Outstanding Articles
ICG clearance test based on photoacoustic imaging for assessment of human liver function reserve: An initial clinical study

Liver function reserve (LFR) plays an extensive and important role in patients with liver disease. Indocyanine green (ICG) clearance test is the standard diagnostic approach for LFR evaluation which was performed by spectrophotometry or pulse dye densitometry (PDD). Spectrophotometry is the gold standard, it's invasive and not real-time. PDD is non-invasive, but accuracy of PDD is controversial. Taken spectrophotometry as the reference standard, this study investigated the accuracy of photoacoustic imaging (PAI) method for LFR assessment and compared to PDD in healthy volunteers. The results demonstrated a strong correlation between PAI method and spectrophotometry (r = 0.9649, p < 0.0001). No significant difference was shown in ICG clearance between PAI and spectrophotometry method (rate constant k1 vs. k2, 0.001158 +−0.00042 vs. 0.001491 +- 0.00045, p = 0.0727; half-life t1 vs. t2, 601.2 s vs. 474.4 s, p = 0.1450). These results indicated that PAI may be valuable as a noninvasive, accurate diagnostic tool for LFR assessment in human.

2023-05-31

Photoacoustics

West China Hospital, Sichuan University

Structural basis of BAM-mediated outer membrane β-barrel protein assembly

The outer membrane structure is common in Gram-negative bacteria, mitochondria and chloroplasts, and contains outer membrane β-barrel proteins (OMPs) that are essential interchange portals of materials1,2,3. All known OMPs share the antiparallel β-strand topology4, implicating a common evolutionary origin and conserved folding mechanism. Models have been proposed for bacterial β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) to initiate OMP folding5,6; however, mechanisms by which BAM proceeds to complete OMP assembly remain unclear. Here we report intermediate structures of BAM assembling an OMP substrate, EspP, demonstrating sequential conformational dynamics of BAM during the late stages of OMP assembly, which is further supported by molecular dynamics simulations. Mutagenic in vitro and in vivo assembly assays reveal functional residues of BamA and EspP for barrel hybridization, closure and release. Our work provides novel insights into the common mechanism of OMP assembly.

2023-04-30

Nature

West China Hospital, Sichuan University

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Counties Suspend AstraZeneca Vaccine for Blood Clot Risk

2021-03-29

Open the phone and scan

MedSci

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Source: MedSci

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Introduction: Counties suspend AstraZeneca vaccine.

Irish health officials on Sunday recommended the temporary suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of serious blood clotting after inoculations in Norway.

Dr. Ronan Glynn, Ireland’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said the recommendation was made after Norway’s medicines agency reported four cases of blood clotting in adults after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.

He said that while there was no conclusive link between the vaccine and the cases, Irish health officials are recommending the suspension of the vaccine’s rollout as a precaution. Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Italy, Romania and Thailand have also announced the delay of vaccination.


The Netherlands followed suit late Sunday, suspending vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot as a precaution for two weeks. The health ministry said the move followed six new reports in Denmark and Norway of blood clotting and lowered levels of blood platelets in people aged under 50.

The Dutch medicines authority also stressed that no link has been proven between the cases and the vaccine. The health ministry said that no cases had been reported in the Netherlands.

AstraZeneca said in a statement Sunday that it “would like to offer its reassurance on the safety of its COVID-19 vaccine based on clear scientific evidence.”

“The safety of the public will always come first,” the British-Swedish biopharmaceutical company said, adding that it's “keeping this issue under close review but available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause.”

The company said that a review of safety data of more than 17 million people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine in the European Union and the U.K. “has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country.”

Around 5 million Europeans have already received the AstraZeneca jab. There have been about 30 cases of "thromboembolic events" or developing blood clots 

European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday (March 11) there was no evidence of an increased risk of clotting due to the vaccine, adding that “the benefits outweigh risks.”

The World Health Organization has previously said that there was no link between the jab and an increased risk of developing a clot.