Objective To investigate the effect of As_2O_3 on normal mouse bone marrow stromal cells(BMSCs).Methods BMSCs and colony-forming unit-granulocyte macrophage (CFU-GM) were cultured in vitro to observe the quantitative changes of colony-forming unit-fibroblast(CFU-F) and CFU-GM after BMSCs were treated with different concentrations of As_2O_3 respectively;the quantitative changes of CFU-GM supported by BMSCs and granulocyte colony stimulating factor(G-CSF) and IL-11 secreted by BMSCs were also observed after the progenitor cells supported by BMSCs were treated with As_2O_3 for 3,5 and 7 d,respectively.Results The productions of CFU-F and CFU-GM supported by BMSCs were decreased obviously when treated with 7 ?mol?L~(-1) As_2O_3,also the levels of G-CSF and IL-11 secreted by BMSC(P

At present,corresponding cell-free parasite DNA molecules (CFPD) has been detected in serum,plasma,urine,saliva and other bodily fluids of a variety of the patients with parasitic diseases.Due to its high specificity and sensitivity,the CFPD shows a strong advantage of noninvasive diagnosis and continuous monitoring,etc.in parasitic diseases.This article namely reviews the current research of CFPD in the patients with parasitic disease at home and abroad in recent years,so as to provide new ideas for the development direction of parasitic disease diagnosis in the future.The current related problems are discussed in the mean time.

BACKGROUND:During spinal degeneration process, the intervertebral disc and facet joints are interrelated and interacted to impact the normal function and stability of the spine, thereby resulting in low back pain. Moreover, there is always a controversy on the degeneration order of the intervertebral disc and facet joint. OBJECTIVE:To explore the relationship between lumbar facet joint degeneration and intervertebral disc degeneration in patients with low back pain. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was made on the clinical data of 186 patients with low back pain. The facet joint degeneration and intervertebral disc degeneration at L2-S1 motion segments of each patient were evaluated. Enroled patients were divided into three age groups: < 40 years old, 40-60 years old and≥ 60 years old. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The incidence of lumbar facet joint and intervertebral disc degeneration was increased with age, and degeneration of the lumbar facet joint and intervertebral disc were the most obvious at L4-5 and L5-S1 segments. The incidence of intervertebral disc degeneration was more than that of facet joint degeneration at each segment in al age groups, except groups of < 40 years old and 40-60 years old at L2-3 segments, but there was no significant difference (P > 0.05). There was a weak correlation between facet joint degeneration and intervertebral disc degeneration (χ2=100.9,P < 0.001, gamma=0.22). These findings show that the incidence of intervertebral disc degeneration and facet joint degeneration is increased with age, and there is a weak correlation between them. However, the lumbar degenerative order is stil unclear and further research is needed.

OBJECTIVE:To prepare Puerarin polymeric micelles and establish a method to determine its entrapment efficiency. METHODS:Puerarin polymeric micelles were prepared by film dispersion method. The polymeric micelles and free drug were sepa-rated by centrifugal-millipore filter filtration method. The entrapment efficiency of puerarin polymeric micelles was determined by HPLC. Diamonsil C18(2)column was used with 1% citric acid solution-methanol(65∶35)at the flow rate of 1 ml/min. The detec-tion wavelength was set at 250 nm,and column temperature was room temperature. RESULTS:The prepared polymeric micelles were spherical and spherical-like in shape with a mean particle size of 54.12 nm,polydispersity index of 0.122,Zeta potential of -13.60 mV;the linear range of puerarin was 2-10μg/ml(R2=0.999 4)with average recovery rate of 99.2%(RSD=0.9%,n=3). The re-covery rate of free drug was 95.3%(RSD=1.7%,n=3). The mean entrapment efficiency and drug-loading amount of puerarin were(35.5±2.12)% and(0.3±0.07)%,respectively(n=3). CONCLUSIONS:Film dispersion method is suitable for the prepara-tion of Puerarin polymeric micelles. Established method is convenient,accurate and reliable for the content and entrapment efficien-cy determination of Puerarin polymeric micelles.

