OBJECTIVETo explore the silencing effects of RNA interference on the expression of 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 (PDK1) gene, and the effects on malignant phenotypes of esophageal carcinoma EC9706 cells.

METHODSPDK1 siRNAs was transfected into the EC9706 cells. The expression of PDK1 mRNA was detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). At the same time, expressions of PDK1, Akt and phosphorylated Akt proteins were detected by Western blot. Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay (MTT) was used to examine the cell proliferation after transfection. Flow cytometry was used to determine the percentage of apoptosis cells, and Transwell chambers were used to detect the invasion ability of the cells. Tumor formation in nude mice was used to assess the tumorigenic characteristics in vivo.

RESULTSCompared with the non-transfected group, PDK1 siRNA effectively inhibited the expression of PDK1 mRNA in EC9706 cells, with an inhibition rate of (28.5 ± 4.2)% at 24 h, (51.1 ± 5.7)% at 48 h and (60.6 ± 4.1)% at 72 h after transfection. The expressions of PDK1 and phosphorylated Akt protein were also knocked down by PDK1 siRNA (P < 0.05). PDK1 siRNA significantly inhibited the cell proliferation and invasion, promoted the cell apoptosis, and inhibited the EC9706 cells proliferation in vivo and the expression of PDK1 protein in the transplanted tumors (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONPDK1 may play an important role in esophageal cancer cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis, and may serve as an effective target for cancer gene therapy.

3-Phosphoinositide-Dependent Protein Kinases ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Phosphorylation ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Transfection ; Tumor Burden

BACKGROUNDBacterial pneumonia in the recipients of liver transplantation (LTX) is a common postoperative complication influencing the prognosis greatly. In this article, the diagnosis and treatment of bacterial pneumonia in 33 LTX recipients are reported.

METHODSFrom February 1999 to January 2003, a total of 103 patients underwent allogeneic LTX at our center; afterwards, a retrospective analysis was made on their postoperative clinical manifestations, including symptoms (expectoration, panting and fever), sign (rale), results of laboratory examinations (white blood cell count and sputum culture of tracheal secretions or pleural fluid culture), and chest X-ray films. The following data of the pneumonia and non-pneumonia groups were collected, and the rank sum test (SPSS 11.0, Wilcoxon's method) was used to analyze the duration of postoperative respirator utilization and the volume of pleural effusion through pleurocentesis or pleural drainage.

RESULTSIn the 103 patients, 33 experienced 53 episodes of bacterial pneumonia during their hospital stay after transplantation, 14 of them (42.42%) had more than three manifestations of the seven mentioned above. The pathogens causing bacterial pneumonia included Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17.48%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (15.53%), Acinetobacter baumannii (10.68%), and Staphylococcus aureus (7.77%). Amilkacin, tienam, ciprofloxacin, vancomycin, etc. were the antibiotics of choice against those bacteria. Acute rejection occurred during the treatment of bacterial pneumonia in 16 patients, and 5 of them died. Wilcoxon's rank sum test of the data indicated that the pneumonia group had longer duration of postoperative ventilator treatment and larger volume of pleural effusion than the non-pneumonia group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe clinical manifestations of pneumonia after LTX might be atypical, and special attention should be paid to the respiratory symptoms and signs within 2 months after LTX. Whenever the diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia is confirmed, consideration should be given to reasonable use of antibiotics and regulation of immunity in addition to other routine therapies.

Adult ; Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonia, Bacterial ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Postoperative Complications ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Retrospective Studies

