超声弹性成像与超声造影对肝肿瘤的诊断效果对比

目的:分析超声弹性成像与超声造影对肝肿瘤的诊断效果。方法:收集我院2015年3月至2016年3月收治的肝肿瘤患者76例,术前均行超声弹性成像和超声造影检查,比较超声弹性成像和超声造影与病理诊断(黄金标准)的结果。结果:超声弹性成像与病理检查结果比较无统计学差异(P0.05);超声造影与病理检查结果无统计学差异(P0.05);超声弹性成像和超声造影的敏感性、特异性、准确性无统计学差异(P0.05)。结论:超声弹性成像、超声造影对肝肿瘤诊断中均有重要价值,建议二者联合检测,提高肝肿瘤检出准确率。     

肝组织弥散度成像在慢性肝损伤诊断中的临床研究

目的:探讨Strain Histogram组织弥散度成像技术在慢性肝损伤程度无创诊断中的临床价值。方法:应用Strain Histogram组织弥散度成像技术定量检测180例慢性肝炎(病毒性肝炎105例,非病毒性肝炎75例)患者肝脏弹性特征值,对照病理,分析肝脏弹性特征值与肝纤维化及肝脏炎症程度的相关性。结果:180例慢性肝炎患者LF指数用于判断轻度与中重度纤维化的诊断界值为2.785,LF指数越大,纤维化程度越重,灵敏度76.6%,特异度48.9%;LF指数用于判断轻度与中重度炎症的诊断界值为2.925,LF指数越大,炎症程度越重,灵敏度73.2%,特异度56.8%。105例病毒性肝炎患者LF指数用于判断轻度与中重度纤维化的诊断界值为2.975,LF指数越大,纤维化程度越重,灵敏度69.2%,特异度67.1%;LF指数用于判断轻度与中重度炎症的诊断界值为2.915,LF指数越大,炎症程度越重,灵敏度80.0%,特异度57.8%。75例非病毒性肝炎患者LF指数与肝纤维化和炎症程度不具有相关性。结论:LF指数可以反映肝脏纤维化及炎症程度,诊断灵敏度高,LF指数越大,肝纤维化及炎症程度越重。     

肝纤维化发病机制的研究进展

肝纤维化(liver fibrosis,LF)是一种可由多种致病因素导致的疾病,由于尚无有效的治疗手段,其已经严重地威胁着全球人的健康。虽然LF可以逆转,但更多会发生恶化进而发展为肝硬化和肝癌。目前为止,其发病机制已经可以从多方面被阐述。肝星状细胞(hepatic stellate cells,HSCs)是LF发展的中心和关键,而其他细胞也成为影响纤维化必不可少的因素。它们以细胞因子为联系,并大量分泌首要的细胞因子-转化生长因子-β1-来刺激HSCs的激活和增殖。最终,它们共同导致胶原的沉积和细胞外基质(extracellular matrix,ECM)结构的紊乱。而这其中,长链非编码RNA也积极参与了对纤维化过程的影响。本综述将从细胞、细胞因子、ECM以及基因等方面对LF的发生和发展进行探讨,从而有助于我们明确LF的发病机制,并为研发LF有效的治疗方法提供方向。     

Scaffold-free 3D bio-printed human liver tissue stably maintains metabolic functions useful for drug discovery

The liver plays a central role in metabolism. Although many studies have described in vitro liver models for drug discovery, to date, no model has been described that can stably maintain liver function. Here, we used a unique, scaffold-free 3D bio-printing technology to construct a small portion of liver tissue that could stably maintain drug, glucose, and lipid metabolism, in addition to bile acid secretion. This bio-printed normal human liver tissue maintained expression of several kinds of hepatic drug transporters and metabolic enzymes that functioned for several weeks. The bio-printed liver tissue displayed glucose production via cAMP/protein kinase A signaling, which could be suppressed with insulin. Bile acid secretion was also observed from the printed liver tissue, and it accumulated in the culture medium over time. We observed both bile duct and sinusoid-like structures in the bio-printed liver tissue, which suggested that bile acid secretion occurred via a sinusoid-hepatocyte-bile duct route. These results demonstrated that our bio-printed liver tissue was unique, because it exerted diverse liver metabolic functions for several weeks. In future, we expect our bio-printed liver tissue to be applied to developing new models that can be used to improve preclinical predictions of long-term toxicity in humans, generate novel targets for metabolic liver disease, and evaluate biliary excretion in drug development.     

Proteomic analysis of physiological function response to hot summer in liver from lactating dairy cows

Lactation performance of dairy cattle is susceptible to heat stress. The liver is one of the most crucial organs affected by high temperature in dairy cows. However, the physiological adaption by the liver to hot summer conditions has not been well elucidated in lactating dairy cows. In the present study, proteomic analysis of the liver in dairy cows in spring and hot summer was performed using a label-free method. In total, 127 differentially expressed proteins were identified; most of the upregulated proteins were involved in protein metabolic processes and responses to stimuli, whereas most of the downregulated proteins were related to oxidation–reduction. Pathway analysis indicated that 3 upregulated heat stress proteins (HSP90α, HSP90β, and endoplasmin) were enriched in the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, whereas several downregulated NADH dehydrogenase proteins were involved in the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. The protein–protein interaction network indicated that several upregulated HSPs (HSP90α, HSP90β, and GRP78) were involved in more interactions than other proteins and were thus considered as central hub nodes. Our findings provide novel insights into the physiological adaption of liver function in lactating dairy cows to natural high temperature.     

