[The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 1316 cases of acute pancreatitis in Guangdong region].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical characteristics and pathogenetic patterns of acute pancreatitis (AP) in Guangdong region. METHODS: Analysis and summary of the clinical data of 1316 AP patients admitted into the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and the Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital between 1986 and 2005 were made. RESULTS: The AP rates among 1986 - 1990, 1991 - 995, 1996 - 2000, 2001 - 2005 year subsections were 0.19%, 0.36%, 0.54% and 0.71%, respectively. 60.48% of the cases was associated with biliary tract disease and the rest were related to hyperlipidemic, idiopathic and alcoholic factors. Epigastric pain was the predominant clinical manifestation, with or without radiating lumbar and back pain. Digestive manifestations such as nausea and vomiting appeared in most of the patients. Contrast-enhanced dynamic computed tomography was a precise imaging technique for diagnosis and severity grading as well as for complication detection. 1104 patients received nonoperative treatment (integrated traditional and western medicine) with 24 deaths. 212 patients received operative treatment with 48 deaths. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of AP increased in the recent 20 years. The pathogenesis of AP is numerous and complicated, and biliary tract disease is still the main etiology. The imaging techniques are beneficial for early diagnosis and severity grading. Nonsurgical treatment integrating traditional and western medicine should be applied for early therapy. Strictly handling the indications for surgery, avoiding early surgery and rationally using endoscopic technique may help to gain satisfactory therapeutic efficacy.

Experimental study of gene therapy with angiostatin gene in pancreatic cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of angiostatin(AS) gene mediated by liposome on human pancreatic cancer cell line SW1990. METHODS: Angiostatin gene was cloned into the eukaryotic expression vector pRC/CMV. The recombinant of pRC/CMV-AS was introduced into the pancreatic cancer cell line, SW1990. The mechanism of anti-tumor was studied and tested. RESULTS: The eukaryotic expression vector pRC/CMV-AS was identified by the restriction digest. pRC/CMV-AS was stably integrated into the target cells and expressed by Western blot and drug-sensitivity tests, and inhibited the vascular endothelial cells proliferation in vitro. In addition, the effects of the angiostatin vector on reducing the volume of tumors implanted in nude mouse models were also noted. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the recombinant pRC/CMV-AS mediated by liposome may play a potential role in the treatment of pancreatic cancer in the future.