Objective To explore the influence of thyroid status on serum level of leptin and expression of leptin mRNA in rats with hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism.Methods Fifty rats were artificially rendered hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism by L-thyroxine or methimazole and divided into 5 groups.The serum of T 3,T 4,TSH,leptin concentration and expression of leptin mRNA were measured in 5 groups.Results Serum leptin concentration was significantly correlated with weight of rats in 5 groups(P

Objective To investigate the changes of Bcl-2 and Bax expression in white matter of fetal rats after maternal endotoxin administration. Methods Pregnant rats were randomly divided into two groups: infection group and control group. The infection group was established by intraperitoneal injection of endotoxin in pregnant rats when gestation was 70% complete (15 days). The control group was treated with normal saline. The fetal rats were killed at 2, 4, 12, 24 and 72 hours after maternal endotoxin administration. The pathological changes in placenta and in fetal rat brain were determined by HE staining. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in fetal rat brains. Results The major pathological changes in fetal rats niter maternal endotoxin administration included neutrophil infiltration in the placenta, weak staining of white matter and focal infarction. After maternal endotoxin administration, the expression of Bcl-2 gradually decreased from 2 h and arrived at the valley at 12 h, while that of Bax gradually increased 2 h and reached a peak at 12 h. Between the endotoxin-gronp and the control group, the number of positive cells of Bcl-2 and Bax in brain of the fetal rat had significant difference at 4, 12, 24 and 72 hours (P< 0.01 ), and there was no significant difference at 2 h (P > 0.05). The ratio of Bax to Bcl-2 in the endotoxingroup was significantly higher than that in the control group at each time point (P<0.01).Conclusion Endotoxin can be used to eatablish intrauterine irfection models and the infection may cause damage to the white matter. Overexpression of Bcl-2 protects cell from apoptosis, but Bax may function as a cell death effector pro-tein. The ratio of Bax to Bcl-2 may play an important role for apoptosis in the lesion of the white matter.

Objective To investigate the levels of interleukin 1? (IL 1?) and tumor necrosis factor ? (TNF ?) in both serum and CSF in patients with Alzheimer's disease Methods Eleven patients with Alzheimer's disease,13 patients with vascular dementia (VD) and 13 healthy controls were analyzed by using commercial ELISA kits Results The average serum level of IL 1? was found higher in AD patients(60 13?17 81 pg/ml) than in VD patients(38 51?14 39 pg/ml) and in healthy controls(33 98?16 31 pg/ml)( P

Atrial Flutter ; Fetus ; Humans

Objective: Clone, express and purify human recombinant calreticulin (CRT). Methods: Human CRT cDNA was amplified from total RNA of human lung cancer cell line A549 cells by RT-PCR. Then, PCR product was subcloned into prokaryotic expression vector pET-15b. After sequencing, this recombinant plasmid was transformed into E.coli. Rossetta. Recombinant CRT was expressed in host cells by IPTG induction. Resulted protein was purified by Ni-NTA resin under denature condition and dialyzed to recover its native structure. SDS-PAGE and Western blot method were used to identify the expression and purification of reconbinant CRT. Results: Human CRT cDNA was cloned from total RNA of A549 cells. CRT prokaryotic expression vector pET-15b-crt was constructed. Reconbinant CRT was induced to express in E.coli and purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatograph. Conclusion: A method for prokaryotic expression and purification of human recombinant CRT was successfully established. This method laid a foundation for the subsequent CRT research.

