This article, introduces setting up of reflectance confocal microscope which is divided into four parts: optical system, scanning system, detecting system and software controlling system. This reflectance confocal microscope realizes in vivo epidermis tissue imaging in mouse skin as well as disease diagnosis related cell parameters measurement.
Animals ; Diagnostic Imaging ; instrumentation ; methods ; Microscopy, Confocal ; methods ; Rats ; Skin ; Software

Background and purpose: When patients have positive sentinel lymph node (SLN), axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is usually performed, but most of them have no metastasis in the non-sentinel lymph node (nSLN). It is of great significance to predict metastasis of nSLN precisely. The aim of the study was to establish a nomogram for the intraoperative prediction of nSLN metastasis in breast cancer patients using one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) techniques and to direct the subsequent therapy for breast cancer effectively. Methods: Of 552 breast cancer patients who underwent SLN biopsy in the 2010 OSNA clinical trial, 103 with SLN metastasis treated with ALND were assessed to establish a nomogram for intraoperative prediction of nSLN based on the molecular diagnosis. A validation cohort of 61 patients who met the similar criteria in the 2015 OSNA clinical trial subsequently validated it. Results: Primary tumor size, total tumor load, the number of positive SLNs and negative SLNs were associated with the presence of nSLN metastasis based on the multivariable logistic regression results, and a nomogram was established with these variables. Its area under the ROC curve was 0.814 for the predictive model and it was 0.842 in the re-validation cohort. The tumor size assessed by the postoperative histological examination was replaced by the size evaluated by the imaging examination, and the area under the ROC curve was 0.838. There was no statistically significant difference in the accuracy compared with the former validation data (P=0.7406). Conclusion: The predictive nomogram based on the molecular diagnosis can predict the nSLN metastases intra/post-operatively. It appears to be obviously superior to other predictive models and may help to guide the axillary management and to make decisions about radiation target region.

Objective: To explore the incidence and risk factors of infection related to totally implantable access port (TIAP) in upper arm in cancer patients. Methods: A total of 1 961 patients who received TIAP for deliverance of chemotherapy at Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine during the period from February 2014 to December 2018. The general clinical data, catheterization status, bacteriological data and incidence of TIAP-related infections were retrospectively analyzed. The univariate analysis and multivariate Logistic regression analysis were used to determine the risk factors TIAP-related infections. Results: A total of 43 patients developed TIAP-related infections, with an incidence of 2.2% (43/1 961). The mean time interval from the implantation of upper arm TIAP to the diagnosis of infection was (116.88±95.39) d (7-377 d). In univariate analysis, gender (P=0.001), catheter diameter (P=0.000), upper extremity venous thrombosis (UEVT) (P=0.000) and outpatient (P=0.005) were significantly associated with the risk of infection related to upper arm TIAP. Multivariate binary Logistic regression analysis showed that gender (OR=0.35, P=0.012), UEVT (OR=31.59, P=0.000) and catheter diameter (OR=2.81, P=0.005) were three significant independent predictors of infection related to upper arm TIAP. Conclusion: Gender, UEVT and catheter diameter are independent risk factors for upper arm TIAP-related infection.

The poor survival of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) compromises the efficacy of stem cell therapy.Growth factor deprivation is one of the important factors that have challenged the survival of donor MSCs in cell therapy.In this study,the aim was to evaluate the effect of serum deprivation on the cell death of MSCs and to investigate the underlying mechanisms.Apoptosis of MSCs was evaluated with Hoechst 33342/PI staining.Signaling pathways involved in serum-deprivation induced apoptosis were analyzed using Western blotting.The results revealed that serum deprivation induced apoptosis in MSCs within 72 h of treatment.Serum deprivation was shown to lead to protein expression alterations in Bax,Bcl-2,casepase-3,casepase-8,GRP78,and CHOP during experiments.The data suggested that the mitochondria death pathway,the extrinsic apoptotic pathway and the endoplastic reticulum(ER) stress pathway were all involved in MSCs apoptosis.The increase in expression of CHOP and the simultaneous decrease in Bcl-2 expression suggest a synergistic effect in apoptosis induction in both the mitochondrion and the ER.

Faltering linear growth is commonly encountered in children with intestinal inflammation. Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) are important regulators of postnatal longitudinal bone growth. Inhibition of GH/IGF axis will result in growth failure in young children. Pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) abnormally increase in children with intestinal inflammation, and may affect linear growth both systemically and locally at the level of the growth plate though disturbing the GH/IGF axis.
Bone Development ; Cytokines ; physiology ; Enteritis ; complications ; Growth Disorders ; etiology ; Human Growth Hormone ; physiology ; Humans ; Somatomedins ; physiology

