Objective To explore the value of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) for the assessment of chronic renal injury. Methods Thirty-nine patients with clinical diagnosis of chronic renal injury (RI group) who underwent routine renal MRI and SWI examination were retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into mild injured group (15 cases) and moderate to severe injured group (24 cases) by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). At the same time, 17 volunteers without chronic renal injury who had normal serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen were recruited as control group. All subjects underwent routine renal MRI and SWI examination. The ratios of cortex to medulla were measured and calculated in both kidneys' magnitude image and susceptibility weighted image, which were indicated as C/MMAG and C/MSWI. Independent sample t test was used to compare the differences of C/MMAG and C/MSWI between control group and RI group, and paired sample t test was used to compare the differences betweenC/MMAG and C/MSWI in each group. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the difference of C/MMAG and C/MSWI between the control group and the different RI groups. ROC was employed to assess the diagnostic efficacy of C/MMAG and C/MSWI in renal injury. Pearson linear correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between C/MMAG, C/MSWI and eGFR, Scr in patients with renal injury. Results The C/MMAG and C/MSWI in the RI group were 1.101±0.039 and 1.071±0.046, respectively. C/MSWI was obviously lower than C/MMAG, and the difference was statistically significant (t=5.056, P<0.01). There was no significant difference between C/MMAG and C/MSWI in the control group (P>0.05). The C/MMAG and C/MSWI in the RI group were obviously lower than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (t=4.564, 6.122;P<0.01).The C/MMAG and C/MSWI in the mild injured group and the moderate to severe injured group were significantly lower than those in the control group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). While the differences of those between mild injured group and moderate to severe injured group showed no statistical significance (P>0.05). The area under ROC of C/MMAG and C/MSWI in diagnosis of renal injury were 0.853 and 0.952, respectively. C/MMAG was positively correlated with eGFR (r=0.460,P<0.01). Conclusions Susceptibility-weighted imaging can be used to assess chronic renal injury. Although it cannot reflect the degree of renal function damage, it has some value in the early diagnosis of mild renal injury.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical value of matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) in detecting K-ras gene mutation.

METHODSSixty-one paraffin-embeded specimens of colorectal cancer were selected. MALDI-TOF-MS and regular sequencing were used to test the mutation of codon 12 and 13 in K-ras exon 2.

RESULTSOnly 47 specimens could be detected successfully in regular sequencing, while all the specimens were tested successfully in MALDI-TOF-MS. Fourteen specimens had K-ras mutation in regular sequencing (30.0%), while 22 specimens had mutation in MALDI-TOF-MS (36.1%). Six specimens with mutation were found in MALDI-TOF-MS but were wild-type in regular sequencing. Same mutation types from 14 specimens were confirmed by both regular sequencing and MALDI-TOF-MS. MALDI-TOF-MS was able to detect the mutation in 2 specimens that was not identified in regular sequencing.

CONCLUSIONSMALDI-TOF-MS is a feasible approach of K-ras gene mutation testing in colorectal cancer, which is less demanding in terms of specimen quality and is more sensitive as compared to regular sequencing.

Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; Genes, ras ; Humans ; Mutation ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization ; methods

Male hypogonadism is a group of syndromes in clinic andrology characterized by complete or partial androgen deficiency. It can be divided into primary and secondary hypogonadism. Besides the etiological treatment, androgen replacement therapy should be adopted in all patients of primary hypogonadism and patients of secondary hypogonadism who do not have the need of having a child. For patient's benefits, androgen should be used and selected properly as there are so many androgen preparation at present.
Androgens ; administration & dosage ; deficiency ; therapeutic use ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; drug therapy ; Male

Objective To compare the efficacy of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration(US-FNA)biopsy in diagnosing solid and complex thyroid nodules with different size. Methods One hundred and seventy-five thyroid FNA biopsies were prospectively performed on 168 patients ranging from 4 to 75 years of age. Sixty-three nodules were surgically excised and the others were clinically followed-up. The cytology diagnoses were categorized into four groups: benign, malignant, suspicious and unsatisfactory. Results There was no significant complication in the all 115 solid and 60 complex thyroid lesions and there were 36and 3 malignant nodules respectively in solid and complex thyroid nodules. The nondiagnostic rates of solid and complex nodules were 7％ and 8％. The accuracy of US-FNA in diagnosing complex thyroid nodules was comparatively equal to that of in solid thyroid nodules. In solid thyroid nodules, the sensitivity and accuracy in ≤1 cm group were similar to that of in ＞1 cm group. Conclusions US-FNA was an accurate and reliable method to diagnose thyroid solid and complex lesions.