Neutral sphingomyelinase inhibition alleviates apoptosis,but not ER stress,in liver ischemia–reperfusion injury

Previous studies have revealed the activation of neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase)/ceramide pathway in hepatic tissue following warm liver ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury. Excessive ceramide accumulation is known to potentiate apoptotic stimuli and a link between apoptosis and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been established in hepatic IR injury. Thus, this study determined the role of selective N-SMase inhibition on ER stress and apoptotic markers in a rat model of liver IR injury. Selective N-SMase inhibitor was administered via intraperitoneal injections. Liver IR injury was created by clamping blood vessels supplying the median and left lateral hepatic lobes for 60?min, followed by 60?min reperfusion. Levels of sphingmyelin and ceramide in liver tissue were determined by an optimized multiple reactions monitoring (MRM) method using ultrafast-liquid chromatography (UFLC) coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Spingomyelin levels were significantly increased in all IR groups compared with controls. Treatment with a specific N-SMase inhibitor significantly decreased all measured ceramides in IR injury. A significant increase was observed in ER stress markers C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) and 78?kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78) in IR injury, which was not significantly altered by N-SMase inhibition. Inhibition of N-SMase caused a significant reduction in phospho-NF-kB levels, hepatic TUNEL staining, cytosolic cytochrome c, and caspase-3, -8, and -9 activities which were significantly increased in IR injury. Data herein confirm the role of ceramide in increased apoptotic cell death and highlight the protective effect of N-SMase inhibition in down-regulation of apoptotic stimuli responses occurring in hepatic IR injury.     

Differential expression of six genes and correlation with fatness traits in a unique broiler population

Previous results from genome wide association studies (GWASs) in chickens divergently selected for abdominal fat content of Northeast Agricultural University (NEAUHLF) showed that many single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variants were associated with abdominal fat content. Of them, six top significant SNPs at the genome level were located within SRD5A3, SGCZ, DLC1, GBE1, GALNT9 and DNAJB6 genes. Here, expression levels of these six candidate genes were investigated in abdominal fat and liver tissue between fat and lean broilers from the 14th generation population of NEAUHLF. The results showed that expression levels of SRD5A3, SGCZ and DNAJB6 in the abdominal fat and SRD5A3, DLC1, GALNT9, DNAJB6 and GBE1 in the liver tissue differed significantly between the fat and lean birds, and were correlated with abdominal fat traits. The findings will provide important references for further function investigation of the six candidate genes involved in abdominal fat deposition in chickens.     

Hepatic stem cells: A viable approach for the treatment of liver cirrhosis

Liver cirrhosis is characterized by distortion of liver architecture, necrosis of hepatocytes and regenerative nodules formation leading to cirrhosis. Various types of cell sources have been used for the management and treatment of decompensated liver cirrhosis. Knowledge of stem cells has offered a new dimension for regenerative therapy and has been considered as one of the potential adjuvant treatment modality in patients with end stage liver diseases (ESLD). Human fetal hepatic progenitor cells are less immunogenic than adult ones. They are highly propagative and challenging to cryopreservation. In our earlier studies we have demonstrated that fetuses at 10-18 wk of gestation age contain a large number of actively dividing hepatic stem and progenitor cells which possess bi-potent nature having potential to differentiate into bile duct cells and mature hepatocytes. Hepatic stem cell therapy for the treatment of ESLD is in their early stage of the translation. The emerging technology of decellularization and recellularization might offer a significant platform for developing bioengineered personalized livers to come over the scarcity of desired number of donor organs for the treatment of ESLD. Despite these significant advancements long-term tracking of stem cells in human is the most important subject nowadays in order to answer several unsettles issues regarding the route of delivery, the choice of stem cell type(s), the cell number and the time-point of cell delivery for the treatment in a chronic setting. Answering to these questions will further contribute to the development of safer, noninvasive, and repeatable imaging modalities that could discover better cell therapeutic approaches from bench to bed-side. Combinatorial approach of decellularization and nanotechnology could pave a way towards the better understanding in determination of cell fate post-transplantation.     

针灸联合逍遥散合半夏厚朴汤治疗肝郁脾虚型抑郁症患者伴胃肠功能紊乱的临床疗效

摘要 目的：探讨针灸联合逍遥散合半夏厚朴汤治疗肝郁脾虚型抑郁症患者伴胃肠功能紊乱的临床疗效。方法：选取我院2020年5月到2023年5月收治的80例抑郁症伴胃肠功能紊乱患者作为研究对象,中医证型均为肝郁脾虚型,分为观察组与对照组,40例。对照组患者采取逍遥散合半夏厚朴汤治疗,观察组在对照组基础上增加针灸治疗,对比两组患者临床疗效,分别在治疗前后应用汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HAMD）、负性认知加工偏向问卷（NCPBQ）评价抑郁症状和负性认知情况,并对比治疗前后肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、C反应蛋白（CRP）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）表达水平和胃动素（motilin,MTL）、生长抑素（SS）、胃泌素（GAS）相关血清肠胃激素表达水平,并采用世界卫生组织生活质量-100量表（WHOQOL-100）评估生活质量。结果：观察组治疗总有效率较对照组高（P＜0.05）;治疗前两组患者HAMD、NCPBQ评分对比无差异（P＞0.05）,治疗后两组患者均降低,且观察组较对照组低（P＜0.05）;治疗前两组患者TNF-α、CRP、IL-6相关炎症因子和MTL、SS、GAS相关胃肠激素水平对比无明显差异（P＞0.05）,治疗后两组患者TNF-α、CRP、IL-6、SS、GAS水平均降低,且观察组较对照组低,MTL水平升高,观察组较对照组高（P＜0.05）;两组患者治疗后生活质量相关评分均升高,且观察组较对照组高（P＜0.05）。结论：针灸联合逍遥散合半夏厚朴汤治疗肝郁脾虚型抑郁症伴胃肠功能紊乱疗效显著,可减轻患者抑郁情绪和负性认知,降低炎症反应,改善胃肠激素水平,提升患者生活质量。