Objective To explore the causes and treatment of gastrointestinal complications after anterior approach for thoracolumbar fracture and dislocation.Methods A retrospective analysis was carried out in 153 cases with thoracolumbar fracture and dislocation undergone anterior approach from Jan- uary 1999 to October 2003.Postoperative gastrointestinal complication was seen in 15 cases including sev- en with dynamic intestinal obstructions,three with stress ulcer,three with intestinal bacteria imbalance, one with tuberculosis peritonitis resulted from dissemination of primary tuberculosis,and one with acute relapse of chronic appendicitis.Results All patients were effectively cured by using corresponding methods in regard of different causes.Conclusions(1)Gastrointestinal complications following ante- rior approach for thoracolumbar fracture and dislocation are mainly resulted from following causes,ie,se- rious primary trauma,primary gastrointestinal vegetative nerve injury or that caused by surgical operation, intraoperative contusions of abdominal viscera,postoperative retroperitoneal hematoma,acute lesion of gastric mucous membrane as well as imbalance of intestinal flora.(2)Correct treatment of primary trau- ma,meticulous operation,reasonable utility of antibiotics and appropriate management can effectively prevent and control gastrointestinal complications.

Animals ; Betaine-Homocysteine S-Methyltransferase ; therapeutic use ; Homocysteine ; blood ; Hyperhomocysteinemia ; blood ; therapy ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Recombinant Proteins ; therapeutic use

Objective To investigate the expression of BRCA1 in chemosensitive and chemoresistant ovarian cancer specimens,so as to provide a novel insight into the epigenetic mechanism involved in BRCA1 transcription. Methods Serous ovarian cancer patients(10 chemosensitive and 10 chemoresistant cancer)were enrolled for the study. BRCA1 levels was analyzed by real?time quantitative PCR. The methylation levels of BRCA1 core promoter(sites 1?4)was determined by pyrosequencing. Regression analysis was used to examine the possible relationship between BRCA1 levels and the methylation levels of sites 1?4 in ovarian cancer specimens. Results Compared to chemosensitive ovarian cancer tissues,BRCA1 levels were increased,but the methylation levels of BRCA1 core promoter(sites 1?4)were decreased in chemoresistant ovarian cancer tissues. How?ever,it is interesting to note that only a significant inverse correlation was observed between BRCA1 levels and the methylated levels of site 4 (r=-0.612,P<0.05). Conclusion Our findings imply that the methylation levels of site 4 in the core promoter of BRCA1 may be widely involved in the regulation of BRCA1 expression and chemosensitivity in ovarian cancer.

Objective To assess the usefulness of a computer-aided detection(CAD)system on detecting the pulmonary nodules in digital chest radiography.Methods Three hundred and twenty-eight digital chest radiographies along with corresponding chest computed tomography were selected for this study. Two senior chest radiologists interpreted these cases using the CAD system and marked the locations and sizes of all nodules with consensus,which were stored in a computer system as Gold Standard to evaluate the performance of the CAD system.Eight radiologists of various experience read these selected cases without and with the aid of CAD system and their results were stored in a computer system.The radiologists' performance was evaluated by using the receiver operating characteristic analysis.Comparison is made regarding the difference in Az values when CAD was not used versus when CAD was used by using the paired-samples t test.Results For small nodules,the sensitivity of this computer system used by the two senior chest radiologists in 100 digital radiographs was 78.1%(118.0/151).Without and with the assistance of CAD system,the nodule detection sensitivity of the radiology residents was 62.4% (94.2/151),77.4%(116.8/151)respectively,and the area under the curve of radiology residents was 0.769,0.836 respectively.Statistical analysis showed there was statistically significant difference between interpretation without and with the CAD system(P0.05).Conclusions This CAD system can help to enhance the radiologists' ability to detect small pulmonary nodules.This is especially helpful for radiology residents.

Objective To observe the effects of berberine on inflammatory factors, adipokines and fatty acid metabo-lism in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying berberine’s role of improving insulin re-sistance. Methods mRNA level of inflammatory molecules, adipokines, key enzymes and protein in fatty acid metabolism in 3T3-L1 cells were determined by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) after cells were treated with different concentrations of berberine (0, 5, 10, 20, 40μmol/L) for 24 hours and with 10μmol/L berberine at different du-rations (0,4,8,24,48 h). These factors mainly included interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), leptin, adipo-nectin, visfatin, fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (AFABP). Results In 3T3-L1 adipocytes, transcription level of IL-6, TNF-α, leptin, FAS, AT-GL, AFABP reduced with addition of berberine dosage at 10~40μmol/L(P＜0.05)while visfatin mRNA level increased(P＜0.05)compared with the control group. No significant difference was found in expression of adiponectin(P>0.05). Tran-scription level of IL-6, TNF-α, leptin, AFABP, ATGL, FAS decreased with time after 10μmol/L berberine intervention (8-48 h) compared with the control group(P＜0.05). On the other hand, visfatin mRNA level increased(P＜0.05)compared with the control group. Adiponectin mRNA decreased only after cells were treated with berberine for 48 h(P＜0.05). No sig-nificant difference was found transcription of ACC between each groups treated with berberine(P > 0.05). Conclusion mRNA level of inflammatory factors, adipokines, key enzymes and protein in fatty acid metabolism in 3T3-L1 adipocytes can be affected by berberine and this effect depend on its dose and time . This might be the mechanisms underlying berber- ine to improve insulin resistance.

