Objective To compare the clinical utility of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and des-gammacarboxyprothrombin (DCP) in diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with a hepatic mass.Methods From January 2015 to May 2015,141 patients were diagnosed to have a liver tumor after imaging examinations in the Hepatobiliary Surgical General Hospital of PLA,Beijing,China.Preoperative AFP and DCP were measured using commercial assay kits.The reference standard was either pathologic or clinical diagnosis of HCC.The performance of AFP and DCP in diagnosing HCC was determined using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.Results Of 141 patients,98 were diagnosed to have HCC and 43 without.The levels of AFP were significantly higher in patients with HCC than those without [80.0(3.9-1 375.0) μg/L vs.2.1 (1.6-3.2) μg/L,Z =6.98,P ＜ 0.01].Similar results were observed in the levels of DCP [141.5 (24.0-978.0) AU/L vs.19.0 (14.0-25.5) AU/L,Z =5.18,P ＜ 0.01].Receiver operating curves (ROC) indicated the cut-off value with the best sensitivity and specificity was 3.6 μg/L for AFP and 35 AU/L for DCP.The difference in the area under ROC between AFP and DCP was not statistically significant (0.87 vs.0.78,Z =1.72,P =0.085).The sensitivity and specificity for detection of HCC in patients with a hepatic mass were 56.1％ and 95.4％ for AFP ＞ or =20 μg/L,69.4％ and 83.7％ for DCP ＞ or =40 AU/L,respectively.The level of AFP was associated with DCP in patients with HCC (x2 =9.12,P ＜ 0.01,r =0.292) and parallel testing of AFP and DCP gave an optimal sensitivity of 79.6％ with a specificity of 81.4％ in diagnosing HCC.Conclusions DCP is a useful biomarker and it gave an equal performance as AFP in diagnosing HCC in patients with a liver mass in this study.Parallel testing of AFP and DCP effectively increased the diagnostic sensitivity.Although the biomarkers only marginally improved the diagnostic results,it could be useful in diagnosing HCC in individuals who had atypical imaging results.

Objective To evaluate the clinical outcomes of partial lateral patellar facetectomy ( PLPF ) combined with lateral retinaculum release ( LRR ) for treatment of patellofemoral osteoarthritis ( PFOA ). Methods From June 2017 to March 2018, 30 PFOA patients underwent PLPF combined with LRR at Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. They were 7 men and 23 women with an average age of 56.4 ± 9.7 years. Their patellar position, patellofemoral joint function, overall knee function, and quality of life were assessed by comparing preoperation and last follow-up in patellofemoral congruence angle ( PFCA ) , lateral patellofemoral angle ( LPFA ) , modified Kujala score, The Western Ontario and Mcmaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index ( WOMAC ) , and SF-12 quality of life scale. Results All the patients were followed up for an average of 7.6 ± 3.4 months ( from 4 to 13 months ). The PFCA was improved from preoperative 22.9°± 7.6°to 12.4°± 4.2°at the last follow-up, the LPFA from preoperative 3.2°± 3.7° to 12.9°± 6.0° at the last follow-up, the modified Kujala score from preoperative 17.1 ± 9.8 to 34.3 ± 5.7 at the last follow-up, the WOMAC from preoperative 14.1 ± 5.2 to 5.9 ± 1.7 at the last follow-up, the stiffness index from preoperative 5.5 ± 3.2 to 2.7 ± 1.2 at the last fol-low-up, daily functional index from preoperative 43.9 ± 9.0 to 25.2 ± 5.4 at the last follow-up, and the SF-12 scores from preoperative 31.3 ± 5.2 to 55.7 ± 6.0 at the last follow-up. All the above comparisons showed a significant difference ( P ＜0.05 ) . Conclusion PLPF combined with LRR is a minimally invasive, easy-to-master and effective knee joint preserving procedure for PFOA as it can significantly relieve joint pain and maximally keep patellar functions.

OBJECTIVETo develop a reserved-phase HPLC method for the determination of praeruptorin A, praeruptorin B, qianhucoumarin E in roots of Peucedanum praeruptorum.

METHODAgilent TC-C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) was used at 30 degrees C with the mobile phase of methanol-water (75:25). The flow rate was set at 0.8 mL x min(-1). The detection wavelength was 321 nm.

RESULTThe linear response ranged from 3.20-28.80 microg for +/- praeruptorin A (r = 0.9999, n = 5), 1.60-14.40 g for praeruptorin B (r = 0.9995, n = 5) and 1.64-14.76 g for qianhucoumarin E (r = 0.9994, n = 5), respectively. Recoveries were 98.92% with RSD 1.6% for praeruptorin A, 99.66% with RSD 1.5% for praeruptorin B and 99.72% with RSD 1.4% for qianhucoumarin E.

CONCLUSIONThe method is quick, simple and repeatable for determination of three coumarin constituents in root of P. praeruptorum.

Apiaceae ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Coumarins ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Linear Models ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Reproducibility of Results ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo establish an RP-HPLC method for determination of atractylodinol in Ateractylodes lancea and compare the contents of atractylodinol in the herbs of different origins.

METHODThe samples were separated on an Agilent TC-C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) column with the mobile phase of acetonitrile-water (49:51). Flow rate was 1.0 mL x min(-1). The detection wave length was set at 337 nm. Column temperature was 30 degrees C.

