K-ras gene mutation in the diagnosis of ultrasound guided fine-needle biopsy of pancreatic masses

AIM: To investigate the utility of K-ras mutation analysis ofultrasound guided fine-needle aspirate biopsy of pancreaticmasses.METHODS: Sixty-six ultrasound guided fine-needle biopsieswere evaluated by cytology, histology and k-ras mutation.The mutation at codon 12 of the k-ras oncogene wasdetected by artificial restriction fragment lengthpolymorphisms using Bst NI approach.RESULTS: The presence of malignant cells was reported in40 of 54 pancreatic carcinomas and K-ras mutations weredetected in 45 of the 54 FNABs of pancreatic carcinomas. Thesensitivity of cytology and k-ras mutation were 74 % and 83%, respectively. The speciality of cytology and k-ras mutationwere both 100 %. The sensitivity and speciality of k-ras mutationcombined with cytology were 83 % and 100 %, respectively.CONCLUSION: High diagnostic accuracy with acceptablediscomfort of FNAB make it useful in diagnosis of pancreaticcarcinoma. Ultrasound guided fine-needle biopsy is a safeand feasible method for diagnosing pancreatic cancer.Pancreatic carcinoma has the highest K-ras mutation rateamong all solid tumors. The mutation rate of k-ras is about80-100 %. The usage of mutation of codon 12 of k-rasoncogene combined with cytology is a good alternative forevaluation of pancreatic masses.

Rice From Mercury Contaminated Areas in Guizhou Province Induces c-jun Expression in Rat Brain

Objective Mercury (Hg), as one of the priority pollutants and also a hot topic of frontier environmental research in many countries, has been paid higher attention in the world since the middle of the last century. Guizhou Province (at N24°30′-29°13′, E103°1′-109°30′, 1 100 m above the sea level, with subtropical humid climate) in southwest China is an important mercury production center. It has been found that the mercury content in most media of aquatics, soil, atmosphere and in biomass of corns, plants and animals, is higher than the national standard.The present study aims to explore the influence of mercury pollution on the health of local citizens. Methods The effect of rice from two mercury polluted experimental plots of Guizhou Province on the expression of c-jun mRNA in rat brain and c-jun protein in cortex, hippocampus and ependyma was observed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunocytochemical methods. Results The results showed that the mercury polluted rice induced expression of c-jun mRNA and its protein significantly. Selenium can reduce Hg uptake, an antagonism between selenium and mercury on the expression of c-jun mRNA and c-jun protein. Conclusion c-jun participates in the toxicity process of brain injury by mercury polluted rice, the expression of c- jun mRNA in brain, and c-jun protein in rat cortex and hippocampus can predict neurotoxicity of mercury polluted rice. People should be advised to be cautious in eating any kind of Hg-polluted foods. To reveal the relationship between c-jun induction and apoptosis, further examinations are required.