Chalcone hybrids and their antimalarial activity

Malaria, one of the most striking, re-emerging infectious diseases caused by the genus Plasmodium, places a huge burden on global healthcare systems. A major challenge in the control and eradication of malaria is the continuous emergence of increasingly widespread drug-resistant malaria, creating an urgent need to develop novel antimalarial agents. Chalcone derivatives are ubiquitous in nature and have become indispensable units in medicinal chemistry applications due to their diverse biological profiles. Many chalcone derivatives demonstrate potential in vitro and in vivo antimalarial activity, so chalcone could be a useful template for the development of novel antimalarial agents. This review covers the recent development of chalcone hybrids as antimalarial agents. The critical aspects of the design and structure–activity relationship of these compounds are also discussed.     

常见植物药对结肠癌的防治作用及其作用机制

植物药对结肠癌具有良好的防治作用。姜黄素、多糖(苹果多糖、香菇多糖)、皂苷(重楼皂苷、人参皂苷)、白藜芦醇、槲皮素等植物药可通过不同信号通路抑制结肠癌细胞的增殖,促进细胞凋亡。此外,植物药还具有抗炎、抗氧化、抗血管生成、减轻化疗药物不良反应、逆转肿瘤细胞耐药等作用。了解植物药对结肠癌的防治作用及其可能的作用机制,能为结肠癌的临床防治提供更多的理论依据及治疗思路。     

Risk of Stroke-Associated Pneumonia With Acid-Suppressive Drugs: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Acid-suppressive drugs, including histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), are common medications used for treating upper gastrointestinal tract disorders. However, acid-suppressive drugs have been reported to increase the risk of pneumonia in numerous disease populations. However, the relationship between acid-suppressive drugs and stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) remains controversial.The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between acid-suppressive drug usage and pneumonia among patients with stroke by using a nationwide data set.A population-based cohort study was conducted using a data set from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database. Data on patients with new-onset stroke from 2010 to 2011 were collected. Patients with and without acid-suppressive drug usage were followed up to identify the occurrence of any type of pneumonia. We estimated the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) by using the Cox proportional hazards model.The study cohort comprised 7965 patients with new-onset stroke. The incidence of pneumonia was 6.9% (552/7965) and more than 40% (225/552) of patients developed pneumonia within 3 months after an acute stroke. Acid-suppressive drug usage was an independent risk factor of pneumonia. The adjusted HR for the risk of pneumonia in patients with new-onset stroke using acid-suppressive drugs was 1.44 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.18–1.75, P < 0.01). Only PPI usage increased risk of chronic SAP (adjusted HR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.04–2.05).Acid-suppressive drug usage was associated with a slightly increased risk of SAP. Physicians should exercise caution when prescribing acid-suppressive drugs to patients with stroke, particularly at the chronic stage.     

Craving-induced effects of different drug cues on persons abstaining from heroin

Background: The key factors of inducing drug cravings in persons abstaining from drug use remain a focus of addictions research. Given the accumulating evidences, the scope of cues investigated in the cue-reactivity paradigm has increased considerably. Yet, few studies have examined the effects of the intensity and endurance of different types of cues on their ability to induce craving. This study investigated differences among drug-cue words, negative physiological-cue words, and negative social-cue words in the induction of drug cravings among persons abstaining from heroin.

Methods: The sample consisted of 149 male abstinent heroin abusers from four addiction rehabilitation centers in China. Based on their abstinence lengths, they were labeled as short-term, medium-term, and long-term abstainer participants respectively. All participants completed a stress-imagery task and rated craving by visual analog scale.

Results: There was a significant interaction of cue type and abstinence length. There was no difference on the craving induced by three types of cue words in the short-term group. In the medium-term group, craving induced by negative social-cue words was significantly stronger than that by negative physiological-cue words, but not that by drug-cue words. In the long-term group, the craving induced by negative social-cue words remained the strongest, significantly stronger than that by both drug-cue words and negative physiological-cue words.

Conclusion: Negative social-cue words presented in the current study retain the ability to induce craving in heroin abstainers; this finding suggests that negative social cues encountered under more general circumstances could be a risk factor for relapse.     

鼻塞式同步间歇正压通气(NIPPV)联合布地奈德雾化治疗新生儿急性呼吸窘迫综合征疾病的临床应用研究

目的:分析鼻塞式同步间歇正压通气(NIPPV)联合布地奈德雾化治疗ARDS(新生儿急性呼吸窘迫综合征)疾病的临床应用效果。方法:纳入病例是2017年5月—2019年11月收治的104例ARDS新生儿,随机平均分为两组。参照组52例采纳CPAP(持续气道正压通气通气)治疗,实验组52例采纳NIPPV+布地奈德雾化治疗,对比两组呼吸机通气时间、用氧时间、住院时间、血气指标以及并发症发生情况。结果:实验组呼吸机通气时间、用氧时间、住院时间均明显短于参照组,差异有统计学意义P<0.05;实验组治疗3 d后PaCO2明显低于参照组,实验组治疗3 d后PH以及PaO2明显高于参照组,差异有统计学意义P<0.05;实验组并发症发生率(3.85%,2/52)明显低于参照组(21.15%,11/52),差异有统计学意义P<0.05。结论:NIPPV+布地奈德雾化可有效缩短ARDS患者机械通气时间,改善血气指标,降低并发症发生率,值得借鉴。     

Comparison Between Phenylephrine and Dopamine in Maintaining Cerebral Oxygen Saturation in Thoracic Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Fluid is usually restricted during thoracic surgery, and vasoactive agents are often administered to maintain blood pressure. One-lung ventilation (OLV) decreases arterial oxygenation; thus oxygen delivery to the brain can be decreased. In this study, we compared phenylephrine and dopamine with respect to maintaining cerebral oxygenation during OLV in major thoracic surgery.Sixty-three patients undergoing lobectomies were randomly assigned to the dopamine (D) or phenylephrine (P) group. The patients’ mean arterial pressure was maintained within 20% of baseline by a continuous infusion of dopamine or phenylephrine. Maintenance fluid was kept at 5 mL/kg/h. The depth of anesthesia was maintained with desflurane 1MAC and remifentanil infusion under bispectral index guidance. Regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rScO₂) and hemodynamic variables were recorded using near-infrared spectroscopy and esophageal cardiac Doppler.The rScO₂ was higher in the D group than the P group during OLV (OLV 60 min: 71 ± 6% vs 63 ± 12%; P = 0.03). The number of patients whose rScO₂ dropped more than 20% from baseline was 0 and 6 in the D and P groups, respectively (P = 0.02). The D group showed higher cardiac output, but lower mean arterial pressure than the P group (4.7 ± 1.0 vs 3.9 ± 1.2 L/min; 76.7 ± 8.1 vs 84.5 ± 7.5 mm Hg; P = 0.02, P = 0.02). Among the variables, age, hemoglobin concentration, and cardiac output were associated with rScO₂ by correlation analysis.Dopamine was superior to phenylephrine in maintaining cerebral oxygenation during OLV in thoracic surgery.     

The Effects of Expressing Religious Support Online for Breast Cancer Patients

The growth of online support groups has led to an expression effects paradigm within the health communication literature. Although religious support expression is characterized as a typical subdimension of emotional support, we argue that in the context of a life-threatening illness, the inclusion of a religious component creates a unique communication process. Using data from an online group for women with breast cancer, we test a theoretical expression effects model. Results demonstrate that for breast cancer patients, religious support expression has distinct effects from general emotional support messages, which highlights the need to further theorize expression effects along these lines.     

Helicobacter pylori induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition in gastric carcinogenesis via the AKT/GSK3β signaling pathway

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a main risk factor for gastric cancer (GC). Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is involved in the development and progression of H. pylori-associated GC. However, the exact molecular mechanism of this process remains unclear. The AKT/GSK3β signaling pathway has been demonstrated to promote EMT in several types of cancer. The present study investigated whether H. pylori infection induced EMT, and promoted the development and metastasis of cancer in the normal gastric mucosa, and whether this process was dependent on AKT activation. The expression levels of the EMT-associated proteins, including E-cadherin and N-cadherin, were determined in 165 gastric mucosal samples of different disease stages by immunohistochemical analysis. The expression levels of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, AKT, phosphorylated (p-)AKT (Ser473), GSK3β and p-GSK3β (Ser9) were further determined in H. pylori-infected Mongolian gerbil gastric tissues and cells co-cultured with H. pylori by immunohistochemical analysis and western blotting. The results indicated that the expression levels of the epithelial marker E-cadherin were decreased, whereas the expression levels of the mesenchymal marker N-cadherin were increased during gastric carcinogenesis. Their expression levels were associated with H. pylori infection. Furthermore, H. pylori infection resulted in downregulation of E-cadherin expression and upregulation of N-cadherin expression in Mongolian gerbils and GES-1 cells. In addition, an investigation of the associated mechanism of action revealed that p-AKT (Ser473) and p-GSK3β (Ser9) were activated in GES-1 cells following co-culture with H. pylori. Furthermore, following pretreatment of the cells with the AKT inhibitor VIII, the expression levels of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, p-AKT and p-GSK3β did not show significant differences between GES-1 cells that were co-cultured with or without H. pylori. The levels of p-AKT and p-GSK3β were increased in H. pylori-infected Mongolian gerbils. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that H. pylori infection activated AKT and resulted in the phosphorylation and inactivation of GSK3β, which in turn promoted early stage EMT. These effects were AKT-dependent. This mechanism may serve as a prerequisite for GC development.