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Purpose: Although inverted V-shaped high tibial osteotomy (iVHTO) is a good option for severe varus deformity requiring a valgus correction angle >15°, it is still unclear whether its several clinical advantages can be applied to varus deformities requiring a valgus correction angle ≤15°. Moreover, no previous studies have revealed why the application of iVHTO was limited to a correction angle >15°. This study aimed to compare post-operative anatomical changes and to determine any applicability of iVHTO for a valgus correction angle ≤15° using three-dimensional (3D) bone models. Methods: Differences in post-operative anatomical alignment changes between iVHTO with >15° of correction (L-iVHTO group) and iVHTO with ≤15° of correction (S-iVHTO group) were examined. A total of 37 knees (18 ​L-iVHTO and 19 ​S-iVHTO) in 27 patients were enrolled. Pre- and post-operative 3D computed tomography bone models were reconstructed using a ZedHTO system. Post-operative anatomical changes (Δ) in posterior tibial slope (PTS), medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA), knee rotation angle (KRA), tibial torsion angle (TTA), patella tilting angle (PTA), Caton–Deschamps index (CDI), tibia length (TL), and lower leg length (LLL) were compared. Results: ΔLLL in the L-iVHTO group (1.8 ​± ​5.6 ​mm) was significantly larger than that in the S-iVHTO group (−1.7 ​± ​4.8 ​mm; p ​

Introduction: Condoliase is a newly approved drug that improves symptoms associated with lumbar disk herniation (LDH) by intradiscal administration. This study aimed to evaluate the mid-term outcomes of condoliase injection, examine the adverse events, including cases that required surgery after condoliase administration, and verify cases in which condoliase could be effective. Methods: We enrolled patients with LDH who were treated conservatively for at least six weeks and received condoliase. We assessed the visual analog scale (VAS) score, Japanese Orthopaedic Association Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire, Oswestry Disability Index, disk height, and disk degeneration for up to 6 months, and we examined the complications. Furthermore, a 50% or more improvement in leg pain VAS score was considered effective. Factors related to symptom improvement were investigated by determining whether lower limb pain improved in six months. Results: In total, 84 patients were recruited (52 men, 32 women; mean age, 44.2 ±> 17.1 [16-86 years]). The duration of illness was 6.7 ±> 6.8 (1.5-30) months. All patient-based outcomes significantly improved at 4 weeks after the administration compared with pretreatment. The intervertebral disc height decreased significantly at four weeks after condoliase administration compared with that before administration. Progression of intervertebral disc degeneration occurred in 50% of the patients. Eleven patients underwent herniotomy due to poor treatment effects. Moreover, treatment in 77.4% of the patients was considered effective. A logistic regression analysis revealed that L5/S1 disk administration (p = 0.029; odds ratio, 5.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.20-29.45) were significantly associated with clinical effectiveness. Conclusions: Condoliase disk administration improved pain and quality of life over time. Condoliase disk administration was more effective in L5/S1 intervertebral administration.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) mobilizes peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) derived from bone marrow. We hypothesized that intraspinal transplantation of PBSCs mobilized by G-CSF could promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury. Spinal cords of adult nonobese diabetes/severe immunodeficiency mice were injured using an Infinite Horizon impactor (60 kdyn). One week after the injury, 3.0 μl of G-CSF-mobilized human mononuclear cells (MNCs; 0.5 × 10 5 /μl), G-CSF-mobilized human CD34-positive PBSCs (CD34; 0.5 × 10 5 /μl), or normal saline was injected to the lesion epicenter. We performed immunohistochemistry. Locomotor recovery was assessed by Basso Mouse Scale. The number of transplanted human cells decreased according to the time course. The CD31-positive area was significantly larger in the MNC and CD34 groups compared with the vehicle group. The number of serotonin-positive fibers was significantly larger in the MNC and CD34 groups than in the vehicle group. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the number of apoptotic oligodendrocytes was significantly smaller in cell-transplanted groups, and the areas of demyelination in the MNC- and CD34-transplanted mice were smaller than that in the vehicle group, indicating that cell transplantation suppressed oligodendrocyte apoptosis and demyelination. Both the MNC and CD34 groups showed significantly better hindlimb functional recovery compared with the vehicle group. There was no significant difference between the two types of transplanted cells. Intraspinal transplantation of G-CSF-mobilized MNCs or CD34-positive cells promoted angiogenesis, serotonergic fiber regeneration/sparing, and preservation of myelin, resulting in improved hindlimb function after spinal cord injury in comparison with vehicle-treated control mice. Transplantation of G-CSF-mobilized PBSCs has advantages for treatment of spinal cord injury in the ethical and immunological viewpoints, although further exploration is needed to move forward to clinical application.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) including exosomes and microvesicles have attracted considerable attention in the fields of cell biology and medicine. For a better understanding of EVs and further exploration of their applications, the development of analytical methods for biological nanovesicles has been required. In particular, considering the heterogeneity of EVs, methods capable of measuring individual vesicles are desired. Here, we report that on-chip immunoelectrophoresis can provide a useful method for the differential protein expression profiling of individual EVs. Electrophoresis experiments were performed on EVs collected from the culture supernatant of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells using a measurement platform comprising a microcapillary electrophoresis chip and a laser dark-field microimaging system. The zeta potential distribution of EVs that reacted with an anti-human CD63 (exosome and microvesicle marker) antibody showed a marked positive shift as compared with that for the normal immunoglobulin G (IgG) isotype control. Thus, on-chip immunoelectrophoresis could sensitively detect the over-expression of CD63 glycoproteins on EVs. Moreover, to explore the applicability of on-chip immunoelectrophoresis to cancer diagnosis, EVs collected from the blood of a mouse tumor model were analyzed by this method. By comparing the zeta potential distributions of EVs after their immunochemical reaction with normal IgG, and the anti-human CD63 and anti-human CD44 (cancer stem cell marker) antibodies, EVs of tumor origin circulating in blood were differentially detected in the real sample. The result indicates that the present method is potentially applicable to liquid biopsy, a promising approach to the low-invasive diagnosis of cancer.

