Perforated Appendiceal Mucinous Cystadenoma Mimicking Ruptured Appendicitis With Abscess Formation: CT Imaging Features

AbstractWe describe the imaging features of a perforated appendiceal mucinous cystadenoma in a 72-year-old woman presenting with right lower quadrant abdominal pain, mimicking ruptured appendicitis with abscess formation. Computed tomography revealed a rim-enhanced cystic lesion at the proximal appendiceal orifice, connecting with the swollen and dilated distal part of the appendix. Disruption of the appendiceal walls and peri-appendiceal fatty infiltrations were also noted. Under the impression of ruptured appendicitis with abscess formation, the patient underwent exploratory laparotomy and appendectomy. The pathologic diagnosis was perforated appendiceal mucinous cystadenoma associated with superinfection, complicated by secondary appendicitis. The patient was uneventfully discharged on the 7th hospital day. Although primary neoplasms of the appendix are uncommon, they should be considered as a predisposing factor in elderly patients manifesting with appendicitis

RhoGDIβ-induced hypertrophic growth in H9c2 cells is negatively regulated by ZAK

We found that overexpression of RhoGDIβ, a Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor, induced hypertrophic growth and suppressed cell cycle progression in a cultured cardiomyoblast cell line. Knockdown of RhoGDIβ expression by RNA interference blocked hypertrophic growth. We further demonstrated that RhoGDIβ physically interacts with ZAK and is phosphorylated by ZAK in vitro, and this phosphorylation negatively regulates RhoGDIβ functions. Moreover, the ZAK-RhoGDIβ interaction may maintain ZAK in an inactive hypophosphorylated form. These two proteins could negatively regulate one another such that ZAK suppresses RhoGDIβ functions through phosphorylation and RhoGDIβ counteracts the effects of ZAK by physical interaction. Knockdown of ZAK expression in ZAK- and RhoGDIβ-expressing cells by ZAK-specific RNA interference restored the full functions of RhoGDIβ

ZAK negatively regulates RhoGDIβ-induced Rac1-mediated hypertrophic growth and cell migration

RhoGDIβ, a Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor, induced hypertrophic growth and cell migration in a cultured cardiomyoblast cell line, H9c2. We demonstrated that RhoGDIβ plays a previously undefined role in regulating Rac1 expression through transcription to induce hypertrophic growth and cell migration and that these functions are blocked by the expression of a dominant-negative form of Rac1. We also demonstrated that knockdown of RhoGDIβ expression by RNA interference blocked RhoGDIβ-induced Rac1 expression and cell migration. We demonstrated that the co-expression of ZAK and RhoGDIβ in cells resulted in an inhibition in the activity of ZAK to induce ANF expression. Knockdown of ZAK expression in ZAK-RhoGDIβ-expressing cells by ZAK-specific RNA interference restored the activities of RhoGDIβ

Pretreatment with a Heat-Killed Probiotic Modulates the NLRP3 Inflammasome and Attenuates Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer in Mice.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Inflammation contributes to cancer development and inflammatory bowel disease is an important risk factor for CRC. The aim of this study is to assess whether a widely used probiotic Enterococcus faecalis can modulate the NLRP3 inflammasome and protect against colitis and colitis-associated CRC. We studied the effect of heat-killed cells of E. faecalis on NLRP3 inflammasome activation in THP-1-derived macrophages. Pretreatment of E. faecalis or NLRP3 siRNA can inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages in response to fecal content or commensal microbes, P. mirabilis or E. coli, according to the reduction of caspase-1 activation and IL-1β maturation. Mechanistically, E. faecalis attenuates the phagocytosis that is required for the full activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. In in vivo mouse experiments, E. faecalis can ameliorate the severity of intestinal inflammation and thereby protect mice from dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis and the formation of CRC in wild type mice. On the other hand, E. faecalis cannot prevent DSS-induced colitis in NLRP3 knockout mice. Our findings indicate that application of the inactivated probiotic, E. faecalis, may be a useful and safe strategy for attenuation of NLRP3-mediated colitis and inflammation-associated colon carcinogenesis

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Treatment Effects of Chin Cup Appliance on Mandible in Class Iii Malocclusion: Strain Tensor Analysis. A Pilot Study

Objective: The effects of chin cup therapy on the mandible in Class III malocclusions have been investigated extensively via cephalometric analyses. However, the actual sites of mandibular skeletal change are not detectable with conventional cephalometric analysis. It is important to elucidate the association between remodeling of the mandible with the mechanical stress applied with chin cup therapy. Method and materials: In this study, the geometric morphometric changes in the mandible from chin cup force and /or growth were investigated using strain tensor analysis. Results: This geometric morphometric analysis reveals that mandibular deformation arises partly due to a size change and partly due to a shape change. The direction and magnitude of principal vectors of the strain tensors may provide more information about this deformation. Conclusion: Strain tensor analysis may show the degree of transformation within the mandibular geometric configuration due to treatment effects and/or growth changes as seen on lateral cephalometric radiographs

Restenosis Investigation of Two-Stent Placement in the Artery Bifurcation with Different Stenting Techniques Using Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis

The in-stent restenosis may still occur in patients with a coronary bifurcation stenting. The purpose of this study is to investigate the restenosis effect in the relationships between the bifurcation angles of the coronary artery and three types of stenting techniques (T-stenting, Culotte, and Kissing techniques), for comparing two kinds of arterial shapes using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The finite element models of two types of the coronary arteries were reconstructed using stereolithography (STL) data of an artificial artery from reverse engineering laser scanning, and then each artery was further modified to add three kinds of the bifurcation angles, including 80°, 113°, and 142°. The low TAWSS of the two arteries were mainly concentrated at the LCX branch; a more essential discovery was that the low TAWSS area ration was in proportion to the bifurcation angle. The smallest low TAWSS of the T-stenting and Kissing techniques was detected in the arteries A and B, respectively. Both Culotte and Kissing techniques always showed a higher OSI than the T-stenting, and a high OSI was meaningfully located at the LCX branch. The CFD study concluded that the large bifurcation angle of an artery using a long stent at the LCX side branch with the T-stenting technique has a high risk of stenting restenosis

Investigation of pullout strength in different designs of pedicle screws for osteoporotic bone quality using finite element analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate pullout strength of three types of pedicle screws with and without cement augmentation in osteoporotic bone using finite element analysis. Methods: Twelve 3D finite element models were created to investigate the effect of pullout strength when comparing between pedicle screw types and bone cement clouds. The bottom side of bone block model was constrained and U-shape head was applied 1 mm in direction of longitudinal axis of pedicle screw to perform pullout resistance. The material properties of the FEA was set as linear elastic, homogenous, isotropic condition. The element sensitivity of convergence testing has been performed and variation of the sequential analytical results was less than 3%. Results: The results showed that the maximum total reaction force (133.8 N) was detected in the model of cannulated pedicle screw combined with a central pin with 4 ml cement augmentation, but, in contrast, the minimum total reaction force (106.8 N) was discovered in the model of cannulated pedicle screw without cement. A strong relationship (r = 0.9626) is found in comparison with the biomechanical results between pullout strength of sawbone testing and reaction forces of the FEA. Conclusions: The study concludes that the cannulated pedicle screw can not only provide an inner guider for cement flow and increase bending resistance (deflection effect) when a central pin is selected, but also can improve the pullout strength in the osteoporotic bone to add cement augmentation. The design of the cannulated pedicle screw is suggested for poor bone quality to change pullout failure