Objective To investigate the role of RhoA /Rho-kinase pathway in rat models of left heart disease-as-sociated pulmonary hypertension ( PH-LHD) .Methods Twenty male SD rats (3-4 week-old, 90-100 g) were randomly divided into two groups (10 rats in each group):the group C ( control group) with sham operation, and group H ( pulmo-nary arterial hypertension) .The rat model of left heart disease-associated pulmonary hypertension was established by supra-coronary aortic banding in the group H, and the sham surgery was applied for the rats in the group C ( The titanium clip was fixed at the mediastinal tissue adjacent to the artery rather than the ascending aorta).On day 60 after the operation, the cardiac functions, including right ventricular systolic pressure and pulmonary artery pressure were evaluated.After that, all rats were sacrificed and treated with cardiopulmonary lavage in vivo until the lung became white.Then the left lung tissues were fixed in 4%paraformaldehyde for pathological observation while the right lung tissues were frozen for mRNA detec-tion.Results Compared with the group C, both ventricular systolic pressure and pulmonary artery pressure in the group H were increased significantly (P<0.01).Pathological data demonstrated that the pulmonary artery walls in H group were much thicker than that in the group C.Moreover, vascular wall hypertrophy index in the group H was increased greatly compared with that in the group C (P<0.01).QPCR data showed that mRNA levels of Rho kinase, RhoA and ET-A R in the group H were up-regulated compared with the group C ( P<0.01) .Conclusions Rat model of left heart disease-asso-ciated pulmonary arterial hypertension can be successfully established by supracoronary aortic banding.Rho-kinase-media-ted pathway may contribute to the pathogenesis and progress of left heart disease-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension.

AIM:To investigate the effect of curcumin derivatives B06(B06) on the synthesis of testosterone from type 2 diabetic rats.METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were evenly divided into 5 groups randomly: normal control group (C group), high fat group (H group), high fat treatment group (HT group), diabetes mellitus group (D group) and diabetes treatment group ( DT group) .The rats in the later 4 groups were fed with high fat diet, after 4 weeks of high fat diet feeding, the rats from D group and DT group were injected with low dose of streptozotocin intraperitoneally to induce diabetes mellitus, while the rats in HT group and DT group were gavaged with B06 at the dose of 0.2 mg· kg-1 · d-1 for 8 weeks.The blood glucose was detected by glucometer, blood insulin was assayed by ELISA and the insulin resist-ance index was calculated.The morphology of testes were observed by light and transmission electron microscopy.Serum testosterone and estradiol were measured by radioimmunoassay.The protein expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory pro-tein ( StAR) was detected by immunohistochemistry.The mRNA expression of StAR, cholesterol side-chain cleavage en-zyme (P450scc), cytochrome P450 17A1 (P450c17), cytochrome P450 aromatizing enzyme (P450arom), 3β-hydroxyste-roid dehydrogenase ( HSD) and 17β-HSD was detected by RT-PCR.RESULTS:The levels of blood glucose and insulin resistance index were increased in H group and D group, and serum testosterone was decreased, all of which were reversed after the treatment of B06.Testicular seminiferous tubule was distorted, spermatogenic cells were dropped in H group and D group.In addition, leydig cells were found to have swelling mitochondria in H group and D group, endoplasmic reticu-lum was reduced, and there was karyopyknosis accompany with sparse chromatin, all of which were ameliorated by B06. The protein expression of StAR was decreased in D group.The mRNA expression of StAR and P450scc was decreased in H group and D group, all of which were increased in B06 treatment group.There was no significant difference in the mRNA expression of P450c17, P450arom, 3β-HSD and 17β-HSD.CONCLUSION: B06 may increase serum testosterone and relieve the damage of testes from type 2 diabetic rats.B06 improves metabolic disorder by up-regulating mRNA expression of StAR and P450scc.

