METHOD: Prospective case series.
RESULTS: Doxycycline is widely used in treating corneal melts, ocular surface diseases, meibomian gland disease, recurrent epithelial cell erosion, rosacea, and keratitis sicca. This prospective case series highlights the successful treatment of five patients with leaking blebs and conjunctiva erosion from glaucoma filtration surgery with the use of oral doxycycline. There was no adverse event reported in our cases.
CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that oral doxycycline may be a feasible non-surgical treatment modality due to its ability to inhibit collagenolysis, restore the Meibomian gland function, thereby stopping breakdown and promote conjunctival tissue healing.
CLINICAL CASE: A 56-year-old Chinese woman, an active smoker, presented with a hearing deficit, persistent tinnitus and nasal congestion. Examination and investigations revealed the presence of a mass in the nasopharynx. Tissue biopsy revealed nasopharyngeal carcinoma. However, the Epstein-Barr virus was not tested. She was counseled for chemotherapy, but refused and was subsequently lost to follow up. She presented one year later with right eye ptosis associated with progressive worsening of diplopia and blurring of vision. Examination revealed multiple (second, third, fourth and sixth) cranial nerve involvement. Systemic examination and investigations revealed cervical lymphadenopathy and liver metastasis. Repeated imaging showed that the mass had invaded the base of the skull, cavernous sinus and orbital apices. Pulse dosing of corticosteroid therapy was commenced, resulting in dramatic improvement of vision.
CONCLUSION: Optic neuropathy may be the presenting sign of NPC. Corticosteroid therapy can offer immediate visual improvement.
METHODS: Seven oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)-related publications, corresponding to 312 samples, were identified for this meta-analysis. The data were analyzed in a 4-step process that included the genome assembly coordination of multiple platforms, assignment of chromosomal position anchors, calling gains and losses, and functional annotation analysis.
RESULTS: Gains were more frequent than losses in the entire dataset. High-frequency gains were identified in chromosomes 5p, 14q, 11q, 7p, 17q, 20q, 8q, and 3q, whereas high-frequency losses were identified in chromosomes 3p, 8p, 6p, 18q, and 4q. Ingenuity pathway analysis showed that the top biological function was associated with immortalization of the epithelial cells (p = 1.93E-04).
CONCLUSION: This study has identified multiple recurrent CNAs that are involved in various biological annotations associated with oral carcinogenesis. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E783-E797, 2016.
METHODS: We determined the ability of B. pseudomallei to invade and survive intracellularly in A549 human lung epithelial cells, and also investigated the early transcriptional responses using an Illumina HumanHT-12 v4 microarray platform, after three hours of exposure to live B. pseudomallei (BCMS) and its secreted proteins (CCMS).
RESULTS: We found that the ability of B. pseudomallei to invade and survive intracellularly correlated with increase of multiplicity of infection and duration of contact. Activation of host carbohydrate metabolism and apoptosis as well as suppression of amino acid metabolism and innate immune responses both by live bacteria and its secreted proteins were evident. These early events might be linked to initial activation of host genes directed towards bacterial dissemination from lungs to target organs (via proposed in vivo mechanisms) or to escape potential sensing by macrophages.
CONCLUSION: Understanding the early responses of A549 cells toward B. pseudomallei infection provide preliminary insights into the likely pathogenesis mechanisms underlying melioidosis, and could contribute to development of novel intervention strategies to combat B. pseudomallei infections.
AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of β-glucan prepared from L. rhinocerotis using an enzymatic method on epithelial restitution during intestinal mucosal damage.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on FT-IR, MALDI-TOF-MS, HPSEC-MALLS-RID, and AFM, the structure of polysaccharides from L. rhinocerotis was analysed. In addition, polysaccharides were used to test for wound healing activity in IEC-6 cells by measuring cell migration, proliferation, and expression of cell division control protein 42, Rac-1, RhoA, and Par-3.
RESULTS: β-glucan was extracted using enzyme-assisted extraction, and a yield of approximately 8.5 ± 0.8% was obtained from the dried biomass. The β-glucan extracted by enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE) of polysaccharides was composed entirely of D-glucose with a total carbohydrate content of 95.5 ± 3.2%. The results of HPLC, FTIR, and MALDI-TOF-MS analyses revealed EAEP to be confirmed as β-glucan. The molecular weight of prepared β-glucan was found to be 5.315 × 104 g/mol by HPSEC-MALLS-RID. Furthermore, mucosal wound healing studies showed that the treatment of IEC-6 with a β-glucan concentration of 200 μg/mL promoted cell migration and proliferation, and it enhanced the protein expression of cell division control protein 42, Rac-1, RhoA, and Par-3.
CONCLUSIONS: The present study reveals that the prepared β-glucan accelerates intestinal epithelial cell proliferation and migration via activation of Rho-dependent pathway. Hence, β-glucan can be employed as a prospective therapeutic agent for the treatment of diseases associated with gastrointestinal mucosal damage, such as peptic ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease.