Description: Background: Dexamethasone is an antiemetic alternative to ondansetron. We aimed to compare the effects of dexamethasone and ondansetron in preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Medline and Cochrane Library (from inception to July 2014) for eligible studies. The primary outcome was the incidence of PONV during the first 24 h after surgery. The secondary outcomes included PONV in the early postoperative stage (0–6 h), PONV in the late postoperative stage (6–24 h), and the postoperative anti-emetics used at both stages. We calculated pooled risk ratios (RR) and 95 % CIs using random- and fixed-effects models. Results: Seven trials involving 608 patients were included in this meta-analysis, which found that dexamethasone had a comparable effectiveness in preventing PONV (RR, 0.91; 95 % CI, 0.73-1.13; P = 0.39) with that of ondansetron within 24 h of laparoscopic surgery, with no evidence of heterogeneity among the studies (I 2  = 0 %; P = 0.71). In the early postoperative stage (0–6 h), ondansetron was better at decreasing PONV than dexamethasone (RR, 1.71; 95 % CI, 1.05-2.77; P = 0.03), while in the late postoperative stage (6–24 h), dexamethasone was more effective in preventing PONV than ondansetron (RR, 0.51; 95 % CI, 0.27-0.93; P = 0.03). There was no significant difference in the postoperative anti-emetics used (RR, 0.90; 95 % CI, 0.67-1.19; P = 0.45). Conclusions: Dexamethasone was as effective and as safe as ondansetron in preventing PONV. Dexamethasone should be encouraged as an alternative to ondansetron for preventing PONV in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery.

Description: Background: Parents of children with autism have higher rates of broad autism phenotype (BAP) features than parents of typically developing children (TDC) in Western countries. This study was designed to examine the rate of BAP features in parents of children with autism and the relationship between parental BAP and the social impairment of their children in a Chinese sample. Methods: A total of 299 families with autistic children and 274 families with TDC participated in this study. Parents were assessed using the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ), which includes self-report, informant-report, and best-estimate versions. Children were assessed using the Chinese version of the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Results: Parents of children with autism were significantly more likely to have BAP features than were parents of TDC; mothers and fathers in families with autistic children had various BAP features. The total scores of the informant and best-estimate BAPQ versions for fathers were significantly associated with their children’s SRS total scores in the autism group, whereas the total scores of the three BAPQ versions for mothers were significantly associated with their children’s SRS total scores in the TDC group. In the autism group, the total SRS scores of children with “BAP present” parents (informant and best-estimate) were higher than the total SRS scores of children with“BAP absent” parents. In the TDC group, the total SRS scores of children with “BAP present” parents were higher than the total SRS scores of children with“BAP absent” parents (best-estimate). Conclusions: Parents of autistic children were found to have higher rates of BAP than parents of TDC in a sample of Chinese parents. The BAP features of parents are associated with their children’s social functioning in both autism families and TDC families, but the patterns of the associations are different.

Description: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are self-renewing cells that exhibit differentiation capacity and immune regulation ability. These versatile cells have a wide range of potential applications. However, the spontaneous differentiation and aging of MSCs during long-term culturing restrict the amount of cells available for therapies and tissue engineering. Thus, maintaining the biological characteristics of MSCs during long-term culturing is crucial. Chromatic modification via epigenetic regulatory mechanisms (e.g., histone acetylation, deacetylation, and methylation) is crucial in stem cell pluripotency. We investigated the effects of largazole or trichostatin A (TSA), a novel histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), against human umbilical cord (hUC)-MSCs aging. Results show that low concentrations of largazole or TSA can significantly improve hUC-MSC proliferation and delay hUC-MSCs aging. Largazole can better improve MSC proliferation than TSA. HDACis modulate histone H3 acetylation and methylation in the telomerase reverse-transcriptase, octamer-binding transcription factor 4, Nanog, C-X-C chemokine receptor 4, alkaline phosphatase, and osteopontin genes. HDACis can promote hUC-MSC proliferation and suppress hUC-MSC spontaneous osteogenic differentiation. HDACis can affect histone H3 lysine 9 or 14 acetylation and histone H3 lysine 4 dimethylation, thus increasing the mRNA expression of pluripotent and proliferative genes and suppressing the spontaneous differentiation of hUC-MSCs. J. Cell. Biochem. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.