ObjectiveTraumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major brain injury type commonly caused by traffic accidents, falls, violence, or sports injuries. To obtain mechanistic insights about TBI, experimental animal models such as weight-drop-induced TBI in rats have been developed to mimic closed-head injury in humans. However, the relationship between the mechanical impact level and neurological severity following weight-drop-induced TBI remains uncertain. In this study, we comprehensively investigated the relationship between physical impact and graded severity at various weight-drop heights.ApproachThe acceleration, impact force, and displacement during the impact were accurately measured using an accelerometer, a pressure sensor, and a high-speed camera, respectively. In addition, the longitudinal changes in neurological deficits and balance function were investigated at 1, 4, and 7 days post TBI lesion. The inflammatory expression markers tested by Western blot analysis, including glial fibrillary acidic protein, beta-amyloid precursor protein, and bone marrow tyrosine kinase gene in chromosome X, in the frontal cortex, hippocampus, and corpus callosum were investigated at 1 and 7 days post-lesion.ResultsGradations in impact pressure produced progressive degrees of injury severity in the neurological score and balance function. Western blot analysis demonstrated that all inflammatory expression markers were increased at 1 and 7 days post-impact injury when compared to the sham control rats. The severity of neurologic dysfunction and induction in inflammatory markers strongly correlated with the graded mechanical impact levels.ConclusionsWe conclude that the weight-drop-induced TBI model can produce graded brain injury and induction of neurobehavioral deficits and may have translational relevance to developing therapeutic strategies for TBI.
Foot drop is a common clinical gait impairment characterized by the inability to raise the foot or toes during walking due to the weakness of the dorsiflexors of the foot. Lumbar spine disorders are common neurogenic causes of foot drop. The accurate prognosis and treatment protocols of foot drop are not well delineated in the scientific literature due to the heterogeneity of the underlying lumbar spine disorders, different severities, and distinct definitions of the disease. For translational purposes, the use of animal disease models could be the best way to investigate the pathogenesis of foot drop and help develop effective therapeutic strategies for foot drops. However, no relevant and reproducible foot drop animal models with a suitable gait analysis method were developed for the observation of foot drop symptoms. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop a ventral root avulsion (VRA)-induced foot drop rat model and record detailed time-course changes of gait pattern following L5, L6, or L5 + L6 VRA surgery. Our results suggested that L5 + L6 VRA rats exhibited changes in gait patterns, as compared to sham lesion rats, including a significant reduction of walking speed, step length, toe spread, and swing phase time, as well as an increased duration of the stance phase time. The ankle kinematic data exhibited that the ankle joint angle increased during the mid-swing stage, indicating a significant foot drop pattern during locomotion. Time-course observations displayed that these gait impairments occurred as early as the first-day post-lesion and gradually recovered 7–14 days post-injury. We conclude that the proposed foot drop rat model with a video-based gait analysis approach can precisely detect the foot drop pattern induced by VRA in rats, which can provide insight into the compensatory changes and recovery in gait patterns and might be useful for serving as a translational platform bridging human and animal studies for developing novel therapeutic strategies for foot drop.
Table 1. (continued) Treated, n Failed, n Failure Rate (%) RR, 95% CI P-value Non-Hispanic White 11 2 18.2% 0.82 0.77 Treatment type Triple therapy 86 12 14.0% -Quadruple therapy 14 4 28.6% 2.05 0.16 Duration of Treatment 14 day regimen 90 13 14.4% -
Figure 1. CT scan remarkable for Pancreatic tail lesion and NM scan showing 2.1 cm contrast-enhancing soft tissue density in the pancreatic tail, compatible with intrapancreatic accessory spleen.
e18639 Background: Lung cancer is the second most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths in both sex in the United States (US). Prostate cancer is the most common in men, while in women being breast cancer. America’s Health Rankings (AHR) is a comprehensive assessment of the nation's health on a state-by-state basis to determine state health rankings annually. We aimed to evaluate the association, which has not been investigated, between state-level health disparity as measured by AHR and lung, breast, and prostate cancer incidence and mortality in the US. Methods: We examined lung, breast and prostate cancer incidence and mortality data for 2015-2019 from the United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) database provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Overall state health rankings were obtained from AHR and calculated by an equation using weighted measures in five different categories: 25% Behaviors, 22.5% Community & Environment, 12.5% Policy, 15% Clinical Care, and 25% Outcomes. We extracted 2015-2019 AHR data and further classified state health rankings into quartiles (1st [the healthiest] = rank 1 to 13; 4th [the least healthy] = rank 38 to 50). Associations of cancer incidence and mortality with overall state health rankings were analyzed by negative binomial regressions. Results: From 2015 to 2019, age-adjusted incidence rate per 100,000 population for lung, breast, and prostate cancer were 56.3, 128.0 and 109.8, respectively. Age-adjusted mortality rate per 100,000 population for lung, breast, and prostate cancer were 36.7, 19.9 and 18.9, respectively. Among 50 states we included for analysis, AHR indicated that Hawaii was the healthiest state (No.1) whereas Mississippi was the least healthy state (No. 50) for overall health rankings. States in the 4th quartile of health ranking were significantly associated with greater lung cancer incidence (Rate Ratio [RR]: 1.34 [95% CI, 1.18-1.52]) and mortality (1.50 [1.32-1.71]) than those in the 1st quartile. This was pronounced for age < 65 (Incidence [I]: 1.63 [1.36-1.96]; Mortality [M]: 1.93 [1.51-2.48]), Male (I: 1.48 [1.30-1.67]); M: 1.66 [1.47-1.87]), and Black (I: 1.43 [1.22-1.66]; M: 1.54 [1.32-1.79]). Black women living in states with worse health rankings had higher relative risks of breast cancer incidence (1.14 [1.03-1.26]) and mortality (1.27 [1.05-1.53]). There was no significant association between state health rankings and prostate cancer incidence and mortality in the US. Conclusions: There are significant differences in lung, breast, and prostate cancer incidence and mortality within the US. States with worse health rankings had higher cancer incidence and mortality, and varied by different demographics. Our findings suggests that advanced cancer screening and targeted public health interventions should be prioritized in areas with health disadvantages to improve cancer disparity.
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