Objective To evaluate the clinical value of ultrasonography guided percutaneous core needle biopsy in pancreatic lesions. Methods Thirty-four patients with 36 pancreatic lesions in Shanghai First People′s Hospital Afifliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University from February 2012 to November 2013 underwent conventional ultrasound-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy using automatic gun and 18-gauge biopsy needles. The site, size, internal and surrounding vascularity, the sampling number of the lesions, and whether the specimens′ quality was satisfied were recorded. Then specimens were sent for pathological examination, and all above observations were compared with the ifnal diagnosis. Results The number of lesions with 2, 3 and 4 samplings was 32, 2 and 2, respectively. The average number of sampling was 2.2 (mean, 2.17;standard deviation, 0.51) and the acquisition rate of satisifed specimens was 89%(32/36). The pathological results of biopsy were malignant in 31 of 36 lesions including 27 cases of ductal adenocarcinoma, 2 cases of lymphoma, 1 case of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma and 1 case of uterine leiomyosarcoma metastasis. The other 5 lesions were non-malignant including 3 cases of benign lesion, 1 cases of atypical hyperplasia and 1 cases of granulation tissue. The 36 lesions were ifnally diagnosed as 34 cases of pancreatic malignancy, 2 cases of non-malignant neoplasm. The sensitivity, speciifcity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of ultrasonography guided percutaneous core needle biopsy in pancreatic lesions were 91%(31/34), 100%(2/2), 92%(33/36), 100%(31/31) and 40%(2/5), respectively. Youden index was 0.91. Two patients had mild upper abdominal pain and 1 patient had transient elevated serum amylase. No pancreatitis, pancreatic fistula, peritonitis, bleeding or dispersion of malignant cells along the penetrating channel or other serious complications occurred. Conclusion Ultrasonography guided percutaneous core needle biopsy is a simple, rapid, safe and effective diagnostic method in pancreatic lesions with high clinical value.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequent human malignancies worldwide with very poor prognosis. It is generally accepted that the progression of HCC is a long-term process with accumulation of multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations, which further lead to the activation of critical oncogenes or inactivation of tumor suppressor genes. HCC is characterized with multiple cancer hallmarks including their ability to proliferate, anti-apoptosis, invade, metastasis, as well as the emerging features such as stem cell properties and energy metabolic switch. The irreversible alterations at genetic level could be detected as early as in the pre-neoplastic stages and accumulate during cancer progression. Thus, they might account for the cancer initiating steps and further malignant transformation. In addition to genetic alterations, epigenetic alterations can affect the cancer transcriptome more extensively. Alterations in DNA methylation, histone modification, miRNAs, RNA editing, and lncRNAs might result in disrupted gene regulation networks and substantially contribute to HCC progression. In this review, the genetic and epigenetic alterations which significantly contribute to the malignant capabilities of HCC will be updated and summarized in detail. Further characterization of those critical molecular events might better elucidate the pathogenesis of HCC and provide novel therapeutic targets for treatment of this deadly disease.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Disease Progression ; Epigenesis, Genetic ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Models, Genetic ; Mutation

Objective: To prepare an inactivated hepatitis A vaccine using a attenuated strain of hepatitis A virus (HAV) H2 and to analyze its immunizing dose, so as to provide the reference for development and production of inactivated hepatitis A vaccines. Methods: Human embryonic lung diploid cells (KMB17) were infected with attenuated HAV H2 strain to proliferate the virus, then the cells containing viruses were harvested, extracted and purified. The obtained virus concentrate was prepared into vaccine bulk and test vaccines with 1 280 EU/mL antigen content. Vaccine testing was carried out according to the inactivated hepatitis A vaccine standards specified in the Part Ⅲ of the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (2020 edition). A total of 110 mice were randomly divided into 11 groups, including 5 dose groups (80, 160, 320, 640 and 1 280 EU/dose) of the test vaccine and the reference vaccine, as well as the adjuvant control group. Mice were immunized twice by intraperitoneal injection, their serum HAV antibodies were detected, and the geometric mean titer (GMT) and positive conversion rate of antibodies were analyzed to evaluate the immunising dose of the vaccine. Results: The antigen content and viral titer of the virus harvest solution were 5 120 EU/mL and 8.33 lgCCID50/mL, respectively. The removal rate of foreign protein reached 98.05% and the recovery rate of antigen was 66.25%. The test vaccine met the requirements of Part Ⅲ of the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (2020 edition). The GMTs of HAV antibodies in the test vaccine and the reference vaccine dose groups after the second immunization were more than twice higher than those after the first immunization. Regardless of primary immunization or secondary immunization, the GMTs (log2) of HAV antibodies in the test vaccine groups with doses of 160 EU/dose and above were higher than those in the 80 EU/dose group (all P<0.05), while there was no statistically significant differences between the dose groups of 160 EU/dose and above (all P>0.05). The antibody positive conversion rate of 160 EU/dose and above of the test vaccine was 100.00% after the secondary immunization. Conclusions The inactivated hepatitis A vaccine of attenuated H2 strain tested in this study demonstrates strong immunogenicity in mice, suggesting its potential as a candidate vaccine. The preliminary analysis indicates an immunizing dose of 320 EU/dose for children and 640 EU/dose for adults.

As an important auxiliary material, adhesive materials have many important applications in various fields including but not limited to industrial packaging, marine engineering, and biomedicine. Naturally occurring adhesives such as mussel foot proteins are usually biocompatible and biodegradable, but their limited sources and poor mechanical properties in physiological conditions have limited their widespread uses in biomedical field. Inspired by the underwater adhesion phenomenon of natural organisms, a series of biomimetic adhesive materials have been developed through chemical or bioengineering approaches. Notably, some of those synthetic adhesives have exhibited great promise for medical applications in terms of their biocompatibility, biodegradability, strong tissue adhesion and many other attractive functional properties. As natural adhesive materials possess distinctive "living" attributes such as environmental responsiveness, self-regeneration and autonomous repairs, the development of various biologically inspired and biomimetic adhesive materials using natural adhesives as blueprints will thus be of keen and continuous interest in the future. The emerging field of synthetic biology will likely provide new opportunities to design living glues that recapitulate the dynamic features of those naturally occurring adhesives.
Adhesives ; Animals ; Biocompatible Materials ; Biomimetic Materials ; chemistry ; Biomimetics ; Bivalvia