RESULTThe linear range of atractylodinol was 9.12 x 10(-2) -9.12 mg x L(-1) (r = 0.999 9), the average recovery was 97.15%, RSD was 1.5% (n = 5). The contents of atractylodinol were in the range of 0.268-1.213 mg x g(-1) in the samples from different orgins. The contents of atractylodinol in samples growing in Dabieshan mountain were higher than those in Jiangsu province (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONThe established method for determination of atractylodinol is accurate and reliable, which can be used to evaluate the quality of A. lancea, the contents of atractylodinol in the sample was related with its morphological characteristic and geographic orgin.

Atractylodes ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Reverse-Phase ; Linear Models ; Organic Chemicals ; analysis ; Reproducibility of Results

Objective:To study the protective effect and potential mechanism of heme oxygenase (HO-1)/carbon monoxide (CO)-mediated quercetin on alcoholic oxidative damage of primary rat hepatocytes.Methods:Primary rat hepatocytes were isolated and cultured by two-step collagenase technique. Ethanol exposed primary rat hepatocytes were simultaneously added with quercetin (100 μmol/L) and/or hemoglobin (100 μmol/L) or different doses of CO-releasing molecules (CORM-2, 5-50 μmol/L) for their combined action. After polling, LDH, AST activities and MDA and GSH levels were measured in the supernatant of cell culture. The alone or combined effects of quercetin, CORM-2, hemoglobin and zinc protoporphyrin IX exposed to ethanol were detected by the activity of CYP2E1 in liver microsomes. Statistical analysis of data was performed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and intergroup comparison was done by SNK-test.Results:Simultaneous addition of 100 μmol/L quercetin had significantly reduced ethanol-induced AST and LDH release, and GSH consumption and MDA elevation extent. Moreover, quercetin had not only lost the hemoglobin (CO blocker) protective effect but also had further exacerbated ethanol-induced lipid peroxidation. CORM-2 had reduced ethanol-induced AST and LDH release, and GSH consumption and MDA production in liver cells, and thus had dose-dependent protective effect. Ethanol had increased significantly CYP2E1 activity. Quercetin or CORM-2 had inhibited CYP2E1 activity, while hemoglobin or protoporphyrin IX had eliminated quercetin inhibitory effect and had increased the CYP2E1 activity. Quercetin, and CYP2E1 activity was constant as compared to ethanol group when CORM-2, zinc protoporphyrin IX and ethanol were incubated with hepatocytes, but the CYP2E1 activity was significantly decreased ( P < 0.05), and the differences were statistically significant. Conclusion:CO/HO-1 metabolite mediates the protective effect of quercetin on alcoholic oxidative damage of hepatocytes, which may be related to the inhibition of CYP2E1 activity.

OBJECTIVE：To establish the content determination me thod of 3 mono/disaccharides in 3 kinds of medicinal Dendrobii Caulis. METHODS ：HPLC-CAD method was established. The determination was performed on Shodex Asahipak NH2P-50 4E column with mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water （75 ∶ 25，V/V）at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The column temperature was set at 30 ℃，and sample size was 10 µL. CAD detection condition included that data acquisition frequency was 5 Hz，filter constant was 5 s，atomization temperature was 35 ℃ ，gas source was nitrogen with pressure of 4.012 × 105 Pa. RESULTS：The linear range of fructose ，D-anhydrous glucose and sucrose were 0.156 2-1.873 8 mg/mL（r＝0.999 5），0.012 7- 0.152 4 mg/mL（r＝0.999 7），0.277 6-3.331 2 mg/mL（r＝0.999 8），respectively. The limits of quantification were 0.002 61，0.004 24 and 0.005 12 mg/mL，and the limits of detection were 0.000 78，0.001 27 and 0.001 54 mg/mL，respectively. RSDs of precision ， stability，reproducibility and durability tests were all lower than 3％. The recoveries were 95.98％-98.15％（RSD＝0.83％，n＝6）， 95.64％-98.62％（RSD＝1.10％，n＝6）and 97.53％-98.94％（RSD＝0.53％，n＝6）. The contents of them were 0.28％-1.12％， 0.02％-0.13％，0.76％-2.67％，respectively. The total content was 1.38％～3.10％. The order of saccharide content in 3 kinds of Dendrobii Caulis was sucrose ＞fructose＞D-anhydrous glucose ；the order of sucrose content and total content were Dendrobium huoshanense＞D. moniliforme ＞D. officinale ；the order of D-anhydrous glucose content was D. huoshanense ＞D. officinale ＞D. moniliforme； the order of fructose content was D. moniliforme ＞D. officinale ＞D. huoshanense . CONCLUSIONS ：Established method is sensitive ，reproducible and simple in operation ，and can be used for content determination of 3 saccharides in 3 kinds of medicinal Dendrobii Caulis. There are differences in the contents of saccharide s among 3 kinds of Dendrobii Caulis.

Dual-layer spectral detector CT is a new spectrum CT imaging technology based on detector being able to obtain both images similar to true plain and spectral images in one time scanning.The reconstructed multi-parameter spectral images can not only improve image quality,enhance tissue contrast,increase the visualization and detection ability of occult lesions,but also provide qualitative and quantitative analysis of the lesions,so as to provide more imaging information and multi-dimensional diagnostic basis.The research progresses of dual-layer spectral detector CT for preoperative evaluation on colorectal cancer were reviewed in this article.