Elafibranor alleviates alcohol-related liver fibrosis by restoring intestinal barrier function.

We discuss the article by Koizumi published in the . Our focus is on the therapeutic targets for fibrosis associated with alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) and the mechanism of action of elafibranor (EFN), a dual agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) and peroxisome PPAR δ (PPARδ). EFN is currently in phase III clinical trials for the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease and primary biliary cholangitis.

New horizons for the role of RNA N6-methyladenosine modification in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancy, presenting a formidable challenge to the medical community owing to its intricate pathogenic mechanisms. Although current prevention, surveillance, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment have achieved some success in preventing HCC and controlling overall disease mortality, the imperative to explore novel treatment modalities for HCC remains increasingly urgent. Epigenetic modification has emerged as pivotal factors in the etiology of cancer.

Tumor recurrence after pathological complete response in locally advanced gastric cancer after neoadjuvant therapy: Two case reports.

Background: The pathological complete response (ypCR) rate following neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer remains low and lacks a universally accepted treatment protocol. Immunotherapy has achieved breakthrough progress.

Case Summary: We report two female patients with gastric cancer defined as clinical stage cT4N1-2M0.

Berberine plays a cardioprotective role by inhibiting macrophage Wnt5a/β-catenin pathway in the myocardium of mice after myocardial infarction.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the diseases with high fatality rate. Berberine (BBR) is a monomer compound with various biological functions. And some studies have confirmed that BBR plays an important role in alleviating cardiomyocyte injury after MI.

Characterization of the remediation of chromium ion contamination with bentonite by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.

Heavy metal pollution of agricultural and urban soils limits economic progress in the rapidly developing society. Terahertz technology is applied to detect heavy metal pollutants under existence of multiple pathways of their dissemination. In this study, terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is employed as an advanced probing technique in combination with traditional detecting methods to measure the adsorption ability of trivalent chromium ions on bentonite.

The value of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging combined with apparent diffusion coefficient in the differentiation of benign and malignant diseases of the breast.

Background: The value of combined dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis for the diagnosis of breast cancer has not been evaluated in previous studies.

Purpose: To investigate the diagnostic value of DCE-MRI combined with ADC in benign and malignant breast lesions.

Material And Methods: The clinicopathological imaging data included 168 patients (177 lesions) with breast lesions who underwent convention breast MRI, DCE-MRI, and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI); they were divided into the benign lesion group (n = 39) and malignant lesion group (n = 129) based on pathology.

EBSD Study of Stable Cube Texture in an Advanced Composite Substrate Used in YBCO-Coated Conductors.

Advanced Ni8W/Ni12W/Ni8W alloy composite substrates used in YBCO-coated conductors with a strong cube texture and high yield strength have been fabricated, and a CeO2 buffer layer film was successfully deposited on the composite substrates. Through in situ tensile testing coupled with electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis, the stability of the cube texture of Ni8W/Ni12W/Ni8W alloy composite substrates has been investigated. The stress-strain curve shows that the yield strength (at 0.

LncRNA-H19 induces hepatic stellate cell activation via upregulating alcohol dehydrogenase III-mediated retinoic acid signals.

Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is a pivotal event in liver fibrosis, characterized by enhanced retinoic acid signals. Although up-regulated retinoic acid signal responds further to maintain HSC activation, the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, we sought to investigate the role of lncRNA-H19 in regulation of retinoic acid signals, and to further examine the underlying mechanism in this molecular context.

Ectopic liver tissue in the esophagus: A case report.

Introduction: Ectopic liver (EL) is a rare entity, which is reported to develop at various sites, such as the abdominal cavity, the retroperitoneal cavity, the pleural cavity, and the mediastinum.

Patient Concerns: A 27-year-old previously healthy Chinese man suffered from a discontinuous abdominal pain in the upper abdomen for 2 months.

Diagnosis: The upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed there was a polypoid mucosal uplift on the distal region of the esophagus near the cardia.

Circulating Neutrophil Counts Decrease in Response to Mitigated Air Quality in Stable COPD Patients.

This three-year study, based on the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease (GRID), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Biobank, was conducted in 36 COPD patients to estimate whether changes in levels of leukocytes, erythrocytes, hemoglobin, and platelets were related to changes in air pollutant concentration. Daily NO2 levels exhibited significant differences between baseline years and the 2010 Asian Game period. We observed significant reductions in leukocyte and neutrophils counts levels, by 15.

Hollow Porous VO/C Nanoscrolls as High-Performance Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Novel hollow porous VO/C nanoscrolls are synthesized by an annealing process with the VO/octadecylamine (ODA) nanoscrolls as both vanadium and carbon sources. In the preparation, the VO/ODA nanoscrolls are first achieved by a two-phase solvothermal method using ammonium metavanadat as the precursor. Upon subsequent heating, the intercalated amines between the vanadate layers in the VO/ODA nanoscrolls decompose into gases, which escape from inside the nanoscrolls and leave sufficient pores in the walls.

Synthesis of Mesoporous Single Crystal Co(OH)2 Nanoplate and Its Topotactic Conversion to Dual-Pore Mesoporous Single Crystal Co3O4.

A new class of mesoporous single crystalline (MSC) material, Co(OH)2 nanoplates, is synthesized by a soft template method, and it is topotactically converted to dual-pore MSC Co3O4. Most mesoporous materials derived from the soft template method are reported to be amorphous or polycrystallined; however, in our synthesis, Co(OH)2 seeds grow to form single crystals, with amphiphilic block copolymer F127 colloids as the pore producer. The single-crystalline nature of material can be kept during the conversion from Co(OH)2 to Co3O4, and special dual-pore MSC Co3O4 nanoplates can be obtained.

