Liver fibrosis is a pathological process for the liver to repair various chronic liver injuries and may eventually progress to liver cirrhosis,liver failure,or even liver cancer.Therefore,early intervention arid treatment of liver fibrosis is of particular importance.This article summarizes the latest research advances in the roles of TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway,Notch signaling pathway,Wnt signaling pathway,Hedgehog signaling pathway,and integrin signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis and points out that these signaling pathways play an extremely important role in the development and progression of liver fibrosis and may provide new directions for the treatment of liver fibrosis.

Objective:To investigate the effect of saw palmetto extract ( SR ) on GL261 glioma in rats and immune system.Methods:The 40 rats were divided into 4 groups randomly,one was the control group without tumor( the blank group) ( n=10) ,the other 30 rats were given subcutaneous inoculation of tumor cells and then divided into 3 groups:the tumor-bearing group( n=10) ,low dose SR group( n=10) ,and high dose SR group( n=10).After 1 week fed,the rats of SR groups were given the saw palmetto extract,low dose group 50 mg/kg once a day every other day and 300 mg/kg of high dose group every other day.The tumor-bearing groups received the same dose of distilled water.After 4 weeks fed, we measured the tumor weight and the inhibition rate was calculated.The tumor cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL staining.The activity of splenic macrophages was detected by macrophage phagocytosis of chicken erythrocytes and CD4+lymphocytes by flow cytometry.Results:①The SR groups compared with tumor group, the tumor weight was significantly reduced(F=62.678,P=0.000).The tumor inhibition rate was significantly higher in high dose group.②The apoptosis of tumor cells in tumor-bearing group was significantly less than SR groups and the apoptosis was significantly increased after treatment with SR ,especially in high dose SR group(F=1.287,P=0.000).③Compared with the blank group,the macrophage activity decreased remarkablely.SR enhanced the macrophage activity obviously, positively related to doses of SR ( F=141.205,P=0.000;F=126.903,P=0.000).④In the tumor-bearing group,the CD4+lymphocyte count decreased significantly.After SR treatment,the CD4+lymphocyte increased and were positively related to the dose of SR.Conclusion: Saw palmetto extract can strengthen the immune system.

Objective To investigate the effect of saw palmetto extract (SR) on GL261 glioma in rats and immune system.Methods The 40 rats were divided into 4 groups randomly,one was the control group without tumor (n =10),the other 30 rats were given subcutaneous inoculation of tumor cells and then divided into 3 groups:tumor-bearing group (n =10),low dose SR group (n =10),and high dose SR group (n =10).After 1 weeks feeded,the rats of SR groups were given the saw palmetto extract,low dose group 50 mg/kg once a day every other day and 300 mg/kg of high dose group every other day.The tumor-bearing groups received the same dose of distilled water.After 4 weeks feeding,we measured the tumor weight and the inhibition rate was calculated.The tumor cell apoptosis was detected by TdT mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining.The splenic T lymphocyte proliferation was tested by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTF).Results (1) The SR groups compared to tumor group,the tumor weight was significantly reduced (F =62.678,P =0.000).The tumor inhibition rate was significantly higher in high dose group.(2) The apoptosis of tumor cells in tumor-bearing group was significantly less than SR groups and the apoptosis was significantly increased after treatment with SR,especially in high dose SR group (F =1.287E3,P =0.000).(3) Compared to SR groups and control group,T lymphocyte proliferation of tumor-bearing group reduced obviously.After treated with SR,T lymphocyte proliferation significantly increased and was higher in high-dose group (F =103.565,P =0.000).Conclusions Saw palmetto extract can activate T lymphocytes and induce apoptosis to tumor cells.Its function was related to SR concentration.

Objective To study the clinical features of patients with scrub typhus and provide scientific basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Methods Clinical data of patients with scrub typhus in the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from January 2016 to December 2016 were collected. Epidemiological data, clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, image examination results, treatment and outcome were retrospectively analyzed. Results The clinical manifestations included 59 cases (100.0％) with fever, 44 cases (74.6％) with headache, 39 cases (66.1％) with chills, 34 cases (57.6％) with muscle and joint pain, 29 cases (49.2％) with prostration, 49 cases (83.1％) with eschar or ulcer, 42 cases (71.2％) with lymphadenectasis, 23 cases (39.0％) with hepatosplenomegaly. Laboratory test results: 51 cases (86.4％) had normal or elevated white blood cell count, 50 cases of eosinophil reduced (84.7％), 27 cases of blood platelet (PLT) reduced (45.8％), 33 cases of albumin reduced (55.9％), 50 cases of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) increased (84.7％), 48 cases of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) increased (81.4％), and 56.1％ (23/41) of the patients with triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), free triiodothyronine (FT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) levels significantly lowered, with predominantly free FT3 reduction (82.6％,19/23); C reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and ferritin were increased in 93.9％(46/49), 35.4％ (17/48), 64.9％ (24/37), and 83.8％ (31/37) of the patients, and 95.6％(43/45) was accompanied with chest radiographic abnormalities. Tetracycline, doxycycline and azithromycin treatment were all effective. Conclusions The clinical manifestations of patients with scrub typhus, involving multisystem, are diverse and thyroid hormones decrease is observed. Early diagnosis and treatment is the key to improve the prognosis of patients with scrub typhus.