Objective To assess the clinical value of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) together with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and sorafenib in treating recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after surgery.Methods A total of 40 patients with recurrent HCC after surgery, who were encountered at authors' hospital during the period from December 2009 to May 2014, were collected. The patients were divided into the study group (n=20) receiving TACE combined with RFA and sorafenib and the control group (n=20) receiving TACE plus RFA. Within 7-10 days after TACE, RFA was carried out. In the study group, oral sorafenib therapy (400 mg, two times everyday) started at 4 days after TACE. Withdrawal of sorafenib would be ordered if drug resistance occurred. Each patient underwent TACE combined with RFA not less than two times. Results The median survival time of the study group and the control group was 31.0 months and 24.8 months respectively, and statistically significant difference existed between the two groups (P<0.05). The one-year, 2-year and 3-year survival rates of the study group were 85%, 70% and 50%respectively, while the one-year, 2-year and 3-year survival rates of the control group were 80%, 55% and 30% respectively; the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The progression free survival (PFS) time of the study group and the control group was 6.8 months and 5.7 months respectively, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion TACE combined with RFA and sorafenib can prolong the overall survival time and the progression free survival time of patients with recurrent HCC after surgery.

Recently, the droplet microfluidic system attracts interests due to its high throughput and low cost to detect and screen. The picoliter micro-droplets from droplet microfluidics are uniform with respect to the size and shape, and could be used as monodispensed micro-reactors for encapsulation and detection of single cell or its metabolites. Therefore, it is indispensable to characterize micro-droplet and its application from droplet microfluidic system. We first constructed the custom-designed droplet microfluidic system for generating micro-droplets, and then used the micro-droplets to encapsulate important amino acids such as glutamic acid, phenylalanine, tryptophan or tyrosine to test the droplets' properties, including the stability, diffusivity and bio-compatibility for investigating its application for amino acid detection and sorting. The custom-designed droplet microfluidic system could generate the uniformed micro-droplets with a controllable size between 20 to 50 microm. The micro-droplets could be stable for more than 20 h without cross-contamination or fusion each other. The throughput of detection and sorting of the system is about 600 micro-droplets per minute. This study provides a high-throughput platform for the analysis and screening of amino acid-producing microorganisms.
Amino Acids ; isolation & purification ; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques ; Microfluidics ; instrumentation

OBJECTIVETo assess the performance of FibroScan in evaluating the curative effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on liver fibrosis, and to analyze factors influencing the diagnostic accuracy.

METHODSData of FibroScan values, types of disease, use of drug, liver function indexes, prothrombin time (PT) and international normalized ratio (INR) were collected at both pre- (1 month prior) and post-FibroScan for 102 patients who underwent at least two FibroScan procedures. Patients were subgrouped according to presence of fibrosis, presence of cirrhosis, and TCM formulation and statistically analyzed.

RESULTSThe pre- and post-FibroScan mean liver stiffness measurements (LSMs) were significantly different when the variation of LSM was more than or equal to2 kPa for the non-fibrotic group (vs. the fibrotic group), or when the variation wasmore than or equal to4 kPa for the cirrhotic group (vs. the non-cirrhotic group). In addition, the three TCM formulation groups showed significant differences, with the most robust difference exhibited between the FuZheng HuaYu formulation group and the other treatment groups (P = 0.010). No significant differences were observed for the liver function indexes, PT, or INR. However, the post-FibroScan levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) was significantly reduced in patients with reduced LSM.

CONCLUSIONFibroScan may be a useful non-invasive clinical tool for evaluating the comprehensive curative effect of treatments for chronic liver diseases, and its performance is not obviously impacted by ALT, AST, GGT, PT, and INR. The criteria for efficacy established by FibroScan are 2 kPa for the patients without liver fibrosis and 4 kPa for patients with liver cirrhosis.

Objective To study the HIV-1 drug resistance (DR) situation among newly infected persons in Dehong.Methods 1048 HIV-1 positive blood samples from July to December in 2006 from Dehong prefecture of Yunnan,were collected.HIV drug resistance were tested using TruGene in newly infected people that were distinguished with BED-CEIA,while the subtype were determined with phylogenetic analysis using a set of reference sequences available on the Los Alamos Database.Results Of sixty-four successfully analyzed samples,drug resistance mutations were detected in 4 samples with the resistance rate as 6.25%.Minor mutation in PR region such as M36I/V,L63P and H69K appeared frequently and the rates were 81.25%,70.31%and 65.63%respectively.The predominantly prevalent strains were seen as C/CRF07_BC/08_BC(65.63%,42/64) in this study.Conclusion The prevalence of genotypic drug resistances in HIV-1 recent infections in Dehong prefecture appeared to be at moderate level.Drug-resistance surveillance program among HIV-1 infections should be continued and strengthened.

Background: Right upper lobectomy (RUL) for lung cancer with different dissecting orders involves the most vari-able anatomical structures, but no studies have analyzed its effects on postoperative recovery. This study compared the conventional surgical approach, VAB (dissecting pulmonary vessels first, followed by the bronchus), and the alter-native surgical approach, aBVA (dissecting the posterior ascending arterial branch first, followed by the bronchus and vessels) on improving surgical feasibility and postoperative recovery for lung cancer patients. Methods: According to the surgical approach, consecutive lung cancer patients undergoing RUL were grouped into aBVA and VAB cohorts. Their clinical, pathologic, and perioperative characteristics were collected to compare periop-erative outcomes. Results: Three hundred one patients were selected (109 in the aBVA cohort and 192 in the VAB cohort). The mean operation time was shorter in the aBVA cohort than in the VAB cohort (164 vs. 221 min, P < 0.001), and less blood loss occurred in the aBVA cohort (92 vs. 141 mL, P < 0.001). The rate of conversion to thoracotomy was lower in the aBVA cohort than in the VAB cohort (0% vs. 11.5%, P < 0.001). The mean duration of postoperative chest drainage was shorter in the aBVA cohort than in the VAB cohort (3.6 vs. 4.5 days, P = 0.001). The rates of postoperative complica-tions were comparable (P = 0.629). The median overall survival was not arrived in both cohorts (P > 0.05). The median disease-free survival was comparable for all patients in the two cohorts (not arrived vs. 41.97 months) and for patients with disease recurrences (13.25 vs. 9.44 months) (both P > 0.05). The recurrence models in two cohorts were also comparable for patients with local recurrences (6.4% vs. 7.8%), distant metastases (10.1% vs. 8.3%), and both (1.8% vs. 1.6%) (all P > 0.05). Conclusions: Dissecting the right upper bronchus before turning over the lobe repeatedly and dissecting veins via the aBVA approach during RUL would promote surgical feasibility and achieve comparable postoperative recovery for lung cancer patients.

