Objective To discuss the CT features of mediastinal teratoma.Methods 35 patients with mediastinal teratoma confirmed by clinical and pathologic data were retrospectively analyzed.Results Most mediastinal teratomas(97.1%) were localized in the middle or upper area of anterior mediastinum.Mediastinal teratoma included cystic teratoma(60.0%) and solid teratoma(40.0%).All kinds of tissues could be found in the tumors.CT features of cystic teratoma(n=21) were the cystic mass with fluid density,most of them(n=19) had the characteristics of "obviouswalled cysts".CT features of solid teratoma(n=14) were the soft-tissue mass with mixed densities.CT features of malignant teratoma(n=5) were that the layer of fatty tissue between the tumor and the surrounding structures disappeared,and that the wall of neighbour vessels were mostly or all surrounded by the tumor.Mediastinal teratoma could cause pleural offusion(n=6) and pericardial offusion(n=12).Conclusion Mediastinal teratomas have obvious CT imaging features.CT has very important value in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of mediastinal teratoma.

Objective To explore the therapeutic effect of Yupingfeng powder in secondary immunodeficiency caused by simple nephrotic syndrome(SNS) in children.Methods Seventy-eight cases of SNS patients were divided into 2 groups randomly.One was control group which were treated with immunosuppressant only.The other group was Yupingfeng powder group which were treated with both immunosuppressant and Yupingfeng powder.The morbidity of infection,the relapse rate of SNS,and serum immunoglobulin IgA and IgG and the T-lymphocytes subtype were detected before and after treatment in two groups.Results The morbidity with infection was 55.3% in Yupingfeng powder group,which shows a remarkable decrease compared with control group(85%).The relapse rate of SNS was 39.5% in Yupingfeng powder group which was much lower than that in control group(67.5%).The level of serum IgA and IgG before treatment were(3.88?1.22) g/L and(0.83?0.14) g/L and rose up to(10.06?1.89) g/L and(1.38?0.10) g/L after treatment in Yupingfeng powder group.Whereas the control group with(6.23?1.55) g/L and(0.85?0.13) g/L was remarkably lower than those in Yupingfeng powder group.CD4+,CD8+ and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ were(37.91?3.89)%,(30.69?3.08)% and(1.24?0.49)% respectively before treatment.They rose up to(42.38?4.89)%,(26.01?2.20)% and(1.63?0.41)% respectively in Yupingfeng powder group,while those in control group were(39.87?3.91)%,(29.76?3.55)% and(1.34?0.24)% respectively after treatment.Conclusion It is feasible to treat the Yupingfeng powder to cure the of secondary immunodeficiency caused by SNS in children.

Purpose To establish a golden hamster model of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) using BOP [N-nitrosobis (2-oxo-propyl) amine] and to explore the protein expression of Wisp-1,β-catenin, TGF-β1 and Smad4 in ICC and their relationship with the tumorigenesis. Methods 57 female golden hamsters aged 8 to 9 weeks (39 in experimental group, 18 in control group), the experi-mental animals were subjected to subcutaneous injection of BOP, the control group was injected with saline. The liver was removed and paraffin sections were prepared for histopathological observation. The protein expression of Wisp-1,β-catenin, TGF-β1 and Smad4 was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in these blocks. Results Most of the animals in the experimental group (29/39) developed ICC, part of the animal (8/39) developed bile duct dysplasia, 1 developed focal bile duct hyperplasia, and 1 was not found bile duct hyperplasia. The positive expression rates of four protein markers in ICC, bile duct dysplasia and normal intrahepatic bile duct tissues were Wisp-1,79. 3%, 87. 5% and 5. 0%,β-catenin, 96. 6%, 100. 0% and 15. 0%, Smad4, 96. 6%, 100. 0% and 25. 0%, TGF-β1, 62. 1%, 12. 5% and 5. 0%, respectively. The positive expression rates of Wisp-1, beta-catenin and Smad4 protein in both the ICC and the tissue of bile duct dysplasia were higher than that of normal intrahepatic bile duct tissue ( P<0. 001 ) , The positive ex-pression of TGF-β1 in the ICC tissue was higher than that of normal intrahepatic bile duct tissue and bile duct dysplasia (P<0. 001). Conclusions The study showed that BOP can induce a golden hamster model of ICC and provides a reliable animal model for the study of ICC. The high expression of Wisp-1,β-catenin, TGF-β1 and Smad4 in BOP-induced intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is closely re-lated to occurrence, development and infiltration of ICC.

