Objective The study was to evaluate DWI for quantifying liver fibrosis. Methods A total of 12 volunteers, 47 patients who had chronic HBV or HCV hepatitis and underwent liver biopsy [Scheuer score for fibrosis(S) and inflammation(G)] were enrolled in this study. They were scanned using a 1.5 T MR unit with b value of 0,250,500,750, 1000 s/mm~2. ADCs at b_(250-1000) and b_(500-1000) were the average ADCs of b=250, 500, 750, 1000 s/mm~2 and b=500, 750, 1000 s/mm~2. The studied the correlation between Scbeuer scores and ADC values, and conducted Mann-Whitney U test and Logistic regression to evaluate ADC for prediction of fibrosis scores. Results The average ADCs were (1.41± 0.11),(1.37±0.09), (1.27±0.05), (1.26±0.04), (1.22±0.06) mm~2/s respectively from SO to S4, stage at b=750 s/mm~2 (F=18.31, P<0.01). With the increase of fibrosis score, the average ADC decreased gradually, the two were better negatively correlated at b_(250-1000)(r=-0.727, P<0.01) than other b values. Using b_(750) and the two combined b values, the found significantly lower ADCs in S2 or greater versus S1 or less and in S3 or greater versus S2 or less fibrosis (P<0.01). The best predictor for S2 or greater was b_(750) with the largest AUC of 0.909, sensitivity of 85.7%, and specificity of 100.0% (ADC ≤1.35×10~(-3) mm~2/s). The best predictor for S3 or greater was b_(250-1000) with the largest AUC of 0.864, sensitivity of 69.6%, and specificity of 95.8% (ADC≤1.53×10~(-3) mm~2/s). Conclusion DWI can be a good predictor for scoring liver fibrosis for S2 or S3 stage above, while b_(750) and the combined b values are suitable for evaluation.

Objective:This work aims to investigate diallyl disulfide (DADS) inhibition of cell migration and invasion in human colon cancer SW480 cells through the Rac1-ADF/cofilin1 pathway. Methods:The potential of cell migration and invasion was examined by scratch healing assay and transwell membrane assay. The expression of Rac1-ADF/cofilin1 pathway was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. Results:After the SW480 cells were treated with 40 and 50 mg·L-1 of DADS for 24 h, the number of transmembrane cells through the Matrigel obviously decreased by 57.12%and 64.59%, respectively (P<0.05). After cell treatment for 48 h, the cell migration rates were 23.23%and 12.87%, which were significantly lower compared with the control group (75.86%;P<0.05). After the cells were treated with 45 mg·L-1 of DADS for 24 and 48 h, the expression of Rac1, Rock1, PAK1, LIMK1, and destrin mRNA respectively decreased compared with the control group (P<0.05). However, no significant difference was observed in the expression of cofilin1 mRNA (P>0.05). After the treatment with 45 mg·L-1 of DADS for 6, 12, 24, and 48 h, the expression of Rac1, Rock1, PAK1, LIMK1, and Destrin proteins respectively decreased in a time-dependent manner compared with the control group (P<0.05). However, no significant differences were observed in the expression of the cofilin1 protein (P>0.05). Moreover, the expression of p-LIMK1 and p-cofilin1 notably decreased in a time-dependent manner (P<0.05). Conclusion:DADS inhibits cell migration and invasion, which is related to the down-regulation of Rac1, Rock1, PAK1, LIMK1, p-LIMK1, p-cofilin1, and destrin through the Rac1-ADF/cofilin1 pathway.

Objective To investigate the effect of heat stress on organ indices, intestinal morphology, gastric mu-cosal HSP70 mRNA expression and glucose metabolic hormones in mice.Methods A single-factor experiment was de-signed for the present research.Eighteen KM mice of the similar age and weight were randomly divided into control group and heat stress group.The weight of the heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney, as well as the expression of HSP70 mRNA in the mouse gastric mucosa were measured.The plasma concentration of insulin and glucagon, the villus height and crypt depth of the duodenum and jejunum were detected.The histological changes of the liver, duodenum and jejunum were also examined.Results There was no effect of heat stress on the organ indices.It significantly increased the expression of HSP70 mRNA in the gastric mucosa, reduced the plasma insulin level and caused serious injury to the liver, duodenum and jejunum in the mice.Conclusions Heat stress does not significantly affect the organ indices in mice, but can significantly increase the expression of HSP70 mRNA in the gastric mucosa, cause apparent damages in the liver, duodenum and jeju-num, reduce the villus height, crypt depth and villus height/crypt depth ratio of the duodenum and jejunum, and also de-crease the blood insulin concentration in the mice.

Objective To analyze the efficacy of electric sacral neuromdulation and resiniferatoxin in patients with female overactive bladder.Methods 32 cases with IOAB female patients accepted percutaneous test sitmulation of the electric sacral nerves at S3 ,and treated by intravesical instillation with 100ml of 100nmol/L RTX.The effica- cy of voiding status were evaluated.The improvement of female patients life were evaluated comparing the rating of depression and anxiety.Results There were significant improvements in 32 cases in variables included the number of voiding,volume voided and signs every day and urgent uresis.In the rating of depression and anxiety,the patients improved a litter and still had stimulating symptom in urethra and bladder.Conclusion The treatment of IOAB with single administratoon of electric sacral neuromdulation and resiniferatoxin is effective,and can successfully im- prove the symptom with little side effects.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL)in treating renal calculi.Methods The data of 118 patients with renal calculi who had underg- one PCNL from July 2002 to August 2004 were retrospectively analyzed.There were 86 men and 32 women. The mean age was 39 years(range,7-68 years).Of the 118 cases,11 had pelvic calculi,16 had calyx cal- culi,35 had pelvocalyceal calculi,54 had staghorn calculi,and 2 had bilateral renal calculi.The mean stone size was 2.5 cm?1.5cm(ranged from 2.0 cm?1.0 cm to 4.5cm?4.0cm).Results Of the 118 ca- ses,112 underwent one-stage PCNL,and 6,two-stage PCNL.The procedure was performed by single tract in 114 cases,and by two tracts in 4 cases.Lithotomy was done by one session in 60 cases,by 2 sessions in 42 cases,and by 3 sessions in 16 cases.The total stone clearance rate was 81.4%.The mean operative time was 120 min,and mean hospital stay was 15 d.No blood transfusion was needed during operation,and only one patient experienced bleeding(about 500 ml)after 4 d postoperatively,and was cured by conservative treat- ment such as blood transfusion and anti-inflammation.No major complications were observed in other pa- tients.Conclusions PCNL has advantages of minimal trauma,less blood loss,fewer complications,and is safe and effective in treating renal calculi,especially for patients who will have the second procedure.

This paper aims to establish an accurate finite element model of complete lumbar spine with complex lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), and then to do comparison and analysis of normal model and decompression surgery model. Firstly, we chose some patients with complex LSS and then collected the CT scanned data. Then we generated a complete FE model of Lumbar with complex LSS using a specially designed modeling system, and we also created a normal lumbar model and a decompression treated model. We applied same boundary conditions in all the three models. The results showed that the active movement range of complex LSS was smaller than that of the normal model, but the movement range of the decompression model was larger than that of the normal. There are stress concentration around the endplate and disk at the degenerative intervertebral? disk L4-L5 and adjacent disk L3-L4 for LSS model, and the stress of the decompression model increased more significantly. This simulation demonstrated that the treatment of simple decompression for lumbar spine with complex LSS can release the pain, but may result in unstability and accelerate the degeneration.
Decompression, Surgical ; methods ; Finite Element Analysis ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; surgery ; Models, Biological ; Spinal Stenosis ; surgery

The proteins encoded by the Herpesviridae β-gene play a critical role in the replication stage of the virus. In this paper, phylogenetic analyses provided evidence that someβ-gene products, such as UL2 and UL23 from HSV1, have their homologous genes in its family, and also exist in prokaryotic organisms, indicating that these viruses appear to have been assembled over evolutionary time by numerous independent events of horizontal gene transfer.

BACKGROUNDTo compare the efficacy and safety of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) combined with fluoxetine, with HRT alone, in post-menopausal women suffering from depression.

