It has been 50 years since the discovery of thyrotropin receptor autoantibody (TRAb). Advances in the knowledge of thyrotropin receptor ( TSHR) structure and function, combined with the elucidation of TSHR signaling and TSHR-autoantibody interaction have greatly facilitated our understanding of TRAb and their clinical applications. Measurement of TRAb activity plays an important role in the diagnosis of Graves' disease ( GD) and Graves' opthalmopathy. It has also been well recognized that TRAb is an effective predictor of GD relapse or remission after antithyroid drug and radioactive iodine treatment. TRAb test is of particular help in pregnant women and lactating mothers with recent iodine load, where radioactive iodine or technetium tests are contraindicated. In addition, it is useful in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of fetal and neonatal hyperthyroidism as well as some rare forms of thyrotoxicosis in clinical practice. Accumulating evidence also indicates the possible correlation between thyroid cancer occurring in GD patients with positive TRAb and adverse outcomes. However, further innovation and standardization of TRAb tests are required to help pave the way for clinical applications.

This paper is to report the development of a rapid and sensitive method for the determination of s-oleylpropanolamide (OPA) in various tissues of rat (brain, heart, lung, liver, spleen, small intestine, kidney, adipose tissue and muscle), and to assess the applicability of the assay to tissue distribution. OPA was extracted by liquid-liquid extraction method with undecylenoylethanolamide as an internal standard. The concentrations of OPA were determined by LC-MS/MS after a single intragastric dose of 50 mg x kg(-1) at 4 time points (5 rats per group). With multiple reactions monitoring mode (MRM) the limit of quantification (LLOQ) was determined at 1 microg x L(-1). The calibration curve was linear from 1 to 2 x 104 microg x L(-1) (r > or = 0.999 0) for tissue homogenates. Validation parameters such as accuracy, precision and recovery were found to be within the acceptance criteria of the assay validation guidelines. The highest concentration was found in small intestine (the highest time point is 15 min) and heart (the highest time point is 90 min). The assay is rapid, sensitive and applicable to studying tissue distribution of OPA in rats.

Cell-Derived Microparticles ; Disease Progression ; Humans ; Leukemia ; pathology

[Summary] Lifestyle intervention is one of the important strategies for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Recently, caloric restriction regimen has become a hot topic as one of the cornerstone of lifestyle intervention. The alternate day fasting regimen is simple, and increases the patient compliance. Both daily calorie restriction and alternate day fasting regimen can reduce body-weight significantly in pre-diabetes subjects, and reduce the visceral fat mass and the fasting insulin levels, and improve the insulin sensitivity, as well as maintain the lean mass, though the effect on fasting blood glucose was not significant. Nevertheless, the most recent studies have demonstrated that daily calorie restriction,in particular, alternate day fasting regimens can be effective in individuals with pre-diebates in order to prevent type 2 diabetes.

Objective To evaluate the prognostic significance of lymph node ratio (LNR) in axillary lymph node positive breast cancer.Methods Eight hundred and three cases axillary lymph node positive breast cancer patients without distant metastasis were systematically treated in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University from 2006 to 2014,at least 10 lymph node removed in each case.Clinicopathological data including 5-year disease-free survival rate (5y-DFSR) and 5-year overall survival rate (5y-OSR) were described.Factors related with prognosis were analyzed by univariate analysis.Prognostic difference was compared among different LNR stage in each axillary lymph node pathological stage(pN).Prognostic significance of pN and LNR was compared by multivariate analysis.Results Mean lymph nodes removed were 15.47±4.70 lymph,and median positive lymph nodes were 4 lymph in 803 cases axillary lymph node positive breast cancer patients.Altogether 159 cases of local recurrence and distant metastasis and 99 cases of breast cancer-related death occurred during median follow-up of 61 months.Five-year DFSR was 77％ and 5y-OSR was 83％.Log-rank univariate analysis showen that pT,pN,LNR,lymphovascular invasion and ER status were related to DFS and OS.Five-year DFSR and OSR for pN1,pN2,pN3 were 89％,68％,59％ and 93％,78％,63％,respectively,whereas 5y-DFSR and 5y-OSR for LNR1,LNR2,LNR3 were 90％,69％,56％ and 94％,80％,57％,respectively.There was statistically significant difference among different LNR in pN1 and pN2 (pN1:DFS:P=0.005,0S:P=0.024;pN2:DFS:P=0.017,0S:P=0.000),but not in pN3,inspite of difference tendency (DFS:P =0.165,OS:P =0.075).In multivariate analysis,when pN or LNR were entered into the Cox regression mode respectively,both were the independent prognostic factors of DFS(P＜0.001) and OS(P＜0.001).When pN and LNR were entered into the Cox hazard regression model at the same time,LNR remained as the independent prognostic factor of DFS and OS (P ＜ 0.001),but pN lost significance (DFS:P =0.461,OS:P=0.162).Conclusion LNR is independent prognostic factor for positive axillary lymph node breast cancer.

