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.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; China ; Codon ; Colorectal Neoplasms, Hereditary Nonpolyposis ; genetics ; DNA, Neoplasm ; genetics ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Exons ; Germ-Line Mutation ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

Computer-Assisted Instruction ; Education, Medical ; Internet ; Language ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Objective To study the clinical and pathologic features,histological criteria and pathologic factors contributing to diagnosis of mixed epithelial and mesenchymal tumors(mixed m?llerian tumors,MMT)of the uterus.Methods A retrospective study of 102 cases of MMT of the uterus (74 adenofibromas including 9 recurrent cases,3 atypical polypoid adenomyomas,2 carcinofibromas,10 adenosareomas and 13 carcinosarcomas)was undertaken.Clinical records,gross features and tissue slices were reviewed.The follow-up data were analysed.Results The most common symptom was vaginal bleeding.Clinical signs included pelvic mass,uterine polyps,and enlarged uterus.Benign MMT usually presented as exophytic polypoid masses extending into the uterine cavity or protruding through the external os,often broad-based,lobulated and papillary.It was hard to distinguish low-grade malignant MMT from the benign ones by gross appearance.High-grade malignant MMT had the common gross features of carcinoma and sarcoma.Histologically,MMT showed a biphasic differentiation of mesenchymal and epithelial components.MMT were classified according to whether these elements were benign or malignant.Nine cases of adenofibroma without unique features for the diagnosis of adenosarcoma recurred at postoperative intervals of 3 to 96 months.Recurrent tumors were almost always confined to the original site.Conclusions Uterine MMT tumors according to WHO diagnostic criteria are not rare.The differential diagnosis depends on a multifactorial analysis.The recurrent adenofibromas may be a kind of borderline tumors with benign appearances and malignant behavior.

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

Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Meconium ; Peritonitis ; etiology

To compare the effects of four different intensive insulin therapies on blood glucose control and vascular endothelial function in newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes.Patients were randomly divided to accept pre-meal insulin aspart 30 or pre-meal insulin aspart and glargine at bedtime or pre-meal Novolin-R and NPH at bedtime or continuous subcutaneous insulin aspart infusion.Capillary blood glucose determination and continuous glucose monitoring system were carried out,therapeutic time and total insulin dosage were recorded.Ultrasound was used to evaluate the vascular endothelial function.Glucose level,incidence of low glucose,potency ratio of the four groups were similar( P＞0.05 ) ; FMD and NMD were not significantly improved ( P =0.718,P =0.065 ).The short-term efficacy and safety of the four groups are similar.The short-term intensive insulin therapy has no obvious effect on vascular endothelial function.

Objective: To further understand the role of folic acid supplements rivaling MTHFR gene silencing in pathogenesis of NCLP, RNA interference (RNAi) was applied to knock down MTHFR in mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal (EPM) cells. Methods: MTHFR ShRNA expression vector were transfected into the primary cultured EPM cells. MTT was used to observe cell proliferation after MTHFR gene silencing. FCM was used to observe cell cycle after MTHFR gene silencing. Results: The results showed the cells proliferation had an inequality amelioration after using folic acid supplements in MEPM cells with MTHFR gene silencing. Using folic acid supplements rivaled the effect of MTHFR gene silencing had a dose-dependent manner. Using 20 μg/ml folic acid supplements could improve the cell proliferation to achieve normal level of cell proliferation. Conclusion: MTHFR gene is an important candidate gene of NCL/P. Using folic acid supplements could prevent teratogenic MTHFR gene silencing for embryonic palate development.

