Objective To evaluate the value of multislice spiral computed tomography angiography (MSCTA) in differential diagnosis between epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) and borderline epithelial ovarian tumor (BOT).Methods The MSCTA images of 39 EOC patients and 23 BOT patients confirmed by surgical pathology were reviewed retrospectively.Main characteristics of tumor vessels were analyzed: the number of feeding arteries, the existence of dilated draining veins, whether the tumor vessels were tortuous, whether the distribution of tumor vessels were disturbed, and whether there were accompanying microaneurysms or arteriovenous malformations (AVMs).Results Two or more feeding arteries of the EOCs and BOTs were 89.7% (35/39) and 8.7% (2/23), respectively.Dilated draining veins were observed in 87.2% (34/39) of the EOCs and 4.3% (1/23) of the BOTs.The tortuosity of tumor vessels was observed in 97.4% (38/39) of the EOCs and 13.0% (3/23) of the BOTs.79.5% (31/39) of the EOCs and 8.7% (2/23) of the BOTs were complicated by microaneurysms, and 74.4% (29/39) of the EOCs and 4.3% (1/23) of the BOTs were complicated by AVMs.The characteristics of tumor vessels were significantly different between the two groups (P<0.01), with relatively high sensitivity and specificity.Conclusion MSCTA can better show the distribution, number and pattern of tumor vessels and is of great value in differential diagnosis between EOC and BOT.

Objective To observe the effect of modified Qinghao Biejia Decoction ( QBD) on Th17 cells and renal pathology of MRL/lpr mice with spontaneous systemic lupus erythematosus. Methods Thirty-two female MRL/lpr mice aged 8 to 10 weeks were divided into 4 groups: model group, Chinese medicine group, prednisone group, and combination group, 8 mice in each group. Eight female C57BL/6 mice aged 8 to 10 weeks served as normal control. Mice in Chinese medicine group were given concentrated solution of modified QBD (19.25 g·kg-1·d-1), mice in the prednisone group were given water solution of prednisone acetate (8.75 mg·kg-1·d-1) , mice in the combination group were given the above two kinds of medicine, and mice in the model group and normal control group were given physiological saline. After medication for 7 weeks, spleens and kidneys in all of the groups were taken out for the experiment. Th17 cells in splenic mononuclear cell suspension were detected by flow cytometry, the pathological changes of renal tissue were observed under light microscope, and activity index (AI) of renal tissue in lupus nephritis mice was scored. Results The proportion of Th17 cells in the model group was significantly higher than that of normal control group ( P<0.05) . The proportion of Th17 cells in Chinese medicine group and combination group was lower than that of the model group ( P<0.05) , and prednisone group had higher proportion of Th17 cells than Chinese medicine group ( P<0.05) . Compared with the model group, pathological changes of renal tissue were relieved, and AI scores were decreased in Chinese medicine group, the prednisone group and the combination group ( P<0.05) . Except for the normal control group , AI scores in all groups were positively correlated with the proportion of Th17 cells ( r=0.77, P<0.01) . Conclusion Modified QBD can inhibit the expression of Th17 cells and improve the pathological changes of MRL/lpr mice with lupus nephritis.

Objective To identify the changes of body composition with acromegaly before and after pituitary adeno-ma surgery,and to evaluate the relationship between these changes and serum growth hormone(GH),insulin-like growth factor-1(IGF-1).Methods Serum GH with OGTY,IGF-1 levels,BMI,fat percentage,FFM and total body water(TBW) in patients were measured in active and relieved period of the disease.Results The BMI and FFM with active acromegalic males were significantly higher,but fat percentage was significantly lower than that of healthy males.After the disease was relieved by surgery,serum GH and IGF-1 concentrations of patients were sig-nificantly reduced to normal level,but their BMI was still significantly higher,the fat percentage increased and the FFM decreased was correlated with serum nadin GH and IGF-1 levels.The BMI and FFM with active acromegalic females were significantly higher than healthy females,but the fat percentage had not significant change after sur-gery,and FFM decrease was correlated with reduced serum GH level.The fat percentage did not change signifi-cantly.Conclusion There was significant change of body composition with acromagely before and after treatment,and a relationship between these changes and serum GH and IGF-1 levels was identified.

