Objective To study the diagnostic value of multi-direction adjusted multiplanar reconstruction (MPR)by 64-slice CT myelography (CTM)in diagnosing cervical nerve injury,and the possibility of the MPR to replace conventional myelography and CT direct-scanning axial images.Methods Twenty-six patients with cervical nerve root injury were examined by conventional myelograpby and 64-slice CT using isotropic parameters.Then multi-direction MPR were performed to display nerve roots on coronal and sagittal planes besides axial images.Twenty-six patients were performed surgical operations and diagnosis were obtained.The coincident diagnosing rate with surgical operations results were compared statistically among multi-direction MPR,direct-scanning axial CT images,conventional myelography.The numbers of images were also compared between axial MPR and direct scanning axial CT images.Results Direct sign of nerve root avulsion was the loss of normal nerve root defect seen in the Isovist filled thecal sac in 6d-slice CT,which was found in 31 nerve roots.Indirect signs included:(1)Traumatic pseudomeningocele: 29 nerve roots showed the leak of Isovist into nerve root sheath,and extended into foramina;(2)Arachnoid cyst: 26 nerve roots clearly displays cystic distension in nerve root,which has low- density fine clew form septation from subarachnoid cavity and no nerve root in the cyst ;(3)Deformity of the subarachnoid space : deformity of thecal sac,partially lack of Isovist into arachnoid space,which was found in 17 nerve roots.The coincident diagnosing rate of cervical nerve root injury by multi-direction adjusted coronal MPR imaging was 92.6% (50/54),which was higher than by axial CT (77.8%,42/54)and conventional myelography (68.5%,37/54),There was significant difference between the conventional myelography, direct-scanning axial CT,multi-direction MPR images (Kappa = 0.686,0.772,0.920, respectively,P

Objective To assess the treatment effects of As_2O_3-PLGA microspheres on VX2 rabbits liver tumor models.Methods Thirty-two New Zealand white rabbits were involved with formation of VX2 rabbits liver tumor models,and randomly divided into 4 groups of 8 each.(a)As_2O_3 plus 0.9% NaCl solution group:3 F co-catheter was plugged into hepatic artery,and then As_2O_3(3 mg/kg)plus 10 ml 0.9%NaCl solution was injected into the tumor through the feeding artery;(b)As_2O_3-PLGA microspheres group :As_2O_3- PLGA microspheres(3 mg/kg)was injected into the tumor through the feeding artery;(c)PLGA mierospheres group:Injection of PLGA microspheres(3 mg/kg)injected into the tumor through the feeding artery;(d) control group:0.9% NaCl solution(10 ml)was injected into the feeding artery.Dual phase helical CT scans were performed the day before treatment,20 days after treatment and finally the rabbits were sacrificed.The sizes of the tumor were measured and followed by histopathological analysis and HE staining.Results The volumes of tumors post operatively of group a,b,c and d were(31.08?11.15)cm~3,(3.82?2.537)cm~3, (13.22?4.665)cm~3 and(115.8?62.01)cm~3 respectively.The most significant treatment effect was available in group b,with more coagulation necrosis and fibrotic tissue formation.Statistical analysis indicated that the treatment effects of group a,b,c were better than that of group d with significant difference which can be also seen between group a and b,group b and c.Conclusion As_2O_3-PLGA microspheres shows rather excellent chemoembolization effects on VX2 rabbit liver tumor model with safely.

Hyperglycemia, advanced glycation end products (AGEs), hyperinsulinemia and dyslipidemia may play roles in the development of diabetes-associated atherosclerosis and post-angioplasty restenosis. Clinically, their effects seem to be synergic. However, few studies have focused on the synergistic action of these factors. In the present study, we investigated whether glycated serum albumin (GSA) has a synergistic effect with insulin on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). VSMCs were isolated from rat thoracic aortas and cultured in fetal bovine serum (FBS)-free medium for 24 h, then exposed to GSA, insulin or GSA + insulin for 48 h with or without pretreatment of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors or the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Cell growth rate was determined by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay or cell counting. The changes of phosphorylated-p38 MAPK and phosphorylated-C-Jun N-terminal kinase 1/2 (JNK1/2) were measured by Western blot analysis. The results showed that only p38 MAPK, but not JNK was activated by GSA and insulin co-incubation. VSMC proliferation was increased by insulin (10-1000 nmol/L) or GSA (10, 100 microg/mL). Co-incubation of insulin (100 nmol/L) and GSA (100 mug/mL) caused a more potent increase in VSMC proliferation than insulin or GSA incubation alone. p38 MAPK inhibitor, SB203580, as well as NAC, could inhibit the VSMC proliferation induced by co-incubation of GSA and insulin. The results show that insulin enhances GSA-induced VSMC proliferation, which may be mediated through a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-p38 MAPK pathway. The synergism of AGEs and insulin may play a detrimental role in the pathogenesis of diabetic atherosclerosis and post-angioplasty restenosis.
Animals ; Aorta, Thoracic ; cytology ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Drug Synergism ; Insulin ; pharmacology ; physiology ; Male ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; cytology ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; cytology ; drug effects ; Phosphorylation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Serum Albumin ; pharmacology ; physiology ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism

BACKGROUNDThe solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) is one of the most common findings on chest radiographs. The objectives of clinical practice are to differentiate malignant nodules from benign nodules in the least invasive way and to make a specific diagnosis. This study was aimed to evaluate the correlation between perfusion imaging features and microvessel density (MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) in SPNs using multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT); and to provide the theoretical basis for SPN blood flow pattern and blood flow quantitative features. Also, the study called for the discussion of the method's clinical application value in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant SPNs.

METHODSSixty-eight patients with SPN underwent multi-location dynamic contrast enhanced (nonionic contrast material was administrated via the antecubital vein at a rate of 4 ml/s) MSCT. Precontrast and postcontrast attenuations on every scan was studied. Perfusion, peak height, and the ratio of the peak height of the SPN to that of the aorta were analyzed. Perfusion was calculated using the maximum gradient of the time-density curves (TDC) and the peak height of the aorta. The quantitative parameters (perfusion, peak height, ratio of peak height of the SPN to that of the aorta) of the blood flow pattern were compared with MVD and the VEGF expression of immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSThe perfusion peak heights of malignant ((96.15 +/- 11.55) HU) and inflammatory ((101.15 +/- 8.41) HU) SPNs were significantly higher than those of benign ((47.24 +/- 9.15) HU) SPNs (P < 0.05, P < 0.05). Ratios of SPN-to-aorta of malignant and inflammatory SPNs were significantly higher than those of benign SPNs (P < 0.05, P < 0.05). No significant differences were found between the peak height and SPN-to-aorta ratio of malignant SPNs and inflammatory SPNs (P > 0.05, P > 0.05). The precontrast densities of inflammatory SPNs were lower than those of malignant SPNs (P < 0.05). Perfusion values of malignant and inflammatory SPNs were significantly higher than those of the benign SPNs (P < 0.05, P < 0.05). The VEGF positive expressions appeared in 32 patients with malignant SPNs and 2 patients with benign SPNs, and the average value of the MVD was higher in patients with malignant SPNs (36.88 +/- 6.76) than in patients with either benign (4.51 +/- 0.60) or inflammatory (26.11 +/- 5.43) SPNs (P < 0.05, P < 0.05). There were statistically significant correlations between the CT perfusion feature and the MVD. The highest correlation was between the peak height of SPN and the MVD (r = 0.657, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSTumor microvessel density and VEGF expression facilitate the exploration of the pathophysiological basis of CT perfusion in SPNs. Multi-slice CT perfusion has shown strong positive correlations with angiogenesis in SPNs.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; In Vitro Techniques ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Microvessels ; pathology ; Middle Aged ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; Perfusion Imaging ; Solitary Pulmonary Nodule ; diagnostic imaging ; metabolism ; pathology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; analysis

Adult ; Fatty Liver ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Waist-Hip Ratio

OBJECTIVETo establish the norms of Sub-Health Measurement Scale Version1.0 (SHMS V1.0) for Chinese civil servants.

METHODSWe sampled a total of 15 000 civil servants form Tianjin (north China), Guangdong (south China), Anhui and Hunan (central China), Xinjiang (northwest China) and Shenyang (northeast China) to perform the spot trial, and established the mean, percentile and threshold norms based on the characteristics of SHMS V1.0 scores for Chinese civil servants.

RESULTSThe established norms based on the average scores of SHMS V1.0 showed a mean score of 66.55∓12.36 for young male subjects (below 40 years), 67.42∓12.40 for older male subjects, 66.22∓11.81 for female subjects younger than 40 years, and 65.94∓11.91 for older female subjects. The threshold norms of SHMS V1.0 divided 5 health states, namely disease, severe sub-health, moderate sub-health, mild sub-health and healthy states according to the Mean∓SD and Mean∓0.5SD of the converted scores. The 4 cut-off points were close to the 15th, 30th, 70th and 85th percentile scores of SHMS V1.0.

CONCLUSIONWe have established SHMS V1.0 norms for Chinese civil servants, which facilitates further investigation of the incidence of sub-health state and its contributing factors in civil servants.

Adult ; China ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Health Promotion ; methods ; Health Status ; Health Status Indicators ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reference Values ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVEThis case-control study was designed to detect the association between STK15 Phe31Ile polymorphism and colorectal cancer.

METHODSGenotypes were determined in 283 patients with colorectal cancer and 283 controls. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using logistic regression model.

RESULTSThe frequency of the STK15 Ile/Ile genotype was significantly higher in cancer cases than in controls (50.2% vs. 36.8%; P = 0.02). Subjects with the Ile/Ile genotype had an increased risk for the occurrence of colorectal cancer compared with those with the STK15 Phe/Phe genotype (adjusted OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.13 - 3.27). No significant association was observed between this STK15 polymorphism and risk of metastasis of the cancer.

CONCLUSIONThese findings suggest that STK15 Phe/Ile polymorphism may be a genetic susceptibility factor for colorectal cancer among Chinese.

Adult ; Aged ; Amino Acid Substitution ; Aurora Kinase A ; Aurora Kinases ; Case-Control Studies ; Colonic Neoplasms ; enzymology ; genetics ; pathology ; Confidence Intervals ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Odds Ratio ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rectal Neoplasms ; enzymology ; genetics ; pathology ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUNDAlemtuzumab has been used in organ transplantation and a variety of hematologic malignancies (especially for the treatment of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia). However, serious infectious complications frequently occur after treatment. The reason for increased infections postalemtuzumab treatment is unknown at this stage. We explore the effect of alemtuzumab on intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) and intestinal barrier function in cynomolgus model to explain the reason of infection following alemtuzumab treatment.

METHODSTwelve male cynomolguses were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group. The treatment group received alemtuzumab (3 mg/kg, intravenous injection) while the control group received the same volume of physiological saline. Intestinal IELs were isolated from the control group and the treatment group (on day 9, 35, and 70 after treatment) for counting and flow cytometric analysis. Moreover, intestinal permeability was monitored by enzymatic spectrophotometric technique and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTSThe numbers of IELs were decreased significantly on day 9 after treatment compared with the control group (0.35 ± 0.07 × 10 8 and 1.35 ± 0.09 × 10 8 , respectively; P < 0.05) and were not fully restored until day 70 after treatment. There were significant differences among four groups considering IELs subtypes. In addition, the proportion of apoptotic IELs after alemtuzumab treatment was significantly higher than in the control group (22.01 ± 3.67 and 6.01 ± 1.42, respectively; P < 0.05). Moreover, the concentration of D-lactate and endotoxin was also increased significantly on day 9 after treatment.

CONCLUSIONSAlemtuzumab treatment depletes lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and intestine of cynomolgus model. The induction of apoptosis is an important mechanism of lymphocyte depletion after alemtuzumab treatment. Notably, intestinal barrier function may be disrupted after alemtuzumab treatment.

Alemtuzumab ; Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; therapeutic use ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Flow Cytometry ; Intestines ; cytology ; Lymphocytes ; drug effects ; Macaca fascicularis ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission

BACKGROUNDRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation at the synovial membrane. Although great progress has been made recently in exploring the etiology and pathogenesis of RA, its molecular pathological mechanism remains to be further defined and it is still a great challenge in determining the diagnosis and in choosing the appropriate therapy in early patients. This study was performed to screen candidate RA-associated serum proteins by comparative proteomics to provide research clues to early diagnosis and treatment of RA.

METHODSSera isolated from 6 RA patients and 6 healthy volunteers were pooled respectively and high-abundance proteins were depleted by Plasma 7 Multiple Affinity Removal System. The protein expression profiles between the two groups were then compared by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and the proteins over/under-expressed by more than 3-fold were identified by mass spectrometry analysis. To validate the differential expression levels of the identified proteins between the two groups, ELISA was performed in two of the identified proteins in individual sera from 32 RA patients and 32 volunteers.

RESULTSEight proteins which over/under-expressed in sera of RA patients were identified. Among them, chain A of transthyretin (TTR) was under-expressed, while serum amyloid A protein, apolipoprotein A (ApoA)-IV, ApoA-IV precursor, haptoglobin 2, ceruloplasmin (Cp), immunoglobulin superfamily 22 and HT016 were over-expressed. ELISA test confirmed that Cp expressed remarkably higher while TTR obviously lower in RA group compared with volunteer group.

CONCLUSIONThere were 8 identified proteins differentially expressed between RA group and volunteer group, which might be candidate RA-associated proteins and might be promising diagnostic indicators or therapeutic targets for RA.

Adult ; Apolipoproteins A ; blood ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; blood ; Blood Proteins ; analysis ; Ceruloplasmin ; analysis ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prealbumin ; analysis ; Proteomics ; Serum Amyloid A Protein ; analysis

OBJECTIVEAdenovirus (ADV) is one of the most common causes of acute respiratory infections in infants and children. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of adenovirus infection among pediatric patients with acute respiratory infections in Beijing and the types of the adenoviruses circulating in Beijing on the molecular bases.

METHODClinical specimens including throat swabs from outpatients and nasopharyngeal aspirates from hospitalized patients were collected from patients with acute respiratory infections in a consecutive period of 6 years from Jan 2003 to Dec 2008. Adenoviruses were identified from the collected clinical specimens by tissue culture and/or immunofluorescence assay and typed by nested-PCR based on the sequence of the encoding gene of hexon. Primers were designed for PCR amplification using hexon gene of adenovirus as target. One primer pair was designed as universal primers for amplifying a 1278 bp gene fragment located at the hexon gene of adenovirus types 3, 7, 11 and 21. Four primer pairs with the sequences located within the region of this 1278 bp fragment were designed specifically for amplifying adenoviruses types 3, 7, 11 or 21, respectively, which were used for a multiplex nest-PCR in a single tube. The products from this multiplex nest-PCR were 502 bp (for type 3), 311 bp (for type 7), 880 bp (for type 11) and 237 bp (for type 21), respectively, and the type of the adenovirus tested can be determined after agarose electrophoresis analysis of the PCR products. For those strains which could not be typed by the multiplex nest-PCR, the gene fragment was amplified by a universal primer pair for all adenovirus types from group A to F and the PCR products were sequenced directly.

RESULTOut of 17 941 clinical specimens collected, including 4378 throat swabs from outpatients and 13 563 nasopharyngeal aspirates from hospitalized patients, 304 were adenovirus positive by tissue culture and/or immunofluorescence assay, the overall positive rate was 1.69% (304/179 41). Among these 304 adenovirus positive specimens, 184 were by virus isolation and 184 by immunofluorescence assay, among which 64 were positive by both methods. The types of the adenoviruses were tested for 285 patients including 174 viral isolates and 111 clinical specimens. By using the multiplex nest-PCR, 272 were typable, including 174 (61.1%, 174/285) for ADV3, 92 (32.3%, 92/285) for ADV7, 6 for ADV11 (2.1%, 6/285) and no adenovirus type 21 was detected. Sequence analysis for those 13 nontypable specimens by the multiplex nest-PCR showed that 9 were ADV2 (3.2%, 9/285), 2 were ADV6 (0.7%, 2/285), 1 was ADV1 (0.4%, 1/285) and 1 was ADV5 (0.4%, 1/285). Most of the patients positive for adenovirus were under 5 years of age and 64.4% were from patients with lower respiratory infections, such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia. All the 5 cases of severe pneumonia with pulmonary failure were caused by ADV7 infection.

CONCLUSIONAdenovirus is still an important pathogen for acute respiratory infection in infants and young children and most of the adenoviruses associated with acute respiratory infections in children in Beijing from 2003 to 2008 were ADV3 and ADV7. ADV7 could cause severe lower respiratory infections.

Acute Disease ; Adenoviridae ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Adenoviridae Infections ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Prevalence ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; virology