Multiparametric MRI-based whole-liver radiomics for predicting early-stage liver fibrosis in rabbits.

Objectives: To develop and validate a whole-liver radiomic model using multiparametric MRI for predicting early-stage liver fibrosis (LF) in rabbits.

Methods: A total of 134 rabbits (early-stage LF, n = 91; advanced-stage LF, n = 43) who underwent liver magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), hepatobiliary phase, dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE), intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM), diffusion kurtosis imaging, and T2* scanning were enrolled and randomly allocated to either the training or validation cohort. Whole-liver radiomic features were extracted and selected to develop a radiomic model and generate quantitative Rad-scores.

Simultaneous liver steatosis, fibrosis and iron deposition quantification with mDixon quant based on radiomics analysis in a rabbit model.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of simultaneous quantification of liver fibrosis, liver steatosis and abnormal iron deposition using mDixon Quant based on radiomics analysis, and to eliminate the interference among different histopathologic features.

Methods: One hundred and twenty rabbits that were administered CCl4 for 4-16 weeks and a cholesterol rich diet for the initial 4 weeks in the experimental group and 20 rabbits in the control group were examined using mDixon. Radiomics features of the whole liver were extracted from PDFF and R2* and radiomics models for discriminating steatosis: S0-S1 vs.

Effect of Iron Deposition on Native T1 Mapping and Blood Oxygen Level Dependent for the Assessment of Liver Fibrosis in Rabbits With Carbon Tetrachloride Intoxication.

Rationale And Objectives: This study aimed to explore the effect of iron deposition on native T1 mapping and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) imaging in detecting liver fibrosis (LF) in a rabbit model.

Materials And Methods: An LF group (n = 100) was established by subcutaneously injecting 50% carbon tetrachloride (CCl) oil solution, and 20 normal rabbits composed a control group. Native T1 mapping and BOLD were performed, and the T1 and R* quantitative parameters were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and multiple logistic regression analyses, with histopathological results and liver iron content (LIC) serving as reference standards.

Comparing and combining MRE, T1ρ, SWI, IVIM, and DCE-MRI for the staging of liver fibrosis in rabbits: Assessment of a predictive model based on multiparametric MRI.

Purpose: To establish and validate an optimal predictive model based on multiparametric MRI for staging liver fibrosis (LF) in rabbits with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), spin-lattice relaxation time in the rotating frame (T1ρ imaging), SWI, intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM), and DCE-MRI.

Methods: The LF group included 120 rabbits induced by subcutaneous injections of carbon tetrachloride (CCl ); 30 normal rabbits served as the control group. Multiparametric MRI was performed, including MRE, T1ρ, SWI, IVIM, and DCE-MRI.

Collagen deposition in the liver is strongly and positively associated with T1rho elongation while fat deposition is associated with T1rho shortening: an experimental study of methionine and choline-deficient (MCD) diet rat model.

Background: A number of questions concerning the histological mechanism of elongated T1rho in liver fibrosis remain unanswered. Using a rat model of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) induced with methionine and choline-deficient (MCD) diet, the primary aim of this study is to clarify whether collagen deposition causes liver T1rho elongation.

Methods: There were 45 rats in the NAFLD model group and 8 rats in the control group.

Evaluation of renal ischemia-reperfusion injury by magnetic resonance imaging texture analysis: An experimental study.

Purpose: To explore the value of MRI texture analysis in evaluating the presence and severity of early renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI).

Methods: Healthy New Zealand rabbits were used (IRI group, N = 54; control group, N = 8). Rabbits in the IRI group underwent left renal artery clamping for 60 minutes.

Long non-coding RNA LINC-PINT attenuates paclitaxel resistance in triple-negative breast cancer cells via targeting the RNA-binding protein NONO.

The treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) relies largely on chemotherapies. However, it is frequent that TNBC patients develop resistance to the chemotherapy drugs. Generation of drug-resistant cell lines facilitates the identification of drug resistance.

Staging liver fibrosis on multiparametric MRI in a rabbit model with elastography, susceptibility-weighted imaging and T1ρ imaging: a preliminary study.

Background: Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), and T1ρ are three techniques for staging of liver fibrosis (LF).

Purpose: To assess the value of MRE, SWI, and T1ρ imaging in staging LF.

Material And Methods: Sixty rabbits were injected with 50% CCloil solution, whereas 20 rabbits were given normal saline.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI with Gd-EOB-DTPA for the quantitative assessment of early-stage liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride in rabbits.

Purpose: To explore quantitative parameters obtained by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE MRI) with Gd-EOB-DTPA in discriminating early-stage liver fibrosis (LF) in a rabbit model.

Materials And Methods: LF was established in 60 rabbits by the injection of 50% CCl oil solution, whereas 30 rabbits served as the control group. All rabbits underwent pathological examination to determine the LF stage using the METAVIR classification system.

Hybrid sequencing of the Gynostemma pentaphyllum transcriptome provides new insights into gypenoside biosynthesis.

Background: Gypenosides are a group of triterpene saponins from Gynostemma pentaphyllum that are the same as or very similar to ginsenosides from the Panax species. Several enzymes involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis have been characterized, which provide important clues for elucidating the gypenoside biosynthetic pathway. We suppose that gypenosides and ginsenosides may have a similar biosynthetic mechanism and that the corresponding enzymes in the two pathways may have considerable similarity in their sequences.

Evaluation of renal dysfunction using texture analysis based on DWI, BOLD, and susceptibility-weighted imaging.

Objective: To explore the value of texture analysis based on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), blood oxygen level-dependent MRI (BOLD), and susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) in evaluating renal dysfunction.

Methods: Seventy-two patients (mean age 53.72 ± 13.

[Recent advances in biosynthetic pathway and synthetic biology of taxol].

