ObjectiveTo investigate the value of aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score, and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-to-platelet ratio (GPR) in diagnosis of liver inflammation grade in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). MethodsA total of 545 patients with CHB who underwent percutaneous liver biopsy and routine laboratory examinations during hospitalization in Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center Affiliated to Fudan University from October 2016 to October 2019 were enrolled. Inflammation grade (G) was determined according to the Scheuer scoring system, and APRI, FIB-4, and GPR were calculated based on related clinical indicators. The t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. A Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between two variables. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the three serum noninvasive diagnostic models in determining liver inflammation grade, and the Delong test was used for comparison of the area under the ROC curve (AUC). ResultsAmong the 545 patients, 224 had grade G0-1 liver inflammation, 209 had grade G2 liver inflammation, and 112 had grade G3 liver inflammation. The Spearman correlation analysis showed that APRI, FIB-4, and GPR were positively correlated with liver inflammation grade (r=0.611, 0.470, and 0.563, all P＜0.001). APRI, FIB-4, and GPR had an AUC of 0.820, 0.719, and 0782, respectively, in the diagnosis of G≥2 liver inflammation, with optimal cut-off values of 0.53, 1.48, and 0.20, respectively; for the diagnosis of G≥2 liver inflammation, GPR had a better performance than FIB-4 (P=0.01) and a slightly lower performance than APRI (P=0.048). The stratified analysis based on alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level showed that in the ≤1×upper limit of normal (ULN) group, the (1-2)×ULN group, and the (2-5)×ULN group, APRI had an AUC of 0.847, 0.786, and 0.724, respectively, in the diagnosis of G≥2 liver inflammation, FIB-4 had an AUC of 0.777, 0.729, and 0.626, respectively, and GPR had an AUC of 0.801, 0.781, and 0.607, respectively; the subgroup analysis showed that GPR had a similar diagnostic performance to APRI and FIB-4 in all ALT stratification groups except the (2-5)×ULN group, in which GPR had a lower diagnostic performance than APRI (P=0.042). APRI, FIB-4, and GPR had an AUC of 0.791, 0.725, and 0.801, respectively, in the diagnosis of G≥3 liver inflammation, with optimal cut-off values of 0.66, 1.49, and 0.25, respectively; in the diagnosis of G≥3 liver inflammation, GPR had a similar diagnostic performance to APRI and a better diagnostic performance than FIB-4 (P=0.006). The stratified analysis based on ALT level showed that in the ≤1×ULN group, the (1-2)×ULN group, and the (2-5)×ULN group, APRI had an AUC of 0.900, 0.742, and 0.693, respectively, in the diagnosis of G≥3 liver inflammation, FIB-4 had an AUC of 0.874, 0.683, and 0.644, respectively, and GPR had an AUC of 0.890, 0.805, and 0.668, respectively. The subgroup analysis showed that GPR had a similar diagnostic performance to APRI and FIB-4 in all ALT stratification groups except the (1-2)×ULN group, in which GPR had a better diagnostic performance than FIB-4(P=0.015). ConclusionAPRI, FIB-4, and GPR may accurately diagnose liver inflammation grade in CHB patients, which helps to monitor the progression of CHB and determine the timing of antiviral therapy.

Objective To assess the diagnostic performance of liver stiffness measurement(LSM)and serum markers on hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B(CHB)patients with alanine aminotransferase(ALT)less than or equal to two times the upper limit of normal(≤2×ULN).Methods A total of 284 CHB patients with ALT≤2×ULN who were treated in Department of Hepatobiliary Medicine,Public Health Clinical Center,Shanghai from October 2015 to December 2017 were analyzed.FibroScan,routine blood tests and serum fibrosis markers were conducted on the day or one day before liver biopsy.The Scheuer scoring system was used for liver histologic assessment.Aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ration index(APRI)and FIB-4 were calculated.Based on the results of liver pathology,the area under receiver operating characteristic curve(AUROC)was used to evaluate the value of LSM and serum markers in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis stage.Non-normal distribution variables were expressed as M(QR)as appropriate,and compared by analysis of Kruskal-Wallis test as appropriate.The correlation between two variables was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis.Results Of 284 CHB patients,175 were male and 109 were female.For inflammatory grading,175 cases were G1 grade,88 cases were G2,and 21 cases were G3.For fibrosis grading,153 cases were S1,53 cases were S2,34 cases were S3,and 44 cases were S4.Spearman correlation analysis showed that LSM,APRI and FIB-4 were positively correlated with hepatic fibrosis stage(r=0.650,0.484,and 0.317,respectively,all P<0.01).The AUC of LSM for predicting fibrosis≥S2,≥S3,and S4 were 0.840,0.902,and 0.942,respectively.The cut-off of LSM values were 6.10,8.40,and 10.10 kPa,respectively.The values of AUC of APRI and FIB-4 for predicting fibrosis≥S2 were 0.755 and 0.638,respectively,those for predicting fibrosis≥S3 were 0.737 and 0.657,respectively,and those for S4 were 0.804 and 0.694,respectively.The AUCs of LSM for predicting fibrosis≥S2 in patients with ALT≤1×ULN and those with ALT>1 -≤2×ULN were 0.857 and 0.813,respectively,those for fibrosis≥S3 were 0.890 and 0.892,respectively,and those for S4 were 0.925 and 0.908,respectively.The cut-off of LSM were 5.90 and 7.80 kPa,8.10 and 9.50 kPa,8.40 and 10.40 kPa,respectively.Conclusions LSM could accurately assess the degree of liver fibrosis in CHB patients with ALT≤2×ULN,which is superior to serum markers for predicting liver fibrosis stage.

Objective To investigate the quantitative evaluation efficiency of gadolinium?ethoxybenzyl?diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd?EOB?DTPA) enhanced T1 mapping in staging hepatic fibrosis caused by viral hepatitis B. Methods One hundred and fifty patients with chronic hepatitis B were prospectively enrolled in Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University from August 2016 to August 2018.These patients underwent liver aspiration biopsy were divided into four subgroups: S1 (n=38), S2 (n=30), S3 (n=33), S4 (n=49) according to Scheuer?Ludwig scoring system. Non?enhanced and Gd?EOB?DTPA?enhanced MRI were performed in all subjects. Look?Locker sequences were performed to acquire T1 mapping of pre and post?contrast at 20 minutes after Gd?EOB?DTPA administration. The T1 value after 20 minutes of Gd?EOB?DTPA administration (T1 20 min), the reduction rate of T1 value (ΔT1 20 min% ), the increase of 1/T1 value (ΔR1 20 min% ) were measured and calculated. The one?way ANOVA was applied to compare the difference in T1 20 min, ΔT1 20 min%, ΔR1 20 min% of various fibrosis stages. ROC curves were used to assess the efficacy of T1 20 min, ΔT1 20 min%, ΔR1 20 min% for diagnosing≥S2,≥S3,≥S4. P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results The T1 20 min raised with fibrosis stage increased, ΔT1 20 min% and ΔR1 20 min% reduced with fibrosis stage increased. Areas under the curves of T1 20 min, ΔT1 20 min%, ΔR1 20 min% for diagnosing≥S2 were 0.844, 0.905, 0.869; and diagnosing≥S3 were 0.832, 0.907, 0.862; and diagnosing≥S4 were 0.853, 0.897, 0.873, respectively. The diagnostic efficiency of ΔT1 20 min% was the best. Conclusion Gd?EOB?DTPA?enhanced T1 mapping could be regarded as a reliable diagnostic tool for the evaluation of hepatic fibrosis caused by viral hepatitis B.

Objective: To explore the improvement rate of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection who received entecavir alone or in combination with anluohuaxianwan for 78 weeks. Methods: Patients with chronic HBV infection were randomly treated with entecavir alone or in combination with anluohuaxian for 78 weeks. Ishak fibrosis score was used for blind interpretation of liver biopsy specimens. The improvement in liver fibrosis condition before and after the treatment was compared. Student's t test and non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney U-Test and Kruskal-Wallis test) were used to analyze the measurement data. The categorical variables were analyzed by Chi-square test method and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to test bivariate associations. Results: Liver fibrosis improvement rate after 78 weeks of treatment was 36.53% (80/219) and the progression rate was 23.29% (51/219). The improvement of liver fibrosis was associated to the degree of baseline fibrosis and treatment methods (P < 0.05). The improvement rate of hepatic fibrosis in patients treated with anluohuaxianwan combined with entecavir at baseline F < 3 (54.74%, 52/95) was significantly higher than that in patients treated only with entecavir (33.33%, 16/48), P = 0.016 and the progression rate of hepatic fibrosis (13.68%, 13/95) was lower than that in patients treated alone (18.75%, 9/48), P = 0.466. In patients with baseline F < 3, the proportion of patients with improved and stable liver fibrosis in the combined treatment group (68.1%, 32/47) was higher than that in the treatment group alone (51.7%, 15/29). Conclusion Combined anluohuaxianwan and entecavir treatment can significantly improve the improvement rate of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Furthermore, it has the tendency to improve the stability rate and reduce the rate of progression of liver fibrosis.

Objective: To investigate the quantitative evaluation efficiency of gadolinium- ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) enhanced T₁ mapping in staging hepatic fibrosis caused by viral hepatitis B. Methods: One hundred and fifty patients with chronic hepatitis B were prospectively enrolled in Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University from August 2016 to August 2018.These patients underwent liver aspiration biopsy were divided into four subgroups: S1 (n=38), S2 (n=30), S3 (n=33), S4 (n=49) according to Scheuer-Ludwig scoring system. Non-enhanced and Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI were performed in all subjects. Look-Locker sequences were performed to acquire T₁ mapping of pre and post-contrast at 20 minutes after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration. The T₁ value after 20 minutes of Gd-EOB-DTPA administration (T_{1 20 min}), the reduction rate of T₁ value (ΔT_{1 20 min}%), the increase of 1/T₁ value (ΔR_{1 20 min}%) were measured and calculated. The one-way ANOVA was applied to compare the difference in T_{1 20 min}, ΔT_{1 20 min}%, ΔR_{1 20 min}% of various fibrosis stages. ROC curves were used to assess the efficacy of T_{1 20 min}, ΔT_{1 20 min}%, ΔR_{1 20 min}% for diagnosing ≥ S2, ≥ S3, ≥ S4. P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: The T_{1 20 min} raised with fibrosis stage increased, ΔT_{1 20 min}% and ΔR_{1 20 min}% reduced with fibrosis stage increased. Areas under the curves of T_{1 20 min}, ΔT_{1 20 min}%, ΔR_{1 20 min}% for diagnosing ≥ S2 were 0.844, 0.905, 0.869; and diagnosing ≥ S3 were 0.832, 0.907, 0.862; and diagnosing ≥ S4 were 0.853, 0.897, 0.873, respectively. The diagnostic efficiency of ΔT_{1 20 min}% was the best. Conclusion Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T₁ mapping could be regarded as a reliable diagnostic tool for the evaluation of hepatic fibrosis caused by viral hepatitis B.

Objective To investigate the relationship between serum resistin,leptin and adiponectin with microangiopathy in the patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).Methods One hundred and twenty patients with T2DM in our hospital were selected and divided into the non-microangiopathy group (NON-MAP,60 cases) and microangiopathy group (MAP,60 cases) according to whether complicating microangiopathy.Other 60 individuals undergoing healthy physical examination were selected as the normal control group(NC).Fasting serum resistin,adiponectin and leptin levels were detected in each group.Fasting blood glucose,insulin and blood lipid levels were also detected.The insulin resistance was evaluated by using insulin resistance index(HOMA-IR).Results The levels of serum resistin,leptin,free fat acid(FFA) and hs-CRP in the NON-MVP group and MVP group were signifi cantly higher than those in the NC group,while the adiponectin level was sigrnificantly lower than that in the NC group,the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).The correlation analysis showed that serum resistin and leptin levels had positive correlation with hs-CRP,FFA,HOMA-IR and TG(P＜0.05),and had negative correlation with HDL-C(P＜0.05);the adiponectin level was negatively correlated with hs-CRP,FFA,HOMA-IR and TG,while positively correlated with HDL-C(P＜0.05);serum resistin and leptin levels had positive correlation,both had significantly negative correlation with adiponectin;with serum resistin,leptin and adiponectin as the dependent variables,the multiple stepwise linear regression analysis showed that HOMA-IR and waist to hip ratio had maximal influence on them.Conclusion Serum resistin and leptin levels increase and adiponectin level decrease in T2DM patients suggests that serum resistin,leptin and adiponectin are correlated with T2DM occurrence as well as microangiopathy occurrence.

Objective To assess the clinical diagnostic performance of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and aspartate transaminase (AST)-to-platelet (PLT) ratio index (APRI) for liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) less than or equal to five times of the upper limit of normal (≤5×upper limit of normal [ULN]).Methods FibroScan,blood routine and liver function test were conducted at the day or one day before liver biopsy in 383 CHB patients with ALT≤5 × ULN.The Scheuer scoring system was used for liver histologic assessment.APRI was calculated.Based on the results of liver pathology,the areas under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of LSM and APRI for diagnosis of liver fibrosis stage were compared.Results The median LSM were 5.10 kPa for S0 fibrosis stage,5.20 kPa for S1,6.60 kPa for S2,10.10 kPa for S3,and 18.80 kPa for S4.The median APRI values were 0.36,0.38,0.63,0.61 and 1.27,respectively.The AUC of LSM were 0.817 for ≥S2,0.891 for ≥S3 and 0.913 for ≥S4.And the AUC of APRI were 0.717 for ≥S2,0.711 for ≥S3 and 0.746 for ≥S4.The cut-offs of LSM values were 6.8 kPa for ≥S2,8.7 kPa for ≥S3,and 10.9 kPa for ≥S4.Conclusion LSM can accurately assess the degree of liver fibrosis in CHB patients with ALT ≤5 × ULN,which is superior to APRI in clinical utility.

Objective:To explore the effect of sulforaphane (SFN) preconditioning on the cold myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in the rats through PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.Methods:Sixty-four health male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into cold IRI group,SFN group,LY (LY294002) + cold IRI group,and LY+SFN group (n=16).The allogeneic heterotopic heart transplantation model was established by donor heart into recipient abdomen.The myocardium tissue was taken 24 h after reperfusion for the detection of histological changes using HE staining.The expression levels of Akt,p-Akt,Bax and Bcl-2 proteins were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western boltting methods.Results:The morphological results showed that the myocardium tissue damage was serious in cold IRI group and LY+cold IRI group,it was light in SFN group;the myocardium tissue damage of the rats in SFN+ LY group was ranged between cold IRI group and SFN group.Compared with IRI group,the expression levels of p-Akt protein and Bcl-2 protein in SFN group were increased (P＜0.05),and the expression level of Bax protein was decreased (P＜0.05).After treatment of blockage LY294002,compared with LY-+-cold IRI group,the expression level of p-Akt protein in LY-+-SFN group was not statistically significant (P＞0.05),the expression level of Bcl2 protein was increased (P＜0.05),the expression levels of Bax protein was decreased),and the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax was also increased (P＜0.05).Conclusion:SFN may attenuate cold IRI of heart transplantation through PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in the rats.

This study aimed to use the sika deer as a model to study the influence of IGF-1 on the expression of Col Ⅰ in antler chondrocytes.The chondrocytes were separated from sika deer antlers,cultured and were treated with recombinant human IGF-1 protein (rIGF-1),both rIGF-1 and PQ401,and transfected with IGF-1 over-expression plasmid or IGF-1 siRNA,respectively.The expression of Col Ⅰ which,a well-known marker for chondrocytes dedifferentiation,was detected by real-time PCR.The results showed that administration of rIGF-1 to antler chondroctyes resulted in an obvious decrease of Col Ⅰ mRNA levels,while PQ401 pretreatment could dramatically attenuate the effects of rIGF-1 on the expression of Col Ⅰ mRNA.After transfection with IGF-1 over-expression plasmid,the expression of Col Ⅰ mRNA was obviously reduced in antler chondrocytes compared with control.Conversely,knockdown IGF1 with specific siRNA could increase the expression of Col Ⅰ in antler chondrocytes.These results indicate that IGF-1 may play an important role in process of antler chondrocyte dedifferentiation.

Objective:To construct the pleiotrophin (PTN )overexpression vector,and to explore the effect of PTN on the decidualization of uterine stromal cells in the mice.Methods:The specific primers containing restriction enzyme cutting sites were designed according to the PTN gene sequences published in GenBank for PCR amplification.The amplified fragment of PTN was recovered from the agarose gel and cloned into the pGEM-T vector.The pGEMT-PTN was cut by double enzyme digestion and ligated into pcDNA3.1 (+)to construct the PTN overexpression plasmid.After transfection with PTN overexpression plasmid,the expression levels of PTN mRNA in the uterine stromal cells and the expression levels of decidualization markers Prl8a2 and Prl3c1 were detected by qRT-PCR method.The uterine stromal cells transfected with pcDNA3.1 (+)empty vector were used as control group. Results:The results of identification by double enzyme digestion indicated that the bands of PTN overexpression plasmid were consistent with those of the target gene,and the clone sequencing results suggested that it had 100% homology with mouse PTN gene sequence published in GenBank.Compared with control group, the expression levels of PTN,Prl8a2 and Prl3c1 mRNA in mouse uterine stromal cells in PTN overexpression group were significantly increased (P < 0.05).Conclusion:PTN overexpression could increase the expression levels of decidualization markers in mouse uterine stromal cells,indicating that PTN might play an enhancement effect during uterine decidualization in the mice.