Search

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic nonspecific inflammatory disease of colon and rectum with unknown etiology, and the lesions are mainly confined to the mucosa and submucosa of large intestine. The main clinical features of UC include diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloody purulent stool and tenesmus, which seriously affect patients' quality of life. Most of UC patients would receive drug therapy with the exception of surgery for some severe cases. However, current drugs for the treatment of UC have certain limitations including difficulty of radical treatment, adverse reactions and drug resistance after long-term use and exorbitant price of some drugs. The research and development of new drugs for the treatment of UC is urgent, and natural alkaloids are an important source. This research paid close attention to the progress of natural alkaloids from diverse medicinal plants for treating UC in the last twenty years. The potential mechanisms for the natural alkaloids in the treatment of UC was closely related to its modulation of oxidative stress, immune response, intestinal flora and improvement of the gut barrier function. Remarkable effectiveness and safety of natural-derived alkaloids make them potential candidates of UC therapy. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the risk factors of Budd-Chiari syndrome (B-CS) complicated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: The clinical data of 30 patients with B-CS complicated with HCC treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from December 2012 to November 2014 were analyzed retrospectively, 106 another patients were selected randomly as control group in the same term. Gender, age, medical history, type of B-CS, hemoglobin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), albumin, Child-Pugh classification, portal vein diameter, HBV infection and drinking history were recorded and analyzed between the two groups. Univariate analysis and unconditional Logistic regression model were performed to screen corresponding risk factors. Area under curve (AUC) was calculated according to receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve to evaluate the diagnostic value of each indicator., Results: Univariate analysis showed that there were no statistical differences in gender (χ² =0.001), age (t=0.317), medical history (t=-0.906), type of B-CS (χ² =2.894), ALT (t=-1.581), Child-Pugh classification (Z=-0.777), HBV infection (χ² =0.016) and drinking history (χ² =0.285) between the two groups (all P > 0.05), but the hemoglobin (t=3.370) and albumin (t=2.152) in HCC group were lower and AST (t=-2.425) and portal vein diameter (t=-2.554) were higher than that in the other group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P <0.05). The results of unconditional Logistic regression model analysis indicated that hemoglobin, AST and portal vein diameter were independent risk factors of B-CS complicated with HCC (OR=0.972, 1.015, 1.206; P=0.004, 0.022, 0.012). ROC curve analysis indicated that the AUC of AST, hemoglobin and portal vein diameter was 0.704, 0.324 and 0.624, the predicate value was, in order, AST, portal vein diameter, hemoglobin., Conclusion: Hemoglobin, AST and portal vein diameter are independent risk factors of B-CS complicated with HCC.

Background: To investigate the characteristics of Budd-Chiari syndrome (B-CS) types, rate of HCC complicated by different types of B-CS and values of CTA in diagnosis of B-CS and HCC complicated by B-CS., Material and Methods: 494 patients with B-CS were analyzed retrospectively. All patients underwent CTA, which was used to assess the accuracy of diagnosing B-CS and the rate of HCC complicated by various kinds of B-CS. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and pathological examination were used as gold standard., Results: Among 494 patients diagnosed by DSA, there were 21 (4.3%) cases of inferior vena cava type, 80 (16.2%) cases of hepatic vein type and 393 (79.6%) cases of hepatic vein combined with inferior vena cava complex type. The accuracy of diagnosing B-CS by CTA was 86.6% (428/494), in which the accuracy of diagnosing inferior vena cava type was 85.7% (18/21), 83.8% (67/80) for hepatic vein type and 87.3% (343/393) for complex type. The rate of HCC complicated by B-CS was 12.8% (63/494), among which inferior vena cava type was 4.8% (1/21), hepatic vein type was 11.3% (9/80) and complex type was 13.5% (53/393). There were no statistic differences between these three types (P=0.459). The accuracy of diagnosing HCC by CTA was 82.5% (52/63)., Conclusion: B-CS in patients from China's Yellow River basin is mainly hepatic vein combined with inferior vena cava complex type, which is more likely to be complicated by HCC. CTA plays an important role in diagnosing B-CS and HCC complicated by B-CS.

Budd-Chiari syndrome (B-CS) is a disease with a low incidence and has obvious geographical difference in subtype and clinical characteristics. The pathogenesis of B-CS in China is significantly different from that in western countries and is a complex process involving multiple factors. However, the specific cause of this disease is not yet clear. In-depth understanding of B-CS pathogenesis will be of great importance in preventing and treating the disease and improving the quality of life of the patients.