To study the dynamic change law of bioactive constituents from Polygonum multiflorum, and to explore the optimal harvest period of P. multiflorum. Determination of stilhene glucoside, anthraquinones and catechin from P. multiflorum in different harvest times by MEKC-DAD, and principal component analysis (PCA) was used to comprehensive evaluation for bioactive constituents. There are obvious differences among the contents of active ingredients in various collecting periods samples, the content of stilbene glucoside was the highest in November, the total content of combined anthraquinone was the highest in November and December, the content of catechin was the highest in September. The comprehensive evaluation index obtained with principal component analysis showed that the sample collected in November is significantly higher than those with other samples. The optimal harvest period of P. multiflorum is November.
Electrophoresis ; Fallopia multiflora ; chemistry ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Time Factors

Objective To analyse the prognosis of 117 newly diagnosed nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients underwent intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Methods From Jan to Nov 2005, 117 NPC patients who were treated by IMRT were enrolled. There were 81 males and 36 females with a median age of 42 years (range 18-76 years). According to Chinese Fuzhou Staging system(1992), 11 cases were Stage I , 15 Stage Ⅱ, 54 Stage Ⅲ and 37 Stage ⅣA. IMRT was carried out with Peacock plan. The prescription dose to the gross target volume(GTVnx) of nasopharyngeal tumor was 68 Gy, that of positive neck lymph nodes (GTVnd) was 60-66 Gy, clinical target volume 1 (CTV1) was 60 Gy, and CTV2 was 54 Gy. Results After a median follow-up time of 48 months (range 10.5-59.5 months), the 3-and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 95.7 % and 89.7 %, the disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 91.5 % and 87.2%, and the local-regional control rates were 94.0 % and 91.5 %. Univariate analysis showed the KPS, stage, Fuzhou clinical stage, status of blood platelet before treatment and uric acid after treatment were correlated with OS rate. T stage was the only independent factor of prognosis in the COX stepwise regression model. Conclusion Radical IMRT significantly prolongs the survival of NPC patients. T stage is the only independent prognostic factor for NPC patients.

BACKGROUNDThe aim of this study was to investigate the potential relationship between the dynamic expression of Toll-like receptor 2 and 4 (TLR2/4) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells as well as changes in serum concentration of inflammatory factors and acute lung injury (ALI) in patients after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).

METHODSThe peripheral blood samples of 27 patients (23 men and 4 women with ASA III to IV) who received OLT were collected for measurement of TLR2/4 at T1 (after induction of anesthesia), T2 (25 minutes after anhepatic phase), T3 (3 hours after graft reperfusion) and T4 (24 hours after graft reperfusion). The expression of TLR2/4 in mononuclear cells was measured by flow cytometry. The serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-8 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Twenty-seven patients were assigned to ALI group (n = 9) and non-ALI group (n = 18) according to the diagnostic criteria of ALI. The expression of TLR2/4 in the ALI group or non-ALI group was analyzed.

RESULTSCompared to the non-ALI group, the volumes of blood loss, ascites, total output and transfused red blood cells were higher in the ALI group, and the anhepatic phase lasted longer (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The expression of TLR2/4 in mononuclear cells increased significantly at T3 and T4, and serum concentrations of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-8 increased significantly too. There was no significant difference in Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) scores between the ALI group and non-ALI group (P > 0.05). The expression of TLR2/4 in mononuclear cells increased significantly at T3 and T4 in the ALI group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). A positive correlation was noted between the expression of TLR4 in mononuclear cells and the serum concentrations of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta (P = 0.041, P = 0.046) in the ALI group. In the non-ALI group, statistical results showed that the expression level of TLR2/4 in mononuclear cells was not significantly different during the peri-operative period of OLT (besides TLR4 expression at T4). Compared to the non-ALI group, the increasing amplitude of TLR2/4 expression in mononuclear cells was more significant in the ALI group. The patients whose TLR2/4 expression in mononuclear cells exceeded that at T1 by one time were more likely to suffer from ALI (P = 0.013), with a relative risk of 16.

CONCLUSIONThe expression level of TLR2/4 in mononuclear cells increases significantly in the peri-operative period of OLT, and it may be a high risk factor for occurrence of postoperative ALI.

