Rapamycin is frequently used as an immunosuppressive agent and also plays an important role in tumor suppression.It combines to FKBP12 and forms a compound to inhibit the serine/threonine protein kinase mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR),its activation is required for protein synthesis and cell-cycle progression.Rapamycin can block cell cycle at G1 phase and to inhibit cell proliferation.Furthermore rapamycin may inhibit cytokine production and cytokine signaling.Therefore rapamycin is used in the treatment of post-transplantation organ rejection and tumor therapy due to its dual effects of immuno-suppression and tumor inhibition.

ObjectiveTo explore the association between hepatic steatosis and the liver tissue expression of HBsAg and HBcAg in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.MethodsFrom January 2005 to June 2008,a total of 147 CHB patients with hepatic steatosis diagnosed by liver biopsy and other 149 CHB patients without hepatic steatosis but with similar HBV DNA titer were enrolled.The differences of HBsAg and HBcAg immunostaining and liver injury in these two groups were compared.The data were analysed using t test and chi square test.ResultsCompared with non-steatosis group,the average age and body weight index of hepatic steatosis group were higher (t values were -3.31and -6.57,both P＜0.01).The percentage of moderate to severe hepatic inflammation in liver,obvious hepatic fibrosis and the strong positive HBsAg staining was lower (30.6％ vs 15.4％ ； 26.5％vs 12.8％； 23.1 ％ vs 6.7 ％； x2=9.63,8.92,15.76； all P＜0.01),and the percentage of strong positive HBcAg staining was also in downtrend.Compared with degree F1 and F2 of liver steatosis,the percentage of HBsAg and HBcAg strong positive staining in liver tissues of degree F3 and F4 was in downtrend.ConclusionsHepatic steatosis affected the expression of HBsAg and HBcAg in liver tissue of CHB patients.As hepatic steatosis appeared and became more severe,both expression of HBsAg and HBcAg and the degree of liver injury were in downtrend.

Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic ; diagnosis ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; diagnosis

Objective:To establish a real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR for the detection of torque teno virus types 7 (TTV7), 8 (TTV8) and 10 (TTV10) and analyze its performance in clinical sample detection.Methods:Specific primers were designed based on the gene sequences of TTV7, TTV8 and TTV10 in GenBank. Recombinant plasmids of pMD19-T-TTV7, pMD19-T-TTV8 and pMD19-T-TTV10 were constructed and used as positive standard control to establish a real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR based on FAM-Eclipse probe method. The specificity and sensitivity of the established method were evaluated. Moreover, it was validated in terms of clinical sample detection.Results:The standard curve equations of the real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR for detecting TTV7, TTV8 and TTV10 were y=-0.340 2 x+ 114.780 0 ( R2=0.998 8), y=-0.351 1 x+ 114.940 0 ( R2=0.995 3) and y=-0.348 9 x+ 115.020 0 ( R2=0.991 7), respectively, and there was no cross-reaction with other viruses. The detection sensitivity of the established method for TTV7, TTV8 and TTV10 were 108 copies/μl, 84 copies/μl and 98 copies/μl, and the positive detection rates in clinical pediatric serum samples were 10.9%, 2.1% and 4.3%, respectively. Conclusions:The established real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR for detection of TTV7, TTV8 and TTV10 was featured by strong specificity and high sensitivity, which could be used for rapid TTV detection in clinical serum samples.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to verify the reliability of the alcoholic liver disease (ALD)/nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) index (ANI) for distinguishing ALD in patients with hepatic steatosis from NAFLD, and to investigate whether ANI combined with γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) would enhance the accuracy of diagnosis in China. METHODS: A hundred thirty-nine cases of fatty liver disease (FLD) were divided into two groups of ALD and NAFLD. The ANI was calculated with an online calculator. All indicators and ANI values were analyzed using statistical methods. RESULTS: ANI was significantly higher in patients with ALD than in those with NAFLD (7.11 ± 5.77 vs. -3.09 ± 3.89, p < 0.001). With a cut-off value of -0.22, the sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of diagnosed ALD cases was 87.1%, 92.5%, and 0.934 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.879 to 0.969), respectively. The corresponding values for aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine transaminase (ALT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and GGT were 75.29%, 72.94%, and 0.826 (95% CI, 0.752 to 0.885); 94.34%, 83.02%, and 0.814 (95% CI, 0.739 to 0.875) and 80.23%, 79.25%, and 0.815 (95% CI, 0.740 to 0.876), respectively. ANI AUROC was significantly higher than the AST/ALT, MCV, or GGT AUROCs (all p < 0.001), moreover, ANI showed better diagnostic performance. The combination of ANI and GGT showed a better AUROC than ANI alone (0.976 vs. 0.934, p = 0.016). The difference in AUROCs between AST/ALT, MCV, and GGT was not statistically significant (all p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ANI can help distinguish ALD from NAFLD with high accuracy; when ANI was combined with GGT, its effectiveness improved further.
Alcoholics* ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; China ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Erythrocyte Indices ; Fatty Liver* ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase ; Humans ; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic* ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Transferases*

Objective:To investigate the influencing factors of significant liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) concurrent with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Methods:Those who underwent liver pathological examination and confirmed diagnosis of CHB and NAFLD in Tianjin Second People′s Hospital from August 2014 to September 2017 were enrolled. Data regarding their demographic information, laboratory tests results, and liver pathology results were analyzed. The latter results were used to categorize the patients either in non-significant liver fibrosis group (Metavir stage

Objective To investigate the expression level of fatty acid synthase (FASN) in different grades ofgliomas and its relationship with glioma malignancy.Methods Glioma U87 and U373 cell lines were routinely cultured in vitro;immunofluorescence assay was performed to detect the cellular localization of FASN in glioma U87 and U373 cell lines.Sixty-seven human glioma samples,collected in our hospital from March 2012 to March 2013,were used in our study;grade Ⅰ was noted in three samples by WHO grading,grade Ⅱ in 29,graded Ⅲ in 22,and grade Ⅳ in 13;immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression levels of FASN,CD34 and Ki-67 and microvascular density (MVD) in these human glioma samples.Spearman's correlation was used to analyze the relationship between FASN expression and both Ki-67 expression and MVD in human gliomas.Results (1) FASN could express in the cytoplasm of glioma U87 and U373 cell lines.(2) immumohistochemical staining indicated that FASN mainly located in the cytoplasm,Ki-67 in the cell nucleus,and CD34 in the cytomembrane.FASN expression in samples of grade Ⅰ (3.3683±0.6549) was significantly lower than that in samples of grade Ⅱ (4.0512±0.4859,P＜0.05),and FASN expression in samples of grade Ⅲ (4.1881±0.5755) was significantly lower than that in samples of grade Ⅳ (4.6996±0.5164,P＜0.05);MVD in samples of grade Ⅱ was significantly smaller than that in samples of grade Ⅲ(P＜0.05),and MVD in samples of grade Ⅲ was significantly lower than that in samples of grade Ⅳ(P＜0.05);Ki-67 expression in samples of grade Ⅱ was significantly lower than that in samples of grade Ⅲ (P＜0.05).(3) There was a positive and significant correlation between FASN expression and MVD (r=0.606,P=0.030);a positive and significant correlation between FASN expression and Ki-67 was also noted (r=0.636,P=0.014).Conclusion High expression level of FASN indicates high proliferation capability and high blood supply in haman gliomas.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the value of controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) in the diagnosis of fatty liver using FibroScan in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD).

METHODSA prospective cohort study was performed for the patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), chronic hepatitis C (CHC), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who underwent liver pathological examination followed by CAP measurement within 1 week in The Second People's Hospital of Tianjin from February 2013 to May 2014. According to related guidelines, hepatocyte steatosis was classified as S0: <5%, S1: 5%-33%, S2: 34%-66%, or S3: ≥67%. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted with positive results as the diagnostic criteria, and the optimal cut-off values were determined at the maximum Youden index. Single linear regression and multiple stepwise regression were applied to analyze the influencing factors for CAP.

RESULTSA total of 427 patients were enrolled, consisting of 19 patients (4.4%) with NAFLD, 383 (89.7%) with CHB, and 25 (5.9%) with CHC. The optimal cut-off values for CAP in the diagnosis of steatosis ≥5%, ≥34%, and ≥67% were 230 dB/m, 252 dB/m, and 283 dB/m, respectively, and the areas under the ROC curve were 0.803, 0.942, and 0.938, respectively (Z = 14.194, 28.385, and 16.486, respectively, all P < 0.01). CAP differentiated S0 from S1, S1 from S2, S0 from S2, S0 from S3, and S1 from S3 (Z = 10.109, 10.224, 47.81, 29.917, and 10.999, all P < 0.01), but was not able to differentiate S2 from S3 (Z = 0.656, P = 0.5116). The single linear regression and multiple stepwise regression analyses showed that only body mass index (BMI; B = 4.001, P < 0.01) and hepatic steatosis (B = 33.015, P = 0.000) were correlated with CAP. The coincidence rates between CAP and liver pathological diagnosis were 77.4%, 81.0%, and 96.2% for S0, S3, and ≥S2, respectively.

CONCLUSIONCAP has a good value in the diagnosis of fatty liver in CLD patients, and can well differentiate between all stages of fatty liver except S2 and S3. CAP is influenced by BMI, but is not found to be associated with liver fibrosis, inflammation, liver stiffness measurement, and etiology.

Area Under Curve ; Biopsy ; Body Mass Index ; Cell Differentiation ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; Humans ; Inflammation ; complications ; Linear Models ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; Multivariate Analysis ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; complications ; diagnosis ; Prospective Studies ; ROC Curve