Enrichment and purification process of astragalosides and their anti-human gastric cancer MKN-74 cell proliferation effect

Background

Radix astragali mainly contains saponins, polysaccharides, flavonoids, amino acids and other chemical constituents of which total astragalosides have immunomodulatory, anti-viral, hepatoprotective, and gastric mucosa protective effects.

Objective

To investigate the process conditions for extraction, purification and enrichment of total astragalosides by macroporous adsorption resin, and to study the inhibitory effect of total astragalosides on growth of human gastric cancer cell line MKN-74.

Methods

UV spectrophotometry was applied to determine the adsorption and desorption capacity of macroporous adsorption resin on total astragaloside content, MTT assay was used to determine the inhibition of MKN-74 cell growth by total astragalosides.

Results

The dynamic adsorption performance of DA201 adsorption resin was examined, and the dynamic adsorption curve of total astragalosides on DA201 resin column was plotted. Meanwhile, eluent and elution flow rate were investigated, the results showed that the choice of eluent of 80% ethanol, and a flow rate of 5 BV/h could maximize the yield of total astragalosides. MTT assay found that astragalosides could relatively pronouncedly inhibit the proliferation of MKN-74 cells, and the inhibitory effect was enhanced with the increase of astragaloside dose and the extension of processing time, which showed a dose-and time-dependence.

Conclusion

DA201 resin can effectively enrich total astragalosides, total astragalosides have an inhibitory effect on growth of MKN-74 cells.     

The significant survival advantage of female sex in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a propensity-matched analysis

Background:

Whether females have better survival than males in nasopharyngeal carcinoma is barely acknowledged and the exact explanations remain unknown.

Methods:

Overall, 5929 patients receiving treatment between January 2005 and December 2010 were separately stratified by stage into early and advanced stage groups, and by age into premenopausal (⩽45 years), menopausal (46–54 years) and postmenopausal (⩾55 years) groups. Matched males and females in each group were identified using the propensity score matching method. Differences in disease-free survival (DSS), overall survival (OS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and locoregional relapse-free survival (LRFS) were estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression model.

Results:

Overall, 398, 923, 744, 319 and 313 pairs of males and females were matched in early stage, advanced stage, premenopausal, menopausal and postmenopausal group, respectively. Females showed significant advantage over males across all end points in both early and advanced stage groups (P⩽0.042). However, this advantage persisted at premenopausal age (P⩽0.042), declined during menopause (DMFS, P=0.021; DSS, P=0.100; OS, P=0.693; LRFS, P=0.330) and totally disappeared at postmenopausal age (P⩾0.344).

Conclusions:

Sex significantly affects NPC survival, with a definite female advantage regardless of tumour stage. Intrinsic biologic traits appear to be the exact explanation according to the declining magnitude of sex effect with age.     

Propensity score matching analysis of cisplatin-based concurrent chemotherapy in low risk nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the intensity-modulated radiotherapy era

Background

Patients with stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma were reported to benefit from adding cisplatin-based concurrent chemotherapy to two-dimensional conventional radiotherapy. But this benefit becomes uncertain in the intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) era, owing to its significant advantage.

Methods

We enrolled 661 low risk (T1N1M0, T2N0-1M0 or T3N0M0, the 2010 UICC/AJCC staging system) patients who underwent IMRT with or without concurrent chemotherapy. Particularly, patients with IMRT alone or IMRT plus cisplatin-based concurrent chemotherapy were equally matched using propensity-score matching method. Overall survival (OS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and locoregional relapse-free survival (LRFS) were assessed with Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test and Cox regression.

Results

Among 661 patients, IMRT alone achieved parallel OS (P = 0.379), DMFS (P = 0.169) and LRFS (P = 0.849) to IMRT plus concurrent chemotherapy. In the propensity-matched cohort of 482 patients, similar survival were observed between both arms (4-years OS 97.4% vs 96.1%, P = 0.134; DMFS 96.5% vs 95.1%, P = 0.763; LRFS 93.8% vs 91.5%, P = 0.715). In multivariate analysis, cisplatin-based concurrent chemotherapy did not lower the risk of death, distant metastasis or locoregional relapse. And this association remained unchanged in subgroups by age, sex, histology and stage.

Conclusions

In this study, low risk nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients who underwent IMRT could not benefit from cisplatin-based concurrent chemotherapy.     

Experimental study on the implantation of a vascular bundle into subcutaneous tissue for improving local blood supply

This paper reports that the adjacent vascular bundle was transferred into tubed flap in order to investigate the course of the angiogenesis of the vascular bundle by method of microangiography, pathology, transparent tissue specimens and microvascular casts, and effect on blood supply by measuring blood flow and skin temperature. The studies gave us the following results: New capillaries of vascular bundle occurred at 2nd day after operation, and gradually increased in number and then formed rich bush-like vessels on the surface of vascular bundle. The time of the earliest anastomosis between the vessels of the implanted vascular bundle and the recipient site was four day postoperation. The early anastomosed vessels were a few capillaries and some of them were changed into vein-like or artery-like structure. Improving the blood circulation in tubed flap begins on five day postoperation. The anastomosed vessels between the vascular bundle and tubed flap tend to stabilize at 10 day postoperation. The higher pressure in small arteries of the vascular bundle may be one of the main factors that vascular bundle possesses potential ability in angiogenesis and improves the blood circulation.     

Efficacy and safety of preoperative chemoembolization for resectable hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein invasion: a prospective comparative study

Objectives

To evaluate the outcomes of preoperative transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein invasion.

Methods

From February 2006 to July 2011, 320 patients initially diagnosed with resectable HCC and portal vein invasion were prospectively non-randomized into two arms. In the immediate resection arm (Arm 1, n?=?205) patients received immediate surgical resection. 115 patients were included in the preoperative TACE arm (Arm 2), and eventually 85 patients underwent TACE followed by surgical resection.

Results

The 1-, 3- and 5-year overall survival rates were 48.3 %, 18.7 % and 13.9 % for Arm 1 and 61.2 %, 31.7 % and 25.3 % for Arm 2 (P?=?0.001), respectively. In the subgroup analysis of types I and II portal vein tumour thrombus (PVTT), the preoperative TACE arm demonstrated significantly better survival rates than the immediate resection arm (P _I ?=?0.001, P _II ?=?0.036). However, no significant difference was found for patients with type III PVTT (P _III ?=?0.684). No significant difference was found between the two arms in terms of complications and mortality.

Conclusions

Preoperative TACE seems to confer a survival benefit for resectable HCC with PVTT, especially for types I and II PVTT, and preoperative TACE should therefore be recommended as a routine procedure.

Key Points

? Preoperative TACE improves the clinical outcomes for patients with PVTT ? Preoperative TACE could significantly improve the rate of en bloc thrombectomy ? Preoperative TACE does not increase the related adverse events

     

体位干预对腰硬联合麻醉剖宫产术中低血压的影响

目的探讨体位干预对腰硬联合麻醉下剖宫产术中低血压的影响。方法选择100例ASAHI级行剖宫产产妇，随机分为A、B两组，各50例，均采用腰硬联合麻醉，在扩容的同时，A组产妇右侧臀部垫一方垫，手术开始时去垫取平卧位，B组取平卧位。观察两组BP、SPO2、ECG、HR的变化，比较体位干预和非体位干预两组产妇手术中血压的变化，发生低血压的概率。结果A组产妇术中发生低血压的概率和血压下降幅度的均值小于B组（P〈0．01）。结论体位干预可有效减少腰硬联合麻醉下剖宫产术中低血压的发生，提示子宫对下腔静脉的压迫使回心血量急剧减少是引起腰硬联合麻醉下剖宫产术中低血压发生的主要原因。     

硫化氢对帕金森病模型大鼠多巴胺神经元的保护作用

目的:观察硫化氢对帕金森病(Parkinson’s disease,PD)大鼠神经行为学、氧化应激以及多巴胺及其代谢产物的影响。方法:采用6-羟基多巴胺(6-OHDA)注射于脑右侧黑质造成偏侧PD模型。将模型动物随机分为模型组、硫化氢组(硫氢化钠做供体),每组10只;另分别取10只正常大鼠为正常组及假手术组(以抗坏血酸注射)。观察PD大鼠经过硫化氢处理后神经行为学、脑组织丙二醛(MDA)、谷胱甘肽(GSH)、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)含量以及多巴胺代谢产物的变化。结果:与模型组比较硫化氢组大鼠行为学明显改善(P<0.01),同时脑组织中GSH、SOD含量均升高,MDA含量降低,多巴胺及其代谢产物升高。结论:硫化氢对PD模型大鼠多巴胺神经元具有保护作用。     

