Controlled attenuation parameter in the diagnosis of different liver steatosis groups in children with obesity.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the utility of the controlled attenuation parameter (CAP), as measured by a liver elastography technique, in predicting varying degrees of liver steatosis in children with obesity. METHODS: Children with obesity attending the pediatric obesity clinic at the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University from July 2020 to May 2021 were retrospectively analysed. The 71 subjects were divided into four groups according to the degree of liver steatosis obtained by magnetic resonance imaging-proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF). The gender, age, CAP, LSM, ALT, AST, BMI, uric acid, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, insulin, and blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of the four groups were compared, and the differences were analysed. Clinical data with significant differences were included in the logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the CAP for the 71 subjects with different degrees of liver steatosis was plotted to evaluate the diagnostic value. RESULTS: The 71 children were divided into groups according to the degree of hepatic steatosis obtained by MRI-PDFF, and the clinical data for each group were compared. It was found that there was statistical significance for CAP, ALT, and AST in cases of moderate and severe hepatic steatosis (p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis was conducted between CAP, ALT, AST, and moderate to severe hepatic steatosis in children with obesity, and it was found that CAP was a factor related to moderate to severe hepatic steatosis in children with obesity. The ROC curve indicated that CAP has diagnostic value for NAFLD in children with obesity. CONCLUSION: There is diagnostic value in the use of CAP for hepatic steatosis in children with obesity, and there is greater diagnostic value in the use of CAP for children with moderate to severe hepatic steatosis.

Chitosan-Coated Diatom Silica as Hemostatic Agent for Hemorrhage Control.

Uncontrolled hemorrhage leads to high death risk both in military and civilian trauma. Current hemostatic agents still have various limitations and side effects. In this study, natural diatom silica obtained from diatomite and diatom culture was purified and developed for hemorrhage control. To improve the biocompatibility and hemostatic performance of diatom silica, a series of chitosan-coated diatom (CS-diatom) was developed. The composition of CS-diatom prepared was optimized by in vitro hemocompatibility and blood coagulation evaluation for that prepared with 0.5%, 1%, 3%, and 5% chitosan. The results demonstrated that the CS-diatom prepared with 1% chitosan exhibited favorable biocompatibility (hemolysis ratio < 5%, no cytotoxicity to MEFs), great fluid absorbility (24.39 ± 1.53 times the weight of liquid), and desirable hemostasis effect (351 ± 14.73 s at 5 mg/mL, 248 ± 32.42s at 10 mg/mL). Further blood coagulation mechanism study indicated that CS-diatom could provide an ideal interface to induce erythrocyte absorption and aggregation, along with activating the intrinsic coagulation pathway and thus accelerated blood coagulation. Benefitting from the multiple hemostatic performances, CS-diatom showed the shortest clotting time (98.34 ± 26.54 s) and lowest blood loss (0.31 ± 0.11 g) in rat-tail amputation model compare to diatomite and diatom as well as gauze and commercial QuikClot zeolite. The results evidenced that the CS-diatom was a safe and effective hemostatic agent and provided a new understanding of nonsynthetic mesoporous materials for hemorrhage control.

[Effects of enamel matrix proteins loaded in chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel on bone marrow stromal cells in vitro].

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of enamel matrix proteins (EMPs ) on proliferation, alkaline phosphate (ALP) activity of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) seeded on the scaffold of chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel. METHODS: Chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel was prepared and its slow-releasing effect of EMPs was checked by coomassie blue staining kit. Rat BMSCs were obtained from rat bone marrow aspiration and cultured in DMEM medium with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Rat BMSCs were exposed to various concentrations of EMPs (0,50,100 and 150 microg/mL) and their proliferation rates were assessed by MTT assay. The proliferation rates and ALP activity of rat BMSCs were examined by MTT assay and ALP kit when BMSCs cultured on the scaffolds of chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel loading with or without 100 microg/mL EMPs .The data was statistically analyzed with SPSS11.0 software package for a parametric one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and two-sample t test. RESULTS: The release of EMPs in chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel lasted for more than 3 weeks. In DMEM medium, 50 microg/mL EMPs significantly enhanced BMSCs proliferation from day 3 over the experiment(P<0.01). In chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel scaffolds loading 100 microg/mL EMPs, both the proliferation at day 3 and 5 (P<0.05)and the ALP activity at day 7 (P<0.05) and 9(P<0.01) of BMSCs in the experiment were promoted. CONCLUSION: EMPs loaded on the chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel exhibits significant effects on proliferation and ALP activity of rat BMSCs.