Aim To establish the fingerprint of raw bupleurum and vinegar bupleurum,investigate the difference in their anti-liver fibrosis effects,and ex-plore the relationship between the chemical composition of raw bupleurum and vinegar bupleurum and their an-ti-liver fibrosis efficacy.Methods The fingerprints of 10 batches of raw bupleuri and 10 batches of bupleuri were established by UPLC method.The liver fibrosis cell model in vitro was established by TGF-β induced LX-2 hepatic stellate cells.The liver fibrosis cell mod-el was analyzed with collagen type Ⅰ(col1a1)and α-smoothmuscleactin.The expression of α-SMA protein was used as the pharmacodynamic index.MetaboAna-lyst5.0 was used to screen the difference markers af-fecting the quality of raw bupledges and vinegar bu-pledges with VIP value＞1 as the criterion.Orthogo-nal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA)was used to screen the main components of raw bupleurum and vinegar bupleurum against liver fibro-sis.Results There were 18 peaks in the UPLC fin-gerprints of raw bupleurum and vinegar bupleurum,and the analysis results showed that there were nine main differences between raw bupleurum and vinegar bupleurum,among which peaks 9,7 and 6 could be considered as bupleurin d,bupleurin a and bupleurin f.The results of spectral effect relationship showed that the main components of bupleurum anti-liver fibrosis were peaks 11,12,14,15 and 18.Conclusions The established fingerprint method of raw bupleurum and vinegar bupleurum is simple and feasible,and the important components of anti-liver fibrosis activity are screened through the spectrum effect relationship,which provides a basis for clarifying the material basis of anti-liver fibrosis effect of raw bupleurum and vine-gar bupleurum.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of mycophenolate mofetil versus cyclosporine A in treating children with primary refractory nephrotic syndrome. Methods: Conducted a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial in 62 pediatric patients (including 44 boys and 18 girls), age ranged from 2.1 to 17.0 years; 32 cases presented with frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome (FRNS) and 30 cases presented with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS), who were admitted to department of Nephrology, Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics from October 2013 to October 2015. The patients received either mycophenolate mofetil (20-30)mg/(kg·d) or cyclosporine A (3-5)mg/(kg·d) randomly, on the basis of prednisone treatment. Follow-up interview was conducted regularly for at least one year. Efficacy rate, relapse rate, time required for induction of remission, relapse-free period and prednisone dosage were compared between the two groups. Results: (1) Renal histologic examination, which was available for 17 patients, revealed minimal change disease in 8 patients, mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (MsPGN) in five, membranous nephropathy in two, and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in two. (2) Comparison of mycophenolate mofetil versus cyclosporine A in children with FRNS: There were 14 patients with FRNS in mycophenolate mofetil group and 18 patients with FRNS in cyclosporine A group respectively. The relapse rate (episodes/year) in cyclosporine A group was lower than that of mycophenolate mofetil group (1.0 (0.0, 1.0) vs. 1.0 (1.0, 3.0), Z=-2.405, P=0.016). The relapse-free period (months) in cyclosporine A group was longer than that of mycophenolate mofetil group (10.0 (5.7, 12.1) vs. 5.0 (1.0, 11.0), Z=-1.984, P=0.047). No significant difference in dosage of prednisone was found between cyclosporine A and mycophenolate mofetil groups when followed up for 1 year. (3) Comparison of mycophenolate mofetil versus cyclosporine A in children with SRNS: The efficacy rate was 6/14 in mycophenolate mofetil group and 13/16 in cyclosporine A group. The complete remission rate was 4/14 in mycophenolate mofetil group and 12/16 in cyclosporine A group (P<0.05). The time (months) required for induction of remission in cyclosporine A group was significantly shorter than that of mycophenolate mofetil group (1.0 (1.0, 2.0) vs. 3.0 (2.5, 4.0), Z=-2.529, P=0.011). No significant differences were found between the two groups with respect to relapse-free period and relapse rate. (4) Except that one patient developed hypertensive encephalopathy in cyclosporine A group, no other serious adverse events were recorded. There were no significant differences between two groups with respect to adverse events. Conclusion Our results indicated that both mycophenolate mofetil and cyclosporine A were effective in the treatment of children with refractory nephrotic syndrome. Cyclosporine A was superior to mycophenolate mofetil in preventing relapses in patients with FRNS and inducing complete remission in patients with SRNS. Although most patients were able to tolerate mycophenolate mofetil and cyclosporine A, but the toxicity and safety of cyclosporine A should be monitored closely.

OBJECTIVETo explore the toxicological mechanism of hydroquinone in human bronchial epithelial cells and to investigate whether DNA polymerase beta is involved in protecting cells from damage caused by hydroquinone.

METHODSDNA polymerase beta knock-down cell line was established via RNA interference as an experimental group. Normal human bronchial epithelial cells and cells transfected with the empty vector of pEGFP-C1 were used as controls. Cells were treated with different concentrations of hydroquinone (ranged from 10 micromol/L to 120 micromol/L) for 4 hours. MTT assay and Comet assay [single-cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE)] were performed respectively to detect the toxicity of hydroquinone.

