Objective To investigate the correlation between vertebral diffusion weigllted imaging (DWI)and dual X-ray absorptiometry(DXA),quantitative computed tomography(QCT)for the evaluation of bone mineral density(BMD).Methods A total of 152 female volunteers[aged from 30 to 80 years,mean age(58.2±14.2)years 1 were recruited in this study.All subjects underwent lateral thoracicolumbar radiographs,dual X-ray absorptiometry(DXA)and quantitative computed tomography(QCT),as well as DWI examination.Lateral spine radiographs(T4-L4)were evaluated with Genant's semiquantitative assessment.BMD was obtained by both DXA and QCT at lumbar spine(L2-L4).Axial vertebral(L2-4)DWI was performed with single shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging(SS-SE-EPI)sequenee (b value=500 s/mm2)after routine MRI examination(saginal T2 WI,T1 WI and axial T2 WI).Apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC)was measured with GE-Functool DWI software.Pearson correlation analysis was used for the statistics.Results There was a decreasing tendency in ADC value with age.A positive correlation was found between ADC(0.241×10-3 mm2/s)and BMD results measured by both DXA (1.038 S/cm3)and QCT(104.2 mg/cm3)examinations(r=0.461,0.731,respectively,P＜0.01).Conclusion DWI is an useful tool for noninvasive evaluation of the pathophysiologic changes of bone marrow in volunteers with difierent bone mineral density.

Objective The present study was designed to investigate changes in serum or plasma concentrations of nitric oxide and its derivatives in diabetic patients.Methods Serum nitrate concentration of 84 diabetic patients was measured by using an enzyme kinetic method,and the plasma S-nitrosothiols concentration of 10 cases was measured by using HPLC technique.Results Serum nitrate concentration and plasma S-nitrosothiols concentration in the diabetics were significantly higher than in control group (P＜0.01 andP＜0.05,respectively).The serum nitrate concentration in diabetics also had a significant positive correlation with the serum glucose concentration (R=0.7256,P＜0.05),but this correlation was not found in control group.Conclusion These data showed that NO and its derivatives are overproduced in the diabetic patients.(J Geriatr Cardiol 2008;5:25-27)

Objective To investigate the expression of heat shock protein-70(HSP70)in acute lung injury induced by paraquat poisoning.Methods A total of 72 Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups(n=24 each group)and intraperitoneally injected with normal saline in group A,20 mg/kg paraquat in group B,and 40 mg/kg paraquat in group C.The lungs of rats were excised 1,3,6,12,and 24 hours after the injection,respectively.The expression of HSP70 in the lung tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot.Results Paraquat induced acute lung injury in groups B and C.In group B,the expression of HSP70 increased at 2 hours,reached the peak at 6 hours,decreased at 12 hours,and returned to the baseline level at 24 hours.In group C,the expression of HSP70 increased at 1 hour,reached the peak at 3 hours,and returned to the baseline level at 24 hours.Conclusion Paraquat-induced acute lung injury may contribute to the enhanced expression of HSP70 in the bronchus,bronchiole,and alveolar epithelial cells,which indicates that HSP70 has a protective effect on lung injury.

Objective To determine the efficacy of liver cancer resection combined with splenectomy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma with hypersplenism.Methods Among 35 patients with hepatocellular cancer and hypersplenism treated from March 2004 to January 2006 at our hospital,12 patients accepted simultaneous liver cancer resection and splenectomy (the splenectomy group)and 23 only accepted liver cancer resection (the non-splenectomy group).The liver function,platelets and white blood cells were analyzed retrospectively.Results All the operations were successfully carried out.Within 1 week after operation,the white blood cell count increased from (3.2 ± 1.7) × 109/L to (8.5±-5.3) × 109/L,the platelet count increased from (52.6±23.7) × 109/L to (245.3±94.6) ×109/L(P＜0.01) in the group of patients with combined splenectomy,while little change occurred in the non-splenectomy group.The liver function in the splenectomy group recovered to the preoperational value within 1 week.Two years after operation,7 (58.3％) patients were still surviving in the splenectomy group and the mean tumor-free survival was (16.4 ± 4.3) months compared with (14.3 ±5.2) months in 10 (43.5％) patients in the non-splenectomy group,(P＜0.005).Conclusion Liver cancer resection combined with splenectomy was efficacious to hepatocellular cancer with hypersplenism.

Objective To explore the clinical regularity of drugs on epidemic encephalitis B with text mining technique. Methods The data set on epidemic encephalitis B was downloaded from CBM database. The regularities of Chinese herbal medicine, Chinese patent medicine (CPM), western medicine and the combination of CPM and western medicine on epidemic encephalitis B were mined by data slicing algorithm. The results are showed visually with Cytoscape 2.8 software. Results The main function of herbal pieces was focused on clearing heat and removing toxicity. The herbal pieces such as Rehmanniae Radix Isatidis Raxis, Isatids Folium, Paeoniae Radis rubra and Scutellariae Radix were most often used. Angong Niuhuang Wan and Qingkailing Injection were usually used as CPM. For western medicine, antiviral drugs such as interferon and ribavirin were often used, and they were often used together with brain cells nutrition medicine, hormone, immunopotentiator and so on, and they were also frequently used together with CPM such as Angong Niuhuang Wan and Qingkailing Injection. Conclusion Text mining approach provides an important method in exploring the medication regularity for diseas, and provide refenrence for clinical use.

OBJECTIVETo study the whole body bone mineral changes in normal subjects.

METHODSBone mineral was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 292 normal subjects aged 10-79 years, including 152 females and 140 males. They were divided into age-groups by decade.

RESULTSIn males, the ages with peak value of total bone mineral content (TBMC), total bone mineral density (TBMD), anteroposterior spine BMD (L2-4 BMD) were in the 30-39, 20-39, 20-29 age-groups respectively. In females, they were all in the 30-39 age-group. Peak values of TBMC, TBMD, L2-4 BMD were higher in males than those in females. Loss of bone mineral for females was more pronounced than that for males. Loss of L2-4 BMD was more pronounced than TBMD.

CONCLUSIONThis study provides the normal bone mineral data of whole body for males and females, and the characteristic of changes.

Absorptiometry, Photon ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Bone Density ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reference Values ; Sex Factors

OBJECTIVETo assess the value of detecting the compositional features of carotid atherosclerotic plaques by 3.0T high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

METHODSConsecutive 104 patients with coronary atherosclerosis confirmed by coronary angiography were prospectively recruited from January 2013 to January 2015 in Tiantan hospital. All patients were imaged with 3.0T high resolution MRI system. After exclusion patients with poor image quality, 97 patients were divided into 3 groups according to the degree of coronary artery stenosis: coronary atherosclerosis group (coronary stenosis between 1%-49%, n=16); single-vessel lesion group (single vessel lesion with stenosis between 50%-100%, n=48); multi-vessel lesion group (two or three vessel lesions with stenosis between 50%-100% or left main stem disease, n=33). The prevalence of total carotid plaque, calcified plaque, lipid-rich necrotic core, intra-plaque hemorrhage, plaque ulcer and rupture were compared among 3 groups.

RESULTSThe prevalence of total carotid plaque (81.3%(13/16), 72.9%(35/48), and 93.9%(31/33)) and calcified plaque (50.0%(8/16), 35.4%(17/48), and 42.4%(14/33)) were similar among the 3 groups (both P>0.05). The prevalence of carotid lipid-rich necrotic core in coronary atherosclerosis group was significantly lower than in single-vessel lesion group (18.8%(3/16) vs. 64.6%(31/48), P<0.01) and multi-vessel lesion group(18.8%(3/16) vs. 69.7%(23/33), P<0.01), but there was no significant difference between single-vessel lesion group and multi-vessel lesion group(P>0.05). Intra-plaque hemorrhage was detected in 2 patients of multi-vessel lesion group. There was no plaque ulcer or rupture in this cohort.

CONCLUSIONCarotid plaque features are associated with the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in CAD patients.

Coronary Artery Disease ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Necrosis ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies

Objective To investigate the effect of different radiation doses on the accuracy of iodine quantification and CT value of virtual monochromatic image with a muti-spectral CT iodine phantom using second-generation dual-layer detector spectral CT(DLCT).Methods The second-generation DLCT scan abdominal phantom was used,which consisted of six different concentrations of iodine rods at 4,8 and 12 g/L.The scan parameters were set at 100,120 and 140 kVp tube voltages,and six radiation exposure sequences were scanned at each tube voltage:5,10,15,20,25 and 30 mGy.Measure the iodine concentration value and the CT value at the single level of 50,70 and 100 keV,and calculate the absolute error value of iodine concentration and CT value under different radiation exposure.SPSS 22.0 software single factor analysis of variance was used to compare the difference between the io-dine concentration and the absolute error of CT value under different Radiation exposure,and LSD method was used to compare the two groups.Results The absolute error of CT value of 4 g/L iodine rod with 10～30 mGy scanning at 100 keV energy level was significantly higher than that of 12 g/L and 8 g/L(P＜0.05),and the absolute error of iodine concentration measurement of other iodine rods with different concentrations at different Radiation exposure had no statistical difference.Conclusions The second-generation double-layer detector spectral CT has high meas-urement stability for iodine concentration quantification and CT value accuracy under conditions of radiation dose greater than 5 mGy.

Objective To analyze the relationship of neurocognitive impairments and 1 H MRS changes of the thalamus in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus related cirrhosis (HBV-RC).Methods Totally 28 patients with HBV-RC (cirrhosis group) and 28 well-matched healthy subjects (control group) were enrolled.All subjects underwent number connection test A (NCT-A) and the digit symbol test (DST) before MRS scanning.The ratios of peak area to each metabolite,including N-acetylaminosuccinic acid (NAA),choline (Cho),glutamine and glutamate (Glx),myoinositol (mI) and creatine (Cr) were calculated,respectively.Results Compared with control group,patients in cirrhosis group showed lower Cho/Cr and mI/Cr,higher Glx/Cr,prolonged NCT-A time and decreased DST scores (all P＜0.001).NCT-A completion time was negatively correlated with Cho/Cr and mI/Cr (r=-0.477,P =0.001;r=-0.695,P＜0.001) and positively correlated with Glx/Cr (r=0.665,P＜0.001).DST scores were positively correlated with Cho/Cr and mI/Cr (r =0.478,P =0.001;r=0.632,P＜0.001),and negatively correlated with Glx/Cr (r=-0.572,P＜0.001).Conclusion The neurocognitive impairments may be related to metabolic changes of the thalamus in patients with HBV RC.

2-Hydroxybutyric acid (2-HBA) is an important intermediate for synthesizing biodegradable materials and various medicines. Chemically synthesized racemized 2-HBA requires deracemization to obtain optically pure enantiomers for industrial application. In this study, we designed a cascade biosynthesis system in Escherichia coli BL21 by coexpressing L-threonine deaminase (TD), NAD-dependent L-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and formate dehydrogenase (FDH) for production of optically pure (S)-2-HBA from bulk chemical L-threonine (L-Thr). To coordinate the production rate and the consumption rate of the intermediate 2-oxobutyric acid in the multi-enzyme cascade catalytic reactions, we explored promoter engineering to regulate the expression levels of TD and FDH, and developed a recombinant strain P21285FDH-T7V7827 with a tunable system to achieve a coordinated multi-enzyme expression. The recombinant strain P21285FDH-T7V7827 was able to efficiently produce (S)-2-HBA with the highest titer of 143 g/L and a molar yield of 97% achieved within 16 hours. This titer was approximately 1.83 times than that of the highest yield reported to date, showing great potential for industrial application. Our results indicated that constructing a multi-enzyme-coordinated expression system in a single cell significantly contributed to the biosynthesis of hydroxyl acids.
Escherichia coli/genetics* ; Formate Dehydrogenases ; Hydroxybutyrates ; Threonine Dehydratase