Biomedical subjects

Chang Liu

Publications and source records attributed to Chang Liu.

67 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

PubMed2004

Impact of family history of high myopia on level and onset of myopia.

PURPOSE: To investigate the impact of a positive family history of high myopia on the level and onset of myopia and its ocular components. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The participants (aged 17 to 45 years) were categorized into four groups: normal, mild, moderate, and high myopia. The age of first glasses for myopia was used as the onset of myopia. The impact of the family history on the level and the onset of myopia was quantified. Parental effect on corneal curvature (CC), anterior chamber depth (ACD), and axial length (AXL) was analyzed. RESULTS: The study included 185 normal subjects, 170 mild, 140 moderate, and 392 high myopes. Family history was strongly associated with the probands' status (P < 6 x 10(-12)). When there was >or=1 highly myopic parent, the odds ratios (ORs) of developing mild or moderate myopia were between 2.5 and 3.7 (95% CI: 1.1-6.5) and the ORs of having high myopia were > 5.5 (95% CI: 3.2-12.6). A strong association (P = 2 x 10(-6)) between parental myopic state and the AXL in the subjects was also found, but there was no statistical relationship for ACD or CC. There was an association between high myopia in parents and the onset of myopia in children. Siblings had a weaker association with the level of myopia and had no effect on the onset of myopia. CONCLUSIONS: This study found strong familial effects on the level and onset of myopia even after adjusting for environmental factors. The parental effect on ocular components in their offspring was primarily on AXL.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Hepatic volumetry with PhotoShop in personal computer.

BACKGROUND: Convenient way to clarify liver volume or tumor volume in the liver is eagerly demanded by hepatobiliary surgeons, for so many aspects of clinical work need to know the liver volumetry. At present, some methods have been used to measure the liver volumetry, such as computed tomography (CT) scans, three-dimensional ultrasound volumetric system([1]) and 3-dimensional sonography([2,3]) et al. But enough volumetric information was failed to obtain by surgeons and a new way of measuring the liver volumetry that can be operated by themselves is exigent. Whereas we devise a new method of using PhotoShop in personal computer to measure the liver volumetry. METHODS: A piece of whole CT film was transformed to a high quality digitized image by digital camera or scanner and then the digitized image was conducted as JPEG file into personal computer. The JPEG image file of CT film was opened by PhotoShop. Determining the edge of interested areas, and the data of pixel values of the interested areas divided by 1 cm2 pixel value will produce the actual area with the unit of square centimeter. If section thickness of CT scan is 1 cm, the sum of the areas of the liver or tumor in all sections naturally is the volume of the liver or tumor. RESULTS: Comparison of 10 hepatic volumes gained by this method and those gained by the GE Prospeed CT set showed a good relativity between the two groups. The volumes of three right lobes were calculated by this method before lobectomy and their real volumes were obtained postoperatively by a volumenometer. Their variation was limited to 5%. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatic volume obtained by PhotoShop is reliable. This method can be used to measure hepatic volume perfectly to meet clinical demand, and many parameters such as liver resection rate, graft volume can be achieved. The disadvantage of this method is the step of copying the pixel value from PhotoShop to Microsoft Excel.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗

PubMed2004

Liver retransplantation: indications and outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Liver transplantation is a life-saving therapeutic modality for patients with end-stage liver diseases. After liver transplantation, however, more than 10% patients may lose the grafts caused by a variety of reasons. This review covers the most frequent indications for liver retransplantation as well as the results and specific problems with each indication. DATA RESOURCES: Searching MEDLINE (1997-2003) for articles on liver retransplantation. RESULTS: The most frequent indications of liver retransplantation are primary non-function, hepatic artery thrombosis, graft rejection and recurrent diseases. The results after liver retransplantation remain inferior to those after first transplantation. CONCLUSION: Liver retransplantation, which is the only means of prolonging survival in those patients whose initial graft has failed, makes an important contribution to overall survival.

Graft Rejection↗

PubMed2004

Role of individually staged nutritional support in the management of severe acute pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) as a common acute abdomen due to complicated causes is characterized by lots of morbidities, difficult treatment, and high mortality. This study was designed to investigate the role of individually staged nutritional support (ISNS) in the treatment of SAP. METHODS: One hundred patients with SAP admitted to our hospital from January 1997 to October 2002 were randomly divided into total parenteral nutrition group (TPN group, 50 patients) and individually staged nutrition group (individualized group, 50 patients), between which the therapeutic outcome and the incidence of complications were carefully analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with the TPN group, the individualized group had less complications (62 vs 94 patients) including incubation related complications (2% vs 16%), superinfections (8% vs 30%), hepatic functional insufficiency (4% vs 24%) and intra-peritoneal infections (4% vs 12%), in addition to a sooner restoring of oral nutrition (18.5 vs 24.8 days, P<0.05), a shorter hospital stay (24.5 vs 30.2 days) and a lower hospital cost (4.1 vs 5.8 10,000 yuan, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: ISNS, which provides SAP patients with sufficient energy and nutrients according to their true pathological status, is an ideal nutrition planning with lowered incidence of complications, shortened hospital stay and lightened financial burden.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2004

Lamivudine in prevention and treatment of recurrent HBV after liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis B virus infection is one of the major causes of liver cirrhosis worldwide, especially in Asia. Liver transplantation for the end-stage liver disease with hepatitis B virus(HBV) is commonly complicated by the recurrence of HBV. The present study was designed to evaluate lamivudine in the prevention and treatment of recurrent HBV after liver transplantation. METHODS: Seventeen patients with HBV-related liver disease in a total of 41 patients have received liver transplantation at our hospital since 2001. All the patients were HBV positive before transplantation, 5 of them had acute liver failure. Artificial liver was used in 4 patients with acute liver failure. All of the patients received lamivudine at a dose of 100 mg/d after liver transplantation. Lamivudine and HBIg therapy were given to 3 patients. RESULTS: Liver transplantation was successfully performed in all 17 patients. Three patients died of complications 3-6 months after the transplantation. One patient withdraw from lamivudine therapy and died of liver failure at 14 months after the transplantation. Thirteen patients were followed up from 6 to 18 months. Two viremic patients had HBV recurrence shortly after the transplantation. Two viremic patients who had received HBIg and lamivudine after the transplantation had no evidence of HBV recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Lamivudine therapy is effective in preventing HBV recurrence after liver transplantation. The recurrence of HBV is closely related to HBV DNA status before liver transplantation.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Effects of bile acids on proliferation and ultrastructural alteration of pancreatic cancer cell lines.

AIM: Pancreatic cancer in the head is frequently accompanied by jaundice and high bile acid level in serum. This study focused on the direct effects of bile acids on proliferation and ultrastructural alteration of pancreatic cancer. METHODS: Pancreatic cancer cell lines PANC-1, MIA PaCa-2 and PGHAM-1 were explored in this study. The cell lines were cultured in media supplemented with certain bile acids, CA, DCA, LCA, TCDC, TDCA and GCA. Their influence on cell growth was measured with MTT assay after 72 h of incubation. Cell cycles of PANC-1 cells in 40 microM of bile acids media were analyzed by flow cytometry. Ultrastructural alteration of PANC-1 cells induced by DCA was observed using scanning and transmission electron microscope (SEM and TEM). RESULTS: At various concentrations of bile acids and incubation time, no enhanced effects of bile acids on cell proliferation were observed. Significant inhibitory effects were obtained in almost all media with bile acids. DCA and CA increased the percentage of G0+G1 phase cells, while GCA and TDCA elevated the S phase cell number. After 48 h of incubation in DCA medium, PANC-1 cells showed some structural damages such as loss of their microvilli and vacuolization of organelles in cytoplasm. CONCLUSION: Bile acids can reduce proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells due to their direct cytotoxicity. This result implies that elevation of bile acids in jaundiced serum may inhibit pancreatic cancer progression.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

[Research report of experimental database establishment of digitized virtual Chinese No.1 female].

