Rheological properties of liver actin solutions

G-actin prepared from pork liver and purified to give a product of 95–98% purity was polymerized to F-actin in a rotational dynamic viscometer. The rheological properties were investigated during the course of polymerisation and after polymerisation. G andG measured at frequencies around 0.1 Hz increased strongly during the first 3 hours of the reaction and then slowly approached a constant value in the range of 10–50 mPa. The rise during polymerisation was more than two orders of magnitude. When a solution of F-actin was subjected to steady shear at a high shear rate for a short period of time and subsequently dynamic measurements were performed, then a considerably smallerG (about 70% smaller) was observed immediately after cessation of the steady shear.G then increased with time and approached its initial value.When measuring the viscosity of F-actin solutions as a function of shear rate, a strong shear thinning effect was seen which did not vanish even at shear rates as low as 0.001 s^–1. Even at this low shear rates, a pronounced yield maximum was observed before reaching the steady state. Oscillatory experiments showed a remarkably weak frequency dependence ofG. The results imply that F-actin solutions are largely structured forming a weak temporary network which can be easily destroyed by application of high shear rates. It seems most likely that the destruction occurs by a reversible, shear induced depolymerisation process.     

磁共振弹性成像技术在肝纤维化检测中的研究

对肝脏组织的弹性应力分析在肝纤维化程度的精确定量评价方面是非常关键的,因此从弹性力学角度结合磁共振成像技术的磁共振弹性成像研究在肝脏疾病的早期诊断和治疗方面将具有重要意义和广泛应用. 该文针对弹性磁共振成像技术的理论与技术进行了全面的研究,开发了磁共振弹性图研究平台,主要包括：组织生物力学模型分析与建模,剪切波激励装置的开发,弹性成像序列的设计,弹性拟合算法研究与实现4个方面的工作. 基于上述工作,进行了相关体模和离体猪肝以及志愿者在体肝脏实验,实验结果表明,研究平台基本可以满足肝脏弹性成像研究的需要.     

利用PCC技术预测γ射线对肝癌细胞的辐射效应

利用早熟染色体凝集技术预测研究了γ射线对肝癌细胞SMMC-7721的辐射效应。结果表明,G1和G2期细胞内的染色单体和等点染色单体断裂数与照射剂量之间存在线性相关性,染色单体断裂总数与细胞存活率之间存在良好的线性相关性。说明辐射诱导的染色单体断裂可以作为预测SMMC-7721细胞内在辐射敏感性的指标,也可为临床诊断和治疗肝癌提供依据。     

Hepatic lipid composition analysis using 3.0-T MR spectroscopy in a steatotic rat model

Purpose

To investigate the feasibility of in vivo assessment of hepatic lipid composition using 3.0-T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) in a steatotic rat model and compare it to histopathological and biochemical assessment.

Materials and Methods

Hepatic steatosis was induced by feeding rats with a methionine/choline-deficient (MCD) diet for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 weeks (n=5 per group). At the end of the diet period, ¹H-MRS of the liver was performed, and rats were sacrificed for histopathological and biochemical assessment of the liver. Spectra were acquired in a single voxel (1.2 cc) using a point-resolved spectroscopic sequence with TE/TR=35/2000 ms and 64 signal acquisitions. From the MR spectra, peak area ratios were calculated to estimate hepatic lipid composition.

Results

During MCD diet periods, hepatic steatosis significantly increased on histopathology (P<.001). The ¹H-MRS measurements of total hepatic fat content [1.3/(1.3+4.65) ppm] correlated strongly with histological macrovesicular hepatic steatosis (r=0.93, P<.001) and with the biochemical total hepatic fatty acids (r=0.94, P<.001). Total unsaturated fatty acids [TUFA, 5.4/(1.3+4.65) ppm] estimated with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with the biochemical unsaturated fatty acids (r=0.90, P<.001). Polyunsaturated fatty acids [PUFA, 2.8/(1.3+4.65) ppm] estimated with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with biochemical PUFA (r=0.91, P<.001). The proportion of total unsaturated fatty acids relative to the amount of total fatty acids (rTUFA, 5.4/1.3ppm) measured with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with the biochemical amount of unsaturated relative to total hepatic fatty acids (r=0.81, P<.001). The proportion of PUFA relative to the amount of total fatty acids (rPUFA, 2.8/1.3 ppm) measured with ¹H-MRS correlated with the biochemical amount of PUFA relative to total fatty acids (r=0.59, P=0.005,) and with the biochemical amount of omega-6 PUFA relative to total fatty acids (r=0.73, P<.001).PUFA at ¹H-MRS correlated with the histopathologically assessed degree of lobular inflammation in the liver (r=0.57, P=.001).

Conclusion

3.0T ¹H-MRS is able to measure poly- and unsaturated hepatic fatty acids and this strongly correlates with biochemical assessment. This study provides evidence that 3.0-T ¹H-MRS is a noninvasive technique to assess hepatic lipid composition.     

