AIM: In order to explore the mechanism of the GC - like effect of Tsiao Shaihutang (TSS), the down - regulation of glucocorticoid receptor and mRNA by TSS were studied. METHODS: GR sites were determined by receptor radio ligand binding assay method. At the same time, GR mRNA level was determined by quantitative reverse- transcriptive polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) method. RESULTS: (1) GR sites and GR mRNA level were down - regulated significantly after GC, TSS (P < 0.01 ) treatment . (2) GR sites and GR mRNA level in GC plus TSS group were obviously higher than those in GC group (P < 0.01 ). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggested that TSS can significantly down- regulate GR and GR mRNA level.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of the parameters obtained from PET/MR in brain tumors.Methods In this prospective study,28 patients (21 males,7 females,age range: 6-82 years) with clinical suspicion of brain tumor from November 2012 to September 2015 underwent PET/MR multi-modality imaging.The examination of PET/MR included 11C-MET PET and multiple MR sequences.The qualities of images were estimated firstly.The ROC curve and the accuracy of SUVmax,ADCmean,rCBF and NAA/(Cho+Cre) ratio were calculated.The pathology or final clinical diagnosis was taken as the standard.The diagnostic efficiency of the multi-modality imaging was determined based on the cutoff values of the four parameters.Two-sample t test was used to analyze the differences of parameters between glioma group and inflammatory group.Results SUVmax,ADCmean,rCBF and NAA/(Cho+Cre) ratio were validated to be effective parameters in diagnosing brain tumors with the diagnostic accuracy of 89.3％(25/28),82.1％(23/28),78.6％(22/28) and 75.0％(21/28),respectively.The SUVmax exhibited the highest diagnostic accuracy,while the diagnostic efficiency of the combination of four parameters was superior to the separate parameter.The values of SUVmax,rCBF and NAA/(Cho+Cre) ratio were significantly different between glioma group(n=10) and inflammatory group(n=11;t values:-2.31,-3.11,-2.77,all P<0.05).Conclusions PET/MR can provide a one-stop examination with multi-modality imaging of brain.The obtained parameters SUVmax,ADCmean,rCBF and NAA/(Cho+Cre) ratio,especially their combination,have effective diagnostic values on brain tumor.

Cornus officinalis,a medicinal and edible plant known for its liver-nourishing properties,has shown promise in inhibiting the activation of hepatic stellate cells(HSCs),crucial indicators of hepatic fibrosis,especially when processed by high pressure wine steaming(HPWS).Herein,this study aims to investigate the regulatory effects of cornus officinalis,both in its raw and HPWS forms,on inflammation and apoptosis in liver fibrosis and their underlying mechanisms.In vivo liver fibrosis models were established by subcutaneous injection of CCl4,while in vitro HSCs were exposed to transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β).These findings demonstrated that cornus officinalis with HPWS conspicuously ameliorated his-topathological injury,reduced the release of proinflammatory factors,and decreased collagen deposition in CCl4-induced rats compared to its raw form.Utilizing ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer(UHPLC-QTOF-MS)combined with network analysis,we identified that the pharmacological effects of the changed components of cornus officinalis before and after HPWS,primarily centered on the adenosine phosphate(AMP)-activated protein kinase(AMPK)pathway.Of note,cornus officinalis activated AMPK and sirtuin 3(SIRT3),promoting the apoptosis of activated HSCs through the caspase cascade by regulating caspase3,caspase6 and caspase9.small interfering RNA(siRNA)experiments showed that cornus officinalis could regulate AMPK activity and its mediated-apoptosis through SIRT3.In conclusion,cornus officinalis exhibited the ability to reduce inflammation and apoptosis,with the SIRT3-AMPK signaling pathway identified as a potential mecha-nism underlying the synergistic effect of cornus officinalis with HPWS on anti-liver fibrosis.

