To perform a systemic review and meta-analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of PET (CT) and metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) for diagnosing neuroblastoma (NB),electronic databases were searched as well as relevant references and conference proceedings.The diagnostic accuracy of MIBG and PET (CT) was calculated for NB,primary NB,and relapse/metastasis of NB based on their sensitivity,specificity,and area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (AUSROC) in terms of per-lesion and per-patient data.A total of 40 eligible studies comprising 1134 patients with 939 NB lesions were considered for the meta-analysis.For the staging of NB,the per-lesion AUSROC value of MIBG was lower than that of PET (CT) [0.8064±0.0414 vs.0.9366±0.0166 (P＜0.05)].The per-patient AUSROC value of MIBG and PET (CT) for the diagnosis of NB was 0.8771±0.0230 and 0.6851±0.2111,respectively.The summary sensitivity for MIBG and PET (CT) was 0.79 and 0.89,respectively.The summary specificity for MIBG and PET (CT) was 0.84 and 0.71,respectively.PET (CT) showed higher per-lesion accuracy than MIBG and might be the preferred modality for the staging of NB.On the other hand,MIBG has a comparable diagnosing performance with PET (CT) in per-patient analysis but shows a better specificity.

OBJECTIVETo study the antiinflammatory effect of a compound TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) agent on animal models. The agent contains ant extractive and a blent of three herbal products, herba epimedii, fructus cnidii, and fructus lycii.

METHODThree animal models to induce experimental inflammation in rats, including carrageenin--induced paw edema, cotton-ball granuloma and adjuvant induced arthritis, were chosen to study the antiinflammatory effect of the TCM agent.

RESULTThe TCM agent showed a marked inhibitory effect on edema induced by all three types of inflammation in rats, the inhibitory rate of the TCM agent at the dose of 0.20, 0.40 and 0.80 g.kg-1 in granuloma model bing over 25% at 1 hour post oral administration, and being 23.8%, 22.7%, 39.7% at 6 hour. In addition, the TCM agent also showed a significant preventive as well as therapeutic effect on adjuvant induced arthritis in rats, and improved the pathological changes of the animal joints with the induced arthritis.

CONCLUSIONTCM agent has significant antiinflammatory effects on the three above mentioned animal models.

Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; therapeutic use ; Ants ; Arthritis ; drug therapy ; Capsules ; Cnidium ; chemistry ; Drug Combinations ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; therapeutic use ; Edema ; drug therapy ; Epimedium ; chemistry ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body ; drug therapy ; Lycium ; chemistry ; Male ; Materia Medica ; therapeutic use ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

Genotoxicity research takes an important place in traditional Chinese medicine safety evaluation. Genotoxicity test on traditional Chinese medicine has been paid great attention since 1970s. Currently, the most developed genotoxicity test methods included: bacterial reverse mutation test and mouse lymphoma assay which are used to detect relevant genetic changes, micronucleus test and chromosomal analysis which are used to measure chromosomal aberration, and single cell electrophoresis assay which is used to test DNA damage. This article reviews research progress on genotoxicity of traditional Chinese medicine, evaluation methods of genotoxicity, the problems and solutions on genotoxicity evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine, and new technique used in genotoxicity test.
Animals ; Biomedical Research ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; adverse effects ; Mutagenicity Tests ; methods

Drug allergy and pseudoallergic reactions are main adverse drug reactions. Allergy is mainly induced by the immunogenicity of drug, drug metabolic products or drug additive. Pseudoallergic reactions may result from the irritation or activation of inflammatory material release. Pre-clinical evaluation of drug allergy and pseudoallergic reactions is included in immunotoxicity evaluation. Now there is no in vivo or in vitro method that could predict all kinds of allergy or pseudoallergic reactions due to the different mechanisms. In the past few years, FDA, SFDA OECD, ICH and WHO have published several guidelines on per-clinical immunotoxicity evaluation, however, no agreement has been reached on allergy and pseudoallergic reactions evaluation. This article reviews the requirements of allergy and pseudoallergic reactions in pre-clinical evaluation.
Drug Hypersensitivity ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Immune System ; drug effects ; Practice Guidelines as Topic

Reproductive toxicity research takes an important place in traditional Chinese medicine pre-clinical safety evaluation. Modern reproductive toxicity experiment includes drug-related miscarriage, fetal death, teratism, and adverse effects on fertility, genital system, embryonic development and fetus, which is different from contraindicated in pregnancy in traditional Chinese medicine theory. Now the three-phases reproductive toxicity study is the method mainly applied in traditional Chinese medicine reproductive toxicity evaluation. Besides that, alternative methods of whole embryos culture and embryonic stem cell test are also used in traditional Chinese medicine embryo toxicity evaluation. This article reviews research progress and pre-clinical evaluation on reproductive toxicity of traditional Chinese medicine.
Animals ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; toxicity ; Embryonic Development ; drug effects ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; drug effects ; Female ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Pregnancy ; Reproduction ; drug effects ; Toxicity Tests

