OBJECTIVETo evaluate subtraction images acquired with 3D true steady-state free-precession(SSFP)sequence combined with time-spatial labeling inversion pulse(T-SLIP)for selective and non-contrast-enhanced(non-CE)visualization of the portal venous system,and explore the optimization of this protocol.

METHODSTotally 13 healthy volunteers were recruited.Respiratory-triggered 3D true SSFP sequences on a 1.5T MRI system combined with T-SLIP placed on the spleen and mesenteric area were performed.The portographic images were generated from the subtraction between the pulse on and off images.According to the difference in inversion time(TI)of T-SLIP,four image groups group A(TI of 1300 ms),group B(TI of 1100 ms),group C(TI of 900 ms)and group D(TI of 700 ms),were assigned and compared to detect the optimal TI for portography.For quantitative analysis,the signal intensity(SI)of left and right liver lobe,the large vessels as main,right and left portal vein(MPV,RPV and LPV,respectively)and small vessels as branches of segments four(P4),six(P6)and eight(P8)were measured.The relative SI of MPV,RPV and LPV,as well as P4,P6 and P8 were also compared.For qualitative evaluation,the quality score of visualization was also evaluated using a 4-point scale.One-Way ANOVA and LSD test were used for comparison of quantitative data,and Friedman signed rank test was used for comparison of qualitative scores.

RESULTSIn 52 sequences of 13 volunteers,the selective visualization of the portal vein was all successfully conducted.Quantitative evaluation showed significant increased SI at the left lobe between C and D groups and A and B groups(comparison of group C to group A and BP=0.004,0.011;comparison of group D to group A and BP=0.001,0.004),while relative SI of LPV of groups C and D were lower than groups A and B(comparison of group C to group A and BP=0.015,0.015;comparison of group D to group A and BP=0.000,0.000).The relative SI of MPV in group D were decreased than groups A(P=0.000),B(P=0.000),and C(P=0.019).There was no significant difference in relative SI of small vessels among four groups(P>0.05).The image score of portal vessels in four groups also showed no differences(P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS3D true SSFP scan with T-SLIP enabled selective non-CE visualization of the portal vein with digital subtraction method.A fixed TI of both 1300 and 1100 ms can be preferable.

Adult ; Contrast Media ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Angiography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Portal Vein ; anatomy & histology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo detect HBV-LP and HBV DNA of the patients with hepatitis B, and to study the sensitive and specificity of HBV-LP detecting and its evaluate on for clinical application.

METHODSThe ELISA was used for HBV-LP detecting and RT-PCR for HBV DNA detecting.

RESULTSThe sensitive and specificity of HBV-LP and HBV DNA were 64.89%, 99.68%, 60.63% and 100% respectively (P > 0.05); +LR, -LR were 202.78, 60.63, 0.3522 and 0.3937, and there were significance between +LR of the detecting (P < 0.005).

CONCLUSIONThe sensitive and specificity of HBV-LP and HBV DNA detecting are considerable, +LR of HBV-LP are higher comparing HBV DNA. The HBV-LP is better serology index for detecting replication of HBV DNA.

Adolescent ; Adult ; DNA Replication ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; methods ; Hepatitis B ; blood ; diagnosis ; virology ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Viral Envelope Proteins ; blood ; Young Adult

Members of prostaglandin (PG) E-series elicit cellular effects mainly through adenylyl cyclase-cAMP signaling. The role of PGE2-induced increase in cAMP has been shown to be compartmentalized in the cardiac myocytes: PGE2-induced increase of cAMP is not involved in the control of cardiomyocytic contraction. The purpose of the present study was to define the effect of PGE1 on the cGMP levels and the role of PGE1 in the atrial secretory function. Experiments were performed in perfused beating rabbit atria and atrial contractile responses, cGMP and cAMP efflux, and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) secretion were measured. PGE1 increased cGMP as well as cAMP efflux concentration in a concentration-dependent manner, however, no significant changes in atrial secretory responses were observed (with 1.0microM PGE1; for cGMP, 144.76+/-37.5%, n=11 versus -16.81+/-4.76%, n=6, control, p<0.01; for cAMP, 187.60+/-41.52%, n=11 versus 7.38+/-19.44%, n=6, control, p<0.01). PGE1 decreased atrial dynamics slightly but transiently, whereas PGE2 showed similar effects but with lower potency. Isoproterenol increased atrial cAMP efflux (with 2.0 nM; 145.71+/-41.89, n=5 versus 7.38+/-19.44%, n=6, control, p<0.05) and mechanical dynamics and decreased ANP secretion. The PGE1-induced increase in cGMP efflux showed a bell-shaped concentration-response curve. PGE1-induced increase of cGMP efflux was not observed in the presence of L-NAME, an inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthase, or ODQ, an inhibitor of NO-sensitive guanylyl cyclase. L-NAME and ODQ showed no significant effect on the PGE1-induced transient decrease of atrial dynamics. These data indicate that PGE1 increases cGMP levels via NO-soluble GC signaling in the cardiac atrium and also show that PGE1-induced increases in cGMP and cAMP levels are not involved in the regulation of atrial secretory and contractile functions.
Alprostadil* ; Atrial Function ; Atrial Natriuretic Factor ; Dinoprostone ; Guanylate Cyclase ; Isoproterenol ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester ; Nitric Oxide ; Nucleotides, Cyclic*

