Objective:To investigate the effects of thalidomide on vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and quality of life in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma after transcatheter arterial chemoembotization.Methods:A total of 60 patients with HCC,who were treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University from January 2014 to January 2016,were randomly divided into group A (n=30)and group B (n=30).Group A was treated with Thalidomide in combination with TACE,oral 200 mg every night for 1 month;group B was treated with TACE alone.The levels of VEGF in the two groups were detected before treatment and 3 weeks after treatment;the quality of life of patients before treatment and 1 month after treatment was evaluated by quality of life scale (QOL);the weight of two groups before and after treatment and adverse reactions during treatment were compared.Results:There was no significant difference in VEGF levels between the two groups before treatment (P＞0.05).After treatment,the levels of VEGF in the two groups were higher than those before treatment,and the VEGF levels in the group A was significantly lower than that in the group B,the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.01).There was no significant difference in QOL score and body weight between the two groups before treatment (P＞0.05).The QOL scores of the two groups after treatment were lower than those before treatment,but the QOL scores of patients in group A were significantly higher than those in group B (P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in weight between the two groups before and after treatment (P＞0.05).In group A,1 patients (3.33％) had severe somnolence,2 (6.67％) patients stopped taking thalidomide due to severe dry mouth,and the remaining 27 patients were able to tolerate.Conclusion:Thalidomide combined with TACE in the treatment of patients with HCC can reduce the levels of VEGF and improve the quality of life of cancer patients,which is worthy to be popularized in clinic.

Objective To describe the echocardiographic and clinical findings of patients with accessory mitral valve(AMV).Methods Four adult patients were diagnosed to have AMV by Doppler echocardiography.Results All the four patients had cardiac murmur but 2 were asymptomatic.Echocardiogram showed that two cases had isolated AMV with significant left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT)obstruction.Another patient was complicated by idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis and his systolic pressure gradient across the LVOT reduced to normal after taking negative inotropic drugs.The fourth patient was associated with complex congenital cardiac anomalies but without LVOT obstruction.Conclusions AMV may not be very rare as previously reported.An echocardiographic examination Can detect AMV and difierentiate it from other causes of LVOT obstruction.

Aged ; Aortic Valve Insufficiency ; diagnostic imaging ; Echocardiography ; Humans ; Male

Heart Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; diagnostic imaging ; Ultrasonography

Catheterization ; instrumentation ; methods ; Endoscopy ; Humans ; Paranasal Sinuses ; Sinusitis ; therapy

OBJECTIVERNA interference was applied to knockdown the Dhcr7 gene in mouse embryonic palatal shelves to facilitate understanding of the function of Dhcr7 gene variants in the fusion of palatal shelves.

METHODSThe pAdTrack-CMV-siDhcr7 was constructed using the specific siRNA sequence of Dhcr7 from C57BL/6J mouse. The pAdTrack-CMV- siDhcr7 of positive clones was reconstructed in vitro, and the recombinant adenovirus pAdEasy-1-siDhcr7 of kanamycin resistance was screened. The adenovirus vector DNA was then prepared for transfecting the embryonic palatal shelves. Thirty pairs of embryonic palatal shelves at 13.5 d gestational age were harvested and then randomly divided into the following three groups: normal control group (n = 10), which included palatal shelves inculture medium without cholesterol; blank adenovirus control group (n = 10), which included palatal shelves in culture medium without cholesterol and blank adenovirus; and experimental group (n = 10), which included palatal shelves in culture medium without cholesterol and adenovirus encoding Dhcr7 siRNA. At 48 h after in vitro cultivation, the mRNA and protein of the palatal shelves were obtained for scanning electron microscopy (SEM), reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and Western blot analyses.

RESULTSSEM showed that the palatal shelves of the normal control and blank adenovirus control groups fused and formed continuous palates, whereas those of the experimental group was almost undeveloped but exhibited large gaps between the two palatal shelves. RT-PCR and Western blot analyses showed that the mRNA and protein of Dhcr7 in the experimental group decreased compared with those in the normal control group with a significant difference (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONResults indicate that Dhcr7 gene silencing affects the fusion of palatal shelves. Thus, Dhcr7 gene may serve a function in the normal development of palates.

Animals ; Cleft Palate ; Gene Silencing ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Organ Culture Techniques ; Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-CH Group Donors ; Palate ; growth & development ; RNA, Messenger

OBJECTIVETo analyze the changes of patients with type 2 diabetes in different stages in glucagon (GC) and free fatty acid (FFA) in fasting, OGT and L-Arg experiments, and discusses the role of pancreatic alphabeta cells in diabetes pathogenesis by studying the relations among indexes such as glucagon (GC), free fatty acid (FFA) and blood glucose (BG), insulin, insulin homeostasis model (HOMA) and glucose metabolism hormone secretion curve, in order to provide theoretical basis for the treatment of diabetes.

METHODStudy objects were divided into the T2DM group (45 cases), the IGT group (28 cases) and the NGT group (30 cases) for an OGTT experiment and then an L-Arg experiment on the next day. Under the fasting state, their blood glucose (FBG), insulin (F), glucagon (FGC), free fatty acid (FFA) were detected to calculate HOMA-beta, insulin sensitivity index (ISI) and HOMA-IR of different groups. Meanwhile, efforts were made to calculate different time quantum detected in OGTT and L-Arg experiments and area under the curve AUC(BG), AUC(INS) and AUC(GC).

RESULTObvious overall differences were observed in FFA and FGC of the three groups. FGC of each group was negatively correlated with HOMA-beta and ISI. Among all of the 103 study objects, FGC was positively correlated with FBG and HOMA-IR and negatively correlated with HOMA-beta and ISI, with no correlation with FINS; FFA was positively correlated with FBG, HOMA-IR and negatively correlated with FINS, HOMA-beta, ISI. FGC and FFA were positively correlated in the T2DM group and the IGT group, but with no statistical correlation in the NGT group. The sequence of the three study objects was T2DM > IGR > NGT in AUC(GC) in the OGTT experiment and T2DM > IGR > NGT in in AUC(GC) in the L-Arg experiment, with the significant positive correlation between AUC(GC) and AUC(BG) and significant negative correlation with AUC(INS).

CONCLUSIONGlucagon and free fatty acid of T2DM and IGT patients increased, which was positively correlated with blood glucose and HOMA-IR and negatively correlated with INS, HOMA-beta and ISI. The increase in glucagons of T2DM and IGT patients indicated inappropriate secretion of pancreatic alphabeta cells among patients with type 2 diabetes.

Adult ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; metabolism ; Fatty Acids, Nonesterified ; metabolism ; Female ; Glucagon ; blood ; Humans ; Insulin ; secretion ; Islets of Langerhans ; secretion ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To investigate the value of bone marrow imprints in the cytomorphology diagnosis.Methods A total of 354 cases of bone marrow smears,imprints,and sections were analyzed from January 2011 to December 2013 to detect morphological diagnosis difference.Results Bone marrow imprints in groups of extremely reduced,significantly reduced,normal,slightly increased,increased significantly,and extreme increase were better than that of smear which nucleated cells quantity assessment(P ＜ 0.01).Smears and imprints were similar (P ＞0.05).Imprints nucleated cell number decreased mostly were the same as smear,but smear reduced imprints mostly normal or increased.The bone marrow sections nucleated cells quantity as the standard,smears and imprints had high coincidence rate in the group of nucleated cells reduced (87.5％ and 96.9％),and imprints were higher than smear in the group of nucleated cells quantity in normal and increased(87.8％ and 95.7％ vs 68.3％ and 55.8％),and the difference was statistically significant.Imprints were better than smear in specificity,Youden index,and sensitivity.Patients with plasma cell myeloma (PCM) imprint plasma cell volume and immature plasma cells were higher than that of smear (42.73 ± 10.47 and 13.60 ± 4.83 vs 24.67 ± 11.18 and 11.07 ± 5.82) with a statistically significant difference (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Imprints have characteristics both smear and sections,and imprints are superior to smears in assessment of nucleated cells and tumor cell invasion degree.Smear combined with imprints can improve the diagnosis level of bone marrow cell cytomorphology.

Objective To investigate the correhtion between cognitive impairment and cerebral atherosclerosis in patients with acute ischemic stroke.Methods Acute ischemic stroke patients without cognitive impairment were recruited before symptom onset.The Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) was used to evaluate the cognitive function.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to identify the infarct locations and sides.Magnetic resonance angiography,CT angiography and digital subtraction angiography were used to identify atherosclerotic arteries.Resul~ A total of 101 patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled,including 75 (74.3％) with cognitive impairment.The proportions of age (54.54 ± 12.59 years vs.64.43 ± 10.37 years;t =-3.960,P ＜0.001),years of education ≤6 years (50.7％ vs.11.5％;x2 =12.257,P ＜ 0.001),and cerebral atherosclerosis (89.3％ vs.50.0％;x2 =18.137,P ＜0.001) of the cognitive impairment group were significantly higher than those of the normal cognitive function group.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that cerebral atherosclerosis was an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment in patients with acute ischemic stroke (odds ratio 1.720,95％ confidence interval 1.005-2.942;P=0.048).MoCA score was negatively correlated with the offending vessels (r=-0.365,P＜ 0.001) and the most severe vessels of atherosclerotic degree (r=-0.243,P =0.014).Conclusions Most patients with acute ischemic stroke had cognitive impairment in the early stage after onset,and the MoCA scores was negatively correlated with the degree of cerebral atherosclerosis.Cerebral atherosclerosis was an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment in patientswith acute ischemic stroke.

Objective To investigate the effects of ciprofloxacin on dermal collagen synthesis and profibrotic gene expressions in an experimental mouse model of scleroderma induced by bleomycin. Methods Experimental mouse models of scleroderma were established by subcutaneous injection of bleomycin into the dorsal skin of 15 BALB/c mice for 4 consecutive weeks. Then, the mouse models were randomly and equally divided into 3 groups to be topically treated with 1% ciprofloxacin cream (ciprofloxacin group), 2.5% asiaticoside cream (asiaticoside group)and cream vehicle (model group)respectively for 5 consecutive weeks. Five mice firstly injected with sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS)for 4 weeks then topically treated with cream vehicle for 5 weeks served as the blank control group. After the 5-week topical treatment, all the mice were sacrificed, skin specimens were resected from the dorsal skin of them, and subjected to HE staining and Masson staining. Further more, an immunohistochemical assay was performed to measure the expressions of type I collagen (COL-1), matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP1) and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP1), semi-quantitative reverse transcription PCR to quantify the expressions of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1)and Smad3 genes, and alkaline hydrolysis-spectrophotometry to determine the level of hydroxyproline in skin. Statistical analysis was carried out by one-way analysis of variance and the least significant difference(LSD)test with the SPSS 17.0 software. Results Compared with the blank control group, the model group showed increased dermal thickness at injection sites (432.76 ± 93.74 μm vs. 301.69 ± 79.47 μm, P < 0.01). Masson staining revealed thick and dense collagen bundles in an irregular arrangement in the dermis in the model group, which was consistent with dermal fibrosis in scleroderma. The total content of collagen and staining intensity of COL-1, MMP1 and TIMP1 were all significantly decreased in the ciprofloxacin group and asiaticoside group compared with the model group (F = 1628.54, 33.29, 84.82, 224.81, respectively, all P < 0.01), while no significant changes were observed in dermal thickness (both P > 0.05). Moreover, compared with cream vehicle, asiaticoside down-regulated the expressions of the three profibrotic genes(CTGF, TGFβ1 and Smad3)to different extents (all P < 0.05), while ciprofloxacin only inhibited the expressions of TGFβ1 and Smad3 genes (both P < 0.05)with no significant effect on CTGF gene expression (P > 0.05). Conclusion Ciprofloxacin may counteract dermal fibrosis by inhibiting the TGFβ1/Smad3 pathway and modulating the unbalanced expressions of MMP1 and TIMP1.