A prospective study with subjective evaluation of shoulder pain and objective evaluation of shoulder muscle strength by isokinetic testing and electromyographic and electroneurographic studies of spinal accessory nerve function was performed on patients who had undergone neck dissection procedures. Twenty-one patients with head and neck cancer were enrolled in this study. Three types of neck dissection were performed: 7 selective neck dissections, 9 modified radical neck dissections, and 5 radical neck dissections. All patients who underwent radical neck dissection had shoulder pain, and 80% of them had shoulder droop after the operation. In the patients who underwent selective neck dissection, the electromyographic findings of the spinal accessory nerve were relatively normal. Their shoulder strength was sometimes decreased at I month after operation, but it had returned to preoperative strength by the 6-month follow-up visit. These findings suggested that patients who underwent selective neck dissection had the least damage to spinal accessory nerve function and the least shoulder disability after neck dissection.

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Danshen (salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge) is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. However, it is definite clinical effort and mechanism on breast cancer is unclear. In our study, we used the real-world database to investigate in vivo protective effort of danshen in the breast cancer patients through using population-based data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). In vitro, human breast cancer cells (MCF-7 cells and MDA-MB-231 cells) were used to investigate the effect and the underlying mechanism through XTT assay, flow cytometry, glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity assay, GSH (reduced glutathione)/GSSG (oxidized glutathione), malondialdehyde (MDA), and western blot analysis. The in vivo effect was investigated through a xenograft nude mouse model. We found that dihydroisotanshinone I (DT), a pure compound present in danshen, can inhibit the growth of breast carcinoma cells, including MCF-7 cells and MDA-MB-231 cells. Moreover, DT induced apoptosis and ferroptosis in these breast cancer cells. DT also repressed the protein expression of GPX4 (Glutathione peroxidase 4). For in vivo study, DT treatment also significantly inhibited the final tumor volume without adverse effects in a xenograft nude mouse model. In conclusion, danshen has protective efforts in breast cancer patients, which could be attributed to DT through inducing apoptosis and ferroptosis of breast cancer cells.

No abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate early radiation effects on tongue function for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and to provide a scientific database for early intervention plans. Twelve subjects with NPC and 12 age- and sex-matched normal subjects were included. Tongue maximum isometric strength and endurance at 50% of maximum strength were obtained once from normal subjects with the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI) and twice from the NPC subjects: before and 2 months after radiation treatment. No significant differences were found in tongue function evaluation for normal or NPC groups in either pre- or post-treatments. However, this study showed that significant decreases in tongue function may not start until 2 months after treatment.

This population-based study evaluated the short-term association between fine particulate matter (PM) concentrations and its constituents and hospital emergency room visits (ERVs) for asthma in southern Taiwan during the period 2008-2010. Data on hospital ERVs for asthma and ambient PM levels and its constituents were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research database and the Environmental Protection Administration, respectively. The quasi-Poisson generalized additive model was used to explore the associations between PM and hospital ERVs for asthma. During the study period, the average daily number of ERVs for asthma and mean 24-h average level of PM was 20.0 and 39.4 μg m, respectively. The estimated effects of PM on asthma ERVs fluctuated with increasing tendencies after adjusting for O and attenuating tendencies after adjusting for NO, SO, and CO. Children were more susceptible than other age groups to the effects of PM exposure on asthma ERVs, with the relative risks (RRs) for every 10 μg m increase in PM being 1.016 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.002-1.030] and 1.018 (95% CI = 1.002-1.034), respectively, at a lag 0 day (i.e., no lag days) and lag 0-1 days. The effect of PM concentrations on asthma ERVs was similar in male and female. Furthermore, asthma ERVs was significantly associated with concentrations of nitrate (NO), with the RR for each 1 μg m increase in NO concentrations being 1.004 (95% CI = 1.001-1.007) at lag 0 day. In conclusion, both PM concentrations and its chemical constituents are associated with ERVs for asthma; moreover, children were more susceptible to the effects of PM in southern Taiwan. PM constituent, nitrate, is more closely related to ERVs for asthma.

Gross motor functions may be good predictors of the physical component of health-related quality of life, but they are poor predictors of the psychosocial component of health-related quality of life in children with cerebral palsy. In the future, more comprehensive information regarding children's comorbidities may need to be objectively gathered to provide professionals a better understanding of their health-related quality of life.

Objective: To investigate the hepatoprotective mechanisms of taxifolin in mice with acute liver injury induced by CCl4. Methods: ICR (Institute of Cancer research) mice were orally pretreated using taxifolin for 7 consecutive days and were then given single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of 0.2% CCl4 (10 mL/kg body weight, i.p.). Liver injury was then determined using assays of serum alanine aminotransferase (sALT) and serum aspartate aminotransferase (sAST). Further, to investigate the hepatoprotective mechanisms of taxifolin, we determined malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione reductase (GRd) activities. Results: CCl4-induced liver injury led to significant increases in sALT and sAST activities, and these increases were limited by taxifolin and silymarin (Sily) pretreatments. Histological analyses also indicated that taxifolin and Sily decreased the range of liver lesions in CCl4-treated mice and vacuole formation, neutrophil infiltration, and necrosis were visibly reduced. In addition, SOD, GPx, and GRd activities were increased and MDA levels were decreased after taxifolin and Sily treatments. Conclusion: The hepatoprotective mechanisms of taxifolin and Sily are related to decreases in MDA levels presumably due to increased antioxidant enzyme activities. These outcomes suggest that taxifolin mitigates acute liver injury resulted from CCl4 in mice, demonstrating the hepatoprotective effects of taxifolin.