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Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a refractory condition that impairs the patient's quality of life (QoL), it develops secondary to herpes zoster infection. Therefore, it's important to prevent the transition of acute/subacute zoster-related pain to PHN. Despite of numerous studies, the optimal intervention that reduces PHN incidence is still unknown. We evaluate the efficacy of short-term spinal cord stimulation (stSCS) in patients with refractory acute/subacute zoster-related pain. Retrospective study. Tertiary referral center/teaching hospital. A total of 46 patients who presented with acute/subacute zoster-related pain, and had previously failed conventional therapies, underwent stSCS treatment. Visual analog scale (VAS), Short Form Health Survey 12 items (SF-12), and analgesic consumptions were recorded before stSCS, post-stSCS, 2 weeks, and 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after stimulation. The VAS scores at post-stSCS, 2 weeks, and 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after stSCS treatment were significantly decreased compared with the baseline score (P < 0.001). Thirty-two patients (69.6%, 32/46) achieved the minimal clinically important difference (MCID), including 18 patients (39.1%, 18/46) who achieved complete pain relief (VASless than orequal to2). During the follow-up period, the efficacy of stSCS didn't decrease and VAS scores were declining. Similarly, SF-12 scores and analgesic consumptions improved after stSCS treatment. The efficacy of stSCS did not differ significantly among patients with different durations of acute/subacute zoster-related pain starting from the onset of rash. No serious adverse effects were observed in the entire follow-up period. This study was not a randomized prospective controlled study. We did not compare the outcomes with patients presenting with mild or moderate pain, and did not compare the efficacy of stSCS treatment with conventional therapies. stSCS is a safe, effective, and less invasive analgesic method for patients with refractory acute/subacute zoster-related pain. Herpes zoster, zoster-related pain, postherpetic neuralgia, spinal cord stimulation, VAS.

Background: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is often refractory to existing treatments. Treatment of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) using monopolar pulsed radiofrequency (PRF), which is a nonor minimally neurodestructive technique, is not efficacious in all patients. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the safety and clinical efficacy of bipolar highvoltage, long-duration PRF on the DRG in PHN patients. Study Design: Self before-after controlled clinical trial. Setting: Department of Pain Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. Methods: Ninety patients diagnosed with PHN for > 3months were included. Bipolar highvoltage, long-duration PRF at 42°C for 900 seconds was applied after the induction of paresthesias covered the regions of hyperalgesic skin. The therapeutic effects were evaluated using a visual analog scale (VAS) and the 36-item Short Form health survey (SF-36) before treatment and one, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after PRF. Results: The VAS scores at one, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after PRF treatment were significantly lower than before treatment (P < 0.001). The SF-36 scores, which included physical functioning, physical role, bodily pain, general health perceptions, vitality, social function, emotional role, and the mental health index, were significantly improved up to 12 weeks after PRF treatment (P < 0.001). No serious adverse effects were identified following treatment. The main adverse reactions included pain, tachycardia, and high blood pressure (especially when the field strength was enhanced). Limitations: Single center study, relatively small number of patients, lack of a control group. Conclusion: Bipolar high-voltage, long-duration PRF on the DRG is an effective and safe therapeutic alternative for PHN patients. This treatment could improve the quality of life of PHN patients. Clinical Trial Registration: NO ChiCTR-OCS-14005461 Key words: Pulsed radiofrequency, postherpetic neuralgia, VAS, SF-36

Trigeminal postherpetic neuralgia is a severe neuropathic pain and often refractory to existing treatment, it develops secondary to herpes zoster-infected Gasserian ganglion. Therefore, it is important to prevent the transition of acute/subacute zoster-related pain to trigeminal postherpetic neuralgia. Despite numerous studies, the optimal intervention that reduces trigeminal postherpetic neuralgia incidence is still unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of high-voltage, long-duration pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) on the Gasserian ganglion in patients with acute/subacute zoster-related trigeminal neuralgia. Prospective, randomized, double-blinded study. Department of Pain Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. Ninety-six patients with acute/subacute zoster-related trigeminal neuralgia were equally randomly assigned into 2 groups. The electrode needle punctured the Gasserian ganglion guided by computed tomography in every patient. High-voltage, long-duration PRF at 42°C for 900 seconds was applied in the PRF group (n = 48). It was also applied in the sham group (n = 48) without radiofrequency energy output. The therapeutic effects were evaluated using a visual analog scale (VAS) and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) at different time points. The average dosage of pregabalin (mg/d) administrated within the first month after treatment was also recorded. The postprocedure VAS scores in the PRF group were significantly lower than those in the sham group at different time points after treatment (P < 0.01). The SF-36 scores, which included physical functioning, physical role, bodily pain, general health perceptions, vitality, social function, emotional role, and the mental health index, were significantly improved at the sixth month after treatment in the PRF group compared with the sham group (P < 0.01). The average dosage of pregabalin administered (mg/d) within the first month after treatment was also significantly reduced in the PRF group compared with the sham group (P < 0.01). There were no bleeding, infection, or other severe side effects in both groups. Single center study, relatively small number of patients. High-voltage, long-duration PRF on the Gasserian ganglion is an effective and safe therapeutic alternative for patients with acute/subacute zoster-related trigeminal neuralgia. Pulsed radiofrequency, zoster-related trigeminal neuralgia, visual analog scale, 36-Item Short Form Health Survey.

MicroRNAs have emerged as promising molecular factors with potential for clinical applications in cancer diagnosis and therapy. In the present study, we demonstrated that the level of miR-200c in lung cancer tissues was lower than that in normal tissues using real-time PCR. To further investigate the effects of miR-200c expression in lung cancer cells, we upregulated miR-200c levels in H460 cells using transfection. We found that the percentage of apoptotic cells was higher in the cells expressing miR-200c than that in the untransfected cells. Furthermore, the antitumor activities of miR-200c were demonstrated in vivo. Notably, we confirmed that reservatol (RESV) showed stronger antitumor activities in miR-200c-positive cells than in miR-200c-negative cells. Finally, we demonstrated that expression of miR-200c in H460 cells suppressed cell growth by targeting RECK, followed by activation of the JNK signaling pathway and ER stress. Collectively, these data show that miR-200c expression sensitizes H460 cells to RESV and this is likely due to RECK expression.

The inhalation anesthetic, isoflurane, induces learning and memory impairment. Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress are thought to play important roles in isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis. In this study, we treated neuronal cells with isoflurane for 6 h. We found that isoflurane induced the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores, increased the levels of reactive oxygen species and the activation of caspase-3, and decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential and the intracellular calcium ion concentration. Resveratrol (RESV; trans-3,5,4′-trihydroxystilbene), a naturally occurring phytoalexin, is found at high concentrations in the skin of red grapes and red wine and has been demonstrated to have anti-infective, antioxidant and cardioprotective functions. Our findings demonstrated that the neuroprotective effects of RESV were independent on its direct radical scavenging properties. Following treatment of the cells with various concentrations of RESV, we found that RESV induced the expression of mitochondrial superoxide dismutase and catalase activity, and reduced mitochondrial oxidative stress and damage. The data from the present study demonstrate that RESV effectively protects neuronal cells from isoflurane-induced cytotoxicity by activating the Akt signaling pathway.

Several polymorphisms in the interleukin-18 ( IL-18 ) and nterleukin-28B ( IL-28B ) genes have been reported to influence hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, the published findings have been conflicting. We conducted meta-analyses of randomized, controlled trials to address the association of IL-18 or IL-28B polymorphisms and the outcomes of HBV infection. Weipu, Wanfang, CNKI, MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were employed to search for citations using the MeSH terms as “interleukin-18”/“interleukin-28B” AND “HBV” AND “gene” AND “polymorphism” without any restriction in language and publication year. Meta-analysis was conducted by RevMan 5.0 software. The results showed that the IL28B rs8099917 AA genotype (AA vs AC + CC: odds ratio (OR) = 0.63, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.46–0.87) was associated with a decreased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Carriage of IL28B rs12979860 CC genotype was associated with an increased risk for developing liver cirrhosis among patients with HBV infection (CC vs CT + TT: OR = 1.39, 95 % CI = 1.04–1.85). Further well-designed large studies are warranted to confirm the mechanisms by which these are involved in these outcomes of HBV infection.

In this paper we study the coefficient multipliers, pointwise multipliers and cyclic vectors in the Bloch type spaces B super( )I-and little Bloch type spaces B 0 I- for 0 < I- < a. We give several full characterizations of the coefficient multipliers (B super( )I-B super( )I2 and ( B 0 I- , B 0 I2 ) for 0 < I-, I2 < a and pointwise multipliers M(B super( )I-B super( )I2 and M ( B 0 I- , B 0 I2 ) for 1 aNB I-, I2 (0,a). We also obtain some properties of cyclic vectors for Bloch type spaces.