Acute Lung Injury ; etiology ; metabolism ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Interleukin-1beta ; metabolism ; Interleukin-8 ; metabolism ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; metabolism ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Male ; Postoperative Period ; Toll-Like Receptor 2 ; metabolism ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of alternative donor (AD) in the treatment of aplastic anemia (AA) in children. Methods: The clinical data of AA children who received AD HSCT in our center from Apr. 2010 to Dec. 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. The overall survival (OS) rate, implant success rate, incidence of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were statistically analyzed. Results: A total of 109 children with acquired AA, including 64 severe AA (SAA) , 32 very severe AA (VSAA) and 13 transfusion dependent non-severe AA (NSAA) , were recruited in this retrospective AD HSCT study, the median age was 6 (0.8-18) years old. Of them, 44 patients with 10/10 matched unrelated donor (MUD) , 44 patients with mismatched unrelated donor (MMUD) and 21 patients with mismatched related donor (MMRD) . All patients did not receive ATG before HSCT and the active infection was excluded. Except 3 patients suffered from a second graft failure (2 of them rescued by second HSCT) , 106/109 (97.2%) were engrafted with neutrophil and platelet recovery occurring at a median of 13 days (range, 9-19) and 16 days (range, 10-81) post-transplant. Until day 100 post transplantation, the incidence was 74.3% (81/109) for acute GVHD (aGVHD) and 39.4% (43/109) for grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ aGVHD, 30.7% (31/101) and 9.9% (10/101) for overall chronic GVHD (cGVHD) and moderate cGVHD, respectively, and nobody developed an extend cGVHD. After median follow up of 39 (0.7-103) months for all patients, 13 of 109 patients died. The estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) of the entire cohort was 88.1% (95%CI 81.1%-91.4%) with no difference among the MUD, MMUD and MMRD cohort (93.2%, 84.1% and 85.7%, respectively, P=0.361) . Conclusion: These excellent outcomes suggest that unmanipulated AD PBSC is a good HSCT source for children with SAA. It's reasonable to consider AD HSCT as first line therapy for SAA children without matched sibling donor. Better strategies are required to prevent GVHD.
Adolescent ; Anemia, Aplastic ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Infant ; Retrospective Studies ; Tissue Donors ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo study the signaling pathways associated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in islet micro-endothelial cells (IMECs) and the mechanism of pravastatin intervention.

METHODSIMECs exposed to LPS, SB203580, pravastatin, or SB203580+pravastatin were examined for cell apoptosis with Hoechst staining and flow cytometry and for expression levels of total-p38, photophosphorylation-p38 (p-p38) and iNOS with Western blotting.

RESULTSThe apoptosis rate and expression levels of total-p38, p-p38, iNOS in IMECs all increased after LPS exposure. Pravastatin, SB203580, and their combination significantly attenuated LPS-induced enhancement of cell apoptosis and total-p38, p-p38, and iNOS expressions in IMECs.

CONCLUSIONLPS-induced inflammatory toxicity in IMECs is associated with the activation of P38MAPK and iNOS/NO signaling pathways. Pravastatin can inhibit these pathways and suppress the apoptosis and necrosis of IMECs to relieve the cell inflammatory injuries.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Endothelial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Endothelium, Vascular ; cytology ; Inflammation ; Islets of Langerhans ; blood supply ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; drug effects ; Mice ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; metabolism ; Phosphorylation ; Pravastatin ; pharmacology ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism

AIM:To investigate the mechanism of angiotensinⅡ(AngⅡ)/angiotensinⅡ type 1 receptor (AT1R)pathway activating protein phosphatase 2A(PP2A)which leads to down-regulation endothelial nitric oxide syn-thase(eNOS)phosphorylation level in mesenteric arteries of rats.METHODS: METHODS: The mesenteric arteries of adult male SD rats(weighing 160~180 g;n=90)were isolated under aseptic conditions.Firstly,to determine the effect of angiotensinⅡdown-regulated eNOS(Ser1177)phosphorylation level,the mesenteric arteries were randomly divided into normal control(control)group and AngⅡgroup.The mesenteric arteries in AngⅡgroup were incubated with AngⅡat 1×10 -7mol/L,1×10 -6mol/L and 1×10 -5mol/L for 6 h,12 h and 24 h,respectively.Secondly,to investigate the mo-lecular mechanism by which angiotensinⅡ activated PP2A leading to down-regulation eNOS(Ser1177)phosphorylation level,the mesenteric arteries were randomly divided into control group, AngⅡ group and candesartan(CAN; a specific AT1R blocker)+AngⅡgroup.The mesenteric arteries were pretreated with 1×10 -5mol /L CAN for 1 h,then incubated with 1×10 -7mol/L AngⅡfor 12 h in CAN+AngⅡgroup.The protein levels of eNOS,p-eNOS(Ser1177),PP2Ac,p-PP2Ac(Tyr307)and protein phosphatase 2A inhibitor 2(IPP2A2 )in the arteries were determined by Western blot.The ac-tivity of PP2A in the arteries was detected by PP2A activity kit.RESULTS:Compared with the control group,the protein level of p-eNOS(Ser1177)in the mesenteric arteries was decreased after incubated with AngⅡfor 6 h,12 h and 24 h(P<0.05).The decreasing tendency of p-eNOS(Ser1177)showed concentration-dependently,especially in 12 h and 24 h groups.The expression of eNOS protein showed no significant difference in each group.Compared with the control group, the mesenteric arteries of the rats were incubated with AngⅡ at 1×10-7mol/L for 12 h in vitro, the protein levels of p-eNOS(Ser1177)were down-regulated(P<0.05); pretreatment with CAN significantly increased the protein level of p-eNOS(Ser1177)(P<0.05);the protein levels of eNOS showed no significant difference in each group.Compared with the control group,the protein levels of p-PP2Ac(Tyr307)and IPP2A2 were decreased after the mesenteric arteries were trea-ted with AngⅡat 1×10 -7mol/L for 12 h(P<0.05).Candesartan pretreatment restored the protein levels of p-PP2Ac (Tyr307)and IPP2A2 (P<0.05),however the expression of PP2Ac protein showed no significant difference in each group. Compared with the control group,the activity of PP2A was increased in the mesenteric arteries incubated with AngⅡat 1× 10-7mol/L for 12 h(P<0.05).Candesarten pretreatment inhibited the activity of PP 2A significantly(P<0.05).CON-CLUSION:AngⅡincreases PP2A activity via AT1R pathway,thus leading to down-regulation eNOS(Ser1177)phospho-rylation level in mesenteric arteries.The molecular mechanism of PP2A activation may be associated with decreasing the protein levels of p-PP2Ac(Tyr307)and IPP2A2.

