Activin receptor-like kinase 1 and its roles in angiogenesis / 中国病理生理杂志

Activin receptor-like kinase (ALK) 1 is a transforming growth factor-β/bone morphogenetic pro-teins superfamily type Ⅰ receptor, predominantly expressed in active endothelial cells. ALK1 has been shown to play a piv-otal role in regulating angiogenesis, which is involved in vascular formation during embryonic and early postnatal develop-ment and angiogenesis-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disorders and tumor. Understanding the exact function of ALK1 in angiogenesis will provide theoretical basis for anti-angiogenic strategy of ALK1 inhibition. In the present study, we briefly recapitulate ALK1 signaling pathway and its role in blood vessel formation and pathological neovascularization.

Changes of the spectrum on thyroid disease after the ten-year implementation of universal salt iodization in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To reveal the relationship between iodine nutrition and the change of spectrum on thyroid diseases through comparing the different iodine environments pre- and post- the universal salt iodization(USI)campaign.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>To compare the urinary iodine concentration between 1000 normal people and 5998 patients with thyroid disease who had undergone surgical operations, from 4 major cities, including iodine deficient and rich areas of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After USI was put into practice, the urinary iodine concentration of patients with thyroid appeared higher than those of normal people(324.3 µg/L vs. 238.5 µg/L, P < 0.05). The urinary iodine concentrations of nodular goiter,Graves disease, toxic nodular goiter, thyroid papillary carcinoma and Hashimoto's thyroiditis were higher than those before the USI was taken(263.8 µg/L vs. 69.75 µg/L, 289.7 µg/L vs. 228.3 µg/L, 346.8 µg/L vs. 268.4 µg/L, 350.3 µg/L vs. 316.2 µg/L and 378.5 µg/L vs. 305.8 µg/L). The proportions of toxic nodular goiter, thyroid papillary carcinoma and Hashimoto's thyroiditis appeared as 7.59% vs. 4.80%, 5.85% vs. 4.02% and 3.88% vs. 2.46%, all higher than those before the implementation of USI, except the nodular goiter which showed a reduction (63.56% vs. 69.75%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The spectrum of thyroid diseases appeared an obvious change in Guangxi within the last 10-year implementation of USI. However, the excessive intake of iodine might serve as a risk factor for toxic nodular goiter, thyroid papillary carcinoma and Hashimoto's thyroiditis.</p>

Value of ultrasound elastography in detecting small breast tumors / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Detecting small breast tumors is difficult for conventional ultrasound. The goal of this study was to assess the value of ultrasound elastography in characterizing small breast tumors and to compare its sensitivity, specificity and accuracy with conventional ultrasound.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 308 breast tumors less than 2 cm in size from 283 in-hospital patients examined with both conventional ultrasound and ultrasound elastography were retrospectively analyzed. The results were compared to surgical pathology.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were 104 malignant and 204 benign lesions. The sensitivities of sonography and sonoelastography were similar (P < 0.05), and the sensitivity of the two modalities combined improved remarkably to 97.1%. The mean elastic score of malignant and benign tumors less than 2 cm were 3.76 ± 1.01 and 1.73 ± 0.99, respectively (P < 0.05), and the mean elastic score of the false-negative lesions on conventional ultrasound was 3.61 ± 1.14.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Ultrasound elastography in combination with conventional ultrasound can improve the sensitivity for detecting small breast tumors. It is also valuable in detecting small malignant tumors which are difficult to diagnose with conventional ultrasound. Ultrasound elastography can be a useful adjunct to conventional ultrasound in diagnosing small breast tumors.</p>