Objective To study the chemical constituents from Vernonia chunii of Hainan Province.Methods The constituents were isolated and purified by repeated column chromatography.Their structures were identified on the basis of physiochemical properties and spectral data.Results Four compounds were isolated and identified as:lupenyl propionate(Ⅰ),lupenyl(Ⅱ),oleanolic acid(Ⅲ),and daucosterol(Ⅳ).Conclusion Compound Ⅰ is a new compound,the others are isolated from this plant for the first time.

Anastomosis, Surgical ; methods ; Humans ; Organ Transplantation ; adverse effects ; methods ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; surgery ; Vascular Surgical Procedures ; methods

Objective To investigate the diagnostic and therapeutic characteristics of prostate cancer with prostate specific antigen(PSA)4-10?g/L. Methods The data of prostate biopsies for the patients with PSA 4-10?g/L from May 1998 to February 2004 and the treatment and prognosis of these patients were retrospectively analyzed. Results In the 141 cases, 34 were diagnosed as prostate cancer, including 3 cT1, 21 cT2, 6 cT3 and 4 cT4. Mean Gleason score was 5.8, and the mean Gleason scores of cT1 and cT2 were significantly lower than those of cT3 and cT4. Twenty-four cases of cT1 and cT2 underwent radical prostatectomy. Four cases of cT3 recieved radical prostateetomy after 4 months of neoadjuvant endocrine therapy. Two cases of cT3 and 4 cT4 received castration. Pathological section from radical surgeries showed that 21 cases were organ confined and 7 were locally invasive. The difference of mean Gleason score between these two groups was significant in statistics. After 18 to 69 months (mean 42 months)follow-up, 21 organ confined cases were free survived, 4 locally invasive cases had biochemical recurrence and 1 case had multifocal bone metastasis. No cancer-specific death happened. Two of 4 cT4 cases were still alive and 2 died of the tumor. Conclusions Routine needle biopsy is necessary for the cases with“grave area”PSA of 4～10 ?g/L. Prostate cancers with PSA 4～10/?g/L are not always early diseases. Gleason score is a very important index for determine the stage of pathology after surgery. Radical prostatectomy is an effective treatment for organ confined disease.

Objective To study the correlation between clinicopathological characteristics and lymph node metastasis and prognosis of rectal neuroendocrine tumors (NET),and try to explore the choice of surgical approach.Methods The clinicopathological data of 48 postoperative rectal NET patients were collected.The univariate and multivariate analysis of the correlation between clinicopathologic characteristics and lymph node metastasis were performed by chi-square test and Logistic regression.The prognosis single factor survival analysis was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method.The survival rates were compared by Log-rank test.The prognosis multivariate survival analysis was performed by the use of Cox model.Results The results of univariate analysis indicated that clinicopathological characteristics related with lymph node metastasis were tumor distance from anal verge less than six cm,tumor diameter over two cm,muscularis invasion,distant metastasis and histological grade 3.The results of multivariate analysis showed that histological grade 3 was an independent risk factor of lymph node metastasis (OR=9.333,95 ％CI:1.054 to 82.635,P=0.045).The results of univariate survival analysis suggested that factors correlated with poor prognosis were tumor distance from anal verge less than six cm,tumor diameter over two cm,muscularis invasion,lymph node metastasis,distant metastasis and histological grade 3.The results of multivariate survival analysis indicated that tumor distance from anal verge less than six cm (HR=0.215,95 ％CI:0.047 to 0.980,P=0.047),distant metastasis (HR=8.788,95％CI:2.612 to 29.571,P＜0.01) and histological grade3 (HR=5.510,95％CI:1.692-17.944,P=0.005) were independent factors associated with poor prognosis.Conclusions For histological grade 1 and 2 rectal NET patients without distant metastasis,radical surgery is recommended when tumor diameter over two cm or muscularis invasion exists.For histological grade 3 rectal NET patients without distant metastasis,radical surgery is recommended.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of endogenous, small (approximately 22 nucleotides in length), noncoding, functional RNAs. With the development of molecular biology, the research of miRNA bio-logical function has attracted significant interest, as abnormal miRNA expression is identified to contribute to serious human diseases such as cancers. Traditional methods for miRNA detection do not meet current demands. In particular, nanomaterial-based methods, nucleic acid amplification-based methods such as rolling circle amplification (RCA), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), strand-displacement amplification (SDA) and some enzyme-free amplifications have been employed widely for the highly sensitive detection of miRNA. MiRNA functional research and clinical diagnostics have been accelerated by these new techniques. Herein, we summarize and discuss the recent progress in the development of miRNA detection methods and new applications. This review will provide guidelines for the development of follow-up miRNA detection methods with high sensitivity and spec-ificity, and applicability to disease diagnosis and therapy.

