Objective To investigated the association of serum level of growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) with the disease activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Methods The expression levels of Gas6 were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in 102 SLE patients and 67 healthy persons; and statistical methods were used to analyze the expressions of Gas6 in the patients with different clinical symptoms. Results The expression of Gas6 was significantly higher in the SLE group [54.59 (2.41 ~ 614.93) ng/mL] than in the healthy control group [19.22 (15.06 ~ 384.93) ng/mL, P < 0.05]. And serum Gas6 levels were significantly higher in the patients with dsDNA (+) , renal disorder , rash and vasculitis than the patients without symptoms (P < 0.05). The expression of Gas6 was correlated with SLEDAI significantly (r = 0.569, P < 0.01). Conclusions Gas6 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of SLE and it is an effective biomarker for the disease activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective To evaluate the effects of exendin-4 on glial brillary acidic protein (GFAP ) and interleukin-1β(IL-1β) expression in hippocampi of aged rats .Methods Forty-eight healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats ,aged 22-24 weeks ,weighing 500-700 g ,were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=12 each) using a random number table:control group (group C ) ,exendin-4 group (group E ) ,operation group (group O ) and exendin-4 plus operation group (group OE) .The rats were anesthetized with intraperitoneal fentanyl and droperidol .Groups C and E did not receive anesthesia or splenectomy .In O and OE groups ,splenectomy was carried out .In E and OE groups , exendin-4 5 μg/kg was injected intraperitoneally at 30 min before skin incision and 12 h after operation .C and O groups received the equal volume of normal saline instead of exendin-4 .Learning and memory function was assessed using Morris water maze test (escape latency (EL) and total swimming distance (TSD) at 1 day before operation (T0 ) .The fasting blood glucose was measured after anesthesia (T1 ) ,at the end of operation (T2 ) and on postoperative day 1 (T3 ) .The rats were sacrificed after assessment of the cognitive function at T 3 and the hippocampi were removed for determination of the expression of GFAP (by immuno-histochemistry ) and IL-1β(by Western blot ) .Results There was no significant difference in the EL and TSD at T0 between the four groups ( P>0.05) .Compared with group C ,the EL and TSD were significantly prolonged at T3 and fasting blood glucose was increased at T2 ,3 ,and the expression of IL-1βand GFAP was up-regulated at T3 in O and OE groups ( P<0.05) .Compared with group O ,the EL and TSD were significantly prolonged at T3 and fasting blood glucose was decreased at T2 ,3 ,and the expression of IL-1βand GFAP was down-regulated at T3 in group OE ( P<0.05) . Conclusion Exendin-4 can improve the postoperative cognitive function of aged rats by inhibiting inflammatory responses in hippocampi and maintaining stable perioperative blood glucose .

Objective: To investigate the impact of perioperative allogeneic red blood cells transfusion on the early recurrence of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver resection. Methods: Retrospective analysis was made on 999 patients who underwent surgical resection for HCC, and these patients were divided into two groups according to whether or not received perioperative allogeneic red blood cells transfusion. Differences between groups were balanced using propensity score matching (PSM). The Kaplan-Meier method was used for comparing the differences in early recurrence (within 2 years) between the two groups and the multivariate COX analysis regression was used to identify independent risk factors for early recurrence. Result: There were 100 patients in red cell transfusion group and 899 patients in non-red cell transfusion group. After PSM, 85 pairs of patients were successfully matched, and there was no significant difference in baseline data between groups. Before PSM, the early recurrence rate of the red blood cell group was significantly higher than that of the non-red blood cell group (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in early recurrence rates between the two groups after PSM (P=0.346). Multivariate analysis showed that perioperative allogeneic red blood cells transfusion was not an independent risk factor of early recurrence for patients with HCC after liver resection (P=0.153). Conclusion Perioperative allogeneic red blood cells transfusion has no impact on the early recurrence of patients with HCC after liver resection.