Objective To evaluate the feasibility of virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ) for the assessment of renal allograft.Methods A total of 72 kidney recipients were examined with conventional ultrasound and VTQ after transpantation.Biopsies were performed in 34 patients,20 patients were with acute rejection (AR),14 with chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN),38 patients as control group.The peak systolic velocity (PSV) and resistance index(RI) were measured on main,infrarenal and arcuate arteries with conventional ultrasound and shear wave velocity (SWV) of the renal cortex was obtained by VTQ.All the data were compared among three groups.Results There were no significant differences of PSV between two groups.An increased RI was presented in the CAN group(P ＜0.05).The mean SWV was (2.67 ± 0.27) m/s,(2.90 ± 0.31)m/s and (2.28 ± 0.24)m/s for AR,CAN and normal group,respectively.There were significant differences of SWV among the three groups (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions VTQ technique could provide a new method for the assessment of transplanted kidney.

Objective To evaluate the role of heparanase in endotoxemia-induced destruction of vascular endothelial glycocalyx in rats.Methods Forty-eight pathogen-free male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 8-10 weeks, weighing 200-250 g, were randomly divided into 3 groups (n=16 each) using a random number table: control group (group C), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) group (group L) and LPS+ heparin group (group LH).Endotoxemia was induced by intravenous LPS 15 mg/kg in L and LH groups, and heparin sodium 100 U · kg-1 · h-1 was infused simultaneously in group LH.At 3 and 6 h after LPS injection, blood samples were collected from the femoral vein for determination of the serum concentrations of serum heparin sulfate (HS), syndecan-1, E-selectin and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) concentrations.The rats were then sacrificed, and lungs were removed for microscopic examination and for determination of wet/dry lung weight ratio (W/D ratio).Results Compared with group C, the serum HS, syndecan-1, E-selectin and ICAM-1 concentrations and W/D ratio were significantly increased in group L, and the serum HS and ICAM-1 concentrations were increased in group LH (P＜0.05).Compared with group L, the serum HS, syndecan-1, E-selectin and ICAM-1 concentrations and W/D ratio were significantly decreased in group LH (P＜0.05).The pathological changes of lungs were obvious in group L, and were significantly mitigated in group LH.Conclusion Heparanase is involved in endotoxemiainduced destruction of vascular endothelial glycocalyx in rats.