Objective To study the gene expression of Wnt signal transduction pathway in experimental liver fibrosis and to investigate its role in liver fibrosis. Methods Liver fibrosis model was induced with carbon tetrachloride in 8 SD rats. Another 8 healthy rats were served as control. The gene expression in liver tissues of models and controls were examined using real time PCR array. The differential gene expression was identified as either up- or down-regulated 2-fold. The expressions of smooth muscle actin (SMA), Wnt4, Frizzled2 and β-catenin in the tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. Results The examination confirmed that 36 genes were differentially expressed, including 25 genes up-regulated and 11 genes down-regulated. Compared with the controls, the expressions of Wnt4, Wnt5 a and W nt11 were up-regulated more than 13.9-, 16.5-and 2.17-fold respectively, while the expressions of Wntl and Wnt3 were down-regulated more than 2.32- and 2.15-fold respectively in fibrotic liver. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot showed that the expressions of SMA, Wnt4 and Frizzled2 in fibrotic liver were remarkably higher than those in normal controls. While the level of phosphorylated β-catenin was decreased. Conclusion Both canonical and noncanonical Wnt signal transduction pathway may involve in the mechanism of liver fibrogenesis.

Objective To establish a method for simultaneously measuring L-citrulline and L-arginine concentration in plasma using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC)with ultraviolet detection,and the novel method is applied to the patients with digestive system tumor.Methods Plasma samples were deproteinized by trichloroacetic acid with heating method.Phenylisothiocyanate (PITC)was used as derivatization reagent and a gradient elution was adopted. The feasibility verification of method was carried out by detecting plasma L-citrulline and L-arginine acid concentration in 21 cases of advanced digestive tract malignant tumor patients,21 cases of non malignant tumor patients and 39 cases of healthy people.Results The linearity for L-citrulline and L-arginine ranged from 0 to at least 1 000 μmol/L.r=0.999 95 for both. The lower limits of quantification for L-citrulline and L-arginine were 0.240 μmol/L and 0.448 μmol/L respectively.The in-traday and interday coefficients of variation (CVs)were less than 3.4% and 7.2%,respectively.The average recovery rate was from 95.2% to 104.1%.The ratio of plasma L-citrulline/L-arginine in patients with digestive cancar was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group,t-test,P =0.009.The sensitivity and specificity of plasma L-citrulline/L-argi-nine ratio in the malignant tumor of digestive system were 81% and 71.4% respectively.Conclusion This method can pro-vide a reliable and efficient method for the clinical determination of the L-citrulline and L-arginine concentration in plasma. The ratio of plasma citrulline/arginine increased obviously in patients with digestive cancer,suggesting that this ratio is a more sensitive index than single concentration of L-citrulline or L-arginine when evaluating patients with digestive tumor.

Objectives To investigate the expression of mTOR signaling pathway in pancreatic cancer and export its signification. Methods 6 samples of pancreatic cancer and its paracancerous tissues specimens confirmed by surgery and pathologic examination were selected. RNA was extracted and expression profiles experiment was performed by using Agilent human whole genomic oligonucleotide microarrays. The expression of mTOR signaling pathway in pancreatic cancer was analyzed by bioinformatics. Results Totally 1276 differential gene were selected, and 691 were up-regulated in cancer tissue, while 585 were down-regulated.The highest score of KEGG pathway's Enrichment and gene count was hsa04150 in mTOR signaling pathway,with its Enrichment of 4.5622519 and gene count of 9, and the percentage of gene count was 1.15%, the EASE Score P value was 6.23 E-04, which had the most biological significance. Among those, there was significantly difference of expression of nine key genes including ULK2, PIK3R3, PDPK1, EIF4EBP1, PGF,VEGFB, ULK3, RICTOR and PIK3 R5 (P ＜ 0.05). Conclusions The pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer is related to the activation of the mTOR signaling pathway.

genes related to pancreatic cancer was mainly associated with biological process,cellular location,molecular function,which suggested the development of pancreatic cancer was caused by multiple genes.

