Microspheres of essential oil in polylactic acid and poly(methyl methacrylate) matrices and their blends

This study is focussed on micro-encapsulation of essential oils in polylactic acid (PLA) and a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix as well as blends of the same. Microspheres were prepared by the solvent evaporation technique and characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR). The encapsulation efficiencies and release profiles of the essential oils were studied by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and head-space solid-phase microextraction GC-MS, respectively. Furthermore, the microspheres were tested for antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains.

The results showed that the microspheres compositions (PLA/PMMA ratio) have significant effect on their characteristics. The process adopted for preparing the microspheres promoted formation of spherical particles at the sizes of 1.5–9.5?µm. The highest encapsulation efficiency of the prepared microspheres was observed in systems consisting of linalool (81.10?±?10.0?wt. % for PLA system and 76.0?±?3.3?wt. % for PMMA system). Confirmation was also made that the release rate of the microspheres was affected by the size of the same.     

Comparison of screw fixation versus non-fixation in dorsal opening wedge medial cuneiform osteotomy of adult acquired flatfoot

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to compare the radiographic and functional results between fixation and non-fixation in the Cotton osteotomy for the treatment of adult acquired flatfoot.MethodsA retrospective, case-controlled study of consecutive stage IIB posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (PTTD) patients treated with the same bony reconstructive surgery including cotton osteotomy between 2013 and 2017. Meary’s angle, the medial arch sag angle (MASA), and medial cuneiform cobb angle (MCCA) were evaluated pre-operation, at first weight bearing after surgery, and 12 months post operation.ResultsForty feet were included in the study. The cotton osteotomy utilized screw fixation (n = 20) or non-fixation technique (n = 20). No significant differences between groups were found in pre-operative and follow-up radiographic parameters, union rate, and functional results.ConclusionThe non-fixation with press fit technique is a reliable procedure for Cotton osteotomy and as effective as screw fixation.Level of evidenceLevel III, case control study     

中药生产过程质量控制关键技术研究进展

中医药发展已上升到国家战略层面,在医药行业贯彻实施"中国制造2025"战略的新形势下,中药生产过程质量控制是中药工业需要加快突破的关键领域之一。对中药生产过程质量控制领域在工艺设计、分析检测、过程建模、制造装备等方面的关键共性问题进行解析,综述了中药生产过程质量控制体系中工艺过程理解、生产过程实时分析方法开发、过程控制策略建立3个方面的研究进展;并结合企业研究实践,介绍了质量源于设计(quality by design,Qb D)、过程分析技术(process analytical technology,PAT)、实验设计(design of experiment,DOE)、多变量统计分析等关键技术在上述3个研究方向中的应用进展,分析了实际工业应用的难点问题并对其应用前景进行展望,旨在为中药企业应用和提升生产过程质量控制技术提供参考。     

肝癌组织LncRNA TINCR表达水平对术后长期生存的影响

目的 探讨肝癌组织中LncRNA TINCR 表达水平对术后长期生存的影响。方法 回顾性分析2013 年4 月～2016 年2 月间在本院接受手术治疗的157 例肝细胞肝癌患者的临床资料。RT-PCR 法检测肝癌标本内LncRNA TINCR 表达水平，采用ROC 曲线和Kaplan-Meier 法分析LncRNA TINCR 表达水平对肝癌术后长期生存的影响。结果 肝癌组织LncRNA TINCR 表达水平对术后长期生存预测的曲线下面积（AUC）为0.812，特异度为73.77%，灵敏度为79.17%，最佳判读值为1.89（P＜0.0001）。根据ROC 曲线分析结果，将肝癌组织LncRNA TINCR 相对表达水平大于1.89 的93 例（59.24%）患者纳入高表达组，而肝癌组织LncRNA TINCR 相对表达水平小于或等于1.89的64 例（40.76%）患者纳入低表达组。Kaplan－Meier 法生存分析发现高表达组术后3 年内有76 例患者死亡，3 年总生存率为18.28%（17/93）；低表达组术后3 年内有20 例患者死亡，3 年总生存率为68.75%（44/64），低表达组3 年总生存率明显优于高表达组（P＜0.0001，两组间死亡风险比为3.7534，95%可信区间为2.5158～5.6000）。结论 肝癌组织LncRNA TINCR 表达水平与肝癌术后长期生存显著相关，LncRNA TINCR 表达水平升高则预示着预后不佳。     

