Objective To evaluate the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the diagnosis of ischemie-type biliary lesion (ITBL) after liver transplantation. Methods Twenty-five liver transplantation recipients suspected with biliary complications were examined using CEUS. Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography confirmed the diagnosis. The enhancement patterns of the thickened hilum bile duct wall were observed. Results Enhancement patterns of bile duct wall could be divided into 3 sorts:① No-enhancement, six cases, showed no-enhancement all along. ②Hypo-enhancing level, four cases, presented hypo-enhancing at arterial phase and persistent hypo- or no-enhancing until late phase. ③Hyper-enhaneing level,fifteen cases,appeared as hyper- or iso-enhancing at arterial phase and persistent iso- or hypo-enhancing until late phase. The enhancement pattern of bile duct wall showed significant difference ( P = 0.00). Thirteen ITBL patients included 10 cases ( 76.9 % ) with no- or hypo-enhaneement, 3 patients (23.1 % ) with hyper-enhancement. However, all of 12 non-ITBL cases appeared hyper-enhancing. Conclusions CEUS provides a new and effective method to estimate the microcirculation of the bile duct wall. It may be help to early diagnosis of ITBL.

efore graft harvesting in living donor liver transplantation.

Objective To investigate the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) for detection of hepatic artery stenosis(HAS) in recipients following orthotopic liver transplantation(OLT). Methods CEUS was performed in 50 OLT recipients (42 men and 8 women) with abnormal liver function test and/or abnormal findings on color Doppler ultrasound(CDUS). Digital subtraction angiography (DSA), computed tomographic angiography(CTA) or follow-up CDUS was used as the reference standard. The degree (mild,narrowing rate＜50 %; moderate, narrowing rate 50 % ～ 75 %; severe, narrowing rate＞ 75 % ), location and type (single or multiple) of HAS were evaluated. Moderate and severe stenosis were defined as substantial stenosis. Results CTA or DSA depicted substantial HAS in 39 patients, 8 patients with mild HAS or normal HA were depicted on CTA,and the remaining 3 patients were diagnosed as non-substantial HAS on clinical and CDUS follow-up. CEUS depicted substantial HAS in 38 cases. Moreover,CEUS corrected falsepositive findings on CDUS in 9 of 50 cases(18.0% ). The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of CEUS in diagnosing HAS were 90.0% ,92.3% ,81.8% ,94. 7% and 75.0%,respectively. Conclusions CEUS is able to provide comprehensive information including presence,degree,location and type of HAS, which may facilitate the further interventional procedure or surgical treatment.

Seven compounds were isolated from Onychium japonicum by macroporous resin, silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and semi-preparative HPLC. Their structures were identified by NMR, MS and other spectroscopic methods as onychone A (1), quercetin (2), quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside (3), kaempferol-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (5), (-)-prunin (6), and norathyriol (7). Compound 1 is a novel macrocyclic flavonoid, and all the others are reported from this plant for the first time. In vitro cytotoxic activities of compounds 1-7 were evaluated by MTS testing with five cancer cell lines. Compound 7 exhibited weak cytotoxicity against tumor cell lines A549, SMMC-7721, and SW480.

Animals ; Artemisinins ; pharmacology ; Cricetinae ; Leishmania donovani ; drug effects ; Male ; Mesocricetus ; Sesquiterpenes ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo establish a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for rapid diagnosis of Vibrio cholerae.

METHODSBased on the ompW nucleic sequence of Vibrio cholerae, a pair of primers was designed for LAMP. The reaction conditions were optimized, and the specificity, sensitivity, and practicability of LAMP were tested using 47 bacterial strains and simulated contaminated sites.

RESULTSThe results of viable bacterium count showed that LAMP was capable of detecting Vibrio cholerae at a level as low as 1.6x10(2) cfu/ml. The minimal detectable concentration was 1.6+10(3) cfu/ml for simulated contaminated samples such as feces and seawater, and 1.6+10(4) cfu/ml for contaminated milk. All the 21 strains of Vibrio cholerae yielded positive results in LAMP, and the 26 strains of other bacteria all showed negative results, with a detection specificity of 100%.

CONCLUSIONThe established LAMP method has high specificity and sensitivity for detecting Vibrio cholerae and is applicable in field monitoring and epidemiological study of Vibrio cholerae.

Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; Cholera ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Clinical Laboratory Techniques ; methods ; Humans ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ; methods ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Vibrio cholerae ; genetics ; isolation & purification

Objective To explore the application of parents' presence induction program (PPIP) during anesthesia induction in children in the operation room and the nursing. Methods 86 children patients (1~11 years old) who would accept the operation were randomly divided into the observation and the control group (n=43 in each group). The observation group was accompanied by their parents when the children accepted the anesthesia induction under the instruction of nurses. But the patients were not present in the control group, and the patients were leaded into the operation room directly by the nurses to accept the anesthesia induction. Blood pressure and pulse changes before and after the anesthesia induction of these children patients were observed. The feeling of their heads of family before the operation and the satisfaction about PPIP were investigated. Results Blood pressure and pulses in the control group were significantly higher than those in the observation group before they were leaded into the operation room (P<0.01). 95% of heads of family hoped to accompany their children when they accepted the anesthesia induction, and 93.7% of heads of family wanted to take part in the PPIP. The satisfaction rate about PPIP was 95% after the completion of PPIP. Conclusions There are many profits about PPIP, such as mitigating the fear and anxiety of children and relaxing the unstable feeling of their heads of families before the anesthesia, and reducing the quantity of pre-anesthetic medications. These are helpful to the anesthesia induction and the cooperation of doctor patients. It is a best anesthesia induction mode worthy to be extended in the operation room.

OBJECTIVETo study the genetic polymorphisms of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region in Chengdu Han population.

METHODSSequence polymorphisms of the mtDNA control region, hypervariable regions I and II from 100 unrelated Chinese Hans were determined by PCR and direct sequencing.

RESULTSSequences of 404 nucleotides for hypervariable region I and 379 nucleotides for region II were obtained. Ninety-two and fifty variable sites were revealed in region I and region II respectively as compared to the reference sequence, and a total of 97 different genetic patterns from both the regions I and II were determined. The probability of identity was estimated at 1.84% for region I, 1.94% for region II, and 1.18% for both the regions.

CONCLUSIONThese results suggest that sequence polymorphism of mtDNA control region would be very useful in forensic practice as a marker for individual identification.

Base Sequence ; China ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; chemistry ; Genetics, Population ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Polymorphism, Genetic

As a key role in mussel defense system, Mytilin is an important antibacterial peptide isolated from the mussel serum. The structural and functional researches on Mytilin showed that the fragment connecting two beta-sheets in a stable beta-hairpin structure was probably required for antimicrobial activity. To elucidate the structural features and the antimicrobial activity of this fragment, we re-designed and synthesized two peptides corresponding to the main mimic structures of Mytilin-1 from Mytilus coruscus, we named these two peptides Mytilin Derived Peptide-1 and Mytilin Derived Peptide-2, respectively. Using a liquid growth inhibition assay, we evaluated their activity towards Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungus. The results showed that both peptides can inhibit the growth of Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungus. Besides, these two peptides showed high stability in heat water and human serum. These works laid the foundation for further research on the molecular mechanism of Mytilin and for further exploitation of antibacterial peptides with lower molecular mass and more stable structure.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Anti-Infective Agents ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mytilus ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo identify the F VIII gene mutations of patients and suspected female carriers in 10 Hemophilia A (HA) families, and to guide the prenatal diagnosis.

METHODSPCR, denaturinghigh performance liquid chromatogramphy (DHPLC) and DNA sequencing technologies were applied to screen the F VIII gene of 8 HA patients and 12 suspected female carriers in the 10 families. Linkage analysis was performed by using St 14(DXS 52), intron 13 (CA)n and EX18/Bcl I of the F VIII gene in the HA families. In prenatal diagnosis, we screened the same mutation found in the patients. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism was applied to detect the new missense mutations of F VIII gene in 100 unrelated healthy individuals to exclude the possibility of polymorphism.

RESULTSFive missense mutations, 3 frameshift mutations, 2 nonsense mutations and 2 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) were identified in 10 the HA families. Among them, c.878A to G, c.1015A to G, c.6870G to T, c.1282delA, c.3072_3073insT, c.4880_4881insA and c.5000G to A were novel mutations or polymorphism. No missense mutations c.878A G, c.1015A to G and c.6870G to T, were found in the 100 healthy unrelated controls. (2) Nine suspected female carriers were confirmed at the gene level. (3) X risk chromosome could be determined to in 4 HA families by genetic linkage analysis. (4) Among the four fetuses for prenatal diagnosis, 2 were normal, 1 was carrier and the remaining 1 was a patient.

CONCLUSIONSix novel mutations, i.e., c.878A to G, c.1015A to G, c.6870G to T, c.1282delA, c.3072_3073insT and c.4880_4881insA, were identified in this study. PCR, DHPLC and DNA sequencing could be used to screen the gene mutations of HA patients, to carry out carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis of HA families efficiently, by combining with restriction endonuclease analysis and genetic linkage analysis.

Chromosomes, Human, X ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; methods ; DNA Restriction Enzymes ; genetics ; Factor VIII ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Testing ; methods ; Hemophilia A ; diagnosis ; genetics ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Male ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; methods ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; methods