Drug interaction potential of soy extract and Panax ginseng

To determine if soy extract or Panax ginseng increases the urinary excretion of the 6-beta-hydroxycortisol/cortisol ratio as a marker of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A enzyme induction, subjects received a soy extract containing 50 mg isoflavones twice daily (n = 20) or Panax ginseng 100 mg standardized to 4% ginsenosides twice daily (n = 20) for 14 days. Neither Panax ginseng nor soy extract significantly altered the urinary 6-beta-OH-cortisol/cortisol ratio, suggesting that unlike St. John's wort, they are not CYP3A inducers. Studies in vitro using human liver microsomes were performed to determine the effect of soy extract on probe substrates of CYP and UDP glucuronosyltransferase (UGT). Unhydrolyzed soy extract produced very little inhibition of CYP1A2, CYP2A6, and CYP2D6 and a trend of activation of CYP3A4. Hydrolyzed soy extract showed inhibition of all of the CYPs tested, particularly CYP2C9 and CYP3A4. UGT2B15 was the only UGT significantly inhibited. Even though both soy extract and ginseng have been shown to activate CYP3A4 in vitro, there is a lack of an in vitro correlation with the in vivo effects.     

Differential protein expression in hypertrophic heart with and without hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Although cardiac hypertrophy in hypertension has been well recognized, the molecular mechanisms for the development of hypertrophy are still largely unknown. In this study, the protein expression profiles of left ventricular myocardia in spontaneously hypertensive rats （SHR） and Wistar-Kyoto （WKY） rats at different ages were analyzed using 2-DE in combination with MALDI-TOF/TOF MS/MS. The results showed that 20 proteins were modulated in the hypertrophic myocardium. Out of these modulated proteins, 13 proteins presented significant changes in SHR at an early stage prior to the development of sustained hypertension, while the changes of the other 7 protein expres- sions occurred only at a late stage in SHR when the blood pressure was significantly elevated, and were largely reversible by treatment with rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors losartan or enalapril. These data demonstrate that the changes in energy metabolism in the hypertrophied heart favor an increase in glycolysis and a decrease in oxidation of fatty acid and glucose, which occur at an early stage in SHR without hypertension. Our results also provide evidence to support the hypothesis that oxidative stress plays an important role in the development of hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy.     

Italian Cooperative Study for the treatment of children and young adults with localized Ewing sarcoma of bone: a preliminary report of 6 years of experience.

BACKGROUND: In 1991, the Italian Association for Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and the National Council of Research (CNR) initiated an Italian Cooperative Study (SE 91-CNR Protocol) with the main objective of improving the overall survival (SUR) and the event free survival (EFS) of children and young adults with localized Ewing sarcoma and primitive neuroectodermal tumors of bone compared with a previous study (IOR/Ew2 Protocol). METHODS: Between November 1991 and November 1997, 165 patients were enrolled in this study, 160 of whom were evaluable. The patients were treated with a multimodal approach characterized by intensified chemotherapy, hyperfractionated and accelerated radiation therapy, and the addition of ifosfamide and etoposide to standard chemotherapy with vincristine, actinomycin-D, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 37 months, 126 of the 160 evaluable patients remained free of disease recurrence. Thirty-one patients developed a disease recurrence (20 with disseminated disease). CONCLUSIONS: The 3-year SUR and EFS rates found in the current study (83.6% and 77.8%, respectively) may be considered satisfactory. Only age at diagnosis < or =14 years and a good histologic response appeared to affect the outcome of patients with localized Ewing sarcoma positively. These results appear to demonstrate the efficacy of the addition of ifosfamide in induction chemotherapy to four-drug standard combination chemotherapy, as confirmed by the improved outcome in terms of 3-year EFS reported in the SE 91-CNR Protocol compared with the IOR/Ew2 Protocol (77.8% vs. 60.7%). In addition, the better outcome also could be explained by the change in treatment strategy with a trend toward the use of more surgery than radiation therapy compared with the authors' previous protocol.     

Neuroblastoma in a pair of identical twins

Hereditary neuroblastoma in a pair of identical twins is reported. In one of the twins the tumor occurred in fetal life and caused death of the twin before birth; in the other one, the tumor occurred at two months of life as IV-S neuroblastoma in the liver with primary tumor undetected. The unusual clinical course of the latter case is described: twice there was tumor regression, but in spite of treatment, fatal uncontrolled growth occurred. The family history, characterized by neoplasms of dissimilar cell types but without additional cases of neuroblastoma, is also detailed.     

Effects of the Gastrin-Releasing Peptide Antagonist RC-3095 in a Rat Model of Ulcerative Colitis

Background  

RC-3095, a synthetic gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) antagonist, has been identified as a candidate compound for the treatment of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-dependent chronic inflammatory conditions.     

Patient expectations of radiology in noninteractive encounters

Open-ended interviews with 107 patients documented specific patient expectations of radiologic procedures during which there was no direct radiologist-patient interaction. Patient expectations could be classified into those related to the facility and those related to interactions with radiology staff. Among facility-related expectations, waiting time far outweighed all other concerns. Interpersonal skills were the predominant expectation of radiology staff. The role of the radiologist in fulfilling patient expectations was less clear. Only 10% of unprompted patients cited the radiologist as a factor in their expectations. When patients were specifically prompted to discuss the radiologist's role, communication skills, accuracy of interpretation, and interpersonal skills were the predominant concerns.     

Sentinel lymph node in patients with rectal cancer invading the anal canal

Background  

To assess the feasibility of the sentinel lymph node procedure in patients with rectal cancer extending to the anal canal.     

中药贝母类的研究——ⅩⅦ.贝母鳞叶上表皮显微观察

本文对浙贝母Fritillaria thunbergii Miq.等20种贝母的鳞叶上(内)表皮进行了显微观察,发现种间在表皮细胞形状、大小和垂周壁部位角质栓(cuticular peg)的形状,大小和排列等方面有一定区别,可作为新的鉴别依据。全文除描述外,列出检索表,并附主要特征图。     

抗血吸虫药物硝唑酰化物及其类似物的合成

硝唑眯(Ⅰ)是六十年代发现的抗曼氏及埃及血吸虫药物。对日本血吸虫也有治疗作用,但毒副反应较大,应用受到限制。考虑到药物分子中氨基经酰化后毒性往往降低的一般规律,我们设计合成了一系列硝唑咪酰化物。