Taxol, a kind of terpenoid secondary metabolite produced by Taxus brevifolia, is an effective anticancer drug that manufacture relies mainly on the extraction form plants. In order to solve the resource shortage, a lot of work has been done to develop the alternative method. Recently, using synthetic biology to realize heterologous biosynthesis of the precursors of taxol has become a hotspot.

[Advance in transcriptomic studies of ginseng species].

There are many valuable medicinal plants in Ginseng genus belonging to Araliaceae. Among them, Panax ginseng, P. quinquefolium and P.

[Advance in biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids and its regulation in Catharanthus roseus].

Catharanthus roseus can produce a variety of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIA), most of which exhibit strong pharmacological activities. Hence, biosynthesis and regulation of TIA have received recent attention. 3α (S)-strictosidine is an important node in TIA biosynthesis, which is a condensation product of secologanin and tryptamine.

[Advance in flavonoids biosynthetic pathway and synthetic biology].

Flavonoids are the valuable components in medicinal plants, which possess a variety of pharmacological activities, including anti-tumor, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. There is an unambiguous understanding about flavonoids biosynthetic pathway, that is,2S-flavanones including naringenin and pinocembrin are the skeleton of other flavonoids and they can transform to other flavonoids through branched metabolic pathway. Elucidation of the flavonoids biosynthetic pathway lays a solid foundation for their synthetic biology.

[Strategies of elucidation of biosynthetic pathways of natural products].

Elucidation of the biosynthetic pathways of natural products is not only the major goal of herb genomics, but also the solid foundation of synthetic biology of natural products. Here, this paper reviewed recent advance in this field and put forward strategies to elucidate the biosynthetic pathway of natural products. Firstly, a proposed biosynthetic pathway should be set up based on well-known knowledge about chemical reactions and information on the identified compounds, as well as studies with isotope tracer.

[Key technologies in synthetic biology of natural products].

Natural products with complex and diverse structures are the major sources of new drugs. The biosynthesis of natural products is considered to be one of the best ways to solve the problems of complex and scarce natural products. DNA assembly technology and genome editing technology are two key technologies in the emerging interdisciplinary field of synthetic biology.

Altered Gray Matter Volume in Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with Subclinical Cognitive Impairment: an Exploratory Study.

Gray matter volume deficits have been identified in cognitively impaired patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, it remains unknown whether the gray matter volume is altered in COPD patients with subclinical cognitive impairment. To determine whether any gray matter abnormalities are present in these patients, neuropsychological tests and structural MRI data were analyzed from 60 patients with COPD and 60 age-, gender-, education-, and handedness-matched normal controls (NCs).

Magnetic resonance elastography in a rabbit model of liver fibrosis: a 3-T longitudinal validation for clinical translation.

This study aimed to determine the relationships between magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) imaging biomarkers and the stages of liver fibrosis in a rabbit model of liver fibrosis, a longitudinal validation for clinical translation. Liver fibrosis was induced in 38 male New Zealand rabbits by weekly subcutaneous injections of 0.1 ml 50% carbon tetrachloride oily solution per kilogram of body weight for 4 to 10 weeks to produced varying degrees of liver fibrosis.

Complete chloroplast genome sequence of the medicinal plant .

We report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of , a well-known traditional Chinese medicine, which produces triterpenoid saponins similar to Panax ginseng. The assembled chloroplast genome (cpDNA) was 157,654 bp in length and structurally divided into four distinct regions, namely, large single copy region (86,794 bp), small single copy region (18,654 bp) and a pair of inverted repeat regions (26,103 bp). A total of 143 genes were annotated, including 87 protein-coding genes, 10 tRNA genes and 46 rRNA genes.

[Value of susceptibility weighted imaging in hepatic fibrosis staging by using MR in a rabbit model].

Objective: To assess the feasibility of susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) in staging hepatic fibrosis(HF).

Methods: Sixty healthy rabbits were divided into three groups: HF group(n=32), control group(n=16), supplementary group(n=12). Rabbits in HF group and supplementary group were injected subcutaneously with 50% CCl4 oil solution to establish hepatic fibrosis model.

An experimental study on the assessment of rabbit hepatic fibrosis by using magnetic resonance T1ρ imaging.

Objective: To explore the correlation between the T1ρ values of liver and liver fibrosis by using magnetic resonance (MR) T1ρ imaging.

Materials And Methods: The study consisted of the control group and the hepatic fibrosis (HF) group. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) injection was performed once a week for 10 weeks (week 1-10) in the HF group which was divided into 5 subgroups and underwent MR examinations at weeks 4, 5, 6, 10, and 15 respectively post the first CCl4 injection (week 1).

Non-Contrast Enhanced MR Angiography (NCE-MRA) of the Calf: A Direct Comparison between Flow-Sensitive Dephasing (FSD) Prepared Steady-State Free Precession (SSFP) and Quiescent-Interval Single-Shot (QISS) in Patients with Diabetes.

Objectives: To compare the image quality and diagnostic performance of two non-contrast enhanced MR angiography (NCE-MRA) techniques using flow-sensitive dephasing (FSD) prepared steady-state free precession (SSFP) and quiescent-interval single-shot (QISS) for the calf arteries in patients with diabetes.

Materials And Methods: Twenty six patients underwent the two NCE-MRA techniques followed by contrast-enhanced MRA (CE-MRA) of lower extremity on a 1.5T MR system.

Comparison of magnetic resonance elastography and diffusion-weighted imaging for staging hepatic fibrosis.

Background: To compare the diagnostic values of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in staging hepatic fibrosis (HF) in an animal model.

Methods: This study consisted of 44 rabbits served as HF group and 9 normal rabbits. HF group was divided into two subgroups: Group A (n = 32) and Group B (n = 12).