AIM　To study the apoptosis and characterizati on of cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) induced by cholestan-3β,5 α,6β-triol(Triol) and compared with 25-hydryoxycholestrol(25-OH). M ETHODS　The culture of vascular muscle smooth cells (VSMCs), light and e lectron transmission microscopy and TdT-mediated dUPT nick-end labeling (TUNEL ) technique. RESULTS　After being treated with oxyterols, VSMCs showed apoptosis of ultrastracture change including shrinkage, condensation of nuclear chromatin, fragmentation nuclei and formation of apoptotic body. TUNEL r evealed that Triol-induced apoptosis in VSMCs was in a concentration-dependent manner. The effect of Triol and 25-OH at a 30 μmol*L-1 concentration i n culture medium induced apoptosis of VSMCs, the former was not but the latter was inhibited by cholesterol at a 50 μmol*L-1 concentration. CO NCLUSION Triol can induce VSMCs apoptosis in vitro and oxysterol-i nduced apoptosis in VSMCs may be mediated through various pathway and different mechanism. Oxysterol-induced apoptosis in VSMCs may play an important role in t riggering atherosclerosis plaque rupture and result to the onset of the acute co ronary syndromes.

Objective To explore the anatomic positional relationship of bronchial artery(BA)with esophagus and main bronchus on 320-detector CTA.Methods Original and post-processed images of 142 patients were observed.Type,origin,opening direction of BA as well as its concomitant relationship with esophagus were recorded.The positional relationship of BA with main bronchus was also recorded by fusing the images of BA and bronchial tree together.Results In 122 patients,273 BA were identified (146 on the right and 127 on the left).Right BA mainly ran simultaneously along the right and posterior edge of the esophagus (49.3%),while left BA mainly ran far gradually on the left side of the esophagus (82.7%).The left and right BA mainly ran along the middle thoracic esophagus, accounting for 58.3% and 42.5% respectively.45.2% of the right BA ran across the posterior edge of the right main bronchus and 60.6% of left BA ran simultaneously on the posterior and up edge of the esophagus.The most dividing direction of BA from the tho-racic aorta was 9 to 12 o’clock with a frequency of 74.2%.Conclusion The concomitant relationship with esophagus of the BA and the positional relationship with main bronchus of the BA could clearly be demonstrated on 320-detector CTA,thus providing availa-ble information and help for pulmonary and mediastinal sugery.

Objective To investigate the effects of different concentrations of PPF on oxidative stress and apoptosis of PD model cells induced by MPP+.Methods The human neuroblastoma cell SH-SY5Y was induced by 1 mM MPP+ to establish PD cell model.In PPF treatment group,SH-SY5Y cells were stimulated with 10,20,40 and 80 μM PPF for 4 h before MPP+ induction.Cell counting kit-8(CCK-8)was performed to evaluate cell proliferation activity.H2DCF-DA fluorescent probe was used to detect ROS in cells.The levels of MDA and NADPH oxidase were analyzed by the kit.Western blot examined the protein expression of cytochrome c in mitochondria and cytoplasm,as well as the relative expression of Bcl-2,Bax and cleaved caspase-3 in SH-SY5Y cells.Apoptosis rate was analyzed by flow cytometry.Results MPP+ significantly inhibited the proliferation of SH-SY5Y cells(P<0.001),promoted the level of ROS(P<0.001),MDA(P<0.001),NADPH oxidase(P<0.01),cytochrome c in cytoplasm(P<0.01)and induced apoptosis(P<0.001)and the relative expression of pro-apoptosis protein Bax and cleaved caspase-3(P<0.01),reduced cytochrome c protein in mitochondria(P<0.01)and the relative expression of anti-apoptosis protein(P<0.01).PPF pretreatment alleviated the proliferation inhibition,oxidative stress and apoptosis promotion of SH-SY5Y cells induced by MPP+(P<0.001),and the effects of 40 μM and 80 μM on cells were more significant.Conclusion PPF pretreatment can alleviate the oxidative stress of SH-SY5Y cells induced by MMP+ and reduce apoptosis rate.

Objective To explore the feasibility and safety of flexible ureteroscope with tubeless in the treatment of middle or upper calyx renal calculi.Methods The clinical data of 107 patients with renal calculi treated from January 2015 to October 2018 were analyzed retrospectively.Age ranged from 18 to 55 years,with mean of (32.1 ± 5.2) years.Calculi was single,locating in the middle or upper calyx,with the diameter less than 2.0 cm,the CT value ≤ 800 HU,and mild renal hydronephrosis.All patients were routinely indwelling double-J tube using cystoscopy 2 weeks preoperatively,and ureteroscopic lithotripsy was performed.Fifty patients in group A were received tubeless treatment,and 57 patients in group B were given routinely indwelling double-J tube.The 50 patients in group A were (30.4 ± 5.9) years of age,including 33 males and 17 females,28 cases on the left and 22 cases on the right,24 cases locating in the upper calyx and 26 cases locating in the middle calyx,and calculi diameter of (1.3 ± 0.5) cm.The 57 patients in group B were (31.3 ± 5.4) years of age,including 35 males and 22 females,26 cases on the left and 31 cases on the right,27 cases locating in the upper calyx and 30 cases locating in the middle calyx,and diameter of (1.4 ± 0.4) cm.There were no significant difference in the demographics between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).Results There were no obvious ureteral malformations,stenosis,polyps or tumors in the 107 cases intraoperatively,and the flexible ureteroscope sheath was placed smoothly.The operation time in group A [(48.2 ± 9.7) min] was significantly lower than that in group B [(51.7 ± 7.8) min,P ＜ 0.05].There was no significant difference in the calculi clearance rate between the two groups on the first day [92.0％ (46/50) vs.91.2％ (52/57)] and two weeks[96.0％ (48/50) vs.98.2％ (56/57)] after operation(P ＞ 0.05),and the calculi clearance rate reached 100％ at 1 month after operation.The incidence of hematuria in group A [24.0％ (12/50)] was significantly lower than that in group B [54.4％ (31/57),P =0.001].The incidence of bladder irritative symptoms in group A [14.0％ (7/50)] was significantly lower than that in group B [36.8％ (21/57),P =0.007].The incidence of lumbar and abdominal pain at 1 week,2 weeks and 1 month after operation was significantly lower in group A [32.0％ (16/50),8.0％ (4/50),2.0％ (1/50)] than that in group B [57.9％ (33/57),49.1％ (28/57),33.3％ (19/57),P ＜ 0.05].There was no significant difference between the two groups about the incidence of lumbar and abdominal pain at first day after operation [86.0％ (43/50) vs.84.2％ (48/57),P ＞ 0.05].Conclusions It was feasibility and safety to perform flexible ureteroscope with tubeless for the patients with renal primary and single calculi,ideal ureteral conditions (no malformations,stenosis,polyps or tumors),mild renal hydronephrosis,calculi,diameter ＜ 2.0 cm,CT value ≤ 800 HU,locating in the middle or upper calyx,and no history of urinary calculi.This procedure had not only similar calculi clearance rate compared with routinely indwelling double-J tube,but also has a lower incidence of complications (hematuria,bladder irritative symptoms,lumbar or abdominal pain).

Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) is a rare clinical entity. A case of AAM was reported in this paper. The patient presented with severe hydronephrosis of the left kidney and was diagnosed with a pelvic mass compressing the ureter. The patient underwent laparoscopic resection of the pelvic mass. The postoperative pathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of AAM. The patient had no recurrence and metastasis after 9 months of follow-up.

Objective: To explore the value of dual-energy CT-based volumetric iodine-uptake (VIU) in the evaluation of chemotherapy efficacy in advanced gastric cancer. Methods: Inclusion criteria of subjects: (1) without previous systematic therapy; (2) with complete clinical information before and after chemotherapy; (3) without contraindications of chemotherapy. Exclusion criteria of subjects: (1) unfinished duration and times of chemotherapy; (2) unmeasurable primary lesions; (3) poor imaging quality or poor gastric filling. Clinical and image data of 52 patients with advanced gastric cancer who were diagnosed by pathology from gastroscopic biopsy, and needed chemotherapy evaluated by imaging and clinical information in the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from February 2017 to February 2018 were collected and analyzed. Of 52 patients, 38 were male and 14 were female with the median age of 65 (31-88) years old. All the patients underwent a dual-energy, dual phase-enhanced CT scanning before chemotherapy and after the third chemotherapy session. The parameters of the lesions measured before and after chemotherapy in portal vein phase were as follows: the maximum diameter (the largest diameter among those measured in the cross-sectional, coronal, and sagittal planes), average CT value (the regions of interest were manually pinpointed under cross-sectional planes with largest diameter of the tumor, which did not include regions less than 2 mm to the edge of the tumor) and VIU (lesion volume × iodine concentration). The change rates of maximum lesion diameter, average CT value and VIU before and after chemotherapy were calculated [(post-chemotherapy parameters-pre-chemotherapy parameters)/ pre-chemotherapy parameters]. The efficacy of chemotherapy was evaluated by RECIST 1.1 (the change of maximum tumor diameter after chemotherapy), Choi (the change of average CT value after chemotherapy) and VIU (the change of VIU after chemotherapy), respectively, which was categorized by complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD). Patients with CR, PR, and SD were assigned to the effective group, while those with PD were classified as the ineffective group. Paired t - test or Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used to compare the changes of parameters before and after chemotherapy, whereas Spearman correlation analysis and Kappa test were used for the correlation analysis and the consistency test between the three evaluation criteria (Kappa≥0.75 indicated good consistency). Results: After chemotherapy, the average CT value [(74.01±16.75) HU vs. (81.06±15.87) HU, t=2.202, P=0.030] and median VIU (668.53×10² μg vs. 272.52×10² μg, Z=4.761, P<0.001) decreased significantly, while the difference of the maximum diameter was not statistically significant [(66.71±34.49) mm vs. (78.45±35.62) mm, t=1.708, P=0.091]. The median change rate of VIU (–53.33%) was greater than that of CT values (–5.75%) with significant difference (Z=-5.408, P<0.001). According to the RECIST 1.1 criteria, 47 patients (90.4%, including 19 with PR and 28 with SD) were effective and 5 patients (9.6%) were ineffective. According to the Choi criteria, 45 patients (86.5%, including 37 with PR and 8 with SD) were effective and 7 patients (13.5%) were ineffective. According to the VIU criteria, 46 patients (88.5%, including 41 with PR and 5 with SD) were effective and 6 patients (11.5%) were ineffective. Efficacy comparison among these three criteria showed no significant difference (χ²=0.377, P=0.828). As compared to RECIST 1.1 evaluation, the proportion of PR evaluated by Choi and VIU was significantly higher (χ²=16.861, P<0.001), whereas the proportion of SD was significantly lower (χ²=24.089, P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the proportions of PR and SD between VIU and Choi criteria (χ²=0.887, P=0.346). Consistency and correlation analysis showed that the VIU and Choi evaluation criteria presented the highest consistency and correlation (Kappa=0.912, P<0.001; r=0.916, P<0.001). Conclusion VIU is a feasible parameter for the evaluation of chemotherapy efficacy in advanced gastric cancer, and may be more sensitive than the evaluation criteria based on maximum diameter or change of CT value in the tumor.