Review/overview of pain in sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a highly complex inherited disorder of hemoglobin structure. Although the molecular lesion is a single-point mutation, the sickle gene is pleiotropic in nature causing multiple phenotypic expressions that constitute the various complications of the disease. Its manifestations could be acute, chronic, nociceptive, neuropathic that could occur singly or in various combinations. Pain continues to be the major factor of SCD phenotypic complications and the most common cause of admissions to the Emergency Department and/or the hospital. Although progress has been made in understanding the pathophysiology of SCD as well as in developing curative therapies such as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and gene therapy, effective pain management continues to lag behind. Palliative therapies continue to be the major approach to the management of SCD and its complications. The advent of hydroxyurea made partial success in preventing the frequency of vaso-occlusive crises and l-glutamine awaits post-trial confirmation of benefits. The search for additional pharmacotherapeutic agents that could be used singly or in combination with hydroxyurea and/or l-glutamine awaits their dawn hopefully in the near future. The purpose of this review is to describe the various manifestations of SCD, their pathophysiology and their current management. Recent impressive advances in understanding the pathophysiology of pain promise the determination of agents that could replace or minimize the use of opioids.     

a-1, 2岩藻糖基转移酶II在肺鳞癌组织中的表达及对肺鳞癌细胞增殖的影响

目的：探讨a-1，2岩藻糖基转移酶II（FUT2）在肺鳞癌中的表达情况及其对肺鳞癌细胞增殖的影响。方法：应用UALCAN数据库分析FUT2在临床肺鳞癌患者组织中的差异表达及其与肺鳞癌患者临床TNM分期、年龄及性别因素的相关性；采用瞬时转染技术，将FUT2的shRNA质粒转染进H226细胞株中构建FUT2低表达的肺鳞癌细胞模型；利用CCK-8、平板克隆及Western blot实验检测FUT2对肺鳞癌细胞的生长、单克隆细胞团形成及PCNA蛋白表达的影响。结果：FUT2在肺鳞癌尤其是肺鳞癌TNM早中期呈现高表达趋势（P＜0.05），而与年龄和性别无关。低表达FUT2可以抑制肺鳞癌细胞的生长速率和单克隆细胞团的形成数，同时，可以抑制肺鳞癌细胞PCNA蛋白的表达水平，差异均有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。结论：FUT2在肺鳞癌中高表达且促进肺鳞癌细胞的增殖能力，有望成为肺鳞癌的早期诊断指标。     

Mortality,length of stay and costs associated with acute graft-versus-host disease during hospitalization for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Objective: Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is a common and life-threatening complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The extent to which aGVHD increases inpatient costs associated with allo-HSCT has not been thoroughly evaluated. In this analysis, mortality, hospital length of stay (LOS) and costs associated with aGVHD during allo-HSCT admissions are evaluated.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of discharge records from the National Inpatient Sample database for patients receiving allo-HSCT between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2013. Allo-HSCT discharges with an aGVHD diagnosis were included in the aGVHD group and those without any graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) diagnosis comprised the non-GVHD group. Mortality, LOS and costs were compared between the two groups, as well as within subgroups, including age (<18 vs. ≥18 years) and survival status (alive vs. deceased) at discharge.

Results: Overall, mortality (16.2% vs. 5.3%; p?<?.01), median hospital LOS (42.0 vs. 26.0 days; p?<?.01) and median total costs ($173,144 vs. $98,982; p?<?.01) were significantly increased in patients with aGVHD versus those without GVHD during hospitalizations for allo-HSCT, irrespective of age group. Patients with aGVHD who were <18 years of age had a lower mortality rate but greater hospital LOS and total costs versus patients aged ≥18 years. Patients who died during allo-HSCT hospitalization had longer LOS and incurred greater costs than those who survived in both the aGVHD and non-GVHD groups.

Conclusion: Occurrence of aGVHD during allo-HSCT admissions resulted in a tripling of the mortality rate and a near doubling of hospital LOS and total costs. In addition, death during allo-HSCT hospitalizations was associated with greater healthcare utilization and costs. Effectively mitigating aGVHD may improve survival and substantially reduce hospital LOS and costs for allo-HSCT.