AIM: To identify the down-regulated genes in adult rat cardiac fibroblasts (CF) stimulated with angiotensin Ⅱ (AngⅡ). METHODS: Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was performed between the CF stimulated by AngⅡ (driver) and unstimulated CF (tester) to generate subtractive cDNA library. The library was screened with dot blots hybridization to further verify the differentially expressed cDNA clones. Partial positive clones were sequenced and BLAST analyzed. RESULTS: Seventeen down-regulated genes related to intracellular signal transduction, transcriptional repression, deposition of fibrous matrix and cellular cytoskeletal rearrangement, and 4 new expression sequence tags (EST) were acquired. CONCLUSION: SSH is a powerful technique with high sensitivity for the detection and clone of down-regulated genes expressed in CF induced by AngⅡ, which is helpful to clarify the mechanism of cardiac remodeling.

Objective To study the clinical efficacy of the combination of sephedex and docetaxel used in transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for clinical treatment of primary liver cancer.Methods 120 patients with primary liver cancer in our hospital were divided into the experimental group and the control group randomly and equally, the 60 cases in experimental group were treated with sephedex suspensoid (Sephedex, G-50, 300-500 μm) and docetaxel-iodized oil, while other 60 cases in control group were treated with docetaxel-iodized oil suspension liquid.Results The success rate of surgical intubation in the two groups was 100%.After an average follow-up of 12 months, the postoperative tumor diameter of the experimental group was reduced by (4.4±1.4) cm, while that of the control group was (1.8±1.0) cm;The overall response rate was 70% in the experimental group in contrast to 30% in the control group;the alpha fetal protein (AFP) value was decreased by (33.2±15.2) μg/L in the experimental group and (10.4±9.8) μg/L in the control group.Conclusion The combination of sephedex, docetaxel suspensoid and iodized oil shows great potential in TACE treatment of primary liver cancer, from which the treatment effect can be improved significantly.

Objective To explore MRI manifestations of extrapleural solitary fibrous tumor(SFT)and to analyze the reasons of misdiagnosis.Methods MRI data of 9 cases with extrapleural SFT proved by pathology were analyzed retrospectively.Lesions location, size,shape,intensity,degrees and patterns of enhancement were assessed,and the imaging features and causes of misdiagnosis were also analyzed.Results Among 9 lesions,1 was located in the right cerebellopontine angle region,2 were in subdural-extramedullary region,4 were in the abdominal cavity and 2 were in the pelvic cavity.7 cases were misdiagnosed before operation including 1 as meningioma, 2 as schwannoma,2 as mesenchymal stem cell tumor,1 as pancreatic carcinoma and 1 as Castleman disease.8 lesions were isointense and 1 was mixed iso-or slightly hyperintense on T1WI.3 lesions were isointense,4 were mixed iso-or slightly hyperintense and 2 were mixed slightly hyperintense,iso-or hypointense on T2WI.3 lesions showed significant homogeneous enhancement after the administration of contrast agent,1 lesion showed varying degrees of enhancement and the enhancement was more remarkable in isointense area on T2WI than peripheral hyperintense area.4 lesions showed heterogeneous peripherial enhancement in the early phase,progressive filling in the late phase and finally remarkable homogeneous enhancement.1 lesion showed predominant peripheral striped enhancement in the early phase,and progressive filling and mildly inhomogeneous enhancement with patchy unenhanced area in the center of the lesion in the late phase.Conclusion The MRI features of extrapleural SFT have certain characteristics.It needs to be carefully diagnosed to improve the diagnostic accuracy.

Objective To investigate the MRI characteristics of abdominal leiomyosarcoma and literature review.Methods Preoperative MRI data of 9 cases with leiomyosarcoma proved by pathology were analyzed retrospectively.The size,shape,signal intensity and enhancement type of the lesion were analyzed and some related literatures were reviewed in order to summarize its imaging features.Results In the 9 cases,1 was located in the liver,5 cases in the abdominal retroperitoneul space and other 3 case in the pelvic retroperitoneul space.Before operation,6 cases had wrong diagnosis,including 1 case misdiagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma with intrahepatic metastases,3 cases as ganglioneuroma and 2 cases as uterine myoma.On plain MRI,5 cases showed iso-/slightly hypo-mixed signal and 4 cases showed hypointensity on T1 WI.Five cases showed iso-/slightly hyper-mixed signal and 4 cases showed iso-/slightly hyper/ hyper-mixed signal on T2WI.On diffusion weighted images (DWI),5 cases showed significant diffusion restriction and 4 cases showed moderate diffusion restriction.On contrast-enhanced MRI,3 cases showed obvious peripheral inhomogeneous enhancement,the enhancement degree in portal vein phase was more obvious than that in arterial phase and was sustained in delayed phase.The lesions showed progressive enhancement and the enhancement was higher in peripheral than central areas.Six cases demonstrated obviously inhomogeneous enhancement in arterial phase,no obvious washout was observed in portal vein phase and delayed phase,and non-enhanced area was still observed in late delayed phase.One lesion in the liver had the sign of pseudocapsule.Conclusion Abdominal leiomyosarcoma has certain characteristic MRI manifestations.Leiomyosarcoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis list,when the lesion is large,with cystic degeneration,necrosis,moderate to significant diffusion restriction on DWI and obvious peripheral enhancement.

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) infusion transplantation via renal artery and via caudal vein in treating chronic kidney disease (CKD) in rats,and to compare the expressions of aquaporin1 (AQP1) and aquaporin2 (AQP2) between the two transplantation routes.Methods A total of 50 male SD rats were selected for this experiment.Two experimental rats were used to make preparation of bone marrow MSC.CKD model was established with infusion of adriamycin via caudal vein in 36 rats.The 36 CKD models were randomly divided into adriamycininduced renal failure model control group (A-C group,n=12),MSC transplantation through the right renal artery group (M-A group,n=12) and MSC transplantation through the caudal vein group (M-V group,n=12).The remaining 12 male SD rats were used as the blank control group (N group).One week after the last bone marrow MSC transplantation,the 24 h urine volume,24 h urinary protein content,serum sodium content and serum albumin level were measured,and AQP1 and AQP2 expressions in the kidney tissue were determined by immunohistochemistry.Results Compared with A-C group,the serum albumin level and 24h urine volume in both M-V group and M-A group were significantly increased (P＜0.05),while 24h urinary protein content and serum sodium content were remarkably decreased (P＜0.05).The 24h urinary protein content in the M-A group was obviously lower than that in the M-V group (P＜0.05).The AQP1 and AQP2 expressions in the kidney tissue in both M-V group and M-A group were strikingly lower than those in the A-C group (P＜ 0.05),but no statistically significant differences in AQP1 and AQP2 expressions existed between the M-V group and the M-A group (P＞0.05).Conclusion MSC transplantation can increase serum albumin,and lower urinary protein,serum sodium and the expressions of AQP1 and AQP2 in renal parenchymal cells,which has the effect on repairing renal injury of adriamycin-induced CKD rats.For a given period of time,the clinical curative effect of MSC transplantation via renal artery is better than that of MSC transplantation via peripheral vein,but the difference in curative effect between the two MSC transplantation pathways has no obvious correlation with AQP1 and AQP2 expressions.