Detection of low-level somatic DNA mutations and minority alleles within a wild-type sample is crucial in fields of medicine,such as cancer,prenatal diagnosis and infectious diseases.Increasing enrichment methods have been developed to study this challenging area.They are typically segregate by their ability to enrich for,and detect,either known or unknown mutations,including COLD-PCR,ice-COLD-PCR,TT-PCR,PNA-mediated PCR,WTB-PCR and digital PCR.In this review,we discuss theoretical principles and relative advantages and disadvantages of these techniques,and put an emphasis on their applications in fields of diseases.

Aim To analyze the expression of phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein(PEBP) and ERK in critical brain regions of psychological dependence rats.Methods Morphine-induced rats conditioned place preference(CPP) model was established to mimic different stages of morphine psychological dependence, during which PEBP expression and ERK activity were assayed in different brain regions.Results PEBP expression in hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, striatum and nucleus accumbens showed no change at three stages of psychological dependence.However, ERK activity increased notably in prefrontal cortex on CPP formation, and decreased remarkably in hippocampus on CPP reinstatement.Conclusions The formation and retrieval of associated memory between morphine effects and environment involve different neural circuits, in which ERK activity is critical, and PEBP might not be involved in such a memory-related ERK regulation.

Stem cells refer to undifferentiated or inad equately differentiated cells that have the ability to become a variety of tissues,regenerate organs,and self expand.There is strong evidence that stem cells have abilities of self renewal differentiation,immune regulation,and a potential for targeted therapy,which all together support development of stem cell transplantation.Stem cell transplantation thera py has become a hot topic in recent years,and the basic theory and clinical application have made great progress.The a bilities of stem cells make their transplantation ideal to pro mote liver regeneration,inhibit liver fibrosis,and provide treatment for many diseases.This article will review the cur rent status and outlook of stem cell transplantation.

Remarkable progress has been achieved in the transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)for the treatment of liver injury and hepatic failure.However,there are obstacles such as low engraftment capacity,tumorigenesis,and a fibrogenic potential that all hamper the use of MSCs in clinical trials.Therefore,it is worthwhile to talk about the alternatives that will increase the safety and efficacy of MSCs therapy.To date,applications of MSCs-derived hepatocytes,genetically modified MSCs,or MSC-conditioned medium for promoting liver regeneration have shown encouraging results.This review summarizes the current applications of MSCs in the study of hepatic regeneration.

Objective To investigate the effects of soluble components derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and liver regeneration caused by 70％ portal branch ligation (PBL) in rats.Methods Isolated and cultured BMSCs were lysed by sonication.PBL was performed in male SD rats followed by splenic injection of BMSCs or PBS as control.Animals were analyzed for liver regeneration index,hepatocytes proliferation,hepatic function,histopathological changes,and hepatic genes expression.Expression of VEGF was assessed by Western blot and immunohistochemistry.Results The liver regeneration index increased in the BMSCs group especially 2 and 5 days after PBL compared with the control group (P＜0.05) and reached (51.71±1.62)％ and (76.82±0.81)％ respectively.A 2-fold increase was showed in the PCNA labeling index of hepatocytes in rats treated with BMSCs compared with the control group (P＜0.05).Histopathological findings showed that vacuolar change and sinusoidal congestion were lower in the BMSCs group.Alanine transaminase (ALT) and Aspartate transferase (AST) showed no significant difference between the two groups (P＞0.05).On post operation day 2,hepatic interleukin-6 (IL6),tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα),hepatocyte growth factor (HGF),vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA),and vascular endothelial growth factor 2 (VEGFR2) mRNAs tended to increase in the BMSCs group (P＜0.05) while transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) mRNA decreased (P＜0.05).Western blot showed that the expression level of VEGF in the two groups were equal 2 and 5 days after surgery (P＞0.05).On day 2 post operation,positive VEGF immunoreactivity was present in both pericentral and periportal hepatocytes in the BMSCs group,while only in periportal hepatocytes in the control group.Conclusion These results demonstrate that BMSCs accelerated liver regeneration caused by PBL,which may result from hepatoprotection,enhanced hepatocyte proliferation,and VEGF-mediated angiogenesis early after the operation,potentially creating a new avenue for the study of hepatic regeneration.

