Objective To determine the influence of intense pulsed light (IPL) on the secretion of TGF-β1 in cultured human fibroblasts and the intervention of JNK inhibitor.Methods The callan foreskin fibroblasts were cultured and divided into 2 groups. In the IPL treatment group, cells were irradiated with IPL with fluences of0 (negative control), 10, 18, 27, 36, and 36 J/cm2 × 2 (irradiated with IPL with fluences of 36 J/cm2 twice). In the IPL + inhibitor group, cells were irradiated with IPL with fluences of 36 J/cm2 after incubation with the inhibitor SP600125 for 2 h. TGF-β1 in the culture supernatant was evaluated 48 h after the irradiation using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Compared with the negative control, TGF-β1 in the culture supernatant decreased at the IPL irradiation of 10, 18, 27, and 36 J / cm2, whereas TGF-β1 increased at the IPL irradiation of 36 J/cm2× 2. In the IPL + inhibitor group, the concentration of TGF-β1 in the culture supernatant decreased compared with the controls (P<0.05). Conclusion IPL can suppress the secretion of TGF-β1 at the lower fluence and promote the secretion at a higher fluence. JNK inhibitor may play an inhibitive role when IPL regulates the TGF-β1 secretion in cultured human fibroblasts. IPL may stimulate TGF-β1 secretion of the fibroblast cells in human skin via JNK signal pathway.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic outcomes of unilateral adrenalectomy for Cushing syndrome in patients with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) independent bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia.Methods 22 patients diagnosed with Cushing syndrome caused by ACTH independent bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia from January 2005 to December 2015 were retrospectively concluded.There are 17 male patients and 5 female patients with the median age of 46.5 years.All patients were presented with Cushing syndrome such as moon face, buffalo hump and other typical symptoms of Cushing syndrome.The laboratory tests showed disappearance of cortisol rhythm, elevated 24-hour urinary free cortisol, suppressed or normal ACTH and unsuppressed low dose dexamethasone suppressing test.CT scan showed bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia in all patients.Results All the patients received unilateral adrenalectomy.Pathological results showed adrenal cortex nodular hyperplasia.16 patients had reexamination in the endocrine department.The median follow-up time was 26 (17-118)months for these 16 patients.In the follow-up between 3 to 9 months after surgery, laboratory test showed serum and urinary cortisol level returned to normal range and Cushing syndrome also disappeared in these 16 patients.CT scan showed no recurrence.And no adrenal insufficiency occurred.One patient had recurrence one year after surgery and two patients turned better after surgery but had recurrence at 3 years and 10 years after surgery.Two patients received contralateral adrenalectomy and cortisol hormone replacement therapy after surgery.Another patient with recurrence refused second surgery.No recurrence was observed in other patients.Four patients were followed up by telephone, and all recovered well after surgery.18 patients had hypertension before surgery and their blood pressure significantly decreased after surgery.Among them 13 cases blood pressure returned to normal range.5 patients had elevated blood glucose before surgery, and 3 patients' blood glucose returned to normal range.Conclusions Unilateral adrenalectomy for Cushing syndrome in patients with ACTH independent bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia is safe and effective.

Chemokines and chemokine receptors involve in biological activity and pathological process widely.It has been reported that many tumor cells overexpress functional chemokines.In lung cancer,chemo-kines involve in its proliferation,apoptosis,invasion and metastasis.Chemokines and chemokine receptor over-expressed in lung cancer can be used as specific target for pertinent anti-tumor treatment.

Objective To analyze the causes for diffuse bone marrow uptake of 18F-FDG on PET/CT scans. Methods Sixty-six patients with diffuse bone marrow uptake on whole-body FDG-PET/CT imaging were enrolled for this study. Seventy-nine healthy subjects ( with no history of tumor or recent fever) were selected as normal control. The SUVmax and SUVmean were measured in bone marrow and mediastinum in both groups. The maximum (bone marrow SUVmax/ mediastinum SUVmax) and mean value ratios (bone marrow SUVmean/ mediastinum SUVmean) were calculated. Statistical analysis was performed by one-factor variance analysis. Results With diffuse bone marrow uptake pattern of 18F-FDG, 27 were caused by injection of hematopoietic growth factor, 21 by hematopathy and 18 due to fever. SUVmeanof those three causes were 3.076±1.955, 3.633±2.405 and 2.546±0.791 respectively, each was significantly different from that of the control group (1.026±0.190; F =34.465, P<0.001). Conclusion Diffuse bone marrow uptake on FDG-PET/CT are caused by both benign and malignant reasons.

Purpose To investigate the clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical features,and differential diagnosis of nephrogenic metaplasia (NM).Methods The clinical data,histological and immunohistochemical characteristics of 6 cases of NM were analyzed,with review of the literature.Results There were 1 case of female,5 cases of male,aged from 31 to 81 years,with average of 58.1 years.The history revealed lithiasis of urologic tact in 2 cases,previous transurethral resection for benign prostatic hyperplasia or cystitis glandularis in 3 cases,and concurrent urothelial carcinoma in 1 case.The lesion involved in the ureter in 3 cases,prostatic urethra in 2 cases,and bladder trigone in 1 case.Cystoscopic examination demonstrated mucosal rough or low villous protrude.Microscopically,the lesion was consisted of tubules,cysts,small nests and papillary structures with basement membrane-like eosinophilic sheath,and lined by cuboidal,or low column epithelial cells with cytological atypia in some area,and shown inflammation in stroma.Immunohistochemically,there was positive staining for PAX2,PAX8,CK7 and P504S,negative for p63,CD10,and PSA.Conclusion NM is a rare tumor-like lesion often with injure of urologic tract,and should be differential with urothelial carcinoma,prostatic carcinoma,clear cell adenocarcinoma and endometriosis.It's important to know the clinicopathological and immunohistochemical features of NM for the correct interpretation.

AIM:To investigate the effect of microRNA-429 (miR-429) on the expression of occludin (Ocln) in intestinal epithelial cells ( IECs) and intestinal epithelial barrier function in diabetic mice.METHODS:Diabetes mel-litus mouse model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin.The expression of miR-429 in IECs of diabetic mice was inhibited by antagomiRNA-429 injected via tail vein.The expression of miR-429 and mRNA expression of Ocln were detected by real-time PCR.The protein expression of Ocln was determined by Western blotting and immunohistochem-istry.The urinary lactulose/mannitol ratio was measured by gas chromatography.The plasma LPS concentrations in the mice were measured by chromogenic end-point TAL kit.RESULTS:The results of real-time PCR confirmed that the ex-pression of miR-429 in IECs of diabetic mice was remarkably inhibited by tail-vein administration of antagomiRNA-429, and resumed to similar level of normal mice on the 6th day after the administration.After suppressing the level of miR-429, the expression of Ocln in IECs of diabetic mice increased significantly (P<0.05), while the urinary lactulose/mannitol ra-tio and the plasma LPS concentration decreased obviously ( P<0.05 ) .CONCLUSION:AntagomiRNA-429 effectively suppresses miR-429 expression in IECs of diabetic mice, and then enhances the expression of Ocln and partially resumes the intestinal epithelial barrier function.

Objective To retrospectively analyze the effect of three-dimensional radiotherapy on the survival of patients with stage Ⅳ squamous cell lung cancer.Methods Of the 101 patients collected from two prospective phase Ⅱ studies, 88 were part of the per-protocol set.All patients received platinum-doublet chemotherapy with concurrent radiation to the primary tumor.Primary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).Survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier estimator, and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using the log-rank test and Cox model, respectively.Results The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates of the 88 patients were 42.2%, 13.6%, 8.7%, and 3.1%, respectively, and the median survival time (MST) was 10 months.The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year OS and MST at PTV dose ≥63 Gy were 45.7%, 25.7%, 17.1%, 7.1%, and 11 months, respectively, whereas the 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year OS and MST at PTV dose<63 Gy were 39.6%, 4.5%, 2.8%, 0%, and 10 months, respectively (P=0.007).The median PFS at ≥63 Gy and<63 Gy were 9 months and 7 months, respectively (P=0.032).The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year OS and PFS of patients who received 4 cycles of chemotherapy at a PTV dose of ≥63 Gy were 51.9%, 29.6%, 18.5%, 9.9%, and 9 months, respectively (P=0.001 and P=0.012), which were significantly prolonged compared with other treatment modalities.Multivariate analysis showed that PTV ≥63 Gy may be influence the OS of patients (P=0.080).Conclusions Three-dimensional radiotherapy can prolong the survival of patients with stage ⅠV squamous cell lung cancer, as demonstrated by the gradual improvement in OS and PFS following the increase in the intensity of concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy.A PTV dose of ≥63 Gy may be influence the OS.

BACKGROUNDSevoflurane and propofol are widely used anesthetics for surgery. Studies on the mechanisms of general anesthesia have focused on changes in protein expression properties and membrane lipid. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate neural function by altering protein expression. We hypothesize that sevoflurane and propofol affect miRNA expression profiles in the brain, expect to understand the mechanism of anesthetic agents.

METHODSRats were randomly assigned to a 2% sevoflurane group, 600 μg·kg - 1·min - 1 propofol group, and a control group without anesthesia (n = 4, respectively). Treatment group was under anesthesia for 6 h, and all rats breathed spontaneously with continuous monitoring of respiration and blood gases. Changes in rat cortex miRNA expression profiles were analyzed by miRNA microarrays and validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Differential expression of miRNA using qRT-PCR among the control, sevoflurane, and propofol groups were compared using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

RESULTSOf 677 preloaded rat miRNAs, the microarray detected the expression of 277 miRNAs in rat cortex (40.9%), of which 9 were regulated by propofol and (or) sevoflurane. Expression levels of three miRNAs (rno-miR-339-3p, rno-miR-448, rno-miR-466b-1FNx01) were significantly increased following sevoflurane and six (rno-miR-339-3p, rno-miR-347, rno-miR-378FNx01, rno-miR-412FNx01, rno-miR-702-3p, and rno-miR-7a-2FNx01) following propofol. Three miRNAs (rno-miR-466b-1FNx01, rno-miR-3584-5p and rno-miR-702-3p) were differentially expressed by the two anesthetic treatment groups.

CONCLUSIONSSevoflurane and propofol anesthesia induced distinct changes in brain miRNA expression patterns, suggesting differential regulation of protein expression. Determining the targets of these differentially expressed miRNAs may help reveal both the common and agent-specific actions of anesthetics on neurological and physiological function.

Anesthesia, General ; Animals ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Methyl Ethers ; pharmacology ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; Propofol ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo compare the therapeutic effect on sudden deafness between acupuncture and moxibustion therapy of excitation-focus transfer and routine medication.

METHODSEighty cases of sudden deafness were randomly divided into two groups, 40 cases in each one. Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy of excitation-focus transfer was adopted in observation group on Yongquan (KI 1) (with reducing and slightly heavy manipulation), Tinggong (SI 19), Tinghui (GB 2) and Ermen (TE 21), and associated with suspending moxibustion for thermal sensitization on Yongquan (KI 1). In control group, the routine medications were given. The therapeutic effects of two groups were compared with each other.

RESULTSAfter three sessions of treatment, dB value of hearing loss in two groups decreased (P<0.05, P<0.01), but the improvement of hearing in observation group was superior to that in control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 80.0% (32/40) in observation group, which was better than that 55.0% (22/40) in control group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture and moxibustion therapy of excitation-focus transfer presents superior therapeutic effect on sudden deafness as compared with the routine western therapy.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; Young Adult

Objective:To analyze clinical phenotypes and pathogenic mutations of a patient with classic tuberous sclerosis complex.Methods:Clinical data was collected from a patient with classic tuberous sclerosis complex. Next-generation sequencing was performed to screen pathogenic gene variants, and Sanger sequencing to verify the mutations. Minigene plasmids were constructed and transfected into the human renal epithelial cell line 293T, and RNA was extracted for transcriptional analysis.Results:The patient clinically presented with recurrent epileptic seizures, facial angiofibroma, periungual fibroma, pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis, renal angiomyolipoma and multiple osteosclerosis. Next-generation sequencing revealed a suspected pathogenic variant in the TSC2 gene in the patient. Sanger sequencing identified a heterozygous mutation c.336_336+15delGGTAAGGCCCAGGGCG in exon 4 of the TSC2 gene in the patient, but not in his parents or 100 unrelated healthy controls. Moreover, this mutation had not been previously reported. The minigene experiment showed changed mRNA sequence of the TSC2 gene in this patient with loss of the authentic splice site in exon 4 and insertion of a 74-bp intron, which shifted the splice site 90 bp downstream (r.336delins336+16_336+90) .Conclusion:The novel heterozygous mutation c.336_336+15delGGTAAGGCCCAGGGCG in exon 4 of the TSC2 gene can lead to aberrant splicing, and may contribute to tuberous sclerosis complex in this patient.