关节镜下改良McLaughlin手术与双排锚钉固定治疗肩袖撕裂效果比较

目的:比较关节镜下改良McLaughlin手术与双排锚钉固定治疗肩袖撕裂的疗效。方法:回顾性研究我院自2007年3月至2009年9月间,随访到的采用上述两种修补方法治疗的32例肩袖撕裂患者(33肩)的疗效,其中骨道组17例(17肩),患者采用全关节镜下改良McLaughlin手术;锚钉组15例(16肩),患者采用关节镜下双排锚钉固定治疗。至少随访13个月,平均随访22个月,随访包括并发症、关节活动度、肌力、术后恢复日常生活的时间、恢复运动的时间、达到满意评分的时间、MRI评价术后肩袖愈合情况等,并进行两组手术前后UCLA、VAS评分比较。结果:两组患者手术后恢复日常生活时间、恢复运动时间差别有统计学意义;两组患者术后UCLA、VAS评分均较术前有明显改善,差异有统计学意义(P<0.01);但术后两组评分组间比较无统计学意义(P>0.05)。MRI发现锚钉组再撕裂1例,骨道组无再撕裂,两组差别无统计学意义(P>0.05)。所有病例最终均对手术效果满意。结论:采用关节镜下McLaughlin手术与双排锚钉固定治疗肩袖损伤效果均优良,无统计学差异。前者在术后疼痛消失时间、恢复运动时间方面较后者更快,但两组患者的最后满意度无显著性差异。     

Comparison of TNM staging systems for nasopharyngeal carcinoma,and proposal of a new staging system

Background:

There are few systematic evaluations regarding the sixth and seventh editions of the UICC/AJCC TNM Staging System (TNM6th, TNM7th) and Chinese 2008 Staging System (TNMc2008) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods:

We classified 2333 patients into intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) cohort (n=941) and conventional radiotherapy (CRT) cohort (n=1392). Tumour staging defined by TNM6th, TNM7th and TNMc2008 was compared based on Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Harrell''s concordance index (c-index).

Results:

For T-classification, TNM6th (AIC=2585.367; c-index=0.6390385) had superior prognostic value to TNM7th (AIC=2593.242; c-index=0.6226889) and TNMc2008 (AIC=2593.998; c-index=0.6237146) in the IMRT cohort, whereas TNMc2008 was superior (AIC=5999.054; c-index=0.623547) in the CRT cohort. For N-classification, TNMc2008 had the highest prognostic value in both cohorts (AIC=2577.726, c-index=0.6297874; AIC=5956.339, c-index=0.6533576). Similar results were obtained when patients were stratified by chemotherapy types, age and gender. Using staging models in the IMRT cohort, we failed to identify better stage migrations than TNM6th T-classification and TNMc2008 N-classification. We therefore proposed to combine these categories; resultantly, stage groups of the proposed staging system showed superior prognostic value over TNM6th, TNM7th and TNMc2008.

Conclusion:

TNM6th T-classification and TNMc2008 N-classification have superior prognostic value in the IMRT era. By combining them with slight modifications, TNM criteria can be unified and its prognostic value be improved.     

Cytogenetic analysis of human embryos and embryonic stem cells derived from monopronuclear zygotes

Purpose

By comparing the chromosomal constitution among the arrested cleavage-stage embryos, blastocysts and human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) which are all derived from monopronuclear (1PN) zygotes, it is aimed to determine whether chromosomally normal embryos can be reliably selected by blastocyst culture.

Methods

After 1PN zygotes are sequentially cultured for 5 days, the blastocysts and arrested cleavage-stage embryos were analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with probes for chromosomes 18, X and Y; G-banding analysis was adopted to analyze the karyotype of 1PN hESCs.

Results

The diploid rate of blastocysts was 74.6%, which was significantly (P?<?0.001) higher than that of arrested cleavage-stage embryos (31.6%), and the diploid rate of hESCs was 97.0%, which was significantly (P < 0.01) higher than that of blastocysts; the haploid embryos were excluded by blastocyst culture; nevertheless, there still existed such chromosomal abnormalities as mosaic and monosomic in blastocysts and trisomy in hESCs.

Conclusions

Blastocyst culture is an effective method to select against chromosomal abnormalities, especially the haploids in 1PN embryos; however, development to the blastocyst stage is not a reliable marker for mosaicism or aneuploidy.