Imaging features of pure mucinous breast carcinoma: correlation with extracellular mucus content.

AIM: To analyse the correlation between imaging features using multiple techniques and extracellular mucus content in pure mucinous breast carcinoma (PMBC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of available images from 25 patients with 25 PMBC tumours was conducted, with ultrasonography (US), ultrasonic elastography (USE), mammography, and breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) available for 25, 15, 11, and eight patients, respectively. Microscopic slides from each tumour were evaluated for extracellular mucus content. The correlation between imaging features and mucus content was analysed using linear-by-linear association chi-square tests or Spearman's rank correlation analyses. RESULTS: On US images, a significant correlation was found between mucus content and echo pattern (p=0.042) and colour Doppler blood flow (p=0.032), with a trend that the lower mucus content present in tumours, the more likely they were detected with isoechoic echo and high blood flow. On USE images, a moderate negative correlation (r=-0.60, p=0.029) was observed between mucus content and tumour stiffness. On BSGI images, a strong negative correlation (r=-0.92, p=0.001) was shown between mucus content and lesion to non-lesion ratio (L/N) values of radioactivity counts. No significant correlation was found between mucus content and mammography imaging features (all p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Imaging features at US, USE, and BSGI correlated with extracellular mucus content in PMBC tumours, among which the L/N value using BSGI imaging is the most relevant feature.

The dynamic expression of allograft inflammatory factor-1 in hepatic tissues and splenic cells of BALB/c mice with Schistosoma japonicum infection.

Allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) was originally cloned from a rat heart allograft under chronic rejection. Data from many studies suggested an important role of AIF-1 in several inflammatory processes. The aim of this study was to examine the dynamic expression of AIF-1 and its association with the pathogenesis of hepatic schistosomiasis in BALB/c mice infected with S. japonicum. The expression of AIF-1 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, western blot and immunohistochemistry. AIF-1 and TNF-α were overexpressed in hepatic tissues at the early stage of infection, and then diminished with the length of infection. On culturing splenocytes stimulated by soluble egg antigen for 72 h, the expression of AIF-1 in infected mice was suppressed, but TNF-α increased gradually. Our results showed that AIF-1 was overexpressed in the liver of BALB/c mice infected with S. japonicum, and the interaction between AIF-1 and TNF-α or other cytokines played an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of hepatic schistosomiasis.