Targeting cancer using cholesterol conjugates

Conjugation of cholesterol moiety to active compounds for either cancer treatment or diagnosis is an attractive approach. Cholesterol derivatives are widely studied as cancer diagnostic agents and as anticancer derivatives either in vitro or in vivo using animal models. In largely growing studies, anticancer agents have been chemically conjugated to cholesterol molecules, to enhance their pharmacokinetic behavior, cellular uptake, target specificity, and safety. To efficiently deliver anticancer agents to the target cells and tissues, many different cholesterol–anticancer conjugates were synthesized and characterized, and their anticancer efficiencies were tested in vitro and in vivo.     

Interfacial Properties as Stability Predictors of Lecithin-Stabilized Perfluorocarbon Emulsions

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the addition of small quantities of minor lecithin components (phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidic acid, lysophosphatidylethanolamine, and cholesterol) and Pluronic F68 to lecithin could improve the stability of lecithin-stabilized perfluorocarbon emulsions. Attempts were made to correlate emulsion stability with interfacial properties (tension and charge). Dynamic interfacial tension was determined using a Teflon Wilhelmy plate method [reported previously (1)]. Emulsions were prepared by microfluidization. Microelectrophoresis was used to measure emulsion droplet charge, and photon correlation spectroscopy and Coulter analysis were used to determine emulsion stability as a function of droplet size. Thermal kinetic accelerated stability testing was conducted. Various droplet size parameters were used to compare emulsion stabilities, and an overall stability ranking, based on these parameters, was obtained for each emulsion. Small quantities of additives altered emulsion stability and these data were correlated with interfacial properties and initial droplet diameters. The addition of cholesterol to lecithin resulted in the most stable perfluorocarbon emulsion.     

乌鲁木齐市维吾尔族、汉族住院患者胰岛素抵抗状态下多种危险因素分析

目的探讨乌鲁木齐市住院患者维吾尔族和汉族胰岛素抵抗(IR)状态下多种危险因素分布特点。方法来自内科住院病人219例,均进行葡萄糖糖耐量试验和胰岛素释放试验,运用稳态模式法评价胰岛素抵抗对维吾尔族、汉族多种危险因素分布的影响。结果维吾尔族胰岛素抵抗组体重和腰臀比大于维吾尔族对照组,差异有统计学意义(P0.05);汉族胰岛素抵抗组总胆固醇(TC)和低密度脂蛋白(LDLC)高于汉族对照组,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。维吾尔族胰岛素抵抗组体重、体质指数(BMI)和腰围大于汉族胰岛素抵抗组,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。维吾尔族体质指数明显高于汉族人群,即非胰岛素抵抗组维吾尔族高于汉族(26.84±4.19 vs25.52±3.19)kg/m2,(P0.05),胰岛素抵抗组维吾尔族高于汉族(27.77±3.60 vs 26.09±3.68)kg/m2(P0.05)。多个危险因素(Logistic回归分析)分析发现糖尿病、高血压、总胆固醇和甘油三酯与胰岛素抵抗呈正相关(P0.01)。高密度脂蛋白(HDLC)与胰岛素抵抗呈负相关(P0.01)。结论在乌鲁木齐市住院患者胰岛素抵抗人群中,维吾尔族以肥胖为主,汉族以胆固醇升高为主。糖尿病、高血压和血脂异常与胰岛素抵抗密切相关。     

Perfil lipídico em pacientes adultos com artrite idiopática juvenil

The inflammatory processes in the joints of a child with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) can persist into adulthood. Inflammation has been linked to distortions of the lipid profile and accelerated atherogenesis. In the present study, we examined the lipid profiles of adults with JIA compared with those of healthy people. A lipid profile of a sample of 54 adults with JIA (57.3% with polyarticular JIA, 37.0% with oligoarticular JIA, 1.9% with enthesitis-related JIA and 3.7% with systemic onset JIA) and 54 healthy subjects were compared. In the adults with JIA, data on gender, age, age at disease onset, the presence of rheumatoid factor (RF) and antinuclear antibodies (ANA), a Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and the disease duration were collected. We found that hypercholesterolaemia, increased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were more common in patients with JIA than the controls (P = 0.016, P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0008, respectively). Changes in the levels of total cholesterol (TC) and LDL were more common in the individuals who had a later onset of disease (P = 0.0017 for TC and P = 0.023 for LDL). In the entire JIA group, no other variable, such as RF, ANA, disease duration or responses to the HAQ, could be linked to dyslipidaemia (P = non-significant). We concluded that the adult patients with JIA have a lipid profile with increased TC and LDL levels and decreased levels of HDL compared to the controls. No clinical feature could be correlated with this change except for the age at disease onset.