Peginterferon add-on results in more HBsAg decline compared to monotherapy in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients.

It is unknown whether peginterferon (PEG-IFN) add-on to entecavir (ETV) leads to more HBsAg decline compared to PEG-IFN monotherapy or combination therapy, and whether ETV therapy may prevent HBsAg increase after PEG-IFN cessation. We performed a post hoc analysis of 396 HBeAg-positive patients treated for 72 weeks with ETV + 24 weeks PEG-IFN add-on from week 24 to 48 (add-on, n = 85), 72 weeks with ETV monotherapy (n = 90), 52 weeks with PEG-IFN monotherapy (n = 111) and 52 weeks PEG-IFN + lamivudine (combination, n = 110) within 2 randomized trials. HBsAg decline was assessed at the end of PEG-IFN (EOP) and 6 months after PEG-IFN (EOF) discontinuation.

The Expression and Function of NUMB in Endometrial Cancer and the Interaction with HDM2 and P53.

Background: Since more and more evidences support that NUMB orchestrates many cell physiological and pathological processes of diseases including cancer, based on our previous work, we studied deeply the function of NUMB in endometrial cancer (EC) and tried to understand the mechanism of NUMB's nucleus translocation which might be relative to the occurrence of EC and will contribute to find a new targeting therapeutic strategy for EC.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry was employed to test NUMB and HDM2 expression in endometrial cancer tissue from clinical patients. CCK-8 assay, cell cycle tested by Flow cytometer and PCNA determined by RT-PCR were employed to test the effects of NUMB on cell proliferation and apoptosis.

Long-Term Telbivudine Treatment Results in Resolution of Liver Inflammation and Fibrosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B.

Introduction: The long-term goal of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treatment is improvement of liver disease and prevention of cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to assess whether prolonged telbivudine treatment improves liver inflammation and fibrosis. The primary objective was to evaluate the proportion of patients with absence/minimal inflammation (Knodell necroinflammatory score ≤3) on liver biopsy at Year 5.

Efficacy and Safety of Botulinum Toxin Type A in the Treatment of Glabellar Lines: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Trials.

Background: The uses of botulinum toxin type A for facial aesthetic procedures have been reported in recently published studies. The authors systematically analyzed the prospective, randomized, controlled trials, which continue to expand. New efficacy data and endpoints regarding the safety of botulinum toxin type A injection for treating glabellar lines were analyzed.

Imaging of Scrub Typhus by PET/CT.

A 19-year-old man had an unexplained fever, dizziness, headache, fatigue, and pain in the scrotum. An FDG PET/CT imaging was acquired to assess fever of unknown origin. The images showed multiple foci of increased FDG activity in the enlarged lymph nodes in the body.

Explore the dynamic alternation of gene PLAC4 mRNA expression levels in maternal plasma in second trimester for nonivasive detection of trisomy 21.

Objective: Noninvasive prenatal detection of trisomy 21 (T21) has been achieved by measuring the ratio of two alleles of a single nucleotide polymorphism in circulating placenta specific 4 (PLAC4) mRNA in maternal plasma with a few assays in recent years. Our research is to explore the variations of PLAC4 mRNA expression level in maternal plasma with normal pregnancies in second trimester, which can provide pregnant women deeper insights with suitable detection period for the non-invasive prenatal detection of T21.

Methods: We measured a serial plasma PLAC4 mRNA concentrations weekly from the same 25 singleton normal pregnant women.

Elevated glycated hemoglobin levels may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Background: As the most common cardiac arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation (AF) is always accompanied with various complications if without detection and treatment timely. Blood-based pleiotropic molecule biomarkers have now been popularly applied in clinical detection. We hence performed this meta-analysis to evaluate the correlation of serum glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels with the risk of AF in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).

Larynx carcinoma regulates tumor-associated macrophages through PLGF signaling.

Cancer neovascularization plays an essential role in the metastasis of larynx carcinoma (LC). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not completely understood. Recently, we reported that placental growth factor (PLGF) regulates expression of matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3) through ERK/MAPK signaling pathway in LC.

Survey on patient safety climate in public hospitals in China.

Background: Patient safety climate has been recognized as a core determinant for improving safety in hospitals. Describing workforce perceptions of patient safety climate is an important part of safety climate management. This study aimed to describe staff's perceptions of patient safety climate in public hospitals in Shanghai, China and to determine how perceptions of patient safety climate differ between different types of workers in the U.

The changing gender differences in life expectancy in Chinese cities 2005-2010.

Objectives: To analyze the gender difference in life expectancy in Chinese urban people and explore the age-specific and cause-specific contributions to the changing gender differences in life expectancy.

