Objective To establish cell models with different insulin sensitivity status and examine the expression of protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) in the same conditions. Methods 3T3-L1cells were cultured with different glucose concentrations (3.0, 5.5 and 50.0 mmol/L respectively).Insulin sensitivity, as presented by insulin-induced glucose transport rate in the cells, was tested by 3H-2-DG incorporation. PKB expression in cells was determined by RT-PCR. Results The insulin-induced glucose transport rate in 3T3-L1 cells was affected by different concentrations of glucose. The transport rate of 3H -2-DG in cells cultured in low glucose concentration was increased by 152% and 50% compared with high glucose concentration and control group, respectively. There was no difference in PKB mRNA expression among the three groups under the same conditions,whereas there was an obvious reduction of PKB expression in the three groups after the cells were treated with glucose and insulin. Conclusions 3T3-L1 cells cultured with different concentrations of glucose present the different insulin sensitivity status, but the difference of PKB mRNA expression has not been observed in the same condition.

The article reviewed the research progress of ligustilide in recent years and elaborated its pharmacological functions and mechanisms in detail,especially in ischemic brain injury.Its mechanism includes reducing cerebral infarct volumes and improving neurobehavioral deficits,anti-oxidant and anti-apoptosis,antithrombotic activity,calcium channel blockers function,and effect on erythropoietin.Other pharmacological effects of ligustilide including inhibiting vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation,anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects,effects on LPS-induced endotoxic shock,inhibiting constriction effect,suppression of the central nervous system,and ameliorating the memory impairment induced by scopolamine and so on,are also introduced.Ligustilide has potential pharmacological value,which provides a reference for its further research and development.

Objective:To detect the value of utilizing bpMRI in prostate biopsy in the detection of prostate cancer with PSA≤20ng/ml.Methods:The clinical data of 394 patients who underwent prostate biopsy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from November 2017 to October 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Of all the patients, 177 underwent modified systematic biopsy, named TRUS group, 217 patients accepted pre-biopsy bpMRI examination, undergoing modified systematic biopsy if Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) score < 3 or MRI-TRUS cognitive fusion targeted prostate + systematic biopsy if PI-RADS score ≥ 3, named MRI group. The median age of TRUS group was 66 (61, 74) years old, prostate specific antigen (PSA) was 9.52 (7.26, 12.30) ng / ml, and prostate volume (PV) was 36.84 (28.95, 57.72)ml. The median age of MRI group was 66 (59, 72) years old, PSA was 8.84 (6.65, 12.16) ng/ml, and PV was 39.45 (29.25, 58.69)ml. There was no difference in above parameters between the two groups. The χ 2 test was used to compare the detection rate of prostate cancer and clinically significant prostate cancer (CsPCa) between the two groups. Results:There was no significant difference in the detection rates of prostate cancer between TRUS group and MRI group [51.41% (91/177) vs. 48.39% (105/ 217), P = 0.550], but the detection rates of CsPCa were significantly different [26.55% (47/177) vs. 36.41% (79/217), P = 0.037]. In patients with PSA ≤ 10 ng / ml, there was no significant difference in the detection rates of prostate cancer between the two groups [43.62% (41/94) vs. 43.08% (56/130), P = 0.936], but there was a significant difference in the detection rates of CsPCa [17.02% (16/94) vs. 28.46% (37/130), P = 0.047]. There was no significant difference in the detection rates of prostate cancer [60.24% (50/83) and 56.17% (48/87), P= 0.504] and the detection rates of CsPCa [37.35% (31/83) vs. 48.28% (42/87), P = 0.150] between the two groups. The total detection rates of the last two needles in TRUS group and MRI group were 23.16% (41/177) and 36.63% (86/217), respectively, with significant difference ( P=0.001); the detection rates of CsPCa in the last two needles were 11.86% (26/177) and 29.03% (63/ 217), respectively, with significant difference ( P < 0.001). In MRI group, the detection rates of prostate cancer in patients with PI-RADS score <3, 3, 4, 5 were 21.21% (7/33), 25.84% (23/89), 73.24% (52/71), 95.83% (23/24), respectively; the detection rates of CsPCa were 12.12% (4/33), 17.98% (16/89), 54.93% (39/71), 83.33% (23/24), respectively. Conclusions:In patients with PSA ≤ 20 ng / ml, prostate biopsy based on bpMRI may improve the detection of CsPCa, especially in patients with PSA ≤ 10 ng/ml.

Objective:To analyze the value of low dose enteral nutrition (EN) in treatment of septic shock combined with acute gastrointestinal injury Ⅲ (AGI Ⅲ).Methods:Clinical data of septic shock patients combined with AGI Ⅲ admitted at our hospital were analyzed.Patients were divided into two groups according to the nutrition therapy they received:treatment group (EN,n =41) and control group (no EN,n =46).The mortality and ICU hospital stays were collected.The intestinal barrier,inflammatory cytokines,and oxidative stress were evaluated before and after EN treatment.Results:For patients in the treatment group,the dosages of EN ranged from 200 to 410 kcal/d,with the median dose of 350 kcal/d.No significant differences were found on death rates between the two groups (24.4％vs 32.6％,P =0.398).Patients in the treatment group had shorter ICU hospital stays than those of the control group (11.8 ± 3.7 vs 16.2 ± 5.3,P ＜0.01).After one week EN treatment,patients in the treatment group had lower levels of CRP,IL-6,TNF-α,diamine oxidase,endotoxin and D-lactate than those of the control group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion:For septic shock patients combined with AGI Ⅲ,low dose EN can improve the intestinal barrier function and systemic inflammatory responses.

With the rapid development of nanotechnology, accurate personalized treatments for tumor have attracted more attention to increase the therapeutic effects and reduce the side effects. The emerging theranostic systems incorporating different therapeutic and diagnostic imaging capabilities have become a new research hotspot. Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles(IONP)have been widely used in theranostic systems due to their unique imaging properties, stable thermal performance, excellent biocompatibility and admirable surface modifiability. In this review, we analyzed the advantages of IONP in the diagnosis and the treatment of tumor, and detailedly introduced the relevant strategies and latest research progress, including magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), photothermal therapy, magnetic hyperthermia, and magnetic targeted drug delivery, etc. Finally, the potential application of IONP in the clinical tumor theranostics was proposed.

Objective:To explore the application value of wide detector multi-slice spiral CT target scanning technique in the preoperative evaluation of pancreatic cancer.Methods:The clinical data of 22 patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent pancreatic arterial contrast enhanced CT scanning and were diagnosed by pathology in the First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University from September 2019 to October 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. The CT phantom experiment was carried out on the international standard phantom CATPHON500. By changing the scanning radiation dose, scanning mode and scanning field of view, the spatial resolution and density resolution of the image were compared and analyzed. The target scan technical parameters obtained from the experiment were applied to the late arterial phase of MDCT enhanced scan in 22 patients with pancreatic cancer. Executive current, volume scanning mode and small scanning field were used for scanning. The attenuation value (CT value) and noise value (SD value) of pancreatic cancer tissue and normal pancreatic tissue were measured at different phases, the attenuation difference and contrast signal-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the two tissues were calculated, the contrast difference between the two tissues was evaluated, and the CT values of celiac trunk, renal artery and vein, superior mesenteric artery and vein, splenic vein and portal vein were measured, and the display of tumor tissue and peripancreatic important vessels was evaluated.Results:In the phantom experiment, under the condition of the same radiation dose, the image quality of the volume scan mode was better than that of the spiral scan mode (1%@4 mm versus 1%@9 mm at 5 mGy and 1%@2 mm versus 1%@6 mm at 25 mGy). In comparison between pancreatic tumor and pancreatic tissue, the enhancement process of pancreatic tumor tissue was increased at first and then decreased, while that of pancreatic tumor tissue was slightly enhanced. The attenuation difference between pancreatic tissue and tumor tissue and CNR also increased at first and then decreased, reaching the maximum at the late arterial stage [(91.96±29.29)HU, 8.60±5.71]. The differences between each phase were statistically significant ( F values were 47.20 and 19.80 respectively, all P values <0.05). The evaluation of vascular variation and invasion showed that a better arterial phase image could be obtained on the late arterial target scan images, while taking into account the display of splenic vein, mesenteric vein and portal vein. Conclusions:The wide detector MDCT target scanning technique can improve the spatial resolution and density resolution of the image, greatly improve the contrast between tumor tissue and peripancreatic tissue and blood vessels, and provide more accurate tumor staging and resectability evaluation information for preoperative evaluation of pancreatic cancer.

Objective:To compare the differences of prostate cancer (PCa) and clinically significant prostate cancer (CsPCa) positive rate and postoperative complications between transperineal cognitive prostate biopsy (COG-TPBx) and transrectal cognitive prostate biopsy (COG-TRBx) based on biparametric magnetic resonance imaging (bpMRI).Methods:The data of 276 patients undergoing prostate biopsy from January 2019 to June 2021 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were retrospectively reviewed. 157 patients underwent COG-TPBx(TPBx group) and 119 patients underwent COG-TRBx (TRBx group). The average age [(66.39 ± 8.31) vs. (66.30 ± 8.42)years], body mass index (BMI) [(23.85±2.49) vs. (23.68±2.61) kg/m 2], PSA values [9.43(1.47-19.80) vs. 8.94(0.66-19.99) ng/ml], prostate volume [37.92(13.99-167.40) vs. 40.78(11.67-188.21) cm 3], PSA density [0.21(0.04-1.17) vs. 0.20(0.04-1.04) ng/(ml·cm 3)], and suspicious digital rectal examination [17.20% (27/157) vs. 21.10% (25/119) ] were not significantly different between TPBx group and TRBx group. The positive rate of PCa, CsPCa, as well as post-biopsy complications of the two groups were compared. Results:There were no significant differences in the positive rate of PCa [49.68%(78/157) vs. 47.06%(56/119), P=0.666] and CsPCa [38.22%(60/157) vs. 34.45%(41/119), P=0.520] between the two groups. In stratification analysis, TPBx group has a significantly higher positive rate of both PCa [54.69%(35/64)] and CsPCa[43.75%(28/64)] in apex zone than TRBx group[39.62%(21/53) and 20.75%(11/53), all P<0.05). Moreover, the postoperative complications were not significantly different in TPBx group compared to that in TRBx group [10.19% (16/157) vs. 12.61%(15/119), P= 0.567]. Conclusions:Our investigations revealed that the overall positive rate of PCa, CsPCa, and the complications were not statistically different between COG-TPBx and COG-TRBx. COG-TPBx has a significantly higher positive rate of both PCa and CsPCa in apex zone.

Objective:To analyze the serum and urinary amino acid (AA) profiles of urolithiasis patients to explore the potential biomarkers for clinical screening and early diagnosis.Methods:Case-control study. Serum and urine samples were collected from 74 urolithiasis patients (aged 20-82 years, 41 men, 33 female) in the department of urology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University and 35 healthy controls (HC, aged 22-80 years old, 20 men, 15 female) from the health examination center from February 2015 to October 2017. Serum and urinary AA levels of patients and HC were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolomic strategy. The multivariate statistical analysis methods of principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis (OPLS-DA) were employed for modeling. The variable importance projection (VIP) value of OPLS-DA model>1 and P<0.05 of t test were selected to screen the differential amino acid metabolites. The diagnostic capabilities of potential markers were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and binary logistic regression analysis. Results:Five AA metabolites including serine, glutamate, aspartic acid, isoleucine and glycine were found, which had statistically significant differences between the patient group and the control group ( P<0.05) and were associated with seven metabolic pathways. Serum serine, glutamate, aspartic acid, isoleucine and urine glycine and aspartic acid were combined into an integrated marker panel whose AUC value was 0.890, the sensitivity was 78.0%, and the specificity was 96.4%. Conclusion:Five amino acids in serum and urine could be used as an integrated biomarker panel for the clinical screening and early diagnosis of urolithiasis, which could provide some experimental basis for molecular urolithiasis research.

Objective:To explore the efficacy of single-plane bi-parameter magnetic resonance imaging (bpMRI) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.Methods:The clinical data of 343 patients who underwent transperineal template prostate magnetic resonance-transrectal ultrasound (MRI-TRUS) cognitive fusion biopsy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2020 to July 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, with median age of [65.0(59.0, 72.0)] years, median body mass index (BMI) of [24.1(22.2, 25.6)]kg/m 2, median prostate volume (PV) of [41.7(29.1, 53.3)]ml, median PSA[6.9 (5.5, 8.4) ng/ml], median PSAD of[0.17(0.12, 0.22) ng/ml 2], and abnormal rate of digital rectal examination (DRE) [6.4%(22/343)]. All patients underwent initial biopsy and bi-parameter magnetic resonance imaging (bpMRI) examination before biopsy, and the images were interpreted using prostate image reporting and data system version 2.1 (PI-RADS v2.1). The detection rates of prostate cancer and clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) were compared between single-plane bpMRI and bpMRI. When PI-RADS≥3 score, MRI results were positive; when PI-RADS ≤2 score, MRI results were negative. Results:In the single-plane bpMRI group, 121 MRI results were negative and 222 were positive. Positive patients included 95 with PI-RADS 3 score, 94 with PI-RADS 4 score, and 33 with PI-RADS 5 score. In bpMRI group, 141 MRI results were negative and 202 were positive. Among the positive patients, 67 patients with PI-RADS 3 score, 102 patients with PI-RADS 4 score, and 33 patients with PI-RADS 5 score. The detection rates of single-plane bpMRI and bpMRI for prostate cancer were 22.3% (27/121) and 15.6% (22/141) in MRI negative cases[22.3% (27/121) and 15.6% (22/141), P=0.17], and PI-RADS scores with 3 points [35.8% (34/95) vs. 44.8% (30/67), P=0.25], 4 points [89.4% (84/94)vs. 90.2% (92/102), P=0.85] and 5 points [90.9% (30/33) vs. 93.9% (31/33), P=1.00] showed no significant difference in stratification. The detection rate of csPCa in the single-plane bpMRI group and bpMRI group was significantly different in the MRI negative cases [7.4% (9/121) and 2.1% (3/141), P=0.04]. PI-RADS scores with 3 points [22.1% (21/95) vs. 29.9% (20/67), P=0.27], 4 points [80.9% (76/94) vs. 79.4% (81/102), P=0.80] and 5 points [84.9% (28/33) vs. 90.9% (30/33), P=0.71] showed no significant difference in stratification. Conclusions:For those suspected of prostate cancer patients with PSA 4-10 ng/ml and PI-RADS score ≥3, single-plane bpMRI or bpMRI examination has the same efficacy in term of the detection rate of prostate cancer and csPCa.

Objective:The nasal swell body（NSB） consists of the nasal septal cartilage, nasal bone, and swollen soft tissue, all of which are visible during endoscopic and imaging examinations. Although the function of the NSB remains uncertain, there is evidence to suggest that it plays a vital role in regulating nasal airflow and filtering inhaled air. Based on anatomical and histological evidence, it is hypothesized that the NSB is indispensable in these processes. This study aims to investigate the impact of NSB on nasal aerodynamics and the deposition of allergen particles under physiological conditions. Methods:The three-dimensional （3D） nasal models were reconstructed from computed tomography （CT） scans of the paranasal sinus and nasal cavity in 30 healthy adult volunteers from Northwest China, providing basis for the construction of models without NSB following virtual NSB-removal surgery. To analyze the distribution of airflow in the nasal cavity, nasal resistance, heating and humidification efficiency, and pollen particle deposition rate at various anatomical sites, we employed the computed fluid dynamics（CFD） method for numerical simulation and quantitative analysis. In addition, we created fully transparent segmented nasal cavity models through 3D printing, which were used to conduct bionic experiments to measure nasal resistance and allergen particle deposition. Results:①The average width and length of the NSB in healthy adults in Northwest China were （12.85±1.74） mm and （28.30±1.92） mm, respectively. ②After NSB removal, there was no significant change in total nasal resistance, and cross-sectional airflow velocity remained essentially unaltered except for a decrease in topical airflow velocity in the NSB plane. ③There was no discernible difference in the nasal heating and humidification function following the removal of the NSB; ④After NSB removal, the deposition fraction（DF） of Artemisia pollen in the nasal septum decreased, and the DFs post-and pre-NSB removal were（22.79±6.61）% vs （30.70±12.27）%, respectively; the DF in the lower airway increased, and the DFs post-and pre-NSB removal were（24.12±6.59）% vs （17.00±5.57）%, respectively. Conclusion:This study is the first to explore the effects of NSB on nasal airflow, heating and humidification, and allergen particle deposition in a healthy population. After NSB removal from the healthy nasal cavities: ①nasal airflow distribution was mildly altered while nasal resistance showed no significantly changed; ②nasal heating and humidification were not significantly changed; ③the nasal septum's ability to filter out Artemisia pollen was diminished, which could lead to increased deposition of Artemisia pollen in the lower airway.
Adult ; Humans ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Nasal Cavity/surgery* ; Allergens ; Pollen ; Artemisia ; Hydrodynamics