Objective: To investigate the value of three-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (3D-STI) in evaluation of left ventricular systolic function in patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism (SH). Methods: Totally 33 untreated SH patients (SH group) and 35 healthy volunteers (control group) with matched sex and age were enrolled. All the subjects underwent laboratory examination, routine ultrasound and 3D-STI examination. The indexes including thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), free thyroxine (FT4), left atrial diameter (LAD), interventricular septal thickness (IVST), left ventricle diameter of end-diastolic (LVEDD), left ventricle diameter of end-systolic (LVEDS), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), longitudinal, radial and area peak strains of the left ventricle as a whole and 17 segments were compared between the two groups. Results: There were significant differences of TSH, T4 and FT4 between SH group and control group (all P<0.05), while no significant difference of LAD, IVST, LVEDD, LVEDS nor LVEF was detected between the 2 groups (all P>0.05). The area peak strain of left ventricular medial inferior wall and apical inferior wall, radial peak strain of apical inferior wall and apical cap had no statistically significant difference between SH group and control group (all P>0.05), while the peak strain of whole heart and other segments in SH group were lower than that in control group (all P<0.05). Left ventricular global area peak strain in SH patients positively correlated with TSH (r=0.82, P<0.01) and negatively correlated with FT4 (r=-0.67, P<0.01). Conclusion: 3D-STI can quantitatively evaluate left ventricular systolic function in SH patients at an early stage, and the strain values of left ventricular segments in these patients decrease diffusely.

The association of plasma tissue type plasmingogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) with carotid atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes was explored.The subjects with type 2 diabetes (n =91) and control subjects (n =30) were enrolled for this study.According to carotid artery intima media thickness in Color Doppler Ultrasonography,the subjects with type 2 diabetes were divided into four groups:normal carotid group(group 1,n =25),lining thickening group (group 2,n =30),stable plaques group (group 3,n =23),carotid stenosis group(group 4,n =13).Plasma t-PA and PAI-1 levels were measured by ELISA.Compared with the control group,there was no significant change in the levels of plasma t-PA and PAI-1 in group 1 (P＞0.05),plasma t-PA activity was decreased significantly(P＜0.05) and PAI-1 activity increased obviously (P＜0.05) in group 2,group 3,and group 4.Carotid atherosclerosis degree was negatively correlated with t-PA(r=-0.723,P＜0.01) and positively correlated with PAI-1 (r=0.851,P＜0.01).The results suggested that the abnormal fibrinolysis function may take part in the development of atherosclerosis of carotid arteries in patients with type 2 diabetes.

α-Amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptor, a subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptors widely distributed in the central nervous system, mediates the fast excitatory neurotransmission. Meanwhile more and more evidence indicates that AMPA receptor plays an important role in synaptic plasticity as well as central sensitization, and it also has close relationships with nervous system diseases. Over stimulation of AMPA receptor would produce excitotoxicity, leading to neuronal damage and finally resulting in a multitude of nervous system diseases, such as epilepsy, amyotrophic lateral scelerosis,Parkinson′s dis-ease. Competitive AMPA receptor antagonists that downregulate AMPA receptor′s function are of great importance in the prevention and treatment of nervous system diseases. This article reviews the research advances of competitive AMPA receptor antagonists.

Objective To investigate the impact of nutritional risk of preoperative patients with different parts of colorectal cancer. Methods 385 cases of surgical patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer were selected in the retrospective study in April 2008 to March 2009, Gastrointestinal Surgery Center of West China Hospital in Sichuan University. Patients were divided into the right colon cancer group, the left colon cancer group, the rectal cancer group, using internationally recognized NRS- 2002 Scale and serum nutrition indicators to assess their preoperative nutrition. Results NRS-2002 score in the right colon cancer group showed higher than the left colon and rectal cancer group, but no statistical difference between the latter two rates; serum concentrations of HGB, TP, ALB, A/G were lower in the right colon cancer group than the other two groups, but the concentrations of ALT, AST, Ca2+, PO43-showed no statistical difference among three groups. Conclusions The proximal colon (right colon cancer) were more susceptible to the risk of preoperative malnutrition, the patients with different parts of colorectal cancer should be given to the corresponding preoperative nutritional assessment and nutritional support.

Objective To analyze the results and prognosis for patients with inoperable pancreatic carcinoma treated by interventional chemotherapy (IC) ,three-dimensional radiotherapy (RT), or IC + RT.Methods From 2003 to 2008,139 patients with locally advanced (82 patients, stage Ⅲ) or metastatic (57 patients, stage Ⅳ) pancreatic cancer were retrospectively analyzed, including 74 with pancreatic head carcinoma (53.2%).Three patients with ductal adenocarcinoma were diagnosed with fine-needle aspiration, all other patients were clinically diagnosed with imagings (CT, MRI and/or ultrasonosraphy),clinical symptoms and tumor markers, There were 71,34 and 34 patients receiving IC alone, 3DCRT alone and 3DCRT plus IC, respectively.Log-rank univariate and Cox model multivariate analyses were used to determine prognostic factors.Results The follow-up rate was 92.1%.115 and 98 patients were followedup longer than 1 and 2 years, respectively.The 1-and 2-year overall survival rates were 37.1% and 16.3%for all patients, 44% and 20% for patients with locally advanced disease.The corresponding rates were 18% and 5%, 61% and 29% ,48% and 25% (χ2= 14.65,P=0.001) for patients receiving IC alone, RT alone, and IC + RT, respectively.In univariate analysis, staging (χ2= 44.49, P = 0.035), radiotherapy (χ2= 15.32, P = 0.000) and tumor location (χ2= 10.741, P = 0.002) were prognostic factors.In multivariate analysis, tumor location (χ2= 5.00, P = 0.025) and radiotherapy (χ2= 7.93, P = 0.005) were prognostic factors.Conclusions Radiotherapy can improve overall survival among patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer.The effect of RT + IC should be further investigated.

AIM: To explore the effects of sterigmatocystin (ST) on IL-2 and IFN-? expression and secretion in murine spleen cells in vitro. METHODS: The secretion and expression of IL-2 and IFN-? in murine spleen cells after ST pretreatment at five different dosages (0.125 mg/L, 0.25 mg/L, 0.5mg/L, 1mg/L, 2mg/L) were studied with ELISA and semi-quantitative RT-PCR method, respectively. RESULTS: Pretreatment of murine spleen cells in vitro with ST at five different dosages affected the IL-2 and IFN-? secretion at protein level and expression at mRNA level of the treated cells. The effects varied dependently to the ST dosage. At relatively lower dosages, ST induced the expression of IL-2 and IFN-? in murine spleen cells, while at relatively higher dosages, inhibitory effects were found, with the most significant inhibitory effects seen in ST 1 mg/L group. CONCLUSION: ST affected the secretion and expression of IL-2 and IFN-? in treated murine spleen cells. At relatively lower dosage, ST induced IL-2 and IFN-? secretion and expression, while at relatively higher dosages, inhibitory effects appeared.

AIM: To explore the effects of sterigmatocystin (ST) on IL-4 expression and secretion of murine spleen cells in vitro. METHODS: The secretion and expression of IL-4 in murine spleen cells were studied with ELISA and semi-quantitative RT-PCR method after ST pretreatment at five different dosages (0.125 mg/L, 0.25 mg/L, 0.5 mg/L, 1 mg/L, 2 mg/L) for 2 h and 12 h, respectively. RESULTS: Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of IL-4 mRNA in ST 0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/L treated groups were higher than that in control group, especially in ST 0.5 mg/L group ( P

Objective To investigate the safety,effectiveness and prognosis of percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) combined with synchronous transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) to treat of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) with liver metastases (LMs).Methods This retrospective study included 19 cases of GEP-NENs with LMs patients who received percutaneous MWA combined with synchronous TACE treatment from 2013 to 2016.The mRECIST standard was selected to assess the curative effect.SPSS 21.0 software was applied in the statistical analysis of overall survival (OS),progression-free survival (PFS) and factors related to prognosis.Results All patients were capable of curative effect evaluation,including 1 case of complete remission (CR),3 cases of partial remission (PR),7 cases of progressive disease (PD) and 8 cases of stable disease (SD) respectively accounting for 5 ％,16 ％,37 ％,42 ％,which exhibited 21％ of response rate (RR) and 63％ disease control rate (DCR).In the present study,the median OS and median PFS was respectively 25 months and 34 months,and the one-year survival and three-year survival was respectively 95％ and 84％.Serum CA199,the WHO classification of LMs and the tumor burden of LMs were the major risk factors of prognosis through single factor analysis of survival,which showed that G3 of the WHO classification of LMs predicted a poor OS (P＜0.05) and tumor burden of LMs was negatively related to PFS (P＜0.05).It was obviously observed that serum CgA was decreased by the therapy of percutaneous MWA with synchronous TACEfor GEP-NENs (P＜0.05).Conclusions Percutaneous MWA combined with synchronous TACE is a safe and effective method to treat GEP-NENs with LMs.

Objective To better understand the role of CREB signaling pathway in chronic mild stress (CMS), we investigated the alteration of CREB and p-CREB in CMS rats with and without fluoxetine hydrochloride. Methods Fifty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups:CMS group (26), fluoxtine group (12) and con-trol group (12). The rats in CMS group and fluoxtine group received 8 weeks of chronic mild stress. Rats in fluoxtine group were administered daily injections of fluoxetine 10mg/kg I.P. Sucrose preference tests and open-field test were car-ried out after the 8th week. Based on endpoint sucrose-intake, animals were further divided into 4 groups:CMS sensitive group, CMS resilient group, fluoxtine group and control group. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of CREB and p-CREB in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Results The sucrose consumption was significantly de-creased in CMS resilience group compared to sensitive group, control group and fluoxetine-intervention group (all P<0.05). Similarly, the numbers in total arm entries, percentage of entries into open arms and time spent in open arms was significantly lower in CMS resilience group compared to control group(all P<0.05), but not different compared to CMS sensitive group(all P<0.05). The p-CREB in the hippocampus was significantly lower in CMS sensitive rat compared to CMS resilience group, control group and fluoxetine-intervention group(all P<0.05), but CREB was not dfferent among the four groups(all P<0.05). Conclusions The elevated phosphorylation of CREB in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of resilience CMS rats may contribute to the mood alteration induced by stress.

Objective To investigate the curative effect of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with endovascular 125I seed strip implantation for the treatment of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) complicated by extensive portal vein tumor thrombus. Methods The clinical data of 72 patients with PHC complicated by extensive portal vein tumor thrombus were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into group A (n=32) and group B (n=40). TACE combined with endovascular 125I seed strip implantation was performed for the patients of group A, while only TACE was employed for the patients of group B. The changes of portal vein tumor thrombus, the survival time and procedure-related adverse events were recorded. The preoperative and postoperative measured values were compared using paired samples t test, the count data were evaluated by χ2 test, and the survival time was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier method. Results Technical success rate of portal vein 125I seed strip implantation was 100%. No serious procedure-related adverse events occurred. The median survival periods of group A and group B were 210 days and 141 days respectively, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P=0.012). Conclusion For the treatment of primary hepatocellular carcinoma complicated by extensive portal vein tumor thrombus, TACE combined with endovascular 125I seed strip implantation can significantly improve the patient’s survival time.