Objective To investigate the value of CT scans in differential diagnosis of thyroid neoplasm.Methods CT findings ofthyroid neoplasm in 29 cases including 8 cases thyroid adenoma,4 cases nodular goiter and 17 cases thyroid carcinoma identified by operation and pathology were analyzed retrospectively.Results The contour of thyroid adenoma was distinct,a completely enhanced ring in 5 cases and enhanced nodules in 3 cases were showed on contrast-enhanced scan.4 cases of nodular goiter showed homogenous cystic low density the lesions were localized and distinct in contour,the cystic wall could be seen.Thyroid carcinoma appeared unhomogenous density,the edges contour of lesion was not distinct and infiltration on adjacent tissue might be seen.Conclusion CT scan might play an important role in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of thyroid neoplasm.

Purpose To investigate the expression of Apaf-1 and Caspase-9 in prostate cancer ( PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia ( BPH) , and to analyze their correlation with clinicopathological parameters of PCa. Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to de-tect Apaf-1 and Caspase-9 protein in 45 cases of PCa and 60 cases of BPH. Results The positive rate of Apaf-1 and Caspase-9 in PCa tissues was significantly lower than that in BPH (P<0. 05). The expression of Apaf-1 and Caspase-9 was not correlated with the age of patients and distant metastasis (P>0. 05), but it was correlated with the pathological grade and clinical stage of PCa (P<0. 05). Conclusion Apaf-1 and Caspase-9 are lowly expressed in PCa. There is positive correlation between the expression of Apaf-1 and Caspase-9 (rs =0. 645, P<0. 01). Apaf-1 and Caspase-9 might be correlated with the carcinogenesis and development of PCa.

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of apoptotic protease activating factor 1 (Apaf-1) and bax in prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of Apaf-1 and bax in the tissues from 45 PCa patients and 60 BPH patients. Results The positive rates of Apaf-1 and bax in PCa tissues were 22.22%(10/45) and 20.00 % (9/45), respectively, while those in BPH tissues were 48.33 % (29/60) and 46.67 % (28/60). There was a statistically significant difference in the expressions of Apaf-1 and bax between two groups (P< 0.05). The expressions of Apaf-1 and bax were not correlated with the age of patients and distant metastasis (P>0.05), but they were correlated with the pathological grade and clinical stage of PCa (P< 0.05). The expressions of Apaf-1 and bax in PCa tissues were lower than those in BPH tissues. There was a positive correlation between the expression of Apaf-1 and bax (r=0.535, P<0.01). Conclusion Apaf-1 and bax might be correlated with the carcinogenesis and development of PCa.

Objective To investigate the effect of simulated microgravity on growth , morphology, protein expression and virulence gene expression of Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPN).Methods KPN was divided into simulated microgravity group and control group in the experiment .The former group was in the ambient of simulated microgravity in a clinostat .The bacterial growth curves , morphologyical changes in electron microscopy , and protein expression were detected by SELDI-TOF-MS, and the expression of 4 virulence genes(ureA,wabG,uge and fimH) by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-PCR) in both groups.Results Compared with the control group , the growth of KPN under simulated microgravity was accelerated , and the total bacterial count increased in microgravity group .The bacterial morphology in microgravity group was changed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thinner and longer bacteria were increased .The transmission electron microscopy ( TEM) analysis revealed increase in cytoplasmic granular substance in microgravity group .Proteome analysis showed that the expression of 18 proteins was changed , half of which up-regulated and the rest were down-regula-ted.Those 18 proteins were searched in the protein library .And 21 proteins of a similar molecular mass were retrieved ,13 of which,proteins with known functions ,were closely related to bacterial life activities .RT-PCR results showed that four virulence genes of KPN were down-regulated.Conclusion Upon exposure to simulated microgravity , the growth and repro-duction of KPN are accelerated and enhanced .The bacterial morphology is changed .The strain′s protein expression and four virulence genes expressionare also changed .Therefore,microgravity can change the characteristics of KPN .

CMTM family is silenced and down-regulated in several kinds of tumors.Its aberrant expression has a strong association with the development,progression and metastasis of tumors.Thus,CMTM family is potential tumor suppressor genes.Epigenetics mechanism is the essential mechanism of the aberrant expression in this gene family.The discovery of this research gives a new direction to the clinical treatment of tumor.

Objective To investigate the expression levels and clinical significances of ubiquitin-like with PHD and ring finger domains 1 (UHRF1) and P53 in colon carcinoma.Methods The expressions of UHRF1 and P53 in 70 colon cancer tissues and 30 normal colon ones were detected by means of immunohistochemistry to analyze the correlation of these two proteins in the occurrence and development of colon carcinoma,and the relationship between their expressions and clinico-pathological factors as well as prognosis was discussed.Results The expression levels of UHRF1 and P53 in cancer tissues were significantly higher than those of cancer-adjacent tissues (87.1％ vs.56.7％,x2 =11.366,P =0.001;64.3％ vs.6.7％,x2 =27.988,P =0.000) and showed a positive correlation between the two proteins (r =0.248,P =0.038).Both UHRF1 and P53 were associated with TNM stages (x2 =4.426,P =0.049;x2 =6.000,P =0.016) and the depth of invasion (x2 =12.553,P =0.002;x2 =4.904,P =0.036).However,they were irrelevant with the age (x2 =0.473,P=0.494;x2 =0.090,P=0.799) and gender (x2 =2.297,P=0.166;x2 =0.512,P=0.617) of patients,as well as the size (x2 =0.638,P =0.481;x2 =2.392,P =0.215) and histological grading of tumors (x2 =2.088,P =0.352;0.303,P =0.859).Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the median survival time of patients with UHRF1,P53 positive expression was 21.83 months that was lower than patients with UHRF1 positive expression of 24.49 months (Z =-0.624,P =0.533).Both former of which was distinctly lower than that of negative ones of 37.33 months (Z =-2.856,P =0.004;Z =-2.694,P =0.007).Conclusion Both UHRF1 and P53 are highly expressed in colon cancer tissues,which imply that UHRF1 and P53 may be strongly related with colon cancer development and can be a predictor for colon cancer prognosis.

BACKGROUND:Research on ethyl pyruvate detection methods is reported rarely, and moreover, literature about reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) for detection of ethyl pyruvate is less.
OBJECTIVE:To establish an RP-HPLC method for determination of ethyl pyruvate in ethyl pyruvate-chitosan nanoparticles.
METHODS: The chromatographic analysis was performed on a ZORBAX Eclipse XDB-C18 column (4.6 mm× 150 mm, 5μm) at 25℃, with the mixture of acetonitrile and water (40:60, V/V) as the mobile phase at the flow rate of 1 mL/min. The determination wavelength wasset at 210 nm and the injection volume was 20 μL.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The peak of ethyl pyruvate and the peaks of auxiliary materials and solvent were separated wel. The linear rang of ethyl pyruvate was 1-100 mg/L (r=0.999 6). The relative standard deviation of both the intra-and inter-day precision was less than 3% for low-, moderate-, and high-concentration ethyl pyruvate. The relative standard deviation of reproducibility test and stability test was 1.25% and 1.3%, respectively. Sample average recovery rates were (91.5±1.0)%, (3.5±0.2)%, (94.4±0.4)%, respectively. Encapsulation efficiency of samples were (87.2±0.22)%, (90.5±0.15)%, (91.1±0.17)%, respectively. The relative standard deviation of different sample content were 0.9%, 0.5%, 0.3%, respectively. The RP-HPLC method for determination of ethyl pyruvate is sensitive, accurate and highly specific with wide linear range and high sample average recovery.

Objective To investigate the expressions and significances of Bcl-2 and Bax in basal-like breast carcinoma (BLBC).Methods The expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax were detected in 43 cases of BLBC, 57 cases of non-BLBC and 60 cases of normal breast tissues by immunohistochemistry,and their relationships with physiological and pathological characteristics of patients were analysized.Results The positive rate of Bcl-2 in BLBC was 69.77%,higher than 43.86% in non-BLBC (χ2 =6.647,P =0.01 0)and 21 .67% in normal breast tissues (χ2 =23.831 ,P =0.001 ).The positive rate of Bax in BLBC was 20.93%,lower than 45.61 % in non-BLBC (χ2 =6.564,P =0.01 0)and 76.67% in normal breast tissues (χ2 =31 .270,P =0.001 ).The expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax were correlated with lymphnode metastasis (χ2 =6.927,P =0.008;χ2 =6.203,P =0.01 3)and pTNMstaging of BLBC (χ2 =6.331 ,P =0.01 2;χ2 =5.972,P =0.01 5).There was negative correlation between the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in BLBC (r = -0.408,P <0.01 0). Conclusion High expression of Bcl-2 and low expression of Bax interact with each other leading to unbalance of cell deferation and apoptosis,resulting in promoting genesis and progress of BLBC.

Objective To study the expressions of apoptotic protease activating factor-1(Apaf-1)and astrocyte elevated gene-1(AEG-1)in colonic carcinoma,and to explore their correlations with the clinical path-ological features. Methods The expressions of Apaf-1 and AEG-1 were detected in 63 colonic carcinoma sam-ples and 30 normal colonic mucosa adjacent to tumor nest by immunohistochemical method,and their correla-tions with clinical features of colonic carcinoma were analyzed. Results The positive expressions of Apaf-1 and AEG-1 in colonic carcinoma were 23. 81%(15 / 63)and 68. 25%(43 / 63),respectively. The positive expre-ssions of Apaf-1 and AEG-1 in normal colonic mucosa were 76. 67%(23 / 30)and 26. 67%(8 / 30),respec-tively. The positive expression rate of AEG-1 was significantly higher in colonic carcinoma than that in normal tissue(χ2 = 14. 192,P = 0. 000). However,the expression of Apaf-1 was signi-ficantly lower in colonic carci-noma than that in normal tissue(χ2 = 23. 497,P = 0. 000). The expression of Apaf-1 was negatively correlated to the expression of AEG-1(r = - 0. 339,P = 0. 007). The expressions of AEG-1 and Apaf-1 were associated with differentiation degree(χ2 = 4. 643,P = 0. 031;χ2 = 12. 034,P = 0. 001)and clinical stage(χ2 = 6. 628, P = 0. 010;χ2 = 8. 246,P = 0. 004),but they were not correlated with age(χ2 = 1. 462,P = 0. 227;χ2 =2. 401,P = 0. 121)and tumor size(χ2 = 0. 333,P = 0. 564;χ2 = 0. 590,P = 0. 442). Conclusion The expression of AEG-1 is up-regulated in colonic carcinoma,but the expression of Apaf-1 is down-regulated,with a significant negative correlation. Apaf-1 and AEG-1 may be closely related to the occurrence and development of colon carcinoma. Therefore,combination detection of Apaf-1 and AEG-1 may be more valuable for the prog-nosis evaluation of colonic carcinoma.

Objective To investigate the effect of imatinib on the growth of A549 non-small cell lung cancer transplanted tumors and the expression of PDGFB and PDGFRβ proteins in tumor tissues and stroma in nude mice and to explore the underlying tumor suppression mechanism. Methods A transplantation tumor model of A549 non-small cell lung cancer was established in nude mice. The mice were then randomly divided into four groups: control group (0.9%NaCl), low-dose imatinib group (50 mg/(kg·d)), medium-dose imatinib group (100 mg/(kg·d)), and high-dose imatinib group (200 mg/(kg·d)). The effect of different concentrations of imatinib administered by continuous gavage on tumor growth was observed for 28 days. HE staining was performed to observe the pathological changes of tumor tissues. The expression of PDGF/PDGFR pathway-related proteins and the phosphorylation levels of AKT and ERK1/2 proteins in tumor tissues were detected by Western blot analysis. Double immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the expression of PDGFB and PDGFRβ proteins in the tumor stroma. Results Imatinib inhibited the growth of A549 non-small cell lung cancer cells in nude mice, suppressed the expression of PDGFB in tumor tissues, and decreased the phosphorylation levels of PDGFRβ, AKT, and ERK1/2. The expression of PDGFB and PDGFRβ in tumor stromal fibroblasts of the administered group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Conclusion Imatinib exhibits a pronounced inhibitory effect on A549 xenografts of nude mice with non-small cell lung cancer, and its antitumor mechanism may involve the downregulation of PDGFB and PDGFRβ expression in tumor stromal fibroblasts.