Black beans and red kidney beans induce positive postprandial vascular responses in healthy adults: A pilot randomized cross-over study

Background and aimsConsuming pulses (dry beans, dry peas, chickpeas, lentils) over several weeks can improve vascular function and decrease cardiovascular disease risk; however, it is unknown whether pulses can modulate postprandial vascular responses. The objective of this study was to compare different bean varieties (black, navy, pinto, red kidney) and white rice for their acute postprandial effects on vascular and metabolic responses in healthy individuals.Methods and resultsThe study was designed as a single-blinded, randomized crossover trial with a minimum 6 days between consumption of the food articles. Vascular tone (primary endpoint), haemodynamics and serum biochemistry (secondary endpoints) were measured in 8 healthy adults before and at 1, 2, and 6 h after eating ¾ cup of beans or rice. Blood pressure and pulse wave velocity (PWV) were lower at 2 h following red kidney bean and pinto bean consumption compared to rice and navy bean, respectively (p < 0.05). There was greater vasorelaxation 6 h following consumption of darker-coloured beans, as shown by decreased vascular tone: PWV was lower after consuming black bean compared to pinto bean, augmentation pressure was lower after consuming black bean compared to rice and pinto bean, and wave reflection magnitude was lower after consuming red kidney bean and black bean compared to rice, navy bean, and pinto bean (p < 0.05). LDL-cholesterol concentrations were lower 6 h after black bean consumption compared to rice (p < 0.05).ConclusionOverall, red kidney and black beans, the darker-coloured beans, elicited a positive effect on the tensile properties of blood vessels, and this acute response may provide insight for how pulses modify vascular function.     

Utilizing Edible Agar as a Carrier for Dual Functional Doxorubicin-Fe3O4 Nanotherapy Drugs

The purpose of this study was to use agar as a multifunctional encapsulating material to allow drug and ferromagnetism to be jointly delivered in one nanoparticle. We successfully encapsulated both Fe₃O₄ and doxorubicin (DOX) with agar as the drug carrier to obtain DOX-Fe₃O₄@agar. The iron oxide nanoparticles encapsulated in the carrier maintained good saturation of magnetization (41.9 emu/g) and had superparamagnetism. The heating capacity test showed that the specific absorption rate (SAR) value was 18.9 ± 0.5 W/g, indicating that the ferromagnetic nanoparticles encapsulated in the gel still maintained good heating capacity. Moreover, the magnetocaloric temperature could reach 43 °C in a short period of five minutes. In addition, DOX-Fe₃O₄@agar reached a maximum release rate of 85% ± 3% in 56 min under a neutral pH 7.0 to simulate the intestinal environment. We found using fluorescent microscopy that DOX entered HT-29 human colon cancer cells and reduced cell viability by 66%. When hyperthermia was induced with an auxiliary external magnetic field, cancer cells could be further killed, with a viability of only 15.4%. These results show that agar is an efficient multiple-drug carrier, and allows controlled drug release. Thus, this synergic treatment has potential application value for biopharmaceutical carrier materials.     

贝伐珠单抗单药或与铂类联合腹腔内注射治疗难治性恶性腹水的临床疗效

目的:观察贝伐珠单抗单药或与铂类联合腹腔内注射治疗由盆腹腔恶性肿瘤引起的难治性恶性腹水的临床疗效。方法:选取2016年1月至2017年12月在长海医院中医妇科收治的伴有难治性恶性腹水的患者10例。治疗方法:腹腔内注射贝伐珠单抗（200 mg）+铂类治疗卵巢癌，注射贝伐珠单抗（200 mg）单药治疗其他盆腹腔恶性肿瘤。按照WHO标准。对其临床疗效、不良反应等进行分析。结果:5名患者（卵巢癌）达到完全缓解，3名（转移性腹膜癌及宫颈癌）部分缓解，其余2名（消化道肿瘤）无变化；整体有效率为80％。仅观察到轻度不良反应，包括1级骨髓抑制和1级恶心和呕吐。所有患者对症治疗后均好转。结论:对于晚期盆腹腔恶性肿瘤特别是卵巢癌导致的难治性恶性腹水，使用腹腔内注射贝伐珠单抗联合铂类的治疗方案安全有效，是控制难治性恶性腹水，提高患者生活质量的优选方案。     