METHODSA randomized, open-label, parallel trial was applied. HRT was administered to all patients for 2 cycles, with 14 days of estrogen therapy and 14 days of estrogen plus progesterone. Patients who were randomly assigned to the HRT plus fluoxetine group were given fluoxetine in combination with HRT. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Kupperman Menopausal Index (KMI), and Clinical Global Impressions scale were used to measure the efficacy.

RESULTSOne hundred and twenty-three post-menopausal patients with depression were enrolled in the study. Among them, 120 had at least one post-treatment visit and entered into the statistical analysis. The mean total HAMD scores were significantly lower, and the percentages of HAMD score reductions were higher in the HRT plus fluoxetine Group compared with the HRT Group, after at least 3 weeks of treatment, with an average difference of 5 points at the endpoint. The Clinical Global Impression-Severity and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scores were significantly different in the 2 groups, in favor of the combination therapy. The mean total KMI was significantly lower in the Combination Group compared with the HRT Group, after at least 6 weeks of treatment, with an average 4.5-point difference between the groups. No statistically significant differences were found in most of the adverse events reported in the Combination Group compared with the HRT group, with the exception of 3 symptoms, i.e., dry mouth, loss of appetite, and abdominal distention. They were mild to moderate in severity. Two patients in the HRT group, but none in the combination group, dropped out due to adverse events.

CONCLUSIONHRT plus fluoxetine therapy was effective in the treatment of menopausal depression with a satisfactory safety profile.

Adult ; Depressive Disorder ; drug therapy ; Estrogen Replacement Therapy ; Female ; Fluoxetine ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Menopause ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome

To characterize the long terminal repeat (LTR) of the ALV-J strain which can induce hemangioma, fragments of provirus LTR of the three different ALV-J strains SCAU-HN06, NX0101 and JS-nt were amplified with a pair of specific primers, then cloned and subjected to sequence analysis. In comparison with the prototype ALV-J strains HPRS-103 and ADOL-7501, the LTRs of domestic strains (SCAU-HN06, NX0101, JS-nt and SD07lk1) had an 88.0%-97.2% nucleotide sequence identity; the U5 and R regions in the LTR had a high nucleotide similarity, while the U3 region in the LTR showed significant variance. The LTR fragments from the different ALV-J strains were inserted into the upstream of bacterial CAT gene of the plasmid pCAT-Basic, respectively. The resultant recombinant plasmids were transfected into DF-1 cells. The transfected cells were harvested 48 h post-transfection, and cell lysates were prepared for CAT expression detection. The CAT assay was performed using CAT-ELISA. The results showed that the promoter activity of the LTRSCAU-HNO6 was a little higher than those of LTRJS-nt and LTRNX0101, but there was no significant difference in the promoter activity among the compared LTRs.
Animals ; Avian Leukosis Virus ; classification ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Chickens ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics ; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid

OBJECTIVETo explore the pathogenesis of tumors by blocking the normal differentiation process of stem cells.

METHODSBone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) from rats were isolated, cultured and purified by whole bone marrow adherence method. The rat BMSCs were induced to differentiate into adipocytes with dexamethasone, insulin and indomethacin. Blockage of the differentiation process was induced by 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC).

RESULTSThe differentiation experiment showed that at 30 days after the induction, oil red O staining-positive cells occurred with increased intracytolasmic lipid droplets, characteristic for adipocytes. The differentiation blockage experiment showed that at 30 days after induction, the deposits of oil red O staining-cytoplasmic lipid droplets was significantly reduced, indicating that the blocked cells were adipocytes, but not fully differentiated. Morphological identification showed that cell contact inhibition disappeared, abnormal cell nuclei, increased number of micronucleus aberration and karyotype abnormalities, indicating that malignant transformation of the stem cells occurred after the differentiation blockage.

CONCLUSIONSThe results of this study show a blockage of the differentiation of that stem cells at the intermediate phase, and a tendency of malignant transformation of the stem cells. The results of our study provide new evidence that cancer stem cells may be originated by suppression of stem cell differentiation.

Adipocytes ; cytology ; Animals ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; Cells, Cultured ; Dexamethasone ; pharmacology ; Drug Combinations ; Female ; Indomethacin ; pharmacology ; Insulin ; pharmacology ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; Methylcholanthrene ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar