Aim To develop a sensitive,specific and accurate method for quantifying a novel derivate of all-trans-retinoic acid, 4-amino-2-trifluoromethyl-phenyl retinate (ATPR)in rat tissues to investigate the tissue distribution of ATPR in rats.Methods Sprague-Daw-ley (SD)rats were killed by exsanguination at 2,4,7 h after a single intragastric administration with one dose of ATPR (20 mg·kg-1 )or at 5 min,1 h,5 h after a single intravenous administration with one dose of AT-PR (7 mg·kg-1 ).The concentration of ATPR in the tissues was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)method.Results After the rats were administrated intragastrically, the highest concentration of ATPR was observed in intestine,fol-lowed by liver,spleen and lung,while the distribution in heart,kidney,fat and brain was very little.Howev-er,the highest concentration of ATPR was in liver after given intravenously,followed by spleen and lung,and very low in heart,kidney,intestines,fat and brain. Conclusion The distribution of ATPR is higher in liv-er after administrated both intragastrically and intrave-nously,suggesting the potential anti-proliferation and differentiation inducing effects of ATPR targeting at liv-er cancer.

Objective To observe the effects of Yuanzhi San (YZS) on the ethology and cerebral acetylcholinesterase(AchE) activity of mouse model of memory disorder induced by scopolamine. Methods Sixty mice were randomly divided into six groups, namely blank control group, model group, positive medicine group, and low-dose, middle-dose and high-dose YZS groups. Except for the blank control group and model group were given the normal saline, the mice in other groups were administered with the corresponding drugs for 10 days. And then, mice in the medication groups were given subcutaneous injection of scopolamine in the dose of 3mg/kg to induce memory disorder model. Morris water maze test and step-down test were adopted for the observation of the learning-memory ability of the mice, and at the end of the tests, the activity of AchE in mouse cerebral cortex was measured by a biochemical method. Results Compared with the model group, escape latency was decreased, and retention time and swimming distance in the effective area in Morris water maze test were prolonged in YZS groups (P<0.05); latency in step-down test was also prolonged (P<0.05). YZS had an effect on decreasing AchE activity in the cerebral cortex of model mice (P < 0.05 compared with the model group). However, the differences were insignificant among the medication groups(P>0.05). Conclusion YZS exerts certain effect on improving learning-memory ability of memory disorder mice induced by scopolamine , and the mechanism might be related with the inhibition of AchE activity in the cerebral cortex of model mice.

To investigate the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes and their elements in people with subhealth fatigue.

Deficiency of natural killer (NK) cells shows a significant impact on tumor progression and failure of immunotherapy. It is highly desirable to boost NK cell immunity by upregulating active receptors and relieving the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Unfortunately, mobilization of NK cells is hampered by poor accumulation and short retention of drugs in tumors, thus declining antitumor efficiency. Herein, we develop an acid-switchable nanoparticle with self-adaptive aggregation property for co-delivering galunisertib and interleukin 15 (IL-15). The nanoparticles induce morphology switch by a decomposition-metal coordination cascade reaction, which provides a new methodology to trigger aggregation. It shows self-adaptive size-enlargement upon acidity, thus improving drug retention in tumor to over 120 h. The diameter of agglomerates is increased and drug release is effectively promoted following reduced pH values. The nanoparticles activate both NK cell and CD8⁺ T cell immunity in vivo. It significantly suppresses CT26 tumor in immune-deficient BALB/c mice, and the efficiency is further improved in immunocompetent mice, indicating that the nanoparticles can not only boost innate NK cell immunity but also adaptive T cell immunity. The approach reported here provides an innovative strategy to improve drug retention in tumors, which will enhance cancer immunotherapy by boosting NK cells.