Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2008 A procedure called carotid artery stenting (CAS) has emerged as a minimally invasive alternative to surgery, called carotid endarterectomy (CEA), for patients with dangerous narrowing of the arteries supplying blood to the brain. However, questions remain about the best uses of this procedure—especially whether it is an appropriate alternative to surgery for "low-risk" patients, according to a special article in the January/February issue of Annals of Vascular Surgery.
Obesity is a worldwide health problem directly linked to several diseases such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Resistin is a cysteine-rich hormone mainly secreted by adipose tissues and may form a biochemical link between obesity and type 2 diabetes.
It has been reported insulin inhibits resistin mRNA level in 3T3-L1, which does not support a role for resistin in insulin resistance. Does resistin play a role in insulin resistance? Is insulin the major regulator of resistin?
Many hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in China may be treated with Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Some say it works, others doubt its effectiveness. These stated that a research group in China had found TCM can down-regulate the expression of PTEN in HCC, which may suppress tumor cell growth and regulate tumor cell invasion and metastasis.
Lymphangiogenesis and angiogenesis are critical processes for tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. Angiogenesis has established its role in the development and progression of a variety of malignancies, playing a crucial role in the dissemination of the tumor cells. However, because of the lack of specificity lymphatic endothelial makers that could be used to discriminate between lymphatics and blood vessels, the definite significance of lymphangiogenesis in sporadic colorectal carcinoma (SCRC) was not very clear.
Many patients worldwide are going to receive major abdomen surgery or intestine transplantation every year and expect to be afflicted with liver injury afterwards. The finding of a research group headed by Professor Han Jing-Yan in China and reported in January 7, 2008 of the World Journal of Gastroenterology (volume 14, issue 1) may prove good news for them.
Incidence of Salmonella enteritidis infection is common in hospitals for children, the elderly, and immuno-suppressed individuals. A paper in the December 28, 2007 of the World Journal of Gastroenterology (volume 5, issue 48) is notable because of its potential significance for Salmonella enteritidis therapy in the future.
Lamivudine is an effective antiviral agent for treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B and advanced liver diseases. However, long-term lamivudine monotherapy leads to the emergence of lamivudine-resistant hepatitis B virus (HBV) mutants in some patients chronically infected with HBV. Sensitive methods for early detection of lamivudine-resistant mutants will help physicians make clinical decisions in treating patients with HBV infection.
Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world with a poor prognosis. About three quarters of the cases of liver cancer are found in Southeast Asia, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, India, and Japan. The frequency of liver cancer in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa is greater than 20 cases per 100,000 population. Moreover, recent data show the frequency of liver cancer in the U.S. overall is rising.
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