One hundred and eighty three women with high risk of breast cancer identified in Baoding First Central Hospital from June 2007 to June 2014,were enrolled in the study.In these 183 cases,41 received preventive therapy (22.4％),142 did not.Factors associated with acceptance of chemoprevention included older age,menopause,comorbidities,lower level education,being married,higher BMI,having high level hyperplasia of ductal epthelia and counseling to breast specialists (P ＜ O.05);whilenot informed by doctors was the main reason for failed taking preventive agents(95.1％,135/142).Thirteen of 41 women receiving chemoprevention discontinued the therapy (31.7％);no-insurance,no side-effects and higher BMI were related to the discontinuing (P ＜ 0.05).The 1-,2-,3-,and 5-year adherence rates of chemoprevention was 86.1％ (31/36),65.4％ (17/26),59.1％ (13/22),8/13 and 5/10,respectively.The results show that chemoprevention rate is low among Chinese women at high risk of breast cancer,and the long-term adherence to preventive therapy is poor.Corresponding measures should be taken to strengthen the chemoprevention of breast cancer.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in China. With increasing of the incidence and mortality, the harm to women is becoming much serious. Estrogen positive patients need to take 5-10 years′ endocrine drugs to prolong survival and prevent recurrence. Endocrine therapy has become one of the most common and effective methods in the treatment of breast cancer. In order to achieve the desired effect of cancer treatment, reduce cancer metastasis and recurrence rate, good compliance is essential. In conclusion, this review summarizes the evaluation of compliance, various evaluation tools and their use.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic significance of blood cells and electrolyte in preoperative diagnosis and surgical treatment of Cushing's disease (CD).Methods 116 csses of CD and 21 cases of adrenocortical adenoma (ACA) patients pathologically proven adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) adenoma from Jan.2003 to Dec.2010 were enrolled into the study.They were given transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) and laparoscopic resection of adrenal adenoma (LRAA).Patients were divided into remission group ( group A),non-remission group (group B) and ACA group (group C) according to the remission criteria of CD.The preoperative and postoperative level of blood cells and electrolyte were determined.Results TSS treatment improved the abnormal level of blood cells and electrolyte in patients with CD.Group A had significant change in preoperative and postoperative level of blood cells and electrolyte,while group B and group C didn't.Conclusions Compared with the endocrine examination items which need huge expense and harsh conditions,the change of blood cells and electrolyte level is more superior in assessing diagnostic and cruative effects on CD patients.

AIM:To analyze the relationship between epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness and plasma N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide ( NT-proBNP ) level in the patients with stable coronary artery disease . METHODS:The patients with chest pain ( n=115) admitted to our hospital underwent coronary artery computer tomo-graphy and further underwent coronary angiography for confirming whether they had coronary artery disease .EAT thickness was evaluated at the right ventricular free wall imaged by coronary artery computer tomography .Plasma NT-proBNP level was examined by an automatic biochemistry analyzer .RESULTS:Eighty-one patients were confirmed to have stable coro-nary artery disease and thirty-four patients were excluded to have coronary artery disease .Left ventricular ejection fraction of these patients of 2 groups were all normal.The natural logarithm of plasma NT-proBNP level [ln(NT-proBNP)] of the patients with stable coronary artery disease was significantly higher than that of the patients without coronary artery disease (P<0.05).EAT thickness of the patients with stable coronary artery disease was also higher than that of the patients with -out coronary artery disease(P<0.05).EAT thickness was related to ln(NT-proBNP) positively (P<0.05).After adjust-ment of related impact factors , EAT thickness was still related to ln (NT-proBNP) positively (P<0.05).Multiple-factor regression analysis showed that EAT thickness was the independent influence factor on LnNT -proBNP (P<0.05).CON-CLUSION:EAT thickness and plasma NT-proBNP level are both increased significantly and is related to each other in the patients with stable coronary artery disease .

To observe the effects of icariin, psoralen and oleanolic acid, the three active ingredients of Yinyanghuo (Herba Epimedii Brevicornus), Buguzhi (Fructus Psoraleae) and Nuzhenzi (Fructus Ligustri Lucidi), respectively, on gene expression profile of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) from rats with corticosterone-induced osteoporosis.