OBJECTIVETo provide reliable evidence of "J in three-needle therapy" for treatment of stroke.

METHODSMulti-central randomized controlled trials were adopted, 180 hemiplegia patients of ischemic stroke were randomly divided into a fin three-needle group (90 cases) and a routine acupuncture group (90 cases). Two groups were both treated with basic neurology therapies, and J in three-needle group was treated with J in three-needle therapy, three acupoints of tempora, hand and foot etc. were selected; the routine acupuncture group was treated with traditional acupuncture, Quchi (LI 11), Huantiao (GB 30), Futu (ST 32) etc. were selected. Both groups were treated with acupuncture for 5 weeks. The cognitive function score of functional comprehensive assessment scale (FCA), the scores of mini-mental state examination scale (MMSE) and modified Barthel index (BI) were compared before and after treatment between two groups. Results After treatment, the scores of FCA, MMSE and BI in both groups were significantly improved compared to those before treatment (P < 0.01, P < 0.05); the improvement of FCA score, MMSE score and BI score in the J in three-needle group were superior to those of the routine acupuncture group after treatment (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The total effective rate of 85.4% in the J in three-needle group was superior to tohat of 70.0% in the routine acupuncture group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONJ in three-needle acupuncture treatment can obviously improve the cognitive function and activity ability of daily life of hemiplegia patients after stroke, and the therapeutic effect of J in three-needle therapy is superior to that of traditional acupuncture treatment.

Activities of Daily Living ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Cognition ; Female ; Hemiplegia ; etiology ; psychology ; rehabilitation ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stroke ; complications

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the effect of administration of MPA with/without TU on serum sexual hormones and spermatogenesis of male rats.

METHODSTwenty rats had been classified into four groups. Each group received injection of saline(group A) or MPA(37.5 or 75 mg/kg) (group B or group C, respectively) or MPA (75 mg/kg) + TU (25 mg/kg) (group D) every month during three months. Data from serum sexual hormones (FSH, LH, T), sperm counting and motility had been collected and analysed.

RESULTSSpermatogenesis of rats undergoing administration of MPA with or without TU had been suppressed. Serum FSH and LH of group B, C, D declined, and so did serum T of group D. Testis of rats of group D atrophied and sperm counting of group D decreased remarkably compared with group B and C. But there was no statistics difference of the sexual hormone level among group B, C and D.

CONCLUSIONSAdministration of MPA alone could suppress the levels of FSH and LH and block the spermatogenesis of male rats. MPA combined with TU could offer stronger suppression on spermatogenesis. Mechanism of the suppression on spermatogenesis of MPA + TU is not only limited in the feed-back of gonadotropin, but there maybe exist a direct suppression on testis.

Animals ; Body Weight ; drug effects ; Drug Interactions ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; metabolism ; Gonadal Steroid Hormones ; blood ; Luteinizing Hormone ; metabolism ; Male ; Medroxyprogesterone Acetate ; pharmacology ; Organ Size ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Spermatogenesis ; drug effects ; Testosterone ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology

This study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of tumor mutation burden (TMB) among patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy. Tumor tissue specimens after surgical resection were collected for DNA extraction. Somatic mutation detection and TMB analysis were conducted using next-generation sequencing (NGS). Recurrence status of the patients was assessed in the hospital during the adjuvant chemotherapy period, and long-term survival data of patients were obtained by telephone follow-up. Univariate analysis between TMB status and prognosis was carried out by survival analysis. A retrospective review of 78 patients with non-squamous NSCLC who received platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy showed a median disease-free survival of 3.6 years and median overall survival (OS) of 5.3 years. NGS analysis exhibited that the most common mutated somatic genes among the 78 patients were tumor suppressor protein p53 (TP53), epidermal growth factor receptor, low-density lipoprotein receptor related protein 1B, DNA methyltransferase 3 alpha and FAT atypical cadherin 3, and their prevalence was 56.4%, 48.7%, 37.2%, 30.7%, and 25.6%, respectively. TMB status was divided into TMB-L (≤ 4.5/Mb) and TMB-H (> 4.5/Mb) based on the median TMB threshold. Relevance of TMB to prognosis suggested that the median OS of patients with TMB-L was significantly longer than that of patients with TMB-H (NR vs. 4.6, P = 0.014). Higher TMB status conferred a worse implication on OS among patients with non-squamous NSCLC who received platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVESTo observe the change of erythropoietin (EPO) in patients of hypogonadism who received androgen replacement treatment and explore the mechanism of androgen-induced increase of red blood cells and haemoglobin.

METHODSEight patients with Klinefelter's syndrome, divided into two groups, received TU intramuscular injections of 500 mg or 1000 mg dose, respectively. After three months, seven patients received the second injection of crossover dose. Testosterone levels in serum were measured with RIA before and after the injections treatment. RBC count, impacted volume of blood cells and haemoglobin concentration were measured before treatment and 4, 8 weeks after treatment. At the same interval, EPO levels were measured with ELISA method.

RESULTSDevelopment of the secondary sex characters was improved in all patients after the TU injection. Serum testosterone levels raised significantly and reached the peak one week after the injections. Effective level of testosterone lasted for over 6 weeks. RBC count, impacted volume of blood cells and haemoglobin increased at different degrees after TU injections, but these changes were not significant in statistic(P < 0.05). The increased levels remained for 8 weeks. EPO levels were elevated significantly (P < 0.01 or 0.05) after the TU injection(Pbat > 0.05). The second injection could still make the EPO level go up.

CONCLUSIONSAndrogen replacement treatment can increase the EPO levels in patients of hypogonadism, which is one of the mechanism of RBC production increase.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Erythropoietin ; blood ; Humans ; Injections, Intramuscular ; Klinefelter Syndrome ; blood ; drug therapy ; Male ; Radioimmunoassay ; Testosterone ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; blood ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether 5alpha-reductase inhibitor and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) play a role in spermatogenesis in male rats.

METHODSThirty-two male rats were divided into 4 groups (Groups C, T, F and FT). Group C received plant oil injection and oral starch perfusion, Group T testosterone undecanoate (TU, 20 mg/kg) injection and oral starch perfusion, Group F plant oil injection and oral Finasteride perfusion, and Group FT TU (20 mg/kg) injection and oral Finasteride perfusion. Data on serum T and DHT, sperm count, sperm mobility and reproductive function were collected and analysed.

RESULTS(1) 5alpha-reductase inhibitor, Finasteride and TU reduced the weight of the testis and epididymis in the experiment groups compared with the negative control (Group C), but TU increased the weight of the prostate while Finasteride decreased it compared with the positive control (Group T). TU combined with Finasteride could counteract the effect of the weight increase of the prostate, but not that of the testis. (2) Finasteride, or Finasteride combined with TU, reduced the DHT but increased the testosterone level in comparison with the control group. (3) Both Finasteride and TU could inhibit epididymal sperm count and reproductive function compared with the control, but the effect was less significant in Group FT than in Group F.

CONCLUSIONHigh dosages of 5alpha-reductase inhibitor, Finasteride, can suppress male reproductive function, but the inhibiting effect could be counteracted by administration of 5alpha-reductase inhibitor along with TU.

Animals ; Cholestenone 5 alpha-Reductase ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Dihydrotestosterone ; pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Finasteride ; pharmacology ; Male ; Organ Size ; Prostate ; drug effects ; pathology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Spermatogenesis ; drug effects ; Testis ; drug effects ; pathology ; Testosterone ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology

To establish a fingerprint for Cimicifugae Rhizoma from different producing areas. Column kromasil (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) was employed with acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid solution as the mobile phase for gradient elution. The flow rate was 1.0 mL x min(-1), the detection wavelength was 254 nm. Twenty chromatographic peaks were extracted as the common peaks of fingerprint, and 21 batches of samples were compared and classified with such methods as similarity evaluation, cluster analysis and principle component analysis. The results showed 12 common peaks and three categories of samples. The method was so highly reproducible, simple and reliable that it could provide basis for quality control and evaluation of Cimicifugae Rhizoma from different producing areas.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Cimicifuga ; chemistry ; Drug Stability ; Quality Control