Objective To study the relevance of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) IL- 18 level in patients with chronic HBV infection and the activity of chronic hepatitis B as well as the ex- tent of hepatic tissue inflammation. Methods Flow cytometry was applied to measuring IL-18 level in PBMCs isolated from 147 patients with HBV infection; meanwhile, 22 cases with hepatitis B patients or HBV carriers underwent needling biopsy of liver for liver histopathologic examination. Results IL- 18 level was rising step by step in moderate chronic hepatitis, severe chronic hepatitis, chronic serious hepatitis and acute fatal hepatitis. Elevation of IL-18 level was correlative to the activity of hepatic tis- sue inflammation. Conclusion The expression level of IL-18 is different in various HBV infection states, which is correlative to the activity of chronic hepatitis B as well as the extent of hepatic tissue inflammation. Therefore, IL-18 may be used as an important index of evaluating therapeutic effect and prognosis.

[Objective] To observe the therapeutic effect of wind-dispersing and cold-dispelling, blood-activating and stasis-removing therapy for cold-type urticaria and to explore its possible mechamism. [Methods] Sixty-six cases were allocated to two groups by a simple random sampling method. Group A ( n = 36) was treated with wind-dispersing and cold-dispelling, blood-activating and stasis-removing herbal medicine including Herba Ephedrae, Ramulus Cinnamomi, Herba Schizonepetae, Radix Saposhnikoviae, Semen Armeniacae Amarum, Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens, Fructus Jujubae, Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae, Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Caulis Spatholobi, Radix Paeoniae Rubra, etc. Group B (n =30) was treated with cetirizine hydrochloride tablets. The two groups were treated for two 20-day courses. One week after treatment, the therapeutic effect and the changes of hemorheological parameters before and after treatment were observed and compared with those in 38 healthy volunteers. [Results] The total effective rate was 80.6% in group A and 63.3% in group B, the difference being significant ( P 0.05) . [ Conclusion] Wind-dispersing and cold-dispelling, blood-activating and stasis-removing therapy is an important method for cold-type urticaria and the selected herbal medicines are effective. Its therapeutic mechanism may be related to the improvement of hemorheological parameters.

The application of molecular biological technique provides opportunity to pancreatic cancer patients since the cancer is resistant to routine treatment. Clarifying the molecular mechanism in the genesis and development of pancreatic cancer is the first thing to do. Recent researches found that there were different signaling pathways activated in different stages of pancreatic cancer. The important signal pathways included mitosis pathways, growth factor pathways, developing pathways and mucin pathways. This article will review the relationship between molecular pathways and pancreatic cancer.

[Objective] To observe the influence of blood-nourishing and wind-expelling therapy on the therapeutic effect of epidermic grafting for vitiligo. [Methods] Sixty-two patients with vitiligo were allocated to group A (n = 32) and group B (n = 30) with simple random method. Group B was treated with epidermic grafting. Group A was treated with oral use of Baibofeng Decoction (mainly composed of Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Caulis Spatholobi, Radix Saposhnikoviae, Fructus Psoraleae, Radix Paeoniae Rubra , Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae, etc.) 2 weeks after epidermic grafting was performed, one dose every other day, and with external application of Fubu tincture (composed of Fructus Psoraleae, Radix Angelicae Dahuricae, Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae and Flos Carthami) bid. After treatment, the short-term and long-term therapeutic effect was observed in the two groups. [Results] The cure rate was 83.6% and the effective rate was 93.1% in group A, and respectively 71.0% and 88.5% in group B, the therapeutic effect of group A being better than that of group B (P

Objective To investigate the role and mechanism of simvastatin on colonic fibrosis in rats with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS) induced colitis.Methods Forty-eight healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were evenly divided into six groups:control group,TNBS group,simvastatin treated group Ⅰ,group Ⅱ (from zero to 21 days after modeling,simvastatin 5 mg/kg or simvastatin 20 mg/kg treated),group Ⅲ and group Ⅳ (from seven to 21 days after modeling,simvastatin 5 mg/kg or 20 mg/kg treated).Body weight and disease activity index (DAI) of the rats were inspected,and general colon,histological injury and fibrosis were scored.The expressions of collagen types Ⅰ and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) at mRNA level were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).The expressions of collagen types Ⅰ,CTGF and phosphorylation of myosin phosphatase target subunit-1 (p-MYPT-1) at protein level were determined by Western blotting.The data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA.Results Compared with control group,the colon length shortened,while colon weight,DAI score,general colon score,histological injury and fibrosis score significantly increased in TNBS group.And the expressions of collagen types Ⅰ also obviously increased.After intervention of simvastatin,both the colon length and weight of rats were improved.The DAI score,general score,histological injury and fibrosis score were lower than those of TNBS group.The expressions of collagen types Ⅰ,CTGF and p-MYPT-1 (group Ⅰ:0.68±0.22 ; group Ⅱ:0.59 ± 0.27 ; group Ⅲ:0.71 ± 0.20 ; group Ⅳ:0.59± 0.25) in colonic tissue were all lower than those of TNBS group (F=5.169,P＜0.05).There were no statistical significance among four groups (al1 P＞0.05).Conclusion Simvastatin can effectively prevent TNBS-induced rat colitis from colonic fibrosis,the mechanism may be related with Rho-kinase inhibition and down-regulation of CTGF over-expression.

Objective To investigate the relationship between fatty liver progress and metabolic changes.Methods A total of 414 patients who had B-mode ultrasonography confirmed fatty liver development during 2 health check-ups within 2 years were enrolled in this study.Paired t and χ2 tests were used to compare body mass index (BMI),alanine aminotransferase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST),fasting plasma glucose (FPG),serum uric acid (UA),triglycerides (TG),and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) among the participants.Results BMI,TG,HDL-C,ALT,AST,and UA were significantly increased after fatty liver progressed,although HDL-C was largely decreased.ConclusionsPrevention and treatment of MS as well as early intervention for fatty liver should be important for successful control of fatty liver.

Objective RNA interference refers to post-transcriptional gene silencing caused by double strands RNA.To investigate the effect of EGFR receptor on esophageal carcinoma,the expression vector of HER4 gene targeted small interfering RNA was constructed to observe its silencing effect in human esophageal carcinoma cell line Eca-109,in order to find a promising method for the gene therapy of this disease.Methods Two complementary oligo DNA strands targeting HER4 gene were designed and synthesized according to the principles of designing siRNA.After annealing,oligo DNAs were inserted into SUPER.neo+gfp vector,then enzyme digestion analysis and DNA sequencing were applied.After transfecting it into human esophageal carcinoma cell line,we detected the level of expression of HER4 gene through real-time quantitative PCR and Western Blot.Results The enzyme digestion analysis and DNA sequencing show that HER4 gene targeted small interfering RNA and its expression vector were constructed successfully,and after transfection,the expression of HER4 gene in esophageal carcinoma cell line was suppressed greatly.Conclusion HER4 gene targeted small interfering RNA and its expression vector were constructed successfully,and could decrease the expression of HER4 gene in Eca-109 cell line,which laid the foundation for the following experiment.

Objective to investigate the effect of berberine on the expression of AQP4 and neuronal injury after focal cerebral ischemia in diabetic rats. Methods Male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups:control(sham surgery),middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion (MCAO/R),MCAO/R treated with vehicle(DMSO),MCAO/R treated with berberine. the transient focal ischemia/reperfusion was induced by in-troducing silicone-coated monofilament nylon suture from the right external carotid artery into the origin of the middle cerebral artery,which was re-moved after 60 min. In group treated with berberine,the rats were injected with berberine before and after suffered from cerebral ischemia. Similarly, in group vehicle,the animals received DMSO vehicle at the same time. the score of neurological behavior was evaluated 24 h after reperfusion. Mean-while,the rats were sacrificed for Nissl staining. to estimate cerebral edema,the wet-dry ratio was measured. the expression of AQP4 in the border of the infarct region in different groups was observed by Western blot. Results Compared with the model group,berberine improved neurological deficits(P < 0.05). Berberine treatment inhibited the neuronal deformation shown by Nissl staining(P < 0.05). Berberine significantly decreased the wet-dry ratio and reduced the expression of AQP4(P < 0.05). Conclusion these results suggested that berberine could induce neuroprotection against ischemic injury by inhibiting the expression of AQP4 in diabetic rats.

