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Botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) has been proposed as a treatment for painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the effect and safety of BTX-A for treating DPN pain.
PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched for relevant articles published up to July 7, 2021. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were included if they were related to the treatment of DPN pain with BTX-A. The primary outcome was the change in intensity of pain and secondary outcomes were adverse effects and changes in sleep and life quality.
A total of four studies, comprising 231 patients, were included in our systematic review. BTX-A treatment induced a greater reduction in the visual analog scale score (mean difference = -2.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-3.06, -1.99],
< 0.001) than did the placebo treatment, with no significant heterogeneity between studies (I
= 0). BTX-A treatment improved several neuropathy pain scale items (eg, hot sensation, sensitive sensation, unpleasant sensation, deep pain, and surface pain) significantly more than with placebo treatment (
< 0.05 for all). There was no significant difference in adverse effect (relative risk = 1.00, 95% CI [0.97, 1.03],
= 0.89).
Intradermal BTX-A injection was shown to be effective and safe in relieving DPN pain. Further larger scale and well-designed RCTs are needed.
Intradermal BTX-A injection was shown to be effective and safe in relieving DPN pain. Further larger scale and well-designed RCTs are needed.Quadratus lumborum block (QLB) is clinically used for postoperative analgesia of abdominal or hip surgery, which can reduce the dose of general anesthetic, inhibit postoperative pain, and promote postoperative rehabilitation. However, accumulated studies have shown several drawbacks of QLB, such as only a small portion of local anesthetic spread into the thoracic paravertebral space, relatively longer onset time, and easily-influenced block effect by the integrity of lumbar fascia, etc. Therefore, on the basis of traditional anterior QLB, our group proposed the techniques of a supra-arcuate ligament block, which include a paramedian short-axis scanning approach, paramedian long-axis scanning approach, infra-lateral arcuate ligament QLB with the apposition zone between diaphragm and quadratus lumborum as drug diffusion target and supra-arcuate ligament block under direct laparoscopic visualization. Recent studies have demonstrated that the supra-arcuate ligament blocks have the advantages of clear anatomy, are easy to perform, and have rapid onset, which avoid some drawbacks of the conventional QLB techniques. This article reviews the anatomical basis, sonoanatomy, technical points, and clinical considerations of supra-arcuate ligament blocks.
The global incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing year by year, and many studies have proved that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is involved in the regulation of GDM. BI-4020 in vivo The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of HOTAIR in GDM patients and its clinical significance.
Ninety-eight healthy pregnant women and 99 pregnant women diagnosed with GDM were enrolled in this study. Blood samples were collected from all participants and used for qRT-PCR analysis to determine the serum HOTAIR levels. The ROC curve was constructed to evaluate the diagnostic value of HOTAIR for GDM. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to estimate the correlation between HOTAIR and clinical indicators of patients. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the independent predictors of GDM.
The level of HOTAIR was augmented in GDM group compared with healthy controls. ROC curve revealed that HOTAIR as a diagnostic marker of GDM has high sensitivity and specificity. Pearson correlation coefficient showed that HOTAIR level was positively correlated with body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, 1-hour plasma glucose and 2-hour plasma glucose. Logistic regression analysis shows that HOTAIR is an independent factor of the occurrence of GDM.
The abnormal expression of HOTAIR in pregnant women with GDM made it a potential diagnostic biomarker for GDM.
The abnormal expression of HOTAIR in pregnant women with GDM made it a potential diagnostic biomarker for GDM.
Non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is a common craniofacial birth defect. Growing evidence has demonstrated the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) hypothesis has played a role in the pathogenesis of NSCL/P. Here, we identified the important lncRNAs in NSCL/P and constructed a ceRNA regulatory network to predict their underlying functional mechanism.
Total RNA isolated from the peripheral blood samples were analyzed by the Human Clariom D Affymetrix platform and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Using the limma package in R software, DEGs in the expression profile of GSE42589 were identified from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Co-differentially expressed lncRNAs (co-DElncRNAs) were used to predict the microRNAs that may bind to them. Co-differentially expressed mRNAs (co-DEmRNAs) were subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. The hub genes were screened using the cytohubba plug-in ind the established ceRNA regulatory network provide novel insight into the pathogenesis of NSCL/P, therefore hold great promise in NSCL/P management in clinical practice.
This study was designed to explore the optimal minimum segment width (MSW) in the intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plan for esophageal cancer.
The imaging data of 20 esophageal cancer patients were selected for this study. Four IMRT plans were designed for each patient with MSWs of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 cm. The conformity index (CI) and homogeneity index (HI) of the planning target volumes (PTV), organs at risk (OARs), control points (CP), monitor units (MU), plan delivery time (DT), and gamma passing rates (GPR) were collected and compared to appraise the treatment plan quality and delivery efficiency.
Lower-MSW plans had larger CI and smaller HI values, and lower dose parameters of OARs and PTVs. The HI, CI, and dose parameter of OARs in the 0.5 and 1.0 cm MSW groups were similar and much better than those of the 1.5 and 2.0 cm MSW groups. Meanwhile, the plan in the 0.5 cm MSW group had significantly higher MUs, CPs, and DTs, and a significantly lower relative dose of GPR with a 3% dose difference and 3 mm distance to agreement criteria than the other three groups.
The 0.5 and 1 cm MSW groups had better dosimetric parameters and IMRT plan quality than the other groups. However, plans with 0.5 cm MSW had worse delivery accuracy and efficiency than the other three groups. Thus, MSW of 1.0 cm was the optimal choice to ensure good quality, delivery accuracy, and treatment efficiency in IMRT plans for esophageal cancer.
The 0.5 and 1 cm MSW groups had better dosimetric parameters and IMRT plan quality than the other groups. However, plans with 0.5 cm MSW had worse delivery accuracy and efficiency than the other three groups. Thus, MSW of 1.0 cm was the optimal choice to ensure good quality, delivery accuracy, and treatment efficiency in IMRT plans for esophageal cancer.
Cutaneous warts are benign epithelial skin lesions, caused by human papilloma virus (HPV). These warts can affect any part of the body, and the clinical presentation of cutaneous warts is highly variable, making it difficult to diagnose. Dermoscopy is a relatively new, non-invasive, diagnostic tool, which can assist in the identification of different types of skin lesions.
The purpose of this research article is to determine the effectiveness of dermoscopy in discerning the most common characteristics of cutaneous warts, in order to provide sufficient information on characteristic features of cutaneous warts, which may aid in differentiating cutaneous warts from other similar skin lesions.
A total of 104 patients diagnosed with warts were included in our study. Each individual case had one of the four different types of warts common warts (26 cases), palmer warts (27 cases), plantar warts (25 cases), flat warts (26 cases).
In this study, we found that a percentage of cutaneous warts appear clinically distinguishing them from other similar skin lesions.
Stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) is one of the most prevalent malignances, ranking fifth in incidence and third in mortality among all malignances. Interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) play a vital role in immune response and tumor cellular biological process. The roles of IRFs in STAD are far from being systematically clarified.
A series of bioinformatics tools, including GEPIA, UALCAN, TIMER, Kaplan-Meier plotter and LinkedOmics, were applied to explore the expression and clinical significance of IRFs in STAD.
IRF3/7 expression were upregulated in STAD in sub-group analyses based on race, gender, age, H. Pylori infection status, histological subtypes, tumor grade, individual cancer stages, and nodal metastasis status. High IRF3/7 expression were associated with poor overall survival (OS), post-progression survival (PFPS) and first progression (FP) in STAD. IRF3 and IRF7 were altered in 5% and 6% of all TCGA STAD patients. Further analysis revealed that IRF7 was significantly associated with the abundanceune cells and the expression of most immune biomarkers, suggesting that IRF7 is as a prognostic biomarker and associated with immune infiltration in STAD.
In December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by a novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2; previously known as 2019-nCoV) emerged in Wuhan, China, and caused many infections and deaths. At present, there are no specific drugs for the etiology and treatment of COVID-19. A combination of traditional Chinese and western medicine is proposed to treat COVID-19, in which Huang Lian Jie Du decoction (HLJDD) is recommended for the treatment of COVID-19 in many provinces in China and has been widely used in the clinic. This study explored the potential targets of HLJDD in the treatment of COVID-19 based on network pharmacology.
First, the chemical composition and targets of HLJDD and COVID-19-related targets were obtained through the TCMSP, UniProt, GeneCards and OMIM databases. Second, HLJDD target and HLJDD-COVID-19 target networks were constructed via the STRING database and Cytoscape software. Finally, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of the HLJDD-COVID-19 targets was applied via the DAVID database.
Our study identified a total of 67 active ingredients of HLJDD and 204 targets of HLJDD. A total of 502 COVID-19-related targets were obtained, of which 47 were intersecting targets of HLJDD and COVID-19. A total of 179 GO terms and 77 KEGG terms, including the TNF signaling pathway, NF-κB signaling pathway and HIF-1 signaling pathway, were identified.
The present study explored the potential targets and signaling pathways of HLJDD during the treatment of COVID-19, which may provide a basis for the research and development of drugs for the treatment of COVID-19.
The present study explored the potential targets and signaling pathways of HLJDD during the treatment of COVID-19, which may provide a basis for the research and development of drugs for the treatment of COVID-19.