通心络胶囊联合阿托伐他汀及氯吡格雷治疗冠心病心绞痛临床研究

目的:观察通心络胶囊联合阿托伐他汀、氯吡格雷治疗冠心病心绞痛的临床疗效。方法:选取84例冠心病心绞痛患者,按随机数字表法分为观察组与对照组,对照组40例给予阿托伐他汀联合氯吡格雷治疗,观察组44例在对照组基础上给予通心络胶囊治疗,3个月后比较2组临床疗效。结果:观察组总有效率(93.18%)显著高于对照组(70.00%),差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗前,2组心绞痛的持续时间、心绞痛发作次数、心功能指标、血管内皮功能指标比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。治疗后,2组心绞痛持续时间、心绞痛发作次数较治疗前明显降低,观察组心绞痛持续时间、心绞痛发作次数显著低于对照组(P<0.05);2组心功能指标包括心输出量(CO)、心博出量(SV)、心脏指数(CI)及射血分数(EF)均较治疗前明显上升,且观察组各项心功能指标明显高于对照组(P<0.05);2组内皮功能指标内皮素(ET)、血栓素B2(TXB2)水平较治疗前明显降低,一氧化氮(NO)水平较治疗前明显上升(P<0.05),观察组ET、TXB2水平明显低于对照组,NO水平明显高于对照组(P<0.05)。结论:对冠心病心绞痛患者给予通心络胶囊联合阿托伐他汀、氯吡格雷治疗疗效显著,可有效降低心绞痛持续时间和发作次数,改善患者心功能和内皮功能,值得临床推广应用。     

Combination drug regimens for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinomas (RCC) make up about 90% of kidney cancers, of which 80% are of the clear cell subtype. About 20% of patients are already metastatic at the time of diagnosis. Initial treatment is often cytoreductive nephrectomy, but systemic therapy is required for advanced RCC. Single agent targeted therapies are moderately toxic and only somewhat effective, leading to development of immunotherapies and combination therapies. This review identifies limitations of monotherapies for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, discusses recent advances in combination therapies, and highlights therapeutic options under development. The goal behind combining various modalities of systemic therapy is to potentiate a synergistic antitumor effect. However, combining targeted therapies may cause increased toxicity. The initial attempts to create therapeutic combinations based on inhibition of the vascular endothelial growth factor or mammalian target of rapamycin pathways were largely unsuccessful in achieving a profile of increased synergy without increased toxicity. To date, five combination therapies have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with the most recently approved therapies being a combination of checkpoint inhibition plus targeted therapy. Several other combination therapies are under development, including some in the phase 3 stage. The new wave of combination therapies for metastatic RCC has the potential to increase response rates and improve survival outcomes while maintaining tolerable side effect profiles.     

