Objective To investigate the anti-fibrogenesis property of imatinib mesylate in a rat model of liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride/olive oil and its effect on the expression of trans- forming growth factor(TGF)-?1.Methods Rat liver fibrosis was induced by intraperitoneal administra- tion of carbon tetrachloride and olive oil mixture twice a week for eight weeks.Imatinib mesylate was given 20 mg/kg daily by oral lavage.The control rats received saline by oral iavage.Liver collagen depo- sition was evaluated by immunohistochemistry with Masson staining.The activation of hepatic stellate cells was detemined by the immunohistoehemistry staining of?-smooth muscle actin.The mRNA expres- sions of TGF-?1,c-Abl and TIMP-1 were measured by RT-PCR.While protein expressions of TGF-?1, phosphorylated platelet-derived growth factor receptor and c-Abl were detected by Western blot and im- munohistochemical staining.Hepatic hydroxyproline content was also quantified.Results The collagen deposition[(16.23?1.01)%vs(25.61?0.92)%]and the number of activated HSCs(10.52?1.33vs 13.10?1.21)were reduced in the imatinib mesylate treatment group compared with the control group by 35% and 20%,respectively(P

The clinical effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the treatment of primary bronchial lung cancer is good. To a certain extent, TCM can control the progress of the disease and improve quality of life by the treatment of syndrome differentiation, disease-modified prescription, experience prescription, Chinese patent medicine, TCM injection, acupuncture and acupoint application, which have been combined with chemotherapy. The mechanism of TCM in the treatment of primary bronchial lung cancer mainly includes inhibition of lung cancer cell proliferation, induction of lung cancer cell apoptosis, improvement of body immunity and overcoming chemotherapy resistance.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α(HNF4α)in rectal cancer and its relationship with prognosis.Methods Real-time PCR was designed to detect the expression of HNF4αon mRNA level and the immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of HNF4αon protein level in rectal cancer tissue.The relationship between HNF4αexpression and clinical characteristics was also analysed.The Kaplan-Meier method was used for univariate analysis and a Cox proportional hazards regression model was performed for multivariate analysis.Results HNF4αwas low expressed both on mRNA (t=6.092,P<0.001)and protein level (χ2 =15.230,P<0.001)in rectal cancer tissue.HNF4αexpression on protein level was related with the clinical stage (χ2 =48.311,P<0.001),depth of invasion (χ2 =23.911,P<0.001),histological differentiation (χ2 =20.787,P<0.001),lymph node metastasis (χ2 =39.064,P<0.001)and distant metastasis (χ2 =5.146,P=0.04),while age and gender were not relevant.The cumulative 3-year overall survival of patients with low HNF4αexpression (43.8%)was much worse than the patients with high HNF4αexpression (95 .5%),and the difference was statistically sig-nificant (P<0.001).Univariate analysis revealed that HNF4αexpression (χ2 =28.778,P<0.001),differ-entiation (χ2 =26.680,P<0.001 ),clinical stage (χ2 =32.702,P<0.001 ),depth of invasion (χ2 =6.226,P=0.013),lymph node invasion (χ2 =15.270,P<0.001)and distant metastasis (χ2 =21.817, P<0.001)were statistically significant worse predictors for rectal cancer,whereas age and gender were not rel-evant.The multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis revealed that HNF4αlow expression (RR=6.084, P=0.028)was independent prognostic markers for 3-year overall survival in the patients with rectal cancer. Conclusion HNF4αwas closely related to the tumorigenesis and progression of rectal cancer,which is an independent prognostic marker for rectal cancer,and which may be an effective target for the therapy of rectal cancer.

Animals ; Ear, Inner ; growth & development ; Mice ; MicroRNAs

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; drug therapy ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Phytotherapy

Objective To evaluate the clinical application and safety of CT-guided transthoracic cutting needle lung biopsy in diagnosing diffuse lung diseases. Methods By using automatic biopsy gun (14 & 16 gauge), CT-guided transthoracic cutting needle lung biopsy was performed in 29 cases with diffuse lung diseases. The samples obtained were sent for pathological and immunohistochemical examination. The sampling successful rate, the diagnostic accuracy and the occurrence of complications were analyzed. Results Technical success rate was 100%, and large size of sample enough for pathological and immunohistochemical examination was obtained in all 29 cases. Definite pathological diagnosis could be made in 25 cases, with the positive diagnostic rate of 82.8%. The main complications included pneumothorax and pulmonary hemorrhage. The symptoms in most cases were not severe and disappeared within one week after the treatment. Conclusion For the diagnosis of diffuse lung diseases, CT-guided transthoracic cutting needle lung biopsy is a safe, easy, effective and reliable method with high successful rate, high diagnostic value and fewer complications, in these respects this technique is superior to transbronchial lung biopsy, open lung biopsy and video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy. Therefore, this technique should be popularized in clinical practice.

