Preoperative Chemotherapy for Colorectal Liver Metastases: Impact on Hepatic Histology and Postoperative Outcome

Some investigators have suggested that preoperative chemotherapy for hepatic colorectal metastases may cause hepatic injury and increase perioperative morbidity and mortality. The objective of the current study was to examine whether treatment with preoperative chemotherapy was associated with hepatic injury of the nontumorous liver and whether such injury, if present, was associated with increased morbidity or mortality after hepatic resection. Two-hundred and twelve eligible patients who underwent hepatic resection for colorectal liver metastases between January 1999 and December 2005 were identified. Data on demographics, clinicopathologic characteristics, and preoperative chemotherapy details were collected and analyzed. The majority of patients received preoperative chemotherapy (n = 153; 72.2%). Chemotherapy consisted of fluoropyrimidine-based regimens: 5-FU monotherapy, 31.6%; irinotecan, 25.9%; and oxaliplatin, 14.6%. Among those patients who received chemotherapy, the type of chemotherapy regimen predicted distinct patterns of liver injury. Oxaliplatin was associated with increased likelihood of grade 3 sinusoidal dilatation (p = 0.017). Steatosis >30% was associated with irinotecan (27.3%) compared with no chemotherapy, 5-FU monotherapy, and oxaliplatin (all p < 0.05). Irinotecan also was associated with steatohepatitis, as two of the three patients with steatohepatitis had received irinotecan preoperatively. Overall, the perioperative complication rate was similar between the no-chemotherapy group (30.5%) and the chemotherapy group (35.3%) (p = 0.79). Preoperative chemotherapy was also not associated with 60-day mortality. In patients with hepatic colorectal metastases, preoperative chemotherapy is associated with hepatic injury in about 20 to 30% of patients. Furthermore, the type of hepatic injury after preoperative chemotherapy was regimen-specific. Presented at the American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association 2006 Annual Meeting, March 11, Miami, Florida.     

我军第二次部队人员牙周疾病捷径调查和分析

目的:了解牙周疾病在我军部队人员中的流行情况。方法:采用世界卫生组织1997年版口腔健康调查基本方法和标准器材。结果:共调查1 269人,结果表明,我军现役人员男性牙龈炎患病率为21.12%,牙结石检出率为44.05%,早期牙周病患病率为2.75%,晚期牙周病患病率为0.39%。结论:根据本次调查结果和我军第一次口腔健康的牙周疾病监测,以及外军相关资料比照进行牙周疾病流行病学研究分析表明,我军牙周疾病患病率比较平稳,牙周疾病大部分处于早期阶段。     

Community pharmacy services to optimise the use of medications for mental illness: a systematic review

The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the impact of pharmacist delivered community-based services to optimise the use of medications for mental illness. Twenty-two controlled (randomised and non-randomised) studies of pharmacists' interventions in community and residential aged care settings identified in international scientific literature were included for review. Papers were assessed for study design, service recipient, country of origin, intervention type, number of participating pharmacists, methodological quality and outcome measurement. Three studies showed that pharmacists' medication counselling and treatment monitoring can improve adherence to antidepressant medications among those commencing treatment when calculated using an intention-to-treat analysis. Four trials demonstrated that pharmacist conducted medication reviews may reduce the number of potentially inappropriate medications prescribed to those at high risk of medication misadventure. The results of this review provide some evidence that pharmacists can contribute to optimising the use of medications for mental illness in the community setting. However, more well designed studies are needed to assess the impact of pharmacists as members of community mental health teams and as providers of comprehensive medicines information to people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder     

How Should Functionally Equivalent Drugs be Reimbursed?

Statutory reimbursement agencies as well as private insurers throughout member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reimburse the cost of medicines on the basis of criteria that include robust clinical evidence, budget impact analysis, and incremental cost effectiveness. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in the US are no exception to this rule and are, in principle, seeking to maximize benefit for their Medicare enrollees, whilst ensuring reasonable drug outlays for the small number of drugs that they reimburse. This paper provides a retrospective analysis of the way two functionally equivalent drugs are treated for reimbursement purposes by the CMS; the period under consideration was 2001–3. The two drugs, epoetin-α and darbepoetin-α, are used for the treatment of anemia in renal failure and in patients receiving chemotherapy. By reviewing the publicly available pharmacological and clinical data of epoetin-α and darbepoetin-α, the paper confirms the two drugs’ functional equivalence, despite their structural differences. The implications of dose conversion ratios and costs to Medicare are subsequently explored. It is argued that the issue of dose equivalence between epoetin-α and darbepoetin-α has significant implications for patients, practitioners, and payors. A payor’s perspective is adopted in this respect, whereby clinical evidence and pricing data are used simultaneously. Based on the clinical evidence, a dose conversion ratio for epoetin-α:darbepoetin-α is established, which achieves a comparable clinical effect for the two drugs and this is set to be <254IU:1μg. The incremental costs to Medicare are calculated subsequently. The Average Wholesale Price and the Outpatient Prospective Payment System rule that Medicare uses to reimburse providers are used and suggest that treatment of cancer patients with chemotherapy-related anemia with epoetin-α would save Medicare an estimated $US600 million each year. Patients would also benefit significantly in terms of lower co-payments for epoetin-α. The evidence is supportive of the decision made by the CMS to reimburse the two drugs at the rate reflecting the achievement of comparable clinical effects and therefore reducing the pass-through payments for darbepoetin-α to zero for the 2002–3 fiscal year.     

乳腺良恶性病变的磁共振T2*W首过灌注成像与血管生成相关性研究

Objective： To study the diagnostic value of T2^＊-weighted first-pass perfusion imaging in breast tumors. Methods： We analyzed the magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） information along with the pathological and immunohistochemistry results. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 28 patients with breast tumor. The time to signal intensity curves were generated according to the T2^＊-weighted first-pass perfusion imaging. The curve＇s maximal signal intensity drop rate and maximal signal intensity decrease time were analyzed and compared with the pathological diagnoses after surgery. Results： Malignant breast lesions showed higher maximal signal intensity drop rate （44.69% ± 17.07 vs. 17.22% ±7.49, P 〈 0.001） than benign lesions, but there was no significant difference of maximal signal decrease time between those two lesions （23.94 s ± 4.92 vs. 20.02 s ± 6.83, P 〉 0.05）. Conclusion： The T2^＊-weighted first-pass perfusion imaging has enough sensitivity and specificity in breast tumor diagnosis.     

T-2 toxin induces apoptosis, and selenium partly blocks, T-2 toxin induced apoptosis in chondrocytes through modulation of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio.

T-2 toxin is one of the mycotoxins, a group of type A trichothecenes produced by several fungal genera including Fusarium species. In the present study, we have investigated the apoptotic effects of T-2 toxin on chondrocytes and the relationship between T-2 toxin induced chondrocyte apoptosis and its influence on Bcl-2/Bax protein and mRNA expression. We have also examined the inhibitory effects of selenium on chondrocyte apoptosis induced by T-2 toxin. We have combined morphological and biological techniques to establish the relevance of apoptosis in human chondrocyte death induced by T-2 toxin. Treatment with T-2 toxin caused accelerated apoptosis in a concentration dependent manner. The apoptosis induced by T-2 toxin involved an increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Bcl-2 mRNA expression remained unchanged in chondrocyte apoptosis induced by T-2 toxin treatment, while Bax mRNA expression increased following treatment with T-2 toxin. Selenium could partly block the apoptosis of chondrocytes induced by T-2 toxin through decreasing the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. These results suggest that, under our experimental conditions, apoptosis of chondrocytes can be induced by T-2 toxin (1-20ng/mL) via the Bcl-2 and Bax proteins, and the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio may play a critical role in governing the susceptibility to apoptosis induced by T-2 toxin in human chondrocytes.     

加强党组织能力建设促进食品药品检验事业发展

近几年来，我所党委一班人始终坚持党对单位的政治领导，加强班子建设，振奋精神，团结协作，不断深化人事分配制度改革，大力调动广大干部职工的积极性，有力地推动了全所各项工作快速发展。我们的主要做法是“四讲、四提高”。     

纳米血管生成素-2小干扰RNA质粒制备及功能研究

[目的]制备血管生成素-2小干扰RNA(Ang-2siRNA)质粒纳米微粒,并观察其基因转染能力和基因沉默效果.[方法]应用分子克隆的方法构建Ang-2siRNA质粒,将其与聚乳酸、O羧甲基壳聚糖用水/油/水(W/O/W)双乳化溶剂蒸发法制备纳米微球,扫描电镜观察其形态和粒径.然后转染原代人脐带静脉内皮细胞,观察纳米Ang-2siRNA微粒干扰Ang-2基因表达的效果及其细胞保护功能.[结果]扫描电镜观察到Ang2siRNA纳米微球呈球形和椭球形,粒径150～200 nm,大小分布均匀,包封完整,分散性良好.有较强转基因能力,良好的RNA干扰效果和血管内皮细胞保护功能.[结论]成功制备纳米Ang-2siRNA微粒,并证实其载基因能力和RNA干扰效果,对血管内皮细胞损伤因素有良好保护作用,为进一步研究心肌梗死的血管修复机制奠定了坚实的基础.