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical value of ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage in the treatment of liver abscess from the aspects of laboratory markers and size of abscess. MethodsA total of 79 patients with liver abscess who underwent ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage in Department of Gastroenterology in Northern Jiangsu People’s Hospital from January 2013 to August 2018 were enrolled, among whom 36 patients who were lost or transferred, abandoned treatment, had an age pf ＜18 years, or were not followed up in the outpatient service were excluded. A total of 43 patients were finally included in the retrospective study. The t-test was used for comparison of continuous data between groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. ResultsAll 43 patients achieved a one-time success of puncture and placement of drainage tube. Of all 43 patients, 36 had fear of cold and pyrexia, among whom 31 (86.1%) had a normal body temperature on day 3 after surgery, and there were significant changes in leukocyte count, percentage of neutrophils, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase after surgery (t=6.668, 6.255, 2337, 3.001, and 5.198, all P＜0.05). There was a significant reduction in the diameter of abscess after surgery (74±31 mm vs 31±28 mm, t=18.517, P＜0.05). The average length of hospital stay was 19.84±9.37 days. Of all 43 patients, 19(44.2%) were cured and 24(55.8%) had response to treatment. Of all 43 patients, 38 had positive results of liver abscess culture, among whom 25(65.8%) had Klebsiella pneumoniae infection, suggesting that Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most common pathogenic bacteria. ConclusionUltrasound-guided percutaneous drainage has a high success rate, few complications, and reliable clinical efficacy in the treatment of liver abscess. Therefore, it is recommended as the first choice for the clinical treatment of liver abscess.

Lipid metabolism plays an important role in the development of life activities and disease.Lipid metabolism is obviously abnormal in patients with tumor disease.It regulates the abnormal expression of genes and proteins by affecting the signal transduction pathway, thus the outcome is promoting transformation, invasion and metastasis of malignant cells, or playing an opposite role.Characteristics of lipid metabolism are different among patients with different tumors.The writer reviewed the research progress of basic and epidemiological studies on the relationship between lipid metabolism and malignant tumors, aimed to prevent, treat and judge the prognosis of malignant tumors.

Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is a tool that uses the intrinsic nature of local magnetic fields to enhance image contrast in order to improve the visibility of various susceptibility sources. SWI has blood oxygen levels dependent effect and is sensitive to the change of the cerebral oxygen saturation. This imaging method is applied to various diseases with abnormal deoxyhemoglobin concentration, such as ischemic stroke and cerebral arteriovenous malformation. Patients with acute ischemic stroke have elevated levels of deoxygenated hemoglobin in the affected area, so the ischemic area can show abnormal venous imaging on SWI images. SWI could recognize penumbra and guide the management of patients with acute stroke. Besides, SWI also could evaluate the severity of symptoms, predict prognosis and future surviving state. This paper reviews the research progress of the prominent hypointense vessels sign and its application in acute ischemic stroke.

Because the brain and kidneys share a common basis for small vessel lesions, the related research on cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is gradually increasing. The development of neuroimaging technology has significantly increased the detection rate of CMBs, but there is still controversy over whether CKD will increase the incidence of CMBs. This article reviews the relationship between CKD and CMBs, pathogenesis, biomarkers, and treatment.

We hereby reported a fetus with abnormal head shape, ventricular septal defect, gallbladder enlargement, low-set ears and local umbilical cord glial edema at 22 and 25 weeks of gestation ultrasound scan. A 15.318 Mb heterozygous microdeletion on chromosome 1p32.1p31.1, arr[GRCh37]1p32.1p31.1(61,279,239-76,597,189)×1, was indentified by chromosomal microarray analysis. The chromosome karyotype of the fetus was 46,XY,del(1)(p32.1p31.1). Therefore, this case was diagnosed as 1p32p31 microdeletion syndrome and proved to be a de novo variation based on routine G-banding analysis and chromosomal microarray analysis of the normal parents. This syndrome might present with abnormalities in the head shape, kidney, bladder and central nervous system. The couple decided to terminate the pregnancy after genetic counseling concerning the possible poor outcomes of the fetus.

The occurrence of benign prostate hyperplasia(BPH)was related to disrupted sex steroid hormones,and metformin(Met)had a clinical response to sex steroid hormone-related gynaecological disease.How-ever,whether Met exerts an antiproliferative effect on BPH via sex steroid hormones remains unclear.Here,our clinical study showed that along with prostatic epithelial cell(PEC)proliferation,sex steroid hormones were dysregulated in the serum and prostate of BPH patients.As the major contributor to dysregulated sex steroid hormones,elevated dihydrotestosterone(DHT)had a significant positive rela-tionship with the clinical characteristics of BPH patients.Activation of adenosine 5'-monophosphate(AMP)-activated protein kinase(AMPK)by Met restored dysregulated sex steroid hormone homeostasis and exerted antiproliferative effects against DHT-induced proliferation by inhibiting the formation of androgen receptor(AR)-mediated Yes-associated protein(YAP1)-TEA domain transcription factor(TEAD4)heterodimers.Met's anti-proliferative effects were blocked by AMPK inhibitor or YAP1 over-expression in DHT-cultured BPH-1 cells.Our findings indicated that Met would be a promising clinical therapeutic approach for BPH by inhibiting dysregulated steroid hormone-induced PEC proliferation.