Efficiency of dual-energy computed tomography enterography in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND: This retrospective study aimed to investigate the usefulness of the optimized kiloelectron volt (keV) for virtual monoenergetic imaging (VMI) combined with iodine map in dual-energy computed tomography enterography (DECTE) in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD). METHODS: Seventy-two patients (mean age: 41.89 ± 17.28 years) with negative computed tomography enterography (CTE) were enrolled for investigating the optimized VMI keV in DECTE by comparing subjective and objective parameters of VMIs that were reconstructed from 40 to 90 keV. Moreover, 68 patients (38.27 ± 15.10 years; 35 normal and 33 CD) were included for evaluating the diagnostic efficacy of DECTE iodine map at the optimized VMI energy level and routine CTE for CD and active CD. Statistical analysis for all data was conducted. RESULTS: Objective and subjective imaging evaluations showed the best results at 60 keV for VMIs. The CT values of the normal group, active subgroup, and CD group during the small intestinal phase at routine 120 kVp or 60 keV VMI had significant differences. The diagnostic efficacy of an iodine map was the best when NIC = 4% or fat value = 45.8% for CD, whereas NIC < 0.35 or the fat value < 0.38 for active CD. The combined routine CTE and optimized VMI improved the diagnostic efficacy (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: VMI at 60 keV provided the best imaging quality on DECTE. NIC and fat value provided important basis for active CD evaluation. Routine CTE combined with VMI at 60 keV improved the diagnostic efficiency for CD.

Dysregulated Response of Follicular Helper T Cells to Hepatitis B Surface Antigen Promotes HBV Persistence in Mice and Associates With Outcomes of Patients.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Production of neutralizing antibodies against hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is dysregulated in patients with persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. We investigated mechanisms by which this immune response to the virus is disrupted and whether it can be restored to promote clearance of HBV. METHODS: Immune-competent C57BL/6N and C57BL/6J, as well as mice deficient in follicular helper T cells (Tfh-cell-deficient), B cells, or Foxp3+ T-regulatory cells (Treg cell deficient), were given hydrodynamic injections of pAAV/HBV1.2 plasmids. Some mice were given injections of sorted Tfh cells, pan-B cells, Treg cells, or a blocking antibody against CTLA4. Production of antibodies against HBsAg and clearance of HBV were assessed by flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, polymerase chain reaction, and immunohistochemical analyses. We obtained blood samples from patients with HBV infection and isolated Treg cells. We measured the ability of Treg cells to suppress production of interleukin 21 (IL21) in CD4+ T cells. RESULTS: Immune-competent C57BL/6N and C57BL/6J mice transfected with the plasmid encoding HBV had features of viral clearance and viral persistence observed in humans. A Tfh-cell response to HBsAg was required for clearance of HBV and was suppressed by Treg cells in mice with persistent HBV infection. Depletion of Treg cells or inhibition of Treg-cell function (with blocking antibody against CTLA4) restored the Tfh-cell response against HBsAg and clearance of HBV in mice. Impaired Tfh-cell response to HBsAg was observed in blood from patients with chronic HBV infection, responsiveness was restored by depletion of Treg cells or blocking antibody against CTLA4. CONCLUSIONS: In studies of HBV-infected mice and blood from patients with chronic HBV infection, we found a Tfh-cell response to HBsAg of to be required for HBV clearance, and that this response was blocked by Treg cells. Inhibiting Treg-cell activity using neutralizing antibody against CTLA4 restored the ability of Tfh cells to clear HBV infection; this approach might be developed for treatment of patients with chronic HBV infection.

Histone acetyltransferase 1 up regulates Bcl2L12 expression in nasopharyngeal cancer cells.

The deregulation of Bcl2L12 expression in cancer has been recognized, but the causative factors are unknown. Histone acetyltransferases (HAT) play critical roles in the regulation gene transcription. This study tests a hypothesis that the aberrant activities of HAT induce deregulation of Bcl2L12 in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). In this study, human NPC tissues were collected from the clinic. The expression of Bcl2L12 and HATs in NPC cells was analyzed by real time RT-PCR and Western blotting. NPC cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry. The results showed that by screening the subtypes of HAT, the levels of HAT1 were uniquely higher in NPC as compared with non-cancer nasopharyngeal tissue. The levels of Bcl2L12 in NPC cells were positively correlated with HAT1. HAT1 involved in the STAT5 binding to the Bcl2L12 promoter. HAT1 increased the expression of Bcl2L12. Bcl2L12 mediated the effects of HAT1 on suppressing NPC cell apoptosis. Absorption of the HAT1 shRNA plasmid-carrying liposomes induced NPC cell apoptosis. In conclusion, inhibition of HAT1 can induce NPC cell apoptosis via increasing Bcl2L12 expression, which can be a potential therapy for NPC treatment.

Rational use of antibacterials and drug sensitivity analysis in the repair of large lip defect with skin flap.

In this study the wound status of skin flap repair patients were closely observed, there were sign of infection. The secretion were taken for bacterial culture and sensitivity analysis and given sensitive antibiotics to active treatment. Patients received intravenous antibiotics 30 minutes before surgery to prevent infection. If postoperative infection occurred, according to susceptibility test results, patients were given sensitive antibiotics. Drug sensitivity analysis showed that 85.71% of gram-negative bacteria were sensitive to cefoperazone/shubatan and imipenem and 72.72% of gram-negative bacteria were sensitive to cefoperazone/tazobactam, so these 3 antibiotics were the first choice for treatment. And gram-positive bacteria were sensitive to teicoplanin and vancomycin. Therefore, scientific and rational use of antibiotics has great significance to effectively prevent postoperative infection and reduce the production of drugresistant bacteria. At the same time, L-extension deltopectoral flap was used to reconstruct a full-thickness labiomental defect concurrent infection. All the surgeries were successful without any necrosis. There are many kinds of pathogens for skin flap infection, and their sensitivity to antibiotics is not the same. Therefore, it is suggested that combination therapy should be carried out at the early stage, so as to ensure a good antibacterial effect.

Bilobed platysma myocutaneous flap in reconstruction of mandibular region cutaneous defect.

Reconstruction of large cutaneous defects is a challenging task for plastic surgeons. When the skin defect is only part of the complex defects after expansion resection of oral cancer and neck dissection should be done at the same time, it is a daunting task to obtain a cosmetic post-operative appearance. We designed bilobed platysma myocutaneous flaps to reconstruct the mandibular region cutaneous defects. And at the same time, the incessant of the bilobed flap can be a combined incision of platysma myocutaneous flap and neck dissection and can be used to expose fully the region of neck dissection and to supply a large enough platysma flap to reconstruct the mandibular skin defect. This design has several advantages and worth to be promoted.

Report-The impact of parental presence in preschool children facial trauma surgery.

Wound repair surgeries are the most common childhood surgery in most countries. Medical treatment itself will impact children's mental health. The authors' objective was to study the impact of parental presence in preschool children and to reveal the conditions and precautions of it. Parental presence during facial trauma surgeries was analyzed, a group of 49 preschool children from April 1, 2013 to April 30, 2013 and their parents attended the experiment, contrasting with a group of 57 preschool children without parental presence. By means of clinical observation and questionnaire, the wound infection rate, surgery satisfaction, children and parents' anxiety level were studied. The authors found that parental presence would not increase the Infection rate. Parental presence could reduce children's and their parents` anxiety level and increase the surgery satisfaction rate. Parental presence has a lot of positive significances about the children's emergency surgery, children's health care and parents' anxiety.

Structured Reporting of Computed Tomography Enterography in Crohn's Disease.

BACKGROUND: To compare the integrity, clarity, conciseness, etc., of the structured report (SR) versus free-text report (FTR) for computed tomography enterography of Crohn's disease (CD). METHODS: FTRs and SRs were generated for 30 patients with CD. The integrity, clarity, conciseness etc., of SRs versus FTRs, were compared. In this study, an evidence-based medicine practice model was utilized on 92 CD patients based on SR in order to evaluate its clinical value. Then, the life quality of the patients in two groups was evaluated before and after three months of intervention using an Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ). RESULTS: SRs received higher ratings for satisfaction with integrity (median rating 4.27 vs. 3.75, P=0.008), clarity (median rating 4.20 vs. 3.43, P=0.003), conciseness (median rating 4.23 vs. 3.20, P=0.003), the possibility of contacting a radiologist to interpret (median rating 4.17 vs. 3.20, P<0.001), and overall clinical impact (median rating 4.23 vs. 3.27, P<0.001) than FTRs. Besides, research group had higher score of IBDQ intestinal symptom dimension (median score 61.13 vs. 58.02, P=0.003), IBDQ systemic symptom dimension (median score 24.48 vs. 20.67, P<0.001), IBDQ emotional capacity dimension (median score 65.65 vs. 61.74, P<0.001), IBDQ social ability dimension (median score 26.80 vs. 22.37, P<0.001), and total IBDQ score (median score 178.07 vs. 162.80, P<0.001) than control group. CONCLUSION: The SR of CTE in CD patients was conducive to improving the quality and readability of the report, and CD patients' life quality could significantly improve after the intervention of an evidence-based medicine model based on SR.

Involvement of the TGF-ß1 pathway in caveolin-1-associated regulation of head and neck tumor cell metastasis.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most frequent malignancy with a 5-year survival rate of 54%. Therefore, disease management improvement is required. The present study aimed to assess the role of caveolin-1 (Cav-1) in the metastasis of head and neck tumor cells. Short hairpin RNA was used to silence Cav-1 expression in Tu686 cells. Proliferation, migration, invasion, morphology and the levels of effector proteins were assessed in cells. Upon Cav-1 silencing, E-cadherin levels were decreased, while vimentin levels were significantly increased. Cell migration, quantified by wound healing and Transwell assays, was significantly increased. Meanwhile, Cav-1 and transforming growth factor ß1 (TGF-ß1) receptor were identified to be co-localized. In addition, Cav-1-knockdown resulted in increased phosphorylation of SMAD family member 2 (P<0.05), a downstream effector of TGF-ß signaling. In addition, there was a mutual regulation, with increasing TGF-ß1 levels leading to a dose-dependent decrease of Cav-1 expression levels (P<0.05). These findings indicate that Cav-1 inhibits cell metastasis in HNSCC, suggesting the involvement of the TGF-ß signaling pathway.

Self-assembled CNTs/CdS/dehydrogenase hybrid-based amperometric biosensor triggered by photovoltaic effect.

A novel multi-components hybrid material, self-assembled quantum dots (CdS) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) onto multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs), was designed for amperometric biosensing system. The zeta-potential and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses confirmed the uniform growth of the CdS/GDH onto carboxyl-functionalized CNTs. Compared with the single CdS, the resulting hybrid material showed more efficient generation of photocurrent upon illumination. The incident light excites CdS and generates charge carriers, and then CNTs facilitates the charge transfer. For dehydrogenase-based biosensor, normally, the cofactor of beta-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) or beta-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP(+)) is necessary. Furthermore, we found the photovoltaic effect of CNTs/CdS/GDH can trigger the dehydrogenase enzymatic reaction in the absence of the NAD(+) or NADP(+) cofactors. The electrochemical experiment results also demonstrate that the cofactor-independent dehydrogenase biosensing system had series attractive characteristics, such as a good sensitivity (11.9 nA/microM), lower detection limit (up to 50 nM), an acceptable reproducibility and stability. These studies aid in understanding the combination of the semiconductor nanohybrids (CNTs/QDs, etc.) and biomolecules (enzymes, etc.), which has potential for the applications in biosensor, biofuel cell, biomedical and other bioelectronics field.

[Treatment and outcome of recurrent cervical lymph nodes in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacies of different treatments for recurrent cervical lymph nodes and the factors contributing to prognosis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy. METHODS: Clinical data of 79 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy were retrospectively analyzed, and all cases were diagnosed as having recurrent cervical lymph nodes by pathological examination. The factors including sex, age, the interval between completion of radiotherapy and recurrence, rN stage, treatment methods, and the location relationship between recurrent lesion and primary tumor in the neck were analyzed for prognosis. Kaplan-Meier curves, Log-rank test and Cox's proportional hazards regression mode were used in the statistical analysis. RESULTS: The median recurrence time was 26 months, and the 1- , 3- and 5-year overall survival rates were 77.9%, 53.4% and 39.7%. Cox's proportional hazards regression mode analysis indicated that age, rN stage, treatment methods, and the location relationship between recurrent lesion and primary tumor were significantly prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Neck dissection is superior to re-radiotherapy in treatment of recurrent cervical lymph nodes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy. The patients younger than 45 years old, in early rN stage and for recurrence in the center region of primary tumor have a better prognosis.

Meta-analysis of studies on breast cancer risk and diet in Chinese women.

OBJECTIVE: A meta-analysis was carried out to summarize published data on the relationship between breast cancer and dietary factors. METHODS: Databases in Chinese (China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI], China Biology Medicine [CBM], WanFang, VIP) and in English (PubMed and Web of Science) were searched for articles analyzing vegetable, fruit, soy food and fat consumption and breast cancer risk published through June 30, 2013. Random effects models were used to estimate summary odds ratios (OR) based on high versus low intake, and subgroup analysis was conducted according to region, study design, paper quality and adjustment for confounding factors to detect the potential source of heterogeneity. Every study was screened according to the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria, evaluated in accordance with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. RevMan 5.2 software was used for analysis. RESULTS: Of 785 studies retrieved, 22 met inclusion criteria (13 in Chinese and 9 in English), representing 23,201 patients: 10,566 in the experimental group and 12,635 in the control group. Thirteen included studies showed vegetables consumption to be a relevant factor in breast cancer risk, OR = 0.77 (95% CI [confidence interval] 0.62-0.96). Eleven studies showed fruits consumption to be relevant, OR = 0.68 (95% CI 0.49-0.93). Significant differences were also found between those who consumed soy foods, OR = 0.68 (95% CI 0.50-0.93) and those who ate a high-fat diet, OR = 1.15 (95% CI 1.01-1.30). CONCLUSION: This analysis confirms the association between intake of vegetables, fruits, soy foods and fat and the risk of breast cancer from published sources. It's suggested that high consumption of vegetables, fruits and soy foods may reduce the risk of breast cancer, while increasing fat consumption may increase the risk.

[Analyses of therapeutic and prognostic factors for rN3 neck recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma after primary radiotherapy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the treatment and prognosis for rN3 neck recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after primary radiotherapy. METHODS: A total of 37 cases with rN3 neck recurrence after radiotherapy in NPC between October 2003 and August 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Of them 19 cases presented with lymph node (LN) metastasis in supraclavicular fossa, 18 cases had metastasis LN > 6 cm, 10 cases received chemoradiotherapy, and 27 cases underwent neck dissection including modified radical neck dissection (MRND) for 9 cases, radical neck dissection (RND) for 18 cases. Six of 18 cases with RND underwent reconstructive surgery with pectoralis major flap, 12 cases received postoperative radiotherapy and 20 cases had postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. RESULTS: Eight patients had documented recurrence or residue, 17 patients developed distant metastases, one patient showed recurrence and distant metastasis. The 5-year overall survival rate and disease-free survival rate were 27.5% and 21.6% respectively, and the median survival time was 41 months. The survival rate in surgery group was significantly higher than that in chemoradiotherapy group, and the prognosis of patients with LN > 6 cm was better than that of patients with metastasis LN to supraclavicular fossa. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with rN3 NPC are prone to metastasis, and patients with supraclavicular fossa lymph node metastasis had poor prognosis. Surgery combined with chemoradiotherapy is an effective treatment for the patients without distant metastasis.

[Dynamic observation of EB virus DNA load before and after the treatment in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its clinical significance].

OBJECTIVE: Dynamic observation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA load before and after the treatment in patients with Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), predicting the incidence of distant metastasis and offering more personalised choice of therapies. METHOD: Fifty-four cases of patients with NPC were taken by fluorescence quantitative PCR assay of EBV DNA load before and after the treatment, all patients were followed up according to plan and carried out the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULT: EBV DNA load in plasma of patients with NPC can partly reflect the clinical characteristics of patients; EBV DNA load in some patients with distant metastasis was higher than those patients with continuous remission when they were not started treatment (P < 0.05); For those patients whose EBV DNA copies were lower than 20,000 copies/mI before the treatment, the progression-free survival and overall survival rates were higher than those high expression patients, and the difference were statistically significant (PF < 0.01 and P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The EBV DNA load in the plasma of NPC patients can partly predict the occurrence of distant metastases before treatment.

[Effect of p53 gene therapy on the local immunity and the efficacy of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the tumor regression and local immune function in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with p53 gene therapy. METHOD: The two-step immunohistochemical was done to detect the expression of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) T-cell receptor-CD3, CD4, CD8 and B cell receptor-CD20 in the primary tumor tissue of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Nasal endoscopy with MRI or CT was used for evaluation of tumor size. RESULT: The expression of CD3, CD4, CD8 was significantly increased after p53 gene treatment (P < 0.05). There was no significant change in expression of CD20 after p53 gene treatment (P > 0.05). In conventional treatment group, CD3, CD4, CD8 and CD20 (P > 0.05) did not show any significant difference. In gene therapy group at 3 months after treatment, 20 patients had achieved CR, 10 PR, 1 SD, 1 PD. In conventional treatment group, 11 patients had achieved CR, 12 PR,5 SD,3 PD. The response rate between treatment group and control group (CR+PR) was different (P < 0.05). CD3 and CD4 expression was correlated with tumor regression rate (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and CD8 expression was correlated with the CR rate (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: T cells are the most proliferative cell of TII. in NPC patients after p53 gene therapy The local cellular immune status is positively correlated with tumor regression rate.

TGF-ß1 mediates epithelial to mesenchymal transition via the TGF-ß/Smad pathway in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Development of metastasis is a major cause of death for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) patients. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is now regarded as a correlate of tumor metastasis. Given that transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) is an important inducer of EMT, we examined the effects of TGF-ß1 on the human SCCHN cell line Tu686. We found that TGF-ß1 mediated cell morphological changes. Phase-contrast microscopy revealed a loss of the adherent phenotype with cellular elongation, decrease in cell-to-cell contact, and the induction of a fibroblast-like state. Western blotting and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis demonstrated that TGF-ß1 could induce down-regulation of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and up-regulation of the mesenchymal marker vimentin in Tu686 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Wound- healing and transwell invasion assay indicated that TGF-ß1 promoted Tu686 cell migration and invasion dramatically. In addition, these changes were mediated via canonical TGF-ß/Smad signaling with concomitant up-regulation of phosphorylated Smad2. Smad2 RNAi abrogated both expression and functional effects of TGF-ß1 on Tu686 cells. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that TGF-ß1 could induce EMT in the SCCHN cell line via the TGF-ß/Smad signaling pathway. More importantly, a cell model for EMT was established, which is valuable for future studies on the metastasis of SCCHN.

Bone morphogenetic protein-4-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and invasiveness through Smad1-mediated signal pathway in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have recently been shown to be involved in the genesis and progression of a wide variety of carcinomas. The present study was undertaken to estimate the effect of BMP-4 on squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) in tissue and cell levels. METHODS: In this study, immunohistochemistry, Western blotting and RT-PCR were utilized to detect the expression of BMP-4, Smad1 and phosphorylated Smad1 in SCCHN tissues or SCCHN cell lines. Those three proteins in tissues were further correlated with prognosis of SCCHN by Kaplan-Meier analysis. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated changes in SCCHN cells were detected after stimulation by human BMP-4 recombinant protein and knockdown of Smad1 gene. Meanwhile, the effect on invasiveness and migration was evaluated by invasion and scratch assays, respectively. RESULTS: BMP-4 and p-Smad1 protein were overexpressed in SCCHN tissues with cervical lymph node metastasis, which was significantly higher than those without metastasis. The expression of BMP-4 and p-Smad1 protein was negatively correlated with the prognosis of SCCHN. BMP-4 promoted the invasiveness and migration through EMT, which was demonstrated by morphological alterations, loss of E-cadherin, increase of vimentin and activation of the Smad1 signal pathway. Knockdown of Smad1 expression suppressed BMP-4 induced EMT in both cell lines and weakened the invasiveness and migration of Tu686 and Tu212 in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that BMP-4 protein may contribute to the malignant metastasis of SCCHN, which presents as a novel prognostic marker and a potential therapeutic target for patients with SCCHN.

[Analysis of misdiagnosis of the skull base lesions with PET-CT].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the causes of misdiagnosis for skull base lesions by PET-CT, and to recognize the working principal and the false-positive results of PET-CT for reducing the misdiagnosis rate. METHOD: The lesions of case 1 involved the pharynx nasalis, pterygopalatine fossa, and orbital apex base of skull, and the lesions of case 2 involved the base of sella were performed with CT, MRI and PET-CT examination. Both of the cases were treated with surgery and histopathologic examination. RESULT: Two cases were diagnosed as nasopharyngeal carcinoma and carcinoma of base of sella by PET-CT, respectively. However, they were finally diagnosed mycosis and pituitary tumor by histopathologic examination after operation. CONCLUSION: PET-CT examination in the skull base lesions may give false-positive result. Both clinical information and other imaging examinations should be considered to reduce the misdiagnosis skull base lesions only by PET-CT.