Background and purpose:Whether axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy (ASLNB) could replace axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in patients who converted after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) from cN+ to ycN0 is still contentious, and the previous study only evaluated the pathological status of ALN without internal mammary lymph node (IMLN) condition. This study is to evaluate roles of ASLNB and internal mammary sentinel lymph node biopsy (IM-SLNB) in breast cancer patients after NAC.Methods:From Jan. 2012 to Dec. 2014, 60 breast cancer cT1-4N0-3M0patients who were scheduled for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and agreed to accept surgery after NAC from our department were enrolled into the retrospective study. Patients with cN0 before NAC and ycN0 after NAC underwent ASLNB (group A). Patients with cN+ received NAC and ycN0 after NAC (group B) were treated with ASLNB and ALND. Only patients whose clinical nodal status remained positive (ycN+) after NAC underwent ALND without ASLNB (group C). All the patients received radiotracer injection and patients in group A and group B received blue dye injection additionally. Meanwhile, IM-SLNB would be performed for all patients with IM-SLN visualization.Results:The number of patients enrolled in group A, group B and group C was 6, 45 and 9 cases respectively. The accuracy rate of ASLNB in group A was 100% (6/6). Only one patient was axillary sentinel lymph node (ASLN) positive performed ALND. With combination of blue dye and radiolabeled colloid, the accuracy rate of ASLNB in group B was 100% (48/48) and the false negative rate (FNR) was 17.9% (5/28). The FNR in patients with 1, 2 and>2 SLNs examined was 27.3% (3/11), 20.0% (2/10) and 0% (0/7). All of the ALNs were positive in group C. The visualization rate of IM-SLN was 63.3% (38/60). The detection rate of IM-SLNB was 97.4% (37/38) and the metastasis rate was 8.1% (3/37). The incidence of complications was 5.3% (2/38).Conclusion:ASLNB can be performed either before or after preoperative chemotherapy for patients with cN0 disease. Among women with cN+ converted to ycN0 who had 3 or more SLNs examined, the FNR could return to be less than 10%. Those patients whose nodes are still ycN+ should perform ALND. IM-SLNB should be performed routinely in all breast cancer patients after NAC, for it might help to make clear of the nodal staging and the pathological status of IM-SLN and provide the accurate indication of radiation to the internal mammary area in case of under-stage and under-/over-treatment, expecting to develop the deifnition of pathological complete response (pCR).

Objective:This study was conducted to evaluate the roles of internal mammary sentinel lymph node biopsy (IM-SL-NB) in the treatment of breast cancer patients with clinically positive axillary lymph nodes. Methods:This study is a one-armed clini-cal research conducted from June 2013 to October 2014. A total of 64 breast cancer patients from Shandong Cancer Hospital with clini-cally positive axillary lymph nodes were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent axillary lymph node dissection. Meanwhile, IM-SLNB was performed in all patients using the new injection method of radiotracer. Results:Among the 64 enrolled patients, the visual-ization rate of internal mammary lymph node was 59.4%(38/64). For the 38 patients who were subjected to visualization of the internal mammary node, the detection rate was 100%(38/38), and the incidence of complications was 7.9%(3/38). The metastasis rate of inter-nal mammary lymph node was 21.1%(8/38). Patients with upper inner quadrant tumors and metastasis of more axillary lymph nodes had a significantly higher chance of developing sentinel lymph node metastasis (P<0.001 and P=0.017, respectively) than the other pa-tients. The clinical benefit rate of the above mentioned treatment was 59.4%. Among the patients, 12.5%(8/64) received extra internal mammary radiotherapy, whereas 46.9%(30/64) patients avoided the unnecessary internal mammary radiotherapy. Conclusion:IM-SL-NB should be performed in breast cancer patients with clinically positive axillary lymph nodes because IM-SLNB could provide the ac-curate indication of radiation to the internal mammary area, especially for the patients with upper inner quadrant tumors and those with a suspiciously high level of axillary lymph node metastasis.

Metabolomics is an emerging and popular subject in the post-genome era, and a large number of studies have been noted on the application of metabolomics in health evaluation, growth and development evaluation, disease diagnosis, and therapeutic efficacy evaluation. As a special period of life, the neonatal period is characterized by rapid cell renewing, consumption of a lot of energy and materials, and changes in metabolic pathways, all of which affect the level of metabolites. However, there is still no reference standard for metabolic level and profile in neonates. This article reviews the current status of metabolic research on neonatal growth and development and common diseases and related clinical application of metabolomics, so as to provide new ideas for nutrition guidance and evaluation, selection of therapeutic regimens, and new drug research in neonates.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways ; Metabolomics

To investigate the biological characteristics of the variant translocation der ins (17;15) in a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), the conventional G-banding technique, interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (int-FISH), RT-PCR, gene scanning, gene sequence and flow cytometry were performed. The results indicated that the variant translocation der ins (17, 15) observed by G banding technique was a rare type, the int-FISH assay by using dual-color pml/raralpha fusion probes confirmed the cytogenetic findings. The detection results of other molecular methods demonstrated the existence of the whole pml/raralpha fusion gene, while this case had insertion variant translocation. This patient got complete remission by using combined chemotherapy, and survives with continuous complete remission during following up for 1 year. In conclusion, the variant translocation der ins (17; 15) is rare type in APL, its incidence is lower, several signal types in detection of int-FISH were observed and the combination chemotherapy for this patient showed more obvious efficacy.
Chromosome Banding ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17 ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; methods ; Interphase ; genetics ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute ; genetics ; Male ; Translocation, Genetic ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical significance of a rare chromosome abnormality der(Y)t(Y;1) in a patient with multiple myeloma (MM).

METHODSThe chromosome spread was prepared after 24 h culture of bone marrow. G-banding technique was used to analyze the karyotype. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed to ascertain the origin of abnormal chromosome detected by conventional karyotypic analysis. Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of the CD38/CD138/ZAP70. Immunoelectrophore was applied to identify the type of immunoglobulin.

RESULTSA complex pattern of chromosome rearrangement was observed: 92,XXYY[3]/49,X,der(Y)t(Y;1)(q12;q21),t(11;14)(q13;q32),+18,+20,+21[47]/49,X,idem,del(13q22),ace[1]/98,XX,der(Y)t(Y;1) x 2,+18,+18,+20,+20,+21,+21[10]/46,XY[19]. The result was confirmed by metaphase-FISH. The type of immunoglobulin was IgD with the level of 6.24g/L. The CD38/CD138 was positive but ZAP70 was negative.

CONCLUSIONStructural abnormality of chromosome Y is rare in blood malignancy. Most of them were described in myelodysplastic syndrome or myeloproliferative disorders. It is the first report of der(Y)t(Y;1) abnormality in multiple myeloma.

Chromosome Aberrations ; Chromosomes, Human, Y ; genetics ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma ; genetics ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome