AIM:To investigate the relationship between serum ghrelin level and body composition including bone mineral content (BMC),fat mass(FM) & lean mass(LM) in premenopausal women with different thyroid functional status.METHODS:We measured the serum ghrelin levels by radioimmunoassay (RIA),the serum levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3),free thyroxine (FT4) and sensitive thyroid-stimulating hormone (sTSH) by chemiluminescene immune assay.The total body composition including total BMC,FM and LM was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 71 premenopausal women with different thyroid functional status (33 hyperthyroidism,18 hypothyroidism and 20 normal subjects).RESULTS:(1) The level of serum ghrelin in patients with hyperthyroidism was significantly lower than that in patients with hypothyroidism (P0.05).The serum ghrelin level was correlated negatively with FT3(r=-0.318,P0.05).CONCLUSION:The serum ghrelin level in the premenopausal women with different thyroid functional status may correlate with the total BMC,LM and body weight.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Brachytherapy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Digestive System Neoplasms ; radiotherapy ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; radiotherapy ; Female ; Fever ; etiology ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Iodine Radioisotopes ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nausea ; etiology

Objective To investigate the value of MRI in diagnosis and assessing anatomical distributions of posterior deep infil-trating endometriosis (PDIE)using laparoscopic surgical findings as reference standard.Methods MR images of 36 patients with laparoscopic operation and pathology confirmed PDIE were retrospective analysis,and results were compared with laparoscopic sur-gical findings.Results Among the 36 patients,PDIE was identified in 34 patients at MR imaging with a sensitivity of 94.4%.Re-garding different anatomy location,the accuracy of MR imaging in diagnosis of endometriosis in uterosacral ligament (USL),re-ctosigmoid bowel,rectovaginal septum and vagina was 83.3%,91.7%,80.6% and 91.7% ,respectively.MR imaging findings were well correlated with laparoscopic surgical findings.Conclusion MR imaging can diagnose and assess the anatomical distribu-tions of PDIE with high accuracy preoperatively,which provides useful information for therapy plan making.

Objective To explore the distribution of temperament types and its related influencing factors of school-age twins.Method Childhood temperament were evaluated by standardized Middle Childhood Temperament Questionnaire (MCTQ) in a total of 125 pairs of 8 to 12 years old twins,and temperament related factors were measured by FACES Ⅱ-CV.Results The majority of temperament types of school-age twins were easy and intermediate-low.Easy,intermediate-low,difficult,intermediate-high and start-to-warm up took a percent of 41.6％,38.0％,11.2％,6.4％ and 2.8％,respectively.The heritability of temperament types was 0.454.The distribution of temperament types were influenced by the family cohesion,parenting rearing style,zygotic,age,father's occupation,mother's educational level and the method of delivery.Conclusion The temperament types of school-age twins were both influenced by genetic and environmental factors.

Objective To detect the expression of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) CCAT1 in human papillary thyroid cancer, and to observe the effect of CCAT1 down-regulation on the invasion and migration of human papillary thyroid cancer.Methods The expression of CCAT1 was detected in human normal thyroid Nthy-ori 3-1 cells and human papillary thyroid cancer TPC-1 cells.CCAT1 siRNA plasmid was transfected into TPC-1 cells.The effect of CCAT1 down-regulation on cell invasion and migration was observed by Transwell chamber assay and scratch test, and the expressions of BRAF, MUC15 and RKIP proteins were detected by Western blot.Results The level of CCAT1 in human papillary thyroid cancer TPC-1 cells was significantly higher than that in human normal thyroid Nthy-ori 3-1 cells.CCAT1 down-regulation significantly inhibited the invasion and migration of TPC-1 cells.The Transwell invasion assay revealed that the number of migrated TPC-1 cells in the CCAT1 down-regulation group was significantly lower than that in the control group.The scratch test showed an increased distance between cells in the CCAT1 down-regulation group compared to the control group, suggesting a reduced cell motility.The expressions of BRAF and MUC15 proteins were decreased in the CCAT1 down-regulation group, while that of RKIP protein was increased.Conclusions The expression of CCAT1 in papillary thyroid cancer cells is significantly higher than that in normal human thyroid cells.Down-regulation of CCAT1 in papillary thyroid cancer cells may inhibit the cell invasion and migration by regulating the expression of BRAF, MUC15 and RKIP proteins.

