A case of focal nodular hyperplasia with growth progression during pregnancy

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is the second most common benign solid tumor of the liver and is usually found in young females. In FNH, spontaneous bleeding or rupture rarely occurs and malignant transformation is unlikely. The etiology of FNH is unclear, but because of female predominance and young age at onset, it seems that female hormone has an important role for the development of FNH. Although the development and the complications of hepatocellular adenomas have been related to the use of oral contraceptives and pregnancy, the influence of oral contraceptives and pregnancy on the growth and complications of FNH is controversial. Most FNH are stable in size and rarely complicated during pregnancy. We describe here a case of FNH with growth progression during pregnancy in a 27-year-old female. Her course of pregnancy and delivery was uneventful. Two months after delivery, the size of FNH was decreased.     

Consistency evaluation of Liferiver,Yaneng, Darui,and the Cobas 4800 test for high-risk human papillomavirus screening

BackgroundIn recent years, several high‐risk human papillomavirus (HR‐HPV) tests have been developed. The assay capabilities need to be systematically reviewed. Here, we compared the clinical sample performance of three novel HR‐HPV assays (Liferiver, Yaneng, and Darui) based on different platforms with the widely adopted cobas4800 test.MethodsA total of 346 cervical swabs from women who were screened for cervical cancer were analyzed for the presence of 14 HR‐HPV genotypes. The distinction between the four assays was investigated by the genotyping and direct sequencing.ResultsThe positive rates of the four assays ranged from 61.56% to 64.16%. The overall concordance was 88.15%. The Yaneng assays displayed the best sensitivity (100%) and specificity (98.43%). The sensitivity (98.17%) and specificity (98.43%) of the Darui assay were superior to those of the cobas4800 test (97.72% and 93.70%, respectively). The Liferiver assay displayed comparable sensitivity with the cobas4800 test (95.89% and 97.72%, respectively). The specificity of the cobas4800 was lower than that of the Liferiver assay (93.70% vs. 97.64%).ConclusionsThe three novel HR‐HPV assays displayed good agreement with the cobas4800 test. The analytical performance of all four fulfilled the requirements of sensitivity and specificity for HR‐HPV detection.     

Thickness-dependent fast wetting transitions due to the atomic layer deposition of zinc oxide on a micro-pillared surface

Smart surfaces promote the fundamental understanding of wetting and are widely used in practical applications for energy and water collection. Light-induced switchable wettability facilitated by ZnO coatings, for instance, was developed for liquid manipulation at the surface. However, the transition of wetting states was reported to follow a hydrophobic–hydrophilic cycle in an hour, which is very long and may limit its future applications. We recently discovered that the cycle of the wetting state transitions on inorganic coatings can be shortened to less than 100 seconds by using ALD-coated ZnO on a pillared surface. However, the mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of coating thickness on the transition speed and found that it significantly depended on the thickness of the coating with the optimal thickness less than 50 nm. We found that the minimum critical time for a wetting state transition cycle was less than 50 seconds with a thickness of 40 nm. Although the transition time of surfaces with coatings over 70 nm thickness remained constant at 10 min for a cycle, it was shorter than those of other deposition techniques for a coarse surface. Here, we propose a “penetration–diffusion” model to explain the fast and thickness-dependent wetting transitions. Our study may provide a new paradigm for fast wetting transition surfaces with cycle time within tens of seconds using a homogeneous thin layer coated on a rough surface.

Smart surfaces promote the fundamental understanding of wetting and are widely used in practical applications for energy and water collection.     

Helicobacter pylori and gastric cardia cancer: What do we know about their relationship?

The incidence of gastric cardia cancer is increasing around the world. Since the discovery of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), numerous studies have proved that it is a causative factor for many kinds of digestive system tumors. Although the literature on gastric cardia cancer and H. pylori is not scarce, there are still many controversies on the relationship between gastric cardia cancer and H. pylori. Many Western research results showed that there was a negative or no correlation between H. pylori infection and gastric cardia cancer, but in several studies in Asian countries, such as China, H. pylori was demonstrated to be a risk factor for gastric cardia cancer. Therefore, we intended to analyze the related studies to find out the relationship between H. pylori and gastric cardia cancer and find out the causes of the above controversies. We also conducted a meta-analysis of the relationship between cagA positive expression of H. pylori and gastric cardia cancer, to find out whether there is an effect between those two. The primary purpose of this paper was to explore the relationship between gastric cardia cancer and H. pylori. Through analysis, the study showed the reasons for the controversies mentioned above: (1) Geographical factors could affect the relationship between H. pylori and gastric cardia cancer; (2) The definition of gastric cardia cancer in various studies is inconsistent. The result of a meta-analysis about the relationship between H. pylori virulence factor cagA and gastric cardia cancer showed that there was no relationship between these two.     

