Objective Toinvestigatetheeffectoffolicacidonplasmahomocysteine(Hcy)levels and vascular endothelial function in elderly cerebral infarction patients with hyperhomocysteinemia. Methods Thisstudywasaprospectivecontrolledtrial.Atotalof112elderlylacunarinfarction patients with high hyperhomocysteinemia admitted to the Department of Neurology,Nanjing Municipal Government Hospital from November 2012 to October 2013 were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups according to the method of random number table. The patients of both groups received the conventional drug treatment of ischemic stroke at the same time. Fifty-six patients were in group A,and they were treated with folic acid 20 mg,once a day;56 patients were in group B,and they did not treat with folic acid. The Hcy levels on admission and after 24 weeks treatment were measured. Brachial artery flow-mediated endothelium-dependent dilation (FMD)was measured by high resolution ultrasound,and nitric oxide (NO), nitricoxidesynthase(NOS),andendothelin(ET)weredetectedatthesametime.Results Twenty-four weeks after treatment,the plasma Hcy level in group A was significantly decreased as compared with prior treatment (12. 2 ± 4. 2 vs. 22. 6 ± 3. 7μmol/L;P<0. 05),moreover,it was lower than the level of group B at the same period (12. 2 ± 4. 2 vs. 21. 8 ± 4. 0μmol/L;P <0. 05 ). The FMD level of group A was significantly higher than that of prior treatment and group B (11. 2 ± 3. 6 vs. 9. 2 ± 3. 3,9. 3 ± 3. 3;P<0. 05). The NO and NOS levels of group A at 24 weeks after treatment were significantly higher than those of prior treatment and group B at the same period (76. 2 ± 9. 4 vs. 49. 2 ± 9. 0,50. 0 ± 9. 1μmol/L,47. 6 ± 9. 5 vs.38. 4 ± 7. 5,37. 8 ± 8. 8 kU/L;P<0.05). The ET level of group A was decreased as compared with that of prior treatment and group B at the same period (81. 3 ± 20. 5 vs. 105. 6 ± 25. 2,105. 3 ± 21. 8 ng/L;P<0.05).NoadversereactionwasfoundduringthetreatmentingroupA.Conclusion Alargerdoseof folic acid can significantly reduce the plasma Hcy level,decrease the FMD level,and ameliorate vascular endothelial function in elderly cerebral infarction patients with hyperhomocysteinemia.

Objective To investigate the spectrum of spiral CT imaging findings of blunt liver trauma.Methods Clinical data of 17 patients with blunt liver trauma were retrospectively collected. All patients underwent standardized spiral CT examination of the upper abdomen, which include plain scan, arterial phase and portal venous phase acquisition. The morphology, density and integrity of liver parenchyma and intrahepatic venous structures were carefully observed, as well as regions of porta hepatis, peritoneal cavity and retroperitoneal space.Results Twelve cases (70.6%) developed hepatic parenchymal laceration. There were 9 cases (52.9%) of traumatic hematoma, among which 5 were intraparenchymal and 4 were subcapsular. One case (5.9%) showed active bleeding within an intrahepatic hematoma, while two cases (11.8%) had injury (laceration) of hepatic veins. There were 7 patients (41.2%) who demonstrated the so-called “halo sign” around the intrahepatic portal branches. Thirteen patients were associated with peritoneal fluid (blood) collection, 3 with hematoma or hemorrhage of the right adrenal gland, 8 with plural effusion and 3 cases with rib fractures of right lower chest. Conclusion CT imaging findings of blunt liver trauma include parenchymal laceration, intraparenchymal and /or subcapsular hematomas, active hemorrhage, and tear of hepatic veins. Plain CT scan and contrast-enhanced dual-phase acquisition is very important for the comprehensive evaluation of patients with blunt liver trauma.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of a fast gradient-echo(GRE) three-dimensional contrast-enhanced volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination(3D-VIBE) MR sequence in evaluating focal liver lesions.Methods Conventional spin-echo T2W,2D GRE T1W plain scan and Gd-enhanced 3D-VIBE multi-phasic(early arterial,late arterial and portal venous phases) acquisitions were prospectively performed for 51 consecutive patients suspected of having focal liver lesions on CT or ultrasound imaging.Native T2W and 2D GRE T1W were acquired first,then 3D-VIBE fast scanning at early arterial,late arterial and portal venous phases respectively.The SNR and CNR of the liver lesions on plain scan and the enhancement patterns on contrast-enhanced 3D-VIBE images were carefully observed with correlation of the clinical and surgical pathological findings.Results There exited certain differences in SNR,CNR,and the enhancement patterns of different kinds of focal hepatic lesions in plain scan and Gd-enhanced multi-phasic 3D-VIBE acquisitions.Conclusion 3D-VIBE MR sequence is helpful in the detection and characterization of focal liver lesions.

Objective To investigate the relationship among paraoxonase-1 (PON 1) activity in serum,PON 1 Q192R polymorphism and chronic renal failure disease ( CRF ) in the hans of Hunan.Methods PON 1 activity in serum and PON 1 Q192R polymorphism of 79 patients with CRF and 90 healthy subjects as control were measured.Results PON 1 activity in serum of patients with CRF (372 6?150 6)U was significantly lower than that in control group (537 8?172 2)U(P

Animals ; Cochlea ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Female ; Guinea Pigs ; Male ; Nerve Growth Factor ; metabolism

Animals ; Flunarizine ; pharmacology ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; physiopathology ; Male ; Neurons ; drug effects ; physiology ; Penicillins ; adverse effects ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Seizures ; chemically induced ; physiopathology

Objective To investigate the imaging features of malignant invasion of major intrahepatic ductal structures (the portal and hepatic venous vasculature, the bilie duct) by primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using multi-detector-row spiral CT (MDCT). Methods We retrospectively analyzed 68 documented HCC patients with tumorous invasion of the major intrahepatic ductal structures who had undergone contrast-enhanced dual-phase MDCT scanning of the upper abdomen.The morphological changes of the portal and hepatic venous vasculature, the bile duct, and the liver parenchyma at both the hepatic arterial phase and portal venous phase images were carefully observed and recorded. Results Among the 68 patients, 47 patients had malignant invasion of the intrahepatic portal venous vessels with secondary tumor thrombus formation; 12 patients had tumor involvement of the hepatic veins and intraheptic segment of the inferior vena cava; Tumor invasion of the bile duct was seen in 9 patents. The direct CT signs of tumor invasion of intrahepatic venous vessels included: ①dilatation or enlargement of the involved vein with intraluminal soft-tissue “filling defect”; ②enhancement of the tumor thrombus at hepatic arterial phase, the so-called “venous arterialization” phenomenon. The indirect CT signs included: ①arterial-venous shunt, ②early and heterogeneous enhancement of the hepatic parenchyma adjacent to HCC focus, ③cavernous transformation of the portal vein. The CT signs suggesting tumor invasion of the bile duct included: ①dilation of the bile ducts near or proximal to HCC lesion, ②soft-tissue nodule or mass inside the bile ducts. Conclusion Invasion of major intrahepatic ductal structures by HCC will present corresponding CT imaging features. Contrast-enhanced MDCT dual-phase scanning combined with appropriate image post-processing techniques can better evaluate the malignant invasion of major intrahepatic ductal structures.

Objective To develop an interleukin-4(IL-4) antagonist named M5-IgG1Fc protein constructed by genetic engineering of antibody Fc fragment-cytokine mutein fusion protein which has a long half-life time in plasma.M5-IgG1 Fc protein binds to IL-4 receptor but cannot activate downstream signalling pathway , which provides a basis for drug develop-ment for allergic diseases .Methods The synthesized interleukin-4 mutant gene ( named M5 ) was cloned into the expres-sion vector pBV220 and transformed into E.coli DH5α.Chimeric gene M5-IgG1Fc obtained by overlap extension (SOE) method was transformed into glycoengineered Pichia pastoris GJK01 through expression vector pPICZαA .Then M5-IgGFc fusion protein was obtained by protein purification after being induced by methanol in 72 hours.The anti-IL-4 biologicial ac-tivity assay of M5 and M5-IgG1 Fc was performed with CTLL-2/IL-4R cells and detected with MTT colormetry .Finally,the half-life time of M5 and M5-IgG1 Fc protein in mice was compared by detecting the remaining amount in plasma with ELISA kit.Results The M5 protein expressed in E.coli and M5-IgG1 Fc fusion protein expressed in P.pastoris GJK01 both had IL-4 antagonistic bioactivity .The EC50 of both, which inhibited 5.6 ×10 -2 nmol/ml of IL-4, were 0.31 ±0.05 and 0.77 ± 0.03 nmol/ml,respectively.The maximum of M5 in plasma at 0.5 h was 5.8 ×10 -2 nmol/ml but the remaining amount was 2.8%of the maximum at 2 h.M5 protein could not be detected after administration at 8 h because of the detection line . The maximum of M5-IgG1 Fc fusion protein was 4.7 ×10 -2 nmol/ml,while fusion protein M5-IgG1 Fc decreased to 4.3%of its maximum at 120 h and could not be detected at 168 h.Conclusion M5 protein has IL-4 antagonistic bioactivity .M5-IgG1 Fc fusion protein expressed in glycoengineered P.pastoris GJK01 has IL-4 antagonistic bioactivity and long retention time in mice,which can be potentially used for treatment of allergic diseases .

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Animals ; Catfishes ; Ciguatera Poisoning ; Eggs ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Vertebral artery dominance is generally considered to be a congenital vascular variation or meaningless clinical finding.Many studies have shown that the bilateral vertebral artery blood flow asymmetry caused by vertebral artery dominance is easy to result in basilar artery curvature.Some studies have shown that there are certain correlations between both the vertebral artery dominance and the basilar artery curvature and the posterior circulation stroke.