Objective To investigate the effect of hemodialysis(HD) on the endothelial cells of the patients with end-stage renal disease(ESRD). Methods The study population consisted of 30 patients with undergoing first hemodialysis treatment and 20 healthy individuals from March to November of 2003.The number of circulating endothelial cells(CEC) and the concentration of von Willebrand factor(vWF) were measured in HD patients at predialysis,1h during HD,2h during HD,and the end of HD.CEC and vWF were observed in healthy subjects. Results CEC and vWF were increased in HD patients compared with healthy individuals,and elevated continuously during HD.Increased CEC and vWF were correlated significantly with duration of HD. Conclusion Endothelial cell dysfunction exists in the patients with ESRD.HD procedures may cause endothelial cell damage.

PurposeSmall breast mass (diameter≤1 cm) is prone to misdiagnosis in clinic. This paper aims to evaluate a combined application of breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS) and ultrasound elastography (UE) on small breast mass (diameter≤1 cm).Materials and MethodsA retrospective analysis was carried out on 231 patients with a total of 258 small masses (the maximal diameter ≤1 cm). Ultrasound BI-RADS was used for classiifcation while UE was used to adjust the results. The results were further compared with those of postoperative pathology. The curve of ROC was employed to evaluate the combined use on small breast mass.ResultsAmong the 258 small masses, 178 (69.0%) were benign masses and the rest 80 (31.0%) were malignant. The small masses which were evaluated as BI-RADS grade 3, 4 and 5 before the operation had positive prediction value for malignant masses of 10.3% (17/165), 60.5% (46/76) and 100.0% (17/17), respectively. After adjustment with UE, the values changed to 5.3%(9/169), 75.0% (54/72) and 100.0% (17/17), respectively. After adjustment with the combination method, the area under ROC curve in BI-RADS classification was 0.904, which was signiifcantly higher than that (0.827) before the adjustment (Z=2.83,P<0.05). ConclusionFor small breast mass (diameter≤1 cm), mass of BI-RADS grade 3 has higher positive prediction value. But after adjustment with UE, the positive prediction value of mass of BI-RADS grade 3 tends to be lower, whilst that of mass of BI-RADS grade 4 increases, thus promoting the efficiency of ultrasound BI-RADS classification for small breast mass and contributing to the identiifcation of benign and malignant small breast masses.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and outcome in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients with renal insufficiency using bortezomib-or thalidomide-based regimens as front line treatment.Method Sixty-nine newly diagnosed MM patients with renal insufficiency were retrospectively analyzed from August 2006 to August 2014.Results ① Among thirty-nine patients with bortezomib based regimens (the bortezomib group),the overall response rate (ORR) was 89.7％ and complete response (CR) plus near CR(nCR) rate was 41.0％.By contrast,among thirty patients with thalidomide based regimens (the thalidomide group),the ORR was 83.3％ and CR + nCR rate was 26.7％.There was no significant difference of either ORR or CR + nCR rate between bortezomib and thalidomide groups.② The improvement rate of renal function in bortezomib group and thalidomide group were 87.2％ and 60.0％respectively (P =0.012).The median duration time of renal injury was 45 days in 52 patients with renal function improved,which was significantly shorter compared with 222 days in 17 patients without improvement (P ＜ 0.05).There was no difference of median serum creatinine and creatinine clearance rate between the two groups.③ The median progression-free survival (PFS) and the overall survival (OS) were 18 and 33.5 months,respectively in all patients.The three-year and five-year OS rates were 57％ and 17％,respectively.The median PFS was 19 months in bortezomib group,while it was only 12 months in thalidomide group (P =0.023).The median OS were 36.5 months and 25.5 months respectively,which was no difference (P =0.285).Conclusions The newly diagnosed MM patients with renal insufficiency could get higher ORR and the longer PFS using bortezomib-containing regimens as initial therapy.Meanwhile the improvement rate of renal function and the living quality in patients with bortezomib are better compared with those with thalidomide based treatment.

Objective:This study investigated the clinical characteristics of multiple myeloma with early death in the era of novel drugs. Methods:Medical records from 188 patients diagnosed from January 2009 to December 2015 were retrospectively reviewed, showing that early death occurred in 19 patients. Early death was defined as death by any cause within the first year after diagnosis. Results:(1) Early mortality was 10.1%, and the median age was 67 years old (range:40-84 years). Eight cases presented IgG type, and 11 cases were non-IgG type. All 19 patients were diagnosed to be at stageⅢin accordance with the Durie–Salmon staging system, and renal insufficiency occurred in 10 patients. In accordance with the International Staging System (ISS), four patients were diagnosed to be at stageⅡ, whereas 15 other patients were at stageⅢ. Extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) occurred in six cases, whereas 10 cases pre-sented high-risk patients with cytogenetic abnormalities. Elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was found in five cases, amyloidosis was detected in three patients, and secondary plasma cell leukemia was observed in two cases. The median score of performance sta-tus (KPS) was 70 (range: 20-80). A total of 16 patients were treated with bortezomib, and 3 patients were treated with CADT. (2) Among the 13 patients who were evaluated, the overall response rate was 46.2%(6/13), and the complete response (CR) and near-CR rate was 7.7%(1/13). (3) The median overall survival was 3 (1-11.5) months, although the two patients with secondary plasma cell leu-kemia survived for less than 2 months. (4) Eight patients died of disease progression (42.1%), eight patients died of severe infections (42.1%), and three patients died of thrombotic events. Conclusion:The important causes of early death include the following:high-risk cytogenetics, elevated LDH, EMP, amyloidosis, advanced age, poor performance status, and serious complications during treat-ment. In the era of novel drugs, we should improve early diagnosis rates and explore individualized treatment for high-risk multiple my-eloma for the benefit of a wide range of patients.

Aim To investigate the apoptosis mechanism of human gastric cancer cell SGC-7901 induced by Omphalia lapidescens protein pPeOp.Methods CCK-8 and flow cytometry were used to detect the inhibitory effect of different concentrations of pPeOp(30, 60, 90 mg·L-1) on SGC-7901.The mRNA and protein expression of TNF-R1, Fas/FasL, Bcl-2, caspase-3 and caspase-8 were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot.Results SGC-7901 cells were treated with different concentrations of pPeOp(30, 60, 90 mg·L-1) for 24 h.CCK-8 test showed that there was no significant difference between PVP group and the control group.The survival rate of the 5-Fu group was(53.71±7.34)% (P<0.05).The survival rates of pPeOp group(30, 60, 90 mg·L-1) were(80.95±6.25)%, (53.48±5.70)% and(44.61±6.50)%(r=0.984,P=0.016),respectively.Flow cytometry showed that the apoptosis rate of PVP group had no significant difference with control group, and the apoptosis rate of 5-Fu group was about(39.30±3.34)%(P<0.05).The apoptotic rates of pPeOp group(30, 60, 90 mg·L-1) were(10.90±1.25)%, (28.80±2.70)% and (32.00±3.50)%,respectively(P<0.05).The mRNA and protein expression levels of Bcl-2 were down-regulated,whereas the expression of TNF-R1, Fas/FasL, caspase-3 and caspase-8 were significantly up-regulated(P<0.05).Conclusions pPeOp can significantly inhibit the proliferation of gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 and induce apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner.Death receptor pathway and mitochondrial pathway may be related to pPeOp-induced apoptosis of gastric cancer SGC-7901.

Objective To investigate the relationship between adiponectin combined with the ultrasound blood flow index of the umbilical artery and perinatal outcome in women with severe preeclampsia. Methods Placental tissues were obtained from normal term pregnancies (control group, n=50) and severe preeclampsia patients (PE group, n=50) in Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from February 2014 to October 2014. The expression of adiponectin was examined using immunohistochemical methods and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The umbilical artery was measured by color Doppler, and the umbilical artery systolic/diastolic ratio (UA-S/D), umbilical artery resistance index (UA-RI) and umbilical artery pulsatility index (UA-PI) were determined. The relationship between the expression of adiponectin in placental tissues, UA-S/D and perinatal outcome were analyzed. The data were analyzed using two dependent-sample t test, the log-rank test and Spearman correlation analysis. Results Compared with the control group, infants in the PE group had lower birth weight and placental weight, shorter height, and greater umbilical artery indices including UA-S/D, UA-RI and UA-PI (all P<0.05). The expression of adiponectin and its mRNA in placentae of the PE group was significantly higher than that of the control group (adiponectin: 0.326±0.011 vs. 0.116±0.011, t=99.144, P=0.000;mRNA:4.18±1.80 vs. 1.00±0.51, t=11.985, P=0.000). UA-S/D had a negative correlation with birth weight, onset gestational age and gestational age at birth (r= - 0.897, - 0.469 and - 0.524, all P<0.01). The expression of adiponectin mRNA had a negative correlation with birth weight, onset gestational age, and gestational age at birth (r=-0.580,-0.407 and-0.449, all P<0.01). The expression level of adiponectin had positive correlations with body mass index of the mothers and the UA-S/D (r=0.261 and 0.788, both P<0.01). Conclusions The expression of adiponectin in placental tissues and blood flow index of the umbilical artery both increase in severe preeclampsia, and are associated with poor perinatal outcome.

Objective To investigate the value of 1q21 amplification in newly diagnosed myeloma patients.Methods Fifty-two cases of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma from June 2008 to June 2010 were enrolled.Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to detect the 1q21 amplification,and the clinical characteristics and treatment response were analyzed.Results 1q21 amplification was discovered in 30 of 52 patients (57.7 ％),Clinical characteristics such as gender,malignant pleural effusion,extramedullary plasmacytoma,bone destruction,β2 microglobulin,ALB,hemoglobin,blood calcium,plasma cell proportion,clinical stage seemed to have no correlation with 1q21 amplification.The 52 patients all received bortezomibbased regimens.The response rates were not significant difference between patients with and without 1q21 amplification,the OS was also not significant difference [26 months (6-30 months) vs 30 months (12-85 months),P =0.409],but the patients with presence of 1q21 gain resulted in significantly shorter PFS [8 months (1-30 months) vs 20 months (3--48 months),P=0.019].Multivariate analysis showed 1q21 with more than two additional genetic abnormalities was an independent prognostic predictor (P =0.031).Conclusion 1q21 amplification is one of the adverse prognostic predictors,the response rate is not significant difference between patients with and without 1q21 amplification in bortezomib-based group,but the 1q21 amplification could result in significantly shortened PFS.

Background and purpose: Osteopontin (OPN) is a glycophosphoprotein that is expressed by numerous human cancer cells. The function of OPN in skeletal modeling and remodeling, bone resorption, angiogenesis and tumor cell metastasis and progression through binding with integrin and CD44 receptors were studied. Our purpose of the study was to detect the level of osteopontin(OPN) and CD44 variant isoforms(CD44v6) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients, and to explore the relationship between OPN and CD44v6 with the progress of MM. Methods: 32 MM patients were admitted to our hospital from Sep. 2007 to Dec. 2008. The patients were divided into two groups, group A (untreated and relapsed MM patients) and B (stable MM patients), and the control group including 15 subjects were the benign anemia patients or healthy people who suffered bone fracture. Bone marrow mononuclear cells (MNCs) and bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) from MM patients and subjects were investigated as potential OPN and CD44v6 producers. The level of OPN and CD44v6 of the conditioned media from MM patients and subjects were analyzed by ELISA. Results: The OPN level in group A (19 cases) was significantly higher than group B (13 cases) and control group (P<0.05). The CD44v6 level of 14 patients in group A was significantly higher than that of 10 cases in group B and control group (P<0.05); The OPN level of MM patients was correlated with the level of CD44v6 (r=0.52, P=0.000), the percentage of plasma cells in the bone marrow (r=0.74, P=0.000), M protein (r=0.53, P=0.014), and β2-microglubin (r=0.62, P=0.002). Conclusion: The increase of OPN and CD44v6 is associated with progress and pathogenesis of MM,and may be involved with tumor burden, stage and tumor invasion.

OBJECTIVETo explore the expression of WT1 gene in leukemia patients and its clinical implications.

METHODSExpression of WT1 mRNA was detected in two leukemia cell lines (K562 and HL-60), 49 acute leukemia (AL) patients, 33 chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients and 25 healthy subjects by reverse trans-criptase-nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-Nested PCR).

RESULTSWT1 gene was expressed in all subtype of AL including K562 and HL-60 cell lines, 21/29 newly diagnosed and relapsed AL patients, 1/20 complete remission (CR) AL patients, 15/18 CML blastic crisis patients, 1/5 CML patients in accelerated phase, and 1/10 CML patients in chronic phase. WT1 gene was undetectable in 25 healthy subjects. The expression level of WT1 gene was related to the prognosis of AL, patients with relative level >/= 1.0 had lower CR rates and disease-free survival. For CML patients, WT1 gene expression was associated with the clinical phase, it increased with disease progressed.

CONCLUSIONWT1 gene expression is associated with pathogenesis of leukemia. It is a prognostic factor and a marker for the detection of minimal residual disease in AL and may used as an indicator for diagnosing CML blastic crisis.

Disease-Free Survival ; Gene Expression ; HL-60 Cells ; Humans ; Neoplasm, Residual ; diagnosis ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; WT1 Proteins ; genetics

Inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)is a non-specific,chronic intestinal inflammatory disease,which mainly includes ulcerative colitis(UC)and Crohn's disease(CD). The pathogenesis of IBD is not completely clear,and is mainly related to gene,environment,dysfunction of immune system and intestinal mucosal barrier. As the first defense line of intestinal mucosal barrier,the mucus barrier plays an important role in the occurrence and development of IBD. This article reviewed the advances in study on mucus barrier in IBD.