The ultrasound part of “2015 American Thyroid Association Management Guidelines for Adult Patients with Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer” is comprehensive and informative. The content includes the indications for thyroid ultrasound and aspects needed to be evaluated, malignancy risk prediction based on sonographic pattern, decision-making based on ultrasound appearances, follow-up of benign thyroid nodules and surveillance of persistent and recurrent thyroid cancer with ultrasound. Compared with 2009 version of American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines, there is a great deal of development. The most important revision was that it analyzed ultrasound pattern of risk stratiifcation of malignancy in thyroid nodules and gave a detailed description of relevant concepts and definitions. Altogether, the new guidelines provided an algorithm for evaluation and management of patients with thyroid nodules based on sonographic pattern and ifne needle aspiration (FNA) cytology. Comprehensive review of the guidelines and appropriate adjustment in practices will make ultrasound examination more reasonable and may enhance the level of medical practices basically..

Objective:To optimize the extraction technology of compound Xiongdan capsules. Methods: The effects of water a-mount, decoction duration and decoction times on the water extraction technology were investigated by orthogonal design using the ex-tract derivation rate and the content of ginsenoside Rg1 , Re and Rb1 as the indices. Results:The optimal water extraction conditions for ginseng and Nidus vespa were as follows:decocting three times with 8-fold of water, and extracting for one hour each time. The extract was condensed until the relative density was 1.20(80-90℃), and then dried and crushed into fine powder. The other herbs were crushed into fine powder and screened by No. 5 meshes. The above powder was blended and well mixed with starch, and then packed into capsules. Conclusion:The optimized water extraction technology is stable, feasible and reproducible, which provide reference for industrial production.

Acute Disease ; Adult ; Autopsy ; Bridged-Ring Compounds ; poisoning ; Child ; Humans ; Male ; Poisoning ; pathology ; Rodenticides ; poisoning

Background and purpose:This study investigated the value of cervical ultrasound and TSH-sup-pressed thyroglobulin in the diagnosis of recurrence or metastasis of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC).Methods:This study analyzed the data on 196 thyroid carcinoma patients who underwent neck dissection after clinically sus-pecious recurrence of DTC in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from Aug. 2010 to Dec. 2014. Among the 196 patients, 62 patients sonographically suspecious recurrence after total thyroidectomy and/or radioactive iodine ablation therapy were enrolled in this study. The ultrasonic features of lymph node involvement were retrospectively analyzed. The value of the ultrasonic features in the diagnosis of lymph node involvement and a TSH-suppressed serum Tg level in the diagnosis of recurrence or metastasis of DTC was also evaluated.Results:Of the 62 patients, 59 were pathologi-cally conifrmed with lymph node involvement, 1 case with local recurrence and 2 cases without recurrence or metasta-sis. There were 121 ultrasonographically suspected lymph nodes, conifrmed by pathology, 92 were metastatic ltsions, 25 were non-metastatic, 3 were ifbrous tissue and 1 was striated muscle. The positive predictive rate of cyst, calciifcation or hyper-echogenicity in cortex was 100% in the diagnosis of lymph node involvement. There was a signiifcant difference in disordered vascularity and cyst in cortex between metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes. Forty-nine patients were positive for Tg, whereas 13 were negative. The accuracy, sensitivity and speciifcity of TSH-suppressed serum Tg in the diagnosis of recurrence or metastasis of DTC were 82.3%, 81.7% and 100%.Conclusion:The disordered vascularity and cyst in cortex of the lymph node are highly speciifc indexes in diagnosing lymph node involvement. TSH-suppressed serum Tg level has high diagnostic value for detection of recurrence or metastasis of DTC. Cervical ultrasound can identify recurrent or metastatic lesions in both Tg-positive and Tg-negative patients.

