Objective To analyze MRI features of real tears and pseudotears of posterior horn of the lateral meniscus (PHLM) at the insertion site of meniscofemoral ligament(MFL), and to discuss main points of differential diagnosis. Methods MR images of 32 patients with PHLM tears and 30 patients with anterior cruciate ligament tears but without PHLM tears confirmed by arthroscopy were analyzed retrospectively. Another 20 asymptomatic volunteers as controls underwent MR examination and analyzed. The number of consecutive slices displaying longitudinal increased signal in sagittal images and the length in axial images were evaluated. The one?way analysis of variance, χ2 test and ROC curve were used to analyze diagnostic value of different MRI findings. Results Longitudinal line with abnormal increased signal (pseudotear) was found in 82.0% (41/50) normal insertion site of MFLs. The typical MRI finding of real tears was peripheral longitudinal linear high signal in PHLM which reached the margin of articular surface. In sagittal images, longitudinal linear high signal was shown in (5.8 ± 1.2) slices in knees of real tears, which was more than (2.6±1.1) slices and (2.7±1.4) slices in pseudo?tear groups (F=60.9, P<0.01). The area under ROC curve was 0.96 for differentiating real tear from pseudo-tear using the number of consecutive slices displaying longitudinal increased signal in sagittal images. With a threshold of five or more consecutive images with abnormal longitudinal increased signal as the positive standard of continuous?line sign, the overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for diagnosing real tear were 90.6%(29/32), 90.2%(37/41) and 90.4%(66/73), respectively. The axial images showed that the length of increased signal line in the outer of PHLM was (16.4±4.9) mm in patients with real tears, which was longer than pseudo?tear groups with length of (8.1 ± 3.2) mm and (6.0 ± 3.1) mm (F=17.0, P<0.01). The area under ROC curve was 0.92 for differentiating real tear from pseudo?tear using the length in axial images. The zip sign was defined when its length was not less than 10 mm. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the zip sign was 84.4%(27/32), 90.2%(37/41) and 87.7%(64/73) respectively. In coronal images, high signal of MFL attachment insertion was shown in 71.9%(23/32), 60.0%(15/25) and 10/16 cases, there was no significant difference (χ2=0.98, P=0.61). Conclusion The continuous?line sign and zip sign are characteristic findings of PHLM tears at the insertion site of MFL attachment, which are valuable for differential diagnosis with pseudotears at the insertion site of MFL.

Objective:To study the effects of maternal moderate and severe gestational thrombocytopenia (GT) and primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) on neonates.Method:From Jan 2018 to Dec 2019, pregnant women with platelet count <100×10 9/L during pregnancy admitted to our hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The infants were assigned into GT group and ITP group according to their mothers' diagnoses. The clinical outcomes were compared between the two groups. Result:Of 104 mothers with platelet count <100×10 9/L, 32 (30.8%) were diagnosed with ITP and 72 (69.2%) with GT. Gestational age (GA) of the ITP group was smaller than the GT group [(37.0±1.5) weeks vs. (38.0±2.0) weeks, P<0.05]. The maternal platelet count within 24 h before delivery (39×10 9/L vs. 86×10 9/L) and the lowest platelet count during pregnancy (17×10 9/L vs. 75×10 9/L) in the ITP group were both lower than the GT group, the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.001). The maternal platelet count after birth in ITP group were lower than the GT group (184×10 9/L vs. 277×10 9/L, P<0.01). Neonates in the ITP group have an increased tendency to develop neonatal thrombocytopenia (NT) than the GT group (43.8% vs. 6.9%, P<0.001). The platelet count on the first day after birth (92×10 9/L vs. 170×10 9/L) and the lowest platelet count (43×10 9/L vs. 103×10 9/L) of NT newborns in the ITP group were lower than the GT group ( P<0.05). No differences existed for the time needed reaching the lowest platelet count in NT newborns between the two groups [(3.5±1.2) d vs. (4.4±0.4) d, P>0.05]. Neither group had intracranial hemorrhage. Conclusion:Neonates born to pregnant mother with platelet count <100×10 9/L have a tendency to develop NT. The incidence of NT in neonates born to mothers with ITP is higher than GT, but the overall prognosis of the newborns is good.

OBJECTIVETo compare the DNA methylation-related alteration induced by trichloroethylene (TCE) in human hepatic L-02 cells (L-02 cells) and SET deficient cells, and reveal the role of SET on the mechanisms in TCE-induced epigenetic pathway.

METHODSThe L-02 cells and pre-established SET deficient cells were treated with different TCE concentrations, and the changes of total cell viability, DNA methylation level and DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) activity were measured, respectively. In addition, the TCE-induced alteration in the protein expression of DNMT1, DNMT3a and DNMT3b were analyzed by Western blotting.

RESULTSAfter treatment with TCE for 24 h, the cell proliferation level was significantly decreased in both cell lines. When concentrations of TCE were 0, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0 mmol/L, the proliferation levels of L-02 cells were 100.00±2.70, 83.34±2.38, 75.56±4.51, 71.67±2.77 and 66.67±1.63, respectively (F = 58.29, P < 0.001); the cell proliferation levels of SET deficient cells were 101.12±1.67, 85.01±2.33, 79.44±1.67, 78.337±3.89 and 76.11±3.33, respectively (F = 42.41, P < 0.001). When concentration of TCE reached 4.0 mmol/L, the difference of cell proliferation level between two groups was statistically significant (t = -3.51; P = 0.013). After treated by TCE for 24 h, the global DNA methylation significantly decreased in both cell lines (F value was 212.87 and 79.32, respectively, P < 0.001). The difference between two groups was not statistically significant. After treated by TCE for 24 h, the methyltransferases activities were significantly decreased in both cell cells (F values were 77.92 and 113.80, respectively, P-0.001). The SET deficiency could inhibit the decrease of methyltransferases activity under TCE treatment. When the concentration of TCE reached 8.0 mmol/L, the enzymatic activity of L-02 cells and SET deficient cells decreased to 67.61%±2.85% and 72.97%± 1.94%, respectively. The difference between two groups was statistically significant (t = -3.94, P = 0.008). After treated with TCE for 24 h, concentrations of TCE were 0, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0 mmol/L, and the relative protein levels of DNMT1 in normal L-02 cells increased significantly to 1.00±0.03, 1.28±0.04, 1.20±0.04, 1.62±0.05, 1.43±0.04 (F = 103.00, P < 0.001); In SET deficient cells, the expressions of DNMT1 were 1.00±0.04, 0.96±0.02, 1.19±0.05, 0.85±0.03, 0.83±0.03, which was significantly down-regulated under TCE treatment (F = 44.18, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONSET deficiency can significantly attenuate the TCE-induced decreases of cell viability and DNMTs activity, as well as alteration of protein expression of DNMT1 in L-02 cells, which indicated that SET was involved in the mechanism of TCE-induced cytotoxicity and epigenetic pathway in L-02 cells.

Cell Line ; Cell Survival ; DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferase 1 ; DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases ; DNA Methylation ; Humans ; Liver ; Trichloroethylene

Objective To investigate the expression level of hypoxia-inducible factor-lot (HIF-1ot) in gastric cancer and its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.Methods From March 3,2011 to September 28,2012,49 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma tissue chips were selected from pathology department of our hospital.They were matched with paracancerous tissues.The expression levels of HIF-1α were measured by immunohistochemistry method in gastric cancer tissues and paracancerous tissues chips.Kaplan-Meier was used to evaluate the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS),and the Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze whether HIF-1α was a prognostic factor.Results The high expression rate of HIF-1α protein in gastric cancer was significantly higher than that in paired para-carcinoma group (42.9％ vs.4.1％,x2 =20.509,P ＜ 0.001).The expression of HIF-1 α protein was related to TNM stage (x2 =4.601,P =0.032),vascular invasion (x2 =6.766,P =0.009) and degree of differentiation (x2 =7.969,P =0.005).Compared with patients with low expression of HIF-1α,the median PFS (16.2 months vs.27.3 months) and median OS (34.8 months vs.43.8 months) were shorter in the patients with high expression of HIF-1 α,and the differences were statistically significant (median PFS:x2 =4.661,P =0.002;median OS:x2 =6.903,P =0.009).The results of single factor analysis showed that overexpre-ssion of HIF-1α was correlated with PFS and OS (PFS:HR =4.461,95％ CI:1.969-10.802,P ＜0.001;OS:HR =3.109,95％CI:1.274-7.588,P =0.013).The results of Cox multivariate analysis showed that overexpression of HIF-1α was the independent risk factor that affected the survival and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (PFS:HR =4.747,95％ CI:2.175-10.230,P ＜0.001;OS:HR =3.171,95％ CI:1.358-7.404,P =0.008).Conclusion The high expression rate of HIF-1α protein in gastric cancer tissues is significantly higher than that in paracancerous tissues.The expression of HIF-1α is associated with TNM stage,vascular invasion,degree of differentiation in patients with gastric cancer.The high expression of HIF-1α is associa-ted with the shorter median OS and PFS.The high expression of HIF-1α is an independent risk factor for the survival and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer,which is expected to be an independent marker of poor prognosis.