Background Bacterial pneumonia in the recipients of liver transplantation (LTX) is a common postoperative complication influencing the prognosis greatly. In this article, the diagnosis and treatment of bacterial pneumonia in 33 LTX recipients are reported. Methods From February 1999 to January 2003, a total of 103 patients underwent allogeneic LTX at our center; afterwards, a retrospective analysis was made on their postoperative clinical manifestations, including symptoms (expectoration, panting and fever), sign (rale), results of laboratory examinations (white blood cell count and sputum culture of tracheal secretions or pleural fluid culture), and chest X-ray films. The following data of the pneumonia and non-pneumonia groups were collected, and the rank sum test (SPSS 11.0, Wilcoxon's method) was used to analyze the duration of postoperative respirator utilization and the volume of pleural effusion through pleurocentesis or pleural drainage.Results In the 103 patients, 33 experienced 53 episodes of bacterial pneumonia during their hospital stay after transplantation, 14 of them (42.42%) had more than three manifestations of the seven mentioned above. The pathogens causing bacterial pneumonia included Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17.48%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (15.53%), Acinetobacter baumannii (10.68%), and Staphylococcus aureus (7.77%). Amilkacin, tienam, ciprofloxacin, vancomycin, etc. were the antibiotics of choice against those bacteria. Acute rejection occurred during the treatment of bacterial pneumonia in 16 patients, and 5 of them died. Wilcoxon's rank sum test of the data indicated that the pneumonia group had longer duration of postoperative ventilator treatment and larger volume of pleural effusion than the non-pneumonia group (P<0.05).Conclusions The clinical manifestations of pneumonia after LTX might be atypical,and special attention should be paid to the respiratory symptoms and signs within 2 months after LTX. Whenever the diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia is confirmed, consideration should be given to reasonable use of antibiotics and regulation of immunity in addition to other routine therapies.

The ascidian Ciona intestinalis is a model organism of developmental and evolutionary biology and may provide crucial clues concerning two fundamental matters, namely, how chordates originated from the putative deuterostome ancestor and how advanced chordates originated from the simplest chordates. In this paper, a whole-life-span culture of C. intestinalis was conducted. Fed with the diet combination of dry Spirulina, egg yolk, Dicrateria sp., edible yeast and weaning diet for shrimp, C. intestinalis grew up to average 59 mm and matured after 60 d cultivation. This culture process could be repeated using the artificially cultured mature ascidians as material. When the fertilized eggs were maintained under 10, 15, 20, 25 degrees C, they hatched within 30 h, 22 h, 16 h and 12 h 50 min respectively experiencing cleavage, blastulation, gastrulation, neurulation, tailbud stage and tadpole stage. The tadpole larvae were characterized as typical but simplified chordates because of their dorsal nerve cord, notochord and primordial brain. After 8 - 24 h freely swimming, the tadpole larvae settled on the substrates and metamorphosized within 1- 2 d into filter feeding sessile juvenile ascidians. In addition, unfertilized eggs were successfully dechorionated in filtered seawater containing 1% Tripsin, 0.25% EDTA at pH of 10.5 within 40 min. After fertilization, the dechorionated eggs developed well and hatched at normal hatching rate. In conclusion, this paper presented feasible methodology for rearing the tadpole larvae of C. intestinalis into sexual maturity under controlled conditions and detailed observations on the embryogenesis of the laboratory cultured ascidians, which will facilitate developmental and genetic research using this model system.
Animals ; Ciona intestinalis ; growth & development ; Embryonic Development ; physiology ; Female ; Male ; Metamorphosis, Biological ; physiology ; Zygote ; growth & development

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Celecoxib on the proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle and CD117 expression of K562 cells, and to explore its synergistic effect with IFN-alpha. K562 cells were treated with IFN-alpha, Celecoxib and combination of Celecoxib with IFN-alpha at different concentrations. The inhibitory effect of Celecoxib and IFN-alpha on cell proliferation was detected with MTT assay, the cell apoptosis, cell cycle and CD117 expression were determined by morphology observation and flow cytometry. The results showed that the Celecoxib inhibited proliferation of K562 cells in concentration-dependent manner (r=-0.91). After culture of K562 cells for 72 hours, the rates of K562 cell proliferation in control group, IFN-alpha group, Celecoxib group and IFN-alpha-combined Celecoxib group were (96.1+/-0.5)%, (90.2+/-0.4)%, (57.2+/-0.9)% and (21.9+/-0.3)% respectively. The cell apoptosis rates in 4 groups were (5.5+/-0.8)%, (6.3+/-0.6)%, (26.4+/-3.9)% and (57.3+/-4.5)% respectively. The CD117 expression rates in 4 groups were 54.7%, 10.5%, 36.3% and 7.3% respectively. Combination of Celecoxib with IFN-alpha might block K562 cells in G0/G1 phase. In conclusion, Celecoxib and IFN-alpha both may inhibit K562 cell proliferation, induce apoptosis, reduce CD117 expression and produce G0/G1 phase block to various degree and the two drugs have a synergistic effect.
Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Celecoxib ; Cell Cycle ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; pharmacology ; K562 Cells ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit ; metabolism ; Pyrazoles ; pharmacology ; Sulfonamides ; pharmacology

