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Patients with chronic non-specific low back pain (CNSLBP) were found with impaired postural control in previous studies. Since the trunk muscle take important efforts on core stability, the study aimed to examine the relationships of postural control during stance tasks and the contractility of trunk muscle in young adults with CNSLBP and without.Healthy individuals (n = 25) and individuals with CNSLBP (n = 30) were included. The thickness of the bilateral transversus abdominis (TrA) and lumbar multifidus (MF) was measured during rest and maximal voluntary contraction, and the change percentages (TrA%, MF%) were calculated. Regarding postural control, COP path length and sway area during the stance tasks were measured thrice in each group.The bilateral TrA% of the CNSLBP group was less than that of the HC group (p 0.05). The bilateral TrA% of the CNSLBP group was less than that of the HC group (p 0.05). The bilateral MF% showed no significantly different(p 0.05) between the two groups. Compared with healthy controls, CNSLBP patients resulted larger path length and sway area of COP during most of static stance tasks. During the EO task in the CNSLBP group, TrA% was found correlate to COP path length (p 0.05); the right MF% was correlated with COP sway area (p 0.05). No significant correlations appeared in the healthy controls (p 0.05).Compared with healthy individuals, impaired postural control during static stance with eyes open in patients with CNSLBP was likely to be related to the poor contraction ability of bilateral transversus abdominis and correlated to the normal contraction ability of right lumbar multifidus.

BackgroundNon-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) is a multifactor disorder with high prevalence rate of people all around the world. Lumbar paraspinal muscle (LPM) plays an important role of spine stabilization. However, the electrical properties of LPM in the patients were unclear. Aim to explore the electrical properties of bilateral LPM between patients with NSCLBP and healthy controls (HC), the study was designed to applied electrical impedance myography (EIM) technique to measure the LPM.MethodsA total of thirty participates (15 in NSCLBP group, 15 in HC group) were instructed to have each side of LPM measured at the rest state and the maximum volunteer contraction (MVC) state. Then measured the EIM parameters of LPM at L4/5 level by a multi-frequency device. Each measurement repeated three times. The EIM parameters at 50 kHz, 100 kHz, 200 kHz current frequencies were enrolled into the statistical analysis.ResultsAt the three current frequencies, parameters in the right side of LPM had not significantly difference from the left (P>0.05, respectively). Resistance (R) of LPM in NSCLBP group was larger than that in HC group (PPP>0.05, respectively). At 50 kHz, relationships between the EIM parameters and geometric parameters of LPM were not significant in NSCLBP group or HC group (P>0.05, respectively).ConclusionThe electrical properties of bilateral LPM in young adults with NSCLBP were different from those of healthy individuals regardless of any current frequency. The ultrasound parameters of LPM, however, showed no significant difference between young patients with NSCLBP and healthy participants. EIM measurement might be more sensitive than rehabilitative ultrasound for NSCLBP in young adults.Trial registrationThe Chinese Clinical trial registration number: ChiCTR2100043113.

There are few studies on the genetic changes of meniscus degeneration. We used anterior cruciate ligament resection of Wuzhishan pig to prepare a meniscus degeneration model, and applied gene chip technology to detect differentially expressed genes in degenerative meniscus tissue. Then we applied GO analysis, Pathway analysis, Core gene network analysis and Relevant miRNAs analysis to discover relevant regulatory networks of meniscus degeneration. As a result, we detected 893 differentially expressed genes, mainly involving hormone, apoptosis, inflammation and other mechanisms, and obtained MUC13, Inflammatory mediator regulation of TRP channels, MDFI, mir-335-5p and so on that may play a key role. In summary, we have established a reliable animal model of meniscus degeneration and found that meniscus degeneration involves several possible molecular mechanisms, which will provide molecular targets for further research of the disease in the future.

// Runhua Lin 1, * , Chong Zhang 1, * , Jiaxuan Zheng 1, * , Dongping Tian 1 , Zhijin Lei 1 , Donglin Chen 1 , Zexin Xu 1 , Min Su 1 1 Institute of Clinical Pathology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease and Molecular Immunopathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, 515031, PR China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Min Su, e-mail: minsu@stu.edu.cn Keywords: esophageal carcinogenesis, chronic inflammation, oxidative DNA damage, DNA double-strand breaks, genomic instability Received: November 16, 2015 Accepted: March 06, 2016 Published: March 25, 2016 ABSTRACT Chronic inflammation is associated with increased risk of cancer development, whereas the link between chronic inflammation and esophageal carcinogenesis is still obscure heretofore. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between chronic inflammation and DNA damage, as well as the possible role of DNA damage in esophageal carcinogenic process. Endoscopic esophageal biopsies from 109 individuals from Chaoshan littoral, a high-risk region for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), were examined to evaluate the association between chronic inflammation and histological severity, while additional 204 esophageal non-tumor samples from patients with ESCC were collected. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the oxidative DNA damage and DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Significantly positive correlation was observed between degree of chronic inflammation and esophageal precursor lesions ( r s = 0.37, P < 0.01). Immunohistochemical analysis showed that oxidative DNA damage level was positively correlated with the degree of chronic inflammation ( r s = 0.21, P < 0.05). Moreover, the level of oxidative DNA damage positively correlated with histological severity ( r s = 0.49, P < 0.01). We found that the extent of DSBs was progressively increased with inflammation degree ( P < 0.01) and the progression of precancerous lesions ( P < 0.001). Collectively, these findings provide evidence linking chronic inflammation-associated genomic instability with esophageal carcinogenesis and suggest possibilities for early detection and intervention of esophageal carcinogenesis.