Objective To explore the neuroprotective mechanism of propofol by comparing the influence of propofol and isoflurane on inflammatory cytokines ( TNF-α、IL-1、ICAM-1 ) in patients with intracranial tumors. Methods One hundred and sixty-eight patients with intracranial neoplasm were randomly divided into two groups:the propofol ( Group P) and isoflurane (Group I),84 cases in each. Patients were given with propofol (3-6 μg·mL-1) by plasma target-controlled infusion or with continuously inhaled isoflurane ( 1%-2%) , respectively. The serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1 and ICAM-1 were detected before anesthesia and at 0,24,and 48 h after operation. Results The serum levels of TNF-α,IL-1 and ICAM-1 were significantly increased after operation as compared to baseline in both groups. The serum level of TNF-α was(69. 11±8. 95) and (76. 26±11.28) μg·mL-1,IL-1 was(21.57±3.19) and (29.58±4.38) ng·L-1,and ICAM-1 was (1.63±0.24)and (1.94±0.29) g·L-1 at 24 h post operation in Group P and Group I,respectively. These inflammatory cytokine levels were significantly higher in group I compared to group P at 24 and 48 h after operation (P<0. 05 or P<0. 01). Conclusion The target-controlled infusion of propofol brings about lower level of inflammatory reaction than isoflurane inhalation in patients with intracranial neoplasm,which may attribute to the mechanism of brain protection against injury.

Objective To study the feasibility of defining the internal gross tumor volume (IGTV) of hepatocellular carcinoma applying the enhanced four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) images with deformable registration technology.Methods Ten HCC patients who accepted radiation therapy were selected in this study.The 4DCT in free breathing,non-enhanced 3DCT and arterial phase enhanced 3DCT in end inspiration breath holding associated with active breathing coordinator were acquired sequentially.4DCT were sorted into ten series CT images according to breath phase,and named CT00,CT10..…CT90.Gross tumor volume (GTV) were contoured on different CT series and the IGTV1 was merged by ten phases GTVs of 4DCT.The GTV of enhanced 3DCT was registered to different CT series of 4DCT and the IGTVDR was obtained by merging the GTVs after deformable registration.The target volumes differences were compared by paired t-test.Results The edge of tumor was difficult to define on 4DCT and non-enhanced 3DCT images.The enhanced 3DCT image showed clearer tumor edge,and the GTV increased by mean 37.99％ compared to GTV on 4DCT different series images and non-enhanced 3DCT image (P =0.002).The GTV after deformable registration on 4DCT different phase images increased by mean 36.34％ (P =0.011),which were similar to GTV on enhanced 3DCT image (P =0.632).The IGTVDR increased by 19.91％ (P =0.017),compared to IGTV1.Conclusions The contrast-enhanced 4DCT image which was obtained by combining enhanced 3DCT and 4DCT images with deformable registration technology could raise the position precision of the HCC IGTV effectively.

Objective To investigate the difference of cerebral inter-hemispheric functional connectivity between the patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS) and healthy controls ( HC) by a newly developed voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity ( VMHC) method based on resting-state functional MRI ( rs-fMRI) , as well as its correlation to the structural imaging indices and clinical neurological scales .Methods Twenty patients with ALS ( ALS group ) and 20 age-, and sex-matched healthy controls ( HC group) were examined by rs-fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging ( DTI ) on 3.0 T MR imaging system ( Siemens Trio Tim ).The rs-fMRI data preprocessing were performed using data processing assistant for rs-fMRI ( DPARSF) based on Matlab 2009a, and the rs-fMRI data analysis toolkit ( REST) with an automated VMHC approach was utilized to calculate and compare the VMHC correlation coefficients between the ALS group and the HC group[P<0.05, corrected with false discovery rate (FDR)].Region of interest (ROIs) were prescribed on the regions which showed abnormal VMHC coefficients in ALS group , then the mean time series of the ROIs were extracted to examine the difference of the seed ( ROIs)-based functional connectivity between the ALS and HC groups.At last, linear correlations were performed to assess the relationships among the VMHC coefficients and clinical measures including the revised amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale ( ALSFRS-r) score, disease duration , the rate of disease progression and fractional anisotropy ( FA) values of the corpus callosum ( CC).Results Compared with HC group , the patients with ALS showed lower VMHC coefficients in the precentral gyrus ( M1 ) , postcentral gyrus ( PCG ) , inferior parietal lobule (IPL), cuneus/precuneus (Cu/Pcu), and anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC).Higher VMHC coefficients were found in the supplementary motor area , superior frontal gyrus , and middle occipital gyrus (P<0.05,FDR corrected).Significant functional connectivity alterations were detected in motor cortex and frontal/temporal/occipital lobe between the ALS and HC groups using seed ( ROIs )-based functional connectivity based on the regions which showed abnormal VMHC coefficients in ALS group ( P <0.05, AlphaSim corrected, clusters≥228 voxels).Significant positive correlation was detected between the VMHC coefficients (0.311 ±0.108) of M1 and FA values (0.394 ±0.016) of CC III region (r=0.530, P=0.016), between the VMHC coefficients (0.767 ±0.043) of ACC and FA values (0.360 ±0.105) of CC I region (r=0.513, P=0.021), respectively.Significant positive correlation was observed between VMHC coefficients (0.311 ±0.108) of M1 and the ALSFRS-r score (35.4 ±2.5) in ALS patients(r=0.447, P=0.048).There was not significant correlation observed between the VMHC coefficients and disease duration , or the ratio of disease prognosis (P>0.05).Conclusions Abnormal VMHC coefficients were detected in ALS patients.The decreased VMHC in ACC and M1 are associated with the reduced micro-structure integrity of CC, meanwhile, and they may be related to disease severity.

