The viability of freeze-dried cells of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus plantarum by adding different stabilizer and protectants such as skim milk, sucrose and trehalose were investigated. When the bacteria were dried with 150mmol/L trehalose,75% of S. thermophilus and 33% of L. plantarum cells were survived, comparing with control of 19% and 1% respectively. When S. thermophilus was exposed at 90℃, the cells with trehalose increased tolerance to high temperature. When S. thermophilus freeze-thawing for 4 and 8 cycles, the survival was much higher than that of without trehalose protected. Scanning Electro-microscope pictures showed that the cells with trehalose, appeared as normal, but those without the sugar were broken or collapsed. The data confirmed that the disaccharide could protect bacteria against stress conditions.

Objective: To evaluate and compare the safety and efficiency of the combined therapy of 89Sr plus zoledronic acid and those of 89Sr-chloride alone, in patients with painful bone metastases. Methods: A total of 87 patients with osseous metastasis were ran-domly divided into treatment groups of 89Sr-chloride alone (group A, 53 patients) and 89Sr plus zoledronic acid (group B, 34 patients). A total of 17 patients in group B received zoledronic acid 2-14 days after 89Sr therapy, and 13 other patients in the group received 89Sr 4-7 days after zoledronic-acid therapy. Pain response and KPS score were evaluated after the different treatments. Results: No obvious bone marrow suppression and liver damage were found in all cases. All patients who received both 89Sr-chloride and 89Sr plus zoledronic acid showed reduced bone pain and total discomfort, as well as improved KPS score, but the response was more pronounced in group B (P=0.047; P=0.036). No statistical differences in pain score and KPS scores were observed between the groups treated with zoledronic acid first and 89Sr therapy first (P=1.000; P=0.667). Comparison of bone pain relief and changes in the KPS score of different primary tumors after treatment with 89Sr-chloride or 89Sr plus zoledronic acid showed no statistical significance. Conclusion: Compared with 89Sr-chloride, treatment with 89Sr plus zoledronic acid was more effective in patients with painful bone metastases. The safety of these two treatments are similar.

Objective To explore the value of 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (i8 F-FDG) PET/CT examination in the differential diagnosis of the gastric cancer and primary gastric lymphoma (PGL).Methods The clinical data of 80 patients with gastric cancer (60 with non-mucinous adenocarcinoma and 20 with mucinous adenocarcinoma) and 47 patients with PGL [22 with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) and 25 with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)] who were admitted to the Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital from June 2006 to May 2014 were retrospectively analyzed.Spiral CT scan was first done and then followed by PET.The CT value of the lesions,maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of patients and maximal gastrointestinal wall thickness (THKmax) were analyzed by the ANOVA test.The SUVmax comparison between groups was evaluated with the Student-Newman-Keuls.The lesions type was analyzed by the chi-square test.The THKmax and SUVmax among groups were analyzed by the Pearson correlation analysis.Results 18 F-FDG PET/CT imaging of patients with gastric cancer and PGL showed different types of gastric wall thickening,segmental and limited thickening of gastric wall were the main features of gastric cancer and diffuse and segmental thickening of gastric wall were the main features of PGL.The type Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ of lesions were detected in 12,21 and 27 of 60 patients with nonmucinous adenocarcinoma,in 2,7 and 11 of 20 patients with mucinous adenocarcinoma,in 8,8 and 6 of 22 patients with MALT and in 13,7 and 5 of 25 patients with DLBCL respectively.There were significant differences in the 4 pathological types of lesions among all the patients (x2 =14.849,P ＜ 0.05).The lymph nodes beneath the renal hilum and at the retroperitoneum were involved in 16 patients with gastric cancer and in 10 patients with PGL,and 7 patients with gastric cancer and 12 patients with PGL were complicated with splenomegalia,respectively,showing a significant difference in the splenomegalia between patients with PGL and gastric cancer (x2=7.506,P ＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the metastasis of lymph nodes beneath the renal hilum and at the retroperitoneum between patients with PGL and gastric cancer (x2=0.178,P ＞0.05).Among 80 patients with gastric cancer,positive 18F-FDG was detected in 79 patients and negative 18F-FDG in 1 patient with T3 stage of mucinous adenocarcinoma.Among 47 patients with PGL,positive 18 F-FDG was detected in 46 patients and negative 18F-FDG in 1 patient with stage Ⅰ of MALT.The CT value of the lesion,SUVmax and THKmax in patients with non-mucinous adenocarcinoma,mucinous adenocarcinoma,MALT and DLBCL were (40 ± 8)HU,(39±11)HU,(41±11)HU,(38±9)HU and 9.9 ±6.6,5.6±1.9,4.6 ±2.9,18.3±7.6 and (2.1 ± 1.2) cm,(1.9 ± 0.9) cm,(1.3 ± 1.1) cm and (2.6 ± 1.5) cm,respectively,showing significant differences in the SUVmax among all the groups (F =26.920,P ＜ 0.05).In the pairwise comparisons,there were no significant difference between the MALT group and mucinous adenocarcinoma group (P ＞ 0.05),and significant differences among the other groups (P ＜ 0.05).The CT value of the lesions and THKmax among all the patients were compared,with no significant differences (F =0.578,4.510,P ＞ 0.05).There were no significant differences in the SUVmax and THKmax among all the patients (r =0.055,0.346,0.226,0.133,P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions There is an important diagnosis value of PET/CT examination in patients with gastric cancer and PGL.The pathological types of the lesions in patients with gastric cancer and PGL are different.The occurrence of splenomegalia in patients with PGL is easier than that with gastric cancer.SUVmax of patients with DLBCL is higher than those with gastric cancer and MALT.FDG uptake in patients with mucinous adenocarcinoma and MALT are not enough,and these may lead to false negative result of PET/CT examination.

