Objective To evaluate the clinical application and safety of CT-guided pereutaneous transthoracic biopsy in the diagnosis of mediastinal masses.Methods Thirty three cases were undertaken CT- guided percutaneous transthoraeie biopsy with automatic biopsy gun and then the sampling specimens were undergone histological examination.The accuracy of puncture,diagnostic correctness and complications were analyzed.Results The operations were performed successfully in all 33 cases(100%),the definite pathologic diagnosis were made in 28 out of 33 cases(85%)and no complications occurred.Conclusion As for midiastinal masses,CT-guided percutaneous transthoracic biopsy is a feasible,successful,efficient interventional diagnostic method with high accuracy in localization,puncture,diagnosis and few complications, which should he recommended in clinical use more widely.(J Intervent Radiol,2007,16:852-854)

OBJECTIVETo establish a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method for determination of phloridzin content.

METHODSA RP-HPLC method was established for determination of phloridzin using an Inertsil ODS-3 (4.6×150 mm, 5 µm) column with the detection wavelength of 288 nm, flow rate of 1.0 ml/min, and column temperature of 25 degrees celsius;.

RESULTSThe result showed that the phloridzin had a good linear relationship when its concentration ranged between 0.5988 and 89.72 µg/ml. The regression equation was Y=46.370 X-0.6728 (r=0.9999, n=3). The average recovery of phloridzin was 99.40% with the relative standard deviations (RSD) of 0.67%.

CONCLUSIONThis method is simple, quick and accurate for determination of phloridzin content.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Chromatography, Reverse-Phase ; methods ; Phlorhizin ; analysis

Congenital diarrhea and enteropathies(CODEs)are typically monogenic disorders. Patients always present with persistent and severe chronic diarrhea. The diagnosis of CODEs is oftern delayed and there is a high mortality. Application of endoscopy,histologic evaluation and next generation sequencing might facilitate the diagnosis,and precision medicine to patients with CODEs.

OBJECTIVEA stable primary breast cancer model in liver-specific insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) deficient (LID) mice and control mice was established. To screen apoptosis related genes expression in different serum IGF-1 levels by gene chip and flow cytometry.

METHODSThe LID mice and control mice were used. Induction of breast cancer was achieved by using the 7,12-dimethylbenz(a) anthracene. Ginsenoside Rg3 was used to interfering therapy treatment. The incidence of breast cancer in every group was compared, and expression of apoptosis associated genes was detected by gene chip and flow cytometry.

RESULTSThe incidence of tumor in none ginsenoside Rg3 injected control mice was 66.7%. The incidence of tumor in ginsenoside Rg3 injected LID mice was 12.0% which was significantly lower than any other group (P < 0.05). The apoptosis percentage in none ginsenoside Rg3 injected control mice was (2.7 +/- 0.7)%. The apoptosis percentage in ginsenoside Rg3 injected LID mice was (14.0 +/- 1.7)%. The results of gene chip indicated that in contrast to LID mice, LTA, LTB, TNF-alpha, TRAIL, TRANCE, BLK, BOK, CASP8, TRAF5, and APAF1 genes were down-regulated, and LTBR, TRAF4 genes were up-regulated in the breast cancer tissues of control mice. Application of ginsenoside Rg3 therapy could change the expression of these genes.

CONCLUSIONSCirculating IGF-1 levels play a role in the onset and development of breast cancer. Degrade serum IGF-1 level is able to promote apoptosis by affecting the expression of a series of apoptosis related genes consequently inhibit the growth of breast cancer. There was a synergistic effect with the application of ginsenoside Rg3.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Breast Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Proliferation ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical efficacy, surgical indications and postoperative complications of mid urethral sling procedures in treatment of female stress urinary incontinence.

METHODSA multicenter clinical trial was conducted from April 2002 to April 2008 in five hospitals, 304 cases of genuine stress urinary incontinence and 8 cases of mixed incontinence were included. TVT procedures were carried out in 134 patients, TVTO procedures in 167 patients, Monarc procedures in 11 patients. Perioperative evaluations included: operating time, bleeding volume, and perioperative complications. Operative efficacy was classified into three categories: cure, improved and failure and evaluated before discharge, 3 months after surgery and then every year.

RESULTSTVT group had longer operating time [(18.5 + or - 9.6) min] and more bleeding volume [(32.2 + or - 12.6) ml] than those in TVTO group [(11.5 + or - 3.1) min, (12.8 + or - 8.5) ml] and in Monarc group [(11.1 + or - 2.6) min, (12.3 + or - 3.5) ml] with P < 0.05. Monarc and TVTO procedures had higher cure rates and improve rates comparing with TVT, but the differences were of no significance. The cure rate (95.7%) in patients with genuine stress incontinence were significantly higher than that in patients with mixed incontinence (37.5%). No significant differences of total intra- and postoperative complications were noted for all of the three procedures. However, bladder injury tended to occur in TVT group and obturator nerve injury and vaginal injury tended to occur in TVTO group. Transient voiding dysfunction and urinary retention were the most common complications.

CONCLUSIONSMid urethral sling procedures have excellent clinical outcomes in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence.

Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Suburethral Slings ; Treatment Outcome ; Urinary Incontinence, Stress ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of biological protective dressing made from porcine peritoneum in covering wounds with microskin grafts.

METHODSTwenty New Zealand rabbits were divided into ten couples according to the random number table. Rabbits in each couple underwent surgery at the same time. A piece of full-thickness skin of 5 cm in diameter was removed symmetrically from the left and right sides of the back of each rabbit, thus forming two wounds with full-thickness skin defect. One fifth of one piece of skin of one rabbit was cut into tiny pieces of 0.2-0.5 mm in size (microskin). Then the microskin pieces were spread on the two wounds of the donor rabbit with the microskin/wound area ratio 1:10. The two wounds of each rabbit covered with microskin were divided into two groups according to the random number table. One wound was covered with biological protective dressing prepared with porcine peritoneum as experiment group, and the other was covered with the rest allograft in full size obtained from the other rabbit of each couple as control group. The general condition of wound was observed at post operation week (POW) 1-4. Wound healing rate was calculated at POW 3 and 4. Wound healing time was recorded. Specimens were harvested from wounds for histological observation at POW 1-4. Data were processed with paired t test.

RESULTS(1) At POW 1, the biological protective dressings were found to attach firmly to the wounds in experiment group without obvious inflammatory response; the allografts survived well on the wounds in control group. At POW 2, the coverings attached well to the wounds of both groups, but became drier and darker as compared with those at POW 1. At POW 3, some wounds of the two groups healed when the coverings desiccated and separated. At POW 4, all the wounds of both groups healed without obvious difference in appearance. (2) The wound healing rates of the experiment and control groups were respectively (92.8 ± 6.2)% and (91.3 ± 7.3)% (t = 0.54, P > 0.05) at POW 3 and (98.1 ± 2.3)% and (97.0 ± 4.6)% (t = 0.38, P > 0.05) at POW 4. (3) The wound healing time was (25.0 ± 3.9) d in experiment group and (24.8 ± 2.3) d in control group. The difference between them was not statistically significant (t = 0.82, P > 0.05). (4) Histological observation showed that wounds of the two groups were all infiltrated by inflammatory cells, and new blood vessels were observed at POW 1 and 2. The survived microskin proliferated under the coverings. At POW 3 and 4, the coverings on the wounds of two groups were gradually degenerated and became necrotic and separated from the wound beds, while the wounds underneath were re-epithelialized.

CONCLUSIONSThe effect of biological protective dressing in covering wounds grafted with microskin is as good as that of the allograft, as they both help the auto-microskin proliferate and repair the wound. It could be considered to be new biological material for clinical application.

Animals ; Biocompatible Materials ; Biological Dressings ; Male ; Peritoneum ; Rabbits ; Skin Transplantation ; methods ; Swine ; Wound Healing

Objectve: To investigate the feasibility of establishing xenografted leukemia model by zebrafish, so as to provide the more direct model in vitro and experimental evidence for study of acute myeloid leukemia and screening of the drugs for targeting therapy.

METHODSAcute myeloid leukemia cell line KG-1a was labeled with red fluorescent dye-MitoRed, then the labeled cells were injected into the yolk sac of zebrafish embryos. Morphological observation, cell count and histopathological detection were used to analyse the infiltration and metastasis of KG-1a cells in zebrafish.

RESULTSKG1a cells could proliferate and gradually spread to the entire abdominal cavity of the zebrafish after KG-1a cells were injected into the yolk sac during 1-7, the results of cell counting in vitro also proved a significant proliferation of KG-1a cells in zebrafish, suggesting that the implanted leukemia stem cells could survive, proliferate and spread in zebrafish. Further study showed that the implanted cells could be transfered to the liver of zebrafish, these cells displayed the signature of KG-1a cells by hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining.

CONCLUSIONSHuman acute myeloid leukemia cells KG1a can survive, proliferate and migrate in zebrafish, suggesting xenografted leukemia model of zebrafish has been successfully established. This model may be benefitcial for the study of acute myeloid leukemia and the screening of the drugs for targeting therapy of acute myeloid leukemia.

AIM:To investigate the effect of ozone bath on the pathological changes and the expression of cyto-kines,platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor-β3(TGF-β3), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α),in the wounds of deep second-degree burns in rats. METHODS:Male clean-grade SD rats(n=80) were ran-domly divided into 2 groups, ozone bath group and routine dressing group (control group), with 40 rats in each group. Deep second-degree burn wound was established on the back of the rats,and then the examinations were conducted at 3 d, 7 d,14 d and 21 d after burn. For the routine dressing group,the wound was cleaned by normal saline and covered with io-dophor vaseline gauze every 2 d. For the ozone bath group,before the dressing,the rats were put into the clean foam box to accept ozone fumigation for 20 min(50 mg/L),and then accepted dressing change as the same as that in control group every 2 d. At each time point,the tissue specimens from these rat wounds(at wound center) were taken. The rats in ozone bath group received cleaning by saline cotton and then the ozone bath fumigation, while the rats in control group only re-ceived cleaning by saline. After that,the tissue specimens were taken again for HE staining,immunohistochemical staining and semiquantitative observation combined with image data analysis. The concentrations of the cytokines PDGF, TGF-β3 and TNF-α in the wound were measured by double-antibody sandwich ELISA. RESULTS:In ozone bath group, the wounds were smooth with clear edge and slight inflammatory reaction,swelling and exudation were weaker,and the wound healing rate was higher than that in control group with significant difference. Under microscopic observation with HE stai-ning,slighter inflammatory reaction in ozone bath group was observed than that in control group at each time point,and the numbers of fresh capillaries,fibroblasts and epithelial cells were significantly larger than those in control group. The ex-pression levels of PDGF and TGF-β3in the wound tissue homogenate in ozone bath group were higher,and the expression level of TNF-α was significantly lower than those in control group at each time point with significant difference. CONCLU-SION:The ozone bath therapy improves the local pathological changes and promotes the expression of cytokines PDGF and TGF-β3,which are associated with wound healing,as well as reduces the expression of inflammatory mediator TNF-α in the rats with deep second-degree burns,thus promoting the wound healing and anti-inflammatory responses.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the impacts of three different surgical approaches to urethral stricture on the erectile function of the patients.

METHODSThis study included 126 male patients with urethral stricture, 35 treated by substitution urethroplasty (group A), 52 by anastomotic urethroplasty (group B), and 39 by internal urethroplasty (group C). We evaluated the pre- and postoperative erectile function of the patients using IIEF-5 scores by telephone calls and interviews. We also monitored their nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT).

RESULTSThe IIEF-5 scores in groups A, B and C were 13.5 +/- 4.5, 11.1 +/- 4.8 and 14.5 +/- 4.41 respectively after surgery, all significantly decreased as compared with 17.1 +/- 2.6, 17.1 +/- 3.0 and 17.6 +/- 2.2 preoperatively (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAll the three surgical approaches can reduce IIEF-5 scores in patients with urethral stricture, but anastomotic urethroplasty may induce a higher incidence of erectile dysfunction than the other two approaches.

Adult ; Aged ; Humans ; Intraoperative Period ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Penile Erection ; physiology ; Urethral Stricture ; surgery ; Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male ; methods ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVEMutations in NPHS2 mapped to 1q25-q31 and encoding podocin, which is exclusively expressed in glomerular podocytes, are responsible for autosomal recessive familial steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) with minor glomerular abnormalities or focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Different groups from European and North American countries have screened NPHS2 mutations in familial SRNS with recessive inheritance, documenting a mutation detection rate of 45% - 55% in families. This study aimed to examine mutations in the NPHS2 gene in Southern Chinese Han ethnic group patients with familial SRNS.

METHODSGenomic DNA from 3 probands from Southern Chinese Han families with autosomal recessive SRNS, and their siblings and parents was isolated and analyzed for all eight exons, exon-intron boundaries and promoter of NPHS2 using the polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing.

RESULTSNo mutation of NPHS2 in all eight exons and exon-intron boundaries was identified in the 3 probands. However, a polymorphism of 954T > C in exon 8 was detected in all the 3 probands and some controls, and 5 variants of NPHS2 promoter, -1709G > A, -1000A > T, -670C > T, -116C > T and -51G > T, were identified in some patients and controls, indicating that these variants are polymorphisms. One heterozygous variant of NPHS2 promoter, -1715A > G, was also identified in one proband and her mother whose urinalyses were normal, whereas it was not found in any of the 50 controls. There was no significant difference in the allelic frequencies of -1709G > A, -1000A > T, -670C > T, -116C > T and -51G > T polymorphisms between the patients and controls.

CONCLUSIONNPHS2 mutations are not a major cause of familial steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome in Southern Chinese Han ethnic group included in the study.

Adolescent ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Humans ; Infant ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; genetics ; Male ; Membrane Proteins ; genetics ; Mutation ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; ethnology ; genetics ; Pedigree