In Vivo Detection of Lipid-Core Plaques by Coronary CT Angiography: A Head-to-Head Comparison with Histologic Findings

200 µm, a circumference > 60 degrees, and a cap thickness < 450 µm. The percentage distributions of CT pixel attenuation ≤ 20, 30, 40, and 50 HU were calculated using quantitative histogram analysis.RESULTS: A total of 271 transverse sections were co-registered between CCTA and pathological analysis. Overall, 26 lipid cores and 16 fibrous plaques were identified by pathological analysis. There was no significant difference in median CT attenuation between the lipid and fibrous plaques (51 HU [interquartile range, 46–63] vs. 57 HU [interquartile range, 50–64], p = 0.659). The median percentage of CT pixel attenuation ≤ 30 HU accounted for 11% (5–17) of lipid-core plaques and 0% (0–2) of fibrous plaques (p < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of the method for diagnosing lipid plaques by the average CT pixel attenuation ≤ 30 HU were 80.8% and 87.5%, respectively. The area under the receiver operator characteristics curve was 0.898 (95% confidence interval: 0.765–0.970; 3.0% was the best cut-off value). The diagnostic performance was significantly higher than those of the average pixel CT attenuation percentages ≤ 20, 40, and 50 HU and the mean CT attenuation (p < 0.05).CONCLUSION: In in vivo conditions, with the pathological lipid core as the gold standard, quantification of the percentage of average CT pixel attenuation ≤ 30 HU in the histogram can be useful for accurate identification of lipid plaques.

Influence of extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves tablets on the aquaporin-1 expression in isolated lung ischemia reperfusion / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves tablets, ginaton, is widely used in treating ischemic cerebrovascular disease in the clinic. This study aimed to investigate the expression of aquaporin-1 (AQP-1) in rat lung with ischemia/reperfusion injury after pretreatment with ginaton, and whether the pretreatment with ginaton reduces the acute lung injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion injury.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Adult Wistar rats were divided into two groups. Some rats were used as donors (n = 20), the others as recipients (n = 20). Left lungs of donor rats were used for the isolated lung reperfusion model, which perfused only with low potassium dextran (LPD) solution as group A (n = 10); the others were pretreated with ginaton before reperfusion as group C (n = 10). Right lung of donor rat without any treatment was used as a control group (group B and group D, n = 10 for each group). After the model was established, the expression of AQP-1 in the lung tissues was examined by immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immunohistochemical examination revealed that AQP-1 was expressed in endothelia. Immunoblotting demonstrated that the relative gray values of AQP-1 protein in groups A and C were 0.65±0.06, 0.88±0.11, respectively. The relative gray values of the mRNA expression in groups A and C were 0.30±0.08, 0.49±0.11, respectively. The expression of AQP-1 protein and mRNA in group C was significantly higher than in group A (P < 0. 05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The pretreatment with ginaton can reduce the acute lung injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion.</p>

Expression of ERCC1 mRNA and its impact on the prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the level of ERCC1 mRNA expression in non-small cell lung cancer and analyze the influencing factors of the survival of patients after operation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The level of ERCC1 mRNA expression was quantified in sixty pairs of non-small cell lung cancer tissue and their matched normal lung tissues by real-time PCR assay. The survival of patients was analyzed by univariate Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The level of ERCC1 mRNA expression in cancer tissues (-7.85 ± 3.86) was significantly higher than that in matched normal ones (-11.19 ± 5.03;t = 3.973, P = 0.000). Up-regulation of ERCC1 mRNA was found in 43 of 60 (71.7%) lung cancer tissues compared with that in the matched normal lung tissues (17 of 60, 28.3%). The univariate survival analysis by Kaplan-Meier method showed that the survival rate of patients with high ERCC1 mRNA expression was lower than that in the patients with low expression of ERCC1 mRNA (P = 0.000). Patients with lymph node metastasis, smoking, cancer family history, or high pathological grade had significantly shorter survaival time than those without lymph node metastasis, smoking, cancer family history, or with low pathological grade. Cox regression survival analysis showed that the level of ERCC1 mRNA expression, lymph node metastasis, smoking, and pathological grade were significant independent factors affecting the survival rate.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Non-small cell lung cancer patients with up-regulated ERCC1 expression have a poor survival. The expression of ERCC1 mRNA, lymph node metastasis, pathological grade, cancer family history and smoking can be used as prognostic indicator of non-small cell lung cancer.</p>

Oncosis in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its relationship with apoptosis and microvessel density / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Previous studies have shown that oncosis in malignant tumors might be related to cellular energy supply. The aim of this study was to detect oncosis in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and to investigate its relationship with apoptosis and microvessel density (MVD).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>ESCC specimens were obtained from 30 patients with ESCC after surgery. Transmission electron microscopy, TUNEL, and immunohistochemistry were used to detect oncosis, apoptosis, and MVD. The relation of oncosis to apoptosis and MVD was analyzed by ANOVA, t test, and q test using SPSS 10.0.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Transmission electron microscopy revealed both oncosis and apoptosis in the ECSS tissues. About 10% of the TUNEL-positive cells, which were considered apoptotic cells, showed the characteristics of oncosis. In the areas, where oncotic cells accumulated, apoptotic cells were rare; contrarily, where apoptotic cells gathered, oncotic cells were sparse. Compared with the tissues with a high MVD, the number of oncotic cells was increased and that of apoptotic cells was decreased in the tissues with a low MVD.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Cellular oncosis can be detected in human ESCC tissues. The distribution of oncotic cells presents a close relationship with cellular apoptosis and MVD. Oncosis might be induced by poor blood supply.</p>