OBJECTIVETo investigate the presence of leukemia stem cells (LSC) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and find out the relative position of leukemia cells in the figures of flow cytometry, and to analyze the relationship between minimal residual diseases (MRD) and the level of LSC, so as to explore the correlation of LSC changes with the curative effect and the prognosis during chemical therapy.

METHODSA total of 85 samples were collected from 50 AML (except M3) patients, including 50 samples from the newly diagnosed patients, 7 samples of AML patients with non-remission and 28 samples of AML patients with complete remission. All samples were used for detection of LSC from immune phenotype of CD34/CD38/CD123 by flow cytometry. The detection of immune phenotypic of leukemia cells was performed in the newly diagnosed patients. The detection of leukemia- associated immune phenotypes (LAIP) was implemented in the non-newly diagnosed patients.

RESULTSThe LSC was identified in the CD34/ CD38/ CD123 in AML and consistent with the relative position of the leukemia cell in flow cytometry figures. Statistical analysis showed significant difference in LSC content between the newly diagnosed AML group and the post-chemotherapy complete remission group(P<0.01),but did not between the newly diagnosed AML group and the post-chemotherapy non-remission group(P>0.05).There was significant positive correlation between the LSC content and MRD level in 28 AML patients with complete remission (r=0.680,P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONLSC exist in AML and the relative position are consistent with the leukemia cells in flow cytometry figures, the size characteristics and weak expression of CD45 are also similar to leukemia cells. The proportion of LSC decreases after chemotherapy. Detecting and tracking the LSC changes in bone marrow and combination with detecting minimal resident disease(MRD) may contribute to evaluate the theraputic efficacy and prognosis of leukemia patients.

Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Interleukin-3 Receptor alpha Subunit ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Neoplasm, Residual ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; Prognosis

Objectives: To explore the relationship between body fat indexes and hypertension levels by quantitative CT (QCT) study. Methods: A total of 1488 participants from "prospective urban-rural epidemiology (PURE) study" were enrolled. The participants' age were from 42 to 82 years; based on blood pressure (BP) they were divided into 2 groups: Non-hypertension group, n=783 and Hypertension group, n=705. QCT fat measurement software was used to examine L2 level abdominal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT); body mass index (BMI), waist circumferences (WC), hip circumferences (HC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were measured and calculated; liner Logistic regression analysis and 2-classified Logistic analysis were conducted to study the relationships between hypertension and anthropometric indices, abdominal VAT, SAT respectively. Results: Compared with Non-hypertension group, Hypertension group had increased BMI, WC, HC, WHtR, abdominal VAT and SAT, P<0.05. BMI, WC, HC, WHtR, abdominal VAT and SAT were related to both systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP), P<0.05. Multivariable Logistic regression analysis indicated that WHtR, abdominal VAT, SAT were the independent impact factors of SBP and WC, abdominal VAT were the independent impact factors of DBP; further investigation showed that abdominal VAT and WC were the independent impact factors of hypertension. Conclusions: Abdominal VAT was robustly related to hypertension in Chinese population, it might be helpful for risk stratification in hypertension patients.

Objective To establish virtual three-dimensional models of interventional devices and individualized surgical area structure in transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt(TIPS)treatment,and to explore the value of virtual models for preoperative simulation in TIPS treatment.Methods Thin slice scan data of 8 patients with supine upper abdomen were obtained,three dimensional structures of bone,liver,portal vein,inferior vena cava and hepatic vein in CT scan area were reconstructed in Mimics software.According to the size of interventional instruments,a virtual RUPS-100 puncture kit and an VIATORR stent were established in 3D MAX software. Computer simulations were performed to evaluate the route from the hepatic vein puncture portal vein using the RUPS-100 puncture kit and VIATORR stent release position.Results ①The establishment of individual three-dimensional model of patients was helpful for doctors to understand the spatial relation of hepatic vein and portal vein.②Through simulation,the puncture parameters of multi angle and multi position are obtained,which was helpful for the doctor to adjust the puncture direction according to the puncture point.③The position of the bare segment of the VIATORR stent in the portal vein was obtained by simulation,which was helpful for evaluating the length of the stent.④The preoperative simulation results included the simulation parameters for each patient puncture into left portal vein,right portal vein and portal vein bifurcation.In the actual operation,we punctured into the portal vein bifurcation in 4 cases,into the right branch in 2 cases and into the left in 2 cases.⑤Preoperative simulations were performed using 8 mm×6 cm×2 cm size VIATORR stent.Howere,the actual operation of the first case was lack of experience,and the stent position was lower,then we released a bare stent at the proximal end of the VIATORR stent.The rest of the cases were the same as the simulation results.Conclusion According to the three-dimensional model of the individual structure of the patient,the preoperative simulations have high fidelity.The simulation results of the parameters of the puncture and the release position of the stent could guide the actual operation more accurately.It is of practical value to improve the success rate of operation and to train residents.