Objective To evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics of mucinous breast carcinoma (MBC) and its prognosis.Methods 112 cases of MBC treated in Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University between Jan 2005 and Dec 2014 were enrolled retrospectively together with 1 157cases of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) for comparison.There were 71 cases of pure MBC (PMBC) and 41cases of mixed MBC (MMBC).PMBC and MMBC were compared with each other,and were also compared with IDC respectively.Results PMBC had smaller tumor mass,higher expression rate of hormone receptors (all P＜0.05),lower rate of lymph node metastasis (7.0％ vs.40.6％,x2 =32.663,P ＜0.001) when compared with IDC.The 5 year disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of PMBC were both better than those of IDC (DFS:94.6％ ±3.0％ vs.81.3％ ± 1.1％,x2 =7.265,P =0.007;OS:92.4％ ±5.3％ vs.88.5％ ± 1.0％,x2 =4.059,P =0.044).MMBC had relatively larger tumor mass,higher expression rate of hormone receptor,but had no difference in the rate of lymph node metastasis (48.8％ vs.40.6％,x2 =3.417,P =0.332) when compared with IDC.There was no statistically significant difference in 5 yearDFSandOSbetweenMMBCandIDC (DFS:79.1％ ±7.1％ vs.81.3％±1.1％,x2 =0.167,P=0.683;OS:84.5％ ±7.2％ vs.88.5％ ± 1.0％,x2 =0.123,P =0.726).PMBC had relatively smaller tumor mass,lower rate of lymph node metastasis,but had no difference in the expression rate of hormone receptors.The 5 year DFS and OS of MMBC were both better than those of MMBC (DFS:94.6％ ± 3.0％ vs.79.1％±7.1％,x2 =6.772,P =0.009;OS:92.4％ ±5.3％ vs.84.5％ ±7.2％,x2 =6.401,P=0.036).Lymph node status was the only statistically significant prognostic factor of MBC by COX multivariate analysis.Conclusions PMBC has better prognosis than MMBC and IDC owing to its lower rate of lymph node metastasis.MMBC has higher rate of node metastasis than PMBC,hence similar prognosis with IDC.

Objective To investigate the impairment and the effect factors of encoding of episodic memory in patients with cerebral infarction. Methods 112 cases cerebral infarction patients and 115 healthy elders as controls were tested for episodic memory encoding with episodic pictures accomplished in computer, and compare the differences of encoding of episodic memory between the two groups. Results The remember indexes ( REM )of encoding memory test in patient group was significantly lower than that in control group( (70.81 ± 6.08 )vs (84.67 ± 4.49), P ＜ 0.01 ). The REM in patients with different impaired areas was significantly different ( (65.88 ± 5.73 ), (68.92 ± 4.65 ), (73.39 ± 6.20), ( 73.53 ± 3.44), P ＜ 0. 01 ). The REM in frontal lobe infarction group was significantly lower than that in temporal lobe infarction group (P ＜ 0.05 ), and in temporal lobe infarction group was significantly lower than that in basal ganglia infarction group and corona radiate infarction group (P＜0.05, P＜0. 01). The REM in cortex infarction group was significantly lower than that in under cortex group ( ( 67.37 ± 5.40 ), ( 73.46 ± 4.99 ), P ＜ 0.01 ). The REM in small cerebral infarction group was significantly higher than that in large cerebral infarction group( (72.67 ±4.47 ), (67.56 ± 6.18 ), P＜0.01 ). The size of cerebral infarction diameter was related with the REM( r= -0.39, P＜0. 01 ). The REM among control group,infarction with atrophy group, and infarction without atrophy group were significantly different( (67.03 ± 6. 17 ),( 72.84 ± 5. 00 ), ( 84.67 ± 4.49 ), P ＜ 0. 01 ). The REM in infarction with atrophy group was significantly lower than that in infarction without atrophy group and control group( both P＜0.01 ) ,The REM in infarction without atrophy group was significantly lower than that in control group (P ＜ 0.01). Conclusion The encoding of episodic memory was impaired in cerebral infarction patients. The infarction parts,size of infarction area and atrophy was related with the impairment of encoding of episodic memory.