复肝丸调控miR-424表达抑制肝窦内皮细胞血管新生的体外研究

目的观察复肝丸调控miR-424表达以抑制肝窦内皮细胞血管新生的作用及其机制。方法以不同剂量(0～2 000 mg/L)的复肝丸与人肝窦内皮细胞(HHSEC)共孵育,CCK8法检测复肝丸对细胞活力的影响,分析复肝丸对细胞无毒性作用的剂量范围,并以此作为后续药效及机制评价的剂量。以CoCl_2诱导HHSEC血管新生模型,分为正常组、模型组、miR-424抑制剂组及复肝丸组,除正常组外,其余各组以CoCl_2诱导细胞血管新生,miR-424抑制剂组及复肝丸组分别以miR-424抑制剂及复肝丸(200 mg/L)与细胞共孵育24 h。采用CCK8法检测细胞活力与增殖情况;Transwell观察细胞迁移变化情况;Matrigel管腔生成实验评价细胞管腔形成情况;定量RT-PCR检测miR-424、HIF-1α、vWF、CD31基因表达;Western blot法检测HIF-1α、vWF、CD31蛋白表达。结果复肝丸剂量小于400 mg/L对HHSCE无明显细胞毒性。与正常组比较,200μmol/L CoCl_2可诱导肝窦内皮细胞缺氧损伤模型,且模型组miR-424、HIF-1α表达增加,细胞迁移和管腔生成增多,vWF、CD31表达增加(P0.01);与模型组比较,miR-424抑制剂与200 mg/L复肝丸干预后,miR-424与HIF-1α表达均不同程度降低,细胞迁移和管腔生成受抑制,vWF、CD31表达降低(P0.01);且复肝丸组综合疗效与miR-424抑制剂相当。结论复肝丸具有良好的抑制肝窦内皮细胞血管新生的作用,其作用机制与抑制miR-424表达相关。     

结肠癌组织NRP-1和VEGF表达及其与预后相关性

目的结肠癌的发生发展过程与肿瘤血管生成密切相关,神经纤毛蛋白-1(neuropilin-1,NRP-1)和血管内皮生长因子(vascular endothelial growth factor,VEGF)在肿瘤血管生成中发挥重要作用。本研究旨在探讨结肠癌组织NRP-1和VEGF表达及其预后的关系。方法收集2010-08-01-2012-05-31南华大学附属南华医院普外胃肠病区手术切除、具有完整资料、术后经病理确诊的结肠癌及癌旁(>5cm)组织标本73例,采用免疫组织化学法检测NRP-1及VEGF在结肠癌及癌旁正常组织的表达;另外选取2016年南华大学附属南华医院切除结肠癌新鲜组织及癌旁组织(距癌组织>5cm)16对,采用蛋白质印迹法检测NRP-1及VEGF表达。结果免疫组化结果显示,与结肠癌癌旁组织比较,结肠癌组织中NRP-1及VEGF呈高表达,χ^2=55.857,P<0.001;χ^2=44.042,P<0.001。蛋白质印迹法检测结果显示,新鲜结肠癌组织中NRP-1及VEGF蛋白呈高表达,而癌旁组织中表达降低,差异有统计学意义,t=-63.238,P<0.001;t=-78.712,P<0.001。结肠癌组织中NRP-1和VEGF高表达均与肿瘤大小、TNM分期、淋巴结有无转移有关联,差异有统计学意义,P<0.05;癌胚抗原(carcinoembryonic antigen,CEA)的数值与NRP-1表达有关联(χ^2=15.966,P=0.002),而与VEGF表达无统计学意义的关联,χ^2=0.061,P=0.862;Cox多因素回归分析显示,CEA(RR=4.851,95%CI:1.013~23.427)、肿瘤大小(RR=0.157,95%CI:0.017~1.228)、TNM分期(RR=5.419,95%CI:2.179~32.479)、淋巴结转移(RR=0.137,95%CI:0.023~0.728)是NRP-1阳性表达的独立影响因素;生存分析显示,NRP-1阳性表达组患者生存周期短于阴性患者,χ^2=5.081,P=0.029。结论NRP-1参与结肠癌的血管生成,并导致预后不良,提示NRP-1在结肠癌发生发展中起重要作用,为评估结肠癌预后及研究靶向药物提供新的思路。     

Acute eosinophilic pneumonia caused by composter vapor inhalation: A case report

A 65-year-old woman presented to a local hospital with a 4-day history of cough, fever, and dyspnea. She had started using a composter and had been exposed to the vapor for 18 days before her first visit. She was diagnosed with acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) based on her symptoms, the presence of bilateral pulmonary opacities on computed tomography, and alveolar eosinophilia confirmed by bronchoalveolar lavage. Inhalation of the composter vapor was thought to be the cause of AEP. Aspergillus fumigatus was cultured from the composter soil and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. She fully recovered without systemic corticosteroid administration by avoiding the composter.