Objective:To enhance comprehension of undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver(UESL)in children by analyzing ultra-sound,CT,and MRI imaging features.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on 11 cases of UESL in children,confirmed through surgery and pathology,at the Children's Hospital,Affiliated Capital Institute of Pediatrics from December 2009 to December 2021.We ana-lyzed the ultrasound,CT,and MRI imaging features of all patients and summarized their characteristics.Results:All 11 cases presented with solitary hepatic masses ranging from 11.5 to 19.8 cm in diameter.Imaging manifestations of UESL correlated with component proportion and distribution within the masses.Lesions displayed clear boundaries in all cases.CT scans revealed mixed low density in 11 cases,with ir-regular floc soft tissue density shadows observed at the edge of cystic density areas or around partitions in a few cases.Ultrasound images of all six cases showed solid space-occupying masses,with varying sizes of anechoic regions within the solid mass.MRI T1WI showed mixed low intensity signal in three cases and strip/large high intensity signal areas in the lesion.T2WI revealed mixed high intensity signal and strip low intensity signal areas in 3 lesions.In the arterial phase,lesions displayed slightly to moderately heterogeneous strip/patch enhancement,primarily marginal enhancement in nine cases and thickened,tortuous arterial shadows in eight cases.In the delayed phase,lesions showed continuous uneven enhancement,with enhancement at the edge and peripheral-to-central filling observed in eight cases.Additionally,the enhancement range continuously increased in eight cases,with the false capsule sign identified in eight cases in the delayed stage.Conclu-sions:Imaging features of UESL in children exhibit distinct characteristics.Understanding these features,in conjunction with clinical findings,may aid in early diagnosis.

Objective:To construct the rat models of orthotopic bladder cancer induced by N-methyl-nitrosourea (MNU),and to evaluate the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)in the noninvasive diagnosis of the bladder cancer model.Methods:Sixty femail SD rats were divided into experiment group (n=45)and control group (n=15).The rats experiment group were induced with MNU (2 mg per rat)by intravesical administration every other week,for 4 times.Meantime,the rats in control group were treated with normal saline (0.2 mL per rat)by intravesical administration.At the end of the 14th week,all rats were examined by MRI and the pathological changes of bladder tissue were detected.Results:In experiment group,43 rats were alived and 2 rats were died at the end of the 14th week;the survial rate was 95.6% and the death rate was 4.4%;the abnormal signals were found in each of 43 rats by MRI which manifested as bladder tumor, and the same results were identified by pathology;the tumor formation rate was 100%.In control group,14 rats were alived and 1 rat was died at the end of the 14th week;the survival rate was 93.3%,and the death rate was 6.7%;there was no abnormal signal in the MRI examination and no bladder cancer in the pathological examination;the tumor formation rate was 0.The tumor formation rates of bladder cancer of the rats in two groups had significant difference (P <0.05),and the death rate had no significant difference (P >0.05).Conclusion:The method to establish the rat models of orthotopic bladder cancer induced by MNU is simple and reliable;the results of MRI are consistent with the pathological results and MRI examination is a reliable diagnostic method concerning this model.

A total of 60 patients with an acute attack of asthma were studied.On presentation,fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and the serum concentrations of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured.And sputum culture was also performed.The patients were re-evaluated while returning to their clinical remission states.They were classified into 2 groups:patients with bacterial infection (group A) and those with nonbacterial infection (group B).The levels of FeNO were significantly higher in patients with acute exacerbation than those in remission.No difference existed between groups A and B ( P ＞ 0.05 ).The levels of PCT and CRP of group A with acute exacerbation were significantly higher than those of group B( all P ＜0.05).While in remission,the levels of PCT and CRP decreased significantly in group A ( P ＜ 0.05 ) ; But compared with exacerbation,the levels of PCT and CRP showed no change in group B (P ＞0.05).And no differences existed between two groups while in remission (P ＞ 0.05 ).An elevation of FeNO indicates the acute exacerbation of asthma.And the increased serum levels of PCT and CRP are associated with bacterial infection.

Objective To investigate the change of immunologic function of red blood cell (RBC) in patients with chronic gastritis. Methods The immunologic function of RBC in 88 cases of chronic gastritis was dynamically detected with yeast rosette method. Results The results showed that RBC-C3b receptor rosette (RBC-C3b-RR) rate and RBC immune adherence enhance factor (RFER) rate were significantly lower (P＜0.05) and RBC immune complex rosette (RBC-ICR) rate and RBC immune adherence inhibitor factor (RFIR) were significantly higher (P＜0.05) in the patients with atrophic gastritis than those in control group. In the patients with superficial gastritis, the difference had no distinct significance (P＞0.05). Conclusion The immunologic function of red blood cell (RBC)measurement plays an important role in differential diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of chronic gastritis.

This study explored the role of apoptosis of alveolar wall cells of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with pulmonary emphysema in the pathogenesis of emphysema. The subjects were divided into three groups: COPD patients with pulmonary emphysema (COPD group), asymptomatic smokers and non-smokers. Lung tissues were harvested and histologically assessed. TUNEL assay was employed to determine the apoptotic cells. The expression of PCNA, Bax and SP-C in the lung alveolar wall cells were immunohistochemically determined. SP-C immunofluorescence staining was used to identify type II alveolar cells in the TUNEL-positive cells. The mean linear interval (MLI), mean alveoli number (MAN) and mean alveoli area (MAA) in COPD group were significantly different as compared with those in asymptomatic smokers and non-smokers, respectively (P<0.01). The proliferation index (PI), apoptosis index (AI) and the percentage of Bax-positive cells in COPD group were significantly greater than those of asymptomatic smokers and non-smokers (P<0.01). However, the percentage of SP-C-positive cells was significantly lower in COPD group than in asymptomatic smokers and non-smokers (P<0.01). Most of the TUNEL-positive cells expressed SP-C. In COPD group, the apoptosis of alveolar wall cells, especially apoptosis of type-II cells, may take part in the pathogenesis of emphysema. Up-regulation of Bax expression may be responsible for the apoptosis of alveolar wall cells in the COPD patients with pulmonary emphysema.

s of alveolar wall cells, espe-cially apoptosis of type-Ⅱ cells, may take part in the pathogenesis of emphysema. Up-regulation of Bax expression may be responsible for the apoptosis of alveolar wall cells in the COPD patients with pulmonary emphysema.

BACKGROUND: Promoting immunological function of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can control development of COPD.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of bufei yishen granule on pulmonary ventilation function and immunological function of COPD patients and compare with placebo.DESIGN: A randomized grouping comparison and placebo controlled study.SETTING: Respiration Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan Traditional Chinese Medical.PARTICIPANTS: A total of 62 COPD patients selected from Department of Respiration of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 1999 to October 2004,were randomly divided into two groups :Observation group and control group with 31 in each group.METHODS: Patients in observation group were treated with bufei yishen granule consisting of ginseng, mongolian milkvetch root, largehead atractylodes rhizome, divaricate saposhnikovia root, dwarf lilyturf tuber, Chinese magnoliavine fruit, malytea scurfpea fruit, medicinal evodia fruit, Chinese cster pillar fungus, Chinese eaglewood wood, scorpion, almond, thunberg fritillary bulb, szechwan lovge rhizome, etc., produced by Pharmaceutic Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Each granule of 1 g contained an equivalent of 5.78 g raw drugs. Three times a day with 10 g for each; and patients in control group were treated with placebo consisting of hawthorn fruit and malt. The dosage and medication were the same as those in observation group. Both therapies were respectively administered in a treatment course of two months. Before and after the therapy course,the followed indexes were measured.① Assay of immunological function: The levels of IgG, IgA and IgM from blood serum were detected with simple agar diffusion.② Assay of Ag level in nucleolus organizer region (Ag-NORs): The ratios non-histone staining acidity non-histone vs core area (IS%) was calculated by staining the activating lymphocytes of the blood by silver staining technique with microscope image analysis technique. ③ Assay of pulmonary function: The pulmonary function was measured by Sensor Medics Ros System in all of the people with the levels of forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1.0), mean maximu expiratory flow (MMEF), peak expiratory flow (PEF), once after and before treatment. The examination was repeated three times in order to obtain the peak number. The difference of the three examinations was within ±5%.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparison of T lympholeukocyte subpopulation and pulmonary ventilation function in the patients before and after 1 course.RFSULTS: Data of totally 62 patients was entered the final analysis without any loss.① Comparison of pulmonary ventilation function of patients in the two groups before and after 1 course: FEV1.0, MMEF, PEF,and ratio of FEV1.0 and forced vital capacity (FEV1%) in observation group were significant higher than those before treatment (t=2.12-3.41,P ＜ 0.05-0.01), thoseindexes in observation group were higher than those in control group (t=2.54-3.17, P ＜ 0.05-0.01). ② Changes of T lymphocyte subgroups of patients in the two groups before and after 1 course:The levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ in observation group after 1 course were high.er than those before treatment (t=2.71-13.20, P ＜ 0.01), but the level of CD8+ was decreased as compared with that before treatment (t =8.63, P ＜ 0.01). The levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ in observation group were higher than those in control group (t=2.85-11.84, P ＜ 0.01), but the level of CD8+ was decreased as compared with that in control group (t =5.83, P ＜ 0.01).CONCLUSION: The bufei yishen granule can obviously improve the pulmonary ventilation function and immunological function of COPD patients,and its intervention is superior to that of placebo.

70%). Based on the degree of coarctation, they are divided into two groups, one is mild grade (the circumference of isthmus is 0.5～0.8 cm, the ratio of ascending aorta and the aortic isthmus is 30%～ 45%), another is severe grade (the circumference is less than 0.5 cm, the ratio

OBJECTIVETo assess the level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) messenger RNA (mRNA) in peripheral blood of nude mice, and to study its relationship with tumor recurrence and metastasis after curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODSThe metastatic model of human HCC in nude mice LCI-D20 was used in this study. Curative resection was performed at 10th day after tumor implantation in 28 nude mice. Interferon alpha-1b (IFN alpha-1b) was administered subcutaneously from the next day after resection, at doses of 3 10(7)U/kg/d (8 nude mice), 1.5 10(7) U/kg/d (8 nude mice) respectively in the treatment groups, and normal saline alone in the controlled group (12 nude mice). Thirty-five days after treatment, one milliliter of peripheral blood was taken and AFP mRNA was quantitatively analyzed using TaqMan real-time quantitative RT-PCR. The mice were sacrificed. The size of recurrent tumor was measured and the presence of lung metastases was observed.

RESULTSThe liver recurrent rate, lung metastatic rate and positivity of AFP mRNA in the controlled group were all 100% (12/12), whereas it was 62.5% (5/8), 0% (0/8), 87.5% (7/8) respectively in the IFN alpha-1b 1.5 10(7)U/kg/d treated group. The recurrent tumor in liver of the IFN alpha-1b 1.5 10(7)U/kg/d treated group was much smaller than that of the controlled group (25 mm(3) 2 mm(3) vs 1143 mm(3) 3 mm(3), t =9.27, P<0.01), and the level of AFP mRNA was also lower than that of the controlled group [(85 6)copies/mug vs (955 2) copies/mug, t =4.33, P<0.01]. In the IFN alpha-1b 3 10(7)U/kg/d treated group, there was only one recurrent tumor (0.5 mm(3)), no lung metastasis, and the positivity of AFP mRNA was 0% (?(2)=11.67, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThese results suggest that the level of AFP mRNA in peripheral blood may indicate recurrence and/or metastasis after curative resection of HCC. TaqMan real time quantitative RT-PCR is a very sensitive and convenient method for detecting circulating cancer cells.

Animals ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; analysis ; genetics ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; secondary ; surgery ; Disease Models, Animal ; Liver Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Recurrence ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; analysis ; genetics

Objective Study changes and clinical significance of collagen and cytokine during COPD episode and remission in order to guide clinical treatment. Methods From Mar.2002 to Nov.2004,the COPD patients of episode and remission period were compared with the healthy elderly people.The collagen and cytokine of the serum from the COPD patients and healthy elderly people were detected by applying ABC-ELISA and radio-immunity means. Results The level of serum C_Ⅰ、C_Ⅲ、C_Ⅳ increased obviously in the COPD patients during COPD episode and remission episode compared with that in the healthy elderly people( P