Assessment of oral ciprofloxacin impaired gut barrier integrity on gut bacteria in mice

Gut bacteria and gut barrier plays important roles in body homeostasis. Ciprofloxacin (CPFX) is widely used to treat bacterial infections. However, whether high dosage of CPFX has side effects on gut barrier integrity is still unclear. Our results indicated that the High CPFX treatment (1 mg/ml) caused weight loss, nervousness, anorexia, and increased apoptosis cells in gut, but less influence was observed in the Low CPFX group (0.2 mg/ml). Meanwhile, the High CPFX treatment impaired tight junction molecules Ocln/ZO-1 level and down-regulated antibacterial genes expression (reg3γ, pla2g2α and defb1). Further, the High CPFX treatment increased pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β in intestinal tract, decreased IL-17A of duodenum but increased IL-17A of colon at day 37. In addition, the gut bacterial diversity and richness behaved significantly loss regarding CPFX treatment, especially in the High CPFX group during the experiment. Indole exhibited sharply decline in both Low and High CPFX groups at day 7, and the High CPFX mice needed longer time on restoring indole level. Meanwhile, CPFX treatment strongly decreased the concentrations of butyric acid and valeric acid at day 1. Correlation analysis indicated that the linked patterns between the key bacteria (families Bacteroidales_S247, Ruminococcaceae and Desulfovibrionaceae) and metabolites (indole and butyric acid) were disturbed via the CPFX treatment. In conclusion, the High CPFX treatment impaired the gut barrier with the evidence of reduced expression of tight junction proteins, increased apoptosis cells and inflammatory cells, decreased the bacterial diversity and composition, which suggesting a proper antibiotic-dosage use should be carefully considered in disease treatment.     

Papillary thyroid carcinoma with a high tumor mutation burden has a poor prognosis

BackgroundTumor mutation burden (TMB) as a prognostic marker for immunotherapy has shown prognostic value in many cancers. However, there is no systematic investigation on TMB in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).MethodsBased on the somatic mutation data of 487 PTC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), TMB was calculated, and we classified the samples into high-TMB (H-TMB) and low-TMB (L-TMB) groups. Bioinformatics methods were used to explore the characteristics and potential mechanism of TMB in PTC.ResultsHigh TMB predicts shorter progression-free survival (PFS) (P < 0.001). TMB was positively correlated with age, stage, tumor size, metastasis, the male sex and tall cell PTC. Compared to the L-TMB group, the H-TMB group presented with lower immune cell infiltration, a higher proportion of tumor-promoting immune cells (M0 macrophages, activated dendritic cells and monocytes) and a lower proportion of antitumor immune cells (M1 macrophages, CD8⁺ T cells and B cells). Additionally, the characteristics displayed by different TMB groups were not driven by critical driver mutations such as BRAF and RAS.ConclusionsPTC patients with high TMB have a worse prognosis. By stratifying PTC patients according to their TMB, advanced PTC patients who are candidates for immunotherapy could be selected.     

Sacituzumab govitecan: breakthrough targeted therapy for triple-negative breast cancer

Introduction: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype associated with an increased risk of recurrence and cancer-related death. Unlike hormone receptor-positive or HER2-positive breast cancers, there are limited targeted therapies available to treat TNBC and cytotoxic chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment. Sacituzumab govitecan (IMMU-132) is an antibody-drug conjugate targeting Trop-2 expressing cells and selectively delivering SN-38, an active metabolite of irinotecan.

Areas covered: This review covers the mechanism of action, safety and efficacy of sacituzumab govitecan in patients with previously treated, metastatic TNBC. Additionally, efficacy data in other epithelial malignancies is included based on a PubMed search for ‘sacituzumab govitecan’ and ‘clinical trial’.

Expert opinion: Sacituzumab govitecan has promising anti-cancer activity in patients with metastatic TNBC previously treated with at least two prior lines of systemic therapy based on a single arm Phase I/II clinical trial. A confirmatory Phase III randomized clinical trial is ongoing. Sacituzumab govitecan has a manageable side effect profile, with the most common adverse events being nausea, neutropenia, and diarrhea. The activity of sacituzumab govitecan likely extends beyond TNBC with promising early efficacy data in many other epithelial cancers, including hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.