RESULTSMTT assay showed that DNA polymerase beta knock-down cells treated with different concentrations of hydroquinone had a lower absorbance value at 490 nm than the control cells in a dose-dependant manner. Comet assay revealed that different concentrations of hydroquinone caused more severe DNA damage in DNA polymerase beta knock-down cell line than in control cells and there was no significant difference in the two control groups.

CONCLUSIONSHydroquinone has significant toxicity to human bronchial epithelial cells and causes DNA damage. DNA polymerase beta knock-down cell line appears more sensitive to hydroquinone than the control cells. The results suggest that DNA polymerase beta is involved in protecting cells from damage caused by hydroquinone.

Bronchi ; cytology ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Comet Assay ; Cytotoxins ; toxicity ; DNA Damage ; DNA Polymerase beta ; antagonists & inhibitors ; physiology ; Epithelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; Humans ; Hydroquinones ; toxicity ; RNA Interference

The general population cohort study in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area is a large-scale prospective longitudinal study conducted since 2017, which covers over 114 850 diverse populations from early life to senior age. Up to December 2021, 106 031 people had completed at least one follow-up, with an overall follow-up rate of 92.3%. Considering of the characteristics of the environmental and health problems in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, in this cohort study we have focused on health problems of children and adolescents' growth and development, cardiometabolic diseases and their risk factors, aging and comorbidity, health hazards caused by air pollution. The long-term follow up of the general population cohort study in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area will contribute to establishing unique and invaluable data and biobank resource for scientific research. This paper aims to comprehensively describe the background, significance, current status and outcomes, limitations and challenges, and future plan and development of general population cohort study in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, thus to provide reference for professionals both at home and abroad to carry out related research.

In order to establish a more perfect evaluation system for dryness effect of Atractylodis Rhizoma, determine the main dry parts of Atractylodis Rhizoma，and further define the mechanism of stir-baked Atractylodis Rhizoma in reducing the dryness. The healthy rats were given with different doses of water extract and volatile oil of raw Atractylodis Rhizoma and stir-baked Atractylodis Rhizoma for 21 days. Based on the theory of the dry-dry and dryness-induced Yin deficiency, the amount of drinking water, tissue morphology of submandibular glands, urine volume and the expression of aquaporin 2 (AQP2) in the kidneys, as well as blood rheology, ratio of cAMP/cGMP in serum and the content of Na⁺-K⁺-ATP enzyme were selected as the evaluation indexes. The results indicated that the rats with high dose volatile oil from raw Atractylodis Rhizoma had a significant increase in the amount of drinking water, urine volume, blood viscosity, ratio of cAMP/cGMP and content of Na⁺-K⁺-ATP enzyme in the serum（<0.05）as compared with the soybean oil group; meanwhile, atrophy of submandibular acinar gland was obvious，and the expression of aquaporin 2 was reduced significantly（<0.05）. There were significant differences between volatile oil high dose group of raw Atractylodis Rhizoma and volatile oil high dose group of stir-baked Atractylodis Rhizoma. There was no significant difference between the water extract groups of raw and stir-baked Atractylodis Rhizoma and the saline group. A comprehensive evaluation system for the dryness effect of Atractylodis Rhizoma was established. It was confirmed that the volatile oil part was the main dry part of Atractylodis Rhizoma. It revealed that the mechanism of dryness effect of Atractylodis Rhizoma was not only related to the decrease of the total content of the volatile oil, but also may be related to the transformation of dryness components in the volatile oil. It provides references for the study of material basis of Atractylodis Rhizoma dryness, provides an experimental basis for the clinical application of Atractylodis Rhizoma, further clarifies the mechanism of stir-baked Atractylodis Rhizoma in reducing the dryness, and provides thoughts for the evaluation of other dry traditional Chinese medicines.