The safety of echo contrast-enhanced ultrasound in high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation for abdominal wall endometriosis: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of echo contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) during high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation therapy for abdominal wall endometriosis (AWE). METHODS: A total of 67 patients with AWE were treated with HIFU ablation, and their demographic characteristics were retrospectively analysed. Blood perfusion of the focal lesion was assessed before the operation, during ablation and after the operation with the use of an ultrasound contrast agent, and the effect of the ultrasound contrast agent on treatment was assessed over a 1-year follow-up period. The degree of symptom relief and adverse effects were evaluated after HIFU ablation. RESULTS: Eighty-two lesions were ablated in 67 patients. CEUS showed that all lesions were successfully ablated with HIFU. The shrinkage ratio of the lesions significantly increased over the follow-up period. Intermittent pain disappeared at 1 month after the operation, and the patients' pain scores significantly decreased at the 1-year follow-up. The mean [± standard deviation (SD)] lesion volume was 7.64±8.95 cm3 on B-mode ultrasound. The post-HIFU non-perfused volume was 18.34±24.08 cm3, and the rate of massive changes on greyscale imaging was 96.16%±5.44% at 12 months. During the procedure, the main complications were a prickling sensation and tenderness in the treatment area and/or a transient "hot" sensation on the skin. After the procedure, there was no obvious discomfort except for pain. Two patients developed an approximately 1-cm area of skin that exhibited a waxy appearance. Seven patients had haematuria. No severe complications were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound contrast agents are effective and safe for evaluating the effect of HIFU ablation on AWE, and this approach provides significant guidance and evaluation benefits for the use of HIFU treatment for AWE without obvious side effects.

HIF­1α promotes the stemness of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma by activating the Wnt/ß­catenin pathway.

Hypoxia­inducible­factor 1α (HIF­1α) is a marker for poor prognosis in the majority of the cancer types, and it has been revealed to be essential for maintaining cancer stem cells (CSCs). In the present study, it was determined that the expression of HIF­1α and CSC­related genes under hypoxic conditions was upregulated. Stable knockdown of HIF­1α significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration and tumour growth in vivo in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). A previous study revealed that the Wnt/ß­catenin pathway may play a key role in maintenance and progression of CSCs. Therefore, it was also revealed that stable knockdown of HIF­1α reduced the formation of spheroid body cells, the expression of CSC­related genes and Wnt/ß­catenin pathway­related target genes, as well as the activity of the Wnt/ß­catenin pathway. Collectively, the present results indicated that HIF­1α may regulate the stemness of ESCC by activating the Wnt/ß­catenin pathway.

Ultrasensitive enhanced chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay for the determination of alpha-fetoprotein amplified by double-codified gold nanoparticles labels.

A novel enhanced chemiluminescent (CL) immunoassay for ultrasensitive determination of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was reported. The method made full use of 4-(4'-iodo)phenylphenol (IPP) as a new potential signal enhancer and double-codified gold nanoparticles (DC-AuNPs) labels modified with horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated anti-AFP used for further signal amplification. This protocol involved a sandwich format, in which the antigen in the sample was first captured by the immobilized primary antibody on the surface of magnetic beads, and then recognized by the second antibody labeled with DC-AuNPs. The combination of the remarkable sensitivity of the enhanced CL method and the use of AuNPs as an anti-AFP-HRP carrier for the enzymatic signal amplification, provided a linear response range of AFP from 0.008 to 0.3 ng mL(-1) with an extremely low detection limit of 5 pg mL(-1), much lower than those achieved by the classical enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This new system can be easily extended to a variety of immunodetection as well as DNA analysis.