Purpose To explore the biological significance of BCL-6 and ZEB2 in invasion,metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer.Methods The expressions of BCL-6,ZEB2 protein and mRNA were detected respectively in 228 cases of breast cancer and 80 cases of breast benign lesions by immunohistochemical SP two-step staining and situ hybridization.Result The expression levels of BCL-6,ZEB2 protein and mRNA in breast cancer tissues were significantly higher than in breast benign lesions (P ＜ 0.05).The expressions of BCL-6 was positively correlated with tumor size,lymphatic metastasis,histological grade,TNM staging and HER-2 expression (P ＜ 0.05).The expressions of ZEB2 was positively correlated with tumor size,lymphatic metastasis,TNM staging and HER-2 expression (P ＜ 0.05).The overall survival and relapse-free survival of BCL-6 and ZEB2 positive expression were significantly less than the negative expression (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion The BCL-6 and ZEB2 are closely correlated with the evolution process of breast cancer,which may become important means for monitoring and warning the metastasis,invasion,and prognosis of breast cancer.

Mercury is a toxic and non-essential metal in the human body. Mercury is ubiquitously distributed in the environment, present in natural products, and exists extensively in items encountered in daily life. There are three forms of mercury, i.e., elemental (or metallic) mercury, inorganic mercury compounds, and organic mercury compounds. This review examines the toxicity of elemental mercury and inorganic mercury compounds. Inorganic mercury compounds are water soluble with a bioavailability of 7% to 15% after ingestion; they are also irritants and cause gastrointestinal symptoms. Upon entering the body, inorganic mercury compounds are accumulated mainly in the kidneys and produce kidney damage. In contrast, human exposure to elemental mercury is mainly by inhalation, followed by rapid absorption and distribution in all major organs. Elemental mercury from ingestion is poorly absorbed with a bioavailability of less than 0.01%. The primary target organs of elemental mercury are the brain and kidney. Elemental mercury is lipid soluble and can cross the blood-brain barrier, while inorganic mercury compounds are not lipid soluble, rendering them unable to cross the blood-brain barrier. Elemental mercury may also enter the brain from the nasal cavity through the olfactory pathway. The blood mercury is a useful biomarker after short-term and high-level exposure, whereas the urine mercury is the ideal biomarker for long-term exposure to both elemental and inorganic mercury, and also as a good indicator of body burden. This review discusses the common sources of mercury exposure, skin lightening products containing mercury and mercury release from dental amalgam filling, two issues that happen in daily life, bear significant public health importance, and yet undergo extensive debate on their safety.
Biological Availability ; Biological Markers/blood/urine ; Blood-Brain Barrier/metabolism ; Body Burden ; Dental Amalgam/chemistry/metabolism ; *Environmental Exposure ; Humans ; Mercury/chemistry/*metabolism ; Mercury Compounds/chemistry/*metabolism ; Skin Lightening Preparations/chemistry/metabolism

Objective:To observe the effects of continuous light exposure on skeletal muscle fiber type transformation and lipid metabolism, and to explore its internal relationship.Methods:Mice were randomly divided into normal light group and 24-hour continuous light group by random number table. The serum and skeletal muscle lipid content and urine 6-sulfatoxymelatonin(6-SML)level were detected by ELISA. The expression of circadian clock and lipid metabolism related genes mRNA were observed by realtime PCR. The muscle fiber type and lipid deposition were evaluated by tissue immunofluorescence as well as oil red O staining.Results:Compared with the normal light group, the level of 6-SML in urine at night decreased( P<0.05), and the expression level and rhythm of brain and muscle ARNT-like protein 1(Bmal1), circadian locomotor output cycles protein kaput(Clock), and period 2(Per2)mRNA in the skeletal muscle changed in continuous light group. In addition, the body weight, blood lipid, free fatty acid, and triglyceride contents of skeletal muscle in continuous light group increased significantly( P<0.05 or P<0.01), the expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1b (Cpt1b)mRNA, the key enzyme of fatty acid oxidation, decreased significantly( P<0.05), while the expression of stearoyl-CoA desaturase(Scd1)mRNA, a lipid synthesis related gene, increased significantly( P<0.01). Further immunofluorescence analysis showed that the proportion of slow muscle fibers decreased and that of fast muscle fibers increased in continuous light group(both P<0.05). Conclusion:The process of ectopic deposition of lipid in skeletal muscle in mice induced by continuous light exposure may be related to the remodeling of skeletal muscle fibers.