Objective To study the effects of ribosomal protein L41 (RPL41) on the proliferation and apoptosis of human retinoblastoma Y79 cells and its underlying mechanisms.Methods Y79 cells were seeded in RPMI 1640 medium containing 10％ fetal bovine serum for passage culture.Then the cells were divided into control group,with cells left untreatment,(40 μmol · L-1,80 μmol · L 1 and 120 μmol · L-1) RPL41 treatment group according to the concentration.Next CellTiter-Glo fluorescence cell viability testing system was used to observe the viability of Y79 cells in all groups,and flow cytometry was applied to measure the cell apoptotic rate in 100 μmol · L 1 RPL41 treatment group,with Hoechst staining for the observation of nuclear morphometry of apoptotic cells,and finally,Western blot was used to determine the expression of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) of each group.Results Compared with the control group,the viability of Y79 cells in the 40 μmol · L-1 RPL41 treatment group was (97.9 ± 1.5) ％,with no significant difference (P =0.055);and the viability in the 80 μmol · L-1 and 120 μmol · L-1 RPL41 treatment group was (87.6 ± 1.8)％ and (63.9 ± 2.0) ％,respectively,both of which were significantly different from the control group (both P ＜ 0.05),so RPL41 inhibited the viability of Y79 cells,and 100 μmol · L-1 RPL41 promoted the apoptosis of Y79 cells,with the apoptotic rate of (17.33 ± 2.47)％.Compared with normal cells,the apoptotic cells in the 100 μmol · L 1 RPL41 treatment group showed bright color and smaller cell volume by Hoechst staining.Western blot showed that PRL41 significantly decreased the expression of ATF4 protein and the expression of ATF4 protein in the 40 μmol · L 1,80 μmol · L-1 and 120 μmol · L 1 treatment group were 0.76 ± 0.04,0.29 ± 0.04,0.29 ± 0.05,respectively,all of which were significantly different from the control group (all P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion RPL41 can inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis of human retinoblastoma Y79 cell,and its mechanism may be related to the expression of ATF4.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of atorvastatin on the expression of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) mRNA and its protein in hypertrophic myocardium in rats. METHODS: Suprarenal abdominal aortic coarctation was performed to create the pressure overload induced left ventricular hypertrophy model in rats. RESULTS: Rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: (1) normal control group (Group A); (2) normal control group treated with atorvastatin [(5 mg/(kg.dd), Group B]; (3) sham group (Group C); (4) atorvastatin given orally by gastric gavage for 4 weeks [5 mg/(kg.dd),Group D]; (5) vehicle group (Group E). Stained pathological section was observed under light microscope to measure cardiomyocyte diameter transversa and collagen volume fraction. ACE2 mRNA and its protein expression were detected by real-time RT-PCR and Western blot. Compared with Group A,B, and C, the left ventricular mass index, cardiomyocyte diameter transversa and collagen volume fraction in Group E increased statistically (P< 0.01), ACE2 mRNA and its protein expression also elevated remarkably (P< 0.01). Compared with Group E, the above mentioned indexes in Group D reduced significantly (P< 0.01). CONCLUSION ACE2 mRNA and its protein expression increase significantly in hypertrophic myocardium in rats; atorvastatin can attenuate cardiac hypertrophy due to pressure overload in rats effectively, and part of this anti-hypertrophy effect may be attributed to decrease ACE2 mRNA and protein expression.
Animals ; Aorta ; Atorvastatin ; Heptanoic Acids ; pharmacology ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; etiology ; metabolism ; Ligation ; Male ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Pyrroles ; pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Male ; Phytotherapy ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo assess the clinical values of CT colonography (CTC) in the diagnosis of colonic polyps.

METHODSForty-two patients who were clinically suspicious of colonic polyps or underwent colonic polyps screening received both CTC and conventional colonoscopy. Sixteen or 64-slice spiral CT and professional imaging processing techniques were used for evaluation. Per-polyp and per-patient results were analyzed. Those by per-polyp were subsequently divided into > or = 10 mm group, 5-10 mm group, and < or = 5 mm group. Sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), specificity, negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy were calculated using statistical method for diagnostic studies, with conventional colonoscopy as a gold standard.

RESULTSNinety and 61 polyps were found by CTC and conventional colonoscopy, respectively. Sensitivity and PPV were 80.3%/55.6% by per-polyp and 100%/92.9%, 93.8%/65.2%, and 68.8%/ 41.5% in the > or = 10 mm group, 5-10 mm group, and < or = 5 mm group, respectively. Sensitivity, PPV, specificity, NPV, and accuracy by per-patient were 97.1%, 89.5%, 42.9%, 75.0%, and 88.1%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONCTC can clearly reveal the morphology of colonic polyps and can be used as a routine monitoring method for the clinical diagnosis of polyps.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Colonic Polyps ; diagnostic imaging ; Colonography, Computed Tomographic ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVETo describe the clinical manifestation and the EEG, CT and MRI findings of hepatic encephalopathy (HE).

METHODSThe clinical manifestations and the plasma ammonia levels were analyzed in 17 patients with HE, who underwent EEG, CT and MRI examinations.

RESULTSFifteen patients had abnormal EEG findings characterized by lowered basic rhythm, moderate to high amplitude theta wave activity, and sporadic delta wave and triphasic wave. Fourteen patients had abnormal MRI findings, including increased signal in the bilateral globus pallidus (14/17), putmen(4/17) and tegmentum of the midbrain (7/17) in T1WI without corresponding alterations in the signal intensity in T2WI. T2 FLAIR demonstrated increased signal in the bilateral white matter of the cerebral hemispheres. CT identified no corresponding alterations in the signal intensity.

CONCLUSIONAbnormal EEG findings or MR signals in the brain are common in patients with HE. EEG allows detection of abnormal waves, and MRI may help identify such lesions, which all help in the diagnosis of HE.

Adult ; Aged ; Brain ; pathology ; Electroencephalography ; Female ; Hepatic Encephalopathy ; pathology ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed