Purpose To assess the feasibility of measuring maximal density of a region of interest (ROI) with contrast-enhanced CT in quantifying degrees of intestinal ischemia in patients with intestinal obstruction.Materials and Methods Abdominal CT images and reports of 160 patients with intestinal obstruction were retrospectively studied.All the data were reviewed by CT visual evaluation method and measuring maximal density of ROI respectively.The CT visual evaluation took the way of accumulated points,and divided the degrees of intestinal ischemia into five categories.The measuring maximal density of ROI quantified the degrees of bowel enhancement with a bar histogram on CT workstation.The results were compared with the pathological examination.The sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive values and accuracy of the two methods were calculated respectively,and compared.Results The sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive values and accuracy of CT visual evaluation method were 96.7％,72.9％,82.1％,94.4％ and 86.2％,respectively.The sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive values and accuracy of the measuring maximal density of ROI were 68.8％,100.0％,100.0％,71.4％,82.5％,respectively.By measuring the area under the ROC curve,the ROI method (0.995) was more accurate than CT visual evaluation method (0.908) in the diagnosis of bowel ischemia.Conclusion Measuring the maximal density of ROI can quantize bowel wall enhancement.It is a reliable and useful method in the diagnosis of intestinal ischemia,and in accordance with pathological results.

Objective To investigate the relationship between serum levels of homocysteine (HCy) and adiponectin (APN) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).Methods 65 patients with T2DM (diabetes mellitus group) and 25 healthy controls (control group) matched in the age and sex were recruited in the study.Serum HCy,APN,fasting plasma glucose (FPG),fasting insulin (FINS),total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) were simultaneously measured.The homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance(HOMA-IR) was calculated according to FPG and FINS.All the serum indicators were compared between the two groups.Results Serum level of HCy in T2DM group was (15.74 ± 2.76) μmol/L,which was significantly higher than (6.98 ± 1.94) μmol/L in the healthy control group (t =16.88,P ＜ 0.01).The serum level of APN in T2DM group was (8.14 ± 2.70) mg/L,which was significantly lower than (16.10 ± 1.93)mg/L in the healthy control group (t =13.44,P ＜ 0.01).Serum levels of FPG,HOMA-IR,TC,TG in T2DM group were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group (t =10.62,17.49,6.30,7.52,P ＜ 0.05).Serum level of APN in HCy ≥ 15μmol/L group was significantly decreased compared with HCy ＜ 15μmol/L group.Serum level of HCy was negatively correlated with APN in T2DM group after the influence of FPG,HOMA-IR,TG,TC were corrected in the partial correlation analysis.Conclusion In T2DM group,serum level of HCy was increased,but serum level of APN was decreased,serum HCy was negatively correlated with APN,higher serum level of HCy and lower serum level of APN are related with the process of insulin resistance and T2DM.

Objective To observe the changes of serum ferritin and 25-(OH) vitamin D3 in patients with diabetic cranial neuropathy.Methods There were 50 patients without diabetic Cranial neuropathy,46 patients with diabetic cranial neuropathy,and 40 cases of normal control group.The changes of serum ferritin and 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 were observed in each group.The correlation between two indexes and the correlation with diabetic cranial neuropathy were analzyzed.Results The serum ferritin levels in diabetic group and diabetic neuropathy group were significantly higher than those in normal control group (P ＜ 0.01),and its level in patients with diabetic cranial neuropathy [(687.54 ± 65.38)ng/ml] was significantly higher than that of patients without diabetic cranial neuropathy [(497.28 ± 46.39) ng/ml,P ＜0.01].The serum 25-(OH) vitamin D3 levels in the diabetic group and diabetic neuropathy group were lower than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.01),and its level in patients with diabetic cranial neuropathy [(26.45 ± 8.93)nmol/l] was significantly less than that of patients without diabetic cranial neuropathy [(37.19-± 9.74)nmol/L,P ＜ 0.01].Serum ferritin levels were positively correlated with 25-(OH) vitamin D3 (r =-0.59,P ＜ 0.01).Multivariate unconditional Logistic regression analysis showed that diabetic neuropathy was negatively correlated with 25-(OH) vitamin D3 (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The increases of serum ferritin and 25-(OH) vitamin D3 are closely related to the occurrence and development of diabetic cranial neuropathy,which provides the theoretical basis for clinical intervention therapy.