Objective:To investigate the value of multiple parameters and the combined model based on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/MR in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pancreatic tumors. Methods:A total of 76 patients (50 males, 26 females, age (45.2±18.0) years) with clinically suspected pancreatic tumor who underwent PET/MR between December 2012 and September 2020 in First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital were retrospectively selected. All patients had definitive diagnoses. PET/MR sequences included T 1 weighted imaging (WI; convention and contrast enhancement), T 2WI, diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and 18F-FDG PET sequences. Morphological characteristics and scores of lesions in MRI were evaluated. Parameters including parameters of PET and DWI, as well as parameters derived from histogram analysis of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and standardized uptake value (SUV) (maximum (max), minimum (min), mean, median, standard deviation (SD), skewness, kurtosis, entropy) were measured. Independent-sample t test or Mann-Whitney U test were used for data analysis. PET/MR combined model was measured based on logistic regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to calculate the differential diagnosis efficacy of PET/MR multiparameters and combined model for benign and malignant lesions. Results:Among 76 patients, 55 were malignant and 21 were benign. (1) Visual evaluation. The main manifestations of pancreatic cancer were unclear margin, abnormal internal MR signal and enhancement, decreased ADC signal and increased radioactive uptake. The main manifestations of benign tumor lesions of pancreas were clear margin, even signal and enhancement, no reduction of ADC, decreased radioactive uptake. (2) Diagnostic efficacy. Multiparameter model established based on logistic regression analysis included SUV max, SUV SD, ADC entropy and ADC skewness. The efficiency of differential diagnosis for benign and malignant pancreatic tumors were shown as follows: multiparametric diagnostic model>ADC entropy>MR score>SUV max>SUV SD>ADC skewness. The multiparametric diagnostic model had the best diagnosis efficiency with the area under curve (AUC) of 0.86, the sensitivity of 69.1%(38/55), and the specificity of 100%(21/21) ( z=-8.73, P<0.001). Conclusions:MR score and multiple quantitative parameters obtained from 18F-FDG PET/MR can be used to differentiate benign and malignant pancreatic tumors. Compared with independent parameter of PET/MR, multiparametric model can further improve the diagnostic efficiency.

Renal fibrosis is a devastating consequence of progressive chronic kidney disease,representing a major public health challenge worldwide.The underlying mechanisms in the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis remain unclear,and effective treatments are still lacking.Renal tubular epithelial cells(RTECs)maintain kidney function,and their dysfunction has emerged as a critical contributor to renal fibrosis.Cellular quality control comprises several components,including telomere homeostasis,ubiquitin-proteasome system(UPS),autophagy,mitochondrial homeostasis(mitophagy and mitochondrial metabolism),endoplasmic reticulum(ER,unfolded protein response),and lysosomes.Failures in the cellular quality control of RTECs,including DNA,protein,and organelle damage,exert profibrotic functions by leading to senescence,defective autophagy,ER stress,mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction,apoptosis,fibro-blast activation,and immune cell recruitment.In this review,we summarize recent advances in un-derstanding the role of quality control components and intercellular crosstalk networks in RTECs,within the context of renal fibrosis.

Objective To explore the value of 11C-methionine(MET)PET/CT radiomics model for evaluating isocitrate dehydrogenase1(IDH1)status of glioblastoma.Methods Data of 157 patients with glioblastoma who underwent 11C-MET PET/CT examination,including 68 cases of IDH1 mutation and 89 cases of IDH1 wild-type were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into training set(n=125)and validation set(n=32)at the ratio of 8:2.Based on PET/CT images,lesions ROI were delineated and radiomics features were extracted and screened to establish radiomics models with logistic regression(LR),support vector machine(SVM)and decision trees(DT),respectively.Meanwhile,the nomogram based on patients'age and radiomics features was drawn.The efficacy of radiomics models and clinical-radiomics nomogram for evaluating IDH1 status were comparatively observed.Results The area under the curve(AUC)of DT radiomics model for evaluating IDH1 status of glioblastoma in training set was 0.910,higher than that of LR(0.697)and SVM(0.698)models(both P＜0.05).In validation set,the AUC of DT model for evaluating IDH1 status of glioblastoma was 0.805,which was higher than that of LR model(0.740)and clinical-radiomics nomogram(0.704)(both P＜0.05).Conclusion 11C-MET PET/CT radiomics model based on DT was helpful for evaluating IDH1 status of glioblastoma.