Intravitreous injection of Lucentis combined with argon laser photocoagulation for treatment of retinal macroaneurysm

AIM: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of intravitreous injection of Lucentis combined with argon laser photocoagulation on retinal macroaneurysm.<p>METHODS: A retrospective observation about intravitreous injection of Lucentis combined with argon laser photocoagulation was performed on 9 patients(9 eyes)with retinal macroaneurysms with macular edema between January 2011 and July 2013. Through the collection of clinical data in patients best-corrected visual acuity, change of the retinal macroaneurysm, optical coherence tomography and fluoresce in fundus angiography before therapy and 1 mouth,3 mouths after therapy, comparative analysis the changes in best-corrected visual acuity and central macular retinal thickness(CMT)between before and after treatment.<p>RESULTS: Followed for more than 3 months, all patients' best-corrected visual acuity were improved obviously, the difference was significant(<i>P</i><0.05); The patients' macular edema was obviously absorbed and the average CMT was significantly lower, the difference was significant(<i>P</i><0.05). In fundus fluorescein angiography, the neoplasia body was atrophied inordinately after 3 months of treatment.<p>CONCLUSION:Intravitreous injection of Lucentis combined with argon laser photocoagulation is effective and security to improving visual acuity of retinal macroaneurysms with macular edema

Meta-analysis of quantitative diffusion-weighted MR imaging in the differential diagnosis of breast lesions

BACKGROUND: To determine, in a meta-analysis, the diagnostic performance of quantitative diffusion-weighted (DW) MR imaging in patients with breast lesions. METHODS: English and Chinese studies published prior to June 2009 to assess the diagnostic performance of quantitative DWI in patients with breast lesions were reviewed and summarized with reference to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality was assessed by using the quality assessment of diagnostic studies (QUADAS) instrument. Publication bias analysis was performed by using Comprehensive Meta-analysis version 2. Meta-Disc version 1.4 was used to describe primary results and explore homogeneity by Chi-square test and inconsistency index; to explore threshold effect by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) space and Spearman correlation coefficient; and to pool weighted sensitivity and specificity by fixed or random effect model. A summary ROC (sROC) curve was constructed to calculate the area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: Of 65 eligible studies, 13 with 615 malignant and 349 benign lesions were included in the original meta-analysis, among which heterogeneity arising from factors other than threshold effect and publication bias was explored. Methodological quality was moderate. The pooled weighted sensitivity and specificity with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) in one homogenous subgroup of studies using maximum b = 1000 s/mm(2 )were 0.84 (0.80, 0.87) and 0.84 (0.79, 0.88) respectively. AUC of sROC was 0.9085. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the pooled estimates were stable and reliable. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative DWI has a higher specificity to differentiate between benign and malignant breast lesions compared to that of contrast-enhanced MRI. However, large scale randomized control trials (RCTs) are necessary to assess its clinical value because of disunified diffusion gradient factor b and diagnosis threshold

Thomas Jefferson University, Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Oral Administration of Apigenin Inhibits Metastasis through AKT/P70S6K1/MMP-9 Pathway in Orthotopic Ovarian Tumor Model.

Apigenin, a flavonoid commonly present in the daily diet, is known for its potential anti-tumor properties. However, the effect of apigenin via oral administration on tumor growth and metastasis remains unknown. In this study we developed an orthotopic ovarian tumor model in nude mice to test the effect of apigenin oral administration, and showed that apigenin inhibited the micrometastasis of cancer cells in the animal tumor model. To understand the mechanism of apigenin in inhibiting metastasis, we found that apigenin greatly inhibited MMP-9 expression and p-AKT and p-p70S6K1 levels in the tumor tissues compared to the control group. We further demonstrated that the downregulation of MMP-9 by apigenin was mediated by the AKT/p70S6K1 pathway. These findings help to address the question with common interests to the public of whether oral uptake of flavonoids is effective in preventing cancer. Our results demonstrate for the first time that oral uptake of apigenin can inhibit tumor metastasis through MMP-9 expression using the orthotopic ovarian tumor model

Effects of supplementing lactic acid bacteria on fecal microbiota, total cholesterol, triglycerides and bile acids in rats.

Background: Probiotics (LAB) are normal components of the intestinal micro-flora in both humans and animals and its ingestion in decreasing the risk of atherosclerosis. In addition, the potential health effects of LAB were investigated by monitoring changes in intestinal micro-flora and lipid metabolism in a rat model.Materials and Methods: Rats were randomly assigned into four treatments and fecal samples were obtained on days 1, 3, 5, 9 and 14，to evaluate fecal micro biota, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and bile acids in rats (TBA).Results: The results indicated that Lactobacillus plantarum strain L.p X3-2B increased fecal lactic acid bacteria(LAB) and Bifidobacterium while resisting the growth of harmful bacteria. Viable counts of LAB and Bifidobacterium reached 8 log cfu/mL after feeding for 14 days. Fecal pH in the control group was high in comparison with the treatments at all times. Treatment increased the excretion of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and total bile acid (TBA). The results indicate that LAB and Bifidobacterium induce a positive correlation with fecal TC, TG and TBA and a negative correlation with fecal Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus and Escherichia coli.Conclusion: Lactic acid bacteria screened from Inner Mongolia native meat sausages in China had cholesterol-lowering effect.Keywords: Lactic acid bacteria, fecal micro biota, TC, TG, TB

A Three-Dimensional Tight-Binding Model and Magnetic Instability of KFe2e2

For a newly discovered iron-based high T_c superconducting parent material KFe2Se2, we present an effective three-dimensional five-orbital tight-binding model by fitting the band structures. The three t2g-symmetry orbitals of the five Fe 3d orbitals mainly contribute to the electron-like Fermi surface, in agreement with recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments. To understand the groundstate magnetic structure, the two- and three-dimensional dynamical spin susceptibilities within the random phase approximation are investigated. It obviously shows a sharp peak at wave vector $\mathbf{Q}$ $\thicksim$ ($\pi$, $\pi$), indicating the magnetic instability of {\it N$\acute{e}$el}-type antiferromagnetic rather than ($\pi$/2, $\pi$/2)-type antiferromagnetic ordering. While along \emph{c} axis, it exhibits a ferromagnetic coupling between the nearest neighboring FeSe layers. The difference between the present results and the experimental observation in KxFe2-ySe2 is attributed to the presence of Fe vacancy in the latter.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure