Robotic Surgery for Giant Presacral Dumbbell-Shape Schwannoma

Objective: To demonstrate the feasibility of using da Vinci robotic surgical system to perform spinal surgery.Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a 29-year-old female patient complaining right pelvic pain for 1 month revealed a 17x8x10 cm non-homogeneous dumbbell shape encapsulated mass with cystic change located in the pelvic cavity and caused an anterior displacement of urinary bladder and colon.Results: There was no systemic complication and pain decrease 24 hours after surgery and  during 2 years of follow up. The patient started a diet 6 hours after the surgery and was discharged 72 hours after the surgery. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor was schwannoma. Conclusions: Giant dumbbell shape presacral schwannomas are rare tumours and their surgical treatment is challenging because of the complex anatomy of the presacral. Clinical application of da Vinci robotic surgical system in the spinal surgical field is currently confined to the treatment of some specific diseases or procedures. However, robotic surgery is expected to play a practical future role as it is minimally invasive. The advent of robotic technology will prove to be a boon to the neurosurgeon.Keywords: da Vinci robotic surgical system, presacral, schwannoma DOI: 10.15850/ijihs.v3n1.40

Evaluation on antioxidant properties of sixteen plant species from Jeju Island in Korea

In this study, the antioxidant properties of 80 % ethanol extracts of 16 species of plants from Jeju Island in Korea were evaluated using various antioxidant assays, including the DPPH (1,1-Diphenyl-2-pricrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging, superoxide scavenging, xanthine oxidase inhibition and hydrogen peroxide scavenging activities. Among the 16 plant extracts tested, CN-13 showed strong antioxidant properties in the DPPH radical scavenging and hydrogen peroxide scavenging tests. The CN-13 ethanol extract was thus selected to be used for further experiments, and was separated into various fractions using four different organic solvents (n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate and butanol). The ethyl acetate fraction of CN-13 extract evidenced strong DPPH radical scavenging properties as compared to the other fractions. The ethyl acetate fraction also strongly inhibited DNA-damage induced by hydrogen peroxide-oxidative damage in a mouse lymphoma (L5178Y-R) cell line. Moreover, a correlation between the total phenolic content of the extract, and its antioxidant property was reported

Resting-State Glucose Metabolism Level Is Associated with the Regional Pattern of Amyloid Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease

It has been suggested that glucose metabolism within the brain's default network is directly associated with—and may even cause—the amyloid pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we performed 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) and [11C]-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB) positron emission tomography (PET) on cognitively normal elderly subjects and on AD patients and conducted quantitative regional analysis of FDG- and PIB-PET images using an automated region of interest technique. We confirmed that resting glucose metabolism within the posterior components of the brain's default network is high in normal elderly subjects and low in AD patients, which is partially in agreement with the regional pattern of PIB uptake within the default network of AD patients. However, in several regions outside the default network, glucose metabolism was high in normal elderly subjects but was not depressed in AD patients, who exhibited significantly increased PIB uptakes in these regions. In contrast, the level of resting glucose metabolism in the default network and in regions outside the default network in normal elderly subjects was significantly correlated with the level of regional PIB uptake in AD patients. These results are discussed with experimental evidence suggesting that beta amyloid production and amyloid precursor protein regulation are dependent on neuronal activity

Favorable response to doxorubicin combination chemotherapy does not yield good clinical outcome in patients with metastatic breast cancer with triple-negative phenotype

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We analyzed the responses to first line treatment and clinical outcomes of metastatic breast cancer patients treated with palliative doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide (AC) according to molecular cancer subtype.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective analysis was performed for 110 metastatic breast cancer patients selected on the basis of palliative AC treatment and the availability of immunohistochemical data for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2/neu) status.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 110 patients analyzed, 71 (64.5%) were hormone receptor positive (HR+), 14 (12.7%) were HER2+, and 25 (22.7%) were triple negative (TN). There were no differences in age, stage at diagnosis, total number of cycles of palliative chemotherapy, incidence of visceral metastasis, and metastatic sites with the exception of liver among breast cancer subtypes. The overall response rates to AC were 55.9% for the HR+ subgroup, 42.9% for the HER2+ subgroup, and 56.5% for the TN subgroup. The progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with HER2+ and TN were significantly shorter than in the HR+ (median PFS, 9.1 <it>vs </it>8.1 <it>vs </it>11.5 months, respectively; p = 0.0002). The overall survival (OS) was 25.4 months in the TN subgroup and 27.3 months in HER2+ subgroup. The median OS for these two groups was significantly shorter than for patients in the HR+ subgroup (median, 38.5 months; 95% CI, 30.1-46.9 months; p < 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The response to palliative AC chemotherapy did not differ among breast cancer subtypes. Despite chemosensitivity for palliative AC, the TN subtype has a shorter overall survival than non-TN subtypes. Innovative treatment strategies should be developed to slow the course of disease.</p

