Effect of polyI: C on secretion of thymic stromal lymphopoietin and airway inflammation in mice with respiratory syncytial virus-induced asthma exacerbation / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (polyI:C) on the production of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) and airway inflammation in mice with exacerbated asthma induced by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-two female BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 4 groups, namely the PBS control group, OVA group, OVA/RSV group, and OVA/RSV/polyI:C group. In the latter 3 groups, the mice were sensitized by OVA and stimulated with nebulized OVA. RSV was inoculated into the nasal cavity of the sensitized mice and polyI:C (1 mg/kg) was intramuscularly administered. The airway response to metacholine was examined, and the serum levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IFN-γ and TSLP in the supernatants of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were detected using ELISA. The total BALF cells, eosinophils, lymphocytes and neutrophils were counted. The lung specimens were collected to observe the inflammation with HE staining, and immunohistochemistry was employed to determine TSLP production in the airway epithelial cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mice in RSV/OVA/polyI:C group showed a significantly lower airway responsiveness to metacholine than those in OVA/RSV group (P<0.01). Compared with OVA/RSV group, RSV/OVA/polyI:C group showed significantly lower serum levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and TSLP in BALF (P<0.05), with also lower total BALF cells, eosinophils and lymphocytes (P<0.05) and lessened infiltration of the airway inflammatory cells. Immunohistochemistry of TSLP also demonstrated a lower production of TSLP in the airway epithelial cells in RSV/OVA/polyI:C group than in OVA/RSV group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>polyI:C can inhibit the increase in TSLP production in the airway epithelial cells after RSV infection and relieve airway inflammation in mice with RSV-induced asthma exacerbation.</p>

Effects of different factors on the expression of thymic stromal lymphopoietin in respiratory syncytial virus-infected human airway epithelial cells / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of different factors on the expressions of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-infected human airway epithelial cell line 16HBE cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RSV amplified by infecting Hep-2 cells was identified for its virulence. 16HBE cells were divided into six groups, namely the control group, RSV group, RSV/anti-TLR3 group, RSV/IFN-gamma group, RSV/IL-4 group and RSV/dexamethasone group with corresponding treatments. Real-time RT-PCR was used to examine the expression of TSLP mRNA in the cells 6 h after RSV infection. Western blotting was used to examine TSLP protein expression in the cells 24 h after the infection.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of TSLP mRNA in 16HBE cells 6 h after RSV infection increased by 1.63-/+0.08 folds as compared to the expression level in the control cells. The expression of TSLP mRNA was significantly decreased in RSV-infected cells treated with anti-TLR3 antibody (P=0.034) and recombinant human IFN-gamma (P<0.001), but increased with the treatment by recombinant human IL-4 (P=0.025). Dexamethasone significantly inhibited the expression of TSLP mRNA in RSV-infected cells (P<0.001). The production of TSLP protein in 16HBE cells increased by 1.9 folds (P<0.001) 24 h after RSV infection, but underwent no significant changes after treatment with anti-TLR3 antibody (P=0.114). Recombinant human IFN-gamma significantly decreased while IL-4 enhanced the expression of TSLP protein in the infected cells (P=0.020 and 0.014, respectively). Dexamethasone significantly inhibited the increment of TSLP protein expression in RSV-infected cells (P<0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>RSV infection can enhance the expressions of TSLP in human airway epithelial cells. IFN-gamma, anti-TLR3 and dexamethasone can inhibit the elevation of TSLP expression induced by RSV infection, but IL-4 synergistically enhances its expression.</p>

Non-rigid medical image registration based on mutual information and thin-plate spline / 中国医疗器械杂志

To get precise and complete details, the contrast in different images is needed in medical diagnosis and computer assisted treatment. The image registration is the basis of contrast, but the regular rigid registration does not satisfy the clinic requirements. A non-rigid medical image registration method based on mutual information and thin-plate spline was present. Firstly, registering two images globally based on mutual information; secondly, dividing reference image and global-registered image into blocks and registering them; then getting the thin-plate spline transformation according to the shift of blocks' center; finally, applying the transformation to the global-registered image. The results show that the method is more precise than the global rigid registration based on mutual information and it reduces the complexity of getting control points and satisfy the clinic requirements better by getting control points of the thin-plate transformation automatically.

Respiratory syncytial virus infection promotes the production of thymic stromal lymphopoietin and accelerates Th2 inflammation in mouse airway / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection on the production of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) and Th1/Th2 balance in asthmatic mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-two female BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 4 groups, namely the PBS group, ovalbumin (OVA) group, RSV group and OVA/RSV group. The mice were sensitized by OVA and then stimulated with nebulized OVA, and RSV was inoculated into the nasal cavity of the mice. BUXCO noninvasive lung function detection was performed to examine the airway response to metacholine, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the serum levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IFN-gamma in the mice. The cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were counted and classified, and the supernatants of the BALF were used for the detection of TSLP. Histopathological changes in the lung tissues of the mice were examined using HE staining, and immunohistochemistry using anti-mouse TSLP antibody was performed to examine TSLP expressions in the airway epithelial cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>RSV infection promoted the production of TSLP in the asthmatic mice, and the concentration of TSLP in OVA/RSV group (2.13-/+0.05 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that in the other groups (P<0.01). RSV infection increased the serum levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IFN-gamma in the mice. The total BALF cells, eosinophils, lymphocytes and neutrophils in OVA/RSV group were significantly higher than those in the other groups; noninvasive lung function examination showed higher Penh value in OVA/RSV group (318.66-/+50.87) than in the other groups when the inhaled metacholine increased to 6.25 mg/ml (P<0.01). More obvious and extensive airway inflammatory cell infiltration in OVA/RSV group were observed, and immunohistochemical staining also showed higher expression of TSLP in the airway epithelial cells of OVA/RSV group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>RSV infection promotes the production of TSLP in the airway epithelial cells and increases the level of Th2 cytokines in asthmatic mice. Concurrent RSV infection can exacerbate Th2 inflammatory reaction in asthmatic mice.</p>

Optimization methods in radiation treatment planning / 中国医疗器械杂志

The optimization methods in radiation treatment planning are reviewed in this paper, including the physical and biological optimization models, the optimization for Gamma knife treatment planning, the optimization for intensity modulated radiation treatment planning and the optimization for intravascular brachytherapy treatment planning. The development trend of radiation treatment planning is also introduced in the paper.

Development of a three-dimensional precise conformal radiotherapy treatment planning system based on a cobalt-60 teletherapy unit / 中国医疗器械杂志

In this paper, a three-dimensional precise conformal radiotherapy treatment planning system based on a cobalt-60 teletherapy unit is introduced. With the help of additional precise target localization and conformal field-shaping devices, the TPS can greatly improve the performance of conventional cobalt-60 teletherapy units in precise target localization, radiotherapy planning and dose delivery. The clinical practices show that the TPS has advantages of reliable precision and an affordable price , and it is urgently needed in our country.

A review of methods for correction of artifacts in functional MRI / 中国医疗器械杂志

There are many kinds of artifacts in image series of functional MRI, such as head motion artifacts, physiological motion artifacts, blood flow artifacts, ghost artifacts and susceptibility artifacts. These artifacts which are unassociated with the neural activities, have so severe affects on the analysis of functional MRI data that they not only reduce the sensibility and reliability of functional MRI, but also make the detecting, locating and visualizing of the functional active regions more complicated. The mechanism and the effect of artifacts in functional MRI are discussed here, the methods of correcting artifacts are reviewed, and research prospects are discussed too.

DICOM in radiotherapy / 中国医疗器械杂志

Digital Image Communication in Medicine (DICOM) defines a standard method to store and transmit digital medical image information, in which there is a piece of implemented protocol named DICOM-RT that specially addresses both the transmission of radiation therapy image data and the ancillary data. In this paper, we firstly introduce the DICOM-RT with the emphases on its components, relationship with radiotherapy and how to produce the DICOM-RT object that refer to some certain radiotherapy information. Then we expatiate on the impact that benefits from applying DICOM-RT to radiotherapy, with an aid to accelerate its application in China.

Virtual imagery in medicine / 中国医疗器械杂志

The development of modern medical imaging and related technologies, and the increasing requirements for accuracy in clinical diagnosis and treatments give the emergence of a new discipline--virtual imagery in medicine. In this paper, we try to summarize its technical aspects, including virtual reality, 3-D image reconstruction and visualization, virtual endoscopy, and so on.

The 3D PACS image system based on pipeline framework / 中国医疗器械杂志

We put forward an image rendering system based on pipeline framework for processing and displaying medical images. Compared to original computer graphics algorithms divided into volume rendering and surface rendering, this framework can effectively comprehend methods of computer graphics and image processing, import some new concepts such as vertex buffer, pixel buffer and texture buffer. We implement Shaded Surface Display, Maximum Intensity Projection, Digitally Reconstructed Radiography, Multi planar Reformation, Curved Planar Reformation and Interactive Virtual Endoscopy in our new developed PACS image system.