This project is to investigate lignans from the dried fruits of Xanthium sibiricum (Xanthii Fructus). The chemical constituents were extract by 70% ethanol and isolated by silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20, MCI column chromatography. Based on comparison of their spectral data with those reported in literature, they were elucidated as (-)-pinoresinol (1), balanophonin A (2), diospyrosin (3), dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (4), 2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-3-(2-hydroxy-5-methoxyphenyl)-3-oxo-1-propanol (5), (-)-simulanol (6), (-)-7R,8S-dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (7), chushizisin E (8), dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (9), 7R,8S-dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol 4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (10), erythro-1,2-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,3-propanediol (11), leptolepisol D (12), 8-O-4' neolignan 4-O-β-glucopyranoside (13), (-)-1-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-2-{2-methoxy-4-[1-(E)-propen-3-ol]phenoxyl}-propane-3-ol(14), 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy)-phenyl-2-[4-(1,2,3-trihydroxypropyl)-2-methoxy]-phenoxy-1,3-propandiol (15), threo-dihydroxy dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (16), (-)-(2R)-1-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-2-{2-methoxy-4-[(E)-formylviny1]phenoxyl} propane-3-ol (17). Compound 2-17 were isolated from the genus Xanthium for the first time. Compound 1 were isolated form Xanthii Fructus for the first time.

BACKGROUNDAtherosclerosis (AS) is an inflammatory disease. Inflammation was considered to play a role in the whole process of AS. This study aimed to analyze the relationships of inflammatory factors and risk factors with different target organ damages (TOD) in essential hypertension (EH) patients and to explore its clinical significance.

METHODSA total of 294 EH patients were selected and divided into four groups according to their conditions of TOD. Forty-eight healthy subjects were selected as control. The clinical biochemical parameters, serum amyloid A, serum tryptase, and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) in each group were detected, and the related risk factors were also statistically analyzed.

RESULTSFibrinogen (Fbg) was the most significant independent risk factor in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) group (odds ratio [OR]: 22.242, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.458-76.609, P< 0.001) with the largest absolute value of the standardized partial regression coefficient B' (b': 1.079). Lp-PLA2 was the most significant independent risk factor in stroke group (OR: 13.699, 95% CI: 5.236-35.837, P< 0.001) with b' = 0.708. Uric acid (UA) was the most significant independent risk factor in renal damage group (OR: 15.307, 95% CI: 4.022-58.250, P< 0.001) with b' = 1.026.

CONCLUSIONSFbg, Lp-PLA2, and UA are the strongest independent risk factors toward the occurrence of ACS, ischemic stroke, and renal damage in EH patients, thus exhibiting the greatest impacts on the occurrence of ACS, ischemic stroke, and renal damage in EH patients, respectively.

1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase ; Aged ; Antihypertensive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Essential Hypertension ; blood ; complications ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; blood ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; blood ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Risk Factors ; Serum Amyloid A Protein ; metabolism ; Stroke ; blood ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Tryptases ; blood

Tianma(the tuber of Gastrodia eleta) is a widely used and pricy Chinese herb. Its counterfeits are often found in herbal markets, which are the plant materials with similar macroscopic characteristics of Tianma. Moreover, the prices of Winter Tianma(cultivated Tianma) and Spring Tianma(mostly wild Tianma) have significant difference. However, it is difficult to identify the true or false, good or bad quality of Tianma samples. Thus, a total of 48 Tianma samples with different characteristics(including Winter Tianma, Spring Tianma, slice, powder, etc.) and 9 plant species 10 samples of Tianma counterfeits were collected and analyzed by HPLC-DAD-MS techniques. After optimizing the procedure of sample preparation, chromatographic and mass-spectral conditions, the HPLC chromatograms of all those samples were collected and compared. The similarities and Fisher discriminant analysis were further conducted between the HPLC chromatograms of Tianma and counterfeit, Winter Tianma and Spring Tianma. The results showed the HPLC chromatograms of 48 Tianma samples were similar at the correlation coefficient more than 0.848(n=48). Their mean chromatogram was simulated and used as Tianma HPLC fingerprint. There were 11 common peaks on the HPLC chromatograms of Tianma, in which 6 main peaks were chosen as characteristic peaks and identified as gastrodin, p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, parishin A, parishin B, parishin C, parishin E, respectively by comparison of the retention time, UV and MS data with those of standard chemical compounds. All the six chemical compounds are bioactive in Tianma. However, the HPLC chromatograms of the 10 counterfeit samples were significantly different from Tianma fingerprint. The correlation coefficients between HPLC fingerprints of Tianma with the HPLC chromatograms of counterfeits were less than 0.042 and the characteristic peaks were not observed on the HPLC chromatograms of these counterfeit samples. It indicated the true or false Tianma can be identified by either the similarity or characteristic peaks on HPLC fingerprint. Comparing the Winter Tianma with Spring Tianma showed that the HPLC chromatograms of 15 winter Tianma samples and 11 spring Tianma samples were similar at the mean correlation coefficient of 0.908. But the intensity of the characteristic peaks were different between the two groups of Tianma samples, i.e. the intensity of gastrodin, paishin A and C in winter Tianma was lower than those in spring Tianma. The Winter Tianma and Spring Tianma could be discriminated by either the Fisher unstandardized discrimination function or Linear discriminant function, based on the peak areas of 11 common peaks on HPLC chromatograms as variate.

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical characteristic, therapeutic efficacy and prognosis of patients with hepatitis-associated aplasitc anemia (HAAA).

METHODSthe clinical data and labrotatory examination results of 30 cases of HAAA were analyzed retrospectively, the 6-month response ratio and overall survival (OS) were assessed.

RESULTSHAAA most commonly occured in males, with the occurence rate of males and females was 4:1, the median onset age was 16 (4-43) years old, HAAA oriented focus on sever aplastic anemia (SAA)(4 cases,13%) and very sever aplastic anemia (VSAA)(22 cases,73%). Aplastic anemia (AA) could be seen on occurence of hepatitis (accompanied aplastic anemia) (7 cases,23%), or after the onset of hepatits (delayed aplastic anemia) (23 cases,77%), but more often occured in the latter. Statistical analysis showed that when compared with the patients of delayed aplastic anemia, patients accompanied aplastic anemia possesses lower levels of glutamic-pyruvic transaminase(ALT), aspertate aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBIL)(P=0.042,0.012,0.001), and possessed a more obvious lymphoid cell disorder when AA occured, with more lower peripheral blood CD19B cells proportion (P=0.046) and more obvious imbalance of CD4/CD8ratio, but the difference was no statistical significant (P=0538). Factors affecting the 6-month respose were the severity of AA (P=0.044), the peak level of bilirubin of hepatitis (P=0.006) and the propotion of mature monocyte in bone marrow (P=0.034). The long-term follow-up showed that the 2-year OS of HAAA was 64.3±9.2%, the 6-month curative efficacy significantly affect the prognosis (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONHAAA more often occur in young male, HAAA is mainly SAA and VSAA and mostly non-A-C hepatitis associated aplastic anemia, patients usually have a high incidence of early infection. Patients acompanied with aplastic anemia possess more obvious immunological derangement; the treatment efficacy for HAAA is poor, patients who haven't obtained 6-month response indicate a sinister prognosis, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantion is a better choice for these patients.

Objective·To investigate the effectiveness of nerve transfer in repairing defecation function after spinal cord injury by the pseudorabies virus (PRV) retrograde tracing. Methods·The spinal cords were transected between L6 and S1 nerve root in 20 rats. The nerve transferring surgery was then conducted in 10 rats (Group B) and the remaining rats were control (Group A). After six months, all rats were injected with 6 μL PRV, sacrificed after 3 d and perfused with paraformaldehyde. Spinal cords were then harvested and frozen sections were prepared for observation. Results·There was no detectable infection of PRV proximal to the injury level in Group A, while infected neurons proximal to the injury level were widely observed in Group B.Conclusion·Nerve transfer has potent effect on defecation reconstruction after spinal cord injury in rats. PRV retrograde tracing can prove the existence of new neuron pathway.

Objective To investigate the impact of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on miR-22 expression in human hepato-cellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines and to elucidate the molecular mechanism of 5-fluorouracil for HCC chemo-therapy. Methods Real-time PCR analysis was conducted to determine the expression levels of miR-22 in HCC tissue specimens and HCC cell lines. The expression of miR-22 and pri-miR-22 (primary miR-22) was evaluated in HepG2 and Huh7 cells with 5-FU treatment by using real-time PCR and we also performed Western blot analysis to detect the protein level of HDAC4 in HCC cells with the same treatment. A rescue assay was employed by using 5-FU treatment in combination with miR-22 inhibitor(Anti-22) to further investigate the correlation among 5-FU, miR-22,and HCC cell growth. Results miR-22 expression depicted a significant downregulation in HCC tissues and cell lines (P<0.01). 5-FU treatment led to an augment of miR-22 expression in HepG2 and Huh7 cells(P<0.001) and resulted in a decrease of HDAC4 protein levels, which was verified as a direct target of miR-22 in HCC cells (P<0.01). Conclusions 5-FU has suppressive effect on HCC growth which could be potentially ex-plained by miR-22-mediated HDAC4 axis.

Objective To investigate the impact of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on miR-22 expression in human hepato-cellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines and to elucidate the molecular mechanism of 5-fluorouracil for HCC chemo-therapy. Methods Real-time PCR analysis was conducted to determine the expression levels of miR-22 in HCC tissue specimens and HCC cell lines. The expression of miR-22 and pri-miR-22 (primary miR-22) was evaluated in HepG2 and Huh7 cells with 5-FU treatment by using real-time PCR and we also performed Western blot analysis to detect the protein level of HDAC4 in HCC cells with the same treatment. A rescue assay was employed by using 5-FU treatment in combination with miR-22 inhibitor(Anti-22) to further investigate the correlation among 5-FU, miR-22,and HCC cell growth. Results miR-22 expression depicted a significant downregulation in HCC tissues and cell lines (P<0.01). 5-FU treatment led to an augment of miR-22 expression in HepG2 and Huh7 cells(P<0.001) and resulted in a decrease of HDAC4 protein levels, which was verified as a direct target of miR-22 in HCC cells (P<0.01). Conclusions 5-FU has suppressive effect on HCC growth which could be potentially ex-plained by miR-22-mediated HDAC4 axis.