Histological, Physical Studies after Xenograft of Porcine Ear Cartilage

BACKGROUND: Because of the relatively similar size of organs to human and the physiological and structural similarities, the use of porcine as xenograft donors is progressing very actively. In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of porcine ear cartilage and evaluated its suitability as graft material in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. METHODS: The auricular cartilage was harvested from two pigs, and subjected to histological examination by immunohistochemical staining. To determine the collagen content, samples were treated with collagenase and weight changes were measured. After sterilization by irradiation, the samples were grafted into rats and stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin and Masson Trichrome to observe inflammation and xenograft rejection. RESULTS: In IHC staining, extracellular matrices were mainly stained with type II collagen (20.69%), keratin sulfate (10.20%), chondroitin sulfate (2.62%), and hyaluronic acid (0.84%). After collagenase treatment, the weight decreased by 68.3%, indicating that about 70% of the porcine ear cartilage was composed of collagen. Upon xenograft of the sterilized cartilages in rats, inflammatory cells were observed for up to 2 months. However, they gradually decreased, and inflammation and reject-response were rarely observed at 5 months. CONCLUSION: The porcine ear cartilage was covered with perichondrium and cellular constituents were found to be composed of chondrocytes and chondroblasts. In addition, the extracellular matrices were mainly composed of collagen. Upon xenograft of irradiated cartilage into rats, there was no specific inflammatory reaction around the transplanted cartilage. These findings suggest that porcine ear cartilage could be a useful alternative implant material for human cosmetic surgery.

Expression and clinical significance of Periostin, VEGF and MMP-9 in breast invasive ductal carcinoma / 肿瘤研究与临床

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of Periostin,VEGF and MMP-9 in breast invasive ductal carcinoma.Methods Immunohistochemistry was employed to detect the expression of Periostin,VEGF and MMP-9 in breast invasive ductal carcinoma and normal breast tissue.Results In breast invasive ductal carcinoma and normal breast tissue,the positive rates of Periostin were 63.8 ％ (37/58) and 0 (x2 =24.272,P =0.000).The figures were 69 ％ (40/58) and 8 ％ (2/25) for the positive rates of VEGF (x2 =25.977,P =0.000),respectively,as well as 70.69 ％ (41/58) and 16.0 ％ (4/25) for the positive rates of MMP-9 (x2 =21.050,P =0.000),respectively.There were significant differences among the groups (P ＜ 0.05).In breast invasive ductal carcinoma,the expression of Periostin was correlated with clinical stage (x2 =4.835,P =0.028),whereas not correlated with age (x2 =1.155,P=0.282),histological grade (x2 =0.05,P =0.972),lymphatic metastasis (x2 =1.660,P =0.198).The expression of VEGF was correlated with clinical stage (x2 =4.230,P =0.040),lymphatic metastasis (x2 =9.667,P =0.002),whereas not correlated with age (x2 =0.506,P =0.477),histological grade (x2 =0.532,P =0.767).The expression of MMP-9 was correlated with clinical stage (x2 =8.456,P =0.004),lymphatic metastasis (x2 =5.494,P =0.019),whereas not correlated with age (x2 =0.153,P =0.695),histological grade (x2 =0.224,P =0.894).The expression of Periostin,VEGF and MMP-9 were positively correlated with each other in breast invasive ductal carcinoma (r =0.348,P =0.001; r =0.303,P =0.021; r =0.469,P =0.000).Conclusion Periostin,VEGF and MMP-9 are correlated closely with the occurrence and development of breast invasive ductal carcinoma,which might be valuable in evaluating the invasiveness,metastasis and prognosis.

Application of introducing communication skill education into standardized resident training / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Physician-patient communication skill is the core clinical capability,and its im-portance is more and more recognized by educationists.Introducing the communication skill education into the standardized resident training can improve the residents'clinical and communicative ability and train them to be the comprehensive quality talents.

30-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF SCHISTOSOMAL CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER IN AN AREA AFTER SCHISTOSOMIASIS CONTROL / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

The natural history of 383 patients of schistosomal cirrhosis, discovered from 1960-1990 in Donjing township Shanghai suburb, where schistosomiasis had been controlled for more than 10 years, was studied. The cumulative survival rate in 243 patients who had splenecto-my 11-30 years previously (group I ) was much higher than that of 140 patients without splenectomy (group II ), and the time for 75% survival rate of these 2 groups were 18 and 4 years respectively, being much longer in the splenectomized patients without ascites and those operated before age of 30 than those complicated with ascites and those operated between the age of 31 - 50 or after 51 years of age.The complications and mortality rate of group I were significantly lower than that of group I , indicating that splenectomy not only prevented the complication of portal hypertension but improved the general health and resistance of the patients against other pathogens as well.There was no significant difference between group I and group II in the ratio of the avarage death age of the deceased patients to the life expectancy of the general population, suggesting that the life span of a number of patients without splenectomy are not substantially shortened in an area where schistosomiasis had been controlled.