Objective:To study the clinical significance of serum glypican-3 in patients with hepatocellar carcinoma who underwent interventional therapy.Methods:Serum levls of glypican-3 were detected with ELISA in patients with hepatocellar carcinoma,cirrhosis and normal people.Results:Serum levels of glypican-3 in patients with hepatocellar carcinoma(52 cases)were significantly higher than those with cirrhosis(16 cases)or healthy group(30 cases)(P

BACKGROUND: The number of dementia patients ceaselessly increases with the extension of the life expectancy and the ageing of the population; hence the survival rate of patients with post-stroke dementia(PSD) has become an important issue of public health. Although it is generally believed that dementia could shorten human life expectancy, there is rare report regarding the impact of PSD on the survival rate of the patients in developing countries.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impacts of ischemic dementia on the survival rate of the patients to explore the risk factors that would affect the survival rate of patients after cerebral infarction(CI).DESIGN: A prospective randomized controlled study based on patients.SETTING: The second department of neurology of a field surgery institute in a military university hospital of Chinese PLA.PARTICIPANTS: Totally 619 cases of acute CI including 313 males and 306 females aged between 55 and 85 years old[mean of (70. 3 ±9.5) years old] were selected form the Department of Neurology of the Daping Hospital of the Third Military Medical University of Chinese PLA between 1st May 1998 and 28th December 1999.INTERVENTIONS: Data including human factor, vascular factor and CI characters of 619 cases of ischemic cerebral stroke were collected and they also received neuropsychological test. Dementia was diagnosed in CI patients at admission and 3 months after CI according to DSM-Ⅳ criteria. Two-year follow up was conducted for the analysis of survival rate in PSD patients and survival-correlated predicting factors.and survival rate in CI patientsRESULTS: Totally 146 total patients(23.6% ) were diagnosed as PSD at 3 month after CI, of which 39 cases were pre-stroke dementia and 107 cases were CI-correlated dementia. The survival rate of PSD patients was 49.3%after(19.4 ±8.3) months of follow-up. The survival rate of patients with CI-correlated dementia was 53.7% while the non-dementia patients was 92.0% after(21.3 ± 9.1 ) months of follow-up. There was significant correlation between PSD and survival rate as indicated by multifactor analysis ( RR = 4. 91, 95% CI = 3.85 - 13.49) . The rest predicting factors included age(RR=1. 12, 95% CI=1.06-1.18), BarthelIndex(BI, RR=1.63,95% CI=1.15-2.31), auricular fibrillation(AF, RR=1.47, 95%CI = 1.17 - 1.85) and CI history( RR = 2. 81, 95% CI = 1.53 - 5.16).CONCLUSION: Dementia could reduce the survival rate of CI patients and it could be set as a predicting factor for post-infarction survival rate.

BACKGROUND: In subjects with different inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) in sera increases, and its change may become an important monitoring index of immunological function, but its change rule has been unclear in acute cerebral infarction.OBJECTIVE: To observe the change of sVCAM-1 in sera of subjects with cerebral infarction and its clinical significance, and compare between the subjects with cerebral hemorrhage and normal population.DESIGN: A case controlled analysis.SETTING: Second Department of Brain, Research Institute of Surgery,Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University of Chinese PLA.PARTICIPANTS: A total of 132 inpatients were selected from Second Department of Brain, Research Institute of Surgery, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University of Chinese PLA between May 2002 and April 2004. Among them, 89 subjects with cerebral infarction were classified into large infarction group (n=25,＞ 10 cm3), medium infarction group (n=31,4-10 cm3) and small infarction group (n=33, ＜ 4 cm3) respectively according to the size of infarct focus. There were 43 subjects in cerebral hemorrhage group, and 30 healthy persons were as normal control group.METHODS: Blood samples were isolated from subjects with cerebral infarction at hour 24, days 3, 7 and 14 after onset of the disease, while the blood samples were extracted from subjects with cerebral hemorrhage at hour24 and day 14 after the onset of the disease. 4 mL venous blood was obtained from the three groups. The serum concentration of sVCAM-1 was determined with double antibody sandwich method (DASM) in all the examinees.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ①Dynamic change of the serum concentration of sVCAM-1 in the course of acute cerebral infarction, and compared with the other two groups. ②Comparison of the serum concentration of sVCAM-1 in different size of infarct focus. ③Change of the serum concentration of sVCAM-1 in acute cerebral infarction subjects complicated with infection.RESULTS: A total of 162 subjects were involved in the result analysis. ①The serum concentration of sVCAM-1 at the 24th hour after cerebral infarction was significantly higher in subjects with cerebral infarction than in subjects with cerebral hemorrhage group and normal control group [(1 184.5±68.3) ,(693.9±41.7), (576.1±39.8) μg/L,P＜0.01].Serum sVCAM-1 in the cerebral infarction subjects increased from the 24th hour to the 7th day after infarction gradually, while from the 7th day to the 14th day decreased gradually. However, the serum sVCAM-1 in the cerebral infarction subjects at day 14 was still markedly higher than that in the cerebral hemorrhage group and the normal control group (P ＜ 0.01 ). ②The serum concentration of sVCAM-1 was significantly higher in the large cerebral infarction group as compared with medium and small cerebral infarction groups [(1 217.4±59.3) ,(1 132.6±51.9) ,(983.7±54.2) μg/L,P ＜ 0.01]. ③The serum concentration of sVCAM-1 was significantly higher at days 3, 7and 14 in cerebral infarction subjects complicated with infection than in subjects without infection (P ＜ 0.01 ).CONCLUSION: The sVCAM-1 participates pathological change process of cerebral infarction, which can be regarded as monitoring index of cerebral infarction change. To block its production and expression can provide a new approach for improving the prognosis of cerebral infarction.

The incidence of colorectal cancer is increasing year by year in China, early screening and prevention is the key to improve the prognosis, but there is no ideal screening tool now. Non-invasive breath analysis based on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has received much attention in recent years as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for a variety of cancers, including colorectal cancer. This article reviewed the current research status of the correlation between VOCs and colorectal cancer, aiming to evaluate the potential value of VOCs in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer, and provide theoretical basis for the exploration of early diagnosis of colorectal cancer.

Objective To investigate the expressions of Snail mRNA and E-cad mRNA in invasive ductal carcinoma and their clinical significance. Methods The expression of Snail mRNA and E-cad mRNA were detected on mammary gland hyperplasia (30cases), intraductal breast carcinoma(30cases) and invasive ductal carcinoma (70cases)by in situ hybridization. Results The positive expression rate of Snail mRNA and E-cad mRNA in mammary gland hyperplasia, intraductal breast carcinoma and invasive ductal carcinoma were 23. 3% ,46. 7% ,81.4% and 96. 7% ,66. 7% ,35.7% ,respectively. There was significant difference among them(P ＜ 0. 01). There was difference between Snail mRNA and E-cad mRNA in the same group(P ＜0. 05). Snail mRNA was not related to age, tumor size or histopathological grade (P ＞0. 05) ,but it was related to lymphatic metastasis (P ＜0. 01). E-cad mRNA was not related to age, tumor size(P ＞0. 05),but it was related to lymphatic metastasis and histopathological grade(P ＜0. 01). There were positive relationship between Snail mRNA and E-cad mRNA(r = -0. 56, P =0. 00). Conclusions The overexpression of Snail mRNA and low expression of E-cad mRNA were involved in the infiltration and metastasis of breast carcinoma, and they were related to lymphatic metastasis. Therefore, the test of the expression of them were valuable in predicting the prognostic and metastasis of breast carcinoma.

AIM:To investigate the effects of perfluorocarbon and ligustrazine on lung injury during liver transplantation in pigs with hepatopulmonary syndrome. METHODS:A hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) model of pig was established by chronic bile duct ligation. The animals were assigned randomly to 2 groups:(1) Perfluorocarbon in combination with ligustrazine treatment groups (PFCL group):the pigs were treated with intratracheal instillation of perfluorocarbon and ligustrazine; (2) The conventional mechanical ventilation group (MV group):all animals were subjected to mechanical ventilation and orthotopic liver transplantation. After 5 h the lungs were harvested for further analysis. RESULTS:The lung wet to dry weight radio,pulmonary permeation index and leukocyte count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) in PFCL group significantly decreased compared to MV group (P<0.05). Contents of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in the lung tissue,plasma and BALF of pigs in PFCL group were significantly lower than those in MV group (P<0.05). Moreover,the activation of NF-κB was inhibited markedly by PFCL. CONCLUSION:Perfluorocarbon in combination with ligustrazine effectively reduces the PMN accumulation in the lungs,inhibits TNF-α and IFN-γ production and protects against lung injury during liver transplantation in pigs with hepatopulmonary syndrome.

The application of cerebrovascular intervention brings the diagnosis and treatment of cerebrovascular disease into a brand-new domain. Many neurological physicians have become physicians of cerebrovascular intervention by training. In the big teaching hospitals carrying out cerebrovascular intervention, advanced physicians are the hard strength in the lot of cerebrovascular intervention. The training aiming at cerebrovascular intervention and comprehensive abilities affects both the training results and the therapeutic results of cerebrovascular intervention. Therefore, it is an important issue to explore how to consummate and standard the training methods of advanced physicians studying cerebrovascular intervention.

Objective To evaluate the accuracy of enhanced spiral CT scans on the clinical staging of renal cell carcinoma.MethodsThe enhanced CT and clinical data of 48 patients with renal carcinoma verified by surgery and pathology in Chongqing Donghua hospital were retrospectively analyzed.Robson's classification was used to determine the clinical stages of CT data,and the staging findings based on CT data were compared with the postoperative and pathological outcomes.Results The results showed that the accuracy of preoperative CT on the staging was 91.7％.Enhanced scanning by spiral CT was useful to identify the boundaries of tumor and the filling defect of renal vein or inferior vena cava.Conclusion Enhanced scanning using the spiral CT can improve the accuracy of clinical staging for renal carcinoma,which provides guidance about the clinical therapeutic schedules for patients with renal carcinoma.

AIM: To investigate the protective effects of berberine against liver injury induced by lipopolysaccharide in mice and the mechanisms underlying its protective effect.METHODS: The male mice were divided randomly into control,berberine group,LPS group and berberine treatment group.Mice were administered intragastrically with distilled water(0.01 mL/g) or(5 g/L) neutral sulfate berberine(0.01 mL/g) once a day for 5 days and injected intraperitoneally with normal saline or LPS(0.02(mL/g),28 mg/kg)at 1 h after gavage on day 5.Blood was collected for determining alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase(AST) activities,the content of tumor necrosis factors-?(TNF-?) at 10 h and 2 h after LPS or normal saline injection,respectively.Furthermore,the liver tissue was processed,and histological changes and ultrastructure in liver were observed with light and electron microscopy,malondialdehyde(MDA) content and superoxide dismutase(SOD) activity in liver were also detected.RESULTS: Both ALT and AST activities in serum in LPS group were higher than those in control and berberine treatment group.LPS increased the serum TNF-? content at 2 h after injection,which was reversed by berberine pretreatment.The histological examination showed that LPS caused severe hepatic cell edema,degeneration,apoptosis and even necrosis,and ultrastructure observation demonstrated that LPS induced mitochondrial swelling,condensation and margination of chromatin,irregular nuclear envelope in hepatocytes.The above pathological changes produced by LPS were attenuated by berberine pretreatment.Moreover,MDA contents in liver tissue were higher in LPS group than control and berberine treatment group,but there were no significant difference in SOD activity between berberine treatment and LPS group.CONCLUSION: Berberine has a protective effect on LPS-induced liver injury in mice,the mechanisms may be related to its decreasing the production of TNF-?,inhibiting lipid peroxidation and protecting mitochondria.

?-MSH is an endogenous neuropetide that is effective of all categories of expreimental inflammation. The mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory influence of ?-MSH are reviewed in the article. ?-MSH suppresses inflammation in the CNS and periphery by downregulating the activation of NF-?B, then inhibiting production of proinflammatory cytokines, nitric oxide, chemokines and adhension molecules, and increasing synthesis of anti-inflammatory cytokines. ?-MSH is useful in the treatment of many pathological situations in humans.