Selective inhibition of phosphodiesterase (PDE) 5 opened a new therapeutic approach for cardiovascular disorders. Therefore, the effect of PDE5 inhibition on the cardiac function should thoroughly be defined. The purpose of the present study was to define the effects of sildenafil, a selective inhibitor of PDE5, on the atrial cGMP efflux, atrial dynamics, and the release of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). By perfusing rabbit left atria to allow atrial pacing, changes in atrial stroke volume and pulse pressure, transmural extracellular fluid translocation, cGMP efflux, and ANP secretion were measured. SIN-1, an NO donor and soluble (s) guanylyl cyclase (GC) activator, and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), an activator of particulate (p) GC activator, were used. Sildenafil increased basal levels of cGMP efflux slightly but not significantly. Sildenafil in a therapeutic dose increased atrial dynamics (for atrial stroke volume, 2.84+/-1.71%, n=12, vs -0.71+/-0.86%, n=21; p<0.05) and decreased ANP release (-9.02+/-3.36%, n=14, vs 1.35+/-3.25%, n=23; p<0.05), however, it had no effect on the SIN-1- or CNP-induced increase of cGMP levels. Furthermore, sildenafil in a therapeutic dose accentuated SIN-1-induced, but not CNP-induced, decrease of atrial pulse pressure and ANP release. These data indicate that PDE5 inhibition with sildenafil has a minor effect on cGMP levels, but has a distinct effect on pGC-cGMP- and sGC-cGMP-induced contractile and secretory function.
Atrial Natriuretic Factor ; Blood Pressure ; Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases, Type 5* ; Extracellular Fluid ; Guanylate Cyclase ; Humans ; Natriuretic Peptide, C-Type ; Stroke Volume ; Tissue Donors ; Sildenafil Citrate

Background/Aims: Accumulating evidence indicates that L-carnitine (LC) protects against multiorgan damage through its antioxidant properties and preservation of the mitochondria. Little information is available about the effects of LC on renal fibrosis. This study examined whether LC treatment would provide renoprotection in a rat model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) and in vitro. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats that underwent UUO were treated daily with LC for 7 or 14 days. The influence of LC on renal injury caused by UUO was evaluated by histopathology, and analysis of gene expression, oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, programmed cell death, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/ AKT/forkhead box protein O 1a (FoxO1a) signaling. In addition, H2O2-exposed human kidney cells (HK-2) were treated with LC. Results: LC treatment inhibited expression of proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines, and was followed by a significant attenuation of tubulointerstitial inflammation and fibrosis. The increased oxidative stress caused by UUO was associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and excessive apoptosis and autophagy via PI3K/AKT/FoxO1a-dependent signaling, and this was abrogated by administration of LC. In H2O2-exposed HK-2 cells, LC decreased intracellular production of reactive oxygen species, and suppressed expression of profibrotic cytokines and reduced the number of apoptotic cells. Conclusions LC protects against the progression of tubulointerstitial fibrosis in an obstructed kidney.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical efficacy of Jianpi Liqi Yiliu Formula (JLYF) combined with cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells for treating patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODSBetween January 2011 and January 2014, 60 advanced HCC patients were enrolled in this study, who were assigned to the treatment group and the control group according to their willingness for taking JLYF, 30 cases in each group. All patients received CIK cell treatment: 1 x 10⁹-3 x 10⁹ each time, by intravenous dripping from the 1st day to the 3rd day, once per day. Besides, patients in the treatment group took JLYF decoction, while those in the control group took Chinese medical decoction by syndrome typing. All patients received treatment of at least two cycles. The time to progression (TTP) , overall survival (OS), disease control rate (DCR), performance status scale (PS), Child-Pugh scale, and adverse reactions were observed, and subgroup analyzed.

