Objective:To investigate the relation between the angiotensinⅡ(AngⅡ)levels in thoracic aorta and plasma and atherosclerosis(AS).Methods:Totally40healthy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into4groups(n=10).Four different feeding methods,including normal diet,high lipid,high lipid+vitamin D overload,and high lipid+vitamin D over-load+endothelium injury,were used for inducing AS in rats.The thickness of intima was taken as the index of AS severity, radio-immunity analysis was used to assay AngⅡin each group in thoracic aorta and plasma.Results:Only rats in high lipid diet group did not develop AS plaque;high lipid+vitamin D only resulted in AS fibrous plaque with VSMC proliferation;high lipid+vitamin D+endothelium injury formed ripe AS plaque.The thickness of intima and AngⅡof thoracic aorta in-creased gradually compared with control group(P

Objective To evaluate the kinetics of peripheral blood cells in DTC patients before and after 131I treatment.Methods A total of 64 patients were divided into 2 groups with different therapeutic doses:high-dose group (3.70-5.55 GBq,n =24) and low-dose group (1.11 GBq,n =40).The WBC,neutrophils (NEUT),lymphocytes (LY),RBC and PLT were counted before operation,before 131I treatment,and on 3 d and 7 d after 131I treatment.One-way analysis of variance and two-sample t test were used to analyze the data.Results The counts of WBC and NEUT in both groups along with the LY in high-dose group varied significantly before,and on 3 d and 7 d after 131I treatment(WBC:high-dose group,(6.30±1.04),(8.86±2.07),(6.59±1.64) × 109/L;low-dose group,(6.65±1.48),(10.17±3.04),(7.17± 1.57) ×109/L; NEUT:high-dose group,(3.75±0.88),(6.42± 1.91),(4.53± 1.54) × 109/L; low-dose group,(3.88±0.90),(7.12±2.77),(4.40±1.17) × 109/L;LY:(2.11±0.67),(2.06±0.74),(1.59±0.49) × 109/L;F values:3.88 to 30.20,all P＜0.05).The counts of WBC and NEUT in both groups were significantly higher on 3 d after 131I treatment than that before treatment (all P＜0.05).The counts of WBC and NEUT in both groups along with the LY in high-dose group decreased significantly on 7 d compared to that on 3 d after 131I treatment (all P＜0.05).The counts of LY in high-dose group also significantly decreased on 7 d after 131I treatment than before treatment(P＜0.05).The counts of RBC before 131I treatment and LY on 7 d after 131I treatment were significantly different between the 2 groups(t=2.36,-4.30,both P＜0.05).Compared with the counts before operation,LY,RBC and PLT were significantly higher (t values:from-4.92 to-2.45,all P＜0.05) during hypothyroid state induced by thyroxine withdrawal before 131I treatment.Conclusions Short-term kinetics of WBC and NEUT present as an increase first followed by a decrease after 131I treatment; while LY of high-dose group presents as a gradually decrease.Hypothyroid state induced by levo-thyroxine withdrawal leads to increased counts of LY,RBC and PLT before 131I treatment.

Objective To explore the relationship between the proliferation of neural stem cells (NSCs)and the expression of β-catenin protein in neonate rats with hypoxic ischemic brain damage (HIBD) after hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy. Methods One hundred and eighty Sprague-Dawley rats aged 7 days were randomly divided into a normal control group (CON) , a HIBD model group and a HBO treatment group. The HIBD model was induced using Rice's method. Beginning 3h after the HIBD, HBO was administered to the HBO treatment group at 2 atmospheres for 60 min, once daily for 7 days. The HIBD model group was not given any treatment. The expression of nestin/β-catenin protein in the subventricular zone of the ischemic brain was double-stained for immunofluorescence and analyzed by confocal scanning microscopy dynamically at 3 hours, 21 hours, and then on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 14th day of HBO therapy. The expression of whole cell β-catenin and nuclear β-catenin protein in the left brain were also examined by Western blotting at these 6 time points. Linear correlation was used to analyze the correlation between β-catenin and nestin protein. Results The expression of β-catenin protein in NSCs increased initially at the 21st hour after HBO therapy in the model group and the HBO group as compared with the normal control group.β-catenin protein in the model group reached a higher level, though there was no significant difference between model group and the HBO group. At the 5th day of HBO therapy β-catenin protein in the HBO group had reached a significantly higher level than in the model group. At the 14th day the average expression of β-catenin in the HBO group began to decrease. The expression of nestin protein began to increase 21 hours after HBO therapy began, and it peaked at the 7th day of HBO therapy and then decreased. In the HBO group the increase in nestin protein was linearly correlated with that of β-catenin protein. The whole cell β-catenin protein and β-catenin nucleic protein readings increased initially by the 21st hour of HBO therapy and by the 5th day were significantly higher than the levels in the model group. Conclusion HBO treatment is capable of stimulating the proliferation of NSCs in HIBD neonate rats.The proliferation of NSCs is correlated with the activation of β-catenin protein.

Objective To summarize the clinical effect of urethroplasty using acellular dermal matrix patch for the treatment of anterior urethral stricture caused by lichen sclerosus.Methods The clinical data was analyzed retrospectively from 15 patients with anterior urethral stricture caused by lichen sclerosus treated with aeellular dermal matrix patch.Results The patients were followed up for 8-40 months.The urethral silicone stent was removed 4 weeks after operation in 15 cases and all the patients voided well 2 months after operation.The urinary peak flow rates ranged from 17.6 to 41.7 ml/s(mean,28.6ml/s).Urethral stricture occurred in 2 patients 3 months after operation undergoing discontinuous dilatation within 3 to 6 months,the patients voided very well.Conclusion It is feasible,safe and relatively simple to use acellular dermal matrix patch for anterior urethral stricture caused by lichen sclerosus.

Objective To investigate the relationships among cerebellar mutism (CM), relapsed medulloblastoma (MB) and the primary tumor location.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted in 114 children over 3 years old with MB from November 2011 to April 2015.ResultsThe median onset age was 84.7 months (36.4 to 184.7 months) in 114 children with MB (77 boys and 37 girls), of whom there were 48 cases of recurrence. There were twenty two cases of CM and the overall incidence of CM was 19.3% (22/114). The incidence of CM was 19.7% (13/66) in non-recurrent cases and 18.8% (9/48) in recur-rent cases, and there was no signiifcant difference between two groups (P=0.899). The incidence of CM was 17.6% (9/51) in cas-es with primary tumor in the fourth ventricle, 7.1% (1/14) in cases with primary tumor in the cerebellar vermis, 21.4% (3/14) in cases with primary tumor in both fourth ventricle and cerebellar vermis, 45.5% (5/11) in cases with primary tumor in fourth ven-tricle and other parts of the brain, and 50.0% (4/8) in cases with primary tumor in cerebellar vermis and other parts of the brain. No CM incidence was observed in cases with primary tumor in central nerve system except for the fourth ventricle and cerebellar vermis. The incidence of CM between the cases with fourth ventricle/cerebellar vermis involvement and those without fourth ventricle/ cerebellar vermis involvement had signiifcant difference (P=0.039). ConclusionsThere is no relationship between CM and relapsed MB. Children with MB whose primary tumor is located in the fourth ventricle and/or the cerebellar vermis is susceptible to CM.

