The findings of this review have indicated that hypoxia may play a key role in the PK changes of drugs at high altitude. It is suggested that patient living at or traveling to high altitude should be closely monitored, and the dosages of some drugs metabolized should be reduced.

The objective of the present study was to provide a basis for the personalized treatment of intermediate and advanced hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) by elucidating the characteristics of vascular invasion and lesion growth. A total of 160 patients with intermediate and advanced HAE who were subjected to plain as well as contrast-enhanced 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging prior to surgery were analyzed. Pathological and intra-operative observations of the subjects were also considered. The size and location of HAE lesions, vascular invasion characteristics and growth patterns were assessed. A total of 78 patients (48.75%) had lesions involving the S5-8 segment/partial right liver lobe, 21 (13.13%) had involvement in the S2-4 segment/partial left liver lobe and 61 (38.13%) had lesions that transcended the left and right liver lobes. Pathological examination revealed that the vascular invasion rates of the hepatic portal veins, intrahepatic veins (left, central and right vein, and inferior vena cava) and hepatic arteries were 51.88, 43.28 and 26.87%, respectively. Liver hilum invasion was observed in 128 patients (80.00%), 71 of which (44.38%) presented with invasion of the primary porta hepatis, 11 (6.88%) with invasion of the secondary porta hepatis and 46 (28.75%) with invasion of the primary as well as the secondary porta hepatis. In conclusion, the growth pattern of intermediate and advanced HAE is determined by the site, blood supply and activity of the lesion. The current study demonstrated that lesions tend to invade the intrahepatic venous system and porta hepatis, and to target veins rather than arteries.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effects of yak-activated protein on hematopoiesis and cytokine function in radiation-induced injury in mice. A total of 180 Kunming mice were randomly divided into three groups (A, B and C). Of these, 60 were randomly divided into a normal control group, a radiation model group, a positive control group and 3 yak-activated protein groups (high, medium and low dose groups; 10, 5 and 2.5 mg/kg, respectively). The other 120 mice were used for the subsequent experiments on days 7 and 14 following radiation. Yak-activated protein was administered orally to mice in the treatment groups and an equal volume of saline was administered orally to mice in the normal control and radiation model groups for 14 days. The positive control group received amifostine (150 mg/kg) via intraperitoneal injection. With the exception of the control group, the groups of mice received a 5 Gy quantity of X-radiation evenly over their whole body once. Changes in the peripheral hemogram, thymus and spleen indices, DNA content in the bone marrow, interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-6 levels, and the expression levels of B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) following irradiation were assessed. The low dose of yak-activated protein significantly increased Spleen indices in mice 14 days after irradiation and the high and middle dose of yak-activated protein significantly increased Thymus indices in mice 14 days after irradiation (P<0.05) compared with the control group. In addition, hemogram results increased gradually in the low-yak-activated protein dose group and were significantly higher 7 days after irradiation compared with the radiation model group (P<0.05). The DNA content in the bone marrow was markedly increased in the yak-activated protein groups, and increased significantly in the low dose group at 7 days post-irradiation compared with the radiation model group (P<0.05). The IL-2 content was significantly increased in the yak-activated protein groups (P<0.05). Furthermore, Bcl-2 expression was increased and Bax expression was decreased (P<0.05). These results suggest that yak-activated protein exerts protective effects against radiation-induced injury in mice. The optimal effects of yak-activated protein were observed in the medium dose group 14 days after irradiation.