Objective To compare the dosimetric difference between RapidArc and fixed gantry angle dynamic IMRT (dIMRT) for central-type lung cancer radiotherapy. Methods Therapy for 10 patients previously treated with dIMRT was replanned with RapidArc. Dose prescription was 66 Gy/33 fraction. Comparative endpoints were planning target volume (PTV) dose, doses to surrounding structures,number of monitor units, and treatment delivery time. Results There was no significant dosimetric difference between RapidArc and dIMRT. Compared with dIMRT, RapidArc slightly elevated target volume dose, lung V5, V10. The average values of lung V20, V30 and heart V30 were larger in dIMRT than those in RapidArc. The number of monitor units was reduced by 32% and the treatment time by 66% in RapidArc.Conclusions Both RapidArc and dIMRT plans could meet the clinical therapy needs. RapidArc could achieve similar target coverage and sparing of organs at risk, with fewer monitor units and shorter delivery time than dIMRT.

Objective To evaluate MR relaxometry techniques and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for the diagnosis of osteoporotic diseases in rats. Methods Thirty 3-month-old female rats were randomly divided (using completely randomized grouping method) into two groups (each contained 15 rats). Animals in group A without osteoporotic castration were included as normal controls, whereas osteoporotic castration was created in each animal in group B. Three parameters (BMC, BMD, Hbmdl)was measured for both groups by DXA at two time points, one immediately before the castration and another at the 12 th week after the castration. Then animals from the control group and the osteoporotic group went through the following three diagnostic procedures using a 1.5 T MR system: (1) A fast multi echo gradient echo (MEGRE) pulse train sequence with different inter-echo intervals (1000, 500, 400, 300, 200, 100) to obtain the T_2~* value. (2) A multi-echo fast spin echo sequence to obtain the T_2map. (3) A conventional spin-echo (CSE) sequence to obtain the T_1map. The statistical difference between group A and group B was tested by t-test to analyze parameters. And, the most significant parameter for diagnosis ofosteoporotic diseases was picked out from all parameters by Fisher Sequential diseriminant analysis. At the end of experiments, animals were killed and histopathological examination was performed on the femurs of animals from both control and osteoporotic groups. Results (1) Histopathological examination confirmed the presence of osteoperosis in all animals in group B. (2) BMD was picked out from 3 DXA parameters (BMC,BMD,Hbmdl) by fisher stepwise discriminant analysis, and its discriminant rates was 87.6%. (3) All 2-sample t-test results(t=6.20, 4.79, 5.18, 5.22, 5.59, 4.37, 6.14, 5.12, 5.09, 4.99, 5.57, 4.84, 4.07, 2.98, 6.75 individually) for MR relaxometry parameters(T_2~* 1000,R_2~* 1000,T_2~* 500,R-2~* 500,T_2~* 400,R_2~* 400,T_2~* 300,R_2~* 300,T_2~* 200, R_2~* 200, T_2~* 100, R_2~* 100, T_2map, R_2map, T_1map) showed statistically significant differences between groups A and B (P=0.01 for T_2~* map, P=0.00 for all other parameters) except the R_2map(P=0.07). (4) Using fisher stepwise discriminafion method in the analysis of 14 parameters of MR relaxometry techniques and 3 parameters of dual X-ray absorptiometry(T_2~* 1000,T_2~* 500,T_2~* 400,T_2~* 300,T_2~* 200,T_2~* 100,T_2map, R_2~* 1000, R_2~* 500, R_2~* 400, R_2~* 300, R_2~* 2OO, R_2~* 100,T_1map,BMC,BMD,Hbmdl), we found that the most significant difference was from the T_2map and T_1map. Conclusions The MR relaxometry parameter-T_2map in the present study is shown to be appropriate parameter for the diagnosis of osteoperotie diseases, and stability of magnetic field plays an important role in this process. It would be the optimal method to make a diagnosis of osteoporotic diseases with both MR relaxometry and DXA technological means.