BACKGROUND:Research on liver transplantation has not just focused on survival rate and survival time, and the quality of life has become a new field of study. However, it is stil a blank about the quality of life of liver transplant recipients in Xinjiang. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the quality of life of liver transplant recipients in Xinjiang and to explore the main risk factors for the quality of life in patients. METHODS: A Chinese version of the SF-36 health survey was used to retrospectively evaluate the quality of life of liver transplant recipients in Xinjiang. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The scores of al eight dimensions in the patients with liver transplantation ranged from 60.6±18.7 to 93.9±22.1. Primary diseases, operation method, marital status, level of education, occupation, gender and age could influence the quality of life of the liver transplant recipients, but nation, income and the way of medical insurance had no significant effect on the quality of life. These findings indicate that there is no obvious difference in the quality of life between liver transplant recipients and normal population, and the scores in six dimensions are higher in the liver transplant recipients than normal population, which is further confirmed that liver transplantation is an effective way for treatment of advanced liver disease.

Objective To evaluate the value of video-assisted thoracic surgery(VATS)for penetrating thoracoabdominal injuries.Methods Under general anaesthesia and double-lumen tracheal intubation,VATS was carried out to examine patients with chest injuries.Those who had mild injuries received VATS combined with mini-incision surgery.Electrocoagulation or suturing was employed to control intraoperative bleeding,and then blood clots were removed.Injured diaphragm muscles were repaired,and organs with hemorrhage or ruptures were sutured or resected.The seriously injured cases underwent open surgery and intra-abdominal exploration instead.Results A total of 18 patients received the operations.Among them,15 patients underwent VATS combined with mini-incision surgery(repair of the diaphragm was performed on 15,controlling intercostal arterial bleeding on 8,repair of the lung on 2,wedge resection of the lung on 2,and coagulated hemothorax removal on 2),the other 3 were converted to open surgery for repairing the diaphragm(3),heart(1),or esophagus(1),or lobectomy(2).Abdominal surgery via the thorax were performed on 13 cases,including repair of the liver in 1,lienectomy in 1,gastrorrhaphy in 1,repair of diaphragmatic hernia in 3,and intra-abdominal exploration in 7.Five patients received open surgery(pancreatic neoplasty in 1,repair of the liver in 1,lienectomy in 1,gastrorrhaphy in 2,and repair of the caul and mesenterium in 3).One patient who had multi-organ penetrating injuries died of hemorrhagic shock,circulatory failure,and DIC after open thoracic and abdominal surgeries.The mean operation time in this series was(125?44)minutes(ranged from 45 to 220),and the mean blood loss was(1089?582)ml(500 to 10 000 ml).Twenty-four hours after the operation,the mean volume of chest drainage was(234?75)ml(100 to 350 ml)in the first 24 hours after the operation.The chest drainage tube was withdrawn 2.5(2 to 5)days postoperation.The patients expelled gas in 1 to 4 days(mean,2 days).Totally,12 patients were followed up for 3 to 12 months(mean,6 months),during which none of them had trauma-related complications.Conclusion VATS combined with mini-incision surgery is safe and effective for patients with thoracoabdominal injuries,if the cases were carefully selected.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for loop ligation in patients with spontaneous pneumothorax.Methods From April 2004 to December 2006,90 consecutive cases of spontaneous pneumothorax were subjected to video-assisted thoracoscopic surgeries for loop ligation in our department.The pulmonary bullae of the patients(

Objective To investigate the serum levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines and explore its roles in development and clinical features in the elderly patients with eczema. Methods The serum levels of interleukin-2(IL-2),interleukin 4(IL-4),interleukin-10(IL-10),interleukin-12(IL-12) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were derected in 50 elderly patients with eczema and 34 healthy elderly as control by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The above cytokines were compared between acute and chronic,generalized and localized eczema. Results The serum levels of IL-2 [(16.03±0.47)vs.(15.72±0.33) μg/L],IL-4[(14.04±0.56) vs.(13.56±0.16) μg/L],IL-10 [(33.01±5.40) vs.(29.49± 1.07) μg/L],IL-12 [(39.32± 3.54) vs.(37.93± 1.17) μg/L]and TNF-α [(27.33±0.72) vs.(26.38±0.48) μg/L] were higher in elderly eczema than in control (t/t'=3.55,5.74,4.49,2.58,6.69,all P＜0.05).The serum levels of all cytokines tested in acute eczema(t/t'=3.59,4.68,3.35,2.00,6.44,all P＜0.05),the levels of IL2,IL-4,IL-10 and TNF-α t'=2.46,5.50,3.83,3.10,P＜0.05,but not IL-12 (t'=1.77,P＜0.05) inchronic elderly eczema were increased as compared with control ( P ＜0.05).No significant difference was found in cytokines levels between acute and chronic eczema (P＞0.05)as well as between generalized and localized eczema(t=0.18,5.74,4.49,0.91,0.25,1.11,P＞0.05). Conclusions Changes of Th1 and Th2 cytokines may play some role in the pathogenesis of elderly eczema,but not characterized by clinical types of eczema.

Objective: FF456 is a new gene cloned in our lab, which belongs to c-type G protein-coupled receptors and has high homology to the olfactory receptor family. Northern blotting and RT-PCR showed that the expression of FF456 was exclusively restricted in liver and was significantly down-regulated in hepatoma. In an effort to study the function of FF456 gene, high titer antibody is indispensable. Methods:Full-length cDNA of FF456 was reconstructed into pcDNA3.1(-) vector, which was used for immunizing 6- to 8- weeks old female BALB/c mice. The effects of different injection manners, solvents and dosages on the antibody production have been compared. For detecting the titer and specificity of the antisera produced by DNA immunization, a peptide containing FF456 specific sequence was expressed by E.coli expression system. Results:Finally specific antisera with titers as high as 1 ∶ 50 000 was obtained. Conclusion:Immunofluorescence assays showed FF456 was expressed in hepatocytes with high tissue specificity. The FF456 expression in hepatoma cells was decreased dramatically.

Objective To identify the expression pattern of IGF-1 and IGF-1R in NK/T-cell lymphoma (NK/TCL) cell lines and to investigate the role of IGF-1/IGF-1R signaling in regulation of cell migration and invasion.Methods RT-PCR and immunofluorescence were performed to detect the expression of IGF-1 and IGF-1R.Transwell assay was applied to observe the effects of IGF-1/IGF-1R signaling and downstream kinases activities on cell migration and invasion.Concentrations of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were quantified by ELISA.Results Co-expression of IGF-1 and its receptor IGF-1R were identified in two NK/TCL cell lines,SNK-1 and SNK-6,while normal NK cells lack the IGF-1R expression.IGF-1R inhibitors significantly reduced SNK-1 and SNK-6 cells migration and invasion rates.Exogenous IGF-1 promoted both cell lines migration and invasion,but these effects were both blocked by IGF-1R inhibitors.Inhibition of AKT,p38 and JNK,the possible IGF-1R downstream kinases,reduced cell migration rates.Further more,exogenous IGF-1 significantly increased MMP-2 and MMP-9 secretion,while decreased secretion of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were observed when IGF-1R inhibitors were applied.Conclusion An autocrine IGF-1/IGF-1R signaling loop is aberrantly expressed on NK/TCL cells and the autocrine loop significantly promotes cell migration and invasion through activation of p38,PI3K and JNK signaling and enhances secretion of MMP-2 and MMP-9.

Purpose To investigate the diagnostic utility of the immunohistochemical markers SALL4, D2-40 and Glypican-3 in prima-ry testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs). Methods The expression of SALL4, D2-40 and Glypican-3 protein was detected by EnVi-sion immunohistochemical method in 56 cases of primary testicular germ cell tumors, including 5 intratubular germ cell neoplasms ( IT-GCNs) , 10 seminomas, 14 embryonal carcinomas ( ECs) , 14 yolk sac tumors ( YSTs) , 1 choriocarcinoma, 5 immature teratomas and 12 mature teratomas. 10 normal testicular tissues and 5 lymphomas were selected as control. Results All of ITGCNs, seminomas, YSTs and ECs were diffusely strongly positive for SALL4. Focal SALL4 staining was seen in choriocarcinoma, 3 of 5 immature terato-mas and 3 of 12 mature teratomas. All of ITGCNs, seminomas showed diffusely strong D2-40 staining. ECs (4/14) were focally posi-tive for D2-40, while choriocarcinoma, YSTs and teratomas were negative for D2-40. Glypican-3 was diffusely positive in YSTs (13/14), and focally weakly positive in ECs (2/14), respectively. ITGCNs, seminomas, choriocarcinoma and teratoma were negative for Glypican-3. In contrast, 10 normal testicular tissues and 5 lymphomas showed no SALL4, D2-40 and Glypican-3 staining. Conclu-sions SALL4 is a useful diagnostic marker with high sensitivity and specificity for TGCTs. Combination of SALL4, D2-40 and Glypi-can-3 is helpful to the diagnosis and differential diagnosis for TGCTs.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of miRNA-101 on the expression of the enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EXH2) in human androgen-independent prostated cancer LNCaP cells.

METHODSWe divided LNCaP cells into a blank control, a negative control, and a miRNA-l01 transfection group, constructed the vector by transfecting synthetic miRNA-101 mimics into the LNCaP cells, and evaluated the efficiency of transfection by fluorescence microscopy. Then we determined the expression level of EZH2 mRNA by qRT-PCR in the three groups of cells and that of the EZH2 protein in the negative control and transfection groups by Western blot.

RESULTSGreen fluorescence signals were observed in over 70% of the LNCaP cells in the transfection group after 24 hours of transfection. At 72 hours, the expression of miRNA-101 was significantly upregulated in the transfected cells (P < 0.01), that of EZH2 mRNA was remarkably lower in the transfection group (0.01 ± 0.10) than in the blank control (0.95 ± 0.40) and negative control (0.86 ± 0.30) groups (both P < 0.01), and that of the EZH2 protein was increased in the negative control but decreased in the transfection group with the extension of culture time.

CONCLUSIONmiRNA-101, with its inhibitory effect on the expression of EZH2 in LNCaP cells, is a potential biotherapeutic for prostate cancer.

Androgens ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; physiology ; Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Transfection

Objective:To obtain a large amount of erythromycin B and to investigate the activity site in eryK. Methods:The key sequence of the BC loop region in eryK gene was knocked out and the eryK gene with 101 bp deleted was amplified by overlapping PCR,and cloned into vector pWHM3 to construct recombinant plasmid. The Saccharopolyspora erythraea mutant AK17 was constructed through chromosomal homologous recombination technique.Results and Conclusions:The S.erythraea mutant AK17 was constructed. The results of TCL and MS analysis showed that the major fermentation product of AK17 is erythromycin B.