Postoperative radiotherapy (PRT) is widely advocated for patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck that are considered to be at high risk of recurrence after surgical resection. The aims of this study were to evaluate the treatment outcomes of PRT for patients with laryngeal carcinoma and to identify the value of several prognostic factors. We reviewed the records of 256 patients treated for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma between January 1993 and December 2005. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Log-rank test was employed to identify significant prognostic factors for DFS and OS. The Cox proportional hazards model was applied to identify covariates significantly associated with the aforementioned endpoints. Our results showed the 3-, 5-, and 10-year DFS for all patients were 69.9%, 59.5%, and 34.9%, respectively. The 3-, 5-, and 10-year OS rates were 80.8%, 68.6%, and 38.8%, respectively. Significant prognostic factors for both DFS and OS on univariate analysis were grade, primary site, T stage, N stage, overall stage, lymph node metastasis, overall treatment times of radiation, the interval between surgery and radiotherapy, and radiotherapy equipment. Favorable prognostic factors for both DFS and OS on multivariate analysis were lower overall stage, no cervical lymph node metastasis, and using 60Co as radiotherapy equipment. In conclusion, our data suggest that lower overall stage, no cervical lymph node metastasis, and using 60Co as radiotherapy equipment are favorable prognostic factors for DFS and OS and that reducing the overall treatment times of radiation to 6 weeks or less and the interval between surgery and radiotherapy to less than 3 weeks are simple measures to remarkably improve treatment outcome.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Cobalt Radioisotopes ; therapeutic use ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Laryngectomy ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Grading ; Neoplasm Staging ; Postoperative Period ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Radioisotope Teletherapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult

Objective Feasibility of using MNA cell-culture inoculation test to detect and isolate the street rabies virus. Methods Using MNA cell-culture inoculation test, fluorescent antibody test (FAT) and sandwich ELISA with double-antibodies to detect 33 specimens of street rabies virus, 20 specimens of negative canine brains and 4 specimens of healthy mice brains. Results 33 specimens of street rabies virus were positive to the cell-culture inoculation test but the others were negative. The concordances of MNA cell-cultured inoculation test with FAT and sandwich ELISA with double-antibodies were both 100%. Conclusion MNA cell-culture inoculation test appeared to be both highly sensitive and specific in detecting the street rabies virus, and could be used in detection and isolation of the virus.

PURPOSE: We aim to examine nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) characteristics and survival outcomes in patients aged 70 years and older in the intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) era. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2006 to 2013, 126 non-metastatic NPC patients aged ≥ 70 years who were treated with IMRT +/‒ chemotherapy were included. Adult Comorbidity Evaluation 27 (ACE-27) was used to measure patient comorbidities. The overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS)were calculatedwith the Kaplan-Meier method, and differenceswere compared using the log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to carry out multivariate analyses. RESULTS: For the entire group, only two patients (1.6%) presented stage I disease, and up to 84.1% patients had stage III-IVB disease. All patients had a comorbidity score of 0 in 24 (19.0%), 1 in 45 (35.7%), 2 in 42 (33.3%), and 3 in 15 (11.9%) patients. The main acute grade during radiotherapy was 3-4 adverse events consisting of mucositis (25.4%), bone marrow suppression (16.7%), and dermatitis (8.7%). After treatment, four patients (3.2%) developed temporal lobe injury. Five-year CSS and OS rates were 67.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 58.6% to 77.4%) and 54.0% (95% CI, 45.6% to 63.9%), respectively. Five-year OS was significantly higher for ACE-27 score 0-1 than ACE-27 score 2-3 (72.9% and 39.9%, respectively; p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses showed ACE-27 score 0-1 was significantly associated with superior OS (hazard ratio [HR], 3.02; 95% CI, 1.64 to 5.55; p < 0.001). In addition, the rate of OS was higher for stage I-III than that of stage IV, with borderline significance (HR, 1.67; 95% CI, 0.99 to 2.82; p=0.053). But no significant advantage was observed in OS when chemotherapy was used (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest IMRT +/– chemotherapy has a manageable toxicity and provides an acceptable survival in patients aged ≥ 70 years with NPC. ACE-27 score was significantly associated with survival outcomes in this group population.
Adult ; Bone Marrow ; Comorbidity ; Dermatitis ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Methods ; Mucositis ; Multivariate Analysis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Radiotherapy ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated* ; Temporal Lobe

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Aging ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; Kidney ; Male ; Needles ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley