital from April 2014 to November 2018, along with 30 normal adolescents as control. Pelvic parameters, including pelvic incidence (PI), pelvic tilt (PT), and sacral slope (SS), a spinal parameter, lumbar lordosis (LL), and anatomical parameters, including sacral width (SW) and femoral head- sacrum distance (FH-S), were measured. The spinal-pelvic parameters were compared between AIS patients and normal controls and also between male and female AIS patients. Pearson correlation was performed to analyze correlation between spinal-pelvic parameters and between spinal-pelvic parameters and anatomical parameters in both AIS patients and normal controls. PT was significantly lower in AIS patients than in normal controls (P < 0.05), whereas no significant difference was found in the other spinal-pelvic parameters, i. e. , LL, PI, and SS. There was a significant difference in PT between sexes in AIS patients. SS was significantly correlated with LL in EIA patients (P < 0.05, r > 0.5). SS was significantly correlated with LL and PI, and PT with LL, PI, and SS in normal controls (all P < 0.05), and there was no significant correlation between the other sagittal spinal-pelvic parameters (P > 0.05). FH-S was significantly correlated with LL, PI, SS, and PT in AIS patients (all P < 0.05). AIS affects some of the sagittal spinalpelvic parameters and anatomical parameters. In AIS, there is a significant correlation between the spinal-pelvic parameters, and the anatomical parameter is significantly correlated with multiple spinal-pelvic parameters.

RESUMEN: Este estudio tuvo como objetivo investigar los cambios morfológicos sagitales de la columna vertebral-pélvica, así como la relación entre los cambios anatómicos pélvicos y el plano espinal-pélvico en pacientes con escoliosis idiopática adolescente (EIA), con el fin de proporcionar pautas para la cirugía ortopédica en AIS. Se obtuvieron los datos de rayos X para el análisis retrospectivo de 30 pacientes diagnosticados como EIA en los Departamentos de Radiología del hospital Second Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University y el hospital Inner Mongolia International Mongolian Medical Hospital, desde abril de 2014 hasta noviembre del 2018, junto con 30 adolescentes normales como control. Se midieron los parámetros pélvicos, que incluyeron incidencia pélvica (IP), inclinación pélvica (P) y pendiente sacra (PS), un parámetro espinal, lordosis lumbar (LL) y parámetros anatómicos, que incluyeron el ancho sacro (AS) y la distancia del sacro cabeza femoral (FH-S). Los parámetros espinalpélvicos se compararon entre los pacientes con EIA y los controles normales, como también entre pacientes con EIA masculinos y femeninos. La correlación de Pearson se realizó para analizar la correlación entre los parámetros espinal-pélvicos y entre los parámetros espinal-pélvicos y los parámetros anatómicos tanto en pacientes con EIA como en controles normales. PT fue significativamente menor en pacientes con EIA que en los controles normales (P <0,05), mientras que no se encontraron diferencias significativas en los otros parámetros espinal-pélvicos, i. mi. , LL, PI y SS. Hubo una diferencia significativa en PT en pacientes de ambos sexos con EIA. SS se correlacionó significativamente con LL en pacientes con EIA (P <0,05, r> 0,5). SS se correlacionó significativamente con LL y PI, y PT con LL, PI y SS en controles normales (todos P <0,05), y no hubo correlación significativa entre los otros parámetros sagitales de la columna vertebral-pélvica (P> 0,05) FH-S se correlacionó significativamente con LL, PI, SS y PT en pacientes con EIA (todos P <0,05). EIA afecta algunos de los parámetros sagitales de la columna vertebral-pélvica y los parámetros anatómicos. En EIA, existe una correlación significativa entre los parámetros espinal-pélvicos, y el parámetro anatómico se correlaciona significativamente con múltiples parámetros espinales-pélvicos.

Objective: To analyze the efficacy and safety of paliperidone palmitate 3-monthly (PP3M) in Latin American patients with schizophrenia vs. rest-of-world (ROW). Methods: We analyzed data from two multinational, double-blind (DB), randomized, controlled phase 3 studies including patients with schizophrenia (DSM-IV-TR) previously stabilized on PP1M/PP3M (open-label [OL] phase). Patients were randomized to PP3M or PP1M (noninferiority study A) and PP3M or placebo (study B) in DB phase. The subgroup analysis included Latin American (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico) patients. Primary efficacy endpoints were relapse-free rates (study A) and time-to-relapse (study B). Results: In study A, 63/71 (88.7%) and in study B 38/43 (88.4%) Latin American patients completed the DB phase. In study A, relapse-free percentage was similar in Latin America (PP3M: 97%, PP1M: 100%) and ROW (PP3M: 91%, PP1M: 89%). In study B, median time-to-relapse was not estimable in the Latin American subgroup for either placebo or PP3M groups, nor for the ROW PP3M group; the median time-to-relapse in the ROW placebo group was 395 days. Caregiver burden improved in patients switching from oral antipsychotics (OL baseline) to PP3M/PP1M in DB phase (Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire score mean ± SD change, -9.4±15.16; p < 0.001). Treatment emergent adverse events with PP3M during DB phase were similar in Latin America (study A: 24/34 [70.6%]; study B: 15/21 [71.4%]) and ROW (study A: 318/470 [67.7%]; study B: 84/139 [60.4%]) subgroups. Conclusion: PP3M was efficacious and showed no new safety concerns in patients with schizophrenia from Latin America, corroborating ROW findings. Clinical trial registration: NCT01515423, NCT01529515

ABSTRACT Phytoene synthase (PSY) is the rate-limiting enzyme for carotenoid biosynthesis. To date, several studies focused on PSY genes in the context of abiotic stress responses. In this study, two phytoene synthase encoding genes, IbPSY1 and IbPSY2, were identified from a published transcriptome and bioinformatic analysis showed that they shared conserved domains with phytoene synthases from other plants. The IbPSY1 gene was cloned and carefully characterized. Digital gene expression profiling (DGE) showed that the highest transcription level of IbPSY1 was in young leaves, and the lowest level was in stems. In vivo expression levels of IbPSY1 under abiotic stress were observed to be highest in stems at day 11. Over-expression of IbPSY1 in Escherichia coli and yeast cells endowed the cells with better growth under salt and drought stress than the control cells. This study demonstrated that IbPSY1 not only played an important role in vivo, but also in E. coli and yeast to improve tolerance to salinity and drought stress. Thus, IbPSY1 may be aid in the development of transgenic plants with enhanced stress tolerance.