One Novel Phantom-Less Quantitative Computed Tomography System for Auto-Diagnosis of Osteoporosis Utilizes Low-Dose Chest Computed Tomography Obtained for COVID-19 Screening.

Background: The diagnosis of osteoporosis is still one of the most critical topics for orthopedic surgeons worldwide. One research direction is to use existing clinical imaging data for accurate measurements of bone mineral density (BMD) without additional radiation. Methods: A novel phantom-less quantitative computed tomography (PL-QCT) system was developed to measure BMD and diagnose osteoporosis, as our previous study reported. Compared with traditional phantom-less QCT, this tool can conduct an automatic selection of body tissues and complete the BMD calibration with high efficacy and precision. The function has great advantages in big data screening and thus expands the scope of use of this novel PL-QCT. In this study, we utilized lung cancer or COVID-19 screening low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) of 649 patients for BMD calibration by the novel PL-QCT, and we made the BMD changes with age based on this PL-QCT. Results: The results show that the novel PL-QCT can predict osteoporosis with relatively high accuracy and precision using LDCT, and the AUC values range from 0.68 to 0.88 with DXA results as diagnosis reference. The relationship between PL-QCT BMD with age is close to the real trend population (from ∼160 mg/cc in less than 30 years old to ∼70 mg/cc in greater than 80 years old for both female and male groups). Additionally, the calculation results of Pearson's r-values for correlation between CT values with BMD in different CT devices were 0.85-0.99. Conclusion: To our knowledge, it is the first time for automatic PL-QCT to evaluate the performance against dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in LDCT images. The results indicate that it may be a promising tool for individuals screened for low-dose chest computed tomography.

Effects of bisphenol A on the expression of N-cadherin, Vimentin and FSHR in rat Sertoli cells / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Objective@#To explore the effects of BPA on the expression of N-cadherin, Vimentin and FSHR in rat Sertoli cells.@*Methods@#Primary Sertoli cells collected from prepuberty rats (18-21 d) were cultured for 48 h, and then they were treated with 0, 30, 50, 70 μmol/L BPA respectively for 24 h. The methods of MTT, real-time quantitative PCR and Western blotting were utilized to measure the cell ability of Sertoli cells, the mRNA and protein expression levels of N-cadherin, Vimentin and FSHR respectively.@*Results@#Compared with control, the cell abilities of Sertoli cells in 50 μmol/L BPA group and 70 μmol/L BPA group increased significantly (P<0.05) . The cell abilities of Sertoli cells decreased with the increases of exposure doses of BPA. Compared with control, the expression of N-cadherin mRNA only increased in 30 μmol/L BPA group (P<0.05) , the expression of Vimentin mRNA decreased significantly in all doses group of BPA (P<0.05) , the expression of FSHR mRNA increased in all doses group of BPA (P<0.05) . Compared with the control, the protein levels of N-cadherin increased significantly in 50 μmol/L BPA group (P<0.05) , the protein levels of Vimentin decreased significantly in all doses group of BPA (P<0.05) , the protein levels of FSHR decreased significantly in 50 μmol/L BPA group and 70 μmol/L BPA group (P<0.05) .@*Conclusion@#The mechanism of testicular toxicity from BPA might be the alterations of N-cadherin, Vimentin and FSHR by disturbing normal spermatogenesis.

Studies on DNA damage and apoptosis in rat brain induced by fluoride / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the DNA damage effects and apoptosis in brain cells of rats induced by sodium fluoride.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>SD rats were divided into two groups, i.e. control group and fluoride treated group, which were injected intraperitoneally with distilled water and sodium fluoride (20 mg.kg(-1).d(-1)) respectively. On the hand, 5 mmol/L NaF were used in in vitro study. Single Cell Gel Electrophosis (SCGE or Comet Assay) was utilized to measured DNA damage and apoptosis was detected by the TUNEL method and Flow Cytometry (FCM).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The DNA damage in pallium neurons in rats of the fluoride group was much more serious compared with those of the control group, with the Ridit value being 0.351 and 0.639 respectively (P < 0.01) in vivo, and 0.384 4 and 0.650 1 respectively (P < 0.01) in vitro. TUNEL positive cells were found in pallium, hippocampus and cerebellar granule cells in rats of fluoride group, whereas those in the control group were rare. It was demonstrated by FCM results that the percentages of apoptotic cells both in pallium and hippocampus were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in rats of fluoride group (27.12 +/- 3.08, 34.97 +/- 5.46) than those in control group (4.63 +/- 0.98, 5.35 +/- 0.79), (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Sodium fluoride could induce DNA damage and apoptosis in rats brain.</p>

Effects of selenium and fluoride on apoptosis and lipid peroxidation in human hepatocytes / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the influence of selenium and fluoride on apoptosis and lipid peroxidation in human hepatocytes in vitro.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The apoptosis, cell cycle, GSH content and lipid peroxides (LPO) level in human hepatocytes, LPO level and LDH, AST and ALT activity in cell culture supernatants were investigated after hepatocytes were incubated with selenium and/or fluoride for around 12 hours periods in vitro.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The percentage of hepatocyte apoptosis bodies (15.557 +/- 2.056)%, the number of cells in S phase (4.823 +/- 0.454)% and LPO level in liver tissue and supernatant [(2.884 +/- 0.589) and (3.547 +/- 0.561) nmol/L MDA/mg.prot, respectively], AST and LDH activity in supernatants (91.1 +/- 36.4 and 140.4 +/- 7.6 U/L, respectively) in the fluoride treated group was higher than the control group [(10.313 +/- 1.023)%, (3.253 +/- 0.743)%, (1.473 +/- 0.401) nmol/L MDA/mg.prot, (1.694 +/- 0.443) nmol/L MDA/mg.prot, (54.5 +/- 3.2) U/L and (126.4 +/- 2.6) U/L, respectively], The GSH content in live tissue [(4.225 +/- 0.781) microgram/mg.prot] is lower than control group [(7.595 +/- 1.042) microgram/mg.prot]. Selenium treatment reduced these kinds of toxicity of fluoride through raising GSH content, reducing LPO level, LDH and AST activity and percentage of apoptosis bodies.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Selenium can antagonist apoptosis and lipid peroxidation of hepatocytes induced by fluoride.</p>

Analysis and determination of irone in Iris tectorum / 中草药

Object To establish an analysis method for determ in ation of irone in Iris tectorum Maxim. f. alba Makino. Methods The three isomers of irone were quantitatively analyz ed by GC-MS. Irone in I. tectorum extract was determinated by GC. Results The three isomers of irone, ?, ?, ?- irone were s p eculated according to the MS splitting decomposition law. Irone contents in the extract were 687, 238 ?g/g (n=6), which h ad much difference. Conclusion The analysis method for irone by GC-MS and GC is hig her efficiency, precise, and the analysis time is acceptable.