RESULTSTo May 31, 2014, all patients reached the clinical endpoint. TTP was 3.5 months (95% Cl: 3.30-4.10) in the treatment group, better than that (2.5 months, 95% CI: 2.32-2.68) of the control group (P < 0.05). DCR was 36.7% in the treatment group and 30.0% in the control group (P > 0.05). OS was 5.2 months (95% CI: 4.53-5.87) in the treatment group and 4.6 months (95% CI: 4.06-5.14) in the control group (P > 0.05). The PS scale was 1.60 ± 0.10 after treatment, lower than that (1.80 ± 0.09) before treatment in the treatment group (P < 0.05). When the PS scale was 0-2 or Child-Pugh scale was class A, TTP was longer in the treatment group than in the control group (P < 0.05). No adverse reaction occurred in the two groups during the treatment course.

CONCLUSIONSThe combination of JLYF with ClK cell treatment could prolong advanced HCC patients' TTP, improve PS scale, as compared with syndrome typed Chinese medical decoction treatment group. Besides, when the PS scale was 0-2 or Child-Pugh scale was class A, it was a better treatment program for advanced HCC patients.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; therapy ; Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy ; Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells ; cytology ; Disease Progression ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; therapy

Objective To observe the changes of inflammatory factors after the hepatic cystic echinococcosis surgery and explore the intervention effect of ulinastatin on postoperative inflammatory factors. Methods Sixty patients with hepatic cystic echinococcosis were selected and randomly divided into a control group and ulinastatin intervention group according to whether or not use ulinastatin. The peripheral venous blood was extracted in all the patients and the levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-9, and IL-10 were detected by the ELISA method on the day before operation, 1 day, 3 days, 5 days and 7 days after operation, respectively. The data was statistical analyzed to detect the relationships between/among the inflammatory factors mentioned above and ulina-statin and time. Results The variation of the levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-9, and IL-10 were changed by the intervention of ulina-statin at different time. The differences of the levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-9, and IL-10 between the ulinastatin intervention group and the control group were not significant on the day before operation, 1 day and 3 days after operation (t = -1.15 to 1.82, all P > 0.05), but the levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-9, and IL-10 of the ulinastatin intervention group were significantly lower than those of the control group and there were statistically significant differences 5 days and 7 days after the operation (t = 3.22 and 23.51, both P<0.05) . Conclusion Ulinastatin has a good effect in inhibiting the inflammatory factors and can protect and repair the postoperative hepatic injury as well in patients with hepatic cystic echinococcosis.

Physical attributes of Chinese herbal extracts are determined by their chemical components, and the physical and chemical attributes jointly affect the preparation process performance and the final product quality. Therefore, in order to improve the quality control of Chinese herbal extracts, we should comprehensively study the batch-to-batch consistency of physical and chemical attributes as well as the correlations between them. This paper first explored the physical attributes affecting the preparation process performance of the compound Danshen extract and developed a method for characterizing the texture attributes. With such main chemical components as water, phenolic acids, saponins, and saccharides and texture, rheology, and other physical attributes taken into consideration, the batch-to-batch quality fluctuation of products from different production lines and time was analyzed by principal components analysis(PCA). Finally, the correlation and partial least squares(PLS) analysis was conducted, and the regression equation was established. The fitting result of the PLS model for dynamic viscosity was satisfying(R~2Y=0.857, Q~2=0.793), suggesting that the chemical components could be adjusted by the component transfer rate in the extraction process, the impurity removal rate in the alcohol precipitation process, and the water retention rate of the concentration process to meet the control of the extract dynamic viscosity. This study clarified the correlations between physical and chemical attributes of the compound Danshen extract and established a method for controlling its physical attributes based on process regulation, which would provide reference for improving the quality control of Chinese herbal extracts.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Quality Control ; Salvia miltiorrhiza/chemistry* ; Water