Objective To investigate the effects of pneumonia on gastroesophageal reflux(GER)of neonates.Methods The distal 24 h esophageal pH monitoring was performed in 30 neonates with pneumonia and 30 controls.The number of reflux episodes,the number of refluxover 5 min,the longest time of reflux,the total time of pH

Dengue virus (DENV) is a re-emerging disease transmitted by the Aedes mosquitoes and has become a major public health problem in southern China. Currently, no antiviral drug or effective vaccine exist to control this disease. The chimeric DENV structural protein vaccine cannot elicit balanced levels of protective immunity to each of the four viral serotypes; therefore, non-structural protein components may be required to construct an effective DENV vaccine. The Dengue virus non-structural 1 (DENV NS1) protein plays a critical role in viral pathogenesis and protective immunity. Therefore, immunity to Dengue 1-4 NS1 subtypes may be crucial for the prevention of severe disease. This review attempts to provide an overview about the structure and function of DENV NS1.
Animals ; Dengue ; immunology ; prevention & control ; virology ; Dengue Vaccines ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology ; Dengue Virus ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology ; Humans ; Viral Nonstructural Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology

Objective To evaluate the preoperative CT scanning in cardiac carcinoma.Methods 52 cases of cardiac carcinoma proved by operation and pathology were analysed.Results By CT scanning,the size of the tumor,it′s local extension and relation to the adjacent structures and lymph node metastases could be demonstrated.Conclusion CT scanning plays important role in the operability of the cardiac carcinoma and the planning of treatment.

AIM: To explore the effect of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell (PASMC) apoptosis on the reversal of hypoxic pulmonary arterial remodeling during reoxygenation and its possible mechanism.METHODS: Male SD rats (n=24) were randomly divided into normoxia for 4 weeks group, hypoxia for 4 weeks group, reoxygenation for 1 week after hypoxia for 4 weeks group and reoxygenation for 6 weeks after hypoxia for 4 weeks group.Right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), right ventricular hypertrophy index, pulmonary arterial medial thickness (MT) and medial area (MA) as well as autophagy and apoptosis in the pulmonary arterial medial layer were examined during hypoxia-reoxygenation.The rat primary PASMCs were divided into normoxia for 48 h group, hypoxia for 48 h group, reoxygenation for 24 h after hypoxia for 48 h group and normoxia for 72 h group to explore the changes of PASMC autophagy and apoptosis following hypoxia-reoxygenation.Finally, primary PASMCs were divided into normoxia for 72 h group, reoxygenation for 24 h after hypoxia for 48 h group and reoxygenation for 24 h after hypoxia for 48 h + chloroquine (inhibitor of autophagy) group to investigate the effect of PASMC autophagy during hypoxia on the apoptosis during reoxygenation.RESULTS: After hypoxia for 4 weeks, the RVSP, during right ventricular hypertrophy index, MT and MA increased significantly compared with normoxia group (P<0.05), and gradually decreased during reoxygenation.The expression of LC3 in the pulmonary arterial medial layer increased evidently after hypoxia and gradually reversed during reoxygenation.Moreover, the P62 and cleaved caspase-3 expression decreased after hypoxia compared with normoxia group, and increased markedly following reoxyge-nation.The expression of cleaved caspase-3/PARP in rat primary PASMCs decreased significantly under hypoxia (P<0.05), and increased evidently during reoxygenation.The expression of P62 and LC3-II decreased markedly under hypoxia (P<0.05).After inhibition of PASMC autophagy under hypoxia, the expression of cleaved caspase-3/PARP decreased remarkably during reoxygenation (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: The PASMC apoptosis participates in the reversal of hypoxic pulmonary arterial remodeling, and the PASMC autophagy under hypoxia might facilitate its apoptosis during reoxygenation.

AIM: To study the role of scavenger receptor A(SR A) in the uptake of oxidized low density lipoprotein(OxLDL) in mouse peritoneal macrophages(MPM). METHODS: Comparing the difference of the uptake of OxLDL in SR A-deficient and wild-type MPM. RESULTS: The results showed that the binding of OxLDL wasn't apparently reduced in SR A-deficient MPM. The association of OxLDL was reduced by 35.8% and degradation of OxLDL was reduced by 42% in SR A-deficient MPM compared with those in wild-type MPM. CONCLUSION: Studies showed that SR A didn't play an important role in the uptake of OxLDL in MPM. Approximately 70% of the uptake of OxLDL in macrophages is attributable to non-SR A receptor.

Objective To analyse the clinical characteristics,gene mutation and enzymatic activity of αgalactosidase A(α-GalA)in a 15-year-old male patient with typical Fabry disease,whose mother was without any clinical manifestations.Methods Clinical features and laboratory data were collected from the patient and his mother.Genomie DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of the patient.his mother,and a healthy control subject.Seven exons of the GLA gene were amplified by PCR.PCR products were purified.cloned into T vector,and then sequenced.The enzymatic activity of α-GalA Was measured by fluorimetrie substrate assay. Results DNA sequencing results showed that a missense mutation of 10036-10038delAAG in exon 7 WaS identified in the patient,resulting in the replacement of 374 lysine and 375 glyeine by arginine,which Was not previously reported.The patient Was a hemizygote with gene mutation,his mother WaS a heterozygote carrying gene mutation,and the healthy control without mutation.α-GalA enzymatic activity assay showed that the enzymatic activity of the patient with GLA gene mutation was only 50%of the healthy control subject,while the enzymatic activity of the patient's mother Was about 70%of the heahhy control SObject.Conclusiolls Detecting GLA gene mutation and α-GalA enzymatic activity in patients with Fabry disease who have been clinically diagnosed seelns to be helpful in finding other patients in the family and in further understanding the molecular pathogenesis of that disease.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) and X-ray irradiation on liver carcinoma cell lines BEL-7402. Methods Liver carcinoma cell lines BEL-7402 had been incubated with ELF-EMF (100 Hz, 0.7 mT, 30 min, 3 days) after X-ray irradiation at different doses (0, 2, 4, 6, 8,10 Gy). The cells were observed on morphologic changes with scanning electron microscope. Flow cytometry and gene microarray were used to investigate the mechanism of cell apeptosis. Results ELF-EMF plus X-ray induced apoptosis on BEL-7402 was observed under scanning electron microscope.When X-irradiation was 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 Gy, the apoptosis ratios of combined group and only X-irradiation group were 10.0%, 14.5%, 4.3%, 5.1%, 7.1% and 0.1%, 8.1%, 0.1%, 0.4%, 2.2% (P < 0.05) on flow cytometry. The result of microarray indicated that 1465 genes were up-regulated and 1108 down*regulated in the ELF-EMF plus X-ray group in comparison with the control group. The change rates of 110 apoptosis related genes were above 2 times, which including 71 up-regulated and 39 down-regulated. Gene microarray showed that ELF-EMF and X-ray irradiation had a mainly effect on different gene of apoptosis paths (CDC25 and CHKI, ATM, p38, PTEN, p53, G1/S, Fas, G2/M, Cell Cycle, Apoptosis and Caspase). The same genes of ELF-EMF plus X-ray group were showed 13 in ELF-EMF group and 42 in X-ray group. Conclusions Apoptosis paths were significantly different between ELF-EMF and X-irradiation. ELF-EMF cooperates with X-irradiation on inducing BEL-7402 cell apoptosis.