动物粪便近红外光谱的应用潜力

近红外光谱技术(NIRS)以其低成本、高效、环保、无损的优势在日粮和畜产品品质分析中得到广泛应用。饲料品质参数(如粗蛋白)的获取对于日粮营养的合理搭配不可或缺,传统的近红外光谱技术将日粮的近红外光谱与日粮品质参数的化学测定值进行回归,建立预测模型对日粮品质参数进行检测。然而,在放牧条件下日粮近红外光谱的难以获取限制了这一传统建模方法在动物营养中的应用。作为动物代谢性产物,动物粪便不仅包含有日粮信息也携带有动物自身信息。近年来,基于动物粪便近红外光谱和日粮信息(日粮植物学成分、化学成分及其消化率)建立的回归模型,也已被用于动物日粮信息的检测。简要介绍F.NIRS在动物性别、品种鉴定及繁殖和寄生虫感染状态检测中的应用。NIRS在动物粪肥分析中的应用结果表明NIRS能够对粪肥中主要成分含量进行快速分析。尽管F.NIRS预测准确性有待提高,但已显示出其作为快速、有效的分析工具用于检测日粮品质参数及动物生理状态的潜力。相关的英文评述性文章业已出版,但在中国F.NIRS的研究和应用非常欠缺。期望本文的呈现有助于F.NIRS在国内的发展。推荐将NIRS作为快速分析工具用于对粪肥主要成分(DM,OM,TS,VS,TN,TKN和NH₃-N)含量进行检测。     

Intravascular and Intracellular Hepatic Relaxivities of Superparamagnetic Particles: An Isolated and Perfused Organ Pharmacokinetics Study

The relative contributions of intravascular and intracellular compartments to the proton transverse relaxation of the isolated and excised rat liver were determined during the phagocytosis of superparamagnetic particles. The evolution of the proton transverse magnetization of the organ perfused with increasing doses of starch-coated magnetic microspheres was followed up using a Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill sequence with various echo times. From the multiexponential fit of the echo train, the amplitudes and the relaxation ratesR₂of the liver tissue were obtained. The results clearly indicate that shortly after contrast medium administration, an internalization takes place which can be followed by the rapid and biphasic evolution of the transverse relaxation rate of the water protons. A very fast decaying component looking like an initial loss of the magnetization is observed together with an increase of the relaxation rate of the remaining water tissue. This regime is strongly dependent on both the echo time and the iron concentration, a behavior characteristic of the agglomeration of magnetic particles. The examination of the liver tissues by electron microscopy shows that this clustering arises in cytoplasmic vacuoles.     

MR Imaging of metastatic pancreatic VIPoma

The MR findings in a 32-year-old man with pancreatic VIPoma and liver metastases are described. A 2-cm mass was present in the region of the tail of the pancreas that was best shown on T₁-weighted fat-suppressed images as a low-signal intensity mass. Multiple liver metastases were present that showed intense peripheral ring enhancement on immediate post gadolinium spoiled gradient echo images.     

In vivo study on the protection of indole‐3‐carbinol (I3C) against the mouse acute alcoholic liver injury by micro‐Raman spectroscopy

Micro‐Raman spectroscopy (MRS) was utilized for the first time to evaluate the effect of indole‐3‐carbinol (I3C) on acute alcoholic liver injury in vivo. In situ Raman analysis of tissue sections provided distinct spectra that can be used to distinguish alcoholic liver injury as well as ethanol‐induced liver fibrosis from the normal state. Sixteen mice with liver diseases including acute liver injury and chronic liver fibrosis, and eight mice with normal liver tissues, and eight remedial mice were studied employing the Raman spectroscopic technique in conjunction with biomedical assays. The biochemical changes in mouse liver tissue when liver injury/fibrosis occurs such as the loss of reduced glutathione (GSH), and the increase of collagen (α‐helix protein) were observed by MRS. The intensity ratio of two Raman peaks (I₁₄₅₀/I₆₆₆) and in combination with statistical analysis of the entire Raman spectrum was found capable of classifying liver tissues with different pathological features. Raman spectroscopy therefore is an important candidate for a nondestructive in vivo screening of the effect of drug treatment on liver disease, which potentially decreases the time‐consuming clinical trials. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Respiratory motion-corrected proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the liver

Purpose

To develop a post-processing, respiratory-motion correction algorithm for magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of the liver and to determine the incidence and impact of respiratory motion in liver MRS.

Materials and Methods

One hundred thirty-two subjects (27 healthy, 31 with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and 74 HIV-infected with or without hepatitis C) were scanned with free breathing MRS at 1.5 T. Two spectral time series were acquired on an 8-ml single voxel using TR/TE=2500 ms/30 ms and (1) water suppression, 128 acquisitions, and (2) no water suppression, 8 acquisitions. Individual spectra were phased and frequency aligned to correct for intrahepatic motion. Next, water peaks more than 50% different from the median water peak area were identified and removed, and remaining spectra averaged to correct for presumed extrahepatic motion. Total CH₂+CH₃ lipids to unsuppressed water ratios were compared before and after corrections.

Results

Intrahepatic-motion correction increased the signal to noise ratio (S/N) in all cases (median=11-fold). Presumed extrahepatic motion was present in 41% (54/132) of the subjects. Its correction altered the lipids/water magnitude (magnitude change: median=2.6%, maximum=290%, and was >5% in 25% of these subjects). The incidence and effect of respiratory motion on lipids/water magnitude were similar among the three groups.

Conclusion

Respiratory-motion correction of free breathing liver MRS greatly increased the S/N and, in a significant number of subjects, changed the lipids/water ratios, relevant for monitoring subjects.     

应用电感耦合等离子质谱测定饲料中的微量元素的研究

应用电感耦合等离子体质谱(inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry,ICP-MS)测定饲料中铜、锌、铁、锰、铬、镉、铅、砷和硒等微量元素的方法。考察了谱干扰、基体效应和记忆效应等因素对测量的影响。在优化的条件下,方法检出限达到10-9级,线性范围达到3个数量级,线性相关系数高于0.999。将该方法用于实际样品的测定,小麦粉标准品中各元素的测定值与标示量能很好的吻合,配合饲料中微量元素的回收率在86％～115％,相对标准偏差(RSD)≤8.2%(n=6)。预混合饲料中微量元素的含量与国家标准方法测得值能够较好的吻合。该方法与传统方法相比,具有简单快速,灵敏度高,能够同时测定多种元素的优点。