Objective To study the value of Saccharomyces boulardii for the prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in older inpatients.Methods A total of 163 older patients who were treated with wide-spectrum antibiotics at least three days during January 2014 to December 2015 were randomly divided into control and study group.In study group, 81 patients were administrated with oral Saccharomyces boulardii 500 mg twice a day for 21 days.The control group was of no intervention.Morbidity rate of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea, frequency and duration of diarrhea were recorded.Results The incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in study group was significantly lower than that in control group [14.8%(12/81) vs 28.0%(23/82), P<0.05],whereas no difference was seen in the incidence of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea [3.7%(3/81) vs 4.9%(4/82), P>0.05] in two groups.The frequency and duration of diarrhea in the study group were significantly lower and shorter than those in control group[(4.3±1.7) times/day vs (6.9±2.0) times/day;(3.0±1.1) days vs (5.7±1.8) days, both P<0.01].Conclusion Saccharomyces boulardii may reduce the incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea therefore improving the symptom of diarrhea in older inpatients.

OBJECTIVETo study the inhibitory effect of Acanthopanax giraldii Harms Var. Hispidus Hoo polysaccharides (AGP) on SGC-7901 gastric cancer cells and its possible mechanism.

METHODSCell doubling time analysis, colony forming assay and MTT assay were adopted to study the inhibitory effect and its characteristics. We also analyzed the amount of protein expressed by oncogenes, antioncogenes and cell factors using flow cytometric analysis.

RESULTSAGP inhibited the proliferation of SGC-7901 cells and cell colony forming ability. AGP did not inhibit the viability and function of lymphocytes of peripheral blood in healthy subjects and human embryonic tenocytes, except for the highest dosage of AGP (P < 0.05), which slightly inhibited the viability and function of the two types of normal cells. AGP inhibited the viability and function of SGC-7901 cells, except for the lowest dosages of AGP I and AGP III. There was a dose-effect relationship between the dosage of the AGP and SGC-7901 cells. The effect of the AGP at the molecular level was associated with the low protein expression of the c-myc and bcl-2 genes and the high protein expression of the p53, bax, fas and fas-L genes, as well as the cell factor TGF beta(1). The inhibitory effect of AGP was weaker than that of CDDP, but was stronger than that of Vitamin C.

CONCLUSIONSAcanthopanax giraldii Harms Var. Hispidus Hoo polysaccharides selectively inhibited the proliferation, the colony forming ability, and the viability and function of human gastric cancer cells through the low protein expression of c-myc, bcl-2 and the high protein expression of p53, fas, fas-L and the cell factor TGF beta(1). The different inhibitory characteristics on the normal cells and cancer cells are possibly caused by gene and the cell factor expressions.

Cell Division ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; drug effects ; Polysaccharides ; pharmacology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; drug effects

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become the third-leading cause of death worldwide, which is a severe economic burden to the healthcare system. Chronic bronchitis is the most common condition that contributes to COPD, both locally and systemically. Neutrophilic inflammation predominates in the COPD airway wall and lumen. Logically, repression of neutrophilia is an essential fashion to COPD treatment. However, currently available anti-neutrophilic therapies provide little benefit in COPD patients and may have serious side effects. Thus, there is an urgent need to explore an effective and safe anti-neutrophilic approach that might delay progression of the disease. Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin (Siglec)-9 is a member of the Siglec cell surface immunoglobulin family. It is noteworthy that Siglec-9 is highly expressed on human neutrophils and monocytes. Ligation of Siglec-9 by chemical compounds or synthetic ligands induced apoptosis and autophagic-like cell death in human neutrophils. Furthermore, administration of antibody to Siglec-E, mouse functional ortholog of Siglec-9, restrained recruitment and activation of neutrophils in mouse models of airway inflammation in vivo. Given the critical role that neutrophils play in chronic bronchitis and emphysema, targeting Siglec-9 could be beneficial for the treatment of COPD, asthma, fibrosis, and related chronic inflammatory lung diseases.
Animals ; Asthma ; Humans ; Lung ; Mice ; N-Acetylneuraminic Acid ; Neutrophils ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/drug therapy* ; Sialic Acid Binding Immunoglobulin-like Lectins