Accurate determination of hepatic fat content is essential for investigating the quantitative association between hepatic steatosis and multiple metabolic disorders,and is of great significance in determining the beginning and goal for clinical intervention.More attention has been focused on establishing a non-invasive,simple and accurate method for determining hepatic fat content.Recently,a computer-aided ultrasound quantitative method may provide a new way for single and accurate estimation of hepatic fat content.

An early diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease ( NAFLD) is meaningful to the prevention and cure of diabetes and cardiovascular disease ( CVD). The sensitivity and specificity of qualitative methods vary greatly, and these methods do not quantify liver fat content. Pathological diagnosis is a quantitative method, but it is invasive and inappropriate for clinical application. The establishment of H Magnetic Resonance Spectrum (1H MRS) opened up a brand-new era for noninvasive liver fat quantification. This review systemically introduces the new progress in noninvasive diagnosis of NAFLD.

The purpose of the present work is to observe cGMP positive cells after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in the gerbil hip-pocampus. Immunofluorescent methods were used in gerbil hippocampal tissue slices. The results showed that after cerebral is-chemia cGMP synthesis in the CAi-a subfields was increased, cGMP positive cells were distributed mainly in CA1 subfield. Mostof cGMP positive cells were astrocytes. The number of small round cGMP positive cells were increased after recirculation follow-ing ischemia in the dentate gyrus. These results indicate that after cerebral ischemia cGMP synthesis was increased in the CA1-asubfield, It is possible that astrocytes play an important role in the regulation of metabolism in the early stage after ischemia-reperfusion.

AIM: To investigate the changes of somatosensory evoked potential(SEP), nitric oxide (NO) levels both in serum and in brain tissue after subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) and the influence of Ginkgo biloba extract(GBE) on them. METHODS: Wistar rats were divided into sham-operated group, pure SAH group and GBE-treated group. Dynamic changes of regional cerebral blood flow( rCBF),SEP, and NO levels both in serum and in brain tissue were detected within 24 hours after operation. RESULTS: In pure SAH group, rCBF decreased immediately after operation, with no tendency to recover within 24 hours. Latency of SEP delayed progressively from 1 hour to 24 hours after SAH.NO levels in serum and in brain tissue decreased and increased respectively from 1 hour to 24 hours after SAH. GBE effectively antagonized the changes of above parameters. CONCLUSION: SEP is useful in the judgement of cerebral ischemic damage after SAH. Decrease of serum NO and increase of brain NO are important factors leading to cerebral vasospasm and neural damage respectively after SAH. GBE relieves cerebral ischemic damage by reversing the pathological alterations of NO.

AIM: To investigate the effect of Ginkgo biloba extrac (GBE) on cerebral ischemia during early stage of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). METHODS: Noncraniotomy models of SAH in Wistar rats were used and animals were divided into sham-operated group, SAH group and SAH+GBE group. Dynamic change of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was detected. Brain endothelin-1(ET-1) and calcium contents were also determined at different time point during 24 hours after the operation. Pathological change of neurons of hippocampus CA1 region was observed. RESULTS: In SAH group, rCBF decreased immediately and persistently after induction of SAH. Values of brain ET-1 content and calcium content at 1 hour, 6 hours and 24 hours were significantly higher than those in sham-operated group. Neurons of hippocampus CA1 region were damaged severely 3 days after onset of SAH. Above abnormal changes in SAH+GBE group were much slighter than those in SAH group. CONCLUSION: GBE may relieve cerebral ischemic damage after SAH.

AIM: To investigate the changes of somatosensory evoked potential(SEP), nitric oxide (NO) levels both in serum and in brain tissue after subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) and the influence of Ginkgo biloba extract(GBE) on them. METHODS: Wistar rats were divided into sham-operated group, pure SAH group and GBE-treated group. Dynamic changes of regional cerebral blood flow( rCBF),SEP, and NO levels both in serum and in brain tissue were detected within 24 hours after operation. RESULTS: In pure SAH group, rCBF decreased immediately after operation, with no tendency to recover within 24 hours. Latency of SEP delayed progressively from 1 hour to 24 hours after SAH.NO levels in serum and in brain tissue decreased and increased respectively from 1 hour to 24 hours after SAH. GBE effectively antagonized the changes of above parameters. CONCLUSION: SEP is useful in the judgement of cerebral ischemic damage after SAH. Decrease of serum NO and increase of brain NO are important factors leading to cerebral vasospasm and neural damage respectively after SAH. GBE relieves cerebral ischemic damage by reversing the pathological alterations of NO.

AIM: To investigate the pathological feature of neuron in the process of lymphostatic cerebro dema.METHODS: The model of lyphostatic cerebro edema was established by occluding and removing both the shallow and deep cervical lymph nodes in rats. The tissues of their brains were studied at different times after the operation, under light-microscope (HE stain and TUNEL stain) and electron-microscope.RESULTS: Cerebroedema appeared 2 days after the blockage of cervical lymphatic. Apoptosis and necrosis of neuron were observed in cerebral cortical of parietal lobus and hippocampal CA1 sector mainly. The alterations above were most noticeable at fifths day after the blockage. CONCLUSION: The blockage of the drainage of the cerebral lymphatic can lead to lymphastatic cerebroedema. Neuronal apoptosis and necrosis was the main pathological feature in the brain.

Objective To investigate the effects of diabetic duration on liver fat content (LFC) in patients with type 2 diabetes,and to explore its relationship with the outcome of liver disease.Methods A total of 435hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited.The history data,results of laboratory tests,and hepatic 1 H-MRS were collected,and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) fibrosis score (NFS) was calculated.Results The prevalence of NAFLD in newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (NT2DM) group was higher than that in predousb-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (PT2DM) group (92.7％ vs 82.2％,P＜0.05),with higher LFC [(27.97 ± 16.88 vs 19.44± 15.54) ％,P＜0.01].The LFC was reduced with prolonged duration of diabetes.Partial correlation analysis showed that LFC was negatively correlated with duration of diabetes (rs =-0.233,P＜0.01) after adjustment for gender,age,body mass index (BMI),oral anti-diabetic drugs,lipid-lowering drugs,and insulin treatment.Multiple linear regression analysis showed that LFC was positively correlated with BMI,albumin,and alanine aminotransferase while negatively correlated with duration of diabetes.The proportion of patients without advanced fibrosis (NFS＜-1.455) was significantly higher in NT2DM group than that in PT2DM group (26.3％ vs 15.5％,P＜0.05),and the proportion of PT2DM in patients with advanced fibrosis (NFS＞0.676) was significantly higher than that of NT2DM (79.2％ vs 20.8％,P＜0.05).NFS was positively correlated with the duration of diabetes (rs =0.236,P＜0.01).The liver fat content in patients with advanced liver fibrosis decreased significantly,and the LFC was negatively correlated with NFS (rs =-0.164,P＜0.01).Conclusions The duration of diabetes is an independent influencing factor of LFC.With the extension of the duration of diabetes,the decreased LFC in type 2diabetic patients with NAFLD is related to the development of advanced fibrosis.The decrease in LFC in type 2diabetic patient is associated with poor outcome of NAFLD.

Objective To analyze the association of fat content,enzymes,and fibrosis in liver with iron overload in patients with type 2 diabetes,and to explore the relationship between iron overload and severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in these patients.Methods Five hundred and thirty hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes and 18 patients with abnormal glucose metabolism undergoing liver biopsy were recruited.History data,results of laboratory tests,liver ultrasound,hepatic 1 H-MRS were collected and serum ferritin level was determined.Results The serum ferritin level was significantly higher in patients with NAFLD than that without NAFLD [(328.7±252.2 vs 239.9 ± 171.8) μg/L,P＜0.01].Serum ferritin was an independent risk factor for NAFLD (P＜0.05).Multiple linear regression analysis showed that serum ferritin was positively correlated with liver fat content after adjustment for sex,age,and duration of diabetes.The serum ferritin level in NAFLD with elevated liver enzymes was significantly higher than that in simple steatosis [(429.9 ± 287.4 vs 293.4 ± 233.3) μg/L,P＜0.01].Serum ferritin was an independent risk factor for elevated liver enzymes in patients with NAFLD (P ＜0.05).Serum ferritin level in patients with advanced fibrosis was significantly lower than that in patients without advanced fibrosis [(246.8 ± 191.2 vs 382.5 ± 253.7) μg/L,P＜0.01].In 18 patients with NAFLD proven by biopsy,serum ferritin level was slightly higher in NASH group than that in simple steatosis group,but there was no statistically significant difference.Serum ferritin levels were comparable between patients with and without advanced fibrosis.Conclusion The iron overload in type 2 diabetic patients seems to be an independent risk factor for the development of NAFLD and elevated liver enzymes.Iron load in patients with advanced fibrosis is significantly decreased.