Electroluminescence of ordered ZnO nanorod array/p-GaN light-emitting diodes with graphene current spreading layer.

Unlabelled: Ordered ZnO nanorod array/p-GaN heterojunction light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been fabricated by introducing graphene as the current spreading layer, which exhibit improved electroluminescence performance by comparison to the LED using a conventional structure (indium-tin-oxide as the current spreading layer). In addition, by adjusting the diameter of ZnO nanorod array in use, the light emission of the ZnO nanorod array/p-GaN heterojunction LEDs was enhanced further. This work has great potential applications in solid-state lighting, high performance optoelectronic devices, and so on.

Controllable synthesis of ZnO nanostructures on the Si substrate by a hydrothermal route.

In this paper, controllable synthesis of various ZnO nanostructures was achieved via a simple and cost-effective hydrothermal process on the Si substrate. The morphology evolution of the ZnO nanostructures was well monitored by tuning hydrothermal growth parameters, such as the seed layer, solution concentration, reaction temperature, and surfactant. X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements reveal that crystal quality and optical properties crucially depend on the morphology of the ZnO nanostructures.

Tetramethylpyrazine induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and stimulates mitochondrial-mediated and caspase-dependent apoptosis through modulating ERK/p53 signaling in hepatic stellate cells in vitro.

Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is a pivotal event in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. Pharmacological induction of HSC apoptosis could be a promising strategy for fibrosis regression. Natural product tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) exhibits potent antifibrotic activities in vivo.

Acupuncture combined with curcumin disrupts platelet-derived growth factor β receptor/extracellular signal-regulated kinase signalling and stimulates extracellular matrix degradation in carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic fibrosis in rats.

Background: Acupuncture treatment has been increasingly used to treat chronic liver diseases. We previously reported that acupuncture combined with curcumin, a natural antifibrotic compound, could remarkably attenuate liver fibrosis in chemically intoxicated rats, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. The present study was aimed at investigating the effects of acupuncture combined with curcumin on platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signalling and extracellular matrix (ECM) regulation in the fibrotic liver.

[Clinical significance of D-dimer activity in thrombosis of patients with return of spontaneous circulation after cardiopulmonary resuscitation].

Objective: To investigate the clinical significance of D-dimer contents in peripheral blood for monitoring the efficacy of thrombolytic therapy in patients with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) cardiopulmonary resuscitation after cardiac arrest.

Methods: Forty-seven patients with sudden cardiac arrest received CPR according to 2005 American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for CPR and emergency cardiovascular care (ECC). At the early stage of ROSC, those patients underwent head and breast CT scan if they were in a state of unconsciousness and had unstable vital signs.

[Inhibition of retrovirus-mediated gene transfer of inducible nitric oxide synthase on proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cell].

Aim: To study the effect of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene mediated by retroviral vector on the proliferation of cultured aortic vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) of rat and the possibility of iNOS gene therapy for vessel graft restenosis.

Methods: Ex vitro VSMC were transfected by different viral titer of viral supernatant. The expression of the retroviral iNOS transgene was examined by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis.

[Effect of acupuncture on the activity of the peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets and NK cells in patients with colorectal cancer liver metastasis].

Objective: To study the effect of acupuncture on the immune function of patients with colorectal cancer liver metastasis.

Methods: Sixty cases with colorectal cancer liver metastasis confirmed by pathology and mageology diagnosis were treated with acupuncture. Zusanli (ST 36), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Neiguan (PC 6), Shangjuxu (ST 37), Hegu (LI 4), Taixi (KI 3), Taichong (LR 3) ,Yinlingquan (SP 9), Yanglingquan (GB 34), etc.

[Identification and diagnosis of myocardial damage and acute myocardial infarction during cardiopulmonary resuscitation].

Objective: To observe the change in contents of creatine kinase isoenzyme MB (CK-MB) and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in peripheral blood, the elevation of ST in electrocardiogram, and the result of coronary arteriography, to identify myocardial damage and acute myocardial infarction during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Methods: Twenty-six patients with sudden cardiac arrest received CPR, and those patients who had blood circulation maintained for over 24 hours were included. The expression of CK-MB and cTnI activation in peripheral blood were determined at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 hours after CPR in all patients.

Comparison of the crystal structure and function to wild-type and His25Ala mutant human heme oxygenase-1.

Human heme oxygenase-1 (hHO-1) is a rate-limiting enzyme in heme metabolism. It regulates serum bilirubin level. Site-directed mutagenesis studies indicate that the proximal residue histidine 25 (His25) plays a key role in hHO-1 activity.

[Investigation of Paeonia sinjiangensis resources using remote sensing and expert knowledge].

Objective: To study the effectiveness and feasibility of remote sensing technology in the rare species of wild plant resources.

Method: The mechanism and characteristics of Paeonia sinjiangensis were analyzed to find the possibility of extracting from TM imagery. An expert system has been used with Landsat Thematic Mapper data to derive P.

Heme oxygenase-1 attenuates ovalbumin-induced airway inflammation by up-regulation of foxp3 T-regulatory cells, interleukin-10, and membrane-bound transforming growth factor- 1.

Cumulative evidence suggests the up-regulation of interleukin (IL)-10 and T-regulatory (Treg) cells is implicated in anti-inflammatory effect of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). Thus, we postulated that induction of HO-1 could augment IL-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta production and foxp3+CD4+CD25+ Treg cell function, thereby leading to attenuation of airway inflammation. In this study, CD4+CD25+ Treg cells isolated from mouse spleen were either transfected with a HO-1 expression vector (pcDNA3HO-1) or treated with a HO-1 inducer (hemin).