HARVESTING FROM THE ASIAN SOIL: TOWARDS AN ASIAN THEOLOGY. Authored and edited by Vimal Tirimanna, C.Ss.R. Bangalore: ATC, 2011. Pp. xxiii + 299. N.p. This appropriately titled collection of essays [...]

Extracellular vesicles including exosomes have the potential to be used in therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Towards the noninvasive diagnosis of prostate cancer using urinary exosomes, technical challenges lie in developing precise methods of analyzing exosomes. Previously, we developed an on-chip microcapillary electrophoresis (µCE) system equipped with a laser dark-field microscope. The zeta potential of exosomes of cancer cells was found to be larger than that of normal cells. In this study, the zeta potential of exosomes of normal and cancer prostate cells was evaluated using this system after treating with sialidase. The large negative charge of cancer exosomes was found to be due to the large amount of sialic acids. These results suggest that an on-chip µCE system is useful for the accurate evaluation of events that occur on the exosome surfaces at the single-particle level and promising for the prescreening of prostate cancer exosomes without the need for labeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic value of peritumoral deposits (PTDs) in colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: A total of 695 patients with pT3/T4 CRC (1980 to 1999) were reviewed. Tumor deposits located =2 mm from the front of the direct spread in the primary tumor were evaluated as PTDs. RESULTS: PTDs were observed in 111 patients (16.0%). The incidence of PTDs increased according to increasing N stage: 7% for N0, 22% for N1, and 39% for N2 (P < .0001). Five-year disease-specific survival was 85.0% in patients without PTDs and 59.5% in those with PTDs (P < .0001). Multivariate analysis showed that PTDs affected disease-specific survival independent of T and N stages. A significant prognostic impact of PTDs was similarly observed in another cohort comprising 474 patients with pT3/T4 CRC (2000 to 2005). The κ values among 8 observers were .70 for PTDs and .32 for the conventional growth pattern. CONCLUSIONS: PTDs have considerable prognostic relevance and offer improved judgment reproducibility in assessing the invasive margin of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]