Objective To compare the MRI manifestations and characteristics of ≤ 3 cm nonepithelial hepatic angiomyolipomas (HAML)and small hepatocellular carcinoma (SHCC),then improve the preoperative diagnostic accuracy.Methods A retrospective analysis of 20 patients ≤3 cm nonepithelial HAML and 26 cases of SHCC,confirmed by clinical pathology,with both in clinical data and MRI characteristics.Results ≤3 cm nonepithelial HAML commonly occurs in women;The enhancement patterns“wash in and wash out”in 1 1 cases,6 cases “wash in but slow out”,3 cases with delayed enhancement;Mature adipose tissue found in 5 cases, 3 cases has pseudocapsule enhancemen in delayed phase,13 cases can see central vessels;While SHCC often occurs in men,with“wash in and wash out”enhancement pattern in 23 cases,1 7 cases with pseudocapsule enhancemen in delayed phase,12 cases can see central vessels in lesions.ADC values for SHCC was significantly lower than that for ≤3 cm nonepithelial HAML,the ADC values of SHCC significantly lower than the surrounding liver parenchyma;The ADC values between ≤3 cm nonepithelial and liver parenchyma around has no significant differences.ADC values of liver parenchyma with liver cirrhosis was lower than that without cirrhosis.Conclusion The existence of mature adipose tissue,the MRI enhancement pattern and the value of ADC can help to distinguish between ≤3 cm nonepithelial HAML and SHCC,then improve the preoperative diagnostic accuracy.

Objective To evaluate the detection of membrane neutrophilic alkaline phosphatase ( mNAP) by flow cytometry in diagnosis of bloodstream infection .Methods A total of 298 patients with suspected bloodstream infections admitted in the First People ’ s Hospital of Lianyungang during June 2013 and October 2014 were enrolled;80 healthy subjects in physical examination center were also enrolled as the control group.Bloodstream infection was diagnosed by blood culture and mNAP was detected by flow cytometry.Serum levels of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were detected by electro-chemiluminescence (ECL) and immune scatter turbidimetry , respectively.The value of mNAP, PCT and CRP in diagnosing bloodstream infection was determined by receiver operating characteristic ( ROC) curve. Results Among 298 patients, 109 were confirmed with bloodstream infections , including 43 patients with Gram-positive bacterial infections and 66 with Gram-negative bacterial infections .The median levels of CRP , PCT and mNAP in bloodstream infection group were 138.71 mg/L, 7.04 ng/mL and 13 929 AB/c, which were significantly higher than those in healthy control group (1.50 mg/L, 0.12 ng/mL, 1 831 AB/c;U=5.00, 48.50 and 65.01, P<0.01).The expression of mNAP in Gram-positive bacterial infection group was 9 598 ( 6 064-11 643 ) AB/c, which was significantly lower than that in Gram-negative bacterial infection group [16 512 (11 654-22 001) AB/c] (U=250.00, P<0.01).ROC curve analysis showed that, the areas under the curve (AUCs) of mNAP, PCT and CRP in diagnosing bloodstream infection were 0.987, 0.962 and 0.901.When 4 578AB/c, 0.90 ng/mL and 13.50mg/L were taken as optimal cut-off values, the sensitivities of mNAP, PCT and CRP in diagnosis of bloodstream infection were 95.8%, 93.0%and 90.3%; the specificities were 97.8%, 95.6% and 85.5%, respectively.Conclusion Among mNAP, PCT and CRP, mNAP is of the highest value in diagnosing bloodstream infection , and may be used as a biomarker for clinical diagnosis of bloodstream infection .

Aim To investigate whether human umbili-cal cord mesenchymal stem cells(hUC-MSCs)exposed to inflammatory conditions could release large amounts of exosomes to induce regulatory T cells(Treg).Meth-ods hUC-MSCs were isolated by enzyme digestion method.(In vitro)interferonγ(IFN-γ)was added in-to hUC-MSCs to mimic inflammatory microenviron-ments,then exosomes were extracted from the superna-tant of normal conditional medium or IFN-γpretreated hUC-MSCs.Both sources of exosomes,Nor-hUC-exo and IFN-γ-stimulated hUC-exo, were identified by Nanoparticle Trafficking Analysis (NTA )and Western blot for the exosome-enriched protein CD63 .Next,hu-man peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs ) stimulated with PHA were respectively co-cultured with hUC-MSCs,IFN-γ-pretreated-hUC-MSCs,hUC-MSCs exosomes or IFN-γ-stimulated-hUC-MSCs exosomes for 5 days to assess the exosomes-T cells communication. The proliferation rate of PBMCs and frequency of CD4 +/CD25 +/Foxp3 + Treg were measured by flow cytometry.Results The isolated cells from human um-bilical cord tissue,which were positive for CD73, CD44,CD29,CD90 and HLA-ABC,but were nega-tive for CD31 and CD34,were mesenchymal stem cells indeed.After IFN-γtreatment,hUC-MSCs secreted nu-merous exosomes(P<0.05 ).Morerover,there was a significantly higher level of CD63 ,but no difference in diameter between Nor-hUC-exo and IFN-γ-stimulated hUC-exo.IFN-γ-stimulated hUC-exo had a superior a-bility compared with Nor-hUC-exo to suppress the pro-liferation of PHA stimulated PBMCs due to their upreg-ulation of the percentage of Treg (1 1.53 ±0.88% vs 6.60 ±0.56%,P <0.01 ).Conclusion hUC-MSCs could promote the expression of Treg to modulate im-munosuppression through exosomes,especially for IFN-γ-licenced exosomes,which might carry much immu-notherapeutic potential.

Female ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; drug therapy ; Male ; Tetrazoles ; therapeutic use ; Valine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Valsartan

Animals ; Colon ; blood supply ; pathology ; Colonic Diseases ; drug therapy ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Hemodynamics ; Hepatic Veins ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Hypertension, Portal ; complications ; physiopathology ; Intestinal Mucosa ; blood supply ; drug effects ; pathology ; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental ; complications ; Losartan ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Microscopy ; Portal Pressure ; drug effects ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes in expression of the ACE2/Ang(1-7)/Mas receptor axis' components that occur during progression of liver fibrosis using a rat model system.

METHODSThirty-six adult male Wistar rats, were randomly assigned to groups of normal control (n = 6; no manipulation) and liver fibrosis (n = 30; given a subcutaneous injection of 40% chronic carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)). At post-injection days 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75, 1 control rat and 6 modeled rats were sacrificed for analysis. Histopathological analysis of liver tissue was performed with hematoxylin-eosin and rapid Masson staining. Protein expression level of Ang(1-7) was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and of ACE2 and Mas receptor was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Real-time PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression levels of ACE2 and Mas receptor.

RESULTSThe expression levels of ACE2, Ang(1-7) and Mas receptor showed a statistically significant upward trend that followed the progression of fibrosis up to post-injection day 60 (P less than 0.01), but the significant increase was not seen from day 60 to day 75.

CONCLUSIONEach component of the ACE2/Ang(1-7)/Mas receptor axis shows differential expression during the development of liver fibrosis and may contribute to disease progression.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; genetics ; Genes, p53 ; genetics ; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental ; genetics ; pathology ; Rats ; Transfection ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

OBJECTIVETo develop HDV as a vehicle to deliver hammerhead ribozyme into hepatocytes, the effects of modified HDV was assessed on the activity of embedded hammerhead ribozyme in vitro and in vivo.

METHODSIn vitro activity of ribozyme or HDV-driven ribozyme was assessed by incubating with the [alpha-32 P]-ATP labeled HBV RNA substrates at different temperature. Huh-7 cells were cotransfected with ribozyme or HDV-ribozyme chimera and HBV genome, by which inhibition of ribozymes on HBV transcription in vivo were examined.

RESULTSThe results indicated that both temperature and secondary structure influenced the cleavage activity of HDV-driven ribozyme significantly. When the factors were eliminated, the HDV-driven ribozyme could act as well as its counterpart naked ribozyme. While in cultured cells the HDV-driven ribozyme had higher inhibition to HBV gene expression than that of ribozyme alone.

CONCLUSIONThe results demonstrated that HDV may weaken the activity of embedded ribozyme in vitro, but make it enhanced in cultured cells. Thus, this study could provide a useful evidence to develop HDV as vector for liver-special delivery of ribozyme to against chronic HBV infection.

Base Sequence ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Genome, Viral ; Hepatitis Delta Virus ; enzymology ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Plasmids ; genetics ; Protein Structure, Secondary ; RNA, Catalytic ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Viral ; genetics ; metabolism ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Substrate Specificity ; Temperature ; Transfection

Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Gastric Mucosa ; blood supply ; pathology ; Hypertension, Portal ; drug therapy ; Male ; Propranolol ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Tetrazoles ; therapeutic use ; Valine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Valsartan

Objective To investigate the effect of M2 macrophages resident in gastric cancer microenvironment on the tumor-promoting effect of human gastric cancer-derived mesenchymal stem cells (GC-MSCs).Methods Macrophages in BALB/c mice were depleted by using clodronate liposomes.The tumor volumes and weights in nude mice co-injected with GC-MSCs and BGC-823 with and without macrophage depletion were recorded.Tumor tissues of nude mice and gastric cancer patients were collected,and M2 macrophage-associated genes and proteins were detected by RT-PCR and western blot.Furthermore,the regulating effect of GC-MSCs on macrophage polarization to M2-subtype was validated in the co-culture experiment in vitro.Results Tumor growth in GC-MSCs co-injected mice was significantly inhibited by macrophage depletion (P=0.009).Results of RT-PCR and western blot showed that the transcription and expression of M2 macrophage-associated proteins were significantly higher in tumor tissues from GC-MSCs co-injected mice than those in the control group.Moreover,the transcription and expression levels of M2 macrophage-associated proteins were also high-er in gastric cancer tissues than those in the corresponding adjacent normal tissues.After co-culture with GC-MSCs directly,the expressions of M2 macrophage-associated proteins were significantly up-regulated in THP-1-derived macrophages.Conclusion M2 macrophages in gastric cancer microenvironment might play a critical role in the tumor-promoting effect of GC-MSCs.