Objective:To investigate whether the nutrition support team (NST) benefits esophageal carcinoma (EC) patients who are concurrently undergoing chemoradiotherapy. Methods: Between June 2012 and December 2013, 40 EC patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy were divided into the NST group and routine treatment (RT) group, with 20 patients in each group. At the end of chemoradiotherapy, the nutritional status, incidence of complications, and completion rates of radiotherapy were evaluated. The length of hospital stay (LOS) and cost were also compared between the two groups. Results:The nutrition and blood parameter values of the NST group were better (P<0.05) than those of the RT group. The incidence of complications was lower in the NST group (P<0.05) than that in the RT group. In addition, all patients in the NST group achieved the treatment plan, whereas five of the patients in the RT group interrupted or delayed the plan (P<0.05). The average LOS decreased by 3.8 d (P<0.05), and the hospitalization costs were reduced to 6300 RMB person-times (P>0.05) for the patients of the NST group. Conclusion: NST could maintain the nutritional status and improve the treatment compliance and tolerance of EC patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy, thereby shortening the LOS time and reducing the costs.

SUMMARY Thehumanembryonicstemcells(hESCs)serveasaself-renewable,genetically-healthy, pluripotent and single source of all body cells,tissues and organs.Therefore,it is considered as the good standard for all human stem cells by US,Europe and international authorities.In this study,the standard and healthy human mesenchymal progenitors,ligament tissues,cardiomyocytes,keratinocytes,primary neurons,fibroblasts,and salivary serous cells were differentiated from hESCs.The human cellular health-safety of NaF,retinoic acid,5-fluorouracil,dexamethasone,penicillin G,adriamycin,lead ace-tate PbAc,bisphenol A-biglycidyl methacrylate (Bis-GMA)were evaluated selectively on the standar-dized platforms of hESCs,hESCs-derived cardiomyocytes,keratinocytes,primary neurons,and fibro-blasts.The evaluations were compared with those on the currently most adopted cellular platforms.Parti-cularly,the sensitivity difference of PM2.5 toxicity on standardized and healthy hESCs derived fibroblasts, currently adopted immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells Beas-2B and human umbilical vein endo-thelial cells (HUVECs)were evaluated.The results showed that the standardized hESCs cellular plat-forms provided more sensitivity and accuracy for human cellular health-safety evaluation.

The high neurogenic potential of dental and oral-derived stem cells due to their embryonic neural crest origin, coupled with their ready accessibility and easy isolation from clinical waste, make these ideal cell sources for neuroregeneration therapy. Nevertheless, these cells also have high propensity to differentiate into the osteo-odontogenic lineage. One strategy to enhance neurogenesis of these cells may be to recapitulate the natural physiological electrical microenvironment of neural tissues via electroactive or electroconductive tissue engineering scaffolds. Nevertheless, to date, there had been hardly any such studies on these cells. Most relevant scientific information comes from neurogenesis of other mesenchymal stem/stromal cell lineages (particularly bone marrow and adipose tissue) cultured on electroactive and electroconductive scaffolds, which will therefore be the focus of this review. Although there are larger number of similar studies on neural cell lines (i.e. PC12), neural stem/progenitor cells, and pluripotent stem cells, the scientific data from such studies are much less relevant and less translatable to dental and oral-derived stem cells, which are of the mesenchymal lineage. Much extrapolation work is needed to validate that electroactive and electroconductive scaffolds can indeed promote neurogenesis of dental and oral-derived stem cells, which would thus facilitate clinical applications in neuroregeneration therapy.
Cell Differentiation ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Neural Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Neurogenesis ; Tissue Scaffolds

Objective To explore the clinical effect of Buqi Huayu prescription on chronic atrophic gastritis with intestinal metaplasia.Methods A total of 60 patients with chronic atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia in the Department of Spleen and Stomach Diseases,Jinhua Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University from April 2019 to June 2020 were selected and randomly divided into Buqi Huayu prescription group and control group,with 30 cases in each group.Patients in Buqi Huayu prescription group were treated with Buqi Huayu prescription;Patients in control group were treated with folic acid tablets.After 6 months of treatment,the clinical comprehensive efficacy,traditional Chinese Medicine syndrome score,pathological change score,serum pepsinogen(PG)Ⅰ,PGⅡ,PGⅠ/PGⅡ(PGR)were observed before and after treatment in two groups.Results The clinical curative effect of Buqi Huayu prescription group was significantly better than that of control group(90%vs.70%,P<0.05).After treatment,traditional Chinese Medicine syndrome score and gastric mucosa pathology score of two groups were lower than before treatment(P<0.05).The intestinal metaplasia score of Buqi Huayu prescription group was significantly higher than that of control group(P<0.05).The levels of PGⅠ and PGR were higher than before treatment,while the levels of PGⅡ were lower than before treatment(P<0.05).All the indexes in Buqi Huayu prescription group were better than those in control group(P<0.05).Conclusion Buqi Huayu prescription is effective in the treatment of chronic atrophic gastritis with intestinal metaplasia.It can not only improve the pathological changes of patients,but also increase the level of serum PGⅠ and PGR,and decrease the level of PGⅡ.

Abstract Diabetic osteoporosis is a systemic metabolic bone disease caused by long-term hyperglycemia and has become one of the major complications of diabetes. It is characterized by decreased bone mass, destroyed bone microstructure, and increased bone fragility. Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex herb pair is a classic drug combination, and has been widely used in many anti-diabetic osteoporosis prescriptions. The pharmacological studies have shown that the effects of this herb pair on promoting formation and inhibiting bone resorption are closely related to the Nrf2, MAPK, Wnt and RANK/RANKL signaling pathways as well as autophagy. The compatibility of this herb pair changes the dissolution and pharmacokinetics of the active substances, which have synergistic effects. This article summarized the effective substances of Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex and its mechanism of action against diabetes and osteoporosis, providing a reference for further research and development of the drug pair.

Oral diseases concern almost every individual and are a serious health risk to the popula-tion.The restorative treatment of tooth and jaw defects is an important means to achieve oral function and support the appearance of the contour.Based on the principle of"learning from the nature",Deng Xu-liang's group of Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology has proposed a new concept of"microstructural biomimetic design and tissue adaptation of tooth/jaw materials"to address the worldwide problems of difficulty in treating dentine hypersensitivity,poor prognosis of restoration of tooth defects,and vertical bone augmentation of alveolar bone after tooth loss.The group has broken through the bottle-neck of multi-stage biomimetic technology from the design of microscopic features to the enhancement of macroscopic effects,and invented key technologies such as crystalline/amorphous multi-level assembly,ion-transportation blocking,and multi-physical properties of the micro-environment reconstruction,etc.The group also pioneered the cationic-hydrogel desensitizer,digital stump and core integrated restora-tions,and developed new crown and bridge restorative materials,gradient functionalisation guided tissue regeneration membrane,and electrically responsive alveolar bone augmentation restorative membranes,etc.These products have established new clinical strategies for tooth/jaw defect repair and achieved inno-vative results.In conclusion,the research results of our group have strongly supported the theoretical im-provement of stomatology,developed the technical system of oral hard tissue restoration,innovated the clinical treatment strategy,and led the progress of the stomatology industry.