ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To study the value of serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) combined with direct bilirubin (DB) in the diagnosis of biliary atresia.@*METHODS@#A total of 667 infants with cholestasis who were hospitalized and treated from July 2010 to December 2018 were enrolled as subjects. According to the results of intraoperative cholangiography and follow-up, they were divided into biliary atresia group with 234 infants and cholestasis group with 433 infants. The two groups were compared in terms of age of onset, sex, and serum levels of total bilirubin (TB), DB, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bile acid (TBA), and GGT. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed for indices with statistical significance, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) and the optimal cut-off value for diagnosis were calculated.@*RESULTS@#The biliary atresia group had a significantly younger age of onset than the cholestasis group (P0.05), while the biliary atresia group had significantly higher serum levels of TB, DB, TBA, and GGT than the cholestasis group (P<0.05). GGT combined with DB had the highest AUC of 0.892 (95% confidence interval: 0.868-0.916) in the diagnosis of biliary atresia. At the optimal cut-off values of 324.0 U/L for GGT and 115.1 μmmol/L for DB, GGT combined with DB had a sensitivity of 79.8% and a specificity of 83.2% in the diagnosis of biliary atresia.@*CONCLUSIONS@#GGT combined with DB has high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of biliary atresia and can be used as an effective indicator for diagnosis of biliary atresia in infants.
Subject(s)
Humans , Infant , Alanine Transaminase , Aspartate Aminotransferases , Biliary Atresia , Diagnosis , Bilirubin , gamma-Glutamyltransferase , BloodABSTRACT
Objective: To explore whether Antrodia cinnamomea can prolong the survival time of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats, and to investigate the underlying mechanisms from the proteomics perspective. Methods: A total of 80 male stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats were randomly divided into two groups (control group and Antrodia cinnamomea treated group, n= 40). The animals were intragastrically given Antrodia cinnamomea (150 mg/kg). Then the death of the animals in the two groups was observed. Another 6 stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats were randomly divided into drug treatment group and control group, with the drug treatment group intragastrically given Antrodia cinnamomea (150 mg/kg), and the brain proteomics were compared between the two groups 90 days later, with WKY rats used as normal controls. The differentially expressed proteins before and after drug treatment were subjected to mass spectrometry analysis, and the results of mass spectrometry analysis were further confirmed by Western blotting analysis. Results: Antrodia cinnamomea significantly prolonged the survival time of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (P < 0.05), and proteomics results showed that Antrodia cinnamomea increased the expression of glutathione S-transferase (GST) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), which were also confirmed by Western blotting analysis. Further study revealed that the total anti-oxidative capability (T-AOC) of the animals was increased (T-AOC; [66.48 ± 16.17] U/g vs [124.75 ± 28.43] U/g, P< 0.05), which was manifested by the increased activity of GST and SOD (GST: [40.33 ± 5.24] U/mg vs [70.50 ± 6.24] U/ mg, P<0.05; SOD; [109.25 ± 23.61] U/mg vs [192.60 ± 23.95] U/mg, P<0.05), and decreased levei of malondialdehyde ([3.96 ± 0.45] nmol/mg vs [2.04 ± 0.31] nmol/mg, P<0.05). Conclusion: Long-term treatment with Antrodia cinnamomea can prolong the lifespan of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats, which might be related to the increased activity of anti-oxidative enzymes and the decreased oxidative damage.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To set up a prostate cancer cell line in which beta-catenin expression is stably suppressed and to investigate the role of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway in prostate tumorgenesis.@*METHODS@#We select 3 sites in the complete coden sequence region of beta-catenin gene as the RNAi targets, ligated the annealed double pre-DNA strands into the retroviral vectors pSUPER-retro and transfected them into the packaging cells PA317, and then collected supernatant with retrovirus to infect DU145. After selection by puromycin and culture expansion, the stable cell clones were attained. Expression of the 2 target genes of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway cyclinD1 and c-myc, was detected in the beta-catenin RNAi cells by Western blot. The effect of suppressing beta-catenin by RNAi on cell proliferation was quantified by methylthiazoletetrazolium (MTT) assay.@*RESULTS@#Western blotting and RT-PCR showed that the expression level of beta-catenin in the 2 stable cell clones apparently decreased. CyclinD1 and c-myc expression decreased in the beta-catenin RNAi cells. MTT showed that the cell number of beta-catenin expression suppression cell clones decreased significantly (P < 0. 05), suggesting the cell proliferation was prevented.@*CONCLUSION@#The beta-catenin gene stable suppression cell line was successfully established.