Objective To establish a mouse model of acute liver failure induced by lipopolysaccharide /D-galac-tosamine ( LPS/D-GalN) .Methods The optimum dose of LPS/D-GalN was determined by i .p.injection of eight differ-ent doses of LPS and D-GalN into 40 female C57BL/6 mice and observation of their survival time .Then, 32 female C57BL/6 mice were i.p.injected with the optimal dose of LPS/D-GalN and sacrificed at 0, 1, 4, 8 hours after the injec-tion, 8 mice in each group.The control mice received saline injection .Hepatic changes were observed by pathology and se-rum ALT, IL-6, MCP-1 and TNF-αwere measured by biochemistry or flow cytometry .Results LPS (2.5 mg/kg) and D-GalN (0.3 g/kg) were determined as the optimal dose for the establishment of mouse model of acute liver injury .Com-pared with the control group , the hepatocellular damages were progressing in a positive correlation with the time course after LPS/D-GalN administration .The level of serum ALT was significantly increased after LPS/D-GalN administration ( P <0.001).The levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-6, MCP-1 and TNF-αwere increased and reached a peak at one hour after LPS/D-GalN administration and then decreased almost to that of the control group 8 hours later(P<0.001).Conclusions The mouse model of acute liver injury is successfully established by LPS /D-GalN administration , and provide an effective animal model for the study of pathogenic mechanisms of acute liver failure and evaluation of therapeutic drugs .

Objective To analyze and compare the pathological changes of lung tissue in mice infected with the novel H7N9 influenza virus and 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, respectively, and to preliminarily study the mecha-nisms of acute lung injury induced by those virus infection .Methods SPF 6-week old BALB/c mice ( body weight 18-20 g, male∶female=1∶1) (n=3 in each subgroup) were intranasally infected with H7N9 virus and H1N1 virus, respec-tively.The behavior and survival time of mice after virus infection were observed and the survival rates were analyzed .The heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, intestines, and brain were collected at indicated time points for histopathological exami-nation using H&E staining .The distribution of virus antigen was detected by immunohistochemistry .The neutrophil infiltra-tion was also observed .The correlation of lung injury with virus replication and host immune responses was analyzed .Re-sults The lung and spleen injury of mice infected with H 7N9 virus was slighter and their survival rate (100%) was high-er than those of mice infected with H1N1 virus.The damages of the lung and spleen in H1N1virus-infected mice were more severe than that in H7N9 virus-infected mice, and all the 10 mice in this group died within 9 days after virus inoculation . The distributions of both the virus antigens were mainly in the bronchial epithelial cells , a few stromal cells and alveolar ep-ithelial cells .The levels of virus replication in the two groups were not significantly different .There were more intense neu-trophil infiltration in the lung and inflammatory response in the H 1N1 virus-infected mice than those in the H7N9 virus-in-fected mice .Conclusions There are some differences of the pathological characteristics and extent of lung injury in the mice infected with H7N9 virus and H1N1 virus, respectively.The virus replication is a precipitating factor but not the deci-sive factor of the lung injury , and there is a close relationship between the host immune responses and acute lung injury .

Objective To study the correlation between carotid bifurcation geometry and atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability using high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging(HRMR-VWI),and to seek the potential predictor for vulnerable plaque for-mation.Methods The clinical information and imaging data of 104 patients with carotid bifurcation plaque detected by HRMR-VWI were analyzed retrospectively.Carotid bifurcation geometric parameters was measured to determine whether the carotid bifurcation plaque was vulnerable plaque,and they were divided into vulnerable plaque group(69 cases)and stable plaque group(35 cases).The difference of carotid bifurcation geometry of various groups was investigated,and the influence of common traditional risk factors to obtain independent risk factors was adjusted.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was drawn.Results Among 104 carotid artery,vulnerable plaque group had larger bifurcation angle(54.00 vs 48.80,P＜0.001),less luminal expansion(1.76 vs 1.94,P=0.002)and less outflow/inflow area ratio(0.79 vs 0.88,P＜0.001)compared with stable plaque group.After adjusting,binary logistic regres-sion indicated that bifurcation angle[odds ratio(OR)1.132 per 10° increase;95％confidence interval(CI)1.044-1.225],luminal expan-sion(OR 0.084 per 1 increase;95％CI 0.014-0.492)and outflow/inflow area ratio(OR 0.357 per 0.01 increase;95％CI 0.177-0.723)were independent risk factors of vulnerable plaque formation.Bringing them into the final model,the area under the curve(AUC)was 0.878 above the basic model(AUC=0.664).Conclusion Bifur-cation angle,luminal expansion and outflow/inflow area ratio are independently associated with vulnerable plaque formation.Carotid bifurcation geometry have the certain predictive efficiency of vulnerable plaque formation and have the incremental diagnostic value to traditional risk factors,which are expected to be effective imaging makers for the formation of vulnerable plaque.