Objective To evaluate clinical performance on dry chemistry method of Vitros 350 for the determination of serum bilirubin in order to ensure the quality of examination.Methods Evaluation protocols were employed to evaluate the precision,the trueness and the linearity of total bilirubin(TBIL),unconjugated bilirubin (Bu)and conjugated bilirubin (Bc)by dry chemistry method,to verify the reference ranges of TBIL,Bu and Bc simultaneously.Results The precision and trueness of TBIL,Bu and Bc were within the allowable ranges of Clinical and Laboratory Ltandards Institute (CLSI).The linear range of TBIL,Bu and Bc in our laboratory were 6.57-428.83 μmol/L,4.5-320.1 μmol/L and 4.5-364.9 μmol/L respectively.Conclusion Both technical per-formance evaluation and diagnostic performance verification of bilirubin by dry chemical detection system could meet the needs of the clinic.

Objective:The hemolytic prediction model of the axial flow impeller blood pump is carried out by using a computational fluid dynamics(CFD) multiphase flow model.Methods:The hydrodynamic performance of the pump and the flow field in the pump, and the shear stress distribution are analyzed. A hemolytic prediction model based on the shear stress is built based on the calculation results. Hemolysis tests in vitro were performed 6 times with fresh bovine blood. At each time, the flow of the ventricular assist device(VAD) is 5 L/min and the outflow tract pressure is 100 mmHg(13.3kPa). According to the tests, the plasma free hemoglobin(FHB) content and the hematocrit(HCT) are measured every half hour. At the end of each experiment Normal Index of Hemolysis(NIH) is calculated.Results:The average of NIH is 0.0055 g/100L, almost identical with that obtained from the hemolytic prediction model.Conclusion:Multiphase flow model can be used for quantitative predictions of the hemolytic behavior of a VAD. This method can be applied in the selection stage of a blood pump.

Objective To discuss the application of spectral CT imaging in evaluating the early therapeutic response of 125I seed interstitial brachytherapy for pancreatic carcinoma in experimental nude mice.Methods BxPC-3 human pancreatic cancer cell xenografts were subcutaneously inoculated at the dorsal part of the limbs in 16 BABL/c nude mice. When the tumor developed to the size of 1-1.5 cm, the tumor-bearing mice were randomly divided into the study group (n=8,receiving implantation of 125I seeds of 1.0 mCi) and the control group (n=8,receiving implantation of ghost shell particles of 0 mCi). Two weeks after the procedure, plain spectral CT scan as well as enhanced multiphase (10 s, 25 s and 60 s) spectral CT scan were performed to obtain multi-phasic image series. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and iodine concentration (IC) inside the lesions were determined, and the normalized iodine concentrations (nIC) of tumor were thus obtained. Immunohistochemical staining of tumor was used to measure microvessel density (MVD) within the tumor;the correlation between nIC and MVD was analyzed. Results The lesion's nICs measured on each of three phases (10 s,25 s and 60 s) in the study group were lower than those in the control group, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). MVD count in the study group was lower than that in the control group, the difference was statistically significant (t=5.957,P<0.01). A parallel linear correlation existed between nIC obtained from each phase of three phases and MVD count (r=0.63,P<0.000 1;r=0.51,P=0.002;and r=0.48,P=0.001 7 for 10 s, 25 s and 60 s phases respectively). Conclusion Spectral CT imaging is an effective method for evaluating the therapeutic effect of 125I seed interstitial brachytherapy for pancreatic carcinoma of experimental mice.

Objective To retrospectively analyze imaging features of multi-slica computed tomography (MSCT) and clinical characteristics of male patients with pancreas solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) and compare with that of female patients.Methods From November 2000 to October 2012,clinical data of 18 male patients and 94 female patients underwent MSCT examination and pathological diagnosed as SPT were retrospectively analyzed.Clinical characteristics and imaging features of MSCT of male and female patients with SPT were analyzed,which included lesion location,size,shape,encapsulation,calcification,internal composition,density and enhancement pattern of tumors.Rank sum test or x2 test was performed for statistical analysis.Results The median age of male patients with SPT was significantly older than that of female patients (39.0 (15.0,67.0) years vs 27.5 (11.0,63.0) years; U=2.865,P =0.005).There were no significant differences in clinical manifestation,lesion location and composition ratio of benign and malignant tumors between male and female patients with SPT (all P＞0.05).Imaging of MSCT indicated that the median maximum tumor diameter of male patients with SPT was significantly shorter than that of female patients (5.1 (1.0,11.6) cm vs 7.9 (2.5,18.7) cm; U=3.161,P=0.002).Solid tumors were more common in male patients compared with female patients (9/18 vs 5.3％ (5/94) ; x2 =30.606,P＜0.01).Conclusions The imaging features of male patients with SPT are different with those of females.For pancreas lesion in males,if imaging of MSCT shows more solid composition,small lesion and with typical enhancement patterns of SPT,the possibility of SPT should be considered.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the risk factors,clinical characteristics and prevention countermeasures of(nosocomial) fungal infection in patients with acute leukemia.METHODS To adopt investigation way to review and analyze the clinical data of nosocomial fungal infection in 39 cases from 178 acute leukemia inpatients.RESULTS The(nosocomial) fungal infection rate was 21.91%.The nosocomial fungal infection rate in elderly group was(higher) than that of younger group,and in granulocytosis group(≥0.5?10~9/L) was higher than that of

AIM:To investigate the protective effect of preconditioning on rabbit liver during total ischemia and reperfusion and its mechanism. METHODS: Using hepatic ischemia and reperfusion injury (HIRI) model in rabbits, animals were randomly divided into three groups: control group (A), non-preconditioning group(B) and preconditioning group(C), different effects of preconditioning on several parameters including alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity and levels of nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in plasma or liver tissue as well as hepatocellular morphological changes were measured and observed during HIRI. RESULTS:In C group NO levels of plasma and liver tissue were higher than those in B group (P0.05); abnormal morphological chages of liver cells in A group were ameliorated remarkably too during HIRI. CONCLUSION:Preconditioning can attenuate HIRI by improving NO level and reducing oxygen free radicals level.

BACKGROUNDTo investigate the relationship between micrometastasis of bone marrow and neoadjuvant chemotherapy and prognosis in patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODSSixty-five patients with stage III NSCLC were randomly divided into group A (32 patients treated with preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus operation) and group B (33 patients treated with operation and postoperative chemotherapy as control group). Expression of CK19 mRNA and CEA mRNA was detected in bone marrow samples from the rib segments of all patients obtained from operation by RT-PCR. The relationship between survival duration and CK19 and CEA expression was analyzed.

RESULTSThe positive rates of CK19 mRNA expression were 18.8%(6/32) and 45.5%(15/33) in group A and B, respectively (P=0.033), and the positive rates of CEA were 25.0%(8/32) and 51.5% (17/33) in group A and B, respectively (P= 0.041). A significant positive correlation was observed between CK19 and CEA expression (r s=0.671,P < 0.001). The response rates of neoadjuvant chemotherapy were 0%(0/5) and 56.5%(13/23) in patients with CK19(+)/CEA(+) and CK19(-)/CEA(-), respectively (P=0.044), and the median survival duration were 11 and 27 months, respectively (P=0.000 6). Cox's model showed that the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the expression of CK19 or CEA were significantly prognostic factors in group A.

CONCLUSIONSNeoadjuvant chemotherapy can reduce the possibility of bone marrow micrometastasis in stage III NSCLC patients. Bone marrow micrometastasis may indicate a poorer prognosis for NSCLC.

Objective To explore the clinical effect of high intensity focused ultrasound(HIFU)combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE)in the treatment of primary liver cancer.Methods A total of 106 patients with primary liver cancer were divided into two groups:50 cases were treated with TACE,and the other 56 were treated with combination of HIFU and TACE.The changes of AFP levels and the size of tumors after three months treatment were analyzed and compared with each other.The survival rates for one,two and three years were calculated with Kaplan-Meier method and compared between the two groups.Results In the two groups,AFP decreased significantly after treatment,but the combined group was superior to the other in AFP decrease.In the combined group,the 1-,2-and 3-year survival rates were higher than those in the TACE group with 82.3%,60.8%and 39.2% vs 68.0%,42.6%and 21.0%respectively(P＜0.01).No serious complications were seen,such as burn of skin,bleeding,gastrointestinal perforation. Conclusion The use of HIFU combined with TACE in the treatment of patients with primary liver cancers is feasible and safe.The combined group is superior to simple TACE for the management of primary liver cancers,and the former is more effective in decreasing AFP level and improving survival rates.