Objective To analyze the clinical features of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) com-plicated by noncirrhotic portal hypertention (NCPH),and improve the recognition of NCPH.Methods Clinical data from SLE complicated by NCPH in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed and summarized,while the related literatures were reviewed.Results Four patients diagnosed as SLE complicated by NCPH were all women.NCPH presented with the clinical features of portal hypertension with normal or slightly elevated transaminase.Anticardiolipin (ACL) antibodies were positive in 2 patients.Two patients underwent liver needle biopsy,showing nodular regenerative hyperplasia,of which,one with liver portal fibrosis.The treatment strategy was managing the primary disorder and controling of portal hypertention in four patients.Twenty-two cases of SLE complicated by NCPH were reviewed and analyzed,including 18 cases from related literatures and our 4 cases.Among the 22 cases,the mean time between the diagnosis of SLE and NCPH was eight years,of which one patient with NCPH before SLE,one diagnosed at the same time and the rest with NCPH after SLE.19％ (4/21) of patients presented with Raynaud's phenomenon and 18％ (4/22) complicated by pulmonary hypertension.In serological tests,patients presented with positive ACL anti-bodies [33％(7/21)] and anti-dsDNA [48％(10/21)],as well as increased IgG and γ-Globulin [38％(8/21)].Liver needle biopsy showed nodular regenerative hyperplasia or liver portal fibrosis with the prevalence of 80％ (16/20) and 25％ (5/20),respectively.Conclusion SLE complicated by NCPH is very rare clinically and is easily being misdiagnosed without obvious symptoms and signs in the early stage.Positive ACL antibodies and Raynaud's phenomenon maybe be closely related to SLE complicated by NCPH.

Objective To detect the expression of CD44v5 in esophageal squamous carcinoma (ESCC) and analyze its relationship with clinical pathological features,so as to explore the value of detecting CD44v5 in serum for screening ESCC. Methods The CD44v5mRNA and protein in ESCC tissues and its corresponding adjacent non-carcinomatous tissues were detected by RT-PCR and Western-Blot. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to detect the protein in serum of 100 ESCC patients and 60 healthy subjects. Results (1)The expression of CD44v5 in esophageal squamous carcinoma tissues is higher than the tissue adjacent to carcinoma, and CD44v5 expression in different TNM stages, invasion depth, presence of lymph node metastasis and differentiation is with statistical differences(P < 0.05). (2)CD44v5 proteins in patients with ESCC (31.308 ± 10.123) μg/L is higher than healthy subjects (19.364 ± 1.680) μg/L, the difference is statistically significant (P < 0.01). (3)In the trial of using ELISA method to detect CD44v5 content in serum in the diagnosis of ESCC, the area under the ROC curve is 0.865. If the healthy subjects' serum content of the upper limit of 95%confidence interval was taken as a positive judgment standard, the diagnosis effect: sensitivity is 91.0%and speciality is 60.0%. Conclusion The expression of CD44v5 was related to the occurrence and lymph node metastasis of ESCC. Using ELISA method to detect the contents of CD44v5 proteins in serum, with a high sensitivity, can be used to screen ESCC.

Background and purpose:The incidence of esophageal cancer of Kazakh race is higher than that of Han people. EphA2, as a member of Eph protein family, is related to a variety of malignant tumors. This study used immunohistochemical method and enzyme-linked immunoassay to detect EphA2 in tissues and serums of Kazakh and Han patients. Therefore to analyze the expression differences of EphA2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues and serum of Kazakh and Han patients in Xinjiang, and the relationship with pathological features. Methods:The expression of EphA2 protein was detected by immunohistochemistry method in 100 cases of ESCC tissues and adjacent normal esophageal tissues;Then was tested by ELISA in those cases’ serum and 60 healthy persons. Results:The positive expression rate of EphA2 protein in ESCC and corresponding adjacent tissues were 72.0%, 28.0% in Kazakh, and 62.0%, 26.0% in Han people, respectively, and the differences were statistically significant (P=0.000) in the 2 nations. EphA2 protein levels in serum of ESCC and healthy persons, and Kazakh were (58.36±12.60) and (29.39±7.34) pg/mL, Han Chinese were (58.79±13.29) and (29.39±7.34) pg/mL respectively, there were statistical signiifcance (P=0.000). In ESCC of Kazakh and Han people, EphA2 protein expression had relationship with lymph node metastasis, TNM stage and tumor depth of invasion (P<0.05). In the serum of Kazakh and Han ESCC patients, the expression of EphA2 protein was related to TNM stage (P<0.05), while in the Kazakh esophageal cancer, the expression level was also correlated with the depth of tumor invasion (P=0.001). The positive expression rates of EphA2 protein in Kazakh and Han ESCC specimens were 72.0%and 62.0%, respectively;the protein level in the serum of patients in the 2 nations were (58.36±12.60) and (58.79±13.29) pg/mL, respectively. The protein levels in tissues and serum of the 2 different nations has no statistical signiifcance (P>0.05). Conclusion:The high expression of EphA2 protein may contribute to the occurrence, invasion and metastasis of Kazakh and Han ESCC patients. EphA2 protein expression in tissues and serum of patients with ESCC may be related to the primary tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. The expression of EphA2 protein in peripheral blood of patients with esophageal cancer in Kazakh may be related to depth the of invasion.