中药调控氧化应激治疗男性不育症实验研究进展

氧化应激(OS)是指机体遭受各种有害刺激时产生过多的活性氧自由基而无法及时清除,导致氧化系统和抗氧化系统平衡失调,引起组织或细胞功能紊乱和损伤的一种状态。OS与男性不育症(MI)关系密切,OS通过影响精子发生,损伤精子膜、脱氧核糖核酸(DNA)、线粒体,降低精子运动能力,加速细胞凋等途径使精子质量下降,导致MI。研究发现,单味中药的有效成分多糖类化合物(黄芪多糖、党参多糖、枸杞多糖、黄精多糖、山茱萸多糖、当归多糖、女贞子多糖、石斛多糖),黄酮类化合物(菟丝子总黄酮、槲皮素、紫云英苷、羊藿苷、金丝桃苷),皂苷类化合物(人参皂苷、蒺藜皂苷、薯蓣皂苷元),苯丙素类化合物(五味子甲素、姜黄素、白藜芦醇),环烯醚萜苷类化合物(桃叶珊瑚苷),氮苷类化合物(红景天苷),低聚糖类化合物(巴戟甲素),苯乙醇苷类化合物(肉苁蓉苯乙醇苷)多肽类化合物(牡蛎肽)具有抗氧化作用,可提升雄性动物MI模型的生殖功能。     

乙肝病毒X基因转基因树鼩模型的建立和病理学研究

目的:探索以精原细胞作为载体建立带乙肝病毒X基因的树鼩转基因动物模型的可行性.方法:首先构建带乙肝病毒pcDNA3.1- HBx基因的表达载体;然后以脂质体2000包被之.将此复合物以微量注射器注入8只雄性树鼩之睾丸组织中,1周后重复注射1次.注射后6周,使处理过的雄树鼩与雌性树鼩交配.在仔树鼩出生后1个月,取其肝组织作活检,并以多聚酶链式反应(PCR)对其DNA表达进行鉴定,观察其内是否存在乙肝病毒X基因.结果:处理的8只雄性树鼩中,6只具有生育能力,产仔树鼩11只.其中,1只仔树鼩乙肝病毒X基因阳性(阳性率9.09%).基因测序结果证实为乙肝病毒X基因.病理检查结果显示仔树鼩肝组织的改变包括:肝细胞坏死、慢性炎细胞在汇管区的浸润.结论:以精原干细胞作为载体,建立带乙肝病毒X基因的树鼩转基因动物模型是可行的.     

Therapeutic effects of stiripentol against ischemia-reperfusion injury in gerbils focusing on cognitive deficit,neuronal death,astrocyte damage and blood brain barrier leakage in the hippocampus

Stiripentol is an anti-epileptic drug for the treating of refractory status epilepticus. It has been reported that stiripentol can attenuate seizure severity and reduce seizure-induced neuronal damage in animal models of epilepsy. The objective of the present study was to investigate effects of post-treatment with stiripentol on cognitive deficit and neuronal damage in the cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) region of the hippocampus proper following transient ischemia in the forebrain of gerbils. To evaluate ischemia-induced cognitive impairments, passive avoidance test and 8-arm radial maze test were performed. It was found that post-treatment with stiripentol at 20 mg/kg, but not 10 or 15 mg/kg, reduced ischemia-induced memory impairment. Transient ischemia-induced neuronal death in the CA1 region was also significantly attenuated only by 20 mg/kg stiripentol treatment after transient ischemia. In addition, 20 mg/kg stiripentol treatment significantly decreased ischemia-induced astrocyte damage and immunoglobulin G leakage. In brief, stiripentol treatment after transient ischemia ameliorated transient ischemia-induced cognitive impairment in gerbils, showing that pyramidal neurons were protected and astrocyte damage and blood brain barrier leakage were significantly attenuated in the hippocampus. Results of this study suggest stiripentol can be developed as a candidate of therapeutic drug for ischemic stroke.