Objective To investigate the prevalence of subclinical hepatic encephalopathy(SHE) in patients with cirrhosis. Methods One hundred and seventy five consecutive cirrhotic patients(mean age 53 years, range 27～72) without any overt clinical encephalopathy were screened for SHE using number connection test A(NCT A) and symbol digit test(SDT) with age corrected normal value, which have been developed in 356 persons without liver disease and are defined as the mean?2 standard deviation. Results Fifty patients(28.6%) were abnormal in both NCT A and SDT, 16(9.1%) were abnormal only in SDT and 34(19.4%) only in NCT A. Taken together, two tests diagnosed SHE in 100 patients(57.1%). The prevalence of SHE increased from 46.8% and 53.0% in Child Pugh grade A and B, to 76.6% in Child Pugh grade C. Conclusions SHE was found in 57.1% of cirrhotic patients without overt clinical encephalopathy, which was linked to the severity of liver cirrhosis.

Objective To assess the incidence of noctu rnal acid breakthrough(NAB) and its' relationship with Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) infection in patients with duodenal ulcer. Methods Forty duodenal ulcer patients were randomly allocated in to five groups. Patients were treated by intravenous injection of omeprazole 40 mg twice daily(group 1), once daily(group 2), omeprazole 20 mg twice daily oral ly(group 3), omeprazole 20 mg once daily orally(group 4), and intravenous inject ion of cimetidine 600 mg twice daily (group 5) all for 5 days. Intragastric pH o ver 24 hours was consecutively recorded on the fifth day for each patient. Results The mean intragastric pH, median intragastric pH, nocturn al mean pH and nocturnal median pH in group 1(6.9?0.7,7.3?0.8,6.8?0.9,7.1? 0 .7) were significantly higher than those of group 2 (5.3?1.6,5.6?1.7,4.9?1. 5,4.3?1.7),group 4(4.8?0.7,4.8?1.0,4.7?0.8,4.5?0.8), and group 5(4.4?2.4 ,4.5?2.5,4.6?2.7,4.3?2.1), but not higher than group 3(6.2?0.7,6.3?0.8,6. 4?1.1,6.4?0.8). High intragastric pH was produced in all five groups. The frac tion time of pH below 4.0 in group 1(3.1%) and group 3(4.5%) were significantly fewer than that in the other three groups(group 2,27.8%; group 4, (32.4)%, and group 5,48.2%) respectively. NAB occurred in 1 patient from two omeprazole twice dai ly groups(6.3 %, group 1 and 3) and in 9 patients from two omeprazole once daily groups((56.3 %,) group 2 and 4,P

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of double-balloon push enteroscopy in small bowel disorders. Methods From July 2003 to March 2004, 38 patients with presentation of gastrointestinal upset and underwent a previous negative gastroscopy, colonoscopy, gastrointestinal barium and/or angiography were enrolled in this study. Enteroscopy via oral or rectum was done in 30 patients while in the other 8 patients full access to the small bowel was attempted by the two-way method, firstly via upper GI and then the lower GI. Results Positive diagnostic yield was made in 33 patients (86. 8% ). These disorders included Crohn's disease (7/38) , multiple ulcerations (5/38) , arteriovenous malformation (4/38) , multiple diverticula (4/38) , varices (3/38) , malignant stromal tumor (2/38) , ileitis (2/38) , and 1 case in each of moderate-differentiated adenocarcinoma, Ankylostoma duodenale, ascariasis, eosinophilic enteritis, anas-tomotic stricture and tuberculosis. The procedures were carried out satisfactorily in all patients but 2 failed from the intolerance of patients. Complication never occurred. Conclusion Double-balloon push enteroscopy has the superiority in direct visualization of whole small intestine with high positive findings and safety but with high technical demand in manipulation.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) combined with ultrasound contrast agent on rabbit liver, and to investigate the possibility of ultrasound contrast agents enhancing the effect of HIFU on rabbit liver. Methods Thirty-two rabbits were averagely divided into two groups according to their body mass. Rabbits in group Ⅰ were irradiated by HIFU alone on the liver, and those in group Ⅱ were treated by irradiation of HIFU after intravenous injection of a ultrasound contrast agent. The used treatment time, frequency, power and the distance from focus to the skin surface were identical in the two groups. The changes of ultrasound image were recorded at the 20 s, 2 min and 5 min after treatment. Four rabbits in each group were slaughtered for morphological and pathological examination immediately and on the 2nd, 3rd and 7th day after the treatments, respectively. Results The ultrasonic gray scale differenced in the HIFU alone group were ( 20.12? 12.4)s (20 s), ( 16.8? 9.3)min (2 min) and ( 15.1? 11.9)min (5 min). Compared with those in the enhanced HIFU group were ( 63.9? 29.4)s, ( 60.0? 25.9)min, ( 59.3? 28.7)min, respectively(P

Prevention and treatment of tumor metastasis are important for the therapy of colon cancer. The discovery of stem cell markers provides a new approach for radical treatment of cancer. So far,the colon cancer stem cell markers discovered included several membrane protein molecules,transcription factors and related signal pathway. Exploration of colon cancer stem cell markers could contribute to the treatment of colon cancer and improve the survival rate and life quality of patients. This article reviewed the advances in study on colon cancer stem cell markers.

Objective To explore the changes of etiology and mortality of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) in the last 20 years in Guangdong region. Methods A total of 3140 UGIB cases diagnosed in Guangdong General Hospital from January 1990 to October 2009 were analyzed with retrospective analysis. Groups were divided according to admission chronological order and age to analyze the causes of UGIB to get the trend of changes and influencing factors. Results UGIB occurred more in men than in women, the gender ratio was 2. 5∶1. There was no significant change in gender composition between the first and later 10 years. Peptic ulcer bleeding (PUB) was the main cause of UGIB in young and middle-age patients (age<60 years), especially duodenal ulcer (DU)bleeding (45. 0%) , and secondary was acute gastric mucosal lesion ( AGML) (16. 6%). While in elder patients group (age≥60 years), the main cause of UGIB was AGML (40. 5%), the frequency was significantly higher compared with the young and middle-age group (40. 5% vs 16. 6%,P<0. 01).Compared the first 10 years with the later 10 years, the occurrence rate of PUB was overall in downward trend (57. 4% vs 42. 8%, P<0.01), of which DU and compound ulcer(CU) bleeding reduced significantly (DU: 43.8% vs 27.7%, P<0. 01 and CU: 7.7% to 5.5%, P<0. 05). While the incidence of gastric ulcer (GU) (7.4% vs 8. 1% ,P>0. 05) and esophagogastric variceal bleeding (EVB) (11. 7% vs 12. 9%, P>0.05) remained stable. The occurrence of AGML bleeding significantly increased than before (32. 4% vs 18. 8%,P<0. 01), and became one of the most important causes of UGIB. Conclusions PUB is still the most important cause of UGIB in Guangdong region. AGML becomes another important cause of UGIB in elder patients, which may relate to the increasing use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), anti-platelet and antineoplastic medicine.

Background:The pathophysiology of functional dyspepsia(FD)is complicated and unclarified yet. Gastrointestinal hormone dysfunction may contribute to the development of FD. Aims:To investigate the correlation of different subtypes of FD with gastrointestinal hormone motilin(MTL),neuropeptide Y(NPY)and leptin(LEP). Methods:A total of 57 FD patients fulfilling Rome Ⅲ criteria were recruited and divided into epigastric pain syndrome(EPS)group(n = 24)and postprandial distress syndrome( PDS) group( n = 33 ). Ten healthy volunteers were served as controls. Fast and postprandial levels of MTL,NPY and LEP in peripheral blood were detected by radioimmunoassay. Results:Peripheral levels of fast MTL in EPS and PDS groups[(182. 90 ± 108. 57)pg/ mL and(145. 21 ± 67. 18)pg/ mL vs.(224. 47 ± 64. 55)pg/ mL,P < 0. 05],fast NPY in EPS group[(57. 40 ± 28. 75)pg/ mL vs.(90. 75 ± 49. 57)pg/ mL,P < 0. 01], and fast and postprandial NPY in PDS group[fast level:(38. 25 ± 20. 66)pg/ mL vs. (90. 75 ± 49. 57)pg/ mL,P <0. 01;postprandial level:(30. 26 ± 15. 12)pg/ mL vs.(65. 23 ± 54. 42)pg/ mL,P < 0. 01]were significantly lower than those in control group at same time points,especially the PDS group. Fast and postprandial levels of NPY were significantly lower in PDS group than in EPS group at same time points( P < 0. 05). No significant differences were observed in peripheral LEP levels among the three groups at any time points(P > 0. 05). Conclusions:The pathogenic mechanism of FD is related to the level of gastrointestinal hormones,and is different in EPS and PDS subtypes. Reduced MTL and NPY levels might be involved in the pathogenesis of PDS.

Objective To investigate the incidence,clinical characteristics and risk factors of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who were administrated with aspirin and clopidogrel dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).Methods ACS patients who had undergone PCI in the cardiovascular institute of Guangdong General Hospital from September 2009 to August 2014 were retrospectively enrolled.The incidence of UGIB and clinical characteristics of ACS patients on dual antiplatelet therapy for 1 year after PCI were analyzed.Risk factors of UGIB were screened in the cohort of patients and sex and age matched controls with ratio 1:3.Results A total of 9 118 ACS patients had undergone PCI and UGIB occurred in 189 patients (2.07％,189/9 118) from September 2009 to August 2014.UGIB patients with history over one year,gastrointestinal tumors or varices or negative endoscopy were excluded.Thus the revised incidence of UGIB occurred was 0.61％ in 56 patients (0.61％,56/9 118) and appeared to decline year by year.Most patients (91.07％,51/56) had melena or stool occult blood positive (OB +),while others had bloody stool or haematemesis.Most UGIB were ulcer-related which was proved by endoscopy,accounting for 67.86％(38/56).There were 24 cases with duodenal ulcer,13 with gastric ulcer and 1 with complex ulcer,while others were gastric erosion,gastritis and duodenitis.The risk factors of UGIB were previous history of peptic ulcer (P ＜ 0.01) and renal impairment (P ＜ 0.01).On the other side,PPI intake was a protective factor (P ＜ 0.05).The incidence of new-onset ACS was 1.44％ (50/3 464) in PPI group,compared with 1.34％(76/5 654) in no PPI group (P ＞ 0.05).PPI use for the prevention of UGIB after PCI didn't increase the recurrence of ACS.Conclusions The incidence of UGIB is 0.61％ in ACS patients on dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin and clopidogrel) for 1 year after PCI and falls year by year.Administration of PPI after PCI protects patients from UGIB,especially in those with precious history of peptic ulcer and renal impairment.

BACKGROUND:Conditioned medium from mesenchymal stem cels (MSC-CM) that contains abundant MSCs paracrine substances may represent a promising alternative to MSCs transplantation. However, normal MSC-CM with insufficient paracrine ability is not effective for tissue damage repair. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effects of MSC-CM with (MSC-CMHyp) and without hypoxic activation (MSC-CMNor) on the proliferation and apoptosis of radiation-induced injured intestinal epithelial cels (IEC-6) and to further discuss the paracrine mechanisms. METHODS: IEC-6 cels were exposed to 10 Gy irradiation and cultured in MSC-CMHyp, MSC-CMNor, and DMEM-F12 medium, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Findings from trypan blue staining, flow cytometry and western blot assay showed that, compared with the DMEM-F12 medium group, treatment with MSC-CMHyp significantly enhanced IEC-6 viability proliferation after radiation-induced injury, as wel as significantly decreased cel apoptosis and expression of Caspases-3/8 (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the MSC-CMNor group and DMEM-F12 medium group (P > 0.05). On the other hand, the increased levels of vascular endothelial growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, insulin-like growth factor-1, and interleukin-10 were detected in the MSC-CMHyp group compared to the MSC-CMNor group (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the MSC-CMHyp improves the viability and proliferative capacity of IEC-6 cels after radiation-induced injuryvia up-regulating secretion of cytokines and down-regulating apoptotic signaling.

We analyzed the pathogenic characteristics of Salmonella strains isolated from diarrhea patients in Wuxi City,Jiangsu Province,China and compared the differences among pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns of main serotype strains,so as to provid scientific basis for disease control.After biochemical identification of the Salmonella strains isolated from infectious diarrhea patients in Wuxi in 2015,drug susceptibility test,serotyping and PFGE were applied to analyze these strains.Results showed that a total of 32 Salmonella strains were detected from 756 diarrhea specimens with a positive rate of 4.23 ％.The infection occurred more frequently between May and October and adults aged more than 60 years old affected mostly.There was no significant difference between genders in infected population.The drug susceptibility test indicated that the antibiotic resistance rate of these Salmonella strains to ampicillin (56.25 ％) was the highest,and to ciprofloxacin(6.25 ％)and Ceftazidime (6.25％) were the lowest.The 32 Salmonella strains belonged to 11 serotypes,and S.enteritidis(31.25％)and S.typhimurium(21.88％) were the predominant serotypes.PFGE showed that the pattern similarity of all S.enteritidis was more than 85 ％;PFGE patterns of S.typhimurium were different.In conclusion,the infection of Salmonella from diarrhea patients in Wuxi City had obvious season and age specific distribution,and the most prevalent serotype of Salmonella was the S.enteritidis.It is necessary to strengthen the surveillance of Salmonella concurrently in food and environment.