OBJECTIVE: To summarize the effects of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) on ischemia damage to nerve tissue and discuss the possibility of GDNF in repair of spinal cord injury based on the development of microencapsulation technology.DATA SOURCES: A search of Medline from January 1996 to October 2000 was performed for the English articles related to GDNF, ischemia damage to nerve tissue, spinal cord injury and microencapsulation technology by using the key words "glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, ischemia damage to nerve tissue, spinal cord injury". Meanwhile, we retrieved Wangfang database for search of the related articles in Chinese by using the same keywords in Chinese.STUDY SELECTION: Articles including intervention group and control group were selected after first review, and those which were significantly non-randomized researches were excluded. Then, the full-texts of the enrolled articles were retrieved. Inclusion criteria: ①randomized controlled study; ②the experiment/clinical research including horizontal control group. Exclusion criteria: duplicated researches.DATA EXTRACTION: Totally 300 articles were selected but only 15 were in coincidence with conclusion criteria. 285 articles were excluded, 264 of them were duplicated and non-randomized researches, and 21 were review articles.DATA SYNTHESIS: GDNF can provide nutrition to dopamine nerve cell in rat's middle brain, so as to decrease dopamine nerve cell's death. Also GDNF can protect dopamine nerve cell in cerebral infarction rats from ischemic injury, inhibit the produce of nitrogen monoxide and reperfusion injury after ischemia. GDNF is an effective protective factor against ischemia damage. Microencapsulation technology has a bright future in treating endocrinopathic neural diseases, and GDNF can play a great role in the development of microencapsulation technology.CONCLUSION: GDNF is a protective factor against ischemia damage to nerve tissue, which can be enhanced by microencapsulation technology.There is a bright future for the research on GDNF in the clinical repair of spinal cord injury.

ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation between serum CA125 level and the severity of liver dysfunction in patients with liver cirrhosis. MethodsWanfang Data, CNKI, CBM, and VIP were searched for Chinese articles on the correlation between serum CA125 level and the severity of liver dysfunction in patients with liver cirrhosis published from January, 2008 to October, 2018, with a liver cirrhosis group and a normal control group in each article. Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) was used for quality assessment. The mean and standard deviation of CA125 in liver cirrhosis group, healthy control group, and liver cirrhosis groups with different Child-Pugh classes were analyzed. Meta-Analyst software was used to calculate the standardized mean deviation (SMD) of CA125 in each group and perform the meta-analysis. A heterogeneity analysis was performed for the studies included in this study; a random effects model was used in case of significant heterogeneity, while a fixed effect model was used in case of insignificant heterogeneity. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups. ResultsA total of 15 articles were included in this study. The meta-analysis showed that the liver cirrhosis group had a significantly higher serum CA125 level than the healthy control group (181.18±110.76 U/ml vs 15.10±7.15 U/ml, SMD=2.28, 95% confidence interval: 1.81-2.76, P＜0.001). The level of CA125 increased significantly with the increase in Child-Pugh class (F=15.704, P＜0.001). ConclusionSerum CA125 level is correlated with the severity of liver dysfunction in patients with liver cirrhosis and thus has a certain value in evaluating the severity of liver dysfunction and predicting prognosis.

Objective To investigate the association of serum uric acid (sUA)-to-creatinine (Cr) ratio with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 97 patients with NAFLD (NAFLD group) who attended Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, from January to December 2020, and according to the results of abdominal ultrasound, they were divided into mild group with 33 patients, moderate group with 31 patients, and severe group with 33 patients. Related data were also collected from 36 healthy adults (control group) who underwent physical examination in our hospital during the same period of time. The above groups were compared in terms of sex, age, fasting blood glucose, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), sUA, serum Cr, and sUA/Cr ratio. The independent samples t - test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and an analysis of variance was used for comparison between three groups; the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. The Spearman test was used for correlation analysis, and a multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the risk factors for NAFLD. Results Compared with the control group, the NAFLD group had significantly higher levels of ALT, AST, TG, GGT, sUA, and sUA/Cr ratio ( Z =-4.881, -4.616, -4.221, and -3.563, t =12.974 and 10.710, all P < 0.05) and a significantly lower level of HDL ( Z =-5.682, P < 0.05). The severity of NAFLD (mild, moderate or severe) was positively correlated with ALT, TC, and LDL ( r =0.291, 0.272, and 0.253, all P < 0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that sUA/Cr ratio was an independent risk factor for NAFLD (odds ratio=1.885, 95% confidence interval: 1.162-3.06, P < 0.05). Conclusion There is a significant correlation between sUA/Cr ratio and NAFLD, and sUA/Cr ratio is an independent predictive factor for NAFLD. The sUA/Cr ratio can be monitored to predict the onset of NAFLD, so as to achieve early identification, early diagnosis, and early treatment and improve prognosis.

Objective: To investigate the methods for qualitative pathological assessment of dynamic changes in liver fibrosis/cirrhosis after antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), since antiviral therapy can partially reverse liver fibrosis and cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B and semi-quantitative, rather than qualitative, pathological assessment is often used for the research on liver fibrosis regression. Methods: Previously untreated CHB patients with liver fibrosis and cirrhosis were enrolled, and liver biopsy was performed before treatment and at 78 weeks after the antiviral therapy based on entecavir. The follow-up assessment was performed once every half a year. Based on the proportion of different types of fibrous septum, we put forward the new qualitative criteria called P-I-R classification (predominantly progressive, predominantly regressive, and indeterminate) for evaluating dynamic changes in liver fibrosis. This classification or Ishak fibrosis stage was used to evaluate the change in liver fibrosis after treatment and Ishak liver inflammation score was used to evaluate the change in liver inflammation after treatment. Results: A total of 112 CHB patients who underwent liver biopsy before and after treatment were enrolled, and among these patients, 71 with an Ishak stage of ≥3 and qualified results of live biopsy were included in the final analysis. Based on the P-I-R classification, 58% (41/71) were classified as predominantly progressive, 29% (21/71) were classified as indeterminate, and 13% (9/71) were classified as predominantly regressive; there were no significant differences between the three groups in alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, albumin, HBeAg positive rate, HBV DNA, and liver stiffness (P < 0.05). After treatment, the proportion of predominantly progressive, indeterminate, or predominantly regressive patients changed to 11% (8/71), 11% (8/71), and 78% (55/71), respectively. Among the 35 patients who had no change in Ishak stage after treatment, 72% (25/35) were classified as predominantly regressive and had certain reductions in the Laennec score, percentage of collagen area, and liver stiffness. Conclusion This new P-I-R classification can be used to assess the dynamic changes in liver fibrosis after antiviral therapy in CHB patients.