Objective To compare the static intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for mid and upper thoracic esophageal cancer.Method The data of twenty esophageal cancer patients were retrospectively re-planned with VMAT(single arc and double arcs) modality using Pinnacle treatment plan system.Five of these patients were selected again to simulate single arc plans with different segment intervals (4°,3°,2°) and re-planned on other treatment planning systems (Monaco and MasterPlan).Differences of dose distribution and treatment parameters were compared.Results In comparison to IMRT and single-VMAT (S-VMAT),Double-VMAT (D-VMAT) significantly improves the dosimetric parameters for targets(P ＜ 0.05),dose homogeneity(P ＜ 0.05) and conformity(P ＜ 0.05).Though VMAT plans were slightly better than IMRT in reducing the doses to the organs at risk (OARs),no advantage was observed in the low-dose protection of lung and E-P (P ＜ 0.05).For the VMAT plans with different segment intervals,lower OAR doses were observed using an interval of 2°(P ＜ 0.05),except for the mean dose of the heart.For the VMAT plans on different treatment planning systems,Monaco-based plans protected OARs better (P ＜ 0.05).The number of monitor units (MU) and treatment time were less in VMAT cases.Conclusions VMAT plans perform better in target coverage,dose homogeneity and conformity,and can reduce the radiation dose to the spinal cord,lungs,heart and other normal tissue than IMRT plans.The VMAT plan quality could be further improved by using double arcs and smaller segment interval.Monaco-based plans provide better OAR protections under the same conditions of physical and optimization parameters.

The incidence of solitary fibroma of seminal vesicle is low, and the source of seminal vesicle is rare. A 38-year-old patient was admitted to hospital because of intermittent gross hematuria for more than one month. Seminal vesicle space occupying lesions can be seen in pelvic MRI. Laparoscopic resection of right seminal vesicle tumor was performed, and the pathological diagnosis tended to solitary fibroma. During the 5-month follow-up, the symptoms of hematuria disappeared and no recurrence.

Objective: To investigate the protective effect and mechanism of Xuebijing (XBJ) on paraquat (PQ) -induced apoptosis in Human kidney cell line-2 (HK-2) cells. Methods: Routinely cultured HK-2 cells, (1) Cell growth inhibition experiment after PQ and XBJ intervention: PQ was divided into 0、200、400、800、1600 and 3200 μmol/L PQ groups, and the cell survival rate was detected after intervening 24、48 and 72 h. XBJ was divided into 0、5、10、20、40 mg/ml XBJ groups, and the cell survival rate was detected after intervening 24、48 and 72 h.To determine the rational drug concentration and the duration of action of XBJ and PQ. (2) PQ-induced HK-2 cell growth inhibition experiment antagonized by XBJ: The cells were divided into normal control group, PQ group (800 μmol/L) and PQ+XBJ group (The cells were pretreated with 5、10 and 20 mg/ml XBJ for 1 h, then cultured with PQ of 800 μmol/L) , After cultured 24 h、48 h and 72 h separately, the cell survival rate was detected. (3) HK-2 cells were divided into normal control group、PQ group (800 μmol/L PQ cultured for 24 h) 、PQ+XBJ group (pretreated with 10 mg/ml XBJ for 1 h, and then 800 μmol/L PQ cultured for 24 h) and XBJ group (10 mg/ml XBJ cultured 24 h). The apoptosis of cells was detected by flow cytometry. The protein expression of Bcl-2 and BAX in each group was detected by Western blotting. The expressions of caspase-3 and caspase-9 were detected by caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity kit active. Results: (1) PQ could significantly reduced the survival rate of HK-2 cells and showed time and concentration dependence. The survival rate of HK-2 cells was about 55% after 800 μmol/L PQ contacted 24 h, XBJ under 20 mg/ml was no significant effect on the survival rate of HK-2 cells after cultured 72 h. (2) Compared with the PQ group, the survival rate of HK-2 cells of PQ+XBJ group was significantly increased (P<0.05). (3) Compared with the normal control group, the cell apoptosis rate of PQ group was significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with the PQ group, the cell apoptosis rate of PQ+XBJ group was significantly decreased (P<0.05). (4) Compared with the normal control group, Bcl-2 protein expression in PQ group was significantly decreased and BAX protein expression in PQ group was significantly increased (P<0.05) ; compared with PQ group, Bcl-2 protein expression in PQ+XBJ group was significantly increased, BAX protein expression in PQ+XBJ group was significantly decreased (P<0.05). (5) Compared with the normal control group, the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 in PQ group were significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with PQ group, the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 in PQ+XBJ group were decreased significantly (P<0.05) . Conclusion XBJ (10 mg/ml) has obvious protective effect on HK-2 cell injuried by PQ (800 μmol/L) , It can improve the survival rate of cells through reducing the apoptosis of HK-2 cells which induced by PQ.

Although primary vesical calculi is an ancient disease, the mechanism of calculi formation remains unclear. In this study, we established a novel primary vesical calculi model with d,l-choline tartrate in mice. Compared with commonly used melamine and ethylene glycol models, our model was the only approach that induced vesical calculi without causing kidney injury. Previous studies suggest that proteins in the daily diet are the main contributors to the prevention of vesical calculi, yet the effect of fat is overlooked. To assay the relationship of dietary fat with the formation of primary vesical calculi, d,l-choline tartrate-treated mice were fed a high-fat, low-fat, or normal-fat diet. Genetic changes in the mouse bladder were detected with transcriptome analysis. A high-fat diet remarkably reduced the morbidity of primary vesical calculi. Higher fatty acid levels in serum and urine were observed in the high-fat diet group, and more intact epithelia in bladder were observed in the same group compared with the normal- and low-fat diet groups, suggesting the protective effect of fatty acids on bladder epithelia to maintain its normal histological structure. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the macrophage differentiation-related gene C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 14 (Cxcl14) was upregulated in the bladders of high-fat diet-fed mice compared with those of normal- or low-fat diet-fed mice, which was consistent with histological observations. The expression of CXCL14 significantly increased in the bladder in the high-fat diet group. CXCL14 enhanced the recruitment of macrophages to the crystal nucleus and induced the transformation of M2 macrophages, which led to phagocytosis of budding crystals and prevented accumulation of calculi. In human bladder epithelia (HCV-29) cells, high fatty acid supplementation significantly increased the expression of CXCL14. Dietary fat is essential for the maintenance of physiological functions of the bladder and for the prevention of primary vesical calculi, which provides new ideas for the reduction of morbidity of primary vesical calculi.