Objective To investigate the differentiation of neuroendocrine component (NEC) in colorectal adenocarcinoma in relation to its significance by comparing the outcome between patients with or without NEC.Methods The paraffin sections from patients with pathologically confirmed colorectal adenocarcinoma were retrospectively collected and screened for those with NEC by morphological examination and immunohistochemistry with neuroendocrine markers.Control patients (n=54) without NEC were selected from colorectal cancer database and 2: 1 matched on the basis of clinical features with NEC positive patients (n=27).Relative analysis was performed between two groups.Results With a median follow-up of 72 months,the 5-year disease free survival was 58.0% (16/27) in NEC positive group and 79.1% (43/54) in control group (P=0.036).Similarly,the 5-year cancer-specific overall survival was significantly lower in NEC positive group than in control group (58.3% versus 81.1%,P=0.037).Cox regression showed that the 5-year cumulative risks of disease recurrence and cancer-caused death in NEC positive patients were 2.38 and 2.41 times higher than those in control patients,respectively.Conclusions NEC appears to bear a poor prognosis in patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Objectives To investigate the associations of the plasma homocysteine levels with the alterations in arterial stiffness in a commu-nity-based cohort. The gender differences in these associations were examined. Methods We evaluated the relationship between plasma homocysteine levels to three measures of vascular function [carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV), carotid-ankle PWV (CA-PWV) and heart rate corrected augmentation index (AI)] in 1680 participants (mean age:61.5 years;709 men, 971 women) from communities of Beijing, China. Results In univariate analysis, plasma homocysteine levels was positively related to the CF-PWV (r=0.211, P<0.0001) and CA-PWV (r=0.148, P<0.0001), whereas inversely associated with AI (r=?0.052, P=0.016). In multiple linear regression models adjusting for covariants, plasma homocysteine remained positively related to the CF-PWV (standardizedβ=0.065, P=0.007) in total cases. When the groups of men and women were examined separately, plasma homocysteine remained positively associated with the CF-PWV (standardizedβ=0.082, P=0.023) in men, whereas the relations between homocysteine and any of the arterial stiffness indices were not further present in women. Conclusions In Chinese population, plasma homocysteine levels are independently associated with alterations of large artery stiffness in men but not in women.

Eleven compounds were isolated and purified from the barks extract of Nothopanax delavayi and their structures were identified as serratagenic acid-3-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl ester (1), serratagenic acid-3-0-alpha-L-arabi-nopyranosyl-28-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl] ester (2), serratagenic acid (3), serratagenic acid-3-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside (4), serratagenic acid-beta-O-beta-(2', 4'-O-diacetyl) -D-xylopyranosyl-28-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopy-ranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->46)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl] ester (5), serratagenic acid-3-O-alpha-(4'-O-acetyl)-L-arabino pyrano-syl-28-0- [-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl] ester(6), serratagenic acid-3-O-alpha-(2'-O-acetyl)-L-arabinopyranosyl-28-O-[-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl- (1-->4) -beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl] ester(7), serratagenic acid-3-0-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-28-O-[-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl] ester (8), protocatechuic acid (9), ethyl caffeate (10) and caffeic anhydride (11) by physicochemical properties and spectroscopic data analysis. Among them, compounds 3-4 and 9-11 were firstly isolated from the genus Nothopanax, and compounds 5-8 were isolated from this plant for the first time.
Araliaceae ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Bark ; chemistry

Objective To analyze the safety and effectiveness of photoselective green-light laser vaporization of the prostate(PVP)in treatment of large prostate with volume more than 80 ml. Methods Retrospective analysis was performed in 25 benign prostatic hypertrophy patients undergoing the PVP treatment,whose prostate volume was more than 80 ml.Results Twenty-five patients with prostate mean volume of 151.8(84.0-270.0)ml were treated by PVP and 23 cases were finished successfully.One operation was suspended because of bleeding and the other because of damaging orifice.No blood transfusion was needed and no“transurethral resection(TUR)syndrome”happened.Five cases had acute retention and 2 of them needed second PVP.In a mean of 7.9(3.0- 12.0)months follow-up,maximal urinary flow rate(Qmax),international prostate symptom score (IPSS),quality of life score(QOL),and prostate-specific antigen(PSA)level were improved significantly.The volume of prostate reduced after PVP than before PVP but no significant difference was found.Conclusions PVP is feasible in treating large prostate even the volume is more than 80 ml,although it needs better skill.Catheterization for some time is helpful in reducing the incidence of early postoperative acute urinary retention.

Objective To investigate the prevalence and pattern of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) in Shanghai through a community-based survey. Methods A cluster sampling survey was done among the residents in Beixinjing Community, Changning District, Shanghai. All the subjects were asked to fill a questionnaire to provide their general information, including sex, age, native place, physical status, life habit, family history, etc. The diagnosis of AGA was made by dermatologists. To determine the pattern of hair loss,Norwood-Hamilton classification system and Ludwig classification system were used for male AGA and female AGA, respectively. All the data were statistically analyzed by EpiData and SPSS11.5 software. Results Totally, 7056 subjects completed the questionnaire, including 3519 males and 3537 females, and the response rate was 72.5%. AGA was diagnosed in 809 patients, consisting of 701 males aging from 19 to 91 years (mean 64.16±11.9 years) and 108 females aging from 35 to 91 years (mean 70.46±18.89 years). The standardized prevalence (SP) was 9.47% in total, 15.73% in males and 2.73% in females; the difference was significant between males and females (χ2=356.00, P<0.001). A family history of AGA was observed in 52.7% of all subjects including 391 (55.78%) males and 35 (32.41%) females. Type Ⅲ vertex involvement was the most common type in men aging from 20 to 70 years old, and type Ⅵ in those over 70 years old. Grade Ⅰ and Ⅱ predominated in female AGA. Conclusions The results of this survey indicate that the prevalence of AGA is remarkably higher in men than that in women. Furthermore, the prevalence is steadily increased with advancing age in Shanghai.