Objective To investigate the effect of endoplasmic reticulum stress in hyperlipidemia rats with acute pancreatitis(AP).Methods Forty-eight SD rats were divided into AP group(n=18,in- duced by injection of 40?tg/kg caerulein in normal rats twice with 2 hrs interval),normal control(n=6), byperlipidemia group(n=6,fed with a high-fat diet for 8 weeks)and hyperlipidemia AP group(n=18,in- duced by injection of 40?g/kg caerulein in hyperlipidemia rats twice with 2 hrs interval).The rats were sacrificed at 9,12,24 hrs(6 of each),respectively.Serum level of amylase was tested and the pathologi- cal changes of the pancreatic tissues were observed.The index of pancreatic apoptosis was assessed by TUNEL method.The expression of GRP78/Bip(glucose regulated protein)protein was determined by immunochemistry,the endoplasmic reticulum stress related molecules of XBP-1 splicing(X box binding protein),CHOP/GADD153(C/EBP-homologous protein or growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible gene 153),caspase-12 were analyzed by RT-PCR.The dynamic expressions of GRP78/Bip and caspase- 12 were determine,d by Western blot.Results Artier 8 weeks of fat diet in hyperlipidemia rats,the ser- um levels of triglyceride[(0.99?0.38)mmol/L]and cholesterol[(3.17?0.18)mmol/L] were signifi- cantly increased(P

0.05].In 48 patients without lymph node metastasis,there was no significant difference between the OPN-positive and OPN-negative patients in survival times.Multivariate analysis revealed that survival times was associated with patients′sex(P=0.032)and TNM stage(P

Objective To investigate the effect of cognitive intervention on language function and quality of life (QOL) in elderly patients with post-stroke aphasia.Methods Fifty-five elderly patients with post-stroke aphasia were randomly divided into the control group (n =27) and the experimental group (n=28).The control group received comprehensive treatment including speech-language therapy (SLT),while the experimental group was subjected to additional cognitive intervention.All patients were enrolled in an eight-week rehabilitation program.The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) was used to assess cognitive function,a device for diagnosis and treatment of language disorders,ZM 2.1,was used to evaluate language function,and the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) (Chinese version) was used to assess quality of life (QOL),before and after treatment.Results After treatment,MMSE scores,language function scores in all categories and QOL scores in all dimensions improved in both groups (P＜0.05 for both).Furthermore,after treatment,there were significant differences between the two groups in MMSE scores of orientation,recall,attention and calculation,and in scores of overall language ability and the individual categories (P＜0.05 for all).Scores of the experimental group vs.the control group for the individual categories of language function were as follows:simple instructions (76.6 ± 14.1 vs.67.4± 19.3),complex instructions (66.1±12.8 vs.58.2±14.9),yes or no (72.5±12.1 vs.63.0±14.1),naming (55.0 19.5 vs.43.3±22.2),simple comprehension (67.5±21.4 vs.55.620.6),complex comprehension (44.8±17.0 vs.35.0±18.9),listening and reading words (65.4±16.7 vs.53.7±19.3),calculation (39.3±25.8 vs.25.9±19.2),memory (36.4±18.7 vs.26.3±17.8),matching (75.9±18.6 vs.65.3±17.1),simple general knowledge (68.3±18.2 vs.58.0±19.5),complex general knowledge (58.7±17.4 vs.50.0±13.3),orientation (70.7±19.6 vs.60.5±17.2) and comparison (59.9± 14.6 vs.50.2±17.5) (P＜0.05 for all).There were significant differences between the two groups in emotional function (66.7±18.2 vs.53.1±21.2),general health (67.2±12.6 vs.60.7±9.8),mental health (71.0±5.6 vs.63.1±4.2),social functioning (64.7±9.0 vs.59.3±10.2) and vitality (55.4±14.8 vs.46.9±15.6) (P＜0.05 for all).Conclusions Cognitive intervention combined with SLT can contribute to the recovery of language function and the improvement of QOL in elderly patients with post-stroke aphasia.

Objectives To investigate the effect and mechanism of terbutaline sulfate on pulmonary fluid transport in pre-mature rats. Methods Pregnant rats were randomly divided into 5 groups (control group, premature group, low-dose terbutaline group, high-dose terbutaline group and dexamethasone group). Drugs were administered by gavage after rats were fertilized for 16 days and continued for 3 days. Premature rats were taken out from the 19 days pregnant rats, and mature rats were delivered on the due day. Lungs were collected, and the ratio of pulmonary wet weight to dry weight (W/D), Na+, K+-ATP ase activity and concentration of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) were measured in lungs. Results The W/D rate, Na+,K+-ATPase acti-vity and cAMP concentration in lungs had significant difference among different groups (P<0.01). The W/D rate was highest in premature group and lowest in the control group. It was lower in the high-dose terbutaline group than in the low-dose terbutaline group and the dexamethasone group (P<0.05). The Na+,K+-ATPase activity was lowest in premature group and highest in high-dose terbutaline group. It was higher in dexamethasone group, low-dose terbutaline group, and high-dose terbutaline group than in premature group, and it was higher in high-dsoe terbutaline group than in low-dose terbutaline group and dexamethasone group (P<0.05). The cAMP levle was lowest in premature group and highest in high-dose terbutaline group. It was higher in dexamethasone group, low-dose terbutaline group, high-dose terbutaline group than in premature group, and it was higher in high-dose terbutaline group than in low-dose terbutaline group and dexamethasone group (P<0.05). Conclusions Terbutaline sulfate facilitates lung fluid transport in premature rats, leading to reduce the W/D rate in terbutaline-treated group. We speculate that this effect is related to the increased cAMP level and Na+, K+-ATPase activity in lung tissue.