Treatment Response Evaluation by Computed Tomography Pulmonary Vasculature Analysis in Patients With Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension

Objective@#To quantitatively assess the pulmonary vasculature using non-contrast computed tomography (CT) in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) pre- and post-treatment and correlate CT-based parameters with right heart catheterization (RHC) hemodynamic and clinical parameters. @*Materials and Methods@#A total of 30 patients with CTEPH (mean age, 57.9 years; 53% female) who received multimodal treatment, including riociguat for ≥ 16 weeks with or without balloon pulmonary angioplasty and underwent both noncontrast CT for pulmonary vasculature analysis and RHC pre- and post-treatment were included. The radiographic analysis included subpleural perfusion parameters, including blood volume in small vessels with a cross-sectional area ≤ 5 mm 2 (BV5) and total blood vessel volume (TBV) in the lungs. The RHC parameters included mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and cardiac index (CI). Clinical parameters included the World Health Organization (WHO) functional class and 6-minute walking distance (6MWD). @*Results@#The number, area, and density of the subpleural small vessels increased after treatment by 35.7% (P < 0.001), 13.3% (P = 0.028), and 39.3% (P < 0.001), respectively. The blood volume shifted from larger to smaller vessels, as indicated by an 11.3% increase in the BV5/TBV ratio (P = 0.042). The BV5/TBV ratio was negatively correlated with PVR (r = -0.26; P = 0.035) and positively correlated with CI (r = 0.33; P = 0.009). The percent change across treatment in the BV5/TBV ratio correlated with the percent change in mPAP (r = -0.56; P = 0.001), PVR (r = -0.64; P < 0.001), and CI (r = 0.28; P = 0.049).Furthermore, the BV5/TBV ratio was inversely associated with the WHO functional classes I–IV (P = 0.004) and positively associated with 6MWD (P = 0.013). @*Conclusion@#Non-contrast CT measures could quantitatively assess changes in the pulmonary vasculature in response to treatment and were correlated with hemodynamic and clinical parameters.

Expression of Hsa_circ_0002360 in lung adenocarcinoma and its clinical significance / 医学研究生学报

Objective The relationship between circular RNAs (circRNA) and lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) remains to be further explored. This study aimed to investigate the expression of Hsa_circ_0002360 in LAC and its value in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of the malignancy. Methods This study included 50 cases of LAC treated in our hospital from May 2018 to June 2019 and another 50 healthy subjects as normal controls. We determined the expression of Hsa_circ_0002360 in the LAC cells by qRT⁃PCR. We cultured human LAC cell lines A549, H1299 and H1975 and human bronchial mucosal epithelial cell line BEAS-2B, inoculated the A549 and H1975 LAC cells in the 6-well plate, with 3 wells for si-circRNAs and the other 3 for negative controls (si-NC), followed by cell transfection experiment. Using the CCK8, colony formation and wound healing assays, we detected the effects of Hsa_circ_0002360 on the activity, proliferation, invasiveness and metastasis of the A549 and H1975 cells. Results The expression of Hsa_circ_0002360 was significantly higher in the LAC tissue than in the adjacent tissue (2.84 ± 0.12 vs 1.46 ± 0.08, P < 0.01), and so was it in the serum of the LAC patients than in the normal controls (2.59 ± 0.17 vs 1.21 ± 0.11, P < 0.01), but remarkably lower in the serum of the patients after than before surgery (1.58 ± 0.09 vs 2.65 ± 0.13, P < 0.01). Besides, its expression was significantly increased in the LAC A549, H1299 and H1975 cell lines compared with that in the BEAS-2B cells (P < 0.05). In comparison with the si-NC group, the si-circRNA group showed significant decreases in the rates of colony formation ([65.66± 4.93]% vs [38.33 ± 1.69]%, P < 0.01) and migration of the cells ([54.66±4.10]% vs [13.50 ± 3.34]%, P < 0.01) and in the count of H1975 cells as well (P < 0.01). Conclusion Hsa_circ_0002360 can be used as a biomarker for the early diagnosis and treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.

Primary Aldosteronism and Cerebrovascular Diseases

As diagnostic techniques have advanced, primary aldosteronism (PA) has emerged as the most common cause of secondary hypertension. The excess of aldosterone caused by PA resulted in not only cardiovascular complications, including coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, and heart failure, but also cerebrovascular complications, such as stroke and transient ischemic attack. Moreover, PA is associated more closely with these conditions than is essential hypertension. In this review, we present up-to-date findings on the association between PA and cerebrovascular diseases.

Mouse A6-positive hepatic oval cells derived from embryonic stem cells / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

Oval cells have a potential to differentiate into a variety of cell lineages including hepatocytes and biliary epithelia. Several models have been established to activate the oval cells by incorporating a variety of toxins and carcinogens, alone or combined with surgical treatment. Those models are obviously not suitable for the study on human hepatic oval cells. It is necessary to establish a new and efficient model to study the human hepatic oval cells. In this study, the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) were used to induce differentiation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells into hepatic oval cells. We first confirmed that hepatic oval cells derived from ES cells, which are bipotential, do exist during the course of mouse ES cells' differentiation into hepatic parenchymal cells. RT-PCR and transmission electron microscopy were applied in this study. The ratio of Sca-1+/CD34+ cells sorted by FACS in the induction group was increased from day 4 and reached the maximum on the day 8, whereas that in the control group remained at a low level. The differentiation ratio of Sca-1+/CD34+ cells in the induction group was significantly higher than that in the control group. About 92.48% of the sorted Sca-1+/CD34+ cells on the day 8 were A6 positive. Highly purified A6+/Sca-1+/CD34+ hepatic oval cells derived from ES cells could be obtained by FACS. The differentiation ratio of hepatic oval cells in the induction group (up to 4.46%) was significantly higher than that in the control group. The number of hepatic oval cells could be increased significantly by HGF and EGF. The study also examined the ultrastructures of ES-derived hepatic oval cells' membrane surface by atomic force microscopy. The ES-derived hepatic oval cells cultured and sorted by our protocols may be available for the future clinical application.

Mouse A6-positive hepatic oval cells derived from embryonic stem cells / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

Oval cells have a potential to differentiate into a variety of cell lineages including hepatocytes and biliary epithelia. Several models have been established to activate the oval cells by incorporating a variety of toxins and carcinogens, alone or combined with surgical treatment. Those models are obviously not suitable for the study on human hepatic oval cells. It is necessary to establish a new and efficient model to study the human hepatic oval cells. In this study, the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) were used to induce differentiation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells into hepatic oval cells. We first confirmed that hepatic oval cells derived from ES cells, which are bipotential, do exist during the course of mouse ES cells' differentiation into hepatic parenchymal cells. RT-PCR and transmission electron microscopy were applied in this study. The ratio of Sca-1+/CD34+ cells sorted by FACS in the induction group was increased from day 4 and reached the maximum on the day 8, whereas that in the control group remained at a low level. The differentiation ratio of Sca-1+/CD34+ cells in the induction group was significantly higher than that in the control group. About 92.48% of the sorted Sca-1+/CD34+ cells on the day 8 were A6 positive. Highly purified A6+/Sca-1+/CD34+ hepatic oval cells derived from ES cells could be obtained by FACS. The differentiation ratio of hepatic oval cells in the induction group (up to 4.46%) was significantly higher than that in the control group. The number of hepatic oval cells could be increased significantly by HGF and EGF. The study also examined the ultrastructures of ES-derived hepatic oval cells' membrane surface by atomic force microscopy. The ES-derived hepatic oval cells cultured and sorted by our protocols may be available for the future clinical application.