Neonatal airway obstruction caused by rapidly growing nasopharyngeal teratoma

A case report is presented of a rapidly growing congenital nasopharyngeal teratoma (epignathus) in a preterm infant, leading to severe upper airway obstruction. Prenatal diagnosis by ultrasonography did not reveal the condition because the tumour masses were initially small and there was no polyhydramnios. Epignathus is a rare cause of upper airway obstruction of the newborn that can grow rapidly in the neonatal period and should be treated surgically.
Conclusion:  Epignathus is a rare cause of upper airway obstruction of the newborn that can grow rapidly in the neonatal period.     

Core-peripheral temperature gradient in children: does it reflect clinically important changes in circulatory haemodynamics?

Following open heart surgery, changes in core and peripheral skin temperature and changes in the core-peripheral temperature gradient were measured in 10 children. These were correlated with changes in cardiac index, systemic vascular resistance index, mean arterial pressure and urinary output. During the study intervals, which lasted 1 h each, no changes in medical management were made. Using Spearman's rank correlation, only a change in central venous pressure was found to correlate with a change in the core-peripheral temperature gradient. We conclude that a change in the core-peripheral temperature will give valuable information about the patient's intravascular volume.     

螺旋CT在肿瘤性肠梗阻诊断中的应用价值

目的探讨螺旋CT用于肿瘤性肠梗阻诊断的应用价值。方法回顾性分析我院2012年10月,2013年6月经手术证实为肿瘤性肠梗阻且术前均行腹部x线平片和CT扫描两种检查的32例患者的临床资料,对两种检查方法的检查结果进行比较分析。结果（1）两种诊断方式在梗阻诊断率、梗阻病因诊断率、梗阻部位诊断率以及绞窄的诊断率上比较有明显差异（P〈0．05）;（2）CT诊断结果与术后病理TNM分期结果比较无显著性差异（P〈0．05）。结论螺旋CT用于诊断肿瘤性肠梗阻效果显著,且能够有效提高梗阻诊断率,明显优于腹部x线平片检查。     

Antidiarrhoeal activity of leaf methanolic extract of Rauwolfia serpentina

Objective

To evaluate the antidiarrhoeal property of methanol extract of the leaves of Rauwolfia serpentina (R. serpentina) in experimental diarrhoea induced by castor oil in mice.

Methods

Doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg R. serpentina leaf methanol extracts were administered to castor oil induced diarrhoea mice to determine its antidiarrhoeal activity.

Results

All doses of the extract and the reference drug atropine sulphate (3 mg/kg, i.p.) produced a dose-dependent reduction in intestinal weight and fluid volume. The extracts also significantly reduced the intestinal transit in charcoal meal test when compared to diphenoxylate Hcl (5 mg/kg, p.o.).

Conclusions

The results show that the extract of R. serpentina leaves has a significant antidiarrhoeal activity and supports its traditional uses in herbal medicine.     

A patenting perspective on human neutrophil elastase (HNE) inhibitors (2014-2018) and their therapeutic applications

Introduction: Human neutrophil elastase (HNE) is involved in a variety of serious chronic diseases, especially cardiopulmonary pathologies. For this reason, the regulation of HNE activity represents a promising therapeutic approach, which is evident by the development of a number of new and selective HNE inhibitors, both in the academic and pharmaceutical environments.

Areas covered: The present review analyzes and summarizes the patent literature regarding human neutrophil elastase inhibitors for the treatment of cardiopulmonary diseases over 2014–2018.

Expert opinion: HNE is an interesting and defined target to treat various inflammatory diseases, including a number of cardiopulmonary pathologies. The research in this field is quite active, and a number of HNE inhibitors are currently in various stages of clinical development. In addition, new opportunities for HNE inhibitor development stem from recent studies demonstrating the involvement of HNE in many other inflammatory pathologies, including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, skin diseases, and cancer. Furthermore, the development of dual HNE/proteinase 3 inhibitors is being pursued as an innovative approach for the treatment of neutrophilic inflammatory diseases. Thus, these new developments will likely stimulate new and increased interest in this important therapeutic target and for the development of novel and selective HNE inhibitors.     

鲁北地区子宫内膜癌发病因素病例对照研究

目的：了解子宫内膜癌发病情况及相关因素,为临床进行预防及治疗提供依据。方法：采用病例-对照流行病学分析方法,对鲁北地区6所三级医院2006-05-01-2011-10-01病理确诊的289例子宫内膜癌患者及174例对照进行统一问卷调查;采用单因素和多因素的Logistic回归分析,以OR和95%可信区间为评价指标,分析与子宫内膜癌有关联的危险性因素。结果：鲁北地区子宫内膜癌患者289例,其中子宫内膜样腺癌259例（90%）;非子宫内膜样腺癌（浆液性腺癌,透明细胞癌等）30例（10%）。Ⅰ期患者219例（76%）,Ⅱ期患者29例（10%）,Ⅲ~Ⅳ期患者共41例（14%）。子宫内膜癌的发病年龄为25~78岁,平均发病年龄为55.41岁,58~61岁为发病高峰。已绝经妇女占62%。单因素分析结果表明,高血压（OR=3.67,χ2=33.70,P=0.00）、糖尿病（OR=1.92,χ2=4.13,P=0.04）、肥胖（OR=4.63,χ2=50.62,P=0.00）、饮用茉莉花茶史（OR=2.63,χ2=19.84,P=0.00）、重体力劳动（OR=1.82,χ2=9.28,P=0.00）、月经不规律（OR=12.68,χ2=107.20,P=0.00）、口服中草药调经（OR=15.21,χ2=68.82,P=0.00）、绝经年龄（OR=1.10,χ2=11.56,P=0.00）、未产（OR=19.07,χ2=15.84,P=0.00）和一级亲属恶性肿瘤家族史（OR=2.91,χ2=12.22,P=0.00）等可增加子宫内膜癌发病风险;使用宫内节育器（intrauterine device,IUD）可降低子宫内膜癌发病风险,OR=0.29,χ2=37.21,P=0.00。多因素Logistic回归分析结果表明,高血压（OR=3.69,95%CI：1.89~7.22）、肥胖（OR=3.06,95%CI：1.62~5.75）、月经不规律（OR=4.53,95%CI：2.13~9.60）、口服中草药调经（OR=9.31,95%CI：2.91~29.76）、绝经年龄晚（OR=1.13,95%CI：1.06~1.20）和一级亲属恶性肿瘤家族史（OR=5.20,95%CI：2.13~12.73）是内膜癌发病的危险因素;使用IUD是内膜癌的保护性因素,OR=0.84,95%CI：0.79~0.88。结论：高血压、肥胖和绝经年龄等因素可影响子宫内膜癌的发生,应针对相关危险因素采取相应的预防措施。     

稀有放线菌产生的抗生素

由于从链霉菌中发现新抗生素的几率越来越小，从稀有放线菌中寻找新抗生素成为研究的重点。稀有放线菌是新生物活性物质的重要产生菌，其产生的抗生素具有结构多样及活性独特的特点。本文概述近年来稀有放线菌中的小单孢菌属、诺卡菌属、马杜拉放线菌属、游动放线菌属、拟无枝菌酸菌属、小双孢菌属及糖多孢菌属等产生的抗生素种类及其活性。     

S-15176 reduces the hepatic injury in rats subjected to experimental ischemia and reperfusion

The protective effect of N-[(3, 5-di-tertiobutyl-4-hydroxy-1-thiophenyl)]-3-propyl-N'-(2,3, 4-trimethoxybenzyl)piperazine (S-15176) on liver injury induced by warm ischemia-reperfusion was investigated using a rat model. Animals were subjected to 2 h of ischemia followed by different reperfusion times. Hepatocyte integrity was assessed by measuring plasma alanine and aspartate aminotransferase activities, and by determining reduced and oxidized glutathione in plasma and bile. Hepatocyte function was quantitated by determining bile flow and liver ATP content. Ischemia-reperfusion resulted in severe hepatic injury involving a huge increase in alanine and aspartate aminotransferase activities, a drop in ATP content, and a decrease in bile flow. Plasma and bile reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione concentrations were inversely related: plasma levels increased when biliary levels decreased. This was associated with a decrease in animal survival (-34%). S-15176 pretreatment (1.25, 2.5, 5 or 10 mg kg(-1) day(-1)) improved the survival rate and limited tissue damages in a dose-dependent manner. The pretreatment also reduced the aminotransferase leakage from hepatocytes and the increase in plasma glutathione levels. In addition, normalization of the plasma GSSG/GSH ratio, a good index of an oxidative stress, was observed in groups treated with the higher dosage, suggesting that the antioxidant properties demonstrated for the compound in vitro (IC(50)=0.3 microM towards lipid peroxidation) could play a role in its protective effect. S-15176 pretreatment also protected the organ from the drop in ATP levels. At the higher dose, ATP content was maintained at a level almost 86% of the sham-operated group after 60 min of reperfusion. This was associated with a restoration of the biliary flow. These data suggest that S-15176 may be a useful drug in liver surgery to prevent ischemia-reperfusion injury.