A Reminder of Methylene Blue's Effectiveness in Treating Vasoplegic Syndrome after On-Pump Cardiac Surgery

The inflammatory response induced by cardiopulmonary bypass decreases vascular tone, which in turn can lead to vasoplegic syndrome. Indeed the hypotension consequent to on-pump cardiac surgery often necessitates vasopressor and intravenous fluid support. Methylene blue counteracts vasoplegic syndrome by inhibiting the formation of nitric oxide.We report the use of methylene blue in a 75-year-old man who developed vasoplegic syndrome after cardiac surgery. After the administration of methylene blue, his hypotension improved to the extent that he could be weaned from vasopressors. The use of methylene blue should be considered in patients who develop hypotension refractory to standard treatment after cardiac surgery.     

痛泻四神汤腹泻型肠易激综合征的胃肠激素水平变化及临床意义观察

目的:探究痛泻四神汤对腹泻型肠易激综合征胃肠激素水平的影响。方法:选取2017年2月至2018年6月西安市中医医院收治的腹泻型肠易激综合征患者124例作为研究对象,按照就诊顺序编号随机分为对照组和观察组,每组62例。对照组给予西医常规治疗,观察组在对照组基础上加用痛泻四神汤加减治疗,均治疗2周。观察和比较2组治疗前后淋巴细胞指标CD3^+、CD4^+、CD8^+、CD4^+/CD8^+变化,观察并比较2组治疗前后胃肠激素指标血浆胃动素(MOT)、降钙素相关基因肽(CGRP)、血管活性肠肽(VIP)、生长抑素(SS)、一氧化氮(NO)变化;观察并比较2组治疗前后在γ-干扰素(IFN-γ)、5-羟色胺(5-HT)、神经肽Y(NPY)含量变化;观察并比较2组治疗前后临床症状腹痛、腹胀、肠鸣失气、急躁易怒、神疲乏力、纳呆食少症状评分变化;治疗过程中进行不良反应记录,治疗结束后进行统计。结果:1)2组患者治疗前CD3^+、CD4^+、CD8^+、CD4^+/CD8^+比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),治疗后2组CD3^+、CD4^+、CD4^+/CD8^+较治疗前均显著上升,CD8^+显著下降(均P<0.05);治疗后观察组患者CD3^+、CD4^+、CD4^+/CD8^+显著高于对照组,CD8^+显著低于对照组(P<0.05)。2)2组治疗前MOT、CGRP、VIP、SS、NO比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),治疗后2组MOT、NO较治疗前显著升高,CGRP、VIP、SS显著下降(P<0.05);治疗后观察组CGRP、VIP、SS显著低于对照组,MOT、NO显著高于对照组(P<0.05)。3)2组治疗前IFN-γ、5-HT、NPY比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),治疗后2组IFN-γ、5-HT、NPY较治疗前均显著下降(P<0.05);治疗后观察组IFN-γ、5-HT、NPY显著低于对照组(P<0.05)。4)2组治疗前腹痛、腹胀、肠鸣失气、急躁易怒、神疲乏力、纳呆食少积分比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),治疗后2组以上各症状评分较治疗前显著下降(P<0.05);治疗后观察组以上各积分显著低于对照组(P<0.05)。5)2组口干、头痛、皮疹、胃肠道反应发生率比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论:痛泻四神汤能改善腹泻型肠易激综合征胃肠激素水平,改善临床症状,提高机体免疫力,提高疗效。     

OTC drug advertising in Japan: the role of need for cognition and celebrity endorser credibility

Abstract

This research explores how the level of consumers’ need for cognition (NFC) is associated with celebrity endorser credibility and examines its effects on advertising-related attitudes. A 3 (endorser types: actor/actress, athlete, TV personality/talent) × 2 (endorser’s gender) factorial experiment with 435 Japanese consumers was conducted. Concerning Japanese OTC drug advertising, lower NFC individuals perceived celebrity endorsers as more credible in comparison to higher NFC individuals. The main effects of NFC and endorser type on endorser credibility existed; however, no interaction between the two variables was found. The endorser type had an influence on attitudes toward ads and the advertised brand.     

Basic fibroblast growth factor promotes doxorubicin resistance in chondrosarcoma cells by affecting XRCC5 expression

Chondrosarcoma is the second most common form of bone cancer and is characterized by its ability to produce an extracellular matrix of the cartilage. High-grade chondrosarcoma is highly aggressive and can metastasize to other parts of the body. Chondrosarcoma is resistant to both conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy; hence, the current main treatment is still surgical resection. Doxorubicin (Dox) has been shown to significantly improve patient survival compared with untreated chondrosarcoma. However, for patients with metastasis, surgical resection alone can hardly treat them. In addition, drug resistance is one of the leading causes of death in patients with chondrosarcoma. Secreted proteins can mediate cell-cell interactions in the cancer microenvironment, which may be associated with the development of drug resistance. In the present study, chondrosarcoma cells were treated with Dox, the conditioned medium was then collected and changes in secreted proteins were analyzed using the antibody array. Results showed that the Dox-treated group had the highest secretion of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), indicating the effect of bFGF on Dox sensitivity in chondrosarcoma. Furthermore, lentiviral-mediated knockdown and treatment of exogenous recombinant protein were employed to further investigate the effect of bFGF on Dox resistance. Results demonstrated that bFGF can promote the expression of X-ray repair cross-complementing protein 5 (XRCC5), leading to Dox resistance. Secreted bFGF is likely to be detected in serum, in addition to being a biomarker for predicting Dox resistance, the combination of Dox and bFGF/XRCC5 blockers may be a new therapeutic strategy to improve the efficacy of Dox in future.     

2‐deoxy D‐glucose treatment does not elicit a hair growth response in alopecia areata

2‐deoxy D‐glucose (2DG) was tested for efficacy in treating alopecia areata using the C3H/HeJ skin graft model. 2DG has proven to be efficacious in treatment of various mouse models of autoimmunity with minimal serious side effects noted. This agent has been shown to normalize abnormally activated T‐cell populations while also preventing cell surface expression of NKG2D; key factors defining alopecia areata disease progression. Daily oral ingestion of 2DG via drinking water to mice with patchy or diffuse alopecia areata for 16 weeks failed to prevent expansion of alopecia or cause regrowth of hair in treated mice. Histologically, there were no differences between treated and control groups. These results indicate that, while 2DG is effective for some autoimmune diseases, it was not efficacious for the cell‐mediated autoimmune mouse disease, alopecia areata.     

The quality of spontaneous adverse drug reaction reports from the pharmacovigilance centre in western China

Background: High-quality adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports are essential for conducting drug safety monitoring in pharmacovigilance. The study aim was to assess the current quality of ADR reports in western China, and to identify problems with ADR report quality.

Research design and methods: A sample of 1139 reports received by the Shaanxi ADR Monitoring Center from January 2015 to December 2017 was selected. ADR report quality was evaluated using an ADR report quality evaluation system.

Results: None of the reports were rated as excellent and 1.40% (n = 16) as good. Report quality was better for new and serious reports than for general reports. Medical institutions generated higher quality reports than pharmaceutical manufacturers. Nurses generated higher quality reports than doctors, pharmacists, and other professionals. Reporters of different occupations showed significant differences in the quality of the indicators Reporting time limit, Intervention ADR time, ADR termination time, ADR intervention measures, Original disease, and Cause of medication (P = 0.000).

Conclusions: The ADR data quality was poor in western China, and of lower quality than reported data from previous research in other regions. Improvements in the quality and availability of ADR reports are urgently needed.     

Design and synthesis of novel organometallic complexes using boronated phenylalanine derivatives as potential anticancer agents

Drug design and discovery studies are important because of the prevalence of diseases without available medical cures. New anticancer agents are particularly urgent because of the high mortality rate associated with cancer. A series of mononuclear gold (III) and platinum (II) complexes based on boronated phenylalanine (BPA) were designed and synthesized using 4,4’-dimethyl-2,2’-dipyridyl (L1) or 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dion (L2) ligands to obtain promising anticancer drug candidates. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared, mass spectrometry, and elemental analyses were utilized for chemical characterizations. Cell viability, cancer cell colony formation, endothelial tube formation, and cytoskeleton staining assays were performed using A549 lung adenocarcinoma and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to investigate preliminary pharmacological activities. L1-based platinum (II) complex (BPA-L1-Pt) was the most promising complex, and has similar activity with the approved chemotherapy drug cis-platinum. Half maximal inhibitory concentration values for BPA-L1-Pt were 9.15 µM on A549s and 16.61 µM on HUVECs; the values for cis-platinum were 5.24 µM on A549s and 23.14 µM on HUVECs. Consequently, further synthesis studies should be performed to boost the cancer cell selectivity feature of BPA by varying metal and ligand types.