Early treadmill training promotes motor function after hemorrhagic stroke in rats

Rehabilitation after a stroke is very important because it has beneficial effects on brain function, including the promotion of plasticity. However, an optimal time window for rehabilitation interventions after hemorrhagic stroke has not been clearly defined. The aim of this study was to determine whether early exercise training initiated 24 h after an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) might enhance neurologic recovery more than exercise initiated 1 week after ICH without hematoma expansion and edema volume increase. We subjected adult male Sprague–Dawley rats to experimental ICH by the intrastriatal administration of bacterial collagenase. The rats were randomly divided into the following 2 groups: early training group (treadmill exercise started 24 h post-ICH; n = 18) and late training group (treadmill exercise started 1-week post-ICH; n = 18). Two weeks after surgery we performed neurologic tests (rota-rod, modified limb-placing, and adhesive-dot removal tests), and measured hematoma volumes and brain water content. In the late training group, compared with the pre-ICH performance on the rota-rod test (98.3 ± 69.4 s), the animals had significantly worse performance after the post-ICH rehabilitation (40.5 ± 52.6 s; p < 0.01, paired t-test). In the early training group however, the motor performance after the post-ICH rehabilitation (56.4 ± 73.5 s) was not significantly different from the baseline pre-ICH performance (79.8 ± 33.9 s; p = 0.24). There were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to the other neurologic tests. Early exercise did not increase hematoma size or brain water content. Early treadmill training could be performed safely, and enhanced motor recovery in a rat model of ICH. Further studies are required to translate the results into clinical significance.     

Impact of FDG-PET on lung cancer delineation for radiotherapy

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of fused diagnostic F‐18 2‐fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) and planning FDG‐PET/CT scans on voluming of lung cancer for radiotherapy. Methods: Five radiation oncologists (ROs), five radiation oncology trainees and a radiologist contoured five cases of non‐small cell lung cancer. The CT alone, the diagnostic FDG‐PET/CT and planning FDG‐PET/CT each registered to the CT, were used to contour three volumes. The concordance index (CI) was used to compare each volume with a reference RO. Results: Although there was considerable inter‐observer variability in CT contouring, there was no significant difference between mean volumes of the gross tumour volume for the RO and radiation oncology trainees using any technique. There was no increase in CI with the addition of PET/CT, either diagnostic or planning, for the RO. However, the volumes of the radiation oncology trainees showed a significant increase in CI from 65.8% with CT alone to 68.0% and 72.3% with diagnostic PET/CT and planning PET/CT, respectively (P = 0.028). Mean variation at the tumour/mediastinum interface was significantly reduced with addition of registered PET/CT. Conclusions: The concordance of RO with the reference RO did not significantly increase with use of integrated FDG PET/CT images. However, the contouring of radiation oncology trainees' became more concordant with the reference.     

Mycobacterium potentiates protection from colorectal cancer by gut microbial alterations

Not only are many Mycobacteria pathogens, but they can act as strong non-specific immunopotentiators, generating beneficial effects on the pathogenesis of some diseases. However, there has been no direct evidence of the effect of mycobacterial species on colorectal cancer (CRC). Herein, we showed that there may be a meaningful inverse correlation between the incidence of tuberculosis and CRC based on global statistics and that heat-killed Mycobacterial tuberculosis and live Mycobacterium bovis (Bacillus Calmette–Guérin strain) could ameliorate CRC development. In particular, using a faecal microbiota transplantation and a comparison between separate housing and cohousing, we demonstrated that the gut microbiota is involved in the protective effects. The microbial alterations can be elucidated by the modulation of antimicrobial activities including those of the Reg3 family genes. Furthermore, interleukin-22 production by T helper cells contributed to the anti-inflammatory activity of Mycobacteria. Our results revealed a novel role of Mycobacteria involving gut microbial alterations in dampening inflammation-associated CRC and an immunological mechanism underlying the interaction between microbes and host immunity.     

Revascularization of Onyx Induced Intra-Operative Occlusion of Vertebro-Basilar Artery Using the Merci Device

Introduction  

Endovascular embolization is an important modality in the treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). Onyx is an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide that is approved for use as an embolic agent for brain AVMs.