The solute carrier protein 25 family (SLC25)is one of superfamily in solute carrier protein family. The members of SLC25 family function by transporting various solutes across the mitochondrial mem-brane. Their substrates vary in property,molecular size and mode of transport,and they closely involve in nu-merous physiological functions. More and more researches indicate that some members of SLC25 family are ab-normally expressed in tumors,and some of them play important roles in the occurrence and development of tumors. For example,some members participate in tumorigenesis by regulating cell metabolism,death and pro-liferation.

ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depression among hepatitis B patients in Shanghai, China and related influencing factors. MethodsA cross-sectional survey was performed among 917 hepatitis B patients who were treated in Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, and Nanhua Hospital in Pudong New Area from June to December, 2016. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and a self-designed social demography questionnaire were used for evaluation. The independent samples t-test and a one-way analysis of variance were used for comparison of continuous data between groups, and a multivariate linear regression analysis was used to analyze the correlation of anxiety and depression scores with demographic and socioeconomic factors. ResultsThe prevalence rates of anxiety and depression symptoms assessed by HADS were 87.6% and 90.7%, respectively. The severity of anxiety in hepatitis B patients was associated with age, family income, and educational level (F=3.518, 6.416, and 3322, all P＜0.05), and the severity of depression was associated with age, marital status, family income, occupation, and complications (F=2.904, t=2.242, F=22.840, F=9.235, F=11.870, t=2.246, all P＜0.05). High educational level, high income, and single status were risk factors for depression(all P＜005), and high income and the increase in age were significantly associated with anxiety(all P＜005). ConclusionAt present, the mental state of hepatitis B patients in Shanghai is not optimistic, with high prevalence rates of anxiety and depression. The results remind medical workers that they should pay attention to the mental health of hepatitis B patients.

OBJECTIVETo compare the complications associated with mechanical and manual cervical esophagogastric anastomosis following esophagectomy for esophageal cancer.

METHODSFrom September, 2004 to June, 2007, 227 patients with middle and upper thoracic esophageal cancer underwent cervical esophagogastric anastomosis after esophagectomy. The patients were randomized into two groups and cervical esophagogastric anastomosis was performed using a stapler (n=102) or manually (n=125). The incidence of postoperative complications and operative time were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSIn manual anastomosis group, anastomotic leak and anastomotic stricture occurred in 14.4% (18/125) and 8.8.% (11/125) of the patients, significantly higher than the incidences of 2.9% (3/102) and 3.9% (4/102) in the mechanical anastomosis group (P<0.01). Manual anastomosis required a significantly longer operative time than mechanical anastomosis (52∓12 vs 25∓5 min, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe use of circular mechanical stapler in cervical esophagogastric anastomosis is associated with a lower rate of anastomotic leak and a shorter operative time, and is easy to learn and standardize to reduce the complications of the anastomosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Anastomosis, Surgical ; methods ; Anastomotic Leak ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Esophagectomy ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; Sutures ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To explore the effects from different contact areas of the instrument causing trauma on biomechanical response parameters of rabbit skull fractures under quasi-static compression conditions. Methods The rabbits were divided into the scalp preservation group and scalp removal group. Each group was subdivided into 3 mm group, 6 mm group, 9 mm group according to contact diameter of the instrument causing trauma. There were 9 rabbits in each group, 54 rabbits in total. All rabbits were put to death by over anesthesia and made into a skull compression model. An electronic universal material testing machine was used to perform quasi-static compression of rabbit skulls to fractures, and biomechanical response parameters such as ultimate load, deformation under ultimate load and compressive strength of rabbit skulls in each group were detected. Results The differences in ultimate load, deformation under ultimate load, and compressive strength of rabbit skulls in scalp preservation group and scalp removal group under different contact areas were statistically significant. The ultimate load was positively correlated with the contact area, and the compressive strength was negatively correlated with the contact area. No correlation was found between deformation under ultimate load and contact area. For scalp preservation group and scalp removal group, the difference in deformation under ultimate load was statistically significant in the 3 mm contact surface diameter group, and there was no statistical significance in the other groups. Conclusions The contact area is positively correlated with the ultimate load of rabbit skull fracture and negatively correlated with compressive strength, while it has no correlation with deformation under ultimate load and is unrelated to whether the scalp is removed.