Objective:To investigate the effects of oxymatrine(OM)on the apoptosis of human hepatoma HepG2 cells and its possible mechanisms.Methods:HepG2 cells were treated with different concentrations of OM.The proliferation inhibition was measured by MTT assay and the apoptosis of HepG2 cells were examined by Hochest staining method.Flow cytometry was used to analyze the cell cycle distribution and apoptosis rate.The expression of caspase-3,Bcl-2,Bcl-x_L and Bax proteins was assayed by Western blotting assay.Results:OM inhibited HepG2 cells growth in a time-and dose-dependent manner.After treatment with OM for 24 hours,some cells appeared typical apoptotic characteristics and the apoptosis rate was increased. Treatment with OM also increased caspase-3 activity and Bax expression in HepG2 cells,and decreased the expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-x_L.Conclusion:OM can induce HepG2 cell apoptosis,which may be related to the down-regulation of PI3K/Akt signal pathway,suppression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-x_L activity,and activation of caspase-3.

Objective To study the effect of HCV receptors′sequence on virus entry based on the two-dimensional structure and via tandem expression of HCV receptors on mouse hepatocytes.Methods The construced recombinant expression vectors pCDH-hLDLR-hSR-BⅠ-hCD81-GFP, pCDH-hLDLR-hCD81-hSR-BⅠ and pCDH-hCLDN-1-hOCLN-DsRed were cotransfected into 293FT cells with package vectors.The collected recombinant lentivirus expressing hCLDN-1-hOCLN was concentrated and attacked mouse hepatocytes.The transgenic mouse hepatocytes with tandem overexpression of CLDN-1 and OCLN were established after G418-selection.The transduced cells LSCCO/Hepa1-6 and LCSCO/Hepa1-6 were sorted via flow cytometry and puro-G418-selection after recombinant lentivirus expressing hLDLR-hSR-BⅠ-hCD81 and hLDLR-hCD81-hSR-BⅠattacked Hepa1-6 respectively.The infectivity of transduced mouse hepatocytes LSCCO/Hepa1-6 and LCSCO/Hepa1-6 to HCV was analyzed via direct-infection of serum-derived virus.Furthermore, the effect of HCV receptors′sequence on virus entry was studied.Results Both LSCCO/Hepa1-6 and LCSCO/Hepa1-6 enhanced HCV-cell binding.The transduced mouse hepatocytes LSCCO/Hepa1-6 had more HCV endocytosis.Conclusion SR-BⅠhas priority over CD81 in HCV entry in the early stage.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of Qiling Decoction (QD) combined highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) on expression levels of peripheral blood Th17 and Treg cells in HIV/AIDS patients.

METHODSTotally 55 HIV/AIDS patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group (28 cases) and the combination group (27 cases). Besides, 21 HIV negative patients were recruited as the healthy control group. Those in the treatment group received HARRT alone, while those in the combination group received HAART combined QD. The observation lasted for 24 weeks. Meanwhile, according to peripheral blood CD4+ T cell counts before treatment, HIV/AIDS patients were assigned to three subgroups. For patients in subgroup 1, 1 cells/microL < CD4+ T cell counts < or = 100 cells/microL; For patients in subgroup 2, 101 cells/microL < CD4+ T cell counts < or = 200 cells/lL; For patients in subgroup 3, 201 cells/microL < CD4+ T cell counts < or = 350 cells/microL. Expression of peripheral blood Th17 and Treg cells, and number of CD4+ T cell counts were detected using flow cytometry (FCM)in HIV/AIDS patients at the pre-treatment baseline, week 4, 12, and 24, as well as those in the healthy control group.

RESULTSCompared with the healthy control group, CD4+ T cell counts and the baseline expression level of Th17 cells in the peripheral blood of HIV/AIDS patients significantly decreased, the expression level of Treg cells significantly increased P < 0.01). Compared with before treatment in the same group, CD4+ T cell counts all increased at week 4, 12, and 24 in the two treatment groups, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). There was no statistical difference in the effective rate at various CD4+ T cell levels between the two groups (P > 0.05). There was no statistical difference in expression levels of Th17 and Treg cells between the combination group and the treatment group at any time point (all P >0.05). The Th17/Treg ration significantly increased in the combination group after 24 weeks of treatment, showing statistical difference when compared with the treatment group (U = 2.135, P = 0.038).

CONCLUSIONQD could improve the immune balance of Th17/Treg cells, which might be one of its mechanisms for improving HIV/AIDS patients' immunity.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Adult ; Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active ; CD4 Lymphocyte Count ; Case-Control Studies ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; HIV Infections ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; cytology ; Th17 Cells ; cytology

Objective To observe the impacts of Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture(AC)method on synaptic plasticity and intestinal flora in stroke rats.Methods The middle cerebral artery occlusion method was applied to establish a rat model of ischemic stroke,and the rats with Zea Longa score of 1-3 were randomly grouped into model(M)group and AC group,and rats without middle cerebral artery occlusion were regarded as the sham(S)group,with 15 animals per group.After modeling,groups S and M were not intervened,and group AC was intervened with AC,once a day,for 7 consecutive days.The Zea Longa method was applied to assess neurological function;transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and Golgi staining were applied to visualize synaptic structures in the ischemic penumbra(IP);Western blot was applied to detect the protein expression of BDNF,SYN and GAP-43 in the IP cortex tissue;ELISA was applied to detect the content of IL-1β,TNF-α,IL-17 in the IP cortex tissue;16S rDNA amplification and sequencing method was applied to analyze the structure of rat intestinal flora.Results Compared with the S group,the M group had irregular synaptic morphology,blurred boundaries,thinned postsynaptic zona densities,higher neurological function scores,protein levels of BDNF,SYN,GAP-43 and content of IL-1β,TNF-α,IL-17(P<0.05),and lower density of spines(P<0.05).Compared with the M group,AC intervention could improve the synaptic morphology,reduce the neurological function score and content of IL-1β,TNF-α,IL-17(P<0.05),and increase the density of dendritic spines,BDNF,SYN,and GAP-43 protein levels(P<0.05).The intestinal flora analysis showed that compared with the S group,the M group had a reduced diversity and number of bacterial flora,at the phylum level,the M group had a lower relative abundance of Bacteroidetes,and higher F/B ratio(P<0.05);at the genus level,the group M had a higher relative abundances of Bacteroides and Rikenbacteria(P<0.05),and lower relative abundances of Lactobacillus and Lachnospiraceae_UCG-006(P<0.05).Compared with the M group,AC intervention could increase the diversity and quantity of the flora,increase the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and reduce the F/B ratio at the phylum level(P<0.05),increase the relative abundances of Faecalibacterium and Lactobacillus and reduce the relative abundances of Riken,Escherichia-Shigella,etc.at the genus level(P<0.05).Conclusion Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture can restore the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria,reduce the relative abundance of harmful bacteria,attenuate brain inflammation,improve synaptic plasticity,and reduce neurological damage in stroke rats.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the proteome of hepatocyte transformation by hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 3 (NS3). METHODS: Human hepatocyte line QSG7701 stably expressing HCV NS3 C-terminal deleted protein was constructed, which was named pRcHCNS3/QSG. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) was used to separate the total protein of pRcHCNS3/QSG and pRcCMV transfected cells (pRcCMV/QSG) respectively. Differentially expressed protein spots were identified by mass spectrometry. Western blot confirmed the differentially expressed proteins. RESULTS: 2-DE profiles with high resolution and reproducibility were obtained. The average spots of pRcHCNS3/QSG and pRcCMV/QSG were (1183+/-77) and (1095+/-82) respectively, and (920+/-60) spots were matched. Twenty-one differentially expressed protein spots were chosen randomly and 15 were identified by mass spectrometry. Some proteins such as Ras, P38 and HD53 which were involved in signal transduction were increased in pRcHCNS3/QSG cells. Western blot also showed strong expression of phosphorylated P44/42 and P38 in pRcHCNS3/QSG cells. Other differentially expressed proteins were related to cell cycle regulation, immunoreaction, tumor invasion and metastasis, and liver metabolizability. CONCLUSION HCV NS3 might be involved in cell malignant transformation through affecting protein expression and signal transduction such as MAPK cascade. Further study on the signal transductions and their relationship would not only be helpful to explore the mechanism of HCV related HCC, but also provide a new idea for the molecular treatment of HCC.
Cell Line ; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; methods ; Hepatocytes ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Proteome ; analysis ; Proteomics ; methods ; Transfection ; Viral Nonstructural Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics

marked hi-atrial dilation, near-normal ventricular chambers and near-normal ventricular thickness were presented. Conclusion MRI is an excellent imaging modality for the diagnosis of restrictive cardiomyopathy.