Objective To investigate the clinical features, treatment effect and prognosis of Herpes Zoster( HZ) among patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ( AIDS) .Methods Clinical data of 72 AIDS-HZ patients in our hospital were retrospectively reviewed, then the data including clinical characteristics, laboratory examination, treatment and the prognosis of patients were statistically analyzed. Results Our study showed that the majority of these patients were male ( 65.28%) and Uyghur (79.17%), with a mean age of 37.22 ±8.26 years.39(54.17%) patients have a history of intravenous drug using (IDUs).The rash was common seen in the trunk (68.06%) and limbs (26.39%), two or more than two were seen in 12 patients (16.67%).21(29.17%) were combined by skin infections and 67 patients (93.06%) complained with pain.Forty seven(65.28%) patients had a lower CD4 +T lymphocyte counts (<350 cells/μl).The cure rate was 75%(54/72) and the effective rate was 100%after standard treatment ( including antiretroviral therapy, drugs and analgesia therapy) .Conclusions HIV/AIDS-HZ is common in male Uygur patients in Xinjiang.More than half of the cases are IDUs and have a lower CD4 count ( <350 cells/μl ) .Herpes zoster may occurred as a manifestation of immune reconstitution after HAART.However, most of patients with HIV/AIDS-HZ case had a good prognosis after standard treatment.

Objective:To clarify the effect and related factors of antiviral therapy on the change of esophageal varices in patients with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis.Methods:Fifty-two cases with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis who underwent endoscopy before and after antiviral therapy were selected from prospective cohorts. Patients were divided into three groups: no, mild, and moderate-severe based on the degree of esophageal varices. The changes in the severity of esophageal varices in each group were compared after antiviral therapy. Clinical characteristics (platelet, liver and kidney function, liver stiffness, and virological response) of patients with different regressions were analyzed. Measurement data were analyzed by independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test, and Chi-Square test was used for count data.Results:All patients received entecavir-based antiviral therapy. The median treatment time was 3.1 (2.5-4.4) years. The proportion of patients without esophageal varices increased from 30.8% to 51.9%, the proportion of mild esophageal varices decreased from 40.4% to 30.8%, and the proportion of patients with moderate-to-severe esophageal varices decreased from 28.8% to 17.3% ( χ2=14.067, P=0.001). A total of 40.4% of patients had esophageal varices regression, and 13.5% had esophageal varices progression. The progression rate was significantly higher in patients with moderate-severe esophageal varices than patients with mild and no esophageal varices ( χ2=28.126, P<0.001), and 60.0% of patients with moderate-severe esophageal varices still remained in moderate-severe state after antiviral treatment. Baseline platelet count and 5-year mean change rates were significantly lower in patients with progressive moderate-to-severe esophageal varices than in those without progression (+3.3% vs. +34.1%, Z=7.00, P=0.027). Conclusion:After effective antiviral treatment, 40.4% of patients with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis combined with esophageal varices has obtained esophageal varices regression, but those with moderate to severe esophageal varices still have a considerable risk of progression while receiving mono antiviral treatment only. Thrombocytopenia and without significant improving are the clinical signs of progression risk after receiving antiviral treatment.

Background/Aims: Existing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prediction models are derived mainly from pretreatment or early on-treatment parameters. We reassessed the dynamic changes in the performance of 17 HCC models in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) during long-term antiviral therapy (AVT). Methods: Among 987 CHB patients administered long-term entecavir therapy, 660 patients had 8 years of follow-up data. Model scores were calculated using on-treatment values at 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 5 years of AVT to predict threeyear HCC occurrence. Model performance was assessed with the area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC). The original model cutoffs to distinguish different levels of HCC risk were evaluated by the log-rank test. Results: The AUROCs of the 17 HCC models varied from 0.51 to 0.78 when using on-treatment scores from years 2.5 to 5. Models with a cirrhosis variable showed numerically higher AUROCs (pooled at 0.65–0.73 for treated, untreated, or mixed treatment models) than models without (treated or mixed models: 0.61–0.68; untreated models: 0.51–0.59). Stratification into low, intermediate, and high-risk levels using the original cutoff values could no longer reflect the true HCC incidence using scores after 3.5 years of AVT for models without cirrhosis and after 4 years of AVT for models with cirrhosis. Conclusions The performance of existing HCC prediction models, especially models without the cirrhosis variable, decreased in CHB patients on long-term AVT. The optimization of existing models or the development of novel models for better HCC prediction during long-term AVT is warranted.

