Research progress of vasculopathy in portal hypertension

Portal hypertension, one of the vascular diseases, not only has lesions in liver, but also changes in vascular structures and functions of extrahepatic portal system, systemic system and pulmonary drculation. The pabhological changes of vasculopathy in portal hypertension include remodeling of arterialized visceral veins, intimal injury of visceral veins and destruction of contractile structure in visceral arterial wall. The mechanisms of vasculopathy in portal hypertension may be attributed to the changes of hemodynamics in portal system, immune response, gene modulation, vasoactive substances, and intrahepatic blood flow resistance. Portal hypertension can cause visceral hyperdynamic circulation, and the development and progression of visceral vasculopathy, while visceral vasculopathy can promote the development and progression of portal hypertension and visceral hyperdynamic circulation in turn. The aforementioned three factors interact in the pathogenesis of hepatic cirrhosisinduced portal hypertension and are involved in hemorrhage due to varicose vein rupture.

Risk Factors for Strangulated Ovarian Hernia in Female Infants:the Role of Ovarian Volume

The risk factors associated with strangulated ovarian hernia (SOH)in female patients (<1 year old)were identified.A retrospective analysis was conducted regarding the data from 2006 to 2017.The patients were divided into 2groups:SOH group (n=9)and non-SOH group (n=23). Patient demographics,clinical signs,preoperative examinations and intraoperative findings were compared between the two groups,and risk factors for SOH were tested using a binary logistic regression model.To explore whether greater ovary was more likely to be twisted,leading to SOH, all the patients were divided into ovary volume <5cm^3 and ≥5cm^3 groups and the association between ovarian volume and ovary torsion was assessed.Among a total of 32 female patients (<1year old)with incarcerated ovarian herniation,9 patients developed SOH.The single variate analysis revealed that times of manual reduction,ovarian volume,ovary with or without multiple cysts,ovary torsion or not and angle of ovary torsion were found to be significant factors associated with SOH.The multivariate analysis showed ovarian volume was evidenced as an independent risk factor for SOH.Furthermore,the incidence of ovary torsion was significantly higher in ovarian volume ≥5cm^3 group than in ovarian volume <5cm^3 group,indicating that larger ovary was more likely to result in ovary torsion,leading to SOH.Our study demonstrated that the odds of SOH increased with increasing ovarian volume in female patients (<1 year old)because the relatively greater ovary at this age was more likely to be incarcerated and twisted,leading to SOH.

Age-related Changes in the Global DNA Methylation Profile of Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells Derived from Rat Spinal Cords

Demyelination of axons plays an important role in the pathology of many spinal cord diseases and injuries.Remyelination in demyelinated lesions is primarily performed by oligodendrocyte progenitor cells(OPCs),which generate oligodendrocytes in the developing and mature central nervous system.The efficiency of remyelination decreases with age.Many reports suggest that this decline in remyelination results from impaired OPC recruitment and differentiation during aging.Of the various molecular mechanisms involved in aging,changes in epigenetic modifications have received particular attention.Global DNA methylation is a major epigenetic modification that plays important roles in cellular senescence and organismal aging.Thus,we aimed to evaluate the dynamic changes in the global DNA methylation profiles of OPCs derived from rat spinal cords during the aging process.We separated and cultured OPCs from the spinal cords of neonatal,4-month-old,and 16-month-old rats and investigated the age-related alterations of genomic DNA methylation levels by using quantitative colorimetric analysis.To determine the potential cause of dynamic changes in global DNA methylation,we further analyzed the activity of DNA methyltransferases(DNMTs)and the expression of DNMT1,DNMT3a,DNMT3b,TET1,TET2,TET3,MBD2,and MeCP2 in the OPCs from each group.Our results showed the genomic DNA methylation level and the activity of DNMTs from OPCs derived from rat spinal cords decreased gradually during aging,and OPCs from 16-month-old rats were characterized by global hypomethylation.During OPC aging,the mRNA and protein expression levels of DNMT3a,DNMT3b,and MeCP2 were significantly elevated;those of DNMT1 were significantly down-regulated;and no significant changes were observed in those for TET1,TET2,TET3,or MBD2.Our results indicated that global DNA hypomethylation in aged OPCs is correlated with DNMT1 downregulation.Together,these data provide important evidence for partly elucidating the mechanism of age-related impaired OPC recruitment and differentiation and assist in the development of new treatments for promoting efficient remyelination.

The Role of sICAM-1 Detection in the Diagnosis of Acute Rejection Following Liver Transplantation

In order to evaluate the applied value of soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 （sICAM-l） in acute rejection （AR） following liver transplantation, the expression of sICAM-1 protein was sequentially detected by using ELISA in serum and bile of 43 patients receiving liver transplantation. In AR group, the expression levels of sICAM-1 protein were increased 3 days before and immediately on the establishment of AR diagnosis, and there was significant difference in the expression of bile between AR group and control group （P〈0.01）. After reversion of AR with hormone intensive therapy, there was significant difference in the sICAM-1 protein expression of serum and bile between AR group and control group. It was concluded that the sequential detection of sICAM-1 protein level in serum and bile was a reliable and noninvasive method for the early diagnosis of AR after liver transplantation and was valuable to observe the curative effects of anti-AR therapy.

EXPRESSION OF DPC4 PROTEIN IN COLORECTAL CARCINOMA IN DIFFERENT STAGES

Objective.To d etermine whether the non-expression of DPC4protein only occurs late in the dev el-opment of colorectal carcinoma.Methods.In this study,we examined the ex pression of DPC4protein in formalin-fixed archival specimens from102colorec tal neoplasm with immunohistochemical analysis.Those specimens were classi-fie d into5stages:stageⅠ;stageⅡ(intramucosal carcinoma ,8cases);stageⅢ(primary invasive carcinoma without infiltration of the l ymph nodes,11cases);stageⅣ(primary invasive carcinoma with infiltration of the lymph nodes,25cases);and stageⅤ(carcinoma metastasized to dis-ta nt tissue,22cases).Results.The frequency of non-expression of DPC4prote ins were5.5%in stage I,12.5%in stage II;9% in stage III;36%in stage IV;32%in stag e V.The frequency of negative expression of DPC4protein were analyzed by÷ 2 test for stage II and III versus stage IV and V and there was statistically significant difference.At same time ,there was statistically signifi-cant differencefor adenoma versus carcinoma .Conclusions.The frequency of non-expression of DPC4protein increases as the stage of colorectal carcinoma advances and the non-expressio n of DPC4protein is likely to be a late event in the sequential pathogenesis o f colorectal carcinoma.The non-expression DPC4protein in colorectal neoplasm may sug-gest its malignant characteristic,which will help us to increase the insight on colorectal carcinoma.