Objective To evaluate effects of interleukin-36α (IL-36α) on psoriasiform skin lesions and C-C motif chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20) expression in mice.Methods Totally,30 BALB/c female mice were randomly and equally divided into 3 groups:control group treated with topical vaseline cream on the shaved back and intracutaneous injection with phosphate buffer saline (PBS),model group treated with topical imiquimod cream on the shaved back and intracutaneous injection with PBS,experimental group treated with topical imiquimod cream on the shaved back and intracutaneous injection with IL-36α solution.Psoriasis area severity index (PASI) was used to evaluate changes of psoriasiform skin lesions in mice,and light microscopy to observe morphological changes of skin lesions and to measure the thickness of the epidermis.Real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot analysis were performed to determine the expression of IL-36α in skin lesions in the control group and model group,and qRT-PCR,Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical study to evaluate changes of CCL20 levels in skin lesions.Results The model group showed significantly increased mRNA (△ Ct value:0.0195 ± 0.0059) and protein expression (3.922 ± 0.248) of IL-36α compared with the control group (mRNA:0.0012 ± 0.0004,P ＜ 0.05;protein:0.690 ± 0.025,P ＜ 0.05).The mRNA and protein expression of CCL20 were significantly higher in the experimental group than those in the model group (mRNA:2.152 ± 0.793 vs.0.999 ± 0.178;protein:0.397 ± 0.033 vs.0.145 ± 0.030;both P ＜ 0.05),and higher in the model group than those in the control group (mRNA:0.378 ± 0.075;protein:0.025 ± 0.009;both P ＜ 0.05).Immunohistochemical study showed that the expression intensity of CCL20 in skin lesions significantly increased in the experimental group compared with that in the model group (Z =2.294,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion IL-36α may aggravate psoriasiform skin inflammation in mice by promoting CCL20 expression.

Objective To investigate the effect of phosphatidylinesitol-3 kinase/serine threonine kinase (PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway on expression of beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme-1 (BACE1) in the hippocampus neurons of rat brain. Methods Forty SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: blank control group, sham-operated group, insulin group and wortmannin group. Insulin or the specific inhibitor of PI3K, wortmannin was injected into hippocampus neurons to activate or inhibit the signaling pathway in insulin group or wortmannin group, respectively. Immunoprecipitation and Western blot were used to analyze the proteins levels of PI3K/Akt and BACE1. Results In insulin treatment group,among the proteins downstream of signaling pathway, expression of Akt increased (0. 952±0.060 vs 0.835±0.029,t=4.9150, P=0.0001), phospho-Akt set473 increased (0.800±0.075 vs 0.657± 0.025,t=4.5598, P=0.0002), phospho-GSK-3α decreased (0.604±0.062 vs 0.726±0.041, t= 3.5871, P=0.0018 ), and the expression of mature BACE1 and β-CTF significantly decreased. In wortmannin group, the expression of Akt and phospho-Akt ser473 were inhibited; phospho-GSK-3α increased ; mature BACEI (1.004±0.096) and β-CTF (1.031±0.048) increased (t=11.5980, P= 0.0000 and t =4.2194, P =0.0004, respectively). Conclusions PI3K/Akt signaling pathway might effect the expression of BACE1, in which impaired signaling pathway may cause the amyloid precursor protein to be easily processed by BACE1, and thus involves the pathology of Alzheimer' s disease.

Objective To assess the enhancement feature of intracranial atherosclerotic plaque in the vessel supplying the territory of infarction by using high-resolution MR imaging.To analyze the correlation between the degree of plaque enhancement , time elapsed and the concentration of hypersensitive C-reactive protein ( hs-CRP ).Methods The characteristics of vessel walls and intracranial vascular stenoses were retrospectively analyzed in 81 patients with ischemic strokes.All subjects were imaged with a traditional stroke MR protocol and HR-MRI scanning for plaque on a 3.0 T MRI scanner.According to the elapsed time between infarct and MR examination , all cases were classified into early stage (<4 weeks from acute stroke, n=58), middle stage (4-12 weeks, n=13) and late stage ( >12 weeks, n=10).The characteristics of vessel walls and degrees of enhancement of atherosclerotic plaques were assessed and the concentrations of hs-CRP in all patients were determined.The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to compare the degree of enhancement and hs-CRP concentration among the early , middle and late stage.The concentration of hs-CRP was presented as median ( interquartile range ).The Spearman correlation was used to analyze the correlation between elapsed time , hs-CRP concentration and degree of enhancement.Results Fifty-five (55/81) plaques were located at the M1 segments, and the other 26 (26/81) plaques were at the basilar artery.The degree and presence of enhancement from strong to none were 29, 25 and 4 in the early stage;4, 6 and 3 in the middle stage and 0, 4, 6 in the late stage, respectively.The degree and presence of enhancement were significantly different among them (H=16.934,P<0.01).There was a remarkable trend of decreasing degree and presence of enhancement of the atherosclerotic plaque relative to increasing time after the ischemic event(r=-0.792,P<0.01).The serum hs-CRP concentration for early, middle and late stage were 7.0(3.0, 13.0), 2.27(1.0, 3.03) and 1.88(0.50, 4.0)mg/L (H=14.345,P<0.01) , respectively.There was a trend of decreasing hs-CRP concentration relative to the time elapsed ( r =-0.357,P<0.01).The degrees of enhancement of the plaques were parallel to the levels of hs -CRP( r=0.526,P<0.01).Conclusions Enhanced HR-MRI scanning may clearly demonstrate the enhancement characteristics of intracranial atherosclerotic plaques as an indicator of inflammation.It might play an important role to detect risk factors for intracranial plaque rupture and subsequent acute ischemic stroke .

Purpose To reconstruct perfusion computerized tomography angiography (PCTA) images from the volume data of low-dose brain CT perfusion scan with iterative reconstruction algorithm, to analyze the capability of PCTA on the display of brain arteries, and to explore the methods to reduce the radiation dose for stroke CT examinations. Materials and Methods This was a prospective study, 55 patients (605 arterial segments) with clinical diagnosis of ischemic cerebrovascular disease underwent cranial CT scan, iterative algorithm low-dose brain CT perfusion scan and conventional cranial CTA examinations using a 256-slice spiral CT. 11 segments of the cerebral artery in each case were analyzed using conventional CTA results as the reference standard to assess the display of brain arteries in PCTA. Results Effective dose of CT perfusion scan was 2.12 mSv. Among the 580 vessel segments which CTA showed no stenosis or stenosis<30%, only one vessel segment of PCTA was inconsistent with CTA; among the 19 vessel segments which CTA showed stenosis≥30%but not occluded, results of 12 vessel segments in PCTA were consistent with CTA, while the stenosis states were exaggerated by PCTA in the other seven vessel segments;results of the two methods were consistent in six vessel segments which was found occluded by CTA. Kw values were >0.75 for the consistency test between PCTA and CTA on the display of brain arteries. Conclusion Radiation dose of iterative algorithm cranial CT perfusion scan is significantly lower, and the images reconstructed from the volume data of perfusion CT are highly consistent with the CTA results, thus are able to meet the needs of the clinical diagnosis.

Objective: To investigate the effects of Tacrolimus(FK506) and Puromycin aminonucleoside(PAN) on apoptosis and expression of α-actinin-4 mRNA and protein in mouse glomerular podocytes in order to explore the protective effect of FK506 on podocytes. Methods: Mouse glomerular podocytes were cultured in vitro, and the control group, PAN group and FK506 group were established.After 8 h, 24 h and 48 h of treatment, the cell morphology was observed and the apoptosis rate was detected.The cells were collected by real-time PCR and Western blot was used to detect the mRNA and protein expression of α-actinin-4. Results: The cell body area of the PAN group was significantly smaller than that of the control group, and the cell area of the FK506 group was larger than that of the PAN group.There was no significant difference in the rate of podocyte apoptosis between those groups at 8 h (all P>0.05). At 24 h and 48 h, the apoptotic rate of podocytes in PAN group[(8.21±0.41)%, (16.32±0.17)%] were significantly higher than those in the control group[(4.28±0.35)%, (6.27±0.28)%], and the differences were significant (all P<0.05). The apoptosis rate of podocytes in FK506 group[(6.26±0.24)%, (13.32±0.24)%] were significantly lower than those in PAN group, and the differences were significant (all P<0.05). At 8 h, there was no significant difference in the expression of α-actinin-4 mRNA and protein(all P>0.05). The expression of mRNA (2.42±0.21, 3.78±0.25) and protein(0.77±0.04, 1.22±0.10) in the PAN group was significantly higher than mRNA(1.50±0.22, 2.15±0.15) and protein(0.44±0.03, 0.83±0.07) in the control group at 24 h and 48 h, and the differences were significant (all P<0.01). The expression of mRNA (1.65±0.24, 1.70±0.32) and protein (0.52±0.05, 0.56±0.07) in FK506 group was significantly lower than that of PAN group, and the differences were significant (all P<0.05). Conclusions FK506 can effectively inhibit the damage of PAN on podocytes and stabilize the expression of α-actinin-4, which provides a basis for the clinical application of FK506 in the treatment of glomerular diseases.

Objective: To explore the related factors of subependymal hemorrhage (SEH) and cerebral hemodynamic changes. Methods: From October 2012 to October 2017, 200 cases of children with subependymal hemorrhage diagnosed by ultrasound in our department of pediatrics were selected as the observation group , and a total of 150 children who were admitted to the Department of Pediatrics in the same period due to craniocerebral diseases and other serious diseases were selected as control group. The independent risk factors of the children in the observation group were analyzed, and the difference of the maximum systolic blood flow velocity (SV), the diastolic maximum flow velocity (DV), the systolic and diastolic velocity ratio (S/D), the resistance index (RI), and the pulsatile index (PI) were compared between the two groups. Results: Neonatal asphyxia, preterm birth, acidosis, neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS), patent ductus arteriosus and coagulation dysfunction were independent risk factors for subependymal hemorrhage. The bleeding side SV and DV of the observation group were higher than those of the control group, with statistically significant difference (P<0.001). In the observation group, the bleeding side SV and DV were higher than those of the healthy side, with statistically significant difference (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in bleeding side SV, DV, S/D, RI and PI in 110 cases of single side ependymal hemorrhage (P>0.05). Conclusions Children with ependymal hemorrhage can observe the hemodynamic indexes of anterior cerebral artery (ACA) dynamically by craniocerebral ultrasound, and judge the therapeutic effect by evaluating the systolic and diastolic blood flow velocity, so as to prevent the further aggravation of subependymal hemorrhage

OBJECTIVETo study the solubility peak and dielectric requirement of the Buyang Huanwu docoction materials, and provide theoretical and experimental foundation for selecting extraction solvent for extracting traditional Chinese drugs (TCD).

METHOD11 types of solvents were employed as single or complex solvent systems, whose solubility parameter and dielectric constant were from 14.11 to 47.86, dielectric requirement from 1 to 80 respectively, to lixiviate Buyang Huanwu decoction (5 g per samples) in nearly saturate volume as V0 for materials at 25 degrees C. The apparent solubilities of extracts were determined and calculated out according to the section of determination of extract in the appendix of 'Chinese Pharmacopoeia'.

RESULTThe saturate solvent V0 for materials powder were 0.21, 0.31, 0.49, 0.36, 0.77, 0.93, 0.86, 0.92, 1.08, 1.00, 1.14 mL x g(-1), respectively. The apparent solubility of Buyang Huanwu docoction for each solvent system were 114.0, 101.3, 73.40, 109.4, 210.7, 295.0, 501.4, 437.0, 355.6, 423.1, 210.6 g x mL(-1), respectively, among which the max apparent solubility, illustrated as solubility peak, was carried out by methanol-water (68: 32) with 47.5 corresponding to the Buyang Huanwu docoction dielectric requirement.

CONCLUSIONThe apparent solubilities of (TCD) and their formula are controlled by dielectric constant of extraction solvent, and are in accordance with stable dielectric requirement.