Objective:To explore the effect of dietary modification-assisted multimodal therapy in the prevention and treatment of chronic prostatitis.Methods:A total of 132 cases of chronic prostatitis treated in the Outpatient Department of our hospital were randomly divided into an observation group(n=68)and a control group(n=64),the former following the Mediterranean dietary pattern,the latter adhering to their own dietary habits,and meanwhile both receiving lifestyle guidance,psychological counseling,symptomatic medication and physiotherapy according to their specific symptoms.The patients were followed up for 4 weeks,therapeutic effects were observed and comparisons were made between the two groups in the NIH-CPSI scores before and after treatment.Re-sults:Compared with the baseline,the quality of life(QOL)scores,pain and urination discomfort scores and total NIH-CPSI scores were significantly decreased in both the observation and the control groups after treatment(P<0.05),even more decreased in the former than in the latter,but with no statistically significant difference between the two(P>0.05).The rate of therapeutic effective-ness was higher in the observation group than in the control(87.1%vs 79.7%,but showed no statistically significant difference be-tween the two groups(P>0.05).Conclusion:Multimodal therapy is suitable for the management of different clinical manifesta-tions of individual patients,while dietary habits vary from person to person as well as from region to region.Therefore,scientific dietary modification for the prevention and treatment of CP/CPPS needs further exploration.

Objective:To investigate the selection of the modality of transperineal surgery and its effect in the treatment of pel-vic fracture-induced posterior urethral atresia(PUA).Methods:This study included 116 cases of PUA caused by pelvic fractures treated in our hospital from January 2012 to December 2021.We used transperineal resection of the urethral stricture and end-to-end u-rethral anastomosis(EEUA)as the first choice in the treatment of 79 cases.For the patients with the urethral atresia segment longer than 3 cm and evident urethral involution tension,we incised the penile septum,separated and removed the muscle tendon and scar tis-sue attached to the lower border of the pubis,and anastomosed with 4-0 absorbable thread for 8 stitches.For the other 37 cases for which we were not sure of effective suture of the membrane due to obvious scarring of the proximal urethra,the remaining urethra shor-ter than 5 mm or incomplete urethral mucosa,we selected conventional urethral pull-through operation(UPTO).We followed up the patients for 3-24 months postoperatively.Results:The total success rate of surgery was 78.4％(91/116),81.1％(30/37)in the UPTO and 77.2％(61/79)in the EEUA group,significantly higher in the former than in the latter(P=0.05).The rate of post-operative dysuria was remarkably lower in the UPTO than in the EEUA group(13.5％[5/37]vs 16.5％[13/79],P=0.05),and so was that of surgical failure(5.4％[2/37]vs 6.3％[5/79],P=0.05).The main causes of postoperative dysuria in the EEUA group included restenosis resulting from incomplete scar resection and the two sides of the anastomosed urethral segment not being at the coaxial level,while those in the UPTO group included the formation of mucosal flaps in the pulled-through urethra,and re-scarring leading to stricture or the pulled-through urethra not being at the coaxial level.Among the 7 cases of surgical failure due to recurrence,1 refused reoperation and opted for cystostomy tube drainage,and the other 6 underwent EEUA again 6 months later.Conclusion:EEUA is preferred as the first-choice surgery for PUA,while UPTO remains an effective treatment option in hospitals with preliminary skills and less experience in the management of PUA.

Objective·To investigate the association between mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or insulin resistance in middle-aged and elderly Chinese community population. Methods·A cross-sectional study was conducted in 6570 residents aged 40 years or older in Jiading District of Shanghai in 2014. All participants received standard questionnaire, anthropometric measurements, biochemical evaluation and ultrasonic examination. NAFLD was defined by hepatic ultrasonography, after excluding subjects with excess alcohol consumption and medical history of liver diseases. Participants were divided into 4 groups according to the quartiles of MUAC, then association between MUAC and NAFLD or insulin resistance was analyzed. Results·With the increase of MUAC level, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, triacylglycerol, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR levels, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase,γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, and aspartic transaminase levels were increased significantly (all P<0.01), as well as the prevalence of NAFLD, hypertension,dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance (all P<0.01). A fully adjusted multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that with the increase of MUAC level, the risk of having NAFLD and insulin resistance were increased among women. However, among men, there was no correlation between MUAC and NAFLD or insulin resistance. Conclusion·MUAC is significantly associated with NAFLD and insulin resistance in middle-aged and elderly female Chinese community population.