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) was identified as a marker of the inflammatory response and overexpressed in various tissues and cells related to cardiovascular disease. Honokiol, an active component isolated from the Chinese medicinal herb Magnolia officinalis, was shown to have a variety of pharmacological activities. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of honokiol on palmitic acid (PA)-induced dysfunction of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and to elucidate potential regulatory mechanisms in this atherosclerotic cell model. Our results showed that PA significantly accelerated the expression of PTX3 in HUVECs through the IkappaB kinase (IKK)/IkappaB/nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) pathway, reduced cell viability, induced cell apoptosis and triggered the inflammatory response. Knockdown of PTX3 supported cell growth and prevented apoptosis by blocking PA-inducted nitric oxide (NO) overproduction. Honokiol significantly suppressed the overexpression of PTX3 in PA-inducted HUVECs by inhibiting IkappaB phosphorylation and the expression of two NF-kappaB subunits (p50 and p65) in the IKK/IkappaB/NF-kappaB signaling pathway. Furthermore, honokiol reduced endothelial cell injury and apoptosis by regulating the expression of inducible NO synthase and endothelial NO synthase, as well as the generation of NO. Honokiol showed an anti-inflammatory effect in PA-inducted HUVECs by significantly inhibiting the generation of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. In summary, honokiol repaired endothelial dysfunction by suppressing PTX3 overexpression in an atherosclerotic cell model. PTX3 may be a potential therapeutic target for atherosclerosis.
Apoptosis/drug effects ; Atherosclerosis/chemically induced/*drug therapy/immunology/pathology ; Biphenyl Compounds/chemistry/isolation & purification/*pharmacology ; C-Reactive Protein/*genetics/immunology ; Down-Regulation/drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry/isolation & purification/*pharmacology ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; Humans ; I-kappa B Kinase/*immunology ; Lignans/chemistry/isolation & purification/*pharmacology ; Magnolia/chemistry ; Palmitic Acid ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases/*immunology ; Serum Amyloid P-Component/*genetics/immunology ; Signal Transduction/drug effects

Objective:To investigate the changes of thyroid hormones and the flow velocity of superior thyroid artery in patients with Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyrotoxicosis before and after treatment with methimazole.Methods:A case-control study was conducted to select 45 cases of Graves' disease and 45 cases of Hashimoto's thyroiditis from October 2021 to December 2022 in the Department of Endocrinology, North China University of Science and Technology Affiliated Hospital. The changes of thyroid hormone and blood flow velocity of superior thyroid artery in patients with Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis before and after treatment with methimazole were analyzed. Measurement data satisfying normal distribution were expressed by xˉ±s, and the mean between two groups was compared by t test. Measurement data not satisfying normal distribution were expressed by M( Q1, Q3), and the median between two groups was compared by Wilcoxon rank sum test. χ 2 test was used to compare the constituent ratio of enumeration data among groups. Results:There was no significant difference in thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) between the two groups before treatment, and there was no significant difference in TSH between the two groups after 1 month and 3 months of treatment (all P>0.05). The levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3) were (24.09±9.29) pmol/L and (17.41±9.36) pmol/L in Graves' disease group and Hashimoto's thyroiditis group respectively before treatment. FT4 were (60.23±20.82) and (43.47±21.71) pmol/L, respectively, and the peak stolie vloiy (PSV) were (69.53±5.70) and (52.65±4.64) cm/s, respectively in Graves' disease group and Hashimoto's thyroiditis group respectively before treatment. There were significant differences between the two groups ( t values wrere 3.39 and 3.74, Z=13.83, all P<0.001). The difference of FT3 between one month after treatment and before treatment was (-6.36±5.32) and (-12.64±9.08) pmol/L ( t=4.02, P<0.001) and the difference in FT3 between 3 months of treatment and before treatment was (-10.14±9.50) and (-17.80±11.17) pmol/L, respectively ( t=3.51, P<0.001) between the Graves disease group and the Hashimoto's thyroiditis group. The difference in FT4 between the Graves disease group and the Hashimoto's thyroiditis group after 1 month of treatment and before treatment was (-28.47±10.09) and (-20.57±14.48) pmol/L ( t=7.01, P<0.001), and the difference of FT4 was (-47.06±20.57) and (-30.17±20.54) pmol/L ( t=3.91, P<0.001) between the Graves disease group and the Hashimoto toxin group. The difference between one month after treatment and before treatment was (-13.10(-34.10,-2.60)) and (-10.50(-27.5,-0.20)) cm/s ( Z=2.63, P=0.009), respectively. The difference between 3 months and before treatment was (-31.40(-53.20,-12.70)) and (-19.90(-46.00,-4.70)cm/s ( Z=4.40, P<0.001)) between the Graves disease group and the Hashimoto's thyroiditis group, and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion:Thyroid hormone levels were decreased after treatment with methimazole in patients with diffuse toxic goiter and Hashimoto toxemia, but the difference was not statistically significant. The PSV level of superior thyroid artery in patients with diffuse toxic goiter was significantly lower than that in patients with Hashimoto's thyrotoxicosis.