Objective To investigate the effectiveness of glucocorticoids in the treatment of granulomatous lobular mastitis (GLM), and to discuss the optimal stage to add glucocorticoids during the treatment. Methods Twenty-four patients having received the core needle biopsy were involved. Ten cases with the explicit pathological diagnosis received the glucocorticoids therapy following the subtotal excision after remission. Pathological diagnoses of the rest 14 patients were undefined. For these 14 patients, simple partial excisions were given and the postoperative pathological diagnoses were presented as the GLM. Of all the 14 patients who accepted the surgical treatment firstly, 8 patients received the postoperative glucocorticoids adjuvant therapy. For the rest 6 patients, steroid hormone therapy was not used after surgery, and they were followed up postoperatively. All patients' clinical and pathological information were collected and analyzed. Results All patients were followed up for 6-36 months (average 18) by the outpatient service. Of all the 10 patients who received the glucocorticoids therapy before surgery, only 1 patient of them got the GLM recurrence. For the 8 patients who received the postoperative glucocorticoids treatment, only 1 patient got the recurrence. For the 6 patients who received simple partial excision, the recurrence of the GLM may be up to 3. There was no statistical difference between the two groups who both received the 05). But compared with the pure surgery treatment, the difference was obviously (P<0.05). Conclusions The clinical presentation and imaging performance of GLM are unspecific, so the diagnosis of the GLM is difficult. There is no consensus regarding the optimal treatment for GLM. The glucocorticoids therapy may be necessary preoperatively or postoperatively. For the patient with clear preoperative biopsy diagnosis, preoperative glucocorticoids adjuvant chemotherapy followed by the wide excision may be an effective method.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of children with medulloblastoma (MB). Methods The correlations amongst MB histopathological subtype,age at diagnosis,gender,primary tumor locations, relapsed tumor and relapsed tumor locations were analyzed retrospectively in 83 children who were diagnosed as MB by histopathology subtypes from February 2012 to April 2015 in Beijing Shijitan Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical Uni-versity.The data was conducted by using SPSS 22.0 statistical software.Results Among the 83 cases (53 boys and 30 girls),there were 14 patients younger than 3 years old (9 boys and 5 girls)and 69 patients (44 boys and 25 girls)ol-der than 3 years old,including 28 relapsed (19 boys and 9 girls)and 55 non -relapsed cases (34 boys and 21 girls). The median age was 80.2 (13.1 -184.7)months at diagnosis.Of these 83 cases,48.2% (40 /83 cases)was classic medulloblastoma (CMB)(2 cases less than 3 years old),24.1 % (20 /83 cases)was desmoplastic /nodular medullo-blastoma (DMB)(6 cases less than 3 years old),12.1 % (10 /83 cases)was large cell/anaplastic medulloblastoma (LC /AMB)(1 case less than 3 years old),3.6% (3 /83 cases)was extensive nodular medulloblastoma (MBEN)(1 case less than 3 years old),and 12.1 % (10 /83 cases)(3 cases less than 3 years old)was mixed subtype.The rela-tionships between age at diagnosis and histopathological subtype,gender and primary tumor location were all statistically significant (χ2 =0.014,0.013,all P <0.05).Conclusions The incidence of boys with MB is higher than girls.CMB is the main histopathologic subtype in children over 3 years old.The primary tumor location involving the cerebellar vermis or cerebellar vermis and the fourth ventricle is higher in girls with MB.The primary tumor location involving the fourth ventricle,the fourth ventricle and other parts of the central nervous system,Cerebellar vermis and other parts of the central nervous system or other parts of the central nervous system is higher in boys with MB.

Background and purpose:The incidence of thyroid cancer (TC) is increasing worldwide. However, there were some differences among different regions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence trends and clinicopathological characteristics of TC in Qingdao, a typical eastern coastal city, and to analyze the change in etiological spectrum of surgical thyroid diseases in recent years.Methods:A total of 2 251 patients who underwent thyroidectomy in 2014 due to thyroid nodules at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University were retrospectively reviewed. The clinico-pathological characteristics were further analyzed among 1 306 patients with TC and compared with the corresponding data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database as well as previous data from this hospital.Results:With the increasing number of thyroidectomy in Qingdao, there was also an increase in the proportion of TC in patients after thyroidectomy, from 34.8% in 2010 to 59.0% in 2014. Among those with TC, the male-to-female ratio was 1∶2.80, with a relatively high incidence among 20-54 year-old adults, who were younger than those reported in terms of distribution of age in SEER database (U=2 289,P=0.000). About 50.2% of the TC patients were overweight or obese, 78.2% TC patients had only asymptomatic nodules detected by ultrasound at initial diagnosis, while 16.6% had visible or palpable thyroid nodules. Only 5.2% presented hoarseness or other repression symptoms. Micro-carcinoma accounted for 61.7% of TC in 2014 at this hospital, which was significantly higher than the proportion in 2010 (37.7%). Lymph node involvement was significantly more frequent at this hospital than in SEER database (49.5%vs 26.0%,χ2=11.806,P=0.001). Even among patients with micro-carcinoma, 31.3% already presented lymph node metastases. The proportions of papillary, follicular, medullary and anaplastic carcinoma were 97.5%, 1.1%, 1.0% and 0.5%, respectively, among which the percentage of papillary carcinoma was higher than that in SEER database (U=4 654.5,P=0.055).Conclusion:There was an increase in the number of thyroidectomy in Qingdao, and the preoperative diagnostic accuracy of TC in this area kept rising. The in-cidence of TC was relatively high in a younger population, with more common lymph node involvements and an overweight trend. The increasing proportion of micro-carcinoma might be related to the popularization of health examination. However, the frequent lymph node metastasis in patients with micro-carcinoma is an important indicator of the invasive behavior of micro-carcinoma, which should not be overlooked.

BACKGROUND:Osteoarthritis is one of the most common senile chronic degenerative diseases in China.Due to its complex pathogenesis and cellular molecular communication pathways,there is currently no effective method to slow down the progression of osteoarthritis.Studies have found that transforming growth factor-β is one of the key factors in the maintenance and regulation of joint stability and plays a significant role in the formation of early joints,as well as the development of bone and cartilage,and the remodeling of joints at various stages. OBJECTIVE:To review the regulatory role of the transforming growth factor-β subfamily in the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis,both domestically and internationally in recent years,to analyze the impacts it has at different stages of osteoarthritis,and to explore the potential application prospects of transforming growth factor-β in the clinical treatment of osteoarthritis,with a view to informing clinical treatment protocols.. METHODS:The relevant articles were searched by computer from CNKI Database and PubMed Database.The search terms were"osteoarthritis,transforming growth factor,signaling pathway,bone remodeling,cartilage degeneration,angiogenesis,treatment"in Chinese and English,respectively.Finally,57 articles were included for review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The pathogenesis of osteoarthritis remains a subject of ongoing exploration with no unified consensus.Numerous studies highlight the close correlation between osteoarthritis and cytokines,focusing on the transforming growth factor-β superfamily as a pivotal mechanism and therapeutic breakthrough.Transforming growth factor-β plays a crucial role in early joint cartilage formation and maintenance,promoting cartilage repair.However,post-joint formation,its protective effect weakens,leading to potential destructive consequences.This dual regulatory role is a current clinical treatment focus,necessitating further research to delineate its application scope for standardized protocols.Highly active transforming growth factor-β participates in the regulation of bone cells,osteoblasts,and osteoclasts under mechanical stress,and intervenes in the subsequent remodeling of bone microstructure.Specific inhibitors present potential targeted therapeutics,yet their safety and efficacy in clinical settings require refinement.Vascular proliferation may serve as a potential disruptive pathway in transforming growth factor-β-mediated cartilage degeneration and subchondral bone remodeling.Abnormal communication pathways can further disrupt the homeostasis of the microenvironment of osteochondral units,thereby accelerating key pathological progressions of osteoarthritis.Research on transforming growth factor-β in osteoarthritic contexts is comprehensive,holding broad clinical application prospects.Drugs related to transforming growth factor-β are in clinical trial phases,but addressing potential impacts on other tissues and precise control of targeted delivery are critical concerns.As research advances,there is optimism for innovative breakthroughs in slowing the progression of osteoarthritis in the future.

Objectives:To evaluate the learning curve of transcatheter aortic valve replacement(TAVR)in a single center by single operator using Venus A valve. Methods:A total of 150 patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent TAVR using Venus A valve in Fujian Provincial Hospital from July 2018 to May 2022 were selected.According to the time order of TAVR,the 1st-50th patients were included in group A,the 51st-100th patients were included in group B and the 101st-150th patients were included in group C.The basic clinical data,perioperative parameters and postoperative follow-up data of the three groups were analyzed. Results:All high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis had an average STS score(7.9±1.5)and were treated with Venus A valve.The total operation time of group A,group B and group C was(226.2±86.3)min,(115.2±47.1)min,(108.2±38.1)min;the peripheral path operation time was(45±10)min,(20±7)min,(18±6)min;the valve release time was(13.0±2.3)min,(5.0±2.1)min,(3.0±1.7)min;the X-ray fluoroscopy time was(24±8)min,(11±5)min,(10±3)min;the radiation dose was(1 266±227)mGy,(532±132)mGy,(519±108)mGy;and the total incidence of perioperative adverse events was 46%,18%,16%,respectively.The differences were statistically significant(all P<0.05).The total incidence of adverse events during follow-up within 6 months for patients in group A,group B,and group C were 6%,2%,and 0%(P>0.05).With the increase of TAVR cases,the correlation curve of each time node of TAVR and radiation dose tended to be stable after the 50th-60th cases. Conclusions:With the increase of procedural experience,the total operation time,operative time nodes,radiation dose and perioperative adverse events of TAVR with Venus A valve decreases gradually,and the operator usually needs 50-60 cases to cross the TAVR learning curve.