Methods: Data of life expectancy and mortality were obtained from "Annual statistics of public health in China." The gender difference was analyzed by decomposition method, including age-specific decomposition and cause-specific decomposition.

Antiviral therapies for hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a critical risk factor for the carcinogenesis and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It promotes HCC development by inducing liver fibrogenesis, genetic and epigenetic alterations, and the expression of active viral-coded proteins. Effective antiviral treatments inhibit the replication of HBV, reduce serum viral load and accelerate hepatitis B e antigen serum conversion.

Bufothionine induced the mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in H22 liver tumor and acute liver injury.

Background: Bufothionine is an alkaloid in Cinobufacini (Huachansu). This study aims to investigate the effects of bufothionine on liver tumors and acute liver injury.

Methods: In the hepatoprotective experiment, fifty rats were randomly divided into five groups (n = 10): normal saline group, model group, compound glycyrrhizin injection (9.

Rosiglitazone ameliorates senescence-like phenotypes in a cellular photoaging model.

Background: Rosiglitazone (RO), a second-generation thiazolidinedione used mainly in the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, has been discovered to be a high-affinity ligand for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ). Several studies have revealed that PPAR-γ is also involved in the regulation of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation associated with aging process in vivo as well as with cellular senescence in vitro. We sought to investigate whether RO pretreatment will counteract the photoaging process using a well-established cellular photoaging model.

In vitro activity of flomoxef and comparators against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis producing extended-spectrum β-lactamases in China.

The objective of this study was to better understand the in vitro activity of flomoxef against clinical extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae. A total of 401 ESBL-producing isolates, including 196 Escherichia coli, 124 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 81 Proteus mirabilis, were collected consecutively from 21 hospitals in China in 2013. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined by broth microdilution methods.

Abraxane® versus Taxol® for patients with advanced breast cancer: A prospective time and motion analysis from a Chinese health care perspective.

Background: Abraxane® and Taxol® are both effective drugs for the treatment of advanced stage breast cancer. However, each agent possesses unique drug delivery characteristics with the former not requiring premedication and having a considerably shorter recommended infusion time (i.e.

[Study on the molecular epidemiology and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella enterica serovar Pomona].

Objective: To study the epidemiological characteristics and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella enterica serovar Pomona (S. Pomona).

Methods: Antimicrobial susceptible testing (AST) and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) methods were used to analyze on S.

Suppression of autophagy dysregulates the antioxidant response and causes premature senescence of melanocytes.

Autophagy is the central cellular mechanism for delivering organelles and cytoplasm to lysosomes for degradation and recycling of their molecular components. To determine the contribution of autophagy to melanocyte (MC) biology, we inactivated the essential autophagy gene Atg7 specifically in MCs using the Cre-loxP system. This gene deletion efficiently suppressed a key step in autophagy, lipidation of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta (LC3), in MCs and induced slight hypopigmentation of the epidermis in mice.

The crosstalk between Dectin1 and TLR4 via NF-κB subunits p65/RelB in mammary epithelial cells.

Mammary epithelial cells (MECs), as part of the functional unit of the udder, are not only responsible for the synthesis of many components in milk that provide necessary nutritional and immunological support to the offspring, but also playing essential roles in the reaction to mastitis pathogens and the initiation of the immune signaling pathway. There are contributions of MECs to the signaling and production of pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) such as LPS, lipoteichoic acid (LTA), and β-glucans, but the crosstalk of different PAMPs induces signalings and productions in rat MEC that need further study. In the present study, we have demonstrated that β-glucan up-regulates Dectin1 and LPS up-regulates TLR4 directly, as confirmed by generation of siDectin1 and siTLR4 in rat MECs.

Adaptation of international guidelines for metastatic colorectal cancer: an asian consensus.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the most common cancers worldwide, but marked epidemiological differences exist between Asian and non-Asian populations. Hence, a consensus meeting was held in Hong Kong in December 2012 to develop Asia-specific guidelines for the management of metastatic CRC (mCRC). A multidisciplinary expert panel, consisting of 23 participants from 10 Asian and 2 European countries, discussed current guidelines for colon or rectal cancer and developed recommendations for adapting these guidelines to Asian clinical practice.

Clinical analysis and etiology of porokeratosis.

The present study was performed in order to define the clinical manifestations of porokeratosis, with particular emphasis on genital porokeratosis. A total of 55 cases of porokeratosis were retrospectively reviewed between 2000 and 2007 from Huashan Hospital (Shanghai, China). Out of 55 cases, there were 22 cases of porokeratosis of Mibelli, 17 cases of disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis (DSAP), 15 cases of disseminated superficial porokeratosis and one case of linear porokeratosis.