Search

Autologous liver transplantation (ALT) to cure end-stage hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) requires that hepatobiliary surgeons understand the invasion of intrahepatic structure and adjacent tissues or organs. Triphase contrast-enhanced CT of the liver has been widely used for diagnosis and preoperative evaluation of HAE. Three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction allows for accurate measurement of remnant liver volume (RLV). The objective of the study was to evaluate value of triphase contrast-enhanced CT together with 3D reconstruction in preoperative evaluation of indications for ALT in patients with end-stage HAE. This cohort include twenty-one consecutive patients with end-stage HAE, who preoperatively underwent triphase enhanced CT together with 3D reconstruction for ALT. To depict the indications, the 2D image data were reviewed statistically focusing on porta hepatis invasion, retrohepatic vena cava (RHVC) involvement and degrees of intrahepatic vessel invasion, and the 3D reconstruction was performed to obtain ratio of RLV to standard liver volume (SLV). The results showed that 95.24% patients (20/21) had porta hepatis invasion. When lesions located in right liver lobe, porta hepatis invasion occurred most commonly in the second and third porta hepatis (7/10), whereas the first, second and third porta hepatis were most commonly invaded by lesions in the right and caudate / left medial liver lobes (7/11) (P P

Massive hepatic necrosis after therapeutic embolization has been reported. We employed a 320-detector CT scanner to compare liver perfusion differences between blunt liver trauma patients treated with embolization and observation. This prospective study with informed consent was approved by institution review board. From January 2013 to December 2016, we enrolled 16 major liver trauma patients (6 women, 10 men; mean age 34.9 ± 12.8 years) who fulfilled inclusion criteria. Liver CT perfusion parameters were calculated by a two-input maximum slope model. Of 16 patients, 9 received embolization and 7 received observation. Among 9 patients of embolization group, their arterial perfusion (78.1 ± 69.3 versus 163.1 ± 134.3 mL/min/100 mL, p = 0.011) and portal venous perfusion (74.4 ± 53.0 versus 160.9 ± 140.8 mL/min/100 mL, p = 0.008) were significantly lower at traumatic parenchyma than at non-traumatic parenchyma. Among 7 patients of observation group, only portal venous perfusion was significantly lower at traumatic parenchyma than non-traumatic parenchyma (132.1 ± 127.1 vs. 231.1 ± 174.4 mL/min/100 mL, p = 0.018). The perfusion index between groups did not differ. None had massive hepatic necrosis. They were not different in age, injury severity score and injury grades. Therefore, reduction of both arterial and portal venous perfusion can occur when therapeutic embolization was performed in preexisting major liver trauma, but hepatic perfusion index may not be compromised.

In this study, four canine distemper virus (CDV) strains were isolated from captive Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) and red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) during two separate CDV outbreaks in a zoo in Guangdong province, China. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analyses based on the full-length hemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F) genes showed that they were closely identical to genotype Asia-1. Prior to confirmation of CDV in Siberian tigers, to control spread of the disease, a live attenuated combination CDV vaccine was used among almost all carnivore animals except for red pandas in which another recombinant combination CDV vaccine was used. However, about two months later, CDV re-emerged and caused the death among red pandas. Based on the vaccination records, the live combination vaccine could be considered an ideal weapon against CDV in zoo carnivore animals. Although the recombinant combination CDV vaccine was safe for red pandas, its protection effectiveness remains to be further investigated. Moreover, according to the outbreak interval time and sequence characterization, we suspected that stray cats circulating in the zoo were the intermediate host, which contributed to CDV spread from stray dogs to zoo animals. This study revealed the importance of vaccination and biosecurity for zoo animals.

The random nature of seizures poses difficult challenges for epilepsy research. There is great need for a reliable method to control the pathway to seizure onset, which would allow investigation of the mechanisms of ictogenesis and optimization of treatments. Our hypothesis is that increased random afferent synaptic activity (i.e. synaptic noise) within the epileptic focus is one endogenous method of ictogenesis. Building upon previous theoretical and in vitro work showing that synaptic noise can induce seizures, we developed a novel in vivo model of ictogenesis. By increasing the excitability of afferent connections to the hippocampus, we control the risk of temporal lobe seizures during a specific time period. The afferent synaptic activity in the hippocampus was modulated by focal microinjections of potassium chloride into the nucleus reuniens, during which the risk of seizure occurrence increased substantially. The induced seizures were qualitatively and quantitatively indistinguishable from spontaneous ones. This model thus allows direct control of the temporal lobe seizure threshold via endogenous pathways, providing a novel tool in which to investigate the mechanisms and biomarkers of ictogenesis, test for seizure threshold, and rapidly tune antiseizure treatments.

Expanding bile leaks after blunt liver trauma require more aggressive treatment than contained bile leaks. In this retrospective study approved by institution review board, we analyzed if non-invasive contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance cholangiography (CEMRC) using hepatocyte-specific contrast agent (gadoxetic acid disodium) could detect and characterize traumatic bile leaks. Between March 2012 and December 2014, written informed consents from 22 included patients (17 men, 5 women) with a median age of 24.5 years (IQR 21.8, 36.0 years) were obtained. Biliary tree visualization and bile leak detection on CEMRC acquired at 10, 20, 30, 90 minutes time points were independently graded by three radiologists on a 5-point Likert scale. Intraclass Correlation (ICC) was computed as estimates of interrater reliability. Accuracy was measured by area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC). Biliary tree visualization was the best on CEMRC at 90 minutes (score 4.30) with excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.930). Of 22 CEMRC, 15 had bile leak (8 expanding, 7 contained). The largest AUROC of bile leak detection by three radiologists were 0.824, 0.914, 0.929 respectively on CEMRC at 90 minutes with ICC of 0.816. In conclusion, bile leaks of blunt liver trauma can be accurately detected and characterized on CEMRC.

This study aimed to determine whether dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) derived parameters can identify oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and lymphatic metastasis. Thirty-nine oesophageal SCC patients underwent DCE-MRI. Quantitative parameters including endothelial transfer constant (Ktrans), reflux rate (Kep), fractional extravascular extracellular space volume and fractional plasma volume, and semi-quantitative parameters including time to peak (TTP), max concentration, Max Slope and area under concentration-time curve of both oesophageal SCC and normal oesophagus were measured. Mann-Whitney U test revealed that Ktrans and Kep of oesophageal SCC were higher while TTP was shorter when compared to normal oesophagus (all P-values ep was superior to TTP or Ktrans for identifying oesophageal SCC (0.903 vs. 0.832 or 0.713). Mann-Whitney U test also demonstrated that Kep was higher and TTP was shorter in patients with lymphatic metastasis when compared to non-metastatic cancer patients (both P-values ep for predicting lymphatic metastasis (0.696 vs. 0.659). In conclusion, the combination of quantitative and semi-quantitative parameters derived from DCE-MRI can aid in the identification of oesophageal SCC and lymphatic metastasis.

The random nature of seizures poses difficult challenges for epilepsy research. There is great need for a reliable method to control the pathway to seizure onset, which would allow investigation of the mechanisms of ictogenesis and optimization of treatments. Our hypothesis is that increased random afferent synaptic activity (i.e. synaptic noise) within the epileptic focus is one endogenous method of ictogenesis. Building upon previous theoretical and in vitro work showing that synaptic noise can induce seizures, we developed a novel in vivo model of ictogenesis. By increasing the excitability of afferent connections to the hippocampus, we control the risk of temporal lobe seizures during a specific time period. The afferent synaptic activity in the hippocampus was modulated by focal microinjections of potassium chloride into the nucleus reuniens, during which the risk of seizure occurrence increased substantially. The induced seizures were qualitatively and quantitatively indistinguishable from spontaneous ones. This model thus allows direct control of the temporal lobe seizure threshold via endogenous pathways, providing a novel tool in which to investigate the mechanisms and biomarkers of ictogenesis, test for seizure threshold, and rapidly tune antiseizure treatments.

Tamoxifen is the standard first-line hormonal therapy for premenopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive metastatic breast cancer (BC). One of the crucial mechanisms underlying hormonal therapy resistance is the collateral activation of the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway. We explored whether PI3K inhibitors, buparlisib and alpelisib, enhance the efficacy of tamoxifen against ER-positive BC cells. We have observed a synergism between alpelisib or buparlisib and tamoxifen in the treatment for ER-positive BC cell lines harboring different PI3K alterations. Immunoblotting analysis showed alpelisib, buparlisib, or either drug in combination with tamoxifen downregulated the PI3K downstream targets in the MCF-7 and ZR75-1 cells. In the MCF-7 cells transfected with a constitutive active (myristoylated) AKT1 construct or mutant ER, the synergistic effect between alpelisib and tamoxifen was markedly attenuated, indicating that synergism depends on AKT inhibition or normally functioning ER. Combining alpelisib or buparlisib with tamoxifen also attenuated MCF-7 tumor growth in Balb/c nude mice. Our data suggest that additional PI3K blockade might be effective in enhancing the therapeutic effect of tamoxifen in ER-positive BC and support the rationale combination in clinical trials.

The alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, encoded by the CHRNA7 gene, has been implicated in various psychiatric and behavioral disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, epilepsy, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease, and is considered a potential target for therapeutic intervention. 15q13.3 microdeletion syndrome is a rare genetic disorder, caused by submicroscopic deletions on chromosome 15q. CHRNA7 is the only gene in this locus that has been deleted entirely in cases involving the smallest microdeletions. Affected individuals manifest variable neurological and behavioral phenotypes, which commonly include developmental delay/intellectual disability, epilepsy, and autism spectrum disorder. Subsets of patients have short attention spans, aggressive behaviors, mood disorders, or schizophrenia. Previous behavioral studies suggested that Chrna7 deficient mice had attention deficits, but were normal in baseline behavioral responses, learning, memory, and sensorimotor gating. Given a growing interest in CHRNA7-related diseases and a better appreciation of its associated human phenotypes, an in-depth behavioral characterization of the Chrna7 deficient mouse model appeared prudent. This study was designed to investigate whether Chrna7 deficient mice manifest phenotypes related to those seen in human individuals, using an array of 12 behavioral assessments and electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings on freely-moving mice. Examined phenotypes included social interaction, compulsive behaviors, aggression, hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, and somatosensory gating. Our data suggests that mouse behavior and EEG recordings are not sensitive to decreased Chrna7 copy number.

Sperm storage in vivo extends the time window for fertilisation in several animal species, from a few days to several years. The underlying storage mechanisms, however, are largely unknown. In this study, spermatozoa from the epididymis and oviduct of Chinese soft-shelled turtles were investigated to identify potentially relevant morphological features and transformations at different stages of sperm storage. Large cytoplasmic droplets (CDs) containing lipid droplets (LDs) were attached to the midpiece of most spermatozoa in the epididymis, without migrating down the sperm tail. However, they were absent from the oviductal spermatozoa, suggesting that CDs with LDs may be a source of endogenous energy for epididymal spermatozoa. The onion-like mitochondria recovered their double-membrane morphology, with typical cristae, within the oviduct at a later stage of storage, thus implying that mitochondrial metabolism undergoes alterations during storage. Furthermore, a well developed fibrous sheath on the long principal piece was the integrating ultrastructure for glycolytic enzymes and substrates. These novel morphological characteristics may allow turtle spermatozoa to use diverse energy metabolism pathways at different stages of storage.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infects more than half of the world’s population, causing chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. Urease B subunit (UreB), a conserved protein of H. pylori, is capable of inducing specific CD4+ T-cell responses and provides protection against this infection. Previous studies have confirmed the effectiveness of rUreB subunit vaccines in generating CD4+ T-cell-mediated protection, but less is known regarding the roles of different subtypes of T-cell immunity, such as Th1, Th2 and Th17, particularly the immunodominant epitopes inducing specific CD4+ T-cell responses, in vaccine-mediated protection. In this study, we demonstrated that the vaccination of BALB/c mice with rUreB resulted in significant antigen-specific Th1 and Th17 immune responses. Importantly, two novel Th epitopes, UreB317–329 and UreB409–421, which are recognized by a major population of CD4+ T cells, were identified in immunized mice. Our results demonstrated that two novel epitopes can simultaneously induce Th1 and Th17 immune responses; however, only the epitope vaccine-induced CD4+ T-cells secreting IFN-γ mediated the protection against H. pylori; cells secreting IL-17A did not. Taken together, our results suggest that two novel immunodominant epitopes can induce Th1 and Th17 immune responses, but only the induced Th1 lymphocytes mediate protection against H. pylori.