BackgroundHigh myopia is one of leading causes of blindness,so far the pathogenesis remains unclear.Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of rs6885224 and rs12716080 in CTNND2 gene were recently found to be associated with high myopia in Singaporean Chinese.But whether these SNPs are related with the pathogenesis of high myopia in Han Chinese is worth studying,Objective This study was to investigate the relationship between the genetic variations of the CTNND2 gene and high myopia in Han Chinese.MethodsA case-controlled association study was designed.Nine hundred and thirty-three individuals with high myopia and 1227age- and gender-matched normal subjects were included in this study.The 5 ml of periphery blood was obtained from all subjects for the extraction of genomic DNA.The target DNA was amplified using PCR and purified by the SNaPshot method.Four SNPs rs12716080,rs917012,rs6885224 and rs16901340 in the CTNND2 gene were genotyped.This study was approved by the Ethic Committee of Sichuan Provincial People Hospital.Written informed consent was obtained from each subject before his/her enrollment.Results The frequencies of the genotypes rs6885224,rs12716080,rs917012,rs16901340 SNPs were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) ( P=0.181,0.085,0.732,0.313,0.264,0.663,0.084,0.196).There were no significant differences in genotypes frequency distribution ( in turn P =0.654,0.406,0.828,0.403 ) and allele frequency distribution of the CTNND2 gene ( in turn P =0.377,0.209,0.743,0.198) between the high myopia group and normal control group.The haplotypes (TA and GA)frequencies of rs12716080 and rs917012 in the high myopia group were significantly different from those of the normal control group(TA:0.784 vs.0.719;GA:0.087 vs.0.136) (x2 =6.115,P=0.013 ;x2 =6.634,P=0.010),but those of GG were similar between the high myopia group and normal control group ( 0.123 vs.0.143,x2 =0.889,P =0.346). ConclusionsThe SNPs rs12716080,rs917012,rs6885224 and rs16901340 in CTNND2 gene were not responsible for high myopia,however,the haplotypes of rs12716080 and rs917012 are susceptible for high myopia in Han Chinese.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of protective effects of resveratrol on tissueengineered cartilage.Methods The chondrogenesis of alginate-encapsulated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were evaluated by toluidine blue staining and immunostain.The morphology of BMSCs-derived chondrocytes cultured on chitosan-gelatin scaffolds (CGS) was evaluated by scanning electron microscope and laser confocal microscope.When these cells on CGS were pre-stimulated with interleukin-1β (IL-1β) or cotreated with IL-1β and resveratrol in the absence and presence of specific β1-integrin blocking antibody,collagen type Ⅱ,aggrecan,matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) expression,and the translocation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) were analyzed by Western blotting.ANOVA was used for statistical analysis.Results Alginate bead culture plus conditional medium together could induce the cartilage-specific collagen type Ⅱ,aggrecan expression and extracellular matrix accumulation in differentiated chondrocytes.CGS supported differentiated cell attachment,proliferation,and migration.When those cells cultured on CGS were stimulated with IL-1β alone,collagen type Ⅱ and aggrecan expression was inhibited.However,MMP-13 expression increased.By Western blotting semi-quantitative analysis,the expression level of cartilage-specific collagen type Ⅱ of the control group was 0.484±0.006; the expression level of resveratrol intervention group was 0.474±0.014.The difference between these two groups was not statistically significant (P＞0.05).The expression level of the IL-1β intervention group reduced to 0.155±0.009,which was statistically significant different from the above two groups(P＜0.05).Resveratrol could antagonist the negative effect of IL-1β,and increase collagen type Ⅱ to 0.468±0.014,the difference between these two was statistically significant (P＜0.05),and no significant difference when compared to the control group (P＞0.05).Specific β1-integrin blocking antibody could abrogate these effects of resveratrol,decrease collagen Ⅱ expression to 0.169±0.011,the difference was significant (P＜0.05),but there was no difference when compared to the IL-1β group (P＞0.05).Aggrecan semi-quantitative expression has the same trend in the expression of type Ⅱ collagen while the expression of MMP-13,NF-κB had the reversal trend.These indicated that the resveratrol reversed the catabolic effects by reducing the nuclear translocation of NF-κB.Specific β1-integrin blocking antibody abrogated these effects of resveratrol.Conclusion Resveratrol,by regulating β1-integrin,acts as a NF-κB nuclear trans-location inhibitor to protect tissue-engineered cartilage.