Undifferentiated high-grade pleomorphic sarcoma of the common bile duct:A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma(UPS)is a rare malignant mesenchymal tumor with a poor prognosis.It mainly occurs in the extremities,trunk,head and neck,and retroperitoneum regions.Owing to the lack of specific clinical manifestations and imaging features,UPS diagnosis mainly depends on pathological and immunohistochemical examinations for exclusive diagnosis.Here we report an extremely rare case of high-grade UPS in the common bile duct(CBD).There are limited available data on such cases.CASE SUMMARY A 70-year-old woman was admitted to our department with yellow eyes and urine accompanied by upper abdominal distending pain for 2 wk.Her laboratory data suggested significantly elevated hepatorenal function levels.The imaging data revealed calculous cholecystitis,intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile duct dilation with extrahepatic bile duct calculi,and a space-occupying lesion at the distal CBD.After endoscopic biliary stenting and symptomatic support therapy,CBD exploration and biopsy were performed.The frozen section indicated malignant spindle cell tumor of the CBD mass,and further radical pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed.Finally,the neoplasm was diagnosed as a high-grade UPS combined with the light-microscopic morphology and immunohistochemical results.CONCLUSION This extremely rare case highlighted the need for increasing physicians'vigilance,reducing the odds of misdiagnosis,and providing appropriate treatment strategies.

Anastomosing hemangioma arising from the left renal vein:A case report

BACKGROUND Anastomosing hemangioma(AH)is a rare subtype of benign hemangioma that is most commonly found in the genitourinary tract.Due to the lack of specific clinical and radiologic manifestations,it is easily misdiagnosed preoperatively.Here,we report a case of AH arising from the left renal vein that was discovered incidentally and confirmed pathologically,and then describe its imaging characteristics from a radiologic point of view and review its clinicopathologic features and treatment.CASE SUMMARY A 74-year-old woman was admitted to our department for a left retroperitoneal neoplasm measuring 2.6 cm×2.0 cm.Her laboratory data showed no significant abnormalities.A non-contrast-enhanced computed tomography(CT)scan showed a heterogeneous density in the neoplasm.Non-contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)revealed a heterogeneous hypointensity on T1-weighed images and a heterogeneous hyperintensity on T2-weighed images.On contrastenhanced CT and MRI scans,the neoplasm presented marked septal enhancement in the arterial phase and persistent enhancement in the portal phase,and its boundary with the left renal vein was ill-defined.Based on these clinical and radiological manifestations,the neoplasm was initially considered to be a neurogenic neoplasm in the left retroperitoneum.Finally,the neoplasm was completely resected and pathologically diagnosed as AH.CONCLUSION AH is an uncommon benign hemangioma.Preoperative misdiagnoses are common not only because of a lack of specific clinical and radiologic manifestations but also because clinicians lack vigilance and diagnostic experience in identifying AH.AH is not exclusive to the urogenital parenchyma.We report the first case of this neoplasm in the left renal vein.Recognition of this entity in the left renal vein can be helpful in its diagnosis and distinction from other neoplasms.

Effect of fragile histidine triad gene transduction on proliferation and apoptosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

AIM:To evaluate the inhibitory effects of human fragile histidine triad(FHIT) gene on cell proliferation and apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma line Hep3B in vitro. METHODS:A recombinant pcDNA3.1(+) /FHIT including the functional region of FHIT gene was constructed and transferred into human hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro. mRNA and protein expression of the FHIT gene in the transfected cells was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot,respectively. The effect of FHIT on proliferation was detected by MTT assay. Changes in cell cycle and apoptosis were assayed by flow cytometry. Five mice received subcutaneous transplantation of Hep3B-FHIT;5 mice received subcutaneous transplantation of normal Hep3B and Hep3B-C as controls. The body weight of nude mice and tumor growth were measured. RESULTS:RT-PCR and Western blot analysis showed that the expression level of FHIT-mRNA and FHIT protein was higher in Hep3B cells after infection withpcDNA3.1(+) /FHIT. The growth of Hep3B cells treated with pcDNA3.1(+) /FHIT was significantly inhibited. The pcDNA3.1(+) /FHIT-transfected Hep3B cells showed a significantly higher cell rate at G0-G1 phase and increased apoptosis in comparison with controls(P < 0.05) . The growth of transplanted tumor was inhibited markedly by FHIT. Tumors arising from the Hep3B-FHIT cells occurred much later than those arising from the Hep3B and Hep3B-C cells. The growth of Hep3B-FHIT cells was slow and the tumor volume was low. CONCLUSION:Transduction of FHIT gene inhibits the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells and induces cell apoptosis in vivo and in vitro.

EFFICIENT POLYMER PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES BASED ON POLYMER D-A BLENDS

Recent work demonstrated that efficient solar-energy conversion could be achieved in polymer photovoltaic cells (PVCs) based on interpenetrating bi-continuous networks([1,2]). In this paper we present a comprehensive study on improving energy conversion efficiencies of PVCs based on composite films of MEBPPV and fullerene derivatives. Carrier collection efficiency of ca. 30% el/ph and energy conversion efficiency of 3.9% were achieved at 500 nm. At reverse bias of 15 V, the photosensitivity reached 0.8 A/W, corresponding to a quantum efficiency over 100% el/ph. These results suggest that high efficiency photoelectric conversion can be achieved in polymer devices with M-P-M structure. These devices are promising for practical applications such as plastic solar cells and plastic photodetectors.

Radiological aspects of giant hepatocellular adenoma of the left liver: A case report

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular adenoma(HCA)is very rare and has a high misdiagnosis rate through clinical and imaging examinations.We report a case of giant HCA of the left liver in a young woman that was diagnosed by medical imaging and pathology.CASE SUMMARY A 21-year-old woman was admitted to our department for a giant hepatic tumor measuring 22 cm×20 cm×10 cm that completely replaced the left hepatic lobe.Her laboratory data only suggested mildly elevated liver function parameters and C-reactive protein levels.A computed tomography(CT)scan showed mixed density in the tumor.Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)of the tumor revealed a heterogeneous hypointensity on T1-weighed MR images and heterogeneous hyperintensity on T2-weighed MR images.On dynamic contrast CT and MRI scans,the tumor presented marked enhancement and the subcapsular feeding arteries were clearly visible in the arterial phase,with persistent enhancement in the portal and delayed phases.Moreover,the tumor capsule was especially prominent on T1-weighted MR images and showed marked enhancement in the delayed phase.Based on these imaging manifestations,the tumor was initially considered to be an HCA.Subsequently,the tumor was completely resected and pathologically diagnosed as an HCA.CONCLUSION HCA is an extremely rare hepatic tumor.Preoperative misdiagnoses were common not only due to the absence of special clinical manifestations and laboratory examination findings,but also due to the clinicians’lack of practical diagnostic experience and vigilance in identifying HCA on medical images.Our case highlights the importance of the combination of contrast-enhanced CT and MRI in the preoperative diagnosis of HCA.

Nitric Oxide Potentiates Oligosaccharide-induced Artemisinin Production in Artemisia annua Hairy Roots

The purpose of the present study was to characterize the generation of nitric oxide （NO） in Artemisia annua roots induced by an oligosaccharide elicitor （OE） from Fusarium oxysporum mycelium and the potentiation role of NO in the elicitation of artemisinin accumulation. The OE （0.3 mg total sugar/mL） induced a rapid production of NO in cultures, which exhibited a biphasic time course, reaching the first plateau within 1.5 h and the second within 8 h of OE treatment. Artemisinin content in 20-day-old hairy roots was increased from 0.7mg/g dry wt to 1.3 mg/g dry wt by using the OE treatment for 4d. In the absence of OE, the NO donor sodium nitroprusside （SNP） at 10, 50 ~1 and 100 ~1 enhanced the growth of hairy roots, but had no effect on artemisinin synthesis, The combination of SNP with OE increased artemisinin content from 1.2 mg/g drywt to 2.2 mg/g dry wt, whereas the maximum production of artemisinin in cultures was 28.5 mg/L, a twofold increase over the OE treatment alone. The effects of SNP on the OE-induced artemisinin were suppressed strongly by the NO scavenger 2-（4- carboxyphenyl）-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-l-oxyl-3-oxide （cPTIO）. The results suggest that NO can strongly potentiate elicitor-induced artemisinin synthesis in A. annua hairy roots.