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AIM: To use computed tomography (CT) to diagnose the reasons for hepatic portal venous gas (HPVG) in the case of an elderly male patient. METHODS: This is a case study of an elderly male patient who suffered acute, obvious abdominal pain accompanied with stop of exhaust defecation following three days of diarrhoea, abdominal distention and emesis. The patient also developed asthma, which gradually became severe. The patient was admitted to the hospital where he underwent a physical examination and a CT scan. RESULTS: The CT results confirmed that the patient was suffering from HPVG caused by severe diarrhoea. The CT scan showed obvious expansion and pneumatosis in the enteric cavity and subcutaneous emphysema in the intestinal wall. Also, the intrahepatic portal branches and small branches of veins in the mesentery were filled with a high density of gas. The combination of many factors led to HPVG. Gastrointestinal mucosa and pressure accompanied with intestinal septic infection were the main factors. The case report revealed that gas in the enteric cavity went into the submucosa, then into the small branches of veins in the mesentery and finally into the intrahepatic portal vein system. CONCLUSIONS: Computed examination revealed the imaging features of HPVG. Hepatic portal venous gas suggested the growth of enteric cavity pressure, the damage of intestinal mucosa and intestinal infection, providing references for clinical diagnosis.
RESUMEN
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the major component of the outer cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria, activates the immune system and threatens the health of livestock and poultry. However, little is known about the genes and pathways involved in the immune response of ducklings to LPS. To elucidate the genes involved in the response of 7-day-old duckling spleens treated with LPS, RNA from LPS-treated and control duckling spleens was analyzed by RNA-Seq. The results showed 11,095 and 10,840 genes with >10 clean reads in the LPS-treated and control groups, respectively. Among these genes, 89 were differentially expressed (log2 ratio ≥ 1, P ≤ 0.01, false discovery rate ≤ 0.001); 67 of these were upregulated and 22 were downregulated in the LPS-treated group compared to the control. GO and GO-rich analysis showed that differentially expressed genes were enriched in 13 functional categories (P < 0.05). Pathway analysis and pathway richness analysis showed that differentially expressed genes were enriched in six pathway categories (P < 0.05). Further analysis showed that some immune system-related signaling pathways, such as the hematopoietic cell lineage, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, T cell receptor signaling pathway, T cell receptor signaling pathway, complement and coagulation cascades, antigen processing and presentation, and chemokine signaling pathway, are active during the immune response. To confirm the RNA-Seq results, we detected CCL4, LBP, CD71, and STEAP3 expression using real-time PCR analysis, and the results were consistent with the RNA-Seq results. Our results provide new information on the genes involved in the immune response of duckling spleens to LPS.