Objective To explore the strategy of surgical therapy for breast carcinoma . Methods The clinical data of 258 patients with breast carcinoma were analysed retrospectively. Results (1)136 patients with stage Ⅰ～Ⅱ breast carcinoma were subjected to modified radical mastectomy, overall survival(OS) was 100%, and relapse free survival(RFS)92.6%.(2)Partial mastectomy and axillary dissection were performed on two patients with stage Ⅱbreast carcinoma,one relapsed in 5 months after operation. (3)In patients with stage Ⅲ breast carcinoma,there was no statistical difference in OS and RFS between 88 patients subjected to modified radical mastectomy and 20 radical mastectomy.(4)The radical operation showed a better efficacy in 5 patients with stage Ⅳ breast carcinoma.(5)Using special breast cutter and electrotome,the rate of surgical blood transfusion was 3.5%,postoperative hematocele 2.7%,flap necrosis 7.4%, effusion under skin 18.6%,and edema of affected limb 4.3%. Conclusions (1)The modified radical mastectomy is the major operation for stage Ⅰ～Ⅲ breast carcinoma patients. (2)Using special breast cutter and electrotome could cut down surgical blood transfusion and operation time.(3)Rational axillary lymph node dissective could reduce postoperative complications.

BACKGROUND: Partial soft palate, uvula and the otiose soft tissue of lateral pharyngeal wall are resected in traditional uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. Although the syndrome can be improved, the complications, such as velopharyngeal insufficiency, cicatricial contration of pharyngeal cavity, can occur in some patients, furthermore, the prostecdtive efficacy is below the mark.OBJECTIVE: To investigate efficacy of the dilatation of oropharyngeal and nasopharyngealisthmus in uvulopalatopharyngoplasty treating obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome.DESIGN: A case-control observation.SETTING: The Affiliated Municipal Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University.PARTICIPANTS: The patients who were hospitalized for snoring, apnea, breathing obstruction and somnolence were selected from the Sleep Respiratory Disorder Diagnosis and Treatment Center in the Affiliated Municipal Hospital of Medical College of Qingdao University from July 2001 to February 2006. We ascertained that the obstruction located at pharynx oralis, no hypertrophy of lingual root, and made a definite diagnosis of OSAHS by polysomnogram. The apnea hypopnca index (AHI) was ≥ 5 times per hour. Among 216 patients, there were 159 males and 57 females aged older than 25 years.METHODS: The patients were treated by modified UPPP which maintained the normal anatomic form of pharyngeal cavity, reserved the uvula, performed oblique straight incision along palatoglossal arch to soft palate, and avoided the incision of inverse U type. Palatoplasty and pharyngoplasty could extend the oropharyngeal isthmus and nasopharyngeal isthmus thoroughly.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① The survey of effect in the near future: Defined the pain without pain-killer as pain lightly, or as pain heavily inversely. If the lateral wall of oropharynx could remain the designed morphous, it was a good henosis; it was a bad henosis inversely. ② The survey of effect in a long term: According to the statement of the patients themselves. Estimated whether the patients had postoperative complications, such as backstreaming in nasal cavity, pharyngeal foreign body sensation, etc. Assessed if the patients had sleep apnea according to the observation of the family member and the monitoring of PSG. And ascertained whether the pharyngeal cavity had approached to normal structure by the examination of oropharynx.RESULTS: All 216 patients were involved in the final analysis. ① Of the 216 subjects, there were 156 patients who needed pain-killer (72%), and 60 Patients need not (26%). The lateral pharyngeal wall of 136 subjects was smooth (63%), and the other 80 were splited partly (37%). There were no complications such as breath holding, backstreaming in the nasal cavity. ② The survey of longdated postoperative effect: The 216 patients were followed up for 6 mouths.There was no deglutitive bucking, open rhinolalia. A total number of 84 patients (39%) had pharyngeal foreign body sensation. The syndrome of sleep apnea disappeared in 169 patients, and the other 47 patients still had the syndrome,but improved than before. In 203 patients (94%), the postoperative morphous of oral cavity were content, and the other 13 patients (6%) were not content. ③ The statistical significance of the preoperative and postoperative result of PSG monitoring of the 216 patients with OSAHS existed and the difference was significant [AI: 35.45±16.42, 12.75±9.62; HI:19.39±9.86, 17.43±10.15; AHI: 54.29±18.13, 28.31 ±16.23; the average low saturation of blood oxygen: (83.58±7.96) %,(85.53±8.18) %; the average saturation of blood oxygen: (91.98±3.29) %, (93.01±3.02) %, P ＜ 0.05].CONCLUSION: The modified uvulopalatopharyngoplasty indicates that this approach not only extend the nasopharynx cavity, but also avoids the postoperative complications. The patients have markedly improved symptoms.

Objective To explore the role of compound nerve conduit, made of nerve growth factors (NGF) encapsuled by biodegradable core-shell nanofibers through coaxial electrospinning, in regeneration of injured sciatic nerves in rats. Methods The compound nerve conduits were developed from the core-shell structured biodegradable nanofibers with P(LLA-CL) as a shell and BSA/NGF or BSA as a core through coaxial electrospinning. Seventy-two Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 even groups. The middle segments (10 mm) of the sciatic nerve were excised and the defects were repaired with sciatic nerve autograft (group A), with P(LLA-CL) conduit (group B), with PLLA-CL conduit and one injection of NGF (group C), and with P(LLA-CL)/NGF controlled-release conduit (group D), respectively. Morphologic and functional evaluations of nerve regeneration were done by gross observation, sciatic function index, neural electrophysiological examination, resumption rates of triceps weight, histological and ultrastructural observa-tion respectively in 1, 2, 3 months after the operation. Results Three months after the operation, although partial biodegradation and small cracks could be observed, conduits remained intact in outline. Based on the functional and histological observations, nerve regeneration, nerve fibers arrangement, myelination and nerve function reconstruction in the P(LLA-CL)/NGF controlled-release conduit (group D) were similar to those in nerve autograft (group A) and significantly superior to those in groups B and C (P<0.05). Conclusion As the P(LLA-CL)/NGF-controlled release conduit has favorable mechanical properties and biocompatibility, it can effectively promote regeneration of the sciatic nerve in rats.

Objective To explore the relationship between serum expression of c-met protein and clinic pathological features in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) of Kazakh and Han people. Methods A total of 50 samples of ESCC and its corresponding adjacent tissues of Kazak and Han patients were collected. The expression of c-met protein was detected by immunohistochemistry assay. The serum c-met protein was detected in 40 Kazak and Han ESCC samples and 40 Kazak and Han controls using ELISA method. Results The positive expression rates of c-met protein were higher in Kazak and Han esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients than those in its corresponding adjacent tissues respectively. And the serum expression rates of c-met protein were higher in Kazak and Han esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients than those of healthy controls. There were significant differences in the different tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue and serum between groups, in which the infiltrated deep muscle and se?rous breakthrough (T3+T4) were higher than the infiltration of the mucosa and submucosa group (T1+T2), with lymph node metastasis was higher than that without lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage of ⅡB+Ⅲwas higher than that ofⅠ+ⅡA. There was no significant difference in the expression of c-met protein between ethnicity, gender, age and degree of differenti?ation. Conclusion The c-met protein expression is related to the occurrence and development, the invasion, metastasis and TNM stage of ESCC in Kazak and Han nationalities. The high expression of c-met protein in tissue and serum may indicate the invasion and metastasis of esophageal cancer and prompt a late clinical stage.

Objective To explore the feasibility of differential diagnosis of Gleason score (GS)(3+4)and (4+3)in prostate cancer (PCa) based on texture parameters of T2 WI and ADC maps.Methods A total of 77 patients with GS 7 points in PCa confirmed by pathology were enrolled in this retrospective study,including 45 GS(3+4)cases and 32 GS(4+3)cases.ROI was manually drew on the largest section of tumor on the axial T2 WI and ADC maps,and five texture parameters were extracted,namely,angular second moment (ASM),contrast, correlation,inverse difference moment and entropy,and the texture parameters between groups were analyzed statistically,then ROC curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of texture parameters with statistical differences.Results There was no significant difference in age and prostate specific antigen (PSA)between GS (3 + 4)and GS (4 + 3)groups (P＞0.05).There were significant differences in ASM and entropy between T2 WI and ADC (P＜0.05),but there was no statistical difference in contrast,correlation and inverse difference moment (P＞0.05).Except for the AUC of T2 WIASM,there were statistical differences among T2 WIentropy ,ADCASM and ADCentropy.The AUC of ADCASM and ADCentropy were larger than that of T2 WIASM and T2 WIentropy.The AUC of ADCentropy had the largest AUC (0.732),the cut off value was 5.71 ,with the sensitivity was 97.6% and specificity was 5 9.5%.Conclusion MRI texture analysis can be used to differentiate GS (3 + 4)from GS (4 + 3)in PCa,and the ADCentropy have the best diagnostic efficacy.

BACKGROUND:It is known that N6-methyladenosine(m6A)plays a role in the pathogenesis of various diseases and studies have suggested its involvement in the pathologic changes of steroid-induced femoral head necrosis(SNFH).However,research on m6A methylation modifications in steroid-induced femoral head necrosis is limited. OBJECTIVE:Using bioinformatics methods to identify the differential expression of m6A-related genes in steroid-induced femoral head necrosis and to predict miRNAs associated with these genes to further elucidate the role and mechanism of m6A methylation in steroid-induced femoral head necrosis. METHODS:Differential gene expression between steroid-induced femoral head necrosis and control groups was analyzed using GSE123568 gene expression data and identified using the"limma"package in R.Functional enrichment analysis was performed on the differentially expressed genes.Differential analysis of the related genes was carried out using the"ggstatsplot"package in R.The differential genes were cross-validated using the GSE74089 dataset.An mRNA-miRNA regulatory network was constructed,and co-expression analysis was performed on the module genes followed by enrichment analysis.Differences in immune cell infiltration between steroid-induced femoral head necrosis and control groups were quantified using the ssGSEA method. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Correlation analysis revealed 13 m6A-related genes,and further analysis through the protein-protein interaction network identification and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that YTHDF2 was expected to be a core differential gene as a potential early biomarker.Enrichment analysis indicated that differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in inflammation and immune response and were closely related to osteoclasts.Cross-validation analysis showed that differential gene expression results between the two datasets were consistent.mRNA-miRNA regulatory network analysis revealed that YTHDF2 was negatively correlated with miRNA-27a.Immune infiltration analysis revealed an increase in immune cell infiltration in steroid-induced femoral head necrosis,and YTHDF2 was positively correlated with the infiltration of CD4+T cells.To conclude,m6A-related gene YTHDF2 can serve as a potential biomarker of steroid-induced femoral head necrosis and is valuable for the early clinical diagnosis and treatment of steroid-induced femoral head necrosis.The negative correlation between YTHDF2 and mir-27a and the positive correlation between YTHDF2 and CD4+T cell infiltration provide new insights into the early diagnosis and treatment of steroid-induced femoral head necrosis and shed light on the mechanism of m6A in steroid-induced femoral head necrosis.

BACKGROUND:Osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture is a common fracture secondary to osteoporosis.At present,there is no effective prediction index and method for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the predictive effect of the comprehensive index of lumbar vertebral body bone strength on osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. METHODS:233 patients with osteoporosis were divided into a fracture group and a non-fracture group according to whether a vertebral fracture occurred.The demography,body mass index,vertebral bone mineral density and other details were collected.Lateral X-ray films of the lumbar spine were photographed.The vertebral body width,vertebral body length,sacral slope,pelvic tilt,pelvic incidence,lumbar compressive strength index and the lumbar impact strength index were measured,calculated,and analyzed by univariate and multivariate,and the receiver operating characteristic curve was analyzed.The survival analysis was conducted according to the cut-off value. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)All patients were followed up for 2-4 years,with an average of 3.1 years.During the follow-up period,99 cases(38 cases of L1 vertebral body,61 cases of L2 vertebral body)had fractures(fracture group),and 134 cases(52 cases of L1 vertebral body,82 cases of L2 vertebral body)had no fractures(non-fracture group).Univariate analysis showed that there was no significant difference in age,sex,height,body mass,body mass index and fracture segment between the two groups(P>0.05).(2)Lumbar compressive strength index and lumbar impact strength index in the fracture group were lower than those in the non-fracture group(P<0.05).Pelvic incidence and pelvic tilt in the fracture group were higher than those in the non-fracture group(P<0.05).(3)Multivariate analysis showed that lumbar compressive strength index,lumbar impact strength index and pelvic tilt were risk factors for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures(P<0.05).(4)Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the cutoff values of vertebral bone mineral density,lumbar compressive strength index,lumbar impact strength index,pelvic tilt and pelvic incidence were 0.913 5 g/cm2,1.932,0.903,21.5° and 55°,respectively;areas under the curve were 0.630,0.800,0.911,0.633 and 0.568,respectively.(5)According to the survival analysis(with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture as the end point),the average survival time of the patients with lumbar impact strength index≥0.903 was significantly longer than that of the patients with lumbar impact strength index<0.903(P<0.05).(6)These findings conclude that the comprehensive index of lumbar vertebral body bone strength is more accurate than the bone mineral density of the vertebral body and spine-pelvis sagittal parameters in predicting osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures,which is helpful for early prevention and treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.