OBJECTIVETo discuss the techniques for excision and reconstruction of anomalous portal venous branches (APVB) in adult-to-adult right lobe living donor liver transplantation (A-A RL LDLT).

METHODSFrom February 2002 to April 2007, 70 cases of A-A RL LDLT were performed. Preoperative three-dimensional computed tomography of the donor revealed the configurations of hepatic artery, portal vein and hepatic vein. Nine donors had anomalous portal venous branching (APVB). The APVB were type II (trifurcation) in 7 cases and type III in two. Except the excision of APVB with a common opening by a narrow bridge of main portal vein tissue in one type II donor, all the right APVB were transected on the principal of donor priority: right APVB being excised approximately 2-3 mm from the confluence while leaving the donor's portal vein intact. In type II APVB, the donor portal venous branches were transected with separate two openings and reconstructed as double anastomoses in 4 cases, with separate two openings joined as a common orifice at the back table and reconstructed as single anastomoses in 2 cases, and with one common opening with narrow-bridge of tissue and reconstructed as single anastomoses in 1 case. In type III APVB, the APVB were transected with separate two openings and were reconstructed by double anastomoses in 1 case and by a new technique named U-shaped vein graft interposition in the another one.

RESULTSThere were no vascular complications such as portal vein stricture or thrombosis, hepatic artery stricture or thrombosis and hepatic vein outflow stricture in all 9 recipients transplanted with grafts with APVB. Only the type II APVB donor undergoing a excision of APVB with a common opening by a narrow bridge of main portal vein tissue developed portal vein thrombosis on the third postoperative day and underwent thrombectomy followed by repair with vein patch plasty. The velocity of blood flow in the U-graft was normal.

CONCLUSIONSIt is feasible and safe of APVB excision on the principal of donor priority and reconstruction including double anastomoses and the novel U-graft interposition in A-A RL LDLT, and has a good outcome without increasing the management difficulty.

Adult ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; methods ; Living Donors ; Male ; Portal Vein ; abnormalities ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo explore the experience of hepatic arterial reconstruction and its management of complications in adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation (A-A LDLT) using right lobe liver grafts.

METHODSFrom January 2002 to July 2006, 50 of A-A LDLT using right lobe liver grafts were performed. All arterial anastomosis were performed to protect the donor hepatic arterial supply, in which donor right hepatic artery was sutured to recipient right hepatic artery in 24 patients, to recipient proper hepatic artery in 12 patients, to recipient left hepatic artery in 3 patients, to recipient common hepatic artery in 2 patients, to recipient aberrant right hepatic artery arising from superior mesenteric artery in 2 patients. Interpositional bypass using autogenous saphenous vein was performed between donor right hepatic artery and recipient common hepatic artery in 2 patients. Bypass was done between donor right hepatic artery and recipient abdominal aorta using autogenous saphenous vein in 2 patients and using stored cadaveric iliac vessels in 2 patients respectively. The diameter of donor right hepatic artery is between 1.5-2.5 mm, microsurgical technique was used under the magnified lobe of 3.5 times and operative microscope of 5-10 times.

RESULTSIn these series, hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) occurred in 2 recipients on 1st and 7th days following A-A LDLT (4%), which were revascularized with autogenous saphenous vein between donor right hepatic artery and recipient abdominal aorta immediately, HAT in 1 recipient occurred one and a half month following A-A LDLT, but no symptom was presented. No hepatic artery stenosis and aneurysm occurred during follow-up period. No death related to hepatic artery complications occurred. All recipients were followed up from 2 to 52 months (mean follow-up 9 months). 1-year survival rate was 92%.

CONCLUSIONSProper anastomotic vessel choose and use of microsurgical technique in hepatic arterial reconstruction would reduce significantly the incidence of hepatic artery complications and provide an excellent graft survival following A-A LDLT.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatic Artery ; surgery ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; methods ; Living Donors ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome