AIM： To investigate the diagnostic value of glypican-3 （GPC3） and its relationship with hepatocellular carci- noma （HCC） recurrence after liver transplantation.
METHODS： HCC tissue samples （n = 31） ...obtained from patients who had undergone liver transplantation were analyzed. GPC3 mRNA and protein expression were analyzed by TaqMan real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. Correlation between the GPC3 expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed. The potential prognostic value of GPC3 was investigated by comparing recurrence-free survival between HCC patients with and without GPC3 expression.
RESULTS： Using a cutoff value of 3.5× 10^-2, 20 of 31 cancerous tissues had expression values of 〉 3.5× 10^2, whereas 3 of 31 adjacent non-neoplastic paren-chyma and 0 of 20 control liver tissues had expression values of 〉 3.5 × 10^-2 （P 〈 0.001）. GPC3 protein was immunoexpressed in 68% of cancerous tissues, but not in adjacent non-neoplastic parenchyma and control liver tissues. Vascular invasion was significantly related to GPC3 expression （P 〈 0.05）. Recurrence-free sur- vival was significantly longer for patients without GPC3 mRNA overexpression （〉 3.5 × 10^2） and those without vascular invasion （P 〈 0.05 for both）.
CONCLUSION： GPC3 expression may serve as a valuable diagnostic marker for HCC. GPC3 mRNA overexpression may be an adverse indicator for HCC patients after liver transplantation.
In rice,one detrimental factor influencing single panicle yield is the frequent occurrence of panicle apical abortion（PAA） under unfavorable climatic conditions.Until now,no detailed genetic ...information has been available to avoid PAA in rice breeding.Here,we show that the occurrence of PAA is associated with the accumulation of excess hydrogen peroxide.Quantitative trait loci（QTLs） mapping for PAA in an F2 population derived from the cross of L-05261（PAA line） × IRAT129（non-PAA variety） identified seven QTLs over a logarithm of the odd（LOD） threshold of 2.5,explaining approximately 50.1% of phenotypic variance for PAA in total.Five of the QTLs with an increased effect from L-05261,were designated as qPAA3-1,qPAA3-2,qPAA4,qPAA5 and qPAA8,and accounted for 6.8%,5.9%,4.2%,13.0% and 12.2% of phenotypic variance,respectively.We found that the PAA in the early heading plants was mainly controlled by qPAA8.Subsequently,using the sub-populations specific for qPAA8 based on markerassisted selection,we further narrowed qPAA8 to a 37.6-kb interval delimited by markers RM22475 and 8-In112.These results are beneficial for PAA gene clone.
Background：The diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome （MDS）,especially hypoplastic MDS,and MDS with low blast counts or normal karyotype may be problematic.This study characterized ID4 gene ...methylation in patients with MDS and aplastic anemia （AA）.Methods：The methylation status ofID4 was analyzed by bisulfite sequencing polymerase chain reaction （PCR） and quantitative real-time methylation-specific PCR （MethyLight PCR） in 100 patients with MDS and 31 patients with AA.Results：The MDS group had a higher ID4 gene methylation positivity rate （22.22%） and higher methylation levels （0.21 0-3.79） than the AA group （P 〈 0.05）.Furthermore,there were significant differences between the hypoplastic MDS and AA groups,the MDS with low blast count and the AA groups,and the MDS with normal karyotype and the AA groups.The combination of genetic and epigenetic markers was used in much more patients with MDS （62.5% 35/56） than the use of genetic markers only （51.79% 29/56）.Conclusions：These results showed that the detection ofID4 methylation positivity rates and levels could be a useful biomarker for MDS diagnosis.
Pterygium is sunlight related, ocular-surface lesion that obscures vision. The morbidity varies in different parts of the same country. Several surveys have shown that the countries nearer the ...equator have higher rate of pterygium than the other regions, the possible reason is due to the low latitude and stronger exposure to ultraviolet rays. The onset of pterygium is closely related to the environment, including ultraviolet rays, sandstorm, dry climate and so on. Prolonged ultraviolet-B radiation is regarded as a risk factor for pterygium, and that could explain its prevalence is much higher in the low latitude area.
Background Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in China. Percutaneous coronary intervention is a recent milestone technology for treatment coronary artery disease. However, clinical ...decision making for patients with intermediate coronary stenosis is still controversial. We designed this study to assess the optimal intravascular ultrasound （IVUS） criteria for predicting functional significance of intermediate coronary lesions. Methods We enrolled 141 patients with 165 intermediate coronary lesions located in vessels with a diameter 〉2.50 mm. IVUS of intermediate coronary lesions were performed before intervention. Pressure-derived fractional flow reserve （FFR） was measured at maximal hyperemia induced by adenosine infusion. An FFR 〈0.80 was considered as abnormal functional significance. Results For the overall 165 lesions, the mean FFR value was 0.84±0.09. The diameter of the stenosis by visual estimation on angiogram was （59.63±11.29）%. Minimum lumen diameter （MLD）, minimum lumen area （MLA） and plaque burden （PB） were （2.00±0.36） mm, （3.88±1.34） mm2, （67.28±9.89）% respectively by IVUS measurements. An FFR 〈0.80 was seen in 43 lesions （30.5%）. There was a moderate correlation between IVUS parameters and FFR, including MLD （r=0.372, P 〈0.001 ）, MLA （r=0.442, P 〈0.001 ） and PB （t=-0.172, P 〈0.05）. MLA was a predictor for FFR as a continuous variable independent of possible confounding variables （P 〈0.05）, and MLA and PB, were predictors for FFR 〈0.80 as binary variables （P 〈0.05）. The best cutoff value of MLA to predict FFR 〈0.80 was 〈3.15 mm2, with a 73.6% diagnostic accuracy; sensitivity 71.4%, specificity 67.0%, AUC=0.709, and P 〈0.001. The cutoff value of the PB to predict FFR 〈0.80 was 65.45%; sensitivity 82.6%, specificity 41.2%, AUC=0.644, and P 〈0.01. If both MLA and PB were taken into account, the negative predictive value and the positive predictive value were 88.7% and 64.8% respectively. Conclusions Anatomic measurements of intermediate coronary lesions obtained by IVUS showed a moderate correlation to FFR values. IVUS-derived MLA 〉3.15 mm2 may be useful to exclude FFR 〈0.80, but poor specificity limits its applicability for physiological assessment of lesions 〈3.15 mm2. MLA was one of many factors affecting coronary flow hemodynamics. Both MLA and PB should be taken into account when determining functional ischemia.
The diet of Common Kestrels Falco tinnunculus was studied during the breeding seasons from 2004 to 2008 in Northeast China. Diet was determined by direct observation of the prey brought to nests, and ...analysis of prey remains collected from nests. Fifteen vertebrate species from three classes, and two groups of insects were identified as prey items. Rodents were the main prey items, comprising 93.9% of the total prey items （TPI） and 97.0% of total prey biomass （TPB）. Birds, frogs and insects were also eaten. The kestrels preferred to prey on small rodents （mean weight 20-40 g） and displayed density-dependent prey selection. Daily prey consumption of an adult and a nestling was 2.6 individual rodents or 87.6 g, and 1.7 individual vertebrates or 48.2 g, respectively. The estimated prey consumption of a breeding pair （adults and nestlings） during the breeding season was 520.1 individual vertebrates or 19.7 kg.
Natural antisense transcripts （NATs） exist ubiquitously in mammalian genomes and play roles in the regulation of gene expression. However, both the existence of bidirectional antisense RNA regulation ...and the possibility of proteincoding genes that function as antisense RNAs remain speculative. Here, we found that the protein-coding gene, deoxyhypusine synthase （DHPS）, as the NAT of WDR83, concordantly regulated the expression of WDR83 mRNA and protein. Conversely, WDR83 also regulated DHPS by antisense pairing in a concordant manner. WDR83 and DHPS were capable of forming an RNA duplex at overlapping 3＇ untranslated regions and this duplex increased their mutual stability, which was required for the bidirectional regulation. As a pair of protein-coding cis-sense/antisense transcripts, WDR83 and DHPS were upregulated simultaneously and correlated positively in gastric cancer （GC）, driving GC patbophysiology by promoting cell proliferation. Furthermore, the positive relationship between WDR83 and DHPS was also observed in other cancers. The bidirectional regulatory relationship between WDR83 and DHPS not only enriches our understanding of antisense regulation, but also provides a more complete understanding of their functions in tumor development.
Background： The emergency department （ED） has a pivotal influence on the management of acute heart failure （AHF）, but dataconcerning current ED management are scarce. This Beijing AHF Registry Study ...investigated the characteristics. ED management, and short- and long-term clinical outcomes of AHF. Methods： This prospective, multicenter, observational study consecutively enrolled 3335 AHF patients who visited 14 EDs in Beijing from January 1, 2011, to September 23, 2012. Baseline data on characteristics and management were collected in the EDs. Follow-up data on death and readmissions were collected until November 31, 2013, with a response rate of 92.80%. The data were reported as median （interquartile range） for the continuous variables, or as number （percentage） for the categorical variables. Results： The median age of the enrolled patients was 71 （58 79） years, and 46.84% wvere women. In patients with AHH coronary heart disease （43.27%） was the most common etiology, andmyocardium ischemia （30.22%） was the main precipitant. Most of the patients in the ED received intravenous treatments, including diuretics （79.28%） and vasodilators （74.90%）. Fewer patients in the ED received neurohormonal antagonists, and 25.94%, 31.12%, and 33.73% of patients received angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers, and spironolactone, respectively. The proportions of patients who were admitted, discharged, left against medical advice, and died were 55.53%, 33.58%, 7.08%, and 3.81%, respectively. All-cause mortalities at 30 days and 1 year were 15.30% and 32.27%, respectively. Conclusions： Substantial details on characteristics and ED management of AHF were investigated. The clinical outcomes of AHF patients were dismal. Thus, further investigations of ED-based therapeutic approaches for AHF are needed.
Objective:To observe the protective effect of omeprazole on gastric mucosal of cirrhotic portal hypertension rats.Methods:All rats were randomly divided into normal control group,cirrhosis and ...treatment group.Thioacetamide was used to establish rat model of cirrhotic portal hypertension.The necrotic tissue of gastric mucosa ulcer focus,degree of neutrophils infiltration at the ulcer margin,portal pressure,portal venous flow,abdominal aortic pressure,abdominal aortic blood flow at front end,gastric mucosal blood flow（GMBF）,glycoprotein（GP）of gastric mucosa,basal acid secretion,H’ back-diffusion,gastric mucosal damage index,NO,prostaglandin E2（PGE2） and tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） were determined respectively,and the pathological changes of gastric mucosa were also observed by microscope.Results:Compared with cirrhosis group and the control group,the ulcer bottom necrotic material,gastric neutrophil infiltration and UI of the treatment group were all decreased significantly（P<0.01）,GMBF value,GP values,serum NO,PGE2,TNF- a were all significantly increased.Conclusions:Omeprazole has an important protective effect on gastric mucosal and it can increase gastric mucosal blood flow and related to many factors.
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