Objective To investigate the effects of Yiqi Congming pill combined with western medicine on hearing and sleep quality in tinnitus patients. Methods 60 tinnitus patients caused by liver fire treated in our hospital from May 2015 to February 2017 were selected for the study and randomly divided into the observation group and the control group, with 30 cases in each group. The two groups were given conventional western medicine and Yiqi Congming pills combined with western medicine respectively. The effective rates of treatment, the speech pure-tone average (PTA), speech recognition threshold (SRT) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were compared between the two groups, and the adverse reactions were observed. Results The effective rate of the observation group was 93.33％, which was higher than that of the control group with 73.33％ (P<0.05). After treatment, the levels of PTA, SRT the scores of PSQI were significantly lower in the observation group than those in the control group (P<0.05). There were no differences in the incidence rates of adverse reactions between the two groups. Conclusions Yiqi Congming pill combined with western medicine can effectively treat tinnitus caused by liver fire, and improve hearing and sleep quality without obvious adverse reactions. Therefore it is worthy of clinical promotion and application.

ObjectiveTo detect the mRNA and protein expressions of Bmi-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue,pericarcinomatous tissue,portal vein tumor thrombus and normal liver tissue,and to investiage the significance of Bmi-1 in the genesis and progression of HCC.MethodsForty tissues of HCC were collected from the Tongji Hospital of Huazhong University of Science and Technology from January 2005 to December 2009.The mRNA and protein expressions of Bmi-1 in the HCC tissues (40 cases),pericarcinomatous tissues (40 cases),portal vein tumor thrombus ( 11 cases) and normal liver tissues ( 10 cases) were detected by immunohistochemistry,Western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction.The relationship between the expressions of Bmi-1 and the clinicopathological factors was analyzed.Differences in each group were compared by using the Nemenyi test or Dunnet t test,and the relationship between the clinicopathological factors and the protein expression in the HCC tissues was analyzed by the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability.The survival curve was drawn by the Kaplan-Meier method,and the survival rate was analyzed by the Log-rank test.Results The median relative mRNA expressions of Bmi-1 in the normal liver tissues,pericarcinomatous tissues,HCC tissues and portal vein tumor thrombus were 0.96,2.60,7.51 and 29.95,respectively.The results of immunohistochemistry showed that the high protein expression rates of Bmi-1 in the normal liver tissues,pericarcinomatous tissues,HCC tissues and portal vein tumor thrombus were 10.0％,20.0％,67.5％ and 100.0％,respectively.The high protein expression rates of Bmi-1 in the HCC tissues and portal vein tumor thrombus were significantly higher than those in the normal liver tissues and pericarcinomatous tissues (x2 =17.25,22.77;22.04,23.95,P ＜ 0.05 ). High protein expression of Bmi-1 was also detected in 11 cases of HCC tissues with portal vein tumor thrombus.The results of western blot were consistent with those of the immunohistochemistry.The mRNA and protein expressions of Bmi-1 were correlated with Edmondson grade and portal vein metastasis ( x2 =5.572,P ＜ 0.05 ),whereas they were irrelevant to the tumor size,serum levels of α-fetoprotein and hepatitis B surface antigen ( x2 =0.000,0.019,0.663,P ＞0.05).Patients with high expression of Bmi-1 had poor prognosis.ConclusionsBmi-1 is correlated with the genesis and progression of HCC as well as the formation of portal vein tumor thrombosis.Patients with high Bmi-1 expression have poorer prognosis when compared with those with low Bmi-1 expression.