Purpose:To investigate the expression of VEGF and its prognostic significance in ampullary carcinoma.Methods:22 resected tumor specimens from patients with ampullary carcinoma were immunohistochemically stained for VEGF and CD34 (surrogate for vessels) by streptavidin-peroxidase (S-P) method. Results:Expression of VEGF in tumor tissue was found in 50% cases of patients with ampullary carcinoma. The mean MVD for the entire group was 26.4?12.8. A significantly higher MVD(35.0?9.6) was observed in the tumors with positive VEGF expression compared with tumors with negative VEGF expression(17.7?9.3)( P

Objective To evaluate the activity of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) gene transduced endothelial cells (EC) and the cell retention on graft vessel. MethodsKG1 EC were transduced with pseudotyped vectors carrying genes coding for either the wild type tPA or mutant tPA. The supernatants were collecteJPd and assayed for tPA activity in the presence and absence of fibrin. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) vessel grafts were seeded with EC, and then exposed to an in vitro flow system for 1 h. The number of EC on grafts were counted and the retention of EC were evaluated. ResultsWT5”BZ The tPA activity of the nontransduced EC was (1 5?1 0) IU/ml, while that of wild type tPA gene transduced EC increased to (30.0?8 0) IU/ml, mutant type tPA gene transduced EC increased to (14.1?1 0) IU/ml( P

Objective To investigate the role and mechanism of low-dose aspirin concurrent with IFN-a in inducing hepatocellular carcinoma apoptosis in BEL-7402 cells. Methods BEL-7402 cells were cultured and treated with IFN-α,or low dose aspirin or both.MTT and flow cytometry were used to measure the cell proliferation and apoptosis after treatment with a singular drug or the combined regiment.The expressions of the apoptosis-related proteins were detected by Western blot.Results MTT assay revealed after IFN α administration alone or combined with aspirin treatment for 48 h,the proliferation ratio of the IFN-α or aspirin group were 82.45％ ± 1.71％ and 83.22％ ±2.26 ％,compared with the control group.The group which received the combined therapy had a proliferation ratio of 69.84 ％ ±1.18 ％,which was significantly lower than the single groups (P＜0.05).The flow cytometry revealed that the apoptosis ratio in IFN-α group and aspirin group were 14.78 ％ ±1.93％ and 14.00％±0.61％,respectively,while the IFN-α + aspirin group was 21.68％±1.28％,which was also significantly higher than that of the single groups (P＜0.05).Western blot detected that IFN-α and aspirin (1 mmol/L) could promote caspase-3 and caspase-9 protein expressions,and when the two drugs were combined,caspase-3 and caspase-9 were also significantly activated.IFN-α alone or combined with aspirin can promote the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax (P＜0.05),while the anti-apoptotic proteins expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl did not change significantly (P＞0.05).Conclusions Low-dose aspirin can cooperate with IFN-α in inhibiting the BEL-7402 cell growth and inducing the cell apoptosis by activating and increasing caspase-3 and caspase-9 levels,which may be related to the increased expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the quality of life in patients who underwent laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy for chronic cholecystolithiasis.

METHODSA prospective survey was made on 25 patients receiving laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC group) and 26 patients receiving open cholecystectomy (OC group). The quality of life was measured with the gastrointestinal quality of life index (GLQI) preoperatively, and at 2, 5, 10 and 16 weeks after the operation.

RESULTSThe mean preoperative GLQI scores of all dimensions of the quality of life were 112.5 and 110.3 in the LC and OC groups respectively. In the LC group, the quality of life was not considerably reduced at 2 weeks after operation, with a mean GLQI score of 110. There was a significant improvement both in total mean score and in the aspects of symptomatology, emotional and physiological status from 5 to 16 weeks after LC operation. In the OC group, the GLQI score reduced to 102.0 at 2 weeks after surgery (P < 0.05). There were significant reductions in the aspects of symptomatology, physiological and social status as well. The GLQI scores reached to the preoperative level of 115.6 at 10 weeks after the operation (P > 0.05). The patients experienced significant improvements of GLQI at 16 weeks after OC operation (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). The LC group showed better GLQI scores than did the OC group for up to 10 weeks postoperatively (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSLC is betler or more rapidly than OC is improving the quality of life postoperatively. The assessment of the quality of life is valuable for measuring the outcome of surgical treatment.

Adult ; Cholecystectomy ; psychology ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Quality of Life