Background and Purpose-The intraluminal suture technique for producing middle cerebral artery occlusion in rodents is the most commonly used method for modeling focal cerebral ischemia associated with clinical ischemic stroke. Synchrotron radiation angiography may provide a novel solution to directly monitor the success of middle cerebral artery occlusion. Methods-Twenty adult Sprague-Dawley rats for middle cerebral artery occlusion models were prepared randomly with different suture head silicone coating. In vivo imaging was performed at beam line BL13W1, Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai, China. Results-Silicone-coated suture was superior to uncoated suture for producing consistent brain infarction. Additionally, silicone coating length was an important variable controlling the extent of the ischemic lesion: infarcts affected predominantly the caudate-putamen with large variability (Ͻ2 mm), both the cortex and caudate-putamen (2-3.3 mm), and most of the hemisphere, including the hypothalamus (Ͼ3.3 mm). Conclusions-Synchrotron radiation angiography provides a useful tool to observe hemodynamic changes after middle cerebral artery occlusion, and the physical properties of suture are critical to the success of the middle cerebral artery occlusion model. (Stroke. 2012;43:888-891.)Key Words: angiography Ⅲ middle cerebral artery occlusion Ⅲ synchrotron radiation T he focal cerebral ischemia model involves the occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCAO) and typically results in localized brain infarction, which recapitulates many of the pathophysiological and histopathologic features of stroke. The most common technique for MCAO is the intraluminal filament model. 1 However, 1 limitation of the suture model is its high variability in infarct size. 2 Factors that contribute to such variation include differences in animal strain and weight, method of anesthesia, blood pressure, brain and body temperature, brain vascular anatomy, suture material, duration, and site of occlusion. Physical properties of the filament are important because it is the key factor that affects lesion volume 3 ; however, there is no direct evidence to confirm this principle. 4,5 Regional cerebral blood flow can be measured using autoradiography and laser Doppler flowmetry to confirm successful MCAO, but neither method can dynamically monitor changes of cerebral blood flow in deeper tissue during ischemia-reperfusion. 6,7 Synchrotron radiation angiography (SRA) may represent a novel solution to directly and dynamically monitor MCAO. 8 In the present study, we used SRA to examine if the coating length was critical for producing a highly reproducible stroke model. Materials and Methods Experimental GroupsAnimal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats (SLAC, Shanghai, China) weighing 270 to 350 g were divided into 4 groups randomly (nϭ5/group). The sutures with different physical properties were used in 4 groups t...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly termed as motor neuron disease (MND) in UK, is a chronically lethal disorder among the neurodegenerative diseases, meanwhile. ALS is basically irreversible and progressive deterioration of upper and lower motor neurons in the motor cortex, brain stem and medulla spinalis. Riluzole, used for the treatment of ALS, was demonstrated to slightly delay the initiation of respiratory dysfunction and extend the median survival of patients by a few months. In this study, the key biochemical defects were discussed, such as: mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase, mitochondrial protectants, and anti-excitotoxic/ anti-oxidative / anti-inflammatory/ anti-apoptotic agents, so the related drug candidates that have been studied in ALS models would possibly be further used in ALS patients.

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Introduction: Reported prognostic roles of hypoxic inducible factor (HIF) expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have varied. This meta-analysis aimed to examine the relationship between HIF expression and clinical outcome in NSCLC patients. Methods: PubMed were used to identify relevant literature with the last report up to December 20 th , 2012. After careful review, survival data were collected from eligible studies. We completed the meta-analysis using Stata statistical software (Version 11) and combined hazard ratio (HR) for overall survival (OS). Subgroup specificity, heterogeneity and publication bias were also assessed. All of the results were verified by two persons to ensure accuracy. Results: Eight studies were finally stepped into this meta-analysis in which seven had available data for HIF-1α and three for HIF-2α. Combined HRs suggested that higher expression of HIF1α had a negative impact on NSCLC patient survival (HR=1.50; 95%CI =1.07-2.10; p=0.019). The expression of HIF-2α was also relative to a poorer survival (HR=2.02; 95%CI =1.47-2.77; p=0.000). No bias existed in either of the two groups. Conclusion: This study suggests that elevations of HIF-1α and HIF-2α expression are both associated with poor outcome for patients with NSCLC. The data support further and high quality investigation of HIF expression for predicting poor outcome in patients with NSCLC.

Male breast carcinoma is a relatively rare disease. This study retrospectively investigated the clinicopathological features of 73 cases of male breast carcinoma in Chinese population, and classified the molecular subtype based on surrogate immunohistochemical definitions. The expression of GCDFP15, MGB, AR and FOXP1 were evaluated. Invasive carcinoma of no special type was the most common histological type in the study group (71.2%, 52/73). The luminal A and B subtypes were the major types of male breast carcinoma (60.9%, 34.8% respectively). AR and FOXP1 are expressed in 84.2% (48/57) and 71.9% (41/57) of the studied cases. Carcinoma of the luminal A subtype expressed GCDFP15 (73.5%, 25/34) and MGB (58.8%, 20/34) more frequently than cases of the luminal B subtypes (34.8%, 8/23 and 43.5%, 10/23, respectively; P = 0.004, P = 0.255, respectively). In conclusion, invasive carcinoma of no special type was the most common histological type in male breast carcinoma among Chinese population. Our study revealed that the luminal A and B subtypes were the major types of male breast carcinoma. AR and FOXP1 are highly expressed in male breast cancer. The luminal A subtype tends to express GCDFP15 and MGB more frequently than the luminal B subtype.

Background The accurate prediction of post-hepatectomy early recurrence (PHER) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is vital in determining postoperative adjuvant treatment and monitoring. This study aimed to develop and validate an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict PHER in HCC patients without macroscopic vascular invasion. Methods Nine hundred and three patients who underwent curative liver resection for HCC participated in this study. They were randomly divided into derivation (n = 679) and validation (n = 224) cohorts. The ANN model was developed in the derivation cohort and subsequently verified in the validation cohort. Results PHER morbidity in the derivation and validation cohorts was 34.8 and 39.2%, respectively. A multivariable analysis revealed that hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid load, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase level, α-fetoprotein level, tumor size, tumor differentiation, microvascular invasion, satellite nodules, and blood loss were significantly associated with PHER. These factors were incorporated into an ANN model, which displayed greater discriminatory abilities than a Cox’s proportional hazards model, preexisting recurrence models, and commonly used staging systems for predicting PHER. The recurrence-free survival curves were significantly different between patients that had been stratified into two risk groups. Conclusion When compared to other models and staging systems, the ANN model has a significant advantage in predicting PHER for HCC patients without macroscopic vascular invasion.