Objective To study the changes of motor cortex in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS)while executing sequential finger tapping movement by using blood oxygenation level dependent(BOLD)functional MRI.Methods Fifteen patients with definite or probable ALS and 15 age and gender matched normal controls were enrolled in the BOLD study,and all the subjects were right-handed with no other diseases or any recent medication history.A 3.0 T MR scanner was employed and gradient echo EPI(GRE-EPI)sequence was used to acquire the functional images.Subjects executed sequential finger tapping movement at a frequency of 1-2 Hz during a block design task.fMRI data were analyzed by using statistical parametric mapping(SPM)2.Volume of activated brain areas was compared with the use of a Student's t-test.Results Bilateral primary sensorimotor cortex(PSM),bilateral posterior aspect of premotor area(PA),bilateral supplementary motor area(SMA),contralateral inferior lateral premotor area (ILPA),bilateral parietal region(PAR),and ipsilateral cerebellum showed activation in both ALS patients and normal controls when executing the same motor task.The activation areas in bilateral PSM and bilateral posterior aspect of PA(right hand ipsilateral activation:ALS(924.5±141.1)mm3,control(829.9±98.4)mm3,P=0.05;right hand contralateral activation:ALS(9143.8±702.8)mm3,control(8638.8±506.4)mm3,P＜0.05;left hand ipsilateral activation:ALS(1162.5±357.4)mm3,control(902.5±184.2)mm3,P＜0.05;left hand contralateral activation:ALS(8255.2±870.2)mm3,control (5934.6±616.4)mm3,P＜0.05),bilateral SMA(right hand bilateral activation:ALS(6564.3±720.6)mm3,control(4710.7±416.3)mm3,P＜0.05;left hand bilateral activation:ALS(6970.5±961.8)mm3,control(3688.9±672.3)mm3,P＜0.05),and ipsilateral cerebellum(right hand ipsilateral activation:ALS(2720.0±1154.2)mm3,control(254.3±84.4)mm3,P＜0.05;left hand ipsilateral activation:ALS(4794.4±1237.0)mm3,control(1689.0±719.6)mm3,P＜0.05)were significantly larger in ALS patients than in normal controls.Extra activation areas including ipsilateral ILPA,contralateral cerebellum and bilateral posterior limb of internal capsule were only detected in ALS patients.Conclusions Similar activation areas were seen in both groups while executing the same motor task,but the activated areas were more prominent in ALS group.The increased activation areas in ALS patients may represent neural reorganization.while the extra activation areas in ALS patients may indicate functional compensation.

Objective To investigate the value of DWI before treatment on predicting sensitivity of concurrent chemoradiation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods Seventy patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma proved by nasopharyngoscope and biopsy pathology conducted DWI before concurrent chemoradiation and reexamined on receiving dose of 50 Gy.The mean, maximum and minimum ADC value of tumor were measured on DWI and maximum area of tumor before and during treatment ( on dose of 50 Gy) was delineated to calculate the tumor regression rate ( RS0-50 ).The patients were classified into three groups according to the RS0-50 as sensitive, moderate, and resistant therapeutic effect.Patients were classified into different groups according to the pathologic type and clinical stage respectively .Spearman correlation analysis was used between RS 0-50 and ADC values of all tumors , different pathologic types and clinical stages , respectively.ROC was used to evaluate the cutoff and value of ADC which had highest correlation to RS0-50 on predicting therapeutic effect.Results DWI of 3 patients were excluded due to obvious swallow artifact which influenced the measurement , and finally 67 patients were included in this study, with pathological type of nonkeratinized differentiated undifferentiated carcinoma in 49 cases, nonkeratinized undifferentiated carcinoma in 18 cases, clinical T1 stage in 7 cases, T2 in 14 cases, T3 in 17 cases and T4 in 29 cases.During treatment , there were 13 cases with sensitive therapeutic effect , 42 cases with moderate therapeutic effect and 12 cases with resistant therapeutic effect.RS0-50 [ ( 65.6 ± 3.1) %] showed mildly and moderately negative correlation to mean ADC [(1.06 ±0.19) ×10 -3 mm2/s] and maximum ADC [(1.29 ±0.33) ×10 -3 mm2/s] respectively ( r =-0.276, P =0.024 and r =-0.434, P=0.001, respectively).ROC showed when setting threshold at maximum ADC value of lower than 1.06 ×10 -3 mm2/s for predicting sensitive therapeutic effect , the specificity , sensitivity , and accuracy was 69.2%(9/13), 88.9%(48/54) and 85.1% (57/67), respectively, and when setting threshold at maximum ADC value of higher than and equal to 1.30 ×10 -3 mm2/s for predicting resistant therapeutic effect, the specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy was 75.0% (9/12), 65.5% (36/55) and 67.2%(45/67), respectively.Conclusion Pretreatment maximum ADC value were able to predict the tumor regression rate and sensitivity of concurrent chemoradiation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma .

Objective To evaluate 3.0T MR diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and ADC value in diagnosis, histological grade, tumor staging and short-time therapeutic outcome of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (CCRCC). Methods DWI of 51 patients of CCRCC confirmed with surgery and pathology were retrospectively reviewed. ADC values of tumors and the corresponding areas of lateral normal renal parenchyma were measured. Taking ADC value at 1.8×10~(-3) mm~2/s as a cut-off value, the patients were divided into two groups. The tumors' histological grade, T-staging, clinical staging, tumor short-term control rate within 1 year follow-up were compared between the two groups with statistical test. Results Statistical difference of ADC value was observed between CCRCC ([1.778±0.582]×10~(-3) mm~2/s) and those of normal renal parenchyma ([2.314±0.223]×10~(-3) mm~2/s) (P<0.01). ADC values of 24 patients were less than 1.8×10~(-3) mm~2/s and those of 27 patients were more than or equal to 1.8×10~(-3) mm~2/s. There were statistical differences in histological grade, T-staging, clinical staging, tumor short-term control rate within 1 year follow-up between the two groups (P＜0.01). Conclusion 3.0T MR DWI can accurately differentiate CCRCC from normal renal parenchyma. Quantitative analysis of ADC value is helpful to evaluate the histological grade, tumor staging and short-term therapeutic outcome of CCRCC.

Objective To evaluate 3.0T MR diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and ADC value in diagnosis of different pathological types and grades of malignant renal tumors. Methods DWI images of 66 patients of malignant renal tumors proved pathologically were retrospectively reviewed. ADC values of tumors and the corresponding areas of lateral normal renal parenchyma were measured and analyzed statistically. Results There was significant difference between the mean ADC value of malignant renal carcinomas ([1.653±0.598]×10~(-3) mm~2/s) and that of normal renal parenchyma ([2.305±0.218]×10~(-3) mm~2/s, P<0.001). ROC curve showed that taking ADC value of lower than 2.0×10~(-3) mm~2/s as a threshold for diagnosing renal malignant tumor, the specificity, sensitivity and accuracy was 93.94%, 71.21% and 82.58%, respectively. Statistical differences were found between clear cell carcinoma and non-clear cell carcinoma (P=0.001), as well as clear cell carcinoma grade Ⅰ and Ⅲ (P=0.002), grade Ⅱ and Ⅲ (P=0.004) respectively. However, no statistical difference was observed between grade Ⅰ and Ⅱ (P=1.000). Conclusion 3.0T MR DWI can be used in diagnosis of malignant renal tumors, and ADC value may help to differentiate the pathological type and grade.

To evaluate multi-slice computer tomography (MSCT) in mediastinal lymph node metastasis of T1 and T2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods:A total of 32 patients with T1 and T2 NSCLC from February 2004 to October 2012 were selected. Preoperative MSCT assessment of mediastinal lymph nodes was performed on basis of the pathological results. Results:Lymph nodes with diameters of≥10 mm were evaluated, and the sensitivity and specificity of the MSCT mediastinal lymph node me-tastases were 82.4%and 92.4%, respectively. Lymph node size, primary tumor location, and visceral pleural invasion showed statistical significance in forecasting mediastinal lymph node metastases (P<0.05). Conclusion:MSCT can be used for the effective evaluation of mediastinal lymph node metastasis, lymph node size, and position of primary tumor. and visceral pleural invasion of the tumor had a higher risk of mediastinal lymph node metastasis.