SARS-CoV-2 aberrantly elevates mitochondrial bioenergetics to induce robust virus propagation

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a 'highly transmissible respiratory pathogen, leading to severe multi-organ damage. However, knowledge regarding SARS-CoV-2-induced cellular alterations is limited. In this study, we report that SARS-CoV-2 aberrantly elevates mitochondrial bioenergetics and activates the EGFR-mediated cell survival signal cascade during the early stage of viral infection. SARS-CoV-2 causes an increase in mitochondrial transmembrane potential via the SARS-CoV-2 RNA-nucleocapsid cluster, thereby abnormally promoting mitochondrial elongation and the OXPHOS process, followed by enhancing ATP production. Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2 activates the EGFR signal cascade and subsequently induces mitochondrial EGFR trafficking, contributing to abnormal OXPHOS process and viral propagation. Approved EGFR inhibitors remarkably reduce SARS-CoV-2 propagation, among which vandetanib exhibits the highest antiviral efficacy. Treatment of SARS-CoV-2-infected cells with vandetanib decreases SARS-CoV-2-induced EGFR trafficking to the mitochondria and restores SARS-CoV-2-induced aberrant elevation in OXPHOS process and ATP generation, thereby resulting in the reduction of SARS-CoV-2 propagation. Furthermore, oral administration of vandetanib to SARS-CoV-2-infected hACE2 transgenic mice reduces SARS-CoV-2 propagation in lung tissue and mitigates SARS-CoV-2-induced lung inflammation. Vandetanib also exhibits potent antiviral activity against various SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including alpha, beta, delta and omicron, in in vitro cell culture experiments. Taken together, our findings provide novel insight into SARS-CoV-2-induced alterations in mitochondrial dynamics and EGFR trafficking during the early stage of viral infection and their roles in robust SARS-CoV-2 propagation, suggesting that EGFR is an attractive host target for combating COVID-19

Trans-1,3-diphenyl-2,3-epoxypropan-1-one, a chalcone derivative, induces apoptosis via ROS-mediated down-regulation of Bcl-xL in human leukemia HL-60 cells

The anticancer effects of trans-1,3-diphenyl-2,3-epoxypropan-1-one (DPEP), a chalcone derivative, were investigated in human leukemia HL-60 cells. Treatment of HL-60 cells with various concentration of DPEP resulted in a sequence of events characteristic of apoptosis, including loss of cell viability, morphological changes, and increased sub-G1 DNA content. We demonstrated that DPEP elevates reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in HL-60 cells, and that the ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine (NAC) could block DPEP-induced ROS generation and apoptosis. Western blot analysis revealed that DPEP inhibits Bcl-xL expression, leading to caspase-3 activation and poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage, thereby inducing apoptosis. However, NAC pretreatment significantly inhibited the activation of caspase-3 and PARP cleavage and reduced Bcl-xL levels. These findings provide the first evidence that DPEP may inhibit the growth of HL-60 cells and induce apoptosis through a ROS-mediated Bcl-xL pathway

Robotic Surgery for Giant Presacral Dumbbell-Shape Schwannoma

Objective: To demonstrate the feasibility of using da Vinci robotic surgical system to perform spinal surgery.Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a 29-year-old female patient complaining right pelvic pain for 1 month revealed a 17x8x10 cm non-homogeneous dumbbell shape encapsulated mass with cystic change located in the pelvic cavity and caused an anterior displacement of urinary bladder and colon.Results: There was no systemic complication and pain decrease 24 hours after surgery and  during 2 years of follow up. The patient started a diet 6 hours after the surgery and was discharged 72 hours after the surgery. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor was schwannoma. Conclusions: Giant dumbbell shape presacral schwannomas are rare tumours and their surgical treatment is challenging because of the complex anatomy of the presacral. Clinical application of da Vinci robotic surgical system in the spinal surgical field is currently confined to the treatment of some specific diseases or procedures. However, robotic surgery is expected to play a practical future role as it is minimally invasive. The advent of robotic technology will prove to be a boon to the neurosurgeon.Keywords: da Vinci robotic surgical system, presacral, schwannoma DOI: 10.15850/ijihs.v3n1.40