Objective To observe the morphological changes of carotid artery wall by ultrasonography in patients with Takayasu arteritis,and to evaluate the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for active Takayasu arteritis.Methods High-frequency ultrasound technique was used to analyze the morphological changes of the carotid artery in 40 patients.NIH score was used as the gold standard and the complete clinical data and acute phase reactors were recorded.T test,Chi-square test,sensitivity and specificity were calculated for statistical analysis.Results The thickness of carotid artery wall in active group was much more thickened than the non-active group [(2.2±0.6) mm vs (1.8±0.5) mm,t=-2.142,P＜0.05].The CDD [(0.89±0.06) in active group vs (0.95±0.03) in non-active group,t=3.683,P＜0.01] and RDD [(0.17±0.06 in active group vs (0.09±0.05) in non-active group,t=-4.020,P＜0.01] were significantly different between the two groups.The distribution of neovascularization in the carotid artery wall of the active group was more diffuse in the central part of the wall.The sensitivity and specificity of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography to diagnose the active of Takayasu arteritis were 72.7％ and 87.5％ respectively,and the positive predictive value and the negative predictive value were 80.0％ and 82.4％ respectively.Conclusion Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography can be used as an effective way to assess the disease activity of TA patients.

To develop standard in vitro chondrosarcoma models, we synthesized three hydrogels (i. e., PDMAAm, PNaAMPS and PMETAC) and investigated the influence of Young's modulus, swelling ratio and electric charges on the behavior of chondrosarcoma cells seeded on the hydrogels, including morphology, adhesion and aggregation. Results showed that the morphology of chondrosarcoma cells at 6h was dependent on the charges of hydrogels; cells present spindle-shaped and round-shaped morphology on negative charged and neutral hydrogel, respectively, while no cells spreaded on positive charged hydrogel. Chondrosarcoma cells formed aggregates on neutral PDMAAm after further culture. The hydrogels can be synthesized easily and has the characteristics of ease at use with defined components, which holds great potential for developing standard chondrosarcoma models in vitro.
Bone Neoplasms ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Chondrosarcoma ; pathology ; Humans ; Hydrogels ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Methacrylates ; pharmacology ; Nylons ; pharmacology ; Static Electricity

This study was aimed to evaluate the clinical effect and safety of Qing-Fei Tong-Luo (QFTL) ointment for treating children with pneumonia.Randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted among 460 cases of children with pneumonia.The observation group was given QFTL ointment combined with basic treatment.And the control group was only treated by basic treatment.Evaluation was given on the total clinical efficacy,disappeared time of fever,cough,expectoration,shortness of breath,and medication safety.The incidence of respiratory diseases was followed up on the 30th days after drug withdrawal.The results showed that in the aspect of clinical efficacy between two groups,the cure rate of the observation group was 98.26％,and that of the control group was 93.89％,with statistic significance (P ＜ 0.05).The cure rate of the observation group was better than that of the control group.There was statistical difference on expectoration disappeared time (P ＜ 0.05).There was no statistical difference on disappeared time of fever,cough and shortness of breath (P ＞ 0.05).There was statistical difference on the incidence of respiratory diseases on the 30th days followed-up after drug withdrawal (P ＜ 0.05).There was no statistical difference on the incidence of upper respiratory tract infection,pneumonia and asthma (P ＞ 0.05).No adverse reactions occurred in the observation group.It was concluded that QFTL ointment combined with basic therapy on the treatment of pneumonia in children was significantly better than the control group in the aspect of clinical efficacy,expectoration disappeared time and the incidence of bronchitis.It is safe and effective.The prognosis is good and worthy of promotion in the clinical practice.

ObjectiveTo investigate the expression of lysophosphatidic acid （LPA） in patients with liver cancer， as well as its influence on malignant biological behavior of liver cancer and related regulatory mechanism. MethodsFrom January 2016 to December 2022， 26 patients with liver cancer， 28 patients with liver cirrhosis， and 28 individuals undergoing physical examination were enrolled. ELISIA was used to measure the content of LPA in plasma and peritoneal effusion of the patients with liver cancer or liver cirrhosis accompanied by peritoneal effusion， and the content of LPA was measured in plasma of the normal population at the same time， so as to clarify the difference in the expression of LPA in different populations， such as the patients with liver cancer and those with liver cirrhosis. MTT cell proliferation assay and cell migration assay were used to observe the influence of LPA and its inhibitor pertussis toxin （PTX） on the proliferation， migration， and invasion of SMMC7721 cells. In order to investigate the effect of LPA on the expression of RhoA and its upstream and downstream molecules FAK and P53 after binding to its receptor， qPCR and Western blot were used to observe the effect of LPA on the mRNA and protein expression levels of P53， FAK， and RhoA in SMMC7721 cells. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of the means of continuous data between multiple groups， and the SNK-q test was used for comparison between two groups. ResultsCompared with the patients with liver cirrhosis， the patients with liver cancer had a significantly higher concentration of LPA in plasma （4.99±0.55 μmol/L vs 2.63±0.43 μmol/L， P<0.05） and peritoneal effusion （5.19±0.63 μmol/L vs 2.91±0.46 μmol/L， P<0.05）， and the patients with liver cancer also had a significantly higher level of plasma LPA than the normal population （4.99±0.55 μmol/L vs 1.61±0.39 μmol/L， P<0.05）. The cell proliferation assay showed that LPA significantly promoted the proliferation of SMMC7721 cells， and cell proliferation rate increased with the increase in dose and time； in particular， the middle-and high-dose groups had a significantly higher proliferation rate than the control group （P<0.05）. PTX inhibited the proliferative capacity of SMMC7721 cells in a time-dependent manner， and there was a significant difference between the groups （P<0.05）. The proliferation rate of the 72-hour high-dose LPA group was 3.6 times that of the control group， while the proliferation rate of the PTX group was 0.6 times that of the control group； the proliferation rate of the 72-hour high-dose LPA+PTX group was 1.2 times that of the control group. In addition， LPA increased the migration ability of hepatoma cells， while PTX inhibited their migration， in a time-dependent manner， and there was a significant difference between the groups （P<0.05）. The migration rate of the 72-hour high-dose LPA group was 3.09 times that of the control group， while the migration rate of the PTX group was 0.4 times that of the control group； the migration rate of the 72-hour high-dose LPA+PTX group was 0.99 times that of the control group. qPCR and Western blot showed that there were significant reductions in the mRNA and protein expression levels of P53 in SMMC7721 cells after LPA treatment， while there were significant increases in the mRNA and protein expression levels of FAK and RhoA； there was a significant difference between the LPA group and the control group （P<0.05）. ConclusionThere is an abnormal increase in the expression of LPA in patients with liver cancer， and LPA can promote the proliferation of liver cancer cells and increase their migration ability. At the same time， LPA changes the expression levels of P53， FAK， and RhoA， which may be associated with the promotion of tumor development and progression by LPA.