Objective:Our study aims to determine histological regression and clinical improvement after long-term antiviral therapy in hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis patients.Methods:Treatment-na?ve chronic hepatitis B patients with histologically or clinically diagnosed liver cirrhosis were enrolled. Liver biopsies were performed after 5 years entecavir-based antiviral treatment. Patients were followed up every 6 months. Cirrhosis regression was evaluated based on Metavir system and P-I-R score. Clinical improvement was evaluated before and after the long-term treatment. Kruskal Wallis test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used for continuous variables, Fisher's exact test was used for categorical variables and multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression analysis.Results:Totals of 73 patients with HBV-related liver cirrhosis were enrolled. Among them, 30 (41.1%) patients were biopsy proved liver cirrhosis and the remaining 43 (58.9%) cirrhotic patients were diagnosed by clinical features. Based on Metavir system and P-I-R score, 72.6% (53/73) patients attained histological regression. Furthermore, 30.1% (22/73) were defined as significant regression (Metavir decrease ≥2 stage), 42.5% (31/73) were mild regression (Metavir decrease 1 stage or predominantly regressive by P-I-R system if still cirrhosis after treatment) and 27.4% (20/73) were the non-regression. Compared to levels of clinical characteristics at baseline, HBV DNA, ALT, AST, liver stiffness(decreased from 12.7 to 6.4 kPa in significant regression, from 18.1 to 7.3 kPa in mild regression and from 21.4 to 11.2 kPa in non-regression)and Ishak-HAI score significantly decreased after 5 years of anti-HBV treatment, while serum levels of platelets and albumin improved remarkably ( P<0.05). In multivariate analysis, only the pre-treatment liver stiffness level was associated with significant regression ( OR=0.887, 95% CI: 0.802-0.981, P=0.020). Conclusions:After long-term antiviral therapy, patients with HBV-related cirrhosis are easily to attain improvements in clinical parameters, while a certain percentage of these patients still cannot achieve histological reversal.

Background and objective Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations occur more frequently in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) of women, never smokers, Asian population and those with adenocarcinoma. Short in-frame deletion in exon 19 and L858R substitution are the most common mutations, which are closely associated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) treatment response. However, the therapeutic effects of EGFR-TKIs on NSCLC with uncom-monEGFR mutation subtypes remain unclear. hTe aim of this study is to investigate the clinicopathologic feature of uncom-monEGFR mutations and the outcomes of these patients.Methods Twenty-four patients that harbored uncommonEGFR mutations were included in this study. Clinicopathologic features of uncommonEGFR mutations and the outcomes of these patients were analyzed.Results Of the 24 patients, 13 received EGFR-TKIs treatment. hTe response rate of EGFR-TKIs treat-ment was 46.1%, and the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 7.4 months. Mutations on S768I and L861Q composed a major part (8 of 24) of uncommon mutations.Conclusions UncommonEGFR mutations constituted a unique part of the whole group ofEGFR mutations. hTeir composition and sensitivity to EGFR-TKIs were heterogeneous, which requires further assessment in a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To construct a HIV-1 gp120 transgenic mouse model (gp120) with 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (7nAChR) gene knockout. METHODS: The 7nAChR gene knockout mice (7R) were crossed with HIV-1gp120 transgenic mice (gp120) to generate F1 generation mice. We selected the F1 mice with the genotype of 7R/gp120 to mate to obtain the F2 mice. The genotypes of the F3 mice were identified by PCR, and the protein expressions in the double transgenic animal model was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. BV2 cells were treated with gp120 protein and 7nAChR inhibitor, and the expressions of IL-1β and TNF- were detected using ELISA. RESULTS: The results of PCR showed the bands of the expected size in F3 mice. Two F3 mice with successful double gene editing (7R/gp120) were obtained, and immunohistochemistry showed that the brain tissue of the mice did not express 7 nAChR but with high gp120 protein expression. In the cell experiment, treatment with gp120 promoted the secretion of IL-1β and TNF- in BV2 cells, while inhibition of 7nAChR significantly decreased the expression of IL-1β and TNF- ( < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS By mating gp120 Tg mice with 7R mice, we obtained gp120 transgenic mice with 7nAChR gene deletion, which serve as a new animal model for exploring the role of 7nAChR in gp120-induced neurotoxicity.
Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Glycoproteins ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout ; Mice, Transgenic ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor ; metabolism

Although genome-wide association studies have identified more than eighty genetic variants associated with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) risk, biological mechanisms of these variants remain largely unknown. By integrating a large-scale genotype data of 15 581 lung adenocarcinoma (AD) cases, 8350 squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) cases, and 27 355 controls, as well as multiple transcriptome and epigenomic databases, we conducted histology-specific meta-analyses and functional annotations of both reported and novel susceptibility variants. We identified 3064 credible risk variants for NSCLC, which were overrepresented in enhancer-like and promoter-like histone modification peaks as well as DNase I hypersensitive sites. Transcription factor enrichment analysis revealed that USF1 was AD-specific while CREB1 was SqCC-specific. Functional annotation and gene-based analysis implicated 894 target genes, including 274 specifics for AD and 123 for SqCC, which were overrepresented in somatic driver genes (ER = 1.95, P = 0.005). Pathway enrichment analysis and Gene-Set Enrichment Analysis revealed that AD genes were primarily involved in immune-related pathways, while SqCC genes were homologous recombination deficiency related. Our results illustrate the molecular basis of both well-studied and new susceptibility loci of NSCLC, providing not only novel insights into the genetic heterogeneity between AD and SqCC but also a set of plausible gene targets for post-GWAS functional experiments.
Adenocarcinoma of Lung/genetics* ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/genetics* ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/genetics* ; Genetic Heterogeneity ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/genetics* ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide