Objective To explore the value of virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ ) in the diagnosis of pancreas early damage of patients with hyperuricemia(HUA) .Methods Sixty‐five cases of patients with normal glucose tolerance and HUA (HUA group) and 42 cases of patients with HUA and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT group) were included in the study ,and other 150 health subjects were taken as control group .After routine ultrasound examination ,the pancreas shear wave velocity values (Vs) of different groups were measured by VTQ technology ,and the results were analyzed .Results Compared with the control group ,the rate of the abnormai ultrasonogram of pancreas in IGT group showed obvious increasing trend but there was no significantly difference between the other groups(both P >0 0.5) .The Vs of the normal control group ,HUA group ,and IGT group were (1 2.1 ± 0 1.5)m/s ,(1 4.1 ± 0 1.3)m/s and (1 5.9 ± 0 1.5)m/s ,respectively .The Vs of HUA group and IGT group were higher than that of the control group (both P <0 0.5) ,and the Vs of IGT group was significantly higher than that of HUA group ( P <0 0.5) .Conclusions Hyperuricemia may cause pancreas damage ,and with the disease progress ,the pancreas damage became more serious ,and VTQ technology may play an important role on the diagnosis of pancreas early damage in HUA patients .

Objective To investigate the clinical value of echo-tracking(ET) technique in evaluating the carotid elasticity in patients with hyperuricemia and hyperuricemia combined with hyperlipidemia.Methods One hundred and twenty patients with hyperuricemia were divided into two group:group of hyperuricemia (group A) and group of hyperuricemia combined with hyperlipidemia (group B).Sixty normal persons were served as the control group.ET was used to measure the carotid artery elastic modulus including stiffness parameters (β),pressure-strain elastic modulus (Ep),arterial compliance (AC),augmentation index (AI) and pulse wave conducting velocity (PWVβ).Then the statistical data were analyzed to observe the changes of each parameter.Results In the comparison of three groups,elastic function index β,Ep,PWVβ and AI in group A and group B were higher than those of control group (P ＜0.05) ;however,AC was lower than that of control group (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with group A,elastic function index β,Ep,PWVβ,AI was higher in group B,while the AC was lower than that of group B (P ＜0.05).Conclusions ET may be helpful to prevent atherosclerotic changes and to provide the basis for the clinical diagonosis and treatment atherosclerotic changes.

In this study,the current status for breast diseases in a region with high-incidence of cervical cancer were epidemiologically investigated.From March to August,2009,17618 women,from Wufeng area of Hubei province,China,were recruited to screen breast diseases by using breast infrared diagnostic apparatus.Other diagnostic methods,such as B-mode ultrasound,X-ray mammography,needle biopsy and pathological examination were,if necessary,used to further confirm the diagnosis.The screening showed that 5990 of 17618 cases (34.00％) had breast diseases,5843 (33.16％) had mammary gland hyperplasia,48 (0.27％) had breast fibroadenoma,ll (0.06％) had breast carcinoma,and 88 (0.50％) had other breast diseases.The peak morbidity of breast cancer was found in the women aged 50-0 ages.The morbidity of breast cancer was significantly increased in women elder than or equal to 50 years old (n=8,0.157％) in comparison with that in the subjects younger than 50 years old (n=3,0.024％) (u=2.327,P＜0.05).It was shown that the occurrence of breast diseases was concentrated in women aged 20-40 years,while the total morbidity reached its peak at the age of 30 years and then decreased sharply after age of 40.Compared with the patients elder than or equal to 40 years old (n=3289,27.46％),the morbidity rate of breast diseases was significantly increased in women less than 40 years old (2648 cases,47.18％; P＜0.001).However,there was no significant difference in the morbidity of breast diseases between the age group of 20-29 years and that of 30-39 years (P=0.453),and both of them were high.There was no significant association between the morbidity of breast diseases and cervical cancer.Since the morbidity of breast diseases was higher among young women,more attention should be paid to the screening of breast diseases among young women for early diagnosis.

Background and purpose:Previous studies have shown that Bubl was a critical component of the spindle checkpoint.Paclitaxel sensitivity was considered to be dependent on the functionality of this spindle checkpoint.This study investigated the effects of pEGFP-Bubl-shRNA plasmid stably transfected into the cell cycle and its sensitivity in human ovarian cancer cell line A2780.Methods:After the pEGFP-Bubl-shRNA plasmid and empty plasmids were constructed.they were transfected into A2780 cells by the Lipofectamine 2000~(TM).The nontransfected cells were the control.RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to determine the target gene and protein expression.The rate of proliferation inhibition was tested by an MTT assay,apoptosis and cell cycles were determined by flow cytometry,and the mitotic index was determined bv Hoechst33342 dye.Results:RT-PCR and Western blotting showed that pEGFP-Bubl-shRNA/A2780 group displayed a low expression of Bubl compared to the A2780 and pEGFP-Cl/A2780 group(P＜0.05).The sensitivity of the pEGFP-Bubl-shRNA/A2780 group was significantly lower than the non-transfccted and pEGFP-Cl/A2780 cells(P＜0.05).Flow cytometry revealed that the rates of G2/M phase and apoptosis were significantly lower in the pEGFP-Bubl-shRNA/A2780 group than those in the control group (P＜0.05).Conclusion:Bubl plays an important role in the paclitaxel treatment.A down-regulation of Bubl could reduce the drug sensitivity and rate of G_2/M cells in human ovarian cancer cell line A2780.

Recent evidence has suggested that Akt2 plays an important role in the protection of cells from paclitaxel (PTX)-induced apoptosis and control of the cell cycle. In addition, some scholars suggested that the PTX sensitivity depends on a functional spindle assembly checkpoint. In the present study, we investigated the role of the Akt2/Bub1 cross-talking in apoptosis and cell cycle after exposure of the A2780 ovarian cancer cells to paclitaxel (PTX). Recombinant expression plasmid WT-Akt2 was transfected into A2780 cells by lipofectamine2000, and then the expression level of Akt2 gene was detected by using RT-PCR and Western blotting. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were detected by flow cytometry and Hoechst 33342 staining after treatment with PTX. Moreover, we compared the expression level of Bub1 in different groups by Western blotting. Our study showed that up-regulation of Akt2 contributed to A2780 ovarian cancer cells overriding PTX-induced G(2)/M arrest, and inhibited Bub1 expression. Our findings might shed light on the molecular mechanism of PTX-induced resistance in ovarian cancer and help develop novel anti-neoplastic strategies.

The purpose of this study was to pool information in epithelial ovarian cancer by combining studies using Affymetrix expression microarray datasets made at different laboratories to identify novel biomarkers. Epithelial microarray expression information across laboratories was screened and combined after preprocessing raw microarray data, then ANOVA and unpaired T test statistical analysis was performed for identifying differentially expressed genes (DEGs), followed by clustering and pathway analysis for these DEGs. In this work, we performed a combination analysis on microarrays from three different laboratories using gene expression data on ovarian cancer and obtained a list of differential expression profiles identified as potential candidate in aggressiveness of ovarian cancer. The clustering and pathway analysis explored the different molecular basis of different ovarian cancer stages and potential important regulatory pathways in ovarian cancer development. Our results showed that combination of microarray data from different laboratories in the same platforms may overcome biases derived from probe design and technical features, thereby accelerating the identification of trustworthy DEGs, and demonstrating the advantage of integrative analysis in gene expression studies on epithelial ovarian cancer research.

In this article, the status of spindle assembly checkpoint and the alteration of its major component, Mad2 protein level were examined in A2780 and SKOV3 ovarian cancer cell lines. Recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmid pEGFP-Mad2 was transfected into paclitaxel-resistant SKOV3 cells and Mad2 protein was knocked down by Mad2-specific siRNA in paclitaxel-sensitive A2780 cells. Then the expression level of Mad2 gene was detected by Western blotting. Flow cytometry revealed that SKOV3 cells were not fully arrested in G(2)/M phase in contrast to A2780 cells in the presence of paclitaxel. However, paclitaxel sensitivity assay showed that sensitivity to paclitaxel was reversed after the transfection in both cell lines in terms of number of cells arrested at G(2)/M phase and the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly changed. These results suggest that weakened spindle checkpoint with reduced expression of Mad2 is associated with resistance to paclitaxel in ovarian cells and Bcl-2 may be involved in this process.

Recent evidence has suggested that Akt2 plays an important role in the protection of cells from paclitaxel(PTX)-induced apoptosis and control of the cell cycle.In addition,some scholars suggested that the PTX sensitivity depends on a functional spindle assembly checkpoint.In the present study,we investigated the role of the Akt2/Bub1 cross-talking in apoptosis and cell cycle after exposure of the A2780 ovarian cancer cells to paclitaxel(PTX).Recombinant expression plasmid WT-Akt2 was transfected into A2780 cells by lipofectamine2000,and then the expression level of Akt2 gene was detected by using RT-PCR and Western blotting.Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were detected by flow cytometry and Hoechst 33342 staining after treatment with PTX.Moreover,we compared the expression level of Bubl in different groups by Western blotting.Our study showed that up-regulation of Akt2 contributed to A2780 ovarian cancer cells overriding PTX-induced G2/M arrest,and inhibited Bub1 expression.Our findings might shed light on the molecular mechanism of PTX-induced resistance in ovarian cancer and help develop novel anti-neoplastic strategies.

The purpose of this study was to pool information in epithelial ovarian cancer by combining studies using Affymetrix expression microarray datasets made at different laboratories to identify novel biomarkers.Epithelial microarray expression information across laboratories was screened and combinedafter preprocessing raw microarray data,then ANOVA and unpaired T test statistical analysis was performed for identifying differentially expressed genes(DEGs),followed by clustering and pathway analysis for these DEGs.In this work,we performed a combination analysis on microarrays from three different laboratories using gene expression data on ovarian cancer and obtained a list of differential expression profiles identified as potential candidate in aggressiveness of ovarian cancer.The clustering and pathway analysis explored the different molecular basis of different ovarian cancer stages and potential important regulatory pathways in ovarian cancer development.Our results showed that combination of microarray data from different laboratories in the same platforms may overcome biases derived from probe design and technical features,thereby accelerating the identification of trustworthy DEGs,and demonstrating the advantage of integrative analysis in gene expression studies on epithelial ovarian cancer research.

In this article, the status of spindle assembly checkpoint and the alteration of its major component, Mad2 protein level were examined in A2780 and SKOV3 ovarian cancer cell lines. Recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmid pEGFP-Mad2 was transfected into paclitaxel-resistant SKOV3 cells and Mad2 protein was knocked down by Mad2-specific siRNA in paclitaxel-sensitive A2780 cells. Then the expression level of Mad2 gene was detected by Western blotting. Flow cytometry revealed that SKOV3 cells were not fully arrested in G2/M phase in contrast to A2780 cells in the presence of paclitaxel. However, paclitaxel sensitivity assay showed that sensitivity to paclitaxel was reversed after the transfection in both cell lines in terms of number of cells arrested at G2/M phase and the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly changed. These results suggest that weakened spindle checkpoint with reduced expression of Mad2 is associated with resistance to paclitaxel in ovarian cells and Bcl-2 may be involved in this process.