Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Sjogren's Syndrome ; therapy

Objective To evaluate the effect of non-linear blending function for dual-energy CT on image of pulmonary angiogra-phy.Methods 27 patients underwent dual energy CT pulmonary angiography(CTPA).Data obtained with 100 kVp,140kVp,and non-linear blending were divided into group A,B,and C respectively.CT value of emboli were measured.Corresponding signal to noise ratio(SNR )and contrast to noise ratio(CNR)were calculated.One-way Anova analysis and Friedman test were used to ana-lyze statistical significance among these values.Results On quantitative analysis of 27 patients,there was no statistical difference for CT value of CTPA among the three groups(P >0.05).For the noise,CNR and SNR,there were statistically significant among the three groups(P <0.05).Conclusion The non-linear blending function has certain advantages in improved image signal-to-noise ratio and it can be used in CT pulmonary angiography examination for patients suspected pulmonary embolism clinically .

Objective To investigate possible neural mechanism of anisometropic amblyopia by analysing the whole brain volume changes both in grey matter and white matter using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM).Methods Twelve anisometropic amblyopia patients and 12 age,gender and handedness matched healthy volunteers underwent 3-dimensional (3D) fast spoiled gradient echo (FSPGR)sequence scanning on 1.5 Tesla MR system.Raw data was processed and analyzed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM)5.ResultsCompared to healthy controls,the grey matter exhibiting significantly decreased volume in patients included right cuneus,bilateral occipital gyrus,right middle frontal gyrus,left middle temporal gyrus,right superior temporal gyrus,right precuneus,and middle part of right cingulate gyrus ( clusters ＞ 10).The grey matter showing increased volume in patients included right cerebellum,right parahippocampal gyrus,left precentral gyrus,and left superior frontal gyrus (clusters ＞ 10).The white matter volume in bilateral optic radiation and internal capsule,especially right optic radiation,decreased significantly in patient group (clusters ＞ 10 ).No white matter showed significantly increased volume in patient group.ConclusionVBM can be used to investigate the changes of grey matter volume and white matter volume in the whole brain of anisometropic amblyopia children,it provides a method to illustrate the presumed neuro-mechanism from a morphologic point of view.

Objective To analyze the resting-state functional connectivity of the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus in normal subjects with functional MRI and to investigate its preliminary application in post-stroke aphasia.Methods Eleven male patients with post-stroke aphasia and 11 male normal subjects were recruited in this study.Resting-state fMRI data were obtained with GE 1.5 T Twin speed MR Scanner.The fMRI data were processed with SPM2, AFNI and Matlab programs.Based on the results of previous fMRI study with category member generation task , the region of interest ( ROI ) was created in the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus The time course correlations between the ROI and other voxels within whole brain were analyzed.Intra-and inter-group analysis was performed with single sample t-test and two sample t-test.Results Brain regions showed positive resting-state functional connectivity with the ROI in normal subjects including left inferior/middle frontal gyrus , left premotor cortex , left precuneus , left insula , left putamen, right inferior frontal gyrus, right cerebellum and bilateral inferior parietal lobules (voxels 33-809, t=5.80-23.55,P<0.005,uncorrected).Brain regions functionally connected with the ROI in patients with post-stroke aphasia included left inferior/middle frontal gyrus , left premotor cortex , left precuneus , left inferior parietal lobules and right inferior frontal gyrus ( voxels 34-833, t =5.08-20.34, P<0.005, uncorrected ).The left fusiform gyrus was the only region showed significantly decreased functional connectivity with the ROI in the patients group (voxels 84,t=6.25,P<0.005, uncorrected).Conclusions The neural network related to language output exists in normal subjects at the resting-state.Resting-state functional connectivity can be used to investigate the neural mechanism of development and restoration of post-stroke aphasia.

Objective To analyze the pitfalls of 18F fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computer tomography (PET-CT) scan in the diagnosis of 60 patients of tuberculosis mimicking malignancy.Methods The study included 60 patients with PET-CT diagnosis of probable malignancy.Fifty patients were proved to be tuberculosis by pathological examinations and 10 were diagnosed by clinical followup.The images of whole body were acquired at 60 min after administration of 222-555 MBq 18F-FDG.The PET-CT imaging characteristics and clinical data,including lesion size,distribution,standardized uptake value (SUV) were retrospectively analyzed.After the whole body scan of PET-CT,each patient had a chest spiral CT scan for detailed observation of lung lesions.Contrast enhanced CT (CECT) was performed in 8 patients.Results (1)Thirty patients were misdiagnosed as lung cancer,14 patients as malignant lymphoma,6 patients as malignant mesothelioma,3 as intestine carcinoma,2 as bone malignancy,1 patient as hepatocarcinoma,spleen malignancy,ovarian cancer,laryngocarcinoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma respectively.(2) 90.9％ (20/22) of patients showed normal level of serum CEA and 100％ (13/13) of patients showed normal level of CA199.Increasing serum CA125 was found in all patients (6/6) with activeTB patients accompanied with ascites,pleural fluid and (or) pericardial effusion.(3) 93.3％ (28/30)active tuberculosis showed accumulated 18F-FDG which was incorrectly interpreted as malignancy.The most common sites of TB lymphadenopathy were bilateral cervical tissues,which was accounted for 85.7％(12/14).CECT revealed characteristics of peripheral enhancement and central necrosis in tubercular lymphadenopathy,which was 87.5％ (7/8).Conclusions The diverse manifestations of TB on imaging and high uptake of 18F-FDG on PET imaging result in misdiagnosis of malignancy.It is important for radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians to identify the common imaging features and patterns of TB to make a correct diagnosis.Integration of reconstruction HR CT,PET-CT and lab examinations may improve the diagnostic accuracy.

Objective To assess the clinical value of dual-energy CT (DECT) Volume software in quantitative analysis of urate crystals.Methods The DECT data of 60 gout patients based on the American College of Rheumatology diagnostic criteria were analyzed retrospectively.The volumes of urate crystals were quantitatively analyzed by using Volume software with two senior radiologists.The results were statistically analyzed.Results Seventy-two joints of 60 gout patients were scanned by DECT.40 of 43 joints had urate crystals in foot and ankle with the average volume of (0.621±0.742) cm3;18 of 19 joints had urate crystals in knee with the average volume of (0.842±1.086) cm3;10 of 10 joints had urate crystals in hand and wrist with the average volume of (0.796±0.583) cm3.There was no statistical difference for volume measurement between two doctors (P>0.05).The volumes of urate crystals in 4 patients with regular medication were reduced.Conclusion Volume software of DECT can quantitatively analyze urate crystals with a good repeatability, which has high application value in clinical diagnosis and treatment monitoring of gout.

Polymeric micelles have exhibited attractive properties as drug carriers, such as high stability in vivo and good biocompatibility, and been successfully used to dissolve various drugs of poor aqueous solubilities. In this study, we developed a new type of polymeric micelles with mannose-mediated targeting and pH-responsive drug release properties for anticancer drug delivery. The polymeric micelles were prepared from an amphiphilic polymer, poly (glycidyl methacrylate)-g-mannose (PGMA-Mannose). An anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX), was encapsulated into the micelles during the micellization, and could be released rapidly under acidic condition. The specificity of cellular uptake of the micelles by two different cell lines was studied using confocal laser scanning microscopy and the MTT assay. DOX-loaded micelles were efficiently trapped by mannose-receptor-overexpressing cancer cells MDA-MB-231, whereas mannose- receptor-poor cells HEK293 showed much lower endocytosis towards the micelles under the same conditions. Thus, DOX-loaded micelles displayed higher cytotoxicity to MDA-MB-231 cancer cells as compared with free DOX. The present study demonstrates that PGMA-Mannose micelles are a promising targeted drug delivery system for cancer therapy.
Cell Line, Tumor ; Doxorubicin ; pharmacology ; Drug Delivery Systems ; HEK293 Cells ; Humans ; Lectins, C-Type ; metabolism ; Mannose ; chemistry ; Mannose-Binding Lectins ; metabolism ; Micelles ; Receptors, Cell Surface ; metabolism

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Ketamine ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To investigate the changes of gene expression profile in Beagle dogs' peripheral blood lymphocytes after acute irradiation.Methods Totally 20 male adult Beagle dogs were randomly divided into four groups including non-treatment blank control group and three radiation groups exposed to 0.5,2.0,and 5.0 Gy of γ-rays,respectively.Six hours after radiation,the peripheral blood were collected for lymphocytes isolation.Total RNA was extracted from the lymphocytes and analyzed by microarray hybridization.The differential gene profiles of radiation groups were analyzed by gene ontology (GO) analysis and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathways analysis,and the alerted genes were further confirmed by the real time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) assay.Results Compared to the blank control group,the expressions of 308 genes in the radiation groups were perturbed over 2-fold of control,including 61 genes up-regulated and 247 genes down-regulated,which were mainly associated with immune response and cancer occurrence.The GO analysis indicated that the differential expressed genes were associated with cell connection,signal transduction,oxidation-reduction reaction and metabolism.The KEGG pathway analysis showed that some physiological and biochemical processes were involved,such as phagocytosis,tumor pathway,p53 signaling pathway,JAK-STAT signal pathway,cell differentiation,and proliferation,oxidative phosphorylation,glycogen dysplasia and other pathways.The microarray data of the alterations of apoptosis enhancing nuclease (AEN) and mitogenactivated protein kinase 13 (MAP3K13) gene expressions were further confirmed by qRT-PCR.Conclusions Exposure to different doses of acute γ-ray irradiation had significant impact on the gene expressions in Beagle dogs' peripheral blood lymphocytes and those differential expressed genes were related to a series of biological processes and pathways including immune response,metabolism and carcinogenesis.

Objective To assess mutations in the ALDH3A2 gene in two patients with Sj(o)gren-Larsson syndrome manifesting primarily as congenital ichthyosis,mental retardation and spastic paraplegia.Methods Two patients,a 2-year-old girl and a 1.5-year-old boy,with Sj(o)gren-Larsson syndrome were included in this study.None of their family members suffered from this disease.Peripheral blood samples were collected from the two patients,their family members (an elder brother and both parents),and 100 unrelated healthy controls.DNA was extracted from the blood samples,and subjected to PCR for the amplification of 10 encoding exons and their flanking sequences of the ALDH3A2 gene followed by DNA sequencing.Results A homozygous missense mutation c.325G ＞ A,which leads to the substitution of glycine by arginine at position 109,was detected in the ALDH3A2 gene of patient 1,whose parents and elder brother were heterozygous carriers of this mutation.The patient 2 carried compound heterozygous mutations,including c.1157A ＞ G (p.Asn386Ser) inherited from his father and c.1294A ＞ T (p.Arg432X) inherited from his mother.None of these mutations was detected in the unrelated healthy controls.Conclusion The homozygous mutation p.Gly109Arg and compound heterozygous mutations p.Asn386Ser and p.Arg432X present in these patients may be associated with clinical phenotypes of Sj(o)grenLarsson syndrome.