This study was aimed to evaluate the application of64-slice spiral CT in imaging anatomy of the normal optic canal. The optic canals of 100 healthy subjects were examined by 64-slice spiral CT,and the imaging measurement of the anatomy structures were performed by the multi-planar reconstruction. The longest and the shorzest walls of the optic canal were the medial wall and the inferior wall, respectively.Results indicate that the imaging anatomic measurement of the optic canal can be accurately and easily performed by means of multi-planar reconstruction of 64-slice spiral CT.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the diagnostic value of (18)F-FDG PET-CT imaging in primary extranodal lymphoma.

METHODSA retrospective analysis of 139 clinically suspected primary extranodal lymphoma patients examined by PET-CT and confirmed by biopsies was performed. Considering the pathological diagnosis as the gold standard, PET-CT imaging of all patients was compared with CT and PET to evaluate the efficacy of 18F-FDG PET-CT in detection of primary extranodal lymphoma. The maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) from primary extranodal lymphoma patients was compared, and the data were analyzed by χ² test.

RESULTSOf the total 139 analyzed cases, 128 patients were confirmed to have primary extranodal lymphoma. The sensitivity, specificity and positive rate of PET-CT were 82.8%, 81.8% and 82.7%, respectively, that of CT were 65.6%, 72.7% and 66.2%, and that of PET were 78.9%, 36.4% and 82.0%, respectively. The sensitivity and accuracy of PET-CT were better than that of CT (χ²=9.881, 10.006; P=0.003, 0.002). The specificity of PET-CT were better than that of PET (χ²=4.487, P=0.034). In the gastrointestinal lymphoma, the sensitivity of PET-CT were better than that of CT (χ²=5.110, P=0.024). In the head and neck lymphoma, the sensitivity of PET-CT were better than that of CT (χ²=5.278, P=0.022). In the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the sensitivity of PET-CT were better than that of CT (χ²=8.711, P=0.003). The SUV max of mucosa-associated lymphoma was significantly different from that of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (7.4±4.6 vs 15.8±10.6, P=0.032; 7.4±4.6 vs 13.6±7.1, P=0.046), respectively.

CONCLUSION18F-FDG PET-CT imaging is important in the diagnosis of primary extranodal lymphoma, but the differential diagnosis with other disease is important, and the result should be combined with multiple biopsies.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

Humans ; Amyloidosis ; Amyloid ; Cardiomyopathies