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 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

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.

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

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

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 study the effect of intraperitoneal hyperthermic perfusion chemotherapy combined with venoclysis on postoperative gastric cancer.Methods:140 postoperative patients with gastric cancer were divided into IPHPC group(n=72) and chemotherapy of venoclysis group(n=68).The intraperitoneal hyperthermic perfusion chemotherapy and chemotherapy of venoclysis were applied for the patients in IPHPC group at one time.Postoperative complications,toxicity,survival rate and peritoneal recurrence rate in two groups were observed.Results:There was no sharp difference in the postoperative complications and toxicity between the two groups.The 3,5 year-survival rate were 86.1%,60.2% and 58.3%,29.4% in IPHPC group and CV group.The 3,5 year-peritoneal cavity recurrence rate were 5.6%,20.6%and 27.8%,53% in IPHPC group and CV group.There were significant differences in survival rate and peritoneal recurrence rate between the two groups.Conclusion:Intraperitoneal hyperthermic perfusion chemotherapy combined with venoclysis can prevent recurrence and metastasis effectively,and improve the survival rate and quality of life of postoperative gastric cancer patients.

Objective To investigate and evaluate the polymorphism distribution of arsenic(+3 oxidation state)methyhransferase(AS3MT)5'-UTR VNTR in Chinese populations.Methods Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood anti-coagulated with ACD of 1440 individuals in a standard phenol-chloroform protocol.The phenotypes of AS3MT 5'-UTR VNTR were determined by polymerase chain reaction(PCR)associated with agarose gel electrophoresis.Results Of the 1440 individuals,771(53.5%),426(29.6%),211(14.7%),16(1.1%)and 16(1.1%)were carriers of the V2/V3(AB/A2B),V3/V3(A2B/A2B),V2/V2(AB/AB),V2/V4(AB/A3B)and V3/V4(A2B/A3B)genotype,respectively.The AB(V2),A2B(V3)and A3B(V4)allele frequency was 41.9%,57.0%,1.1%respectively.The differences of AB(V2)and A2B(V3)allele frequency were all significant between the northern and southern populations respectively(χ2=23.39,χ2=33.28,P＜0.007).Conclusions In different regions the AB(V2)and A2B(V3)allele frequency is different,the AS3MT 5'-UTR VNTR polymorphism can be used to evaluate the susceptivity of arsenieosis.