OBJECTIVE: To establish digitized virtual Chinese No.1 female (VCH-F1) image database. METHODS: A 19 years old female cadaver was scanned by CT, MRI, and perfused with red filling material through formal artery before freezing and em- bedding. The whole body was cut by JZ1500A vertical milling machine with a 0.2 mm inter-spacing. All the images was produced by Fuji FinePix S2 Pro camera. RESULTS: The body index of VCH-F1 was 94%. We cut 8 556 sections of the whole body, and each image was 17.5 MB in size and the whole database reached 149.7 GB. We have totally 6 versions of the database for different applications. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with other databases, VCH-F1 has good representation of the Chinese body shape, colorful filling material in blood vessels providing enough information for future registration and segmentation. Vertical embedding and cutting helped to retain normal human physiological posture, and the image quality and operation efficiency were improved by using various techniques such as one-time freezing and fixation, double-temperature icehouse, large-diameter milling disc and whole body cutting.

Anatomy, Cross-Sectional↗

PubMed2003

Construction of dataset for Virtual Chinese Male No.1.

OBJECTIVE: To establish digitized Virtual Chinese Human Male No.1 (VCH-M1) image dataset with a 0.2-mm equal interval. METHODS: The body of a 24-year-old male was used for this study. Perfusion with phenol and vermilion of the arteries was performed, followed by body shape adjustment by cold saline and pre-embedding with broken ices in an upside-down position, which was completed in a stepwise procedure to minimize body shape deformation. Section milling was conducted subsequently with the section thickness of 2 mm and the section images were captured by digital camera, which were immediately transferred to a computer for storage and processing. RESULTS: A total of 9 232 sections were obtained for the whole body, and the resolution of each of the image in TIF format was 3 024x2 016 pixels, resulting in the size of approximately 18 M for each image and about 161 G for the whole dataset. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with VCH-F1, the image quality in VCH-M1 dataset is significantly improved, demonstrated by much clearer tissue boundary in the images and minimized body shape deformation during the embedding process.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

[Improvement of specimen sectioning technique for Virtual Chinese Human study].

OBJECTIVE: To improve the image quality of the specimen serial sections for establishing the Virtual Chinese Human dataset and to extend the durability of the milling tools. METHOD: The image quality of the serial sections obtained by using tangential and radial indexable milling tools was compared. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Compared with radial milling tools, tangential ones were more suitable for use in this study to ensure high-quality section image acquisition, showing the advantages such as high efficiency, long durability and low cost.

Anatomy, Cross-Sectional↗

PubMed2003

[CT and MR imaging of pachygyria and agyria].

The CT and MRI manifestations of pachygyria and agyria are presented with a review of the pathological features of the disorders and an evaluation of the diagnostic value of both imaging modalities. 15 cases were analysed retrospectively; of them, 12 were examined with CT and 3 with MRI. The analyses confirm 7 cases with agyria, 5 with pachygyria of bilateral cerebral hemisphere and 3 with limited pachygyria of unilateral hemisphere. On CT and MRI of the whole lesions, the cortex is thickened and the white matter is reduced in proportion. The surface of the brain remains flat and smooth or shows only a few broad gyri and shallow sulci. The border between gray and white matter is smooth. In 12 patients with agyria and pachygyria of the whole brain, the sylvian fissures are shallow, and insulae are exposed. The middle cerebral arteries course superficially along sylvian grooves close to the inner table of the skull. The cerebral contour is "hourglass" or "figure of eight". Associated brain anomalies include the heterotopia of gray matter in 5 cases, the schizencephaly (type I) in 2 cases and the agenesis of the corpus callosum in one case. In conclusion, the pathological changes of pachygyria and agyria are characteristics. CT and MRI are excellent modalities to evaluate these pathological features.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Genetic complementation in apicomplexan parasites.

A robust forward genetic model for Apicomplexa could greatly enhance functional analysis of genes in these important protozoan pathogens. We have developed and successfully tested a genetic complementation strategy based on genomic insertion in Toxoplasma gondii. Adapting recombination cloning to genomic DNA, we show that complementing sequences can be shuttled between parasite genome and bacterial plasmid, providing an efficient tool for the recovery and functional assessment of candidate genes. We show complementation, gene cloning, and biological verification with a mutant parasite lacking hypoxanthine-xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase and a T. gondii cDNA library. We also explored the utility of this approach to clone genes based on function from other apicomplexan parasites using Toxoplasma as a surrogate. A heterologous library containing Cryptosporidium parvum genomic DNA was generated, and we identified a C. parvum gene coding for inosine 5-monophosphate-dehydrogenase (IMPDH). Interestingly, phylogenetic analysis demonstrates a clear eubacterial origin of this gene and strongly suggests its lateral transfer from epsilon-proteobacteria. The prokaryotic origin of this enzyme might make it a promising target for therapeutics directed against Cryptosporidium.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

The effects of local administration of Zoledronate solution on the tooth movement and periodontal ligament.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of local administration of Zoledronate solution on the tooth movement and periodontal ligament. METHODS: Orthodontic tooth movement of upper first molar was performed in 42 rats with coil spring. Zoledronate solution was injected into the palatal submucosal area adjacent to the left upper first molar in experimental group 3 days prior to the use of the appliance. In control group, same amount of 0.9% NaCl solution was injected into the palatal submucosal area adjacent to the left and right upper first molar. The injection was applied every third day. The application of mesial force lasted 0.3, 7, 14, 21 days respectively. After the rats were sacrificed, the distance of tooth movement was measured. Sections were stained and then observed with microscope. RESULTS: 1. The distance of tooth movement in the experimental group was significantly smaller than that in the control group. 2. The number of osteoclast on the pressure side in the experiment group was significantly smaller than that in the control group through the experimental period, but there was no distinct difference between experimental group and control group (except for 14 days) for the number of odontoclast in interradicular area. 3. The osteoclasts and odontoclasts were the main target cell of Zoledronate in periodontal tissue. CONCLUSIONS: Zoledronate may be a useful agent for anchorage control and reducing the number of osteoclast on pressure side of alveolar bone.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Attenuation of leukocytes sequestration by carbon monoxide-releasing molecules: liberated carbon monoxide in the liver of thermally injured mice.

We sought to determine whether the CO-releasing molecules, ie, liberated CO, attenuates the leukocytes sequestration in the liver of thermally injured mice. Sixty-five mice were assigned to five groups in three respective experiments. In each experiment, mice in sham group (n = 7) and sham + CORM-2 group (n = 7) were underwent sham thermal injury, whereas mice in burn group (n = 7) received 15% TBSA full-thickness thermal injury, mice in burn + CORM-2 group (n = 7) underwent the same thermal injury with the immediate administration of CORM-2 (8 mg/kg intravenously), and mice in burn + DMSO group (n = 7) underwent the same thermal injury with an immediate 160 microl-bolus injection of 0.5% dimethyl sulfoxide/saline. Polymorphonuclear leucocyte (PMN) accumulation (assessed by the myeloperoxidase assay) was assessed in mice liver. Activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) and the expression levels of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in liver were assessed. In an in vitro experiment, sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs) isolated from the liver of normal mice were stimulated by experimental mice serum (50% v/v) for 4 hours. Subsequently, the adhesion of PMNs to SECs was assessed. In addition, the number and states (rolling or stationary) of leukocytes in liver were observed by intravital microscopy. Treatment of thermally injured mice with CORM-2 attenuated PMN accumulation and prevented activation of NF-kappaB in the liver, which was accompanied by a decrease of the expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. In parallel, PMNs adhesion to SECs stimulated by CORM-2-treated thermally injured mice serum was markedly decreased. Intravital microscopy showed that the stationary leukocytes in thermally injured mice liver were significantly reduced by treatment of CORM-2. CORM-released CO attenuates leukocytes sequestration in the liver of burn mice by interfering with NF-kappaB activation, protein expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1, and therefore suppressing endothelial cells proadhesive phenotype.

Animals↗