Objective:To explore the mechanism of mTOR/HIF-1α signaling pathway in Budd-Chiari syndrome (B-CS) liver fibrosis.Methods:Twenty male C57 mice were randomly divided into Sham operation group (Sham), sham operation+ rapamycin (Sham+ Ra) group, B-CS group, B-CS+ rapamycin (B-CS+ Ra) Group, 5 in each group. The B-CS mouse model was constructed by partial ligation of the inferior vena cava(IVC) at the posterior segment of the liver; IVC was not ligated in the Sham group. Mice in Sham+ Ra and B-CS+ Ra groups were intraperitoneally injected with rapamycin (2 mg/kg, 5% DMSO solution preparation) every other day, Sham group and B-CS group were injected with the same dose of 5% DMSO solution.After 6 weeks, samples were taken, and part of the liver tissue was used to make paraffin sections for hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and Sirus Red staining to observe the pathological changes, and immunohistochemical staining to detect the expression of α-SMA and Fibrinogen in liver tissues; Protein and RNA were extracted from fresh liver tissue, and Western-blot was used to detect α-SMA, Fibrinogen, p-mTOR, mTOR, HIF-1α, Collagen I, and VEGF protein levels. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to detect mTOR, HIF-1α, CollagenⅠ, VEGF mRNA levels.Measurement data were expressed as mean±standard deviation ( ± s), and the comparison between groups was performed by one-way ANOVA test. Results:The results of pathological staining showed that in the B-CS group, there was severe congestion around the central vein of the liver and sinusoids, widening of the sinus space, and increased collagen deposition, indicating that this study successfully established a mouse B-CS liver fibrosis model. The expression levels of fibrosis indicators α-SMA and Collagen I protein, mTOR pathway related indicators p-mTOR and HIF-1α protein, and microthrombus indicator Fibrinogen protein in the Sham group were 0.027±0.012, 0.337±0.008, 0.138±0.024, 0.296±0.113, 0.733±0.192; B-CS group were 0.986±0.001, 0.927±0.055, 0.936±0.044, 1.693±0.443, 1.612±0.068, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). The expression levels of B-CS+ Ra group were 0.707±0.078, 0.311±0.024, 0.332±0.094, 0.254±0.117, 0.569±0.075, which were statistically significant compared with B-CS group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The mTOR/HIF-1α signaling pathway is significantly activated in mouse B-CS liver fibrosis. This pathway may participate in the development of liver fibrosis by regulating microthrombosis.

Objective:To study the factors influencing short-term prognosis of patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome (B-CS) presenting with upper gastrointestinal bleeding and to assess the predictive value of platelet-albumin-bilirubin score (PALBI) on death within 30 d in these patients.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on 74 patients with B-CS who presented with upper gastrointestinal bleeding and were treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2014 to February 2020. There were 51 males and 23 females, with age of (46.5±11.1) years old. These patients were divided into the survival group ( n=58) and the death group ( n=16) according to the disease outcomes up to 30 d of follow-up. Factors influencing short-term deaths of these patients were analyzed, and the predictive values of PALBI, ALBI, CTP and MELD scores on short-term prognosis of the patients were assessed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted, and the areas under the curve (AUC) were calculated and compared. Results:The differences between patients in the survival and death groups for white blood cell, platelet, PALBI score, PALBI classification, ALBI score, CTP score, MELD score, and presence or absence of hepatic encephalopathy were significantly different (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CTP score≥10 or CTP grade C ( OR=1.669, 95% CI: 1.048-2.661), and PALBI score >-2.09 or PALBI grade 3 ( OR=5.245, 95% CI: 2.128-12.924) were independent risk factors for predicting death within 30 days. The areas under the ROC curves for PALBI, ALBI, CTP and MELD score were 0.89, 0.72, 0.77 and 0.76, with the cut-off values of -1.92, -1.60, 8.50 and 13.60, respectively. The differences between the PALBI score and ALBI, CTP scores were significantly different ( P<0.05). Conclusion:The PALBI score showed a positive predictive value on short-term prognostic assessment of patients with B-CS presenting with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. It was comparable to the effect of the MELD score but was significantly better than the ALBI and CTP scores.

Objective To evaluate disc degeneration and cervical kyphosis in the cervical spine by comparing the magnetic resonance imaging assessment of disc degeneration with conventional plain radiographic evaluation of cervical kyphosis. Methods Fifty three patients with cervical kyphosis were analyzed for degree measurement of cervical kyphosis on plain radiographic and disc degeneration on T2 weighted magnetic resonance images of the cervical vertebrae. Results The grade of disc degeneration increased significantly(P0.01)with age. The degree of cervical kyphosis is increased significantly(P0.01) with the grade of disc degeneration. Conclusions Disc degeneration of cervical spine is one of the reasons that causes the cervical kyphosis.