The JC virus is a widely infected human polyomavirus. Recent foreign researches showed that the JC virus infection is correlated with tumors of nervous system and digestive system, while, and study on the relationship between JC virus infection and gynecological tumor is seldom reported. In this study, we first establish the nucleic acid detection methods and procedures for JC virus and its highly homologous BK virus. The JC and BK viruses infection was evaluated by detect the viral DNA in samples including biopsy tissues, serum as well as urine of myoma of uterus (98 cases), cervical cancer (84 cases), endometrial cancer (40 cases) and ovarian tumor (72 cases) patients. The BK viral DNA positive rate was significantly higher in urine samples than that of blood and biopsy samples, and there is no significant difference of the BK viral DNA positive rate among all patient groups. The JC viral DNA positive rate is almost 0 in serum samples and biopsy. tissues, however, viral DNA positive rate is more than 50% in urine samples. In fibroids group, the JC viral DNA positive rate is up to 65. 3% which is significantly higher than that in other patients groups and healthy control. Further gynecological tumor associated viruses detection showed that only human papilloma virus infection is associated with cervical cancer, the herpes simplex virus, EB virus and cytomegalovirus infection is extremely low in our patient groups. No synergistic effect on gynecological tumor caused by viruses co-infection was observed. Our study showed that JC virus infection is highly related to the pathogenesis of uterine fibroids.
Adult ; Female ; Genital Neoplasms, Female ; virology ; Humans ; JC Virus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Middle Aged ; Polyomavirus Infections ; virology ; Tumor Virus Infections ; virology ; Young Adult

Objective: To establish a quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker (QAMS) for the simultaneous determination of six alkaloids in crude and processed Coptidis Rhizoma. Methods: An HPLC method was established to determine the six alkaloids (jatrorrhizine hydrochloride, columbamine hydrochloride, epiberberine hydrochloride, coptisine hydrochloride, palmatine hydrochloride, and berberine hydrochloride) by the external standard method (ESM). With this HPLC method, the berberine hydrochloride was used as the internal standard (IS) to determine five relative correction factors (RCFs) of the five other alkaloids, and their contents in all samples were calculated by their RCFs at the same time. Compared with the content results determined by the ESM and QAMS, the feasibility and accuracy of QAMS method were verified. Results: Within a certain range, the RCFs of jatrorrhizine hydrochloride, columbamine hydrochloride, epiberberine hydrochloride, coptisine hydrochloride, and palmatine hydrochloride to berberine hydrochloride were 1.131, 0.999, 1.011, 1.076, and 1.025, respectively, with the good repeatability in different experimental conditions. There was no significant difference between the QAMS method and ESM method. Conclusion: The QAMS method is feasible and accurate for the simultaneous determination of the six alkaloids in crude and processed Coptidis Rhizoma.

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the degradation of tryptophan to kynurenine. IDO1 is highly expressed in some tumor tissues. IDO1 can deplete tryptophan in tumor microenvironment, inhibit T cell function, and mediate the immune escape of tumor cells. Thus, IDO1 is considered a potential target of tumor immunotherapy. Currently, there are several IDO1 inhibitors in clinical research studies. The mechanism of IDO1-mediated tumor immune escape and the structure of IDO1 inhibitors are summarized in this review.

Objective To evaluate abdominal imaging in AIDS.Methods The imaging examinations(including US,CT and MR)of 6 patients with AIDS associated abdominal foci were analysed retrospectively.All the cases were performed US,and CT scan,of which 4 performed enhanced CT scan and 1 with MR.Results Abdominal tuberculosis were found in 4 patients,including abdominal lymph nodes tuberculosis(3 cases)and pancreatic tuberculosis(1 case).The imaging of lymph nodes tuberculosis typically showed enlarged peripheral rim enhancement with central low-attenuation on contrast-enhanced CT. Pancreatic tuberculosis demonstrated low-attenuation area in pancreatic head and slightly peripheral enhancement.Disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma was seen in 1 case:CT and MRI scan demonstrated tumour infiltrated along hepatic portal vein and bronchovascular bundles.Pelvic tumor was observed in 1 case:CT scan showed large mass with thick and irregular wall and central low attenuation liquefacient necrotic area in the pelvic cavity.Conclusion The imaging findings of AIDS with abdominal foci is extraordinarily helpful to the diagnosis of such disease.Tissue biopsy is needed to confirm the diagnosis.