Objective To evaluate the accuracy of multi-detector-row CT (MDCT) in the diagnosis and preoperative evaluation of breast cancer. Methods From January 2004 to December 2007,the clinical data of 54 cases wih pathologically proved breast cancer undergoing preoperative MDCT scan (31 cases also underwent MRI scan) were retrospectively analyzed at our hospital. Surgical planning was based on MDCT assessment. The extent and location of tumor depicted by MDCT,MRI and pathology were compared. Results Breast carcinoma was diagnosed by MDCT in all the cases. In these 54 patients,MDCT achived an accuracy of 87% in evaluating the extent of tumor. Based on MDCT,39 cases underwent BCT surgery with a 8% margin positive rate. MDCT and MRI had no significant difference in accuracy of evaluation on the extent of tumor ( x2 = 0. 5, P ＞ 0. 05 ). Conclusions MDCT accurately assesses the extent and location of breast cancer, proving its value in preoperative evaluation of breast cancer.

AIM:To investigate the effects of perfluorocarbon and ligustrazine on lung injury during liver transplantation in pigs with hepatopulmonary syndrome. METHODS:A hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) model of pig was established by chronic bile duct ligation. The animals were assigned randomly to 2 groups:(1) Perfluorocarbon in combination with ligustrazine treatment groups (PFCL group):the pigs were treated with intratracheal instillation of perfluorocarbon and ligustrazine; (2) The conventional mechanical ventilation group (MV group):all animals were subjected to mechanical ventilation and orthotopic liver transplantation. After 5 h the lungs were harvested for further analysis. RESULTS:The lung wet to dry weight radio,pulmonary permeation index and leukocyte count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) in PFCL group significantly decreased compared to MV group (P<0.05). Contents of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in the lung tissue,plasma and BALF of pigs in PFCL group were significantly lower than those in MV group (P<0.05). Moreover,the activation of NF-κB was inhibited markedly by PFCL. CONCLUSION:Perfluorocarbon in combination with ligustrazine effectively reduces the PMN accumulation in the lungs,inhibits TNF-α and IFN-γ production and protects against lung injury during liver transplantation in pigs with hepatopulmonary syndrome.

AIM: To investigate the protective effects of berberine against liver injury induced by lipopolysaccharide in mice and the mechanisms underlying its protective effect.METHODS: The male mice were divided randomly into control,berberine group,LPS group and berberine treatment group.Mice were administered intragastrically with distilled water(0.01 mL/g) or(5 g/L) neutral sulfate berberine(0.01 mL/g) once a day for 5 days and injected intraperitoneally with normal saline or LPS(0.02(mL/g),28 mg/kg)at 1 h after gavage on day 5.Blood was collected for determining alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase(AST) activities,the content of tumor necrosis factors-?(TNF-?) at 10 h and 2 h after LPS or normal saline injection,respectively.Furthermore,the liver tissue was processed,and histological changes and ultrastructure in liver were observed with light and electron microscopy,malondialdehyde(MDA) content and superoxide dismutase(SOD) activity in liver were also detected.RESULTS: Both ALT and AST activities in serum in LPS group were higher than those in control and berberine treatment group.LPS increased the serum TNF-? content at 2 h after injection,which was reversed by berberine pretreatment.The histological examination showed that LPS caused severe hepatic cell edema,degeneration,apoptosis and even necrosis,and ultrastructure observation demonstrated that LPS induced mitochondrial swelling,condensation and margination of chromatin,irregular nuclear envelope in hepatocytes.The above pathological changes produced by LPS were attenuated by berberine pretreatment.Moreover,MDA contents in liver tissue were higher in LPS group than control and berberine treatment group,but there were no significant difference in SOD activity between berberine treatment and LPS group.CONCLUSION: Berberine has a protective effect on LPS-induced liver injury in mice,the mechanisms may be related to its decreasing the production of TNF-?,inhibiting lipid peroxidation and protecting mitochondria.

AIM: To observe the effect of glycine on the myocardial ischemic injury in mice METHODS: Mice were supplied with 20% glycine twice daily (0 025 mL/g, ig), or 40% Injection salviae miltiorrhizae composita (ISMC, 0 025 mL/g, ig) One week later, 0 02 U/g pituitrin was injected intraperitoneally The electrocardiogram was recorded, and activities of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the content of malondiadehyde (MDA) in the myocardium were examined RESULTS: Glycine reduced changes in J spot in electrocardiogram Both glycine and ISMC increased activities of SOD and NOS, inhibited increase in MDA content in the myocardium induced by pituitrin There was no difference in above parameters between glycine-treated and ISMC-treated mice. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that glycine can protect myocardium from ischemic injury, the mechanism may be related to increase in activities of NOS, SOD and supressing the lipid peroxidation.

AIM: To study the effect of food intake on weight, memory, staying balance and power, and some biochemical indexes in mice. METHODS: In accordance with the average food intake everyday, the animals were divided into five groups: group A took the average food intake fully, group B took 75% of the average food intake, group C took 50% of the average food intake, group D took 25% of the average food intake, and group E did not take any food at all. The weights, memory, staying balance and power were recorded every three days, the biochemical index was recorded on the 10th day. RESULTS: On the 3rd day, the weight and staying balance and power of mice in group E decreased. On the 6th and 9th day, the weight of mice in group ABC increased. Compared with group B and C, the memory group A and D decreased. On the 10th day, the blood glucose concentratoin in of group D decreased, total cholesterol and triglyceride also decreased with the reduction of food intake. CONCLUSION: A food intake of 75%-50% in all helpes to keep a good body status and memory, decreases total cholesterol and triglyceride in blood.

AIM:To study the expression of glycine receptorα1 subunit in neonatal rat myocardial cells and to investigate the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), hypoxia/reoxygenation, isoproterenol (ISO) and high concentration of glucose (HG) on the expression of glycine receptorα1 subunit in the neonatal rat myocardial cells.METHODS:Neonatal rat myocardial cells were cultured in vitro.The expression of glycine receptorα1 subunit was detected by Western blotting. The neonatal rat myocardial cells were treated with LPS (20 mg/L), ISO (100 μmol/L) or high concentration of glucose (25 mmol/L) for 24 h, or were exposed to hypoxia for 3 h followed by reoxygenation for 3 h.Subsequently, the cell viabil-ity was measured by CCK-8 assay, and the expression of glycine receptorα1 subunit was determined by Western blotting. RESULTS:The expression of glycine receptor α1 subunit in the neonatal rat myocardial cells was positively detectable by Western blotting.Compared with control group, no significant difference of the cell viability ( P>0.05) in LPS group, ISO group, hypoxia/reoxygenation group and HG group was observed.The expression of glycine receptor α1 subunit was in-creased (P<0.01) in LPS group, ISO group and hypoxia/reoxygenatio group, but decreased (P<0.01) in HG group. CONCLUSION:Glycine receptorα1 subunit exists in the neonatal rat myocardial cells.A certain concentration of LPS or ISO, or hypoxia/reoxygenation for a certain period upregulate the expression of glycine receptorα1 subunit, but HG down-regulates the expression of glycine receptor α1 subunit in cultured neonatal rat myocardial cells.

AIM:To explore the preliminary mechanism of senegenin ( Sen) on inhibiting hypoxia/reoxygenation ( H/R)-induced apoptosis of primary cortical neurons .METHODS:The cultured cortical neurons were randomly divided in-to normal group (control group), model group (H/R group), Sen+H/R group and Sen group.Flow cytometry was used to evaluate the effect of Sen on H/R-induced cell apoptosis .The protein levels of JNK , p-JNK, c-Jun, p-c-Jun, Bcl-2 and Bax were assessed by Western blotting .RESULTS:The apoptotic rate in H/R group was obviously higher than that in control group (P<0.05), while the apoptotic rate in Sen +H/R group was obviously lower than that in H/R group (P<0.05), suggesting that the model of apoptosis was established successfully .The results of Western blotting showed that Sen increased the expression of JNK and c-Jun, inhibited the phosphorylation of JNK and c-Jun (P<0.05), increased the protein level of Bcl-2 and inhibited the protein level of Bax in H/R treated primary cortical neurons (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Sen has a protective effect against H/R-induced neuronal apoptosis by increasing the expression of JNK and c-Jun, inhibiting the phosphorylation of JNK and c-Jun, increasing the protein level of Bcl-2 and decreasing the protein level of Bax .

Objective Discussed the efficacy of applying standardized patient in clinical surgical practice teaching.Method Twenty eight-year-medical students in our college were enrolled and students' theoretical knowledge mastering ability,students' evaluation on the teaching and students'clinical ability were surveyed.Result Students' score significantly increased compared to last year scores (P ＜0.01).100％ of the participants found the SP teaching methods can increase the interest in learning; 90％ of students found the SP as a guide to better grasp the teaching content; 95％ of students found the SP teaching methods can improve the ability to communicate with patients.Conclusions The class atmosphere was improved,students' enthusiasm was activated,students' clinical ability was promoted and satisfactory teaching effect was obtained after applying standardized patient.

AIM: To investigate the effect of siduqing decoction,a Chinese medicine,on survival rate and multiple organ dysfunction in mice challenged with LPS. METHODS: Mice were administered intragastrically with Siduqing decoction or distilled water (0.2 ml/10 g) twice a day for 3 days,two hours after Chinese herbal medicine treatment on day 3,LPS or normal saline was injected intraperitoneally,and survival rates in each group were recorded at 12-h intervals. In another experiment,mice were sacrificed at 12 h after LPS,lung,liver,kidney and small intestine were collected and processed for the H & E staining. In addition,Blood was collected at 10 h after LPS injection for determining alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity,blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Cr) contents. RESULTS: At 96 h after LPS injection,the survival rate (27%, n =34) was lower in LPS group than Siduqing treatment group (65%, n=31,P

AIM: To observe the influence of glycine on intracellular free calcium, the concentration of tumor necrosis factor-? and the survival rate of myocardial cells during hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R). METHODS: The simulated model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion with the primary cultured cardiomyocytes of neonatal rats was established, and the cultured cardiomyocytes were divided into seven groups, control group, hypoxia/reoxygenation group, glycine (0.5 mmol/L) plus hypoxia/reoxygenation group, glycine (1.0 mmol/L) plus hypoxia/reoxygenation group, glycine (2.0 mmol/L) plus hypoxia/reoxygenation group, glycine (4.0 mmol/L) plus hypoxia/reoxygenation group, 4.0 mmol/L glycine group. RESULTS: Within certain concentration (0.5-2.0 mmol/L), the glycine could inhibit the calcium overload resulting from hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in cells in a dose-dependent manner with the optimal inhibitory effect at 2.0 mmol/L. Glycine inhibited the secretion of tumor necrosis factor-? from myocardial cells and increased the survival rate of myocardial cells. CONCLUSION: Glycine has a protective effect on hypoxia/reoxygenation myocardial cells, which may be related to inhibiting calcium overload and decreasing the production of tumor necrosis factor-?.