Visceral adipose tissue is more strongly associated with insulin resistance than subcutaneous adipose tissue in Chinese subjects with pre-diabetes

Aims: To investigate the value of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) in a cohort of a community’s residents who were diagnosed as pre-diabetes, and to evaluate the association of VAT and SAT with insulin resistance.

Methods: This study was based on cross-sectional analysis of data from 107 adults. VAT and SAT were assessed by computed tomography. Insulin resistance was defined by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance >2.69. The relationship of VAT and SAT with insulin resistance were examined by linear regression. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association of VAT and SAT with insulin resistance.

Results: A total of 87 subjects had VAT ≥100?cm². Thirty-six out of 107 (33.6%) subjects were detected to have insulin resistance, 71 were normal (66.4%), and all had insulin resistance with VAT ≥100?cm². VAT (r?=?0.378, p?r?=?0.357, p?p?=?.003), but that of SAT was lost.

Conclusion: Pre-diabetic subjects with insulin resistance had elevated levels of VAT. VAT was more strongly associated with insulin resistance than SAT in Chinese subjects with pre-diabetes.     

RhPDCD5 combined with dexamethasone increases antitumor activity in multiple myeloma partially via inhibiting the Wnt signalling pathway

Multiple myeloma (MM) is one of the most common hematological malignancies and characterized by the clonal accumulation of malignant plasma cells. Significant progress has been made in MM treatment recently, while MM still remains incurable. Our previous studies showed that the recombined human programmed cell death 5 (rhPDCD5) can promote MM apoptosis induced by dexamethasone (Dex). Here, we expanded the findings by showing that the rhPDCD5 alone could not induce an obvious growth inhibition of U266 cells (a MM cell line). Of note, with the combination of dexamethasone (Dex), the growth of MM cells was significantly inhibited and accompanied with the cell cycle arrest in G0/G1. For mechanism study, we found that the combination treatment of rhPDCD5 plus Dex downregulated the mRNA and protein expressions of Wnt effectors including β‐catenin, β‐catenin (Ser675), TCF4, survivin and c‐Myc when compared to Dex only. Moreover, the activation of WNT pathway induced by LiCl can also be inhibited by this combination treatment. Taken together, our study demonstrated that the combination of rhPDCD5 and Dex can suppress the proliferation of multiple myeloma cells partially via inhibiting the WNT signalling pathway.     

基于抗菌药物分级管理的我院抗菌药物医嘱评价

摘 要 目的：明确我院三级抗菌药物（非限制使用级、限制使用级、特殊使用级）不合理使用情况的特点及差异,为临床规范使用抗菌药物提供理论依据。 方法：对我院736份出院病历的1 228条抗菌药物医嘱逐条进行合理性点评,并对三级抗菌药物医嘱不合理使用率、分布特点、类型进行比较。 结果：我院三级抗菌药物不合理使用率差异不全相同,以限制使用级为最高（25.0%）,特殊使用级最低（9.8%）,两者比较差异有统计学意义（P<0.01）。以头孢菌素为主的β内酰胺类抗菌药物的不合理医嘱最多。三级抗菌药物不合理用药类型差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。“抗菌药物用法用量不适宜”、“围手术期预防性使用抗菌药物不合理”为非限制使用级及限制使用级抗菌药物的主要不合理医嘱构成。而“遴选抗菌药物不适宜”则为特殊使用级抗菌药物的主要不合理医嘱构成。结论：我院抗菌药物不合理使用情况较普遍。医院需针对各级抗菌药物使用中存在的主要问题加强抗菌药物的管理。     

A new strategy for choosing “Q-markers” via network pharmacology,application to the quality control of a Chinese medical preparation

Due to its chemical complexity, proper quality control for a Chinese medical preparation (CMP) has been a great challenge. Choosing the appropriate quality markers (Q-markers) for quality control of CMP is an important work. Best of all, the chosen Q-markers are the main chemical compounds from the herbals as well as the active constituents of this CMP. Only in this way the established quality control system can really achieve the purpose of controlling the quality of CMP and ensuring the safely and effectively use of CMP. To achieve the purpose, network pharmacology combined with the contents of chemical compounds in the CMP has been used in this research. We took an anti-arrhythmic CMP, Shenxian-Shengmai oral liquid (SSOL), as an example. Firstly, UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS method was used to analyze the main components of SSOL. A total of 64 compounds were unambiguously or tentatively identified and 32 of them were further validated by reference compounds. Secondly, the network was constructed based on the identified compounds to predict the effective compounds related to cardiac arrhythmias. Based on the existing database and the operation method of topology, a method of double network analysis (DNAA) was proposed, from which 10 important targets in the pathway of arrhythmia were screened out, and 26 compounds had good antiarrhythmic activity. Based on the prediction results of network pharmacology along with the contents of the compounds in this CMP, ten representative compounds were chosen as the Q-markers for the quality control of SSOL. We find that five of these ten compounds, including danshensu, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acid A, epimedin A and icariin, have antiarrhythmic activity. Then, the UPLC-DAD method was established as the control method for SSOL.     

Chitosan-based zinc oxide nanoparticle for enhanced anticancer effect in cervical cancer: A physicochemical and biological perspective

In this study, chitosan-assembled zinc oxide nanoparticle (CZNP) was successfully prepared for evaluated for its anticancer efficacy against cervical cancer cells. The CZNP particles were nanosized and spherical in shape. The zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZNP) and CZNP showed significant cytotoxicity in cervical cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Results showed that the enhanced cytotoxicity was mainly attributed to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the cancer cells. The apoptosis assay further revealed that apoptosis was the main reason behind the cell killing effect of the zinc oxide nanoparticles. The apoptosis was further confirmed by the nuclear chromatin assay. Live dead assay showed increased red fluorescent cell for CZNP treated cancer cells. Overall, metal oxide present in nanoparticulate dimensions will be advantageous in imparting the cytotoxicity to cervical cancer cell.     

Two new secoiridoid glucosides and a new lignan from the roots of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ilex pubescens</Emphasis>

Two new secoiridoid glucosides, ilexpublignoside (1), pubzenoside (2), and a new lignan, ilexlignan B (3), along with seven known compounds (4–10) were isolated from the roots of Ilex pubescens for the first time. Their chemical structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic methods, including IR, UV, HR-ESI–MS, CD, NMR experiments, as well as comparison with the reported data.